James Brown

Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.

How does a working class autodidact, with no visible means of support, maintain his role as the leader of a cult British underground band into its fifth decade? Comedian and writer Stewart Lee, director Michael Cumming and James Nicholls investigate the mysterious existence of Robert Lloyd, Britain’s ultimate post-punk survivor. Robert Lloyd’s Prefects played with The Clash on the White Riot tour in 1977, and their ongoing incarnation, as Birmingham’s Captain Beefheart suffused post-punk poets The Nightingales, recorded more John Peel sessions than any other band. Ever. But what were the social, cultural and economic circumstances that enabled and sustained such outsider artists in the punk and post-punk eras, and how has the world changed to the point where such figures are unlikely to flourish in the same way today? Lloyd’s own odyssey echoes how abstract notions of social mobility, of the value of culture and music, have changed in the last five decades.

Four-part documentary series that tells the story of British pop music and our changing attitudes to sex, gender and sexuality.

Miss Naked Beauty is a short-lived, six-episode reality television show produced by Maverick Television, aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The show, presented by Gok Wan and Myleene Klass, was conceived as a radical "reality" take on beauty pageants. Some 7000 women applied to become the "ultimate 21st century beauty queen". The focus of the program is on natural and diverse beauty, as opposed to surgically "enhanced" and conformist concepts of beauty. In the first episode, hundreds of remaining applicants were whittled down to just twelve finalists, by a panel of judges composed of fashion stylist Gok Wan, musician Myleene Klass, magazine editor James Brown, journalist Kathryn Flett and musician, actress and TV presenter Mica Paris. In subsequent episodes, various issues were explored such as body image, plastic surgery, self-esteem, modern versus Renaissance and earlier notions of beauty, eating disorders, over-reliance on makeup, the fashion industry. Meanwhile, the programme also progressed as a pageant, eliminating contestants in typical reality TV style, down to five finalists.

In the mid-1990s, spurred on by both the sudden world-domination of bands such as Oasis and Prime Minister Tony Blair's "Cool Brittania" campaign, British culture experienced a brief and powerful boost that made it appear as if Anglophilia was everywhere--at least if you believed the press. Pop music was the beating heart of this idea, and suddenly, "Britpop" was a movement. Oasis, their would-be rivals Blur, Pulp, The Verve, and many more bands rode this wave to international chart success. But was Britpop a real phenomenon, or just a marketing ploy? This smart and often hilarious documentary probes the question with copious interviews from Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn of Blur, Sleeper's Louise Wener, and many other artists and critics who suddenly found themselves at the cultural forefront.

Uncover what happens when the worlds of football and music collide. Bob Mortimer runs down the best and very worst the beautiful game has had to offer down the years with contributions from the likes of Keith Allen, David Baddiel, Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle and Adrian Chiles

Countdown of things that happened in the 2000s - the decade that seemed to end before it had begun.

Documentary that outlines the 1990s and the decade the changed the world.

Documentary series looking at the maverick players from four sporting areas: Boxing, Snooker, Darts and Motorsport.

Documentary about the late cult film-maker, Russ Meyer, with a penchant for strong, curvaceous women.

A short documentary about the making of "Withnail & I" (1987).

Between 1988 and 1992, British Electronic duo The KLF had scored #1 records throughout the world and had become household names. Determined to ridicule the establishment, they battled The Beatles and ABBA after sampling their music in hit records, and published the best-selling book The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way). In 1993, to mock performance art in the ultimate fashion, The KLF set fire to £1,000,000 in cash and destroyed their entire catalogue, vanishing from the public view... until now.

Launched 30 years ago, Loaded magazine epitomised the 90s in its irreverence and appetite for hedonism. But how did it stand up to pressure to put more 'sexy babes' on the cover?

Exploring the 'Madchester' music phenomena of the late '80s and early '90s. The band Northside appears in interview, rehearsal, live in concert and even at work; Central Station Design in their studio creating something out of a pane of glass and loads of ephemera; Happy Mondays in Amsterdam; 808 State; and MC Tunes. Aired as part of Granada Television's Celebration arts strand.

Gary Lineker, Terry Butcher and Paul Parker revisit the scene of the 1990 World Cup semi-final between England and West Germany.