Alan Yentob

Tom Stoppard is perhaps the world’s leading, funniest and cleverest playwright. Ever since he hit the ground running in the 1960s with...

David Hockney undertakes a commission to design and install a stained-glass window in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the sixty-fifth year of Queen...

One of the most provocative and elusive figures in contemporary art finds himself the subject of Maura Axelrod's film. Catapulted to worldwide...

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...

Alan Yentob profiles the most successful female architect there has ever been, the late Zaha Hadid, who designed buildings around the globe from...

Alan Yentob meets sculptor Antony Gormley, creator of the iconic Angel of the North, and uncovers the influences that have shaped his life and work. ...

For decades, Margaret Atwood has been universally acclaimed as Canada's greatest living writer. Fearlessly outspoken in life and in her work, Atwood...

Mel Brooks appears on stage with Alan Yentob, the creative director for the BBC, at the Geffen Theatre in California to review his extensive career...

Miriam Margolyes is one of Britain’s best loved and most provocative actresses. Across her eclectic career, she has played scene-stealing turns...

Twenty-something virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, singer and arranger Jacob Collier has managed to outdo The Beatles by winning Grammy Awards for each...

Alan Yentob presents a film exploring the life and work of the Ivor Novello Award-winning black British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre. An enigmatic...

Dream city, Sin City, a mirage in the desert, Las Vegas is a film set in its own right, a piece of pop art, an outdoor museum of American culture....

imagine... follows celebrated British TV writer Russell T Davies as he prepares to return as the showrunner of Doctor Who – with two Doctors...

imagine... tells the story of Aviva Studios, Manchester’s colossal new cultural venue, and goes behind the scenes at the world premiere of its...

imagine... profiles the UK’s most successful double act of the last 40 years, French & Saunders, exploring a brand of comedy based on satire,...

Scrabble is experiencing a renaissance. The younger generation have rediscovered the game online - through the copyright busting Scrabulous - and...

Artist Grayson Perry has been working behind the scenes at the British Museum to stage his most ambitious show yet: The Tomb of the Unknown...

Will the rise of electronic books mark the final chapter in the love story between traditional books and their readers? Alan Yentob discusses the...

Crime writer Ian Rankin invites BBC to follow him as he writes his next novel, and as he ponders what to write about after retiring his most famous...

Renowned American playwright Arthur Miller discusses his life and work with Alan Yentob.

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...

Alan Yentob explores the work of Martin Parr, considered to be the most influential photographer of his generation

Alan Yentob immerses himself in the Art World visiting the 5th London Frieze Art Fair in October 2007, the centre of the British contemporary art...

A 2008 documentary about Japanese author Haruki Murakami

As Man Booker Prize-winning writer Howard Jacobson retells The Merchant of Venice, 400 years after Shakespeare’s death, he travels with Alan...

1975 documentary about 11-year-old serial arsonist Michael 'Mini' Cooper, followed by Cooper and the film's director Franc Roddam in conversation...

Featuring exclusive access to their recent tour and their new album, this documentary reveals the fascinating world of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant...

Sculptor and giant of modern art Richard Serra discusses his extraordinary life and work. A creator of enormous, immediately identifiable steel...

Salman Rushdie speaks to Alan Yentob about the devastating knife attack he was subjected to in 2022, losing his right eye and almost his ability to...

Alan Yentob meets Harlem-born artist, author and activist Faith Ringgold as she prepares for her London show at the Serpentine Gallery.

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...

Co-produced by Rogan Productions and BBC Studios. London. The Summer of 2012. As rehearsals take place in a rainy Dagenham car park, Director Danny...

2015 was a momentous year for novelist Marlon James. He became the first Jamaican writer to win the Man Booker prize for his magisterial novel A...

Following the recent death of Ken Russell, Alan Yentob looks back over the career of the flamboyant film director responsible for Women In Love,...

Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.

In a revealing documentary, Mike Leigh, director of Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and Abigail's Party among many others, talks to Alan Yentob about...

Documentary about author Roald Dahl, produced for the British television series Imagine.

