C4 commissions Born Free 50th anniversary doc

Daisybeck Studios will produce the one-hour doc which will see McKenna retrace the footsteps she took with her late husband Bill Travers to produce the 1966 film ,which later inspired them to set up animal rights group Born Free Foundation.

Virginia McKenna’s Born Free was commissioned by Channel 4 features commissioning editor Lizi Wootton and is set to air later this year.

Daisybeck managing director Paul Stead pitched the idea to Wootton after fostering a relationship with McKenna on the set of ITV’s Amanda Holden: Really Wild at Heart.

“We had just finished filming Beatrix Potter with Patricia Routledge and were talking about other ideas. I said it was the 50^th anniversary of the Born Free Film coming up and Lizi Wootton was totally engaged with it. She was pretty much on board straight away”.

The doc was filmed in May this year, directed by Danny Beck and executive produced by Stead.

He added: “This was a movie that changed the couple’s future and would lead them to a lifelong campaign to keep wildlife living free. Virginia has never been back to where the film has been made and her son Will, who is accompanying her on the journey, was only six when it was filmed so it was very emotional and powerful to make.”