Season 1 • Episode 4
LatestUsing the address given him by Jenny, David travels south and gets work as an apple picker. He meets Esther, a woman with whom his father Steve once lived and her daughter and, through them, locates Steve, who is now a wealthy but terminally ill recluse. Initially cool towards David, who confronts him about abandoning his family, Steve lets him stay but his time is coming to an end. David returns to the North, where Jenny is comatose in hospital - however, she seems responsive to his voice and touch.
David Witton is a sullen teenager who feels more at ease with animals than with people. Following the death of his sister, David embarks on a search for the father who deserted him when he was a child.
Acting
Lee Ingleby's wordless scenes with animals hit harder than dialogue
Cinematography
Bleak Northern landscapes that swallow characters whole
Writing
Bryan Elsley's unsentimental script refuses easy redemption
Creator
Bryan Elsley
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Elsley later created Skins, and you can see the DNA here: teenagers too articulate for their own good, drowning in feelings they're barely equipped to name.
The 'Kes for the 21st century' tag invited impossible comparisons to Ken Loach's 1969 classic—this is bleaker, less hopeful, and arguably more honest about Britain's decaying industrial north.
GB
