Arena

A look into Kae Tempest's creative process and insights into their life throughout a period of profound personal and artistic change.

The story of original influencer Coco Chanel, whose designs still represent the zenith of female sexuality, style and power.

A profile of artist and activist Nan Goldin, using slideshows, interviews, photography and rare footage to tell the story of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid overdose crisis.

A look at the relationships and rivalries within The Rolling Stones in their formative years, as well as the creative musical genius of Brian Jones, key to the success of the band.

A visually arresting feature documentary, set in the present but which tells the rich story of Haiti's past, that follows a number of carnival performers in the lead-up to, and during, the annual Jacmel Mardi Gras. This is not the carnival of sequins and sound systems found elsewhere in the Caribbean, but a celebration of rebellion and resistance resonating through the centuries.

2022 marks the centenary of one of the defining poems of the 20th century, 'The Waste Land'. TS Eliot's groundbreaking work first exploded into the world on 15 October 1922 and has continued to resonate with successive generations. But in 2020, there were dramatic new revelations that demonstrated how, behind Eliot's mask, there was a much more personal story to be found within 'The Waste Land' – which can now at last be explored

One hundred years after its publication, this reveals the tawdry, shocking, poetic, uplifting and gloriously kaleidoscopic humanity of James Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses.Banned in the USA for obscenity in 1920, it was finally printed in Paris in 1922 by an American woman who had never published a book before. The film celebrates the crucial role of women, including Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, a lesbian couple who risked being sent to jail for printing obscene material in America; Sylvia Beach, the American in Paris, who published the first edition from her bookshop Shakespeare and Co; Harriet Shaw Weaver, the English heiress who gave Joyce over one million pounds; and Nora Barnacle, Joyce's wife, muse, and the model for his character Molly Bloom.Ulysses is an encyclopaedia of Irish history, barroom banter, low comedy, newsroom talk, advertising copy and song. Its central character is Leopold Bloom, who wanders around the city observing its everyday life.Set during the course of single day in Dublin in 1904, Ulysses was actually written in Trieste, Zurich and Paris during a time of huge historical upheaval by a penniless teacher of English who would never return to his native Ireland. This film takes us into the heart of the three cities that were home to Joyce and his family during the creation of the book.The film celebrates Joyce's daringly modernist style, spattered with language so scurrilous that it remains shocking to this day, which changed the novel, and writing, forever.With contributions from: Salman Rushdie, Colm Tóibín, Anne Enright, Howard Jacobson, Eimear McBride, Paul Muldoon, John McCourt, Nuala O'Connor, Vivienne Igoe and many others.

Rivers are the wondrous sculptors of the elaborate landscapes found on planet earth. They wear away mighty mountains, scour rock faces, carve deep valleys, create fertile plains, and then decorate them with their meanderings.‘For eons, running water obeyed only its own laws. To be truly alive, a river must be wild: wilful and unhindered. Yearning for the ocean, its only purpose is to descend.'In many places, rivers are seen as a source of great hope and something to be worshipped. In others they are where people are healed and blessed, where sins are washed away and the dead purified.Rivers are the arteries of the planet. Wherever they travel life, forms can emerge, survive and flourish, including human life. The will of rivers determined our early destiny. They were the transport routes that enabled and nourished the spread of human beings, and that created the boundaries between regions and countries. Just as rivers shaped the landscape, they have also shaped human existence.‘Today, the world's greatest cities all have a river at their heart.'Rivers are fundamental to human existence but are indifferent to human plans and dreams. In flood, they can wreak havoc, and in drought, they can disappear. And so, extraordinary means have been devised to control them and harness their force.‘Today, there is scarcely a river unspanned, undammed or undiverted.'The cost is high in some cases. The greatest dams provide power and prosperity, slake the thirst of millions and allow deserts to bloom all year, but when trapped and static, the water stagnates, and its sediment falls to the dam floor where it is inaccessible to those who depend on the fertility it would otherwise have delivered.‘For all their might though, rivers are fragile: easily harmed and not so easily mended. Time and again, upstream need and upstream greed have led to downstream disaster.'The use of poisons and plastics, and the sheer size of the human population, means that many rivers are living precariously or even fighting for survival. With humanity sharing its fate with rivers, the wash-up will determine the destinies of future generations.‘We must ask ourselves: Are we being good ancestors?'All is not lost – yet. Rivers are irrepressible, and given the chance, possess miraculous powers of recovery. Also, the cycle of renewal continues. Upon vanishing into oceans, the heat from the sun draws rivers up into the atmosphere, ready to fall back to earth reincarnated.

