About this season
The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.
Episodes (30)
1. Bill Bryson
Aired 10 September 2006 • 60 min
Bill Bryson revisits the haunts of his childhood
2. JG Ballard
Aired 17 September 2006 • 60 min
3. Robbie Coltrane
Aired 24 September 2006 • 60 min
4. Episode 4
Aired 1 October 2006 • 60 min
5. Spamalot
Aired 15 October 2006 • 60 min
6. Claire Tomalin on Thomas Hardy
Aired 22 October 2006 • 60 min
7. Sue Townsend
Aired 29 October 2006 • 60 min
8. Lorenzo Da Ponte
Aired 5 November 2006 • 60 min
9. Peter Blake
Aired 19 November 2006 • 60 min
10. Nick Park and Aardman Animations
Aired 26 November 2006 • 60 min
11. Steve Reich
Aired 10 December 2006 • 60 min
12. Grayson Perry
Aired 17 December 2006 • 60 min
13. Damien Hirst - Addicted To Art
Aired 1 January 2007 • 60 min
14. Damien Hirst
Aired 6 January 2007 • 60 min
This episode of The South Bank Show provides a unique insight into Damien Hirst not as the enfant terrible of an art world but as an art collector and businessman. Known for creating one of the most famous icons of modern art, a 14ft tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde, which shocked the public, he also produces decorative spot and spin paintings. His prolific output and entrepreneurialism have made him one of the world's most expensive living artists, with an estimated fortune of £100 million. One of Hirst's motivations for his growing art collection is Toddington, a dilapidated Gothic Manor house in Gloucestershire, which he purchased in 2005 for £3 million and will one day house his entire collection. Here, he shows Melvyn Bragg around Toddington, outlining his plans for its future. They discuss his art collection, his artistic heroes and the relationship between money and art.
15. Victoria Wood: A South Bank Show Special
Aired 11 March 2007 • 60 min
16. Isabel Allende
Aired 22 April 2007 • 60 min
17. Shane Meadows
Aired 29 April 2007 • 60 min
18. Jarvis Cocker: Running The World
Aired 10 June 2007 • 60 min
19. Martin Sheen On Playing It Real
Aired 17 June 2007 • 60 min
20. Marianne Faithfull: A Life In Song
Aired 24 June 2007 • 60 min
21. Zaha Hadid
Aired 1 July 2007 • 60 min
22. MacBeth
Aired 8 July 2007 • 60 min
23. Ian McMillan, Bard Of Barnsley
Aired 15 July 2007 • 60 min
24. Emma Kirkby, The Unsung Heroine
Aired 22 July 2007 • 60 min
25. June Whitfield
Aired 29 July 2007 • 60 min
26. Michael Sheen On Playing It Real
Aired 2 September 2007 • 60 min
27. Joan Dision
Aired 23 September 2007 • 60 min
28. Ken Follett
Aired 30 September 2007 • 60 min
29. The Mersey Sound
Aired 7 October 2007 • 60 min
30. The Last Laugh: John Bird and John Fortune
Aired 14 October 2007 • 60 min