The Culture Show
Specials
The best of the week's arts and culture news, covering books, art, film, architecture and more
Where to Watch Specials
23 Episodes
- The Magic Tricks of JJ Abrams: A Culture Show SpecialE15
The Magic Tricks of JJ Abrams: A Culture Show SpecialA topical series featuring the best arts and culture stories of the week. One of the hottest talents in Hollywood today, JJ Abrams talks to Mark Kermode about his latest turn at the helm of the Starship Enterprise, his lifelong love of filmmaking and the passion for mystery that lies at the heart of everything he does. New York born Abrams has conquered both television and film, bringing landmark TV series Lost to the small screen while collaborating with film industry royalty Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg for box office hits Mission: Impossible III and Super 8. Self-confessed geek and ultimate fan boy, Jeffrey Jacob Abrams is about to take on the daunting task of directing the new Star Wars film. In this programme JJ takes Mark on an exclusive tour of Bad Robot, the top secret Los Angeles hub of his production company and provides a rare glimpse into where the magic happens. - DH Lawrence: A Journey Without Shame: A Culture Show SpecialE22
DH Lawrence: A Journey Without Shame: A Culture Show SpecialIt's a hundred years since DH Lawrence's revolutionary novel, Sons and Lovers, first hit the bookshops - and to celebrate, the writer Geoff Dyer, accompanied by Lawrence scholar, Catherine Brown, retread the Alpine journey that the love-struck Lawrence made when he eloped from England with the sexually liberated Frieda Weekley, in 1912. It was an extraordinary trip that enabled him to complete his first masterpiece and also marked the moment when he decided to risk everything for his writing. As Geoff and Catherine head into the mountains, the film ranges over the globetrotting story of Lawrence's life and work and takes the opportunity to fight back against Lawrence's many critics. With assistance from a clutch of Lawrence admirers - including poet Simon Armitage, novelist Rachel Cusk and the biographer John Worthen - the hikers peel back the stereotype of Lawrence as that earnest, one-track-mind novelist to reveal one of the most adventurous, humane and influential figures of the 20th century. - How to Paint a Queen: A Culture Show SpecialE23
How to Paint a Queen: A Culture Show SpecialThere are more images of Elizabeth II than any other historical figure, but how to paint a queen is one of the trickiest of artistic challenges. Alastair Sooke looks at the depiction of Britain's female rulers, from Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I to Queen Victoria and our current monarch, and discovers how queenly portraits reveal Britain's changing ideas about women and power. - Pop Go the Women: The Other Story of Pop Art - A Culture Show Special
E25Pop Go the Women: The Other Story of Pop Art - A Culture Show SpecialThe story of pop art has been culturally canonised as the preserve of a ground-breaking gang of boys, focusing on the likes of Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, or Tom Wesselman. Just like Andy Warhol's soup cans or Lichtenstein's comics, women were simply commodified objects. However back in the day, pop art was not just a boys' club. The scene was full of female artists, tussling with sexuality, violence and consumer culture every bit as much as their male counterparts. Strangely, their work has been consigned to the margins of history - they started out together, shared the same art dealers and were shown in the same exhibitions, but as the boys' prices skyrocketed, the girls' stayed put. By the end of the sixties they had pretty much been erased from the pop narrative. In this Culture Show special, Alistair Sooke tracks down the forgotten women artists of pop, finding many of them are still alive and working, their art and their stories ripe for rediscovery. Artists include Pauline Boty, Marisol, Rosalyn Drexler, Idelle Weber, Letty Lou Eisenhauer and Jann Haworth. - The Battle for Stonehenge: A Culture Show Special
E26The Battle for Stonehenge: A Culture Show SpecialStonehenge is our most famous prehistoric monument; a powerful symbol of Britain across the globe. But all is not well with the sacred stones. MPs have described the surrounding site as a 'national disgrace' and 'shameful shambles'. Now, after decades of disputes over what should be done, English Heritage has just 12 months to create a setting that this unique monument deserves. But Stonehenge is more than a tourist attraction; it is also a temple. In this hour-long Culture Show special, Alastair Sooke shows that Stonehenge has long been a place of conflict and controversy, and that passions still run high at the monument where druids, archaeologists and scientists all battle for the soul of Stonehenge. - The Great War - An Elegy: A Culture Show SpecialE27
