Coma

Michael Crichton’s original adaptation of Robin Cook’s thriller was a fine late entry in the classic cycle of 1970s paranoid US cinema. Ridley and Tony Scott’s modernised retelling misplaces some of the spookiness but keeps tension levels high as Atlanta medical student Susan Wheeler (Lauren Ambrose of ‘Six Feet Under’) investigates why so many patients are falling into comas during routine operations – and what’s going on at the secretive medical facility to which they are then dispatched.

Ambrose’s typically purposeful work anchors the yarn, allowing a heavyweight supporting cast to have a ball keeping us guessing which of them is involved in the skulduggery. Is it smooth James Woods? Kindly Richard Dreyfuss? Ambitious Geena Davis? Bonkers Ellen Burstyn? Aired as a four-part miniseries in the States, it’s a bit of a long haul at over three hours, but snappy direction and the high-calibre cast keep it watchable throughout.