EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR TREATMENT BY KATE HERRON
INTRO “Exit, pursued by a bear” title is inspired from the famous stage direction (of the same title) in Shakespeare's, A Winter’s Tale. In the play Antigonus, a Lord of Sicilia, has been ordered to abandon baby Princess Perdita in the woods, by King Leontes. While doing this he is chased off stage by a hungry bear. It has multiple interpretations, from it being a symbol of Nature's retribution against Antigonus for abandoning Perdita, to others saying it doesn’t have a deeper meaning except for helping the play shift from a tragedy to a comedy. The stage direction has always stuck with me as when I was 17, I was selected along with other teenagers from my county to attend Shakespeare School at Rose Bruford College, which culminated in seeing a production of A Winter’s Tale at the Globe Theatre. I had spent the week overjoyed at the absurdity that by the end I would get to see someone dressed as a bear run across stage. However in the interpretation I saw the bear was condensed down to a furry arm waving from a trap door. I was devastated. I felt the bear was a ridiculous gift and it had been ignored. Inspired by this stage direction I want to make a film that will give people the same feeling that stage direction at least for me intended; something completely unexpected and absurd. I was inspired to write the script as I remembered reading in Huf fington Post awhile ago about how the urban myth surrounding women's menstruation attracting bears had been debunked but it is still believed by many people today. The myth started when two women were attacked in 1967 in Glacier National Park, it was concluded that their menstruation may have caused the attack, despite there being no forensic evidence to back this up and this soon transformed into the urban myth of women's periods attracting bears. As the Huffington Post remarked, “The unjustified spread of the menstruation/bear attack myth, in spite of the lack of corroborating evidence raises concerns that old stereotypes regarding women, the outdoors and the National Park service have not gone away” Funnily enough the most recent bear sighting in the UK was revealed to be a hoax staged by a theatre putting on A Winters Tale, they had managed to convince Suffolk and the majority of the national papers that there was a bear lose in the woods.
COSTUME – THE BEAR For the visual approach to the bear, rather than going for something CGI, instead I want to have the bears we see in the film to be a costume. I think this will only add to the comedy. The bears behaviour is heightened and un-bear like, so the costume I think will only add to the physical comedy in the film. It's also important to me that the costume has character, like Ray Harryhausen''s creatures I want them to have a personality of their own and for the bear suit, particularly the facial expression to really bring this. We are currently looking at costumes but have already found a great one at The National Theatre (middle).
VISUALS It's very important to me that although it is a comedy, that is still cinematic, which is something I am driven to ensure across all my work. I often feel in comedy the camera can take the backseat and will bring on a DoP who has a strong film drama and documentary background to ensure this. I want to make sure the film is as visual as possible without intruding on the comedic beats, looking to the work of filmmakers like Peter King with his short Crack and beautifully-shot comedy mockumentary What We Do in The Shadows as a jumping-off point.
THE TEAM KATE HERRON (WRITER // DIRECTOR) Kate Herron is a writer-director of comedy and drama short films, with a focus on female-led comedy. She is passionate about making character-driven films that are as cinematic as they are funny. Needless to say, she's a big Billy Wilder fan. Her films have competed internationally at festivals including Flickerfest, Palm Springs Shortsfest, Cambridge Film Festival and London Short Film Festival. Her work has also been featured by Hunger Magazine, Digital Filmmaker, Marie Claire and Film4. It has been described as,“Fantastic” (Directors Notes) “Moving”(The British Comedy Guide) and“Great” (Aint It Cool News). Her short Rest Stop, on which she was mentored by LOCO London Comedy Film Festival & Sky Comedy just won the Grand Prize for Best Comedy at the Bafta and Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival. It