Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

TV review: Mammals struggles to develop past intriguing opening episode

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

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?”.


You might also like…