Be Excellent To Each Other

Terry Pratchett starts process to take his own life

Sir Terry Pratchett, the fantasy writer who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008, said yesterday he had started the formal process that could lead to his own assisted suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

Pratchett, whose BBC2 film about the subject of assisted suicide is to be shown on BBC2 tomorrow, revealed he had been sent the consent forms requesting a suicide by the clinic and planned to sign them imminently.

"The only thing stopping me [signing them] is that I have made this film and I have a bloody book to finish," he said during a question-and-answer session following a screening at the Sheffield documentary festival Doc/Fest.

He said that he decided to start the process after making the film Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, which shows the moment of death of a motor neurone sufferer, millionaire hotel owner Peter Smedley.

Pratchett, the creator of the Discworld novels who was 60 when he was diagnosed, said his decision to start the formal process did not necessarily mean he was going to take his own life.

According to Dignitas, 70% of people who sign the forms do not go through with taking their own lives.

Terry Pratchett, the fantasy writer who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008, said that he had started the formal process that could lead to his assisted suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

Pratchett, whose film about the subject of assisted suicide is to be shown on BBC2 tomorrow, revealed that he had been sent the consent forms requesting a suicide by the clinic and planned to sign them imminently. "The only thing stopping me [signing them] is that I have made this film and I have a bloody book to finish," he said during a question and answer session following the screening at the Sheffield documentary festival Doc/Fest.

The author said he decided to start the process after making the film Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, which shows the moment of death of a motor neurone sufferer, millionaire hotel owner Peter Smedley, in the presence of his wife.

The BBC's decision to air the programme has led to growing criticism among anti-euthanasia campaigners who have branded the film "assisted suicide propaganda" and warned broadcasters that they risks giving voice to pro-euthanasia views for the sake of "eye-catching TV". Alistair Thompson, a spokesman for the pressure group Care Not Killing Alliance, said the film was the fifth programme produced by the BBC in three years to be presented by a pro-euthanasia sympathiser.

Other examples include a Panorama documentary fronted by pro-euthanasia MSP Margo Macdonald and last year's Richard Dimbleby Lecture, in which Pratchett called for the introduction of euthanasia tribunals. Thompson said: "This is pro-assisted suicide propaganda loosely dressed up as a documentary. Where is the other side of the argument, where are the incredible things disabled people do?

"The evidence is that the more you portray this, the more suicides you will have. The BBC is funded in a different way to other media and has a responsibility to give a balanced programme."

Pratchett, the creator of the Discworld novels, who was 60 when he was diagnosed three years ago, said his decision to start the formal process did not necessarily mean that he was going to take his own life. He claimed he remained unsure about whether to carry through with his own death, saying that he changes his mind "every two minutes". He added that his wife, who chose not to appear in the film, did not want him to take his own life but that if he did choose to die he would prefer to do so in England and in the sunshine.

Pratchett also revealed that he would not "go to the barricades" for people who wanted to die because they had grown weary of living. It is estimated that 21% of people who die at Dignitas do not have a terminal illness.

Don't let the fog of other people's outrage blind you to the profound questions about self-determination, quality of life and personal choice asked by author Terry Pratchett in what has become a hugely controversial documentary. In one of its periodic paroxysms of moral fury, what used to be known as "Fleet Street" has saddled up the highest horse to protest at the broadcasting of an assisted suicide. But surely television has a contribution to make to the debate about one of life's great questions: should we be allowed to choose the time and manner of our own deaths? In Choosing to Die we witness the final moments of Peter, who suffers from motor neurone disease and travels to Switzerland to end his life. Sir Terry, who has Alzheimer's, explores his own feelings. He wants to die at a time of his choosing, but when the time comes, he wonders, will this be possible?

"Are you sure that you want to die today?" asks the kindly Dignitas escort. Yes, Peter Smedley is sure. He wants to die today. Peter is debilitated by motor neurone disease, a cruel, progressive and incurable illness, and before he becomes completely incapacitated, he has arrived from England at the unprepossessing Dignitas house on the outskirts of Zurich where he will be helped to commit suicide.

We watch Peter die in the final few minutes of Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, on BBC2 on Monday 13 June. In the most profound, poignant few minutes of television that I think I have ever seen Peter, such a sweet, lovely man, says goodbye to his wife, Christine, before turning to Terry Pratchett and the camera crew saying, with perfect politeness: "Thank you all, you've been first class."

There is no lethal injection. Those wishing to die must administer the fatal dose themselves. So, after taking a draught that will prevent his stomach from rejecting the subsequent poison, he settles on a sofa and, in one go, swallows the small amount of clear liquid that will end his life.

These are distressing scenes on the most fundamental of all levels and you will have to question yourself closely about whether you wish to watch the passing of another human being in what, surely, should be the most private moments of all?

But Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die is not intrusive or ghoulish, and Pratchett, who suffers from Alzheimer's and who believes that he wants to die at a time and in a manner of his own choosing, brings grace, humour and immense kindness and sensitivity to this last great taboo.

Peter dies gently on that unremarkable sofa as he is hugged tightly by the Dignitas escort. Pratchett, deeply moved, leaves the room and goes out into the snowy garden for some fresh air. Around him on a grim industrial estate (Swiss law forbids Dignitas from working in a residential area) life continues.

Peter's death is a brief part of a haunting, sad programme. We also meet cheerful Andrew, who has multiple sclerosis and who has made two suicide attempts. He, too, travels to Switzerland to end his life. Pratchett says goodbye on the eve of Andrew's death.

The next day Pratchett plays Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations at full volume and toasts the life of this remarkable young man. It is one of many intensely personal moments, and one that I felt privileged to share.

The BBC's decision to air the programme has led to growing criticism among anti-euthanasia campaigners who have branded the film "assisted suicide propaganda" and warned broadcasters that they risks giving voice to pro-euthanasia views for the sake of "eye-catching TV". Alistair Thompson, a spokesman for the pressure group Care Not Killing Alliance, said the film was the fifth programme produced by the BBC in three years to be presented by a pro-euthanasia sympathiser.

Other examples include a Panorama documentary fronted by pro-euthanasia MSP Margo Macdonald and last year's Richard Dimbleby Lecture, in which Pratchett called for the introduction of euthanasia tribunals. Thompson said: "This is pro-assisted suicide propaganda loosely dressed up as a documentary. Where is the other side of the argument, where are the incredible things disabled people do?

"The evidence is that the more you portray this, the more suicides you will have. The BBC is funded in a different way to other media and has a responsibility to give a balanced programme."

Balls. I forgot.

"The evidence is that the more you portray this, the more suicides you will have."