Psychos

I am a recently qualified hospital-based psychiatrist. I stumbled across this show late one night on a public television network.

It is brilliant. I am eminently aware that it offended many, and that the very conservative Royal College of Psychiatrists condemned it. But I suppose this has to do with its gritty truthfulness. I can relate extremely well to my dedicated, overworked, fragile, and always human colleagues in the show.

Real, disturbing, and extremely enjoyable. Doesn't pretend to whitewash the mentally ill and those who treat them with some politically correct brush intended to placate the easily-offended and all-too-influential consumer-survivor lobby.

If it were available on video or DVD I would by it. Can't say that for too many films or television shows.

An absolute gem. Watched it originally but recently found it again online. I work in mental health and this is spot on. Fantastic.

Well worth watching if you like medical dramas. Slight alternative to the usual ER, Casualty type, which makes it refreshing and interesting. From working in medical environments, it's easy to understand the pressures staff are put under. The acting makes the drama both enjoyable and draws in your attention. Got to say though it's certainly not improved my confidence about the mental health placement I start in two weeks.

For those wanting to watch it, it's on 4oD, where I found it. Really is a pity though that it isn't available on DVD and that there isn't anymore.

Since this series has long been and gone, and several other reviewers have described it perfectly, I'll just make a few brief points. Anyone who has ever spent time working in the environment this series is set in will appreciate just how hard it can be to distinguish between Doctors and Patients. Psychos works because it captures the very essence of the subject. At the same time it allows both the story line and characters to develop in a way that pushes the very edges of the boundaries of reality. Are units like this staffed by people like this? No. Does the program portray the essential nature of all those involved? Absolutely.

It's worth pointing out that the series is now available on DVD.

This was easily the best drama series on British television during 1999 and it's a crime it has neither been repeated nor released on video. Its impact was deep and wide-reaching, cropping up in Sunday supplement covers and the British Medical Journal. The previous comments appear to sum up reactions to this visceral, hilarious, touching and intelligent drama series: extremes. There is no middle ground here, and with the subject matter--psychiatric care in Glasgow, Scotland--it's no surprise. What I think most critics of the series misunderstand is that the title, as far as I can see, is a reference to "labelling", the distinction between "sick" and "well", "normal" and "mad". It's a show that flatters the viewer with a modicum of intelligence--so if you like your drama syrupy and spoon-fed, turn over now.

This continuum is personified in the main character, Dr. Danny Nash, written with wit intelligence by David Wolstencroft and played to searing perfection by Douglas Henshall (This Year's Love). Both, I believe, won awards for their work, and watching the series as a whole, it's no surprise: this is a series that shows you both sides of the therapeutic coin personified, a manic-depressive psychiatrist (a condition all too endemic in the profession).

Despite a plethora of sub-standard and under-watched shows being released on DVD and video, I have yet to see this excellent series released. It's a shame, as repeated viewings bring out the subtleties and themes that may stay hidden if the overall "trip" of watching the show hits you too hard in the gut first time round (and it does).