Best Interests (BBC1)
Calamity James (BBC3)
Such an innocent phrase, “best interests.” But it’s one of those seemingly benign terms, like “making you as comfortable as possible,” that you never want to hear from a doctor.
Best Interests (BBC1), the heartbreaking drama starring Michael Sheen and Sharon Horgan as parents of a severely disabled child, captures how often well-intentioned euphemisms can make an intolerable situation even worse.
At the news that their daughter had incurable muscular dystrophy and that the disease was only going to get worse, a counselor told Andrew and Nicci, “Marnie’s life will be different. You will find so much joy as you adjust to that difference.”
Best Interests (BBC1), the heartbreaking drama starring Michael Sheen (centre) and Sharon Horgan (left) as parents of a severely disabled child, captures how often well-intentioned euphemisms can make an intolerable situation worse
At the news that their daughter had incurable muscular dystrophy and that the disease was only going to get worse, a counselor told Andrew and Nicci, “Marnie’s (right) life will be different. You will find so much joy as you adapt to that difference’
When my wife and I were first told that our toddler son was profoundly autistic, I kept hearing a similar hackneyed maxim going around.
Parents with handicapped children, the saying goes, were like vacationers who thought they were going to Venice. Instead, they ended up in Amsterdam – still a great destination, just not what they had planned.
There was nothing to do but smile and nod at this empty, two-sentiment. The alternative was screaming in frustration, which seemed rude, not to mention ungrateful.
Sheen and Horgan are both fantastic at conveying the emotional exhaustion caused by all the occasional extras that come with long-term care: the endless hospital appointments, the fatigue of compassionate friends, the constant seesaw of hope and despair, the desperate need to juggle with others. obligations, the obligation to be polite to the point of sanctity with a cavalcade of professionals, if you only want to berate them.
Often the only easy and simple part is love for the child. We get a glimpse of this in a beautiful scene where Andrew and Nicci lie next to little Marnie, pretending that she isn’t bedridden, but that all three of them are astronauts on a space shuttle.
Sheen and Horgan are both fantastic at conveying the emotional exhaustion caused by all the occasional extras that come with long-term care: the endless hospital appointments, the fatigue of compassionate friends, the constant seesaw of hope and despair, the desperate need to juggle with others. obligations, the obligation to be polite on the point of sanctity with a cortege of professionals, if you only want to scold them
Often the only easy and simple part is love for the child. We get a glimpse of this in a beautiful scene where Andrew and Nicci lie next to little Marnie, pretending that she isn’t bedridden, but that all three of them are astronauts on a space shuttle.
Writer Jack Thorne makes their situation even more impossible with another euphemism, as another corny doctor informs them that Marnie (Niamh Moriarty) may need “palliative care.”
After a heart attack, she is unconscious and breathing through tubes: ‘We have to ask ourselves what the costs are, whether it is right to continue to treat her in this way.’
Fiery Nicci understands the meaning to her gentle husband: “The hospital wants my daughter to die and I think she should live. They can’t decide what to do – she’s our child.’
This is the core of the story, which continues tonight. Nicci wants every possible intervention for her daughter, including experimental treatments discovered on the internet.
The doctors argue that this is not in Marnie’s “interests”, although there are suspicions that it is really a matter of money.
What Andrew feels, we don’t know yet. It is clear that this crisis is straining the marriage. The dilemma is summed up by Marnie’s big sister, Katie (the wonderful Alison Oliver): “How can you let someone go who’s still smiling?”
Fans of Mark Bonnar as the evil brother in BBC2’s Guilt will enjoy his role as the less than saintly father of a son with a bizarre disability, in the comedy short film Calamity James (BBC3, pictured)
Fans of Mark Bonnar as the villainous brother in BBC2’s Guilt will enjoy his role as the less than saintly father of a son with a bizarre disability in the comedy short film Calamity James (BBC3).
Dylan Blore plays a teenager with “acute accident syndrome,” a walking outburst of slapstick. Everything he touches falls apart – a affliction his conniving father tries to use to his own advantage.
The climactic pratfall was a bit of a letdown, but this was a cleverly constructed play, just 15 minutes long, with some sharp one-liners and visual gags.
It was accompanied by another story about a panto in a retirement home – one of 11 such mini-sitcoms available on iPlayer. Well worth popping in if you have a few minutes to spare.
Popular haunt of the night: Michael Portillo was in Tyneham, the ‘ghost village’ on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, on his Great Coastal Railway Journeys (BBC2).
An hour later, Megan McCubbin was at the nearby Nature Reserve for Springwatch (BBC2). All roads lead to Purbeck.