Playing Nice

With a name like James Norton (Happy Valley, Grantchester, McMafia) attached to a new UK drama, expectations were high for Playing Nice, a new 4 part series to screen on SBS.

And while he steps up as the sympathetic hero of this drama based on a novel by J.P. Delaney, you really have to wonder, what was everybody thinking?

It’s a windswept Cornish coast that is the backdrop to this psychological thriller in which two couples discover their toddler sons were switched at birth.

Pete (James Norton) gave up his journalism career to be a stay-at-home dad and sometime local labourer while wife and skilled chef Maddie (Niamh Algar) keeps the kitchen running at a local successful restaurant.

But out of the blue wealthy architect Miles (James McArdle) comes knocking on their door to reveal that son Theo was swapped with his boy David, whom he shares with wife Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay). It’s a mind-blowing mix-up that the local hospital confirms, whilst undertaking an investigation.

When the two couples meet at Miles’ fancy cliff-top house, it’s like the haves and the have-nots. Despite such alarming circumstances, the two couples agree to welcome the other child, and parents, into their lives over a nice glass of wine.

At first those shared parenting meetings are perfectly chummy, but it doesn’t take long before things turn and all bets are off… and we’re suddenly in another genre than one which might have explored very modern families, or the genuine trauma of dealing with learning your child is not your own.

Instead, deception, lying, mind games, threats, lawyers and fears get into the driver’s seat, combined with some spurious story moves designed to bring our hero down to zero.

Trust is also a liability in this tale as Pete and Maddie are brought to the brink… as if dealing with the true identity of your child wasn’t enough. But like any good protagonist, from hitting rock bottom the only way is up?

Norton can play the hot daddy (it had to be said) standing on his head, but for a supposed journo he’s a little on the naive side. He’s also deserving of much better material than this.

James McArdle at least gets a more interesting role as the new best friend bordering on sociopath. Niamh Algar is also juggling some demons from the past, which rear their ugly head… as if dealing with the true identity of your child wasn’t enough #2.

The twist and turns are there to prop up the running time (I reckon it could have been told as a telemovie) but are we to believe any of this is actually credible?

There’s also insufficient accountability on the part of the hospital in the greater picture. Cornwall hospitals will have to get on the back foot and do some good PR after this.

This one really needed to be grounded in truth and facts rather than being ramped up into a macho powerplay where the children are chess pieces for a pretty average plot…. just with a veneer of actually caring.

Playing Nice screens Wednesday, 29 January at 9.25pm on SBS.