The plot of this episode is a familiar one: a bad brother returns home to re-encounter a good brother, and the two of them eventually fall out despite their repeated protestations of love for one another.
The good brother Ray (Ashley Walters) is a cop, enjoying a happy relationship with Lorna (Pippa Bennett-Warner). The bad brother Anthony (Tosin Cole) has been away in jail and returns home promising to turn over a new leaf. What becomes evident with both of them, however, is their pathological inability to communicate - every statement is either a cliché or a monosyllabic reply ("How are you?"/ "All right") or ("How are you?"/ "Good"). From such statements we understand that both of them are trying to conceal secrets from one another - especially Ray. Eventually, of course, the truth comes out, and Anthony is driven almost to distraction in a climactic ending taking place at Ray's house. He could have been sent back to jail, were it not for Ray's timely intervention, but nonetheless Anthony is left with nothing, not even brotherly love.
A dark little morality-tale from Nick Payne and Dominic Savage, directed with claustrophobic emphasis by Savage: most of the confrontations take place within the confines of a small room, either the living-room or the hall, making us aware of how the characters are both physically and mentally imprisoned.
THE SECRETS is an unusual phenomenon in British television drama - a series of stand-alone half-hour playlets. All five of them have proved compelling viewing; one hopes that the BBC/ Working Title partnership will produce something similar in the future.
The good brother Ray (Ashley Walters) is a cop, enjoying a happy relationship with Lorna (Pippa Bennett-Warner). The bad brother Anthony (Tosin Cole) has been away in jail and returns home promising to turn over a new leaf. What becomes evident with both of them, however, is their pathological inability to communicate - every statement is either a cliché or a monosyllabic reply ("How are you?"/ "All right") or ("How are you?"/ "Good"). From such statements we understand that both of them are trying to conceal secrets from one another - especially Ray. Eventually, of course, the truth comes out, and Anthony is driven almost to distraction in a climactic ending taking place at Ray's house. He could have been sent back to jail, were it not for Ray's timely intervention, but nonetheless Anthony is left with nothing, not even brotherly love.
A dark little morality-tale from Nick Payne and Dominic Savage, directed with claustrophobic emphasis by Savage: most of the confrontations take place within the confines of a small room, either the living-room or the hall, making us aware of how the characters are both physically and mentally imprisoned.
THE SECRETS is an unusual phenomenon in British television drama - a series of stand-alone half-hour playlets. All five of them have proved compelling viewing; one hopes that the BBC/ Working Title partnership will produce something similar in the future.