BBC Documentaries

Dame Vera Lynn: Happy 100th Birthday (2017x65)

Uitzenddatum: Mrt 18, 2017

This one-hour programme is a happy birthday tribute celebrating the life and work of Dame Vera Lynn, including exclusive access to Dame Vera Lynn as she watches home movies and videos from the past with her daughter Virginia. It tells the story of a working-class girl from Essex who changed the lives of so many - whose career spanned a whole century - singing at seven to help pay the family bills, falling accidentally into the limelight and still singing right up to today. Dame Vera can't read music. She has never had singing lessons and even refused to change her singing style to fit in with the fashions of the day. Yet she sang at the Queen's 16th birthday and calls the royal family her friends. We meet the war heroes whose hearts she touched as she brought memories from Britain to the front line and find out how celebrities like Miriam Margolyes, Barry Humphries, Tim Rice and Sir Paul McCartney are still touched by Dame Vera's voice. We discover why she is a national treasure, and see her humility shine through - she really can't understand what all the fuss is about, despite being one of the greatest female singers this country has ever produced.