Thirty years on from their sensational golden triumph in Sarajevo, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are to recount the moment they became Olympic champions for a new BBC documentary.
Dazzling an audience in excess of 24 million people on Valentines Day 1984, British ice-dancing pair Torvill and Dean skated into the record books when their routine to music from Ravel’s Bolero.
Their performance received the highest set of marks awarded of all time, receiving 12 perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s, which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge.
Following shortly after BBC Two’s coverage of the Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony, this new BBC documentary – Torvill & Dean: The Perfect Day – tells the story of the build-up to the Sarajevo Games, the performance itself and the legacy of their sensational partnership, using archive footage and all described by Torvill and Dean themselves.
As the world gets ready to witness the Sochi Games, the pair look back in forensic detail on the day they won, from the early-morning bus to the stadium to the familiar tap on the shoulder from coach Betty Callaway telling them, as always, to “skate well”.
Viewers will be given the chance to revel in the romance of their Bolero free dance routine, iris-coloured costumes and decisive glory, but also to discover what exactly what goes in to a day of intense Olympic competition.
Among the dignitaries in the arena that day were Princess Anne, who had been in the front row for all their performances in Sarajevo and who in turn threw them a midnight party to celebrate their triumph.
Torvill and Dean’s gold medal at the Sarajevo Olympics is the undoubted with which British skaters following in their footsteps have been measured and unable to surpass, further cementing their place in British Olympic legend.
Following the 1984 Games, the pair turned professional but regained amateur status briefly ten years later to compete in the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, before retiring from competitive skating in 1998, some 14 years after their most golden triumph of their careers.
The pair’s memorable performance and much more about their lives and careers will be remembered in this new one-off documentary on BBC Two.
It forms part of a range of support programming to mark the BBC’s comprehensive coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi on TV, radio and online.
‘Torvill & Dean: The Perfect Day’ airs on BBC Two and BBC Two HD at 9.00pm on Friday, February 7, following the channel’s exclusive live coverage of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.
The programme will be broadcast at a different time for viewers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, going out at 11.05pm on their respective BBC Two channels.
It will be made available on catch-up soon after transmission via BBC iPlayer on all devices.
Watch a preview trailer for the programme in the player above or watch their full Olympic routine from 1984 below with BBC commentary.
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Friday 7th February
Torvill & Dean: The Perfect Day
9.00pm-10.00pm BBC Two England
11.05pm-12.05am BBC Two Scotland / Wales / Northern Ireland
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