Stacey Dooley: Inside the Undertakers

Stacey tackles the subject of death by immersing herself in the world of undertaking at a century old funeral director's.

This film follows Stacey’s previous acclaimed documentary from the same production team behind Inside the Convent, where she expressed her fear of death, seeking answers from the nuns she was staying with, but her curiosity wasn’t fully satisfied.

Stacey’s life has since changed; and as a new mother, her worries for the future and about death have only been exacerbated. In order to try to overcome her fears, Stacey wants to face death head on.

Stacey travels to Nottingham, where she goes behind the scenes at AW Lymn The Family Funeral Service, a proud fifth-generation family-run business, to see the usually hidden processes of the funeral trade.

She gets up close and personal with every aspect of the company’s day-to-day work to discover more about the business of death. Stacey spends time with the funeral arrangers, the florists, the coffin and headstone makers and the embalmers – two young women who have been at the company since they were 16 – getting hands-on where possible.

Her time at the funeral home acts as a springboard for her to explore other people’s stories and attitudes towards death in the UK. She meets bereaved families planning funerals for their loved ones and someone facing their own imminent death, and discovers the role faith plays in today’s increasingly secular society.

It’s far from the doom and gloom she anticipated, but will Stacey get the answers she’s looking for?

For more information on funerals in different cultures, and other information, please visit the OU’s page on our website: www.bbc.co.uk/insidetheundertakers.