Peter Freestone

Archive footage of interviews, concerts and personal material bring to light the solo performance work of Mercury, the lead singer of Queen.

Last week Freddie Mercury would have celebrated his 60th birthday. To mark the occasion, celebrity fans Robbie Williams, McFly and Mike Myers talk about what they think made him so special. Photographs, home video footage and rarely heard interviews with the man himself are featured and some of Freddie's close friends and family reveal the man behind the magic.

Aside from being the only act in musical history to land the same UK Christmas number one twice, Queen's affinity with the yuletide season ran deeper than just commercial success. With Bohemian Rhapsody halfway through its nine-week run atop the charts in December 1975, Queen chose Christmas Eve to play a televised tour de force from London's Hammersmith Odeon. Freddie Mercury had a deep-rooted love for everything Christmas, with a lifelong generosity of spirit. In this documentary, friends and loved ones reflect on the band, alongside many of Queen's best-loved hits and rare footage of Mercury with some of his closest confidantes.

The story of the extraordinary final chapter of Freddie Mercury’s life and how, after his death from AIDS, Queen staged one of the biggest concerts in history, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, to celebrate his life and challenge the prejudices around HIV/AIDS. For the first time, Freddie's story is told alongside the experiences of those who tested positive for HIV and lost loved ones during the same period. Medical practitioners, survivors, and human rights campaigners recount the intensity of living through the AIDS pandemic and the moral panic it brought about.

Extraordinary lives revealed through a handful of images - both famous and private - and by those who knew them best.