The British stage and screen actor Albert Finney’s credits include Oscar nominations for his performances in Tom Jones, The Dresser, Under the Volcano and Murder on the Orient Express. He is eloquent about his craft and, over a convivial lunch with writer Melvyn Bragg, he looks back on his career. Finney’s remarkable talent is demonstrated in clips of some of his memorable performances and he is seen at work on Karaoke and Cold Lazarus, Dennis Potter’s last television plays.
John Mills
John Mills is a veteran of more than eighty films, including Ice Cold in Alex and Great Expectations. He received an Oscar for his portrayal of Michael in David Lean’s Ryan’s
Daughter. He has also had an illustrious stage career which began in the musical theatre of the 1930s. This popular actor talks about his life and work and his story is illustrated with film clips, archive material and extracts from his anecdotal autobiographical one-man show.
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) is often described as the greatest Hollywood star of all time. On screen he was the cynical tough guy in the trench coat, the flawed hero. Off screen his life was the stuff of legends. Stephen Bogart guides viewers through this revealing account of his father’s life and examines Bogie’s screen performances in the light of his own intimate knowledge. Lauren Bacall – Bogart’s fourth wife – is among the contributors to the programme.
Nora Ephron
Writer/director Nora Ephron is one of the most successful women in Hollywood. Her film Sleepless in Seattle, a romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, was a top box office hit. Her credits also include the scripts for Silkwood and When Harry Met Sally. This programme centres on Ephron herself, a woman famed for her anecdotal wit and brutal honesty. Clips from her movies and contributions from colleagues are also included.
Clive Barker
Novelist, film-maker and artist Clive Barker is the leader of the popular fantasy and horror genre, with international best-sellers such as Weaveworld and box office hits including the Hellraiser features to his credit. This programme charts Barker’s extraordinary progress from his home town of Liverpool to Hollywood, where he now lives, and explores his literary and cinematic journeys into the darker reaches of human experience.
Lynda La Plante
Lynda La Plante is Britain’s most prolific television screenwriter, creator of hard-hitting series such as Widows, Civvies and Framed, Comics and the British Academy and Emmy Award-winning Prime Suspect. Her dramas are gutsy, uncompromising and meticulously accurate. This programme follows La Plante as she researches those areas which have come to characterise her writing: the criminal underworld, police culture, and London low-life.
Jean-Claude Carriere
Over the last thirty years, few writers have made as significant a contribution to European cinema as Jean-Claude Carrière. In this programme he gives an in-depth interview about his work as a screenwriter, talking about his experiences of collaborating with directors such as Jacques Tati, Louis Malle, Luis Buñuel, Andrezj Wajda and Jean-Paul Rappeneau. Clips from their films are used to illustrate his methods and approach.
Comedy Special
The 1980s saw the rise of an exciting new generation of performers on the British comedy scene. This two-part special (also available in a one-hour edit) introduces these comedians and looks at how humour has changed in recent years. It also drops in on an evening at one of the immensely popular comedy clubs that are now flourishing and samples the routines of Alexei Sayle, Lenny Henry, Jo Brand, Rik Mayall, Ruby Wax, Harry Enfield, Ben Elton, Jim Davidson and Chubby Brown.
Peter O’toole
In 1962, Lawrence of Arabia catapulted Peter O’Toole to international stardom, his outstanding performance in David Lean’s cinema epic earning him an immediate place in film history. On screen and off he has forged a reputation based on talent, hell-raising and an ability to surprise. Occasioned by the publication of the first volume of his memoirs, Loitering with Intent, this documentary with the rarely-interviewed actor gives a fascinating insight into his life.
Billy Connolly
Scottish comedian Billy Connolly has become internationally famous as a comic performer, best-known for his unstinting examinations of bodily functions and his broadsides on political and religious establishments. In this profile, he talks about his life and his work, expressing, with typical frankness, his uncompromising attitudes to his family, to wealth and to his treatment by the press. The programme includes extracts from his twenty-fifth anniversary show in Glasgow.