Monitor 100th Edition: Elgar

BBC Four

Monitor

BBC flagship arts programme of the 1950s and 1960s.

Monitor: Elgar

02/06/2007

Elgar

BBC One - Monitor, Elgar

Ken Russell's classic 1962 biography of English composer Edward Elgar.

Ken Russell's classic 1962 biography of English composer Edward Elgar, which uses actors to reconstruct events in Elgar's life. Made for the hundredth edition of Monitor.

Ken Russell's classic 1962 biography of English composer Edward Elgar, which uses actors to reconstruct events in Elgar's life. Made for the hundredth edition of pioneering BBC documentary series Monitor.

BBC One

Chopin Preludes

Alfredo Perl performs the Prelude in F sharp minor, Opus 28.

Monitor: 100: Elgar

Ken Russell 's celebrated film on the life and work of the composer, Edward Elgar. See panel.

Samuel Johnson Prize

Coverage of the prestigious non-fiction literary prize.

Samuel Johnson Prize: 2007

Samuel Johnson Prize: 2007: Contenders

Contenders

2007

BBC Four - Samuel Johnson Prize, 2007, Contenders

A look at the titles on the shortlist for the prestigious non-fiction literary prize.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Samuel Johnson Prize: the Contenders

New. A guide to the shortlist for the award for non-fiction literature. Among the competing books are Ian Baruma 's Murder in Amsterdam and Dominic Streatfield 's Brainwash. See panel.

Beryl's Last Year

BBC Four - Beryl's Last Year

Novelist Dame Beryl Bainbridge makes a record of her life, convinced she is about to die.

Novelist Beryl Bainbridge, helped by her grandson Charlie, makes a record of her life, convinced she's going to die at the age of 71 like many of her family before her.

The novelist Dame Beryl Bainbridge thinks she's going to die at the age of 71, because everyone in her family died when they were that age, from her mother and father to her grandparents, aunts and uncles. Opening with her 71st birthday, this uniquely personal film, made by Beryl's eldest grandson Charlie Russell, follows Beryl as she lives out her 'last year', prepares for her death and tries to write her final novel.

Beryl wants to make a record of her life before it's too late - from her volatile upbringing in Formby in the 1940s to her time as an actress in the Liverpool Playhouse and her failed relationships with several men. Beryl bases her novels on the events of her past, but she's having trouble remembering exactly who she was when she was her grandson's age.

During her 'last year' Beryl falls ill and Charlie has to consider the very real possibility of his grandmother dying. Beryl is told she has to give up smoking or her leg will fall off, but she has smoked for fifty years and when she stops she gets the worse case of writer's block she's ever had.

Full of the amazing true stories of Beryl's incredible life, from almost losing her virginity to a German POW to the time when she tried to kill herself, the film is a moving, frequently hilarious and unique insight into how one of Britain's greatest living authors goes about writing a book, confronting her past and facing up to her own mortality.

New. The celebrated novelist Beryl Bainbridge is convinced she'll die, like almost everyone else in her family, aged 71. Her grandson Charlie Russell directs this documentary record of her "final year" starting with her 71st birthday. See page 50.

DIGITAL/CABLE CHOICES
Beryl's Last Year
9.00pm BBC4
Writers are not as arresting a subject for a documentary as, say, the Loch Ness monster, and Beryl Bainbridge is no exception. But at least she doesn't just sit at her desk; she talks playfully and smokes heavily. In fact, smoking is one of the themes of the 72nd year of her life - the subject and span of her grandson Charlie Russell's film. Beryl's fans will enjoy learning that she based characters on herself, and much more about her family and life. As depicted here, she's eccentric, birdlike, and, periodically, entertaining. (Geoff Ellis)

The Lie of the Land More 4 see p55 Monitor: Elgar BBC4 see page 55 Samuel Johnson Prize: the Contenders BBC4 see page 55 Warriors UKTV Drama see page 56 The Final Report History see page 56

Once Upon a Time in New York: The Birth of Hip Hop, Disco and Punk

05/03/2007

BBC Four - Once Upon a Time in New York: The Birth of Hip Hop, Disco and Punk

How the squalid streets of '70s New York gave birth to music that would conquer the world.

How the squalid streets of '70s New York gave birth to music that conquered the world - punk, disco and hip hop - inspired by the Velvet Underground, loft parties and the Bronx.

How the squalid streets of '70s New York gave birth to music that would go on to conquer the world - punk, disco and hip hop.

In the 1970s the Big Apple was rotten to the core, yet out of the grime, grit and low rent space emerged new music unlike anything that had gone before.

Inspired by the Velvet Underground, a new wave of 'punk' rock emerged in lower Manhattan including The New York Dolls, The Ramones and the Patti Smith Group. Meanwhile, downtown loft parties held by gay New Yorkers heralded the birth of disco, which would eventually spawn the ultimate club for the privileged few: Studio 54. The swanky mid-town discos were out of bounds to black New York so in the Bronx DJs such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa created their own parties, heralding the birth of hip hop. 

With David Johansen, Patti Smith, John Cale, Richard Hell, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Nile Rodgers, Chuck D, Tommy Ramone, Chris Stein, Fab 5. Freddy, Lenny Kaye, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Syl Sylvain, Nicky Siano, David Mancuso, DJ AJ, David Depino, Jayne County, Leee Childers, Nelson George, Victor Bokris and Vince Aletti.

Once Upon a Time in New York: The Birth of Hip-Hop, Disco & Punk

Revealing how the deprived streets of 1970s New York heralded three separate musical revolutions.

New York Rock at the BBC

09/03/2007

BBC Four - New York Rock at the BBC

Performances from The Ramones, New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Lou Reed and more.

Celebrating the cream of the New York rock scene, including classic archive performances from The Ramones, New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Lou Reed and many more.

From the streets of New York City to the studios of the BBC comes the cream of the New York rock scene, including classic archive performances from The Ramones, New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Lou Reed and many more.

Blondie, Lou Reed and the Ramones perform at the BBC.  Lighting Up New York is tomorrow at 11.30pm

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