An Arena documentary about the life and work of video art pioneers Steina and Woody Vasulka, which reveals the profound effect they had on the American avant-garde.

An investigation into the extraordinary life and work of B. Catling, an eye-popping insight into the late-flourishing career of a maverick artist, teacher and performer.

How a US lifer survived long-term solitary confinement through a remarkable pen-pal friendship and the making of beautiful little paintings from M&M's.

An examination of the work and the legend of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, originally broadcast in 2003 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his death.

Exclusive testimony reveals the multifaceted man behind the maverick performer Fela Kuti, who created a sound for a continent - afrobeat.

International art sensation Keith Haring blazed a trail through the art scene of 1980s New York and revolutionised the worlds of pop culture and fine art. When he was diagnosed with Aids in 1989, he asked writer John Gruen to write his biography, and the subsequent audio interviews form the basis of this profile. They are combined with archive footage and contributions from friends, critics and contemporaries, telling the artist's story from the sleepy Pennsylvania of his youth to the clubbing scene of New York and to the streets, where he made his instantly recognisable graffiti-like art.

Documentary-maker Raoul Peck uses an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin, an account of the lives and successive assassinations of civil rights leaders Medgar Evans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, as the springboard for this examination of the black experience in America. Narrated by Samuel L Jackson, the film uses Baldwin's words as it explores everything from Hollywood stereotypes to police brutality.

Documentary in which Dan Vernon tries to track down Ike White, a musical prodigy who was serving life in prison for murder when he was given the opportunity to record an album. The resulting record Changin' Times came out in 1976 and following his release from prison, Whiteseemed to be on the path to redemption, but just as he was charting a course to stardom, he disappeared.

Contemporary artist Gillian Wearing celebrates the legacy of Victorian novelist George Eliot. Just as Eliot's novel Middlemarch explored the lives of ordinary men and women, this experimental film is made up of a diverse cast of people from different backgrounds.

Haunting film about Britain and the nuclear age, from the first bomb tests to our potentially futile preparations for attack during the Cold War.

Documentary that exposes a darker, less well-known side of film director Ingmar Bergman. Focusing on 1957, a landmark year in which Bergman directed two films and four plays, Jane Magnusson explores not only the director's filmography but also his, at times, complex and turbulent personal life.Using a wealth of previously unseen archive material, contemporary interviews and a fantastic selection of clips from Ingmar Bergman's vast body of work, this is a fascinating and unflinching study of one of the giants of world cinema.

A satirical look at the contradictory pressures faced by women today. It examines how television and social media can help us explore identity, at the same time encouraging women to conform to strict beauty ideals. Multimedia artist Rachel Maclean has created a world that is both seductive and dangerous, a place where surveillance, violence and submission are a normalised part of daily life.Siri wakes to find herself trapped inside a brutalist candy-coloured dreamhouse. Despite the cutesy decor, the place is far from benign, and she and her fellow inmates are encouraged to compete for survival. Forced to go head to head in a series of demeaning tasks, Siri and Alexa start subverting the rules, soon revealing the sinister truth that underpins their world.

In 1979, Bob Dylan released Slow Train Coming, an album of strictly devotional songs. He declared he had found God in Christianity. For the following two years, accompanied by the finest musicians and gospel singers, he toured with a repertoire solely of songs expressing his new-found faith. A film was made of one of those performances, but it was never released. After 37 years, it is broadcast for the first time - but with a twist. The performance is enhanced by a series of sermons between the songs, all specially written for the film and preached by Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon. The result is Bob Dylan's gospel service combining the then of the gig with the now of the message of The Preacher.

