Yahoo News Channel 5 Gets Access To Meghan Markle’s Father Thomas Markle For Feature-Length Documentary
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ViacomCBS’s UK broadcaster Channel 5 has secured access to Meghan Markle’s father Thomas Markle for feature-length documentary Thomas Markle: My Story.
Producer Alaska TV spent six days with Markle at a time when his daughter and her husband, Prince Harry, have taken the extraordinary decision to step away from the British royal family.
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The film will tell the story of the breakdown of his relationship with the Duchess of Sussex and feature his reaction to the news of the royal split, with Markle and Prince Harry moving to Canada.
Newspaper the Mail On Sunday got a first look at the documentary, which features Thomas Markle questioning his daughter’s plan to step back from royal duties.
“This is one of the greatest long-living institutions ever. They are destroying it, they are cheapening it, making it shabby… they shouldn’t be doing this,” he said.
Channel 5 plans to broadcast Thomas Markle: My Story in the coming weeks, and commissioner Daniel Pearl said it is a “sensitively made insightful film” that “explores a complicated father-daughter relationship.”
Pearl has pedigree when it comes to feature-length docs, having originally commissioned Leaving Neverland while he worked at Channel 4. Thomas Markle: My Story will be executive produced by Paul Sommers and Casper Daysh for Alaska. The director is David Modell, who won a BAFTA in 2003 for his Channel 4 film Young, Nazi & Proud.
Alaska’s creative director Ian Lamarra said: “Paul’s film will strengthen Alaska’s reputation for working with international names and handling sensitive access and I’m delighted that we are getting into premium feature documentary space.”
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