THURSDAY 23 MARCH
Drama
The Family Man
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC1 London & South East
VIDEO Plus+: 1491
Subtitled, Widescreen, Audio-described
Episode written by Tony Marchant
1/3
The agonies of IVF treatment are so real for many couples, you worry about a TV drama pitching its tent in such sensitive territory. Fortunately, this new serial, from veteran scriptwriter Tony Marchant, is an absorbing, tightly worked piece of TV that doesn't once feel exploitative. Instead it weaves a neat ensemble drama around the figure of fertility doctor Patrick Stowe (Trevor Eve). He's a roaring success at work and a roaring failure at home: wife gone, kids fed up with him, work always taking precedence. But he's essentially a sideshow: the couples whose problems he tries to solve are the real meat of the drama. Lee Ross is outstanding as a postman who wishes he could deliver birthday cards to a child of his own; and Lennie James shines as a bereaved dad dreaming of a son, even as he plays at making jewellery with his daughters. It's a measured, thoughtful piece of work that may provoke as many heated discussions as it does tear-stained hankies.
RT reviewer: David Butcher
Patrick Stowe - Trevor Eve
Gillian - Michelle Collins
Steve - Peter McDonald
Paul - Lennie James
Jane - Sara Powell
Natalie - Claire Skinner
Matthew - Dominic Rowan
Tina - Katy Cavanagh
Gary - Lee Ross
Mary - Deborah Findlay
Kelly - Daniela Denby-Ashe
Tom - Pal Aron
Duncan - Adam Kotz
Anne - Gillian Bevan
Joanne - Morven Christie
Chloe - Flora Spencer-Longhurst
Calum - Dom Herd
Kelly's dad - Nick Stringer
Tina's mum - Joanna Bacon
Philip Dickson - Paul Hilton
Bucharest clinic director - Boris Boskovic
Natalie's sister - Robin Weaver
Pauline - Suzy Aitchison
Harry's mum - Katherine Grice
Hayley - Jodi Albert
.