FAIRIES, Indians and pirates - Peter Pan has it all.

Celebrating his 100th birthday this year, the story of Peter Pan is a legendary one.

Created by writer Sir J M Barrie in 1904, Peter has survived the ravages of two world wars, numerous reinventions and competition from contemporary superheroes.

Love it, or hate it (and its surprising how many people come down strongly on either side), it's a story that contains a lot in a little.

Everyone suffers a little bit from the 'wanting to be young forever' syndrome, and who wouldn't like to be able to fly?

Could Barrie have imagined the longevity of the fairytale he created?

Hereford-based writer Karen Wallace has become somewhat of a specialist on Barrie's life - firstly due to research on her recent best-seller, Wendy, and now because of her involvement in a new documentary on his life and times.

The hour-long show will be aired on BBC1 this week, including much movie and television archive material, dramatic reconstructions of a century's worth of childhood, and modern post- production - all wrapped in a 21st century script.

With Rupert Grint (aka Ron Weasley) as the voice of Peter Pan and Jane Horrocks as the voice of Tinkerbell, Happy Birthday Peter Pan covers the 100-year life story of the original flying super-hero.

As Peter takes us through the cultural, geographical and biographical history of his many magical worlds, the darker side to the story of the boy who wouldn't grow up is revealed.

It's based on a real boy, one of a family of five, who the author got to know through daily dog walks in London's Kensington Gardens.

Through formal introduction to the boys' parents, Barrie became an honorary uncle to the Llewelyn Davies boys, later adopting them and funding them through Eton.

They loved him for his magical storytelling and endless energy; he loved them for their childish youthfulness and constant whimsy.

But the real life Peter threw himself under an underground tube train in mid-life - the pressure of being 'the boy who never grew up' proving too much.

Two of his brothers also met a premature end.

Having invented the eternal fairytale, Barrie's other great stroke of genius, was donating the rights to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in 1929.

Although the UK copyright expired in 1987, 50 years after Barrie's death, former Prime Minister James Callaghan successfully proposed an amendment to the Copyright Act 1988 which gave Great Ormond Street the unique right to royalties from Peter Pan forever.

No-one knows just how much the various adaptations of the Peter Pan story have raised for the children's hospital and, as patron Cat Deeley says, that is the fitting end to a perfect fairytale.

Pan's legacy lives forever.