GrimPrecise
I'll tell you why so serious
Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Prismark10
Many in Britain were shocked when the police were exhuming bodies in the Manchester area with suspicion of foul play by a respected family doctor. This was in the late 1990s and this drama from ITV was shown a few years after the events and hence had to tread a fine and sensitive line.James Bolam plays Dr Frederick Shipman, at first the well respected GP with a small, thriving practice and a respected member of the community.However even when the police investigate him Bolam gives a hint of the sly humour that Shipman apparently had. As well as being a serial killer this was a doctor not ready to buckle under police pressure. James Hazeldine in one of his final roles plays the dogged policeman who is persuaded by the daughter of one of Doctor's victim's that Shipman might have a darker side.We get an idea as to how Shipman got caught, it is a part police procedural as they forensically examine his computer. Shipman made a mistake in forging a will of one of his victim's. We never really get an idea as to why he did it or what his motives were. It seems we might never know.Bolam's performance is key in keeping your interest in this drama and this is a tight film without getting too exploitative.
shatguintruo
I was gratefully surprised when I watched this movie, and after I was informed that was a TV Movie! Well, it doesn't seem like that: the timing is so perfect that we don't notice the intersection for commercials breaks. James Bolam is extremely convictive in the role of the physician that pretends to be GOD, choosing the day and the hour that a person should die. In a scale of 10, I give 6.
Theo Robertson
Dr Harold Shipman caused a massive stir when he was convicted and jailed for murdering 15 of his patients . " How could this have happened ? " was the public outcry , but after watching this docudrama I doubt if anyone will be any the wiser . There`s nothing fundamentally wrong about SHIPMAN except for the fact that it portrays Dr Harold Shipman as being extremely arrogant and conceited . Fine you may say , he was a mass murderer and he was , but what SHIPMAN doesn`t show is the way the general public and people in authority view doctors . Having read interviews with patients of Shipman many of them spoke about what a wonderful doctor he was and a really nice human being , many people refused to believe that a doctor in general and Shipman in particular would harm one never mind over a dozen sick patients but none of this is shown , only people who are suspicious about him at the outset and watching James Bolam`s performance you`d be hard pressed to believe anyone could be taken in by him . SHIPMAN was made with hindsight and I`ve got a really uneasy feeling it was made solely to cash in on the inquiry that concluded Friday 19th July 2002At the inquiry it was revealed Shipman had murdered for certain 215 ( Two hundred and fifteen ) patients between May 1975 and June 1998 with another possible 45( Forty five ) murdered making him by far Britain`s most prolific serial killer. Shipman has never revealed why he did it and probably never will making any future film article or book deals pointless . Who cares why. He murdered scores of people and that`s the only fact that matters
David McDaid
This drama retraced some of the murders commited by primary care physician Harold Shipman in the Manchester area of the UK in the late 90s. Shipman was convicted of injecting his patients with lethal doses of diamorphine. Despite the highly unusual number of deaths in his practice his actions went unnoticed for a long period of time, and even now the authorities are unsure about the number of people that he may have killed. The film is low key, and does not attemot to provide any insight or reasoning into Shipman's motives, it simply documents the events as recorded in court transcripts. Nevertheless it is a powerful film; James Bolam a stalwart of light comedy in the UK is well cast. The film has caused some controversy here, as it has been shown on television before the inquiries into Shipman have been completed. Relatives of those who died tried to prevent the film been shown at this stage. On balance the events are documented as sensitively as possible; and the drama is good if very very uncomfortable viewing.
