By Will Barber – Taylor

Dark. Deadly. Brutal. Charming. Sadistic. These are all adjectives that perfectly sum up not only James Bond but his creator Ian Fleming. Sky’s new TV series, Fleming follows the adventures of Fleming from roguish playboy to naval intelligence officer. Starring Dominic Cooper as the titular Fleming with the ever wonderful Lara Puller as Fleming’s future wife Ann Charteris the series takes us back to the Second World War via Fleming reminiscing on the origins of Bond.

In episode two we see Fleming stationed in Portugal during which time he witnesses the murder of a Nazi officer by a Jewish woman. Deciding not to inform his superior officer, Admiral John Godfrey (Samuel West) of the event he returns to England with the idea of a special unit to go behind enemy lines to cause sabotage. Fleming’s idea is rejected outright. However, Fleming wants to prove to Godfrey that his idea is worth the effort and money that Fleming wants to be put into it. At the same time he is trying to continue his relationship with Ann.

Once again Fleming wonderfully shows the complex and dark nature of Bond’s creator. As shown in the previous episode, Fleming does not go by the army’s rules or moral rules. Fleming doesn’t care if he causes a diplomatic incident by letting the Jewish man that killed the Nazi escape. Even though Fleming has odd sexual proclivities and strange attitudes towards the war, he is still a moral man. This is done through Fleming simply nodding when the Jewish woman asks him to let her escape. This manages to get over the message about Fleming’s morality in a subtle manner rather than using unnecessary exposition to get the same point across.

The episode is very good and continues the excellent dark and dramatic tone set up in the first episode. All the cast continue to give good performances, particularly Dominic Cooper as Fleming. His charm shines through and even if the character is unconventional he is still strangely likable at the same time. All in all, this is a great continuation of the series.