DVDs in Review

In Treatment: Season One

Title: In Treatment: Season One (2009)

Release date: February 1 2010

Certificate: 15

Format: DVD

DVD RRP: £44.99

Rating: 5/5

For many dialogue-led drama lovers, 'In Treatment' is what should've been made a long time ago. The concept is simple; the characters are not. Paul (the ever-underrated Gabriel Byrne) is a therapist, operating at his home.

Every episode is devoted to one of his regular patients (or two when it comes to a bickering couple). On Mondays he treats Laura (Melissa George), a young doctor who on top of everything else has fallen in love with him. Tuesdays he listens to a cocky Navy pilot (Blair Underwood as Alex) who doesn't feel any guilt, despite bombing a school resulting in the death of 16 boys.

Wednesdays sees Sophie, a young headstrong Olympic hopeful (Mia Wasikowska) whose dreams may be in jeopardy after a traffic accident. Thursdays, it's time for a couple (fiery performances from Embeth Davidtz and Josh Charles) who can't decide whether or not to have an abortion.

But the best is saved for last - Fridays is the day when Paul sees his own psychiatrist, an old flame called Gina (the brilliant Dianne Weist). He laments that he's "losing patience with his patients", and only then do we get to know what's going on inside the good doctor's head.

Byrne's characterisation of a professional man held together by a series of cracks in his conscious is a revelation, and a compelling watch. This is the man whose lead roles in 'The Usual Suspects' and 'Millers Crossing' were so human, they seemed to miss being recognised at the time.

It takes a lot of confidence in the storytelling and acting of a show for its leading character to hold back even a trace of back story and opinion until its fifth episode - confidence which is solidified by the sheer talent on screen.

The settings hardly change. It's Paul's house/office for the first four episodes and Gina's for the fifth and repeat. The characters are constant as well. It's like a slow burning soap opera in the form of a series of one act plays. To watch the progression makes for simmering TV drama at its finest.

There are 43 episodes housed in HBO's nine-disc DVD set - these 43 sessions will make you evaluate your own lives as you watch other peoples' implode. Rarely is TV so gripping, so gimmick-free and so consistently solid.