Harold Shipman: Doctor Death

Many in Britain were shocked when the police were exhuming bodies in the Manchester area with suspicion of foul play by a respected family doctor.

This was in the late 1990s and this drama from ITV was shown a few years after the events. Hence it had to tread a fine and sensitive line.

James Bolam plays Dr Frederick Shipman. A well respected GP with a small, thriving practice and a respected member of the community.

However even when the police investigate him Bolam gives a hint of the sly humour that Shipman apparently had. As well as being a serial killer this was a doctor not ready to buckle under police pressure.

James Hazeldine in one of his final roles plays the dogged policeman who is persuaded by the daughter of one of Doctor's victim's that Shipman might have a darker side.

We get an idea as to how Shipman got caught. It is a part police procedural as they forensically examine his computer. Shipman made a mistake of forging a will of one of his victim's.

We never really get an idea as to why he did it or what his motives were. It seems we might never know.

Bolam's performance is key in keeping your interest in this drama and this is a tight film without getting too exploitative.

I was gratefully surprised when I watched this movie, and after I was informed that was a TV Movie! Well, it doesn't seem like that: the timing is so perfect that we don't notice the intersection for commercials breaks. James Bolam is extremely convictive in the role of the physician that pretends to be GOD, choosing the day and the hour that a person should die. In a scale of 10, I give 6.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

This interesting and welcome TV drama/thriller charts the rise-and-fall of the titular Tameside GP,who is now regarded as quite possibly Britain's most excessive (and certainly most infamous) serial killer.Though only convicted of in-total murdering 15 (as if that weren't enough) of his elderly/middle-aged women patients,he is now suspected of murdering a great,great deal more,but due to the extreme amount of publicity the case has received,it is thought impossible to give him a fair trial.

The initial,most searing shock seems to come from those who knew and were patients of the 'good doctor',seemingly unable to believe or come to terms with how a man they put all their trust in could betray them in such an evil way.

James Bolam does a really good job of portraying Shipman.Before the murders ,he is seen as a kindly,well-to-do doctor,for whom doing regular home visits is seen as no skin off his nose whatsoever.But after the killings and as the investigation into them drags on,he develops a really more sinister side,callously informing relatives of deaths of their loved ones and being really difficult as he helps the police with their enquiries.James Hazeldine also does a really good turn as DI Stan Egerton,who's in charge of the investigation into Shipman.

The problem ,however,comes with the story.Hardly any insight is offered into possible reasons Shipman might have committed his evil crimes.For example,it's often been suggested seeing his mother die of cancer at the age of 17 might have played a huge part,but this is only mentioned in passing,rather than being delved into in any great detail ,say,maybe at the beginning.

Still,assumption's all it could be.This is a real-life story,and Shipman himself has never offered any explanations into his behaviour.This is not a standard TV murder mystery story,but a depiction of a real life event,and it should should be treated with more respect accordingly.***

I thought that James Bolam played the part of Dr Frederick Shipman very sensitively and he certainly did the best he could with what must have been a tough role.

The setting for the drama was very good and the scenes representing Christmas 1997 were very good. I think it caught the atmosphere of the whole thing very well.

The humour displayed by James Bolam was very authentic to the real Dr Shipman and the sense of theatre he displayed to some patients in his surgery was true to the real character which I guess must have been relatively easy for the actor to do as he is so familiar with playing in comedy.

I particularly liked the confrontations between Dr Shipman and the police as well as the interview scenes.

The high-light of James Bolam's acting in my opinion came when he broke down after being confronted with the computer evidence and we see him crying and clinging to his solicitor's legs. This was an excellent piece of acting.

2 hours was not long enough as there was so much that could have been covered and one got the feeling that it had been rushed a little, and maybe the programme makers had found it difficult to know just where to start.

I found it intriguing and sad as well. It made you think about the case and yes, maybe it did supply some understanding into how the tragedy came about.

I found this to be a pretty good movie based on a real serial killer. The movie shows the events of Harold Shipman on how he kills people with lethal doses and the motive on why he does it. James Bolam does a great job playing as Harold on how he portrayed the character as a cold blooded killer who doesn't show any remorse on what he doing to his victims. The other actors did a great job with their performance in the movie too. It also shows how the authorities slowly realize there's something strange going on with these series of deaths that happening around town and start to suspect Shipman.

Harold Shipman: Doctor Death is a pretty good crime movie.