SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER
Drama
Mysterious Creatures
9:00pm - 10:30pm
ITV1 London
VIDEO Plus+: 7788
Subtitles, audio description, widescreen
Episode written by Gwyneth Hughes
Television always has to tread carefully when it presents dramas based on true stories, and Mysterious Creatures has to be more delicate than most. Though Gwyneth Hughes's sensitive script deals with the appalling and far-reaching effects of a daughter's mental illness on her parents, it is sympathetic without being cloying. And no punches are pulled in its depiction of the central character. Lisa Ainscow (Rebekah Staton, a highly promising young actress) is a grown woman prone to fearsome tantrums, ridiculous spending sprees and life-controlling obsessions, all wrapped up in a remorseless self-absorption. Her long-suffering parents Wendy and Bill (Brenda Blethyn and Timothy Spall, both excellent) are helpless in the face of their daughter's overwhelming personality and find little help from outside agencies. Lisa is hard to diagnose: she's sectioned under the Mental Health Act, but this order is later lifted. When Lisa returns home, Wendy and Bill can no longer cope and make a dreadful pact.
RT reviewer - Alison Graham
Bill Ainscow - Timothy Spall
Wendy Ainscow - Brenda Blethyn
Lisa Ainscow - Rebekah Staton
Anne Buckley - Judy Flynn
David Kirwan - David Crellin
Professor Bowler - Stephen Boxer
Judge Holloway - Mark Penfold
Justice Mitchell - James Curran
Julie Kirwan - Joanna Phillips-Lane
Dr Yorke - Alastair Galbraith
Kelly - Carla Henry
Nurse Eileen Hume - Daryl Fishwick
Dr Ramesh - Gary Pillai
Richard Nicholas - Nicholas Gleaves
Dr Rodriguez - Daniel Pirrie
Chanelle Pinkerton - Noma Dumezweni
.