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TV review: Mammals struggles to develop past intriguing opening episode

TV review Mammals
James Corden as Jamie Buckingham and Melia Kreiling as Amandine Buckingham in Mammals. Image: PA Photo/Amazon Studios/Dignity Productions Ltd/Luke Varley.

The new James Corden series Mammals (Amazon Prime) is a classic example of a show that seems to be building to something profound but ultimately goes nowhere.

And I say that not from the perspective of the now-fashionable pastime of hating on James Corden – anyone who can create something as brilliant as Gavin And Stacey gets a lifetime of goodwill from me.

What’s most surprising about the six-part comedy-drama is that it’s from Jez Butterworth, one of the UK’s most acclaimed playwrights. I just expected something, well, a bit more meaty.

The first episode opens promisingly … a holiday comes to halt in tragic fashion.”

The first episode starts promisingly, as we’re introduced to Jamie Buckingham (Corden) and his pregnant wife Amandine (Melia Kreiling) arriving at a dreamy Airbnb on the south coast.

Their holiday comes to a halt in tragic fashion though, when Amandine miscarries and Jamie has the difficult task of breaking the news to friends and relatives.

Sally Hawkins playing Lue in Mammals. Image: Luke Varley/Amazon prime/PA Wire

TV Review: James Corden’s Mammals

The episode ends on a cliffhanger when Jamie discovers text messages on his wife’s phone that reveal she’s been having a secret affair with a man called Paul.

So far so good… but from those intriguing beginnings, Butterworth’s story barely develops over the next five episodes.

All the way along it seems to be making weighty points about the nature of fidelity and commitment, but its over-reliance on surreal flights of fantasy comes across as story padding rather than profundity.

The worst of these is an ultimately pointless subplot featuring Sally Hawkins as Jamie’s sister Lue, who fantasises about being Coco Chanel’s assistant in 1920s Paris.

It’s a storyline you go along with in the moment because you think it’ll pay off in the end.”

Like much of Mammals, it’s a storyline you go along with in the moment because you think it’ll pay off in the end, but it never does.

You’re just left with lots of questions, like “What was the point of all that?”, “Did I miss something?” and “Was there a reason Tom Jones appeared in episode one and then we never saw him again for the rest of the series?”.


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