Unspeakable (CBC)

It might seem a strange title, but the horror of having your son, already suffering from haemophilia, suddenly contract AIDS and begin to die is exactly that: unspeakable. The TV drama sets out to explain how it all happened.

There is a saying: “When the U.S. sneezes, Canada catches a cold.”

And so it was with the AIDS epidemic in the States: it got into the blood donation collection before anyone knew the donors were infected, and the recipients of blood transfusions and other plasma combinations were then similarly infected. Canada got most of its blood supply from the States and as one person said, “The disease didn’t suddenly stop at the border.”

This story is told through the eyes of several families who were on the front lines, so to speak. The main lesson to be taken away from this tale is: “Don’t believe everything the authorities tell you.”

And people are surprised that seniors (meaning my generation) are the most likely to share “fake” news? We distrust everyone in authority. But we’ve not supposed to say that: it’s Unspeakable,