The Flying Scotsman: Cycling around Bipolar Disorder with Old Faithful

Abstract

The nickname “The Flying Scotsman,” originally attributed to the iconic railway service between London and Edinburgh, gained new significance when attributed to Graeme Obree, a Scottish cyclist, who is renowned for breaking the world hour record twice, in 1993 and 1994 with his customized cycle “Old Faithful.” Obree’s life story, as recorded in his autobiography and the 2006 biopic, both titled as The Flying Scotsman, is a testimony to a successful person’s extraordinary level of dedication and resilience. However, his journey was marked by severe struggles with mental health issues. He chronically suffers from manic depressive disorder or as we call it the “bipolar disorder,” and this is a condition about which he openly discusses in his writings. In fact, the reporters who have chronicled his success story have noted this too. While his autobiography provides a candid recalling of challenges regarding the disease with clear references to his multiple suicide attempts, film reviewers feel that the film offers only a superficial treatment of his mental health issues, even after beginning with an obscure scene containing one of those infamous suicidal attempts and that arguably dilutes a major part of the biographical narrative. This paper investigates the extent to which the biopic captures Obree’s lived experiences of bipolar disorder and its influence on his personal and professional life. Taking into account some of the visual metaphors used in the film and by analyzing some key moments of his life from the excerpts from Obree’s autobiography, the study will then seek help from relevant medical and critical articles to uncover how bipolar disorder shaped his sporting and personal decisions. The paper additionally aims to highlight the complexities of portraying mental health in biographical cinema.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.65525/SVUP.9788199392045.2025.83-89