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2023: The Factory: Made in Manchester
imagine... tells the story of Manchester’s colossal new cultural venue - Aviva Studios - the home of Factory International and the Manchester International Festival.\n\nWith multiple flexible spaces, including one large enough to house a jumbo jet, it is the UK’s largest cultural investment since Tate Modern. A destination for the arts and music, it has been described as the most important cultural development in Europe.\n\nThe possibilities offered by this vast and ambitious building have been explored to the full by its opening production, Free Your Mind – an epic, immersive dance retelling of the 1999 film The Matrix, which foretold the importance of AI.\n\nimagine... will take viewers behind the scenes of this striking production with local boy and Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, choreographer Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy and composer Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, and will also explore the creative processes of designer Es Devlin and writer Sabrina Mahfouz as they prepare to present their show, and this new building, to the world.\n\nFor Manchester, this moment is about more than launching a new venue – it is the culmination of decades of cultural regeneration, which began when Factory Records and the Hacienda put the city on the musical map. It is also a bold statement about the future of the arts in the north and the role they can play in all our lives. But at a cost of £240 million (more than twice its original budget), in a climate of cuts and a cost-of-living crisis, the pressure is on for this expensive new venture to bring jobs, training and creative opportunities to communities across the region. \n\nAlan Yentob hears from local performers, artists, city leaders and students, and watches as the Free Your Mind cast take to the stage for their world premiere with a performance that, in the words of Danny Boyle, seeks to ‘hand over the keys of the building to the people of Manchester’.
Source: BBC 4
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Autumn 2008: Richard Serra: Man Of Steel
Sculptor and giant of modern art Richard Serra discusses his extraordinary life and work. \n\nA creator of enormous, immediately identifiable steel sculptures that both terrify ...
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Summer 2013 - Vivian Maier: Who Took Nanny's Pictures?
Alan Yentob with the story of a nanny who died in 2009 and left behind a secret hoard of photographs. Never seen in her lifetime, and found by chance, they now sell for thousands.
01-04-2024
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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 ...
10-02-2024
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Winter 2017/18: 6. Andrew Lloyd Webber: Memories
Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over musical theatre for nearly five decades and delighted millions worldwide with hit shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phanto ...
28-01-2024
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2023: French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter
imagine... profiles the UK’s most successful double act of the last 40 years, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, and explores their unique brand of comedy, based on satire ...
27-12-2023
BBC 4
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2023: The Factory: Made In Manchester
imagine... tells the story of Manchester’s colossal new cultural venue - Aviva Studios - the home of Factory International and the Manchester International Festival.\n\nWi ...
11-12-2023
BBC 4
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Imagine...
2023/24: Pet Shop Boys: Then And Now
Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, are the most successful duo in the history of British pop. They have sold more than 50 million records, produced over forty Top 40 si ...
19-04-2024
BBC 4
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2022: Douglas Stuart: Love, Hope And Grit
Alan Yentob meets Douglas Stuart at a critical point in his career as he emerges from the starlight of his triumphant debut novel, and winner of the Booker Prize, Shuggie Bain. ...
14-11-2022
BBC 4
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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
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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
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Winter 2017/18: 8. Habaneros: You Say You Want A Revolution? Part Two
Almost sixty years on, Castro's Cuban revolution continues to split world opinion as decisively as it did when that small band of bearded guerrillas first entered Havana.\n\nIn ...
22-04-2018
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Summer 2014 - Monty Python: And Now For Something Rather Similar
Alan Yentob meets the five surviving members of Monty Python - John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle - as they prepare to reunite on stage.
22-01-2020
BBC 4