Mary and Martha BBC1 tonight 8.30 (so not long)

[CuriousMama]

Am looking forward to this, 2 great actresses in it Brenda Blethyn and Hilary Swank. Probably be a bit sad but still sounds interesting.

[CuriousMama]

Yes I agree JustGMFM very important.

[TheOneWithTheNameChange]

Oh that hurt!

Brilliant, brilliant television.

[LiveItUp]

Wow. Gulp. very soggy tissues Brilliant.

[LiveItUp]

Oops - that wasn't supposed to be a link.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

What sentimental rubbish.... Sorry!

[ujjayi]

Brilliant & touching drama. Watched it cuddled up to my two boys - all of us sobbing intermittently.

[JustGiveMeFiveMinutes]

Itsjustafleshwound

You are entitled to say it was rubbish as that's your opinion but if you think it was sentimental I suggest you find a dictionary and look up the meaning of the word.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Sentimental - wrong word, but just about every cliche about Africa wheeled out in 90 minutes .....

[LiveItUp]

Fleshwound - what's rubbish about 1/2 million children dying every year from something as preventable as malaria???

[JustGiveMeFiveMinutes]

Yes Itsjustafleshwound 500,000 people dying of a preventable disease is such a cliche isn't it.

[gwenniebee]

I found it very moving. The shot of that baby's hand left me in loud and snivvelly tears.

[germyrabbit]

watched this with my 11 year old son, it was really well made and a good way of explaining the situation to children and younger people.

really sad that this is still happening though isn't it

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Because once again Africa is portrayed as some basket case that can't be seeing doing anything other than waiting for aid from the 1st world countries ...

[ujjayi]

Germyrabbit I agree it was a great way to get a message across that most ages could watch and comprehend.

[Bicnod]

As someone who works in the development sector and has spent quite a bit of time in Africa I thought it was excellent.

not sure sure which bits you saw as cliched fleshwound?

Richard Curtis is a very clever man.

I just hope it has the desired effect and people dig deep for Comic Relief.

[difficultpickle]

It was made with an eye to American viewing so it is easier to keep the issues simple.

[DreamsTurnToGoldDust]

I missed a bit, why did the young son die from Malaria, wouldn't he have had the malaria tablets before he left America? I did enjoy although I sobbed stupidly throughout.

[twitchycurtains]

I planned not to watch this as I had a feeling it would be upsetting, I was frequently in tears throughout and thought the the 2 leads were brilliant. The protrayal of the aftermath of Mary's sons death was heart breaking to watch, not lighthearted Friday night viewing but well made, well acted and got the message across.

[CuriousMama]

Yes I hope it makes people
think more and give what they can.

[suburbophobe]

Brilliant film and brilliant message.

Malaria can touch us all. Yes, with climate change they reckon it will be in Southern Europe sometime in the future.

NEVER EVER EVER go on an far flung holiday without going to the tropical vaccination buro to get your info on what you need and your jabs updated.

And yes, well, as for antibiotic-resistant TB and gonnorhea on the cards too, we have some interesting times ahead.

Get yourselves informed, people!

[suburbophobe]

I was in Kenya in 1985. The Malaria pills you got then was Chloroquine and Nivoquine, both now obsolete.

Malaria mosquitos build up resistance all the time.

Now it's Lariam, can make people psychotic, but I or my 8 year old never had a problem with it, besides some weird dreams.

Malarone is the best. Even if expensive. It is definately worth it. Cos your life is precious.

Malaria can kill you within 48 hours. If you take prophelactics, it won't.
If you don't, it will. (could).

For (adult) people in Africa it is like having a flu bout. Cos they have built up immunity.

Malarone is best, I never bother with all that shit about covering your skin etc. and mosquito nets (not always available) anyway.

Dengue fever mosquitos come out during the day, malaria ones during the night.

DEET is goed too (available in Europe), and Citronella candles or anti-mosquito coils, which you can buy in any local shop there.

It never put me off travelling!

[CuriousMama]

Thanks for the information suburbophobe. Scary though but we do need to know.

[inia]

I'm with itsjustafleshwound on this I think.. I understand the premise, the message and the audience.. but it completely and utterly ignored the causes, the solutions already being applied, the obstacles to those solutions (debt anyone?). There's the Global Malaria Programme; or if you reckon 'celeb' endorsement is necessary, there's the work of Bill and Melinda who surely have ways to make their voice heard in Congress and elsewehere.

The thing that riles me is that somehow we seem to think that we need this 'personal touch', or have to rely on the evangelism of those with direct experience... I really wondered last night why it did not touch me - it's not that I can't relate to watching your child die (my DD was hours away from succumbing to meningitis); it's not that I can't relate to mosquito borne diseases (I've done my time overseas with the most disadvantaged, dengue is not fun; I've seen the mosquito control people in many refugee camps); it's not that I'm not absolutely furious that thousands of people die from preventable diseases.. I'm just sad that apparently we still need programmes like these to get messages across that should have been heard and solved long ago. This post makes some interesting points

On the plus side, if you've all watched it, learned something (and got money out of your pockets), I'd say it was a job well done :)

[youfhearted]

god i couldnt stand that, what a terrible programme.

but i sort of stuck with it.

why didnt the little boy take anti malarials, the son of the american?

[youfhearted]

my sister actually died from malaria but that was a long time ago which is why I couldnt understnad why the boy didnt take tablets but the grown up son had the tablets and gave them away. were they badly informed>?