Deathday: Why former head of BBC Yorkshire has written his debut novel about euthanasia

This is author Colin Philpott’s speculative fictional world – and he hopes it will stimulate discussion about what should happen to individuals in their later life. “I’m not advocating compulsory euthanasia for people of any age,” stresses Colin, who wrote his debut novel Deathday from his home near Ripon. “But I hope it makes people think about how as a society we manage later life.

"In the novel, the reason that the law has come in is that there’s been a collapse of the social care system, increasing conflict between the generations about fairness between younger and older people and a series of economic shocks. There’s also an increasing older population, many of whom suffer from dementia conditions and in the book, we haven’t yet found a cure.”

It’s a political story, Colin explains, but focused on individual families and the circumstances in which they find themselves after a period of societal discussion about balancing the quality of life with its length. Colin was moved to write the tale following the personal experiences of close family members, and through meeting many older people as a volunteer with Harrogate Food Angels, a befriending and hot meals service.

“One of my close relatives had a pretty healthy life and then literally dropped dead at the age of 90 in an armchair,” he says. “Another one had a rather sad, lingering and painful last few years. And there’s nothing unique about my experiences - many people could say similar [of their relatives].

“What has also really fascinated me, through meeting people through the volunteering - people in their 80s and 90s, are the different attitudes to the latter years of life. You meet somebody for example who when you look from the outside you think it’s a pretty desperate situation they’re in - they’ve got multiple health problems, they’re perhaps not living somewhere particularly nice and they’re very lonely. Yet they’re still incredibly cheerful and have a zest for life...Then you meet somebody else who at face value has a nice place to live, doesn’t appear to have any health problems and yet they’re really miserable.”

In the four years from the book’s conception to publication, Colin also became fascinated by the ideals of a ‘good death’ - living to a decent age, without illness and pain, for example. “There is something about the idea of how we try to get closer to that,” he says. “I think the whole subject of death is less taboo than it used to be...And in choosing to read this book, it might make people start thinking about all of this more.”

The novel, which features Yorkshire’s Brimham Rocks and the Royal Hall in Harrogate, is the first fictional work by Colin. The London-born author has previously written three books about twentieth century history, including the stories of hidden places in Britain that helped with the Second World War effort and the changing face of places touched by different news events.

His latest writings follow a 25-year career with the BBC as a journalist, programme-maker and senior executive, and, later, eight years as the director of the National Science and Media Museum. It all began at university with his involvement in student journalism and radio whilst reading law at Cambridge. After freelancing for newspapers, he secured a spot on a BBC graduate training programme and the next two decades saw him move from working on screen and air to becoming head of BBC Yorkshire.

After that, he worked to establish what is thought to be the world’s first museum gallery about the history of the internet in Bradford and since leaving post at the National Science and Media Museum, he has focused on his books, whilst interviewing at a number of literature festivals. Colin also co-wrote and produced a short play, The Last Match, about the story of the final first-class cricket match in England in September 1939 as war was about to break out. It was performed around the country in 2015, including at Headingley cricket ground.

Writing Deathday then, was a departure from years of work with truth and actuality at the core. “The book is speculative fiction...and maybe I had a slightly naive idea that it might be easier,” he reflects.

"When you're involved in journalism or non-fiction writing, the most important thing is getting the facts right. But what you have to do when writing fiction is get your own facts right - in the sense that you’re building a world in which the plot and characters develop and you have to be consistent within that.”

Colin researched the controversial subject matter of his book, speaking to academics who have studied end of life as well as examining arguments for and against legalising voluntary euthanasia and assisted dying. “But I’m not an expert on the politics or legalities of euthanasia or assisted dying,” he says. “At the end of the day, this is a story, a work of fiction.”

“I am not advocating compulsory euthanasia,” he stresses again, “but I do believe that society needs to create a higher quality of life in old age and radically rethink our approach to end of life care.”

Deathday by Colin Philpott, was published in April, by Fisher King Publishing based in Thirsk.