A BBC drama based on Blackpool's own 'Jackson seven' is on course to become a Christmas hit.

Magnificent 7, based on pioneering supermum Jacqui Jackson and family, is set for screening on BBC Two on December 13.

Hollywood actress Helena Bonham Carter stars as Maggi, a character based on Jacqui, and the drama tells the story of a year in the life of the Jackson household.

But down-to-earth Jacqui -- whose four autistic sons have inspired her to write books and study for a PhD -- isn't fussed about fame. She just wants the film to explode a few myths.

"A lot of people ask me if I'm looking forward to it coming out, but I consider it quite a brave thing I've done to let this film be made," she said.

"I'm doing it for all children on the autistic spectrum so that professionals all over the place will learn more about it.

"For every child and parent in the situations shown in the drama, there are also people in schools, doctors and assessors that are misunderstanding things.

"So I hope some of them will watch and maybe recognise some of it -- pupils they thought were just naughty or rude but will now think maybe they've got Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Aspergers Syndrome -- and understand them a bit better."

Jacqui thinks Helena has done a good job of portraying her. "As she was learning the script, she'd phone me up several times a day, she was really thorough with it, and ask me about particular scenes. What did I do? What would I have done? What's happened in the past and how I'd react, and how I would engage with all the children on different levels at the same time.

"She came and spent a day here, and we went out for a meal.

"If we hadn't got on so well, I think it would have been quite hard watching the filming, but she seems very similar to me in character so it amuses me to see bits of me in her like my scattiness. I think her outlook on life is very similar to mine."

Jacqui added: "I'm a bit of a Pollyanna so I tend not to see the negative very much but watching this drama has changed an awful lot about my perception of myself, and life and the future.

"It's made quite a big shift for me, in terms of letting the children go a bit and watching them move on, and teaching them things rather than being so involved dealing with day to day stuff. And that's all totally down to the way the script plays out."

And some 'very clever direction' conveys her sons' perspectives too, she said.

The family aren't strangers to being in the public eye though. They were the subject of a documentary, My Family and Autism, screened by BBC Two in 2003.

One of the boys, 17-year-old Luke, wrote A User Guide to the GFCF Diet when he was 12, and another book, Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome when he was 13.

And Jacqui is set to become Dr Jackson next year, after writing several books, lecturing across the country on autism issues, and researching into sensory issues and autism for her PhD.

Magnificent 7 was written by North and South screenwriter, Sandy Welch.

Producer Deborah Jones says: "Being autistic is often described as being wired differently, and I think Sandy Welch's script is brilliant in capturing that sensibility, with poignant, provocative and sometimes even hilarious results. Magnificent 7 is as funny as it is heartbreaking, and ultimately it is a celebration of this extraordinary family."