Good television shows about creative people with degenerative neurological disorders

February is cold and I have no money so I've been watching a lot of TV. Given my interest in neurology and comic books I have enjoyed a couple of interesting documentaries.

Last night I watched 'Here's Johnny', a 2008 film about John Hickleton, a comic book artist who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In case you don't know, MS is an autoimmune problem where parts of the the nervous system are attacked by the immune system. It's relatively common in the UK and has a range of clinical presentations. It can be mild in some people and very severe in other people. In the past it was untreatable although there are now some more promising therapeutic options.

John Hickleton used to draw Nemesis the Warlock and Judge Dredd (among others) for 2000AD when I was a kid. His art is pretty mental but good. Some of his images, especially those from Nemesis, really stuck in my mind. I missed the first 5 minutes of the film but I think Hickleton was diagnosed with MS in 2001. Much of his disease affects his spinal cord and he has had great difficulties in walking. The documentary covers his life from 2001 to 2007.

Hickleton initially took the diagnosis very badly and threw himself into drink and drugs. He admits that he was very angry and depressed at the time. He starts to experiment with various 'alternative' medications and there are some hilarious moments in the film where he takes a horse laxative (I might be wrong here). Eventually he accepts his diagnosis and he appears to be more comfortable with his life.

Hickleton comes across as energetic and likable. The visual design of the film uses a lot of his comic art and looks great. I strongly advise you to watch this film.

Over the last two weeks I've been watching a documentary about Terry Pratchett who has been diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a variant of Alzheimer's disease, another neurodegenerative disorder. Alzheimer's is less treatable than MS and is a progressive form of dementia. The variant that Pratchett has initially attacks the visual system.

Prachett, who is a highly successful and entertaining writer, has much more money than Hickleton. He has donated lots of money to medical research and has done a great deal to publicise the plight of people with dementia. The documentary follows him as he tours the world looking for a cure. He meets a lot of people who have unusual ideas about how to treat the disease and he seems to assess them in a fairly intelligent manner. Again, I enjoyed this film and I hope a lot of people see it.

For more info

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/headroom?gclid=COywkdry5ZgCFQ9SQgodTCvUdw
http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/
http://www.mssociety.org.uk/
http://www.mssociety.org.uk/news_events/news/press_releases/johnny.html

I couldn't find a link for a John Hickleton page but if anyone finds something please let me know.