The 50 best TV shows of 2019: No 5 – The Virtues

The 50 best TV shows of 2019: No 5 – The Virtues

By Phil Harrison

Unflinching emotional honesty ... Stephen Graham in The Virtues. Photograph: Dean Rogers

It has been said that Stephen Graham is Shane Meadows’ muse. Graham’s qualities as an actor – unflinching emotional honesty, the ability to convey an infinity of turmoil in a single facial expression – coincide perfectly with Meadows’ journeys into despair and redemption.

The Virtues is a career peak for both. A drama that began as a desperate trawl through the anguish of Graham’s Joseph – a lonely alcoholic, spun further off the rails by the departure of his son to Australia with his mother and stepfather – evolved into a moving depiction of everyday heroism.

The Virtues is a tale of abuse and survival – and Meadows’ extraordinary Observer interview before the series aired showed exactly how personal this was.

Meadows revealed that as a nine-year-old he was sexually abused by a teenager in woods near his aunt’s home.

Full Story: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/dec/13/best-tv-shows-2019-no-5-the-virtues