BBC asks Will You Be My Friend? in series exploring childhood friendships

UK pubcaster the BBC has commissioned a factual series from Five Mile Films exploring childhood friendships and connection.

Nick Mirsky

Will You Be My Friend? (6×60’) will air on BBC One and iPlayer and explores the world of friendship through children aged five to eight who are struggling socially.

The series is set in The Friendship Centre, where a team of psychologists help children build the confidence and social skills to form real, lasting connections with other kids. Each child is then sensitively matched on a play date with a potential new friend from their local area.

Six weeks later, the team returns to see how the children’s new-found courage has helped at school, in the playground and beyond.

Emma Loach, interim head of commissioning for documentaries at the BBC, said: “In a world that can feel increasingly disconnected, this series shows that the simplest gestures – a smile, a shared joke, a tentative ‘will you be my friend?’ – still have the power to change everything. Five Mile Films has brought us something very special, and we couldn’t be prouder to give it a home on the BBC.”

Filming will take place this July and August. The executive producers are Five Mile Films’ MD Nick Mirsky, Adam Chapman and Jordan Maloy. All3Media International is distributing globally.