BBC Parkinson’s documentary featuring HIT directors wins national award

A documentary featuring members of the Parkinson’s and Other
Movement Disorders (MOVE) Health Integration Team
has won Best Science
Documentary at the
Grierson 2019 British Documentary Awards. The award was
presented at a special ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on 14
November.

The Parkinson’s Drug Trial: A Miracle Cure? first aired
on BBC2 in February 2019. Filmed over six years, it followed a group of
volunteers with Parkinson’s take part in a ground-breaking medical trial at
Bristol’s Frenchay and Southmead Hospitals testing a controversial drug called
GDNF.

Forty-two patients underwent complex brain surgery and
months of infusions via a port embedded into the side of their skull. They put
their trust in Professor Steven Gill and the trial’s principal investigator,
neurologist Dr Alan Whone who is also a director of MOVE HIT, along with their
team of medical experts.

Parkinson’s is the world’s second most common
neurodegenerative condition. An estimated 10 million people are affected
globally.

The judges said:

“The winning film stood out for its
lean storytelling of a complex subject, its scale and its heart. The film was
‘an examination of the nature of progress’, managing to straddle both the
science involved with clarity and the emotional, human dimension with real
compassion.”