Brendan O’Regan“Endearing humour combined with emotional intensity were the distinguishing features of The ‘A’ Word” which for Brendan O’Regan made this, “one of the best dramas I’ve seen this year so far”
Does religion need more humour? That was one of the issues discussed on The Big Questions (BBC One) last Sunday morning. Of course there’s a spectrum, ranging from blasphemy, through mockery, via satire, to gentle humour and joy. Some contributors felt that religious extremists in particular needed to lighten up – religiously motivated terrorists being a dour lot for example. A Muslim comedian had no issues with sending up the idiosyncrasies of religious believers, especially where it involved cultural aspects that had been attached to religion. An Imam had no objection to jokes about religion as long as there was no mockery of God, his prophets or his holy books, and he would also refrain from jokes about the holocaust or slavery. A Jewish contributor seemed to be saying that the Old Testament made joking out to be a sin, but it wasn’t clear whether he was saying this with approval or irony as he was interrupted, among others by a young rabbi, who, in the cacophony of voices, seemed to be saying that the biblical injunction was just against scoffers. An Anglican bishop thought that without humour there would be “shrivelled Christians”. I liked presenter Nicky Campbell’s description of humour as a “humane communication tool”.
Endearing humour combined with emotional intensitywere the distinguishing features of The A Word, a six-part drama series which ended Tuesday night of last week on BBC One. It was one of the best dramas I’ve seen this year so far.
At the centre of the story was Joe, an autistic boy whose parents were having trouble accepting the diagnosis. They fought, bullied, argued, cried and laughed as they tried to cope not only with this problem but with job changes and a rather wacky extended family. All the main actors deserve awards , especially child actor Max Vento as Joe, Morven Christie as Alison, Joe’s mother, Molly Wright as Joe’s sister Rebecca and Christopher Eccleston as Maurice, Alison’s father, who plays a blinder and gets most the laugh-out-loud lines.
That last episode wasn’t the best of the six – the child Joe going missing was a bit melodramatic, though it did force the parents to finally admit Joe’s condition in public, and it was a just a little more preachy than the other episodes, setting out to teach us lessons on how to treat people with special needs. The storyline and emotional honesty did a good job of that all on its own.
Echoing my previous articles this was yet again a story (fourth in a row!) where adultery was shown to have a devastating effect – in this case the damage done to the marriage of Alison’s brother because his wife had an affair. It was an adult show, with a strong sexual frankness, mostly in the dialogue. The broad human values were sound but the sexual morality was all over the place – e.g. Joe’s parents didn’t seem to mind his older sister Rebecca getting sexually involved with her boyfriend as long as she was careful, but there was more than a hint that she was reluctantly rushed into it by the pushy boyfriend, her own lack of self-confidence and the fact that all the parents’ attention was on Joe’s needs. In this context I always feel uneasy when child actors are used in in a show that that had such adult content.
There was almost no religion in the show apart from Joe’s father dealing briefly with God – promising to go to church if his missing child was found!
Also coming to an end, on UTV Ireland Monday night of last week, was a short run of the drama series Chasing Shadows and its themes weren’t too far removed from those of The A Word. Sean Stone was a police detective with special needs of his own – hugely intelligent, great at picking up patterns when investigating crimes, especially in relation to missing persons and serial killers, but also intensely focussed or obsessed, taking things very literally, having difficulty forming relationships with colleagues and not so good so good at showing empathy for crime victims. Reece Shearsmith was excellent as Stone and Alex Kingston was the perfect foil as his long suffering colleague Ruth Hattersly.
One good thing about UTV Ireland is that it gives us a second chance to catch up on dramas like this that have previously aired on UTV/ITV. More of the same please!
Pick of the Week
Songs of Praise
BBC 1, Sunday, May 8, 4pm
Sally Magnusson is in Belfast to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme and the Easter Rising, two events which shaped the history of Ireland.
Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve
BBC 2, Friday, May 13, 3:45pm
Simon Reeve follows in the footsteps of thousands of travellers from previous centuries, from the Camino in Spain to St Peter’s in Rome.
The 13th Day
EWTN, Friday, May 13, 9.30pm
A modern and atmospheric dramatisation based on the story of three shepherd children from Fatima, who experienced visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.