Netflix users in the UK have just a few days left to enjoy Ben Whishaw’s brilliant period drama The Hour.
The 1950s-set series, which the BBC controversially axed after just two seasons, is leaving the streaming service in the UK on Wednesday, June 4. And you won’t find it on BBC iPlayer, so we suggest binge-watching it now while you have the chance (in the US, it’s available via Acorn TV).
The atmospheric and stylish 2011 series stars Whishaw, Romola Garai, and Dominic West as three journalists — Freddie, Bel, and Hector — involved in a love triangle who launch a topical news show called The Hour in London in 1956.
Whishaw’s character Freddie becomes the heart of the drama when he’s asked to look into the murder of a college professor by the daughter of a House of Lords member. When another body turns up, Freddie appears to have been drawn into a conspiracy involving the highest members of the British government.
Whishaw told the BBC at the time: “I play a journalist, Freddie Lyon. He’s what might be perceived as having ideas above his station. He sees himself as being the front man of The Hour when in actual fact he’s such a loose cannon, a maverick, unpredictable, and opinionated, that the ‘powers that be’ wouldn’t dream of giving him that role.
“In the meantime, Bel (Romola Garai) is given the role of producer, she’s his best friend, soul mate, sister that he doesn’t have, lover, it’s a wonderfully ambiguous relationship. And finally the front position goes to Hector (Dominic West) who is sleek, slick and suave, charming and posh, and all the things that Freddie sort of loathes. So he’s in a bit of a tricky position when we first meet him.”
Ben added he had a good time working with Romola and Dominic. “It’s been great to work with them, really, really fun. I love them both. They’re brilliant, brilliant actors and have just brilliant personalities — people with really strong flavours. They’re very much themselves. They’re real forces and I really love that. And I think we’re all very different, have different energies and I felt that the combination worked really well.”
Whishaw went on of course, to play Q in the James Bond movies and became the voice of Paddington in the films. He also starred in the rather brilliant Black Doves, which has made our best shows on Netflix list.
Netflix continues to be a great place to catch BBC dramas that have left iPlayer and might be hard to find elsewhere. Recent examples include Matthew Macfadyen’s acclaimed crime drama Ripper Street and the Vicky McClure thriller The Replacement.
The Hour leaves Netflix UK on Wednesday June 4.