BritBox UK announces new and exclusive documentary, Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted

BritBox UK announces new and exclusive documentary, Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted

London, October 11th: BritBox UK, The Format Factory and Anderson Entertainment announced today a new and exclusive documentary. Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted is in production and will be launched on BritBox on 14th April 2022.

A national treasure, Gerry Anderson’s career spanned 60 years, and he created some of the world's most beloved children’s television series including Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Space:1999, Terrahawks, Space Precinct and many more, some of which were produced alongside his ex-wife Sylvia. Released a decade after his death, this incredibly revealing, emotionally charged and deeply personal documentary will draw on exclusive access to over 30 hours of previously unpublished interviews, in order to share the untold stories that defined his life and body of work. 

In a fitting tribute to a television and film pioneer, and with permission from the Gerry Anderson estate, A Life Uncharted will use a wealth of intimate audio archive combined with deep fake technology to allow Gerry to tell his story on screen for the first time. With additional new interviews and commentary from friends, family, and colleagues, subscribers will get unique access to an examination of Gerry Anderson’s life and his perspective on his tumultuous personal and business relationships. 

From a poverty-stricken childhood raised by a Jewish father and an anti-semitic mother, through a lifetime of personal struggles, this documentary maps his previously uncharted journey to puppetry pioneer, science fiction master and legendary creator. 

Gerry’s younger son, and director of Anderson Entertainment, Jamie Anderson said: “The process of making this documentary has been an amazing journey for me. I’ve got to know Dad in ways that I never managed during his lifetime. The things I’ve learned make his achievements all the more incredible, but also make so many of the characters and shows he created even more meaningful. It’s a difficult story, but one that needs to be told - and that will fascinate fans of his shows” 

Director and producer at The Format Factory, Benjamin Field added:  “I grew up watching re-runs of Anderson titles and to now be creating the definitive personal documentary about Gerry’s life is just incredible. From an early stage I was keen to bring Gerry’s words to screen using cutting edge technology as Gerry was such a fan of gadgets and technical wizardry. The documentary has become more touching than I first anticipated and has given me goosebumps whilst watching the rough cuts already.”

The documentary is being produced by Format Factory TV and Anderson Entertainment with Worldwide distribution handled by Abacus Media Rights.

BritBox subscribers will be able to exclusively stream

 Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted from 14th April, 2022. 

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About BritBox

BritBox is a digital video subscription service created by the BBC and ITV. The service brings the very best in past, present and future British programming and award-winning content to viewers all in one place for £5.99 per month in HD. British TV boxsets from All 4 and British films from Film 4 are also available. The service includes high quality factual and entertainment content from Channel 5 plus original British comedies from Comedy Central UK. BritBox features the biggest collection of British content available on any streaming service, and brand new commissions for British production companies specifically created for BritBox. BritBox also offers expert curation and playlists that will enable viewers to easily find programmes they know and discover new favourites  via web, mobile, tablet, connected TVs and streaming devices including Fire TV, Apple TV, Freesat & Chromecast. Content on BritBox can be downloaded and viewed offline where rights allow.

About The Format Factory 

The Format Factory is the award-winning unscripted production and development arm of Free@Last TV. Free@Last TV is the producer of high-end scripted content including the hugely popular comedy-drama 'Agatha Raisin' series for Acorn TV and broadcast by Sky in the UK. The Format Factory is a truly independent content creator and production company founded by Barry Ryan and David Walton in 2017 to create, curate and produce unscripted content across the genres. As well as creating and producing content the Format Factory works with IP creators to create a bridge between creatives and commissioners and helping people make their content happen.  The Format Factory holds the Free@Last TV archives. Prior to specialising in scripted, Free@Last TV produced over 450 hours of non-scripted television for a large range of broadcasters

About Anderson Entertainment

Anderson Entertainment is a content production company set up by the late Gerry Anderson, creator of Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Thunderbirds Are Go, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, Thunderbird 6, Joe 90 and The Secret Service, along with live-action productions Doppelgänger, UFO, The Protectors, Space:1999 and The Day After Tomorrow, as well as the more recent Terrahawks, Dick Spanner, Space Precinct, Lavender Castle

and New Captain Scarlet. Today, with Gerry’s son Jamie, a respected writer and producer, as its managing director, the company develops its own IP and projects from Gerry Anderson’s personal archive and manages Gerry Anderson’s estate and existing works. Anderson Entertainment has also developed brand-new content for delivery across a variety of viewing and audio platforms and has an ecommerce offering – the Official Gerry Anderson Store – which makes official and exclusive merchandise available to Anderson fans across the globe.

About Abacus Media Rights

Abacus Media Rights (AMR) acquires and distributes a diverse slate of premium, multi-genre programming in the international market. At the same time, the company also works with producers to facilitate pre-sales and development finance as well as broadcaster commissions.

Embracing a fully transparent reporting ethos throughout, AMR focuses on building strong client relationships and generating positive solutions at every stage of the process, from initial financing to worldwide broadcast in order to successfully deliver scripted and non-scripted entertainment that counts to a global audience. 

Abacus Media Rights is a member of the Amcomri Media Group.

Further details: www.abacusmediarights.com  Twitter: @abacus_rights