BBC Arts Orders Peter Sellers Documentary

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Brook Lapping, part of Zinc Media, has been commissioned by BBC Arts to make a documentary film for BBC Two about the comedian Peter Sellers.

Peter Sellers: A State Of Comic Ecstasy (working title), explores the comic’s talent as well as the complexities of his personal life—from his multiple marriages to his chronic health problems, fits of rage and insecurity and slow decline in his later years.

Greg Sanderson, managing director at Brook Lapping, said: “Brook Lapping has an outstanding track record in investigations and contemporary history, and it’s through this lens that we look at Peter Sellers. We have secured exceptional access to friends and family, colleagues, and critics, many of whom have never spoken before. Forty years on from his death, our film reveals how Peter Sellers could play any role at all, apart from just one—himself. We are delighted to be able to bring so much new insight into the real Peter Sellers.”

Mark Bell, director at BBC Arts, added: “BBC Arts brings audiences the very best in arts and culture, and is proud to include profiles of the figures who have shaped the cultural landscape as we know it. Peter Sellers had a profound impact on film and comedy, a genius as a performer but a mercurial personality; this in-depth look offers many revealing insights into his life and times, and I hope will offer an engaging diversion for people in lockdown.”