Catching Up (part 2) - Call the Benefits Specialist!

Another snippet of news from some old friends enjoying a quiet Sunday evening. 
Not that Hilary would appreciate being called 'old', of course!

    'Oh bother!'

    'What's wrong, my love?'  Tom Appleby looked up from his book, anxious to know the cause of his wife's displeasure.

    She was reading the listings guide from the Observer.   'I forgot Call the Midwife finished last week,' she said sadly.  'It's the wretched Antiques Roadshow instead.'

    'I thought you liked that too?'

    'Not really.  I tried to watch the last couple of seasons because I thought it would help me understand Jessica's line of work a little better, before I realised she likes to chat to me about completely different things when we go out and not to talk shop at all.'

    'You enjoyed watching when greedy people clutching their trinkets and baubles were being told they were next-to worthless!'

    'I'm afraid that did rather bring out the mean-spirited side of my nature.'

    'That's not being mean-spirited, my love,' Tom assured her.  'That's your strong sense of social justice coming through!' 

    Tom, who was squeamish about medical matters and had assigned Sunday nights to bread-making, knew well what appealed to Hilary about her post-war drama - the combination of strong female characters, progressive storylines which challenged discrimination and disadvantage, and the steady march of social progress. 

    'They ought to make a modern-day version,' Hilary said.  'They would have to call it Fund the Midwife!'

    Tom gave a wry smile.  'It seems to me that, while the BBC is happy enough confronting poverty in the past, it's not so eager to shine a light on the real causes today.  They're leaving that to poor old Ken Loach.  Talking of which, did I tell you that Paula Walker's hired the Community Café for a free screening of I, Daniel Blake next Tuesday?  Father Cornelius has asked me if I wouldn't mind making up a big pot of curry and some snacks for the audience.'

    'Would you like me to help, Tom darling?'

    'If you don't mind watching it again.'

    'I don't mind at all,  It's a super film, though very sad.  Poor Daniel reminds me of Daphne's dad.'

    'You won't get upset again?'  Tom remembered frantically searching his pockets for a handkerchief when he and Hilary had been to see it in the cinema.

    'Only when that silly adviser says they're definitely going to win.  We would never...!'

    'I know, my love.'  None of the Solent Welfare Rights Project's workers took tribunal outcomes for granted, either for good or ill.  'Mind you, you've been on a winning streak with your PIP cases.'

    'That's because the quality of assessments and decision-making is so lamentably poor.  Mr Ellis didn't even call us into the hearing room for one last week - the panel simply approved what we had submitted was the correct award.  I was so relieved, after talking Mrs Forsyth into attending in person.  She was terrified of "going to court" but, in the event, she didn't have to say a word.'

    'I've half a mind to pitch an idea to the BBC,' Tom said thoughtfully.  'Rather than another medical drama to replace your nuns and nurses, since we've already got Casualty and Holby, they should commission a series set in a benefits advice centre.  They'd have all the right ingredients.' 

    'In what sense?' Hilary queried.  'We might have an eccentric old priest around the place these days, but there aren't any nuns!'

    'But there is a diverse cast of central characters, each with their own stories to explore throughout the series.  There's also a new central storyline for every week, following the trials and tribulations of a particular client - which could be your Mrs Forsyth appealing her PIP, or young Mike Delbridge being done for shop-lifting while he waited for his Universal Credit to come through, or Tracy Craven trying to balance the books on the lower Benefit Cap - and there's even a bigger picture narrative around so-called Welfare Reform, rather like the development of the NHS in Call the Midwife.'

    'Except for us, the story isn't how something wonderful was built.  It seems to be more about the dismantling of the Social Security system.  I'm afraid it would be more like a mini-series version of I, Daniel Blake, only without the dry humour and Geordie accents.  It might be really rather depressing.'

    'Isn't resistance to tyranny always worthy of a saga?'

    Hilary tilted her head proudly.  'I suppose it is,' she answered.  'It's the final part of that alternative history SS-GB drama tonight.  Perhaps you should pitch you script for that slot instead?'

    'Fair point, my love.  Young Martin's vocabulary isn't exactly family entertainment!'   Tom caught Hilary's eye and smiled.  'Mind you, if you fancy an early night, we might be distinctly post-watershed ourselves...?' 

    'Scoundrel!' she replied.