Why you should watch Patrick Melrose
Sky Atlantic's adaptation of Patrick Melrose might just be the best TV show this year. Catch up with our reviews of all five episodes
Episode 1: Bad News review ★★★★★
As a bereaved Patrick Melrose, bombing around New York, Benedict Cumberbatch gives a dazzling portrait of drugged up delirium. Ludicrous highs and agonising lows come to life in a tartly funny inner monologue that hints at this priveldged young man's traumatic past.
Read more ...Episode 2: Never Mind review ★★★★★
Never Mind slips into a languid Provençal summer 20 years earlier. It's a total tonal shift, a study of slow rot and sudden shocks seeping from one generation to the next – and a taste of the abuse that infects Patrick's adulthood.
Read more ...Episode 3: Some Hope review ★★★★★
Preparation is in full swing as a rousing camera sequence alternates between a posh party and a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Extravagant excess and personal repression collide as a newly-sober Patrick Melrose navigates the snobbery and scandal of a society party.
Read more ...Episode 4: Mother's Milk review ★★★★★
The penultimate episode revolved around cycles. Mothers become grannies, sons become fathers, and parenting ideals shift from benign neglect to a child-centric desire to nurture – but the same decay and depression drips down.
Read more ...Episode 5: At Last review ★★★★★
Episode five is an exquisite conclusion to the abuse, addiction and attempts at recovery. In David Nicholl's subtly re-ordered screenplay, the series is book-ended by the cremation of a parent. By the time his mother dies in At Last, Patrick remains the enraged addict that mourned a father 20 years earlier, but he's also a man consumed by his own duties, pity and culpability.
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