The NHS’s only gender clinic for children and teenagers has criticised a new ITV drama that shows a transgender 11-year-old trying to commit suicide as “not helpful,” saying it “would be very unusual” for a child of that age to attempt suicide.

The mini-series Butterfly, which begins tonight, stars Anna Friel as the mother of Max, who slashes his wrists as his parents struggle with his wish to identify as a girl.

It features Mermaids, the controversial trans children’s support group whose chief executive, Susie Green, was a series consultant. In a recent interview, co-producer Friel said: “I can’t even begin to thank Susie Green enough for all the help she gave me.”

Green, who took her own son for sex-change surgery in Thailand at