Recovery (TV 2007)

Alan and Tricia Hamilton are very happy. He's the head of a building firm and on top of his game. She's a part-time beautician and mother to their two sons. One day their perfect, if ... See full summary »

Director:

Andy De Emmony

Writer:

Tony Marchant

Stars:

David Tennant, Sarah Parish, Harry Treadaway

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Tennant	...	Alan Hamilton
Sarah Parish	...	Tricia Hamilton
Harry Treadaway	...	Dean Hamilton
Jacob Theato	...	Joel Hamilton
Jay Simpson	...	Johnathan
Jo McInnes	...	Gwen
Jim Carter	...	Mr. Lockwood
Ron Donachie	...	Len Hamilton
Anne Kidd	...	Shirley Hamilton
Jo Hartley	...	Vicky Nathan
Charlotte Palmer	...	WPC
Sarah Paul	...	OT
Andrew Wisher	...	Neighbour 1 (as Andy Wisher)
Sue Elliott-Nichols	...	Neighbour 2 (as Sue Elliott-Nicholls)
Glen Davies	...	Headway Volunteer

Storyline

Alan and Tricia Hamilton are very happy. He's the head of a building firm and on top of his game. She's a part-time beautician and mother to their two sons. One day their perfect, if unremarkable, life is torn apart when a last-minute decision to pop out for a quick drink with a colleague sees Alan step out in front of a passing car. The resulting accident leaves him in a deep coma but with remarkably few physical injuries. Desperately worried about him, Tricia is delighted when he comes round - only to discover that the man she loved has disappeared. His behaviour's changed, he's lost all of his inhibitions and he veers from angry and frustrated to vulnerable and childlike. Simple tasks like making toast and getting dressed are beyond him, he's unable to hold down the job he loves and he plays and laughs with his sons as if he's a child. Alan's behaviour puts his relationship with Tricia under intolerable pressure. She longs to find the husband she loves in there somewhere - but ...

---

Plot Keywords:

brain damage

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Official Sites:

BBc [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 2007 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Alan Hamilton: [to his son before he leaves for university] Long-term memory, okay? When you were three you had this, um, big... juicy fruit... orange, orange car that you sat in and you pushed with your feet. Only, you never did it yourself, 'cause you always got me to push you everywhere. And Mum used to get upset with you for being lazy, but I could make you go fast, I could give you a nice ride. Thing is, right, now, I know I can't do anything for you that's even that simple anymore. And half the time I'm ...
[...]

User Reviews

Moving and convincing portrayal of a family tragedy

Recovery is a well-judged and balanced drama of a sensitive subject that doesn't sentimentalise the main characters. David Tennant and Sarah Parish bring to the fore the complex and conflicting emotions of a couple deeply in love struggling to come to terms with the personality changes they both endure and also must make to survive a tragic accident.

Tennant, as Alan, brings humour as well as a dangerous lecherousness, as an engineer recovering from a memory loss brought on by a road accident. Alan is not portrayed simply as a victim but as human being with feelings doing the best he can to make sense of his new life. Sarah Parish's Tricia is not a clichéd stand-by-her-man housewife who will do anything to support her husband. She struggles with falling out of love with Alan, as the man she once new and loved is now a completely different person - a stranger to her.

Contrary to some opinion, this - in my view - makes perfect Sunday night viewing. Too often, we are shown soft family dramas or detective series, like Heartbeat, which rot and putrefy the brain. Programme commissioners seem to think that the traditional day of rest is also a day when our minds go to sleep. More challenging and thought-provoking drama like Recovery would seriously change the situation.