Apple Tree Yard (BBC One, Sundays, 9pm) sounds like a children’s television series, featuring a singing pig and dancing ducks. Instead, it’s where married mother Yvonne Carmichael, played by Emily Watson, meets her phantom lover for adulterous intercourse. She is a scientist; the phantom is a mystery man she met in Parliament who claims to be a spy but is far too short and ordinary-looking for that (my theory: he works in the gift shop).
The first episode is full of much rumpy pumpy, which spawned headlines about saucy scenes. All of which turned out to be deeply inappropriate given that the episode closed with Yvonne being raped by a work colleague. That’s the big problem with Apple Tree Yard: it’s sold as an erotic thriller but plays out like a serious drama. The tone left me feeling uneasy. Its themes are nearly betrayed by the sensationalism surrounding it.
