Looking After Jo Jo

*Looking After JoJo* traces the career of a petty thief turned drug dealer in 1980s Edinburgh. The title character, John Joseph McCann, is a pleasant if misguided young man surviving in a bleak housing estate and aspiring to the trappings of a successful criminal. A habitual criminal since childhood, when he pilfered cash boxes for his father, he has been in and out of prison ever since. He lives in a high-rise council flat with his mother and sister. Set in and around the North Sighthill housing estate, the mini-series follows JoJo as he becomes ensnared in the drugs scene. His deterioration is both painful to watch and very moving. Unfortunately for him and most of the other characters, it is a time of heroin addiction and AIDS. Robert Carlyle's performance is extraordinarily complex and textured. He is ably supported by Jenny McCrindle, Ewan Stewart, and *Trainspotting*'s Kevin McKidd. This isn't the fast-moving, MTV-style drug scene of *Trainspotting*, but a more character-oriented, leisurely look at the human cost of drug addiction.

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