Perfect Parents (2006)
December 28, 2006Release Date
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Perfect Parents is a fictional 2006 British TV film written and directed by Joe Ahearne and produced by ITV Productions. It portrays the dramatic story of a young girl named Lucy (Madeleine Garrood) that was brought up by her atheist parents, Stuart (Christopher Eccleston) and Alison (Susannah Harker) and their ensuing navigation of the ethical dilemmas that arose in their extreme efforts to secure her acceptance into a prestigious Catholic educational institution.
The satirical film directed by Joe Ahearne outlines the prevalence of an increasing prioritisation of our children's education and protectionist parenting strategies in modern society. It emphasises the extreme lengths that parents will resort to in order to enable their child to be educated at prestigious schools such as St Mary of the Veil and to ensure a safe learning environment for them. The dichotomy of absolute and relative morality is examined in the film through a series of dubious parenting decisions surrounding the educational development of their child with no clear ethical pejoratives provided for the audience's discernment.
The British film experienced great success in the Italian market and was awarded the most prestigious award at the Roma Fiction Fest in Italy. It was a significant achievement for the duo of Joe Ahearne and Christopher Eccleston, wherein they previously collaborated together on BBC's Doctor Who as director and actor of the show. Additionally, Christopher Eccleston, who played the role of Stuart in the film, claimed the best actor prize respectively. Susannah Harker was also a featured member of BBC’s Doctor Who TV show, but it is unclear whether they had worked directly on that set prior to this British Film.