CHANNEL 4 ANNOUNCE TOM PARKER STAND UP TO CANCER DOCUMENTARY

24 June 2021

Last October, 32-year-old boyband star Tom Parker announced he’d been diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour. Although doctors have told him that the grade four glioblastoma is ‘the worst case’ scenario, Tom and his wife Kelsey are doing all they can to remain positive.

As part of this year’s Stand Up To Cancer, the joint national fundraising campaign from Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK, Tom, Kelsey and their children, two-year-old daughter Aurelia and seven-month-old son Bodhi, have invited the cameras into their lives as they look to make every future moment count. They want to create a legacy for Tom and stage a huge concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Tom wants the event to be full of hope and joy, with proceeds split equally between Stand Up To Cancer and The National Brain Appeal.

Despite not knowing how his health will hold up over the coming months Tom is determined to make the concert happen and has called on his famous friends to help pull together the showstopping event. The cameras will also follow Tom and the family as they manage his diagnosis, explore possible treatments, meet with fellow brain cancer patients and attempt to pull together this ambitious fundraising concert.

The as yet untitled feature-length documentary from Spun Gold TV will air as part of the channel’s Stand Up To Cancer programming.

Tom Beck, Channel 4 Head of Live Events and Commissioning Editor for Entertainment said, “From taking on terrifying ski jumps on The Jump to stripping off on stage for The Real Full Monty, Tom is a brave and strongminded man. One in two of us will develop cancer in our lifetime and we are incredibly grateful that Tom, Kelsey and their family have agreed to let us follow their story for what I know will be an emotional, intimate and candid film.”

Tom Parker adds, “Almost a year ago, my world was turned upside down by my diagnosis. It’s been an emotional few months for me and my family, but I’m determined to both fight the disease and fight the terrible situation of the chronically low level of research that goes towards finding a cure and treatment for glioblastoma. In this documentary, as well as exploring the medical and human aspects of this disease, I am determined to raise awareness and raise as much money as we can through the concert to help advance crucial cancer research and develop new treatments.”

Nick Bullen, Executive Producer, Spun Gold TV said, “We loved working with Tom on The Real Full Monty back in 2018 and we were devastated for him and his family when he told us that he’d been diagnosed with a brain tumour. We are honoured to be working with him again now to raise funds and awareness for such an important cause. Tom and Kelsey’s positivity throughout is an inspiration to us all.”

Channel 4 will also be broadcasting the concert with details of the line up to be announced in due course.

The documentary was commissioned by Tom Beck, Head of Live Events and Commissioning Editor for Entertainment and Phil Harris, Head of Entertainment and Events at Channel 4. The 1 x 75’ programme is a Spun Gold TV production. It is directed by Dan Howell, the Executive Producers are Nick Bullen and Lee Connolly, and it is distributed by All3Media International.

To get involved or to donate, go to channel4.com/su2c  

ENDS  

For more information, please contact:  

Lesley Land, lland@channel4.co.uk 0207 306 8597  

Mark Ogle at OH Communications (for Spun Gold TV)

mark@ohcommunications.co.uk  07789 981 561  

Marie Mangan for The National Brain Appeal

Marie.mangan@nhs.net 07812 124 092

Notes to editors

About Stand Up To Cancer (UK) 

• Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 that brings the UK together to speed up progress in life-saving cancer research
• Supported by the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) in the US and launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer funds translational research, turning academic breakthroughs in the labs into new treatments that make a real difference for people with cancer.
• More than £62 million has been raised in the UK to date, funding 55 clinical trials and projects involving 11,000 cancer patients across the country
• Research projects include the development of pioneering technology to detect super low levels of cancerous DNA in blood to improve the way we diagnose ovarian cancer, developing a new immunotherapy drug to boost the power of the immune system against cancer, exploring an entirely new approach to treating bowel cancer, and much more
• Stars such as Naomi Campbell, Noel Gallagher, Tom Hardy, Gillian Anderson, Idris Elba, Andy Murray, James Corden, Martin Freeman, Jamie Oliver, Richard Ayoade, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peter Crouch, Abbey Clancy, Danny Dyer, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Lily James, Rosamund Pike, Sophie Turner, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, Maya Jama, Joe Lycett and Roman Kemp are just some of the talent who have supported Stand Up To Cancer  

About The National Brain Appeal

The National Brain Appeal is dedicated to raising money for The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and the Institute of Neurology in Queen Square, London − the UK’s leading centre of excellence for treating and research into diseases of the brain, spine and the nervous system, that affect one in six people.

As well as funding Dr Paul Mullholland’s immunotherapy clinical trial for brain cancer patients that has just completed recruitment, the charity funded the UK’s first dedicated Brain Tumour Unit, bringing together specialist doctors, surgeons, nurses, therapists and researchers — a critical mass of expertise and experience — and the UK’s first dedicated ward for brain tumour patients. To advance brain cancer surgery, they funded the UK’s first interventional MRI scanner, where intraoperative scanning allows for greater precision and more effective surgery and are currently funding a research project to develop new surgical instruments and techniques. These developments have helped establish The National Hospital as a world leading centre for brain cancer.

www.nationalbrainappeal.org

Twitter @BrainAppeal

Instagram @brain_appeal