imagine… (2003)

imagine…

The biggest names from the world of art, film, music, literature and dance. Alan Yentob gets close up with those shaping today's cultural world.

imagine…

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Seasons

Season 1

Summer 2003

Season 2

Autumn 2003

Season 3

Summer 2004

Season 4

Autumn 2004

Season 5

Summer 2005

Season 6

Winter 2005

Season 8

Spring 2006

Season 9

Autumn 2006

Season 10

Spring 2007

Season 11

Autumn 2007

Season 12

The Story of the Guitar

Season 13

Summer 2008

Season 14

Autumn 2008

Season 15

Summer 2009

Season 16

Winter 2009

Season 17

Summer 2011

Season 18

Winter 2012

Season 19

Summer 2012

Season 20

Winter 2012

Season 21

Summer 2013 & Winter 2013

Season 22

Summer 2014

Season 23

Winter 2014

Season 24

Autumn 2010

Season 31

Season 31

Season 37

Summer 2015

Season 40

Autumn 2015

Season 41

Summer 2016

Season 42

Shorts (2016/17)

Season 43

Autumn 2016

Season 44

Winter 2017

Season 45

Summer 2017

Season 46

Winter 2017/18

Season 47

2018

Season 48

2019

Season 49

2020

Season 50

2021

Season 52

2022

Season 53

2023

Season 54

2024

Episodes season 0

  • 0x1

    Arthur miller - finishing the picture

  • 0x2

    The plinth, the model, the artist and his sculpture

  • 0x3

    The beatles in love

  • 0x4

    Damon and jamie's excellent adventure

  • 0x5

    Vincent van gogh: painted with words

  • 0x6

    Yes we can! the lost art of oratory

  • 0x7

    Stones in exile

  • 0x8

    U2: from the sky down

  • 0x9

    The fatwa - salman's story

  • 0x10

    Freddie mercury: the great pretender

  • 0x11

    Beyoncé: life is but a dream

  • 0x12

    David bowie - cracked actor

  • 0x14

    Alan yentob interviews robert b weide

  • 0x15

    The smoking diaries update

Episodes season 1

  • 1x1

    The saatchi phenomenon

  • 1x2

    Barbara hepworth: shapes out of feelings

  • 1x3

    The hip hop generation

  • 1x4

    Stella's story

  • 1x5

    Carlos acosta: the reluctant ballet dancer

  • 1x6

    The potrait of omai

  • 1x7

    Sir john mortimer: owning up at 80

Episodes season 2

  • 2x1

    The voice of bryn terfel

  • 2x2

    A very funny business

  • 2x3

    Entertaining mr soane

  • 2x4

    The world according to parr

  • 2x5

    From pencils to pixels

  • 2x6

    An a-z of the oed

Episodes season 3

  • 3x1

    The mysterious mr hopper

  • 3x2

    Sitting for lucian freud

  • 3x3

    Saint john coltrane

  • 3x4

    Dirty but clean pierre

  • 3x5

    Unsuitable for children?

  • 3x6

    The smoking diaries

  • 3x101

    Episode 11

  • 3x102

    Episode 102

  • 3x103

    Episode 103

Episodes season 4

  • 4x1

    Arthur miller - finishing the picture

  • 4x2

    Beautiful dreamer: brian wilson’s smile

  • 4x3

    Bruce nauman: the godfather of modem art

  • 4x4

    Brando

  • 4x5

    Tony pappano - a year at the opera

  • 4x101

    A short history of tall buildings - episode 1

  • 4x102

    A short history of tall buildings - episode 2

  • 4x103

    A short history of tall buildings - episode 3

Episodes season 5

  • 5x1

    Fantastic mr dahl

  • 5x2

    Frida kahlo

  • 5x3

    Being a concert pianist

Episodes season 6

  • 6x1

    Elgar and the missing concerto

  • 6x2

    Amos oz: the conscience of israel

  • 6x3

    Chuck close, close up

  • 6x4

    Rhythm is it!

