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The Hour Season 2 Episode 1

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Aired Wednesday 9:00 PM Nov 14, 2012 on BBC America

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/14/12

1957: A new head of news, the cold-blooded Randall Brown, gives Bel trouble and so, increasingly, does Hector Madden.

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Fan Episode Reviews (2)

1957

8.5

By Neksmater, Aug 06, 2013

Having watched both series of the Hour rather closely together I must say that it's unfortunate that BBC2 passed on renewing this magnificent period piece for a third series. This series, often seen as a "Mad Men-esque" British rip-off is unfounded for those who haven't actually seen it. Without delving too much into spoilers both series of this show had very different conspiracies from the Brightstone spy thriller of Series 1 to the political-sex scandal of Series 2. The characters have evolved and the drama was always high stakes especially the "will they, won't they" of Bel and Freddie (although we'll never see that conclusion of whether Freddie is indeed alive for a third series or whether they will be together in the future). But Series 2 had a step up in terms of having a definable villain right off the start, the despicable Raphael Cilenti who is a ruthless blackmailing nightclub owner. Series 1 had more of a spy thriller element to it with Clarence and Tom Kish as the sort of antagonists passed along. Hector, the legit Dominic West from the Wire, has certainly evolved as well. This film gave a great retrospective on the nuclear age and the Cold War age that few other shows do that remain relevant from the period to now. But overall this series is definitely worth a look for anyone who can get into period television and wants to see some legitimately fine high caliber BBC production.moreless
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A new head of news makes Bel angry, whilst Hector's infidelities get him into big trouble - and Freddie returns with a surprise.

7.0

By orswel, Nov 20, 2012

The second season of "The Hour" seems, from its opening segment, to have digested a few lessons from the critical attacks on Season One's inaccuracies - although it's unlikely that any showgirl (or prostitute) of 1957 would say anything as quaint as "None of your beeswax!", or that anyone would talk about "the usual suspects" in the manner of thirty or forty years later. If the night-club scenes are strongly reminiscent of the 1989 movie "Scandal", they don't suffer much from comparison, but naming the sinister Italian club-owner "Raphael Cilenti" seems a little outrageous to anyone who recalls the career of Sir Raphael Cilento, admittedly a fearful reactionary but also one of the twentieth century's great experts on tropical medicine (and also, by the bye, father of Diane Cilento and erstwhile father-in-law of Sean Connery). This episode hints at forthcoming plotlines about nuclear-age paranoia (what a pity that Romola Garai mispronounces "nuclear" as "nuke-u-lear"), about police corruption and race riots. However, Episode One mostly concerns itself with BBC/ITV rivalries and the impossible arrogance of Hector Madden, who now seems an even sillier fellow than in Series One.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Romola Garai	Bel Rowley
Dominic West	Hector Madden
Ben Whishaw	Freddie Lyon

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Peter Capaldi	Randall Brown	Guest Star
Tom Burke	Bill Kendall	Guest Star
Lizzie Brochere	Camille Mettier	Guest Star
Anna Chancellor	Lix Storm	Recurring Role
Julian Rhind-Tutt	Angus McCain	Recurring Role
Oona Chaplin	Marnie Madden	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (2)
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- Lix Storm: When Hector asked me what I knew about Randall Brown, I replied: nothing at all. Please don't make me lie to you, too.
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- Hector Madden: [on seeing Freddie's new beard]:
  Holy cow! It's Sigmund Freud - or Moses.
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