4. The Lakes (1997)
After a drought in decent BBC dramas, along came the Jimmy McGoverned penned The Lakes, which really captivated viewer's imaginations. Danny Kavanagh is the unemployed, compulsive gambling, philandering man who says "Sod it" and retreats to the Lake District to sort himself out. He eventually becomes enmeshed in the community after he courts a local girl called Emma. A baby is born and the couple move to Liverpool. However Emma leaves Danny because of his gambling addiction. She takes the baby and returns to the Lakes. Danny follows her and gets a job at a rowing boat concession and they start to work things out. Danny has an admirer in the form of Lucy, a promiscuous young woman who does not react well to Danny's spurning of her. When three schoolchildren drown in the lake, Lucy lies to frame him. The community want a scapegoat and the inquest clears Danny so Lucy has a hard time of it. In the second series, Lucy is raped by three local men. Only Dan knows what happened that fateful night, and his knowledge puts him at odds again with the community. Some people have complained that the story arcs in The Lakes are improbable and stupid. I argue that sometimes we have to suspend our disbelief and enter into the spirit of things if we are to enjoy them. The Lakes is very sexy and edgy, it does not commit the cardinal sins of TV drama - mainly it is never boring. Jimmy McGovern strikes gold again with his script which is funny and entertaining whilst being a little bit off skew and containing lots of dodgy skulduggery. The beautiful surroundings of The Lakes are made to look quite sinister and threatening (and I have been to the Lake District and I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was beautiful). There is a lot of great acting from the cast as well as charming audacity from the plot. The Lakes is for grown ups who like their drama spicy and edgy.