A Song for Jenny. T.V.Drama. Based on the memoirs of Julie Nicholson.

       A Song for Jenny. T.V. Drama. Based on the memoirs of Julie Nicholson.

"I am no bird and no net ensnares me. I am a free human being with an independent will."

Jane Eyre was Jenny Nicholson's heroine so it was fitting that quotations from Charlotte Bronte's classic novel and Shakespeare should be printed on the funeral pall of this beautiful 24 year old whose life was tragically destroyed in 2005.

The drama was based on Julie Nicholson's memoirs bearing the same title, written in 2010 as a tribute to all of the 52 victims as well as her eldest daughter Jenny who was killed in the Edgware Road suicide bombing incident ten years ago on the 7th July 2005, a day permanently etched in the dark recesses of the Nicholson's memories. Adapted by Frank McGuiness, it's a deeply emotional journey in an attempt to come to terms with the tragic loss of such a young life for a family that would be permanently traumatised by it. "Our family is a different shape now, but in some ways I hope we're stronger." Sadly the Nicholsons divorced; the pain made Julie grow apart from husband Greg. Julie, who was ordained a vicar of St Aidan and St George's church in Bristol felt compelled into resigning from her post when she simply lost her faith, unable to reconcile her grief and anger.

Some light relief from the daunting revelations of doom and gloom are shown in two of the flashbacks not the third. The first two show the close bond between Jenny, her first-born ,a gifted musician and her zest for life and her mother Julie. In the initial flashback, the three siblings are squabbling over who gets to sit in the middle of the sofa for a family photo. It is lighthearted, with Lizzie and Jenny fighting for dominance. When the photo is taken Jenny emerges the victor and the squabble is over as soon as it begins. We then see three happy siblings, a bittersweet memory for the family after the 7th July 2005.

The scene in which Julie is on the point of being ordained focuses on Julia and Jenny. Julie is wearing her cassock, a little fearful of the commitment she is about to make to the church. Jenny enters the vestry to see how she is, to wish her luck and to tell her how proud she feels. Julie feels the heat and discloses to her daughter in an impish way that she is wearing some sexy red lingerie underneath, nothing else. Jenny is delighted at this and shares this happy moment which will soon be destroyed forever.

Death is established at the start with Julie conducting a funeral service for one of her parishioners where the service is halted momentarily by the son of the deceased having to answer his phone to say that his father is being buried there and then. The son's expressions become the butt of a joke with the Nicholson family when they are having dinner together after the funeral. Giggling, mockery and facetious chatter soon changes when Julie adds a sombre note: "Sometimes this job will break your heart." We don't need to be reminded that this would happen very soon.

Julie goes on holiday with her parents, aunt and uncle to Anglesey, Wales whilst her two younger children and husband remain at home in Bristol. Jenny lived with her boyfriend James.

Seeing the beautiful scenery of Wales with the early morning mist and cloud with her Uncle Jimmie singing in her ears: "It's gonna be a lovely day," creates an illusory scene in our minds. After breakfast this illusion is soon shattered when Lizzie phones Julie, extremely upset to ask if she has heard about the explosions in London. She tells her mother to switch on the t.v. so that she can see for herself. This tragic event dominated the news. Described as a major incident which closed down the London network, it was thought to be a power surge and seemed likely that two trains had collided.

You can see the tension in the faces of the family because Jenny worked in London near the area where the bombs had exploded. Julie's father is the first to verbalise his thoughts-it was a bomb not a power surge. A statement from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair referred to the bombings as an "indiscriminate attempt to slaughter irrespective of any considerations for age, for caste, for religion or whatever." The actual footage is shown.

When Julie can't make any contact with her daughter she decides to go to London to find her. Her vow to protect Jenny, to love her and keep her from harm are forefront in her mind as she sets off on her quest. When all of the injured have been identified she has to come to terms with the worst possible scenario that her daughter has been murdered. She gives a DNA sample and the forensics are able to identify Jenny from her dental records.

Against the advice of the professionals, Julie visits what remains of her daughter in the mortuary, a deeply disturbing scene to shoot or watch. The only recognisable feature of Jenny is the arm and the hand which Julie anoints with oil, a posthumous last rites to see her into the next world. The bomb destroyed Jenny and for the mother, Julie, this must have been heart-breaking. Watching Emma Watson break down and the liaison officer in the background sobbing her heart out it was impossible not to be touched by this scene.

One lighter moment amidst this bleakness was the generous spirit of the taxi driver who misconstrued Julie's purpose in visiting London. He assumed she'd had a good shopping spree. When he realised the truth, he drove Julie through London to Reading and would not taken any money from her:

"You must think the world's a pretty bleak place now. I just wanted you to know there's still some good people in it."

The third flashback shows Jenny on the morning of the suicide bombing. Ironically, a fault on the Piccadilly line, her normal route, forced her to divert and a poignant scene is shown in the carriage where she is reading C.S.Lewis and we catch a glimpse of the suicide bomber's haversack, containing the bomb minutes before it detonated.

Jenny's siblings and cousins were her pall-bearers in a formidable service  with black and gold. Julie did try to understand why Mohammad Sidique Khan (from Dewsbury) had committed this atrocity but when it's your own kin as close as Jenny was to Julie then is it possible? "Faith is not like a shopping bag to pick up and put down." This indescribable grief is like a wound that you carry around inside of you and it doesn't heal. "Symbolically, your first-born defines your position in the universe."

Superb acting. Moving and disturbing. At the Bafta screening, Emily Watson wept. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be moved by this powerful drama, I certainly was. A fitting tribute to all those victims.

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

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