Blackout

Finally catching up on some TV watching after a busy week.  Blackout was a fantastic 3 part BBC drama with Christopher Eccelston playing a city politician (Daniel Demoys) who is an alcoholic.  Basically a story about corruption and deceit it also deals fantastically well with alcoholism throughout.  Demoys wakes from another hellish day of drink to find that someone who he was involved in underhand dealings with has been killed.  He has marks on his fists showing he was in a fight the night before but it was a Blackout.  Now alcoholics reading this will be familiar with that feeling of "What the hell happened yesterday?"  This is that problem as Daniel has flashes of what happened but is not sure exactly.   Then in a moment of bravery he is shot protecting someone else.  He determines not to drink.  A nurse at the hospital helps him - telling him he has had a "moment of clarity" and then to call her when the moment he wants to drink again comes... "and it will come".

Super script, great acting and brilliantly researched on the alcoholic point of view - so AA was not mentioned, not surprising based on AA's official position of attraction not promotion but so much was the AA programme, the talking to another alcoholic whilst staring at a glass of scotch, the moment of clarity, the phrase repeated a few times of "your secrets will kill you".  Highly rated, if you are in the UK and didn't see it you have a few days left to see the whole series (3 hours in total) on iPlayer and I would thoroughly recommend it.

Comments

  1. Anonymous21 July 2012 at 14:33

    Sounds like it was a good movie - glad you had a chance to see it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Twisted Scottish Bastard22 July 2012 at 05:15

    I haven't seen the film , no doubt it will end up down here in NZ sometime, and I'll try and view it then.

    Could I also say that your references to your fight with "The Demon Drink" have encouraged me to tone down my own drinking while I can.

    I'd noticed that I was edging up to almost three bottles of whisky a week, which I became aware was a bit excessive. I was also beginning to have increasing areas of lost memories.

    I'm down now to 2 glasses of wine per day, and will be trying for a glass per day which is my target.

    I am finding it relatively easy to live with this reduction, so I'm hoping for the best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. daisyfae23 July 2012 at 02:52

    Like the Twisted Scottish one, i have become more aware of my drinking habits of late -- partly due to following your story, and seeing your continued attention to the damage drinking did to your life. my target? weekends only. so far? working pretty well... and i'm sleeping better as a bonus!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Unbearable Banishment23 July 2012 at 12:38

    My step-dad was an alcoholic. He told me that when he walked by a bar, he could hear (imagined he could hear) ice cubes rattling in a glass. That's a strong pull.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Liz Hinds30 July 2012 at 18:25

    Sorry, watched the first episode and it was just too black - in all senses. Didn't watch any more, Also not keen on Christopher Ecclestone.

    ReplyDelete

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