David Bowie: The Last Five Years

Editor's Take

Made to mark what would have been Bowie's seventieth birthday, this BBC documentary concentrates on the final chapter of his career. It examines the late surge that produced The Next Day, Blackstar, and the stage work Lazarus, art he completed while keeping his illness private. The film reads that closing burst of creativity as deliberate rather than accidental, an artist shaping his own farewell.

First aired by the BBC to mark what would have been his seventieth birthday, this documentary looks back at the final five years of David Bowie's life. It focuses on his late creative surge, including the albums The Next Day and Blackstar and the stage musical Lazarus, works he made while privately facing illness. The film reveals an artist creating boldly to the very end. Moving and intimate, it is a fitting farewell. Free to watch in HD on Dr Documentary.

Courtesy of BBC on YouTube. Watch on YouTube ↗

More Biography Documentaries

Napoleon: The Man Who Would Rule Europe2023•4h 40m•HD•★8.5The Life and Times of Kobe Bryant - Full Career Documentary2024•1h 30m•4K•★8.5Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten2007•2h 4m•HD•★8.5Alexander the Great: How a Man Turned Into a God of Conquest2025•1h 6m•4K•★8.4Duchess of Windsor: A Woman Who Stole a King's Heart2023•45m•HD•★8.0The Three Great Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle2022•31m•HD•★8Myanmar: Inside a Military Dictatorship2026•54m•HD•★7.8Mike Faist on "East of Eden" and Embracing His Love for the Craft of Acting2026•44m•HD•★7.8Henry Kravis: How the Corporate Titan Rocked Wall Street2014•25m•HD•★7.8The Renaissance - The Age of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci (2/2) | DW Documentary2019•42m•HD•★7.7First Indian Visitor Describes England and European Life // 1785 'Wonders of Vilayet' Primary Source2020•24m•HD•★7.7Isaac Newton: The Man and his Hidden Life2018•20m•HD•★7.7