Best Interests true story: is BBC One drama inspired by real events - is it based on Archie Battersbee case?

BBC drama Best Interests, starring Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen, follows a couple who are parents to a teenage girl and a younger daughter, Marnie, who has a life threatening condition.

The pair are faced with a traumatic decision regarding their daughter's treatment, as doctors believe it would be in the girl’s best interests to be allowed to die. 

Marnie’s parents disagree with the doctors and begin a major legal challenge in the hope of keeping Marnie alive for as long as possible.

As their struggle continues, it puts a strain on their relationship, and also forces their eldest daughter, who feels deprived of their care, into the background. The four part series is heavily influenced by several similar cases.

Is Best Interests based on a true story?

The series is not based on any specific true story, but it is heavily inspired by several similar cases of parents who conflicted over doctors regarding what treatment would be in the ‘best interests’ of their child.

In the second episode, three cases of severely ill children are mentioned - they are Ashya King, Tafida Raqeeb, and Charlotte Wyatt.

Ashya was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was six years old and his parents wanted him to be treated with proton therapy instead of radiotherapy, which they believed would be less harmful. When doctors disagreed with the parents they took their son to Spain in 2014 and were arrested. After a public outcry the parents were released and a UK court ruled that Ashya could have proton therapy in Prague, which was successful. Ashya was found to be free of cancer in 2018.

Tafida Raqeeb was five years old when she suffered catastrophic brain damage in 2019. NHS doctors planned to turn off her life support but her parents took the trust to court and won, forcing the hospital to continue treatment. They then took Taifda for treatment at a hospital in Italy. As of 2022, Taifda was still being treated in Italy but her mother hoped that she would be able to return to the UK soon. Tafida’s brain damage cannot be cured, but in the years since her treatment started she has showed signs of progress and is able to breathe on her own.

The case of Charlotte Wyatt is remarkable - she was born three months prematurely in 2003, had to be resuscitated several times and was given five per cent chance of survival. Charlotte’s parents won a legal battle to prevent doctors from withholding aggressive treatment to prolong Charlotte’s life. She spent the first three years of her life in hospital and was later placed in foster care as her parents, who had by then split up, said they could not cope with her needs. An injunction which expires this year, prevents reporting of Charlotte’s current health and wellbeing. 

Another recent high-profile case which inspired the drama was that of 12 year old Archie Battersbee who died last year. The child suffered severe brain damage and doctors believed it to be in his best interests to remove life support and allow him to die. Archie’s parents took the case to the High Court and lost their case - Archie died in August 2022.