Film exploring the relationship of artist Stanley Spencer's two daughters, Unity and Shirin, as they try to understand and reclaim their father and investigate their family's archaeology. The film examines what it is like to be the children of a genius in a family whose private life has been described as 'the most bizarre domestic soap opera in the history of British art'. At the heart of the film are Stanley's daughters - Unity, 87 and Shirin, who's 91. Their separation, post-Stanley's divorce from fellow artist Hilda was traumatic. So, too, the fiasco of their father's second marriage to self-confessed lesbian, Patricia Preece. This separation took root in the daughters' lives, and only in old age have they come together. The film follows this late-life rapprochement, as Unity boxes up her father's drawings and letters and leaves her London home of 40 years to be with Shirin in Wales.

The machine that introduced the sounds of America to its people has been lovingly reassembled and now, in the heart of Hollywood, in a perfect recreation of the atmosphere and conditions of America's first ever recording studios, today's music superstars roll the epic on.Elton John, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Alabama Shakes, Jack White, Nas, Ana Gabriel, Beck, Los Lobos and Steve Martin are among the artists who test their skills against the demands of the recording machine that literally made American music. There are no edits, no overdubs and no retakes, and the disc only allows for three minutes of recording time.

The third episode takes a look at the influence of Hawaiian music and more specifically, the steel guitar, which became a central sound to a range of musical styles. When Joseph Kekuku picked up a metal bolt as he wandered down a train track, the bolt hit the strings of his guitar and the sound was born. He perfected his slide to create a new instrument that would travel the world.

As Desert Island Discs reaches 75, today's custodian of the island, Kirsty Young, introduces the 1982 Bafta-winning Arena classic. It celebrated Roy Plomley and his magical idea on their 40th anniversary.By then, everyone who was anyone had been cast adrift and washed up on Roy's island. Arena's castaways include 40th anniversary guest Paul McCartney, Frankie Howerd, Trevor Brooking, Professor J K Galbraith, Russell Harty and the great comedian Arthur Askey.

This episode takes a look at the stories of those early music pioneers whose names have largely been forgotten.In the small South Carolina town of Cheraw, Elder Burch held lively church gatherings which inspired young musicians - including jazz giant Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie's autobiography cites Burch and his sons as direct inspirations; it is no exaggeration to say that modern music would not look the same without Burch's early influence.The programme takes a look at the gritty songs and musicians that came from the coal mines of Logan County, West Virginia - The Williamson Brothers, Dick Justice and Frank Hutchinson. The hellish conditions of the coal mines inspired them to find a way out, through their music.

Documentary telling the tragicomic rollercoaster story of a unique venue. On October 15th 1966, the Roundhouse in north London hosted its first gig - the launch of radical newspaper International Times. The audience included Paul McCartney and Marianne Faithfull, along with 3,000 others trying desperately to get in. The result was a glorious shambles. Since then, virtually every big name in rock and alternative theatre has played there. Today it's as vibrant as ever, continuing to attract big names and full houses and running an array of outreach and youth programmes enabling young people to express themselves in the arts.

Based on Jon Savage's book 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded, Arena marks the year pop music and popular culture ripped up the rule book in articulate, instinctive and radical new ways. This was the year of Jonathan Miller's Alice in Wonderland, Morgan - A Suitable Case for Treatment, and the year that Strawberry Fields Forever was recorded. Television was still in black and white, but the world outside was bursting with colour and controversy. In America, in London, in Amsterdam, in Paris, revolutionary ideas slow-cooking since the late 1950s reached boiling point. In popular culture and the mass media, 1966 was a year of restless experimentation and the search for new forms of expression - particularly in pop music. This film takes viewers back to that moment in a vivid celebration of the music, films and TV that shaped the 1960s.

From the silent days of cinema, Shakespeare's plays have often been adapted to the big screen. Film-makers relished his vivid characters and dramatic plots as well as the magic and poetry of his work.At first the results were patchy, then came Laurence Olivier. With Henry V, made to stir patriotic spirit during the Second World War, he perfectly translated Shakespeare from the stage to the screen. He followed Henry V with Hamlet, and both were smash hits. Olivier led the way for directors as diverse as Orson Welles, Kurosawa, Franco Zeffirelli, Roman Polanski, Baz Luhrmann and Kenneth Branagh.The Bard's language has been no barrier, with bold versions of his dramas coming out of Russia, Japan, India and many other countries, not to mention Hollywood's free adaptations in genres as diverse as musicals and science fiction. Already over 30 films worldwide have been produced based on Romeo and Juliet alone.For the first time in a single documentary, Arena explores the rich, global history of Shakespeare in the cinema, with a treasure trove of film extracts and archival interviews with their creators.

