BBC Four

Wine

Wine: Episode 2: The Faith

Episode 2

Episode 2: The Faith

The Faith

BBC Four - Wine, The Faith

Charting the creation of the 2008 vintage at luxury wine estate Margaux.

Documentary series about the wine industry charts the creation of the 2008 vintage at the Margaux estate as the poor weather threatens the quality.

Documentary series about the wine industry charts the creation of the 2008 vintage at Margaux, one of the world's greatest wine estates. 

Corinne Mentzelopoulos, daughter of a Greek supermarket tycoon, introduces us to the chateau her family has owned for the past 30 years, as everyone from vineyard worker to chief winemaker looks anxiously at a sky which appears hellbent on making the year a wretched one. One bottle of this cult wine can cost up to 1,000 pounds if the vintage is good, but the quality of the vintage is always in the lap of the weather gods. 

Blessed by sunshine and a soaring economy in previous years, Margaux has turned itself into the world's luxury wine. From the inside, we track the meticulous cultivation of a top-notch brand, with Margaux's urbane director Paul Pontallier playing the role of chief evangelist as we follow him all the way to China where he is almost mobbed by devotees of Margaux.

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.

Documentary series going behind the scenes in the wine industry

Charting the production of Chateau Margaux's 08 vintage, as workers struggle with the poor weather.

Sissinghurst

Sissinghurst: Episode 3

Episode 3

BBC Four - Sissinghurst, Episode 3

Head gardener Alexis raises objections to Adam's plans, while Sarah's cooks a trial menu.

Series about the attempts to bring farming back to the Sissinghurst estate. Sarah's ideas for transforming the restaurant are not being taken up, so she tries a new tactic.

Documentary series about the attempts of writer Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven to bring farming back into the heart of the estate and garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, their historic home which is owned by the National Trust and was moulded into its present form by Nicolson's grandmother Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson back in the 1930s.

It is March, and Adam and Sarah's quest to change the way Sissinghurst operates is proving difficult, as head gardener Alexis has raised objections to Adam's plans.

Sarah's ideas for transforming the restaurant are not being taken up, so she tries a new tactic and cooks a trial menu. Head chef Steve, trained in French cookery, is not persuaded by Sarah's more rustic ways. She invites Steve and catering manager Ginny to her gardening and cookery school in the hope that they will take her ideas more seriously.

Adam continues to research his book and visits Long Barn, Vita and Harold's first marital home, where Harold announced he had a sexually transmitted disease and confessed to his gay affairs. Adam's sister Juliet takes us to the bedroom where Vita slept and entertained a number of female visitors.

Series about the attempts to bring farming back into the heart of the Sissinghurst estate

Series about the attempts of writer Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah to bring farming back into the heart of the estate and garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent

New. 3/8. The staff are less than impressed with Adam and Sarah's suggested improvements.  
8.30 New. 4/8. Lifelong residents on the estate, Adam and Linda Clifford , take drastic measures to control the rabbit population. See panel.

Sissinghurst: Episode 4

Episode 4

BBC Four - Sissinghurst, Episode 4

As the garden-visiting season approaches, Sissinghurst's visitor numbers increase.

Series about the attempts to update the historic Sissinghurst estate. As the height of the garden-visiting season approaches, Sissinghurst's visitor numbers rapidly increase.

Documentary series about the attempts of writer Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven to bring farming back into the heart of the estate and garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, their historic home which is owned by the National Trust and was moulded into its present form by Nicolson's grandmother Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson back in the 1930s.

It is April, and although work is now two months behind schedule there is progress on the farm project. Work has begun in earnest on what will be fruit and vegetable plot. Adam and Linda Clifford, lifelong residents of the estate, take drastic measures in an attempt to control the large rabbit population on the estate.

As the height of the garden-visiting season approaches, Sissinghurst's visitor numbers rapidly increase and car-park volunteers Brenda and Linda have their work cut out. The garden is looking beautiful in its spring glory, but nevertheless Adam feels Sissinghurst is losing more and more of its old authentic charm and takes the matter up with property manager Sally and head gardener Alexis. 

