The Stage

Frankenstein documentary comes alive for Channel 4

Published Thursday 7 April 2011 at 10:38 by Matthew Hemley

Frankenstein stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller are to feature in a Channel 4 documentary that goes behind the scenes of the National Theatre production.

The 60-minute show is called Frankenstein - The Making of a Myth and also includes an interview with the production’s director, Danny Boyle.

It is being produced by Lone Star Productions, the company that made More 4’s Alan Bennett and the Habit of Art, which last month won best arts programme at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards.

Channel 4 said that the programme will look at the “myth of Frankenstein through the prism of Danny Boyle’s sensational new sell-out production”, exploring “the recurrent encounter of a powerful myth and our quest for understanding the nature of life itself”.

For the programme, the production team has been granted exclusive access to the rehearsals of the National’s show, footage of which will be included in the documentary.

Martin Rosenbaum, producer for Lone Star, said: “Danny Boyle has wanted to bring Frankenstein to the stage for over a decade and he now does so as a visionary Oscar-winning film director with a dazzling and uncompromising reputation. Boyle and his stars gave us exclusive interviews, and privileged access to the rehearsal process.”

Adam Low, who directed Alan Bennett and the Habit of Art, is also at the helm of the Frankenstein documentary, which is being made in collaboration with the National and will also feature an interview with Nick Dear, writer of the new stage production.

Channel 4 arts commissioning editor Tabitha Jackson said: “What makes great literature great is that it captures a truth about humanity that can still speak to us across generations.

“Danny Boyle’s recent reimagining of Frankenstein gives us a great excuse to interrogate what the truth is.”

Frankenstein - The Making of a Myth will be broadcast over the summer.