Unseen footage of Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, Robert, filmed by staff on his boat just before his mysterious death, recordings of phones he bugged and a survivor of Jeffery Epstein’s crimes who has never spoken publicly before are to be revealed in a new BBC documentary – one of the highlights of the corporation’s biggest push of its factual shows for years.
Launching the exploration of the Maxwell dynasty along with a slew of other programmes coming up this year, including two David Attenborough-fronted series, Frozen Planet II and Dinosaurs: The Final Day, the BBC’s factual, arts and classical music director, Fiona Campbell, claimed that “no other broadcaster has such incredible breadth of factual content” from across the UK.
The lineup includes Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff setting up a cricket team in Preston in Freddie’s First Eleven, and All at Sea which follows British fishing trawlers.
With the growth of the US streaming companies providing competition for talent and audiences, the ability of the BBC to shine a light on British stories can help to set it apart from its new rivals.
One such series is The House of Maxwell, which charts the rise and fall of the media mogul Robert’s family. It features footage taken by staff on his boat in the days before his death, including of Maxwell swimming. There are also secret, bugged recordings – ordered by Maxwell – of conversations his executives were having at the time about financial irregularities.
In one exchange, which has been re-voiced by actors to protect identities, an executive says: “I’m fucking furious … I’m fucked if I know what he’s done … He’s gone away on his boat … I’m still trying to track this bloody money down.”
The BBC’s head of documentaries, Clare Sillery, said producers obtained the recordings having used them for research about a previous Maxwell drama. They also obtained access to lawyers who investigated Ghislaine, plus “a survivor of Epstein and Maxwell who’s never spoken before who spent three years on the road with [them], spent time on the island in the Virgin Islands and her photographic record.”
The producers have also approached the Maxwell family for interviews.
Frozen Planet is returning after 11 years, using tiny new drone cameras that cause less disturbance to animals. Dinosaurs: The Final Day will air in tandem with the results of a dig in the US in April aiming to prove how dinosaurs were wiped out.
The BBC is also making its most ambitious environmental series to date. Over seven years, Our Changing Planet – fronted by Ade Adepitan, Liz Bonnin and Chris Packham - will document six key habitats.
In another first, the BBC’s natural history unit has stayed on location for four years to track animals in Zambia for Kingdom.
Other shows include Then Barbara Met Alan, a drama about the Disability Discrimination Act; Idris Elba’s Fight Club; a David Olusoga series called Union; documentaries marking 40 years of Aids and the Falklands War anniversary; and a series called Trouble at Top Shop.
In addition, from April, every week BBC Four will air Sunday Performance, featuring a performance such as The Play What I Wrote, starring Tom Hiddleston.
• This article was amended on 3 March 2022. The title of the upcoming David Attenborough-fronted series is Dinosaurs: The Final Day, not Last Day of the Dinosaurs as an earlier version said.
