A Very British Gangster review

No, not another dire mockney romp, but a documentary about Dominic Noonan, would-be Godfather of the Manchester underworld. Undercover telly investigator Donal MacIntyre interviews the gang-boss and his extended family, all of them (even the kids) deeply embroiled in his sleazy crime empire. Noonan – clearly delighted at the chance to burnish his hardman image for the wider public – holds forth with a limitless self-satisfaction that segues from distasteful to tedious. MacIntyre seems duly impressed: at one point he tells us, in awed tones, that a Noonan family funeral “closed shops, schools and motorways”. Flashy crane-shots suit the subject, but undermine the documentary’s authenticity. Overall, it might’ve worked better in a one-hour TV slot.