March 31, 2026

Midweek Mention... I Swear

This week Dan and Reegs review I, Swear — the 2025 BAFTA-winning film about John Davidson, the Scotsman with Tourette's syndrome who became an MBE, an advocate, and one of the most compelling biographical subjects in recent cinema.

It's just the two of them this episode. There was also a hornet.

In this episode:

The BAFTA ceremony controversy — what actually happened, why the internet got it wrong, and why the BBC's edit decision was indefensible
John Davidson's story from 1983 Galashiels to an MBE at the Palace, in a film that is simultaneously hilarious and devastating
Scott Ellis Watson's extraordinary debut performance as young John
Why this film works when so many "inspirational" biopics don't
Tommy — the elderly caretaker who becomes the father figure John never had
Dottie — the woman who simply decided to accept him, no apologies required
The drug mule scene ("half price heroin for sale")
The library scene — why a man walking quietly through a library might be the best cinematic climax of the year
The median nerve stimulation device and what it means for people living with Tourette's
The real John Davidson footage over the credits — including his dog, who may be the most emotionally intelligent character in the whole film

Verdict: Strong recommend. Both dads in tears. Multiple times. Not ashamed.

Notes: Adult language throughout. This is a film about Tourette's. That should tell you everything you need to know going in.

Films/shows mentioned: I, Swear (2025), Sinners (2025 — Michael B. Jordan's Oscar win referenced)

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!

We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at baddadsjsy@gmail.com or on our website baddadsfilm.com.

Until next time, we remain...

Bad Dads

WEBVTT

00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.080
You might have to do the intro yourself.

00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.160
Day.

00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:20.079
Like uh program.

00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:20.640
Yeah.

00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:22.480
On the Friday with Chris Evans.

00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:24.559
Yeah, TFI Friday, isn't it?

00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:25.920
Yeah, that's come back, isn't it?

00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:26.480
Has it?

00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.519
I think it has come back in some way, shape, or form on YouTube now.

00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:30.079
Alright.

00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:30.960
With Chris Evans.

00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:31.839
With Chris Evans.

00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:33.520
My wife's a big fan of Chris Evans.

00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:35.520
Okay, well she should check out that show.

00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:36.240
Yeah.

00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:43.200
But But that was TFI Friday, but this is Monday when we're recording this.

00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.960
And we've just dealt with a huge infestation of hornets.

00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:53.520
It was just one hornet, but it was what, at least the size of a small chicken, would you say?

00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:53.920
Yeah.

00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.079
Yeah, small small chick chicken.

00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:59.920
Which is pretty big for a for any kind of flying creature.

00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:00.560
Yeah.

00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:01.119
Insects.

00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:08.079
It actually plagued us for the last couple of pods, but it seemed to chill out once it heard our dulcet tones.

00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.239
But we saw an opportunity, didn't we?

00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:11.760
It was getting quite aggressive in here.

00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:13.840
It was headbutting that decoration over and over.

00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:18.239
Yeah, one of the it I think it gets annoyed that there's still Christmas decorations in here.

00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:30.560
So one of them one of the decorations it was kind of finding making a new nest or home or and we've decided to remove everything and it's gone.

00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:31.599
Good.

00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.879
And well, I mean, if it has stung us, we we probably would have swore.

00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:38.560
Yes, we might have done damn.

00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:44.799
And this film, I swear, yeah, it's been out a little while.

00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:48.640
It's been October, September, October 2025, I think it came out.

00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:57.280
Yeah, I know that Chris had seen it, but he's in Batalon tonight, um, getting ready for a Socia game tomorrow.

00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:01.840
And I had just caught up with this.

00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:03.760
I'd seen it in the news.

00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:18.879
There was obviously the BAFTA awards recently, where he was We confirmed that we needed this film still, even after it came out, because people got the wrong idea, and there was a big internet pylon, wasn't there?

00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:41.280
Because at the BAFTAs, he had a tick and said a racial epithet when two black actors were on stage, and then there was a big internet pylon, like really like I say, just proving that people who still don't understand this unfortunate it's not a disability, because he says twice or three times in the movie that it's not a disability, but this unfortunate condition.

00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:42.159
Yeah.

00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:51.680
And yeah, the actors and the the BAFTA lot themselves didn't really cover themselves in glory.

00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:55.680
I believe the uh they had been told that there was a chance that this could happen.

00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:03.039
I think the couple of problems was that one, there was a microphone, right, by John Davidson, and he himself pointed out that was a terrible idea.

00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.280
And the second thing was the BBC not removing it from the edit.

