Main content
This programme is not currently available on BBC iPlayer

David Bowie: Five Years

An intimate portrait of five key years in David Bowie's career, featuring interviews with his closest collaborators and a wealth of previously unseen archive material.

An intimate portrait of five key years in David Bowie's career. Featuring a wealth of previously unseen archive this film looks at how Bowie continually evolved, from Ziggy Stardust to the soul star of Young Americans and the 'Thin White Duke'. It explores his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed album Heroes, his triumph with Scary Monsters and his global success with Let's Dance. With interviews with all his closest collaborators, this film investigates how Bowie became an icon of our times.

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Fri 7 Jan 2022 22:50

Clips

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    David Bowie

    Rebel Rebel

  • 00:00

    David Bowie

    Fame

  • 00:01

    David Bowie

    Fashion

  • 00:01

    David Bowie

    Let's Dance 

  • 00:01

    David Bowie

    Ashes to Ashes

  • 00:01

    David Bowie

    Starman

  • 00:02

    David Bowie

    Rebel Rebel

  • 00:02

    David Bowie

    Oh! You Pretty Things

  • 00:02

    David Bowie

    Sound And Vision

  • 00:03

    David Bowie

    Five Years

  • 00:03

    David Bowie

    Fashion

  • 00:04

    David Bowie

    Sound And Vision

  • 00:04

    David Bowie

    Sound And Vision

  • 00:06

    David Bowie

    Andy Warhol

  • 00:06

    David Bowie

    Changes

  • 00:07

    David Bowie

    Life On Mars?

  • 00:11

    David Bowie

    Queen Bitch

  • 00:11

    David Bowie

    Queen B****

  • 00:12

    David Bowie

    Moonage Daydream

  • 00:13

    David Bowie

    Moonage Daydream

  • 00:13

    David Bowie

    Queen B****

  • 00:13

    David Bowie

    Suffragette City 

  • 00:15

    David Bowie

    Moonage Daydream

  • 00:16

    David Bowie

    Ziggy Stardust (Live at Santa Monica)

  • 00:18

    David Bowie

    Starman

  • 00:21

    David Bowie

    Right

  • 00:22

    David Bowie

    Starman

  • 00:27

    David Bowie

    Young Americans

  • David Bowie

    Footstomping

  • 00:28

    David Bowie

    Fame

  • 00:31

    Aretha Franklin

    (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

  • 00:32

    David Bowie

    Fame

  • 00:36

    David Bowie

    Golden Years

  • 00:36

    David Bowie

    Golden Years

  • 00:38

    David Bowie

    Station to Station

  • 00:38

    David Bowie

    Golden Years

  • 00:43

    Brian Eno

    Discreet Music 

  • 00:45

    David Bowie

    Speed Of Life

  • 00:46

    Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis & David Bowie

    Breaking Glass 

  • 00:48

    David Bowie

    Warszawa

  • 00:50

    David Bowie

    Art Decade

  • 00:51

    David Bowie

    V-2 Schneider

  • 00:52

    David Bowie

    Sense of Doubt

  • 00:53

    David Bowie

    Beauty And The Beast

  • 00:56

    David Bowie

    Beauty and The Beast (Extended Version) (Remastered)

  • 00:57

    David Bowie

    'Heroes'

  • 01:01

    David Bowie

    Space Oddity

  • 01:03

    David Bowie

    Ashes to Ashes

  • David Bowie

    Fashion

  • 01:12

    David Bowie

    Criminal World 

  • 01:22

    David Bowie

    China Girl

  • 01:22

    David Bowie

    Let's Dance

  • 01:14

    David Bowie

    Without You

  • 01:18

    David Bowie

    Let's Dance

  • 01:19

    David Bowie

    Let's Dance

  • 01:19

    David Bowie

    China Girl

  • 01:23

    David Bowie

    Fame

  • 01:26

    David Bowie

    The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

  • 01:28

    David Bowie

    Five Years

A tribute to Trevor Bolder

A tribute to Trevor Bolder

In Hull, they nicknamed him ‘Trumpets’ because trumpet was his first instrument. On Planet Rock he was Trevor Bolder, who bestrode the stage as bassist with David Bowie & The Spiders From Mars.

 

Charles Shaar Murray on Trevor Bolder

David Bowie Is...

David Bowie Is...

Take a tour of the Bowie V&A exhibition with 6 Music's Cerys Matthews.

 

Audio and visual slideshow

 

Credits

Role Contributor
Director Francis Whately
Producer Francis Whately
Executive Producer Phil Dolling

Broadcasts

Featured in...

The making of Five Years

The making of Five Years

Read an interview with director Francis Whately on the BBC TV blog

Bowie - In Profile

Bowie - In Profile

BBC Music chronicles Bowie's career