How a man from a lunatic asylum helped create the Oxford English Dictionary

A remarkable true story of linguistic dedication and unlikely collaboration is brought to life in the film "The Professor and the Madman," airing on HRT 2. The movie chronicles the monumental effort behind compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, a work that has defined the English language for generations.

At the heart of the narrative are Professor James Murray and Dr. William Chester Minor. Their shared obsession with words connected them, yet their lives took drastically different paths. Professor Murray spearheaded the ambitious project, while Dr. Minor, a former U.S. Army surgeon, found himself confined within the walls of Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Despite his incarceration, Dr. Minor became one of the dictionary's most prolific contributors. His extensive knowledge and meticulous work, carried out from within the asylum, proved invaluable to the dictionary's creation. The film explores how these two men, brought together by a passion for language, overcame immense personal and societal barriers to produce one of the greatest literary achievements in the English language.