BEST INTERESTS - BBC 1 9pm - Mon 12 and Tue 13 and wed after - TV PACE NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Awww this will have me in tears

The emotional series tells the story of married couple Nicci and Andrew, whose daughter Marnie has a life-threatening condition.

The doctors believe it is in her best interests to be allowed to die, but Nicci and Andrew disagree, leading to a fight through the legal process as they struggle to contemplate the decision.

The official synopsis for Best Interests says: "This a story of a family driven apart by having to make choices no parent would ever want to make.

Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen play married couple Nicci and Andrew, they have two daughters: Katie played by Alison Oliver and Marnie played by Niamh Moriarty.

"Marnie has a life-threatening condition. The doctors believe it is in her best interests to be allowed to die, but her loving family disagree.

And so begins a fight that will take them through every stage of a legal process, as they struggle to contemplate this huge decision. Who decides? And in whose best interests will it be?"

as usual sure all will be on iPlayer but this will be tv paced

be interesting seeing sharon in a drama /serious role rather than usual comedy /sex roles she plays

I thought they did that because the had to take her straightaway because of the transplants

They had to hover as needed to go next door asap for organ donation

I watched the whole thing and didn't feel any emotion at all. I just didn't really relate to any of the characters, I don't know why. It was very weird. I didn't warm to Marnie, I didn't buy in to either of the parents. Something was just missing for me. Katie was the one I sort of cared about the most.
Sad situation though, I hope I never find myself having to face it.

Once they turned the machine off and she stopped breathing the doctors had to get her to where they would remove her organs quickly or they probably wouldn’t be any use. This made a huge difference to the scenario afterwards. No time to sit quietly with her body and take it all in. They needed to leave quickly

It didn't make me emotional till the last episode.
Then I did really cry 😭

i was quite emotional during the 3rd episode which concentrated on Katie

I blubbed

But only at the point they turned the machine off. They could have left the family alone with her before that.

Just finished watching the last episode, I feel emotionally drained

That was deliberate. That's what they are.

I don't disagree.
Just thought it was interesting.
What with all the real life cases and the many people in real life behind these Christian organisations

I've worked on several of these (utterly heartbreaking) court cases and am very impressed at how accurate and well researched this series is so far (just finished ep2).

The children referenced in Nicci's meeting with the Christian organisation (Charlotte Wyatt, Ashya King, Tafida Raqeeb) are all real children. Those children defied the odds, and of course we can probably all think of others who sadly didn't.

What I liked most about the episodes so far is that no one is in the wrong. We can empathise with everyone in the series, including those we might not necessarily agree with. That has been my experience of working on these court cases; they usually feature devoted loving parents, diligent honest doctors, bright empathic old-beyond-their years siblings, sensitive hardworking lawyers and mediators - and in the middle of it all a precious, precious child who deserves so much more than the short life they were dealt. I really don't envy the judges who have to make the final decision.

'What I liked most about the episodes so far is that no one is in the wrong. '

Absolutely, you can see everybody's point of view. It's such an impossible situation for everyone involved. The two questions I kept thinking of were 'how on earth would you carry on?' and 'how on earth would you give up?'

I thought the final scene was very cheesy and couldn't believe they would be so composed, although I guess among the devastation there might be some relief and some peace. And Marnie's character was so relentlessly joyful and delightful, it didn't ring quite true. Other than that I thought it was brilliant. Fantastic performances, Michael Sheen in particular

Me too. Normally I’m a mess but it didn’t really move me. Idk why.

Just because something is about a sad thing, doesn't mean it will be moving
(Although obviously things will make people feel different things)
It depends on how good it is.

Just watching episodes 3. Loving the actress who plays Katie.

The children referenced in Nicci's meeting with the Christian organisation (Charlotte Wyatt, Ashya King, Tafida Raqeeb) are all real children. Those children defied the odds, and of course we can probably all think of others who sadly didn't.

That's not really true in relation to Ashya King. He had successful surgery for a brain tumour in a hospital in the UK, and no-one was asking for machines to be turned off. His Jehovah's Witness parents wanted proton beam therapy rather than conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy by way of follow up treatment, and because they couldn't get it here they abducted him to take him to Prague for treatment. For some reason they went by way of Spain where they were arrested, but the extradition request was withdrawn. Subsequently the High Court agreed that he could be taken to Prague where he had the treatment.

It's always talked of as a case where the parents were proved right and the wicked hospital was wrong, but actually the hospital saved Ashya's life by the original surgery, and the nature of the tumour was such that there was little or no advantage in proton beam treatment - radiotherapy would have been just as effective. The general view was that in fact the parents substantially reduced his chances of survival, although happily he did survive, albeit quite severely disabled.

The case was certainly handled very badly in many respects, but it's not really the victory for parents that the Christian organisation claimed.

But I believe since the Ashya King case the NHS has actually authorised proton beam therapy for those tumours and also NHS has said that it gives less side effects than radiotherapy/chemotherapy.
So they must have realised since then.
I agree that I don't think this case is comparable.
I don't understand why it all happened

I think that, unsurprisingly, it very much depends on exactly where the tumour is, what size it is, etc.

i agree Michael Sheen was so fantastic

Sorry yes, of course you're right, they were lumped together quite opportunistically by the Christian legal organisation in the show and I effectively repeated that without adding in a caveat.

I agree, for some reason I just don't find Sharon Horgan to be a great actor and admire and respect her writing but don't enjoy her acting. Perhaps it's the comparison to Micheal Sheen, who is staggering, as is the actor playing the elder sister and the male social worker supporting the family. It's giving a slight insight into some of the real struggles families of disabled children go through. It's humbling.

Sharon Horgan was unconvincing, she's bright enough in real life to know the mother was not thinking of Marnie's best interests but being a bit selfish and making it all about herself, so did not portray her with any conviction

There are of course limits to how long they had to tell the tale - in some ways four hours is generous - but as is usually the case with dramas the last half hour seemed rushed. Mum's change of heart just didn't quite ring true, going from raging zealot to accepting in one brief conversation. Maybe some scenes were cut but you'd expect the christian group to really put the pressure on if she looked like she was wavering.
Michael Sheen was brilliant as ever and if I'm ever before judge I hope they are as sensible, sensitive and compassionate as that one.

I thought it rang true.
I could see her having doubts creeping in about if this was the right thing to do