Queen TV Programmes
All of the programmes on this page were
produced specifically for television broadcast in the UK, and
focus exclusively on Queen or Freddie.
All shows were broadcast on the main terrestrial or digital
channels available in central England. This lists all of the
programmes that I know to have been broadcast since about March
1999; undoubtedly there will have been specific programmes
produced and broadcast before this, and I could well have missed
other programmes broadcast since then.
100% Queen (13 March 2000)
Don't Stop Me Now (4 December
1999)
Freddie's Loves (2004)
Freddie
Mercury Saved My Life with Alfie Boe (18 May 2014)
Freddie
Mercury: Who Wants To Live Forever (20 November 2016)
Queen Jukebox (7 - 13 March 2000)
Queen Mania (9 April 2005)
Queen Mania - The
Show Must Go On (9 April 2005)
The Nation's
Favourite Queen Song (11 November 2014)
When Freddie
Mercury Met Kenny Everett (1 June 2002)
Freddie
Mercury - A Kind Of Magic (12 September 2006) and Freddie
Mercury - Magic Remixed (15 September 2006)
Freddie
Mercury - The Great Pretender (16 October 2012)
Freddie
Mercury - The Untold Story (8 December 2000)
Freddie's
Millions (AKA Mercury's Millions) (2004)
In
The Lap Of The Gods (The Queen Phenomenon) (13 March 2000)
Is This The
Real Life? (4 December 1999)
Killer Queen (1
June 2002)
Queen: Rock The
World (3 November 2017)
Rags To Rhapsody
(18 December 2015)
The
Making Of 'A Night At The Opera' (18 December 2005)
The
Story Of Bohemian Rhapsody (4 December 2004)
The
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert Documentary (2002)
100% Queen
First broadcast on 13th March 2000 on Channel 5 as part of 'Queen
For A Day'.
Length 25 minutes.
'100%' was a quiz which was broadcast daily on Channel 5 from
1997 to 2001, and featured 100 multiple-choice general knowledge
questions. They also produced a Queen special, where 3 fans
answered questions all based on Queen. The programme features a
mix of normal questions, and some based on photographs, audio
clips and video clips.
The questions can be found in the Quiz section.
Don't Stop Me
Now
First broadcast on 4th December 1999 on Channel 4 as part of
'Queen For A Night'.
Length 57 minutes.
Directed by Ben Fuller
Produced by Simon Broadley
Executive producer: Bob Massie
This is a new programme, where celebrities talk about their
favourite Queen tracks and videos, with clips of each, including:
- Opening Titles - 'Don't Stop Me Now', with footage from
many different promo videos
- I Want To Break Free
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love
- Play The Game
- A Kind Of Magic
- Radio Ga Ga
- Who Wants To Live Forever
- It's A Hard Life
- Princes Of The Universe
- I'm Going Slightly Mad
- We Are The Champions
- These Are The Days Of Our Lives
- Bohemian Rhapsody
The celebrities interviewed are:
- Comedians Harry Hill, Richard Blackwood, Peter Kay, Bill
Bailey, John Shuttleworth and Lee Evans
- Singers Boy George, Ronan Keating, Elton John, Cliff
Richard and Holly Johnson
- Groups Westlife, Five and Eternal
- TV Presenters Rolf Harris, Kate Thornton, Jayne
Middlemiss, Ian Wright and Matthew Kelly
- And Jim Jenkins (Queen expert), Wayne Hemmingway (fashion
designer), Richard O'Brien (TV Presenter & 'Rocky
Horror Picture Show' creator), Cleo Rocos (former co-star
of 'The Kenny Everett Show'), Michael Starke ('Brookside'
actor), and Jake & Dinos Chapman (conceptual
artists).
Freddie's Loves
First broadcast in 2004, and later shown on 28 August 2006, on
Channel 5.
This programme, as the title suggests, looks at Freddie's love
life. It features interviews with his longterm boyfriend Jim
Hutton, photographer Mick Rock, former promoter Eric Hall, former
manager Ken Tetsi, costume designer Wendy Edmonds, Freddie's
friends David Evans, David Wigg, Peter Straker and Wayne Sleep,
assistant Peter Freestone, Barbara Valentin's daughter and
friend, former schoolfriend Josephine Marston, a member of the
Village People, and a long list of Freddie's alleged lovers.
