New drama Mayflies starts tonight on BBC One, and is based on the 2020 book of the same name by Andrew O’Hagan, which tells a deeply emotional story dealing with topics such as terminal illness and euthanasia.
In the two-part series, Tony Curran plays Tully, a man diagnosed with terminal cancer who asks his lifelong friend Jimmy, played by Martin Compston, to take him to Switzerland to die on his own terms.
Curran and Compston recently spoke with RadioTimes.com and other press, and Curran explained what attracted him to the role of Tully.
As well as praising the “humanity” of the story and noting that it would be a “challenge”, Curran also said he was attracted to the series because he “thought it was a poignant, beautiful story that hopefully people enjoy”.
He continued: “And then obviously with the euthanasia aspect tied to it, hopefully it can start a conversation as well, which I think would be interesting and compelling.”
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Compston added: “I think, the thing with the assisted dying – I mean it’s a BBC show so it has to be neutral and I believe we are neutral – there’s very strong opinions on both sides. You know, from my own point of view, I’m a patron of a hospice, I think their end of life care is wonderful.
“But there are situations when we do our research and we see these heartbreaking stories of people who feel they have no option but to take the ending of their life into their own hands and are forced to do it away from their home and a lot of times with one relative or something.
“So I just think we really want to add to that conversation, and make it sort of more mainstream.”
He continued: “We don’t have the answers to it, there’s very rightly on both sides strong opinions. People very rightly say they’re worried – you have to protect the vulnerable, they don’t want people to take advantage of them.
“So I think it has to be thoroughly, thoroughly spoken about and debated before any decision is reached, but I think we just want to make that conversation more mainstream.”
Compston and Curran also recently told RadioTimes.com and other press how it is “terrifying” awaiting fan reactions to the dramatisation of the beloved book.
Mayflies airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on 28th and 29th December 2022. For more news, interviews and features, visit our Drama hub, or find something to watch now with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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