Reckless

Hunky Geordie Robson Green is Owen Springer, a young doctor who moves home to Manchester to be near his father. Along the way, he falls for Anna, a woman 20 years his senior, and who happens to be the wife of his new boss, Richard Crane. Despite warnings from his new colleagues, Owen proceeds to get Anna for himself, going as far as to sabotage Anna and the cheating Richard's marriage. This is a romantic drama with many humorous undertones and a quick wit. The actors are superb: Green of "The Student Prince" and "Touching Evil" smolders on-screen as the cunning, yet warm-hearted Owen; Annis of "Dune" fame is lively and proves a good match to Green; Kitchen, from "To Play The King" is the right menace as Richard, whose comic missteps and snobbery underline his masterful, building hatred for Owen. This is a perfect love triangle, and despite the foibles and fallacies of our three characters, you come away better for knowing and watching them.

Francesca Annis, Michael Kitchen AND Robson Green!! Wow, what a trio...OK, so this is no Anna Karenina, but it is a good love story, very well-written and well-acted by all. Even a few 'laugh-out-loud' moments mixed in with some pretty serious observations on fidelity, age bias, and parental aging/Alzheimer's issues.

Quirky guitar music added to the story as well.

While I have been a fan of Ms. Annis' since 'Lillie' (in the '70s) and Mr. Kitchen's since 'The Buccaneers' and 'Enchanted April', I have only recently discovered Mr. Green ('Me and Mrs. Jones', 'Touching Evil', etc.), making me ask the question - why had I not seen 'Reckless' until recently??!! Admittedly more of a 'chick flick' than something a man will sit through, it is perfect for a rainy afternoon's lazy viewing.

I saw RECKLESS when it first aired on PBS. It has stayed with me for 20yrs, I loved it so much. I could not get it out of my head; I absolutely adored everything about it. It's THE BEST thing Ever put on TV, or, anywhere else!! It was my first introduction to the gorgeous Robson Green. I fell madly in love, naturally! Francesca Annis, I've loved since Lillie Langtry. Some reviews have mentioned that it might not be up to par with Anna Karenina, simply b/c the narrator derides Paul Abbott's writing and warns viewers not to expect the likes of the classic. However, I think it's a harsh and unfair criticism. Reckless has all the drama of A.K., only with a lot more humor, grace, and sensitivity. I think it's an extraordinary tale of the human condition: of love, lust, jealousy, class warfare, age discrepancy, adultery, baby-out-of-wedlock, and divorce. All in all, the vicissitudes of life. And, just like real life, it's got a lot of funny bits as well. For me, it's just as compelling as Tolstoy's tearjerking account of life, only with a modern twist and with some laugh-out-loud moments, truly mimicking reality.....as life is not all serious and maudlin....hopefully, anyway! Don't get me wrong, I Loved Anna Karenina, but I don't like the outright dismissal of Reckless, just b/c it's written in the 20th century. And if the narrator had not planted that silly comparison, I doubt that anybody would even bring it up! The acting here is stunningly superb!!! As in most British shows, the actors inhabit their roles so strikingly that it's hard to imagine them only as actors. As always, these phenomenal Brits put Hollywood to shame. I don't know what it is, the directing, the acting, the writing......all of it.....just comes across so realistically. Reckless is my absolute all-time favorite thing ever shown on screen. This and Oliver's Travels, also a British mini-series, (with Alan Bates) are a must-see!!

This group of English pros are a pleasure to watch. The supporting cast could form a series of their own. It's a seen before love tiangle between the head of surgery, his wife, and a new pretty boy surgery resident. Only the superior acting skills of Francesca Annis, Michael Kitchen, and the sexy Robson Greene lift this from the trash category to a very enjoyable "romp". The only quibble is that it's hard to accept that the smoldering Francesca Annis would fall in love and actually marry Michael Kitchen, who like me, is hardly an international, or even a British sex symbol. You can readily understand why Robson Green would light her fire, with apologies to the "Doors". The guy who almost steals the show with a great "laid back" performance is Owen's father David Bradley. Watch him in "The Way We Live Now", in a completely different performance, to get an idea of his range. Daniela Nardini as Kitchen's secretary, sometime sex toy, is hard to forget as the spurned mistress who makes Kitchen sorry he ever looked at her great body. Conor Mullen, and Julian Rhind-Tutt, as Green's sidekick surgery buddies as I've said could have their own series. They are that good. The whole thing is a great deal of fun, and I heartily recommend it, and thank you imdbman for letting the paying customers have their say in this fascinating venue.

Reckless is not worth the while. I didn't enjoy my viewing experience at all, although I really tried to.

The characters were awful in my opinion. I didn't like the way that they were portrayed. A lack of chemistry and depth of feeling. Some characters were unrelatable, others were just plain misplaced/cringeworthy. I just thought, what're they doing here?

The music, rachet music, was foul to my ears and the more I watched, the less tolerable it became. This is critical because music does a lot to the viewing experience and it goes both ways. In Reckless' case, the music was... terrible. Very unfortunate.

So Reckless as a plot and concept does have potential, I do recognise, but this production does not do the said plot/love triangle dynamic justice, at least not to me.