As the Beast Sleeps (TV Play)

Kyle is loyal to his wife, his best mate and his boss in the Ulster defence Association – and they love him as a husband, a brother and a son – but with changing times and the emerging peace process, Kyle finds himself in the shadows of transition, uncertainty and betrayal.

Clip courtesy BBC Motion Gallery / Getty Images, Gary Mitchell and Stuart Graham

“The TV version of Belfast writer Gary Mitchell’s play gauges the temperature in the Loyalist community as the IRA ceasefire brings a response in kind from the Protestant paramilitaries. The disgruntled footsoldiers of the UFF have, however, become used to free drinks and heroic status in local boozing dens. The unfolding powerplay peers through the chinks in their ideological zeal to reveal bigotry and greed, shading in the distance between them and their political masters’ search for mainstream legitimacy. Dialogue with barely a false note, authentic performances and probing direction recall the glory days of BBC TV’s ‘Play for Today’ drama strand.”

Time Out