is currently on the festival circuit screening and picking up nominations worldwide. Kate was nominated with Rest Stop for Best Director at both Underwire and London Short Film Festival and it was nominated for Best Comedy Short at Aesthetica. It was featured in the BFI Blog "One to watch at London Short Film Festival". An avid comedy fan Kate has collaborated with many British comedians in her films including, Ben Willbond (Horrible Histories, The Thick of It), Tom Bell (HBO’s 2015 “Project Greenlight”) and Showstoppers! The Improvised Musical (Olivier-winning Best Entertainment for Family). Her film Valentine made with members of Lady Garden (“Britain’s funniest women” Telegraph) was featured twice on International Women's Day in 2015, first in the Londonist and secondly screening before Birdman at Everyman Cinemas across London. It was also chosen to screen before Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture, as part of Picturehouse Cinemas, The BechdalTestFest, introduced by Little White Lies, Sophie Monks Kaufman. Valentine was described as, "A perfect film." by Lisa Albert (producer/writer Mad Men). Kate is passionate about encouraging female-led comedy films and has spoken on panels at multiple festivals and organisations about filmmaking including London Short Film Festival, BFI Film Academy and is a member of female directing collective Film Fatales (“A movement is forming, and it's a good one” Filmmaker Magazine). She is currently working on her debut feature, Jane is Dead which won her a place on the 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab and the London Film Festival Think-Shoot-Distribute feature development scheme. She is writing Jane is Dead with Briony Redman and it is being produced by Katie Mavroleon (producer of Ricky Gervais Feature “Life on the Road”). Kate also just finished directing and producing a new short film, Fan Girl, about a group of super fans who break into the house of a faded 90s pop star. It was written by Screen International Stars Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth and stars Steve Oram (Sightseers). It just had it's World Premiere at the BAFTA-qualifying London Short Film Festival in January where it was nominated for both Best Director and Best Comedy and will have it's USA premiere at the 20th BAFTAqualifying Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival where it is nominated for the Oscar-qualifying prize of Best Short Film. ImWithGeek described the film as, “Devilishly looks into the heart of a Fan Girl and a candle that never wavers that is until the cruel wind of reality blows it out….” @iamkateherron // kateherron.com "ABLE TO ASTUTELY GIFT HER WORK WITH CHARACTERS THAT FEEL WHOLLY REAL, SHE IS ALSO ABLE TO TRANSLATE FUNNY AND RAMBUNCTIOUS TALES IN GREAT CINEMATIC WAYS. QUIRKY, AND WITH AN EDGE OF HUMANITY TO THEM, HERRON HAS A KEEN EYE FOR WHAT MAKES A GREAT COMEDY" - FILM DEBATE, 5 UPCOMING FEMALE DIRECTORS TO BE EXCITED FOR, 2015
BRIONY REDMAN (WRITER // CAST, JULIET) Briony Redman is an actor, writer and comedian. Briony wrote and starred in short film Forget Me Not which screened worldwide at festivals including Palm Springs ShortsFest, won Best Comedy & Best Screenplay at Southampton International Film Festival and won the SCIFF's People's Choice Award. The film also secured her a Best Actress nomination at Houston Comedy Film Festival. Briony's acting credits include a number of short films, including Open House, where she first worked with Kate Herron, which was ShootingPeople's Film of the Month, picked by judge, Robin Gutch (head of Warp Films). She has also appeared in a number of promos including a viral short for Hoot Comedy that has over 750,000 hits. Briony regularly performs in live sketch comedy both solo and within double act Surname & Surname (Top Pick, The Times). She is also a prolific improviser, performing both with the Free Association, a cast member of award-winning Monkey Toast and guest star of Chortle Award-winning Austentatious. Briony has previously written for Radio 4, been shortlisted for the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum at the NYTV Festival and the Red Planet Picture Prize. Briony has co-written two sitcoms that have been optioned by Triarii Entertainment Limited and Tidy Productions. Briony and Kate were shortlisted for iFeatures 2014 and are currently writing a feature together called Jane is Dead.
