BBC defends ‘raw yet moving’ film of assisted death in Swiss clinic

In a five-minute sequence in the BBC2 programme, the best-selling author witnesses Peter, a British man in his early 70s who has motor neurone disease, taking his own life at the Swiss clinic.

BBC commissioning editor for documentaries Charlotte Moore told the Radio Times that she did not believe the “carefully edited but unflinching” scene could have been left out. When Peter decides he is ready, he is seen drinking a liquid to prepare his stomach for what is to come while sitting at the kitchen table. Then, sitting on a sofa with his wife at his side gently rubbing his hand, he drinks a second liquid, after which he falls into a deep sleep and dies.

Ms Moore said: “It is an extremely powerful and challenging scene – raw yet moving – but above all it is honest. Some people may question why we included this scene in the final cut. But in my view I don’t see how we could omit it.”

The documentary was commissioned to follow Sir Terry on a journey to explore the realities of assisted death. Ms Moore said: “The greatest attachment he (Sir Terry) formed was to Peter, and I felt it would be wrong to excise the time they spent together in Switzerland and the very process Peter went through to end his life.”

Sir Terry, who was diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer’s disease in 2008 and who describes himself as “a firm believer in assisted death”, told the Radio Times: “I have no particular interest in ending my life in Switzerland... Actually, I don’t want to die at all, to tell you the truth.”

Sir Terry, whose Discworld series of books have sold millions of copies worldwide, favours the method legalised in the US state of Oregon, where “if the doctors agree that you are, as it were, a candidate, they give you the magic potion and you can take it away and keep it at home.”

n Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die, is broadcast on Monday June 13 on BBC2 at 9pm.