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Anita Brookner on Art: 100 Great Paintings 2024
Anita Brookner, art historian, TV presenter and author of the Booker Prize-winning Hotel du Lac, added to her accomplishments in the 1980s by sharing with television audiences her understanding and appreciation for some of the finest works by the world’s greatest ever painters. In this collection, Anita’s contributions to the BBC’s 1981 series 100 Great Paintings are brought together in one place to create a masterclass in art appreciation, with her unique insights helping to increase our awareness of the cultural significance and creative processes behind works by the likes of Cezanne, Ingres, Delacroix and David.

The Hound of the Baskervilles 2023 star_border 8
The BBC Symphony Orchestra perform a live soundtrack in this premier stage adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes thriller.

Mike Yarwood at the BBC 2023
Rory Bremner looks back at the life and career of Mike Yarwood, master of the imitation game and one of the BBC's most successful stars of the 1970s and 80s.

Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse 2023
Michael Palin visits the Baltimore apartment gallery of Etta and Claribel Cone, wealthy American sisters who amassed one of the world's finest collections of modern French art.

Robbie Coltrane at the BBC 2022
A look back at the life and career of Robbie Coltrane, one of Britain’s best-loved stars and a giant of both the big and the small screen. His death earlier this year was one of the big shocks of 2022. Here, Celia Imrie narrates an affectionate tribute to one of Scotland’s favourite sons, telling his story through a selection of interviews and special moments from his appearances on BBC shows over the decades. This retrospective is a reminder of how Robbie first grabbed audiences’ attention as an exciting new comedy star in the 1980s, and the transition he made in the 1990s into cinema success and international stardom with roles in some of the movie world’s biggest blockbuster franchises.

Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster 2022
Follows six talented performers who interpret Mary Shelley’s classic novel from their own perspective; as young people growing up in 21st-century Britain. Using only their own mouths to make every sound in the film, with beatboxing and a capella, they explore how today’s society creates its own monsters.

Public Service Broadcasting - BBC Proms - This New Noise - Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2022
Public Service Broadcasting – a band who bring wit, invention and multimedia spectacle to the stage – return to the Proms after their previous, staggeringly innovative, 2019 outing, The Race for Space. This time, Public Service Broadcasting join conductor Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for This New Noise, a world premiere specially commissioned for the BBC’s centenary The band’s use of archive footage, sampling and imaginative musical techniques travels back through a hundred years of broadcasting history, making this a musical event like no other.

Mysteries of the Bayeux Tapestry 2022 star_border 7
The Bayeux Tapestry is a remarkable and unique work of art that has survived for almost 1,000 years. Made in the 11th century, it tells the story of William of Normandy’s claim to the English throne, culminating in the Norman invasion of England and the Battle of Hastings. At nearly 70 metres in length, the Bayeux Tapestry includes 623 characters, hundreds of animals and a wide diversity of scenes depicting everyday life and epic events. It is a treasure trove of information, offering an extraordinary insight into a pivotal moment in history.

Daniel Barenboim: In his Own Words 2021
Legendary conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim speaks more candidly than he has ever done before about his life and music. Told entirely through interviews with the maestro, the film starts with his earliest musical experiences as a child piano prodigy in Buenos Aires, before following his meteoric rise to fame, including his encounters with other musical giants such as Nadia Boulanger and Arthur Rubinstein, who gave the 14-year-old Daniel his first vodka and cigar! We also learn of Barenboim's move to Israel when he was a teenager, where he lived a double life as a musical genius and an ordinary schoolboy. He then talks with unusual intimacy about his relationship with cellist Jacqueline du Pre and her long battle with multiple sclerosis. The film also charts Barenboim's stellar career as an orchestral conductor, his move into opera and the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Edward Said.

