Acting
Jonathan Meades
Born January 21, 1947 · Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK (age 79)
Jonathan Turner Meades is an English writer and film-maker, primarily on the subjects of place, culture, architecture and food. His work spans journalism, fiction, essays, memoir and over fifty highly idiosyncratic television films, and has been described as "brainy, scabrous, mischievous", "iconoclastic" and possessed of "a polymathic breadth of knowledge and truly caustic wit".
Known For
Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali · 2002Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali
★ 5.82002
MovieHistoryTV Movie
A comic drama about the weird and wonderful world of Salvador Dali and the Surrealists. This film charts Dali's meteoric rise from obscurity to the world's most publicised artist.
L'Atlantide · 1992L'Atlantide
★ 6.71992
MovieDramaAdventure
A mythical land who must be discover. Or invented. In an impressive library, two old men. One is a great Polish archaeologist at the end of his work. The second- his best friend. They are masters of a substantial slice of human history: legendary Atlantis. It is refuge and masterpiece, propriety and treasure.
Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism · 2016Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism
★ 6.52016
MovieDocumentary
Having previously investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin's regimes, Jonathan Meades turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European dictator, Mussolini. His travels take him to Rome, Milan, Genoa, the new town of Sabaudia and the vast military memorials of Redipuglia and Monte Grappa. When it comes to the buildings of the fascist era, Meades discovers a dictator who couldn't dictate, with Mussolini caught between the contending forces of modernism and a revivalism that harked back to ancient Rome. The result was a variety of styles that still influence architecture today. Along the way, Meades ponders on the nature of fascism, the influence of the Futurists, and Mussolini's love of a fancy uniform.
Jerry Building: Unholy Relics of Nazi Germany · 1994Jerry Building: Unholy Relics of Nazi Germany
★ 7.01994
MovieHistoryDocumentary
Jonathan Meades explores the architecture of Nazi Germany, from its holiday camps to its concentration camps.
Franco Building with Jonathan Meades · 2019Franco Building with Jonathan Meades
2019
MovieDocumentary
Writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades turns his gaze onto Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
Joe Building: The Stalin Memorial Lecture · 2006Joe Building: The Stalin Memorial Lecture
2006
MovieHistoryDocumentary
Jonathan Meades examines the cult of Stalinism through its buildings and monuments.
Building Sights · 1988Building Sights
1988
SeriesDocumentary
Personal reflections on the best of 20th Century architecture.
Travels with Pevsner · 1997Travels with Pevsner
1997
SeriesDocumentary
Series in which presenters explore architecture in the footsteps of Nikolaus Pevsner.
Movies
Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali · 2002Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali
★ 5.82002
MovieHistoryTV Movie
A comic drama about the weird and wonderful world of Salvador Dali and the Surrealists. This film charts Dali's meteoric rise from obscurity to the world's most publicised artist.
L'Atlantide · 1992L'Atlantide
★ 6.71992
MovieDramaAdventure
A mythical land who must be discover. Or invented. In an impressive library, two old men. One is a great Polish archaeologist at the end of his work. The second- his best friend. They are masters of a substantial slice of human history: legendary Atlantis. It is refuge and masterpiece, propriety and treasure.
Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism · 2016Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism
★ 6.52016
MovieDocumentary
Having previously investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin's regimes, Jonathan Meades turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European dictator, Mussolini. His travels take him to Rome, Milan, Genoa, the new town of Sabaudia and the vast military memorials of Redipuglia and Monte Grappa. When it comes to the buildings of the fascist era, Meades discovers a dictator who couldn't dictate, with Mussolini caught between the contending forces of modernism and a revivalism that harked back to ancient Rome. The result was a variety of styles that still influence architecture today. Along the way, Meades ponders on the nature of fascism, the influence of the Futurists, and Mussolini's love of a fancy uniform.
Jerry Building: Unholy Relics of Nazi Germany · 1994Jerry Building: Unholy Relics of Nazi Germany
★ 7.01994
MovieHistoryDocumentary
Jonathan Meades explores the architecture of Nazi Germany, from its holiday camps to its concentration camps.
Franco Building with Jonathan Meades · 2019Franco Building with Jonathan Meades
2019
MovieDocumentary
Writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades turns his gaze onto Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
Joe Building: The Stalin Memorial Lecture · 2006Joe Building: The Stalin Memorial Lecture
2006
MovieHistoryDocumentary
Jonathan Meades examines the cult of Stalinism through its buildings and monuments.
TV Shows
Building Sights · 1988Building Sights
1988
SeriesDocumentary
Personal reflections on the best of 20th Century architecture.
