COULD MR DARCY REALLY BE A MONSTER?

THE STAIRCASE SKY ATLANTIC hhhhh

Colin Firth has spent much of his career trying to escape the role of Mr Darcy, first in Pride And Prejudice, then in Bridget Jones’s Diary. So imagining him in the role of Michael Peterson, the writer and aspiring politician convicted of killing his wife in 2003, was – for me at any rate – a bit of a stretch. But from the very first scene of The Staircase, co-starring Toni Collette (left, with Firth) as his victim (or is she?), I was hooked.

He interprets this complex and ambiguous character with, well, such complexity and ambiguity it’s hard to tear your eyes away from the screen. And for all the slick, stylish production values, it’s Firth who makes this so compelling. The way he unravels his character while somehow maintaining an element of restraint leaves the viewer never quite knowing whether this is a victim or a monster, and sometimes wondering whether he might just be both. One of those shows that will have your brain whirring.