Alan Yentob meets one of Britain's most accomplished and popular sculptors, Anish Kapoor, known for his audacious works of staggering complexity and scale.
Alan Yentob meets Ray Davies, the creative powerhouse behind The Kinks and author of some of the best-loved songs of the 60s, who candidly discusses the vicissitudes of his career.
Seamlessly blending elements of movement and music, Twyla Tharp choreographs a rock 'n' roll dance spectacular, set to a score by former Talking Heads front man David Byrne. Adapted for television by Tharp from the original Broadway production, this memorable performance showcases the talents of...
Arena celebrates Roy Plomley's Desert Island Discs with the help of many celebrity castaways, including Frankie Howerd, Russell Harty, Trevor Brooking, the Lord Mayor of London, Professor JK Galbraith and Arthur Askey. The special guest for the 40th anniversary programme was Paul McCartney who was...
Performance artist Marina Abramovic invites Alan Yentob into her home, opens her archive, travels to her birthplace in Belgrade and talks about turning her life into art.
This insightful biography tells the story of legendary singer/songwriter Yusuf Islam, previously known as Cat Stevens, as he celebrates his return to the music industry and the release of his first album in almost 30 years.
After the success of recent shows in Venice, London and Paris, interest in `Outsider Art' has never been higher, but what exactly is it? How do we define it? And who are its gurus and luminaries? Alan Yentob explores this alternative art universe.
Ella Fitzgerald in performance at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. This second show confirms yet again all the superlatives which critics have lavished on her in recent performances.
For decades, Margaret Atwood has been universally acclaimed as Canada's greatest living writer. Fearlessly outspoken in life and in her work, Atwood has always been an unrelenting provocateur. Now at the age of 77, her star shines brighter and bolder than ever with an explosive television...
Alan Yentob joins South African artist William Kentridge as he prepares an epic frieze along the banks of the river Tiber in Rome. Alan visits him in his hometown of Johannesburg, the inspiration for the magical hand-drawn animated films he calls 'drawings for projection'. Brought up under...
David Hockney undertakes a commission to design and install a stained-glass window in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the sixty-fifth year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.
This documentary looks at executive producer Philip Segal’s seven-year quest to return Doctor Who to the screen, from his initial contact with the BBC shortly before its cancellation in 1989, through to the production and transmission of the movie in 1996. Featuring Philip Segal, BBC executive...
Alan Yentob spends time with Philip Pullman in Oxford, discovering how the ex-teacher became an acclaimed author of fantasy fiction and an outspoken critic of organised religion.
Sculptor and giant of modern art Richard Serra discusses his extraordinary life and work. A creator of enormous, immediately identifiable steel sculptures that both terrify and mesmerise, Serra believes that each viewer creates the sculpture for themselves by being within it. To this end, a...
After 53 years Television Centre, the BBC's TV headquarters, is closing its doors and Michael Grade gathers together many of its best-loved faces to stroll down memory lane.
After years of separation, the two voices and acoustic guitars that laid the foundation for pop music were united again to harmonize in London's Royal Albert Hall as thousands of fans who flocked to the scene were joined by generations of musicians they inspired, from the Beatles to the Beach Boys....
Sunset Boulevard stretches 27 miles from Los Angeles’ Chinatown all the way to the ocean – a ride made famous by Philip Marlowe in the Chandler books. Film star mansions give way to tatty motels; exclusive offices stand alongside nightclubs with aspiring comics, and amateur nude contests. Then...
Journey with the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor Sir Simon Rattle on a breakneck concert tour of six metropolises across Asia: Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. Their artistic triumph onstage belies a dynamic and dramatic life backstage. The orchestra...
