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Season 2005
How the playwright used popular songs as a powerful dramatic device and to express the depth of his characters in 'Pennies from Heaven' and 'The Singing Detective'.
How the playwright used popular songs as a powerful dramatic device and to express the depth of his characters in 'Pennies from Heaven' and 'The Singing Detective'.
A portrait of the late playwright, featuring extracts from his work - read by Keith Barron - and interviews with Potter himself.
A portrait of the late playwright, featuring extracts from his work - read by Keith Barron - and interviews with Potter himself.
From Elvis to Norah Jones, Hank Williams's songs have been recorded more often than those of any other country music writer. Dirt-poor and rail-thin, he blazed out of Alabama in the late
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From Elvis to Norah Jones, Hank Williams's songs have been recorded more often than those of any other country music writer. Dirt-poor and rail-thin, he blazed out of Alabama in the late 1940s with the fervour of a man whose days were numbered. By 25 he was country's first superstar - but four years later he was gone; an icon yet an enigma even to those who thought they knew him best. With family and friends, Arena examines the real Hank Williams.
Cited as being the most beautiful star in the Hollywood firmament during the 1930s and 40s, Hedy Lamarr's talents as an accomplished physicist who also engaged in perfecting radar
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Cited as being the most beautiful star in the Hollywood firmament during the 1930s and 40s, Hedy Lamarr's talents as an accomplished physicist who also engaged in perfecting radar systems made her no average screen goddess. Her research wasn't made public until a few years before her death in 2000, and here her son Anthony goes in search of the truth behind his mother's memory.
Haunting and ferocious, Francis Bacon's paintings made an indelible impression on art history. His life - as outrageous as his work - is recalled by Arena in the only documentary
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Haunting and ferocious, Francis Bacon's paintings made an indelible impression on art history. His life - as outrageous as his work - is recalled by Arena in the only documentary exclusively permitted by Bacon's estate since his death in 1992. With original music by Brian Eno. Contains footage of bull-fighting.
A story told in flashbacks, Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines the immediacy of Bob Dylan's controversial 1966 tour of the British Isles with his remarkable personal and musical
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A story told in flashbacks, Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines the immediacy of Bob Dylan's controversial 1966 tour of the British Isles with his remarkable personal and musical journey. Drawing from hundreds of hours of unseen footage and rare recordings, in-depth interviews and revealing photographs, the film strikes a remarkable balance - telling the story of one man's journey and at the same time placing that story within the greater canvas of human events. This opening part traces his journey from a rock'n'roll-loving kid in the Midwest to his arrival as a major force in the world of folk music.
Bob Dylan's songs are often inspired by the lives of real people. This film focuses on three - songwriter Woody Guthrie, boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter and comedian Lenny Bruce.
Bob Dylan's songs are often inspired by the lives of real people. This film focuses on three - songwriter Woody Guthrie, boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter and comedian Lenny Bruce.
Martin Scorsese delicately balances Dylan's internal world with signpost images from the external as he follows the newsworthy phenomenon of a 23-year-old star laden with expectations -
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Martin Scorsese delicately balances Dylan's internal world with signpost images from the external as he follows the newsworthy phenomenon of a 23-year-old star laden with expectations - from the old left to become a political activist, and from the media to articulate the concerns of America's youth. But Dylan was already on the move, finding a new musical vocabulary with which to capture the complexity of a seismic cultural shift, injecting a heightened sense of poetry into his writing and committing the crime of adding electricity to his music. By 1966 Dylan's personal world had become a never-ending journey of touring and press conferences - with no direction home.
Surprisingly, Bob Dylan first came to the attention of the British public through his role in a 1963 BBC TV play, 'The Madhouse on Castle Street'. The tape was later wiped and has since
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Surprisingly, Bob Dylan first came to the attention of the British public through his role in a 1963 BBC TV play, 'The Madhouse on Castle Street'. The tape was later wiped and has since become the holy grail of missing Dylan works. Joining the hunt, Arena uncovers rare Dylan tracks and the fascinating story of his first time in London.
An incredible 22.8 million viewers were agog as Diana, Princess of Wales spoke candidly of her marriage into the royal family. Ten years on, the secrecy and tensions behind this seminal
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An incredible 22.8 million viewers were agog as Diana, Princess of Wales spoke candidly of her marriage into the royal family. Ten years on, the secrecy and tensions behind this seminal interview, and the impact it had on the public and the House of Windsor, are revealed.
2005x11
Little Platform, Big Stage: The Double Decker Bus Conductors
Episode overview
Documentary celebrating one of London's great characters, the bus conductor. The film tells the stories of five extraordinary conductors from five decades of London's history, rich with period music and archive.
Documentary celebrating one of London's great characters, the bus conductor. The film tells the stories of five extraordinary conductors from five decades of London's history, rich with period music and archive.
'Hancock's Half-Hour' and 'Steptoe and Son' - two persuasive reasons for making Ray Galton and Alan Simpson pre-eminent among Britain's postwar comedy writers. In their first full-length
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'Hancock's Half-Hour' and 'Steptoe and Son' - two persuasive reasons for making Ray Galton and Alan Simpson pre-eminent among Britain's postwar comedy writers. In their first full-length profile, the duo, who met as teenagers in 1948 when they were both convalescing from tuberculosis in Milford sanatorium, talk about their distinguished body of work to author and broadcaster Nigel Williams.
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