Season 16

2011 · 28 episodes

Episodes

1Episode 1Coming from the 60th anniversary celebrations for the Festival of Britain where Nancy Durrant talks to Tracey Emin about her new show at the Hayward. Also, Andrew Graham-Dixon travels north to the new Hepworth Wakefield exhibition space designed by David Chipperfield, while Tom Dyckhoff explores the militarisation of urban architecture. Mark Kermode tries the new video game LA Noire, which draws its inspiration from film noir, while record producer Danger Mouse talks about his new album Rome, spawned from the spaghetti western soundtrack. Alastair Sooke checks out the four shortlisted for the Art Fund Prize Museum of the Year and choreographer Wayne McGregor selects his own prize moments from the BBC archives.
2Episode 2: The Sounds of Hugh Laurie: A Culture Show SpecialHugh Laurie was best known for playing bumbling British toffs until he reinvented his onscreen persona in the role of House MD, and became the highest paid actor in the world. One skill that features throughout his meteoric career is a facility for music, from Bertie Wooster bashing out Minnie the Moocher to House dueting with a patient. Now though, Laurie has finally put his music centre stage. As he releases an album of New Orleans blues titled Let Them Talk, he speaks with Alan Yentob about the role music has played in his life and career.
3Episode 3Fronted by Andrew Graham-Dixon, this week's Culture Show comes from the recently revamped Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and ranges from sci-fi to psychopaths, with Shakespeare, singing, art, hip-hop, design and new media packed in too.
4Episode 4Andrew Graham-Dixon presents The Culture Show featuring David Attenborough on British painter John Craxton; actor turned director Philip Seymour Hoffman on his new film Jack Goes Boating and Alan Hollinghurst on his latest novel The Stranger's Child.
5Episode 5Andrew Graham-Dixon presents from the 2011 Manchester International Festival featuring new plays by Victoria Wood and Johnny Vegas, music from Bjork and Damon Albarn, and performance artist Marina Abramovic.
6Episode 6: The Culture Show at the Edinburgh Festival - Part 1Sue Perkins presents the first of three programmes featuring highlights from 2011's Edinburgh Festival. Marc Almond tells us about his acting role in a new musical play, Ten Plagues; AS Byatt talks about her latest novel prior to her appearance at the Book Festival; and Alastair Sooke gives his verdict on the exhibition of work by Robert Rauschenberg, one of America's most influential 20th century artists. Also the best comedy and performance from the Fringe.
7Episode 7: The Culture Show at the Edinburgh Festival - Part 2Sue Perkins presents the second of three programmes featuring highlights from 2011's Edinburgh Festival. Clemency Burton-Hill takes a look at multi-media theatre production, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle based on Haruki Murakami's cult novel; Alastair Sooke meets sculptor Tony Cragg, as Edinburgh hosts the first major retrospective of his work; and author Ian Rankin chats to museum director Sandy Nairn about his experience of art theft. Plus all the best comedy and performance from the Fringe.
8Episode 8: The Culture Show at the Edinburgh Festival - Part 3Sue Perkins presents the final Culture Show from Edinburgh with all the highlights from this year's Festival, including an exhibition of portraits of the Queen, featuring artists such as Lucian Freud, Andy Warhol and Annie Leibovitz.
9Episode 9: Hilary Mantel: A Culture Show SpecialHilary Mantel is one of Britain's most arresting and original writers. In this intimate and exclusive profile, the Booker Prize-winning author of Wolf Hall talks about her childhood in the north of England, her battles with debilitating illness, and the determination that has driven her to write some of the most moving and memorable fiction of recent years.
10Episode 10Andrew Graham-Dixon visits the new Firstsite Gallery in Colchester, Mark Kermode talks to Lars Von Trier about his new film Melancholia and Alastair Sooke meets American artist Frank Stella at his first major show here for 25 years. The inmates of Wandsworth Prison talk about their unlikely passion for embroidery, while Michael Smith unpicks Postmodernism at the V&A. Journalist Lynn Barber chats to legendary editor Diana Athill, now in her nineties and enjoying her own successful literary career. Plus Simon Thurley and Andrew Lloyd Webber launch the Heritage Angels Awards for those who have saved the buildings they love, and Nigel Kennedy explains his new work Four Elements.
11Episode 11Andrew Graham-Dixon talks to ceramicist Grayson Perry, Simon Armitage marks National Poetry Day, Mark Kermode meets director Lynne Ramsay to discuss her latest film We Need to Talk About Kevin, and there's a look at the work of Gerhard Richter. Also, choreographer Akram Khan talks to Clemency Burton-Hill about his latest dancework and critic Michael Collins looks at representations of the working class on stage.
