The Drowning - The DVDfever Review - Channel 5 drama

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The Drowning is a new Channel 5 drama starring Jill Halfpenny as Jodie, whose son, Tom, drowned as a young boy while out on a family picnic. 9 years later, she’s still distraught and still trying to deal with life, unable to even go into his old room, but now, she’s quite sure she’s seen him while out and about, obviously some years older.

The premise reminds me of a time some years ago, when one of my nephews was around the age of 11, and as I drove to lunch with my Dad, we passed a couple of lads on the pavement, one of whom looked like a dead ringer for my nephew, but a few years older, making me think that it could be him, but he’d just been in a time machine back to this point, and was walking along that street. Chances are, it was not him.

Back to this, and I was quite surprised about what happened soon after when she decided to follow the lad, and actively pursues him on his way to school. Yes, all sense of normality goes out the window when you go pursuing a theory that’s completely hatstand… perhaps, since they never found the boy’s body. In a drama that also stars Rupert Penry-Jones – who used to be in Spooks – if someone died in that but you never actually saw them die, chances are, they were still alive. Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice…

Do You Realize? By Ursine Vulpine – Transformers: The Last Knight Trailer Music used in The Drowning trailer

While all this is going on, she rather throws away the chance of a lifetime, for a pitch for the business she’s planning to set up with a friend, and added to the mix is the death of her father. In fact, we see from the funeral that he died on May 4th, 2020, so it’s clear this has been in the pipeline for a while, but then that’s the same with a lot of dramas premiering at the moment.

In a world where everyone apart from Jodie seems to live in an insanely posh place, there’s more that I can say about the first episode, but I’ll save it until after it’s aired. However, while I will stick it out for the four episodes, this does need to improve.

UPDATE Episode 1 spoilers:

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Posting this now that the episode has been broadcast: Common sense did rather go out of the window when it came to her plans to work at the very school at which the lad attends, and subsequently obtaining fake papers to ‘prove’ she has passed her DBS checks to work with children. There’s also the rather daft soap opera-style ‘shock’ of someone just happening to be passing by every time Jodie talks to Tom.

Spoiler Inside

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UPDATE Episode 2 spoilers:

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Well, episode 2 didn’t improve, but just got increasingly silly. Jodie’s spending far too much time hanging around Tom, and when it was spotted that her DBS certificate was dodgy, she persuaded the headmaster from looking into it (which would’ve taken just one simple phone call to find out!) by bribing him into giving her a stay of execution, with a recording session that would boost the school’s reputation because reasons. However, at least when it came to the revelation at the end, I wasn’t expecting that in the series so soon, so I’ll be interested to see how that turns out.

Spoiler Inside

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UPDATE Episode 3 spoilers:

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Tom seems remarkably calm and accepting for learning that his past ten years has been a lie. Of course, for Jodie just planning on running away – without selling your house and dealing with all of that – is completely ridiculous. It’s also ridiculous that she bosses around the gangsters who sell dodgy certificates and passports. Plus, she seems to be able to withdraw more than the daily cashpoint limit, by going to different cashpoints. Erm… that’s not how it works. In fact, it got to the point, when she was held in the detention centre, that I expected Jodie to be busted out by the Justice League…

Spoiler Inside

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UPDATE Episode 4 spoilers:

Spoiler Inside	Select Show
Again, this was watchable, but total nonsense. When it came to the chat between Jodie and Mark in a private room, it didn’t make sense that they’d be allowed to talk in there without a cop present. Then again, Jodie just seems to have been absolved of all transgressions including the fake passport for Tom, etc. Maybe they have bent coppers in that station? When Line of Duty returns, AC12 can get on the case 😉 As for Jason getting involved in the latter half of this, he came across like one of those cartoon villains who reveals all of their dastardly plan to someone they’re planning to bump off, but spends far too long doing so, and ends up with zero time left to carry out whatever deed they planned. There’s also a chase scene like something out of Speed 2 when the boat’s going really slowly. Yes, The Drowning didn’t just jump the shark, but a whole row of them! Still, for all the family strife being burned by Jodie and co, it gave me a good belly laugh.

Spoiler Inside

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The Drowning is broadcast tomorrow on Channel 5 at 9pm. It is available to pre-order on DVD, ahead of its release on March 15th.

If you missed it, you can watch the each episode on My5 after transmission.

The Drowning – Official Trailer – Channel 5 Drama

Episode 1 Score: 5/10
Episode 2 Score: 4/10
Episode 3 Score: 4/10
Episode 4 Score: 4/10

Director: Carolina Giammetta
Producer: Mary McCarthy, Jason Maza
Writers/Creators: Francesca Brill, Luke Watson
Music: Sarah Warne

Cast:
Jodie: Jill Halfpenny
Tom: Aaron Kane
Mark: Rupert Penry-Jones
Lynn: Deborah Findlay
Kate: Deirdre Mullins
Frank: Frank Melia
Ben: Dara Devaney
Jason: Jonas Armstrong
Yasmin: Jade Anouka
Daniel: Cody Molko
Lola: Alison Harrington
DS Harvey: Jason Maza
Miss Towne: Roisin O’Neill
Ade: Babs Olusanmokum
Jerzy: Oluwole Jones
Mr McKenzie: Conor Mullen

Dom Robinson

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.

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The Drowning – The DVDfever Review – Jill Halfpenny

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