BBC Four
Mental: A History of the Madhouse, BBC FourTuesday, 18 May 2010
Most people’s experience of the 120 or so Victorian asylums that littered the UK landscape for more than a century is, thankfully, oohing and aahing over the “sophisticated and sensitive” conversions they have become, providing “astonishing, unusual... Read more... |
Behind the Scenes at the Museum, BBC FourWednesday, 12 May 2010
Television schedules are set months in advance – susceptible only to royal fatalities or political earthquakes (as would-be viewers of EastEnders found out the other night) – but the timing of Behind the Scenes at the Museum could not be more... Read more... |
Beautiful Minds: James Lovelock, BBC FourThursday, 15 April 2010
At around the same time that Oliver Postgate, that singular genius of children’s television, was knocking up new worlds in his garden shed in Kent, so, in a garden shed in Wiltshire another remarkable maverick, Professor James Lovelock, was... Read more... |
Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me, BBC FourSunday, 04 April 2010
Jazz enthusiast Clint Eastwood, who co-produced this film with the BBC's Arena, clearly harbours a particular regard for songwriter, singer, impresario and record company mogul Johnny Mercer. When Eastwood made his film of John Berendt's book... Read more... |
Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema, BBC FourMonday, 29 March 2010
The first cinema was two-thirds empty. A hundred seats had been laid out by the Lumière brothers in a Parisian salon, but only 33 of them were occupied. The small audience saw a film in which a crowd, mostly women in long dresses but also a large... Read more... |
Fat Man in a White Hat, BBC FourWednesday, 24 March 2010
Sophie Dahl made her debut as a TV chef last night in The Delicious Miss Dahl (try and imagine Leslie Phillips saying that), a BBC Two confection even more absurdly artificial than the various Nigella Lawson food-porn shows. At least you believe... Read more... |
Arvo Pärt Special 1: How Sacred Music Scooped an InterviewSaturday, 20 March 2010
When I was asked 12 months ago by the BBC if I’d be interested in making a film on Henryk Górecki (in Poland) and Arvo Pärt (in Estonia) for their Sacred Music series, I said yes, almost immediately. I’d been very impressed by the first series... Read more... |
Arvo Pärt Special 2: 'If you want to understand my music read this'Saturday, 20 March 2010
My first encounter with Arvo Pärt’s music is indelibly etched on my consciousness. My piano teacher – the late Susan Bradshaw – placed a piece in front of me which, from a visual point of view alone, was immediately intriguing. Consisting of just... Read more... |
Horses come to StoryvilleWednesday, 10 March 2010
Horses, Liz Mermin's "intensely strange" but bewitching documentary about a year in the life of a trio of Irish "horse athletes", has already been seen at the Sheffield Doc/Fest and at the ICA in London. Now, recut and retitled Race Horses, it comes... Read more... |
Women, BBC Four / Dispatches - Cameron Uncovered, C4Tuesday, 09 March 2010
You don't have to be female to wonder where the feminist revolution went. You only have to look at the not-very-private lives of footballers and the gaggles of wannabe WAGs flinging themselves in their path, or the way female pop stars seem to... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Actor Simon Russell BealeSaturday, 06 March 2010
The career of Simon Russell Beale (b. 1961) needs little introduction. It took wing with the Royal Shakespeare Company but, give or take the odd foray into other buildings, including work with Sam Mendes at the Donmar Warehouse and more recently... Read more... |
Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man, BBC Three / The Man with the Golden Gavel, BBC FourThursday, 04 March 2010
Is Eddie Izzard running a lot of marathons really worth three hour-long documentaries? No, but it was worth watching this first one. Having seen close personal friends gearing up to run the London Marathon, a process involving months of training... Read more... |
