PBS and the BBC are combining on a landmark documentary series about the rise and fall of disco, while the BBC has revealed its Christmas schedule including new natural history commissions.
Disco Inferno: The Sound of the Underground (w/t) is the latest co-commission for the U.S. and British pubcaster and will be produced by BBC Studios.
Exploring disco’s continuing musical and cultural legacy, the three-parter will “bring the overlooked pioneers together to tell a powerful, new revisionist history of the disco age,” according to the BBC.
The show will start in the 1970s when the pioneering social movement began and move through the years, showcasing archive footage and tracks from down the decades.
It is the first revealed commission for Jonathan Rothery, who the BBC hired from Channel 4 as its first Head of Pop Music TV, and Rothery said Disco Inferno will “highlight many new or untold stories of the genre.” Bill Gardner is the executive in charge and BBC Studios is handling global distribution.
Christmas schedule
The doc was revealed at the BBC’s Christmas Party, attended by BBC execs, producers and journalists and featuring a presentation from Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore.
As per usual she showcased the BBC’s Christmas schedule including a duo of unannounced natural history shows: Snow Dogs: Into the Wild, helmed by Gordon Buchanan, and Frozen Planet II: Worlds of Wonder.
The latter, also from BBC Studios, will bring together the highlights of the recent David Attenborough blue chip.
On the scripted slate, a raft of previously-announced big-budget shows include the return of Happy Valley, the Martin Compston-starring Mayflies, a 10th anniversary special of Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education and the latest adaptation of Robert Galbraith’s Strike titled Troubled Blood.