Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic washed up by the river in David Lynch’s seminally perturbing TV show Twin Peaks will live forever in pop culture consciousness. It’s a difficult image to top, but Wolf creator Megan Gallagher gives it her best shot in the startlingly off-kilter opening moments of her quirky, spooky and tonally out-there British thriller series.
Set in the sunlit gardens of a grand old house, any space to breathe this peaceful place allows is soon shattered by the sight of a gas-masked figure wrapped in the protective plastic of a hazmat-like suit, dragging a body shrouded much like Palmer’s. But unlike Kyle MacLachlan’s thoughtful FBI agent Dale Cooper, this mysterious figure is not in the midst of a sensitively handled clean-up job. Nope. Instead, we are startled by a savage twist, landing you somewhere between shocked and shriek laughter.
If those seem like conflicting feelings, that’s half the joy of surrendering to this wild Wolf. Gallagher’s used to mashing genres, having brought a spooky twist to scandinoir show , but this is next level. Like Twin Peaks, it dabbles in the trappings of crime noir infused with the macabre and a strangely alluring sense of humour. Directed by regular Kristoffer Nyholm and Lee Haven Jones (Shetland), Wolf playfully pushes you onto the back foot.
Things start to unfold for DI Jack Caffery (Ukweli Roach). Credit: BBC / Hartswood Films / Simon Ridgway
Don’t get too used to that glorious sunshine, because we’re plunged almost immediately into creepy horror movie territory where we meet The Midwich Cuckoos redo star Ukweli Roach’s taciturn copper Jack Caffrey. He’s investigating a damp and dingy basement tunnel in which kids’ toys are strewn in murky puddles pooling on the dank ground. Why is the young boy’s voice pleading for help from behind a locked door so unnerving? Gallagher’s gasp-inducing show presents a series of head-scratching mysteries in an opening episode that gleefully messes with expectations.
In truth, Wolf has more in common with the genteel but surreal creep of a show like Midsomer Murders than Lynch’s Whodunnit. There’s an almost pantomime “he’s behind you” energy to the nefarious goings on here that dials M for murder most marvellous. Gallagher clearly had a blast adapting the novel by Mo Hayder, one of several pseudonyms adopted by Clare Damaris Bastin.
An interesting character herself, Bastin was a page three model who went on to appear in saucy British comedy show Are You being Served? Gallagher has harnessed that cheeky spirit here.
There’s a kind of camp touch to Wolf, which is why you shouldn’t be too surprised when Jack’s girlfriend Veronica (Kezia Burrows) coos, “I love it when you talk cop stuff,” at him even as the show outlines his psychological wounds inflicted by a terrible childhood tragedy and his burning obsession with the admittedly creepy neighbour (Anthony Webster) across the way who may or may not have murdered his baby brother.
Matilda (Juliet Stevenson), Oliver (Owen Teale) and Lucia (Annes Elwy) before their unexpected visitors arrive. Credit: BBC / Hartswood Films / Simon Ridgway
Why is their nervously sketchy daughter Lucia (Annes Elwy) so on edge? And is there a particular reason why the unannounced arrival of a pair of comic coppers, played by Sacha Dhawan and Iwan Rheon, sets alarm bells ringing despite severed phone lines? Is it just because we're used to seeing them as infamously unhinged meanies on Doctor Who and Game of Thrones respectively, or is something weirder afoot here?
Sacha Dhawan as Honey and Iwan Rheon as Molina. Credit: BBC / Hartswood Films / Simon Ridgway
Wolf wears weird with pride, and that’s why it’s such a great ride. By playing it straight, Roach keeps the wild mood swings in check as we inch closer towards figuring out what links a bucolic-be-gone home invasion to the mean streets of the capital and back to his troubled childhood.
DI Jack Caffery (Ukweli Roach) has a lot to sort out. Credit: BBC / Hartswood Films / James Pardon
Rocking a natty line in jackets, he’s a great addition to the hardboiled tradition, even as his boss, Superintendent Driscoll (Gangs of London’s Amanda Drew), rolls her eyes at Jack refusing to join the other cops at the pub. “You millennials are determined to throw it all away,” she clucks of him turning his back on their heard-earned reputation for being permanently soused.
Perhaps another similarity with the very different vibe of Twin Peaks is that nothing quite fits the mould here. Gallagher broke it, and that’s what will have you bingeing six wonderfully entertaining episodes.
Wolf is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
