BBC Four

Cobra Ferrari Wars

17/06/2002

BBC Four - Cobra Ferrari Wars

How racing driver Carroll Shelby won Le Mans in 1959 and developed the famous Cobra car.

Documentary telling the story of Texan racing driver Carroll Shelby, who won Le Mans in 1959 and later developed the famous Cobra, a car designed to take on the might of Ferrari.

The date is 1959. The place is Le Mans racing circuit, France. A little known Texan racing driver, Carrol Shelby, wins the most prestigious event in motor racing at his first attempt and is universally acclaimed as one of the best drivers in the world. 

But Shelby had a secret that was to prevent him ever driving again.

This is the comeback story of a man driven by the desire to beat the world on the race track, and specifically to beat the might of motor racing, Ferrari. From his base in California with only a team of hot rodders for support, in three years Shelby put together a car that would take on the world and win. The Shelby Cobra, as it was known, is still an automotive icon today. 

Featuring a great 60s soundtrack and using true-to-the-period split screen effects, this film is for car fans and casual viewers alike.

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.

The life of Texan racing driver Carroll Shelby , the mastermind behind the world-famous Shelby Cobra.

Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale

11/11/2007

BBC One - Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale

Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of World War One poet Wilfred Owen.

Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of World War One poet Wilfred Owen. At a time of jingoism and wartime propaganda, one Shropshire lad was compelled to tell the truth.

Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of World War One poet Wilfred Owen. At a time of jingoism and wartime propaganda, one Shropshire lad was compelled to tell the truth. Jeremy Paxman travels to the battlefields of France to discover how the ugliest and most terrible arena imaginable gave birth to some of the most poignant and powerful poetry in the English language. Wilfred Owen is played by Samuel Barnett.

BBC One

BBC One is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964. It replaced BBC Television.

Wilfred Owen:a Remembrance Tale

As part of the BBC's Poetry Season, 
Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of the First World War poet who, at a time of jingoism and nationalist propaganda, described the atrocities of war in shocking and poignant detail.

Arena

The gold standard for arts documentaries, from 1975 to the present day.

The gold standard for arts documentaries, from 1975 to the present day. A cultural map of the world’s greatest artists and musicians, as captured by exceptional film-makers.

Arena: Dylan Thomas: From Grave to Cradle

22/11/2003

Dylan Thomas: From Grave to Cradle

BBC Four - Arena, Dylan Thomas: From Grave to Cradle

An examination of the work and the legend of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. (2003)

An examination of the work and the legend of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas in the year of the 50th anniversary of his death. (2003)

Author and broadcaster Nigel Williams examines the work and the legend of one of the most famous poets of the 20th century, Dylan Thomas. 

Born in 1914, Dylan Thomas was an unruly and undisciplined child who was interested only in English at school and was determined from childhood to become a poet. Little did he know that he would eventually become world-renowned.

Cited by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Van Morrison and other cultural icons as a profound influence, Thomas occupies the space more readily associated with the likes of James Dean and Jack Kerouac, both of whom he preceded. 

But it was his death that truly made him a legend. Did Dylan Thomas really die after drinking 18 straight whiskies at The White Horse in New York? Was he a genius or a sponging, womanising drunk? 

The film unravels the myth by tracing the poet's biography backwards, from his much written about, much lied about death to the heart of the Dylan Thomas story and his beginnings in a quiet street in suburban Swansea. (2003)

Arena: Dylan Thomas -from Grave to Cradle

A profile of the Under Milk Wood writer, exploring the reality behind the rumours about his life and assessing how much of his legend was created after his death. 
Part of the Poetry Season.

Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard

16/05/2009

BBC Four - Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard

A look at one of the most peculiar offices in the establishment, that of Poet Laureate.

Ian Hislop looks at one of the most peculiar offices in the British establishment, that of Poet Laureate, whose long history produces a gloriously eccentric picture of who we are.

Ian Hislop takes an amused look at one of the most peculiar offices in the British establishment, that of Poet Laureate. Its 341-year history produces a gloriously eccentric picture of who we are, how we are ruled, what we want to say about ourselves and just how hard it is to do that in verse. 