Up in the tower, Vita's old workplace, Adam finds the Gladstone bag where she hid her confessional biography about her affair with Violet Trefusis, which culminated in her elopement to France, when she temporarily abandoned her two young sons.

Caravans: A British Love Affair

25/02/2009

BBC Four - Caravans: A British Love Affair

Documentary telling the story of caravanning in Britain from the 1950s to the present day.

Documentary about the love affair between the British and their caravans, which transformed the holiday habits of generations of families from the 1950s through to the present day.

Documentary about the love affair between the British and their caravans, which saw the country establish the world's largest caravan manufacturer and transformed the holiday habits of generations of families.

In telling the intriguing story of caravanning in Britain from the 1950s through to the present day, the film reveals how caravans were once the plaything of a privileged minority, but after World War II became a firm favourite with almost a quarter of British holidaymakers.

It explores how changes in caravanning across the years reflect wider changes in British society, in particular the increased availability of cars during the 1950s and 60s, but also the improved roads network and changing attitudes towards holidaymaking and leisure time.

Enthusiasts and contributors include Dorrie van Lachterop from the West Midlands and Christine Fagg from Hertfordshire, remarkable and adventurous women who started touring alone in their caravans during the 1950s.

Caravans: a British Love Affair

The story of caravanning in Britain, from the 1950s through to the present day, revealing how caravans became a firm favourite with holidaymakers.

Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock

28/02/2009

BBC Four - Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock

Paul Merton uses clips and interviews to explore Alfred Hitchcock's British films.

Documentary in which Paul Merton explores Alfred Hitchcock's early British films, using clips and archive interviews with Hitchcock and those who worked with him.

Documentary in which Paul Merton explores Alfred Hitchcock's early British films. 

These moody features - some silents such as The Lodger and others talkies like Blackmail - provided the essential cinematic DNA for his rise to prominence as Hollywood's 'master of suspense'.

Merton sees Hitchcock as a man immersed in the visual language of cinema, who understood how to use camera movement and lighting for dramatic effect. For Hitchcock, heavily influenced by the German expressionist cinema, the pictures would always be more important than the dialogue.

Using clips and previously unseen archive interviews with Hitchcock, Merton weaves together a playful narrative of the director's early career and macabre world, revealing a man with a great sense of humour. 

He talks to those who knew and worked with Hitchcock, including actress Anna Massey, director Roy Ward Baker, Hitchcock's official biographer John Russell Taylor and the great cinematographer Gil Taylor, the latter about working on two Hitchcock films at either end of his career - Number Seventeen in 1932 and Frenzy in 1972.

The comedian focuses on the British director's silent films, examining how they helped him develop the visual language celebrated in his later American features.
See choice, page 46.

The 39 Steps

16/07/2003

BBC Two - The 39 Steps

A man (Robert Donat) is pursued by the police for a murder he didn't commit.

Classic Hitchcock mystery. A man is pursued by the police for a murder he did not commit and by an international spy ring for information he does not possess.

Classic Hitchcock mystery based on John Buchan's novel. A man is pursued by the police for a murder he did not commit and by an international spy ring for information he does not possess. He finds himself fleeing across the desolate Scottish moors - handcuffed to a beautiful blonde.

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.

Classic thriller starring Robert Donat. An innocent man accused of murder is pursued by both the police and an international spy ring. 
Director Alfred Hitchcock (1935, U)  Hitchcock's Stage Fright is tomorrow at 11pm See feature, page 33 
1

Reputations

Documentary profiles examining well-known figures from the world of entertainment.

Reputations: Hitch: Alfred the Great

30/05/1999

Hitch: Alfred the Great

BBC Two - Reputations, Hitch: Alfred the Great

Tracing Alfred Hitchcock's life from the suburban streets to the boulevards of Hollywood.

Two-part profile of Alfred Hitchcock. This first part explores the childhood influences that turned an overweight loner into the master of suspense.

Two-part profile of Alfred Hitchcock. This edition traces his life from the streets of suburbia to the boulevards of Hollywood, exploring the childhood influences that turned an overweight loner into the master of suspense and revealing how he came to marry Alma Reville, a tough film professional who was her husband's severest critic and fiercest champion.

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