The South Bank Show is a British documentary talk television series that premiered on ITV1 on January 14, 1978. It ended on August 29, 2023. It was created by Melvyn Bragg. It stars Melvyn Bragg, Paul McCartney, Harold Pinter and Alec Guinness.
The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.
Premise
The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.
During the early 1980s, David Hockney focused on a new technique for creating photographic collages, which he termed 'joiners'. These works involve assembling scores of photos of the same subject taken from different angles in a single session. Hockney's aim was to inject a visible element of time into photographic images, which normally represent only 'frozen moments'. To illustrate his approach, a special project was devised for this film, and Hockney is shown at his Los Angeles studio creating the 'joiner' later titled Fredda bringing Ann and me a Cup of Tea. Through his exploration of this new method, Hockney illuminates his underlying attitudes to the nature of visual representation. This film adds a further dimension by looking at the influence of photographs on Hockney's paintings and graphic works throughout his career. Hockney places his own experiments in a wide perspective, highlighting the interaction between an artist's creativity and chosen medium.
November 13, 1983
2
British Comedy Special
November 14, 1994
3
40th Anniversary Special
January 14, 2018
Season 1 preview24 episodes total
Season 1 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Paul McCartney/surrealist exhibition
January 14, 1978
2
Paganini Superstar
January 21, 1978
3
Roy Minton
January 28, 1978
Season 2 preview24 episodes total
Season 2 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Tom Stoppard
November 26, 1978
2
Grace Under Pressure (Anthony Burgess on Hemingway)
December 3, 1978
3
Woody Allen
December 10, 1978
Season 3 preview19 episodes total
Season 3 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Francis Ford Coppola
December 2, 1979
2
Royal Shakespeare Company masterclass (1)
December 9, 1979
3
Royal Shakespeare Company masterclass (2)
December 16, 1979
Season 4 preview26 episodes total
Season 4 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Arthur Miller
November 9, 1980
2
William Golding
November 16, 1980
3
Akira Kurosawa
November 23, 1980
Season 5 preview27 episodes total
Season 5 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
The French Lieutenant's Woman
November 1, 1981
2
Elvis Costello
November 8, 1981
3
Old Glory: the Journey and the Book
November 15, 1981
Season 6 preview26 episodes total
Season 6 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Laurence Olivier, a Life (1)
October 17, 1982
2
Laurence Olivier, a Life (2)
October 24, 1982
3
Peter Gabriel
Cameras follow Peter Gabriel during the recording of his fourth solo album.
October 31, 1982
Season 7 preview22 episodes total
Season 7 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Piper's Way
October 16, 1983
2
Yuri Lyubimov
October 23, 1983
3
Peter Brook
October 30, 1983
Season 8 preview24 episodes total
Season 8 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Alan Bennett
October 7, 1984
2
McCartney's Broad Street
Behind the scenes look at the making of Paul McCartney's 1984 movie Give My Regards To Broad Street.
October 14, 1984
3
The Forming of the Phoenix (Phoenix Dance Company)
October 21, 1984
Season 9 preview24 episodes total
Season 9 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Sir Alec Guinness
October 6, 1985
2
Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor
October 13, 1985
3
Ian McKellen, Diary of a Year
October 20, 1985
Season 10 preview23 episodes total
Season 10 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
John Mortimer
October 5, 1986
2
Itzhak Perlman
October 12, 1986
3
Roald Dahl: Fe-Fi-Fo-fum
October 19, 1986
Season 11 preview24 episodes total
Season 11 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Maria Callas
October 4, 1987
2
Toni Morrison
October 11, 1987
3
The Smiths
This documentary on The Smiths was filmed just days before the band went their separate ways in 1987. Contains interviews of Morrissey, Marr, Joyce and Rourke, as well as Linder, Shaun Duggan, Jo O'Keefe, John Peel, Nick Kent, Sandie Shaw and Viv Nicholson.
October 18, 1987
Season 12 preview24 episodes total
Season 12 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
The Art of Walt Disney
September 25, 1988
2
Bernard Shaw
October 2, 1988
3
Under Milk Wood
October 9, 1988
Season 13 preview25 episodes total
Season 13 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Martin Amis
September 17, 1989
2
Dustin Hoffman, Sir Peter Hall
September 24, 1989
3
Jimi Hendrix
October 1, 1989
Season 14 preview23 episodes total
Season 14 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
George Michael
September 2, 1990
2
Peter Ackroyd on Dickens
September 9, 1990
3
Spike Lee
September 23, 1990
Season 15 preview25 episodes total
Season 15 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Private Eye
September 15, 1991
2
David Lodge
September 29, 1991
3
Terry Gilliam
October 6, 1991
Season 16 preview25 episodes total
Season 16 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Billy Connolly
October 4, 1992
2
Alice Walker
October 11, 1992
3
Peter O'Toole
October 18, 1992
Season 17 preview25 episodes total
Season 17 episode preview
Episode
Title
Air date
1
Sydney Pollack
September 12, 1993
2
Willy Russell
September 19, 1993
3
Ken Loach
British director Ken Loach first came to fame in the Sixties with plays such as UP THE JUNCTION and CATHY COME HOME and films including KES. To coincide with his latest film, RAINING STONES, Loach, unashamedly political in his outlook, talks to Melvyn Bragg.