Hans Matheson Online
  • Home
  • BIO
  • FILM & TELEVISION
    • Jericho >
      • Luxury London
    • 300: Rise of an Empire
    • Clash of the Titans
    • Sherlock Holmes
    • Tess of the D'Urbervilles
    • The Tudors
    • Bathory
    • Halflight >
      • Half Light Production Notes
      • Half Light Interview
    • The Virgin Queen >
      • BBC press office - Earl of Essex
    • Nero >
      • Telecino Rolls in Tunisia - Madrid
      • Nero - Italia
      • Most Expensive in History
      • La Razon
      • 25000 Square Meters Rome
      • Telecino
    • Comfortably Numb >
      • Extract
      • Compulsive Viewing
      • Too Much in the Mix
      • Clinical Oppression
    • Doctor Zhivago >
      • Dr Zhivago - PBS interview
      • Dr Zhivago interview - BBC
      • Dr Zhivago DVD interviews
      • Zhivago Italiano interview
      • 1/13/7
      • Cambridge Spies
      • New York Daily News
      • Prepare to Weep Again
      • No Snow for Zhivago
      • Action Man
      • TV remake
      • ITV Newcomers, Jan 9
      • ITV Newcomers
      • Size Matters
      • Best and Worse
      • PBS - Dr Z
      • Dr Z - DVD kochan review
      • DVD Talk
      • A Brief Affair
      • Sweep Me Away
      • Mr Television
      • Easter Promise
    • Deathwatch >
      • Death Watch Review
      • Deathcwatch Variety (London)
    • I am Dina
    • The Mists of Avalon >
      • Mists Interview
      • Mists Review Sci Fiction
      • Mists Review
      • Dallas Review - Mists
    • Canone Inverso
    • Bodyword >
      • Gareth Rhys Jones - Bodywork Interview
    • Tube Tales >
      • Tube Tales Interview
    • Still Crazy >
      • Ripe Old Rockers - Strange Fruit
      • Still Crazy - Empire
      • Still Crazy Neon
      • Still Crazy -Sunday Times
      • Strange Fruit
      • Rolling Stone Review
      • Not Just Strange Fruit
    • Les Miserables >
      • Les Mis Interview
      • Les Mis article extract
    • Family Money
    • Stella Does Tricks
    • Mojo >
      • Mojo - Sunday Telegraph
      • Mojo Dairy
      • The Face
    • The Future Lasts a Long Time
    • Poldark
    • Guest Appearances >
      • Bramwell on Masterpiece
      • Wycliffe Review
      • Christmas
    • Theatre
  • Media
    • Esp1
    • Esp2
    • Esp3
    • Ita1
    • ita2
    • ita3
    • ita4
    • Nor1
    • Nor2
  • Gallery
  • Music
    • A Conversation With Hans Matheson
    • Interview with Hans Matheson Italy
  • Showreel
​Extract
 
John Preston
2/1/2004
The Sunday Telegraph
 
After a while in this job you develop a nose for trouble, and in the case of television drama, certain infallible signs point the way. Any hint of improvisation is a signal to head for the hills without delay. The involvement of "non-professional actors" is another tacit invitation to pull down the visor. And as for improvised plays involving non- professional actors and set in drug rehab clinics . . . well, give me the maggots anytime.
 
So it was with considerable surprise, not to mention alarm, that I found myself sitting through almost two hours of Comfortably Numb (last Sunday, Channel 4) without either dropping off or losing the will to live. It followed the efforts of Jake (Hans Matheson) to face up to his drink problem. An unnecessary whiff of showbiz had been added to the mix by making Jake a musician whose record company had just dumped him - but apart from that nothing felt either forced or phoney.
 
As well as being free of self-indulgence, it carried enormous conviction. This was due in large part to the performance of Matheson - one of the few professional actors involved. His passage from aggression to fear to panic and to something like acceptance of his plight by the end was as affecting as it was understated. Indeed, I haven't seen anyone command the small screen so effectively in a long time.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • BIO
  • FILM & TELEVISION
    • Jericho >
      • Luxury London
    • 300: Rise of an Empire
    • Clash of the Titans
    • Sherlock Holmes
    • Tess of the D'Urbervilles
    • The Tudors
    • Bathory
    • Halflight >
      • Half Light Production Notes
      • Half Light Interview
    • The Virgin Queen >
      • BBC press office - Earl of Essex
    • Nero >
      • Telecino Rolls in Tunisia - Madrid
      • Nero - Italia
      • Most Expensive in History
      • La Razon
      • 25000 Square Meters Rome
      • Telecino
    • Comfortably Numb >
      • Extract
      • Compulsive Viewing
      • Too Much in the Mix
      • Clinical Oppression
    • Doctor Zhivago >
      • Dr Zhivago - PBS interview
      • Dr Zhivago interview - BBC
      • Dr Zhivago DVD interviews
      • Zhivago Italiano interview
      • 1/13/7
      • Cambridge Spies
      • New York Daily News
      • Prepare to Weep Again
      • No Snow for Zhivago
      • Action Man
      • TV remake
      • ITV Newcomers, Jan 9
      • ITV Newcomers
      • Size Matters
      • Best and Worse
      • PBS - Dr Z
      • Dr Z - DVD kochan review
      • DVD Talk
      • A Brief Affair
      • Sweep Me Away
      • Mr Television
      • Easter Promise
    • Deathwatch >
      • Death Watch Review
      • Deathcwatch Variety (London)
    • I am Dina
    • The Mists of Avalon >
      • Mists Interview
      • Mists Review Sci Fiction
      • Mists Review
      • Dallas Review - Mists
    • Canone Inverso
    • Bodyword >
      • Gareth Rhys Jones - Bodywork Interview
    • Tube Tales >
      • Tube Tales Interview
    • Still Crazy >
      • Ripe Old Rockers - Strange Fruit
      • Still Crazy - Empire
      • Still Crazy Neon
      • Still Crazy -Sunday Times
      • Strange Fruit
      • Rolling Stone Review
      • Not Just Strange Fruit
    • Les Miserables >
      • Les Mis Interview
      • Les Mis article extract
    • Family Money
    • Stella Does Tricks
    • Mojo >
      • Mojo - Sunday Telegraph
      • Mojo Dairy
      • The Face
    • The Future Lasts a Long Time
    • Poldark
    • Guest Appearances >
      • Bramwell on Masterpiece
      • Wycliffe Review
      • Christmas
    • Theatre
  • Media
    • Esp1
    • Esp2
    • Esp3
    • Ita1
    • ita2
    • ita3
    • ita4
    • Nor1
    • Nor2
  • Gallery
  • Music
    • A Conversation With Hans Matheson
    • Interview with Hans Matheson Italy
  • Showreel