Babylon is broadly labelled by Channel 4 as a "comedy drama", but it might be better described as a satire or at least a very black comedy which depicts the ups and downs of a fictionalised police force in London. Brit Marling plays Liz Garvey, an American PR genius sent in to sort out their less than brilliant public image, and James Nesbitt's Commissioner Richard Miller heads the team of coppers attempting to wrap their minds around her blue sky thinking. The cast is exciting enough, with Daniel Kaluuya (Skins, Black Mirror) and the always welcome Paterson Joseph popping up in supporting roles, but it's the creative talent behind Babylon which is really something to get worked up about. Danny Boyle returns to television to direct for the first time since the early 1990s, and he's collaborating with Peep Show and Fresh Meat creators Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, who have already proved themselves adept at switching between comedy and tragedy at a moment's notice. If all involved are firing on all cylinders, the feature-length pilot should be a thing of beauty.
