Armando Iannucci presents a personal argument in praise of the genius of Charles Dickens. Through the prism of the author's most autobiographical novel, David Copperfield, Armando looks beyond Dickens - the national institution - and instead explores the qualities of Dickens's work that still make him one of the best British writers. While Dickens is often celebrated for his powerful depictions of Victorian England and his role as a social reformer, this programme foregrounds the elements of his writing which make him worth reading, as much for what he tells us about ourselves in the twenty-first century as our ancestors in the nineteenth. Armando argues that Dickens's remarkable use of language and his extraordinary gift for creating characters make him a startlingly experimental and psychologically penetrating writer who demands not just to be adapted for television but to be read and read again.
A new light on American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Hollywood’s greatest director, offering a unique...
Biographical film about the life and work of the Belgian painter Jan Cox. Cox had a tempestuous yout...
This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and u...
From award-winning director Phil Grabsky comes this fresh new look at arguably the world’s favourite...
This year, Michel Audiard would have turned 100. To celebrate the life and work of the French screen...
Elmore Leonard, author of more than 40 novels, is renowned in the literary community. From his weste...
An Honest Liar tells the incredible story of the world-famous magician, escape artist, and world-ren...
A documentary on the life and work of Gene Clark, co-founder of The Byrds, whose subsequent career w...
Lincoln's journey from his early years as a rising politician through his presidency, the Civil War,...
Heaven Adores You is an intimate, meditative inquiry into the life and music of Elliott Smith. By th...
Our two-hour film highlights the life and career of Dr. Schreiber with respect and clarity. Raemer, ...
"Lord of the Brush" details the artist John Howe's history and passion for J.R.R. Tolkien's works. J...
Having just turned 60, Tom Cruise is still one of the leading names in Hollywood. A prolific actor w...
A poetic look at the life and legacy of legendary author Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), who wrote over ...
A staged TV portrait of the Austrian cartoonist Gerhard Haderer; and first collaboration with Maria ...
Paris, France, February 2, 1922. The novel Ulysses, by Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941), is publ...
Actress Sally Field looks at the dramatic life and successful career of the superb actress Barbara S...
A celebration broadcast for Trond Kirkvaag, Knut Lystad & Lars Mjøen which marks 40 years of humor o...
The tortured life of Paul Morphy (1850s New Orleans chess prodigy) is examined.
Profile of iconic war photographer Robert Capa, whose career spanned five epic conflicts across thre...