BBC Four

In today's digital age, the classic family photo album has become an object of nostalgic affection. But it’s more than just a collection of sentimental snapshots. Celebrating everyday moments and shared experiences - from birthdays to weddings, first days at school to teenage parties - amateur photography offers an intimate portrait of Britain’s post-war social history. And each generation has had a different camera to tell their stories.

From teenage mods in photo booths to family holidays captured on Kodachrome, this film reveals the images and the cameras which preserved our most precious memories. Discovering how new technologies and evolving social attitudes inspired the nation to pick up a camera, the film charts a journey from the Box Brownie to Instagram, offering a touching portrait of our changing lives, taken not by the professional photographer but on our own cameras.

Smile! The Nation’s Family Album is produced and directed by Kath Pick. The Executive Producer is Richard Bright. It was commissioned by Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning, BBC.

The Man Who Shot Tutankhamun (1 x 60)

This is the story of Harry Burton, one of the great heroes of British photography. As the official photographer for Howard Carter’s Tutankhamun excavation during the 1920s, Burton created some of the 20th century’s most famous images and helped make Tutankhamun an international sensation.

The film explores key locations in Burton’s life in the UK and Egypt, and sets his famous black-and-white images of Howard Carter’s Tutankhamun excavation alongside forgotten colour photographs and cine film shot by Burton himself. The team led, by Margaret Mountford and contemporary photographer Harry Cory Wright, also stage creative photographic experiments to discover the secrets of Burton’s art, re-creating the make-shift studio and dark-room which Burton set up by the Pharaoh’s tomb, to reveal how he produced his iconic images.

Burton immortalised some of the most iconic moments of the 20th century, and besides recording the progress of the archaeology, his images capture the mystery, drama and excitement of one of the great archaeological discoveries of the century.

The Man Who Shot Tutankhamun (w/t) is produced/directed by Patrick McGrady, Wavelength Films. The Executive Producer is Emma Cahusac. It was commissioned by Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning, BBC.

Britain In Focus: A Photographic History (3 x 60)

Produced in partnership with the National Media Museum, photographer Eamonn McCabe explores the fascinating and remarkable story of British photography, from the innovations of Roger Fenton in the 19th century, to the satirical eye of Martin Parr in the 21st. He explores the profound technical and scientific changes that have allowed iconic images to be produced; chronicles the rise of a mass democracy of picture taking and examines the changing way we have consumed photographs.

Throughout this three-part documentary series McCabe explores how the art form has developed, exploring some of the unforgettable images from icons and pioneers of British photography, including Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Fay Godwin, Cecil Beaton, Christina Broom, John Bulmer and Vanley Burke. From the first 'big bangs' of photographic development and early technology, through to the impact that captured images had on the development of journalism, photography emerged as both an art-form and a tool for reflecting and recording the world around us.

The programme also looks forward to the future of the medium, and how in the hands of a new generation of photographers a thoroughly 21st century British photography is being created.

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History is produced/directed by Alastair Laurence, Chloe Penman, and Francis Welch. The Executive Producer is John Das. The Commissioning Executive is Emma Cahusac.

Photographers at the BBC (1 x 60)

Using the BBC archive, this programme reveals the working practices, lives and opinions of some of the 20th century’s most distinguished photographers. From Norman Parkinson to David Bailey and Eve Arnold to Jane Bown, for decades the BBC has drawn the nation’s attention to the creators of what has become the most ubiquitous contemporary art form. Pioneering BBC programmes like Monitor, Face To Face and Omnibus provide rarely-seen insights into the careers of many leading practitioners.

Through a selection of top photographers, the programme brings into focus the key genres (fashion, portraiture, documentary and landscape) and shows how these talented figures helped develop photography into a revered - and accessible - art form.

Photographers at the BBC is produced/directed by Chloe Penman, and the Executive Producer is John Das. It was commissioned by Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning, BBC.

What Do Artists Do All Day: Dougie Wallace (1 x 30)

BBC Four follows Wallace as he finishes his exhilarating, headline-grabbing photography photo-documentary series, Harrodsburg: an up-close wealth safari capturing the ultra-rich consumers who populate one of the UKs most wealthy and exclusive postcodes.

The recent winner of a Magnum Award for his work, Dougie's images are aggressive, confrontational and opinionated. But he is unrepentant about his methods, and his message: “They come here because the rule is they can do whatever they want. Well, the rule of law in the UK says that I can photograph them. I’m just showing the wealthy, I’m taking pictures of them to highlight things like food banks in Glasgow.”

What Do Artists Do All Day: Dougie Wallace is produced and directed by Jack Cocker. The Executive Producer is Richard Bright. It wa commissioned by Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning.

Notes to Editors
All titles in this season are working titles and subject to change

Bowie At The BBC (1 x 60)

Bowie At The BBC is a patchwork portrait of Bowie in performance and interview, as he evolved over five decades in the spotlight. A variety of BBC programmes and presenters kept track of this most ever-changing of artists.

Through a compilation of clips from the BBC archive, the programme gives an overview of Bowie’s extraordinary career from 1964 to 2016 and features legendary and rarely-seen performances, interviews and insights into his many personas.

