Saturday 30th March 2013
| Bach: A Passionate Life |
John Eliot Gardiner goes in search of Bach the man and the musician.
The famous portrait of Bach portrays a grumpy 62-year-old man in a wig and formal coat, yet his greatest works were composed 20 years earlier in an almost unrivalled blaze of creativity.
We reveal a complex and passionate artist; a warm and convivial family man at the same time a rebellious spirit struggling with the hierarchies of state and church who wrote timeless music that is today known world-wide. Gardiner undertakes a 'Bach Tour' of Germany, and sifts the relatively few clues we have - some newly-found.
Most of all, he uses the music to reveal the real Bach.
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Sunday 31st March 2013
| Andrew Lloyd Webber: 40 Musical Years |
| Micheal Jackson: Bad 25 |
Oscar-nominated director Spike Lee's forensic documentary assessment and celebration of Michael Jackson's 1987 blockbuster album, the follow-up to Thriller. With over 40 interviews conducted by Lee himself with those involved in the making of the album, the accompanying videos and the tour, this fastmoving but epic film is a detailed study of Jackson's second blockbuster album which went on to sell over 45 million units worldwide and included 5 consecutive US Number 1 singles and such classics as The Way You Make Me Feel, Bad, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal etc.
Interviewees include Martin Scorsese, Walter Yetnikoff, Kanye West, Ce-Lo Green and Sheryl Crow who was a backing singer on the BAD tour.
| Danny Boyle Interview Special |
| Mark Lawson Talks To Miriam Margolyes |
Mark Lawson talks to character actress and voice artist Miriam Margolyes, who has recently channelled her lifelong devotion to Dickens into a one-woman show. She speaks to Mark about her passion for acting, her lively schooldays and her inexorable self-confidence. Margolyes has graced the stage, television and silver screen for 50 years. Her award-winning performances in Little Dorrit and The Age of Innocence gave her international recognition, and more recently she appeared as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films.
| The Intern (1/5) |
| Horizon: The Age of Big Data |
At the heart of the city of London, one trader believes that he has found the secret of making billions with math. In South Africa, astronomers are attempting to catalogue the entire cosmos. These very different worlds are united by one thing - an extraordinary explosion in data.
Horizon meets the people at the forefront of the data revolution, and reveals the possibilities and the promise of the age of big data.
| David Bowie - Cracked Actor: An Imagine Special |
To mark David Bowie's comeback album and a new exhibition at the V&A, Alan Yentob looks back at his legendary 1975 documentary, Cracked Actor. The film follows Bowie during the Diamond Dogs tour of 1974.
Alan Yentob says "I'd caught him at what was an intensely creative time, but it was also physically and emotionally gruelling. Our encounters tended to take place in hotel rooms in the early hours of the morning or in snatched conversations in the back of limousines. He was fragile and exhausted, but also prepared to open up and talk in a way he had never really done before."
Cracked Actor has become one of the classic rock documentaries of all time, remaining an enduring influence on generations of Bowie fans.
| Elgar: The Man Behind The Mask |
The composer of Land of Hope and Glory is often regarded as the quintessential English gentleman, but Edward Elgar's image of hearty nobility was deliberately contrived. In reality, he was the son of a shopkeeper, who was awkward, nervous, self-pitying and often rude, while his marriage to his devoted wife Alice was complicated by romantic entanglements which fired his creative energy.
In this revelatory portrait of a musical genius, John Bridcut explores the secret conflicts in Elgar's nature which produced some of Britain's greatest music.
| Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane |
Crossfire Hurricane, directed by Brett Morgen, provides a remarkable new perspective on the Stones' unparalleled journey from blues-obsessed teenagers in the early 60s to rock royalty. It's all here in panoramic candour, from the Marquee Club to Hyde Park, from Altamont to 'Exile, from club gigs to stadium extravaganzas.
With never-before-seen footage and fresh insights from the band themselves, Crossfire Hurricane places the viewer on the frontline of the band's most legendary escapades.
Taking its title from a lyric in Jumping Jack Flash, Crossfire Hurricane gives the audience an intimate insight, for the first time, into exactly what it's like to be part of the Rolling Stones, as they overcame denunciation, drugs, dissensions and death to become the definitive survivors.
The odyssey includes film from the Stones' initial road trips and first controversies as they became the anti-Beatles, the group despised by authority because they connected and communicated with their own generation as no-one ever had. 'When we got together,' says Wyman, 'something magical happened, and no one could ever copy that'.
Riots and the chaos of early tours are graphically depicted, as is the birth of the Jagger-Richards songwriting partnership. The many dramas they encountered are also fully addressed, including the Redlands drug bust, the descent of Brian Jones into what Richards calls 'bye-bye land', and the terror and disillusionment of 1969's Altamont Festival.
The film illustrates the Stones' evolution from being, as Mick vividly describes it, 'the band everybody hated to the band everybody loves': through the hedonistic 1970s and Keith's turning-point bust in Canada, to the spectacular touring phenomenon we know today. Richards also reveals the song that he believes defines the 'essence' of his writing relationship with Jagger more than any other.
The film combines extensive historical footage, much of it widely unseen, with contemporary commentaries by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and former Stones, Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor.
| Britian: My New Home (3/3) |
The final new episode of the unique and ambitious long-running series. Imran, Altynay and Marshal reflect on their journey to Britain and how they finally settled into their new home.
| A History of Violence |
(2005) Viggo Mortenson stars in David Cronenberg's thriller as the owner of a diner who reveals a violent past when he stops an armed robbery. Strong language/violence/sexual scenes.
