No Tears

By Gerald Clarke

ON GIANT'S SHOULDERS March 12, PBS, 8p.m. E.S.T.

In the late '50s and early '60s, the world was struck by a catastrophe: thousands of babies were born with grotesque deformities, no arms or legs, or at best, flipper-like appendages. The cause was traced to a sleep-inducing drug that the mothers had been taking during pregnancy--thalidomide. The U.S. escaped the disaster only because of the determination of a doctor at the Food" and Drug Administration who suspected that something was wrong with the drug. This British program is about one of thalidomide's victims and what happened after the headlines stopped.

Terry Wiles was born in 1962, and he was left at the hospital by his un married mother. Eventually a childless couple gave him a home: Len was a truck driver, amateur inventor, and--so it would seem-- full-time saint who immediately opened his heart to the boy; his wife Hazel took some persuading. That was accomplished by Terry him self, who, despite his deformities, was beguilingly bright and witty. Always poor, often unemployed, Len nevertheless contrived a series of machines that enabled Terry to achieve some measure of normality.

On Giant's Shoulders is the dramatized saga of their triumph and tribulation. Its most winning feature is its lack of self-pity; these people do not cry, and they do not want the tears of others. Bryan Pringle and Judi Dench are more than convincing in the roles of Len and Hazel, but true honors must go to Terry Wiles, who plays himself. He has not acted be fore, but he could give lessons to many who have.

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