Why Did You Kill My Dad?

BBC 2 Documentary (extract)

DOCUMENTARY

Early one Sunday morning in 2007, 75 year old Philip Hendy was fatally stabbed by a psychotic man with a long history of mental health problems.

Normally such cases just get a few lines in the local press. But Philip Hendy’s son, Julian, is an award winning filmmaker who has been making acclaimed documentaries for more than 20 years.

This highly personal film documents Julian’s journey to find out what happened to his Dad and his attempt to uncover the true scale and cost of killings by the mentally ill in Britain today.

By talking to other similarly affected families it puts a human face to the statistics and reveals serious problems and repeated failures at the heart of Britain’s mental health system.

Echo Films production for BBC2

“An exceptionally powerful piece of television” Brian Viner, Independent

“A fine piece of campaigning television that will leave you profoundly sad and boiling with fury.” Alison Graham, Radio Times

“This powerful and dignified film” David Chater, Times

“Intensely moving and shocking documentary” Karen Shelton, Daily Mail

“Gut wrenching documentary – emotionally eloquent” Gerard O’Donovan, Daily Telegraph

“Extraordinary documentary, a truly powerful true-life drama.” Daily Record [Scotland]

“Unbearably poignant documentary” Jane Shilling, Evening Standard,

“A polemical film [that] raises disturbing questions that aren’t easily answered” Andrea Mullaney, Scotsman

“Quietly damning documentary” Jane Simon, Daily Mirror

“Moving as much to anger as tears” Andrew Billen, Times

“This brave film reveals the reality of under-treated mental illnesses” Marjorie Wallace, SANE, Independent

Royal Television Society – Yorkshire – Factual Programme of the year 2010

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