The very tall are very rare. But in a world designed for those of average height what happens to the few who grow to enormous stature? Those who tower over everything around them. What are the causes of such growth and what effect does it have on the practical and emotional lives of the very tall?
IN SEARCH OF GIANTS reveals the lives of ordinary men and women made extraordinary by their height.

There's the Piotrowski family who make a formidable team when out together. Stan, the father, a barber for over 50 years, stands at six foot eight inches. As a young man Stan had not been comfortable with being tall so he brought up his children to be proud of their height and to use it to their advantage. His daughter, Teri, is the shortest at six foot and his three sons are Tom, seven feet, Mark, six feet ten and Mike, 'short stuff', at six feet eight inches. Tom took advantage of his height as a young man to become the not so secret weapon in the Le Salle University basketball team.

Joyce Maddox is six feet eight and a half inches and lives with her six foot seven boyfriend in Cincinatti, Ohio. She has Marfan's Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder with a number of different symptoms, one of which is tall stature. Marfan's can also affect eyesight and Joyce was registered blind until she was 15. She now works with blind people helping them use dogs and sticks to increase their mobility. Like other very tall people, Joyce's only tension with her height is other people's curiosity and the resulting repeated questions she is asked every time she goes out her front door.

Sandy Allen, the world's tallest woman at 7 feet, seven and a quarter inches. Like many of the world's tallest people, Sandy suffered from a rare benign tumour at the base of her pituitary gland that caused excessive growth hormone production. She was already 6 feet 3 inches at ten years old.

At seven foot six and three quarters, Chris Greener is Europe's tallest man. Like Sandy, he had a benign pituitary tumour. "I kept thinking, I've got to stop growing soon because everyone does…Well apart from me. I didn't know when to call it a day." As he grew taller and taller, Chris was forced into the public eye and became painfully aware of being different. However, winning the title of tallest man and subsequently becoming an actor has helped him come to terms with people's stares and comments.

And what of the young? What effect does being head and shoulders above their contemporaries have on children? Alex Heaton is a normal lively child of just eight years old, but at five foot two he is nearer in height to boys four years older than he is. He is expected to reach a fully-grown height of between six foot ten and seven foot two inches. For his mother Gidea, herself six foot, the problems range from people expecting Alex to behave like a twelve year old to clothing a child whose feet can grow two sizes in a matter of days.