Radio Times

Review by:

Alison Graham

Sue Perkins dons a dirndl to run, arms outstretched, up an Austrian hillside at the start of a charming and funny look at the von Trapps, the real family behind The Sound of Music.

It’s is a must-see for everyone who has ever been entranced by the most popular film musical of all time and its mix of sturdy nuns, cute moppets and Nazis. Perkins, a huge fan of the film, heads to Salzburg where she examines the city’s uneasy relationship with The Sound of Music, before arriving in Vermont to meet the real von Trapps at their huge Austrian-style chalet. Theirs is a poignant story of fallings-out and feuds, and we learn that Maria von Trapp wasn’t the trilling, wimpled softy of popular imagination.

About this programme

Sue Perkins tells the true story behind the von Trapp family, portrayed on the big screen almost 50 years ago in The Sound Of Music. She heads to Austria to discover why Salzburg seems to resent the film that put it on the map, meeting locals with memories of Maria von Trapp and finding that actor Nicholas Hammond's life has continued to be defined by his role as Friedrich. Sue travels to New York and Vermont, where the family settled and meets 98-year-old Maria, who is the only one of the seven children still alive. Including rare footage from the 1950s, as well as home movies shot during the filming of The Sound of Music itself.

Cast and crew

Cast

Presenter

Sue Perkins

Crew

Director

Christopher Walker

Executive Producer

Adam Barker

Executive Producer

Judith Holder

Producer

Christopher Walker

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