Our Girls: The Southport Families is a moving, hour-long documentary for BBC One and BBC iPlayer that follows the parents of three young girls – 9-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, 6-year-old Bebe King, and 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe – who tragically lost their lives in the Southport attack.
The documentary will air on BBC One on Tuesday 9 December at 8pm and will be available on BBC iPlayer.
Last summer, three little girls had excitedly gone to a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and never came home, a tragedy that shocked the nation. Over the last nine months, a small team from BBC Breakfast followed the families’ journey through unimaginable grief and the beginnings of hope..
Their deeply personal interviews are shown alongside family footage shared for the first time. The documentary shows the joy the girls brought, and the legacies the parents are now building in their memory.
The film captures the parents’ plans to create lasting legacies in their daughters’ names: Alice’s Wonderdance, Bebe’s Hive, and Elsie’s Story. Sergio and David share their experiences training for and completing the London Marathon to raise funds for these projects and to build a playground at the school attended by two of the girls – a space for joy, remembrance, and community.
Richard Frediani, Executive Editor, BBC Breakfast and BBC News at One says: “This inspirational film is a heartfelt tribute to Alice, Bebe and Elsie, told through the voices of those who knew and loved them most. It is both heartbreaking and uplifting, a testament to the strength of three families united in grief and now driven by purpose to ensure their names are never forgotten. We’re endlessly grateful to Jenni and David, Lauren and Ben, and Sergio and Alex for sharing their stories with such courage and honesty.”
Sarah Campbell, BBC News correspondent, says: “It has been a huge privilege to have been able to document how the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie have worked to create a positive legacy for their daughters. Our hope is that people will take from their story that it is possible to find light and humanity in the darkest of times.”