Countdown to Thirteen: Doctors: Series 7, Episode 155 – “Ignorance is Bliss” (2006)

This was one of Jodie Whittaker’s very first onscreen credits, a guest appearance on a long-running British medical soap.  This show has appeared on many a U.K. actor’s filmography, so it’s not much of a surprise that Whittaker cropped up here as well.  It’s often tricky dropping into a show for one random episode for the sake of a particular actor, and I think that’s especially true with soaps.

A few different plots going on here.  The most relevant one deals with a patient, young recently-single mother Louise, along with her own mother Gwen.  Gwen worries about Louise’s mental/emotional well-being after the abrupt departure of her baby daddy, but Gwen also has her own issues to worry about (medical as well as personal) and doesn’t get much chance in the wake of Louise’s needs.  Meanwhile, one of the main doctors is battling with a bigwig at another clinic over a doctor he’d sent over to help share the load, one he feels wasn’t given the support he needed at the other clinic.

If that last part sounds shockingly vague, that’s because the episode didn’t hold my attention well enough to learn any of the regulars’ names.  A decent part of that, I’m sure, is just the nature of jumping into a random soap in the middle.  Very serialized storytelling, so there are ongoing plots I don’t know anything about, and while the cast isn’t huge, it’s big enough that I kept track of the doctors and nurses mainly by appearance and making half-assed inferences of the relationships between them.

As for the episode itself, it’s fine but didn’t really grab me.  I can’t tell if Whittaker’s plot is the most interesting part of it or if it’s just that her presence kept me paying attention better.  Either way, she plays Louise Clancy, the young mother.  Basically, although she does have a very legitimate medical issue – depression, which she’s resistant to address with the doctors – her bigger part within the episode is bringing her familial drama into the clinic.  She’s been living with her mom since her baby daddy skipped out on her, and Gwen’s doing everything she can to be supportive, but Louise doesn’t feel that support.  She feels like Gwen is judging her, ganging up on her with the doctors, and when she starts to worry that Gwen is hiding a medical problem from her, all her fears and frustrations are pushed into overdrive.

It’s kind of an interesting character, if not a very sympathetic one.  Louise obviously has a lot going on in her life, with a number of pressing responsibilities weighing her down and some prominent grievances occupying her thoughts.  It makes sense that she’s an utter mess, that she’s wrung out from exhaustion and wants to lash out.  The fact that her mom, who’s been trying to make concessions with her own happiness to focus on Louise, is the target of much of that lashing out is where the unsympathetic part comes in, but again, I find it understandable.  Even though Gwen is just trying to help in any way she can, Louise can’t feel that.  She’s depressed and anxious and feeling paranoid, and that makes her feel crazy and judged.  Whittaker is very believable as a struggling mother pushed to her limit.

Accent Watch

Northern.

Recommend?

In General – Naw.  Not enough to hold my interest, and like I said, there’s not much point to jumping in at the middle.

Jodie Whittaker – Maybe.  Whittaker does a good job in this early role, and at only 30 minutes, it’s not a huge time investment.

Warnings

Sexual references and thematic elements.