Relentless and shouty: BBC2’s Then Barbara met Alan reviewed

BBC2’s one-off drama Then Barbara Met Alan (Monday) told the true story of how two disabled performers on the cabaret circuit of the 1990s fell in love and campaigned together successfully for disability rights. Most of the cast and a lot of the crew were people with disabilities themselves, and the programme provided a startling reminder of how recently Britain was still a country that made little provision for the disabled – and, even more startlingly, of how controversial the idea of such provision then seemed. The central performances were rivetingly good, and the overall sense was of a heartfelt tribute being paid to a couple who did much to improve the lives of many thousands of people. In other words, this was the sort of show that it feels very awkward to question, let alone criticise – but (nervous gulp!) here goes anyway.

The most obvious flaw was that it never solved the traditional problems that come with writing agitprop: among them, relentlessness, lack of nuance and how to make the audience not feel they’re constantly being shouted at.

In the opening scene, wheelchair-user Barbara Lisicki (Ruth Madeley) was in a bus shelter where she painted the words ‘Piss on Pity’ in large letters. Which, as it turned out, was an appropriate start – because painting the words ‘Piss on Pity’ in large letters was pretty much what the script did for the next 70 minutes.

In particular need of pissing on at the time, according to Barbara and her new boyfriend Alan Holdsworth (Arthur Hughes), was the ITV telethon for the disabled, as presented by the man put forward on Monday as a rather unlikely arch-villain: Michael Aspel. To some, the telethon may have seemed a well-meaning attempt to raise money.