Interesting BBC Prog About 2 Brothers, One With DS

[Davros]

Sunday 2 September, 9pm, BBC One

Coming Down the Mountain is the first TV drama written by award-winning novelist, Mark Haddon (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).

Teenager David (Nicholas Hoult ? Skins, About a Boy) falls in love for the first time and life couldn't be better. The only fly in the ointment is his 17-year-old brother, Ben (Tommy Jessop), who has Down's syndrome.

The family's world revolves around Ben's needs while David's are unwittingly neglected by their parents (Neil Dudgeon ? Sorted, The Street - and Julia Ford ? All About George, In a Land of Plenty).

They decide to move the family from London to "the back of beyond" for the sake of Ben's education. David loses love, friends and his school. His antipathy to Ben grows and grows to the point where he decides to push him off a mountain and get rid of him once and for all...

The drama takes the two boys on a journey to the dangerous and strange wilderness of Snowdonia.

Mark Haddon says, "I began writing Coming Down the Mountain with the idea of creating a meaty role for a young actor with Down?s syndrome. It ended up as a film about the stuff of every teenager's life ? love, sex, anxiety, ice-cream, parties and nipple-rings."

Thanks for thois Davros, will mark it off in diary.

Nice to 'see' you btw

saw the trailer for this and it looked good. ill be tuning in

I thought it looked good too. Will definitely be watching

There was a really good interview (and lovely pic) with the actor who plays the downs syndrome boy (he has downs himself) in the Times on Saturday. He's been in some other plays and TV and looks set to continue a successful acting career. It is a well written piece and thoughtful interview not at all patronising and very much from the perspective of interviewing an actor who happens to have Downs Syndrome rather than the other way round.

Yes, I'd seen the trailer for this too but didn't know when it was on. Will watch with interest but one hand over eyes - it's my fear that DS1 will yell accusingly at us one day 'It's always all about DS2 isn't it?' like the boy in the trailer. Have noticed this hols that he starts playing up whenever we talk to someone else about DS2

I expect it will "end well" though. Most things about ASD make me want to put my foot through the telly so hope this doesn't make those of you with children with DS feel the same. I will prob watch/tape this as it has a good pedigree in Mark Haddon and did it say Richard E Grant directing?

Can anyone video it and send it to me here in Aus by remote chance???

Ooh, Richard E Grant as in Withnail & I fame?

I will check it out but will probably cry buckets as anything to do with any special needs or learning difficulties seems to make me break down and blubber at the moment!

eidsvold I truly would but our video never recovered from the transition to digital tv and I cannot work out how to record anything now

BUMP
I would certainly send you a copy Eidsvold but we don't have video any more, just TVDrive. I will tape it and see if DH can put it onto a disc.

eidsvoid, i will certainly try and record it to dvd for you, CAT me you address.

Really interesting piece about it by Mark Haddon in yesterday's Guardian:

A Mountain to Climb

Has anyone read his second book (I am being stingy with myself and waiting for it to come out in paperback)?

just starting

I was absolutely riveted by it, and I thought it was very good although pretty harrowing stuff. What did others think?

I thought it was great too. Loved the fact that it wasn't all sickly sweet and also that the boy with DS wasn't portrayed as a paragon of virtue - quite capable of saying hurtful things to his brother.

I thought it was brill!. Just makes you even more aware not to forget the other ones doesn't it. What a fab actor the ds brother was

Agree with Sphil in that i thought it wasnt all 'too good to be true' and it appeared real. thought it was a good bit of tv for once!!

.......loved the bit where he was puffing on a fag just like his brother.....great!

Having forgotten to tape it we watched it last night on Catch Up. We both thought (and DH would usually rather be shot from a cannon than watch SNTV!) it was fantastic, very funny in parts and very moving. I can't imagine any parents being so completely unaware or uncaring about one of their children (the NT one I mean) but the prog was not from their pov and really didn't touch on it much which is fair enough. Strongly recommend seeing it to anyone as it was good TV regardless. I also don't like to watch SNTV but can tolerate it a bit more than DH but we both thought this was great.

I LOVED this - it was brilliant. The lead actors were excellent and it was a good story as regards to what Davros said about Mark Haddon. Hi Davros!

By his 2nd book, do you mean "A spot of bother" Chonky? If so, it's bloody excellent, highly recommended.