Ridley Road Review: Episode 1

When we first meet Vivien Epstein on Ridley Road Episode 1, she is a largely ordinary Jewish girl living in Manchester, engaged to an (extremely ordinary) man. She stays with her parents and a cousin saved from the Holocaust, and her daily life is mundane.

We’re also treated to a glimpse of what she will soon become: a sleek, suave blonde who engrosses herself deep into the romantic and personal life of a neo-Nazi leader. It’s a jarring change in our dark-haired heroine; a sign of both the stakes and the tension on the horizon.

Even the early, more slowly paced moments hint at what’s to come. Cousin Rosa often has flashbacks to the raids that took her side of the family to their deaths. Even miles away, the family and other rural Jewish people know what’s brewing in London

From the outset, Ridley Road is a chilling reminder of what recent events around the world have made clear in the present day—that Nazis and white supremacists have never been truly eliminated, only temporarily stymied.

Early scenes of Nazi rallies call back to real life scenes from both the 1930s and modern times, as well as other infamous portrayals of the influence of these on everyday people. Think the “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” scene from the musical Cabaret.

Vivien finds herself in the middle of one of these while following Jack, her true love who her father blatantly disapproves of. He briefly appears to be a part of the movement until we learn he’s really a spy within it, a Jewish man standing amidst something horrifying.

It’s a path Vivien herself will soon begin to travel down, despite an initial insistence on remaining apolitical. She’s pulled in by her own uncle, outcast for his involvement in money laundering, and other lost members of the family.

Agnes O’Casey, who plays Vivien, excels at making her deeply empathetic when she could easily be criticized for wanting to keep her head down. She knows all too well the threats of history repeating itself, and at first is trying only to survive.

She’s initially pressed toward action by Stevie, the biracial son of the hairdresser at the salon where Vivien now works. There’s plenty of racism along with the antisemitism hurled in the streets, and as Stevie seems unlikely to be another love interest, I’m anxious about his fate.

Eventually, Jack goes missing after an unsuccessful attempt to stop from within an attack that takes the life of a Jewish teenage boy. It’s a tragedy that casts away hope that the vitriol will extinguish itself, and leaves Vivien ready to find Jack at all costs.

Here, late in the first episode, the show sets the tone of a thriller; one that promises to last through the episodes to come. Vivien has no training as a spy, and her own relatives’ apprehension highlights the life-or-death stakes she’s about to plunge into.

Bolstered by strong writing and acting, Ridley Road should satisfy fans of both historical drama and Jo Bloom’s original novel. It’s also a hauntingly relevant story today, and one that feels important to bring to a television audience.

Even as a new actress, Agnes O’Conner is the standout she needs to be to hold the story on her shoulders. Still, there isn’t a weak link in the last, notably including the actors playing the neo-Nazis, bolding taking on the weight of such abhorrent characters.

Because this is a miniseries based on a book, and because it has already aired it its entirety to British audiences, it’s easy enough to find out what will become of Vivien, Jack, and other characters. At this point, though, triumph and tragedy seem equally likely.

 

What did you think of this episode of Ridley Road? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Ridley Road airs Sundays at 9/8c on PBS.

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