The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
BBC4 Thursday 9pm - 10:30pm
Repeat: BBC4 Tomorrow 2:35am
Repeat: BBC4 Mon 4 Jun 11:25pm
It’s the event often cited as the first to unite the country around their newly acquired television sets, but it seems that BBC cameras were nearly stopped from filming
the Queen’s coronation. Those surrounding the young monarch felt it would add enormously to her strain if she knew she was being so closely watched and forbade the corporation from televising the service live.
As this documentary recounting the occasion reveals, Winston Churchill eventually relented and overturned the ban, a decision that resulted in the number of licence-fee holders doubling to 3 million.
Documentary charting the historic events of June 2, 1953, when the Queen became the 39th sovereign to be crowned at Westminster Abbey. What happened behind the scenes is explored through diaries, letters and government papers, as well as rare film footage and photographs, and there are also interviews with historians and experts on royal ceremonies. The programme reveals that Her Majesty's apparent calmness during the Coronation contrasted with organisers' last-minute nerves as the BBC mounted its most ambitious television broadcast to date, amid the concerns of prime minister Winston Churchill.
Radiotimes