The earliest footage is from 1964 with the 17 year-old David Jones who, driven by a desire to escape suburbia, and never be considered 'normal', was interviewed by Cliff Michelmore about being the founder of the Prevention Of Cruelty To Long Haired Men Society.

Within five years he was David Bowie, the artist who created a world and a persona which let his influences and imagination run wild. The programme includes classic Top Of The Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test performances of Bowie singing Queen Bitch, Oh You Pretty Things and The Jean Genie, plus his seminal 1973 Top Of The Pops performance of Starman.

There is footage from Later with Jools, Top Of The Pops 2, Newsnight and Parkinson, and from his incredible set at Glastonbury in 2000. There’s also a look at Bowie the actor with interviews about his roles in The Elephant Man and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.

Bowie At The BBC gives an insight into the one of the most significant performers of the 70s and beyond, with interviews and performances showing just how innovative, funny, surprising and influential Bowie and his many personas were to generations.

Bowie at the BBC is a BBC Music production. The Executive Producer is Mark Cooper and the producer is Dione Newton. It is commissioned by Jan Younghusband, Head of Music TV Commissioning.

Arena: Alone With Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde is one of the greats. Having fronted The Pretenders for almost 40 years, Hynde is also known for her outspoken views. As Jude Rogers noted in The Guardian, "there’s provocative directness and then there’s Chrissie Hynde".

Hynde has given Arena unprecedented access to observe her hanging out with Dan Auerbach (the Black Keys’ lead guitarist and vocalist who produced The Pretenders’ latest album) in Nashville; appearing on comedian Sandra Bernhard’s radio show in New York; spending time with her at home in London and shopping for suits in Paris.

Hynde also takes us back to Akron, Ohio, the industrial town where she grew up sitting among the graves in the local cemetery, playing in the woods and dreaming of the future.

The Pretenders’ glorious five-star performance at brand new intimate venue Omeara was specially shot for the film and showcases Hynde’s extraordinary array of songs throughout.

Arena: Alone With Chrissie Hynde was executive produced by Anthony Wall. The Director is Nicola Roberts and the Film Editor is Alex Jones.

Storyville - Author: The JT LeRoy Story (1 x 103)

New York magazine’s October 2005 issue sent shockwaves through the literary world when it unmasked 'it boy' wunderkind JT LeRoy, whose tough prose about his sordid childhood had captivated icons and luminaries internationally. It turned out LeRoy didn’t actually exist. He was dreamed up by 40 year-old San Francisco punk rocker and phone sex operator, Laura Albert.

Author: The JT LeRoy Story takes us down the infinitely fascinating rabbit hole of how Laura Albert, who like a Cyrano de Bergerac on steroids, breathed not only words, but life, into her avatar for a decade.

Albert’s frank and entertaining account plunges us into a glittery world of rock shows, fashion events, and the Cannes red carpet, where LeRoy became a mysterious sensation. As she recounts this astonishing odyssey, Albert also reveals the intricate web spun by irrepressible creative forces within her. Her extended and layered JT LeRoy hoax still infuriates many - but Albert argues that channelling her fiction through another identity was the only possible path to self-expression.

Author: The JT Leroy Story is directed by Jeff Feuerzeig

The Ring Cycle: Das Rheingold (1 x 152)

The first of the four music dramas in Richard Wagner’s monumental The Ring Cycle, in a radically stripped-back, critically acclaimed production by Opera North. Filmed during live performances in 2016 this is total immersion in a unique, all-encompassing music drama.

Set in a world populated by dwarfs and giants, gods and river maidens, Das Rheingold establishes the cycle in thrilling fashion, beginning with music that evokes the very dawn of time.

The dwarf Alberich renounces love and steals the Rhinegold, a priceless treasure, from the river Rhine. He uses it to forge a magic ring which confers wealth and power on its owner, drawing the attention of Wotan, king of the gods. In need of gold to pay for his new fortress, Valhalla, Wotan takes the ring from Alberich, setting in motion an epic conflict between love and power.

Filming commissioned from Opera North by The Space. The Producer/Director is Peter Mumford, the line producer is Nikki Weston and the Executive Producer is Helen Spencer.

The films of the four complete Ring cycle operas - Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung - will be available to stream online for free, via BBC iPlayer and BBC Arts Online (globally available at www.bbc.co.uk/ringcycle) from 12 February 2017.

The Art Of France (3 x 60)

The Art Of France is the latest series in art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon’s long running BBC Four strand The Art of… following similar series on Italy, Spain, America, Russia, Scandinavia, the Low Countries and China.

In this three-part series Andrew surveys the great sweep of French art: from the astonishing rise of Gothic architecture to the Impressionists, Cubists and Existentialists via Louis XIV and Versailles, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte and Romanticism.

It’s a huge historical canvas that reflects upon some of biggest canvases ever painted. Political events and painting are enmeshed to make the story of France's national art one of the most intense in the world.

Artists featured include Poussin, LeBrun, Fragonard, Boucher and Chardin; David, Gros, Ingres, Gericault, Delacroix, Manet and Courbet; Monet, Degas, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse and Picasso.

The Art Of France is produced by Tim Kirby (episode 1), Basil Comely (episode 2) and Tim Dunn (episode 3). The Executive Producer is Basil Comely, the series producer is Silvia Sacco and it was commissioned by Mark Bell, Head of Arts Commissioning, BBC.