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Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Dramatist Mike Leigh talks to Arena about his work and demonstrates his unique processes of building the characters of his dramas.
Source: BBC 4
Most recent episodes of Arena
Arena
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Dramatist Mike Leigh talks to Arena about his work and demonstrates his unique processes of building the characters of his dramas.
10-01-2026
BBC 4
Arena
The Last Soviet Citizen
Documentary that follows three decades of Soviet space culture, from the glory days of Yuri Gagarin to the saga of Sergei Krikalev, the Soviet citizen who was stranded in space ...
20-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
The Underground
Documentary about the tube, the world's oldest underground system. Three million passengers use it every day, and over the past 150 years, it has developed its own history, alon ...
18-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
The Private Life Of The Ford Cortina
A witty look at the history of the Ford Cortina. Alexei Sayle, John Betjeman, John McVicar and Magnus Magnusson join enthusiasts to reflect on what was, in the 1980s, Britain's ...
10-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Sister Wendy And The Art Of The Gospel
The arresting sight of Sister Wendy Beckett, all teeth and glasses, burst on to our screens in the 1990s. An instant star, she travelled the world in her habit telling us the st ...
10-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Francis Bacon
On the occasion of his 75th birthday, Francis Bacon talks with great candour to his friend of many years, the distinguished writer and critic David Sylvester.
03-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Chelsea Hotel
First transmitted in 1981, this documentary programme looks at New York's Chelsea Hotel, a legendary haven for some of the 20th century's greatest talent, from Mark Twain to Dyl ...
03-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Masters Of The Canvas
When pop artist Peter Blake confessed that his fantasy was to be the mysterious masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki, who never speaks and never removes his mask, little did he know w ...
29-10-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Art And Design: The Journey
Singer and writer George Melly takes a walk from his home in north London to the Hayward Gallery, reminiscing along the way about the influence of surrealism on his early life.
26-10-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Billie Holiday: The Long Night Of Lady Day
A film portrait of one of the greatest jazz singers of all time. Billie Holiday's tragic story, from her traumatic childhood in Baltimore to her premature death in a New York ho ...
06-10-2025
BBC 4
Most popular episodes of Arena
Arena
A Tall Story - How Salman Rushdie Pickled All Of India
Salman Rushdie, author of Midnight's Children, winner of the Booker Prize 1981, talks about India and the autobiographical elements in the book.
11-08-2022
BBC 4
Arena
The Banana
Programme exploring the cultural significance of the banana.\n\nThe Velvet Underground's John Cale tells the story behind Andy Warhol's famous LP cover, Auberon Waugh and John W ...
22-09-2025
BBC 4
Arena
The Underground
Documentary about the tube, the world's oldest underground system. Three million passengers use it every day, and over the past 150 years, it has developed its own history, alon ...
18-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Sister Wendy And The Art Of The Gospel
The arresting sight of Sister Wendy Beckett, all teeth and glasses, burst on to our screens in the 1990s. An instant star, she travelled the world in her habit telling us the st ...
10-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Dennis Potter
1987 edition in which Alan Yentob interviews TV dramatist Dennis Potter about his work through the years, touching on subjects such as why and how he started writing, his sense ...
02-06-2024
BBC 4
Arena
Cigars - Out Of The Humidor
Documentary which follows the story of the cigar - from the tobacco fields west of the Cuban capital of Havana into the factories where poetry and daily newspapers are read alou ...
22-04-2018
BBC 4
Arena
Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues
Hank Williams was the greatest singer-songwriter country music has ever known. He died on a journey half-way across America to a gig he would never make, at the age of just 29. ...
22-09-2023
BBC 4
Arena
Masters Of The Canvas
When pop artist Peter Blake confessed that his fantasy was to be the mysterious masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki, who never speaks and never removes his mask, little did he know w ...
29-10-2025
BBC 4
Arena
The Private Life Of The Ford Cortina
A witty look at the history of the Ford Cortina. Alexei Sayle, John Betjeman, John McVicar and Magnus Magnusson join enthusiasts to reflect on what was, in the 1980s, Britain's ...
10-11-2025
BBC 4
Arena
Philip Hoare's Guide To Whales: 2. Toothed
Acclaimed author and whale-watcher Philip Hoare takes us into the world of toothed whales, from the plight of the captive killer whale to the fate of the stranded London whale. ...
24-03-2019
BBC 4