Out of Control (TV film)
Encyclopedia
Out of Control is a BBC
television film written and directed by Dominic Savage
. It stars Tamzin Outhwaite
as Shelley Richards, an impoverished single mother whose son, Dean (Danny Young
), is involved in a string of crimes that lead to his incarceration in a young offenders institute (YOI). David Morrissey
plays prison warden Mike, who tries to keep Dean out of trouble but has difficultly watching him all the time. After continuous bullying at the YOI, Dean commits suicide. It is the third in a loose trilogy of films by Savage about social deprivation, following Nice Girl
(2000) and When I Was Twelve (2001).
The single drama was greenlit in April 2002 by BBC controller of drama commissioning Jane Tranter
, under the working title of The Young Offenders. Savage carried out months of research into the crimes of the young boys and into the lifestyles of YOI inmates. David Morrissey shadowed prison officers at Lancaster Farms YOI for several weeks. It was filmed on location at Lancaster Farms. Savage storyboarded the scripts but left it to the actors to improvise their dialogue, so that it did not "sound too articulate".
Out of Control was broadcast on BBC One on 15 September 2002 as one of the lynchpins of the BBC's "Cracking Crime" day. It received only 4.1 million viewers (21.9% audience share), a result of being scheduled opposite a new episode of ITV
's Midsummer Murders. Critical reaction was positive, particularly about Tamzin Outhwaite. Outhwaite previously starred in the BBC soap opera EastEnders
, which made her "tabloid fodder". She was pleased with the enthusiastic reception that Out of Control got. The drama won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the 2002 Edinburgh Film Festival and the Serials & Single Drama award at the 2002 Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme Awards
.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television film written and directed by Dominic Savage
Dominic Savage
Dominic Savage is a BAFTA-award-winning director, writer and actor who was born in 1962 in Margate.Originally a child actor — making several television appearances and featuring in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon — Savage moved into writing and directing in his mid-thirties, going on to win BAFTAs...
. It stars Tamzin Outhwaite
Tamzin Outhwaite
Tamzin Maria Outhwaite is an award-winning English actress. She became known for her role as Melanie Owen in the British soap opera EastEnders, whom she portrayed from 1998 until 2002.-Early career:...
as Shelley Richards, an impoverished single mother whose son, Dean (Danny Young
Danny Young
Danny Richardson Young is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6' 3" guard who attended Wake Forest University, he played ten seasons in the NBA, spending time with the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, and Milwaukee Bucks...
), is involved in a string of crimes that lead to his incarceration in a young offenders institute (YOI). David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
plays prison warden Mike, who tries to keep Dean out of trouble but has difficultly watching him all the time. After continuous bullying at the YOI, Dean commits suicide. It is the third in a loose trilogy of films by Savage about social deprivation, following Nice Girl
Nice girl
Nice Girl? is a 1941 musical film about a girl and her two sisters. She is the nice girl of the family, but when Richard Calvert Franchot Tone comes into town to give her father a scholarship for his dietary studies, she finds her opportunity to get some scandal in her life...
(2000) and When I Was Twelve (2001).
The single drama was greenlit in April 2002 by BBC controller of drama commissioning Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter is an English television executive who has been the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base since January 2009...
, under the working title of The Young Offenders. Savage carried out months of research into the crimes of the young boys and into the lifestyles of YOI inmates. David Morrissey shadowed prison officers at Lancaster Farms YOI for several weeks. It was filmed on location at Lancaster Farms. Savage storyboarded the scripts but left it to the actors to improvise their dialogue, so that it did not "sound too articulate".
Out of Control was broadcast on BBC One on 15 September 2002 as one of the lynchpins of the BBC's "Cracking Crime" day. It received only 4.1 million viewers (21.9% audience share), a result of being scheduled opposite a new episode of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Midsummer Murders. Critical reaction was positive, particularly about Tamzin Outhwaite. Outhwaite previously starred in the BBC soap opera EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, which made her "tabloid fodder". She was pleased with the enthusiastic reception that Out of Control got. The drama won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the 2002 Edinburgh Film Festival and the Serials & Single Drama award at the 2002 Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme Awards
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
.
External links
- Out of Control at BBC Online