Lee Ingleby gives a performance of thoughtful intensity as David, the titular Nature Boy in this BBC drama which combines a personal quest for an absent father with contemporary environmental themes. The first episode finds 17-year-old David in care, illustrating his love of animals and the peace he finds at a nearby wildlife reserve. Following shocking violence, and haunted by visions (recalling the strongly environmental Edge of Darkness) of his father (Paul McGann), David goes on a modern-day odyssey throughout which, like Tom Jones before him, women find his naïve innocent charm irresistible. David though, falls for environmental activist Jenny (Joanne Froggatt) and becomes involved with industrial pollution and the battle to save an ancient woodland. After the excellence of the first three episodes, the finale moves into not entirely convincing science fiction territory, and offers a resolution which raises as many questions as it answers. Nevertheless Nature Boy is an atmospheric, moving rite of passage, with something of the feel of Kes to it, which avoids simple-minded polemics, and packs a raw edge (and language) that some will find shocking. --Gary S Dalkin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
