Britain's Tourette's Mystery - Scarlett Moffatt Investigates
Britain's in the midst of a mystery outbreak of Tourette's. But what's causing this explosion of tics? And why is it appearing out of the blue in young people? Scarlett Moffatt embarks on an investigation to uncover the potential causes of this medical phenomenon.
While typically, specialist clinics receive around five referrals per year of sudden onset tics in teenagers, over the past 18 months numbers have risen by more than 5000%. Travelling around the country, Scarlett meets some of those who have recently been diagnosed with the condition, the extraordinarily successful Tourette's influencers sharing their tics online, and the psychiatrists treating the epidemic.
Scarlett leaves no stone unturned in her quest for an explanation and finds herself in the middle of a controversial debate about the meteoric rise of Tourette's influencers on social media. It's also an unexpectedly personal journey for Scarlett, as she reflects on the tics that appeared when she was just 12 years old and already having to deal with crippling anxiety.
Firecracker Films
Firecracker is responsible for some of the highest rating and most talked about factual television programmes of the last decade.
From the BAFTA-nominated international smash hit Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, to the visually arresting Daredevils series, Firecracker has produced some of the most ground-breaking, popular factual programmes on television today.
Whatever the platform, Firecracker prides itself on telling authentic human stories and offering new and often never-before-seen perspectives, coupled with its trademark bold and stylish approach to film making, to create talked about content that is loved by audiences around the globe.
Firecracker’s unique story-telling has seen the company work with a wide range of broadcasters both in the UK and the US, including the BBC, Channel 4, W, ABC, Discovery, TLC and National Geographic.
Other credits include Born in the Wrong Body, Daredevils, Repo Man, Sex Testers, Baby Ballroom and Dr Christian Will See You Now and single documentaries such as Susan Boyle: Unlikely Superstar, Secrets of the Living Dolls, The Man With The Ten Stone Testicles, The Brit Who Tried To Kill Trump and Jamie: Drag Queen At Sixteen – the documentary which inspired the hit West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.