Peter Quilter's
4000 Days opens with Michael (Alistair McGowan) in a coma,
following a blood clot on the brain. He spends three weeks unconscious, but when he
wakes up he's lost more time than that: The action takes place in the present day
but he thinks it's 2005, having forgotten the last 11 years. The most obvious loss
is his entire relationship with his boyfriend - he only met Paul (Daniel Weyman) ten
years ago, so when Michael wakes up he's a stranger. Following the doctors' advice,
Paul tries to help his partner slowly get to grips with the missing decade, but
Michael's mother Carol (Maggie Ollerenshaw) sees this as an opportunity to wipe the
slate clean and start again: She never liked Paul, whose relationship with her son
was always rocky, and she intends to take full advantage of the fact that he's been
erased from his memory. The two end up in a tug-of-war over Michael's affections and
memories.
