
Filmed during lockdown, Alan Yentob invites us into the intriguing world of award-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro. The only living British author to hold the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ishiguro’s novels and short stories have been translated into more than fifty languages. Two of his most popular novels, The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, have also enjoyed success as star-studded film adaptations. \n \nIn this revealing profile, Ishiguro explores the significance of his early life in Nagasaki and the experience of growing up in the aftermath of the atomic bomb. He shares memories of feeling like the only Japanese boy in the home counties of England in the early 1960s, and how this helped to shape his viewpoint as a writer. As a young man, he harboured ambitions to be a singer-songwriter, and he shares his lifelong emotional connection to music and lyrics, and the impact that particular songs have had on his writing. \n \nAlongside contributions from writers Hanya Yanagihara and Bernardine Evaristo, as well as Ai-Da, an AI robot artist, Ishiguro charts the development of his work across the four decades of his writing career. He discusses the recurring themes of memory, history and the redemptive power of love, and reveals how he has turned his gaze to the future for his much-anticipated new book, Klara and the Sun.
Source: BBC 4
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
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
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
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
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
Winter 2017/18: 4. Philip Pullman: Angels And Daemons
Romantic, fearless, fantastical; this edition delves into the thrilling world of Philip Pullman and explores the author's own dark materials. \n\nPullman has been named both one ...
21-10-2025
BBC 4
2020: Marina Abramovic: The Ugly Duckling
Marina Abramovic is the reigning queen of performance art. She invites Alan Yentob into her home, opens up her enormous personal archive and travels back to her birthplace, Belg ...
06-10-2025
BBC 4
Vincent Van Gogh: Painted With Words
Drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role as Van Gogh. \n\nEvery word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced from the letters ...
15-10-2024
BBC 4
2022: 2. Labi Siffre: This Is My Song
Alan Yentob presents a film exploring the life and work of the Ivor Novello Award-winning black British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre. An enigmatic and reclusive talent, Siffre ...
14-02-2022
BBC 4
David Bowie: Cracked Actor
To mark David Bowie's comeback album and a new exhibition at the V&A, Alan Yentob looks back at his legendary 1975 documentary, Cracked Actor. The film follows Bowie during the ...
08-06-2025
BBC 4
2024/25: The Academy Of Armando
Alan Yentob profiles the stellar career of one of the great satirists of our age, Armando Iannucci, whose impressive body of work includes The Day Today, The Thick of It, Veep, ...
12-03-2025
BBC 4
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
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
2023: 1. Stephen Frears: Director For Hire
imagine… profiles acclaimed British director Stephen Frears. Despite decades of success across both cinema and television, Frears likes to fly under the radar, subscribin ...
23-03-2023
BBC 4
Autumn 2016: Listen To Me Marlon
Stevan Riley's award-winning documentary Listen to Me Marlon uses hundreds of hours of Marlon Brando's own archival audio tapes and home movie footage, combined with excerpts fr ...
29-04-2025
BBC 4
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 ...
08-06-2025
BBC 4