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“Having pretty much rubbished any taboo that gets in its way, Shameless is now gearing up to change British TV drama altogether,” said David Whitehouse in the Guardian.

The loveably dysfunctional residents of Manchester’s Chatsworth estate return bigger, bolder and more outrageous than ever, for their fifth series - extended from eight to a whopping 16 episodes.

“David Threlfall is something of a national treasure, thanks to his portrayal of lovable drunk Frank Gallagher,” noted Laura Potter in the Observer.

Originally filmed on location, Shameless quickly established itself as a national favourite. Success has brought higher production values and a permanent, purpose-built 66,000 square-foot set.

Shameless walked off with the Best Drama Series category at the 2005 BAFTA TV awards, where the judges praised it as “exciting, intelligent, mucky, poignant, raw, amusing, involving and always entertaining.”

Series five opens with deranged dad Frank (Threlfall) staring death in the eyeballs, after suffering a massive electric shock caused by relieving himself on a generator.

Thereafter, it’s business as usual. Carl dates the world’s dullest girl in the hope of seeing her mum. Mandy and Karen (Rebecca Atkinson, pictured above) drag a corpse around the estate in a wheelie bin.

Finally, a Mancunian earth tremor simultaneously sends Monica into labour and pitches Frank into a coma in which he hallucinates visions of a perfect world.

“An eclectic, high octane mix of comedy, drama and social realism,” said Daphne Lockyer of The Times.

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Tags: C4, David Threlfall, drama, Gerard Kearns, On Demand, Rebecca Ryan, reviews, Shameless

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