  • 6x5

    Sweet home new orleans

  • 6x6

    Warhol: denied

  • 6x7

    A funny thing happened on the way to the studio

  • 6x8

    Sitting comfortably

Episodes season 8

  • 8x1

    Being hamlet

  • 8x2

    The artist formerly known as cat stevens

  • 8x3

    The ingenious thomas heatherwick

  • 8x4

    A picture of the painter howard hodgkin

Episodes season 9

  • 9x1

    Peter pan, a hard act to follow

  • 9x2

    Velazquez, the painter's painter

  • 9x3

    A play for today

  • 9x4

    The movie brats, take two

  • 9x5

    Who cares about art?

  • 9x6

    Hans holbein - international man of mystery

  • 9x7

    Being a diva

  • 9x8

    Www.herecomeseverybody.co.uk

  • 9x9

    And then there was television

Episodes season 10

  • 10x1

    Gilbert and george: no surrender

  • 10x2

    Stealing klimt

  • 10x3

    Scott walker

  • 10x4

    It's the surreal thing

  • 10x5

    Damon and jamie's excellent adventure

  • 10x7

    How to get on in the artworld

  • 10x8

    The secret of life

Episodes season 11

  • 11x1

    Henry perkins: bolshoi boy

  • 11x2

    Bollywood's big b

  • 11x3

    Helvetica

  • 11x4

    Louise bourgeois: spiderwoman

  • 11x5

    How to get on in the art world

  • 11x7

    Richard rogers: inside out

  • 11x10

    Richard serra: man of steel

  • 11x13

    Show 3

  • 11x16

    Love, loss and anthony minghella

  • 11x17

    A love story

  • 11x18

    Jay-z: he came, he saw, he conquered

  • 11x19

    Let there be light

Episodes season 12

  • 12x1

    The story of the guitar - in the beginning

  • 12x2

    The story of the guitar - out of the frying pan

  • 12x3

    The story of the guitar - this time it's personal

  • 12x4

    Let there be light

Episodes season 13

  • 13x1

    Doris lessing - the reluctant heroine

  • 13x2

    Oliver sacks: tales of music and the brain

  • 13x3

    Annie leibovitz, life through a lens

  • 13x4

    A trip to asia: on the road with the berlin philharmonic

  • 13x5

    A wild sheep chase: in search of haruki murakami

  • 13x6

    Werner herzog: beyond reason

  • 13x101

    The smoking diaries update

  • 13x102

    Save the last dance for me

  • 13x104

    Rufus wainwright, prima donna

  • 13x107

    Art in troubled times: part ii – the home front

Episodes season 14

  • 14x1

    Dangerous liaison: when akram met juliette

  • 14x2

    A love story

  • 14x3

    Jay-z: he came, he saw, he conquered

  • 14x4

    Let there be light

  • 14x5

    How an orchestra saved venezuela's children

  • 14x6

    Richard serra: man of steel

  • 14x7

    Heavy metal in baghdad

Episodes season 15

  • 15x1

    Save the last dance for me

  • 15x2

    David hockney - a bigger picture

  • 15x3

    Rufus wainwright, prima donna

  • 15x4

    The colourful mr eggleston

  • 15x5

    Art in troubled times: a new deal for art

  • 15x6

    Art in troubled times: part ii - the home front

  • 15x101

    The stones in exile

Episodes season 16

  • 16x1

    The year of anish kapoor

  • 16x2

    Dame shirley bassey: the girl from tiger bay

  • 16x3

    Own art

  • 16x4

    Joan baez

  • 16x5

    Plácido domingo