The programme features excerpts from several different tracks and
videos, some unseen footage from the Hammersmith Odeon show, and
some home video footage of Freddie. However, rather than feature
Freddie's music it includes music by numerous other artists,
including Elton John and The Scissor Sisters.
Altogether, this is another bad TV programme invading the private
life of Freddie, which he obviously did not want to become public
knowledge, something which many contributors to the programme
seem to have conveniently forgotten. The only redeeming feature
of the programme is the title, which lets you know exactly what
it will be about, rather than the numerous other programmes which
have been made which feature similar content under the guise of
it being a serious look at his life and music.
Freddie
Mercury Saved My Life with Alfie Boe
First broadcast on 18th May 2014 at 10:00pm on ITV1. Length 49
minutes.
This programme features opera singer Alfie Boe drawing parallels
between his career and Freddie's. It covers Freddie's childhood,
moving to England, the early days of Queen, 'Bohemian Rhapsody',
Live Aid, 'Barcelona', his illness and last days, and features
interviews with Brian May, Freddie's mum Jer Bulsara, sister
Kashmira Cooke, Bob Geldof, Rick Wakeman, Montserrat Caballe,
Zandra Rhodes, Peter Hince, Mike Moran, Peter Freestone, David
Evans, Bruce Murray (a bandmate of Freddie's in 'The Hectics')
and his college friends.
The programme features previously unseen footage of Freddie at
college, rare photographs, footage of Lake Geneva, Freddie's
statue, and the Queen Studio Experience, and also features brief
clips of Brian performing 'Keep Yourself Alive' and 'Stone Cold
Crazy' on acoustic guitar, and Alfie singing 'Barcelona' and
'Mother Love'.
Freddie
Mercury: Who Wants To Live Forever
First broadcast on 20 November 2016 at 9pm on Channel 5.
Length 94 minutes.
Freddie Mercury portrayed by John Blunt
Narrated by Richard Allinson
Written and directed by John Fothergill
Executive producers Ed Taylor and Michael Kelpie
This documentary features various interviews alongside
dramatisations, telling the story of Freddie's personal life,
focusing on the years from 'Live Aid' to his death. As with many
of the documentaries of this kind, it relies on a great deal of
speculation and was publicly condemned by Brian.
It features interviews with Peter Hince (former roadie), Peter
Straker (friend), Harvey Goldsmith (promoter), David Wigg
(journalist), Paul Gambuccini (journalist), Reinhold Mack
(producer), Mike Moran (producer), Terry Giddings (bodyguard and
chauffeur), Brian Southall (head of press, EMI), Richard Young
(photographer), Lesley Ann-Jones (biographer) and Dr Graeme Moyle
(Freddie's HIV doctor). It includes some footage of 'Bohemian
Rhapsody' from Live Aid, the 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love',
'Play The Game' and 'The Great Pretender' promo videos, backstage
footage of the 'Living On My Own', 'I Want It All' and 'These Are
The Days Of Our Lives' videos, the 'One Vision' recording
sessions, and the 'Barcelona' performance at the La Nit festival.
The programme was broadcast from 9pm to 11pm, with six advert
breaks lasting four minutes each.
Queen Jukebox
First broadcast on 13th March 2000 on Channel 5 as part of 'Queen
For A Day'.
Length 24 minutes.
The aim of this programme was to produce a list of the nations
favourite Queen tracks. Over five days from 7-11 March 2000,
clips of thirty tracks were shown, with viewers phoning in to
vote for their favourites.
The tracks that could be voted for were:
- All songs on 'Greatest Hits I', except 'Now I'm Here',
'Good Old Fashioned Loverboy' and 'Save Me'
- All songs on 'Greatest Hits II', except 'Hammer To Fall',
'Who Wants To Live Forever', 'The Miracle' and 'The Show
Must Go On'
- And, in addition, 'Heaven For Everyone', 'Let Me Live'
and 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives'
The programmes were narrated by Radio One DJ Mark Goodyear,
and the resulting programme contained the top ten songs, with a
segment of each promo video being played. The results were:
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- These Are The Days Of Our Lives
- We Are The Champions
- A Kind Of Magic
- I Want To Break Free
- We Will Rock You
- Somebody To Love
- One Vision
- Radio Ga Ga
- Breakthru'
Queen Mania
First broadcast on 9 April 2005 on ITV1.
