Christmas

Following on from the theatrical success of last year´s Mojo, Jez Butterworth and brother Tom make their quietly stunning television debut with a tale that hopefully doesn´t reflect their own sibling status. With a GoodFellas poster tacked purposefully on his bedroom wall, 18-year-old Manny drives the mean streets of King´s Cross working for the affable Martin, a small-time gangster more like an older brother to him than his own, the inept Sean. Full of endearing distractions – a dead swan peace offering and nocturnal rooftop golfing – the film neither glamorises nor unnecessarily brutalises its protagonists, and when their veneer of charm breaks into violence, it´s all the more effective for it. The first of three new drams comissioned by Tony “Cathy Come Home” Garnett.