A Lump in My Throat

John Diamond was a journalist, broadcaster and a passionate smoker who chronicled his experience of cancer in his newspaper columns.

This one off television drama is based on Victoria Coren's stage monologue about his experience of cancer.

Neil Pearson vocalises the thoughts and experiences of John Diamond who sadly lost the use of his voice as part of his tongue was caught out during treatment.

Diamond does appear in a scene in this film which was broadcast after his death.

Diamond always appeared to be an amiable and a nice type of fellow in his TV appearances. He was married to the TV cook and writer Nigella Lawson who is not represented in the drama.

The drama is not maudlin and Pearson is very good in conveying Diamond's experiences such as when he has a tiff with Nigella and has to sleep in the spare room. This means moving the medication and oxygen tank etc to the spare room as well.

It is the stand-out moment in this drama which I can still picture years after broadcast.

Of course things get bleaker as the drama progresses. A good tribute to John Diamond and a good performance by Neil Pearson.

One of the problems of portraying someone who is crippled through illness and slowly but inevitably dying from it is that a direct portrayal triggers a sentimental reaction: 'poor chap'. A second, related problem is that it builds a distance to the viewer, since the character is suffering and we (most of us) are not.

But this film ingeniously avoids both problems. How? John Diamond is not _shown_ to the viewer as terminally ill. Despite suffering from throat cancer, we hear his voice clearly, we see him (well, Neil Pearson) move around fit as a fiddle. The viewer simply observes the world around John through John's mind and John's mind is as sharp as ever. As a result, the viewers do not pity John, he is too clever and arrogant to invite pity.

It's the little things that makes one realise John's situation and which are so touching. He's witty but this wit is just as crippled as his voice when he has to repeat a joke several times, because his companions fail to understand him acoustically. His marriage rows with Nigella are suddenly hampered by logistic problems - moving out of the bedroom requires the accompanying transport of life-saving equipment.

Have watched this original piece of television by Victoria Coren and was so moved. I have read John Diamond over the years and followed his sad (but always inspiring) story and was dubious about this dramatisation. My misgivings were unfounded. I was particularly impressed by Neil Pearson's remarkable performance. The humanity of the man really showed through and that plus his complete natural, truthful performance elevated the whole piece. In your credit listings you omit who did the original music. Did I catch the name Barrie Bignold? and why do I seem to know this name?