Devoted family who show why it’s healthy to laugh at dementia
When comedian David Baddiel’s father Colin was diagnosed with Pick’s disease, a form of dementia, the neurologist explained it meant he would swear uncontrollably, display inappropriate behaviour and be bad-tempered.
David’s response was: ‘Does he have a disease or have you just met him?’
Last night’s The Trouble With Dad (Channel 4) was about the struggle of David and his two brothers to deal with their father’s illness.
It was incredibly touching in places and occasionally sad, but what it was throughout was very, very funny.
The idea of finding comedy in an 82-year-old man’s illness may, at first, seem cruel and in bad taste. But if you think about it, seeking humour in terrible circumstances is probably the British number one coping mechanism.
The Baddiel brothers have always had a relationship with their dad based on ‘abusive banter’. What Pick’s disease had done was to remove any kind of filter.
If Colin thought it, he said it. he told his sons they were boring, ugly, annoying and he wished they would all just eff off. ‘I couldn’t give a rusty damn,’ was his response to pretty much everything.
As unfortunate as Colin’s condition was, David admitted he’d far prefer that to the type of dementia where a person just sits and stares at a wall.
The family chose to make the documentary following reaction to David’s recent stand-up show in which he spoke about Colin’s illness. Many people contacted him to say their relatives also had Pick’s, but that there seemed to be very little public awareness of it.
Towards the end of the programme, we saw Colin suffering a kidney infection and becoming withdrawn and silent.
It was at this point that the brothers realised how much they missed the abusive, foul-mouthed dad they admitted to being slightly scared of as children and who’d never shown them any affection.
happily, Colin recovered from his illness in time to tell his sons he couldn’t care less about the birthday treat they’d arranged for him and that David had a face like somebody’s backside.
The Trouble With Dad was like an unconventional love letter to a difficult man and one many people caring for elderly relatives would identify with.
Another programme that should have been funny, but was an unfocused shambles, was Jon Richardson: How To Survive The End Of The World (Channel 4).
It should have been called Jon Richardson: how To Pad Out A Three-Minute Stand-up Sketch Into One hour Of TV.
Anyone who has seen Richardson live, or as a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, will know he is very witty and one of life’s pessimists.
Last night he compiled a list of his fears and then set about talking to experts on how he could tackle risk and stay alive. he met a woman who swore she could help anyone live to 150 (at a price) and the De Watts family, who bottled and sold ‘fresh air’ for £80 to the gullible.
There was a man in Canada who had dedicated his life to designing ‘invincibility suits’ to help defeat death under any circumstances.
One suit was made to withstand a bear attack. The only problem was it took 15 minutes to put on, by which time the grizzly would have eaten you.
Richardson is very talented and it’s a shame the programme was so flat. even he seemed faintly embarrassed by it all.