The Arts

Available for over a year

In the third and final programme in the series celebrating a hundred years of the BBC through the written, audio and TV archive, Classicist Mary Beard and critic Louisa Buck rummage around in the archival trove to demonstrate why this material is so important to the arts in Britain. Rather than just recording events and hearing from artists, the archive is rich in unique artistic material specially created for the new audio and TV technologies. Radio and TV dramas, music and the voices of those who created it are at the heart of the programme alongside the valiant attempts to discuss, debate and critique the arts and to accommodate popular culture alongside the high-minded mission statements of the BBC's founders. And with a Classicist presenting there's special emphasis on the impact of discoveries made about the ancient world and re-imaginings of Classical Drama and literature. Producer: Tom Alban