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TV REVIEW
The Following Events Are Based On a Pack of Lies ★★★½
There’s never any doubt Dr Rob Chance (Alistair Petrie) is a predator and scammer. The red flags come thick and fast from the outset of this intriguingly titled BBC dramedy, as the self-styled ecopreneur and head of “disruptive exploration” climate organisation Kangerlussuaq Climate Academy launches his latest campaign.
Alice Newman (Rebekah Staton) is determined to stop a scammer before he claims another victim in The Following Events Are Based On a Pack of Lies.
He’s preening, oily, snobby and flirtatious, a showman who oozes confidence and a taste for the finer things in life. And that’s well before we get to the moment when he is seen watching Michael Douglas and Glenn Close in a scene from the 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction. Watching Rob howl with laughter and glee as Douglas and Close sadistically hoist each other to still-greater levels of torment and humiliation says much about him, and points to the larger ambition of The Following Events Are Based On a Pack of Lies.
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The one thing in doubt is whether Alice (Rebekah Staton), whose life was derailed 15 years earlier by Rob, can stop him before he claims his next victim, Cheryl Harker (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a bestselling fantasy writer and recent widow whose latest Game of Thrones-like novel hasn’t hit the heights of her previous ones.
Alice knows the police are powerless to stop him, so she and her family hatch their own scheme to inveigle their way into Cheryl’s orbit to catch Rob in the act and to exact their revenge.
Written by sisters Penelope and Ginny Skinner, the five-part drama is stuffed with red flags, misdirections and red herrings. It has a lot on its plate as it charts the games of deception and delusion among this thrown-together trio and their wider circles. Moving between the opulent, fantasy-filled world of Cheryl, whose lavish home resembles a medieval castle, and the glum, working-class Alice, Pack of Lies is not only about exposing Rob’s manipulation and scheming. It’s also about the shame and isolation Alice, and now Cheryl, experience as his victims.
Cheryl Harker (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) could be the next victim in The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies.
The plot is deliberately wild, pushing narrative credibility and logic to a point that may well be a step too far for some viewers. And while the depictions of Rob wobble between clownishness and menace, it can seem like Cheryl is too clueless for her own good. Or does she see right through him, and is patiently waiting for his scheme to unravel? It’s not entirely clear. The storytelling takes some wild shots, not all of which hit the target. This extends to the casting as well. Derek Jacobi and Romola Garai are wasted in small roles that don’t connect in a meaningful way to the larger narrative.
Alistair Petrie plays the drama’s scammer.
Then again, fantasy is a big part of Cheryl’s world and a place to which Alice escapes – it’s no coincidence her partner, played by reliable oddball Julian Barratt, is a professional magician. The finale is a riot of colour and whimsy, suggesting that as long as blokes like Rob keep getting away with it, the fantasy of retribution might have to do.
Despite its shortcomings, this playful and unpredictable show raises many good questions. Why do we look to the victims – most often women – of scammers for explanations or justifications for their failure to spot red flags? Who is actually in control in these situations? And the biggest red flag of all? That would have to be Fatal Attraction.
The Following Events Are Based On a Pack of Lies screens at 9.10pm on Sundays on the ABC and is streaming on ABC iview.
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