Videoteca

location_onHampshire, EnglandpublicGB

Michael Tippett: The Shadow and the Light 2023
The latest in John Bridcut’s collection of award-winning films about British composers features the life and music of Sir Michael Tippett, who died 25 years ago in 1998.

Born to be The King 2022 star_border 7
As Prince Charles, the longest serving heir apparent, ascends the throne as King, those who know him well, who have worked for and with him, discuss what he has achieved as Prince of Wales and what he will bring to the role as the new Monarch.

Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70 2018
A special documentary to mark the seventieth birthday of HRH the Prince of Wales. For this observational documentary, film-maker John Bridcut has had exclusive access to the prince over the past 12 months, both at work and behind the scenes, at home and abroad. He speaks to those who know him best, including HRH the Duchess of Cornwall and the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex. His sons discuss their upbringing and their feelings about the prince's working life.

George III: The Genius of the Mad King 2017 star_border 6
After 200 years under lock and key, all the personal papers of one of our most important monarchs are for the first time seeing the light of day. In the first documentary to gain extensive access to the Royal Archives, Robert Hardman sheds fascinating new light on George III, Britain's longest reigning king. George III may be chiefly remembered for his madness, but these private documents reveal a monarch who was a political micromanager and a restless patron of science and the arts, an obsessive traveller who never left southern England yet toured the world in his mind and a man who was driven (sometimes to distraction) by his sense of duty to his family and his country. Featuring Simon Callow and Sian Thomas as the voices of King George and Queen Charlotte.

Elizabeth at 90: A Family Tribute 2016 star_border 7.4
A unique celebration of the Queen's ninety years as she reaches her landmark birthday in April. Film-maker John Bridcut has been granted special access to the complete collection of Her Majesty's personal ciné films, shot by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen herself, as well as by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Much of it has never been seen publicly before. Various members of the Royal Family are filmed watching this private footage and contributing their own personal insights and their memories of the woman they know both as a member of their own close family and as queen. Among those taking part are the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Kent and his sister Princess Alexandra, who has never before given an interview.

Britten's Endgame 2015 star_border 7
To mark the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth, Britten’s Endgame explores the composer's creativity in the face of death. Those closest to him watched anxiously as he raced to complete his final opera, Death in Venice, in defiance of medical advice, tackling an edgy subject with many resonances in his own life. His eventual heart operation left him incapacitated and prematurely old and frail, yet somehow he rediscovered his creative urge to produce two late masterpieces. This is a rich and poignant film about Britten’s final years, and the impact of what Peter Pears called 'an evil opera'.

Elgar: The Man Behind the Mask 2010
The composer of Land of Hope and Glory is often regarded as the quintessential English gentleman. But Elgar's image of hearty nobility was deliberately contrived. In this revelatory portrait of a musical genius, John Bridcut explores the secret conflicts in Elgar's nature which produced some of Britain's greatest music. Featuring specially filmed performances by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The Passions of Vaughan Williams 2008
Fifty years after his death, this musical and psychological portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams explores the passions that drove a giant of 20th-century English music.

How the BBC Began 2022
The often-hilarious stories of the BBC's first 50 years. The corporation's pioneers describe its evolution – which was often by accident rather than design.

Europe: Them or Us 2016
As the UK gears up to decide its future in the June referendum, Nick Robinson explores the troubled history of the UK's relationship with Europe.

The Poisoned Chalice 1996
The inside story of the often lethal impact of Europe on postwar British politics, told by both conspirators and victims.