Nicholas Shakespeare

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.

What are the secrets of our favourite TV shows? Famous names from both sides of the camera reflect on making some of the most popular and influential programmes of all time.

A police detective in a South American country is dedicated to hunting down a revolutionary guerilla leader.

When Bruce Chatwin was dying of AIDS, his friend Werner Herzog made a final visit. As a parting gift, Chatwin gave him his rucksack. Thirty years later, Herzog sets out on his own journey, inspired by Chatwin’s passion for the nomadic life, uncovering stories of lost tribes, wanderers and dreamers.

A strongly visual look at the life, work and obsessions od the writer Bruce Chatwin, who died of AIDS in 1989. Chatwin was hailed as the greatest novelist since Hemmingway, and the foremost travel writer of modern times.

How do you like Iceland? is a documentary about foreigners' perception of Icelanders. The film is mainly based on interviews with 37 foreigners from 9 countries who come from the world of art, sport, business and politics. Many humorous questions and interesting topics arise when the Icelandic nation is examined through the eye of the foreigner: Do foreigners think of Reykjavík as Bangkok of the north? Are the Icelanders an isolated and inbred nation? Or rather special and like no other? Is Icelandic inventiveness fit for export? Is the "pure and unspoiled" nation itself environmentally friendly?