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 (24)
1. Sir Alec Guinness
Aired 6 October 1985 • 60 min
2. Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor
Aired 13 October 1985 • 60 min
3. Ian McKellen, Diary of a Year
Aired 20 October 1985 • 60 min
4. Theatre of Comedy workshop
Aired 27 October 1985 • 60 min
5. Pete Townshend: After the Fire
Aired 3 November 1985 • 60 min
6. Sir Stephen Spender
Aired 10 November 1985 • 60 min
7. Marguerite Duras
Aired 17 November 1985 • 60 min
8. Karole Armitage
Aired 24 November 1985 • 60 min
9. Peter Shaffer
Aired 1 December 1985 • 60 min
10. John Cleese
Aired 12 January 1986 • 60 min
Cleese was silently scripting A Fish Called Wanda at the time this interview was filmed. It is not mentioned in this program. What is mentioned is Cleese's spectrum of work from sketch comedy to industrial training films to therapeutical books. Video clips include sequences from Cleese's classics: At Last the 1948 Show, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Fawlty Towers.
11. Vladimir Ashkenazy
Aired 19 January 1986 • 60 min
12. Paul Schrader
Aired 26 January 1986 • 60 min
13. Purcell's Dido and Aenaes
Aired 2 February 1986 • 60 min
14. Patrick Heron
Aired 9 February 1986 • 60 min
15. Blue Note Records
Aired 16 February 1986 • 60 min
16. Michala Petri
Aired 23 February 1986 • 60 min
17. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Aired 2 March 1986 • 60 min
18. Absolute Beginners (film)
Aired 9 March 1986 • 60 min
19. Arthur Boyd
Aired 23 March 1986 • 60 min
20. Hal Prince: Rethinking the Musical
Aired 6 April 1986 • 60 min
21. British Soap Operas
Aired 13 April 1986 • 60 min
22. Hull Truck Theatre Company
Aired 20 April 1986 • 60 min
23. Velvet Underground
Aired 27 April 1986 • 60 min
The South Bank Show’s Velvet Underground documentary contains interviews with Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker, Nico, Andy Warhol and lots of early Velvet performance footage.
24. Al Jolson
Aired 4 May 1986 • 60 min