''Boat Story'' is a 2023 British comedy thriller television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

made for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and

Amazon Freevee Amazon Freevee (stylized as freevee and fv, also shortened as Freevee, formerly known as IMDb Freedive and IMDb TV, and sometimes spelled FV) is an American Free ad-supported streaming television, ad-supported video on demand, video-on-demand ( ...

by the

All3Media All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film, and digital production and distribution company based in London. The All3Media group consists of more than 50 production and distribution companies and labels from the Uni ...

production company,

Two Brothers Pictures Two Brothers Pictures is a British television production company founded in 2014 by brothers Harry and Jack Williams. The company launched with the BBC One series '' The Missing''. The show was nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards, 4 BAFTAs and ...

. Written and co-directed by

Harry and Jack Williams Harry and Jack Williams are English brothers best known for their work as television screenwriters and producers. They created '' The Missing'' and its spinoff '' Baptiste'' having previously worked on series such as '' Hotel Babylon'', '' Wild at ...

, it stars

Daisy Haggard Daisy Haggard (born 1978) is an English actress and writer. She gained prominence through her roles in the BBC sitcoms ''Uncle'' (2014–2017) and ''Episodes'' (2011–2017). With Laura Solon, she co-wrote and starred in the BBC Three comedy-d ...

Paterson Joseph Paterson Davis Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor and author. Joseph appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions of ''King Lear'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in '' ...

Tchéky Karyo Tchéky Karyo (; born Baruh Djaki Karyo; 4 October 1953) is a Turkish-born French actor and musician. Beginning his career as an actor on stage in classical and contemporary works, he began to work as a character actor in films in the 1980s. He h ...

Joanna Scanlan Joanna Marion Scanlan (born 27 October 1961) is a British actress and writer. On television, she is known for her roles in ''The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), ''Big School'' (2013–2014), ''Puppy Love'' (2014), '' No Offence'' (2015–2018), ...

Craig Fairbrass Craig John Fairbrass (born 15 January 1964) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. He has made appearances in ''For Queen and Country'' (1988), ''London's Burning (TV series), London's Burning'' (1990), ''Cliffhanger (film), Cliffhang ...

, and

Phil Daniels Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is an English actor, musician and singer, most noted for film and television roles playing Londoners, such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ''Quadrophenia'', Richards in '' Scum'', Stewart in '' T ...

Synopsis

Cocaine is found on a boat by two hard-up strangers, Janet and Samuel, who agree to sell it and split the proceeds. They quickly find themselves entangled with the police, masked hit men, and a sharp-suited gangster known as "The Tailor".

Cast

as Janet Campbell *

as Samuel Wells *

as The Tailor *

as Pat Tooh *

as Guy *

as Craig Dodds *

Ethan Lawrence Ethan David Lawrence (born 28 September 1992) is an English actor. He is known for playing the roles of Joe Poulter in the BBC series '' Bad Education'' and James in the Netflix black comedy series '' After Life''. Since 2021, he has played var ...

as PC Ben Tooh, Pat's son. *

Michele Austin Michele Austin is a British actress. She best known for her role as Yvonne Hemmingway on ITV's ''The Bill'', for which she won the Screen Nation Award for Best Television Actress, and for her portrayal of Chantelle in '' Hard Truths'', for wh ...

as Camilla Wells, Samuel's wife. *

Kate Dickie Kate Dickie (born 1971) is a Scottish actress who has appeared in television series, stage plays and films. She is known for her television roles as Lex in the BBC series '' Tinsel Town'' (2000–2001) and Lysa Arryn in the HBO series ''Game o ...

as Katia *

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (born 3 March 1973) is an Icelandic and American actor, screenwriter, and producer, known for his roles in films such as ''Children'', '' The Deep'', '' The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'', and '' Eurovision Song Contest: ...

as the Narrator *

Adam Gillen Adam Gillen (born 11 September 1985) is a British actor, best known for his role as Liam Conroy in the ITV hit series ''Benidorm'', Brian in the Channel 4 comedy '' Fresh Meat'' and Gavin in BBC's '' Prisoners’ Wives''. In 2019, Gillen was n ...

as Vinnie Douglas *

Jonas Armstrong Jonas Armstrong (born 1 January 1981) is an Irish-English actor who rose to prominence playing the title character on the BBC's ''Robin Hood'' (2006–2009). He has since appeared in miniseries such as '' Dark Angel'' (2016), '' Troy: Fall of a ...

as Arthur * Charlie Hamblett as Benoit

Production

The project was announced by the BBC and Amazon Freevee in November 2022 as a six-part series, produced by Two Brothers Pictures of All3Media. Written by Harry and Jack Williams, the actors Haggard, Joseph, Daniels, Scanlan, Karyo and Fairbrass were announced as the cast. The Williams brothers direct episodes, as do Alice Troughton and Daniel Nettheim.

Filming

Filming took place on Coatham Beach, Redcar on the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

coast in November 2022. Filming also took place in

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdiv ...

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...

, and Halifax in 2023.

Reception

Critical reception

Jasper Rees in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' gave the show four stars out of five, praising the performances of “likeable” Haggard and Joseph, noting that the tone swung “wildly between carefree irony and repellent savagery” and that “in the first episode, a tongue is severed with brutal nonchalance while bodies pile profligately high in a

Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to popular culture. His work has ...

-esque killing spree.” Nick Hilton in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' gave the series three stars out of five, praising Haggard as “a terrific presence”, but found the “quippy tone grating” when coupled with the violence akin to “directors like the

Coen Brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

, Quentin Tarantino, and

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...

”, and “humour mixed with a blackness colour-matched from the darkest recesses of the universe”.

Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' also praised the performance of Haggard and gave the series five stars. Saying that she "loved it", she noted its "cleverness, style and innovation", and thought it evoked "Quentin Tarantino,

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. Wes Anderson filmography, His films are known for themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Due to his films' eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative ...

and the Coen brothers in its ability to mash genres together".

Broadcast

''Boat Story'' premiered on

and

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2023, and was released on

in the United States on 12 March 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Story 2023 British television series debuts 2023 British television series endings BBC crime drama television shows British thriller television series 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British television miniseries Television series by All3Media British English-language television shows Television shows shot in Yorkshire Television series about illegal drug trade Television series about organized crime Television series about violence Amazon Freevee original programming