A Short Stay in Switzerland

*A Short Stay in Switzerland*
A Short Stay in Switzerland
Directed by	Simon Curtis
Music by	John Harle
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Running time	90 minutes
Original release
Release	25 January 2009

A Short Stay in Switzerland is a 2009 British television film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Frank McGuinness. It stars Julie Walters, who won the International Emmy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Dr Anne Turner.^[1]^[2] It was produced by the BBC and was later released on DVD in regions 1 and 2.^[3]^[4]

It was also nominated for other numerous awards including the BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama and Best Actress.^[5]

Plot

Having recently witnessed the death of her husband from a neurological disease, Dr Anne Turner is diagnosed with a near-identical illness and determines to end her life once her condition has reached a critical point. As her health deteriorates, Anne's son, Edward, and two daughters, Sophie and Jessica, struggle to reach a consensus over their mother's intentions to end her life in an assisted dying facility (Dignitas) in Switzerland (where this is legal) and while they search for alternative options, silent recriminations and stubborn practicality threaten to tear the family apart. With her family at loggerheads, Anne must also face the fury of her best friend, whose opposing views bring them into direct conflict.^[6]

Cast

Julie Walters as Dr Anne Turner
Stephen Campbell Moore as Edward
Lyndsey Marshal as Jessica
Liz White as Sophie
Michelle Fairley as Mrs Savery
Will Knightley as Dr Jack Turner
Patrick Malahide as Richard
Harriet Walter as Clare
Bruce Alexander as Doctor^[7]

Background

The film was inspired by the true story of Dr Anne Turner (25 January 1939 - 24 January 2006), who took her own life in a Zurich clinic, having developed the incurable neurodegenerative disease progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Before being diagnosed with PSP, Dr Turner had nursed her husband until he died from a similar disease, multiple system atrophy (MSA).^[8] Her brother also was victim of a progressive condition, motor neurone disease.^[9]