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Times
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Hill review — the moment Damon found out my dad had died in a plane crash
In an era of big Formula 1 personalities — Prost, Senna, Schumacher — Damon Hill often seemed to have the most troubled air about him. Watch the new film Hill (Sky Documentaries/Now) and you'll find out why. When his wife, Georgie, says, right near the start, 'He was one of the saddest people I've met in my life', it's clear this is going to be a film that does what all the best sports documentaries do: find the human story, the deeper psychology behind the sporting glory. So while, as an account of an underdog's rise through the F1 ranks, this has all the gripping intensity that made Netflix's Drive to Survive such a hit, the film goes further. There are constant reminders that this was a man trying to escape the shadow of his beloved father, Graham Hill, who, as anyone with a longer memory of the sport will tell you, was killed in tragic circumstances. That was in 1975, when Damon was 15, and he'd spend the next two decades defined by the shadow of his father. 'If your dad is the star of the show, then who are you?' he says. Yet rising above it all, an inspiring point emerges about the value of determination: Damon's was very much inherited from his father. Graham was a two-time world champion with something of the dashing matinee star about him (albeit with a hint of Terry-Thomas in that moustache). His son was in awe of him. 'It was almost like the house came alive when he came back,' he says. There's an awful irony in the fact it was only after Graham retired from the lethal world of F1 — much to the relief of his family — that the worst news came. Damon recalls how one evening, 'I was watching TV with my younger sister. We were expecting Dad home, my mum is in the kitchen and then … 'We interrupt this programme with a newsflash …'' I suppose there is no right way to hear the news that your father has been killed in a plane crash. Damon shares vivid details of his feelings in that moment. 'I remember a kind of wave of heat coming up through my legs and into my face and I remember clocking what this meant — not being sure, but being terrified.' Home video footage and news clips combine, images of Graham fracturing and fading in haunting style. Damon and Georgie offer to-camera interviews that initially may suggest a generic approach compared with, say, the film Senna, where the absence of talking heads added to its power. Yet seeing the subjects helps us to feel closer to them then and now: Damon a trim, silver-haired figure; Georgie a shrewd, likeable presence who offers revealing perspectives on her husband's (formerly) rather tortured soul. As a driver, Damon wanted to prove people wrong, a sentiment that leads the way through the film's account of his rise through F1. There's a certain spikiness in his memories of feeling undermined, at times, by Williams bosses (when, for example, Nigel Mansell was brought back into the fold in 1995), and his clashes with Michael Schumacher. Generally it's believed that in the final race of 1994 Schumacher steered into Damon, putting them both out of the race and securing the German the world championship by a point. Then there is the remarkable central section where Hill becomes a kind of companion film to Senna: we hear fresh perspectives on Ayrton Senna's fatal crash in 1994, including Georgie's recollection of how he talked to her right before he climbed into his ill-fated car, giving her reassuring remarks about Damon. Damon talks of not wanting to go to Senna's funeral, just as his father hadn't wanted to go to his great friend and fellow driver Jim Clark's. It was Jackie Stewart who advised Damon: 'You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't go.' So he went. His last funeral had been his dad's; now he was a pallbearer at Senna's. Later that year, at the Japanese Grand Prix, Damon felt something transcendent when his hands on the wheel seemed to become not his own: 'I just felt like I'd been visited by some sort of spirit.' Such candour is effective, so that when the film reaches its climax at the end of the 1996 season, you find yourself invested in the emotional release of his eventual victory. Damon Hill's life had 'fallen to pieces' in 1975, but through sheer determination, 20 years later he'd 'put it back together again'. It's sport as catharsis, and really quite moving. ★★★★★
Times
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Hill review — the cathartic power of sport drives this moving F1 documentary
In an era of big Formula 1 personalities — Prost, Senna, Schumacher — Damon Hill often seemed to have the most troubled air about him. Watch the new film Hill (Sky Documentaries/Now) and you'll find out why. When his wife, Georgie, says, right near the start, 'He was one of the saddest people I've met in my life', it's clear this is going to be a film that does what all the best sports documentaries do: find the human story, the deeper psychology behind the sporting glory. So while, as an account of an underdog's rise through the F1 ranks, this has all the gripping intensity that made Netflix's Drive to Survive such a hit, the film goes further. There are constant reminders that this was a man trying to escape the shadow of his beloved father, Graham Hill, who, as anyone with a longer memory of the sport will tell you, was killed in tragic circumstances. That was in 1975, when Damon was 15, and he'd spend the next two decades defined by the shadow of his father. 'If your dad is the star of the show, then who are you?' he says. Yet rising above it all, an inspiring point emerges about the value of determination: Damon's was very much inherited from his father. Graham was a two-time world champion with something of the dashing matinee star about him (albeit with a hint of Terry-Thomas in that moustache). His son was in awe of him. 