Sir Paul McCartney declined to take part in a film about a Russian attack on Greenpeace, despite being instrumental in helping to secure the release of 30 activists. Producers for the BBC series pleaded with the former Beatle to take part, but the offer was refused amid security fears around the 81-year-old pop legend. The BBC series reveals how thrilled the protest group was when Macca agreed to send his famous letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2013, calling for the release from jail of 28 Greenpeace members and two journalists after they were arrested as they tried to climb aboard a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.
Viewers of On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace will see how the daring mission went terrifyingly wrong as Putin defended his oil at all costs and the protesters were shot at and thrown into a Russian jail. Frank Hewetson, who led the mission, has revealed he got through his weeks of isolation in the Russian jail by whistling the tune from The Great Escape. McCartney is a significant absentee from the BBC’s six-part documentary series, which includes an extensive interview with the former head of comms for Russian oil company Gazprom, Igor Volobuev - who is a squadron leader in the Ukrainian army.
“We worked incredibly hard to get an interview with him [Sir Paul] but were told he wasn’t available to do it, that he was too busy,” says producer Clare Beavis. “One of the series producers even went to his house, with a hand-written letter, in an attemp.
