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Hugo Weaving plays the eponymous airport chaplain in this pacy and moreish eight-part series, which was co-created by Elise McCredie and Jude Troy, and directed with jittery flair by Bonnie Moir and Tig Terera. In case you were wondering, yes, that profession really does exist.
I doubt the lives of real airport chaplains are anywhere near as frenetic as those of this show’s protagonist, Tobias Wallace (Weaving), whose existence is a testament to that old saying: “Not all heroes wear capes.” Sometimes, they wear hi-vis.
The Airport Chaplain wastes no time establishing Tobias as a gallant do-gooder determined to save the day, as he rescues the toy rabbit of a distressed child. Tobias is a problem-solver, finding out-of-the-box solutions to all kinds of prickly situations, from locating lost baggage to transporting dead bodies, from intervening in cases of domestic violence to playing matchmaker, helping online lovers connect in real life. And sometimes, God forbid, he even provides spiritual counsel, such as helping a grieving son to deal with his father’s death.
But most of all, Tobias is a spectacular busybody, inserting himself into virtually every problem in the airport. This might not be entirely realistic, but it certainly makes for interesting drama. We’re thrown into the thick of it from the first episode, in which Tobias receives a call from the control room and races to the aid of a panicked boy in a hoodie just as the police arrive. It very quickly becomes clear who is really in charge here, with the cops left looking useless as Tobias takes the reins. He’s a bit like Batman in an airport.
But trouble arises when Tobias’s new boss arrives: terminal manager Mira Ansari-Cole (Shabana Azeez), who has not drunk the pastoral care Kool-Aid. During their first meeting, Mira isn’t impressed when Tobias describes his role as “primarily providing emotional, spiritual and practical support for passengers”. Nor is she thrilled when he knocks back her suggestion to file a daily work report, before abruptly leaving the meeting citing a “spiritual emergency”.
The stage is set for a good ol’ fashioned war between management and an employee who views himself as absolutely integral to the viability of the organisation he works for. And as much as viewers may instinctively side with Tobias, most of us will surely see some merit in Mira’s scepticism, which gives her increasing desire to show him the door – a solid narrative foothold.
Just as HBO’s hit medical drama The Pitt (also starring Azeez) reminds us of the power of hospitals as a central location, McCredie and Troy do something similar with airports; these are both places where virtually anybody can come through the door. In The Airport Chaplain, it is the exceptions that are the most interesting. While most people hurry from A to B, every now and then a character walks through the doors with a whole lot more going on. In the second episode, authorities – including Tobias, of course – deal with a man who has hidden Ethiopian honey in shampoo bottles. To me, this felt like a bit of a letdown; I was expecting something more sensational, like several kilograms of white powder inserted where the sun doesn’t shine.
Maybe that comes later – only the first four episodes were made available to the press – but every single one is pressure-packed, making the show thoroughly bingeable; it is perfect for Netflix (where it will launch globally, with Australia getting it on SBS and SBS on Demand).
Narratively, the structure feels a little scattered, though the writers (McCredie, Mithila Gupta, Sarah Bassiuoni and Vidya Rajan) do find a throughline that spans several episodes, in the story of a mysterious young woman, Asha Chawla (played by Kavitha Anandasivam), who is found in a prayer room, refusing to speak and without a passport or phone. Another recurring character is Cath Barnes (Claudia Karvan), a calm, pragmatic and sassy airline service manager who is good mates with the chaplain.
Tobias is, of course, the glue binding the show together. Weaving – one of the giants of Australian screen and stage – exudes a great combination of gravitas and relatability. His presence has real oomph and dynamism, but without any heightened quality that suggests you would never encounter such a person in real life. If my luggage ever disappears, I want Tobias Wallace on the case.
