February 13, 2013 21:54

David Bowie film 'Five Years' to be broadcast on BBC Two

The feature-length documentary will air in May following the release of Bowie's new album 'The Next Day'

Photo: Press/Jimmy King

A new feature length film about the life and career of David Bowie is set to be broadcast on BBC Two.

David Bowie – Five Years will air in May and look at five important years in the artist's life – 1971, 1975, 1977, 1980 and 1983. It will also deal with his recent comeback.

Bowie shocked fans and the media alike on January 8 of this year – his 66th birthday – when he broke his decade-long musical silence by unveiling a brand new track and accompanying video, 'Where Are We Now?', and announced that a new album, titled 'The Next Day', would follow in March.

David Bowie – Five Years will feature unseen archive footage, interviews with collaborators and fellow musicians.

Of the film, BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said: "I'm thrilled to be bringing this film to BBC Two; David Bowie – Five Years promises to be a revealing look at the life and career of one of the modern era's most influential and innovative performers."

The film's director Francis Whately added: "This is a project that has been in development for more than a decade, in fact since Bowie and I worked together in 2001 on a film for the BBC Omnibus strand. This year, 2013, is shaping up to be the year of David Bowie, and now is the perfect moment for this feature-length film devoted to this extraordinary artist."

It was also recently revealed that David Bowie and Iggy Pop's Berlin years are set to be made into a big-screen biopic titled 'Lust For Life'.

The pair's legendary collaborative years in 1970s West Berlin, which led to Bowie's trilogy of albums 'Low', 'Heroes' and 'Lodger' and Pop's 'The Idiot' and 'Lust For Life' will be captured in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

British producers Altered Image have teamed up with Berlin-based Egoli Tossell Film to co-produce the biopic. Gabriel Range (Death Of A President) is reported to be directing the film with Robin French – who wrote BBC comedy Cuckoo – lined up to write the screenplay.

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