canuckteach Review of Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned

Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned (2015–2017)

Somewhat gloomy but well-acted Brit mini-series

[7/10 · 17 October 2016]

** minor spoilers ** We caught this on Netflix, and found it to be a passable, if grim, drama about the serious fallout of marital infidelity. Suranne Jones (whom we know from 'Scott & Bailey' where she plays a rather troubled detective) plays Doctor Foster, a clinic physician, with a handsome husband and son, and a tidy upper-middle class home. She finds a blond hair on a scarf she borrows from her husband, and the mystery begins to unfold: why would this guy, with a decent standard-of-living and a reasonably attractive wife, engage in an extra-marital affair? The answer, as it comes from several characters (including the erring husband), is that it is an acceptable weakness - men just don't want to stay monogamous. That's a poor excuse, of course, for betraying someone who has done nothing except being a loyal, supportive spouse for several years, and a de facto breadwinner. I might say, a pretty wife, also. She comes in for all kinds of bitter criticism from different quarters (i.e. cold, arrogant), but I didn't see it, although she does have flaws. (lol - if I started out trying to say that this film didn't reach me, I'm not doing a very good job, eh?) Another wife in this story accepts her husband's philandering as inevitable, but our Doctor refuses. Good for her.