Not Safe for Work

Sacha Dhawan and and Zawe Ashton do their best best work to date, It is so so dark,so dry it will leave you sucking cat litter for a bit of moisture and hilarious. But also quite deep and moving. W1A fans will love.

Then I got it. Given the heavy backstory, I expected it to be rather depressing. I was pleasantly surprised that the acting and, in no small part, the score made it light and humorous. The writers clearly prepped for a second season in the storyline. I hope they get it.

Summary

This miniseries is a British office drama that offers a nuanced look at English public employment, the target of adjustment policies, without limiting itself to defending or attacking it, or painting private activity as its opposite and panacea. The same can be said about the immigration policies he outlines. And it offers that ability to go from sharp British verbal humor to drama, discomfort and even misery nonstop, hand in hand with a group of endearing, contradictory or toxic characters led by Zawe Ashton, a kind of brunette Jennifer Aniston.

Review

Katherine (Zawe Ashton) is a burgeoning manager of a newly divorced London public immigration policy office who is transferred to an obscure Northampton borough whose continuity is hanging by a thread.

This miniseries is an office drama that could be seen as the other side of Industry, with well-delineated characters. In this case, the public department (also in charge of immigration policies) is adrift, directed on automatic pilot by a drug-abused subject named Daniel (Sacha Dhawan), who is joined by a gallery of broken or devastated characters, in some toxic or naive cases, including a hiring manager, Jeffries (an excellent Anastasia Hille), Daniel's tremendous assistant and friend, Angela (notably Jo Hartley), two rather silly and endearing employees, and a former love interest of Katherine. Added to her personal dramas is the ghost of the dismissal hovering over her heads.

Not Safe for Work offers a nuanced look at British public employment, not limited to defending or attaking it, but as a target of adjustment policies, with the anguish of losing one's job as a permanent backdrop. Nor does it portray private activity as its opposite and panacea and offers the same broad, non-schematic view of immigration policies that it outlines.

The series works very well with its British verbal humor that quickly turns to depression, discomfort and the sufferings of its characters (or with the combination of all this), transits the romantic comedy, although it may not be as effective on the plane of physical humor (fortunately little). The dialogues, in all cases and climates, look welcome conciseness.

Beyond its choral elements, the axis of the series is Katherine, a quite damaged character, rich in contradictions, lights and shadows who is carried forward with charisma by a Zawe Ashton who is a kind of brunette version of Jennifer Aniston.

I JUST STARTED WATCHING AND COULDN'T STOP. EVERY MEMBER OF THE CAST IS EXCELLENT AND ENGAGING. THE GREAT TALENT IS THE REASON TO WATCH THIS. I LOVE THAT THE SOUNDTRACK IS OFTER SILENT SO THERE'S NO CANNED LAUGHTER OR ANNOYING POP MUSIC MOST OF THE TIME SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON THE DRAMA OR COMEDY.

IT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN JUST EXACTLY WHAT THE SHOW IS ABOUT BUT THAT'S ALSO WHAT MAKES IT ENGAGING. WONDERFULLY DIRECT DIALOGUE BUT FOCUSES ON THE PAIN MORE THAT SHOCK VALUE.

WHILE GENEARLLY NOT A FAN OF FLASHBACKS THEY WERE USED BRILLIANTLY HERE.

THE VISUAL BONUS TO THE TALENT HERE IS A VERY YOUNG ATTRACTIVE CAST THAT MAKES THIS EASY TO WATCH AND YOU FORGET THAT MOST OF IT TAKES PLACE IN AN OFFICE. DEFINITELY AN ATYPICAL OFFICE SERIES. ONE OF THE BEST CONTEMPORARY SHOWS ON BRITBOX. THE BLURB OF WHAT IT IS ABOUT ONLY SCRATCHES THE SURFACE OF THE STORYLINE. BRILLIANT. I'M DEPRESSED THEY ONLY MADE ONE SEASON AND IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO FIND THIS. I NEVER EVER REMEMBER SEEING THE TITLE UNTIL THE LAST WEEK VEN THOUGHT IT WAS MADE ABOUT 8 YEARS AGO.

I have really enjoyed the first five episodes of this series, so much so that I have watched them all again, back to back.

I largely agree with Andrew White's appraisal. I started watching because it was funny, but as the series has gone on, more and more unfunny, but deeply moving, things have happened. Characters who appeared to be quite flimsy at first become, when we know more about them, very credible people, damaged, perhaps, by what life has thrown at them, but doing their best to cope with the circumstances in which they find themselves. At the end of episode Five I am desperately keen to see the last episode - if only because there are at least two characters whose 'back stories' have not yet been disclosed.

The writing both of the plot, and the dialogue, is first rate, and the timing and acting skills generally are wonderful. I would like to list my favourite characters and actors, but I cannot. This is ensemble work of the highest order - they are all excellent, and a very well balanced team.