Fortysomething (TV series)

Fortysomething
DVD cover
Genre	Comedy drama
Written by	Nigel Williams
Starring	Hugh Laurie Anna Chancellor Benedict Cumberbatch
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producer	Jonathan Powell
Producer	Jo Willet
Production company	Carlton Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	29 June (2003-06-29) – 9 August 2003 (2003-08-09)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Fortysomething is a 2003 British comedy-drama series set in Wimbledon, London. Hugh Laurie (who also directed the initial three episodes of the series) stars as Paul Slippery, a doctor facing a mid-life crisis.^[1] His wife Estelle (Anna Chancellor) is starting a new career as a headhunter. His three sons, Rory (Benedict Cumberbatch), a student at the fictitious University of Reigate, Daniel (Neil Henry) and Edwin (Joe Van Moyland), are sex-obsessed. Meanwhile, Paul appears to hear the inner thoughts of others.

Other important characters include Paul's colleague and nemesis, Dr. Ronnie Pilfrey (Peter Capaldi), and Estelle's new employer, Gwendolen Hartley (Sheila Hancock).

The series was written by Nigel Williams based on his 1999 novel of the same name. The six episodes of the series were broadcast on ITV. Although a ratings failure on first transmission, leading to it being moved to an off-peak timeslot midway through the run, the appearance of Laurie, Cumberbatch and Capaldi, all of whom went on to greater fame, has subsequently led the series to sell well on DVD.