A Town Called Malice

A mix of crime thriller and family saga, this 80s tale follows one gangster family from South London to the Costa del Sol. Set amongst the beach clubs and ...

- “Ghost Town” “I loved that it had this colourful, hyper-reality that’s loud and brash, but never loses the reality of the characters – they are always grounded,” she said. - “Two Tribes”

A Town Called Malice may follow a once feared crime family, but Martha Plimpton says they're 'camp' compared to The Sopranos.

She explained: ‘I think his wife is very loyal and believes in him and would never contradict him or leave him, but she definitely has a way of handling him that is very direct and firm and if she wasn’t around, I think he would be somewhere very close to the gutter.’ ‘They don’t really plan to stay a very long time but realise the opportunities that are in front of them and that they can start rebuilding their identities as this really powerful family of people to be revered and looked up to,’ she explained. [Netflix to launch first ever Welsh series as streamer reveals plans to air crime drama](https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/20/netflix-to-launch-first-ever-welsh-series-dal-y-mellt-18136240/?ico=more_text_links) [sounds of Duran Duran](https://metro.co.uk/2016/07/01/20-bizarre-novelty-songs-from-the-80s-youve-probably-never-heard-of-5973831/)’ the eight-part series is clearly a love letter to the decade of decadence. Named after a 1982 song by The Jam, the series’ soundtrack will take audiences back in time with tracks like I Want to Know What Love Is, I Fought the Law, Video Killed the Radio Star, Original Sin and Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) all featured in just the first episode. [Happy Valley’s Sophie Rundle apologises for the most gruesome death ever but insists it was actually ‘very uneventful’](https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/28/happy-valley-sophie-rundle-apologises-for-most-gruesome-death-ever-18356650/?ico=more_text_links) ‘When we meet them they have fallen on harder times and are maybe not changing with the times as effectively as they could, especially Albert, who has gotten himself into a spot of a little bit of irrelevancy, which is never fun for a man like him.’ ‘I don’t think they were ever absolute rulers of the roost, but they were fair grifters and they definitely made a dent. [London](https://metro.co.uk/tag/london/?ico=auto_link_entertainment_P2_LNK1), criminals who have fallen to the bottom of the criminal food chain and are looking to claw their way back up. [The Sopranos](https://metro.co.uk/tag/the-sopranos/), but Martha believes the Lord’s offer something totally different for viewers. [Costa del Sol ](https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/25/snow-hits-the-costa-del-sol-just-weeks-after-record-breaking-heatwave-18164098/)in Spain offers the chance for reinvention. While that is proving hard in their hometown, a relocation to the

Coming off like a Guy Ritchie wannabe crime caper, A Town Called Malice is saved by the presence of Martha Plimpton and Tahirah Sharif on magnetic form.

A Town Called Malice star Jack Rowan's amateur boxing career played an unexpected role in helping prepare to play a criminal in the show.

he’s a thinker [instead] and is someone who would have your back, but could also stab you in the back. But he does have those traits that you need to be a criminal.’ ‘It does find its way in and for the odd intense scene. He definitely becomes a criminal.’ [Jake Bugg reveals he hadn’t yet seen the Happy Valley intro with his music](https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/12/jake-bugg-reveals-he-hadnt-yet-seen-happy-valley-intro-with-his-music-18421514/?ico=more_text_links) ‘The first scene we see him in a club and he meets a girl and she asks if he is one of the Lord boys. [ Jack Rowan’s ](https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/19/jack-rowan-noughts-cross-callum-actor-12427502/)amateur [boxing career ](https://metro.co.uk/sport/boxing/)played an unexpected role in helping him to prepare to play a criminal in the show. [ (Tahirah Sharif)](https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/08/the-tower-who-is-in-the-cast-of-the-itv-drama-15564641/), who finds herself on the wrong side of the law in a life-altering way. [television adaptation of the Noughts + Crosses book series](https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/05/noughts-crosses-bbc-malorie-blackman-racism-white-privilege-12352542/), Jack has also appeared in shows like Peaky Blinders, Silent Witness and Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands. ‘With amateur boxing you could literally get a call on a Wednesday saying you’ve got a fight on the Saturday and you have to be prepared to always do your running and eat well and be focused.’ [Costa del Sol in Spain ](https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/25/snow-hits-the-costa-del-sol-just-weeks-after-record-breaking-heatwave-18164098/)after a gangland battle sees the police hot on their tail, they use the relocation as a chance to reinvent themselves and try to reclaim the power they once wielded. [London](https://metro.co.uk/tag/london/?ico=auto_link_entertainment_P2_LNK1) gangsters who aren’t happy about the fact they’ve fallen to the bottom of the criminal food chain.