'It was almost like the house came alive when he came back,' he says. There's an awful irony in the fact it was only after Graham retired from the lethal world of F1 — much to the relief of his family — that the worst news came. • Read more TV reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews Damon recalls how one evening, 'I was watching TV with my younger sister. We were expecting Dad home, my mum is in the kitchen and then … 'We interrupt this programme with a newsflash …'' I suppose there is no right way to hear the news that your father has been killed in a plane crash. Damon shares vivid details of his feelings in that moment. 'I remember a kind of wave of heat coming up through my legs and into my face and I remember clocking what this meant — not being sure, but being terrified.' Home video footage and news clips combine, images of Graham fracturing and fading in haunting style. Damon and Georgie offer to-camera interviews that initially may suggest a generic approach compared with, say, the film Senna, where the absence of talking heads added to its power. Yet seeing the subjects helps us to feel closer to them then and now: Damon a trim, silver-haired figure; Georgie a shrewd, likeable presence who offers revealing perspectives on her husband's (formerly) rather tortured soul. As a driver, Damon wanted to prove people wrong, a sentiment that leads the way through the film's account of his rise through F1. There's a certain spikiness in his memories of feeling undermined, at times, by Williams bosses (when, for example, Nigel Mansell was brought back into the fold in 1995), and his clashes with Michael Schumacher. Generally it's believed that in the final race of 1994 Schumacher steered into Damon, putting them both out of the race and securing the German the world championship by a point. • Ayrton Senna: the Netflix drama, the album … and the skyscraper Then there is the remarkable central section where Hill becomes a kind of companion film to Senna: we hear fresh perspectives on Ayrton Senna's fatal crash in 1994, including Georgie's recollection of how he talked to her right before he climbed into his ill-fated car, giving her reassuring remarks about Damon. Damon talks of not wanting to go to Senna's funeral, just as his father hadn't wanted to go to his great friend and fellow driver Jim Clark's. It was Jackie Stewart who advised Damon: 'You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't go.' So he went. His last funeral had been his dad's; now he was a pallbearer at Senna's. Later that year, at the Japanese Grand Prix, Damon felt something transcendent when his hands on the wheel seemed to become not his own: 'I just felt like I'd been visited by some sort of spirit.' Such candour is effective, so that when the film reaches its climax at the end of the 1996 season, you find yourself invested in the emotional release of his eventual victory. Damon Hill's life had 'fallen to pieces' in 1975, but through sheer determination, 20 years later he'd 'put it back together again'. It's sport as catharsis, and really quite moving.★★★★★ Love TV? Discover the best shows on Netflix, the best Prime Video TV shows, the best Disney+ shows , the best Apple TV+ shows, the best shows on BBC iPlayer, the best shows on Sky and Now, the best shows on ITVX, the best shows on Channel 4 streaming, the best shows on Paramount+ and our favourite hidden gem TV shows. Don't forget to check our critics' choices to watch and browse our comprehensive TV guide
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
And the Emmy goes to ... Phillies star Trea Turner? Documentary on Turner's ovation wins Emmy Award
Turner already won an NL batting title and a World Series championship ring in his 11-year MLB career. How about adding an Emmy Award to that trophy case? 'Trea Turner's an Emmy winner, absolutely,' sports documentary producer Kyle Thrash said. 'He definitely held it up like he owned it.' Turner may not actually have the award in hand to keep for good, but he got to hoist the real deal ahead of Friday's game against Toronto in a short celebration for the Emmy won for a best sports short documentary produced on the 2023 standing ovation credited with turning around his season. 'The Turnaround' won a sports Emmy in May and Thrash and Phillies fan Jon McCann — whose personal struggles with mental health and kinship with Turner were the heart of the film — attended the game to show off their new bling to Turner. 'Cuz, we did it, huh?! 'McCann said as he shook Turner's hand on the field after batting practice. 'Trea Turner, we share an Emmy together.' Turner read the inscription at the bottom of the Emmy and promised the fans he would wave to them in section 301 if he stole a base in Friday's game. 'We get to bring a trophy back to the ballpark tonight and share it with so many people that were involved in the standing ovation. It's pretty incredible,' Thrash said. Philly sports fans — often billed as some of the worst in sports — gave a slumping Turner standing ovations in at-bats throughout the weekend in an August 2023 series to show he had their full support. Turner was in the first season of an 11-year, $300 million deal with the Phillies but was batting just .238 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. He was even dropped to eighth in the batting order headed into that series against Kansas City. In three games over the weekend against the Royals, Turner went 4 for 12 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs and he would eventually help lead the Phillies to the playoffs. Turner later helped pay for 'Thank You, Philly" digital billboards in the greater Philadelphia area. The documentary was produced by Higher Ground, the media company founded by former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama MCann, also known as 'The Philly Captain," is a Philadelphia based YouTuber and was one of the fans — along with a Philly sports talk radio host — credited with rallying the fans to get behind Turner. 'During the ceremony, one of the award presenters said, 'wWen you go up against the Olympics, you lose.' So I kind of thought we already lost,' McCann said. 'We didn't. It was a great, great shock.' ___
