Office Relations

'The Replacement' weirded its way onto our screens a couple of weeks ago, with an ordinary, everyday tale of jealousy and murder in the world of Glasgow’s urban architectural landscape. We’re two episodes in (out of three) and I think it’s best you jump on i-player to get up to speed before next Tuesday or you’ll hear about the climax from that bloke at work who talks too loud.

Basically, high-flying architect, Ellen, has fallen pregnant just after securing her firm a multi-million pound contract and has to hire a competent interim to take on the project whilst she is experiencing the delights of motherhood, a role for which she realises she has less enthusiasm for than she initially hoped. Paula, played by Vicky McClure, who looks like a CGI version of Emma Thompson circa 1993, proves an able replacement and is soon fully enmeshed, not only in the job role, but most of what Ellen had formerly considered her private life. McClure creates a genuinely menacing character and must surely be the scariest interim employee since that week Hannibal Lecter ran the HR Department. 

Ellen (Morven Christie) must then deal with the equivalent of that uncomfortable feeling that you get when somebody inadvertently spits on your face when they’re talking to you. You keep smiling and nodding in agreement as if nothing’s happened, when all the time you just want to shove your head into the nearest bowl of Dettol. Paula continues to invade her space, both physically and metaphorically, driving Ellen closer and closer to a state of neurosis as she battles against her natural hormones as well as a social circle that becomes increasingly inclusive of the very person who is causing her anxiety.

Following the apparent suicide of another work colleague, Ellen trails her suspect to various locations, doggedly determined to show us how remarkably easy it is to park in Glasgow at any time of day or night. She takes it upon herself to investigate her replacement’s involvement in the circumstances surrounding the death and so begins a trail of events that lead to a tension-filled confrontation between the two central characters. She’s a brave woman given that Paula appears to have the potential to emit laser beams from her eyes and I fully expect the final episode to commence with the charred remains of Ellen, still holding a wine glass, smoldering away in the chair opposite.

The Replacement is well written and well acted in the mould of a surprising number of recent BBC dramas and, barring any unexpectedly dumb-ass plot twists, should prove gripping viewing next week.