John Davidson
Acting
Biography
John Davidson is a Scottish campaigner for Tourette syndrome, known for his advocacy and public speaking on the condition. He gained recognition through the 1989 BBC documentary "John's Not Mad", which highlighted his experiences living with Tourette syndrome and has since worked to raise awareness and support for others affected by it.
Known For
Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in life.
I Swear
John's Not Mad is a QED documentary made by the BBC in 1989. It was ranked, in a British public poll, as one of the 50 Greatest Documentaries. The film shadows John Davidson, a 15-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.
John's Not Mad
A documentary featuring several individuals with Tourettes Syndrome and how they are able to cope with the condition.
Tourettes: I Swear I Can't Help It
A documentary about Tourettes sufferer John Davidson. This is a follow-up to the 1989 TV documentary John's Not Mad focusing on his present circumstances as an adult with Tourettes and the impact the earlier documentary had on his life. The film also follows Greg Storey, an 8 year old who has been diagnosed with Tourettes.
The Boy Can't Help It
Documentary in which Keith Allen teams up with a group of young Tourette's Syndrome sufferers and takes them on a trip to the French hospital where the condition was first diagnosed to find out more about it. First, though, there is the matter of getting through customs on a decrepit red double decker with a gang of kids shouting 'Al Queda' and 'I've Got A Bomb'.
Tourette de France
Twelve-year-old Rory Brown has Tourette Syndrome. After recently moving to secondary school his physical and verbal outbursts have exploded. In 1988 John Davidson featured in the BBC documentary ‘John’s Not Mad’. Determined that no other child should go through the horrific experience he had as a child, he’s taken Rory under his wing. Rory also has help from Greg Storey. In 2002, aged eight, Greg took part in the ‘The Boy Can’t Help It’ - a follow up film to ‘John’s Not Mad’. As a boy Greg invented a complex language as a way of communicating with his Tourettes. Now aged 23, he believes it can be adapted to help speed up computers. Tourettes: Teenage Tics is an intimate and revealing documentary that over time captures the challenges and triumphs in John and Greg’s lives and introduces the audience to Rory, a boy at the very beginning of his journey with Tourette Syndrome.