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@CBSSunday : This #SundayMorning

"A man does something, it's strategic. A woman does the same thing, it's calculated."

The End is about a family of three generations trying to figure out how to die with dignity, live with none and make it count. Frances O’Connor plays Kate Brennan, a doctor specialising in Palliative Care medicine. Long ago, she fled her uptight English village for a life of sunshine on the gaudy Gold Coast in Australia. Kate’s personal life is a hot mess, but she is passionate about her work and fights every day to give her patients just a bit more time.

On the other side of the world, Kate’s mother Edie (played by Harriet Walter) is just as passionate about her right to die. She’s been depressed for decades and, after discovering her dead husband’s infidelity, tries to end her own life in spectacular fashion… and fails disastrously. Kate already has more than enough on her plate with a husband in jail, a son who’s also not convinced life is worth living, and a daughter who might be a sociopath. And yet, it’s her responsibility to move her mother out to Australia and try to keep her alive. The only person more appalled by this turn of events is Edie, particularly when she is dumped in a nearby retirement village, even if it is 5-stars.

The End is about Kate and Edie’s stumbling, fractious journey as they find their way back to a relationship. It’s a story about mothers and daughters, the right to die, and what makes life worth living. In helping other people to die, they’re both a bit further on their way to figuring out how to live. It’s a story about mothers and daughters, medicine and faith, and mostly how it’s never too late to start again.

Luke Arnold tells us more…

WHO IS JOSH AND WHERE DOES HE FIT INTO THE STORY?

Josh is married to Beth, who has motor neuron disease, and Kate is their doctor. They’ve known her for a while and in the first episode Beth and Josh reveal that they have acquired a drug that they’re hoping to use so Beth can end her life in a way that they hope will be peaceful and painless.

DOES KATE FIND THEM POSSESSING THIS EUTHANASIA DRUG QUITE CONFRONTING?

Yes. From Kate’s position as a doctor in the medical world it goes against everything, both what she’s trying to do for Beth, everything they’ve talked about and everything she’s supposed to stand for and has been working towards. The relationship between Beth, Kate and Josh is a sort of friendship, they have honesty between them, they’ve shared a lot of things and I think Beth and Josh are probably expecting a bit more understanding from Kate.

JOSH AND KATE HAVE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP, HOW DOES THAT MANIFEST?

It’s really interesting the way that Kate and Josh’s relationship evolves. It’s quite antagonistic. Josh is threatening to sue Kate. Then they go through that journey where the relationship evolves, it’s been interesting finding the natural evolution of that relationship. It’s really complicated.

WHAT KIND OF PERSON IS JOSH, AND DO WE SEE HIM CHANGE DURING THE SHOW?

Josh is a normal Aussie guy who found the girl he thought he was going to be with for the rest of his life and was happy on the Gold Coast with her. He changes a lot over the course of the series, he’s confronted with Beth’s disease which is something that no one has any control over.

Sam’s done an incredible job and it’s unlike anything else I’ve ever worked on before and, unlike most things I’ve ever seen in Australia before. It deals with so much crazy stuff, but so much real stuff. It feels like this show is having the conversations that people are having in real life at the moment. It’s very much of the now. It really is a little snapshot of what life could be like for a bunch of people dealing with these issues. Josh is lost. I thought it was going to be an interesting challenge to play a character that is in free fall and is so emotionally vulnerable.

📢📢 The End: All episodes available 10 February via Sky Atlantic and NOW TV