Tele-drama - Christopher and His Kind

Reading from many Doctor Who forums about the upcoming drama starring Matt Smith as esteemed writer, Christopher Isherwood, it had to be said I was intrigued. Knowing nothing about Isherwood or his life and the only a teaser from drama being that of Smith lying on a pier with a fellow male in a romantic position, it had me even further intrigue. Of course, this in mind, Isherwood isn’t the first gay-themed role Smith has been in; having researched the man when he was first cast in the role of the Doctor and seeing his past performances on stage, specifically the image of him up close and personal with actor Phil Daniels.

Having an idea what to expect closer to the time, trailers starting to pop up and, of course, the brilliantly titled ‘Naked Doctor’ RadioTimes cover, I was fully prepared for the story. Then reading the article provided within aforementioned magazine, it was to discover the tale of uptight British class, uprising Nazism, old friendships and new loves and let me tell you, the programme itself didn’t disappoint, especially with Lindsay Duncan in the upper-class, overt role of Kathleen, Isherwood’s mother. It was up to a good start, Duncan performing like all other parents should: scared at their children growing up, unwilling to let her eldest son fly the nest, even going to the extent of reminding Isherwood, who was leaving for Germany, that the German’s killed her husband (obviously in the First World War).

The drama of course moves quickly after into the realms of the underworld homosexual world of the 1930s, Toby Jones playing a rather perverted but lovely middle-aged character, Gerald, introducing Isherwood into the ‘new-world’ of Germany, even offering him accommodation which introduces both the main protagonist and the viewers to the brilliant female character of Fräulein Thurau, the Landlady of Isherwood and Gerald’s accommodations, with the character being an almost mother-figure to Isherwood (with the absence of his own mother) and portrayed by the brilliant underrated actress, Issy Van Randwyck.

Then introduces the inspiration for the works of Chicago: Jean Ross, played by the unsung star of Cracks, Imogen Poots. Jean could be classed as the sister Isherwood never had but always wanted; outspoken and a lover of life, speak-singing in bars with a cigarette to pay her rent and determined to be the main figure of Isherwood’s next novel, which she eventually does. Her character is just perfect for the setting of the televisual movie, slotting into place to perfectly that when she finally moves away, it’s both a shock and sadness for Isherwood and viewers alike. Within the drama though, she has an avid effect on Isherwood, allowing the character to be drawn into the horrors of the growing Nazi threat, especially when her boyfriend is caught as a traitor and savagely beaten by the soldiers—and let me just say here and now how brilliantly created that particular scene was.

And of course it cannot be forgotten the main subject of Christopher and His Kind: the lover. A simple boy working as street sweeper that Isherwood falls head over heels for: Heinz (and no, not the ketchup brand). With a dying mother and converted brother, it isn’t easy for Heinz to start a relationship with Isherwood, only finally allowed it when his mother passes and his brother disowns him. Isherwood the only one there for him, sticking with him through thick and thin, even trying to get Heinz a green card to live in Britain and away from the Nazi threat, which is of course denied, forcing both Isherwood and Heinz to return to Nazi Germany and run.

Then of course, the main scene that sticks to mind from the thought of Nazi Germany is the scene when Isherwood leaves to go shopping for a simple pair of socks to find the town square decorated from pavement to roof with the large red banners presenting the Swastika, himself discovering a previous lover converted and witnessing a book burning of mass proportion that simply sends a tear to the eye; the realization that joining the Nazis was more than just a choice, it was forced. Either you became a Nazi or you suffered for not, the horror must have been overwhelming, and to be a simple tourist, a visitor to the country, it must have been more than just a culture shock…

Sex. No other better way to state it, but Nazism, friends and overwhelming mothers aside, the sex scene(s) involved within the show too were powerful, if not just rough. As a straight actor, Smith must be very open, even with the thirty-something members behind the camera, to film powerful scenes like those featured within Christopher and His Kind. Although there were no love-making scenes involved with Heinz, those with the poet W.H. Auden and Caspar (not the friendly ghost, but that of a rented partner) were seriously enthralling and creatively done.

Then the finish off; the final scenes, set twenty years after the events of the main story where we see that Isherwood has moved on with his life. He and Heinz meet once more in Germany, only to discover that Heinz is married and has a son, a not uncommon occurrence, Heinz having finally been caught by the Nazis two years after he and Isherwood had started their trek through Germany. The reunion perfectly emotional, Heinz (and his tiny Hitler-moustache) wanting to restart something unfinished, Isherwood knowing it shouldn’t be so and leaving Heinz disheartened and alone as Isherwood continues with his life.

To conclude, Christopher and His Kind was a perfectly created adaptation, Matt Smith playing the titular role with gusto, leaving behind his new persona of the Doctor so perfectly that even the most obsessed fan saw him as Christopher Isherwood. The BBC did, for use of no other perfect term, a bang up job, portraying the whole drama with the best balance of fear, romance and sadness. Not leading bias in the views of a new Germany in the late thirties with the rising of Nazism, the BBC seem to finally be living up to their standards of putting on a perfect show. To the Beeb: Bravo!