5 Reasons Why You Should Watch BBC1’s ‘Doctor Foster’

(Written for Beamly)

BBC One is always good for drama. But did their latest Wednesday 9pm series miss out in your TV schedule?

Well, here’s why you should catch up with the first episode.

1. The talented cast

Led by the talented Suranne Jones, the series follows Gemma (Jones), a local GP who suspects her husband is having an affair after finding a blonde hair on his scarf. Jones is known for her role in Coronation Street as Karen McDonald, and also for her roles in Scott & Bailey, Strictly Confidential, and Harley Street. You’ll usually see her on ITV1, but her performance in Doctor Foster has to be one of her best.

2. It isn’t your average weekday soap

It may have looked quite tame from the adverts, but this isn’t your post-watershed drama. From the first episode alone, Doctor Foster sets itself up to be a well-written, darkly intense thriller layered in mystery and scandal.

3. It’s deeply intriguing

The series is not only a study of love and marriage, but also a study of how rapidly a suspicion based on almost non-existent evidence can grow. At the beginning it seems like Gemma, who appears to have a pretty strong relationship with her husband (or at least a lot of sex!), is making something out of nothing, and that the steps she takes are completely unnecessary.

4. The ending is a huge shocker

The opening first hour of the series was gripping and tense, but it was the final ten or so minutes that really pull you in. It ends with such a big huge cliff-hanger, which was the last thing that you could have predicted, that you’ll want to watch the rest of the series for sure.

5. You don’t need to change the channel after ‘The Great British Bake Off’

Many of us only watched the first episode because there was nothing to turn over to after watching The Great British Bake Off. We may not have been expecting much, but after only one episode in, many reviews for the first episode have commented on how surprisingly impressed they were, too, so now we’re all eager for next week’s episode, and we won’t be tuning in by accident.

So if you didn’t watch the first episode, hopefully we’ve tempted you to go find it on iPlayer in time for next week’s follow-up.

Doctor Foster is on BBC1 at 9pm on Wednesdays.