Best Interests ending explained as ‘heartbreaking’ BBC drama lands on Netflix
‘Powerful’ BBC drama Best Interests has quickly soared up Netflix’s most-watched chart.
An “outstanding” BBC drama is now ready to stream on Netflix. (Image: BBC)
BBC series Best Interests has landed on Netflix with fans of the “outstanding” drama desperate to know how it ends.
Created by Adolescence writer Jack Thorne, Best Interests is a four-part drama that was originally released on BBC One back in 2023 but has now been added to Netflix.
The “moving” series follows parents Andrew (played by Michael Sheen) and Nicci (Sharon Horgan) whose younger daughter Marnie was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a baby after suffering a severe cardiac arrest.
At the time, the pair were told by doctors that it was an incurable condition and that she would “further deteriorate”, stating that her “life will not be a full one”.
Fast forward to when Marnie is 13-years-old, she is left brain damaged and completely reliant on a ventilator for her survival.
Because of this, Marnie’s doctor Samantha (Noma Dumezweni) suggests it would be in her “best interest” to take her off life support.
Best Interests BBC ending explained
Actor Michael Sheen plays dad Andrew in BBC’s Best Interests. (Image: BBC)
After being told by Marnie’s hospital that they wish to turn off her life support, Nicci desperately fights the hospital in court.
Meanwhile, dad Andrew finds himself agreeing with the medical team and refuses to stand by his wife in this devastating legal battle.
In the fourth and final episode, it is revealed that the court has decided to side with the hospital, agreeing that it was in Marnie’s best interest to turn off her life support.
Nicci sobs while the heartbreaking verdict is read out but eventually she comes to accept the outcome and reconciles with Andrew.
They attend the hospital together where they say goodbye to their daughter as she’s taken off the ventilator.
BBC Best Interests is about a hospital wanting to take a 13-year-old girl with an incurable condition off life support. (Image: BBC)
Nicci tells her husband: “I don’t know where we’re going, but we’re going together.”
The episode ends with the couple and their oldest daughter Katie in the car, sharing that they were going to miss Marnie and how they “made her happy”.
Katie suggests they should go for dinner before a flashback is shown of the family-of-four, when Marnie was a baby, enjoying a picnic on a hill.
Describing it as a “terrific, powerful drama”, a viewer said: “This is the BBC at its best, this is an outstanding drama.”
Another said: “A powerful and heartbreaking drama. The only reason I could advise against seeing it is that it might break your heart.”
While a third echoed: “Excellent writing, directing and editing shine through, highly recommended”, and someone else added: “You will be in tears.”
Best Interests is available to watch on Netflix.