Travels with Pevsner · 1997Travels with Pevsner
1997
SeriesDocumentary
Series in which presenters explore architecture in the footsteps of Nikolaus Pevsner.
Mark Lawson Talks To · 2003Mark Lawson Talks To
★ 6.02003
Series
A series in which arts presenter Mark Lawson has a 60-minute in-depth conversation with a notable figure.
Jonathan Meades: Off Kilter · 2009Jonathan Meades: Off Kilter
2009
SeriesDocumentary
Jonathan Meades takes a quixotic tour of Scotland, a country which has intrigued him since he first encountered lists of towns only known from football coupons
Abroad Again in Britain · 2005Abroad Again in Britain
★ 9.02005
SeriesDocumentary
Jonathan Meades gives a personal perspective of British history.
Jonathan Meades on Jargon · 2018Jonathan Meades on Jargon
★ 10.02018
SeriesDocumentary
In this provocative television essay, writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades turns his forensic gaze on that modern phenomenon that drives us all up the wall - jargon.
In a wide-ranging programme he dissects politics, the law, football commentary, business, the arts, tabloid-speak and management consultancy to show how jargon is used to cover up, confuse and generally keep us in the dark.
He contrasts this with the world of slang, which unlike jargon actually gets to the heart of whatever it's talking about even if it does offend along the way.
With plenty of what is called 'strong language', Meades pulls no punches in slaying the dragon of jargon.
Victoria Died in 1901 and is Still Alive Today · 2001Victoria Died in 1901 and is Still Alive Today
2001
SeriesDocumentary
Jonathan Meades's personal, entertaining and deliberately provocative journey through Victorian architecture.
From fantasy castles to the House of Parliament, he explores the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of Victorian society, using a combination of comic sketches, dance routines and riotous bad taste.
Meades concludes that the British obsession with escapism and the desire to live in the past means Queen Victoria is still very much alive today.
tv-ssfbm ehkl Surreal Film · 2001tv-ssfbm ehkl Surreal Film
2001
Series
Surreal. Totally surreal. Well surreal. Double surreal. What does "surreal" mean? Does it mean anything? Documentary about Surrealism
Jonathan Meades: Abroad Again · 2007Jonathan Meades: Abroad Again
2007
SeriesDocumentary
Jonathan Meades Explores architecture and the British psyche once again in this series.
Jonathan Meades On France · 2012Jonathan Meades On France
2012
SeriesDocumentary
Jonathan Meades scrutinises the 95 per cent of France that Brits drive through and don't notice en route to the 5 per cent that conforms to their expectation
Abroad in Britain · 1990Abroad in Britain
1990
SeriesDocumentary
Series in which Jonathan Meades considers unusual homes or architecture around Britain.
Bunkers Brutalism and Bloodymindedness · 2014Bunkers Brutalism and Bloodymindedness
2014
SeriesDocumentary
Two-part documentary in which Jonathan Meades makes the case for 20th-century concrete Brutalist architecture in an homage to a style that he sees a brave, bold and bloodyminded.
Tracing its precursors to the once-hated Victorian edifices described as Modern Gothic and before that to the unapologetic baroque visions created by John Vanbrugh, as well as the martial architecture of World War II, Meades celebrates the emergence of the Brutalist spirit in his usual provocative and incisive style.
Never pulling his punches, Meades praises a moment in architecture he considers sublime and decries its detractors.
Further Abroad With Jonathan Meades · 1994Further Abroad With Jonathan Meades
1994
SeriesDocumentary
Set In a distant Present. In a land where there is no such word as 'ordinary' and where every.... AAhh.. AATCHOO!
The Joy of Essex with Jonathan Meades · 2018The Joy of Essex with Jonathan Meades
2018
SeriesDocumentary
Jonathan Meades provides a tour of Essex, a county he sees as the home of picturesque villages, pre-war modernism and 19th-century social experiments.
Jonathan Meades - Magnetic North · 2008Jonathan Meades - Magnetic North
★ 9.02008
SeriesDocumentary
Jonathan Meades travels from the flatlands of Flanders to Germany's spectacular Baltic coast in an attempt to decipher exactly what northernness entails.
Even Further Abroad With Jonathan Meades · 1997Even Further Abroad With Jonathan Meades
1997
SeriesDocumentary
My name is Jonathan Meades and this Series is called 'Even Further Abroad'. It peels off the drab grey overcoat of preconception to reveal the lime green posing pouch of reality beneath.
Meades Eats · 2003Meades Eats
2003
SeriesDocumentary
Meades asks if Britain really has suffered a "Gastronomic Revolution", and offers an A-Z of British food.