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Woman's Hour: Saskia Reeves in 'Us', a new BBC1 drama

Saskia Reeves in 'Us', a new BBC1 drama

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Saskia Reeves in 'Us', a new BBC1 drama

Julia Gillard and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Saskia Reeves; Multiple Sclerosis & pregnancy.

Julia Gillard and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala discuss women and leadership; Saskia Reeves in new BBC drama Us; a new study shows positive effects of pregnancy on Multiple Sclerosis.

Julia Gillard, once Prime Minister of Australia, and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, economist and international development expert from Nigeria and also a woman with experience at the top of the Nigerian politics, have come together to explore women and leadership. They’ve written a book together and interviewed high profile global leaders who are women: women like Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christine Lagarde and Theresa May.  

Saskia Reeves is best known for the films Close My Eyes and I.D. and her numerous roles in dramas like Spooks, Luther, Wallander, Page Eight and Wolf Hall. On Sunday you can watch her in the first of a four part comedy drama for BBC 1 called 'Us'. Based on the novel by David Nicholls, she is Connie who wants to end her 24 year relationship with her husband Douglas – played by Tom Hollander. But he’s meticulously planned and booked a European tour with their teenage son Albie – and so they decide to go ahead with it. Jenni talks to Saskia about how relationships change as children leave and you grow older, and the joys of filming in cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Barcelona. 

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that currently affects over 130,000 people in the UK. It’s three times more common in women than in men, with many of those women being diagnosed in their 20s and 30s. It’s been known for some time that pregnancy can lessen the symptoms and reduce the chance of relapse for those who already have MS. But now a new study from Monash University in Australia shows that pregnancy can help women before symptoms begin – by delaying the onset of MS by more than three years. Lead researcher Dr Vilija Jokubaitis joins Jenni to talk about the findings and what it might mean for women at higher risk of developing the condition.  

Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Interviewed Guest: Julia Gillard
Interviewed Guest: Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Interviewed Guest: Saskia Reeves
Interviewed Guest: Dr Vilija Jokubaitis

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