A New Reality with Man in the High Castle Writer Rob Williams

Rob Williams is somewhat of an expert in alternate realities. The acclaimed screenwriter is one of the bright minds behind the first season of ‘Man in the High Castle’ — the hit Amazon drama loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name.

In writing for the show, Rob helped piece together a reality in which Nazi Germany and Japan won WWII and took over the USA, splitting it into three sections: an area controlled by the Japanese, a Nazi-controlled section, and a buffer zone between the two.

Envisioning what exactly the world would be like is far from an easy task — involving hundreds of hours of research, thousands of rejected ideas, and an extraordinarily vivid imagination. Yet he and a stellar team of producers and writers pulled it off. The series has since been described as a fully-realised post-WWII dystopia and unlike anything else on TV.

But away from the page and screen, Rob has been living in a sort of alternate reality of his own. One that doesn’t, like many of ours, unfold in the way it’s meant to, but rather veers off in its own discordant direction.

For years, Rob toiled with the right combination of contact lenses and glasses, growing more tired by the day of thinking about how to address his worsening sight issues. But with so many more absorbing things to occupy his mind, he put up with them. Even after, a little over ten years ago, a friend of his came to him raving about the surgery and its benefits and recommending a consultant.

It was similar instances with friends who had nothing but good words for the treatment that got Rob thinking and reminded him of this past encounter. And so, with all those years passed, he finally decided to follow up that recommendation and find out more about this Laser Eye Surgery thing.

Rob contacted his friend and got the details of her consultant, Professor Dan Reinstein. Prof. Reinstein would be the surgeon to move Rob into his new reality — one that was a lot more in line with the original script.

Rob describes the experience below:

“From my initial contact with the London Vision Clinic, through the consultations and the procedure itself, and then the aftercare, I cannot recommend them highly enough.  They are experienced, professional, thorough and genuinely caring at every level, right up to Professor Reinstein himself.  They know exactly what they are doing and nothing is too much trouble.  Receiving a text message from Professor Reinstein on the night of the procedure to check all was well was a classy touch and indicative of my experience throughout.”

In his own words, Rob said it was a truly liberating and life-changing experience. And that today, one year into his new reality, his only complaint is that he didn’t do it sooner.

Although a colossal feat, it’s easier to control and shape a reality for the screen rather than your own. So our current realities are often not the ones we imagined but some other distant alternatives. It’s not all bad news, however. As you can see from Rob’s story, when it comes to making a change and getting back on script, sometimes all it takes is a simple decision.

Find out more about Laser Eye Surgery by asking us a question in the comments below or getting in touch with one of our Patient Care Coordinators.