Julie Walters (Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story; Mamma Mia!) stars in A Short Stay In Switzerland for BBC One a one-off drama inspired by the true story of Dr Anne Turner by award-winning writer Frank McGuinness one of Ireland's foremost dramatists. Having just witnessed the death of her husband Jack from an incurable neurological disease Anne Turner (Julie Walters) is diagnosed with a near identical illness. With determined rationality Anne's answer is that once her illness has reached a critical point she will take her own life. And she needs her children's support.... But the more her son and two daughters struggle to gain consensus over their mother's desire to die as they struggle to find another way through the further they pull apart. From Jessica's silent recriminations to Sophie's stubborn practicality the magnitude of the situation threatens to tear the family to pieces. Anne must also face the fury of her best friend Claire - whose opposing views bring them into direct and vocal conflict. [show more]
A true story about assisted suicide really doesn't sound like a riotously fun night in, and it sounds even less attractive when you discover Julie Walters is the person you have to watch die. Of course, this is not because Walters is in anyway displeasing as an actress; it's just hard to watch one of the country's most cherished thespians suffer for nearly the entire running time of a harrowing, although superbly made, television drama.
Lovely Julie, who does stern kindness so well, is perfect for the real-life role of Dr Alice Turner, a mother of three who asks for an assisted death abroad when she contracts progressive supranuclear palsy - an illness similar to the one that killed her husband. The chances of this happening twice to the same family are astonishingly remote and, as Dr Turner put it, "rotten bad luck". Her three adult children are aghast at her decision and do their best to persuade her otherwise. But she knows that, if she doesn't act, she will suffer a sustained, painful and torturous death at the hands of her affliction. A clinic in Zurich has the power to give her a dignified exit from this life, and after considering her limited options, she chooses this as a necessary solution.
Walters never lets you down, and here she is particularly convincing in a role that, by an actress of lesser talent, could have been juiced for award-baiting means. Her superb character judgement is explicit to see in a perfectly directed scene where an argument breaks out between Alice and her religious friend Claire over a game of chess. Claire, played equally well by the brilliant, but often underrated, Harriet Walter, questions Alice's decision to kill herself with fire-hot anger, which dissolves into a shouting match between two strong and stubborn-minded women. It's also an opportunity to see two of Britain's best actresses demonstrate their uncompromising ability to turn an already admirable script into something spectacularly compelling, credible and very human.
The final few minutes are harrowing and hard to watch, but not in an overly sensationalised manner, and thanks to a touching glance into the lives of Alice Turner's children after her death, the overall experience of the film feels more rewarding than depressing. This is truly excellent television that handles a morbid and controversial subject with a commendable sense of judgement, surprising humour and above all top-notch acting.
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BBC drama written by Frank McGuinness and starring Julie Walters, inspired by the true story of Dr Anne Turner. After having recently lost her husband to a degenerative neurological disease, Anne (Julie Walters) is then herself diagnosed with a similar condition and, rather than suffering the debilitating effects of the illness, takes the decision to travel to Switzerland to end her own life when her symptoms reach a certain stage. This decison causes a great deal of upset within her family and amongst her friends, as they struggle to come to terms with Anne's determined wishes.
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