While not perfect, The Hack starts off promisingly thanks to a timely theme, strong acting, and a mix of fact and fiction. Author Jack Thorne is a busy man. This year, he scored big with both Toxic Town and Adolescence. Last week, his third series, The Hack, premiered on ITV. Bringing two fantastic series to the screen this year raises expectations for the third. The Hack starts off promisingly, but despite this, I still expected a bit more.
The Hack takes place between 2002 and 2012 and follows the hacking scandal surrounding the News of the World newspaper. For years, private investigators hacked the voicemails of politicians, celebrities, and members of the Royal Family to obtain their news. This led to numerous lawsuits and ultimately the newspaper's closure in 2011. In The Hack, we see how journalists Nick Davies (David Tennant) and Alan Rusbridger (Toby Jones) delve into the case after receiving an anonymous tip to uncover the truth.
The preconditions for a good series are present
The Hack gets a lot right, starting with the actors. When you're making a series about a true-life scandal, you're practically obligated to give Toby Jones a major role. Here, Jones once again proves why he's often in these kinds of shows. But the biggest star is David Tennant, who gives a fantastic performance as a failed journalist. This first episode also features strong supporting roles from Steve Pemberton, Adrian Lester, and Rose Leslie, among others.
The story is interesting, but it's hardly exciting so far. The stakes seem low, despite the fact that this is obviously a major issue. This is because there's no real adversary actively opposing them yet. Davies and Rusbridger operate primarily from the shadows, and there's no conflict yet. However, the cliffhanger at the end of the first episode promises change from episode two onward.
Breaking the fourth wall doesn't always work
What I have a bit more of a problem with is the filming style. Tennant's character, Nick Davies, frequently breaks the fourth wall and addresses the viewer directly. He comments on the state of journalism in the early 2000s, and with this, the series draws interesting parallels with the present.
To a certain extent, it works when Davies is the only one speaking. But the series speaks directly to the viewer in several ways, including through a talking poster. And at that point, even I was pulled out of the story. The flashbacks to Davies' childhood also feel completely out of place.
Compared to Toxic Town and Adolescence, The Hack comes out on the losing end for now. Still, the first episode definitely makes you want to keep watching, thanks to the strong cast and the timely theme. For now, I give the series a passing grade, and I'm very curious about the rest.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
