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Byrne set to knock Laurie off his perch
HBO’s on-the-couch show is brilliant – so why didn’t the BBC take it?
British TV viewers finally got to see what all the fuss has been about in America over the HBO show In Treatment when the series aired in Britain for the first time last night. Now there are questions over why the BBC or Channel 4 did not buy the rights.
Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, who plays psychotherapist Paul Weston, can be expected to knock Hugh Laurie, the star of House, off the 'thinking woman's male crumpet' pedestal if the series catches on. But in the relative backwater of Sky Arts 1, there is no guarantee of that happening.
The premise of the show is that Weston (Byrne) meets a different patient every night of the week. On Mondays it's Laura (Melissa George), a hospital worker who has a crush on him. On Tuesdays it's Alex (Blair Underwood), a US fighter pilot who accidentally bombed a religious school while on duty in Iraq.
Wednesdays belong to Sophie (Mia Wasikowska), a 16-year-old gymnast with suicidal thoughts. On Thursdays Weston sees Jake and Amy (Josh Charles and Embeth Davidtz) a couple trying to decide whether to have an abortion.
Finally, on Fridays, Weston goes to see his own analyst, Gina, played by Dianne Wiest.
There are shades of The Sopranos here, with Laura's crush reminiscent of Tony Soprano's feelings for Dr Melfi, while Melfi was often seen pouring her heart out to her own analyst.
The series is based on an original Israeli show called Be'Tipul and its first season was well received. Both Byrne and Wiest have won awards - a Golden Globe for him and best support supporting actress Emmy for her. So why the lack of interest among British TV execs?
Brian Viner, reviewing the "forensically brilliant" show for the Independent (see below), wonders whether our "innate mistrust of mind doctors" might have played a part in Britain being the last major European to buy the rights.
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Nancy Banks-Smith in the Guardian: "Each episode is a perfect little pearl, luminous on its own but better still as a necklace... In Treatment reminds us that TV is essentially claustrophobic and intensely personal. The enormous audience is an illusion... The therapist (Gabriel Byrne) appears to do very little. It is a treat trying to catch him at it."
Brian Viner in the Independent: "It's exceedingly classy drama, reliant almost more on the pitch-perfect acting than on the excellence of the writing. It's impossible to take your eyes off Byrne's performance, which is all the more remarkable given that he has so little to say."
Benji Wilson in the Sunday Times: "You barely leave Paul's front room in the entire series, yet it is as addictive as a morphine drip." ·
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Comments
Knock Hugh Laurie off his perch?? I don't think so. A House fan will always be a House fan...
There is no contest!
Like Seinfeld, a classic example of 'critics' liking a show while the British public remain unmoved!
Like the Hollywood defense of Roman Polanski as a misunderstood artist while the general public see a paedophile, this show may simply not appeal to mainstream viewers in the UK despite 'critical acclaim'!
If the anti-BBC, pro-Murdoch campaigns run in media such as the First Post have their desired effect, then we can hope to see even more quality TV available only on pay TV.