Paul English: On the Box
One Night in Emergency
BBC1, Monday
This is what Alice in Wonderland might have been like had she gone to Glasgow rather than down the rabbit hole, and drank too much of that fortified wine that comes in the funny purple bottles rather than funny tea. Kevin McKidd excelled in a nightmarish ramble through the underbelly of the Western infirmary. It was a miles apart – in every sense – from his alter-ego in the slick American wards of Grey’s Anatomy.
Written by Gregory Burke, whose plays Gagarin Way and Black Watch are less surreal but every bit as menacing, it was a festive selection box of well-known Scottish actors from David Hayman to Sanjeev Kohli.
McKidd wasn’t the only one lured back from Los Angeles by the twisting script, which followed his character’s journey on a voyage towards a final brutal reality.
The now-familiar Hollywood tones of Oscar-winning Glasgow composer Craig Armstrong ran through the drama like cold trickles of blood.
Quality drama made in Scotland.
See, we can do it.