Associated Press
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
And the Emmy goes to ... Phillies star Trea Turner? Documentary on Turner's ovation wins Emmy Award
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — And the Emmy goes to ... Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner? Turner already won an NL batting title and a World Series championship ring in his 11-year MLB career. How about adding an Emmy Award to that trophy case? 'Trea Turner's an Emmy winner, absolutely,' sports documentary producer Kyle Thrash said. 'He definitely held it up like he owned it.' Turner may not actually have the award in hand to keep for good, but he got to hoist the real deal ahead of Friday's game against Toronto in a short celebration for the Emmy won for a best sports short documentary produced on the 2023 standing ovation credited with turning around his season. 'The Turnaround' won a sports Emmy in May and Thrash and Phillies fan Jon McCann — whose personal struggles with mental health and kinship with Turner were the heart of the film — attended the game to show off their new bling to Turner. 'Cuz, we did it, huh?! 'McCann said as he shook Turner's hand on the field after batting practice. 'Trea Turner, we share an Emmy together.' Turner read the inscription at the bottom of the Emmy and promised the fans he would wave to them in section 301 if he stole a base in Friday's game. 'We get to bring a trophy back to the ballpark tonight and share it with so many people that were involved in the standing ovation. It's pretty incredible,' Thrash said. Philly sports fans — often billed as some of the worst in sports — gave a slumping Turner standing ovations in at-bats throughout the weekend in an August 2023 series to show he had their full support. Turner was in the first season of an 11-year, $300 million deal with the Phillies but was batting just .238 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. He was even dropped to eighth in the batting order headed into that series against Kansas City. In three games over the weekend against the Royals, Turner went 4 for 12 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs and he would eventually help lead the Phillies to the playoffs. Turner later helped pay for 'Thank You, Philly' digital billboards in the greater Philadelphia area. The documentary was produced by Higher Ground, the media company founded by former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama MCann, also known as 'The Philly Captain,' is a Philadelphia based YouTuber and was one of the fans — along with a Philly sports talk radio host — credited with rallying the fans to get behind Turner. 'During the ceremony, one of the award presenters said, 'wWen you go up against the Olympics, you lose.' So I kind of thought we already lost,' McCann said. 'We didn't. It was a great, great shock.' ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Documentary celebrates success of Welsh cycling hero Emma Finucane
A documentary has been made about the young life and meteoric rise of Welsh cyclist and Olympic hero Emma Finucane. The cycling star, 22, made history in Paris last summer when she became the first British woman in 60 years to win three medals at the same Olympic Games and the first Welsh athlete to ever achieve that feat. The Paris Olympics was not the Carmarthen cyclist's first taste of success by a long shot - in 2022 she came home from the Commonwealth Games having won two bronze medals for Wales, while in 2023 she won a gold medal at the World Championships in Glasgow, a feat she repeated last year at the 2024 championships in Denmark. It's all a far cry from when Finucane used to whizz around the historic velodrome at Carmarthen Park as a young girl with Towy Riders cycle club, a group which is still going strong today. Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here. READ MORE: Man dies in Cardiff city centre READ MORE: Two arrests after fatal quadbike crash on A465 Heads of the Valleys road Now, a Cardiff-based student has made a 'powerful short documentary' capturing Finucane's rise to the top of world cycling. The film - Pedal to Paris: The Emma Finucane Story - has been created by Cameron Hitt, who is studying a sports broadcast masters degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University. It will premiere at Nantgaredig Rugby Club, in partnership with Towy Riders, on Monday (June 2). The film will then be made publicly available the following day, on Tuesday, June 3. We caught up with Finucane at Carmarthen Park last year, just weeks after she returned home from Paris with three Olympic medals around her neck. 'I remember, when I was seven years old, coming here with my brother and sister,' she said. 'We lived just across the road. I would go round and round the track on my little pink bike with tassels on it. That was it - I was hooked.' On her success, she said: 'It has changed my life. I'm still the same old Emma, but you are kind of in a bubble at the Olympics so you don't really see what's going on around you. "But then you come back home and I've been asked for pictures in Tesco a couple of times and people say: 'Ooh, I've seen you on the telly!' 'I love it. I love being home and coming back to see everyone. I'm very honoured to be asked to attend events. I don't come home often and to be recognised for what I've done at the Olympics is amazing. 'As athletes we obviously have our own ambitions in terms of winning but I want people to watch us and get on their bikes. I want to inspire people to get out there and cycle - it's a healthy way of life. "Sport is amazing, it gives you energy, and I want to use my platform to help young girls and boys get into sprint cycling.'
