J.K. Rowling To Be Subject Of BBC Documentary Examining Her Rise & Gender Identity Views

The BBC is planning to examine the life and career of J.K. Rowling in a two-part documentary that is likely to spark significant scrutiny. The UK broadcaster has commissioned Rogan Productions (Grenfell: Uncovered) to produce J.K. Rowling (working title), exploring the author’s dramatic rise, cultural influence, and contested legacy. The first episode will spotlight the creation of Harry Potter and the stratospheric success of the wizarding universe created by Rowling. The second episode will examine her interventions on Scottish independence, feminism, free speech, and gender identity, which place her at the heart of increasingly bitter online exchanges. The documentary will draw on “rare” archive, Rowling’s own words, and interviews with people who worked with her during her career. The announcement does not make clear whether Rowling will be interviewed or is cooperating with the documentary. Watch on Deadline Rowling has a mixed relationship with the BBC. She has collaborated successfully with the BBC on adapting her Strike novels, but she has been critical of the corporation’s reporting on trans rights. J.K. Rowling is being shopped at MIPCOM, but it is not clear when the documentary will premiere. It is possible — but not confirmed — that the BBC could be looking to air the documentary around the same time that HBO’s Harry Potter series premieres in December. Simon Young, the BBC’s head of history commissioning, said: “Thirty years after the publication of the first Harry Potter book, there feels like no better time for the BBC to explore one of the towering figures of British literature. “No cultural history of Britain in the 21st century would be complete without the story of the boy wizard that J.K. Rowling created, the publishing and film-making phenomenon that she spawned, or the polarising public figure she has become.” J.K. Rowling was greenlit by BBC Two, BBC Scotland and iPlayer, and is made by Rogan Scotland. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, head of specialist factual commissioning, and Louise Thornton, head of multi-platform commissioning, BBC Scotland. The executive producers are James Rogan and Mark Hedgecoe. The commissioners are Young and David Harron, BBC Scotland.