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I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (2004)

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clip 'Me depressed?'

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

In this clip, Spike Milligan speaks frankly about his experience of depression and its impact on his life. His brother Desmond and his daughter Jane reflect on the use of medication to treat mental illness. Milligan explains the relationship between his writing and depression, describing his writing as something that he had to do and which tempered some of his emotional turbulence. He reads from his poem Hope, written about suicide.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

Milligan’s bipolar disorder had a huge impact on his life, family and even his creative output. The line 'I see the red oil of life running from my wrists onto tomorrow’s headlines’ in his poem Hope vividly captures his dark emotional state, combined with an awareness of the extra pressures of fame. But amongst the seriousness and low points, Milligan’s sharp sense of humour shines through. The poem was written while he was at his parents’ house in Woy Woy and the clip ends with a characteristic quip by Milligan about Woy Woy as a great place to commit suicide. He once said of the town that it was the largest 'above-ground cemetery in the world’.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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