Cleverly told, as the title suggests, exclusively from Fiona's perspective this atmospheric drama began innocently enough, with Fiona gently refusing to be drawn into an affair with her choirmaster. Why would she be tempted? That question was answered early the following morning when Fiona entered husband Simon's study intent on attracting him back to bed, and failed. It was the last question in this thoughtful piece that had an easy answer, as by 5.59am that morning, the police arrived to arrest Simon, and Fiona's world was about to tip on its edge.
It's generally believed a good move to begin a story as close as possibly to a significant event, and Kate Gabriel certainly managed this effortlessly. Within a few minutes, Simon had been arrested, his computers impounded, the house searched and, before Fiona really had time to understand what was happening, he had been bailed on charges of download child pornography.
Initially insisting identity theft was responsible for his credit card details being found in the records of a porn distributor, by Christmas Day, with the family dinner in full swing, Simon finally broke down and admitted to Fiona that it was true. He had been spending his nights looking at the images. For five years. And this, I suspect, is where many people will have parted company with the story, as it set off for la-la land where a woman will continue living with her three daughters in the same house as a man she hasn't slept with for a year and who gets his kicks from images of child abuse, while they stood in their living rooms yelling "kick the bastard out!"
But was Fiona's Story ever that black and white? The clever trick it (almost) pulled off was to show Fiona's journey as a kind of Chinese water torture, where the steady drip of circumstance, revelation and admission grew to a damp patch, and then a puddle and then a pond. By the time it was a lake she was almost ready to drown in it. And finally it was the sea, at a remote coastal beauty spot, and Fiona came to her senses and realised that, even if Simon now, belatedly, wanted her, she could never be with him again.
Yes, it's easy to stand in the safety and certainty of your own home and rail at the TV, telling her what she should have done. But that spectrum of shade that Fiona travelled would be different for everyone, and no-one can know how dark the spectrum would have to become before they could no longer see their way forward.
There were some signposts, naturally. The brief cameo where brother Edward attempted to defend Simon with "they're only images after all. It's all already out there. It's a two-dimensional crime. A victimless crime" was one such for me. I could quite cheerfully have punched his smug face in. The bathroom business was another. I guess each parent comes to their own conclusion about when is the right time to stop bathing with their kids. When they start walking would be my yardstick, but Simon seemed to think it could go on for ever. "We've always bathed with our kids," he said petulantly, implying that he always would. In my experience, daughters would eventually have something to say about that!
She did kick him out in the end, of course. Even though she had worried how they would pay the mortgage if Simon was jailed, when it became clear he was going to continue to be bailed, and when it finally dawned on her that she had a responsibility to her friends' children too, Fiona insisted he move out. Her inability to communicate the real reason for the split was beautifully encapsulated in another wonderfully written scene - the 90-minute script was full of them - with Fiona at her mother-in-law's house discussing the break-up. A sentence or two was as much as Simon's mother could handle. "More tea, dear?"
And with Simon out of the house, and all too quickly in the arms of another (much younger) woman, the rate of travel along the darkening spectrum increased exponentially. The recriminations and the blame. Suddenly it was all Fiona's fault that Simon had "had to" look at the pornography, and with his laptop destroyed (although it was never adequately explained how he found time to do this when the police descended mob-handed on his house at six in the morning and took everything away) and any incriminating evidence with it, he was eventually let off, which allowed him mentally to let himself off too. Simon's denial featured heavily throughout the programme, but seen through Fiona's eyes it was cleverly disguised and downplayed until right at the very end.
This was a rich drama in so many senses. Sumptuous locations, layered meanings, sharp direction and absolutely cracking performances from the entire cast (especially the children who each turned in heart-wrenchingly accurate portrayals of confusion, anger and loss) all added up to one of the most original, thoughtful, thought-provoking dramas of the year. A drama to prove all is not lost for Sunday night television. More like this, please!
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Yes, an excellent script which was well cast and performed. I thought it was about, perhaps, 10 minutes too long.
Agonising to watch the real damage being done by denial, rather than by the events which led up to Simon's arrest whatever they were (and we were not told very much about them which was part of the effectiveness of the writing). The children will, some day, demand an explanation for how their family came apart at the seams. It did provide an opportunity to consider the gradations of obscenity offences and the damage living in such a judgmental society can do. Much of what the parents did was to protect their family from further damage from society -sad. I was surprised no one sought any professional help with what was such a painful situation for all. It also reinforces how damaging it can be to family life to make a spouse or former spouse compellable as a witness against her husband (or vice versa). That marriage might well have been saved if they had both had communicated more openly - thus sparing the children the trauma of the separation. Perhaps Simon had been advised that if he spoke openly to Fiona and the marriage ended in divorce, she would be a compellable witness against him.
Jeremy Northam is fabulous - having just seen him exit The Tudors last week, watching him in this was a real pleasure.
It was good, but there were three flaws I thought:
1) How did he dispose of the incriminating evidence in time? In the end I assumed he'd somehow got hold of information the police would be coming for him and so did what he had to, but it was not clear at all.
2) In the end you were left with a rather sad moral to the tale, in that you could participate in this "victimless crime" and so long as you disposed of the evidence you lost nothing (yes I know the marriage was over but it was already virtually over and he still gets to see the kids and there is nothing she could do to stop it). All in all it wasn't a great ending.
3) The "C" word, was it really necessary? Twice?
