Martin Freeman is one of the most likable chaps on the telly. The very embodiment of the everyman.
He's so brilliant at portraying characters that are fiercely average that whenever he doesn't it's always a bit of a shock. Not just because you're seeing him playing against type but alsobecause it serves as a reminder of just how talented an actor he is. Something that's easy to forget when you see him effortlessly gliding through yet another performance as a slightly weary yet good-natured middle-aged man perturbed by some minor crisis or other.
His new series The Responder is not that. Okay, yes, he does star as a middle-aged man going through a crisis but the character is far from Freeman's typical middle-class comfort zone.
In this gritty police procedural, the full season of which is now streaming on TVNZ OnDemand, Freeman stars as Chris Carson, a burned-out, stressed-out police officer struggling with his mental health and keeping his increasing rage and overwhelming cynicism in check.
Assigned as an urgent responder on the night shift he's dealing with an endless loop of domestic disputes, inner-city brawls, junkies, pushers, burglaries, emergencies and other assorted problems that occur after dark.
The show follows the increasingly sleep-deprived officer over the course of one eventful week that pushes him ever closer to the edge. A position he's precariously close to in the opening episode that starts with him in session with a police-appointed therapist.
With his hollow eyes, standard-issue buzz cut, deep breaths and barely suppressed anger there's no doubt he means it when he points to his head and says, "I want to talk but I can't. I'm wrapped up in here."
With another week on the night shift stretching out in front of him he sighs profusely and says, "I can feel it. I'm gonna crack."
Freeman is exceptional in this opening scene, filled with restless energy and inner intensity that transforms those comedic tics and expressions he uses in his everyman performances into something startling and on edge.
"I want to be a good bobby. I want to do good things," he continues through gritted teeth, before adding the clincher. "I want to be normal."
Adelayo Adedayo is an idealistic new recruit in police thriller The Responder, streaming on TVNZ OnDemand.
Later that night, he'll tell his increasingly estranged wife that he thinks the therapy is a waste of his time, before cutting her off to respond to an emergency where he loses his rag and kicks off.
But it's not just job troubles and family troubles that are spinning him out. Carson may want to be "a good bobby", but he's corrupt and in the pocket of Carl Sweeny, a local drug lord whose dogged insistence that Carson helps him find Casey, a neighbourhood drug addict, turns increasingly violent as the night drags on.
Sweeny's buzzing persistence and knowledge of the violent consequences that await the young addict if he hands her over, makes Carson take a stand and decide to "do good", by helping her escape rather than gifting her to the drug lord. It's a decision that sets him up against Sweeny and ultimately proves futile when the druggie decides not to skip town after all.
Emily Fairn plays drug addict Casey in police thriller The Responder, streaming on TVNZ OnDemand.
The show's not really an enjoyable watch, but it's not trying to be. It aims to put you in every awful moment and succeeds. It's raw, violent and incredibly tense, but is also utterly captivating. Freeman's jaded, almost-trainwreck of a character proves impossible to look away from.
While I would never describe The Responder as funny, there are plenty of moments of gallows humour hanging throughout each episode to alleviate the mood. Mostly in the form of snide comments ("You're always rude," a young informer complains as Carson chuckles at his own mean joke) or when he gets called to absurdist, emergency situations with people he's familiar with. That said, grim reality is never far away.
Martin Freeman on the beat in The Responder.
The series was written by a former police officer, which goes a long way to explaining its authenticity and staggering realism. It's about as far from the shiny, glossy American police procedurals as you can get. That doesn't mean it's above the odd cliche; early on Carson is partnered with an eager, by-the-book new recruit whose belief and idealism clash with his numb cynicism.
So yes it's bleak, and it does take a fair bit of concentration to acclimate to the show's thick Merseyside accents and heavy Liverpudlian slang. But it's worth it. The Responder is powerful TV, anchored by a powerhouse lead performance that leaves you as exhausted and stressed at the end of each episode as its characters.
