The documentary will be screened 30 years after the publication of the first Harry Potter book
A new documentary is to examine the “polarising public figure” of Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, 30 years after the publication of the first book about the boy wizard.
Drawing on rare archive footage, Rowling’s own words and interviews from people who worked with her along the way, the two-part BBC Scotland series will trace the author’s 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.
It will also look at Ms Rowling’s metamorphosis from much-loved children’s book author into a divisive public figure. The author, who famously penned the first Harry Potter books in Edinburgh cafes, has attracted controversy due to her views on gender identity.
Episode one of the series, which is to be screened next year, will chart Rowling’s path from a bookish childhood and time spent writing in Edinburgh cafés to unprecedented literary success. Harry Potter transformed children’s publishing, revitalised reading and burnished Britain’s cultural identity. It looks at how as the books inspired a generation of outsiders and brought millions of young fans together through the emerging internet, Rowling created a universe with an economic legacy worth billions.
Meanwhile, episode two follows Rowling as she steps out from behind her creation and becomes an increasingly powerful political voice. Amid the rise of social media and intensifying culture wars, her interventions on Scottish independence, feminism, free speech and gender identity place her at the centre of increasingly bitter online exchanges.
Admired by supporters as a fearless defender of women’s rights and condemned by critics who call her an opponent of trans equality, the episode examines how she found herself divided from some of the actors and fans who once championed her work.
Simon Young, head of commissioning, history, at the BBC, said: “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. No cultural history of Britain in the 21st century would be complete without the story of the boy wizard that JK Rowling created, the publishing and film-making phenomenon that she spawned, or the polarising public figure she has become.”
David Harron, commissioning editor, BBC Scotland, which made the documentary in partnership with BBC Factual, said: “JK Rowling is arguably one of the most influential figures in the literary and wider media worlds. Through the extraordinary story of her life and work, this series explores not only the creation of a global phenomenon, but also how Britain's culture has been shaped by significant social and technological changes in recent years.”
James Rogan, executive producer of the series, said: "JK Rowling has achieved extraordinary literary success, with her influence spanning a generation of fans, crossing into cinema and the online world. Rogan Scotland explores her unique story from her early days as a writer to the present moment and how her unflinching personal beliefs have sparked a fraught and divisive dialogue that continues to this day."