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Sick Note had me from the trailer, simply because it’s the first time I’ve seen Don Johnson in a TV series since Miami Vice.
However, the series mainly centres around Daniel Glass (Rupert Grint), who’s accidentally killed his girlfriend’s cat. Becca (Pippa Bennett-Warner) is already on the verge of throwing him out, and since he doesn’t want to spill the beans, the only reason he can find for them to stay together is because they’re only halfway through season 5 of Game Of Thrones…
He works at We Cover Insurance, a company trying to privating the NHS, rather like those ghastly ‘prescription 2U’-type adverts we keep seeing on the TV at the moment, promising all the services that your local pharmacy provide already. Back to this, though, and the business is run by the boorish and bigoted Kenny West (Johnson), who’s a real nasty piece of work. An accidental situation leads to Kenny kicking off, even though he knows of Daniel’s dilemma…
…and that not the cat situation, but the fact the lad’s been diagnosed with cancer.
Throw in Nick Frost as an inept doctor who wants to try Botox, but makes a big mess of it (perhaps I can recommend the Granger clinic at the Mill Health Centre in Letherbridge?), and there’s quite a few big laughs in this first episode.
I’ve still yet to see a single Harry Potter movie, but Rupert Grint’s brilliant with his predicament, of which you’ll learn more and more as the entire episode progresses. Don Johnson is always brilliant in everything, and as well as being a fan since the days of ‘the Vice’, and playing his 1986 Heartbeat LP until it almost melted, I also very much recommend his recent thriller in which he co-starred alongside Nicolas Cage, Vengeance: A Love Story.
I’ll also add that it does get very silly at times, and you could argue whether ca ncer is a source for comedy, but then this programme is never laughing AT cancer.
If you have a problem with plenty of very strong language being used, then this is not the programme for you, but for anyone without such sensitivities, Sick Note is both an engaging and comfortable watch and following the fact that the end credits feature clips from the next episode, I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series.
Sick Note isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but the series begins next Tuesday, November 7th on Sky One at 10pm. You can see a trailer below, but around halfway through it gives what could be a possible spoiler which I haven’t mentioned in this review, so I’d just recommend that you watch this.
Score: 7.5/10
Director: Matt Lipsey
Producer: Sarah Fraser
Writers: Nat Saunders and James Serafinowicz
Music: Carly Paradis
Cast:
Daniel Glass: Rupert Grint
Kenny West: Don Johnson
Dr Iain Glennis: Nick Frost
Becca Palmerstone: Pippa Bennett-Warner
Michael: Karl Theobald
Linda: Marama Corlett
Annette Glennis: Belinda Stewart-Wilson
Vanessa Matthews: Camilla Beeput
Dr. Samson: Miles Richardson
Officer Hayward: Daniel Rigby (in forthcoming episodes)
Katerina West: Lindsay Lohan (in forthcoming episodes)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.