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	Max Vento Lee Ingleby Morven Christie Molly Wright Greg McHugh Vinette Robinson Christopher Eccleston Pooky Quesnel
Composer	Rob Lane
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Keren Margalit Peter Bowker Patrick Spence Lucy Ritcher BBC Sara Johnson Keshet Avi Nir Keshet
Producers	Series 1: Marcus Wilson Series 2: Jenny Frayn
Production locations	Lake District, Keswick, Cumbria, Thirlmere, The Space Project
Editor	Jamie Pearson
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Keshet UK Fifty Fathoms
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	22 March 2016 (2016-03-22) – present
Related
Yellow Peppers

The A Word is a BBC drama television series based on Israeli series Yellow Peppers (פלפלים צהובים) by Keren Margalit. The series follows a five-year-old boy and how his 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. It premiered in the UK on 7 November 2017. Filming for third series began in late May 2019 and is expected to air in 2020.

Synopsis

Five-year-old Joe Hughes displays clear signs of communication problems and consistently isolates himself by listening to pop music through large blue and black headphones. He has encyclopaedic knowledge of the songs he listens to and accurately sings along with the lyrics. His parents, Alison and Paul, seem oblivious to the disorder and wonder why Joe is ostracised by other children of the same age. However, it is later discovered by Joe's grandfather, Maurice, that Alison and Paul 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 obstruction from Joe's parents. After originally believing Joe had hearing problems, their otolaryngologist refers Joe to a specialist who diagnoses him 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 grandad Maurice cope with Joe's situation and their own apparent social disorders.

Cast

Actor	Character	Role	Episode
Max Vento	Joe Hughes	7 year-old autistic boy	1–
Lee Ingleby	Paul Hughes	Joe's father	1–
Morven Christie	Alison Hughes	Joe's mother	1–
Molly Wright	Rebecca Hughes	Joe's half-sister	1–
Greg McHugh	Eddie Scott	Alison's brother	1–
Vinette Robinson	Nicola Daniels	Eddie's wife	1–
Christopher Eccleston	Maurice Scott	Joe's grandfather, Alison's and Eddie's father	1–
Pooky Quesnel	Louise Wilson	Maurice's music teacher and lover	1–
Matt Greenwood	Tom Clarke	Rebecca’s best friend	2–6, 9–
Thomas Gregory	Luke Taylor	Rebecca's ex-boyfriend	2–6
Daniel Cerqueira	Dr Graves	Insensitive family doctor	1–5, 7–
George Bukhari	Terry Norris	Worker at Paul and Alison's cafe	1–
Adam Wittek	David Nowak	Worker at the Scott's brewery	1–
Tommie Grabiec	Pavel Kaminski	Worker at the Scott's brewery	1–
Abby Ford	Sally	Worker at the Scott's brewery	4
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, 11
Jude Akuwudike	Vincent Daniels	Nicola's father	7–
Clare Holman	Grace Daniels	Nicola's mother	7–
Aaron Pierre	James Thorne	Rebecca's boyfriend	7–8
Linda E Greenwood		Parent	12–6
Lucy Gaskell	Sophie Berwick	Worker at Paul's Gastropub	7–11
Travis Smith	Mark Berwick	Sophie's autistic teenage son	7–

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, Thirlmere Reservoir, and Birkrigg Cottage in the Newlands Valley, and at The Space Project studios in Manchester.

