My Fragile Heart
Genre	Crime drama
Written by	Abi Morgan
Directed by	Gavin Millar
Starring	Sarah Lancashire Lorcan Cranitch John McArdle Anne Stallybrass Lynda Rooke Robert Glenister Sarah Price Eva Pope
Composer	Colin Towns
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	2
Production
Executive producer	Greg Brenman
Producer	Rebecca De Souza
Cinematography	Nigel Walters
Editor	Ian Farr
Running time	90 minutes
Production company	Tiger Aspect Productions
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	17 September (2000-09-17) – 18 September 2000 (2000-09-18)

My Fragile Heart is a two-part British television crime drama miniseries, written by Abi Morgan, that first broadcast on ITV on 17 September 2000. The series starred Sarah Lancashire as Trina Lavery, a young woman who returns to her childhood home to look after her terminally ill mother, only to find the man accused of the murder of her best friend several years ago living nearby. The series was directed by Gavin Millar, with Rebecca De Souza acting as producer.^[1]

The first episode gathered 9.82 million viewers. Episode two dipped slightly; gathering 9.58 million.^[2] The series was sold abroad, with both episodes combined into a single film, running at 146 minutes (minus adverts).^[3] The series was later released on VHS, exclusively via WHSmith stores.^[4] This remains the only home video release to date.

Plot

Trina Lavery (Sarah Lancashire) returns to her hometown of Stoke-on-Trent after 20 years, there to look after her ailing mother. Upon her arrival, Trina discovers that Bernard Cleve (Lorcan Cranitch), the man who was arrested for the murder of her best friend some years ago, is also living in Stoke, his case having been tossed out of court. Though a free man in the eyes of the law, Bernard is unable to escape suspicion when another local girl is killed. This time around, however, Trina has a feeling that Bernard was not responsible – and in setting out to prove her theory, she risks becoming victim number three.^[5]

Reception

The Guardian said of the first episode; "Adultery on a bed of sofa cushions, burgeoning teenage sexuality in the woods and a shortage of ice in the home of Trina's alcoholic mum (she took to using frozen peas instead), these are not recognisable traits of cosy Sunday night television. All of which made My Fragile Heart both topical and, more importantly, excellent drama."^[6]

Cast