Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive

• 2006
• 2hr
• Documentary

In 1995, Stephen Fry was performing in Simon Gray's West End play, "Cell Mates." After three days, he walked out of the production. Sitting in a garage, his hand on the car ignition, he contemplated suicide for two hours, before fleeing his home country for the European mainland. It wasn't until this frightening episode that Fry was diagnosed with manic depression, or bipolar disorder, a psychological condition that sees its sufferers oscillating dangerously between dizzying heights of mania and gutting troughs of prolonged depression. This 2 part documentary unfolds like a personal journey of self-discovery. Fry confronts his medical condition by consulting experts and others who have suffered the disorder (including Richard Dreyfuss and Carrie Fisher). This is a valuable documentary, and, having been acquainted only with Stephen Fry's bubbly TV persona, a fascinatingly intimate character study.