An intimate portrait of British sculptor Rachel Whiteread as she unpacks her life's work for a major retrospective at Tate Britain in London. Her...

Alan Yentob talks to Dr. Oliver Sacks about his latest book 'Musicophila: Tales of Music and the Brain' which deals with the power of music and how...

Beautiful story about effervescent ninety-year-old children's book author and illustrator Judith Kerr - (a true delight) - recounting her childhood...

A fascinating look at the colorful career of architect Frank Gehry who despite being well into his eighties remains one of the world's most...

Alan Yentob takes the artist Howard Hodgkin away from his Bloomsbury studio to India to discover more about his works and what inspires him.

Alan Yentob meets the five surviving members of Monty Python - John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle - as they prepare...

At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical "Young Frankenstein" opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan...

On the brink of the Depression in 1929, Georgia O'Keeffe - America's first great modernist painter - headed west. In the bright light of the New...

Alan Yentob looks into the life of comedian Jo Brand, marking a diverse career which began in 1980s stand-up comedy and has moved through writing,...

Alan Yentob talks to British architect David Chipperfield about his breakthrough in Berlin, his love of the city and the 11 years spent on the...

Alan Yentob meets one of Britain's most accomplished and popular sculptors, Anish Kapoor, known for his audacious works of staggering complexity and...

For five decades the woman they call the Divine Miss M has forged a path which has taken her from a pineapple-canning factory in Honolulu to becoming...

Edna O’Brien is one of the greatest literary talents and rule breakers of her generation. In 1960, her revolutionary debut novel, The Country...

The incredible story of a mysterious nanny who died in 2009 leaving behind a secret hoard - thousands of stunning photographs. Never seen in her...

This documentary looks at executive producer Philip Segal’s seven-year quest to return Doctor Who to the screen, from his initial contact with...

Olafur Eliasson has been pushing the limits of the sublime and the spectacular in his art for almost 30 years. From his monumental installation, The...

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...

Alan Yentob spends time with Philip Pullman in Oxford, discovering how the ex-teacher became an acclaimed author of fantasy fiction and an outspoken...

Pioneer photographer, forefather of cinema, showman, murderer - Eadweard Muybridge was a Victorian enigma. He was born and died in Kingston upon...

A look at Rio's cultural, political and technical revolutions since the 1970s to 2011

Performance artist Marina Abramovic invites Alan Yentob into her home, opens her archive, travels to her birthplace in Belgrade and talks about...

Could New Orleans's days as a great musical powerhouse be coming to an end? As Alan Yentob traces the city's vast musical heritage, he meets...

Famous for lines like 'It is better to be feared than loved', Machiavelli's notorious book, The Prince, has been a manual for tyrants from Napoleon...

A revealing profile of the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, as he publishes his...

A drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced...

Nearly 30 years after her debut novel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson returns with Alan Yentob to the scenes of her extraordinary...

Alan Yentob profiles the stellar career of one of the great satirists of our age, Armando Iannucci, whose impressive body of work includes The Day...

Journey with the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor Sir Simon Rattle on a breakneck concert tour of six metropolises across...

Documentary which examines the work of the GPO Film Unit in its fiftieth year. Co-produced by The Post Office and Arena.

Miriam Margolyes is one of Britain’s best loved and most provocative actresses. Across her eclectic career, she has played scene-stealing turns...

Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti performs at the 1984 Glastonbury Festival. Originally produced for Arena.

This acclaimed documentary depicts the sad life of the greatest of all jazz singers, Billie Holiday, a life engraved with personal tragedy and...

Twenty-something virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, singer and arranger Jacob Collier has managed to outdo The Beatles by winning Grammy Awards for each...

The documentary depicts Bowie on tour in Los Angeles, using a mixture of vérité sequences filmed in limousines and hotels, and concert...

Getting Away From Sidney - BBC TV documentary about Graeae, a touring theatre company of disabled actors (1981) The Arena arts TV programme which...

