ORBzine - Noughts And Crosses (2020) TV Review

[Season 1 !Season 2 ]

Noughts And Crosses (2020)

Season 1


Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 1, Episode 1] Episode 1 (58 min)
Shown 5th March 2020

This is based on a series of books by Malorie Blackman . It is set in an alternate universe, where a sub-saharan African nation conquered the British Isles after the Crusades. Today, London is like South Africa during the Apartheid era - only with the Black people in charge instead of whites. In fact, we could just compare it directly to the modern post-Apartheid country.

Meggie McGregor ( Helen Baxendale ) works as as servant for Home Secretary Kamal Hadley (Paterson Joseph - Timeless ). Her son, Callum McGregor (Jack Rowan), falls for Sephy Hadley ( Masali Baduza ) - the boss's daughter. Real love-across-the-barricades stuff.

Meanwhile, the poor whites are organising as a liberation movement. They are meant to be the equivalent of Black Lives Matter, but they basically come across as the same kind of Tea Party extremists who got Donald Trump elected. Yes, the white working class has been demonised for so long it is now difficult to portay them in a sympathetic way.

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 1, Episode 2] Episode 2 (56 min)
Shown 5th March 2020

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 1, Episode 3] Episode 3 (58 min)
Shown 5th March 2020

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 1, Episode 4] Episode 4 (56 min)
Shown 5th March 2020

Ryan McGregor (Ian Hart) is put on trial, potentially facing the death penalty. Yes, the world this is set in is so anachronistic that it features a punishment that was abolished fifty years ago. While Doctor Who (2005) seeks to make everything seem relevant to the modern audience by equating it to life in London in the twenty-first century, this show attempts to alienate its audience as much as possible.

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 1, Episode 5] Episode 5 (56 min)
Shown 5th March 2020

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 1, Episode 6] Episode 6 (56 min)
Shown 5th March 2020

The LA abduct Sephy in order to coerce concessions from her father. Specifically they want him to step down. On the one hand, he does not want to be seen negotiating with terrorists. On the other hand, if he stays in office he will have a blatant conflict of interest.

paypal
NTSC - USA

Francais

Deutschland

PAL - UK

Noughts And Crosses (2020)

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 2 , Episode 1 ]
Shown th March 2022

Reviewed in our special supplement Noughts And Crosses (2020)

Noughts And Crosses (2020)

Season 2

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 2, Episode 1]
Shown 26th April 2022

Callum McGregor (Jack Rowan) and Sephy Hadley ( Masali Baduza ) leave London, and hide out together.

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 2, Episode 2]
Shown 3rd May 2022

Callum tries to arrange travel to Muscovy. Yes, Eastern Europe escaped the Islamic conquest.

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 2, Episode 3]
Shown 10th May 2022

Meggie McGregor ( Helen Baxendale ) arranges a deal with Prime Minister Kamal Hadley (Paterson Joseph - Timeless ). He is willing to make concessions to her, if her sons betray the LM. Who will pull a double-cross first?

Noughts And Crosses (2020) Noughts And Crosses (2020) [Season 2, Episode 4]
Shown 17th May 2022

Callum McGregor (Jack Rowan) turned himself in, expecting decent treatment and a fair trial. Prime Minister Kamal Hadley (Paterson Joseph - Timeless ) just wants revenge, so he can rig the trial and demand the death penalty.

There are meant to be checks and balances in the system. Is the judiciary truly independent? Will the colony's Prime Minister respect the rules laid down by the Empire of Africa? Will the white terrorists stage a jail-break?