EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has greenlit a landmark documentary series on Elon Musk from Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story producer 72 Films, Deadline can reveal.
Airing later this year, BBC Two’s The Elon Musk Show (working title) comes with the world’s richest man in the headlines like never before as he pushes through his $43BN mega-deal to buy Twitter. Deadline understands the producers have updated the three-part doc series in order to accommodate for the Twitter acquisition, the big news of the past few weeks.
72 Films, which has nursed a reputation over the years for producing top-quality archive docs including the BBC’s Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty, A Dangerous Dynasty: House of Assad and The Trump Show, has interviewed family members, close friends and business associates of the Tesla tycoon, who tell the intimate story of his journey to becoming the globe’s wealthiest and one of its most controversial men.
Using extensive and unseen archive from his time in Silicon Valley, the series analyzes the key moments in Musk’s career from tech start-ups to the present day.
BAFTA Craft-winning Defending Digga D director Marian Mohamed is directing with A&E In The War Zone’s Jeremy Llewellyn Jones.
“There is no getting away from Elon Musk,” said the directors. “It’s always exciting to be documenting the biggest stories of the day and our series will go inside Elon’s inner circle, examining the billionaire’s incredible rise and the truth behind this modern icon.”
BBC Commissioning Editor Simon Young described Musk as “one of the most enigmatic and intriguing people in the world.”
The greenlight comes with Musk docs all the rage.
Netflix’s Return to Space about the Tesla CEO and SpaceX engineers’ historic mission to the International Space Station dropped on the platform last month and FX’s latest The New York Times Presents will be titled Elon Musk’s Crash Course.
The Elon Musk Show was commissioned by Clare Sillery, BBC Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, History and Religion. Executive Producers are David Glover, Mark Raphael and Christopher Sykes.
Earlier today, Musk was summoned in front of an influential UK parliamentary committee to discuss his plans for Twitter and how this dovetails with his views on free speech.
