Being slightly obsessed with Harry Lloyd, I rushed to get hold of Vital Signs as soon as I heard of it. I love the idea of the show - I love the idea of a 30-something mother of three / cashier getting a place as a medical student and turning her whole life around and upside-down. I love the idea of Harry Lloyd playing a motorbike-riding 17-year-old suffering from a deadly condition and falling in love for the first time even more. Incidentally, the character playing his girlfriend is real-life girlfriend Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Well, I have to say that the show failed abysmally. At one point I turned to my husband and asked if I was alone in thinking that the show had the weakest story line and atrocious directing. He assured me I was not alone. With respect to the acting, I do believe that Harry Lloyd put on a satisfactory performance but I was really disappointed with the performance of his on-screen father Steven Waddington. I have to allow for the possibility that no actor could have acted his way out of that plot though. (SPOILER: I'm referring specifically to the awkward moments and almost-kisses as Steven's character bumbles his way towards cheating on his wife).
I'm also not convinced about Tamzin Outhwaite. I never saw her in Eastenders and she is in some of my favourite shows (The Fixer and Hotel Babylon) but I just don't know...
The show is weak and I doubt it's "on hiatus" as TV.com describes. The main cast (including Steven Waddington, Tamzin Outhwaite, Harry Lloyd and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) have all gone on to bigger and better things and I think we can safely hope that this one won't be back.
