Last night, we watched the first episode of the new BBC America drama "The Hour." Seems promising. Set in 1956, the show revolves around a fictional a BBC precursor of "60 Minutes" called, surprisingly, "The Hour." Dominic West (of "The Wire) stars as Hector Madden, the "face" of the new program. Romola Garai and Ben Whishaw play the other two main characters: Bel Rowley, the producer of the newsprogram, and Freddie Lyon, an idealistic journalist who aspires to make television news more relevant. Lest you think this is simply a backstage drama at a news show, the program also follows Freddie's investigation of a murder that shadowy political figures in mid-50's England apparently do not want solved. In short, "The Hour" is "Broadcast News" meets "24."
We'll certainly keep watching, but we have one nagging problem with the show--or at least with this first episode. At the beginning, we learn that Freddie and Bel have worked together for some time, and they teasingly refer to each other as "Moneypenny" and "James." Now, we realize that the first James Bond book, Casino Royale, was published in 1953, followed by 3 more novels by 1956. It is therefore possible that these two youngish friends could have read the books and adopted the nicknames for each other. But since the first Bond movie ("Dr. No") didn't appear until 1962, it seems odd that these two would already have adopted a mannerism associated primarily with films.
To put it another way, the writers of "The Hour" surely expected that the audience would recognize the "James" and "Moneypenny" references. Moreover (in a Dathonian English sort of way), the writers would count on the fact that, when the viewers recognize the reference, they would also quickly gain some understanding of the relationship between Bel and Freddie: the easy familiarity of longtime "comrades in arms" with a hint of sexual tension bubbling underneath. But, again, this understanding arises from the viewers' familiarity with the Bond films rather than with Ian Fleming's books.
As lapses go, this is certainly forgivable. We assume the writers knew what they were doing and chose to introduce a minor anachronism in the interest of providing crisp exposition. We're putting the writers on notice, though: If Freddie ever refers to Bel as "Hermione," we're outta here!
Just for the record, the Bond books were wildly successful in England in the early/mid 50s, long (ish) before they got to the US. Thus, the anachronism isn't that much so. I remember waiting eagerly, as a teen, for the next ones to come out, here. They were, at the time, the only rivals to Mickey Spillane (look it up!) Now, if he adopted a SCOTTISH ACCENT... Also, although Whishaw LOOKS like he's 12, he's in his 30s, so his character would have been around a bit. Just thought I'd throw that in.
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