This insightful biography tells the story of legendary singer/songwriter Yusuf Islam, previously known as Cat Stevens, as he celebrates his return to...

A documentary about and an interview with Hollywood actress Bette Davis about her life and career from the late 1920s to the 1980s on stage and...

Arena celebrates Roy Plomley's Desert Island Discs with the help of many celebrity castaways, including Frankie Howerd, Russell Harty, Trevor...

Arena cameras were on hand to film the return of Dire Straits from their triumphant 1980 Brothers in Arms world tour. The film features a superb...

Arts documentary, first broadcast before Ai Weiwei's arrest by the Chinese authorities in April 2011, and his subsequent release after being detained...

Arts documentary, first broadcast before Ai Weiwei's arrest by the Chinese authorities in April 2011, and his subsequent release after being detained...

Arena looks behind the Gioconda smile. The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre behind plate glass - an unsigned, undated portrait of a smiling woman. She...

A documentary featured on BBC's Arena series in 1983. The author discusses his life, his work and his thoughts and opinions.

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 Everly Brothers were among the most successful and revered of all the giants of early rock 'n' roll. A determining influence on the Beatles,...

This is the definitive video biography of rock 'n roll legend Buddy Holly. Produced and hosted by former Beatle, Paul McCartney, includes interviews...

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

After a break of nine years, David Gilmour steps back into the spotlight with a number one album and world tour. This film is an intimate portrait of...

Recorded at Ronnie Scott's in London in 1974 and backed by the Tommy Flanagan Quartet, Ella Fitzgerald performs some of her most famous songs,...

Featuring exclusive access to their recent tour and their new album, this documentary reveals the fascinating world of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant...

Sculptor and giant of modern art Richard Serra discusses his extraordinary life and work. A creator of enormous, immediately identifiable steel...

Ella Fitzgerald in performance at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. This second show confirms yet again all the superlatives which critics have lavished on...

Sunset Boulevard stretches 27 miles from Los Angeles’ Chinatown all the way to the ocean – a ride made famous by Philip Marlowe in the...

The documentary depicts Bowie on tour in Los Angeles, using a mixture of vérité sequences filmed in limousines and hotels, and concert...

The documentary depicts Bowie on tour in Los Angeles, using a mixture of vérité sequences filmed in limousines and hotels, and concert...

Drama documentary which takes the form of an up-dated version of Pygmalion. With a special music score by jazz group Working Week, with real...

Drama documentary which takes the form of an up-dated version of Pygmalion. With a special music score by jazz group Working Week, with real...

At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical "Young Frankenstein" opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan...

This documentary features acclaimed Chicagoan broadcaster and Pulitzer Prize winner Studs Terkel talking about the value of oral history and the...

A drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced...

A drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced...

Adrian Thrills investigates a new and exhilarating musical blend which is taking the country by storm. 2-tone is a unique mix of music, fusing...

Seamlessly blending elements of movement and music, Twyla Tharp choreographs a rock 'n' roll dance spectacular, set to a score by former Talking...

At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical "Young Frankenstein" opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan...

George Melly explores his lifelong relationship with surrealism in all its forms and prominent personalities.

The Man Who Saw Too Much tells the story of 106-year-old Boris Pahor, believed to be the oldest known survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. He...

The Man Who Saw Too Much tells the story of 106-year-old Boris Pahor, believed to be the oldest known survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. He...

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...

Arena documentary investigating the history and influence of iconic song 'My Way'

A brief history of the Cuban capital of Havana, backed by a vibrant soundtrack of son cubano, salsa, jazz, rumba, mambo and hip hop. Drawing on...

A ski run in Italy, a supermarket manager in Luton, a sandwich bar in London EC2, Arena opens the bonnet of the Ford Cortina, Britain's most popular,...

Made a year after Luis Buñuel's death in 1983 this is an illuminating portrait of the surreal and visionary director, featuring clips,...

Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.

This 1980 Arena documentary profiles writer and performer Victoria Wood and teenage playwright Andrea Dunbar. Wood is seen, alongside Julie Walters,...