Rules of the Game is a four-part British television drama series, written by Ruth Fowler. It stars Maxine Peake as a sportswear executive who deals with the fallout of an employee's shocking death in her company's office building. It aired on BBC One from 11 to 19 January 2022.[2]
| Rules of the Game | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama Thriller |
| Created by | Ruth Fowler |
| Written by | Ruth Fowler |
| Directed by | Jennifer Sheridan |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Edmund Butt |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Simon Meyers |
| Cinematography | Milos Moore |
| Running time | 60 mins. |
| Production company | The Forge |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 11 January – 19 January 2022[1] |
Synopsis
editSam (Peake) is the chief operating officer at a family-run sportswear business in Northern England. When an employee turns up dead in the foyer, seemingly by suicide, Sam is forced to reflect on the company's problematic culture and events stretching back an entire decade, and another death.
Cast
edit- Maxine Peake as Sam
- Rakhee Thakrar as Maya
- Susan Wokoma as DI Eve Preston
- Kieran Bew as Gareth Jenkins
- Ben Batt as Owen Jenkins
- Dario Coates as DS Peter Alan
- Callie Cooke as Tess Jones
- Megan Parkinson as Gemma Thompson
- Tanya Vital as Beth Taylor
- Katherine Pearce as Carys Jenkins
- Zoë Tapper as Vanessa Jenkins
- Alison Steadman as Anita Jenkins
- Amy Leeson as Amy Dixon
- Dominic Vulliamy as Duncan Stephenson
Production
editFowler was inspired to write the series by the Harvey Weinstein scandals. The series was filmed in Manchester, the north west of England and also in Frodsham.[3]
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Jennifer Sheridan | Ruth Fowler | 11 January 2022 | N/A |
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Jennifer Sheridan | Ruth Fowler | 12 January 2022 | N/A |
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Jennifer Sheridan | Ruth Fowler | 18 January 2022 | N/A |
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Jennifer Sheridan | Ruth Fowler | 19 January 2022 | N/A |
Reception
editLucy Mangan of The Guardian awarded the first episode four stars out of five, praising the writing and its weaving together of commentary and mystery elements, and dubbed Peake's work 'another barnstorming performance'.[4] Anita Singh of The Daily Telegraph also gave it four out of five stars, calling the show 'high on entertainment value'.[5] Ed Cumming from The Independent gave the first episode two out of five stars, claiming 'the script and performances have all the subtlety of a boss’ hand up a skirt at the Christmas do.'.[6]
References
edit- ^ "BBC One - Rules of the Game, Series 1, Episode 4". BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Rules of the Game release date: cast, plot and trailer for BBC thriller". Radio Times. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Rules of the Game filming locations: Where is the BBC drama set?". HELLO!. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ Mangan, Lucy (11 January 2022). "Rules of the Game review – Maxine Peake is barnstorming in a rich, meaty murder mystery". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Singh, Anita (11 January 2022). "Rules of the Game, review: plenty of fun – and a furiously vaping Maxine Peake – in this mad MeToo thriller". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ "Maxine Peake abusive workplace drama Rules of the Game lacks nuance – review". The Independent. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
External links
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