12Episode 12This week The Culture Show comes from Frieze Art Fair with Andrew Graham-Dixon and Alastair Sooke. Artist Ryan Gander talks to Christian Jankowski about his Frieze project - a luxury yacht, Sarfraz Manzoor meets Anahita Razmi to discuss her prize winning idea based on the rooftops of Tehran, and Mark Kermode joins Tacita Dean at the unveiling of her installation in Tate's Turbine Hall. We also explore the extraordinary life and work of the late Judith Scott, a disabled artist with a growing cult following, and visit Mind Over Matter, an exhibition that challenges our ideas about brain donation.
13Episode 13Andrew Graham-Dixon presents the weekly arts magazine show, featuring a look at the extraordinary art of Edward Burra; an interview with Sofie Grabol, star of cult Danish detective series The Killing; the latest novel by bestselling Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, and a new work from the Aurora Orchestra.
14Episode 14: Britain's Biggest Book Prize: A Village Decides (Again)For tonight's half-hour Culture Show Special on the Man Booker Prize 2011, Tim Samuels visits the Scottish village of Comrie and asks the locals for their verdict on this year's Booker Prize shortlist. Shortlisted authors Carol Birch, Stephen Kelman and AD Miller travel to Comrie to answer questions from some of their keenest readers; and Commonwealth authors Esi Edugyan and Patrick deWitt beam into the village for an internet Q&A with assembled villagers. Once the books have been read and the reviews and scores digested, Comrie will decide which novel is their Booker winner.
15Episode 15The Culture Show comes from the Gothic mansion Two Temple Place as it opens its door for the first time. Andrew Graham-Dixon looks at King George V's photographic collection of Scott and Shackleton's Antarctic expeditions, while Simon Thurley continues his search for the most dedicated saviours of the British heritage. Michael Smith looks for the positive in what some consider Europe's most boring city - Birmingham. Mark Kermode talks to award-winning artist and director Steve McQueen about his new film Shame, and Miranda Sawyer travels to Paris meet film director David Lynch as he releases his new album Crazy Clown Time.
16Keith Richards: A Culture Show SpecialTo mark the publication of Keith Richards' autobiography, Life, this Culture Show special looks at the life of the man with five strings and nine lives. In a candid interview he chats to Andrew Graham-Dixon about his childhood in Dartford, his passion for music and the decade that catapulted the Rolling Stones from back-room blues boys to one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands in the world.
17Episode 17: Sir Terence Conran on CultureIn tribute to the late British designer Sir Terence Conran, a repeat of a programme first shown in 2011. Alan Yentob talks to his hero Sir Terence Conran, perhaps one of Britain’s greatest designers, about the revolutionary transformation he made to British life and style. A designer, retailer and restaurateur, Conran pioneered a new way of life that he wanted to be available to all with his vision of ‘easy living’. They discuss the work he contributed to the Festival of Britain in the 1950s, and his vision of a new way of living which he cemented with the opening of the high street shop Habitat in 1964, giving us stylish design for the everyday, from kitchen utensils to furniture.
18Episode 18: Art for Heroes: A Culture Show SpecialAn examination of the role of art therapy in the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Tim Samuels meets veterans of recent British conflicts in the Falklands, the Persian Gulf and Northern Ireland, who reveal their personal battle with PTSD as a result of their military career. They are now using an unlikely weapon to help fight the psychological wounds of war - art. Visiting art therapy sessions, Samuels discovers how drawing, sculpting and painting are helping the veterans manage the symptoms of PTSD. Dr Lukas Konopka, a professor of neurology in Chicago, has investigated the effects of art therapy on the brain in the treatment of PTSD. The results provide strong evidence of art's potential to heal.
19Episode 19: Best of the YearAndrew Graham-Dixon looks back at the cultural the highlights of the year. Sir David Attenborough celebrates neglected artist John Craxton. Alan Yentob interviews Gerhard Richter and Alastair Sooke meets Tony Cragg, one of the finest British sculptors of his generation. Andrew Graham-Dixon gets a tour of Grayson Perry's latest works and visits 2011's newest gallery, the Wakefield Hepworth. All this and Damon Albarn's English opera, Sue Perkins interviewing American humorist David Sedaris, PJ Harvey on her Mercury-prize winning album and Tom Dyckhoff has a rare interview with architect Frank Gehry. Plus film critic, Mark Kermode on the year's best films.
