Seeing someone suffer from dementia is extremely painful. My hope, as I watched people struggle with the condition, was that, as hard as it was to see them lost and confused within the prism of their own mind, perhaps they might not have been as acutely aware of the tragedy of their circumstances as those of us around them. That thought made it a little easier to bear.
Dementia will, at some point, affect every one of us in some way. As Anna Richardson’s Channel 4 documentary lays out, it is the highest cause of death in the UK and, as the presenter grimly states, it’s predicted that a third of us will develop it in our lifetimes.
Anna Richardson: Love, Loss & Dementia commences with an urgent phone call that interrupts the presenter on holiday. She is relaxing on the beach only to find out she must rush back to the UK, as her father – who has vascular dementia – has had a nasty fall that took him to hospital. The programme then pivots to look at similar stories to Richardson’s, meeting those caring for people with dementia – but also those who have undertaken early testing and live with the knowledge that they will imminently face the disease.
Richardson is a sharp and bubbly person, best known for presenting a staggering 12 series of Naked Attraction, and introduces herself as having “never been afraid to tackle taboo subjects”. And while dementia isn’t taboo per se, it is an uncomfortable topic, particularly in the disease’s later stages where – as Richardson puts it – people move from “living to just existing”, which is an existentially terrifying prospect.
Sadly, dementia sufferers who have only recently learned of their condition are given cursory attention here. We meet Jordan, who is newly engaged and more acutely aware of the terrors that lie ahead than most – having cared for his mother before she died from Alzheimer’s in her 50s. His affirmation that his diagnosis is a “licence to live” is one of the programme’s most moving moments, but it’s sadly underexplored – with his insights, and those of his fiancee, who may one day become his carer, cut short.
Another participant talks of how caring for their partner has been frequently unsafe and has taken an intense toll on their psyche, tearfully reflecting: “I have no resilience left. I’m just ground down completely.” But the issue of what support beyond financial help would ease their suffering is not pressed.
At one point, Richardson asks if dementia has a particular stigma in the African-Caribbean community, and her Black subject says that it does. But the programme fails to unpack this, leaving it feeling like another underexplored line of inquiry.
Similarly, when attention-grabbing facts are presented – such as that a third of people with dementia are not diagnosed, or that many face issues around funding their care – they are barely expanded upon, when either topic could have merited an entire episode. The broadness of Richardson’s approach is understandable, with the show seemingly wanting to touch on the multiple issues raised by the disease, but it results in a jack-of all-trades, master-of-none programme, which – given the prevalence of dementia – is unlikely to be illuminating to many.
Even if the programme won’t transform the public’s understanding of dementia, it is still a worthwhile hour of television. The strongest moments are when Richardson forges meaningful connections with her subjects, relating to their plights with insight and sensitivity. Her father, Jim, a pastor and recipient of an OBE, comes across as a remarkable man, and the programme celebrates all that he is – rather than reducing him to a set of symptoms. We see a deeply relatable family dynamic where teasing one another comes more easily than expressing how much they love one other.
By the end of the programme, I remained none the wiser as to whether or not dementia is actually kinder on the person afflicted than on their loved ones. Everyone in this programme is struggling to live with – or alongside – dementia. And while promising new treatments and research offer glimmers of hope, there’s no escaping that this is a sad piece of television about an all-too-common tragedy. If there’s anything uplifting to take away, it is Jordan’s belief in a “licence to live”, a reminder to savour every moment of good health that we are lucky enough to have.
• Anna Richardson: Love, Loss & Dementia aired on Channel 4 and is available on Channel 4 streaming.
