Is Best Interests based on a true story?

The BBC drama stars Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen as parents forced to make an impossible decision.

By James Hibbs

Published: Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 12:00 am

BBC drama Best Interests tells a devastating story.

The new series stars Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen as two parents who have to make an impossible decision regarding their daughter’s life-threatening condition.

When the doctors say they want to stop treatment, Nicci (Horgan) and Andrew (Sheen) launch a legal process as they struggle to contemplate the decision.

Naturally, fans are wondering whether the heartbreaking story is based on a true tale and real individuals. Well, read on for everything you need to know about the real-life inspiration behind Best Interests.

Is Best Interests based on a true story?

"Nicci
Nicci (Sharon Horgan) and Andrew (Michael Sheen) in Best Interests.
BBC/Chapter One/Mark Johnson

Best Interests isn’t based on a specific story but it has been inspired by real-life events.

At a recent Q&A, writer Jack Thorne revealed that the initial idea for the series came from executive producer Sophie Gardiner, explaining that she “saw that there was a story worth telling here”.

“I’ve worked with Sophie and known Sophie for 20 years, and immediately wanted to find a way to do it,” Thorne explained.

“And I struggled, and I couldn’t find a way to do it. Because I got very worried about the idea of parents versus the NHS – how you tell that story without stigma. So that you don’t end up with just, ‘These are the bad guys, these are the good guys.’ How do you get inside that?

“And then the idea came through discussion of, ‘Let’s tell the story of a marriage and this couple that end up on a different side of the argument.’ And then suddenly everything from there became a lot easier, because it became about how we captured them.”

While Thorne hasn’t specified which real-life cases he drew from when crafting the story, Hollie Dance, the mother of Archie Battersbee who had his hospital life-support treatment withdrawn in August 2022, has praised the show for highlighting the situation some parents face.

Dance said: “It is important it’s highlighted. Because unless you go through this it’s impossible to understand what the parents are going through.”

After being found unconscious in April 2022, Archie Battersbee suffered severe brain injuries and never regained consciousness. He received mechanical ventilation and drug treatment, but the hospital later said his life support should end.

Following a lengthy legal battle by his family challenging the decision, judges at the High Court and Court of Appeal voted in favour of the NHS Trust that it was not in Archie’s best interests to continue receiving life-sustaining treatment.

What has Jack Thorne said about the real-life inspiration for the show?

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Nicci (Sharon Horgan) and Marnie (Niamh Moriarty) in Best Interests.
BBC/Chapter One/Mark Johnson

Speaking at a recent Q&A for the show, writer Jack Thorne explained why she didn’t base the show on a specific real-life story, saying that it “didn’t feel appropriate” to do so.

He continued: “I wouldn’t want to tell the story of a real couple going through this, a real family going through this, I think it would be too intrusive. I’ve told real stories and I’ve told stories that are trying to replicate real stories, are trying to get inside the same truth, the same questions within those real stories.

“We spent a lot of time talking to people that had gone through it, talking to doctors. So there’s an awful lot of people that have impacted on this show and whose stories are reflected in this show, but no one whose story’s in direct reflection, because that just wouldn’t be fair. And I hope that those families will find the reflection but not the truth.”