When the BBC finally broadcast Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home on Wednesday 2nd October at 9pm, I settled onto my sofa with a box of tissues at the ready. I knew this was going to hit me hard. After all, I’d spent the past two months grieving Ozzy like I’d lost a member of my own family. And in so many ways, I had.

A Documentary Born from Love and Loss

Originally conceived as an eight-part series called Home to Roost, this one-hour documentary evolved as Ozzy’s health deteriorated over the three years of filming. What we got instead was something far more precious: an intimate, unfiltered glimpse into the final chapter of a legend’s life, and a testament to the enduring love between Ozzy and Sharon that has spanned over four decades.

The BBC made the right decision to postpone the original August broadcast. The Osbourne family needed time to grieve, and frankly, so did we. But watching it now, just over two months after Ozzy’s passing on 22 July, the documentary carries an emotional weight that is both devastating and strangely comforting.

Coming Home: More Than Just a House Move

From the opening scenes of Ozzy and Sharon travelling back to their Buckinghamshire mansion, you could feel the significance of this homecoming. “I’m so looking forward to an English summer,” Ozzy says with that trademark glint in his eye, and Sharon’s response about how they “always referred to this as home” instantly brought tears to my eyes.

This wasn’t just about two celebrities moving house. This was about a working-class lad from Aston, Birmingham coming full circle. After decades conquering the world stages, after becoming a global icon, after that bonkers reality TV show that introduced him to a whole new generation, Ozzy wanted to come home. And not just to England, but to be near Birmingham, the city that made him.

The Reality Behind the Reality TV Legend

What struck me most powerfully was how the documentary stripped away the carefully constructed “Prince of Darkness” persona to show us the real man underneath. Yes, there were still flashes of the chaotic humour that made The Osbournes such compulsive viewing in the early 2000s. The animals were still misbehaving, and Ozzy still delivered those legendary one-liners that made me laugh through my tears.

But this was a different Ozzy. This was a man ravaged by Parkinson’s Disease, struggling with the aftermath of that devastating 2019 fall, fighting his body every single day just to keep going. When Sharon asks him if he wants “a quiet life” in his older years and he replies, “No… Yes, but no,” you can see the internal battle playing out. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was increasingly weak.

Sharon: The Unsung Hero

Throughout the documentary, Sharon Osbourne emerges as the true hero of this story. Her strength, her devotion, her unwavering determination to give Ozzy the retirement he deserved – it was all there, laid bare for us to see. But so too were her anxieties. “This is it, this is our time,” she says at one point. “However long it is.”

Knowing what we know now, that they had less than three years left together, those words hit like a punch to the gut. By the end of the documentary, when we see footage from Ozzy’s funeral cortege through Birmingham on 30 July, Sharon’s grief is palpable. The sight of her, trembling and supported by Jack and Kelly as she laid purple flowers at the Black Sabbath bridge, absolutely shattered me.

The thought of Sharon now, alone in that big Buckinghamshire mansion without her soulmate of over 40 years, is almost too much to bear. As a review online so perfectly put it, “you would have to have had a heart of stone not to grasp the brutal tragedy that she is now the one who has been left utterly alone in that big old house.”

The Final Performance: Going Out in Style

The documentary’s coverage of Ozzy’s preparation for the Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park in Birmingham on 5 July 2025 was nothing short of inspirational. Watching him battle to get fit enough to perform, knowing that every rehearsal was agony, knowing that he was defying medical advice just to give his fans one final gift, that’s the Ozzy I’ve always loved.

When the documentary showed footage from that legendary gig, I was transported back to my own sofa on that magical night when I watched the livestream. Seeing it again in this context, knowing it would be his last ever performance just 17 days before his death, made it even more poignant. As Ozzy himself said in the documentary: “What a great way to go out that f***ing was!” And he was absolutely right.

The fact that all profits went to Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice just made the whole thing even more meaningful. That was pure Ozzy, giving back to his community and to causes that mattered, right until the very end.

A Family’s Love Laid Bare

What made this documentary so powerful was the access we were given to the entire Osbourne family. Jack’s concerns about his parents moving back to a country they’d barely spent time in over the last two decades felt entirely valid. Kelly’s observation that “I don’t think it’s possible for either one of them to retire, ever” proved heartbreakingly prescient.

The strength of Ozzy and Sharon’s love for one another, and their children’s devotion to them both, was evident in every frame. This was a family facing the inevitable with grace, humour, and unflinching honesty. They knew what was coming. We all did. But watching them face it together was both devastating and deeply inspiring.

The Funeral: Birmingham Says Goodbye to Its Prodigal Son

The documentary’s inclusion of footage from Ozzy’s funeral cortege through Birmingham was a masterstroke. Seeing thousands of fans lining the streets, seeing the coffin adorned with purple flowers spelling “Ozzy,” hearing Bostin’ Brass playing “Iron Man”,  it all reinforced what I’ve always known: Ozzy belonged to Birmingham, and Birmingham belonged to Ozzy.

As someone who watched that funeral procession live on television with tears streaming down my face, seeing it again in the context of this documentary brought all those emotions flooding back. The extraordinary impact of this working-class hero has never been more apparent than in that moment.

Why This Documentary Matters

Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home could have been just another celebrity puff piece. Instead, it’s a remarkably honest portrait of ageing, illness, love, and legacy. It shows us that even legends are mortal. That even the “Iron Man” wasn’t really made of iron, as Kelly so poignantly observes in the film.

But it also shows us something else: that authenticity matters. That it’s okay not to be perfect, especially when life isn’t either. That even with pain and illness, we can still choose to give something back. These were the lessons Ozzy taught us throughout his life, and this documentary serves as a final reminder of those truths.

A Fitting Tribute

Director Paula Wittig and the BBC have delivered something truly special here. This isn’t just a documentary about a rock star’s final years. It’s a love story. It’s a family portrait. It’s a tribute to resilience, to working-class pride, to the power of music to transcend everything.

As I sat on my sofa watching the final credits roll, I was emotionally drained but also strangely uplifted. This documentary gave us one final chance to spend time with Ozzy, to laugh with him, to cry with him, to remember why we fell in love with him in the first place.

The BBC made the right decision in broadcasting this. Sharon made the right decision in allowing the cameras to keep rolling. And we, as fans, are privileged to have this intimate farewell.

Final Thoughts

Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home is essential viewing for anyone who has ever been touched by Ozzy’s music, his humour, or his indomitable spirit. It’s bittersweet, it’s heartbreaking, and yes, it will make you cry. But it will also make you smile, make you laugh, and make you grateful that we got to share the planet with this extraordinary man for 76 years.

Thank you to the BBC for broadcasting this. Thank you to Sharon and the family for sharing these precious moments with us. And thank you, Ozzy, for one final performance; not on stage, but on screen, showing us how to face the end with grace, humour, and love.

Rest easy, Prince of Darkness. You’ve come home at last.

Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.