The BBC has announced its programme of live TV coverage of the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, plus more TV and radio programmes.
6 June 2024 is the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord, which saw tens of thousands of soldiers from Allied countries cross the English Channel from Portsmouth and begin landing in France.
At the cost of high numbers of casualties, they began the Allied liberation of northwest Europe from Nazi Germany, leading to victory in the Second World War.
The BBC’s chief content officer Charlotte Moore said the BBC would have “a wide range of distinctive programming that will bring people together to commemorate across the BBC, including full live coverage of events from both sides of the Channel”.
When does the BBC's D-Day 80th anniversary coverage start?
The BBC anniversary coverage will begin with D-Day 80: The Allies Prepare, which will be broadcast on Wednesday 5 June 2024 from 10.15am-1pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
What is the BBC's D-Day 80th anniversary coverage?
D-Day: The Allies Prepare will take place on the seafront in Portsmouth where the D-Day landings began 80 years ago. The event will be hosted by Academy Award winner Dame Helen Mirren and presented by Anita Rani with reporter JJ Chalmers. The BBC said the commemoration will “pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery and achievements of our veterans and recognise the invaluable work of those on the Home Front, who helped make the invasion possible” and feature “powerful spoken word testimony delivered by well-known faces and military personnel, as well as exciting performances by big musical stars”.
This will be followed by D-Day: Tribute to the Fallen on the evening of 5 June 2024. The BBC said there will be “stunning lighting displays, readings and music” at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy and Southsea Common in Portsmouth. As darkness falls, each of the 4,600 headstones in the Bayeux War Cemetery will be individually illuminated. Kirsty Young will host the coverage from the cemetery.
On the morning of Thursday 6 June 2024, BBC One will broadcast D-Day: We Will Remember Them. The event, organised by the Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence, will take place overlooking Gold Beach at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer.
The BBC said: “Within the event, contributions will be grounded in living testimony, gathered through special conversations curated exclusively for this anniversary allowing us to hear the last remaining stories first-hand before we enter a post-witness era.
“The event will conclude with a traditional act of remembrance, accompanied by a special tribute from the Red Arrows and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, flying over Normandy to salute this remarkable generation and our nation's heroes.”
Paddy O’Connell, whose father served during D-Day, will provide commentary, while Sophie Raworth will report live from the British Normandy Memorial, joined by special guests.
What other D-Day 80th anniversary programmes will the BBC broadcast?
Other D-Day 80th anniversary programmes announced by the BBC include D-Day: The Unheard Tapes, a BBC Two documentary using eyewitness accounts from people who experienced D-Day first hand; Radio 4 documentaries The Beaches and D-Day: The Last Voice; and special episodes of The One Show, Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, Bargain Hunt, BBC Newsround, BBC Breakfast and Saving Lives at Sea.
