Freeze: Skating On The Edge on BBC3 and BBCiPlayer follows the highs, lows, falls (and fall-outs!) of Britain’s elite skate team as they battle to be the cream of the crop, with the chance of representing Team GB at the Beijing Winter Olympics on the line. The four-part series follows some of the country’s most ambitious young skaters for 12 months, as they train night and day, while battling through skate-offs, qualifiers and international competitions to try to maintain their place on the team. And it’s no mean feat, as the gap between achieving their dreams and failure is separated by barely half a centimetre of steel!
So here’s everything we know about the drama-packed BBC3 documentary…
‘Freeze: Skating On The Edge’ release date
The four-part documentary Freeze: Skating On The Edge will begin on BBC3 on Saturday February 5 at 9pm then will run weekly. Each hour-long episode will also be available as a box set on BBC iPlayer after the first episode has been shown on BBC Three.
Is there a ‘Freeze: Skating On The Edge’ trailer?
Not yet, but we’ll update as soon as one lands!
What happens in ‘Freeze: Skating On The Edge’
Freeze: Skating On The Edge follows several of Britain’s top skaters over the course of a crucial year as they fight to maintain their place in the elite Team GB Performance Squad – or, for those on the outside looking in, bag themselves a coveted spot on the team. But there are plenty of hurdles to overcome, including lockdown, psychological battles, injuries, falls, problems with funding and the pressures of training at the highest level, which mean only with the strongest mental resilience can survive in the sport.
The ‘Freeze: Skating On The Edge’ skaters — Billy Wilson-French interview
Male ice dancer Billy is searching for a partner to be Jayne Torvill to his Christopher Dean. But when he has a try-out session with USA Junior Bronze Medallist Kat, will she meet Billy’s exacting standards?
“I can’t compete in couples ice dance without a partner. But I want a partner who’s willing to go the extra step to podium and work as hard as me," says Billy. "And that’s a big challenge."
Barnsley-born Billy first got into ice-skating at a young age. "I got invited to my primary school friend’s birthday party when I was 11 and I loved it!," he says. "It also turned out I was quite good, so my parents gave me lessons. Most ice skaters start at around three, and I always wish I’d started then because I wonder how good I’d be now!"
Torvill and Dean are always going to be idols, especially if you’re an ice dancer. But when I was younger I also looked up to some of the older skaters training at iceSheffield like PJ Hallam (see below)."
So what makes Kat a good Jayne Torvill to Billy's Christopher Dean? "It’s often about the basic stuff like height difference, previous pairings and if we naturally match on the ice. But also off the ice is important, too. We have to gel and luckily we get on well. We actually spend more time together than a married couple. We’re together two inches apart, in hold all day. There’s a lot of trust between us."
‘Freeze: Skating On The Edge’ skaters — PJ, aka Peter-James Hallam on his hopes
The British men’s figure skating champ PJ is struggling to land his triple axels since lockdown. Unfortunately the triple axel is an absolute prerequisite for any male skater on the international stage – and with the World Championships in Stockholm coming up, the pressure is on.
"When lockdown first happened I was waking up at night freaking out thinking, I’m meant to be training," says PJ. "I don’t know if they were anxiety attacks, but I kind of got knocked off my path with lockdown. Now I can’t do the triple axel consistently well. I just can’t land it."
‘Freeze: Skating On The Edge’ skaters — Harry and Lydia
Newly formed figure skating pair Harry and Lydia dream of participating in the Olympics, but they have a massive confidence setback when Lydia suffers a terrifying fall.
"When you fall, one minute you’re up high and the next minute you drop down seven and a half feet and everything’s knocked out of you, you’re winded and in pain," says Lydia. "It’s been emotional."
‘Freeze: Skating On The Edge’ — who else is featured
Several young up-and-coming stars also appear in the series, including British hopeful Kristen, who’s hoping to make a comeback after slipping three discs in her spine. As well as the young skaters, ice dance legend Christopher Dean also makes an appearance, as well as coach Mark Hanretty, who fans will remember as a pro on Dancing on Ice, partnering up with Donna Air, Saira Khan and most recently TOWIE’s Billie Shepherd.
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