Liz Carr wishes she didn’t need to make Better Off Dead? documentary
The documentary has been in the works for years.
This article includes discussion of assisted suicide that some readers may find upsetting.
Liz Carr is set to front a brand new documentary, Better Off Dead?, in which she explores the debate of assisted suicide, something she believes shouldn't be legalised in the UK.
In the documentary, Carr travels to Canada, a country with "some of the most permissive assisted suicide laws in the world", as well as meeting with those who are campaigning for a change in the law.
While this documentary will shine a light on a hotly-debated topic and has been in the works for quite some time, it is something that Carr wishes she didn't have to make.
"I'm not even sure it's a passion project," the actress told RadioTimes.com and other press. "It's always felt more urgent. That suggests pleasure. Like, I wish I hadn't had to make the film. But as we do, and as I think we've needed this voice out there.
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"I think in 2011, after the Terry Pratchett documentary... this has been there since then."
She continued: "And then I made a radio documentary, on the [BBC] World Service back in 2012, and then I did the assisted dying musical. So yeah, I sort of had been trying to put this view out there on behalf of a lot of us."
Carr admitted that it "feels really scary" to be putting the documentary out to the world, but stands firm that she believes "everything" she says and is "passionate about it".
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As well as the documentary being in the works for a long time, so has the name of it: Better Off Dead?. Carr has asked viewers to remember the question mark at the end, as it is purposefully meant to evoke thoughts within people.
As per the log line: "In a society where disabled people are often told they're 'better off dead' than disabled, Liz asks: 'Should we really be giving more power to end that group of people's lives?'"
"It was obviously a provocation to consider," Carr explained. "Better off dead... I want you to open the show and go, 'If we see one group of people, so negatively, it's not safe to legalise assisted suicide, because people already think that we almost deserve it, as a good thing, as a compassionate thing.'"
Through this documentary, Carr hopes to show audiences why she is "unconvinced that any type of 'assisted dying' is the answer" to having a "good death".
Better Off Dead? will air on Tuesday 14th May at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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