20Episode 20Andrew Graham-Dixon visits the new Lucian Freud exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Mark Kermode talks movies with author Geoff Dyer whose new book is based on the Russian cult classic 'Stalker', Charlie Luxton explores the churches of architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, Alastair Sooke looks back at the extraordinary life of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and journalist Aleks Krotoski investigates the transformation of the world wide web when the next billion people go online. Miranda Sawyer chats to Emeli Sandé, winner of the Brit Awards Critics' Choice for 2012 and Clemency Burton-Hill meets Scrubs star Zach Braff, set to appear in his self-penned play All New People
21Episode 21Andrew Marr interviews David Hockney, widely considered to be Britain's best-loved living artist, about his exhibition A Bigger Picture at the Royal Academy, made up of works depicting the landscape of his native Yorkshire.
22Episode 22Andrew Graham-Dixon presents the latest edition of The Culture Show from Glasgow, featuring the National Theatre of Scotland's new adaptation of The Wicker Man. As a major new Picasso exhibition opens at Tate Britain, Alastair Sooke looks back at his relationship with the English surrealist artist Roland Penrose. Also, forget the Oscars and the Baftas - Mark Kermode presents his very own movie awards of the year.
23Episode 23: Jeremy Deller: Middle Class Hero - A Culture Show SpecialTurner Prize winner Jeremy Deller is one of the most unconventional of contemporary artists. He is best known for his collaborative projects with everyone from striking miners to Manic Street Preachers. As he prepares for a major exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London, The Culture Show meets up with him to look back at the creative process behind some of his major works to date and follows the artist to Texas as he films bats for his latest unpredictable project.
24Episode 24Andrew Graham-Dixon tells us what intrigues him about flamboyant Victorian architect and designer Augustus Pugin who celebrates his 200th anniversary this year; Mark Kermode celebrates Spanish and Latin American cinema with his highlights from the Viva Festival in Manchester and Tim Samuels meets the men behind satirical news website -The Daily Mash. Also Philip Ridley talks about his latest play, Shivered; Sue Townsend on her new book -The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year; and a profile of Welsh artist Osi Rhys Osmond.
25Episode 25: LondonAndrew Graham-Dixon goes on a date with Florence Welch to discuss the influence of Renaissance art on her music. Alastair Sooke meets art duo Gilbert and George, while Mark Kermode talks to Italian director Paolo Sorrentino about his new film starring Sean Penn. Tim Samuels hears from Jonathan Safran Foer about his new treatment of an ancient Jewish text, and Sarfraz Manzoor takes his mum to the Hajj exhibition at the British Museum. Clemency Burton-Hill flies to Germany to meet talented young conductor Alexander Shelley, and Hadley Freeman looks at the life of street style guru Bill Cunningham in a touching new documentary.
26Episode 26: LondonAlastair Sooke travels to Derbyshire to meet sculptor Anthony Caro as he prepares for a retrospective at Chatsworth House. Art critic Richard Cork meets Sarah Rose, an avid collector of David Bomberg's work and that of the artists he taught at the Borough Polytechnic in the 1940's. Writer Alan Bissett talks to Irvine Welsh about punk literature and his new book Skagboys. Arlene Phillips explores the theatrical experience Reasons to Dance. Clemency Burton-Hill meets American composer, and protege of Philip Glass, Nico Muhly. Mark Kermode chats to musical hero Kevin Rowland about the return of Dexys Midnight Runners. The Culture Show journeys with the Red Note Ensemble, combining Bangra and Bach, on their tour of the Hebrides.
27Episode 27: How to Paint a Queen: A Culture Show SpecialThere are more images of Elizabeth II than any other historical figure, but how to paint a queen is one of the trickiest of artistic challenges. Alastair Sooke looks at the depiction of Britain's female rulers, from Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I to Queen Victoria and our current monarch, and discovers how queenly portraits reveal Britain's changing ideas about women and power.
28Episode 28: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Culture Show SpecialAlastair Sooke goes behind-the-scenes of the Royal Academy's 244th Summer Exhibition, the biggest open-submission contemporary art show in the world. He selects artists he hopes will make it through the tough judging process and hears about the challenges facing the curators in hanging thousands of works by amateur and leading contemporary artists. New RA member Michael Landy delves into the archives to satisfy his curiosity about the weird and wonderful rituals that surround the show. Psychotherapist Philippa Perry - wife of Grayson Perry - gives a psychological portrait of artists, past and present, who have attempted to get their works accepted. Plus actress Emilia Fox joins Alastair on a whirlwind tour of the finished show at the glitzy preview party.