Rocky "road" ahead
Channel
9 must have thought all their Christmases had come at once. With
Underbelly a huge hit, they just happened to have another
locally-produced crime drama (set in Melbourne no less) waiting
in the wings. So the network has unleashed Canal Road
upon us; but those looking for “Underbelly 2” in this
series are likely to be disappointed.
The title is the name of a (fictional) medico-legal
centre in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. The idea of the
series is that it delves into the personal and professional lives
of the medical and legal types who work at the centre. The idea
has merit – although not the gritty appeal of an underworld
gang war.
The putative lead character is Dr Spence McKay (Paul
Leyden). He’s a psychiatrist struggling to get his life
back together since his wife and son were killed in a car accident.
Why is it that psychiatrists always seem to be the most messed-up
people in TV series? I guess it could be a case of “physician,
heal thyself”.
Anyhow, it seems that the deaths were no accident,
so (as any self-respecting white-collar medical professional would
do), Spence embarks on a quest to find the murderer. According
to the series synopsis, Spence gradually uncovers “a tangled
mystery of murder, corruption and cover-ups stretching to the
very top of the political and business worlds”.
That’s all well and good I suppose (if you
accept the rather far-fetched premise); but Canal Road’s
downfall is that it tries to do too much. If it was just about
Spence’s vendetta to uncover the truth (a la Jack Bauer
in 24), you could readily go along with it. But Canal
Road takes far too many detours into the lives of other inhabitants
of the eponymous centre.
There’s the no-nonsense corrections officer,
Holly Chong (Peta Sergeant) who’s being stalked by one former
“client” while at the same time getting dangerously
close to another. Surely Spence or one of the many lawyers in
the centre could tell her this isn’t a great idea. Maybe
the sexually voracious Daina Connelly (Sybilla Budd), a lawyer
and client of Spence’s, could give her the lowdown. Or perhaps
she could turn to the long arm of the law, in the form of Det.
Ray Driscoll (Grant Bowler). Then there’s the desperately
unhappy centre director Dr Olivia Bates (Dianna Glenn), who’s
dealing with tragedy of her own; and the romantically challenged
nurse Bridget Keenan (Brooke Satchwell). And there are even more
characters lurking around the corridors to contend with.
Amidst all this existential angst and romantic meltdown,
it’s a wonder poor Spence has the time to set about finding
the killer. Its other crucial weakness is a plot that takes far
too long to get where it’s going. The central mystery isn’t
all that well-developed initially, and could have done with a
punchier build-up. Also, the fact that the other elements of the
show conflict with, rather than add to, this mystery allows the
show to border on tedium occasionally.
As the lead character, Paul Leyden is a bit too
clean-cut and, well, bland for my liking. I would have preferred
to see Grant Bowler as the conflicted headshrinker frankly. While
the show has a large number of female characters, they’re
sometimes not treated well by the script. Sybilla Budd’s
rather clichéd lawyer is a case in point, although the
actress tries hard to lift the material. I did however quite like
Peta Sergeant as the dicey parole officer and Dianna Glenn as
the centre director.
While I can see what Nine were trying to do with
Canal Road, I think it falters under the weight of its
own ambition. To try to follow so many characters and storylines,
even over a 13 week season, is asking a lot of viewers. The variable
quality of the script and the need to establish all the personalities
render this one for the too-hard basket.
Phil James
