The quest for ratings success often causes TV producers to take a voyeuristic interest in people's illnesses and impairments, and the more bizarre the symptoms the better. But, if some of these programmes are merely superficial and intrusive, this was an honourable exception. Shown on prime-time ITV1 (8 August), it was the second of Paul Watson's films about the lives of Malcolm and Barbara Pointon as Malcolm descended into the dark underworld of Alzheimer's.
It was a slow descent and it is to Watson's credit that, having spent 11 years with the family since shortly after Malcolm's diagnosis with Alzheimer's at the age of 51, his film is unflinching in its depiction of the twists and turns of a progressive brain disease which affects 450,000 people in the UK. The fuss before the programme about whether it purported to show the moment of Malcolm's death proved to be a distraction as the film ended by making it clear that he had died three days later.
The film was much more than a tear-jerker but it worked best of all at the level of Barbara's relationship with Malcolm. It showed a happy, loving marriage and what happens as the personality of one of the partners changes and gradually disintegrates. You were left with a lasting impression of Barbara's courage and tenacity as she continued to love her husband even as he turned into someone very different from the man she had married. Somewhere along the way, as Malcolm moved from episodes of forgetfulness and occasional failures of recognition, through the fitful displays of anger and violence, to the physical helplessness that marked his last years, Barbara could have called declared herself unable to cope. She did not, in spite of the fact that the NHS refused to contribute towards the cost of nursing care. It was a stark reminder of how the care system depends on the heroic efforts of relatives and friends, and the growing pressure on the welfare state to provide a more adequate response.