Truelove

Hmm. I started watching this thinking... Why am I subjecting myself to six long episodes of a program about really old people? That's what we all do. We immediately dismiss old people. How refreshing and positive it was to enter into the lives of this fictional group, with all the uncertainties and passion of someone starting out in the adult world.

Age gives us time to get really good at what we love to do. This is a quality production with classy performances from very experienced actors. For example, I love the way emotions explode out of Phil's face, with just the slightest change of expression. The topic is bleak and challenging, moments in this drama are moving, but I came away from it feeling strangely positive. Criminal activities aside, I hope my golden years are exciting as this!

A group of old friends meet up after a funeral and drunkenly promise each other to help end their lives when it becomes too insufferable to continue.

And then this inevitable question crops up when one of them is diagnosed with cancer.

It may sound depressing but it's tackled in a dark humour and down to earth way and I love how it portrays these older people as part of the sixties generation who really were the first to be so free spirited.

There are twists and turns throughout and it highlights the issue and its pitfalls as well as the sympathetic portrayal of those suffering. Bit of a twist too!

A unique well performed drama with excellent casting.

Well worth a watch.

The big 'but' is what did all those brilliant actors make of their raw material, the script and the screenplay?

Please let me express dismay that this is still such a 'live' (difficult choice of a word) topic in the UK, with the whole Esther Rantzen story on the lips of the nation, a much-loved TV star facing a dismal death from cancer, and unable to choose to die with dignity. Please also let me say that I live elsewhere, in the State of Western Australia, where Voluntary Assisted Dying is on the law book, as it is in all of the other five states of our nation, and has been for so long that nobody even thinks about it any more.

The UK is not so enlightened, and those people who consider that their personal religious affiliations give them a right to insist on how others live their lives, and how they die, still appear to hold sway. We had that battle here about five years ago, not long after I was myself diagnosed with cancer, and this is a matter of considerable comfort to me, knowing that a slow, lingering, agonising death will not be something I will be forced to endure if that time ever comes.

There's the background setting. I wish to avoid spoilers, as such reviews which are thus blanked tend not to get read. I will simply say that those involved do not display in any way the competence we would associate with them from their former professional lives. A top-ranking police officer and an SAS officer in particular would plan things immaculately, and carry them out faultlessly. It is the fact that they don't even get close to either which spreads this out across six episodes, the last of which was all but pointless.

Perhaps they felt they had to do things this way to present a 'balanced' view of Voluntary Assisted Dying, and maybe the religious obstructionists would have otherwise been even more up-in-arms than I am sure they were.

So they did all this to generate drama, and thus lost the plot.

8/10 for the courage to at least open up this dialogue on such a vital topic, and for great acting, but ...........................

Finally a story relevant for people over 40! This is a really good story, and a mystery snuck in for good measure. The acting was a bit stiff in some spots, and it is NOT a comedy. The best part - all the main characters, except one, is over 60. There are some holes in it, and the young police officer is annoying, that's why it only gets an 8. It could have had a better ending where Justice would have been served and Death With Dignity could have been preserved. As we all know justice and the law are two very different things. This has an Awesome soundtrack and it's not about pretty young people. It's more realistic in it's approach and it is a great watch for people that have to deal with their mortality - which is ALL of us. Whilst I'm not in that age bracket, I appreciate what it would take to deal with Death With Dignity. Highly recommend for the story, cinematography and realistic way it deals with it's subject. Would have like to see the younger person be more adult, though. A 28 year old should be way more mature. It's good enough to watch twice.

This UK Channel 4 series starts well but tails off somewhat as it progresses. Certainly a difficult, painful and controversial subject is handled competently without bias and at times with some delicacy. The fact that a retired senior copper is a main player in the deployment is of some interest, given the nature of the law on this subject. The cast was well chosen and mostly very convincing in their portrayal of a group of old friends facing stark choices in their declining years and how to deal with them. I have one reservation - the later stages of this drama tended to stretch credibility, and the ending is - well, frankly - a little disappointing.