[Series] The A Word Season 3 (Complete Episode) | MP4

The A Word Season 3

Christopher Eccleston is not the easiest actor to love, as he gives the feeling that if you don't understand his intense thespian strength, he will hit you through the screen and catch you by the throat, but with the role of Maurice Scott in The A Word (BBC One), he has found the ideal platform for his unique skill set.

Loud, bossy and as calm as a Category 5 storm, Maurice is the show's super-hearted patriarch.
Maurice took center stage for this opener to series 3 of Peter Bowker's drama about families struggling with autism (and many other things), as his home in the Lake District became Mission Control. He was here, giving Rebecca exceptionally perceptive advice on pregnancy; his teenage granddaughter.

When his daughter Alison (Morven Christie) lost her job in Manchester, Maurice was on the scene immediately, draping her in a comfort-blanket feeling. When Louise (Pooky Quesnel) was shocked to discover that Ralph (Leon Harrop) was planning to move into a flat with his girlfriend Katie (Sarah Gordy), Maurice smoothed choppy emotional waters with his sensitive insights into the feelings of Ralph.

It was empathy-max, and that was all at the same time (as Maurice told us) when he was running a hiking club, singing in the local choir, learning Spanish and becoming a volunteer firefighter. The only downside is, he ignores advice from his doctor about  cholesterol and blood pressure.

Beside Eccleston, everyone else looked pallid (his son Eddie would make a hologram seem substantial). Alison’s ex Paul (Lee Ingleby) is reeling after a fire in his new house, as well as the realisation that his autistic son Joe (Max Vento, pictured above with Ingleby) is happier with mum in Manchester than with him in Cumbria. Alison hates herself for the way her long struggle to protect Joe has made her prickly and hostile. As for Joe, he’s got his Eighties bands back in his headphones so you’d guess he’ll make it through.

Bowker’s writing is as skilful as ever, knitting plot and character together with enviable deftness. So skilful, in fact, that you almost can’t see the join where The A Word slides into soap.