WHAT'S ON / STAYING IN
ON THE BOX
With the arrival of a Game of Thrones prequel and a new screen psychologist on the block, August’s TV menu has all the drama you need
by BENJIE GOODHART
Fantasy world Mason Alexander Park as Desire in The Sandman
EVERETT/SHUTTERSTOCK, GETTY
The Suspect
ITV
By and large, psychiatrists portrayed on screen are either godlike miracle workers or evil psychopaths who could use a spot of couch time themselves. Any celluloid shrink is likely to either inspire a stunning breakthrough (as with Robin Williams’ character in Good Will Hunting) or commit a brutal murder (Michael Caine in Dressed to Kill, for example). The really unlucky patient might even get eaten (we’re looking at you, Mr Lecter).
And so we come to Dr Joseph O’Loughlin, clinical psychologist and main protagonist in ITV’s new five-part thriller The Suspect. Miracle-worker or killer? Initially, he seems to be the former, as he talks down a potential jumper from a ledge at great personal risk. But when he is brought in to help police solve the sadistic murder of a young woman, it seems he is hiding more than a few dark secrets.