The third episode of the third series was certainly something else, so I decided to review it myself.
In general, The Vice is definitely not for the weak-hearted, but personally I found this episode, Force Of Nature, by far the most chilling. Usually I would hardly consider myself as easily disturbed when it comes to violence on TV; but after the last couple of scenes I felt more like an innocent, naïve child who accidentally stumbled across the room and watched PC Cheryl Hutchins (played superbly by Caroline Catz) about to be raped.
At first, I wasn't sure why exactly I found it so shocking. Was it merely because Caroline Catz is one of my favourite actresses or that Inspector Pat Chappel, the one who would risk his career to help a prostitute, wasn't fighting off the prisoners to protect her? I quickly dismissed the first reason. I've seen Catz act a near-rape scene before, but this was something else: one that I know I won't forget in a hurry. The latter definitely played a part in it though. To see Chappel so desperate yet so powerless was almost haunting.
The actors outdid themselves throughout the programme. It was hard not to pity Daniel Evans as Aaron, the suicidal prisoner who watched and was forced to join in a vicious attack on his girlfriend. As usual, Ken Stott gave an outstanding performance as the caring and sympathetic Chappel, who was listening helplessly to yet another woman screaming for help. Listening to Caroline Catz pleading for help, it was hard not to be drawn in. At the beginning, her character didn't seem to be deeply involved in the case, but as the plot developed, her acting became stronger and more convincing. However, in my opinion, Ian Puleston-Davies stole the show. Having seen him in The Bill a petty crook, I was amazed to see how well he portrayed the psychotic George Randolph, preaching that maybe sex-offenders aren't perverts but just doing what nature intended.
My only criticism would be of Sgt. Joe Robinson. David Harewood played him well, but I felt that the problem was due to the script rather than the acting. I found it hard to believe that Robinson, a cautious, objective man with two children, would put anyone, let alone his colleagues, in that kind of danger, and then leave them there until Cheryl's clothes were being pulled off by five or six rapists, all to get a result.
All in all, it was a tense, gripping episode: everything that a drama should be.
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Source - Teletext
Date - 25th May 2001
Written by - Jonathan Donald
Dour Scottish actor Ken Stott is making a habit of playing roles immersed in the dark side of human nature.
In The Vice, he's a tough maverick cop working among the pimps, prostitutes and junkies.
Now he stars in BBC crime drama Messiah as a troubled copper on the trail of a ritualistic serial killer.
Harrowing stuff. Stott, 46, admits it's taken a heavy toll on him both mentally and physically.
"I used to be able to switch off at the end of the day," confesses the weary-looking Edinburgh-born star.
"But nowadays it really does get to you at times. It's a sort of general depression that sets in."
So how does he deal with it? "I get drunk," he cackles with his smoker's laugh. "No, no, no, that's not me," he quickly adds, looking defensive.
In addition to dealing with the dark side of his roles, Stott has been dogged by ill health.
Production was halted last July on Messiah when he was struck down with crippling stomach pains.
Doctors discovered Crohn's disease and treatment included taking steroids that made him put on weight.
By the time filming resumed in January this year, he'd piled on two stone.
The disease forced hime into hospital for six days during filming.
Despite looking ashen and puffy when we meet, he claims to be recovered.
"I have taken all the prescribed medication and regularly see my specialist," says the actor who lives with his partner, actress Di Sherlock in London.
"I am much recovered, without my way of life being greatly affected."
Viewers should be warned of the gruesome content in BBC crime series Messiah, staring Ken Stott.
A serial killer is on the loose replicating the deaths of the 12 Apostles. And, as DCI Red Metcalfe, it's Stott's job to find him.
"I think we've succeeded in creating a nerve-jangling experience for viewers," he comments. "It offers the chance to be scared but from within a safe environment. But it is scary."
One scene sees Stott open the door on a crime scene where a crucified man is festering.
"It wasn't nice - but we were told the flies were clean," he laughs.
But isn't it sensationalist? "There is a world of horror movies which has it's own shelf in the video store," he says.
"I don't think this belongs on that shelf, but if it went any further it probably would."
Stott has clawed his way back to health after a traumatic year.
Drugs and visits to his converted farmhouse in Umbria, Italy, have boosted his recovery. But there is another tonic he needs - laughter.
"I'd love to do comedy. I need comedy in my life," he says mournfully.
But it's not to be. He shoots a new series of The Vice in August. And in November, he will tread the boards of the London stage in The Faith Healer.
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"We were in a huge crowd, just by the tunnel where Princess Diana died, when some French guys grabbed my boyfriend and carried him off" explains Rosie, 23. "Then, suddenly, there were three of them on me. They were laughing and joking and I just saw red. I'm not a violent person but I'm a black belt in karate and I ended up giving one of them a bloody nose. They were so shocked, I managed ot get away. When we filmed The Vice it really hit home because I could imagine the fear someone in that situation would feel. It reminded me of how lucky I'd been to escape that day."
Surly but sexy Scot Ken Stott has the kind of face that was born to play a police detective snuffling around in the murky world of sex shops, so he is in his element here as Inspector Chappel. In the first case in a new series he sets out to break up a brothel and finds that the Mr Big behind it is a colleague DS Vickers. But the story is not as simple as sorting out a bent copper. Vickers and Chappel go back a long way and Chappel is determined to nail his rival for good. This is gritty, in-your-face stuff, drawing on the strengths of Prime Suspect and Cracker and similarly delving into the underbelly of criminal society, but also retaining an identity of it's own. Posh Tim Pigott-Smith is especially good value, cast against type as slimy rotten apple Vickers.
ITV's stylishly tacky crime series The Vice, takes viewers into the seediest areas of London's sex industry and somehow still manages to provide entertainment that is gripping rather than gratuitously grubby.
