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Original poster

Help on channel 4

95 replies

User135644 · 16/09/2021 13:03

This is on Channel 4 tonight at 9 (and steaming on All 4 now). Set in a care home last year with Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham.

Just watched it, it's an excellent drama. Jodie is incredible.

OP posts:

GlomOfNit · 16/09/2021 23:10

@viques

What a shame the shark jumped. This drama was timely and moving - then it wasn’t.

yes - it completely lost me at that point. Gritty and harrowing and then whoompf! straight into fantasy/silliness.

sweetkitty · 16/09/2021 23:16

I thought both Jodie and Stephen Graham were excellent. If it had been shown 3 years ago it would have been some fictional horror futuristic nightmare then you realise it did happen last year and that’s what makes it horrific.

MeAndDebbieMcGee · 16/09/2021 23:20

I actually don't think I can face this. I'm sure it's good quality because they're both great actors but I don't want to think about pandemic.

A friend who is a writer said that his agent has told him no one wants pandemic fiction. Everyone wants to write it but no one wants to read it. I don't know how long that will hold true for but it's certainly true for me rn.

RubyJack · 16/09/2021 23:21

I fell asleep and missed last 10 minutes
Will need to find it to watch at some point.

BeforetheFlood · 16/09/2021 23:27

It was so well written and obviously impeccably researched, but it felt like the writers had been told to put all those harrowing real life events into a 'story' (or just felt like they should.)

Unfortunately the 'story' they chose was daft and implausible and undermined the subject as a whole for me.

The camera angles also made it a difficult watch! I constantly had that feeling I get first thing in the morning when I haven't picked up my glasses or put my lenses in. Probably supposed to symbolise the lack of clarity in everything that was happening, and how weird and unsettled everything was, but tipped over a bit into me edging towards the remote to change over.

Sunsetboater · 16/09/2021 23:29

I'll be watching it over the weekend - been looking forward to it for weeks. Probably just me being a little cynical but I find it ironic that it was broadcast today when today was the last day for unvaccinated care workers to get first jab in time for 2nd jab deadline on November 11th... news.sky.com/story/covid-19-mandatory-vaccination-for-care-workers-is-damaging-a-sector-already-on-its-knees-12409176

Nightfeedwatcher · 16/09/2021 23:44

It really got to me…thinking how awful it was, so much if it is real life and happened so recently…laid in bed thinking about it still

dibly · 17/09/2021 00:07

I thought most of it was really powerful, so much that it didn’t need the drama at the end. I’m so angry all over again though, what happened to protecting the vulnerable.

Wingedharpy · 17/09/2021 00:25

Agree with others.
Excellent until the fairy tale bit arrived.

simitra · 17/09/2021 00:31

I would cut my throat with a rusty saw rather than end up in one of those places.

bumblenbean · 17/09/2021 00:32

I agree, it was really quite harrowing for the first hour or so but the last bit seemed somehow disjointed and at odds with the feel of the overall program. I understand the message / motivation for what she did but it just seemed extreme / unrealistic.

Great acting though. I really am in awe of care workers especially during covid

MercyBooth · 17/09/2021 00:42

We are being encouraged to look after our health and live longer and yet................that is where we will end up.

LemonSwan · 17/09/2021 00:56

I thought it was excellent.

I also get the end bit.

Luckily I work in a home where we do not sedate. But it is done. And most would do it if the resident nearly electrocuted themselves.

It may have been far fetched for her to kidnap him, but I think it was a metaphor for carers willing to risk long term damage to their own lives for their residents.

JustDanceAddict · 17/09/2021 07:30

Amazing film, but depressing nonetheless- the govt threw care homes under the bus. Still can’t believe they put non-tested patients into them. What a complete nightmare it all was.

therebeccariots · 17/09/2021 07:56

@LemonSwan

I thought it was excellent.

I also get the end bit.

Luckily I work in a home where we do not sedate. But it is done. And most would do it if the resident nearly electrocuted themselves.

It may have been far fetched for her to kidnap him, but I think it was a metaphor for carers willing to risk long term damage to their own lives for their residents.

