The Greek Archipelago is the setting for this six-part thriller series, ideal for family viewing. The story concerns the search for the fragments of a priceless ancient Greek amphora, which, if put together, will show where a long-lost civilsation hid its treasure. When Professor Sarah Nardin sets off from Piraeus, on the yacht Argo, with her teenage daughter Helena and Philip, the son of friends, she is unaware they are being followed by another boat, the Jason, crewed by a trio of shady characters who have wind of their plans. The events that ensue take them all around southern Greece, even to Turkey, and involve many exciting and dangerous adventures, as their pursuers prove to be both relentless and ruthless in their desire to find the treasure first. The story explores the spirit of Greece’s past, visiting ancient sites, and retelling the myths and legends.
By the Roadside
A Four-Part Drama Series on the Life of van Gogh Despite the full documentation of his life which exists, van Gogh remains an enigma. Ger Beukenkamp dramatises his story through the experiences of the people who came closest to him – his prostitute lover, his brother and his wife, Gauguin, his fellow asylum in-mates, and those who helped him in the weeks before he committed suicide. Shot on location in Holland, France and Belgium, the series features an excellent cast of Dutch and French actors, with Ids van der Krieke – an astonishing van Gogh look-alike – in the main role. Extensive use is made of the artist’s paintings, and ingenious special effects, together with the hand of an expert forger, re-stage their creation.
Peter Brook
Brook has won international acclaim as the outstanding director of post-war theatre. This film covers the complete spectrum of his career, focusing on seminal productions, including King Lear with Paul Scofield (1962), the controversial Marat-Sade (1964), his magical Midsummer Night’s Dream (1970), Orghast (1971), and The Mahabharata (1985/9). Contributors include leading theatre directors Peter Hall, Jonathan Miller and John Barton, actress Glenda Jackson, writer Jean-Claude Carriere and actors from The Mahabharata, with whom Brook is seen at work.
The History of Hamlet
Hamlet is among Shakespeare’s most perennially popular plays and the complex title role is regarded by actors as one of the supreme challenges of their profession. Talking to leading stage directors and actors, this programme looks at the particular appeal of Hamlet. Archive footage shows some of the great Hamlets in action – Richard Burton, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, even Sarah Bernhardt in 1899.
Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton is one of Britain’s most regularly successful playwrights and screen-writers, with plays such as Tales from Hollywood and Les Liaisons Dangereuses winning both popular and critical acclaim. This programme traces his development as a playwright and includes specially-staged extracts from his work. It also considers his film adaptation of Les Liaisons, starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich.
William Golding
Whether about boys marooned on a desert island (Lord of the Flies), the birth of prehistoric man (The Inheritors), or the building of Salisbury cathedral’s spire (The Spire),
Golding’s novels combine gripping story-telling with a profound examination of the nature of man and the mysterious forces that work upon him. The Nobel Prize-winning author gave this rare television interview in 1989, four years before his death at the age of eighty-one. He focuses on the trilogy of novels spawned by his Booker Prize-winning Rites of Passage, and extensive dramatised extracts from the final part, Fire Down Below, are included.
Kipling
Following a startling success with readings from St. Mark’s Gospel, the actor Alec McCowen played an extended one-man show at London’s Mermaid Theatre, portraying the writer Rudyard Kipling. Brian Clark, author of Whose life is it Anyway?, has interwoven Kipling’s fiction and poetry with his own writing to develop his portrait of this very private man. This film looks at a fascinating piece of theatre and at the complex and intriguing character of a great literary man.
Steven Berkoff
The maverick playwright, director and actor talks about his life and work in the typically graphic language which characterises his radical and controversial plays – theatre which, in his words, “opens the skull and puts on the stage a writhing can of worms”. The programme includes extracts from Berkoff’s Salome, Greek, East, Metamorphosis and Decadence, and features contributions from Roman Polanski, Mikhail Baryshnikov and the late Joe Papp.
Vincent – Back in Arles
This documentary forms a short companion-piece to the drama series By the Roadside, which tells the story of the painter van Gogh, through the eyes of some of the people who knew him and whose lives he touched and changed. Made during the last weeks of filming, when the crew was on location in Arles, this introduction is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how a period television drama is produced.
Derek Walcott
West Indian poet and playwright Derek Walcott has an unrivalled reputation among his peers and has been described by many, Salman Rushdie and the late Joseph Brodsky among them, as the greatest living English language poet. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. He now teaches at Boston University but returns to his native St. Lucia every summer to write. This programme was shot on location there and shows how Walcott sets out to capture the beauty of this Caribbean island in words.