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The BBC is set to broadcast a two-part docuseries about “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling.
Produced by Rogan Scotland (“Becoming Frida Kahlo”), it will trace her “dramatic rise, cultural influence and contested legacy,
using her life as a lens through which to explore three decades of profound social, political and technological change,” according to the press release.
Rowling wrote “Harry Potter” as a struggling single mother in an Edinburgh cafe, never anticipating the seven-part book series, first published in 1997, would turn into one of the most successful stories in the world, encompassing theme parks, films, TV series, video games and a vast merchandising empire.
In recent years, the author has also waded into some of society’s most hotly-contested political topics. The press release for the docuseries says it will explore how she became what it calls “one of Britain’s most polarizing public figures.” In Episode 2, the doc will follow Rowling “as she steps out from behind her creation and becomes an increasingly powerful political voice.”
“Admired by supporters as a fearless defender of women’s rights and condemned by critics who call her an opponent of trans equality, she finds herself divided from some of the actors and fans who once championed her work,” the release says.
Rowling is not participating in the doc, which will instead use archive material, her writing and interviews with some of those who have worked with her.
“Thirty years after the publication of the first ‘Harry Potter’ book, there feels like no better time for the BBC to explore one of the towering figures of British literature,” said Simon Young, BBC history’s head of commissioning. “No cultural history of Britain in the 21st century would be complete without the story of the boy wizard that J.K. Rowling created, the publishing and film-making phenomenon that she spawned, or the polarizing public figure she has become.”
The docuseries, tentatively titled “J.K. Rowling,” will be broadcast on BBC Two, BBC Scotland and iPlayer. BBC Studios is handling global distribution.
News of the docuseries comes ahead of HBO’s upcoming reboot of “Harry Potter” as a television series, set to launch this Christmas.
