The Bletchley Circle

If Susan Traherne, the disillusioned heroine of David Hare's 'Plenty' had only spent her war at Bletchley rather than with the SOE, she may have ended up well-adjusted enough to join her namesake (Anna Maxwell Martin) and chums in becoming a cross between Miss Marple and the Famous Five.

This was Ms Maxwell Martin's second TV outing of the week.  On Tuesday she was a compromised prison officer in a not entirely believable story from the 'Accused' series.  'The Bletchley Circle' stretched credulity far more.  It's 1952 and four plucky lasses who had helped crack codes, and therefore enemy heads, in WWII, are living unsatisfying lives on post-war rations.  So they do what any self-respecting ex-Bletchleyites would do and turn private detective.  Two of them have useless husbands, while two have jobs, and one has a couple of children, but these are no obstacles for the crime-busting brain-boxes.

Presumably this is ITV's attempt to catch the 'Call the Midwife' audience, with a circle of women in a man's world and a healthy dose of nostalgia.  The cosiness is jarred by childbirth, sex and poverty in 'Midwife', and by a serial killer here.  Yes, it's another misogynist who also happens to be a necrophiliac.  Sounds more CSI than anything by Christie or Blyton.  The clothes and hair have a similarly modern slant, with a patina of vintage chic, or drear, depending on the character.  This makes for an uncomfortable combination and inevitably the distinctly modern psychological profile approach feels wrong.

And what the hell was the scene with them using lipstick to draw a route on a map?  Dan suggests that maybe they didn't have pencils or pens in those days.  Ali thinks maybe it's making a point that these right-thinking-but-so-feminine gals would gladly sacrifice an expensive luxury like lipstick to save the world.  Or save some women anyway.  There's an unfortunate resonance with a recent EC advert to draw young girls into science, which featured sexily-clad lab assistants getting all experimental with the lipstick.  It was withdrawn within a day after a high number of complaints.

It's no disrespect to Anna MM, Julie Graham, Rachael Stirling or Sophie Rundle to say that it would take better actors to convince us.  We doubt those actors exist.  Too gory for Scooby-Doo, too cosily absurd for serious drama (more Rosemary and Thyme than... well, Midsomer Murders).  Quel dommage.