The A Word

The A Word
Genre	Drama
Created by	Keren Margalit
Developed by	Peter Bowker
Written by	Peter Bowker
Directed by	Peter Cattaneo
Starring	Morven Christie Lee Ingleby Greg McHugh Vinette Robinson Max Vento Molly Wright Christopher Eccleston
Composer(s)	Rob Lane
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Keren Margalit Peter Bowker Patrick Spence Lucy Ritcher BBC Sara Johnson Keshet Avi Nir Keshet
Producer(s)	Marcus Wilson
Production location(s)	Lake District, Keswick, Cumbria, Thirlmere, The Space Project
Editor(s)	Jamie Pearson
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Keshet UK Fifty Fathoms
Release
Original network	BBC One
Picture format	16:9 1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	22 March 2016 (2016-03-22) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Yellow Peppers
External links
Website
Production website

The A Word is a BBC drama television series based on Yellow Peppers by Keren Margalit. The series follows a 5-year-old boy and how his dysfunctional family cope with the revelation that he has autism. Following filming in the Lake District from October 2015, a six part series began airing on 22 March 2016.

On 26 May 2016, the BBC announced that a second series of The A Word had been commissioned.

Synopsis

Five year old Joe displays clear signs of a communication problems and consistently isolates himself by playing rock music, mostly to himself, through large blue headphones. He has encyclopedic knowledge of the songs he listens to and accurately sings along with the lyrics. His Mum and Dad; Alison and Paul, seem oblivious to the disorder and wonder why their child is ostracised by other children of the same age. However it is later discovered by Maurice that Joe's parents have been taking him to hospital for his communication problems. Other family members know there is a problem however their attempts to intervene are met with contempt from Joe's parents. After originally believing Joe had hearing problems, their otolaryngologist refers Joe to a specialist who diagnoses Joe with autism. The story then follows how the dysfunctional family, including Rebecca (who feels invisible), Eddie and Nicola (who are coping with their own relationship problems) and tactless (possibly on the spectrum) granddad Maurice, cope with Joe's situation and their own apparent social disorders.

Cast

Actor	Character	Role	Episode
Max Vento	Joe Hughes	5 Year old boy with autism	1-6
Lee Ingleby	Paul Hughes	Joe's father	1-6
Morven Christie	Alison Hughes	Joe's mother	1-6
Molly Wright	Rebecca Hughes	Joe's 16-year-old sister	1-6
Greg McHugh	Eddie Scott	Alison's brother	1-6
Vinette Robinson	Nicola Daniels	Eddie's wife	1-6
Christopher Eccleston	Maurice Scott	Alison's father	1-6
Pooky Quesnel	Louise Wilson	Maurice's music teacher and lover	1-6
Matt Greenwood	Tom Clarke	Rebecca and Luke's friend	2-6
Thomas Gregory	Luke Taylor	Rebecca's boyfriend	2-6
Daniel Cerqueira	Dr Graves	Insensitive family doctor	1-5
George Bukhari	Terry	Worker at Paul and Alison's cafe	1-6
Adam Wittek	David Nowak	Worker at the Scott's brewery	1-6
Tommie Grabiec	Pavel Kaminski	Worker at the Scott's brewery	1-6
Julia Krynke	Maya Petrenko	Joe's babysitter	2-5
Lisa Millett	Maggie White	Joe's speech therapist	3
Ralf Little	Stuart	Rebecca's biological father	5-6

Production

Writer Peter Bowker was approached by Keshet who produced Yellow Peppers who wanted him to remake the Israeli series but with an original story line. Bowker drew on his own experiences and observations as a teacher and with his family to write The A Word.

Filming took place from October 2015 at locations in the Lake District, including Keswick, Broughton-in-Furness,Coniston and Thirlmere Reservoir, and at The Space Project studios in Manchester

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	UK air date	UK viewers (million)
1	"Episode 1"	Peter Cattaneo	Peter Bowker	22 March 2016 (2016-03-22)	5.91
Alison and Paul continually make excuses for their 5 year old boy's uncooperative behaviour but will they listen to other family members who suspect something more serious? Meanwhile Nicola and Eddie move in next to Alison and Paul, hoping to make a new start in the Lakes, but will Eddie be able to forget Nicola's infidelity, especially as it has become public knowledge?
2	"Episode 2"	Peter Cattaneo	Peter Bowker	29 March 2016 (2016-03-29)	5.41
Alison pulls Joe out of school and emotionally blackmails the rest of the family into home schooling. She also becomed dismissive of alternative ideas from Paul putting a strain on their marriage. Nicola and Eddie's relationship is also put to the test when Alison asks Nicola to seek a second opinion from her former fling Michael. All the while Rebecca is left to fend for herself and the only one who seems to care is her Uncle Eddie.
3	"Episode 3"	Peter Cattaneo	Peter Bowker	5 April 2016 (2016-04-05)	5.4
Speech therapist Maggie arrives and manages to make some progress with Joe whilst telling the family some home truths. She avoids speaking about her school history with Alison and abruptly halts her visits, ignoring Alison's pleas for her to stay. Does Maggie have a grudge to bare? Meanwhile Maurice reconciders Louise's proposal, Nicola settles into her new job while Eddie struggles with his and Rebecca is feeling more and more ignored by her mother.
4	"Episode 4"	Dominic Leclerc	Peter Bowker	12 April 2016 (2016-04-12)	5,439
Alison observes Joe playing with two other children and invites them for a sleepover during which Joe falls ill. While recovering Joe demonstrates empathy for his mother while they look at photos of his late grandmother, misleading Alison to believe he's cured of Autism. Luke is ignoring Rebecca and turns to Eddie and Nicola and Maurice realises he too misses his late wife more than he thought and perhaps his friends-with-benefits relationship with his music teacher wasn't such a good idea. Meanwhile, is Paul carrying a torch for an old flame?
5	"Episode 5"	Dominic Leclerc	Peter Bowker	19 April 2016 (2016-04-19)	5.28
The police investigate Maya and discover she is an illegal immigrant. Despite Alison's desperate attempts to persuade family friend and police officer Bob to turn a blind eye, Maya is deported and Alison is worried for the effect it would have on Joe. Meanwhile Rebecca's relationship with Luke turns sour and Eddie's plans to move to Manchester are not popular with Nicola or Maurice.
6	"Episode 6"	Susan Tully	Peter Bowker	26 April 2016 (2016-04-26)	5.65
After their fall out over differences of wanting more children Alison and Paul reconcile in time for the opening of their new restaurant. Maurice leaves Joe with Louise's son Ralph and Joe goes missing. As a mass search ensues, some uncomfortable truths are revealed.

Broadcast and reception

BBC One began airing the first six part series in a Tuesday 9pm slot, replacing Happy Valley, starting from 22 March 2016. SundanceTV have acquired rights for broadcasting the show in America.

Overnight figures revealed the first episode was watched by 4.7 million viewers and had a 23% share of the audience. BARB later reported a consolidated figure of 5.91 million. Reaction to the first episode was mostly positive among viewers. Many people praised the show on social media, partly for the quality of the acting but also for the way it dealt with the subject of autism. The Guardian interviewed a father and his autistic daughter who expressed mixed views about the authenticity of how autism was portrayed in in the show.

External links

• The A Word at BBC Programmes
• The A Word at IMDb