Thin Ice (2000 film)


Thin Ice is a single British television thriller, written by Tom Needham and directed by Ian White, that first broadcast on BBC1 on 4 December 2000. Thin Ice focuses on the character of Dr. Graham Moss, a shady General Practitioner using his services as a practising doctor to issue fake sick notes and excess medication, who gets pulled into taking part in a bank robbery by one of his patients, gangland boss Violet Jerome.
The film was commissioned as one of eleven new dramas unveiled by the BBC for their Autumn/Winter season in 2000. Considered as a potential pilot for an ongoing series, the character of Moss was likened to Harold Shipman, with Guardian writer Mark Lawson describing him as "the greatest Charlatan since Crippin." The film attracted an audience of 5.68 million viewers.

Reception

Mark Lawson of The Guardian gave the film a mixed review, writing; "There is much to enjoy in Thin Ice. The morbid jokes, such as a dead man's mobile ringing as Moss begins the autopsy, serves as an eerie reminder of the Paddington rail disaster. There is another level, however, at which Thin Ice is pure rubbish. The increasingly ludicrous plot unwinds like a strange morphine dream. Thin Ice never quite knows whether it is an absurd romp or a darker meditation on the psychosis of a corrupt doctor. What is not in dispute is that it is well-timed."
The Daily Mail gave the film a negative review, writing; "Full of dodgy gangsters, unlikely plot twists and cardboard cops, this isn't quite as funny as it would like to think it is. An omnipresent voice-over from Lyndhurst also irritates rather than explains. There are some nice moments, but you'd have to be a die-hard fan of Lyndhurst to swallow this rather unwieldy pill without complaint."

Cast