To feel a programme dramatising Shannon Matthew's disappearance is in poor taste?

[Annie592]

I watched it. I quite enjoyed it. (I think Sheridan Smith is amazing.). But it doesn't sit quite right with me. I want to be able to say why, but I can't explain it. Maybe because a real life case of a nine year old's abuse doesn't feel like something that should be used for entertainment? Wondering if anyone agrees and can articulate it better? Or whether it's actually an important topic to talk about and I'm being stupid. I honestly don't know. Would appreciate mumsnet thoughts!

Rugby I have. There's a doc called ''The Lying Game'' about Huntley, Karen, Philpott, Quy and more and about how they lied especially to cameras. I'll paste the link. Skip to 26:33 to about 27:01 and you can see Karen trying so hard not to smile when the cameras are there in several different times.

The whole documentary is on there and its really interesting but if you watch those bits with Karen you can see how much she was really enjoying the limelight.

yes I couldn't quite make out the Sheridan Smith character and her motivation here. Genuine concern or hinting the limelight and media thrill. Maybe both.

However I thought the other friend who changed her opinion of Karen very well acted and believable

7 thanks will watch. Putting the horror aside it's fascinating. DD is doing psychology A Level and was told to watch this.

quy genuinely made me shiver,so evil.

Are we seeing Karen as a victim because she's a woman? She's a child abuser and a deeply unpleasant and manipulative woman. On a par with Philpott

Totally agree with this. Why do some people find it hard to accept woman can be just as nasty, abusive and unpleasant as men can be when it comes to their own children?

Shannons Grandparents have labelled the programme sick and disgusting and they're right

YANBU I never watch these kind of things. Very poor taste.

To be fair, Shannon's grandparents let Shannon and her siblings live in squalor with two child abusers, so I don't value their opinions highly.

The community were treated terribly by the media. As others have said, they were portrayed as lazy chavs, which was obviously unfair. However, I feel a documentary on the community spirit would have been more appropriate than this.

They didn't " let them" SS took Shannon from the grandparents and back to her mother.

Just how exactly do you know that Shannon lived in squalor and what her extended family did or didn't do.

""Putting the horror aside it's fascinating. DD is doing psychology A Level and was told to watch this.""

That's totally appropriate and necessary. Just as we were shown stuff, whilst on the BA in SW and then on our placements were able to read through files, not made public knowledge.

All of us didn't start to speculate or doubt that neighbors didn't do enough, as displayed on this thread (and will be on every forum/comments/conversations).

This was too soon after the event, for the sake of all who were children at the time and wider family, who were powerless to stop the abuse.

It might be because I've seen the after effects, carried into Adulthood, but this shouldn't of gone ahead.

It's difficult enough, after years of help, for Siblings to openly discuss their interpretations and memories, this will force that.

I've corrected people when I've been in the hairdressers etc over the attitude that enough wasn't done, by people outside of the Police/SS. I've heard conversations on buses, after every high profile case, which shows that the general public are still unaware of the whole CP process and you stay friends will abusive/neglectful parents to help/feed/wash the children, but you can't do anything to end it.

The Matthews children will no doubt have to stay in for weeks, to not hear this treated as harmless gossip.

I am currently watching it. I didnt follow the case much when it happened (can not believe it has been 9 years).

I am trying to figure out Sheridan Smiths character. She seems angry and intense and slightly inappropriate in the way that she is taking control of it.

I watched it, I take an interest in true crime and have watched documentaries on this case. Yes it is/was in poor taste, especially as the family where not consulted and not in agreement. Itv did the same thing last year with their drama The Secret. The families of the victims hated it and thought the victims story had been omitted.

""To be fair, Shannon's grandparents let Shannon and her siblings live in squalor with two child abusers, so I don't value their opinions highly. ""

No they didn't, the children were on the At Risk register, as said. Karen Matthews didn't have to allow any lay person into her house, or have contact with her children.

This crap is exactly what the children/family/community don't need to have rehashed and sums up why it should have been shown.

I watched it. I also enjoyed it - horrible as that may seem. I thought it was well done.

Most people watch drama which is rooted in real life - the question here is really that the children involved might be affected and that is a fair point. I wonder though - they know what happened - it was very very public - how much worse would this make it.

In some ways it can be useful to look again at a situation once the initial public reaction has died down. We see things that we didn't then. I admit to thinking that the behaviour "summed up" some sort of way of life - a prejudice that the programme addressed. It said quite a lot about how we think, how our police work, about neighbours and poverty and a society that we are actively encouraging with government policy.

I'm not sure some of the wider community and family even came across that well, it seemed to be a big, exciting event for some, caught up in the "thrill" of having the telly people there etc and being caught up in the excitement if it all (for want if a better expression). The scene with Craig Meehan overdosing on Calpol was pointless surely. Karen Matthews clearly had problems, not excusing what she did in any way of course. I thought the actress who played KM was very good.

It's of course also debatable if it should have been televised, we could debate the same thing about Appropriate Adult and the drama about Hindley etc.

I shall watch next week too.

I'm not sure some of the wider community and family even came across that well, it seemed to be a big, exciting event for some, caught up in the "thrill" of having the telly people there etc and being caught up in the excitement if it all (for want if a better expression)

I think that's probably true, its human nature for some people to be like this at the end of the day.

During the trial, there was evidence of long-term neglect in the household. For example, Shannon frequently wrote notes saying she was hungry and wasn't fed dinner. Surely the grandparents were aware of that? Furthermore, it's clear from photos that her mother didn't care for Shannon's appearance. Why didn't her grandparents offer to wash/iron her school uniform?

Both the mother and step-father are child abusers. The stepdad was found to have a large collection of child abuse images too, I believe?

I disagree. I thought it portrayed, very well,, a community that were seen as "low lives" but this gave them the opportunity to try and rise above it and wanted to be seen as better than that. Some of them grabbed the chance with both hands and I understand why.

At what point is it ok to have a tv programme about it? 10 years later? 10years + 1 month? When is ok? T

Its never ok, we dont need to sensationalise the poor girls misery. Just think how she must feel today because of the bbc

But Portia where is the line when it is ok to make programmes about something awful? There have been countless programmes about dreadful things that have happened in RL. At what point is the line crossed from unacceptable to acceptable?

The line is crossed when it affects the person concerned through no fault of their own

Who decides that though Portia? I feel as though I am being personal to you and I genuinely don't mean to - I find it interesting and I couldn't tell yoou where I think the line should be. So should the person who is most involved (in this case Shannon Matthews) have had the right to say NO?

Yes she should and I hope she's ok.

I hope she is ok too.