| 161 |
Carmen (2011) #639
MUSIC
Main
Directed by Gary Halvorson. With Trevor Scheunemann, Barbara Frittoli, Roberto Alagna, Keith Miller. It's a familiar story: Act 1, boy meets girl, goes to jail for her. Act 2, boy is out of jail, girl rewards him with special favors. Act 3, girl is bored already, moving on. Act 4, boy kills girl for ruining his life. We've all been there. Metropolitan Opera, New York. |
| 162 |
Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter (2011) #643
DOCUMENTARY
Main
Directed by Tony Palmer. With Tony Palmer, Gustav Holst, Imogen Holst, Michael Tippett. 2 hours 20mins. BBC. The first ever full-length film about Gustav Holst, composer and revolutionary - a man who taught himself Sanskrit; lived in a street of brothels in Algiers; cycled into the Sahara Desert; allied himself during the First World War with a 'red priest' who pinned on the door of his church 'prayers at noon for the victims of Imperial Aggression'; hated the words used to his most famous tune, I Vow to Thee My Country, because it was the opposite of what he believed; and distributed a newspaper called the Socialist Worker. Holst's music - especially the Planets - owed little or nothing to anyone, least of all the English folk song tradition, but he was a great composer who died of cancer, broken and disillusioned, before he was 60. |
| 163 |
The Trouble with Tolstoy (2011) #701
DOCUMENTARY
Main
BBC 2 x 1 hour episodes: 1 At War with Himself, 2 In Search of Happiness. Alan Yentob takes an epic train ride through Tolstoy's Russia, examining how Russia's great novelist became her great troublemaker. In this first of two programmes, he reveals a difficult and troubled youth, obsessed with sex and gambling, who turned writer while serving as a soldier in Chechnya and the Crimea. His experiences on the frontline eventually fed into War and Peace, a book now recognised as, 'the gold standard by which all other novels are judged'. They also triggered his conversion to outspoken pacifist. Alan's expedition takes him to the Tatar city of Kazan, where Tolstoy was a teenager, the siege of Sevastopol on the Black Sea and Imperial St Petersburg, as well as the idyllic Tolstoy country estate, the writer's cradle and grave, and home throughout his passionate but brutal 48-year marriage to Sofya - a marriage that began with rape, produced 13 children and ended with desertion and denial. In the second episode... The success of War and Peace brought Tolstoy fame, wealth and a massive mid-life crisis. Alan follows the writer through the tortured second half of his life as he transformed himself from aristocrat to anarchist and turned his back on his novels, his possessions and finally his wife of 48 years. Alan travels east into the remote emptiness of the Russian steppe, through the dark pages of Tolstoy's great romantic novel Anna Karenina, on to the small town where Anna takes her life, and then on the pilgrimage to the spectacular monastery where Tolstoy's spiritual quest began. Using extraordinary early film of Tolstoy, we witness the tumultuous events of Tolstoy's final years and his passionate relationship with his disciple Chertkov, the man his wife called 'the devil incarnate'. Finally, Alan retraces Tolstoy's flight from home at the age of 82, a journey that ended in a remote railway station. Heartbreaking archive footage shows his wife Sofya being turned away from the deathbed of her husband. So great was Tolstoy's influence at the time of his death that the government feared the news would spark revolution. Contributors include Tolstoy's great great grandson Vladimir Tolstoy, AN Wilson and author of a Tolstoy biography, Rosamund Bartlett. |
| 164 |
Who Do You Think You Are? Emilia Fox (2011) #807
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Celebrities trace their family trees to reveal the lives of their ancestors. Emilia Fox, who was heavily pregnant while filming this episode, was intrigued to find out what family traits her baby might inherit. Part of the Fox theatrical dynasty, Emilia wants to find out just how far back the family's acting roots go. Emilia also discovers, in an extraordinary tale of rags to riches, that her great-great-grandfather Samson Fox made one of the most important inventions of the 19th century. Born into an impoverished family, Samson started work in a Leeds textile mill when he was just eight years old, but ended up becoming one of the richest men in Victorian Britain. As Emilia investigates further, she discovers how her illustrious ancestor was later touched by scandal. |
| 165 |
Imagine: Ai Weiwei - Without Fear or Favour (2011) #810
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Arts documentary, first broadcast before Ai Weiwei's arrest by the Chinese authorities in April 2011, and his subsequent release after being detained for 11 weeks. Architect, photographer, curator and blogger, Ai Weiwei is China's most famous and politically outspoken contemporary artist. Alan Yentob explores the story of Ai Weiwei's life and art, and reveals how this most courageous and determined of artists continues to fight for artistic freedom of expression while living under the restrictive shadows of authoritarian rule. |
| 166 |
The Code (2011) #817
DOCUMENTARY
Main
3x1 hour episodes. A mysterious code underpins the world. But what does it mean and what can we learn from it? Marcus du Sautoy takes us on an odyssey to uncover the code and reveal its meaning. 1/3 Numbers. Marcus du Sautoy reveals how significant numbers apear throughout the natural world. 2/3 Shapes. Marcus du Sautoy uncovers the patterns that explain the shape of the world around us. 3/3 Prediction. Marcus du Sautoy discovers what the code can say about our future. |
| 167 |
This Green and Pleasant Land: The Story of British Landscape Painting (2011) #823
DOCUMENTARY
Main
90 mins. BBC. 400 years of art history in 90 minutes? This film takes an eclectic group of people from all walks of life, including artists, critics and academics, out into the countryside to take a look at how we have depicted our landscape in art, discovering how the genre carried British painting to its highest eminence and won a place in the nation's heart. From Flemish beginnings in the court of Charles I to the digital thumbstrokes of David Hockney's iPad, the paintings reveal as much about the nation's past as they do the patrons and artists who created them. Famous names sit alongside lesser-known works, covering everything from the refined sensibilities of 18th-century Classicism to the abstract forms of the war-torn 20th century with a bit of love, loss, rivalry and rioting thrown in. Contributions come from a cast as diverse as the works themselves, including filmmaker Nic Roeg, historian Dan Snow and novelist Will Self, who offer a refreshingly wide range of perspectives on a genre of art which we have made very much our own. |