Length 59 minutes.
Directed by Stuart McDonald
Produced by Andrew Llinares
Executive producer: Jeff Thacker
This programme saw a number of acts performing Queen tracks (and
one solo track). It was presented by Zoe Ball, and contained
unforgettable performances (for all the wrong reasons) of:
- 'One Vision' by Mel C
- 'Barcelona' by Lesley Garrett and G4
- 'Somebody To Love' by Heather Small
- 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Toyah Willcox
- 'Too Much Love Will Kill You' by Myleene Klass
- 'Who Wants To Live Forever' by Russell Watson
- 'You're My Best Friend' by Tony Christie
- 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by G4
It also included a 'hilarious' version of 'I Want To Break
Free' (their words, not mine) by four members of Coronation
Street, and interviews with the various performers, intercut with
some clips from promo videos and live footage.
Queen
Mania - The Show Must Go On
First broadcast on 9 April 2005 on ITV2.
Length unknown, but at least 60 minutes.
Producer and director Esther Dere
Produced by Andrew Llinares
This programme basically featured the performers from the above
programme, and other celebrities, talking about Queen, and
generally showing how little they knew about the band, intercut
with some footage from live shows or promo videos. The
celebrities were too numerous and too insignificant to list, but
mainly included presenters and soap stars. None of the people
asked could name all of the members of the group, showing what
great fans they really are. There are plenty of well known Queen
fans from the worlds of music and comedy, so why they chose these
I don't know (although I suspect they were much cheaper and had
more time on their hands).
The
Nation's Favourite Queen Song
First broadcast on 11 November 2014 on ITV1 at 9:00pm.
Length 89 minutes (with four advert breaks).
Produced and directed by John Piper
This programme, narrated by comedian Matt Lucas, revealed the top
20 Queen songs as picked by a panel of ITV1 viewers. As well as
talking about each track, the programme featured segments about
Queen's origins, history, influence, fashion, and Freddie's
illness. It features archive interviews with Freddie and John,
and new interviews with Brian, Roger, collaborators Spike Edney
and Fred Mandel, producer Mack, video directors David Mallet and
Bruce Gowers, assistant Peter Freestone, roadie Peter Hince,
musicians Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Noddy Holder (Slade), Tony
Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Mel C (Spice Girls), Tom Fletcher
(Mcfly) and Katy Perry, comedian Al Murray, DJ's Bob Harris,
Johnnie Walker and Trevor Nelson, designers Zandra Rhodes and
Wayne Hemmingway, composer David Arnold, choreographer Arlene
Phillips, Kenny Everett's agent Jo Gurnett, and some fan extras
from the 'Radio Ga Ga' video.
As well as the usual combination of promo videos and live
performances, it also features backstage footage from Houston
1977, the 'Radio Ga Ga' and 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives'
videos, the studio recording of 'We Are The Champions' and an
unreleased live performance of 'Bicycle Race' from 1978.
The top 20 was as follows:
20. I Want It All
19. It's A Hard Life
18. One Vision
17. You're My Best Friend
16. Seven Seas Of Rhye
15. The Show Must Go On
14. Another One Bites The Dust
13. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
12. A Kind Of Magic
11. Who Wants To Live Forever
10. Somebody To Love
9. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
8. Radio Ga Ga
7. Under Pressure
6. Killer Queen
5. We Are The Champions
4. I Want To Break Free
3. Don't Stop Me Now
2. We Will Rock You
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
When Freddie Mercury Met Kenny Everett
First broadcast on 1st June 2002 on Channel 4 as part of 'Queen
Night'.
Length 60 minutes.
Directed by Nichola Black
Produced by Paul Gallagher
A documentary focusing on the friendship between Freddie and
radio DJ Kenny Everett, featuring some audio and video footage of
Queen. The programme also features interviews with Mary Austin,
Peter Freestone, Jim Hutton, Paul Gambuccini, and Kenny's former
wife Lee. The programme was described as 'a fascinating insight'
into their friendship, but unsurprisingly is yet another massive
invasion of their privacy.