A new BBC documentary is to explore the impact and legacy of the Brighton bombing in which then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher narrowly avoided being killed in the IRA explosion.
The feature-length programme has been commissioned as the 40th anniversary of the attack approaches, and is being brought to screens by the makers of the award-winning BBC documentary series on the Troubles, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland.
The film will include new testimony from survivors of the blast at the Grand Hotel in Brighton on October 12, 1984, which killed five people and left 31 others seriously injured.
The hotel had been hosting the Conservative party’s annual conference, and the IRA planted a device behind a bathtub in one of the venue’s rooms over three weeks before the event.
The plan was to kill Mrs Thatcher, who escaped physically unharmed, and Belfast man Patrick Magee was later handed eight life sentences for his role in planting the bomb.
He was released in 1999 under the Good Friday Agreement, having served 14 years, and in 2022 gave an in-depth interview about the bombing.
The new documentary, directed by Guy King, will include Magee’s interview, along with testimony from victims’ loved ones.
Contributors will include Edward and Jo Berry, whose father, Tory MP Anthony Berry, was killed in the blast, and John Gummer, the former Tory party chairman who was with Mrs Thatcher the moment the bomb went off.
A description for the documentary says it “looks at the politics of this period, the devastation of the night itself, the subsequent search for Magee and his arrest, and how the Brighton bombing continues to have present-day effects, including for its many victims”.
Clare Sillery, BBC head of documentary commissioning, said: “The Brighton Bomb was a deadly attack aimed at the very heart of the British establishment. Forty years on, this film tells the story through the eyes of those who were directly involved and affected. These personal perspectives raise profound questions for us all - about political violence, revenge and remorse. Is it ever right to forget? And is it possible to forgive?”
BBC NI’s Eddie Doyle added: “This is an important and timely addition to our portfolio of programmes exploring the legacy and impact of the Troubles. Having Keo Films and Walk On Air at the helm, the team behind Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland, means the story around this particular event will be told in a sensitive, revealing and compelling way.”