00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:19.439
There was no need to rebroadcast that for I think two or three hours it was up with it in, and that they had people on site editing for exactly with a time delay, and they knew this sort of thing could happen, and they didn't get on top of it.

00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:31.840
But as for what happened afterwards, people questioning whether this man was actually racist and stuff, you really need to just watch the movie and understand his lived experience to kind of answer the question to that very easily.

00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:44.879
And well, it opens up with him going to visit the Queen of all, you know, of places where you would really want to be on your best behaviour, you're collecting an award.

00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:51.199
He's clearly very nervous about that and shouts out Did he call her a cun?

00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:53.039
No, he says, fuck the Queen as he walks in.

00:03:53.120 --> 00:04:00.240
He's been given a pep talk by Dottie, as we'll come to know her, and he doesn't want to do it, he's still got his vape in his hand, he wants to stand outside.

00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:05.280
It's in I don't know where it where they do these things, I've got no idea, but it was 2019.

00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:16.800
And anyway, he's eventually convinced to go in to the room where there's a very formal ceremony happening and the queen in the background, and he does walk in and shout, fuck the queen straight away before he even heads to his seat.

00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.720
And then we cut to a younger hymn.

00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:28.319
It's 1983, and it's uh Blue Monday, I think, is the New Order song playing, and we meet him before any of this.

00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.399
And I thought the kid actor here was absolutely terrific.

00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:32.160
It was his debut performance.

00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:34.480
I got his name because he was very good.

00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:36.879
Scott Ellis Watson.

00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.000
He'll be delighted he's got a shout-out on Bad Dads.

00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:40.560
Yeah.

00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:46.000
He plays John as a young man in 1983 in Gallashields, right up there in the Scottish.

00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:47.360
Gallashields, eh?

00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:47.920
Yay.

00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:49.600
It's up there in Scotland.

00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:50.319
In Scotland.

00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:51.040
Aye.

00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:53.279
And he's he's playing Fit Bear.

00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:53.920
He is.

00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:56.079
And he's Norbad, goalkeeper.

00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:07.279
He makes a terrific penalty save, and uh his m his father is there watching and encouraging him, and his coach says, Oh, I'll bring a guy from Berwick Rangers down to watch you, you've really got a chance.

00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.000
That's it.

00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:11.759
He's clearly got promise as as a footballer, as a goalkeeper.

00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:13.279
And uh very excited.

00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:14.480
He loves he loves it.

00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:20.240
He's he's with his mum trying on clothes afterwards, and you can see he's just a nice lad.

00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.319
Yeah, he's got the world in his po you know, he's really at that age where he's got the world right in front of him.

00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.319
He's got a job, a paper round that he loves doing, so he's got a little bit of money.

00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.120
He's a little bit interested in the ladies already.

00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:38.240
And on his first day of school, he asks out a girl and she says yes, he can take her to the cinema and all that sort of thing.

00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:49.279
So And yeah, things things are going well, and it quickly though, he is kind of at school when we first see it in in a lesson, and he he's just got a nervous twitch really.

00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:50.959
He's trying to read, isn't he?

00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:52.879
Out loud in front of the class.

00:05:53.120 --> 00:06:10.720
And this seems to yeah, bring about the first we see this this kind of twitch, and it hasn't really developed more than that at the moment, but he's clearly uncomfortable and he needs to go out and he he goes into the bathroom, doesn't he?

00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:12.000
And he's to settle himself.

00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:17.839
Settle himself, and he he comes back and he just gets himself more more panicky over it.

00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:25.199
He's sat at dinner and he's getting starting to get into a little bit of trouble at school.

00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:32.160
He has this football trial, if you like, the the Berwick W Rangers guy comes down to see him.

00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:42.720
And doesn't he when the teacher comes and sits when the stuff is starting to really kick in because it happens fairly suddenly I think the teacher comes and sits at the table with him and he tells him to fuck off or something.

00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:43.439
And he gets whipped.

00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:48.720
And he gets smacked on the hand of leaving a very and I was thinking about this in 1983.

00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.680
I can't remember getting hit at school, but I did.

00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:52.160
Did you?

00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:52.319
Yeah.

00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:55.360
Yeah, because they still talked about the slipper and Mr.

00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:56.800
Laser giving you the slipper.

00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:57.680
I don't think I've ever got it.

00:06:57.759 --> 00:06:59.600
I'm trying to remember if anybody in my year got it.

00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:00.240
But it was a thing.

00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:02.959
You could go to school and the teacher could fucking hit you.

00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:04.399
She whipped us on the hand.

00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:05.519
It's mad, isn't it?

00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:06.800
Yeah, yeah, really was.

00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:07.600
It's fucking mad.