The Great War - An Elegy: A Culture Show Special In a major new BBC commission, acclaimed poet Simon Armitage has written seven new poems about World War I that form the centre of his latest television documentary. Armitage visits French beaches, German prison camps, so-called 'thankful' villages and remote corners of the Scottish Highlands as he considers the death of over 700,000 British soldiers in the conflict and tells seven real-life war stories. He learns of those who lived and died through it, those who worked and grieved and cried through it, and even those who tunnelled to freedom beneath its very soil. Each story culminates in a poem inspired by Armitage's research. Featuring readings by both the poet himself and the surviving relatives of those whose stories he tells, this film offers an opportunity to reflect again on that catastrophic loss of life, and to think about how we commemorate the dead for the next 100 years. - Viking Art: A Culture Show SpecialE28
Viking Art: A Culture Show SpecialThe Vikings are famous for their violent raids on Anglo-Saxon monasteries, incredible shipbuilding skills and general brutality. They are less famous, perhaps, for their artistic talents. Yet the precious fragments of art that survive from the Viking Age portray a far more mysterious side to Viking culture. From the so-called 'gripping beast' motif of the Oseberg wood carvings to the abstract animal ornamentation that adorns Viking jewellery, Viking art is defined by beautiful and intricate artistic styles that are distinctly Scandinavian, yet also show the Vikings' interaction with other cultures, culminating in their conversion from paganism to Christianity. To coincide with the first major exhibition on Vikings at the British Museum for over 30 years, Andrew Graham-Dixon invites viewers to explore and admire the splendours of Viking art. - Keith Richards: A Culture Show Special
E30Keith Richards: A Culture Show SpecialTo mark the publication of Keith Richards' autobiography, Life, this Culture Show special looks at the life of the man with five strings and nine lives. In a candid interview he chats to Andrew Graham-Dixon about his childhood in Dartford, his passion for music and the decade that catapulted the Rolling Stones from back-room blues boys to one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands in the world. - Living IconsE33
Living IconsDavid Attenborough is the winner of Living Icons, a quest to establish the greatest cultural icon in Britain today. Nominations began on 14th October 2006, followed by voting from a Top 10 shortlist which opened on 11th November 2006. The winner was announced on 16th December 2006. - Cash in China's Attic: A Culture Show SpecialE34
Cash in China's Attic: A Culture Show SpecialChina's antique trade is booming, with records being smashed at auction every week. But why is this market exploding now, and what makes a piece of pottery into a million pound masterpiece? Andrew Graham-Dixon travels to Hong Kong to see how China's super-rich are spending their new-found wealth on purchasing relics from their country's imperial history. - U2 Special - No Line On the HorizonE35
U2 Special - No Line On the HorizonThe show focuses on one of the world's biggest bands as Lauren visits them in Dublin to talk about the new album and hear some of the songs live. We also speak to Radio 1 DJ Nemone and writer and critic David Quantick for a frank appraisal of U2's musical career. - Holbein: Eye of the Tudors - A Culture Show Special
E36Holbein: Eye of the Tudors - A Culture Show SpecialAs Henry VIII's court painter, Hans Holbein witnessed and recorded the most notorious era in English history. He painted most of the major characters of the age and created the famous image of the king himself that everyone still recognises today. But who really was Holbein? Where did he come from? And what were the dark and unsettling secrets hidden in his art? Waldemar Januszczak looks at the life and work of an artist who became famous for bringing the Tudor age to life, but who could have been so many other things. - Stephen Poliakoff: A Culture Show SpecialE37
Stephen Poliakoff: A Culture Show SpecialStephen Poliakoff talks to Mark Kermode about the themes he explores and his status as an auteur. With contributions from leading actors including Sir Michael Gambon, David Walliams, Rupert Penry-Jones, Ruth Wilson and Kelly Reilly. - The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2011: A Culture Show SpecialE38
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2011: A Culture Show SpecialAlastair Sooke presents this Culture Show special from the 243rd Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. The Summer Exhibition is the visual arts world's largest and longest running open-submission show.
