Calling all WHAM! fans! A brand-new BBC documentary promises to take us on a merry musical trip down memory lane to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the hit single Last Christmas.
WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped is a tribute to the much-treasured song, which has become a cultural phenomenon since its release on 3 December 1984, achieving six times platinum in the UK and US, with over one billion streams worldwide.
Packed with interviews from those involved in the making of the track and iconic video – including George Michael’s bandmate Andrew Ridgeley and backing singers Pepsi DeMacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp – the film also features a magical reunion in the Swiss resort of Saas-Fee, where the video’s snowy scenes were shot.
Here’s everything we know about the upcoming BBC documentary WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped…
WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped release date
The documentary will air on BBC Two on Saturday, December 14 at 8.35 pm. It will be on BBC iPlayer.
WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped interviews
The documentary will feature new interviews from those involved in the making of the hit single and video, including WHAM! members Andrew Ridgeley, Pepsi DeMacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp, plus there’ll be archive radio and video footage from George Michael, who died on Christmas Day in 2016.
Fans and friends of WHAM! will appear too, including Mary J. Blige, Sir Bob Geldof, Neil Tennant and Sam Smith, to discuss themes of unrequited love and loss in the song that first reached Number One in the UK on New Year's Day 2021, more than 36 years after its initial release.
“It’s a privilege, 40 years on, to be able to have this opportunity to celebrate WHAM!’s wonderful and enduring musical homage to Christmas,” says Andrew Ridgeley, 61, who left the band in 1986. “Christmas was a special time of year for George, and Christmas songs were a special type of song for him too and that’s why he considered writing a Christmas classic, one of the great achievements of his career.
“Only he will ever know quite what inspired him to such dizzying heights, but his song-writing genius led him to distill the quintessential essence of Christmas into a song that has a breadth of appeal that spans the generations.”
WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped footage
Directed by BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls, Made in Dagenham), the film includes an exclusive broadcast of George performing Last Christmas at Wembley Arena in December 2006, along with never-before-seen outtakes from the original 35mm music video footage, as well as George and Andrew’s personal photographs.
The documentary will also reunite the group of friends from the music video, which was filmed in the snow-capped Swiss resort of Saas-Fee, and revisits locations including the ski lift and alpine chalet. Never-before-heard stories from the video shoot will be revealed, plus the Mayor of Saas-Fee shares his memories of being the band’s driver 40 years ago.
“Revisiting Saas-Fee four decades on, with some of the closest friends of my youth, was a very special experience,” says Andrew. “I know ‘Yog’ would have loved to have shared that, too.”
Is there a trailer for WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped?
Not yet, but we’ll be sure to add it here if one becomes available. In the meantime, enjoy this link to the music video shot in stunning Saas-Fee in Switzerland.
