Sign language

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC Four

BBC Two Scotland

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One London

London

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One North West

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Oxfordshire

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

BBC Four HD

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood

Paul Merton

Kate Broome

Suki Webster

Michael Poole

Mike Fox

Bill Rudolph

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood: Episode 1

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Episode 1

BBC Two - Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood, Episode 1

Paul Merton takes a look at how Hollywood's early pioneers created the cinema industry.

Paul Merton pays tribute to Hollywood to mark its 100th anniversary. In this episode, he explores how the early pioneers laid down the blueprint for today's cinema industry.

To mark Hollywood's 100th anniversary, Paul Merton travels to America in a series that explores how the early pioneers there laid down the blueprint for today's cinema industry. 

In the first episode, Hollywood is still a sleepy California backwater of orange groves about to be transformed by film-makers from the East Coast in search of sunny locations and wide open spaces. The film concentrates on the career of DW Griffith, one of Hollywood's most influential and controversial directors during this explosive early period. Within the space of a few short years in the 1910s, he went from making short 'cliffhangers' to three-hour epics as Hollywood cinema became the world's dominant entertainment medium. 

At its heart were the beginnings of the star system, which created screen idols like Mary Pickford, who starred in many of Griffith's films. Passionate, playful but above all knowledgeable, Paul Merton retrieves cinema's founding DNA to provide a fitting and unique tribute to Hollywood's movie-making history.

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Paul Merton investigates how Hollywood's early pioneers created the cinema industry

Paul Merton travels to America in a series that explores how Hollywood's early pioneers laid down the blueprint for today's cinema industry

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood

Episode 1

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Series

BBC One Northern Ireland

About BBC One