@brionyred // Spotlight
CHIARA VENTURA (PRODUCER) Born and raised in Rome, Italy, Chiara moved to the UK in 2007 to study Sociology at the University of Bristol, where she discovered her love of production after being part of the founding committee of the student web TV and producing content for the website. Soon after graduating, she gained a place on the Producing MA at the National Film and Television School, where she produced six short films, which have screened at various festivals worldwide and won a number of awards. After graduating from film school, Chiara interned at production companies such as Wildgaze, DanFilms, Embargo and Rainmark and at sales agency Protagonist Pictures and freelanced as a researcher and a reader for companies such as Wildgaze, Shoebox and Amber Entertainment. She then went on to work in production, as a coordinator on low to mid budget films (including BFI-backed Couple In A Hole) and as a production assistant on Disney’s Alice Through The Looking Glass, before joining sales and distribution company The Works Film Group as PA to the CEO and acquisitions assistant. All the while, Chiara has been working on her own projects, producing shorts, including Satan Has A Bushy Tail (developed and financed as part of London Calling 2014), which won Best Comedy at The Smalls, Best Narrative Short at PRAXIS Film Festival, Jury Prize at Worldfest Houston 2015 and 3rd place Audience Prize at Berlin British Shorts 2015. Chiara is currently developing a slate of feature films, and is currently in preproduction on Creative England-backed animation short Paraffin. @ColdAsIceCream // @rubberstampfilm
OTHER TEAM ATTACHED CARIAD LLOYD (CAST, VIOLA) Cariad Lloyd is an actor, comedian, writer and improviser. She was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her debut solo show, Lady Cariad’s Characters. She has made her own pilot for BBC 3 -The Cariad Show & has been seen in Peep Show, Give Out Girls, Crims, Toast of London, Inside No.9., Have I Got News For You, Qi and some other things. For Radio 4,she has featured in The Now Show, The Cariad Radio Show, Newsjack,The Guns of Adam Riches, and Sony award-winning Here Be Dragons. She performs on the comedy circuit with her silly characters and is also a member of Austentatious: The Improvised Jane Austen Novel, @ladycariad // cariadlloyd.com
THE OTHER MEMBERS OF CAST KATE & CHIARA ARE CURRENTLY ATTACHING.
NICOLA DALEY (DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY) Nicola Daley is an award-winning Director of Photography based in London, shooting drama and cinematic documentaries. She trained at the prestigious Australian Film, TV and Radio school to study an MA in Cinematography. For two consecutive years Nicola has been nominated for Best Cinematography in a Documentary by the Australian Academy of Cinema and TV Arts (Australian BAFTA) awards. She also worked on the 2006 Academy Award-nominated short The Saviour. Since then she has filmed on some of the most talked about locations on earth, including North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2014 Nicola was only the 8th woman in Australian history to be accredited into the Australian Society of Cinematographers. @nicoladaleycine // nicoladaley.com
ELLIE JOHNSON (EDITOR) Ellie Johnson is currently an editor at the award-winning Speade post-production house. Joining in 2010, coming from a background in feature length documentaries, she has easily made the transition to the world of promos and commercials, having collaborated with many talented directors including Sam Pilling, Emil Nava, Martin Granger & Ivan Bird. This has given her the opportunity to work on videos for a variety of popular artists, including Ed Sheeran, J.Cole, Calvin Harris & The Weeknd. Ellie first met and worked with director Kate at university, they have since gone on to collaborate together on a variety of short narrative and 48-hour competition films. @elliekjohnson // Interview with Promo News // Website
SAMANTHA SHELDRAKE (PRODUCTION DESIGNER) Samantha is a Production Designer/Art Director based in London. She has worked on a variety of projects including short films, interactive theatre, corporate events, commercials, television and promos. She has produced sets for artists including Laura Marling, Zemmy and Dear Reader. She regularly works for Secret Cinema and has assisted on building sets for Brazil, Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca among many others. Samantha has worked with director Kate on her shorts Rest Stop (on which she built a service station) and Fan Girl (in which she transformed a Surrey home into a pop stars mansion). @sammi_shel
ALEXI KOTKOWSKA (COSTUME) Alexi is a London born and based Costume Designer & Stylist working in film shorts, features, on fashion campaigns, editorials and music videos. She has worked with for several talented directors including BIFA-winning Rob Savage. Her first collaboration with Kate was on her short Fan Girl. e @AlexiKotkowskae
PATRICK JONSSON (COMPOSER) Patrick Jonsson is a film composer living and working in London, UK. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston (2007) and was selected to attend the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2009. In 2013 Patrick scoredBends, directed by Flora Lau, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as part of 'Un Certain Regard' for which he went on to receive a nomination for 'Best Original Film Score' at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards, one of the top Chineselanguage film awards. Patrick has since composed the score for Academy Award and BAFTA nominated feature documentary Virunga, directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and executive produced by Leonardo Di Caprio’s Appian Way Productions. Virunga had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2014 in the World Documentary Competition and was released by Netflix as part of their growing 'Netflix Originals' lineup. The film’s music was picked out as one of the '15 Best Film Scores of 2014' by HitFix. Patrick has also composed music for numerous short films and commercials, including award-winning short film Skateistan: to Live and Skate Kabul which was an official selection at Sundance and SXSW, and BFI/Lighthouse-backed Mohammed directed by Mustapha Kseibati. He has also assisted composers on a number of studio level feature films such as Thor, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Brave.