Episodes

Series overview

Series	Episodes		Originally aired		Average UK viewers (millions)
			First aired	Last aired
1	6		22 March 2016 (2016-03-22)	26 April 2016 (2016-04-26)	6.02
2	6		7 November 2017 (2017-11-07)	12 December 2017 (2017-12-12)	4.54

Series 1 (2016)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	1	"Episode 1"	Peter Cattaneo	Peter Bowker	22 March 2016 (2016-03-22)	6.65
Alison and Paul continually make excuses for their five-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	2	"Episode 2"	Peter Cattaneo	Peter Bowker	29 March 2016 (2016-03-29)	6.13
Alison pulls Joe out of school and emotionally blackmails the rest of the family into home schooling. She also became 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	3	"Episode 3"	Peter Cattaneo	Peter Bowker	5 April 2016 (2016-04-05)	5.94
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 bear? Meanwhile Maurice reconsiders 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	4	"Episode 4"	Dominic Leclerc	Peter Bowker	12 April 2016 (2016-04-12)	5.85
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 she turns to Eddie and Nicola while 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	5	"Episode 5"	Dominic Leclerc	Peter Bowker	19 April 2016 (2016-04-19)	5.61
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	6	"Episode 6"	Susan Tully	Peter Bowker	26 April 2016 (2016-04-26)	5.94
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.

Series 2 (2017)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
7	1	"Episode 1"	Susan Tully	Peter Bowker	7 November 2017 (2017-11-07)	5.01
Alison and Paul worry over Joe when it becomes clear he is unhappy at school and he uses the word 'autistic' for the first time. Nicola and Eddie pretend to Nicola's parents that they are still together, but her parents have their own marital problems. Rebecca introduces the family to her new boyfriend James and Maurice gets the cold shoulder from Louise.
8	2	"Episode 2"	Susan Tully	Peter Bowker	14 November 2017 (2017-11-14)	4.83
Joe starts his first day at the Pear Tree school, and Maurice employs Ralph at the brewery, much against the protests of Louise.
9	3	"Episode 3"	Susan Tully	Peter Bowker	21 November 2017 (2017-11-21)	4.51
Paul takes Mark and Sophie to a gig. After the gig, he finds himself growing closer to Sophie. Meanwhile, Rebecca is heartbroken after James dumps her by text message. Alison meets Eddie's new girlfriend, Holly, who Alison thinks is almost exactly like Nicola. Maurice cares for Louise while she undergoes chemotherapy but she feels it is born out of his desire to "save" his late wife.
10	4	"Episode 4"	Luke Snellin	Peter Bowker	28 November 2017 (2017-11-28)	4.30
In an attempt to patch up their relationship following the events of the previous episode, Rebecca arranges for Paul and Alison to spend the weekend at Eddie's flat in Manchester. Meanwhile, Maurice realises his feelings for Louise are stronger than he had previously thought.
11	5	"Episode 5"	Luke Snellin	Peter Bowker	5 December 2017 (2017-12-05)	4.28
Paul is angered when Nicola uses a video of Joe in a speech about autism, and reveals to Alison he is less accepting of Joe's autism than he previously let on. Holly dumps Eddie, and Maurice proposes to Louise.
12	6	"Episode 6"	Luke Snellin	Peter Bowker	12 December 2017 (2017-12-12)	4.30
Preparations begin for the end of year show at Joe's old primary school. Paul plans to leave Alison as he feels they are living "separate lives". Louise rejects Maurice's proposal and suggests they start a "clean slate". Maurice offers to step aside from the brewery and have Eddie run it without any interference. Eddie tells Nicola he is considering moving back home to run the brewery, but tells her that he only wants to be her "best friend" rather than her lover. During Joe's performance at the end of year show, he brings the family together on stage, but as he finishes, Maurice collapses.

Broadcast and reception

BBC One began airing the first six-part series in a Tuesday 9 pm slot, replacing Happy Valley, starting from 22 March 2016. SundanceTV acquired rights for broadcasting the show in America, and it premiered there on 13 July 2016.

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 have 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.

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2017	Diversity in Media Awards	TV Programme of the Year	The A Word	Nominated

Home media

A DVD featuring all episodes from Series 1 across two discs was released on 19 September 2016, with a short behind-the-scenes documentary as an extra.

Series 2 was released on DVD 18 December 2017, again featuring all episodes uncut across two discs with a few short clips as extras.

External links

• The A Word at BBC Online
• The A Word at IMDb