BBC’s new factual shows to include documentary on Michael Jackson abuse claims
By Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
A documentary investigating allegations of abuse against late singer Michael Jackson is among a number of new factual history shows due to air on BBC Two.
The three-part Legacy: Michael Jackson will also look at the singer’s rise to stardom and feature interviews with people who were close to the singer, along with rare archive footage when it launches.
Other new factual programmes commissioned by the BBC include Escaping Idi Amin, which will look at the story of the Ugandan Asians who were given 90 days to flee the African country by the dictator in 1972.
The two-part documentary will look at the 90-day departure period through interviews with those who lived through it.
Simon Young, head of commissioning for history at the BBC, said: “The titles we are announcing today show the incredible richness of BBC History.
“There is something here for everyone, startling tales from Georgian Edinburgh and Victorian London, modern history through the prism of a controversial pop superstar, hard lessons drawn from a 70s migration crisis, and a vital message about the risks that journalists take reporting from the world’s most dangerous places.
“These documentaries demonstrate that the future – and the present – are firmly rooted in the past. And if you want to know why the world is the way it is now, there is no better place to begin than by watching history on the BBC.”
The BBC has also commissioned Captured By IS, which will tell the story of British photojournalist John Cantlie, who was kidnapped in Syria alongside his American friend James Foley by the terrorist group calling itself Islamic State (IS) in 2012, when they were passed on to the British jihadis who became known as “The Beatles”.
IS released a video depicting Foley being murdered, and Cantlie’s loved ones braced themselves, but then a very different video emerged online, which saw him reporting for IS as a journalist.
The three-part show will interview fellow hostages, friends of the pair, investigators and politicians as well as British jihadis now imprisoned in Syria and Iraq.
Lucy Worsley’s Victorian Murder Club will also air on BBC Two, and will see the TV historian investigate the Thames Torso Murderer, who operated at the same time as Jack the Ripper, across three episodes.
A House Through Time, presented by David Olusoga, who is currently appearing in the BBC’s The Celebrity Traitors, will also return for its sixth series.
The show sees Olusoga look at the history of a single house and its occupants, with the upcoming series set in Edinburgh.
A release date for the new shows and latest series of A House Through Time is yet to be announced.