8.559 minSeason 1 • Episode 5
LatestLondon, 2005. Having always dreamed of being an orphan, Patrick now has his wish at the age of 46. No longer with Mary, Patrick is clean and living alone in a grim bedsit.
A critical and often humorous look at the upper class, tracking the protagonist's harrowing odyssey from a deeply traumatic childhood through adult substance abuse and, ultimately, toward recovery.
Acting
Cumberbatch's career-defining spiral of charm and devastation.
Writing
Edward St Aubyn's prose translated with vicious, heartbreaking precision.
Direction
Episode 3's single-day structure is masterclass tension.
Creator
David Nicholls
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Edward St Aubyn wrote five semi-autobiographical novels over 20 years; this adapts all of them.
Hugo Weaving based David's terrifying stillness on his own father's military discipline, creating a monster who barely moves.
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