Mercy (13 May 2001)

A village doctor becomes something of a folk hero when he helps his terminally ill wife to die. But is everything as clear as it seems?

Director:

Ferdinand Fairfax

Writer:

Anthony Horowitz

Stars:

Timothy West, Judy Parfitt, John Gordon Sinclair

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Timothy West	...	Dr. William Collins
Judy Parfitt	...	Margaret Collins
John Gordon Sinclair	...	D.S. Paul Bannister
Veronica Lang	...	Alice Young
Nicholas Sidi	...	Graham Oakes
Lucy Black	...	Sarah Collins
Michael Medwin	...	Dr. Patrick Whitfield
David Quilter	...	Reverend Robert Fraser
Linda George	...	Karen
Tony Longhurst	...	Driver

Storyline

On a television debate show about euthanasia Dr. William Colins explains how, when his wife Margaret found she was dying slowly of a painful brain disease,he helped her commit suicide. Initially the plan was that she did it alone but a letter to her vicar explaining her husband's assistance alerts the police to the possibility that,not only did Collins stand to gain from his wife's death but she may also not have been terminally ill.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Release Date:

13 May 2001 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Deadly Doctor!!

This series seems to occasionally have some really stellar players - and they make their particular episodes stand out. David Suchet in "Teacher" and now Timothy West in "Mercy". We have just watched him in "Bleak House" and he is a magnificent Lord Deadlock!!

"Mercy" starts out as a very black comedy (to me) - an elderly village doctor has become a bit of a folk hero when he helps his wife to die when she is facing a terminal brain illness. He is on a talk show and as he quietly talks about her civic mindedness, a scene comes on that shows his wife as a screaming harpy tearing strips off a helpless delivery driver because he has dared to park near the village green. In another scene she bluntly tells her husband "Well you can return to all your young girls" he looks shocked but it starts to make you (the viewer) think. He comes across as defeated and he makes a promise to his wife not to tell their daughter anything about the illness but as the show comes to an end events show he has been in complete control from the start.

Judy Parfitt (the wife) was always at her best playing haughty, disagreeable types. It was said she had the pair of iciest blue eyes in the business, all the better to play indomitable characters in "Little Dorrit" and "Funland". I don't know whether Veronica Lang (the mistress) was Australian but she was definitely in some popular Aussie dramas including "A Country Practice", "Halifax fp" and "Heartbreak High".