For all his surface polish, Noël Coward (1899–1973) came from a modest background. The son of a piano salesman, he left school when he was just nine years old. Despite his lowly origins, by the time he was 30 the man who became known as ‘The Master’ for his sheer creativity had become the highest-paid writer in the world. “I was trained when I was very young as a show-off and I’ve continued triumphantly until this moment,” he once noted of his glittering career.
Narrated by Alan Cumming, with Rupert Everett providing the voice of Coward, Mad About the Boy is a one-off Arena documentary that charts the extraordinary life of one of the foremost British creative figures of the 20th century.
Mad about the Boy: The Noël Coward Story BBC Two / December