Dirty Filthy Love
| Dirty Filthy Love | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by |
Jeff Pope Ian Puleston-Davies |
| Directed by | Adrian Shergold |
| Starring |
Michael Sheen Shirley Henderson Anastasia Griffith Adrian Bower Claudie Blakley |
| Theme music composer | Martin Phipps |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Granada Television Christine Langan |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 26 September 2004 |
Dirty Filthy Love is a British single television drama starring Michael Sheen as an architect living with obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome.
Directed by Adrian Shergold, the film was first broadcast by ITV on 26 September 2004. It was written by Jeff Pope and Ian Puleston-Davies, who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorders himself. In addition to Michael Sheen, the cast features Shirley Henderson, Anastasia Griffith, Adrian Bower and Claudie Blakley.
Sheen's performance was recognised with a Best Actor nomination at the 2005 British Academy Television Awards and both he and Henderson were nominees for 2005 Royal Television Society Awards. Dirty Filthy Love won the Best Single Drama category at the RTS Awards. It was released on DVD in the United States in 2005 by Hart Sharp Video in association with The Sundance Channel.
Plot
Mark Furness (Sheen), once a successful architect, finds it increasingly difficult to control his "bad habits", such as climbing stairs in a strange sequence, swearing involuntarily and washing himself compulsively. His wife, Stevie (Griffith) asks him to leave their home, so he seeks solace with his best friends Nathan (Bower) and Kathy (Blakley), who take him under their wing.
His life gets even worse when, at a meeting with his employers, he finds himself swearing uncontrollably and loses his job. Accepting that he is unwell, Mark visits a doctor, already convinced he is suffering from a brain tumour or meningitis. In the doctor's waiting room, another patient, Charlotte (Henderson), recognises Mark's "habits" as symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome, and invites him to a local self-help group she runs. Mark finds it comforting that others share his disorder and with Charlotte's help, hopes to face his problems and win his wife back.
Mark tries to beat his disease and begins to make some progress despite the news that his wife is petitioning him for divorce. While meeting her to discuss terms - after covering himself in chocolate powder to combat his obsessive cleanliness - Mark and Stevie have sex. Mark interprets this as a sign that they will be reunited, but Charlotte warns it is nothing but "sympathy sex", leading to an argument between the friends. Mark storms off, but realises Charlotte is right when he sees Stevie with another man in their marital house.
This plunges Mark into depression. His disorders deteriorate and, cutting contact with his friends completely, he moves into a rundown bedsit. His situation gets worse still when (now with unkempt hair, matted beard and shabby clothes) he begins to stalk Stevie, convinced she has begun a relationship with another man. Almost unrecognisable, he even attacks his friend Nathan on the street because he thinks Stevie is having an affair with him.
At his lowest point, Mark learns the truth about Stevie and her new relationship. The story ends with Mark still suffering from his symptoms, but Charlotte re-enters his life. Charlotte, able to accept Mark as he is, provides the support for Mark to continue his battle. After a confrontation with Stevie, in the course of which it is discovered that Charlotte's long hair is a wig worn to disguise her hair loss from trichotillomania, he recognises her true worth and they begin a romantic relationship themselves.