Film & TV From Casualty to Sanctuary

Tracey Harding is relieved to find a summer of good offerings

Quote: Sanctuary is like a breath of fresh air, as the cast are almost entirely made up of actors with learning disabilities. With the tag line ‘Never let love pass you by’, it is a delightful love story set in Galway, Ireland.

At the start of the summer, I was pessimistic about whether I would come across any examples of film and TV featuring actors with learning disabilities. Although the summer is renowned for being a slow period for new television or film, I began to bemoan the dire lack of opportunities them in film and TV.

Then, lo and behold, I found myself having too much to talk about, because an episode of Casualty caught my eye, and a friend mentioned a film called Sanctuary which turns out to be so fabulous, that I may have to carry on talking about it in the next issue!

Casualty, (BBC1, 25 June 2017,
episode 39)
First, the current series of Casualty featured actor Sam Barnard as Darren Tailor whose brother Lee is admitted to Accident and Emergency. Sam has Down’s syndrome and has previously been seen in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, and has appeared on the Channel 4 reality programme The Undateables.

In this episode, Lee has been involved in an accident in a factory, and it later transpires that the accident happens because they have been stripping cables to sell for food supplies.

Lee has been supporting his brother since the death of his mother but has not told Darren that their mother is dead but that she is ‘on holiday’. When Lee tells Darren the truth, Darren is distraught and goes home where he accidentally drinks anti-freeze and is admitted back into the hospital. The brothers are reunited and Lee accepts that he needs assistance to continue to care appropriately for his brother. Sam Barnard gave a great performance in an episode that focussed on the relationship between the brothers, and an optimistic future for them both. It was good that the writers placed the storyline as central to the episode rather than on the periphery.
Film can be used as a tool for change – Sanctuary shows us how.
Sanctuary: 2016. Director: Len Collin. Writer: Christian O’Reilly. Stars: Stephen Marcus, Amy-Joyce Hastings
As I mentioned, it is often difficult to find film that features actors with learning disabilities and when they do it can often be tokenistic or ‘preachy’. The film Sanctuary is like a breath of fresh air, as the cast are almost entirely made up of actors with learning disabilities. With the tag line ‘Never let love pass you by’, it is a delightful love story set in Galway, Ireland. The story is an adaptation of an original play by Blue Teapot Theatre Company, an ensemble of adults with learning disabilities.

In essence the story is about Larry and Sophie who are in love, but Larry has Down’s syndrome and Sophie has epilepsy, and associated tremors. When Larry approaches his care worker Tom to book them into a hotel with the intent of consummating the relationship, Tom wrestles with the request, because he is assisting in an illegal act. Meanwhile, Larry’s friends from the training centre manage to get themselves involved in some really funny escapades which are sensitively filmed, and aided by a soundtrack as diverse as Bing Crosby and The Violent Femmes.

Sanctuary has assisted in altering legislation in Ireland; in February 2017 the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act that made it illegal in Ireland for people with Intellectual Disabilities to have sex before marriage changed. The influence of lobbying and the poignant presentation of informed choice and equality in Sanctuary were in part responsible for this. That is an achievement that film makers often aspire to, but very seldom achieve, and the director Len Collin, and all the people involved, can be justifiably proud.

The film premiered in Galway in 2016 and has been receiving rave reviews in Ireland this summer but, frustratingly, the release in the UK has been put back to November. When I contacted the Director, Len Collin he explained that the problem with the film is that “nobody expects the film to be any good… they think it will be worthy or just plain terrible”.

As Len points out, because the opposite is true it creates the problem of how to market it. Whatever way that occurs, this is a film that needs to be seen by as many people as possible, to highlight that change can happen, and that people with learning disabilities are extremely talented.

I look forward to sharing more about the film in the next issue, when hopefully there will be news on the opportunity for all of us in the UK to see this remarkable film.