| 168 |
National Theatre Live: One Man, Two Guvnors (2011) #1253
FILM
Main
National Theatre Live - released 2019. Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe, a small time East End hood. Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubber. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. James Corden in the lead role. |
| 169 |
Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes (2011) #1316
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Documentary that reveals the secret story behind one of the greatest intellectual feats of World War II, a feat that gave birth to the digital age. In 1943, a 24-year-old maths student and a GPO engineer combined to hack into Hitler's personal super-code machine - not Enigma but an even tougher system, which he called his 'secrets writer'. Their break turned the Battle of Kursk, powered the D-day landings and orchestrated the end of the conflict in Europe. But it was also to be used during the Cold War - which meant both men's achievements were hushed up and never officially recognised. |
| 170 |
Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture (2011) #1369
DOCUMENTARY
Main
Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture: With Alastair Sooke. Alastair Sooke examines three periods in the history of British sculpture and the masterpieces they produced 3x1 hour. BBC. Series which reveals how sculpture communicates our most cherished beliefs and values - the British soul captured in three dimensions. 1/3 Masons of God. A look at how the era's sculpture casts a new light on medieval times in Britain. 2/3 Mavericks of Empire. Alastair Sooke looks at the maverick sculptors working in the 18th and 19th centuries. 3/3 Children of the Revolution. Alastair Sooke looks at the 20th century's mixture of innovation, scandal and creativity. |
| 171 |
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) #35
FILM
Main
Directed by Mike Newell. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina. A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time. |
| 172 |
Robin Hood (2010) #291
FILM
Main
Directed by Ridley Scott. With Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Macfadyen, Max von Sydow. In 12th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. |
| 173 |
L'illusionniste (2010) #343
FILM
Main
Directed by Sylvain Chomet. With Jean-Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin, Duncan MacNeil, Raymond Mearns. A French illusionist finds himself out of work and travels to Scotland, where he meets a young woman. Their ensuing adventure changes both their lives forever. aka The Illusionist |
| 174 |
The Tourist (2010) #371
FILM
Main
Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. With Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie Pitt, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton. Revolves around Frank, an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path. |
| 175 |
Shrek Forever After (2010) #375
FILM-ANIMATION
Main
Directed by Mike Mitchell. With Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas. Rumpelstiltskin tricks a mid-life crisis burdened Shrek into allowing himself to be erased from existence and cast in a dark alternate timeline where Rumpel rules supreme. |
| 176 |
Mo (2010) #463
FILM
Main
Directed by Philip Martin. With Julie Walters, Emma Cambridge, David Haig, Lucy Boynton. A revealing biopic about politician Mo Mowlam. |
| 177 |
Rev (2010) #548
FILM
Main
Created by James Wood, Tom Hollander. With Tom Hollander, Olivia Colman, Steve Evets, Miles Jupp. The misadventures of an Anglican vicar, his wife, and a small but odd group of parishioners in London. Episodes 1,2,3 |
| 178 |
Horizon: The Secret Life of the Dog (2010) #672
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. We have an extraordinary relationship with dogs - closer than with any other animal on the planet. But what makes the bond between us so special? Research into dogs is gaining momentum and scientists are investigating them like never before. From the latest fossil evidence, to the sequencing of the canine genome and cognitive experiments, dogs are fast turning into the new chimps as a window into understanding ourselves. Where does this relationship come from? In Siberia, a unique breeding experiment reveals the astonishing secret of how dogs evolved from wolves. Swedish scientists demonstrate how the human/dog bond is controlled by a powerful hormone also responsible for bonding mothers to their babies. Why are dogs so good at reading our emotions? Horizon meets Betsy, reputedly the world's most intelligent dog, and compares her incredible abilities to those of children. Man's best friend has recently gone one step further - helping us identify genes responsible for causing human diseases. |
| 179 |
Clement Freud: In His Own Words (2010) #673
DOCUMENTARY
Main
When Clement Freud died in April 2009, Britain lost not only one of its best-loved broadcasters but also one of its last great polymaths - a man whose long and varied career encompassed being a Liberal MP, cookery expert, newspaper columnist and author. Freud's lugubrious expression and distinctive voice launched him as a TV personality in the 1960s with a series of dog food commercials, but his early life was just as colourful - the grandson of Sigmund Freud, he was a commis chef at the Dorchester Hotel and a liaison officer at the Nuremberg war crimes trials of 1946. This documentary draws together interviews with Freud from across four decades, including previously unaired material, to allow him to tell the story of his remarkable life in his own inimitable way. |
| 180 |
The Virtual Revolution (2010) #676
DOCUMENTARY
Main
4x1 hour episodes. BBC. Virtual Revolution charts two decades of profound change since the invention of the World Wide Web, weighing up the huge benefits and the unforeseen downsides |
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