The Resurrection Of Dave – As the opening episode of The Gallows Pole begins, it is explained that the thriving Calder Valley in West Yorkshire produced some of the finest cottage-spun textiles in the world in the early 1760s. As the decade wore on, its fortunes began to sharply decline. Manpower was about to be replaced by fire and steam. Lanes and rivers would be replaced by toll roads and canals and weavers’ cottages by factories. David Hartley (Michaerl Socha) drags a bag behind him until he eventually stops and collapses. He finds himself on the ground surrounded by stag men. David asks whether he is going up or down. He walks with the stag men. Gwen goes inside where she prays over a man in a coffin. David asks her to say one for him too.
He apologizes for his appearance since he is bloody. Gwen asks if he got the letters they wrote about his dad being bad, but David says he didn’t get any letters. He asks about Isaac and Tom. Gwen says Tom and Isaac are in the village getting the arrangements for his dad. William lives with her now since they’re married. She says that is what he should’ve done with Grace (Sophie McShera). David wants to talk to the nearby village. Isaac Hartley (Samuel Edward-Cook) and Tom Hartley (Dave Perkins) are shown in town. Isaac admits the money is short because he has lost a few orders. Barb (Jennifer Reid) says the pub is struggling as well. Tom pleads with her to help them out. Gwen (Charlotte Ockelton) gets upset when she finds William (Thomas Turgoose) at home eating again. She tells him that his brother is back.
William complains that he had to watch his dad die and David wasn’t around for that. Gwen says he looked poorly and she thinks he might’ve been stabbed. She thinks he has gone to speak to Isaac and Tom at the pub. Gwen wants to tell Grace before he gets to her. Abe Oldfield (Anthony Welsh) and others help with food. Gwen interrupts to tell Grace something. She eventually blurts out that David is back. Gwen thinks Grace needs to come, but Grace doesn’t want to. David makes it to the pub and gives Isaac and Tom more money to add to the pot. William makes it to the pub. They carry David out to get him help. David eventually wakes up and begins fighting with them. Mand comes over and finds out what is going on.
She goes inside and tries to help David. Outside, James and others talk about Grace and whether she still cares about David. Back inside, they try to get David to sleep since he said he is tired. When Grace shows up, she is told what happened to David. Grace doesn’t want to go in, but Mand thinks she should since David could die. Grace reluctantly goes inside to see him. After Grace leaves with Mand, Barb begins singing outside. Abe prays for David. In the morning, Grace tells Mand that she is going to ignore David like he ignored her. She believes she should get more sympathy than David because she nursed his dad. Mand tells her they’re going to have to sort it out one way or another. Once David recovers, Isaac says they’re going to find a spot for their dad. William goes inside and sits next to David. They begin talking about where David has been.
David confirms he got the letters, but insists he didn’t know about their father. Once William asks what happened, David says he killed a man by stabbing him until he was dead. William asks why. David says he did it because the man stabbed him. He goes on to say the guy was a bully and he hates bullies. David says he hates himself. He didn’t want to go or leave his little brother. David wondered what William was going to be like when he got back. William reveals there is only work in Halifax now, but nobody wants to go there. There is no way to get out of it and the only one putting on weight is Broadbent (Adam Fogerty). David promises that he isn’t leaving and that they’ll sort the situation out. Next, the brothers prepare to bury their dad’s body.
After burying the body, they get together for a meal and drinks. They also welcome David back into the family. Before long, Joseph Broadbent (Fine Time Fontayne) comes in and entertains everyone. David thanks Abe for praying for him even though he isn’t a God-fearing man. Abe tells David how he got to know the family. Everyone tells David that they’ve been struggling because there are no jobs. James argues with Joseph because he didn’t even like the man. Joseph says he doesn’t need to like him to eat his food. He claims that David is a runaway because he runs at the first sign of trouble. When David comes over, Joseph is nice to him. Then, Joseph goes over to Gwen to tell her she picked the wrong Hartley because she still doesn’t have kids.
William gets upset and argues with him. Joseph insists he is just having a little fun. After that, Joseph turns his attention to Isaac. His brother tells him to go home. Joseph calls him a disgrace and reminds him that he is a Broadbent. David quickly tries to shut Joseph up. Later, David steps outside and Grace tells him she doesn’t want to talk about them tonight. She doesn’t want him to be out there with her, but David isn’t going to leave. He walks past her and sits down nearby. Grace admits she visited him for about two seconds when he was injured. She says he seemed completely fine in there although David isn’t completely fine. Grace begins interrogating him about having a wife in Birmingham. David says no before learning she doesn’t have a husband either.
When asked if he slept with other girls, David says just prostitutes. Grace questions why he didn’t send for her. David felt like he was too bad of a person to send for someone who was so pure. David says he didn’t really love anyone, but he still loved her. Grace reveals that his dad suffered a little and asked for him. They wrote to him because he wanted to make things right. They argue before the conversation ends and Grace leaves. The stag men tell David that his place in hell is assured, but they’re going to offer him a second chance.
The Gallows Pole Review
The Gallows Pole supposedly follows David Hartley as he creates a criminal enterprise that will be involved in the biggest fraud in British history. While that premise sounds interesting, it was hard to see any of that from the opening episode. From the dialogue to the story, camera work, and soundtrack, nothing about The Gallows Pole feels like a finished, refined product.
Unless viewers are familiar with the novel by Ben Myers, most probably won’t be able to make heads or tails from the story in the first episode. Truthfully, the entire episode felt sluggish and uneventful to the point that no core story was established. Despite everyone involved and the proven cast, most aspects of The Gallows Pole were borderline amateurish.
It seems creators are eager to try something artsy in hopes of creating something unique. When it works, it is obviously going to stand out. When it doesn’t, you end up with something like The Gallows Pole which was really dreadful and even more so because it didn’t stick to the basics.
It’d be easy to see viewers give up midway through the episode because it has so little to offer and so little promise. The opening episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of The Gallows Pole will be available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