Women in Film: BBC Introducing Arts 2021
Cultural historian Janina Ramirez presents a collection of intriguing and exciting short films by emerging women directors and artists. Each film gives a female perspective on modern-day topics from body image and new love to grief and belonging. Expect honest and refreshing storytelling that will make you laugh, make you cry and make you think.

Tutankhamun In Colour 2020 star_border 7.8
The BBC version of "King Tut In Color" documentary. A century after the world’s most exciting archaeological find - the tomb of Tutankhamun - we can witness the dramatic scenes of its discovery and marvel at its extraordinary treasures exactly as they were then, in colour.

Sacred Songs - The Secrets of Our Hearts 2020
Award-winning British choir Tenebrae, under the direction of Nigel Short, is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its passion and precision. In this performance Tenebrae once again breaks new ground in a programme of music for Easter, with all 20 of its singers filmed and recorded separately as they isolate themselves in their own homes. Under the direction of Nigel Short conducting via video link, Tenebrae sings a concert for Easter, including Gregorio Allegri's stunning Miserere, at a time when the world has never needed the medicine of music more. Tenebrae's repertoire for this specially filmed performance includes the following: JS Bach – Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden Lobo – Versa est in luctum Allegri – Miserere Purcell/Croft – Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts Parry – My soul, there is a country JS Bach – Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein

The Accused: Damned or Devoted? 2020 star_border 8
Against the backdrop of Pakistan's elections, this film follows the rise of powerful cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, on a mission to preserve the country's blasphemy laws, which prescribe a mandatory death sentence for disrespecting The Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and life imprisonment for desecrating the Holy Quran. With millions sympathetic to his goal, Rizvi silences anyone attempting to change the law by condemning them to death. As he pushes for more power, Rizvi decides to run for office in the upcoming general elections, and those accused of blasphemy or those who oppose the blasphemy laws- whether targeted minorities, liberals, and opposing Muslim voices - become the pawns of his ambition.

Classic Albums: Tears for Fears - Songs From the Big Chair 2020 star_border 7.7
A documentary that explores the creation of the seminal, second album by Tears for Fears. Songs from the Big Chair took the gothic synth-pop foundations of the band and combined them with arena-ready anthems, leading to critical acclaim and three international hit singles, Mothers Talk, Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

L'énigme quantique d'Einstein 2020

Martin's Close 2019 star_border 5.8
A young squire accused of murdering a young girl that did not return his feelings of love reveals a supernatural secret at his trial.

Northern Ballet's Victoria 2019
The extraordinary story of Queen Victoria, brought to life by Northern Ballet and choreographed by Cathy Marston. Victoria’s diaries revealed intimate details of a life so fascinating that her daughter Princess Beatrice tried to rewrite history, removing any detail that might embarrass the royal family. The ballet is the story of Victoria’s amazing life, seen through the eyes of her youngest child and lifelong companion Beatrice as she relives her memories of her mother as a secluded widow before discovering sides to her that she never knew.

Gauguin: A Dangerous Life 2019
Gauguin’s vivid artworks sell for millions. He was an inspired and committed multi-media artist who worked with the Impressionists and had a tempestuous relationship with Vincent van Gogh. But he was also a competitive and rapacious man who left his wife to bring up five children and used his colonial privilege to travel to Polynesia, where in his 40s he took ‘wives’ between 13 and 15 years old, creating images of them and their world that promoted a fantasy paradise of an unspoilt Eden in the Pacific. Later, he challenged the colonial authorities and the Catholic Church in defence of the indigenous people, dying in the Marquesas Islands in 1903, sick, impoverished and alone.

Rich Hall's Red Menace 2019
2019 marks the 30th year since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Rich Hall examines the relationship between the West and the USSR in his inimitable fashion.

Cyprus Avenue 2019 star_border 9
David Ireland's award-winning dark comedy about sectarian hatred in Northern Ireland. Eric Miller, a Belfast loyalist, mistakes his five-week-old granddaughter for Gerry Adams.