  • 16x6

    Scrabble: a night on the tiles

  • 16x7

    The trouble with tolstoy - 1. at war with himself

  • 16x8

    The trouble with tolstoy - 2. in search of happiness

Episodes season 17

  • 17x1

    The man who forgot how to read and other stories

  • 17x2

    The pharaohs' museum on liberation square

  • 17x3

    Lennon: the new york years

  • 17x4

    Harry nilsson: the missing beatle

  • 17x5

    Iraq in venice

  • 17x6

    U2: from the sky down

Episodes season 18

  • 18x1

    Grayson perry and the tomb of the unknown craftsman

  • 18x2

    Simon and garfunkel - the harmony game

  • 18x3

    Alan ayckbourn - greetings from scarborough

  • 18x4

    Vidal sassoon - a cut above

  • 18x5

    The lost music of rajasthan

  • 18x6

    Books - the last chapter?

  • 18x7

    The art of stand-up (part one)

  • 18x8

    The art of stand-up (part two)

Episodes season 19

  • 19x1

    Theatre of war

  • 19x2

    Paul simon's graceland - under african skies

  • 19x3

    Just one falsetto

  • 19x4

    Glasgow: the grit and the glamour

  • 19x5

    Dancing with titian

  • 19x6

    Ian rankin and the case of the disappearing detective

Episodes season 20

  • 20x1

    Ian rankin and the case of the disappearing detective

  • 20x2

    Do or die: lang lang's story

  • 20x3

    Lang lang

  • 20x4

    The many lives of william klein

  • 20x5

    How music makes us feel

  • 20x6

    Jeanette winterson: my monster and me

  • 20x7

    A beauty is born: matthew bourne's sleeping beauty

Episodes season 21

  • 21x1

    Vivian maier: who took nanny's pictures?

  • 21x2

    Mccullin

  • 21x3

    Rod stewart: can't stop me now

  • 21x4

    Woody allen: a documentary - part one

  • 21x5

    Woody allen: a documentary - part two

  • 21x6

    Zaha hadid: who dares wins

  • 21x7

    Jimi hendrix: hear my train a comin'

  • 21x8

    Edmund de waal: make pots or die

  • 21x9

    Broadway musicals: a jewish legacy

  • 21x10

    Turning the art world inside out

  • 21x11

    Hitler, the tiger and me

  • 21x12

    Who's afraid of machiavelli?

Episodes season 22

  • 22x1

    Rio 50 degrees: carry on carioca

  • 22x2

    Philip roth unleashed part 1

  • 22x3

    Philip roth unleashed part 2

  • 22x4

    Monty python: and now for something rather similar

  • 22x5

    To be deleted

  • 22x6

    To be deleted

Episodes season 23

  • 23x1

    The art that hitler hated

  • 23x2

    The art that hitler hated: the sins of the fathers

  • 23x3

    Bette midler: the divine miss m

  • 23x4

    Anselm kiefer: remembering the future

  • 23x5

    The one and only mike leigh

  • 23x6

    Colm toibin: his mother's son

  • 23x7

    Bette midler: the showgirl must go on

Episodes season 24

  • 24x1

    Ai weiwei - without fear or favour

  • 24x2

    Smash his camera

  • 24x3

    The weird adventures of eadweard muybridge

  • 24x4

    Bruce springsteen: darkness revisited

  • 24x5

    Ben-hur

  • 24x6

    Ray davies - imaginary man

Episodes season 31

  • 31x5

    Andrew lloyd webber: memories

Episodes season 37

  • 37x1

    Frank gehry: the architect says "why can't i?"

