Shameless – Series 5
Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 103 May 2008
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You should be ashamed of yourselves!
The Lowdown: As the new series opens, reckless patriarch Frank Gallagher seems to be on his last legs, but not even the thought of serious heart problems can curb his self-destructive lifestyle. Happily, it isn’t terminal, and Frank makes it through another series worth of chaos on the Chatsworth Estate.
Review: Shameless returned to our screens in January for its longest series yet. With 16 idiosyncratic episodes worth of highs and lows on offer, long-term fans will be savouring the prospect of this five-disc box set. Some fans have bemoaned Shameless’s gradual progression from cult comedy to Channel 4 mainstay, and whilst the shift is there for all to see, in all honesty the show hasn’t lost its sparkle in the way that these former fans seem to think. Believe me, it hasn’t quite slumped to the predictable depths of its fellow Mancunian TV institution, ‘Coronation Street’, just yet! The show may have lost some of its bigger-name stars in recent years (James McAvoy, Anne-Marie Duff, Maxine Peake, Dean Lennox Kelly), and although the transition was initially slightly jarring, the ensemble cast who have filled their boots have ensured that none of them are really missed anymore.
Series 5 is crammed with typically memorable storylines, many of which render claims of the shows demise rather premature. As in Series 4, ‘fantasy’ type sequences do figure fairly prominently, and the first episode alone sees Frank being taunted by hallucinations of his clean-cut childhood self! Elsewhere Ian starts dating a geography teacher, much to the consternation of his brother Carl, who is one of the man’s pupils! Monica’s Alzheimer’s-stricken mother also comes to stay with her and Frank, and the revelation that Frank impregnated his mother-in-law whilst inebriated isn’t even the most shocking secret that spills out…
It isn’t all to do with the Gallagher family though, and the increasingly prominent Maguire clan still figure heavily. In a new business venture Mickey Maguire invests in an outlandish pink stretch limo, and Dad Paddy coaxes Carl Gallagher into beginning amateur boxing. One thing’s for sure: Shameless certainly hasn’t gone soft!
To bulk out the package even further, the producers have included a moderate selection of special features. There are a pair of audio commentaries from Sean Gilder, who plays Paddy Maguire, a batch of outtakes and deleted scenes and a very brief look at the creation of the brand new Shameless set, in the old Umbro factory. Last but not least there is also a worthwhile behind-the-scene featurette about David ‘Frank Gallagher’ Threlfall and his stint behind the cameras as the director of episodes one and two. All in all, Series 5 of Shameless successfully maintains the quality control of the earlier series and also ups the ante with twice as many episodes as usual. As with the release of previous series, Shameless is also available as a cracking 16-disc five-series compendium, for the princely sum of £69.99.
FILM: 8 EXTRAS: 6
DVD Info:
Certificate: 18
Starring: David Threlfall, Sean Gilder, Rebecca Ryan, Annabelle Apsion
Directed By: Various, 2007
Distributor: 4DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 800mins
Price: £34.99
Film supplied by: Taylor Herring
Special Features:
Episode Selection
‘Building The Shameless Estate’ Featurette
‘Behind The Scenes With David Threlfall’ Featurette
Audio Commentary With Sean Gilder (Paddy Maguire) On Episodes 9 & 11
Out-takes
Deleted Scenes
