Thank you for the laughs.

In the summer of 2023, my sister Charlotte and I began work on a documentary film about the life and work of my father, the impressionist Mike Yarwood. He has always been a very private man, and has been out of the public eye since the early 1990s. He did, however, give us his blessing to work on this project, which is very close to our hearts.

Our ambition was to create a film that would recognise my dad’s exceptional talent and career, dig deeper into his creative process, and better understand some of the personal challenges he faced at the height of his fame. At the time, these issues were reported extensively and intrusively in the press, with little empathy or consideration for his mental health.

The film was due to be aired this Christmas, along with my dad’s 1977 Christmas show, which guest starred Paul McCartney and Wings, and attracted an audience of 21.4 million viewers on Christmas day. However, on Friday 8th September 2023, as we were coming to the end of the filming, my dad died quite suddenly. He was never able to see the finished film, or hear the many tributes that had been paid to him as a performer and a person.

We hope that our finished film honours an exceptional and influential performer, and the most loving father I could have wished for. He is deeply missed.