The A Word (Seasons 1–3)

The A Word (2016) is a BBC One family drama you can watch online on iFILM — three seasons about what happens to an ordinary family when the youngest member is diagnosed with autism.

Joe is five years old. He walks the Lake District hills alone with his headphones on, absorbed in music. His parents Paul and Alison, played by Lee Ingleby and Morven Christie, love him without question — but can't agree on what his diagnosis means or how to talk about it. The grandparents keep their distance. Writer Peter Bowker frames the drama not as an autism story but as a study of how families avoid difficult conversations until one of them becomes unavoidable. That makes it harder to watch, and more honest, than most TV dramas about disability.

Stream The A Word (2016) online on iFILM.