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Not too long after Terry Pratchett announced that he'd been
diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's at the end of 2007, he agreed
to allow the BBC to follow him around for a year and film his activities. From
this was created a two hour documentary, shown in two parts, about how Terry Pratchett
decided to tackle his predicament. I recorded them both episodes and watched
them together this afternoon.
The documentary was a very personal insight into how almost
every aspect Terry's life has been affected by Alzheimer's, from getting
dressed to writing his Discworld novels and signing books. The documentary
focuses mostly on Terry ( his wife and daughter were not filmed but were
mentioned), and his personal assistant, Rob. For me I found it just as
interesting to see Rob and hear his thoughts as those of Terry Pratchett. Up
until now we, the fans, have really only heard what Terry is quoted as saying
on TV and in newspaper articles, so it was nice to see someone speak who's
probably as near to Terry Pratchett as one can get without being close family.
Pretty much everywhere Terry goes in his
day to day routines as an author, Rob is always there in the background. I have
met Rob at the filming of The Colour of Magic and thought he was nice and, of
course like many I'm sure, thought what a cool job he has being Terry's PA. My
opinion on that hasn't changed, it's still is a very cool job but now I think,
after watching the documentary, it has a whole extra dimension to it, a deeper
meaning than it did before.
It's not easy to have your life change this way and, though
it's obviously worse for Terry, it's hard not to feel a certain empathy and
admiration for Rob too. The both of them
together came across as two highly intelligent human beings approaching a
difficult situation head on and, despite trepidations, coping with the facts in
an admirable fashion. It would be easy to use clichés and say Terry is being
brave, making the best of it etcetera, but the truth is the documentary shows
Terry in a very honest light, without any claptrap or bogus facades, and sees
the two of them investigating one avenue after another in a logical pattern and
carefully considering what to do next.
Terry freely admits that he is prepared to try almost
anything, saying ‘I'd gnaw the arse out of a dead mole if I thought it would do
any good.' but he is investing in cutting edge science, which is where most of
his faith is contained. However, he did also give a rather unusual hat a try, with
infrared LEDs flashing into his brain (which made him look part Star Trek Borg,
part Doctor Who robot) - though we all know he has a penchant for fancy hats.
If you haven't seen the documentary yet I would highly
recommend it, both for Terry Pratchett fans and for anyone seeking further
insights into Alzheimer's Disease. The documentary sets out to be neither mournful
nor uplifting, but rather shows truth and honesty in a manner that is thought
provoking.
Jonathan Malory
terrypratchettbooks.org
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Peter lamb