@Soundsoap // WEBSITE
INT. SCIENCE CLASSROOM - DAY We fade up on a classroom. A man, Dr Van Der Velde, late 30’s, in a white lab coat, standing by a chalk board. Empty laboratory flasks are on the table in front of him and a skeleton is propped up on a stand. A caption comes up underneath him, “Dr Van De Velde, expert in Ursine Thermodynamics at Warwick university” There a cartoon behind him on the whiteboard, it’s of an aggressive bear and a diagram of the menstruation cycle beside it. DR VAN DER VELDE (sounds like David Niven) Hello. I’m a scientist. I have been studying bears for many years and as we all know bears have always been furiously attracted to women during menstruation. For roughly 4% of women this symptom is so extreme it results in the ailment known as persecutionem passi ab ipsis ursus, or more simply putWe cut to a BLACK SCREEN, the TITLE slams up on screen: [EXT], pursued by a bear. CUT TO: INSERT: We see two drawings, one of faint hieroglyphics of a bear and a Egyptian woman running away and then another of an 1800’s woman wearing a bonnet, driving a stage coach. The camera zooms in, a bear is seen hidden in the coach behind her. It’s mouth is wide open, ready to eat. DR VAN DER VELDE (V.O.) This “ursine non grata“ or the “pursued by bear” phenomenon has been documented throughout history. It even inspired a story line in popular British soap serial, Londoners. INT. KITCHEN. TV FOOTAGE - DAY Two women, both in a dressing gowns stand in a drab, london kitchen. LONDON WOMAN 1 You don’t understand Kathleen that bear killed my whole family! LONDON WOMAN 2 I don’t care! Me and Terry want you out!
2. LONDON WOMAN 1 Terry was my husband first! Terry, a large bald man in his 40s, tries to separate the women as they begin to have a petty fight. TERRY Girls! GIRLS! THAT’S ENOUGH! EXT. FOREST - DAY A slow-tracking shot of woods. DR VAN DER VELDE (V.O.) The first bear sightings in the UK were in 1985. The Murray family were camping in the New Forest... when disaster struck. INSERT: Bright white camera flashes fill the screen, inbetween each camera flash we see a still image from the crime scene; a ripped piece of tent, abandoned food left by campfire and a perimeter of police tape around the camp site. DR VAN DER VELDE (V.O.) No one could have predicted that their twelve year-old daughter, Cleo would become a woman that day, causing the UK’s first bear attack. No one was harmed. INSERT: Photo of sign saying, “Nature walk permanently closed” DR VAN DER VELDE (V.O.) We followed three women who are pursued by bears to see how it affected their lives. INSERT: A photo of a smiling happy girl, aged 12. DR VAN DER VELDE (V.O.) The daughter of the first UK bear attack on the Murray family, Cleo, still lives with the condition today. CUT TO: INT. OFFICE. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY A group of execs sat around a table, Cleo, now in her early 40’s, in a business suit, is leading the meeting. We see a caption under Cleo, “Cleo, first British case of Pursued by a Bear”
3. CLEO This is a slight improvement on our last financial quarter but I want us to do better. A loud growl, we see a bear with a bin stuck on it’s head at the back of the room, her colleagues laugh. Cleo turns to look at the bear and then back to her colleagues. This has clearly happened multiple times. INT. CLEO’S OFFICE - DAY Cleo is talking directly to camera. CLEO Do I like being pursued by a bear once a month? No. Do I live with it? Yes. Does it affect my ability to my job? NoINT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY The conference room is now empty, except for Cleo and a coworker TIM, 30’s. The bear is sat behind Cleo. CLEO Look thanks for staying behind Tim. I just want to talk to you about your recent performance. TIM Is this about the bear? CLEO No Tim, this is not about the bear! It’s about your lacklustre attitude. TIM I think it’s about the bear. He looks to the bear sat behind Cleo. CLEO No. Tim, look at me, look at me Tim. TIM I’m just saying you’re different when the bears around. CLEO Look, your sales have been decreasing for six months.
