A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

This restitution narrative runs throughout the programme. Having „dealt‟ at £20,000, Rhys
commented that:
213
The treatment I‟m having costs a fair bit and that‟ll keep me going for a long time...
and hopefully by the time it runs out I‟ll be walking and doing everything as a
normal person would... so... I‟ll get there eventually, it‟s just this is going to really
help to speed up the process...
It is, Sarah noted, the constant repetition of this aspiration to normality (l.3:421).
Surinder wanted to hurl the remote control. She commented that:
I‟ve never actually broken a TV before, but I‟m getting there... (l.3:313).
It is, Ash considered, false hope (l.3:409).
Yet Edmonds‟ words Fantastic... fantastic... endorse this false hope. Rhys‟s fellow
contestants are inspired by this false hope. The studio audience, the pilgrims as Edmonds
calls them, sanctify this false hope.
Rhys was told by Edmonds that:
You will have inspired hundreds, probably thousands of people you will probably
never meet...
Finally, as Rhys is congratulated on his winnings by his fellow contestants, Noel faces the
camera, wipes his eye, and says:
And we‟ve done it again... you‟re a hard-hearted person if you didn‟t have a little bit
of a twitch then when Sandie said you will walk again... this guy‟s got serious
courage... and he‟s now got twenty thousand pounds to get that special treatment he
needs...
Sarah was relieved that the show had come to an end:
Thank God it‟s finished... it‟s painful... it‟s painful to watch... it‟s so stupid... it
makes you feel quite depressed when I watch that cos it‟s... he obviously feels that
crap about the situation that he‟s got to make himself better... but... I have to keep
reminding myself... it‟s not something that I need to aspire to... (l.3:454ff.)