The English

Hugo Blick follows up Black Earth Rising with this bold homage to Spaghetti Westerns.

[unfolds into an operatic tale of revenge and romance](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/english-first-look-review-episodes-1-2-london-film-festival/) set against the backdrop of a lawless American West in the late 19th century. [Emily Blunt](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/meet-english-behind-scenes-bbcs-violent-new-western-emily-blunt/) is an Englishwoman, Lady Cornelia Locke, who pitches up in the newly created territory of Oklahoma. From the [Ennio Morricone](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/cinema-paradiso-maestro-real-ennio-morricone/)-inspired score to the shots of riders on horseback silhouetted against a big sky, it is English writer Hugo Blick’s homage to Spaghetti Westerns, with the roles flipped to make a woman and a Native American the heroes of the tale. [BBC Two](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/bbc/)) is halfway to being a masterpiece. There is too much speechifying in a style that brings to mind the films of Quentin Tarantino. The subplots are difficult to follow, and large stretches go by in which you wonder who that person is and what they’re talking about.