The network is also to air a documentary looking at the 1995 interview, as Channel 5 broadcast one this coming weekend.
“This is one of the world’s most famous television interviews – viewers watched enthralled and shocked as Princess Diana revealed the stories of her broken marriage. But how did Martin Bashir and the BBC production team get her to do it?
Years of deep digging into what really happened has led to Diana: The Truth Behind the Interview from Blink Films – and it’s a genuinely intriguing and fascinating watch, raising serious questions that have been unanswered for years.” – Shaminder Nahal, Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual
Diana, Princess of Wales’ November 1995 interview with the BBC’s Panorama was one of the most momentous programmes in the history of television. Its revelations stunned the world, painted the monarchy as cruel and oppressive and put its future in jeopardy.
Allegations about how and why Diana was persuaded by a relatively unknown journalist to take part have remained unanswered since then. Now, 25 years on Diana: The Truth Behind the Interview speaks to key insiders at the BBC and those who knew and worked closely with Diana, and along with archive documents pieces together the full story behind the explosive interview
As well as revealing intimate details of her own private life and her husband’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles in the Panorama interview, Diana indicated she did not want to become Queen of England – and also cast doubt on Prince Charles’ suitability as future King. But, with established star interviewers across the UK and US all seeking to speak to her for their high profile talk shows, why was Diana persuaded by Martin Bashir – a relatively unknown, junior ranking journalist to give an exclusive interview to a current affairs programme?
Diana: The Truth Behind the Interview builds on years of research to explore methods employed by the BBC as they sought to persuade Diana to talk. It hears from insiders how the BBC created forged documents and asks whether these were what persuaded her to go public.
Other interviewees include Diana’s former Private Secretary Patrick Jephson, biographer Andrew Morton, and Sir Max Hastings – the former Daily Telegraph editor who reveals how Diana told him the whole story – long before the approaches from Panorama – but he declined to publish, because of the damage it would cause.
“Diana’s Panorama interview stunned the world and rocked the Monarchy with its revelations about her relationship with her husband and the Royal family.
But it also raised questions and allegations about just how a junior journalist scooped his high-profile competitors which have largely unanswered for 25 years. We are now able to tell the full, extraordinary story.” – Dan Chambers, Creative Director of Blink Films
However pipping them to the post is Channel 5 who this Sunday air their own documentary about that Diana interview that drew an audience of 22.8million people in the UK. Diana: The Interview that Shocked the World airs on Channel 5 at 9pm on October 11th. No air date has been issued for the Channel 4 offering.
