Sleepin_Dragon

Emma's fortieth birthday is fast approaching, but she's happy to ignore it. She is angered by an urgent phone call from her sister Phoebe, alerting her to visit the local hospital urgently. Emma is angry about the unexpected and unwanted surprise. Emma is suffering badly from insomnia.

It's a good first episode; I don't quite know the direction it's going to go in, but there's enough intrigue here to hold my attention. It asks a rather alarming question: can insanity run in the family?

I like the way they capture the true torment of insomnia; if you've suffered, you'll recognise Emma's torment-staring at the clock, experiencing accidents, generally being a little snappy.

I could genuinely watch Vicky McClure in anything; I think she's a fabulous actress with a unique presence. Leanne Best was very well cast as her sister; I'm always impressed by her versatility as an actress in drama and comedy.

Why is it that when anyone breaks a glass on a TV show, they always cut themselves? It seldom happens. I love that everyone is constantly having a glass of vino, my kind of people!

7/10.

Sylvia is undercover, posing as PA to Lee Hamilton, the widow of a diplomat, working and living at her lavish home, to keep an eye on a South American politician. Sylvia is thrown into direct action when the body of a man is found in the water.

A very enjoyable and different type of episode. The show generally has a cosy 'local' vibe about it; this one didn't. If I didn't know any better, I would have said the writer was given a brief and was unaware of previous episodes.

A very intriguing mystery; we were kept guessing until the final act, and I enjoyed Sylvia's interactions and storyline with Michael Priest, Nicholas Farrell showing he's still a class act. Fox's transformation was quite something; she looked so different. The makeup team did a fine job.

I must also credit Fox's performance here, and it was nice to see her fully playing the part of a spy. One gripe: the way Sylvia is seen interacting with both Riva and Lombardi was somewhat casual; as a trained spook, surely she wouldn't have let her guard down quite so freely.

8/10.

The court hears evidence from the matron, Miss Page, Cardy's right hand at the institution. She describes how the home should be run, berating Piper's methods as ineffective and lacking discipline. Thomas Rigby is brought in to give evidence; he explains firsthand what happened in his own words.

It's got my blood boiling and racing, the level of cruelty and our soulless care that seemed to be the norm at that home; it sounded like some form of prison.

Writer Peter King definitely wrote some moving storylines over the years; this was definitely one of the hardest-hitting of his works. Once again, I wonder if King had any firsthand experience; it somehow felt personal.

Wow, can you imagine what the home would have been run like under the control of Cardy and Page? It would have made Stalag Luft III look like a holiday camp.

This would be the only acting role for Simon Stevens; I'm afraid I know nothing about him, nor can I see any information on him. At least they showed a character with cerebral palsy on the show.

I know fault can be found, I won't comment, but the show did at least show people from all walks of life, a time when that genuinely wasn't always the case.

How nice to see Richard Warner back as Justice Waddington, I've not seen him for quite some time.

As for the verdict....

8/10.