John's Not Mad

John's Not Mad was a QED documentary made by the BBC in 1989. It was ranked, in a British public poll, as one of 50 Greatest Documentaries.^[1]

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The film shadowed John Davidson, a fifteen year old from Galashiels in Scotland, who had severe Tourette syndrome. John's life was explored in terms of his family and the close-knit community around him, and how they all coped with a misunderstood condition. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist, offers observations on aspects of John's behaviour.

The documentary achieved a cult status soon after it was first aired and, contrary to the "possible good intentions of the film crew, it has been seen as some sort of comedy classic".^[2]

John's Not Mad has been released on DVD including footage from John in the 2002 The Boy Can't Help It. John is also featured with Keith Allen in a Channel 4 documentary entitled Tourette De France where he travelled with Keith and a group of Scottish persons with Tourette syndrome to Paris to visit the hospital where Georges Gilles de la Tourette practised.

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