ITV1
Twelve-year-old Christian Cunniffe has beaten up his entire family. He’s set fire to his bedroom, stabbed his sister with a knitting needle and hit his mother seventeen times with a plank of wood.
His violent outbursts have earned him the nickname Chucky, after the evil doll in the horror film, Child’s Play. But doctors say he’s not evil, he’s just ill. He has a complex range of medical disorders, which can transform him from a charming young boy into a cruel monster in a split second. To help tackle a rare cocktail of conditions - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyslexia and Hyperkinetic Conduct Disorder – Christian takes three powerful drugs every day. But there’s little sign of them making a difference.
He appears to be on a mission to self-destruct and it seems that no amount of love and care can save him. And, as he gets older, he grows stronger by the day. It’s only a matter of time before he causes real harm.
As a result, his long-suffering mum, Cath, is facing a terrible dilemma: To keep Christian at home and to accept his violence, or to put him into care to protect her three other children.
The Boy They Call Chucky is the story of Cath’s fight for her son. In a desperate bid to prevent Christian from going into care – or to prison – she’s embarking on an ambitious journey in search of a cure.
Cath’s journey will last nine months and will take her half way around the world. Along the way she’ll discover her own strength, the bonds that unite her family, and just how far she’ll go for her son.
This intimate and tough film shows the tantrums, the violence and the pain alongside the deep care and abiding love, as Cath is forced to make tough decisions about the future of her family.