Stacey Dooley – Inside the Undertakers documentary praised by viewers. The TV presenter an documentarian and worked with funeral directors to confront her fear of death.
Stacey Dooley tackled death head-on in her latest documentary, Inside the Undertakers, and has been praised by viewers for shedding light on a not-often-discussed topic. The documentarian spent weeks working with the Nottinghamshire-based funeral director AW Lymn, learning about the processes that a human body goes through from death to burial or cremation. It follows Stacey Dooley as she tackles the subject of death, by immersing herself in the world of undertaking at one of the UK’s busiest family-run funeral businesses.
“Death is a topic that’s openly discussed in many other cultures, even celebrated in some instances, yet I am so awkwardly British about the whole thing!”
We would like to convey our support for opening this conversation and what happens after someone dies. We would also like to reassure and explain that there are significant differences between us at Turnbull’s and what was shown in the documentary.
- Firstly, we convey every person into our care individually, we would never convey 4 or 5 people at the same time as illustrated in the documentary.
- We always respectfully convey the coffin with 4 or more experienced pall bearers.
- We are compassionate, experienced and offer genuine support, choice and value and we do not ‘production-line’ our service as illustrated in the documentary. We understand that each person’s final wishes are unique, which is why we offer a wide variety of funeral services.
Our family has a long proud history of serving the communities of North Shields, Tynemouth, Cullercoats, Whitley Bay, Wallsend and Newcastle upon Tyne since 1790. Our business is now managed by our seventh-generation family member Ben Broadhead. Our funeral directors offer a personal service and will take time to listen, advise, and guide you through all of the arrangements to plan a funeral that is appropriate for both you, your family and the person who has died.
In one of the most striking moments of the documentary, which aired on Thursday (9 November), Dooley accompanied an undertaker to the mortuary, where they had to identify an infant body among others.
“You can’t help but think about the parents of that baby,” she explained.
Dooley, 36, opened the documentary by telling a funeral director about her fears of her own mortality. “I just want to live forever, which I appreciate isn’t gonna come true,” she said. In making this film, she hoped to feel more comfortable with the idea of dying one day by spending time with those who dealt with mortality constantly.
Elsewhere in the BBC One programme, Dooley met an 80-year-old woman called Pat who was planning her own funeral.
“I’d prefer to sort it out and get it prepared,” Pat explained about her decision to make her arrangements ahead of time. “In dealing with it, you get along with living.”
When watching one of the employees embalming a body, Dooley noted how much care went into preparing a dead body for viewing by loved ones.
“There’s also something quite human about it,” she said. “They take great care and put a comb through their hair… The respect that goes into their work is really commendable.”
Dooley also met a grieving mother named Danielle, whose daughter, Lexi, died of a rare childhood cancer aged 10.
“It’s your worst nightmare come true,” Dooley said to the cameras, before praising how “dignified” Danielle has been through the process.
Many viewers have shared their responses to the programme, praising Dooley’s handling of a difficult topic.
