Darkly comic British miniseries Two Weeks to Live pits Game of Thrones alum Maisie Williams, who depicted the wily would-be knight Arya, against another end-of-the-world scenario. This time it’s not winter that’s coming in the form of ice zombies; it’s a much-more human apocalypse that’s been dreamt up by her character Kim Noakes’ paranoid delusional, end-of-days prepper mum Tina (Sian Clifford, famously Fleabag’s harried sister).
Escaping their isolated cabin cloistered somewhere in the Scottish highlands, Kim’s packed the four-wheel drive full of everything she’ll need to make it to the end days, including a handgun stashed in her handbag. And while she may not be au fait with British currency, more fool the greasy roadside caf’ and even greasier personality proprietor who tries to fleece her. After she’s done teaching him a lesson, including being kinder to his wife, Mandy, the latter delivers Kim’s forgotten bacon sarnie to her jeep. “That’s ok, Mandy. I’ve had enough pig for one day.”
On the road: Kim (Maisie Williams) has life in the wilderness but things are about to turn chaotic. Credit: Nick Wall / Sky UK
With a dash of , a flash of and a splash of this gloriously off-the-wall show revels in whipping us up with witty one-liners before immediately undercutting them with goofery, thanks to a cotton-woolled Kim’s total lack of street smarts, despite her hand-to-hand combat and loaded firearms mastery. “Jesus, how many times have I told you, gloves and a gun if you want up have fun,” Tina cajoles her daughter at one stage.
Why pack a handbag and heels – “Is this definitely a shoe?” – you might ask if global panic’s about to break out and you’re on a mission? While one choice is infinitely more convenient for transporting stuff than the other, surely a backpack would accessorise better with Kim’s heavy-duty lace-up leather boots and all-weather wear?
The thing is, she’s only 21 and has never been kissed, so this hilariously off-kilter thriller also throws romantic tropes into the mix. Kim’s list of her last wishes includes indulging in a dalliance with a track-suited lad in a pub, a proper British rite of passage. And she’s headed straight for the south of England pub where her parents met when they were (a) much younger and free of doomsday scenarios, plus (b) both still alive.
Nicky (Mawaan Rizwan). Credit: NICK WALL
Enter stage right the gormless Nicky, played geekily cute by Pakistani-British comedian and YouTube sensation Mawaan Rizwan. Nicky may not have grown up smothered in a cabin-in-the-woods-cum-Armageddon bunker, but he isn’t much more worldly wise, as his buffer but less brainy brother Jay (Taheen Modak) loves to regularly rib him. Prodding Nicky in Kim’s direction brings all the feels, as if we’re swaying tipsily into classic British rom-com territory while they bond over lost family.
Only Jay has to go and ruin it with a practical joke that spirals into Kim convincing herself that humanity’s annihilation is T-minus two weeks away. Hurtling off on a vengeance quest, she’s determined to take out Jimmy (Dog Soldiers star Sean Pertwee), the gangster who murdered her father and sent her mum into an isolationist spin. Cue a ferociously scenery-wrecking and barb-slinging fight between them, with Thrones fans sure to recognise one smooth move in particular.
Sean Pertwee as Jimmy. Credit: Sky UK
Pertwee chews up this glorious cameo that flip-flops between grudging respect and dirty tricks and back again. His Pennyworth co-star Jason Flemyng also pops up as a goon determined to put an end to Kim, alongside Ragdoll actor Thalissa Teixeira’s as exasperated wing-woman Thompson in a great cast that makes the most of the show’s odd beats.
Deftly mixing bone-shuddering fight choreography from The Marvels stunt coordinator Jo McLaren and a not inconsiderable dollop of gore – always check your pockets for brain matter after clearing up a crime scene – with daggy dad jokes, The Office-like awkwardness and hurry up and kiss already energy, Two Weeks to Live works a bonkers but beautiful chaos into a captivating show about finding your place when all you think you’ve known is a nonsense.
Jason Flemyng as Brooks and Thalissa Teixeira as Thompson. Credit: Sky UK
Williams, so good in The Falling, plays a stone-cold killer, not unlike Arya, that you can’t help but root for as she sets about figuring out a totally alien but exciting world that might not be all over after all. But will her obsessive, obviously damaged but also fiercely awesome mum let her go? Is there any hope for Kim and Rizwan’s delightfully doe-eyed Nicky? And, if so, is it wise reigniting a blood feud while trying to start afresh?
With each episode gleefully upping the stakes, it’s as if that doomsday clock actually is tock-ticking down to midnight. You’ll be hooked into Two Weeks to Live like tinned tuna crammed into a nuclear bunker’s storeroom.
Double episodes air weekly from Monday the 8th of January at 9.25pm on SBS VICELAND. The full series will also be streaming on SBS On Demand from 8 January.
