"Last Tango in Halifax" (2012) is a BBC miniseries that will have run for four seasons. Each episode is about an hour long. I'm reviewing the first six episodes--the entire first season. The series is written by Sally Wainwright. Different episodes have different directors.
The key plot point is that Celia (Anne Reid) and Alan (Derek Jacobi) were in love with the other as teenagers. For complicated reasons they were parted, and lived separate lives for 60 years. They are reunited via Facebook, and they fall back in love. (All this is seen in the first 20 minutes of the first episode, so I'm not giving anything away.)
Each has raised a daughter. Alan's daughter Gillian (Nicola Walker) and Celia's daughter Caroline (Sarah Lancashire) have gone down very different paths. Gillian is a widow. Caroline is in an estranged relationship with her husband John (Tony Gardner).
I've already named five characters, but there are more. What's amazing is that the actors portraying each character are all truly excellent. There's not a weak link among them. The BBC has the unique ability to find great actors, and to enable them to work together seamlessly.
Derek Jacobi is a famous Shakespearean actor, so we expect great things from him. However, the other actors keep pace with him. If I had to single one of them out, it would be Tony Gardner, as Caroline's husband, John. John is a cheat and an opportunist, but, when he's on screen, he dominates the scene with his very believable and often successful opportunism.
This miniseries was produced for TV, so, of course, it works well on the small screen. If you missed it in 2012, you owe it to yourself to see it now. It's melodramatic, but that's what makes it interesting. Some reviewers have called it a BBC soap opera, but I don't agree. It has the look and feel of a first-rate movie, the production values are high, and the acting is superb. If you don't like it, you can always stop watching after the first episode. Trust me--you'll choose to see all six episodes, and then you'll order Season Two and Season Three.
