"My belief is that in going - and with the outcome of that tour - I'd like to think that it made a contribution, even if a minute one, to the breaking down of apartheid."
The programme features interviews with Edwards and other key players from the 1974 side, including Phil Bennett, JJ Williams, JPR Williams and skipper Willie John McBride.
It also includes contributions from black supporters who attended the matches and cheered on the Lions from within their caged, segregated sections of the stadia.
They include Peter de Villiers, the current Springboks coach, and Bernie Habana, father of the current Springboks wing Bryan Habana.
Both reveal how the Lions became heroes to the black rugby community within South Africa - even though their initial stance was a belief that the tour should not have gone ahead.
De Villiers, who became the first black coach to take charge of the national team when he was appointed last year, says: "It was just great to be as close to the players that you admired.
That 99 call resonated with me, because I truly believe the way to stand up to people who bully you is to band together
Bernie Habana
"But there was a fence between you and the players. You couldn't go there and touch them and get some inspiration from them."
"They inspired us and I decided to come to Wales because I adored the style they were playing rugby. I drew some energy from what they did."
De Villiers later came to Wales as a young coach, while Habana claims he and other black supporters were galvanised by seeing the all-white Springboks physically dominated by the Lions.
One tactic employed by the Lions was the infamous "99" call.
It was called when any Lions player was the victim of violence inflicted by a South African team.
The Lions' response to the call was normally to start a brawl with the nearest opposition player, and it often resulted in all 30 players fighting.
The 1974 Lions enjoyed themselves on and off the pitch
Habana says: "That 99 call resonated with me, because I truly believe the way to stand up to people who bully you this way is to band together.
"The silence of the crowd was deafening. They were really showing that Sampson had his hair cut, he was not that strong anymore. It really was indicative of change."
Within two years of the tour, South Africa's racial tensions erupted with the Soweto Uprising.
Apartheid would remain in South Africa until 1994, but former Springboks forward Morne de Plessis says the comprehensive 3-0 Test series defeat he and his team-mates suffered at the hands of the Lions led to soul searching and widespread social examination.
Du Plessis, who would later become team manager to the South Africa team that hosted and won the 1995 World Cup, says.
"The impact of sport and particularly rugby on people in this country is profound.
"For their team to take a drubbing, reasons were sought.
"The selectors were blamed, the players were blamed, but I think we all came to a pretty quick conclusion that part of the reason was isolation - that we'd fallen behind - and then the reasons for that isolation must be addressed."
*The Lions' Roar, BBC ONE Wales, Sunday, 24 May, 2220 BST, then on the iPlayer
Edwards features in Sunday's show (BBC ONE Wales, 2220 BST, then on iPlayer)
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