Review: For the Love of Leo by Michael Chaplin, Series 1

I promised a full series review of Michael Chaplin’s For the Love of Leo, so here it is...

I enjoyed the series, which is well written, acted and directed. The characters were believable and the poshness of the milieu was cunningly disguised by setting the story in Scotland. I didn’t mind the canny radio trick used to resolve the sub-plot about housekeeper Sadie’s living arrangements (it’s easy to hide a spare empty house on radio). But I was disconcerted by daughter Laura’s sudden return from Antarctica and immediate retreat to the bathroom – surely she’d have phoned ahead?

The really unusual thing about this series is its structure. There are only four parts to a series that feels like it was meant to be six or more. While Leo’s investigation into Tamsin’s car accident is set up at the beginning of the series, Leo does little to follow it up. And then there’s a sudden return to the intrigue, courtesy of an anonymous call, right at the end.

Leo dallies with a different woman in each of the episodes and it’s hard to see why they’re attracted to him, or why their brief involvement with Leo tends to resolve the issues they’re having in their personal lives. Leo’s charming and talented and all, but he seems mostly bemused by the women. It’s as if each episode has a special guest whose main task is to distract Leo or help him inch his way back to normality after his sudden bereavement.

The suspended mystery at the heart of this drama will doubtless be addressed again in the next series. I hope they make more progress with it, though. I hope also the social range of Leo’s female visitors widens.

For the Love of Leo was directed by Marilyn Imrie and is a Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.