00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.480
It's no wonder we all turned out so fucked up this generation.

00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:14.000
Yeah, well, I mean, how bad would it have been without those hits?

00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:15.920
Um no, I don't know.

00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:23.519
But yeah, I I was given punishment, and so was poor old John here, and really this is handle ash.

00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:25.120
Really kind of hard.

00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:32.480
The teachers just don't recognise him as being a good lad who's doing this involuntary.

00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:35.839
They think that he's playing Well, no one does.

00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:37.519
He doesn't understand what's happening to himself.

00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.560
It's not a thing that really people know about in the 80s.

00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:46.959
Yeah, you just think this is so out of character, you know, that he was he'd been previously quite a nice lad.

00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.480
Well it's a new school, though, they didn't know him, the headmaster didn't know him.

00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:54.800
So anyway, he goes off to this it, you know, the football thing, he's had this trial organised.

00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:57.920
The scout who turns up, do you remember what he's wearing?

00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:05.680
He's got this like lilac blue sort of shell suit on, there's a lot of shell suits, and a massive big like mullet.

00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:10.079
A mullet with moustache, yeah, like a curly sort of maradona-esque.

00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:18.560
Yes, it's like a Kevin Keeg Maradona-esque thing, and he just accuses him of wasting his time because poor old John has an absolute nightmare.

00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.639
He's trying to pat everything down with one hand, his other hand is clearly injured.

00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:23.040
Yeah.

00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:27.680
He doesn't feel comfortable enough to have said anything to anyone.

00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:43.919
And so that's a nightmare, and his dad gets home with him, who's come to watch him, and he says, I'm really embarrassed, I I'm I'm ashamed, and all the rest of it, just furthering his absolute anxiety and turmoil, this poor lad.

00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:44.240
Yeah.

00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:46.159
And and it very quickly escalates.

00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:50.879
I mean, you know, you think of the scenes where they're having dinner and John can't help but spit.

00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:52.639
They're like literally spitting food.

00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:57.200
You know, it's so unpleasant for everybody involved, he can't stop himself.

00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.279
And he's very distressed by the fact that he can't stop himself.

00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.919
And obviously, the family have no context for this or never heard the word Tourette's.

00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:12.879
It wasn't what was going on, and they're saying sit in front of the fireplace and and he's got to eat in front of the fireplace.

00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:16.399
Oh, it's awful, it's awful, and it becomes completely conditioned into him, doesn't it?

00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:21.679
And I must admit, I don't often get emotional in films this movie.

00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.600
It's got me in the fields a few times.

00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.360
I just thought, what a lovely, lovely lad this this kid is.

00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:33.759
And as you say, a fantastic performance by the lad that was playing a young John.

00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:40.399
He really sells because the sort of vision of who John was before all this happened, and then it you know it transitioning into him.

00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:42.879
And then it does transition a little bit later, doesn't it?

00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:44.799
We suddenly an older John.

00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:46.000
Not quite before.

00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:56.960
There it is important to know because his parents, the pressure of it gets to his parents, his father, who's heavily implied to be an alcoholic, leaves and never comes back, is literally, I think, never mentioned again in the film.

00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.639
His father just walks and leaves him.

00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:07.039
His mother, who is a nurse, is very sort of passive, aggressive, and she's just doesn't I think completely overwhelmed by the situation, doesn't know what to do.

00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.480
Well her marriage is broken down, she's got other kids.

00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:17.919
And and he believes that it's about John believes that his father's left because of him, and he walks into the river to commit suicide.

00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:24.799
Yeah, and his mother doesn't sort of say anything too much to to make him not feel that.

00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.399
She just goes, it is what it is.

00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:40.240
I know, you know, like take, you know, take some of that feeling off him because yeah, he's he's absolutely disconsolate and goes to commit suicide.

00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.919
Yeah, because his life has literally fallen apart in in just a matter of weeks.

00:10:44.000 --> 00:11:04.480
He's been bullied, you know, got into fights, he's getting in constant trouble at school, he's blown this thing with the But some of it is like it's really awful and it's really funny at the same time, like when he goes on that date with the girl and her mum it her mum comes with them and is sitting two rows in front to make sure that they're not doing anything, and just he turns around her and goes, suck my dick! Yeah.

00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:12.159
Just like the what he says tends to be the worst thing that you can say in any situation.

00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.279
Yes, absolutely, and we'll see that time and time again.

00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:26.159
So yeah, we do jump forward to 1996 now, and he's actually had at this point a Tourette syndrome diagnosis, but he's being but you know, he's he's not got a job.

