Entertainment

Dame Joan Collins on new documentary: People can draw their own conclusions

The actress and author narrates This Is Joan Collins, which will air on BBC Two on January 1.
The actress and author narrates This Is Joan Collins, which will air on BBC Two on January 1.

Dame Joan Collins has said she did not want some historic “very nasty, vicious, mean, spiteful things from reviewers” to feature in a forthcoming documentary about her because she is someone who “always look(s) on the bright side”.

The 88-year-old actress and author has narrated This Is Joan Collins, a new feature-length documentary on her life, which will air on BBC Two on January 1.

The film, described as being “told from the ringside”, sees Dame Joan look through her “own rollercoaster seven decades in showbiz – with her inimitable wit and verve”, the BBC said.

Copyright: Alamy / A7A collection
This Is Joan Collins looks back on the actress’s seven decades in showbiz (Alamy/A7A collection/BBC/PA) (Licensed from Alamy / A7A collection /BBC/Salon Escobar Ltd/Alamy /A7A collection )

Speaking about the documentary, Dame Joan told BBC Breakfast that scrapbooks from her career had been “kept religiously by my grandmother and then by my sister Jackie, and then by other people, and sometimes by me”.

She said: “And posted in it were a lot of very, very nasty, vicious, mean, spiteful things from reviewers.

“And I said I’d rather not have those in because I’m a very positive person and I just always look on the bright side and so I didn’t want those in the documentary.

“I just didn’t think there was any point, you know; people can draw their own conclusions. You know, if they don’t like it, or they don’t like me, that’s fine. You can switch off.

“But I didn’t necessarily want horrible, bitchy remarks.”

This Is Joan Collins will also feature home archive footage and see her speak about her illustrious career.

Dame Joan became a household name starring as Alexis Carrington Colby in US soap opera Dynasty, which was a Saturday night staple on BBC One in the 1980s.

The role brought her critical acclaim and earned her a Golden Globe Award for best actress in 1982 and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1984.

Her career has spanned the small and big screen, including recent roles in films like The Loss Adjuster.

Her more recent TV appearances include a recurring part in ITV comedy Benidorm, and she also starred in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Apocalypse.

– This Is Joan Collins airs on BBC Two on January 1 at 9pm