JOHN DeLorean’s extraordinary and doomed attempt to build the sports car of the future on the outskirts of 1980s West Belfast is the stuff of legend. A buccaneering American entrepreneur he had film star looks, a famous fashion model wife and an enormous ego which drove him to rival the US giants of the car industry.
The two-part series DeLorean: Back From The Future starts on Monday 26 April on BBC One Northern Ireland at 9pm.
CRASHED: The De Lorean factory at Twinbrook in its heyday.
A BBC co-commission with Netflix, this extended, two-part version of the documentary has been specially made for BBC NI using rare and unseen footage filmed by Oscar-winning directors DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, and through news archive documenting his life and career.
Jon-Barrie Waddell, Executive Producer at Fired Up Films, said: “This psychological study aims to get inside the mind of John DeLorean, to truly understand who he was and just how far a man will go to save his career. It’s a fascinating human story of ambition and greed.”
This is part documentary and part psychological profile of DeLorean, a man who rose from the ghettos of Detroit to build his American dream in Dunmurry. A dream that quickly went up in smoke.
Former colleagues and factory workers shed new light on their experiences as the true turmoil unfolds behind the scenes. Now, for the first time in 40 years, ex-wife and fashion model, Cristina Ferrare, delivers a moving account of her time with the auto maker.
His son, Zachary shares a rare and emotional insight about his father. Journalists Gail Sheehy, Ivan Fallon and Hillel Levin offer new perspectives as they investigate DeLorean’s colourful past and dramatic fall from grace, while the series unravels one of the greatest corporate failures, in modern Irish history.
Made by Fired Up Films, it will be broadcast over two consecutive nights, with the second part being shown on Tuesday 27 April, BBC One Northern Ireland at 10.45pm.
