‘Sexy’ Netflix period drama with near perfect rating has just days to stream

BBC political thriller The Hour which has been praised as ‘outstanding’ is imminently leaving Netflix UK.

The 2011 drama which ran for two seasons is a star-studded affair featuring Dominic West, Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai and Peter Capaldi.

Set in June 1956, the six-part drama, ‘focuses on the launch of a new BBC program as the Suez Crisis is unfolding in the Middle East.’

There’s political intrigue, high-stakes reporting and messy romances – essentially all the ingredients which make a short BBC drama tick. And critics would agree with The Hour securing 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

As The New Yorker put it: ‘With its casting, its look, its unfolding mysteries, its attention to important historical events, its sexiness, The Hour hits every pleasure center.’

And The Spectator added: ‘The dialogue brims with zingers and has the velocity of an assault rifle, like the West Wing in its pomp, while the plot zooms along, twisting this way and that, oozing corruption, sex and ambition. And all against a setting best described as nostalgia on heat.’

Den of Geek had nothing but love for the high-caliber cast, reflecting: Ben Whishaw is great as bitter, passionate hack Freddie, as is Romola Garai as Bel, an ambitious woman seemingly decades ahead of her own time. Both are upstaged, however, by the towering presence of Dominic West.’

As for fans, one anonymous RT user said: ‘Outstanding show: fantastic script by Abi Morgan who also did River and The Split and outstanding performances. Season 2 was even better than season one. The best show we saw this year!’

‘Incredible cast and well written series, the historical setting is brilliant. Definitely worth a watch,’ Debbra W echoed.

In an interview with Uproxx at the time, writer Abi spoke about her approach to portraying women in the newsroom in this era.

‘Well, Bel was inspired by a handful of women who were working at the BBC, most notably Grace Wyndham Goldie, who was a female producer of Panorama Tonight, which is like 60 Minutes. 

‘And so I knew those women existed, although they were a minority.  But I think also what was kind of exciting for me also about Bel was I wanted to write about women in a post-war culture,’ she said.

She later added: ‘I feel like this was a show that had a lot of women on it.  Yet I’m still only one of a handful of female writers around. And invariably that sexism is still prevalent, still quite relevant to today.’

The last day to stream The Hour on Netflix is June 4.

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