Stanley and the Women (1991– ) User Reviews

Thaw Is a Perfect Stanley, But It's a Bit Melodramatic

[richlandwoman · 7/10 · 11 September 2005]

The title "Stanley and the Women" really is accurate for Amis's book, which I liked a lot. But this miniseries ought to be called "Stanley and His Schizophrenic Son." Even at four hours, Stanley's relationships with his wife, ex-wife, female coworker, and the female psychiatrist are given short-shrift. With the exception of the coworker, all these characters are drawn with broad strokes, especially the psychiatrist, who seems like a bizarre Dr. Frankenstein from the first -- someone to whom the reasonable, well-off Stanley would never entrust his son.

Still, Thaw's performance is so good that I watched all four hours straight through.

Michael Elphick, who plays the current husband of Stanley's ex-wife, is also good. The low-key scenes between him and Stanley are the most believable in the production.

Solid adaptation

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 10 February 2009]

This was accused at the time of being too melodramatic and misogynistic, but I think it is a solid John Thaw adaptation. I have all four episodes on DVD, and I like this adaptation a lot. I haven't read the book, but I've heard it has a rather stereotypical view of women.

John Thaw gives a mesmerising performance as Stanley Duke, who discovers that his son has schizophrenia, a spirited performance from Samuel West.He then realises that he has been used by Dr Trish Collings as an experiment for her new book. Collings is played nastily by Geraldine James, who was also in Morse and Kavanagh. Penny Downie does well also as Susan, and Shiela Gish is laugh out loud funny as Stanley's first wife.

And I mustn't forget the men, Michael Elphick and Alun Armstrong were standouts, but Donald Churchill and Michael Aldridge(who died 3 years later) did respectively.

All in all, a funny, moving and quite shocking insight in the life of a schizophrenic's family 9/10 Bethany Cox

Over melodrammatic and terrible depiction of doctors, mental illness and women in general

[jch_at_amazonuk · 2/10 · 6 August 2020]

John Thaw and the ensemble cast are stellar but this is a really poor and bizarre script - unsubtle and often stupid. I haven't read the book but I can't believe Kingsley Amis would write this unless he had an axe to grind about terrible psychiatrists, horrible hospitals and a truly misogynistic outlook.

I don't believe an intelligent father would put up with the abusive crap from a psychiatrist - any doctor acting that unprofessionally would be struck off. I am a huge fan of Geraldine James but even she struggles to make anything with her truly awful script.

Some have described the series as comic, but in the last episode you get the only funny moments - but not for the right reason ... poor Geraldine is reduced to screaming at the camera in close up with such utter abandon that we fell about laughing.

The story founders in episode 2 when Michael Aldridge's character doesn't advise John Thaw's character to complain to the BMA and remove the son to a different hospital. John Thaw was a great actor but his character is driven by events and I don't think he makes a single sensible or logical decision throughout.

Apart from his office co-worker all of "Stanley's women" are chariacature harridans who rant and rave at him but never listen.

I came to this series because it has just about one of the best British casts of its time but what a wasted opportunity.