Uplifting Arts

Renowned artists paint portraits of people with extraordinary stories.

Chelsea Hotel in New York, a haven for some of the 20th century's greatest talent. (1981)

Margaret Drabble explores Haworth Parsonage, home of the famous Brontë family.

A stellar cast of historians and experts unravel the secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Behind the scenes at the Moulin Rouge as a group of dancers audition for the famous show.

Edwin Mullins looks at Francisco de Zurbaran's Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose.

How Vienna marked Europe's front line in the defence of Christendom.

Mary Beard looks back on her 2016 series on the ancient world.

The inside story of a waiter turned movie mogul and the scandal that rocked Hollywood.

Uncovering the secrets of the homes of two of Britain’s most beloved writers.

A look at the relationship between Arthur Conan Doyle and his creation Sherlock Holmes.

In 1714, Britain shipped in a ready-made royal family from the German state of Hanover.

Alice Roberts joins the team excavating a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age village in the Fens.

Lucy Worsley discovers the origins of Agatha Christie's macabre magic.

Alan Yentob examines the extraordinary story of pop icon Sir Tom Jones.

Rob Rinder and Rylan discover the greatest art treasures of Italy.

A look at the dazzling, complex period of Liza Minnelli’s life in the 1970s.

Director and choreographer Matthew Bourne's radical reworking of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

imagine... profiles the career of one of the great satirists of our age, Armando Iannucci.

Simon Schama searches for who we are now - and discovers the answers in art and culture.

An investigation of the appeal and power of the popular song My Way, written by Paul Anka.

Andrew Graham-Dixon investigates Spain's Golden Age of art of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Writer George Melly talks about the influence of surrealism on his early life.

An astonishingly intimate self-portrait of stand-up pioneer Sir Billy Connolly.