Flaws? Would his bail have been conditional, one condition being that he stay away from his family and other children? Why did social services not come back? Why was his wife so placid...most would have raved and ranted and hit him. The kids were the best actors.
I was looking forward to watching Fiona's Story, I thought it would help people like myself who have been in the horrible situation Fiona found herself in. I was very dissapointed with the drama I didn't think the BBBC covered the real effects it has on the wife, the children,friends and family.My children and I have been to hell and back. The impact it has on the children, knowing what their dad has done this terrible crime and viewed children their age is heartbreaking. Seeing your child being singled out at school,trying to protect them from the local headlines and billboards outside the newsagent. Trying to explain the crime their dad who has never commited an offence before was going to spend some time in prison. The visits of the social services,who stopped my husband seeing his children unsupervised immediatly after he had been charged. Telling the children they cannot be alone with their dad anymore, they couldn't understand because he had never abused them, he was their kind loving dad, yet he chose to see other children being hurt and abused.I was off work I couldn't leave the house I felt so ashamed and guilty somehow because I felt I should have known, yet had no reason to suspect for two years.My life now six months after he was given a six months sentence suspended for two years. I still fear people finding out and do my children, although I am seperated from my husband yet we still remain friends. He is on a sex offenders course and I am taking each day as it comes.There is very little help for the internet peodophile wife and their families yet lots of help for the peodophile! I wish the BBC had helped situations like mine and other families that are torn apart and shown the reality of a husband who was sentenced, the humiliation and guilt the wife has and the effect it really can have on the children!
I completely agree with the annonymous lady who posted at 12:25AM. I have known the parents of someone who received a prison sentence for child internet pornography. A man who was married with a very young daughter. Fiona's Story did not show the true horrors that parents, partners and children of internet paedophiles have to go through. I am also receiving therapy for childhood sexual abuse committed by my uncle. I found Fiona's Story weak and it failed to highlight the truth of what families go through. As a victim of sexual abuse I don't think it highlighted the horrific nature of sex abuse well enough. I think the Fiona's story missed an opportunity to really bring home to people the affects of these crimes.
This happened to a relation of mine the wife and family endured the same as the earlier poster did. The police search was described as' being burgarled in front of my eyes'. Everything was searched and bags and bags of videos and family photos were taken to be searched. Little of that trauma was shown on the play. Very tame version of what I know has happened to a few families. The father would have known he was being 'come for' at some stage there was enough publicity in general he could have dumped the pcs months earlier . Fionas family did not have the public shame as it probaby did not make the papers as no charge. The reality of some family has been horrendous
I thought this programme was fundamentally flawed, with the husband character being demonised from start to finish. There was an implicit assumption throughout that he was an evil predatory paedophile and that she (Fiona) was pure of heart and completely innocent of anything (despite the fact she had an affair which was quickly justified then forgotten).
How about the fact that he was not even charged by the police? - no evidence was found; Maybe he never did anything very wrong and was treated like an animal by his cheating wife (and the writer) for nothing more than looking at photos of legally underage but pubescent girls.
Clearly the husband character was irresponsible at best, but his kids obviously adored him, there was no reason to believe he would harm his or anyone else's kids, so why assume he was a monster?
We all know there are shades of grey in all things, its a shame this program painted such complex issues in black and white.
How can John Fawcett (Sept 3rd) justify what the husband did to his family?!! He lied to and deceived his wife for four or even five years. Why she put up with an empty relationship is another issue...
By his own admission he viewed vile images...Just because he got rid of the evidence doesn't mean these 'vile images' never existed. He was a domineering, angry, selfish individual, who got away with one of the most disgusting crimes - once removed ie he didn't sexually abuse the children himself but took part in it vicariously. Men like him perpetuate this foul network.
The real crime was that Fiona was so impossibly meek - probably after years of living with a such a 'nice' man.
I agree with previous comments about how this drama didn't deal with the realities of actually being prosecuted. But this, i thought, was another very real issue.. here the wife was left with a knowledge, that her ex partner had gained sexual satisfaction from masturbating over images of children being abused... However as he wasn't prosecuted there was absolutely no help for her, or way of her knowing wether he was a threat to her children. This is a complete grey area and noone really knows what the answer is as yet, if there is one. But having been in this situation myself, my ex partner admitting to downloadng childporn for a number of years, of images of young kids etc, but never being prosecuted,I know that once those fears are there in your mind and the awful reality of it hits you there is no escaping it. What mother could then carry on as if it were fine?? As if the children abused for her partners pleasure were not real kids like her own??? But there is NO support or help available. In fact society seems to view this as acceptable. In one area your children will be stopped from seeing their father by social services (as in previous comment) in my case the courts have ordered the children go every other weekend unsupervised...... To the lady who posted above, I TOTALLY agree that there is only support for the sex offender and NONE for the wives and families. And it is not an easy subject to make a fuss about for obvious reasons. I have been to my MP and written to social services making this point in the hope that noone else will have to go through the hell that I have, but I know that there are people out there right now going through it. You have my full support and sympathy is all I can say
i thought the cast were brilliant and really took on the role of their characters 100%. however i thought the messages of the programme were a bit wrong. it felt as if most of the time through out the programme we were being told having pornographic images of young children and teenages was perfectly fine. i feel the ending did not portray what should happen in real life. and if that was my husband who had these pictures, i would have thrown him out straight away and not allowed him to see my kids. i thought that was appaulling.