Cleaning Up (British TV series)

*Cleaning Up*
Cleaning Up
	Promotional poster
Genre	Drama
Created by	Mark Marlow
Written by	Mark Marlow
Directed by	Lewis Arnold
Starring	Sheridan Smith; Jade Anouka; Kristy Philipps; Doc Brown; Uriel Emil;
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Jane Featherstone; Chris Fry
Producer	Karen Lewis
Cinematography	Ollie Downey
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	9 January –; 13 February 2019
Related
	Cleaning Up (South Korean adaptation)

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]

Plot edit

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 edit

Sheridan Smith as Sam Cook, a cleaner for Xenco Clean
Jade Anouka as Jess, Sam's friend and colleague
Kristy Philipps as Alice Cook, Sam and Dave's 15-year-old daughter
Doc Brown as Blake, a Kramer Lowe stockbroker engaging in insider trading
Uriel Emil as Viktor, Sam's boss at Xenco Clean
Robert Emms as Glynn, a lodger at Sam's house
Branka Katić as Mina, a cleaner for Xenco Clean
Neil Maskell as Warren, a debt collector Sam owes money
Anya McKenna-Bruce as Lily Cook, Sam and Dave's 8-year-old daughter
Matthew McNulty as Dave Cook, Sam's ex-husband
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as Jake, Alice's boyfriend
Rosie Cavaliero as Frances Howard, Head of Compliance for Kramer Lowe
Lloyd Owen as Dominic Swanson, a corporate lawyer blackmailing Blake
Angela Wynter as Amber, Jess's mother and cafe owner
Milanka Brooks as Daniela, a cleaner for Xenco Clean
Con O'Neill as Graham, CEO of Westavaris Incorporated, and head of the insider trading network

Production edit

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 edit

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date ^[4]	U.K. viewers (millions) ^[5]
1	"Episode 1"	Lewis Arnold	Mark Marlow	January 9, 2019 (2019-01-09)	8.68
2	"Episode 2"	Lewis Arnold	Mark Marlow	January 16, 2019 (2019-01-16)	7.69
3	"Episode 3"	Lewis Arnold	Mark Marlow	January 23, 2019 (2019-01-23)	6.98
4	"Episode 4"	Lewis Arnold	Mark Marlow	January 30, 2019 (2019-01-30)	6.51
5	"Episode 5"	Robert McKillop	Mark Marlow	February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06)	6.47
6	"Episode 6"	Robert McKillop	Mark Marlow	February 13, 2019 (2019-02-13)	6.61

Reception edit

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]