00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:32.159
It's not really recognised as we learn out this this as a Well nobody would know what it was, would they?

00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:32.720
No.

00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.559
And yeah, he's he's just no friends.

00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:38.639
His tics have got a lot worse now as well.

00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:39.120
Very simple.

00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:40.159
He's on medication.

00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:45.440
He's on medication which suppressed them, and it's obviously not very it's halo paradigm.

00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.519
But the ticks are obviously a massive problem to him.

00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:53.039
And this is some weird stuff like licking lampposts and kissing lamp lampposts and all sorts of things.

00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:54.480
Yeah, he's just got things that he can't.

00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:59.919
Punching out, like striking out almost like violently, and that sort of thing.

00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:11.360
He meets this guy that he was friends with, Murray, in the shop, and his mum says, Go on, off you go with Murray, and they go off, and it's nice to see him catch up with somebody his own age and things.

00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:21.519
They go round back to Murray's house and he warns him, he says, Look, my mum's only got six months to just want to give Murray a big hug at this point because Murray's come back from Australia and not seen him.

00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:28.399
He was one of his earlier friends at school, and he's explaining all this to him, and he's going, Oh, you know, that's really terrible.

00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:42.159
But the fact that he's he's got his own shit going on, he's got his own stuff going on because his mum's just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Murray's mum, and that's why he's come back from Australia and he was sort of, you know, he's doing well out there, had a job and everything, but you know, it is what he is.

00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:43.600
I'm I'm coming back.

00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:49.120
And they go off for dinner and he opens the door, and the first thing he says to her is, Are you gonna die of cancer?

00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:49.440
Yeah.

00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:56.480
He says to her She she actually laughs and says, Oh, that's the most honest anybody's been with me for the last like few months.

00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.039
But he's he's kind of still just you know, embarrassed by it.

00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:07.519
He goes upstairs, he smashes a mirror in one of his his bits and his his kind of ticks.

00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:14.960
He then goes outside and he's just kind of beating himself up sort of John, John, why are you doing this, you know?

00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.720
And she comes out and just says, Come on, we've got dinner for you.

00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:20.720
Come and come and have it.

00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:28.639
And she's just a star, she's just like one of those the patients of an angel, and very quickly they connect.

00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:37.039
She worked in a uh yeah facility for five years prior to this, so has some experience of people with conditions like that are not dissimilar.

00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:42.480
And she has this conversation with him and says, because he apologises uh for the ticks.

00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:44.159
He said, Did you mean you didn't mean it?

00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.279
Look, it's the apologising that just drives me mad.

00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:51.840
You see, when you're in this house, don't apologize, you don't have to apologize.

00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:53.919
And he was like, Okay, thanks.

00:13:54.159 --> 00:14:05.440
Immediately smashes a plate, yeah, and as he's doing the dishes with Murray, and he just kind of hands it to Murray, who's kind of like, They just look at each other, don't they go and he doesn't apologize is the key thing.

00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.440
That that's it, and um So he's finally found somewhere he can be accepted.

00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:35.679
Feels a little more at home and it's not so uptight, and she with this terminal cancer diagnosis is really looking for meaning for her last months as well, and yeah, she wants him as a project really, see if she can spread a little bit of positivity and and then convinces him, not that he needs much convincing, but the rest of the family as well.

00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:46.960
Look, we've got a spare room, I want him to move in, and he wants to move in, and it's moving out of his mum's house who who probably needs a a rest as well because it was too much for her.

00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:53.120
There was no concept of support or care or respite or social system in place to help somebody like this.

00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:58.080
She was, you know, the movie is not massively kind on his mum, I don't think.

00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.840
But it's you know, they do say like there was just nothing to help her.

00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:06.960
You can't at all you can imagine sort of eight, nine years, no support.

00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:09.200
Yeah, the it must have been so hard.

00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:15.039
The conditions and things she's got other kids, she's a a marriage that's broken down, she's bringing the kids up on her own.

00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:15.360
Yeah.

00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:30.960
And this condition makes no sense and causes him to say really horrible might call her a cunt loads of times, or you know, spit in her face, or punch her, or you know, and and very difficult to understand if you haven't got the context of knowing about the ill the things we know now.

00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:31.759
So anyway.

00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:47.120
But it isn't very sympathetic to to mum uh or anyone else, and he goes through a long period of like, you know, social situations turning really bad, getting beaten up, or coppers like do it filling him in because he's said the wrong thing, basically.

00:15:47.600 --> 00:16:07.279
But yeah, the I mean, as far as the the film goes through these highlights and lowlights of his life, there are lots, and you can certainly understand why they've decided to make a a film out of it, because the the condition itself is obviously just a bizarre one for for anybody.

