Dan Cruickshank & The House That Wouldn't Die

Andrew Marr's Great Scots: The Writers Who Shaped a Nation

Andrew Marr explores the lives and works of the Scottish writers who helped define a national identity over the last three centuries.

The Making of King Arthur

Poet Simon Armitage traces the evolution of the Arthurian legend through the literature of the medieval age and reveals that King Arthur is not the great national hero he is usually considered to be. He's a fickle and transitory character who was appropriated by the Normans to justify their conquest, he was cuckolded when French writers began adapting the story and it took Thomas Malory's masterpiece of English literature, Le Mort d'Arthur, to restore dignity and reclaim him as the national hero we know today.

Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons

In this hour-long documentary, Oxford academic Janina Ramirez tours the country in search of Anglo-Saxon art treasures. Her basic thesis - and it is a plausible one - is that we should not look upon their era as a "dark age" as compared, for example, to Roman times, but rather celebrate it as an age in which creativity flowered, especially in terms of artistic design as well as symbolism. She shows plenty of good examples, ranging from the Franks Casket to the Staffordshire Hoard, and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

Civilisations

The story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day—for the first time on a global scale. Inspired by Civilisation, Kenneth Clark’s acclaimed landmark 1969 series about Western art, this series broadens the canvas to reveal the role art and the creative imagination have played across multiple cultures and civilizations.

London: The Modern Babylon

London: The Modern Babylon is legendary director Julien Temple's epic time-traveling voyage to the heart of his hometown.

Britain's Most Fragile Treasure

Historian Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of a centuries-old masterpiece in glass. At 78 feet in height, the famous East Window at York Minster is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the country and it was the creative vision of a single artist - a mysterious master craftsman called John Thornton, one of the earliest named English artists. The East Window of York Minster is far more than a work of artistic genius, it is a window onto the medieval world and the medieval mind - telling us who were once were and who we still are, all preserved in the most fragile medium of all.

Gods and Monsters: Homer's Odyssey

Virginia Woolf said that Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was 'alive to every tremor and gleam of existence'. Following the magical and strange adventures of warrior king Odysseus, inventor of the idea of the Trojan horse, the poem can claim to be the greatest story ever told. Now British poet Simon Armitage goes on his own Greek adventure, following in the footsteps of one of his own personal heroes. Yet Simon ponders the question of whether he even likes the guy.

The Banshee

Bedevilled by writer’s block, an unsupportive partner and a bad case of the heebie jeebies thanks to the neighbour from hell, a would-be children’s author seeks inspiration from an unlikely source.

The Mountain That Had To Be Painted

Documentary about the painters Augustus John and James Dickson Innes who, in 1911, left London for the wild Arenig Valley in North Wales. Over three years, they created a body of work to rival the visionary landscapes of Matisse.

Orpheus in the Record Shop

Ancient myth is charged with the magical crackle of vinyl in rapper and playwright Testament’s timely musical story of a young man’s journey out of isolation.

Roy Lichtenstein: Pop Idol

Paul Morley investigates the lasting appeal of art's very own Pop Idol. From failed Abstract Expressionist to pioneering Pop Art hero, Roy Lichtenstein revolutionized the art world with his big, bold, brash cartoon images of American culture. Even before Andy Warhol had picked up his can of Campbell's soup, Lichtenstein was making merchandise into art and cultivating his own durable brand, turning out work that was highly consumable and tirelessly reproduced.

Secret Knowledge

In a series of authored films, some of our most engaging experts reveal their favourite hidden objects, forgotten places and artistic passions.

A Very British Renaissance

Art historian Dr James Fox makes the case for a singularly British renaissance, telling the stories of the artists and artisans who changed Britain forever.