4. TIM Well...you have a bear. INT. BEDROOM - DAY We see a woman, VIOLA, early 30’s, tough. A caption comes up on screen, it reads, “Viola, lived with condition for 14years” Viola is opening her bedroom door cupboards, there are guns and various weapons strapped inside. VIOLA So that’s my favourite tranquilliser gun, that’s a snare, bit rusty. We see a sharpened stick with a kitchen knife duck-tapped on it. VIOLA (CONT’D) And that one I had to make quickly. I was at a picnic. There’s a noise of broken glass downstairs. Viola looks alert, she draws a knife from her boot and raises it. VIOLA (CONT’D) Get in the cupboard. The camera films through a crack in the cupboard. We see glimpses of Viola, with her knife raised and a bear paw reaching through the bedroom door. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Viola sits at the kitchen table and speaks directly to camera. VIOLA (to camera) You have to understand every bear is different. They’re like people, they have different attitudes, approaches, techniques. I guess the way I deal with it is to pursue them back. EXT. DRIVEWAY - DAY Viola is now crouched behind a car, she has camouflage paint on her cheeks.
5. VIOLA (Whispered) We’ve been here for five hours and as you can see it hasn’t moved. The camera turns and zooms slowly towards a house across the street. Leaning out of the bedroom we can see the bear, holding a sniper rifle. INT. COFFEE SHOP - LATE AFTERNOON A busy cafe. There are long lines of tables with men and women sitting either side. A WOMAN, holding a bell stands at the end, under a banner that reads, “Love in a Minute” We see JULIET, open-hearted, positive, mid 30’s. She is talking to a BORED LOOKING MAN, 30s. JULIET So why am I single? Good question. Um, well my past boyfriends... were all eaten. The camera pans we see a bear sitting behind Juliet. It’s rebelliously holding a lit cigarette, it’s the James Dean of bears. LATER: Juliet sits alone in the empty cafe, at the speed-dating table. A caption appears underneath her, “Juliet, lived with condition for 17 years” Juliet is holding her speed-dating form. JULIET (CONT’D) (To camera) I marked twelve out the twenty as yes, interested. No ones ticked me though so I don’t get their number. There’s always next time! LATER: The organisers of the “Speed-dating” are cleaning up. Juliet walks around the empty tables, picking up any abandoned sheets. She sees one with a number on, she shows it to the camera and smiles excitedly. ORGANISER Excuse me, Juliet, that’s not your sheet. JULIET But they left it. It’s like “fate”
6. ORGANISER Hand it over. Juliet hands it over. JULIET He won’t find his love-match in the bin. LATER: Juliet sits back the table, the organiser is dragging a binliner behind her out of the coffee shop. Behind her the bear is stood behind the bar, pouring itself a whiskey. JULIET (CONT’D) (to camera) Well I used to date a lot. Um, there wasINSERT: Image of a handsome man, 30s, smiling holding a beer. JULIET (CONT’D) Ben. He drove a lorry. The bear attacked him outside Tesco. Then there wasINSERT: Image of a second man, bearded, happy, holding a tennis racket. JULIET (CONT’D) Seamus, I met him at my sisters wedding. He got eaten the same day, my sister was very angry. GrahamIMAGE: Graham, 30s, laughing in a park, surrounded by trees. JULIET (CONT’D) He was really, really smart. The bear drowned him, in a swimming pool. That was different. I’m now banned from the Enfield leisure centre. INT. CLEO’S OFFICE - EVENING CLEO (directly to camera) It’s not all bad though, the bear does come with it’s advantages. LATER: Cleo now is on the telephone. The bear sits looking at a newspaper in the corner of the office, uninterested.
7. CLEO (CONT’D) It’s THIS Saturday that’s little Alan’s Christening? Oh, you know I’d love to come but you know, the bear. The bear looks over slightly. LATER: CLEO (CONT’D) Oh Sally you know I would love to help you move house but it’s just the bears been so bad this month. The bear puts down the paper to watch Cleo. LATER: CLEO (CONT’D) You’re getting married in Spain! That sounds so, so lovely! But I’ve just looked at my calendar and that’s right in bear week. The bear now with it’s full attention on Cleo, throws up it’s paws in a “what the fuck” motion. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Viola sits polishing a gun. VIOLA (to camera) I did once try and disguise myself as a man but it knew. It’s very smart. It’s funny, I didn’t develop the condition until quite late on. I remember when we first met. INT. CARPARK - AFTERNOON An ACTRESS, wearing a wig to try and look like Viola (but looks nothing like her) walks into a deserted carpark. On the screen the words, “Reenactment, professional actors have been used” comes up. Over-dramatic score accompanies the scene. VIOLA (V.O.) I had stayed late at work that night and when I got to the carpark there was no one around. The actress walks slowly to her car, keys in hand. She hears footsteps.