00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.600
Well the symptoms are strange, aren't they?

00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.960
And it feels l you wanna say stop that.

00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:13.759
Do you know what I mean?

00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:15.919
Like it with if you have no understanding of it.

00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:17.120
You want to say what you're doing?

00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.480
Don't don't keep doing that.

00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.559
But He he with It's Dottie, isn't it?

00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:54.399
The Dott the the Murray's mum, and she's just determined to help him, and she ween she encourages him off the the drugs that he's on because she knows that they're really strong, she's familiar with them, the headaches it will give him, the you know all the side effects and everything, and he's worried about the ticks, but less so now that doesn't actually have to apologise all the time at home or he he's uh feeling a little more relaxed.

00:16:54.799 --> 00:17:01.279
Murray's looking forward to him being off the the drugs for a certain amount of time because they can go out on the piss together.

00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:01.679
Yeah.

00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:22.400
They go out, he's as you say, straight into chatting up a girl and things, but Well, at first it looks like it's gonna be really good because he's sort of on the dance floor and you can get away with being a bit jiggy and you know, on the dance floor and And he's buying a drink for a girl's but it doesn't take too long before he's things go wrong.

00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:26.960
He knocks a pint glass out of someone's hand and then apologises for it, but it's too late.

00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:28.079
It's like a brawl straight away.

00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:36.079
Yeah, I mean it's a it's a a nightclub in the eighties, they have no idea, and you know, it's all a macho kind of thing.

00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:37.759
Well, he didn't even have a chance, did he?

00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:45.119
But I mean it basically to that other guy, it looked like he was starting, really, let's be honest, because he might have even called him a cunt and tipped his pint glass out of his hand.

00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:45.680
Do you know what I mean?

00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:51.920
Like it's not it's not it's understandable that that kind of thing happened, but what isn't understandable is the police doing him in afterwards as well.

00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.240
And Dottie sees all this and realizes she needs to kind of get him some help.

00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:59.039
But what she means by help is like A job, a job.

00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:00.480
A purpose, exactly.

00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.680
A reason and he said a few times he wants a job, but he feels like he's unemployed.

00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:05.039
Who's gonna give me a job?

00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:05.279
Yeah.

00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:14.720
Who's gonna you know, and quite right, really, you know, who's gonna give somebody who's on the face of it a hell of a lot of trouble?

00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.119
I think he could work for customer service.

00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:37.519
Yeah, there's uh there's a there's a community service centre, a community centre, and they're looking for an assistant, and there's this this old boy Tommy, who This is an amazing sequence, it's very funny because he's going in for a job interview, and every social situation is obviously like a minefield for him.

00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.640
And but he you can see that it really means a lot to him.

00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.319
He's he's yeah, thanks very much.

00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:42.640
Yeah, yeah.

00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:53.119
He doesn't want to blow this, he doesn't want it to to um so we get like a regular job interview scene, but intercut with him going, you wrinkly bastard or something, shouting it at you.

00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.160
Can you make tea?

00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:55.519
Spunk for milk.

00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:02.880
Just absolute purlers he's throwing down and he Tommy says, Look, there's a few people interested in it.

00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:10.880
If you were to get the job, you know, I might have to have some time off from time and time again because he goes, No, I'm always on time.

00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.960
I have to be on time, you know, it's my routine.

00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.559
I I I I'll put out the chairs, I can do that, you know, it's not a problem.

00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:36.480
And you think back to this 14-year-old lad just before he you can see that in him, and that's why I thought this film really transitions well between those two because you can see, as you say, the the young lad played him so well because again, just around this time, it really got me in the fields where I just thought, oh, just give him a chance.

00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:43.920
Yeah, very invested in his and you know that he will turn up and he will like do all he can.

00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.319
And but he also will punch your dog as well during the interview from.

00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.119
He punched this guy's dog really hard.

00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:52.079
Yeah, it's really horrible.

00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.720
And he's he's just I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.

00:19:54.799 --> 00:20:00.400
And he knows then he hasn't got the job and he's kind of heading home and it takes a few days.

00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.440
And oh, we get two whammies for one here, do we?

00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:15.519
Well, he goes into home and sp speaks to Dot, who's been having the the follow-up appointments for her terminal cancer diagnosis, and it turns out they've got it wrong.

00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:16.160
Yeah.

00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:23.119
And she's got She doesn't have six months to live, she's She's it was something else who's benign, and she's gonna be just fine.

00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:32.079
I really felt that they ruined this moment by having her in the first scene of the movie at the at the MBE Award ceremony, though, because I was like, Yeah, I know she doesn't die because you just showed me right at the beginning of the year.

