This video, one of six in the English Masters series, examines the life and career of the English genius William Blake, who was poet, painter, and engraver. Blake found inspiration for his poetry in mystical visions, which he also illustrated in watercolors and engravings, combining his poems and artwork in unique books that his wife helped him print. This program features location footage, as well as expert commentary and analysis by world-renowned art experts..
A Royal Academy exhibitioner at the age of fifteen, J.M.W. Turner, by the end of his life, was the best known artists in England during the Romantic period and one of the forerunners of Impressionism. A life-long lover of landscape and seascape painting, he traveled widely in search of inspiration. No artist had ever painted light and color as Turner did in his astonishing later works. These paintings such as Rain, Steam, Speed and The Fighting Temerair were the conclusion to the long evolution of the art of J. M. W. Turner..
John Constable has been eternally associated with just one part of England, Suffolk. As a native of the area, he drew life-long inspiration from his home country in a timeless collection of landscape paintings. One of these, The Hay Wain, may well be the most famous painting ever created by an English artist. However, there were occasions when Constable struggled to gain recognition for his work until the critics in France began to appreciate his genius..
This installment of the English Masters series chronicles the career of British artist William Hogarth with the help of expert commentary, authentic reenactments and on-location footage. Known for his spot-on satirical depictions of English society,.
Blending authentic reenactments, expert commentary and on-location footage, this thought-provoking installment of the English Masters series explores the work of portraitist Sir Joshua Reynolds. Inspired by the Old Masters while on an artistic pilgrimage to Italy, Reynolds wove those classical influences into a style -- dubbed "the Grand Style" -- that was all his own. Eventually, he would become one of the best-known artists in England..
Live at the U.S. Festival, ’82 and ’83, a DVD featuring both years’ concerts in their entirety, compiling the best performances from each year. It stands as a fine tribute to a legendary ’80s/ska band and the only representation of their fantastic live show..
Documentary telling the unexpected story of how arguably the greatest work of English prose ever written, the King James Bible, came into being. Author Adam Nicolson reveals why the making of this powerful book shares much in common with his experience of a very different national project - the Millennium Dome. The programme also delves into recently discovered 17th-century manuscripts, from the actual translation process itself, to show in rich detail what makes this Bible so good..
Documentary about the last member of a family line of poachers..
Today, more people learn English as a second language than any other in the world. The formation of modern English is paved by warfare and the fall-and-rise of ancient tribes and civilizations. This is the saga of a language that wouldn’t quit—responding to invasion after invasion by snagging the conquerors’ most useful words, streamlining their grammar, and turning their tongue into today’s linguistic superpower. The result is a language that has double the vocabulary of any other language. Today, more people learn English as a second language than any other..
A whimsical odyssey across rural England as author and broadcaster Nigel Farrell decides to escape the frustrations of the city and sets off in search of the perfect village. The task isn't as easy as he'd imagined!.
Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch explores both what it means to be English and what has shaped English identity, from the Dark Ages, through the Reformation to modern times..
Documentary on the fascination of jukeboxes and their owners. Made by Arena..
Recent history repeats itself as both tragedy and farce in this fly-on-the-Kremlin-wall documentary about the rising opposition movement in 2012 against Vladimir Putin’s rule in Russia..
In the flooded forests of the Peruvian Amazon lives one of the world's rarest and most mysterious primates, the red-faced uakari monkey. Local people call them English monkeys because of their resemblance to sunburnt visitors. Now there is a new Englishman on the scene, Mark Bowler, a young biologist who battles through the forest in his quest to understand the monkeys' secret lives. The film shows the first footage of these extraordinary animals in the wild and reveals why ice cream could be the greatest threat to their survival..
Rachel and Becky Unthank continue their journey around England's hidden customs and dance traditions and into the dark heart of its winter pastimes. The follow-up to Still Folk Dancing After All These Years, which explored English folk dances from spring to harvest, this film explores English folk customs around the country though the other six months of the year..
Stonehenge. For years it's been the subject of debate. How did it get there and what was its purpose? New scientific evidence suggests that this great archaeological wonder and other megaliths like it have a connection to the lost city of Atlantis. Based on the studies of John Michell, this program travels prehistoric tracks across England that defy the science of the day -- proof that an advanced society skilled in engineering must have existed..
Features the works of favorite Victorian poets, including Tennyson, Browning, Hopkins and others. This fascinating program provides a revealing look into the great works of this period, plus filmed reconstructions which depict life during the Victorian Era..
Hostage: The Bachar Tapes (English Version) is an experimental documentary about "The Western Hostage Crisis." The crisis refers to the abduction and detention of Westerners in Lebanon in the 80s and early 90s by "Islamic militants." This episode directly and indirectly consumed Lebanese, U.S., French, and British political and public life, and precipitated a number of high-profile political scandals like the Iran-Contra affair in the U.S. This period is examined through the testimony of Souheil Bachar, who was the only Arab to have been detained with the American hostages kidnapped in Beirut in the 1980s. In 1999, Bachar collaborated with The Atlas Group to produce 53 videotapes about his captivity. Tapes #17 and #31 are the only two tapes Bachar makes available outside of Lebanon. In the tapes, Bachar addresses the cultural, textual, and sexual aspects of his detention with the Americans..
We learn of the beginnings of the English railways and how they were devised in the 1800s..
