Jack Thorne On How Sharon Horgan’s “Terrifying” Notes Helped Shape BBC Series ‘Best Interests’ Into A Story About Parents Torn Apart By A Tragic Choice
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
EXCLUSIVE: Jack Thorne is a writer at the peak of his powers, so there are probably few people who can shred his nerves when they comment on his scripts. Sharon Horgan happens to be one such person.
The BAFTA-winning Bad Sisters and Catastrophe creator was not wielding a pen on Thorne’s BBC series Best Interests, but did bring motherly instincts to what is arguably her most dramatic role to date.
More from Deadline
Horgan plays Nicci in the powerful story of a family torn apart by a devastating dilemma over whether to remove life support from their terminally ill daughter, Marnie. Thorne had written several scenes between Andrew (Nicci’s husband, played by Michael Sheen) and their eldest daughter Katie, who cuts a forlorn figure at home as her sister lies stricken in hospital.
He later re-engineered some of these moments for Nicci on the advice of Horgan, who observed that she wasn’t “allowed to be nice” to Katie, played by Alison Oliver. This did not resonate with Horgan’s own experience of having daughters of a similar age, one of whom was seriously ill with meningitis as a baby.
The result is a number of tender scenes between Nicci and Katie, and a running joke about Nicci returning home for a “change of knickers” between grueling spells at Marnie’s bedside. “It was such a good note from Sharon,” Thorne reflects. “It was terrifying to have a writer of Sharon’s quality come on board.”
The exchanges between Nicci and Katie are central to what Thorne is trying to achieve with Best Interests. It is a heart-wrenching story of grief for a dying child, but he wanted to inject the series with love and levity.
“You don’t want to do it about people that are a million miles away from us, you want to do it about people that are close,” Thorne tells Deadline. “Empathy is what telly does best, so being given an opportunity to look inside that dynamic and find the truth within that dynamic in a setting that feels real — that’s what I live for.”
Marnie, played by newcomer Niamh Moriarty, suffers from muscle-wasting disease Muscular Dystrophy and a brush with a nasty infection sends her into terminal decline.
Doctors say it is in the best interests of Marnie that her ventilator be switched off. Nicci and Andrew disagree with the medical professionals, but are eventually driven apart by the decision as Sheen’s character grows skeptical of Nicci’s ferocious commitment to keeping Marnie on life support.
Thorne says Horgan’s quality for bringing a “jagged edge” to her comedy characters lends itself to Nicci, who is soft and warm but also prone to foul-mouthed outbursts at those caring for her daughter.
Best Interests draws on several real-life cases in a search for “the truth” rather than “a truth.” Equally, Thorne wants the series to ask questions rather than provide answers about tragic predicaments that can pit families against Britain’s National Health Service.
The idea for Best Interests originally came from Sophie Gardiner, the Executive Producer for Chapter One Pictures, but it took Thorne time before he found a way into the story.
In these moments of writer’s block, Thorne jokes that he goes through a period of “self-examination and self-hatred.” It is why he juggles many projects at once, cycling between scripts like palate cleansers. Moments of progress on some help him to reflect more favorably on those he is struggling with.
“I was tying myself in knots about how to do Best Interests, and then I realized it could be parents on either side. As soon as it was that, everything unfolded,” he says. “It was a light bulb moment.”
Thorne has cultivated a reputation for telling impactful stories about disability alongside campaigning for better access to TV for those with disabilities. He says the pandemic was the catalyst for this mission, arguing that it revealed an “ableism in society” he found troubling.
Best Interests resonated with Moriarty, who plays Marnie, in a way she had never experienced before. The actress, who has a form of cerebral palsy in her legs called spastic diplegia, tells Deadline that Thorne expertly captured the dynamic of a family in which disability is a fact of everyday life.
Moriarty relates to Marnie’s relationship with Katie based on the rapport she has with her own sisters. “My sisters love to take the mickey out of me for my disability. They’re like, ‘Can you get that down from the shelf, Niamh?’ As a family, it’s something we’re able to make fun of because you learn to adapt,” she says over a Zoom interview from her home in Dublin.
Moriarty self-taped for the show on holiday in Kerry and became obsessive about landing the role. “Everyone involved in Best Interests was so proud of the story that we were telling because most people on that set had a personal connection to the story,” she explains.
Moriarty thinks her disability means that “there will be limits as to what I will be allowed to pursue in my career,” but Thorne is positive that a revolution is happening in the UK, thanks in part to his TV Access Project, which aims to make television fully inclusive by 2030. For the first time, he says the industry is prioritizing accessible vehicles and outside broadcast trucks, as well as “thinking about things like curbs,” which can make studios difficult to navigate.
He may be one of the most in-demand British writers in the world, but elevating the disability agenda is part of his raison d’être. Asked if it’s something he wishes to be remembered for, he answers with the same modesty that makes him fearful of Horgan’s notes. “I’d be very happy to be forgotten,” he laughs. Shows like Best Interests make that unlikely.
Best of Deadline
2023 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming
TV Cancellations Photo Gallery: Series Ending In 2023 & Beyond
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
