BBC Pulls Ozzy Osbourne Documentary After Family Concerns

The BBC were reportedly forced to pull the Ozzy Osbourne documentary from schedules after the late rocker’s family expressed concerns that the show was ‘rushed’. 

On Wednesday, Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home – billed as a ‘moving and inspirational account of the last chapter’ of the star’s life – was suddenly removed from TV listings just hours before broadcast with no explanation as to why.

And now it’s emerged that the broadcaster allegedly had no choice but to take last minute action due to Ozzy’s family worry at the speed in which the show was made amid the BBC’s race against Paramount+ to air Ozzy’s final months.

The Black Sabbath frontman, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, passed away at the age of 76 on July 22 surrounded by his family. He was buried a week later on July 30.

It later emerged that both the BBC and Paramount+ were producing documentaries on the rocker after filmmakers were given access to him for the final three years of his life, with the channels said to be a ‘race’ to air unseen footage.

New reports now suggest that it was this reason, as well as the family’s worries about the ‘overall tone and theme’, that the documentary has been delayed. 

A source told The Sun: ‘There have been conversations behind the scenes that maybe the BBC were rushing their show on Ozzy out – especially because Paramount+ also had a film in the offing.’

They told how the BBC’s production had originally set out to make a 10-part series called called Home To Roost charting Ozzy and wife Sharon’s move back to the UK, however upon his death, it was later decided it would be a one-off film.

The insider continued: ‘What mattered the most to the family was the overall tone and theme of the programme, which features Ozzy and Sharon in one of their last interviews together. 

‘It started to feel like the goal being pursued was that the BBC and the makers of the film were to get the show on air faster than the Paramount+ doc. Naturally that has caused some concerns with the family.’

Daily Mail have contacted Sharon and Kelly Osbourne’s representatives for comment. 

The show was scheduled to air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Wednesday 18 August at 9pm. 

It is said to be told through ‘unique and intimate access to the whole Osbourne family’, which included widow Sharon, and children Kelly and Jack.

But the one-off hour-long programme has vanished from the BBC TV listings and has been replaced by Fake Or Fortune.

While the show’s reschedule has not been announced, the BBC told the Mirror that the new premier details will be shared in ‘due course’. 

The programme has been filmed over three years and ‘captures the extraordinary rollercoaster of their lives’. 

It details Ozzy and Sharon ‘attempting to complete their long-held dream of moving back to the UK’, the BBC said earlier this month when promoting the documentary.

It also sees Ozzy ‘heroically battle to get fit enough to perform’ his final tour alongside Black Sabbath and the family dealing with ‘the dramatic consequences of his ill health’.

Kelly was quoted saying in the film: ‘Iron Man wasn’t really made of iron,’ referencing how the rocker had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019.

Ozzy was laid to rest on the grounds of his own mansion in Buckinghamshire last month during a private funeral attended by his family and a host of rock royalty.

His widow Sharon, 72, and their children were joined by stars including Marilyn Manson and Ozzy’s lead guitarist Zakk Wylde during the event at the family’s 250-acre estate near Gerrards Cross.

His passing came just weeks after he appeared on stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park stadium in his native Birmingham.

The concert – three weeks before his death – saw him reunite with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005.

More than 42,000 fans packed into the venue for the Back To The Beginning show, during which he told the crowd in his final speech: ‘You’ve no idea how I feel – thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

Official documents listed three causes of death for the rock legend. This included an out of hospital cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease with autonomic dysfunction.

In a statement shared last month, Ozzy’s family said he died ‘surrounded by love’, adding: ‘It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.