BBC Two to air the definitive 7/7 London Bombing story on January 5

Published: December 11, 2024 — Twenty years after the first suicide bombings to take place on English soil, BBC Two and iPlayer are to air the definitive story of the attacks and their aftermath, in 7/7: The London Bombings.

Made by the team behind the multi-award-winning BBC documentary, 9/11 Inside: The President’s War Room, this 4 x 60-minute series is the story of the biggest police investigation in British history – the three-week hunt to catch all the bombers, which included a tragic police mistake.

7/7: The London Bombings starts on Sunday 5 January and Monday 6 January at 9pm, on BBC Two. The entire series streams on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 5 January.

On 7 July 2005, four bombs were detonated on London’s transport system, blowing up three trains and a bus. 52 people were killed. Hundreds injured. From the worst attack of its kind in the UK, began one of the most chaotic and significant moments in the history of our capital city and the police and security services who protect it. Another series of attempted bombings followed and in the subsequent manhunt, the police shot dead an innocent man – Jean Charles de Menezes.

This series follows the investigation forensically and painstakingly, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.

It tells the story from the perspective of the victims on the ground, revealing how survivors had to reconcile themselves with life-changing injuries, and it pieces together the emergency response as first responders scrambled to act in the epicentre of the crisis.

Through interviews with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, then Home Secretary Charles Clarke, together with key members of the police investigation team, this story uniquely examines how they struggled to deal with the repercussions, reassure a nation, and find out what had happened before bombers could strike again.

This definitive history of three weeks that changed Britain forever also hears from those seriously injured at the attack sites and family members of the victims, as well as frontline rescuers.

Simon Young, BBC Head of Commissioning, History, says: “It’s difficult to comprehend just how febrile and frenzied those weeks felt like in London and across the country, nearly twenty years ago. This series painstakingly pieces together the chain of events, moments of resilience and hope, as well as tragedy and horror. The result is a frank portrait of how the nation responded, when our streets became a new kind of frontline.”

Adam Wishart, Joint Series Director and Producer, The Slate Works, says: “After telling the story of President George W Bush on 9/11, we wanted to understand what happened to the British state when faced with a huge crisis of its own. What does it feel like to run the police or the country, when faced with the biggest attack on English soil? And what is it like when you or your family are caught in the blasts? How does anyone cope with the emotional consequences and the political repercussions?”

7/7: The London Bombings – 4 x 60 minutes – is a The Slate Works production for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, BBC Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Commissioning Editor is Simon Young, BBC Head of Commissioning, History.

From The Slate Works, the Joint Series Directors are multi award-winning, Adam Wishart (9/11: Inside the President’s War Room (BBC One/Apple TV+)) and Jim Nally (Murder In The Car Park (Channel 4), Madness In The Fast Lane (BBC One)). The Executive Producer is Neil Grant (9/11: Inside the President’s War Room (BBC One/Apple TV+)) Is Labour Anti-Semitic? (BBC One) and The Murder Detectives, Channel 4 and Serena Kennedy is the Head of Production. Banijay Rights handles international distribution for the series.