The highly-anticipated “Wagatha Christie” documentary with Coleen Rooney is set to air on Disney+ the streamer confirmed today.
Unveiling its scripted slate at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Disney+ also announced a slate of high-end original unscripted titles. In addition to “Wagatha Christie” (working title) the platform is set to premiere docs from Keanu Reeves about Formula 1 (which Variety first revealed in July), Asif Kapadia about London’s alternative capital Camden Town, Bear Grylls’ about Spencer Matthews’s missing brother, and Conde Nast with an inside look at Vogue featuring Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful.
Sean Doyle, director of unscripted content, EMEA, for Disney+, commissioned the five projects, which will premiere on Disney+ in EMEA and Asia Pacific and Star+ in Latin America.
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“Our aim was to find brilliant once-in-a-lifetime stories that showcase a wide range of subjects; and these latest projects truly deliver on that promise,” said Doyle. “We’re working with our elite creative partners on this slate, reflecting the UK’s status as an unscripted powerhouse and establishing Disney+ as a destination for unscripted titles.”
Check out the full slate below:
Wagatha Christie (working title)
When Coleen Rooney, wife of soccer player Wayne Rooney, revealed on Instagram she had uncovered the individual who’d been selling stories about her to the tabloids, it set off a chain of events no one expected. The culprit was rival footballer’s wife Rebecca Vardy who launched an ill-advised defamation lawsuit after being publicly unmasked. The result was a legal battle that became a tabloid sensation. Produced by Lorton Entertainment in association with Dorothy Street Pictures, “Wagatha Christie” will tell the story of the lawsuit that gripped a nation featuring interviews with Coleen, her family and friends as well as others involved in the trial.
Brawn; The One Pound Formula 1 Team (working title)
As Variety first revealed in July, Keanu Reeves is making a four-part documentary series about the British Formula 1 team’s incredible 2009 season with All3Media indie North One. Jenson Button and Ross Brawn as well as others who were there will give the inside story of the underdog team, bought for just £1, who managed to pull off a miracle.
“I am honoured to be a part of telling the incredible story of Brawn GP and their remarkable F1 Championship Season in 2009 with those who lived it in this four-part documentary series,” said Reeves, who has conducted interviews and will narrate the series. “It has been great to have the support of Disney+ and producing partnership with North One to bring this story to life.”
Showrunner Simon Hammerson developed and produced the series while Daryl Goodrich will direct. Reeves, Doyle and Neil Duncanson are exec producing.
In Vogue: The 1990s
This documentary from Vogue Studios and Raw will give viewers a glimpse behind the scenes at the world’s foremost fashion bible. With access to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, British Vogue editor Edward Enninful and other key players at Conde Nast, the series will explore how the 1990s were a landmark era for fashion, music and film. Other cultural figures such as designers, models and musicians will also appear.
“The 90s was such an exciting and important decade for fashion,” said Wintor. “It was the period when fashion entered the mainstream–when it became inescapable, culturally relevant and full of iconoclasm and expression and difference. The personalities were larger than life too. This series will capture all of that and I’m thrilled it’s coming to Disney+.”
Liesel Evans and Sam Anthony will exec produce for Raw while Sarah Amos, Mark Guiducci, and Helen Estabrook exec produce for Condé Nast Entertainment.
Camden
Oscar-winner and North Londoner Asif Kapadia will explore London’s alternative capital, Camden Town, in this four-part documentary from Lightbox which will document the area’s musical and artistic heritage.
“I’m a born and bred North Londoner and Camden has been a key part of my life; I’ve had all sorts of experiences there: good, great…and edgy,” said Kapadia. “This series celebrates an ever-evolving music scene in a unique place which has always been at the forefront of counterculture and has a musical legacy to match anywhere in the world. I am delighted to be working with Lightbox and Day One and we are hugely excited that Disney+ has given us a global platform for to tell this special story.”
Day One Pictures will executive produce. Kapadia is series director while Gaby Aung is series producer. Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn and Suzanne Lavery exec produce for Lightbox and Nick Shymansky, Jasper Waller-Bridge and Ben Friedman for Day One Pictures.
Finding Michael
Spencer Matthews came to public prominence as the wild lothario of reality TV series “Made in Chelsea” but what viewers didn’t know is he was hiding a painful secret: in 1999 his elder brother Michael became the youngest Briton to scale Mount Everest at the age of 22 – but disappeared shortly afterwards. His body was never found.
In this documentary, Spencer will set out to follow in Michael’s footsteps – and possibly find his brother. His expedition leader will be mountaineering world record holder Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja MBE.
Shine TV produce while The Natural Studios (a joint venture with Banijay) co-produce. Jon Swain and Tom Hutchings exec produce for Shine TV and Bear Grylls and Delbert Shoopman for The Natural Studios. Tom Beard (“The Year Earth Changed”) will direct.