  • 37x2

    Jeff koons: diary of a seducer

  • 37x3

    Beware of mr baker

  • 37x4

    Toni morrison remembers

  • 37x5

    Richard flanagan: life after death

Episodes season 40

  • 40x1

    Shylock’s ghost

  • 40x2

    Antony gormley: being human

  • 40x3

    My curious documentary

  • 40x4

    The last impresario

  • 40x5

    The ecstasy of wilko johnson

  • 40x6

    David chipperfield: a place to be

  • 40x7

    Carlos acosta: cuba calls

Episodes season 41

  • 41x1

    One night in 2012

  • 41x2

    Danger! cornelia parker

  • 41x3

    Georgia o'keeffe: by myself

  • 41x4

    Sir roderick stewart: can't stop me now

Episodes season 42

  • 42x1

    The handmade films of william kentridge - part 1

  • 42x2

    The handmade films of william kentridge - part 2

Episodes season 43

  • 43x1

    The seven killings of marlon james

  • 43x2

    The triumph and laments of william kentridge

  • 43x3

    Serial killers - the women who write crime fiction

  • 43x4

    The art world's prankster: maurizio cattelan

  • 43x5

    Listen to me marlon

Episodes season 44

  • 44x1

    She spoke the unspeakable

  • 44x2

    Maya angelou: and still i rise

  • 44x3

    Alice neel: dr jekyll and mrs hyde

  • 44x4

    Chris ofili - the caged bird's song

Episodes season 45

  • 45x1

    Mapplethorpe: look at the pictures

  • 45x2

    Margaret atwood: you have been warned!

  • 45x3

    Alma deutscher: finding cinderella

  • 45x4

    Cameron mackintosh: the musical man

Episodes season 46

  • 46x1

    Rachel whiteread: ghost in the room

  • 46x2

    Mel brooks: unwrapped

  • 46x4

    Philip pullman: angels and daemons

  • 46x5

    Ingrid bergman in her own words

  • 46x6

    Andrew lloyd webber: memories

  • 46x7

    Habaneros: you say you want a revolution? (1)

  • 46x8

    Habaneros: you say you want a revolution? (2)

Episodes season 47

  • 47x1

    Rupert everett: born to be wilde

  • 47x2

    Orhan pamuk: a strange mind

  • 47x3

    Rose wylie: this rose is blooming

  • 47x4

    Tacita dean: looking to see

  • 47x5

    Hockney, the queen and the royal peculiar

  • 47x6

    George benjamin: what do you want to do when you grow up?

  • 47x7

    Tracey emin: where do you draw the line?

  • 47x8

    Becoming cary grant

  • 47x9

    Andrea levy: her island story

Episodes season 48

  • 48x1

    James graham: in the room where it happens

  • 48x2

    Jo brand: no holds barred

  • 48x3

    Bill viola: the road to st paul’s

  • 48x4

    Edna o'brien: fearful… and fearless

  • 48x5

    Faith ringgold: tell it like it is

  • 48x6

    Olafur eliasson: miracles of rare device

  • 48x7

    Eastside story

Episodes season 49

  • 49x1

    This house is full of music

  • 49x2

    Lemn sissay: the memory of me

  • 49x3

    Kate prince: every move she makes

  • 49x4

    My name is kwame

  • 49x5

    Marina abramovic: the ugly duckling

  • 49x6

    Lenny henry: young, gifted and black

Episodes season 50

  • 50x1

    We'll be back?

  • 50x2

    Kazuo ishiguro: remembering and forgetting

  • 50x3

    Bernardine evaristo: never give up

  • 50x4

    Tom stoppard: a charmed life

Episodes season 52

  • 52x1

    Marian keyes: my (not so) perfect life

  • 52x2

    Labi siffre: this is my song

  • 52x3

    Wayne mcgregor: dancing on the edge

  • 52x4

    Miriam margolyes: up for grabs

  • 52x5

    Jacob collier: the room where it happens

  • 52x6

    Malorie blackman: what if?

  • 52x7

    Sonia boyce: finding her voice

  • 52x8

    Douglas stuart: love, hope and grit

Episodes season 53

  • 53x1

    Stephen frears: director for hire

  • 53x2

    The factory: made in manchester

  • 53x3

    Russell t davies: the doctor and me

  • 53x4

    French & saunders: pointed, bitchy, bitter

Episodes season 54

  • 54x1

    Pet shop boys: then and now

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