Accused: Alison's Story

SYNOPSIS

If karma worked, people who led wicked lives would be reincarnated as Jimmy McGovern characters. Nobody has a harder time of it. His heroes and heroines are like seal pups that he clubs with his keyboard until they lie in a quivering heap, hoping for mercy but rarely getting any. Tonight's victim is Alison (the superb Naomie Harris), who we know from the moment we see her leading a sing-song with a group of special needs children is a Good Person. Her Achilles heel is her marriage to unemployed househusband David (Warren Brown). As the relationship deteriorates, we get a series of agonising set-pieces, each plotted with expert cruelty. By the end, your emotions will be scoured. McGovern saved his best till last. Radio Times reviewer - David Butcher