We know that Poets Laureate write about royal weddings but Hislop discovers a whole lot more, such as 534, John Masefield's brilliant poem on the launch of the Queen Mary from the Clydebank shipyards and Nicholas Rowe's New Year's Ode for 1716 dedicated to the Princess of Wales's labour pains. There was Colley Cibber, the Laureate so ashamed of his poor output he adopted a pseudonym and wrote poems attacking himself, and Alfred Tennyson, who wrote the nation's favourite laureate poem, Charge of the Light Brigade.  

The film also throws light on the shadowy process by which the appointment is made. Lord Gowrie, the arts minister in Mrs Thatcher's cabinet, reveals how Ted Hughes came to be Thatcher's choice for Laureate, when many people were still hostile towards him due to his wife Sylvia Plath's suicide.  

A visit to the National Archive unearths a hilarious list by C P Duff, a top civil servant, ranking the poets of the day for the benefit of one very confused prime minister, and Candida Lycett Green reveals to Ian just how much whisky it took before her father, John Betjeman, could summon up a poem to celebrate Princess Anne's wedding.

Ian gets to the bottom of the bizarre tradition of the payment in sherry (650 bottles of the stuff), and after trying a glass or two himself, poetic inspiration strikes and he concludes the film with his very own ode to Carol Ann Duffy, our newest Poet Laureate.

Ian Hislop's Changingof the Bard

New. The BBC's multi-platform Poetry Season continues as Ian Hislop explores the history of the poet laureateship, which has no official job description and only a small salary, traditionally supplemented by bottles of sherry. The film also throws some light on the shadowy process by which the appointment is made. See panel. 
Rptd Thursday. 9pm  bbc.co.uk/poetry How to read poetry: page 25

Carol Ann Duffy: Secular Prayers

BBC Four - Carol Ann Duffy: Secular PrayersSearch BBC

Compilation of works by Carol Ann Duffy, Britain's first ever woman Poet Laureate.

Compilation of works from the past 20 years by Carol Ann Duffy, Britain's first ever woman Poet Laureate, read by herself.

Carol Ann Duffy, Britain's first ever woman Poet Laureate, believes that the continuance of the laureateship affirms the value of poetry in the imaginative life of the nation. This film compiles an archive anthology of her work, read by herself from the last 20 years.

Carol Ann Duffy:Secular Prayers

New. The new poet laureate reads samples of her work.

Close Up

Documentary strand getting to the heart of its subjects

Close Up: Ted Hughes: Force of Nature

Ted Hughes: Force of Nature

BBC - Close Up, Ted Hughes: Force of Nature

Documentary examining the life and work of the late Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes.

Documentary examining the career of the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes through readings by the poet himself and interviews with friends and fellow poets.

Documentary examining the life and work of Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, who died in October 1998, through archive readings by the poet himself and interviews with friends, critics and fellow poets including Anne Stevenson, John Carey, Al Alvarez, and Simon Armitage.

Close Up: Ted Hughes -Force of Nature

The life and work of the former poet laureate, with contributions from 
Anne Stevenson and John Carey.

Bookmark

Bookmark: Stevie Smith - Not Waving But Drowning

06/09/1997

Stevie Smith - Not Waving But Drowning

BBC Two - Bookmark, Stevie Smith - Not Waving But Drowning

Friends and admirers of the late Stevie Smith talk freely about the enigmatic poet.

Documentary about the late poet Stevie Smith, author of Not Waving But Drowning. Friends, neighbours and writers share their views.

Documentary about the late poet Stevie Smith, author of the famous poem Not Waving But Drowning. Friends, neighbours and writers, combined with archive footage, form a picture of how London secretary Smith took the male-dominated literary world by storm.

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.

Series looking at the lives and work of famous writers

: Stevie Smith   
1250am Monitor: Larkin and Betjeman  as 10pm

Betjeman and Larkin - Monitor

Monitor: Philip Larkin

Monitor

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

Monitor: Larkin and Betjeman: Down Cemetery Road

28/09/2008

Larkin and Betjeman: Down Cemetery Road

BBC One - Monitor, Larkin and Betjeman: Down Cemetery Road

Philip Larkin talks to John Betjeman about his life, his poetry and the city of Hull.

Philip Larkin talks to John Betjeman in 1964 about his life, his poetry and the city of Hull, where he lived and worked as university librarian.

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Larkin and Betjeman: Down Cemetery Road

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