With contributions from her family and fellow musicians, now in her early eighties and still going strong, country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn looks back at her life.

To celebrate Arena's 40th anniversary, a new film made entirely from its own archive, evoking the one experience common to all - the 24-hour cycle from dawn to dusk to dawn again.

Profile of Nicolas Roeg, examining his personal vision of cinema as evidenced in his films, including Don't Look Now, Performance, Walkabout and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Martin Scorsese's documentary film charting literary, political and cultural history as per the New York Review of Books, America's leading journal of ideas since 1963.

Made especially for schools, this version of the BBC Four Arena programme examines the history and purpose of the National Theatre as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Documentary telling the story of the genesis of the satirical puppet show Spitting Image, with contributions from caricaturists Peter Fluck and Roger Law and producer John Lloyd.

To mark the centenary of his birth, Arena examines the glamorous life and exceptionally long career of pioneering photographer and eccentric English gentleman, Norman Parkinson.

Documentary telling the personal story of Sister Wendy Beckett, who travelled the world telling the story of Christian art and painting in the 1990s, quickly becoming a star.

Documentary about the early female movie stars: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe - immortal goddesses made by Hollywood to reign over the silver screen.

Profile of record producer Sir George Martin, with his wife Judy, son Giles, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Michael Palin among the many contributors.

Arena enlists supermodels Lily Cole and Lizzy Jagger and actresses Dervla Kirwan and Emer Kenny to help Rolf Harris achieve a painting ambition.

Profile of the influential jazz pianist Dave Brubeck as he approaches his 90th birthday, who had one of the biggest popular hits in jazz history with Take Five.

Documentary telling the story and examining the legacy of Johnny Mercer, one of America's greatest songwriters and a man at the heart of the Great American Songbook.

Arena profiles crooner Frank Sinatra, acknowledged as one of the greatest singers of the 20th century, from his early family background to overwhelming showbusiness success.

An unprecedented insight into the mysterious life of one of the 20th century's greatest poets, featuring the previously unseen personal archives of his widow, Valerie Eliot.

Documentary exploring the meaning and history of cool through the American music that started in the bars of New York and Los Angeles in the 1940s and became known as cool jazz.

Crooner Tony Bennett reflects on his life with his friend and jazz enthusiast Clint Eastwood. Bennett traces his musical lineage, highlighted by concert footage.

A host of leading theatrical greats, including Peter Brook, Vanessa Redgrave and John Hurt, pay tribute to the outstanding British actor Paul Scofield.

In a rare interview, legendary music producer Phil Spector dissects his songs. His trial for murder in 2007 ended in a hung jury, and court footage provides a vivid counterpoint.

Documentary telling the story of the construction of the much-loved blue whale at the Natural History Museum. As the world marched towards war in 1938, a determined group of men at the museum undertook the unprecedented task of building a life-sized model of the largest creature that has ever lived.

Writer Philip Hoare confronts our fascination with the ocean's mystery animal, the whale. He visits the whaling ports of New England and draws a parallel with the war on terror.

A tribute to Liverpudlian comic Ken Dodd, in which he discusses his career and the influences of his comedy style. Features film clips of his early performances and footage of him on tour in more recent times.

Murray Lerner's documentary features Bob Dylan's performances at the Newport folk festival between 1963 and 1965 - the time when Dylan changed the music of the world.

Documentary about the American folk revival, the milieu from which the nascent Bob Dylan emerged in the early 1960s and whose crucible was the Newport folk festival.

Documentary looking at the phenomenon of sanctity, and how the Catholic Church is the only Christian persuasion with an official saint-making process.

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.

A celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Secret Policeman's Ball. Contributors include Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry and Lenny Henry.

Documentary which explores the artistry, moral world and furious infighting behind the film The Third Man. Alexander Korda, David O. Selznick, Orson Welles, Graham Greene - the drama behind the scenes is revealed with unlimited access to the original movie.