00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:33.119
Yeah, right, yeah, yeah.

00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:40.000
And I wasn't sure how far along it was though, or anything, so I I didn't really think about that until two afterwards.

00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:45.599
But what does spoil this a little bit is more good news come, which isn't spoiling it.

00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:51.039
He's got the job, he's absolutely made up, and she sends him off to the Chinese.

00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:55.440
Go and get what you want, we're all gonna have a slap-up meal, it's double celebration.

00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:01.680
So he goes down there, a pretty girl comes out in a leather skirt, and he can't help himself.

00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:05.839
A tick just kind of comes out, and I think he calls her a slag or a slut or something.

00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:06.160
Yeah, yeah.

00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:12.160
But he's saying, Sorry, sorry, I've I've got this condition, like, and she's not having any of it, she's just you know, she's just adding off.

00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:23.519
And as he's walking home, two guys obviously know her, are waiting for him because she's just on the other side of the bridge under the bridge, and they beat the living shit out of him with a crowbar.

00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:24.160
Yeah, it's horrible.

00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:31.279
And he finds himself in prison for that other episode that he's been in for their nightclub.

00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:32.799
The try he's on trial, isn't he?

00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:39.119
Yeah, he's he's me it's been mentioned in the in the the job interview, and he said, Look, Tommy said, Did you do it?

00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:39.920
Is it your it goes?

00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:44.079
He's not even got the job, and he says, Look, if I do get the job, by the way, I've got an assault charge.

00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:52.799
I just I just want to be honest, like you know, as far as yeah, it it sounded for him, it wasn't good, but he's been brilliant in the job.

00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.640
He's been turning up, they're starting to get to know each other.

00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.039
Uh is it before this as well?

00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759
That was it before.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.799
The job where 'cause he gets a place on his own, doesn't he?

00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:05.839
No, so this is afterwards after it.

00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:19.359
And he he's kind of building after the the the court case and it gets thrown out the court case because Wells it doesn't go that great for him though, because he's thrown out in contempt of court at the beginning of the case.

00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:26.880
The judge, as he's sort of he's asked to, you know, what is it, I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and all that, and he he can't do it.

00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.599
He's gets to I swear and then starts swearing.

00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:41.519
And he's removed from court, and then there's a whole bunch of character witnesses basically just saying, you know, pointing out just how much the establishment has really failed this guy in all sorts of areas.

00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:54.160
Everybody and there are funny moments as as he as Tommy is is kind of saying, Look, he's a great lad, he makes a tea, he shouts out, Spunk for Milk! Yeah, yeah, and he gets hi, Spunk for Milk.

00:22:54.480 --> 00:23:18.880
And they throw it out, and it's it's a real kind of landmark case, I guess, then that it's been because the the judge says it's not recognised in Scottish law this this condition, but he actually recognises that he's not making this up, and they say, Ask tell me who would make up a condition that gets you thrown out of school, ruins all your relationships, yeah, gets you beaten up.

00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:19.519
Who would do that?

00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:19.759
Yeah.

00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:21.599
Who would repeatedly keep doing it?

00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:22.559
It's not his fault.

00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:33.359
It's you know, and and eventually they realise through this court case that it's uh he's not making it up, and he's then able to to continue.

00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.079
And he does build on that with moving into a flat.

00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:38.480
She says, Look, you need your independence.

00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:39.519
I love having you around.

00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:45.279
You've been there five years though, or whatever it is, four or five years in the in the house by this stage, yeah.

00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:48.880
And says, I've I've set you up with a place.

00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.599
It's a high rise, you think you could live here?

00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:53.839
And he's looking around and goes, Yeah, yeah, I could live here.

00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.759
He sees the place, shit oh, shit oh, yeah, he just say, What do you think of it?

00:23:57.839 --> 00:23:58.720
He goes, It's a shit hole.

00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:00.480
I like it, no, no, no.

00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:05.759
But then the and he has to put bars over the balcony window to stop himself hurling himself off.

00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:16.000
And it's and it's sort of delivered in a sort of like uh funny kind of way, but it sort of also goes to illustrate like the constant strain of this thing on you all the time.

00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:21.839
And the movie is really good at showing like the toil and the emotional torment of this thing happening to him.

00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:28.079
But anyway, he gets like obviously he gets in with the local guy, ends up like party flat, everybody back at him.

00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:30.880
Well, this is it, he he meets a few youths, doesn't he?

00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:37.839
And and they sort of seem to take him in and you know, are you friends, but they're all using him for his his place.

