According to various reports, the two-hour film is the result of the work of London-based Brook Lapping Productions, which began work on the documentary in October in West Virginia by interviewing family members, survivors and inspectors who were at the property during rescue efforts.

The Discovery Channel will air the film for the public, with its premiere set for Sunday, January 7 at 9pm EST. According to the channel’s website, other showings during the month include January 8 at 1am and 4am, January 14 at 11am and 3pm, January 24 at 9pm and January 25 at 2am and 5pm.

The documentary’s executive producer, John Grassie, told the Associated Press last weekend that its purpose was not to lay blame or to reconstruct the events of the January 2 explosion that killed 12 and left one seriously injured, but to look at “the very deep and very important culture of coal mining,” including the workers themselves and their family members.

“It’s not a job. It’s a way of life,” Grassie added.

After searching more than 40 hours, the bodies of Terry Helms, Martin Toler Jr, Alva Bennett, Fred Ware, Jesse Jones, Dave Lewis, Jerry Groves, Tom Anderson, George Hamner Jr, James Bennett, Marshall Winans and Jackie Weaver were recovered from the mine in the northcentral West Virginia town of Tallmansville on January 4. They were located inside a brattice cloth barricade about 13,000ft into the mine and 260ft down.

Sole survivor Randal McCloy spent a significant amount of time in a coma and was treated at a hospital and later a rehabilitation centre before being released to his family. He recently filed suit against the mine’s owner, International Coal Group.

A representative for McCloy told media outlets in September when plans for the documentary was announced that he would not be appearing in the film, as his family felt his involvement would be "inappropriate" because of his continuing recovery from mental and physical injuries.

“This is not a concern about the documentary [but] concern for Randy's continued recovery and concentration on avoiding detrimental relapses," family spokesperson Aly Goodwin Gregg said at the time.