My Life in Verse - Episode 1

Much loved actress and memoirist Sheila Hancock sets out to explore how her love for poetry has become a lifeline since the death of her husband John Thaw in 2002. Her 29-year marriage to the celebrated actor was the most profound element in Sheila's life, and when John unexpectedly died of cancer she was left with many questions. For Sheila, solace lay not in the well-meaning sentimental 'he is in the other room' poetry but the wildness and unblinking stare of poets W B Yeats and Edna St Vincent Millay. Their verses articulated the succession of complicated feelings Sheila was thrown into - desolation, guilt, anger, longing, resignation and (ultimately) recovery. With her customary zest and curiosity, Sheila sets off to explore her new-found admiration for poetry armed with a colourful and eclectic mix. She revisits haunts from her past accompanied by verses that illuminate rich and personal episodes of love and loss. From the odes of Tennyson to the verses of Blake, W H Davies and Shakespeare, Sheila travels to the Dorset coast, the Norfolk Fens, Wiltshire and finally to Southern France where she and John spent 20 happy years away from the public eye. Along the way Sheila encounters enthusiasts, acting colleagues and experts who share her love for the written verse whilst the poets of the modern era - Philip Larkin, Primo Levi and old childhood friend Wendy Cope - apply comfort, wisdom and humour to the challenges and consolations of old age.