Terry Pratchett defends film that captured man's suicide at Swiss clinic

Published on Tuesday 14 June 2011 16:14

Sir Terry Pratchett has defended his documentary about assisted suicide, which showed the death of a millionaire hotelier who was suffering from motor neurone disease.

In the BBC film, the writer, who has Alzheimer's, went to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to see Peter Smedley, 71, take a lethal dose of barbiturates.

Asked why he wanted to make the film, the Discworld author said: "Because I was appalled at the current situation. I know that assisted dying is practised in at least three places in Europe and also in the United States.

"The government here has always turned its back on it and I was ashamed that British people had to drag themselves to Switzerland, at considerable cost, in order to get the services that they were hoping for."

The film, Choosing To Die, followed Mr Smedley from his mansion in Guernsey to the Dignitas clinic near Zurich, which over the past 12 years has helped 1,100 people to die.

Sir Terry, 63, said: "Peter wanted to show the world what was happening and why he was doing it."

Director Charlie Russell said it was ultimately the BBC's choice to screen the film. He said: "As a film-maker, I felt that it was the truth of the matter. Unfortunately, we do all die. It's not necessarily very nice, but that is what happens to us all so I think it is quite important to see it."

Campaigners have accused the BBC of helping to promote assisted suicide but the broadcaster said the programme gave viewers the chance to make up their own minds.

• Review: Choice of tea or coffee in brightly coloured cups, then a brave man makes his final exit

A Dignity in Dying spokeswoman, who has described the documentary as "deeply moving and at times difficult to watch", said she believed the publicity before the programme had helped. "People who did not want to watch it did not have to watch and were not confronted with something they did not want to see," she said.

"It certainly shows that Dignitas is not an ideal option for people and we would rather people had the choice of dying at home at a time and in a manner of their choosing."

Margo MacDonald, the independent MSP whose euthanasia bill was rejected in the last Scottish Parliament, said: "The film was anything but propaganda and Charlie Russell, the man who wrote, produced and directed it, should be congratulated.

"He made a very sensitive and informative film. Before I saw it, I was doubtful about whether that could be achieved, because I thought it would be very intrusive, to be there at the moment of death. But it was done very sensitively and was not intrusive, although it was sad."

But anti-euthanasia campaigners have complained about the film's portrayal of assisted suicide.Alistair Thompson, a spokesman for the Care Not Killing pressure group, said: "This is pro-assisted suicide propaganda loosely dressed up as a documentary."

He accused the BBC of repeatedly giving voice to pro-euthanasia views and claimed Monday night's documentary had been the fifth corporation programme in three years to be presented by a pro-euthanasia campaigner or sympathiser.

He said: "The evidence is that the more you portray this, the more suicides you will have."

Dr Peter Saunders, campaign director of Care Not Killing, said: "We felt the programme was very unbalanced and one-sided and did not put the counter-arguments. We are very worried about the danger of copycat suicide or suicide contagion."

Former bishop of Rochester the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali claimed the programme was "propaganda".

He said: "I think an opportunity had been bypassed of having a balanced programme - the thousands of people who use the hospice movement and who have a good and peaceful death, there was very little about them. This was really propaganda on one side."

A BBC spokeswoman said: "Following the programme, we had 82 appreciations and 162 complaints, bringing the total number of complaints up to 898.

"The aim of the programme was to create discussion, and this is clearly a subject that resonates."

An Ofcom spokesman said it had received "barely a handful" of complaints.