Cleaning Up

A highly entertaining, if improbable, 6-part drama on ITV, starring Sheridan Smith as a recently separated single parent, struggling to bring up her two daughters on her low income as an office cleaner in the financial centre of London, as well as managing her growing addiction to gambling, be it lottery scratch-cards, on-line gaming or just going to the local casino to play roulette. Opportunity comes knocking for her however as she becomes aware that an employee at a city stockbroker where she cleans after-hours, who seems to work late and alone every night, is in fact part of a syndicate involved in insider-dealing. With her two work-colleague friends, she sets up a listening device in the dealer's office and uses the information to play the market for the three of them to benefit financially from investing in the hot tips picked up.

The plot thickens however when the threesome's gravy train gets derailed after the crooked dealer is suspended on suspicion of malpractice and Smith decides to move on up by swotting up on the markets and stepping into the offending dealer's shoes as his replacement in the scam. While the idea of a lowly office cleaner carrying off such a caper is somewhat far fetched, it's written and played so well that you go along with the unlikely premise, rooting for Smith and her buddies all the way, especially at the numerous nail-biting moments when it seems her well-laid plans are about to unravel.

There are various background sub-plots including Smith's on-off relationship with her ex-husband, who still cares for her to some degree and is concerned about her gambling addiction, likewise her two daughters, the older one in her mid teens who tries to encourage her mum to attend Gambler's Anonymous classes, the younger infant one driven to petty theft to help her struggling mum, the vulture-like loan-shark constantly badgering Smith for repayment and last but not least the geeky young entrepreneur-inventor she takes in as a lodger whose ability to make home-made listening devices is crucial to the plot.

Sure, a lot of the plot-links are as unlikely as my winning the lottery next week and I'm not sure about the dubious morality of the ending where it seems Smith and her chums are about to continue along similar lines in their criminal ways but with a well-chosen cast all responding to the superior material and smart, non-flashy direction, this was enjoyable contemporary drama which thoroughly entertained my wife and I over its six-week run.

The story follows a down and out, gambling addicted cleaner who accidentally overhears some illegal insider trading and decides to get in on the action. This throws her into a world she doesn't understand and where she is out of her depth - facing up to corporate types, petty debt collectors and dirty gangsters.

The main character is painted as sympathetic, but she's often obnoxious. She cheats, lies, steals, and often ruins every chance she creates herself. Her journey is frustrating to watch, as she regularly brings her friends and family down with her on the way. She is absolutely an antihero, and if you see her that way, I found her quite interesting. I wish her portrayal was more gritty, as it's clear the filmmakers want us to root for her - but often you don't want to.

She's also quite inconsistent - sometimes helpless and hapless, sometimes a strategic genius. From one scene to the next it can be hard to believe she's the same character.

Instead the side characters really are the heart of the show - her kids, estranged husband, friends, colleagues, and even her local shopkeeper show more heart than her, and it's those you mostly care about.

The whole thing is too long and stretched out - it could have been 3 episodes comfortably. The writers create drama to fill in the extra time, which was unnecessary. But I was interested enough in the central dilemma to not be bored.

The story gets increasingly implausible as it goes, but not more than most TV dramas. I still found it entertaining, even when I had to suspend disbelief. The "normal people vs the 1%" dynamic sometimes showed real promise and had interesting things to say, sometimes was a little shallow and patronising.

Overall, I wish it was shorter, and I wish they had embraced the moral ambiguity of the main character more. But I found the core idea compelling, and am glad I watched it. Still better than most things on ITV or Netflix.

Watched it because of the original idea plot wise and Sheridan smith,she must be hard up for parts it is terrible,I know compulsive gamblers,this bares no resemblance to the lifestyle,the unbelievable moneylender and infantile writing makes it unwatchable added to the fact it's on itv avoid at all costs.

Great acting but as the series goes on it becomes more implausible.

. I see too much rubbish in TV, as my wife watches it! I try to read. This should be a great drama, given the lead the writers and the slightly different concept. My problem wit most TV is that everything is so unlikely. Trading offices wuld not have cleaners in during the work day - everythng on the screeens are too sensitive. Likewise, PCs and monitors would not be running when the traders are away from their desk, especially at night! How many days did it take to look at the CCTV ?! (just saw that bit).

There is Artisitic Licence, and it is probably a neccessary element of TV dramas, but this is just ridiculous.

If you mssed it on normal TV - DO NOT pay a penny to see it.