Fortysomething

If you think your life is tough, take a look at Dr. Paul Slippery (Hugh Laurie, House, A Bit of Fry and Laurie). He's neurotic and anxiety-ridden, the unwitting victim of a midlife crisis that's tearing his life apart ─ a quadragenarian on the verge of a hilarious meltdown. Paul's wife (Anna Chancellor, The Cazalets, MI-5) has embarked on a new career...and perhaps an extramarital affair or two, while his ungrateful, oversexed sons constantly mock him. A six-part comedy-drama adapted by Nigel Williams from his bawdy novel set in the west London suburb of Putney. Middle-age meltdowns don't get any funnier!

Episode 1 - On the day that his life begins to fall apart, Paul Slippery frantically tries to find his friend and patient, Nobby, before the man can indulge in a potentially disastrous dose of Viagra. Meanwhile, Paul's wife, Estelle, loses her job but finds a new one in a surprising place.

Episode 2 - Paul's plans for an erotically charged dinner with Estelle take a detour when he gets entangled in his son Daniel's two-timing love life, and the father of Daniel's girlfriends seeks treatment for a rather embarrassing malady. Across town at a business lunch, Paul's colleague, Pilfrey, takes a more-than-professional interest in Estelle.

Episode 3 - Still smitten with Estelle, Pilfrey exhibits increasingly bizarre behavior at the most inopportune time imaginable-just as the practice prepares for a  National Health Service inspection. The situation doesn't get any better when Pilfrey mistakes Paul's son for the government inspector.

Episode 4 - In a desperate attempt to revive his sagging sex life, Paul surreptitiously tries to ply Estelle with an herbal aphrodisiac. Estelle, however, has other things on her mind-namely, a speech about mothers in the workforce that her boss has bullied her into delivering.

Episode 5 - Paul becomes convinced that Estelle is having an affair, and his colleagues become convinced that he has hit the sauce too hard. Later, by drowning his sorrows over the supposed affair and having a most awkward encounter with Surinder, Paul unwittingly gives them plenty of reason to worry.

Episode 6 - When sons Rory and Daniel decamp to their own flat, everyone in the Slippery household begins to reassess their lives. Paul, for his part, agrees to hypnotherapy at the hands of Pilfrey, whose guidance proves anything but benign. And Estelle entertains an odd proposition from her boss.

Written by Nigel Williams
Directed by Hugh Laurie
Produced by Jo Willett
Executive Produced by Jonathan Powell
Original Music by Robert Lane
Cinematography by John Kenway
Film Editing by Paul Endacott
Costume Design by Pam Downe