{"id":123835,"date":"2025-05-22T23:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T23:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/123835\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T23:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T23:57:11","slug":"from-friar-park-to-the-big-screen-new-film-inspired-by-wednesbury-mans-story-set-to-premiere-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/123835\/","title":{"rendered":"From Friar Park to the Big Screen: New film inspired by Wednesbury man\u2019s story set to premiere in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Titled\u00a0\u7236\u3068\u50d5\u306e\u7d42\u308f\u3089\u306a\u3044\u6b4c\u00a0(\u201cMy Father and I and our Never Ending Song\u201d), the story is now set in Yokosuka, Japan and tells the emotional story of a former singer living with dementia, whose love of music never fades. The story has already touched millions online through viral videos, and now it will move cinema audiences on the other side of the world.<\/p>\n<p>Ted McDermott \u2013 aka Teddy Mac, born in Wednesbury and later based in Blackburn &#8211; captured hearts singing classic swing songs with his son Simon during car rides. As his memory faded, music became the bridge between past and present \u2013 and gave hope to thousands of families facing similar challenges.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/386efdb3-9e55-4376-b983-617358ff2c7c.jpg\"   alt=\"Images from film\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/>Images from film<\/p>\n<p>To coincide with the film\u2019s release, the memoir\u00a0The Songs That Saved Us\u00a0&#8211; originally published as\u00a0The Songaminute Man &#8211;\u00a0is being re-released in paperback on\u00a0<strong>June 5th<\/strong>. The book tells the story of Ted\u2019s life growing up in Wednesbury where he sang with local group The Starliners and how he finally released his first single at the age of 80. The updated edition includes a new chapter reflecting on what\u2019s happened since those first car videos went viral, and the emotional journey of caring for a loved one with dementia.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/9392adbd-c2bc-491f-b49c-d037ba592b75.jpg\"   alt=\"The Songs That Saved Us book\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/>The Songs That Saved Us book<\/p>\n<p>Simon McDermott, Teddy\u2019s son and author of the book, says:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s surreal but beautiful to see Dad\u2019s story told on screen. The fact it\u2019s now set in Japan gives everything an even bigger twist. Dad\u2019s condition has changed significantly, but he would be incredibly excited to know his story is being told on film. This book and film are tributes to him &#8211; and to all families going through something similar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The memoir has been praised for its raw honesty and uplifting message of finding joy, even in the darkest times.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/54c9269c-b8f3-4f04-a074-f6fae9dd7630.jpg\"   alt=\"Movie Poster\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/>Movie Poster<\/p>\n<p>The film premieres in Japan this Friday 23 May. Meanwhile,\u00a0The Songs That Saved Us\u00a0is available to pre-order now via Amazon, Waterstones, and all good bookshops.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chichiboku.jp\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">www.chichiboku.jp<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/0008719330\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/0008719330<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Titled\u00a0\u7236\u3068\u50d5\u306e\u7d42\u308f\u3089\u306a\u3044\u6b4c\u00a0(\u201cMy Father and I and our Never Ending Song\u201d), the story is now set in Yokosuka, Japan and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,16,15,4350],"class_list":{"0":"post-123835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-your-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114554198272149395","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}