Susan Boyle’s life story is the subject of a new documentary, There’s Only One Susan Boyle, which will be shown on BBC One Scotland and iPlayer on 31 December. The programme is part of the broadcaster’s festive schedule and features a new interview with the singer, along with contributions from her friends and family.
Made by the production company Tern TV, the film follows Boyle from her childhood in Blackburn, West Lothian, to the moment that changed her life. In 2009 she auditioned for the ITV talent show Britain’s Got Talent and sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables. The performance spread around the world online and turned the West Lothian singer into an international name almost overnight. Part of the documentary was filmed with Boyle in Los Angeles, and the programme combines her own account with the recollections of those closest to her.
Boyle said she was delighted to share her story in the documentary. “My life changed overnight after Britain’s Got Talent,” she said. She added that she hoped the programme would remind viewers to stay true to themselves and to follow their dreams, a message that runs through the account of her rise from a small West Lothian town to international success. The new interview with Boyle is the centrepiece of the film, giving Boyle the chance to tell the story in her own words.
Her recording career followed quickly after the television audition. Her debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, was released in 2009 and went to number one in the UK. Boyle has since released six more albums, the most recent of which, A Wonderful World, came out in 2016, bringing her total to seven albums. The documentary covers that period as well as her life before fame, drawing on the people who knew her in Blackburn. Friends and family members appear throughout to describe the woman behind the global headlines.
Heather Kane-Darling, commissioning editor at BBC Scotland, described Boyle’s story as “one of the most remarkable and uplifting to come out of Scotland” in recent decades. She said Boyle’s journey had inspired millions of people and that the film would be a festive treat for audiences. The documentary airs on New Year’s Eve on BBC One Scotland and will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from the same night.
