Wendy Parry on watching her darkest hour unfold on TV and why she agreed to BBC drama

It is impossible to imagine the heartache that washed over this ordinary couple when they discovered that their little boy had been caught up in a terrorist attack in their home town.

Many people will never have to comprehend the mixture of hope and fear the husband and wife faced as they helplessly watched their son fight for his life in hospital.

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It is every parent’s worst nightmare to bury a child.

But this was a reality for Tim Parry’s parents who had no option but to learn how to grieve under the spotlight of the world’s media.

PICTURED: Tim Parry

In the days, weeks and months that followed, Wendy and Colin bravely shared their story which has paved the way for a charity that is now helping so many victims whose lives have become engulfed by conflict.

This doesn’t mean that it was an easy decision to agree to a BBC drama based on their journey – far from it.

But the couple hope the one-off programme will raise awareness of The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation – a charity set up in memory of the two boys killed in the senseless attack on March 20, 1993. (Read more about the BBC drama here).

“I hope they will see how a family coped,” said Wendy, when asked about what she hopes the audience will take from the drama.

“It’s a bit like the Manchester Arena attack – some people give money and feel like they have done their bit but the families have to live with a new normal, a new way of life.

“Their lives will never go back to the way it was before.

“People need to sit up and actually do more to help, even if it’s making a donation so we can carry on doing the work that we’re doing.

“I hope people will see what came out of it and that you can survive an event like this.

“But don’t forget the people who have suffered. It’s quite easy to get back to your own life and think I’ve done my bit.

“I hope that people will come to our website and see what we do and think it is worth supporting.”

PICTURED: Wendy and Colin Parry

Watching the programme for the first time was a difficult experience.

It was inevitable that the production team would put a fictional spin on the events that unfolded on Bridge Street and the reaction across the Irish Sea.

But the couple, from Great Sankey, agreed to the 90-minute drama for the same reason they spoke out 25 years ago, to keep Tim’s memory alive.

“People kept saying to me it’s a drama but it is my life that is being portrayed,” said Wendy.

“No matter what you do people will watch and think that’s exactly what happened.

“There are so many things that I didn’t do or say.

“Watching it the first time I was probably watching it through a critic’s eye.

“I was looking at it as if to say would I say that, would I have done it like that?

“There were occasions where I had to really breathe deeply.

“But after watching it at the Peace Centre [for the northern premiere] with family, friends and colleagues, many kept saying how powerful it was.

“I think it was about getting the blessing of everybody in the room which made me feel better about it going out to the general public.”

But looking back, could Wendy see glimpses of herself in her portrayal by Anna Maxwell Martin?

PICTURED: Wendy Parry with her children 

“I thought I looked really hard but the producer said he was trying to portray a woman who has gone through so much and is trying to keep it all together and trying to keep the family together.

“Fergus said to me ‘I must have read and watched everything including your home videos so how you coped with those weeks and the things that happened after I will never know.

“You were incredibly strong and that’s that I wanted to portray’.

“I didn’t see myself like that.

“Right from the beginning the press were obviously waiting at the hospital.

“The hospital said to us if you see the press here then they have agreed to leave you alone at home.

“So every night we left the hospital and we had 15 minutes with the press.

“I said to Coin after Tim’s machine was switched off that’s it now – we need to try to make Dom and Abbi’s lives as normal as possible.

“That line in the film is actually true because that’s what I wanted to do.

“I didn’t want it to ruin their lives as well but Colin was determined he would do something to keep Tim’s memory alive – even if it was just talking about it.

“I must admit what came out of it is not what we imagined.

“We kept ourselves busy. I carried on doing the things I normally did like getting the kids to school.

“Some may say ‘did that stop you from grieving?’ but I would say no.

“We did our grieving in private but we did other things to keep us busy and keep Tim’s memory alive.”

PICTURED: Wendy and Colin Parry visited Ireland following their son's death

Setting up The Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation was a way for the couple to channel their grief into a legacy that both her son and Johnathan would be proud of.

The Parry family or the foundation has not received any payment in return for the BBC drama but agreed to the programme in pursuit of peace and to share the life-changing work that is carried out by the charity on a daily basis.

Speaking at the northern premiere, Colin said: “It is a concern for us that the journey hasn’t been covered beyond what happened.

“I have to hope this raises interest beyond just the film because this centre costs a lot of money to run and we employ some fantastic people and all this, to be absolutely brutal about this, needs a large intake of cash each year.

“The ongoing message is important to us but as a programme it was remarkably clever how they put so much in it.”

While the path to peace was always going to be a rocky and difficult journey, Colin and Wendy hope the public will see their son’s death as a catalyst for change so other families won’t face a similar tragedy.

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