8. VIOLA (V.O.) I heard someone following me, but their footsteps sounded weird, like they weren’t wearing shoes. The actress turns. Hello?
ACTRESS
Her voice echoes. ACTRESS (CONT’D) (really hamming it up) Is there anyone there? The actress keeps walking. The footsteps get louder, she turns around. The footsteps stop. She turns back, a low growl. The actress begins to run. Fumbling for her keys in a panic she gets inside the car and locks the doors. Silence. She breathes a sigh relief. Suddenly from the darkness behind her two bear arms with a wire, hit-man style, come out of the darkness and start to choke her. We freeze-frame on this. VIOLA (V.O.) The game was on. INT. JULIET’S LIVING ROOM - DAY Juliet sits on the sofa with a police officer, they are both drinking tea. They have two diaries in front of them. POLICE OFFICER So that’s this Thursday night? JULIET It’s just a coffee. POLICE OFFICER It sounds like a date. LATER: The police officer sits alone on the sofa. POLICE OFFICER (CONT’D) (to camera) We can’t obviously tell her not to date but we strongly advise against it. My job is to create a risk reduction plan for any romantic possibilities.
9. INT. JULIET’S LIVING ROOM Juliet holds a bin-bag, while the police officer goes through her DVD collection. POLICE OFFICER That seems safe, yes, yes, no. That has kissing in it. Yes, yes, no. As far as you’re concerned Harry never met Sally. Bin. He
throws the DVD case in the bin.
He now goes through her CD-collection. He picks up a CD. POLICE OFFICER (CONT’D) Is this Marvin Gaye? Are you kidding me? INT. CLEO’S OFFICE Cleo sits at her desk drinking a cup of coffee, on the mug is printed “Coffee makes it bearable” CLEO (V.O.) I think we are all hopeful. INT. VIOLA’S KITCHEN - DAY Viola sits crouched on her floor, there’s a trip wire put up in her door way, she looks to the camera and places her hand to her lips. We see the kitchen door in the background open slowly, a bears foot enters. CLEO (V.O.) Whether it’s facing the condition head on. INT. STREET - AFTERNOON Juliet walks down the street with a MAN, handsome, 30’s. He hands her a rose. She smiles. CLEO (V.O.) Looking to the future. INT. POLICE STATION - AFTERNOON The bear and Julia sit on bench. She is filling out a witness statement, the rose is on the desk in front of her and there’s some blood on her shirt. The police officer from earlier, looks over and shakes his head.
10. INT. CLEO’S OFFICE - NIGHT CLEO (V.O.) And most importantly, trying to maintain a level of normality. Cleo sits hunched over a pile of papers, the bear stands behind her. It’s paw is wide open and flat with post-its resting on it, which Cleo takes and sticks on the work in front of her. INT. SCIENCE CLASSROOM - DAY Dr Van Der Velde sits reading a book, on the front it says “The Truth about Bears”. He slams it shut and looks to camera. DR VAN DER VELDE (to camera) So there we have it the dark truth, of this greatly misunderstood disease. My own wife was affected by it and I never knew. I never saw the bear but she insisted it was there and that’s why she couldn't live with me. He turns with far-off look in his eyes. DR VAN DER VELDE (CONT’D) If I ever find that bear. I spent five days on that mountain, watching, searching. He turns back to camera. DR VAN DER VELDE (CONT’D) (speaks to camera) If you have been personally affected by anything in this programme please call, 0800 311 BEAR. The number: 0800 311 BEAR flashes up on screen. DR VAN DER VELDE (CONT’D) We are waiting for your call. The camera pans and see a woman sitting at computer with a phone headset on. She smiles and waves at camera, a bear wearing a phone headset is revealed behind her.