Swallow (2001– )

A single mother is prescribed a controversial anti-depressant called Distral and quickly becomes dependant, but discovers that giving up the drug causes terrible side-effects. Unable to ... See full summary »

Stars:

Steven Mackintosh, Christine Tremarco, Bill Paterson

Cast

Series cast summary:
Steven Mackintosh	...	Stuart Collins (3 episodes, 2001)
Christine Tremarco	...	Lorraine Landry (3 episodes, 2001)
Bill Paterson	...	Angus Tighe (3 episodes, 2001)
Anton Lesser	...	Paul Valley (3 episodes, 2001)
Dearbhla Molloy	...	Dorothy Collins (3 episodes, 2001)
James Bowers	...	Andy (3 episodes, 2001)
Sian Reeves	...	Pauline (3 episodes, 2001)
Kate Fenwick	...	Claire Danvers (3 episodes, 2001)
Heather Cameron-McLintock	...	Amy Landry (3 episodes, 2001)
Jennifer Hennessy	...	Jenny Lawler (3 episodes, 2001)
Fleur Irving	...	Amber (3 episodes, 2001)
Simon Gregor	...	Barry Sumner (3 episodes, 2001)
Jan Harvey	...	T. Palmer (3 episodes, 2001)
Robert Swann	...	Dr. Charles Bourne (3 episodes, 2001)
Clare Louise Hearndon	...	Stella (3 episodes, 2001)
Terence Harvey	...	David Cooper (3 episodes, 2001)
Abigail McKern	...	Liz Valley (3 episodes, 2001)
Anthony Howell	...	Dr. Stokes (3 episodes, 2001)
Claire Skinner	...	Gail Collins (2 episodes, 2001)
Rosalind March	...	Oncologist (2 episodes, 2001)
Dominic Rowan	...	Dan Stockman (2 episodes, 2001)
Craig Stokes	...	Journalist (2 episodes, 2001)
Jenna Stevens	...	Nurse (2 episodes, 2001)
Michael Cochrane	...	Solicitor (2 episodes, 2001)
Simon Quarterman	...	Monitoring Staff (2 episodes, 2001)

Storyline

A single mother is prescribed a controversial anti-depressant called Distral and quickly becomes dependant, but discovers that giving up the drug causes terrible side-effects. Unable to find support for her plight, she mounts a personal crusade against the pharmaceutical company who produce the pills. Meanwhile, a cynical marketing executive for the company has been trying to suppress all bad publicity and promote Distral as a wonder-product, but as he watches his sister suffer from terminal cancer, he begins to question his own ethics.

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | cancer | single mother | drug addiction | corruption | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

Nielu

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel 4 Television Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

210 min 210 min (3 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Surprisingly good acting and a scary story.

Lorraine is suffering from depression and is given a new anti-depressant, which works OK. But then she "thinks" she's become addicted to it, so she stops, and experiences some terrible side-effects. But are they from the drug, are they from stopping the drug, or are they from her depression? And now she is in a dreadful quandary. To stop taking the drug, or to continue? And what does the drug manufacturer really know of these things? As in so many British shows, this movie seems a lot more "dirty" than what would a Hollywood version. It seems that British TV uniformly would have us believe that life in Britain is much more gross than a similar life elsewhere. Although having said that, the acting was first rate, despite the no-name cast. In fact I thought Christine Tremarco did such a good job that I was unable to manufacture any interest at all for the other characters, sad though most of them were.

I ended up feeling a lot of sympathy for Lorraine's character, as she struggled valiantly and to a large extent hopelessly against forces so much greater than her. The most powerful of these of course was her terrible illness.

I wonder how people who suffer like Lorraine would react to this movie. I suspect that they would strongly relate to her, but would they watch or would they not be able to bear to?