The BBC has announced a new two-part documentary about JK Rowling, charting her rise to global fame as one of the UK’s most beloved children’s authors, then to the present day as a polarising figure thanks to her controversial views on transgender rights.
Rowling, 61, was a struggling single mother when she began writing the Harry Potter books in cafes around Edinburgh, spawning a global phenomenon that transformed the publishing industry and revitalised a generational love of reading.
The books were adapted into a hit series of films that made international stars of its lead actors, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, as well as featuring an ensemble cast of British screen legends such as Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter.
Following the first episode, which will explore how Rowling created “a universe with an economic legacy worth billions”, the second will assess the writer’s journey to becoming “an increasingly powerful political voice”, using her social media platforms to address issues including Scottish independence, feminism, free speech and gender identity.
The programme will draw on archives, Rowling’s own words and interviews with people who have worked with her during her career.
Rowling’s supporters have hailed her as a defender of women’s rights, while her critics have condemned her for her views on the rights of transgender people.
The author, who reasserted her stance in July this year that “trans women aren’t women”, has clashed with figures including Radcliffe, who in 2020 published an open letter condemning anyone causing “further harm” to the trans community.
Radcliffe’s former co-stars, Watson and Grint, are among the other original Harry Potter cast to oppose Rowling’s remarks, while she has been defended by actors from the films including Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.
Meanwhile, Rowling has denied that she is transphobic, stating that she respects “every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them”, and that she wants transgender people to be free from abuse and discrimination. She has also declared that she would rather go to jail than refer to a trans person by their preferred pronouns.
In a lengthy personal essay published in 2020, Rowling shared her experiences of domestic violence and sexual assault “out of solidarity with the huge numbers of women who have histories like mine, who’ve been slurred as bigots for having concerns around single-sex spaces”.
In 2024, in a collection of essays titledThe Women Who Wouldn’t Say Wheesht, published in The Times, Rowling wrote that she initially kept her thoughts on the matter to herself “because people around me, including some I love, were begging me not to speak”.
“So I watched from the sidelines as women with everything to lose rallied, in Scotland and across the UK, to defend their rights,” she said. “My guilt that I wasn’t standing with them was with me daily, like a chronic pain.”
Simon Young, head of commissioning for history at the BBC, said a statement: “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 for BBC Scotland, added: “JKRowling 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.”
An air date for the documentary series has yet to be announced.
Read MoreFrom leaks to rule-breaking: BBC struggles to keep lid on Celebrity Traitors cast
BBC axes new studio plans for popular series amid cost-cutting
Only Fools star received ‘moving’ letters after emotional storyline
