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“What we need, my friend, are gimmicks,” declares the prospective investor, unconvinced by the dish of fine British cuisine in front of him. The chef doesn’t dignify this with a response. But there is a certain truth to the crass statement, as filmmaker Philip Barantini knows all too well. His 90-minute single-shot restaurant movie Boiling Point was an eye-catching feat. Now given a four-episode run by the BBC to continue the story, the question is whether the series can extend beyond a one-take wonder.
An early unbroken sequence — in which the camera follows the frenzied flow of plates and obscenities around the kitchen and into the dining room — suggests that the new series might be serving up more of the same. But Barantini, like his fictional chef, is clearly aware that though gimmicks entice, they rarely satisfy. After 11 minutes, the first cut arrives to liberate the narrative. What follows is a show that feels far more flexible and expansive as it digs into the lives of the staff outside the clammy restaurant.
The kitchen at Point North — the new establishment operated by chef Carly (Vinette Robinson), who worked for Stephen Graham’s harried Andy Jones in the film — does a better job of hiding the combustible cooks from the diners than the previous open plan. But despite changes in venue and menu, the personnel are largely the same, and chaos remains the order of the day.
Between the burning stoves and pan-clogged sinks, banter quickly turns to bitter recriminations. There are stand-offs, lay-offs, routine humiliations and then a full-scale tragedy that reveals where offhand outbursts can lead. The incident is sobering and handled with delicacy by Stephen McMillan (as troubled young pastry chef Jamie) and Hannah Walters, who gives a wonderful turn as the solicitous maternal figure in this fractious family.
The main cast broadly rise to the challenge but there’s a ready-made quality to some of the plotting and scene-setting. The point that chefs both depend on and deplore their customers is overstretched — almost every punter here is a precious snob or a boorish lout. It can also strain credulity to make each night revolve around a disaster.
The show is stingy in its deployment of Stephen Graham. His Andy — lucky but not exactly grateful to be alive after the film’s dramatic climax — appears only in episodic cameos, even if he exists as a spectral presence in Carly’s kitchen. But there is another ghost at the feast. Since this sequel was commissioned, another series has become the definitive restaurant drama. The differences stand out — The Bear’s disarming humour, sense of place and storytelling nuance are Boiling Point’s missing ingredients.
★★★★☆
On BBC1 and iPlayer from Sunday at 9pm; new episodes air weekly
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