Story perspectives

BBC Unveils “Wham! 10 Days in China” Documentary

7/27/2026

Summary

Story summary

The documentary “Wham! 10 Days in China” opens worldwide on July 28 2026 and will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in August 2026.
Mike Christie directs it, blending restored footage with new interviews, unseen George Michael clips, and unreleased scenes of his irritation and a flight emergency where a trumpet player stabbed himself.
It recounts Wham!’s 1985 Beijing and Guangzhou concerts—the first Western pop shows in Communist China—that boosted their U.S. profile.

History

Historical Context

Deng Xiaoping’s December 1978 Third Plenum launched China’s reform-and-opening policy, ending bans on foreign music; state radio played 1,200 Western songs in 1979, a 300 % jump. The liberal climate allowed Wham! to perform in Beijing and Guangzhou in 1985, paving the way for George Michael’s tour that the new BBC Two documentary revisits.

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Story summary

The documentary “Wham! 10 Days in China” opens worldwide on July 28 2026 and will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in August 2026.
Mike Christie directs it, blending restored footage with new interviews, unseen George Michael clips, and unreleased scenes of his irritation and a flight emergency where a trumpet player stabbed himself.
It recounts Wham!’s 1985 Beijing and Guangzhou concerts—the first Western pop shows in Communist China—that boosted their U.S. profile.

1 / 2