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The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

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The A Word

Drama

Family drama with a boy with autism at its heart.

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The A Word: Series 2

Morven Christie

Lee Ingleby

Greg McHugh

Vinette Robinson

Max Vento

Molly Wright

Christopher Eccleston

Jude Akuwudike

Aaron Pierre

Leon Harrop

Pooky Quesnel

Emelia Rae Levy

Adam Wittek

Tommie Grabiec

Jayshree Patel

Jennifer Hennessey

Ibrahim Ismail

Craig McDonald-Kelly

Travis Smith

Lucy Gaskell

Jack Hartley

Peter Bowker

Jenny Frayn

Sue Tully

Fifty Fathoms Productions Ltd

The A Word: Series 2: Episode 2

a-word_141117_s02e02_pp.jpg

Episode 2

Series 2

BBC One - The A Word, Series 2, Episode 2

Joe starts his first day at a specialist school in Manchester.

Joe starts his first day at a specialist school. Louise reveals a truth about her son Ralph to a shocked Maurice. Vincent attempts to atone for his misdemeanours.

As a parent, how do you know if the decisions you make for your child are right? If your child can't always express his own feelings, how do you even go about making the decisions in the first place? These questions hang over Paul and Alison as Joe starts his first day at a specialist school in Manchester. For a boy who finds change the hardest thing of all, life is changing utterly - and Paul and Alison are unprepared for how Joe reacts.

They are also unprepared for how they feel. As Alison wonders about her role as a mum, Paul is exposed to questions that unsettle him. Will Joe forever be labelled? Will his future be like that of Sophie's autistic son Mark who, at 16, is struggling to cope? In the past, Paul and Alison would have told each other what they were feeling. Now, tellingly, they don't. Could this be the first indication that they are pulling apart?

Also facing an uncertain future is Maurice. Having appointed Ralph as his new brewery assistant, he gets it in the neck from Louise who is adamant her son shouldn't be working for him. Maurice demands to know why. When Louise finally tells him the truth, it knocks Maurice sideways.

Meanwhile, Vincent is determined to relight Nicola and Eddie's fires, to atone for his own marital misdemeanours. And James warns Rebecca that he's not going to get stuck with her family - and if she wants a life of her own, she shouldn't get stuck with them either.

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