Jason Watkins and his wife Clara Francis will tonight share on television the story of their daughter Maude, who died of sepsis in 2011 aged only two.
Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maude will raise awareness of sepsis, explore their grief, and give hope to other bereaved parents.
Watkins and Francis on Thursday appeared on Good Morning Britain to publicise the documentary.
“We are an imperfect family who have survived the worst thing that can happen to a parent,” Watkins said. “It’s indescribable, the sense of guilt, loss, the absence of your child, the light of your life is gone and you don’t know how you can go on.”
Watkins said he hoped the documentary would show that families “can survive” a loss like the one he and his wife suffered.
Who is Jason Watkins?
Watkins, 60, is an English actor who has worked in TV, film, and theatre.
Since his TV debut in Eastenders in 1987, Watkins has acted consistently, appearing in more than 120 TV shows and films.
Watkins was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2001 for his role in A Servant to Two Master, and won two British Academy Television Awards (in 2015) and a Royal Television Society Award (in 2016) for The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies.
He also won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his part in the ensemble cast of The Crown.
The actor has been married to fashion designer Francis since 2011 and they have two children, Bessie and Gilbert after Maude died on New Year’s Day 2011. Watkins also has two children, Freddie and Pip, with his ex-wife, actress Caroline Harding.
In 2015, Watkins dedicated his Bafta win for his role in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, about the murder of Joanna Yeates, to his late daughter Maude.
He said: “But there is one person that I am going to dedicate this to and along with my family…I’m going to share this with our daughter who we lost just a few days funnily enough after Joanna Yeates’ death.
“If there is a reason why I’m standing here it is because of our Maudie, so thank you.”
Watkins is an ambassador of the UK Sepsis Trust and a patron of Child Bereavement UK.
The UK Sepsis Trust said: “We couldn’t be more grateful to Jason and Clara who have worked closely and tirelessly with us over many years to raise awareness of this condition that devastatingly altered their family’s life for ever.”
Sepsis, which is sometimes called septicaemia or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening reaction to an infection. It happens when your immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage your body’s own tissues and organs.
You cannot catch sepsis from another person.
What has Jason Watkins been in?
Watkins is known for playing Harold Wilson in The Crown (2019) and for playing DS Dodds in McDonald and Dodds (2020-2023).
He also played Brian Masters in the mini series Des (2020) and the titular character in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (2014).
Watkins has appeared in several major British TV shows, including Line of Duty, Inside No. 9, Are You Being Served?, Friday Night Dinner, Silent Witness, Doctor Who, Miranda, Call the Midwife, Psychoville, Poirot, and Eastenders.
More recently, he played Winston Churchill in Rogue Heroes (2022) and Ed in The Catch (2023).
Watkins has also appeared in films such as Nativity! (2009), Wild Child (2008), The Golden Compass (2007), and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004).
In the theatre, he has appeared in A Servant For Two Masters at the Young Vic, Rafts and Dreams at the Royal Court Theatre, and Landscape with Weapon at the National Theatre.
More recently, he appeared in a revival of Frozen (by Bryony Lavery) at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
How to watch the documentary
Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maude will be broadcast on ITV on Thursday, March 30, at 9pm. It will also be available to stream on ITVX.
