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Trust Me stars Jodie Whittaker as a nurse posing as a doctor. Some time next year, she’ll be posing as a doctor of a different kind since she will be The Doctor in the next series of Doctor Who (so glad it wasn’t Kris Marshall!!)
She’s put in a position to be a potential whistleblower on a situation that affects a great number of patients, something she’s keen to do as she feels she’s being neglected by her bosses, while instead, others are levelling allegations about her. Alas, this leads to her suspension which then makes her think in a way that no sane person would… “Hey, I’ll become a doctor!”, and steals her friend’s identity to accomplish this, since to her, it’s the natural reaction to feeling unappreciated in your job.
The job seems plain sailing at first, but it doesn’t take long before difficult cases come in. Her nursing experience allows her to talk the talk, initially, but how long can she keep this up for? Judging by the ‘next time’ clip, not long… but I’m not spoiling anything for those who skip those things, since both the first episode and that ‘next time’ clip combined, are, basically, just what we saw in the trailer, including a fling with a doctor, about five minutes after she starts… as never happens in any job. Well, certainly not mine, anyway.
This is a shame, since there’s a great idea in this, and it’s not entirely without merit since you do feel the tension Cath’s feeling as she literally get stuck into the job, but the problem is that these scenes come very few and far between, but it feels like we already know the start, middle and the end, unless it’s got a big trick up its sleeve at the end of part two? She could act the doctor for longer, but it’s only a four-parter. So she won’t.
Throw in Blake Harrison as estranged husband Karl, and Sharon Small as colleague Brigitte, who’s bound to suss her before anyone else, since she’s alayw got that look on her face, and that’s the only recognisable faces in this drama.
For reasons unexplained, and while a number of dramas are being shot and broadcast wider than 16:9 in a straight 2.00:1 widescreen aspect ratio, Trust Me follows Doctor Foster and The Interceptor by going the whole hog for 2.35:1. I love films in that ratio, but it just seems odd for a TV drama. In addition, this one allows follows the JJ Abrams route of adding in lens flare whenever it’s not required.
Trust Me continues next Tuesday at 9pm on BBC1, and is available to pre-order on DVD, ahead of its release on September 18th. If you missed it, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after transmission, and click on the DVD packshot for the full-size version.
Score: 5/10
Director: John Alexander
Producer: Emily Feller
Writer: Dan Sefton
Composer: Ben Onono
Cast:
Cath Hardacre: Jodie Whittaker
Andy Brenner: Emun Elliott
Brigitte Rayne: Sharon Small
Karl: Blake Harrison
Sam Kelly: Nathan Welsh
Karen: Lois Chimimba
Ally Sutton: Andrea Lowe
Charlie McKee: Michael Abubakar
Arthur Hardacre: Paul Copley
Lynn: Lisa Livingstone
Gerry: David Ireland
Dr Hattie: Hannah Jarrett-Scott
Molly Hardacre: Summer Mason
Nursing Director: Emma Dewhurst
Patient Liaison OffIcer: Laurietta Essien
Cabby: Paul Donnelly
Mona McBride: Cara Kelly
Alex Constantine: Thierry Mabonga
ED Receptionist: Kirsty Mackay
Alan Turner: Kenny Blyth
Mrs Kieman: Anne Kidd
Jamie: William Ruane
Orthopaedic Surgeon: Clare Waugh
Jenny: Ella Victoria Robb
Brenda Hicks: Rebecca Clay
Martine: Emma Handy
Cyclist: Gordon Brown
Sharon: Gail Kemp
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.