Few recent TV documentaries have made as much impact as Inside Our Autistic Minds, the two-part BBC Studios film presented by Chris Packham and made in partnership with the Open University. It picked up its third major award – for Presenter of the Year – at the RTS Programme Awards in March. Previously it had won at the Griersons (taking the Science prize) and the Broadcast Awards (Specialist Factual).
“I will be stopped at the station, on the train and getting off the train, and I guarantee you that nine out of 10 people will speak about [Inside Our Autistic Minds], and it's been like that since it went out.”
For the two-part documentary, Packham met with four autistic adults as they created short films to try and share the reality of their daily lives with their closest family and friends.
Chris Packham is freshly angry. On the afternoon we speak, he has spent the last few hours protesting at the Government’s announcement of 100-plus new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences, a policy he describes as “a dark day for life on earth”.
