Is Offspring the best show on TV right now?

I’m no TV critic. Well, I have a TV and an opinion so perhaps I am. Just like everyone else who has both of those things. Seriously, I have been a fan of Offspring from the first episode but tonight’s show was something special. In the main storyline, main character Nina, an obstetrician, tries to save the baby of a woman who had been involved in a car accident with her partner.

You can watch the episode on Ten’s website here.

The head writer and creator of Offspring is Australian playwright and author Debra Oswald (you can listen to a terrific interview she did with my favourite radio interviewer Richard Fidler on Conversations here) must be congratulated along with the other writers and actors. And Channel 10 for comissioning the show’s first, second and now third series.

I can’t recall an issue as common – yet hidden – as pregnancy loss and the loss of a baby, being covered on prime time TV. Not in a popular TV show. Not in a movie. Very rarely do you see it covered in popular culture at all. And yet it is soooo common.

It has happened to me and almost every woman I know. So why is it so rare to see it portrayed on TV? Most pregnancies end happily but not all. And for those of us who have experienced the intense, earth-shaking grief that comes with losing a baby, it’s somehow validating….is that the right word? Not quite. It’s….just……important, so important to have that experience portrayed as part of the landscape of life.

It’s vital in reassuring us that we’re normal. We’re not alone. Our experiences are real and heartbreaking and connect us with every other woman – and man – who has been devastated by the loss of a baby.

Are there TV shows – past or current – that move you?

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