Wide-Eyed and Legless

{{For|the 1975 song by Andy Fairweather Low|Wide Eyed and Legless}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Wide-Eyed and Legless

| image = Wide-Eyed and Legless.jpg

| director = Richard Loncraine

| writer = Jack Rosenthal
Deric Longden

| starring = Julie Walters
Jim Broadbent
Thora Hird
Sian Thomas
Andrew Lancel

| music = Colin Towns

| studio = BBC Films
Island World Productions

| distributor = The Sales Company

| released = {{Film date|1993|09|05|df=yes}}

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

}}

Wide-Eyed and Legless (known in the US as The Wedding Gift) is a 1993 made-for-TV British drama film, directed by Richard Loncraine starring Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Sian Thomas and Thora Hird.

It is based on the 1989 book Diana's Story by the writer Deric Longden, who co-wrote the script with Jack Rosenthal.{{cite news|title=Deric Longden: Deric Longden, who has died aged 76, wrote books that brought a gentle and life-enhancing humour to the problems of living with disability.|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/10160973/Deric-Longden.html|access-date=3 September 2014|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=4 July 2013}} The film tells the story of the final years of Deric's (played by Broadbent) marriage to his wife, Diana (Walters), who contracted a degenerative illness which left her wheelchair-bound and in almost constant pain and which medical officials were unable to understand at the time, though now believed to be a form of chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis. As Diana's health deteriorated, she encourages him to spend time with another woman whom Longden has met (the partially-sighted and legally blind novelist Aileen Armitage (Thomas)), to help ease his pain over her eventual death.{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/wedding-gift|title=The Wedding Gift|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=8 January 2022}}

Title and home media

Wide-Eyed and Legless was the original title of the TV adaptation shown on BBC One whilst for the American release the film's title was changed to The Wedding Gift. The film was released on Region 1 DVD.

Cast

Sequel

An award-winning sequel, Lost for Words, focusing on Longden's elderly mother Annie (Thora Hird) and her decline into dementia, after his second marriage (to writer Armitage) followed in 1999 and saw Hird reprise her role, whilst the other cast members were replaced.

Year-end lists

References

{{Reflist}}