Suranne Jones' new show Maryland is unlike anything we’ve seen her in
When we think of Suranne Jones and Eve Best, on-screen moments that come to mind are the former being winched down below sea level in Vigil and the latter riding off in a blaze of glory atop a dragon in House of the Dragon.
Yet the two have now teamed up for a show that is worlds away from these high-octane tales of intrigue and power, in the quiet domestic family drama Maryland. Distant and diametrically opposed sisters Becca (Jones) and Rosaline (Best), travel to the Isle of Wight when their mother – the titular Mary – suddenly dies during a secret trip.
Dutiful mum Becca has raised a family with her childhood sweetheart, but has been ground down by the daily slog of feeding mouths that will never be sated. Meanwhile, Rosaline fled their hometown to nimbly climb the greasy pole in the City, but now harbours fears over her health.
If these facts aren't enough to hammer home their differences, their wardrobes are a constant reminder. Becca anxiously cleans in bobbly jumpers and ill-fitting jeans while Rosaline thrashes in and out of cabs in her minimalist stealth-wealth cashmere sets.
There's that, and the fact they're often arguing. Or at least doing that sisterly thing where they're not explicitly fighting, but barbed comments and sneaky side-eyes show they are indeed fighting.
These are the types of small, humdrum details the drama is made up of, with contemplative walks, phone calls and boiled kettles bringing the kitchen sink feel to the morbid admin necessary after a death in the family.
When the sisters discover the secret double life behind their late mother's trip, they're forced to stick around to look for answers and, in the meantime, do a speedy repair job on the decades-long resentments that have been rotting their relationship away.
The power of Becca and Rosaline's dynamic on screen does start to supersede the intrigue around their mother's life, so much so that when the cause of her death is revealed, its implications are never addressed in a satisfying way.
Yet at a tight three episodes, Maryland does what so many bloated efforts struggle to, getting in and out in with impeccable pace. With superb performances from the lead stars, as well as standout supporting turns from those Mary has left behind, in Holby City veteran Hugh Quarshie, Happy Valley's George Costigan and the Pink Ladies supremo herself Stockard Channing, the show even accomplishes the bottled-magic effect of leaving you wanting more.
During a Maryland panel, Jones told Digital Spy and other press that, as a co-creator on the three-parter, she had the choice of playing either Rosaline or Becca. She said she chose the latter because it was a departure from her typical roles.
"Most people thought I'd play Rosaline," she said. "But with Vigil and Gentleman Jack, I've done a lot of shows where I've been leading and I've been very front-footed.
"I felt like I wanted to play a younger sister. I wanted to play someone who was dragged along or had felt stuck, rather than had things all clued up and ran the show."
She also spoke about how the parental grief in Maryland is intimately connected to her own experience of losing both her parents. Perhaps this is in part what makes Jones' beautifully meditative performance such a revelation for an actor who has made her post-soap name playing sharp and impenetrable characters.
The only real criticism for Maryland is that once you find out the truth of their mother Mary's life on the isle, the direction of the plot to its conclusion feels inevitable and unsurprising.
But perhaps this is what the twisty-turny nature of shows like Vigil and House of the Dragon have done to us as modern TV viewers – we're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it doesn't, it's certainly a breath of fresh air, but also leaves you feeling like you've gone to retrieve a perfectly prepared cake from the oven, only to find its sponge has sunk in on itself.
In the lead-up to this year's TV BAFTAs, there was chatter around an apparent anti-ITV bias among the voters – and the numbers didn't do much to disprove the theory, with the BBC and Channel 4 regularly outstripping ITV for number of nominations. After Jed Mercurio's Bodyguard was bombarded with accolades, his tense effort as exec producer for ITV, Trigger Point, was wholly shut out, proving a surprising oversight from the jurors.
From the based-on-a-true-story farce The Thief, His Wife & The Canoe to Russell T Davies's brilliantly camp Nolly, ITV's limited-series output is at the top of its game. Viewers can hopefully expect more of the same as the broadcaster continues to pour resources into ITVX.
Maryland is another example of an ITV miniseries that shines, and it will be well at home among these top-tier titles on the streaming service. We can only hope the stellar performances it contains are in the conversation come TV BAFTA nominations next year.
Maryland airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Monday, May 22, when all three episodes will be available to stream on ITVX.
You Might Also Like
