Fackham Hall Review – A Rapid-Fire, Humorous Takeoff on Downton That's Pleasantly Ephemeral.
Perhaps the sense of an ending era around us: following a long period of quiet, the parody is staging a return. The recent season observed the re-emergence of this lighthearted genre, which, in its finest form, mocks the grandiosity of pompously earnest dramas with a barrage of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and stupid-clever puns.
Unserious times, so it goes, create an appetite for knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, welcome light fun.
The Newest Entry in This Goofy Resurgence
The latest of these silly send-ups comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that pokes fun at the highly satirizable pretensions of gilded UK historical series. Co-written by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature finds ample of source material to draw from and wastes none of it.
From a ridiculous beginning and culminating in a outrageous finale, this enjoyable aristocratic caper crams every one of its hour and a half with puns and routines ranging from the juvenile up to the authentically hilarious.
A Send-Up of The Gentry and Staff
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a pastiche of extremely pompous aristocrats and overly fawning servants. The narrative focuses on the feckless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in a series of calamitous events, their aspirations are pinned on securing unions for their two girls.
One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of betrothal to the suitable kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). However when she pulls out, the burden shifts to the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster of a woman" and and possesses unladylike notions about a woman's own mind.
Its Comedy Succeeds
The parody fares much better when sending up the stifling expectations imposed on early 20th-century women – an area often mined for po-faced melodrama. The stereotype of respectable, enviable femininity supplies the richest material for mockery.
The plot, as is fitting for an intentionally ridiculous spoof, is of lesser importance to the gags. The co-writer serves them up coming at a pleasantly funny clip. There is a killing, a bungled inquiry, and a star-crossed attraction involving the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
A Note on Pure Silliness
The entire affair is in lighthearted fun, however, this approach has limitations. The dialed-up absurdity inherent to parody might grate over time, and the entertainment value on this particular variety expires at the intersection of sketch and feature.
After a while, you might wish to go back to the world of (at least a modicum of) logic. Yet, one must applaud a sincere commitment to this type of comedy. If we're going to distract ourselves relentlessly, it's preferable to laugh at it.