Most Viewed From BBC Arena

Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.

A documentary about and an interview with Hollywood actress Bette Davis about her life and career from the late 1920s to the 1980s on stage and...

Ike White was a musical prodigy who recorded a funk and soul classic album inside a Californian prison in 1974. Then he disappeared. 30 years later,...

Launched 30 years ago, Loaded magazine epitomised the 90s in its irreverence and appetite for hedonism. But how did it stand up to pressure to put...

Arena looks behind the Gioconda smile. The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre behind plate glass - an unsigned, undated portrait of a smiling woman. She...

This groundbreaking documentary unlocks the hidden psychology of J.M.W. Turner through his 37,000 private sketches, drawings, and watercolours...

In May 2024, Alan Bennett turned 90. This film celebrates the life and long career of one of Britain's best-loved playwrights. Part frank reflection...

An affectionate look at what goes on behind the scenes of the Limelight Club in Crewe, where for ten years tribute acts to the likes of Jimi Hendrix,...

Bernhard, an actress-comedienne whose brassy humor attracts a cult-like following, here offers a semiconfessional view of her life's landscape....

A profile of British painter, Francis Bacon.

Inspired by the book of the same name, film-maker James Marsh relays a tale of tragedy, murder and mayhem that erupted behind the respectable facade...

A group of gay friends try to live with dignity and self-respect while events build to the opening battle in the major gay rights movement.

In June 2009, a group Britain's leading actors gathered for one night only to perform a celebration of the work of Harold Pinter at the National...

Profile celebrating the centenary of the famous author Agatha Christie’s birth. Looking at her life, her character and the key moments in her...

50 years after L.S. Lowry’s death, this landmark documentary will bring to light a newly discovered treasure trove of unheard audio tapes...

Rob Lemkin’s harrowing yet urgent documentary shines a lens on the trauma and legacy of colonialism in one of Africa’s poorest nations,...

For the first time since his release from 27 years of imprisonment Nelson Mandela opens up about his life and the turbulent times he's faced in this...

Nelson Mandela and his fellow ex-prisoners recall their incarceration on South Africa's Robben Island. For three decades, the island housed not only...

Profile of Orson Welles, looking at his life and career in theatre, radio and particularly film.

Arena documentary investigating the history and influence of iconic song 'My Way'