Some
very good posts and
glad you all enjoyed your recent watches of Out too.
Hope this doesn’t repeat some of what I’ve already posted about Out but I agree with Villain that the actors played these characters very naturally too. There’s certainly no ‘Mockney’ Guy Richie cliché’s here either. Instead you’re drawn into and believe in the world inhabited by Frank, Chris, McGrath/Pavey, Bryce/Rimmer/Hallam, ‘Big’ Ralph, ‘Pretty’ Billy/Alison, Kath (Simmie), Lew/Eddie, Bernie, Anne/Eve and many others who I suppose would have been true to life with their equivalents back then. It’s interesting that the main protagonist – McGrath who was also superbly played by Brian Cox, is a Scottish rather than London villain too perhaps pointing to the ways in which organised crime was moving as we approached the '80's then '90's. I sure that wouldn’t be the case if Out was made now… heaven forbid in a Richie/Nick Love style.
Yes Tom Bell is
brilliantly cast as Frank Ross but everyone involved in Out are very good and very believable in the characters they portray particularly so Brian Cox, Brian Croucher, John Junkin, Derrick O’Connor, Norman Rodway, Bryan Marshall, Peter Blake, Andrew Paul, Lynne Farleigh, Victoria Fairbrother, Maurice O’Connell, Tania Rogers, Stanley Meadws, Oscar James and many others.
Preston’s depiction of Ross is also very interesting too. Yes he’s a villain who’s activities for some are frowned and looked down upon by many in (back then) general society. These activities can and do have many negative and tragic consequences not only for Ross but for many who around him too. His 8-year stretch robs him of many things during that time not just the way his family implodes due to his wife suffering chronic mental illness/breakdown but also the son (Paul) he doesn’t see grow up, doesn’t really know and seems hell bent on a path of self destruction which at best will mark him for life, at worst send him down the same/similar path Frank has trodden too. You can see the point why Frank wants to know who ‘grassed’ him but by finding this out Ross get’s into a very dangerous world where he and those around him are fair game and the lives of Anne, ‘Pretty’ Billy, Simmie, Eddie and Pavey are all casualties in this quest. Even to some extent Eve, Paul, Chris, McGrath and Hallam/Bryce/Rimmer aren’t left unscathed by all this either although not everyone is an innocent victim here either. Frank himself is both victim and to blame too in the fact he’s lost friends and significant period of his younger life through his choices and activities. Tom Bell portrays that aspect very well particularly with how he dresses initially in suits which look decades old to the (then) fashions of the time and trying to pick his life up who where he left off, which 8 years down the line. He simply
can’t.
It’s that ambiguity which draws you in and as I’ve said despite knowing Ross is a serious villain with a lot of baggage (for me) you do warm to him and see some point with Preston’s narrative for him. We don’t know whether or not he had a choice in going down his road, however he does
know who and what he is and does seem to have a fairly high moral code within the world he operates in. He tries to look after and is loyal to the ‘firm’ he works with – perhaps more than it should be than his relationship to his own family. Ross also doesn’t get or tries not to get involved in unnecessary wars with others (Lew/McGrath) and before his prison stretch did seem to be
good at what he did. His successes irk Bryce who at all costs tries to nail Ross and when events conspire that McGrath is put into a situation where it’s either him or Ross that will go down for that
‘big one’ the morality of what Bryce does through McGrath to nail Ross certainly makes you think about it and to some extent you can see the point of view about morality that Ross brings up in the closing confrontation he has with Bryce about why and who has the
right to the moral high ground here. Bryce’s moral high ground stance is shot to pieces by Ross in the final episode to the extent that his all-costs quest to convict Ross perhaps left behind a worse situation in McGrath being given free reign to conduct his activities which perhaps had worse long term consequences if Ross was nailed perhaps in another way. The respect Rimmer has for Bryce is blown away in this final scenes too although it’s interesting he gives him the tape as a final act of loyalty and Bryce does the right thing by handing this over co-operating with the investigation.
I’m not sure whether he knew someone with a similar story to Ross or some bits and pieces of elements of this from his South London background but I agree with you Arthur that it’s a credit to Preston’s ideas/writing style that he focuses in not so much on a crime story but the consequences of it and the damage this brings Frank, his family and those around him that makes Out such a draw to me more than 40 years on too. It's certainly as far removed as you can get from Preston's Messenger of The Gods, Sweeney episode.
I know it was a serial and they’re generally treated as one-off’s but the open way of McGrath’s departure, Frank’s finding out of who ‘grassed’ him and the aftermath of all that left behind gave me the feeling that a follow-up serial could have happened. They certainly have done that for other things before. However the originality of Out is it is one-off which you certainly don’t see the likes of now.
It’s a shame Out hasn’t been picked up for a repeat on say channel’s like ITV3 or Drama although it’s harder-edged style doesn’t quite fit in with the more genteel (sic) programming that these channels show – ad-nausea.
Having said that Drama have shown things like Juliet Bravo, London’s Burning, The Bill etc. and Out could possibly maybe fit in with that. One channel it would be more at home with is Talking Pictures who’ve shown Thames/Euston Films shows like Special Branch, Hazell and Widows so Out would be ideal to get an outing on there. Also TP tend to not edit the episodes (or not as much) as it would if it were shown elsewhere too. Shame I can’t find any contact details for TP I’d consider sending that as a suggestion to them.
Fox is a different animal from Out, perhaps more easy going and with a different narrative about family and relationships within a South London family, perhaps deserves discussion in a separate thread.
That said it’s very much well worth getting hold off and is a good companion to this too.
Yes I’ll have to give Out a spin at some point very soon too, I’ll have to get organised in looking at some of the locations it was filmed in too, I know the likes of Brixton, Croydon, Tulse Hill, Streatham etc. all seem to be featured and some seem to be in lets say some of the challenging area’s of South London these days but I’m sure I can have a scout round them some day soon.
Glad you enjoyed your recent watches of Out too lads.
I know it was a serial and they’re generally treated as one-off’s but the open way of McGrath’s departure, Frank’s finding out of who ‘grassed’ him and the aftermath of all that left behind gave me the feeling that a follow-up serial could have happened. They certainly have done that for other things before. However the originality of Out is it is one-off which you certainly don’t see the likes of now. 
That said it’s very much well worth getting hold off and is a good companion to this too. 