First transmitted in 2004, Jim White takes a road trip into the heart of the poor white American South through a gritty terrain of churches, prisons, truckstops and coalmines.

The conclusion to this two-part profile looks at Attenborough's career as Britain's most distinguished film director, whose biopic Ghandi won eight Oscars in 1982, including Best Director. It also explores his other lives as chancellor of Sussex University and vice-president of Chelsea FC and examines the political commitment behind films such as Cry Freedom and 10 Rillington Place.

wo-part Arena special celebrating the life and distinguished career of one of Britain's best-loved public figures. Lord Attenborough's film CV as actor stretches from Brighton Rock to Jurassic Park, while as director he has been responsible for Oh! What a Lovely War, Shadowlands and Gandhi. He has also been integral to the work of many charities, while his support for minority groups has led to the building of a Centre for Disability and the Arts. Part one examines his early career, and follows Attenborough as he visits his childhood home, travels to Brighton and Hove, and reminisces with brothers John and Sir David.

A look behind the scenes of Radio 4 comedy shows. Just a Minute has been running for 35 years with Nicholas Parsons as its host. Paul Merton, Clement Freud, Linda Smith and Ross Noble are among the guests attempting to talk on a subject for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.

Behind the scenes of Radio 4 comedy shows. Dead Ringers, which made the transition to TV, features spot-on impressions of everyone from George Bush to Anne Robinson. But have the team lost track of who they really are?

An anxious recluse deals with the pressures of the outside world. A play by Harold Pinter, filmed in New York's Almeida Theatre in 2001

A stage play by Harold Pinter in which Pinter himself gives a powerful performance in the central role. Nicolas, who works as a torturer in an unnamed police state, interrogates three members of the same family.

Writer, performer and director, the late Eric Sykes was the renaissance man of British comedy. This film opens the doors of the room that was his creative home for forty years.

Dame Beryl Bainbridge takes an idiosyncratic tour of the last twenty years of writer and poet Samuel Johnson's turbulent life, focusing on his relationship with Hester Thrale.

First transmitted in 2000 and inspired by the book of the same name, film-maker James Marsh relays a tale of tragedy, murder and mayhem that erupted behind the respectable facade Black River Falls, Wisconsin in the 19th Century.

Part two of the documentary on Beatles manager Brian Epstein. By the mid 60s, Epstein was lured into the world of gambling, sex and drugs and in 1967 he was found dead in his London mansion at the age of 32.

First in a two-part documentary examining the turbulent life and career of Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Gay when homosexuality was illegal, a gambler, shopkeeper and failed actor, he was also pop king with a Midas touch who, in the 60s, was as well known as the band he managed.

Fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are on the menu as Arena documents the life and cuisine of Elvis Presley - whose talent was matched by his appetite

A profile of the late Linda McCartney, focusing on her career in photography.

When pop artist Peter Blake confessed that his fantasy was to be the mysterious masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki, little did he know what the consequences would be.

Last of a special three-part presentation in which American director Billy Wilder discusses his career. He remembers working with Marilyn Monroe on Some Like It Hot "With Monroe life was a surprise - sometimes she knew eight pages of dialogue by heart, sometimes she had a total block."He discusses the craft of screenwriting, the problems of working with Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, and the creative pleasure of improvising with his lifelong collaborator, I.A.L. Diamond.

Profile celebrating the centenary of the famous author Agatha Christie's birth. Looking at her life, her character and the key moments in her childhood that influenced her writing.

Documentary about the life of Frankie Howerd, with help from friends and colleagues and including highlights from his TV and film career.

Havana has a dilapidated ruined beauty - decaying grandeur alongside squalor with a string atmosphere of Africa and Old Spain. Despite the political turmoil of Cuba's last 30 years, its people remain among the most imaginative and fascinating in the world. Under the dictatorship of Castro, Cuba has become a highly regulated state to say the least. Director Jana Bokova persuaded the citizens of Havana to talk about their lives, their city and Cuba, despite their anxieties and fears about opening up to a foreign film crew. The film goes beneath the skin of this legendary city, particularly through its extraordinarily rich music which enables the people to express their true attitudes and feelings. It also visits Little Havana in Miami, 90 miles away, home to some of the one million exiles to have left Cuba in the last 30 years.

A vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene.