Awful series about an awful family

DavidYZ

This is a drama series that is set in the Lake District and is about a dysfunctional family.

It is broadcast by BBC One. The first series was shown in March and April 2016. A second series has been commissioned.

I don't know why six million people chose to watch this boring rubbish. I only watched it because it was heavily promoted and praised and was supposed to be an enlightening, well-acted series that is centred on an autistic child.

This series fails miserably to do either of the two things that it should do: a) be entertaining and b) inform the viewers in depth about autism.

I was very disappointed that most of the characters in this dreadful drama are annoying and unlikeable. There are too many plots and the child doesn't receive enough help because the other members of the family are engrossed in various other things. This series is badly-written and badly-acted.

The title of this show assumes that it's so shameful to have an autistic child that the condition is euphemistically referred to as 'the A word' - which it isn't. The mother's attitude is awful - she's more concerned about avoiding acknowledging her son's autism, as well as preventing people finding out about it, than she is about helping her son and looking after him properly.

score 2/10

DavidYZ 17 July 2017

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3756366/