Cleaning Up (British TV series)

Cleaning Up is a British television drama series written and created by Mark Marlow. The six-part series premiered on ITV on 9 January 2019. It stars Sheridan Smith as Sam, a single mother and office cleaner who resorts to insider trading in order to pay her debts.[1][2]

Cleaning Up
Promotional poster
GenreDrama
Created byMark Marlow
Written byMark Marlow
Directed byLewis Arnold
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producersJane Featherstone
Chris Fry
ProducerKaren Lewis
CinematographyOllie Downey
Running time60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Original release
NetworkITV
Release9 January (2019-01-09) –
13 February 2019 (2019-02-13)
Related
Cleaning Up (South Korean adaptation)

Plot

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Sam Cook is a cleaner at Kramer Lowe, a financial company in Canary Wharf. Struggling to get by on her zero-hour contract with contractor Xenco Clean, she is drowning in debt, addicted to gambling, and faces her ex-husband trying to get full-time custody of their two daughters. After overhearing a stockbroker who is being blackmailed into insider trading, she plunges herself into a shady world of finance.

Cast

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Production

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Marlow, who had no previous credits in television, had been struggling to get an original series produced. Inspired by Oliver Stone's Wall Street, he developed a script around office cleaners, who are often unnoticed. The script was eventually passed onto Featherstone, who commissioned the programme.[3]

Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date [4]U.K. viewers
(millions) [5]
1"Episode 1"Lewis ArnoldMark MarlowJanuary 9, 2019 (2019-01-09)8.68
2"Episode 2"Lewis ArnoldMark MarlowJanuary 16, 2019 (2019-01-16)7.69
3"Episode 3"Lewis ArnoldMark MarlowJanuary 23, 2019 (2019-01-23)6.98
4"Episode 4"Lewis ArnoldMark MarlowJanuary 30, 2019 (2019-01-30)6.51
5"Episode 5"Robert McKillopMark MarlowFebruary 6, 2019 (2019-02-06)6.47
6"Episode 6"Robert McKillopMark MarlowFebruary 13, 2019 (2019-02-13)6.61

Reception

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The first episode of Cleaning Up received three out of five stars from The Guardian's Lucy Mangan, who was critical of weak story development but complimentary of the concept and actors, writing that "... overall, this is the kind of solid, well-made nonsense that is such a rare and precious joy. Indispensable to it are the actors, who throw themselves uncynically into it with their whole hearts. This is always Smith's greatest gift, and here she is surrounded by a supporting cast doing likewise."[6]

References

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  1. ^ "When does Cleaning Up start on ITV? What's it about and who's in the cast?". Radio Times. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Sheridan Smith to star in new ITV series about insider trading". Radio Times. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Cleaning up Q&A with cast and crew".
  4. ^ "Cleaning Up - Listings". Next Episode. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Four-screen dashboard | BARB". Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  6. ^ Mangan, Lucy (9 January 2019). "Cleaning Up review: Sheridan Smith's stock keeps on rising". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
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