Hear the Silence

A forthcoming drama about the MMR controversy has angered many doctors. A general practitioner and two child health experts, who have all seen a preview, explain why

Channel 5, 15 December at 9 pm

Hear the Silence is Channel 5's dramatisation of the case that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism. Gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 paper (Lancet 1998;351: 637) first led to claims of a link between MMR and autism, is played by actor Hugh Bonneville. We see him introduce himself as the caring, listening doctor to Nicky (Jamie Martin), a little boy with autism, and his mother, Christine (Juliet Stevenson). “Hello, I'm Andy,” he says. At his positive response to Christine's conviction that MMR caused her son's bowel problems and his autism, she bursts …