''Sick Note'' is a British

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

starring

Rupert Grint Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint (; born 24 August 1988) is an English actor. Grint rose to fame for his role as Ron Weasley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, for which he was cast at age eleven, having previously acted only in school plays a ...

and

Nick Frost Nicholas Jonathan Frost (born 28 March 1972) is a British actor, author, comedian, painter, producer and screenwriter. He has appeared in the ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz ...

. It was created and written by Nat Saunders and James Serafinowicz and directed by

Matt Lipsey Matt Lipsey is a British television and film director. His work includes King Bert Productions TV movies such as The Boy in the Dress and Billionaire Boy, Baby Cow Productions sitcoms '' Human Remains'' and ''Saxondale'', and Hartswood Films ...

. It first aired on 7 November 2017 on Sky One. In April 2017, it was reported that a second series had been commissioned before the first had aired. It became available for streaming on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

worldwide from November 2018. In April 2021, Saunders stated the series was "neither recommissioned or cancelled, just in TV show limbo" when asked on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

about its status, adding that a return seemed unlikely. Serafinowicz had previously shared similar thoughts and revealed they "wrote the first 2 episodes of season 3 but nothing ever happened."

Plot

When insurance agent Daniel Glass (

) is misdiagnosed with terminal

oesophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voi ...

, due to his incompetent doctor (

), he begins to notice that everyone around him treats him better and he decides not to tell. This leads to more lies and secrets which need to be covered up. Daniel and the doctor become allies as each have something to gain by maintaining the façade; however, they attract the attention of a local policeman who believes Daniel may have been involved in a murder case. As more people become involved the web of lies begin to grow and eventually serious crimes are committed.

Cast

Series 1

as Daniel Glass *

as Dr. Iain Glennis *

Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...

as Kenny West *

Pippa Bennett-Warner Philippa Elaine Fanti Bennett-Warner (born 23 July 1988) is a British actress. She was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award in 2010 for her performance as Cordelia in Michael Grandage's production of ''King Lear'', and long-listed for Best Actr ...

as Becca Palmerstone *

Marama Corlett Marama Corlett is a Maltese actress and dancer, best known for her roles as Aki in '' Blood Drive'', Ruby in '' Sick of It'' and Corporal Angua in '' The Watch''. Early life and family Corlett was born and raised in Malta as one of four sister ...

as Linda * Tolu Ogunmefun as Ash Matthews *

Lolly Adefope Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born 14 September 1990) is a British stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series '' Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgia ...

as Lisa *

Belinda Stewart-Wilson Belinda Stewart-Wilson (born 16 April 1971) is a British actress best known for her role as Polly McKenzie in ''The Inbetweeners''. Early life Stewart-Wilson was born on 16 April 1971 in Kensington, the youngest of three daughters of Lieutenan ...

as Annette Glennis *

Karl Theobald Karl Julian Theobald (born 5 August 1969) is an English actor and comedian. He has played 'Landlord' in ''Plebs'' and Martin Dear in Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing''. Early life Theobald was born in Great Yarmouth, to Wendy Theobald. He grew ...

as Michael * Matilda Thorpe as Claire Glass * Camilla Beeput as Vanessa Matthews * Miles Richardson as Dr. Sampson * David Cann as Gordon Glass *

Daniel Rigby Daniel Rigby (born 6 December 1982) is an English actor and comedian. He received a BAFTA TV Award for his leading role as Eric Morecambe in the 2011 television film ''Eric and Ernie''. Early life Rigby was born in Stockport, Greater Mancheste ...

as Officer Hayward

Series 2

* Lindsay Lohan as Katerina West *

Alison King Alison Rosamund King (born 3 March 1973) is an English actress and model. She is known for her roles as Lynda Block in the Sky One drama series ''Dream Team'' (1998–2003, 2005–2007), and Carla Connor in the long-running ITV soap opera ''C ...

as Superintendent Henchy *

Dustin Demri-Burns Dustin Demri-Burns (born 11 July 1978) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his work in ''Cardinal Burns''. He appeared in films as the roles of Danny Sinclair in the 2013 film '' Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa'' (2013), Vik ...

as Will_5000

Episodes

Series 1 (2017)

Series 2 (2018)

Home media

The first season was released on DVD on 21 October 2019. The second season was released on 17 February 2020.

Reception

''Sick Note'' received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season has a 50% approval rating based on 6 reviews. Rupert Hawksley of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' stated the premise "is not a bad one at all" but ultimately finds that the "cast is wasted" due to the writing, claiming that the "jokes landed with all the grace of an injured pheasant." Brad Newsome of the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' described the series by saying, "Rupert Grint, Nick Frost and Don Johnson are all very naughty boys in this dark but agreeably untaxing British comedy series." Barbara Ellen of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' considered the "performances are great and there are plenty of laughs in the escalating twists of surrealist failure." In an article by James Rampton for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', it is characterized as "dark, but silly as well. It's '' Breaking Bad'' meets ''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Televisio ...

''," and "cleverly fuses light and shade." In a review for ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

'', LaToya Ferguson also writes that ''Sick Note'' has a "pretty solid premise" but the series is "wildly uneven," it "has a singular narrative and aesthetic vision, and it never once veers from that, no matter what", continuing that the addition of Lohan to the second season "doesn't read as an attempt to course-correct, it probably should've been," although her character "meshes much better with the story as a whole. Especially, as she almost, sort of, but not quite solves the show's woman problem."

Accolades

References

External links

''Sick Note''
at

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sick Note (TV Series) 2017 British television series debuts 2018 British television series endings 2010s British black comedy television series 2010s British sitcoms Adultery in television English-language television shows Sky UK original programming Television shows set in England