The drama portrays very sensitively a particular individual in extraordinary circumstances. The acting by Jason Watkins is outstanding, using subtleties of body language/tone to convey the oddities of an individual while allowing a balanced impression of the whole human being to come through. The script also, importantly, seemed respectful of the family tragedy at the heart of the story.
There has been a comment that the drama is 'propaganda for the Leveson inquiry'. However, the drama is ultimately about media intrusion into private lives so inevitably must make reference to Leveson; it would be quite an omission if it didn't! So there is no point criticising it for that. I am no great fan of ITV but 'hats off' to them for broadcasting this; what is more worth criticising is the lack of exposure by all other media outlets of an excellent drama.
By the way, I haven't used the word 'eccentric' in the above because actually we are all odd in our ways - every one of us - which is why the message from the film is so very important. Its about protecting individuals from the media machine, not about protecting so-called 'eccentrics'.
There has been a comment that the drama is 'propaganda for the Leveson inquiry'. However, the drama is ultimately about media intrusion into private lives so inevitably must make reference to Leveson; it would be quite an omission if it didn't! So there is no point criticising it for that. I am no great fan of ITV but 'hats off' to them for broadcasting this; what is more worth criticising is the lack of exposure by all other media outlets of an excellent drama.
By the way, I haven't used the word 'eccentric' in the above because actually we are all odd in our ways - every one of us - which is why the message from the film is so very important. Its about protecting individuals from the media machine, not about protecting so-called 'eccentrics'.