Breaking the Mould Story of Penicillin on BBC4
Dominic West Stars as Nobel Prize Winning Scientist Howard Florey
Jul 30, 2009
Say the name Howard Florey to anyone barring the science crowd and chances are very few people will know who he is. It’s a shame he isn’t as famous as he should be given that he led the team that came up with a process that would allow penicillin to be produced in mass quantities thus saving millions of lives along the way. He does this yet he’s not as known as some bloke who married a former reality contestant star.
This might change slightly as his story was told in the factual drama Breaking the Mould, with Dominic “Jimmy McNulty” West (to give him his full name) in the lead role, but as it was hidden away on BBC Four chances are hardly anybody bothered to tune in. Either way it’s refreshing to see a dramatised biography that isn’t about self-righteous musicians or vacuous acting types but rather somebody who did make a genuine difference to the world.
A Story better Suited to a Factual Doc rather than Drama
It’s strange for the BBC to go headfirst into a story that very few people know about and give it the dramatic treatment. Figures like Florey usually get a straight up hour long documentary using heaps of monochrome pictures and narrated by a “what’s his name again?” stage actor. Although Breaking the Mould was admirable in its intent to give prominence to a key moment of the 20th century the whole thing was a bit dull.
Chunks of the script was devoted to scientific explanations and how things work, along with countless close-ups of men dripping stuff in test tubes, perhaps the story would have suited to a factual doc rather than a drama as it would have removed the scenes of men in lab coats standing about pondering, pondering, pondering and looking pensive when the world is at war (with mawkish use of the Churchill speech after Dunkirk).
Breaking the Mould on Solid Ground out of the Lab
The narrative was mainly a series of ups and downs – just when Florey and his team think they’re about to make a major break through a huge barrier comes crashing in front of them and it’s back to the drawing board. Florey’s refusal to patent the drug had foreshadowed consequences as his team lost recognition and Alexander Fleming (Denis Lawson) stepped forward to take credit.
Breaking the Mould was on surer ground when it stepped out of the lab and delved into real-life situations, such as the Florey’s family life or the infected test subjects who didn’t make it. The show came with a disclaimer that some scenes have been invented and one suspects that despite the importance of the discoveries it was perhaps the “made-up” scenes that proved to be the most engaging.
Dominic West leads a Mixed Cast
The performances were mixed with West doing a fine job while the always impressive John Sessions turning up in yet another period piece to add to his ever expanding acting repertoire. But Oliver Dimsdale as co-founder Dr Ernst Chain was sporting an eccentric German aczent that vas barely ‘Allo ‘Allo never mind Sasha Baron Cohen’s flamboyant fashion presenter Brüno. Oddly at certain times he sounds more Australian than West.
Praise where it’s due and although this review does seem harsh it’s unfair to focus on the negative aspects of Breaking the Mould as it was an interesting story that was well shot but it really would have been better served as a standard biography on the same channel. Saying that this was far better to watch than a similar film about the rise and fall of Richard Bacon or Sunshiiiiine: The Liam Gallagher Story.
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