Salman Rushdie, author of Midnight's Children, winner of the Booker Prize 1981, talks about India and the autobiographical elements in the book.
Source: BBC 4
Agatha Christie - Unfinished Portrait
Profile celebrating the centenary of the famous author Agatha Christie’s birth. Looking at her life, her character and the key moments in her childhood that influenced her ...
21-08-2024
BBC 4
I Am Not Your Negro
Narrated entirely in the words of James Baldwin, through both personal appearances and the text of his final unfinished book project, this film touches on the lives and assassin ...
11-08-2024
BBC 4
Dennis Potter
1987 edition in which Alan Yentob interviews TV dramatist Dennis Potter about his work through the years, touching on subjects such as why and how he started writing, his sense ...
02-06-2024
BBC 4
Tosca's Kiss
Casa Verdi is a rambling mansion in the city of Milan, inhabited by an extraordinary and captivating group of people. It once belonged to the composer Guiseppe Verdi, now it has ...
16-05-2024
BBC 4
Rudies Come Back: The Rise And Rise Of 2 Tone
In this Arena film from 1980, Adrian Thrills investigates 2 Tone, an exhilarating new musical blend that was taking the country by storm.\n\nOriginating in Coventry in 1979, 2 T ...
29-03-2024
BBC 4
Oooh Er Missus! The Frankie Howerd Story
Documentary about the life of Frankie Howerd, with help from friends and colleagues and including highlights from his TV and film career.
26-03-2024
BBC 4
Peggy Sue: Tales Of Rock And Roll
Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham, the inspiration behind Buddy Holly's famous song, is taken back by Arena to Lubbock, Texas, where she went to the same high school as Holly and where h ...
09-02-2024
BBC 4
Buddy Holly
Documentary looking at the short but brilliant career of legendary rock'n'roll star Buddy Holly. Features interviews with contemporaries and fans including backing band The Cric ...
09-02-2024
BBC 4
Byrne About Byrne
In this diverse and inventive autobiography, painter and author John Byrne travels from his youth, through his art school years to the period of his stage and TV plays, and on t ...
29-01-2024
BBC 4
Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues
Hank Williams was the greatest singer-songwriter country music has ever known. He died on a journey half-way across America to a gig he would never make, at the age of just 29. ...
22-09-2023
BBC 4
Jerry Lee Lewis: Live In Bristol 1984
Arena presents a concert by the legend of rock 'n' roll himself. Jerry Lee Lewis doesn't sound like anybody else - the voice, the piano and the on-stage antics make an unforgett ...
10-12-2022
BBC 4
Make Me Up!
A satirical look at the contradictory pressures faced by women today. It examines how television and social media can help us explore identity, at the same time encouraging wome ...
21-07-2020
BBC 4
The Vasulka Effect
An exploration of the life and work of video art pioneers Steina and Woody Vasulka. The film examines the artistic processes of the pair and their profound effect on the 1960s N ...
28-11-2021
BBC 4
Cindy Sherman #untitled
Cindy Sherman is one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. She is also notoriously elusive. So, it is a coup for Arena to get this in-depth and revealing audio inte ...
12-09-2021
BBC 4
The Many Lives Of Richard Attenborough: Part 1
Two-part Arena special celebrating the life and distinguished career of one of Britain's best-loved public figures. Lord Attenborough's film CV as actor stretches from Brighton ...
27-08-2023
BBC 4
Painted With My Hair
Painted with My Hair is inspired by the paintings, poetry and letters of Donny Johnson, an exceptionally intelligent and talented US lifer, who has been locked away inside his c ...
31-10-2021
BBC 4