Social & External
The people behind it
Simon Callow
narrator
The BBC's orchestras are joined by world-renowned singers and musicians at some of the UK's most beautiful concert halls, performing the best in contemporary and classical music.
Charles Hazlewood examines how to build an orchestra for the 21st century as he tears down dated perceptions of the orchestra and explores six aspects of what makes an ensemble fit for purpose in the modern era.
Howard Goodall examines the work of The Beatles, Cole Porter, Bernard Herrmann and Leonard Bernstein.
The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival. The BBC Proms is a classical music festival held every summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and in recent years has explored an innovative series of Proms around the UK with concerts in all four nations. Its aim: to bring the best in classical music to the widest possible audience, which remains true to founder-conductor Henry Wood’s original vision in 1895. Whether you are a classical connoisseur or think classical music isn’t for you, there is something for everyone in the eight-week stretch of concerts.
Renowned composer, conductor, and pianist Andre Previn welcomes one or more musical guests for conversation and performance, either accompanied by Mr. Previn on piano or in concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Produced by WQED and syndicated nationally on PBS, the series was notable among musical performance programs for its deft camera work and editing. The episode The Music That Made the Movies was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction.
Video game music is a world of its own. Its composers have drawn inspiration from great classical masters such as Beethoven and Wagner, while also echoing the styles of Erik Satie and Francis Poulenc. Why does the theme from Tetris fit its ever-accelerating gameplay so perfectly? What makes the music accompanying the dungeons in The Legend of Zelda so distinctive? Max Dozolme explores the stories, influences, and musical ideas behind some of the most iconic soundtracks in video game history.
The story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - a child prodigy, a flawed human being and one of the greatest composers to have ever lived.
Celebrated American pianist Vladimir Horowitz in his first televised piano recital, taped at Carnegie Hall on February 1, 1968, and broadcast nationwide by CBS on September 22 of that year.
Animated series featuring the eponymous jerboa, Klassik. In this silent retelling of classic Greco-Roman mythology, Klassik survives by the skin of his tail against foes like the mighty bear Cyclops or the fearsome mole Medusa. All this is accompanied by classical scores, from the likes of Brahams to Tchaikovsky, giving this Flipnote Studio-animated classic a style which is uniquely its own.
Khim, a reserved student, bonds with Sun, an optimistic guitarist with heart disease, amid family conflicts, misunderstandings, and challenges that shape their fate.
Based on the novel of the same name by Aliya Bukhari, Deewar-e-Shab tells the story of three generations of courtesans' day-to-day struggles in the previously lively Sitara Mahal.
A group of musically gifted and ethnically diverse children travel around the world in an artificially intelligent rocket named Rocket.
Kousei Arima was a genius pianist until his mother's sudden death took away his ability to play. Each day was dull for Kousei. But, then he meets a violinist named Kaori Miyazono who has an eccentric playing style. Can the heartfelt sounds of the girl's violin lead the boy to play the piano again?
In the tradition of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and Gelsey Kirkland's "Dancing on my Grave" comes an insider’s look into the secret world of classical musicians. From her debut recital at Carnegie Recital Hall to the Broadway pits of "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon," Blair Tindall has played with some of the biggest names in classical music for twenty-five years. Now in "Mozart in the Jungle," Tindall exposes the scandalous rock and roll lifestyles of the musicians, conductors, and administrators who inhabit the insular world of classical music.
The history of the sport of baseball in America, told through archival photos, film footage, and the words of those who contributed to the game in each era. Writers, historians, players, baseball personnel, and fans review key events and the significance of the game in America's history.
Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.
Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.
Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.
Explore the surprising things we know (and don’t know) about why people are the way they are through expert interviews, rare footage from historical experiments, and brand-new, ground-breaking demonstrations of human nature at work.
Explores WWII from Germany's invasion of Poland through the atomic age, examining pivotal battles, wartime leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt, and the human cost of total war.
In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene, and boundaries expanded like never before.
MegaStructures is a documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and the United Kingdom, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, France 5 in France, and 7mate in Australia. Each episode is an educational look of varying depth into the construction, operation, and staffing of various structures or construction projects, but not ordinary construction products. Generally containing interviews with designers and project managers, it presents the problems of construction and the methodology or techniques used to overcome obstacles. In some cases this involved the development of new materials or products that are now in general use within the construction industry. MegaStructures focuses on constructions that are extreme; in the sense that they are the biggest, tallest, longest, or deepest in the world. Alternatively, a project may appear if it had an element of novelty or are a world first. This type of project is known as a Megaproject.
An in-depth look at the history and pop cultural significance of horror films.
Come one, come all to The Circus. This real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the current political stories, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening.
Explores the experiences of James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who were both befriended and sexually abused by singer Michael Jackson, and the complicated feelings that led them both to confront their experiences.
Award-winning actor and nervous explorer Eugene Levy steps out of his comfort zone for a whirlwind tour of the world's most beautiful and intriguing destinations.
The documentary takes viewers through Janet Jackson's life and career, contain never-before-seen footage, and feature home videos from the legendary artist. Jackson discusses her controversial 2004 Super Bowl halftime show performance with Justin Timberlake, her father Joe Jackson, the death of her brother Michael Jackson, and more.
This compelling series investigates the motives and m.o. of female murderers. While males are often driven by anger, impulse and destruction, women usually have more complex, long-term reasons to kill.
An insider's look at the engineering and scientific miracles behind the things that form the modern world.
Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
Filmed across six continents, this docuseries uses cutting-edge camera technology to capture animals' nocturnal lives, revealing new behaviours filmed in full color like never before.
Before he was Hulk Hogan, he was Terry Bollea. Uncover the man behind the legend in this unfiltered documentary featuring his very last interview.
This immersive series follows the world's most magnificent creatures, capturing never-before-seen moments from the heartwarming to the outrageous.