The Cage, a new five-part crime drama on BBC One, explores the theme of entrapment in Liverpool's glittering yet grim underbelly. Set in a downmarket casino called The Envoy, the series follows Matty (Michael Socha) and Leanne (Sheridan Smith), employees who secretly skim cash from their employer. Their hapless theft puts them at risk, as the casino is a front for a drug empire's money laundering operation.
Writer Tony Schumacher, known for The Responder, brings a similar atmospheric tension to Liverpool's decaying port city. However, The Cage is lit in warmer tones, with twinkling casino lights and whirring fruit machines contrasting the characters' plight. Unlike slick heist crews, Matty and Leanne are bumbling thieves who stumble into an aromantic partnership that grows into genuine friendship, free of competence or wisecracks.
While the central duo is refreshing, other elements fall into cliché. Undercover cop Ning (Sophie Mensah) harbours a personal grudge against kingpin Gary (Barry Sloane), and the world of icy matriarchs (Geraldine James) feels thinly sketched. Both protagonists are given exonerating backstories: Matty is a recovering addict estranged from his daughter, while Leanne deals with a sketchy ex, children, cancer, and a nan with dementia.
The Cage has a lighter touch than The Responder, with humour and sentimentality leavening the gloom. Drug lords watch Escape to the Country, musing on escape. Yet this introduces triteness, making the show feel like its heroes: sweet and simple, not bad but not terribly good either.
