“Every now and then, New Zealand produces a corking television drama – Top of the Lake, say, or (with caveats) Outrageous Fortune and The Luminaries. After the Party could just be the best one yet, pivoting on a beautifully nuanced he said/she said scenario and a very fine central performance. It concerns Wellington teacher Penny Wilding (Robyn Malcolm), who is respected, unorthodox and straight-talking, without falling into the usual clichéd traps of those traits. Her description of online pornography before a classroom of teenagers could be essential viewing for concerned parents everywhere. She is as stunned as her daughter Tara Canton) is thrilled by the unexpected return of her ex-husband Philip (Peter Mullan, typically jovial and dangerous), five years after he left in the wake of a transgression at the titular drunken, multi-generational party which gradually comes into focus. Provocative and exasperating, Malcolm’s layered, complex performance is reminiscent of Kate Winslet’s in Mare of Easttown, currying no favour with the audience yet commanding our attention throughout. Continuing tomorrow and boxsetted online, this is TV made for bingeing.”
FriedGreenTomatoes2
Oh I loved ‘Mum’ Calendargirl. Of course he was in that - I’d forgotten! Kept trying to place his face. Great actor.
Some on GN thought he came across as creepy. 
I didn’t, I felt sorry for him, stuck with doormat ‘mum’, played by Lesley Manville, and her gormless and unlikeable family.
He should have run for the hills!
Sparklefizz
Hasn't Peter Mullan been in "Shetland" too?
I bet most Scottish actors have been in ‘Shetland’.
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