ITV Special:
D-Day 80 at the Royal Albert Hall
Sponsored by Ancestry®
Full segment
ITV Broadcast | Sunday 9 June 2024 | Hosted by Davina McCall
Produced by Snappin' Turtle. Sponsored by Ancestry®.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, ITV’s 'D-Day 80' at the Royal Albert Hall brought together music, personal stories, and archival film in a powerful national commemoration. Hosted by Davina McCall, the programme featured performances from Katherine Jenkins, Emeli Sandé, Lulu, and The D-Day Darlings, and included appearances from some of the last surviving Normandy veterans.
Natasha Billson’s Segment: A Tale of Two Harry Clarks
Archaeologist and presenter Natasha Billson featured in a special segment filmed in Normandy, alongside Harry Clark, the winner of BBC’s The Traitors Series 2 and a former Army Corporal.
Together, they visited the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, where they discovered the story of Bombardier Harry Clark, a 23-year-old soldier from Doncaster who died in June 1944, just days after arriving in France. Natasha presented original newspaper clippings that revealed his life story — from schoolboy and bricklayer to fallen hero — creating a powerful moment of reflection with his modern-day namesake.
Harry’s reaction at the memorial captured the emotional weight of the segment:
“It’s made me speechless, to be fair. The only difference between me and him – eight years.”
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Research and Production
The segment was produced in partnership with Ancestry®, the official broadcast sponsor, who carried out all historical research behind the story. The British Normandy Memorial was the charity partner for the D-Day 80 event.
Natasha participated in the project while completing her Master’s in History at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, applying her expertise to bring historical storytelling to a national audience.
“It's really wonderful to see Natasha contributing to such an important commemorative event, sharing her skills and expertise in public history with a TV audience of millions.”
— Dr Mark Donnelly, Course Lead, MA Public History, St Mary’s University