Best Interests review: ‘heart-shattering’ drama on BBC One
Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen star in this harrowing four-part series

“It was with a huge sense of trepidation” that I tuned into BBC One’s new four-part drama “Best Interests”, said Nick Hilton in The Independent. Written by Jack Thorne, it tells the harrowing story of a couple who must decide whether doctors should keep treating their desperately unwell daughter.
Nicci (Sharon Horgan) and Andrew (Michael Sheen) have dedicated the past decade to caring for 13-year-old Marnie, who has muscular dystrophy. When a chest infection sends her to the ICU, the hospital suggests withdrawing care, and the once tight-knit family begins to splinter. This is the stuff of nightmares, but the acting is superb, and the writing manages to remain “witty and lively” even as the gut-wrenching power of the story encroaches.
“Best Interests” is a bit overlong, said Barbara Ellen in The Observer; given the amount of repetition, “at least one episode could have been chopped”. Still, “Thorne gets his essential messaging through (disabled lives have worth; disabled people are people), and, by God, he knows how to make the breaking human heart speak”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are clichés here and there, said Carol Midgley in The Times: within the first ten minutes, for instance, Andrew and Nicci have sex on a cluttered kitchen worktop, despite there being “non-crumby surfaces nearby” (this, of course, “never happens”). But overall, this is a “wonderful, heart-shattering piece of work” that succeeds in making Marnie not a legal case, but a joyous, rounded person. “I defy anyone not to cry.”
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Japan's surname conundrum
Under the Radar Law requiring couples to share one surname hinders women in the workplace and lowers birth rate, campaigners claim
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
Feature "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" and "American Heart"
-
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
Feature "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" and "American Heart"
-
Thomas Mallon's 6 favorite books from the 80's and early 90's
Feature The author recommends works by James Merrill, Calvin Trillin, and more
-
The tourist flood in the Mediterranean: can it be stemmed?
Talking Point Finger-pointing at Airbnb or hotel owners obscures the root cause of overtourism in holiday hotspots: unmanageable demand
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Axel Scheffler picks his favourite books
The Week Recommends From Steig to Finkelstein, the award-winning illustrator shares his top picks
-
Lovestuck: a 'warm-hearted' musical with a 'powerhouse score'
The Week Recommends Team behind the hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno have created a hilarious show about a disastrous viral Tinder date
-
Outrageous: glossy Mitford family drama is full of 'fun, fashion and froth'
The Week Recommends Adaptation of Mary Lovell's biography examines the scandalous lives of the aristocratic sisters
-
F1: The Movie – a fun but formulaic 'corporate tie-in'
Talking Point Brad Pitt stars as a washed up racing driver returning three decades after a near-fatal crash