There is a new doctor in the house. Hugh Laurie’s new show Chance finds him in a medical practitioner’s coat again. But this isn’t the sardonic and good-hearted Gregory House of the wildly popular House MD. As consulting neuro-psychiatrist Eldon Chance, Laurie is playing the titular role in a grim, noir-ish drama series created by Kem Nunn and Alexandra Cunningham. The show is being aired in India on the Star World Premiere HD channel.
Unlike the genius diagnostician of House MD, Chance only evaluates the extent of mental trauma in his patients and ships them off to specialists. He meets and witnesses a great deal of instabilities, which are narrated by a voice-over describing peculiar and painful case-stories. He recounts snippets about abuse, hallucinations, violence, homelessness and even suicide. But he goes on living, meets more patients, making observations from the outside, never digging any deeper – until he does.
The premise is not entirely new. A middle-aged man going through a series of lows in life – a bitter divorce, a financial crisis – Eldon Chance dabbles at the edge before he tumbles over. Starting with fraudulently upscaling and selling a piece of furniture and silently witnessing brutal alleyway violence, he gets involved with one of his patients. Jaclyn Blackstone (Gretchen Mol) suffers memory loss, multiple identities, and an abusive husband.
In the first two episodes, the plot doesn’t move much, but the mood of the show is set as claustrophobic and gloomy. There are elements that will fall into place in time, but for now the most convincing reason to return is Hugh Laurie. He effortlessly goes from his charismatic Gregory House to being a vulnerable, tired and sheepish Eldon Chance.
As an actor of impeccable talent and a wide portfolio of memorable performances, Laurie has found it hard to shake the attention ever since House MD became an international sensation. The role won him two Golden Globes in 2006 and 2007, six Emmy nominations and a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
In 2015, Laurie embraced his dark side as the magnetic and powerful villain Richard Roper in the BBC miniseries The Night Manager, based on John Le Carré’s acclaimed novel, for which he received an Emmy nomination and appreciation from the writer himself.
Laurie also joined the cast of Veep as Tom James, a senator with a lot of charm, questionable ideas, and fluid political loyalties. Veep is one of the most bitingly brilliant comedies on air right now, and it makes perfect sense for Laurie to be part of the show.
Laurie is a comedic genius. In the 1980s, he was a gloriously bumbling and foolish upper class twit in the period sitcom Blackadder. In the third and fourth seasons, Laurie plays the character of the reincarnated “George”. Be it as Prince Regent George or the generally not-so-bright Lieutenant George during World War I, Laurie maintains the general character of an incompetent idiot. Being self-aware of his low intelligence and his eagerness for self-improvement endeared him to his audience.
This magnificent run was followed by a collaboration with his long-time colleague and friend Stephen Fry for the cult sketch comedy series A Bit of Fry and Laurie, which ran from 1989 to 1995. Heavily influenced by Monty Python, the surreal comedy group from the ’70s, the double act was formed after Fry and Laurie met at Cambridge University and began to perform comedy along with Emma Thompson. Thanks to a bout of fever that squashed his dreams of joining the Olympics rowing squad, Laurie found comedy and Stephen Fry.
The two continued being the funniest men on television with their flawless PG Wodehouse adaptation Jeeves and Wooster.
So far, there doesn’t seem to be much that is funny with Chance. But over the last few years, Laurie has successfully made a switch to more serious and sinister roles. Let’s hope the show finds enough material to break away from the confines of the many desperately dark, wannabe-noir television series. And if things don’t look up soon enough, let’s also hope that the show’s creators have the good sense to leave the stage to Laurie and let him improvise.