The Control Room, review: 999 call handler thriller is dead on arrival

There is a thing that happens in television dramas which surely never happens in real life. A character makes a phone call and immediately starts talking – blurting out some major plot point – before the other person has said hello. Invariably, the person who has picked up the phone is not the intended recipient of this information, and disaster ensues. When this pops up in a show, you know the show is not very good, and I’m afraid that’s the case with The Control Room (BBC One).

It has an impressive central performance from Iain De Caestecker, but that’s the only mark in its favour. Still, it’s the sort of cheesy thriller that will doubtless do big numbers on iPlayer. The opening minutes are promising. De Caestecker is Gabriel, who works as an emergency call handler for the ambulance service in Glasgow. One night he answers a call from a distraught woman who sobs: “He’s dead, I killed him.” Then she appears to recognise his voice and asks: “Gabo, is that you?” before ringing off.

But what looks as if it will be a high-concept thriller in the style of Colin Farrell’s Phone Booth soon slumps under the weight of countless woozy flashbacks to Gabriel’s early years with Sam, his childhood friend. They are bound together by a secret, which involves a fire and a Christmas tree forest, and to which various characters angrily allude without explaining what it is they’re angry about. Sam turns up midway through episode one, played by Joanna Vanderham. Her personality type is telegraphed by the fact she’s wearing a leopard-print coat.

I’ve watched all three episodes and of course I won’t spoil it by telling you what happens, but I will say that I guessed the twist about five minutes into episode two and I’m usually terrible at guessing the twist. De Caestecker plays the bewildered everyman with real feeling, and digs into the character’s vulnerabilities.

Thanks to his performance, we’re rooting for Gabriel as he gets sucked into a criminal enterprise. But the flashbacks are so numerous that they take you right out of the action, which kills the tension – apart from one getaway scene which will definitely jolt you awake. Drama doesn’t have to explore big themes and come with a social conscience. There’s plenty of room for popcorn thrillers that have you on the edge of your seat. But this feels like something Channel 5 would knock out to fill a scheduling gap, not a premium Sunday night product for BBC One.