Catch up TV

This episode is currently not available.

2020: 1. Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black



Alan Yentob follows one of our best loved performers as he releases his first autobiography charting his early years in show business. In this revealing and poignant film Sir Lenny Henry meets up with his closest friends, family and colleagues to remember his sudden rise to fame aged 16 on TV talent show, New Faces, which catapulted him from working-class kid from Dudley to one of Britain’s most celebrated black performers. imagine... also explores Lenny’s other early television breakthrough roles on Tiswas and Three Of A Kind as well as five troubling years as the only black performer in The Black & White Minstrel Show. Alongside his early achievements, Lenny Henry also discusses his recent career reinvention as a serious actor of stage and screen and his work as a political activist campaigning for greater diversity in the entertainment and broadcasting industry

Source: BBC 4

Most recent episodes of imagine...

Imagine...

Imagine... - Winter 2017/18: 2. Mel Brooks: Unwrapped

Winter 2017/18: 2. Mel Brooks: Unwrapped

At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical Young Frankenstein opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan Yentob visits Mel at home in Holl ...

25-06-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2009: 2. David Hockney - A Bigger Picture

Summer 2009: 2. David Hockney - A Bigger Picture

Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, this documentary captures the return from California of England's favourite living artist.\n\nAs Hockney approaches the age of ...

12-06-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2018: 1. Rose Wylie: This Rose Is Blooming

Summer 2018: 1. Rose Wylie: This Rose Is Blooming

Very few people would have recognised the name Rose Wylie until this remarkable artist was in her mid 70s. Youthful, playful and unpredictable at the age of 83, this is an artis ...

28-03-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - 2018: Tracey Emin: Where Do You Draw The Line?

2018: Tracey Emin: Where Do You Draw The Line?

2018 has been an extraordinary year for British artist Tracey Emin. With large-scale commissions catapulting her from London's St Pancras station to the streets of downtown Sydn ...

17-03-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2015: 1. Frank Gehry: The Architect Says

Summer 2015: 1. Frank Gehry: The Architect Says "why Can't I?"

05-01-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - 2021: Tom Stoppard: A Charmed Life

2021: Tom Stoppard: A Charmed Life

Tom Stoppard is perhaps the world’s leading, funniest and cleverest playwright. Ever since he hit the ground running in the 1960s with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dea ...

29-12-2025

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - 2020: 1. Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted And Black

2020: 1. Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted And Black

Alan Yentob follows one of our best loved performers as he releases his first autobiography charting his early years in show business. In this revealing and poignant film Sir Le ...

16-12-2025

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Winter 2014: 3. Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M

Winter 2014: 3. Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M

27-11-2025

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2016: 2. Danger! Cornelia Parker

Summer 2016: 2. Danger! Cornelia Parker

13-11-2025

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2010 - Tom Jones - What Good Am I?

Summer 2010 - Tom Jones - What Good Am I?

Alan Yentob examines the extraordinary story of one of Britain's most recognisable pop icons, Sir Tom Jones. In a frank and revealing interview, Sir Tom describes his rise to fame.

28-10-2025

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Most popular episodes of imagine...

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2009: 2. David Hockney - A Bigger Picture

Summer 2009: 2. David Hockney - A Bigger Picture

Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, this documentary captures the return from California of England's favourite living artist.\n\nAs Hockney approaches the age of ...

12-06-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2014 - Rio 50 Degrees: Carry On Carioca

Summer 2014 - Rio 50 Degrees: Carry On Carioca

As Brazil prepares to host the Fifa World Cup this summer and the Olympic Games in 2016, imagine... explores the cultural and social history of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

18-05-2014

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2013: 7. Zaha Hadid: Who Dares Wins

Summer 2013: 7. Zaha Hadid: Who Dares Wins

18-04-2016

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Winter 2013 - Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin'

Winter 2013 - Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin'

The story of how a shy, former private in the 101st Airborne - Jimi Hendrix - became the greatest rock guitarist of all time, using never-before-seen performance footage.

12-07-2014

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Spring 2007: 1. Gilbert And George: No Surrender

Spring 2007: 1. Gilbert And George: No Surrender

Arts series presented by Alan Yentob. Over the last 40 years, British artists Gilbert and George have fascinated, outraged, delighted and confounded the art establishment. Since ...

10-06-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Winter 2017/18: 2. Mel Brooks: Unwrapped

Winter 2017/18: 2. Mel Brooks: Unwrapped

At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical Young Frankenstein opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan Yentob visits Mel at home in Holl ...

25-06-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Summer 2018: 1. Rose Wylie: This Rose Is Blooming

Summer 2018: 1. Rose Wylie: This Rose Is Blooming

Very few people would have recognised the name Rose Wylie until this remarkable artist was in her mid 70s. Youthful, playful and unpredictable at the age of 83, this is an artis ...

28-03-2026

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - 2019: 2. Jo Brand: No Holds Barred

2019: 2. Jo Brand: No Holds Barred

She is boldly outspoken, fearlessly funny and unfailingly kind - Jo Brand has become one of Britain's best-loved comedians. Brand burst onto the nation's largely male stand-up c ...

14-09-2021

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - Spring 2018: 1. Rupert Everett: Born To Be Wilde

Spring 2018: 1. Rupert Everett: Born To Be Wilde

Prepare for an Odyssey. This is the remarkable story of Rupert Everett's ten-year quest to write, direct and star in his own film about the tragic last years of his hero Oscar W ...

04-06-2018

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

Imagine...

Imagine... - 2018: George Benjamin: What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up?

2018: George Benjamin: What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up?

He has been crowned with every laurel in contemporary classical music, composed operas which play on the world's most illustrious stages and been knighted for his services to mu ...

31-08-2025

BBC 4

All episodes

BBC 4

© 2026 - Catchupplayer.co.uk