Every year, actor Jason Watkins, his wife Clara Francis and their family take a special walk through London’s Hampstead Heath.
In the park there is a bench in memory of Jason’s daughter Maude, who died of sepsis 12 years ago on New Year’s Day.
It is a poignant day of reflection for Jason and his loved ones.
“Clara and I both get quite emotional on that day and in the lead-up to the anniversary,” he says.
“We just walk to her bench as a family, and with friends, then everyone comes back to our house. It’s a nice thing to do.”
This year, to mark the date, Jason also shared a photo of Maude on Twitter, alongside a caption which read: “Each anniversary hurts. Each year so different.
“Another year, without our Maude. Our time together can feel like a dream, cruel, just out of reach.
“But look closely, she is smiling. She brought joy – and if we are brave enough, she still does.”
The moving post was viewed over one million times and The Crown star says his main reason for sharing it is to help himself and his wife, as well as other bereaved parents, deal with their grief.
“Both Clara and I share messages on social media, we try and express a little bit of how we are feeling,” says Jason, 56.
“The reason is not just to share how we are and information about sepsis, but it also allows us to help other people.”
In 2011, Jason and Clara, a fashion designer, took Maude, two, to A&E twice but were turned away with doctors saying she had a chest infection.
Maude’s sister Bessie, then four, found her in bed, unable to be woken.
An inquest found Maude died of sepsis, which happens where the immune system attacks its own tissue.
If it isn’t caught quickly enough, it will lead to organ failure and death.
Jason, who also had son Gilbert with Clara after Maude died, also has two older boys Freddie and Pip from his first marriage to actress Caroline Harding, and he now campaigns for better awareness of recognising the signs of sepsis.
These include a rash that doesn’t go away when pressed, mottled skin, heavy breathing and lethargy.
Around 1,000 children a year die of sepsis in the UK, but losses are preventable if it is caught and treated early.
Jason’s family have taken part in a documentary about Maude, out later this year. “It is all about offering comfort and context to families suffering like ours, and for information on sepsis,” he says. “There’s a golden hour you have to jump on, you have to keep asking, ‘is it sepsis?’
“If any symptoms are present, and you feel they are even if they aren’t – ask. Hopefully we can make a difference.”
One part that Jason found hard to film was visiting an A&E department. “A lot of the difficulties with sepsis diagnosis in children are sadly down to money,” he adds.
“The skills and expertise are there in the NHS, it’s funding it which is difficult. The Government needs to step up and place money where it’s needed.”
Shropshire-born Jason started out as a theatre actor, with a succession of roles in the West End.
In 2015 he won a BAFTA TV award for Best Actor after his lead role in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, about a teacher who was questioned over the murder of Joanna Yeates.
He dedicated the accolade to Maude, saying: “At the heart of it, someone has lost their daughter and I understand what that is. All my efforts in doing it were fuelled by a sense of grief.”
And Jason will be back on TV in another role about loss next week.
Maude was at the forefront of his mind when he spent seven weeks in Ireland filming his leading part in Channel 5 thriller The Catch. Jason plays Ed Collier, a Cornwall-based fisherman and bereaved father determined to do all he can to keep his family together.
“It was the longest I’ve been away filming,” he says. “Although The Catch isn’t just about loss, for me it was and certainly for my character, so because of the material it was difficult not to go home. I missed my family dreadfully.”
Jason was keen to do justice to the harrowing scenes. “I felt we should do those scenes properly, not cheat them, as the way they were written was powerful.
“A couple of them, it was just me and a cameraman so I had loads of distance and space. The crew were so understanding. It was very moving, and I hope that comes across.”
To unwind, Jason says spent Friday nights in the pub with his co-stars.
They included Sherwood’s Poppy Gilbert who plays Ed’s daughter Abbie, and Peaky Blinders’ Aneurin Barnard, who plays Ryan Wilson, Poppy’s new boyfriend.
Jason said he loves watching psychological thrillers and family dramas, but admitted: “I’m often cast on the periphery of those things, so it was nice to be a patriarch in the middle of this family. I wanted to try something new.”
Jason recently played Winston Churchill in hit BBC drama SAS Rogue Heroes, borrowing Gary Oldman’s fat suit from the 2017 film Darkest Hour, which the latter won an Oscar for.
“I did lots of work leading up to it,” says Jason. “I’m sniffing around for another Churchill role. I thought, ‘there is a lot I could do with this’.”
For now, Jason is also enjoying being around his family in his newly-renovated house: “There’s room for us all to be together. We’re doing really well.”
The Catch, Wednesday January 25 on Channel 5, 9pm. Stream on My5.