00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.880
They've got somewhere to to smoke and drink and one of them wants to use him as a drug mule.

00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:43.519
Yeah.

00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:48.160
And he doesn't know again what he's really getting himself in for.

00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:49.440
He's a bit naive, isn't he?

00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:50.559
He is a bit naive.

00:24:50.640 --> 00:25:03.200
I mean he's a vulnerable kind of adult, I guess, through his ing his anxiety so much and and the the lack of social awareness and everything that he's his condition has has brought uh onto him.

00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:09.200
And so when he's given a package, he he is kind of going, I'm do you think what the hell is this?

00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:12.559
And he's just he's got it then and he's got to walk it through town.

00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:16.480
He's just walking along shouting half-price heroin for sale.

00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:20.400
I've got a lot of heroin, heroin, I've got crack up my jumper.

00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.039
And then he sees police officers from across the street.

00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:29.200
Of course, the first thing he does is shout, pigs, pigs, pigs, turns, obviously got these drugs like holding up his jump.

00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.640
And he turns and walks away, and they say, Oh, stop, stop, what have you got there?

00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:33.680
And he goes, I've got drugs.

00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.599
He goes, Crack cacainea cunt, half price.

00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:39.599
That's what he says to him.

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:49.839
And you think, oh no, show his hands, and it's clear he's got something up his jumper, and he's got this kind of you know, brown envelope package.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.319
It's like the parcel wrapping, brown parcel wrapping cellotype all around it.

00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:56.079
It looks just dodgy as fuck.

00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:03.599
And he's in in the cell when Doc comes and says, Come on, and he goes, What's he done?

00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:07.440
And he goes, Well, he was you know conspiracy to she says, What's he done?

00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:14.240
He goes, 'I was selling drugs.' And he goes, 'Yeah, that the police officer says.' But it wasn't, it was sugar.

00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:25.119
The first time they'd obviously given him something to move, they'd just done it as a test, and uh just as well for him, because although he thought it was drugs, it wasn't.

00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:29.200
And Dot says, I think that flat's not the best place for you.

00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:36.240
And then she gives him a book, and she's been reading about Tourette's and she says, I think it's best you read up on this.

00:26:36.480 --> 00:27:04.960
And he kind of then goes into it marks his kind of education then of his self and he's you know, he is an expert in this in himself, and he's given this book to try to understand himself a little bit more and maybe put more meaning in into what he's doing and and other people, and eventually he meets some other people with with Tourette's through this journey.

00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:06.720
Yeah, he does, yeah, he does.

00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:24.079
Just before that, we get the sad passing of Tommy, who uh has been hinting at dealing with a long illness anyway, and then our hero John goes round to his house and sort of pushes his way in when there's nobody there and finds him in his bedroom dead.

00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:25.279
So very, very sad.

00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:32.400
And then he calls the police when the police come in, and that obvious he's like crying on the sofa, absolutely broken, and they walk in and they said, What happened?

00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:33.359
He said, I killed him.

00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:33.680
Yeah.

00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:34.799
And he's like, No, I didn't.

00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:36.000
I killed him, no, I didn't.

00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:45.920
Like, and it's obviously in this massive heartbreaking moment of you've seen this really touching friendship and everything that it meant to John, and his tics are kind of ruining it for him as well.

00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:49.039
And it's like So yeah, interrupting his grief.

00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:49.599
Awful.

00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:53.599
But yeah, so afterwards he becomes the caretaker.

00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:56.559
He replaces Tommy via a very funny scene again.

00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:59.519
Yeah, it's it's a nice moment again, isn't it?

00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:06.480
Because they come in and he's he knows f in his mind that they're gonna get someone else, he'd probably be moved on.

00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:08.160
You know, they're not gonna want him.

00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:12.480
And I think when he walks in there, he goes because he's not expecting to get the job.

00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.599
I think this is the third time I start to to tear up.

00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:17.839
Yeah, because he goes, I'm the best man for the job.

00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:18.079
Yeah.

00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:20.240
And the guy goes, Well, actually, yeah, you are.

00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:23.599
Like And he says, We wouldn't want anyone else.

00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.720
Just and it comes with accommodation, and so Well, it comes with Tommy's accommodation, yeah.

00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:30.720
Which is fantastic.

00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:46.640
It's a nice quiet little place, end of terrace house compared to the sky sort of scraper he was living in, the the the flats and everything that he'd had before, and and living in either Dot's house or mum's house, it you know, it this is just perfect for him.

00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:54.799
And yeah, he's his life is coming together a little bit after a lot of you know, stress to get here.

00:28:55.039 --> 00:29:00.079
And like you say, then other people start coming to him, he comes to be known in the community a little bit.

