Arena (1975)
Season 2014
Wide-ranging arts program.
Where to Watch Season 2014
3 Episodes
- Whatever Happened to Spitting Image?
E1Episode 1Whatever Happened to Spitting Image?Reuniting the founding creative team, this documentary tells the vexed and frequently hilarious story of the genesis of the satirical puppet show 'Spitting Image', with exclusive contributions from caricaturists Peter Fluck and Roger Law and TV producer John Lloyd. Tracing its journey to our televisions screens through 12 years of huge audience figures and weekly controversy to its eventual demise, the film asks what 'Spitting Image' got right, where it went wrong, and whether its absence since 1996 has left a hole in the schedules that has yet to be filled by modern broadcasting. - The National Theatre: Learning Zone
E2Episode 2The National Theatre: Learning ZoneMade specially for schools, this version of Arena examines the history and purpose of the National Theatre as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. A compilation of short films explores not only how the National Theatre came about, but also looks at its relevance today. Short films on Othello and Hamlet, using both rehearsal and performance footage, consider how the National Theatre takes a contemporary approach to Shakespeare's work. The importance of attracting new audiences is explored in a short film about Frankenstein. There is also a film about the staging of This House, a political, historically accurate play that turns a mirror on contemporary politics. James Graham explains how he researched and wrote the play. - The 50 Year Argument: The New York Review of Books
E3Episode 3The 50 Year Argument: The New York Review of BooksThe 50 Year Argument is Martin Scorsese's latest film, co-directed with his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi. It charts literary, political and cultural history as per the 'New York Review of Books', America's leading journal of ideas since 1963. The film weaves rare archive material, interviews and writing by icons such as James Baldwin and Gore Vidal into original vérité footage, filmed in the Review's Greenwich Village offices with longtime editor Robert Silvers.