''Exile'' is a British psychological thriller

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

dealing with the topic of Alzheimer's disease against a background of corruption. It stars

John Simm John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in ''Life on Mars'', the Master in ''Doctor Who,'' and DS Roy Grace in ''Grace.'' His other television credits include '' S ...

and Jim Broadbent and was broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. The series received varyingly positive reviews.

received a BAFTA nomination for his role as Tom Ronstadt, as did the director John Alexander.

Cast

as Tom Ronstadt * Jim Broadbent as Sam Ronstadt * Olivia Colman as Nancy Ronstadt *

Claire Goose Claire Goose (born 10 February 1975) is a British actress. She played Tina Seabrook, a nurse in BBC One's ''Casualty'', DS Mel Silver in '' Waking the Dead'', and Sergeant (later Inspector) Rachel Weston in ITV's ''The Bill''. She also narrat ...

as Mandy Jackson *

Nico Mirallegro ' Nico Cristian Mirallegro ( ; born 26 January 1991) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry "Newt" Newton in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' (2007–2010), Finn Nelson in ''My Mad Fat Diary'' (2013–2015), Joe Middleton in ...

as Teenage Tom Ronstadt *

Shaun Dooley Shaun Dooley (born 29 March 1974) is an English actor, narrator and voice-over artist. Early life Dooley was born in Barnsley in Yorkshire. He studied at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester between 1992 and 1995. Career Dooley's f ...

as Mike Eldridge * Daryl Fishwick as Wendy Strawbridge *

Kate Magowan Katie Victoria "Kate" Magowan (born 1 June 1975) is an English actress and producer. She has been in film, theatre, television and radio productions. Her best known role is Princess Una in the 2007 feature film ''Stardust''. She is married to a ...

as Jane Dutton *

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...

as Metzler *

Allan Corduner Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol Univer ...

as Geller * Abby Greenhalgh as Hayley Cousins * John-Paul Hurley as Kevin Richardson *

Ned Dennehy Ned Dennehy (born 8 December 1965) is an Irish actor who has appeared in multiple films and television programmes. He is best known for his role as Mider in ''The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog''. He also appeared in ''Blitz'', ''Harry Potter and t ...

as Ricky Llewelyn *

Denise Black Denise Black (born 16 March 1958) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in '' Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale'' and guest starring as ''Jessie Devlin'' Denny Blood's mother in '' ITV drama series '' Bad Girls''. Early lif ...

as Belinda Pocock * Alex Clayton as Young Tom Ronstadt

Episodes

Reception

In mostly positive reviews, script and performances were praised, with criticism directed toward clichéd elements of the story. Reviewing the first episode,

Amol Rajan Amol Rajan (born 4 July 1983) is an Indian-born British journalist and broadcaster who has been the BBC's Media Editor since December 2016 and a presenter on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 since 2021. Rajan was editor of ''The Indepen ...

of ''The Independent'' found the storytelling "glorious", and that "it engaged very directly with highly topical issues." He stated that Broadbent confirmed "his position alongside Ian McKellen, John Hurt and Michael Gambon as one of the greatest English actors of his generation", and praised the "outstanding performances, from a bewitching John Simm (playing his son Tom) and the reliably wonderful Olivia Colman (his daughter Nancy)." ''The Daily Telegraph'' referred to the series as "a powerful family drama trapped inside a clichéd tabloid thriller", and "so close to being brilliant. Instead, it was more of the same." But the review praised the "magnificent performances by Broadbent as a man in the grip of Alzheimer's, and Olivia Colman as the daughter left alone to cope with it, seeing her life passing before her, and Simm's Tom driving back into their lives cursing the emptiness of his London media career ... ''The Guardian'' review found "only a few missteps in Danny Brocklehurst's otherwise impeccable script", and part of the series "too pat", with "by-numbers triumphalism", but praised "the ingenious conceit of a mystery story in which the quest for the truth is foiled by an Alzheimer's sufferer catalysed a well-plotted drama, executed without exploitativeness and, in Simm's case, played more tenderly than I'd have thought him capable."Jeffries, Stuart (4 May 2011)
"TV review: Exile"

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. ''Radio Times' Alison Graham wrote'', "A tremendous piece of drama; subtle, intelligent, powerful and adult. Writer Danny Brocklehurst and creator Paul Abbott have achieved something wonderful by blending a touching human story with a riveting thriller. This is as good as TV drama can be.. On every level Exile delivers." ''Caitlin Moran, The Times, 7 May, On TV.'' "Danny Brocklehurst's script shamed most of his peers - keeping the dialogue real, yet without pouring out the can marked Genuine Real Northern Dialogue. Minute by minute this was exhilaratingly good television. It's hard to know at whom to throw the greatest plaudits. There wasn't a single thing wrong with this programme."

References

External links

* * {{Paul Abbott BBC television dramas 2010s British drama television series 2011 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings BBC high definition shows British thriller television series 2010s British television miniseries English-language television shows Television shows set in the United Kingdom