5 out of 5

Written by: Mike Bartlett

covers season 1

As we wait for the next season of Scott & Bailey, I’ll periodically look in to Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp and Amelia Bullmore’s goings-ons to see what’s what and if there’s anything new I should be twiddlin’ my nose at.  (That’s how I watch TV, apparently.)  But “look in to” doesn’t always equal continued viewing, or something more than a read-the-summary, even.  And Doctor Foster’s focus on jilted wife Foster, unwinding the depth of her husband’s affair over the course of the season, didn’t exactly sound like my cup of drama tea, but I reflected on how riveting Jones was when giving us the emotional upheavals of Rachel Bailey’s tumultuous relationships… so why not.  And you could say the first episode’s meticulous following of the Doctor’s digging into the source of a stray blond hair on hubbie Simon’s (Bertie Carvel) scarf is a pretty standard plotting device, but it’s that very meticulousness – and indeed, Jones’ heart-wrenching portrayal of the emotional ups an downs throughout it – that make it such compelling TV, even if it is pretty obviously manipulating us at times; I mean, it helps the dramatic flair when your main character is willing to orchestrate intensive sting operations to gather information and threaten people with lit cigarettes, just as it helps if your cheater is a HUGE cheater – every dig into the supposed solidity of her marriage just leads Doc Foster to discover another, deeper layer…

But this simply wouldn’t be possible without Jones’ performance, which while bringing that same intensity that worked on Scott & Bailey also makes her Foster character’s responses completely understandable, if not always from the “that’s what I would do” perspective, then absolutely from portraying the sense of helplessness and loss with devastating relatability.  And I realize how dumb that maybe sounds from someone who’s not married, who has no kids, and who’s never been cheated on, but that’s the strength of what we’re talking about here: the marriage of script and acting made me feel every moment.  A lot of times I can brush off shows like this with the same “cold” logic I brush off most personal interactions; Doctor Foster helped me to see what these connections can mean when they’re taken away.

I’m also glossing over the equally important contributions of the rest of the crew: Bertie’s portrayal of Simon carries the weight of the character unfortunately effectively as well, and I say unfortunately because of how twisted it makes the viewing experience – our writers and directors certainly make it clear how far he strays (and his killing inability to admit to it), but also don’t make it so easy as to outright vilify him.  Similarly, the couple’s son, Tom (Tom Taylor) isn’t just tossed in for sympathy: he’s treated with intelligence, and that’s realistically brought to the screen by the actor.  So it goes with Simon’s mistress, whom I won’t reveal in case you haven’t read synopses elsewhere, but this actress has been the go-to for these kinds of roles that demand a superficiality that hides a personality, and she kills it.

So the overwhelming theme here is the humanity of the series.  The conflagration of drama is the stuff of TV, but it’s filtered through this filter that makes all of the characters human; all of their responses so personable and real.  So it hits home.  I’m not converted to love and marriage by any means (…heh, not that that’s the intent of the show…), but even if you’re a cold-hearted basterd like m’self, Doctor Foster will come close to breaking down some emotional walls as it systematically tears through the life of its leads.