Writer: Nick Lowe Nick Lowe's disappointing new drama A Town Called Malice makes its debut on Sky Max this week, an eight-part series set in the 1980s about ...

It is a shame because the idea of A Town Called Malice promises much, particularly in the same space as earlier 80s-focused TV treats White Gold and The Gold – the latter doing much better with the organised crime concept – along with an incredible cast that includes Jason Fleming, Martha Plimpton and leads Tahirah Sharif and Jack Rowan, not to mention a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from the Modfather himself Paul Weller in Episode One. Part of the problem is that none of the characters are either sympathetic or sufficiently interesting as antiheroes to keep watching, not even protagonists Gene and Cindy who never progress much beyond a bland Bonnie and Clyde who are neither entirely hapless or truly psychopathic. The central premise is an interesting one with a powerful central female character taking the lead in traditionally male genre and proving that she is as intimidating and blood thirsty as any of them, quickly outwitting the declining Lord family as she comes between them and beloved son Gene.

Martha Plimpton, Eliza Butterworth, Jack Rowan and Tahirah Sharif spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com about their new series A Town Called Malice.

For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to [The Radio Times Podcast](https://www.radiotimes.com/audio/podcasts/). And I remember thinking, again, talking to Nick and talking to Jamie and being like, ‘That's not a real person.' At first it was fun, but she was this kind of stone cold, like no kind of remorse kind of a woman. Other major cast members include Jason Flemyng and Dougray Scott. [Drama](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/) coverage or visit our [TV Guide](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/tv-listings/) and [Streaming Guide](https://www.radiotimes.com/streaming-guide/) to find out what's on. He keeps it so exciting and riveting, it’s wonderful." it's always been there." We were like, 'What?!' We'd hang out together and we’d be like 'You do what?!' You feel like you've worked somebody out and then they go in a completely different direction, which I love. It's not necessarily a journey from someone from there to… Butterworth added: "It was so exciting for us to read the scripts. Asked whether she had a full view of her character's arc and where the series would go throughout its run before signing on, Plimpton said: "I don't think any of us saw the final episode until relatively late in filming. Nick Love’s character building and story writing and the world of it is just so magnificent.

Zippy, brash and so 80s it's exhausting, this murder-packed gangland show is sheer mindless entertainment.

And can you really tell, when the nurturers get a whiff of your new property development deal in Malaga and want a piece of the action too? Alas for Gene Lord (Jack Rowan), the baby and white sheep of the family trying to distance himself from their dealings, things come to a head just as he is making a rare visit home to introduce his sweet fiancee Cindy (Tahirah Sharif) to the clan. Whether their forcible repatriation can represent a new start (for them both, as Cindy obviously has A Past to rival anything the Lords can muster) forms the meat of the remaining episodes. One bloody shoot-out later and Gene and Cindy have the beginnings of a property empire on their hands. Why be that person, when we all have so little time on the planet?) and almost every scene is accompanied by one of the era’s other big chart tunes, sometimes even with lip-synching from a character – who might be better off kept behind the fourth wall, allowing the series to hang on to its internal logic and vestiges of believability. Nothing is the 20 years ago you think it was any more.