I agree re the end. It showed the connection Sarah and tony had developed in the craziness around them. It showed people with dementia can love and be loved. It showed how despite Sarah's dysfunctional family and chaotic childhood she had a strong sense of right and wrong and couldn't leave someone she deeply cared about to have their last cognitive function snuffed out with the chemical cosh. She knew she wouldn't get away with it, she just needed to get away with it for 14 days to safeguard him. Her speech in the police car showed the helplessness and her insight to the worth of her residents and people like her, minimum wage, undervalued and cannon fodder for this government. I also felt it spoke for those people who sprang their grannies from care homes as they couldn't leave them in there any longer. I liked the film as a whole and thought it was excellent from start to finish.

Original poster

User135644 · 17/09/2021 08:15

How amazing is Jodie? One of the great character actors.

OP posts:

EvilPea · 17/09/2021 08:56

I agree about the strange ending, it was a shame as it could have been written as families trying to get their families out - which they did, some successfully, some not.
It was a hard hard watch, and had to laugh at the matt hancock speech on the radio - we know what you were doing instead of protecting those residents.
The cummings evidence about care homes was pretty damming, i think the next few years should be interesting as people try to hold the government accountable. I'll imagine they just get told to "move on" though

therebeccariots · 17/09/2021 09:18

@EvilPea

I agree about the strange ending, it was a shame as it could have been written as families trying to get their families out - which they did, some successfully, some not. It was a hard hard watch, and had to laugh at the matt hancock speech on the radio - we know what you were doing instead of protecting those residents. The cummings evidence about care homes was pretty damming, i think the next few years should be interesting as people try to hold the government accountable. I'll imagine they just get told to "move on" though

To y didn't have any family to spring him from the home so I can see why the story took that turn

Delatron · 17/09/2021 09:40

I think the ending was ok. We saw the bond they developed. We saw she was a bit of a rule breaker and not close to her family. But she fought for what was right.

It wasn’t as though she was breaking him out to care for him forever. She just wanted him in a different place. I guess she acted on the spout of the moment and didn’t think it through but we also saw the immense pressure she was under and how worn down she was.

As a viewer those were the two characters we acted about the most.

rougemouse · 17/09/2021 11:31

I thought it was excellent and showed how undervalued our care staff are. What would her hourly rate have been on those 20 shifts?? Couple of quid. Disgusting.

I did think the end was a bit daft but she was broken. I can well imagine someone in her position doing something drastic and foolish.

cheesegloriouscheeseyum · 17/09/2021 13:29

I've just started watching it. I think I'll do it in chunks as I'm not sure I can take it otherwise. I've already been in tears at the early scenes set at Christmas with the party, rooms full of family etc. I'm an AHP and work with people w/ dementia in the community. I cannot imagine how those in care homes got through with no visitors and confined to their rooms for month. It was heartbreaking

FatCatThinCat · 17/09/2021 13:39

I agree with previous posters, it's very well done, hard hitting and emotional, until the end bit when it just goes into unrealistic shite.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 17/09/2021 15:23

I've just started watching it. I think I'll do it in chunks as I'm not sure I can take it otherwise.

This is how I feel. Really struggling at 40 minutes in.

WhoWants2Know · 17/09/2021 15:37

The last bit was weird, but the rest was good.

But the government hasn't learned anything. The money from increasing NI will go to the nhs while vulnerable people can't get help.

Sylvvie · 17/09/2021 16:44

@nancyonthebike

People did this for minimum wage. They actually lived this and didn't even think about the money they were earning they truly did it because it was their job and they were human and they had to do what they had to do. And they continue to do it. And I hope they get the support they need when they come to a halt and it hits them what they went through.

This is why people are leaving in droves. We had zero appreciation except "free pizza that one time" and people clapping on their doorstep (ironically, standing next to Vote Tory signs in one neighbourhood I walked through to work). Plus, a lot of our EU nursing staff are leaving due to Brexit so thanks Boris!

The whole thing was a huge slap in the face for healthcare. Now we have antivax idiots and people not wearing masks even though our Trust still mandates them because people think they know better.

This show has given a small insight into just how horrendous it was, but I still managed to see worse at my place of work.

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