It\u2019s silly, singular and occasionally tearjerking: this tale of a mechanical companion to an elderly widow is shot through with love and care<\/p>\n
The home, warns Jamaican nurse Brianna (Michelle Greenidge), can be a \u201clethal\u201d environment for elderly people. \u201cYou lucky like plucky you never smash your head on the corner of the coffee table, or land teeth first on the iron doorstep!\u201d she says, fatalistically, as Sue (Sue Johnston) tries in vain to explain that she didn\u2019t \u201chave a fall\u201d, but fainted due to low blood pressure. In any case, Sue \u2013 widowed two years ago \u2013 has wound up in hospital with a sprained wrist and is discharged with her arm in a sling.<\/p>\n
At least she has her son, Michael (Paul Ready), to rely on. Except that Michael \u2013 gutless, whiny and covered in red blotches from a drug trial he\u2019s joined for quick cash (\u201cif it was dangerous\u201d, he says, \u201cdo you really think drug companies would do it?!\u201d) \u2013 is moving back in with his cheating ex. His solution? A robot carer, preloved and purchased on a 24-month contract. Cocking snooks at an era where everything is on subscription and at the general direction of late-capitalist travel, the preloved Ann Droid robot is useless without an internet connection, and is delivered by overburdened delivery driver Cass (Sarah Kendall), who we later discover has completed a PhD on Chaucer. Sue is appalled.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/9f8a78ff6c329ea0c735a26b1d7daa4e630b989d\/472_0_3752_3002\/master\/3752.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=100084780c5043951b8238bfcb3b55f5\" "\\"Ann")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"