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Russell Maliphant's Vortex 2024
Visually rich dance from an award-winning choreographer inspired by the works of artist Jackson Pollock. Filmed live at Sadler’s Wells in London.

Inside Classical 2022
The BBC's orchestras are joined by world-renowned singers and musicians at some of the UK's most beautiful concert halls, performing the best in contemporary and classical music.

Being Beethoven 2020
Marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 1770, a documentary series that focuses on the real, complex and often difficult man behind the great composer.

Country Music by Ken Burns 2019 star_border 10
Country Music is a documentary miniseries chronicling the history and prominence of country music in American culture. The 8-part series was released on PBS (US) in September, 2019. It was re-edited into nine shorter 50min episodes for release on BBC Four in November 2019.

The Joy of Essex with Jonathan Meades 2018
Jonathan Meades provides a tour of Essex, a county he sees as the home of picturesque villages, pre-war modernism and 19th-century social experiments.

Jonathan Meades on Jargon 2018 star_border 10
In this provocative television essay, writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades turns his forensic gaze on that modern phenomenon that drives us all up the wall - jargon. In a wide-ranging programme he dissects politics, the law, football commentary, business, the arts, tabloid-speak and management consultancy to show how jargon is used to cover up, confuse and generally keep us in the dark. He contrasts this with the world of slang, which unlike jargon actually gets to the heart of whatever it's talking about even if it does offend along the way. With plenty of what is called 'strong language', Meades pulls no punches in slaying the dragon of jargon.

Blood and Gold: The Making of Spain with Simon Sebag Montefiore 2015 star_border 8
Simon Sebag Montefiore embarks on a fascinating journey to unlock 2,000 years of Spain's history.

Mumbai Railway 2015 star_border 2
From the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Robert Llewellyn explore the science behind the world's busiest railway. With John Sergeant reporting from across India.

Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places 2013
In this documentary series, Ifor ap Glyn travels across Britain, exploring some if its most holy and sacred sites.

Secret Knowledge 2013
In a series of authored films, some of our most engaging experts reveal their favourite hidden objects, forgotten places and artistic passions.

Bob Servant 2013 star_border 6
The Scottish town of Broughty Ferry doesn’t know what’s hit it. The sudden death of the sitting MP has resulted in a by-election that could change the political map of the UK. Bob Servant has been waiting his whole life for this level of attention and he’s willing to do anything to keep it.

Rome: A History Of The Eternal City 2012
Author and historian Simon Sebag Montefiore presents a three-part series uncovering the central role played by religion in creating and maintaining the power of the city of Rome.

The Gene Code 2011
Dr Adam Rutherford explores the consequences of one of the biggest scientific projects of all time - the decoding of the entire human genome.

Everything and Nothing 2011 star_border 6.8
Two-part documentary which deals with two of the deepest questions there are - what is everything, and what is nothing? Professor Jim Al-Khalili searches for an answer to these questions as he explores the true size and shape of the universe and delves into the amazing science behind apparent nothingness.

An Islamic History of Europe 2009
Rageh Omaar visits Spain, Sicily and France to discover the history of Islam in Europe

Jonathan Meades - Magnetic North 2008
Jonathan Meades travels from the flatlands of Flanders to Germany's spectacular Baltic coast in an attempt to decipher exactly what northernness entails.

The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn 2007 star_border 0.5
Documentary series about Albert Kahn's photographic Archive of the Planet. For a quarter of a century, Kahn supplied a team of photographers with the world's first colour camera system and dispatched them across the globe. Their films and 72,000 photographs offer a unique insight into the formative years of the 20th Century.

Tales from the Jungle 2007
Documentary series about famous anthropologists.

Mark Lawson Talks To 2003 star_border 6
A series in which arts presenter Mark Lawson has a 60-minute in-depth conversation with a notable figure.

Meades Eats 2003
Meades asks if Britain really has suffered a "Gastronomic Revolution", and offers an A-Z of British food.

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