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Diana and I, review: this twee drama will not live on in our memory

Tamsin Greig stars as Mary - WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' Digital Picture
Tamsin Greig stars as Mary - WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' Digital Picture

As the abdication of Edward VIII and the assassination of John F Kennedy were to earlier generations, the death of Diana, Princess of Wales is one of those rare events that is suspended in time in the memory for those who lived through it. In Diana & I (BBC Two) writer Jeremy Brock played on this idea, creating a gentle, if unchallenging, portmanteau drama that spun out four fictional stories of lives lived in that week in 1997 and how they were affected by the tragedy.

There was divorced Glaswegian florist Mary (Tamsin Greig), who saw an opportunity to resolve her money worries – and get respite from her mother (Gemma Jones) with Alzheimer’s – by nipping down to London with an old school pal Gordon (John Gordon Sinclair) to flog flowers to the millions of mourners. Bereaved Jack (Nico Mirallegro) found the strength to come out to his dad (Neil Morrissey) when his mother died the same night as the Princess.

Neil Morrissey - Credit: BBC
Neil Morrissey Credit: BBC

In Bradford, Yasmin (Kiran Sonia Sawar) ran away to London when her failing marriage to a failing businessman saw the bailiffs move in. And, in Paris, ambitious young reporter Michael (Laurie Davidson) sacrificed his honeymoon with wife Sophie (Charlotte Hope) for a chance to be in on the biggest story of his life.

As so often with anthology formats, engaging as these stories were, none of them was entirely satisfying, starved of sufficient time to develop the depth and emotional force needed to convey full dramatic impact. Mary and Gordy’s blossoming relationship probably got closest, but despite good performances by Greig and Sinclair, there was a sticky sweetness to it that pushed it into the realms of the twee.

Kiran Sonia Sawar - Credit: BBC
Kiran Sonia Sawar Credit: BBC

Additionally there was something just a little too tick-box about the story selection (gay – tick, ethnic minority – tick, Alzheimer’s – tick, soulless journalist gets his comeuppance – tick) that verged on the patronising, even if it never fully embraced it.

Still, it was very watchable, even enjoyable in how it pinpointed that particular moment in time. It might have had more resonance if it weren’t for the countless hours of archive clips, interviews and retrospectives that have already aired for the anniversary of the Princess’s death, which have stirred memories more profoundly with the real drama and tragedy of that time, and recalling our real responses to it. But compared to the events it was set against, Diana & I is unlikely to live on in our memory.

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