Elaine Paige looks back on A Night on the Town – a musical extravaganza from the early 1980s, filmed with a mostly American cast of singers and dancers, such as Ann Reinking, Hinton Battle, Frank Gorshin and the wonderful Eartha Kitt. \n\nElaine recalls being drawn to the production, as it featured so many songs from writers she most admires – Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Noel Coward. She had to play several parts, as each musical number had its own vignette, which allowed her to play a very loud and broad hat check girl from the 1930s, a dame from the Deep South and a Russian countess – much to the delight of fellow actor Lewis Collins, with whom she had great fun on set.
Source: BBC 4
Stephen Poliakoff Remembers Shooting The Past
Having forged a reputation with films such as She’s Been Away, City Sugar and the Bafta-winning Caught on a Train, Shooting the Past was Stephen Poliakoff’s first th ...
13-08-2025
BBC 4
Paul Lewis Remembers Alfred Brendel
With a performing career that spanned seven decades, Alfred Brendel built a reputation as a classical pianist that meant his name alone would sell out concerts. Known for his ma ...
10-08-2025
BBC 4
Michael Aspel Remembers The War Game
TV presenter Michael Aspel looks back on one of the BBC’s most controversial programmes of the 1960s, The War Game. Directed by Peter Watkins, with Michael providing some ...
30-07-2025
BBC 4
Helen Mirren Remembers The Little Minister
Dame Helen Mirren looks back on one of her earliest television roles in the BBC’s 1975 adaptation of JM Barrie’s The Little Minister, a tale of religion and romance ...
27-07-2025
BBC 4
Helen Mirren Remembers Gosford Park
Helen Mirren looks back on her role in Robert Altman’s acclaimed and multi-award-winning 2001 film Gosford Park, written by Downton Abbey\ncreator Julian Fellowes. The cri ...
24-07-2025
BBC 4
Patrick Marber Remembers After Miss Julie
After years of success in comedy, writing for programmes like The Day Today and various Alan Partridge projects, Patrick Marber took many by surprise when he revealed in 1995 th ...
23-07-2025
BBC 4
Debbie Horsfield Remembers Cutting It
Twenty years ago, BBC viewers found themselves gripped by a tale of personal and professional rivalries, rooted in the perhaps unlikely setting of two competing Manchester hair ...
16-07-2025
BBC 4
Nicholas Shakespeare Remembers Mario Vargas Llosa
Described as one of the finest writers of his generation, Mario Vargas Llosa was at the forefront of South American fiction that made its mark in the mid-20th century. Mining ev ...
14-07-2025
BBC 4
Debbie Horsfield Remembers Poldark
In 2015, Aidan Turner's charismatic portrayal of Ross Poldark set the nation’s viewers’ hearts racing, thanks in no small part to the work of screenwriter and execut ...
09-07-2025
BBC 4
George Gallaccio Remembers Miss Marple
Joan Hickson’s portrayal of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple in the BBC’s 1980s classic adaptations is still considered by fans to be the definitive version of th ...
05-07-2025
BBC 4
Jimmy Mcgovern Remembers Priest
Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern looks back on his acclaimed, but controversial, 1995 drama Priest, explaining how an initial desire to explore the notion of celibacy for Catholic pr ...
30-04-2025
BBC 4
Laurence Rees Remembers The Nazis: A Warning From History
Laurence Rees' landmark 1997 series explored the reasons why Germany fell in thrall to the Nazis. Combining astonishing archive, storytelling and interviews with figures at the ...
19-05-2025
BBC 4
Romola Garai Remembers Emma
Hot off the heels of her Olivier Award win, actress Romola Garai shares her experiences of filming the popular 2009 series Emma. \n\nThe four-part Austen adaptation was a stunn ...
18-06-2025
BBC 4
Gary Wilmot Remembers Showstoppers
Gary Wilmot looks back fondly on his time presenting Showstoppers, a 1995 series jam-packed with well-known hits from musical theatre. \n\nThe series started life as a one-off ...
04-05-2025
BBC 4
Paul Lewis Remembers Alfred Brendel
With a performing career that spanned seven decades, Alfred Brendel built a reputation as a classical pianist that meant his name alone would sell out concerts. Known for his ma ...
10-08-2025
BBC 4
Nicholas Shakespeare Remembers Mario Vargas Llosa
Described as one of the finest writers of his generation, Mario Vargas Llosa was at the forefront of South American fiction that made its mark in the mid-20th century. Mining ev ...
14-07-2025
BBC 4
Willard White Remembers Porgy And Bess
The great opera singer Sir Willard White recalls his experiences on the first televised production of Porgy and Bess, based itself on Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed 1986 Glyndebo ...
13-04-2025
BBC 4
David Herman Remembers Face To Face
From Tony Hancock to Martin Luther King, Yoko Ono to Salman Rushdie, Face to Face interrogated some of the key figures in 20th-century culture. From its start in 1959, to its re ...
16-03-2025
BBC 4
Stephen Poliakoff Remembers Shooting The Past
Having forged a reputation with films such as She’s Been Away, City Sugar and the Bafta-winning Caught on a Train, Shooting the Past was Stephen Poliakoff’s first th ...
13-08-2025
BBC 4
Amanda Root And Sophie Thompson Remember Persuasion
Actors Amanda Root and Sophie Thompson look back on their roles in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion, a story of missed opportunities and lost love. \ ...
26-06-2025
BBC 4