As Peter Sellers 100th birthday approaches on 8th September, the BBC is airing a variety of programmes from the archives to mark the occasion.
BBC2:
Monday 1st September, 11.00pm
The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers, the 2004 biographical film based on Roger Lewis’s book. BBC iPlayer link
BBC4:
Tuesday 2nd September, from 9.00pm
The Peter Sellers Story, a 1995 Arena three-part film portrait, incorporating home movies, film clips and interviews. BBC iPlayer link
BBC4:
Wednesday 3rd September, 00.25am
Parkinson, the interviews
Michael Parkinson looks back on his interviews with Peter Sellers BBC iPlayer link
BBC4:
Thursday 4th September, 10.00pm
The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers
Radio 4 Extra
Monday 8th September, 3.30pm, 9.30pm and 05.30am
Dreams; Peter Sellers at Sea. Part 1 of a dramatised story of the making of the movie Ghost in the Noonday Sun. BBC Sounds link
Radio 4 Extra
Monday 8th September, 10.00am, 4.00pm, midnight
Sellers in the Attic – Archive on 4 from 2010, Glenn Mitchell examines rare and lesser-known recordings of Peter Sellers. BBC Sounds link
Radio 4 Extra
Tuesday 9th September, 3.30pm, 9.30pm and 05.30am
Disaster; Peter Sellers at Sea – part 2 of the Ghost in the Noonday Sun drama. BBC Sounds link
Radio 4 Extra
Tuesday 9th September, 10.00am, 4.00pm, midnight
The Best of British Laughs, Peter Sellers on the Goons – Peter Sellers talks to Barry Took about starring in The Goon Show, from 1971. BBC Sounds link
(The original was 30 minutes, this is 15.)
Radio 4 Extra
Tuesday 9th September, 10.15am, 4.15pm, 00.15am
Movies with a Message – I’m Alright Jack – David Puttnam looks at the impact of the 1959 Peter Sellers film. BBC Sounds link
Radio 4 Extra
Tuesday 9th September, 10.00am, 4.30pm, 00.30am
Dad Made Me Laugh – Peter Sellers’ son Michael tells Sally Magnusson about the ups and downs of growing up with a famous funny father. From 2005. BBC Sounds link
Radio 4 Extra
Wednesday 10th September, 10.00am, 4.00pm and midnight
Peter Sellers Sings. Ed Stewart talks to Peter Sellers’s record producer George Martin about the creation of his music comedy albums. From 1997. BBC Sounds link
Also on the steam radio, a recent episode of Front Row featured the BFI’s Dick Fiddy and biographer Robert Ross discussing Peter Sellers’ legacy. It is available here on BBC Sounds.
(Overseas listeners who no longer have access to BBC Sounds should be able to find this one in Podcast form)
The Goon Show Preservation Society 