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Sir Billy Connolly's career to be celebrated in ITV special after stand-up retirement

Billy Connolly attends the 21st National Television Awards Winners Room at The O2 Arena on January 20, 2016 in London, England.  (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Billy Connolly at the 21st National Television Awards. (WireImage)

Sir Billy Connolly's retirement from stand-up comedy is set to be marked in a special one-off programme on ITV.

Sir Billy Connolly: It's Been a Pleasure is set to feature the Big Yin himself, with filming done at the 77-year-old's Florida Keys home.

The one-hour programme will also hear from his celebrity fans, including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Whoopi Goldberg as they select their highlights of his career, while Connolly reflects on his own.

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His wife Pamela Stephenson is also offering up insights on her husband as the person who knows him best, the broadcaster has said.

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ITV has said of the special: "Billy Connolly: It’s Been A Pleasure... is a definitive celebration of an all-time great. An uplifting, emotional and hilarious hour in the company of the legendary Big Yin at his entertaining best.

"It will make you laugh. It may even make you cry. A fitting send-off for a stand-up megastar."

Connolly announced he would be retiring from stand-up comedy back in 2018. It came five years after the Scotsman publicly shared he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease while undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

Sir Billy Connolly poses with his wife Pamela Stephenson, after being knighted by the Duke of Cambridge during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on October 31, 2017 in  London, United Kingdom. (Photo by John Stillwell - WPA Pool / Getty Images)
Sir Billy Connolly poses with his wife Pamela Stephenson, after being knighted by the Duke of Cambridge in 2017. (WPA Pool / Getty Images)

He has continued to give updates on his condition, sharing last year that he and his wife had to sleep in separate beds due to the effects of the degenerative condition.

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Speaking candidly about his health last October, he told DJ Chris Evans on his Virgin Radio show: "I've started to drool which is a new one on me. This disease it gives you a new thing every now and again that you have to deal with and drooling is my latest.

"I walk unsteadily and my hearing is going and it's bizarre that bits of me are fallen off but it's interesting."

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