Beyond the Hub Svengali Review by DJ Forrest

Written by Jonny Owen

Directed by John Hardwick

Broadcast 21^st March 2014

Dixie was a postie from a quiet Welsh mining town where the local taxi was a man with a pony.  He had dreams of being a manager of a successful band, and after discovering the band on Youtube he secured the position of their manager.  He and his girlfriend (Vicky McClure), with money and good wishes from his parents (Brian Hibbard and Sharon Morgan) set off for London, to make their fortune. 

Life in London was not all paved in gold, and while Dixie tried to get people interested in the band, his girlfriend took work where she could to raise the rent and pay the bills as well as afford to eat.  The tin of money was to be their start towards their wedding and new life together; they were not to touch that until it was needed. 

Securing a record contract seemed the hardest possible thing in the world, and although Dixie had a Welsh friend who was now in the record business, he was not willing to give Dixie the break he needed.  Finding work and borrowing from a loan shark seemed the only way to meet the demands of an up and coming band. 

Jonny Owen’s portrayal of Dixie is brilliant.  Dixie really wants that record contract, he wants to play the manager of a big band, but in amongst all of these dreams is his girlfriend, who after following Dixie to London, has had to secure work in order to keep them both, has had to endure the band dossing in their flat, eating their food, not helping pay the rent, then discovers that their tin of dreams is empty.  You do wonder if they will ever patch things up or if Dixie will follow his dreams and become the manager he really wants to be...

The film doesn’t disappoint, it has humour, comedy, snappy wit and the music is fantastic.  The scenery, both in London and in Wales, it’s a pleasure to watch and also sharing a few surprises along the way.  It was definitely spot how many names you could identify in the film, from Torchwood to Sherlock to the Flying Pickets with names even from the music industry.  If you want a great British movie to watch then this is the film for you.  And Jonny Owen nails it with Svengali.  It’s worth every penny!

5/5