BBC Director General Tim Davie has unveiled a series of arts and culture commissions at an event at the Royal Academy of Arts.
The new Arts TV programmes “unpack contemporary culture, celebrate British creativity and explore landmarks in the global story of art” and include Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty, Simon Schama’s History of Us and the return of epic series Civilisations.
Tim Davie co-hosted the event with the BBC’s Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore, and a raft of new commissions was announced by Suzy Klein, Head of Arts and Classical Music TV; Mohit Bakaya, Controller of Radio 4 and Director of Speech, and Sam Jackson, Controller of Radio 3 and BBC Proms.
Tim Davie said: “I want to celebrate the richness of our arts offer on the BBC. The wealth of arts and culture content available every day on the BBC, across radio, TV, and online, is unrivalled. As is the BBC’s role as the UK’s cultural partner, and most ambitious creator of original arts programming. 29 million – That’s how many people our TV arts content reached in the last year – or 45% of TV viewers. 28,000 hours – That’s the amount of arts, classical music, and culture content the BBC produces each year… No one else comes close. And we make more TV arts content than all of the other PSBs and streamers combined. 300 – That’s the number of live performances by the BBC’s orchestras and choirs so far this year – in over 75 different venues across the UK. 210 – That’s the number of organisations we partnered with last year, working on arts projects and content. Sometimes we don’t tell this story strongly enough.”
BBC Arts and Classical Music TV commissions
Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty (w/t)
A thrilling three-part drama-documentary series, Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty (w/t), co-commission from PBS and the BBC starring Charles Dance as Michelangelo, examines how some of the greatest works of art in the Western world were born out of an era of violence, power politics and rivalry. Through the interconnected lives of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, as well as their patrons in sixteenth-century Italy, we’ll reveal an unfamiliar side to the Renaissance.
Civilisations
Building on the success of the original and its 2018 reincarnation. This time, with the help of experts and museum curators, we’ll unpack the story of how art and artefacts left behind by great civilisations can explain how powerful societies in the ancient world suddenly collapsed. From war, to dictatorship, to climate change and pandemic, Civilisations: Rise and Fall (w/t) sets out how the forces that brought about the end of civilisations in the ancient world still threaten us today.
Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius
Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius will mark the 250th anniversary of the author’s birth next year. This new drama-documentary series draws on interviews with writers, actors, and biographers to explore how a young woman from a small village living in eighteenth-century England, became our best-loved novelist, creating characters and stories that have become part of our culture ever since. It is produced by 72 Films.
The History of Us (w/t)
A major new cultural history series, The History of Us (w/t) is planned for 2025, which finds Simon Schama looking back at the origins of the culture wars which have dominated the headlines in recent years. He’ll show that fierce arguments over who we are have always been at the centre of British life and have helped fuel our greatest asset, our creativity.
Arena
Arena re-launched last year, and ahead of the famous strand’s 50th anniversary in 2025, a series of new films have been commissioned exploring a range of subjects, from ballet superstar Steven McRae, broadcaster and musician Clemency Burton-Hill and the opera singer Maria Callas, to the legacy of Loaded magazine and the legendary Roger Moore.
In My Own Words
New documentary strand In My Own Words currently airing on BBC One exploring the lives and careers of some of the UK’s leading cultural figures, such as Billy Connolly, Hanif Kureishi, Jilly Cooper, Jackie Kay and Alison Lapper, has a new series commission for 2025.
There is also a special single film with Alan Bennett, made to coincide with his 90th birthday.
Rob and Rylan’s Passage To India (w/t)
Following the success of their Italian Grand Tour, Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark are back for a new adventure in 2025. This time the duo will explore the art and culture of India. Rob and Rylan’s Passage To India (w/t) will delve into a new realm of art, culture and life-altering experiences inspired by E M Forster’s novel, published 100 years ago. It is produced by Zinc Media’s Rex.
For Holocaust Memorial Day in 2025, a special single film will mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The Last Musician of Auschwitz is an extraordinary but little-known story of music made amid the terrors of the Holocaust.
Image: L-R (starting from top) Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty, Last Night of the Proms 2024, Dance Passion Swansea (Image: Alison Grist), Surrealism Remixed, Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar, BBC Proms, Arena (Image: Stephane Carrel), and Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius (Image: Balazs Glodi/72 Films)