Mad Dogs (Sky1 2011, John Simm, Philip Glenister)

In thriller series Mad Dogs a quartet of old friends (Woody, Quinn, Baxter and Rick) are invited to spend a few weeks with the fifth member of their old “gang” at his luxury villa in Spain. The group are now in their forties and their lives have all moved in different directions, none of them have made a huge success of their lives apart from Alvo who is seriously rich and living the high life in Mallorca.

The visit is supposed to be to celebrate Alvo’s early retirement but it soon becomes clear that there are some sinister things going on, not least when a midget hitman wearing a Tony Blair mask blunders into the villa and shoots Alvo. Soon the boys are deciding to cover up the murder…

Filmed on location in Mallorca Mad Dogs is excellent, deliciously black with a fabulous cast and marking the working together of John Simm and Philip Glenister for the first time since the iconic Life on Mars. There is a nicely what on Earth is going on vibe as things start to spiral out of control and we learn what Alvo’s motives really are for bringing the boys over to the villa.

As the series progressed things got weirder and weirder with the CIA getting involved and the show turning into something of a travelogue as the quartet ended up having to assume new identities in South Africa. In the two part finale the boys finally got to return to the UK but their rosy return home is not quite as rosy as they hoped and a final return to South Africa led to an ambiguous ending that left many viewers confused as to whether the boys were actually dead or alive.

classic quote
“Nothing significant has ever been typed using thumbs”

production details
UK / Sky One – Left Bank Pictures / 14×60 minute episodes / Broadcast Thursday 10 February 2011 – 29 December 2013

Writer: Cris Cole / Stunt Co-Ordinator: Gareth Milne / Costumes: Mary Jane Reyner / Music: Martin Phipps / Production Design: David Roger / Executive Producer: Elaine Pyke, Suzanne Mackie, Andy Harries / Producer: Spencer Campbell / Director: Adrian Shergold

cast
JOHN SIMM as Baxter
MAX BEESLEY as Woody
MARC WARREN as Rick
PHILIP GLENISTER as Quinn
BEN CHAPLIN as Alvo
TIM WOODWARD as Dominic
ELOISE JOSEPH as Lottie
TOMAS POZZI as Tony