There’s ‘baby drama’ in The A Word finale

Max Vento is extraordinary as the autistic youngster, but the story isn’t just about him and his condition – part of Bowker’s skill as a writer is his ability to give every character space to breathe, to allow we the viewers to get to know them.

It’s also one of the reasons why the project attracted such a wonderful cast, which includes Christopher Eccleston as granddad Maurice.

“I’m known for probably three other significant roles – Doctor Who, Our Friends In The North, and Cracker – the death scene in Cracker,” claims the veteran star. “And I’m a runner, so I’m often out and about and I get stopped a lot in the street.

“I’m stopped just as much about The A Word as I am for those three, which has surprised me.

“The reason I’m stopped is because it seems autism has impacted on every person you meet – be it people’s children, grandchildren, best friends.

“It’s had an enormous impact on me, personally.

“I often get people crying and saying, ‘thank you very much for doing it because we never see anything about autism on the television.

“And thank you very much for not being, for want of a better word, pompous about it’.”

He adds: “Peter deals with it with great humour and I think this show will be looked back on as a watershed.

“I think we’ve created a platform where it’s perfectly acceptable for a person, for instance, with Down’s Syndrome to lead a drama on BBC One.

“We’re on BBC One at 9pm and our central character is portrayed as living with autism.

“We have Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy who are actors with Down’s Syndrome.

“It’s an extraordinary event and I think we have created opportunities for the future.

“This show is as important to me as anything I’ve ever done.”

High praise indeed – and when thinking about his words and their sentiment, it feels all the harder to take that after this week, there will be no more episodes. Here’s hoping for a fourth series.

The current one does, however, end on a high as Rebecca goes into labour.

She only has one person accompanying her, and you may have already guessed who it is – that’s right, Joe.

The youngster has been anxious about his sister’s pregnancy, so it seemed obvious that he could be left, literally, holding the baby eventually.

As he attempts to lend a hand in the most dramatic of circumstances, his mum Alison has to make a decision about her future – will it include Ben?

Maurice also has a question to ask Louise, while Mark receives an offer he might not be able to refuse from Paul.

Morven Christie, David Gyasi, Molly Wright, Lee Ingleby, Travis Smith and Pooky Quesnel are also among the impressive cast.

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