Daniel Mays and Stephen Graham join forces to bring us Code 404, which is essentially the lovechild of Reno 911 and RoboCop, but British. Dry humor, slapstick comedy, drama and a fast-paced storyline make Code 404 enjoyable right from the get go. Wasting no time, the show immediately takes out one of the main characters without all the backstory fluff that a lot of shows tend to drag out to overkill.
Murdered in the line of duty, DI John Major (Mays) is brought back from the dead using newly developed artificial intelligence and is now only 90% human. Rather than this improving his brainpower and capability as a law enforcement officer, he has become a bungling imbecile that keeps finding new and interesting ways to botch investigations, his personal life and his efforts to find the man that killed him, despite numerous upgrades. Thankfully he has his partner and friend, DI Roy Carver (Graham), to help him navigate his new digital existence.
The plot thickens as we immediately discover that Carver has been having an affair with Major’s wife and has now been with her for the past 12 months that they thought Major was dead. This dramatic turn keeps you on your toes as Carver and Major’s wife (Anna Maxwell Martin) attempt to keep their relationship secret, even though he has been living in Major’s house with her. As if this turn of events wasn’t unfortunate enough for Major, there is also the AI Ethics Committee that is keeping a close eye on Major and is ready to pull the plug on the project, and his life, at the first sign of troubled waters.
Mays and Graham complement each other well, with Mays providing the goofy, physical comedy and Graham killing with his dry, snarky comments. Code 404 is a fun, easily- binged comedy/drama that is a must watch for those of us in quarantine.
Code 404 premieres on the Peacock streaming service on October 1st 2020.
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