00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:04.079
The first one is when the doctors sort of say, Well, you should go and speak to this guy.

00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:10.720
Yeah, and the first one is they a couple bring their sort of older teenage daughter to see him.

00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.279
She has she suffers very badly from rettes, at least as badly as he does.

00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:15.680
Yeah.

00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:19.359
And there's an amazing moment, she doesn't want to meet him, fuck off, she's shouting.

00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:32.799
Might probably the ticks, but they get in the car and they have like a three-minute tick-off, and she's going, I shag letterboxes, and he's going, Your father fucked a jellyfish or something, like and they're just both of them going at it and laughing.

00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:57.599
Yeah, and it's this is it, they're just absolutely as you say, having it having this tick-off, and then they do have a serious conversation, and she just when they're able to relax in front of each other, and the parents are so grateful, and he ends up creating this which he's able to to share the experience and talk to these she's never met a person with Tourette's before.

00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:05.920
So to meet somebody else and hear him say, Yeah, I've had you know, I've I've not got that, but I've got this one, I do this, and yeah, God, it's a pain in the ass, isn't it?

00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:07.039
And that sort of thing.

00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:15.920
Just somebody really understands and the and the parents then the support that they get because he he ends up having like a Tourette's weekend.

00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:16.400
Yeah.

00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:21.440
And there's a brilliant line in it where he says, For once you're not the minority.

00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:21.920
Yeah.

00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:25.119
And he had all these everybody's ticking away.

00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:31.839
People who have got all these different ticks and various severity and and everything.

00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:41.680
And for once they're in a place where actually there's more of them than everyone else, and they can just feel, you know, not out of place as much.

00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:46.880
As ten and eleven-year-old boys and girls call each other cunts across the table and that sort of thing.

00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:47.200
Yeah.

00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:49.039
And then there's more community outreach.

00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:51.039
He ends up doing some stuff with the schools.

00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:53.920
I think he walks up in the school and shouts, I'm not a paedophile.

00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:55.039
Oh, I am a paedophile.

00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:56.559
I think he shouts before he gets on.

00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:02.880
And he he said and one part there he he says, and actually some of them make me laugh.

00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:03.119
Yeah.

00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:12.799
You know, some of the tit he says, I actually I'm not meaning them, but you know, sometimes it's really outrageous, terrible, sometimes they're quite funny, and they even make me laugh, but I don't mean them all the same.

00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:18.960
But it's like you said before, it's like literally, what is the one thing you shouldn't say, including at the BAFTAs?

00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:26.480
What is the one thing you shouldn't say while these are claimed and you can understand that in a way, like anyway.

00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:49.359
So, yeah, and then also another important part is that the copper, one of the coppers who filled him in and was there on the drugs part, he has been promoted and had a sudden realisation really about just how badly they failed him numerous times as a youth, and so brings him in and says, Look, I want you to talk to my police force about this and help educate him.

00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:56.400
The way he says, Fuck the police, that's the first thing he says, and they all start laughing.

00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:11.039
And it it's it's nice that you know the community and society through him and his experiences are starting to catch up with his situation and his his condition a little bit.

00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:32.160
The the weekends that he's got for parents and and for other people with Tourette's is been a huge success and it all points to him, you know, getting this letter through the post from from the Queen, which we know that he he comes in uh and gets as well, and so there's that point.

00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:33.039
But then it there's another.

00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:36.319
Well he joined back up with the mi the uh beginning of the movie now, don't we?

00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:38.480
Because he goes off and gets the MBE.

00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:52.880
And there's another invite afterwards for him to go to Nottingham University to Well, just before that though, he g he there is He has to tell his mum basically that he picked Dottie and his sister and Dottie's p husband to go.

00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:54.000
There were only three tickets.

00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:55.519
He didn't choose his mum.

00:32:55.759 --> 00:33:09.680
And this is the moment where they do have a bit of a It's not a reconciliation because they've seen each other a few times, but I think she basically, in her very understated, dower way, says it was too much for me, and he says, Yeah, I know.

00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:10.319
Yeah.

00:33:10.559 --> 00:33:15.039
And and and and he not in a judgmental way, he's like, Yeah, it's a lot.

00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:15.920
Yeah.

00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:20.559
It's quite you know, that's basic and they do have a little hug, but that's how just how it's left.

00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:21.839
She's yeah, very sad.

00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:36.720
Yeah, it's it's it's a a really difficult situation because his sister comes along to the the ceremony as well, and they've obviously not seen each other in a little while.

00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.680

Midweek Mention... I Swear

Listen On

Recent Episodes