大象传媒

How did a psychiatrist from Glasgow end up on stage with The Grateful Dead?

Scottish actor David Tennant tells us about his latest role as Dr R.D. Laing in Mad to Be Normal, a new film recounting a much publicised period in the controversial psychiatrist's life when he started a commune-style household of doctors and psychotic patients in 1960s London.

R.D. Laing was a Glasgow-born consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist. His significant fame reached its peak in the mid-60s after a number of books he had written, notably The Divided Self, became bestsellers. He became akin to a rock star, drawing in huge crowds for his lectures and at times sharing a stage with Bob Dylan.

Setting out to overturn the received wisdom on the treatment of schizophrenia, his contentious methods included the experimental use of the drug LSD. He died in 1989.

David Tennant spoke to 大象传媒 Arts at the UK premiere of Mad to Be Normal at the Glasgow Film Festival 2017.