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All Seasons

Season 2013

  • S2013E01 The Kimbolton Cabinet

    • March 5, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Granted privileged access to the Victoria and Albert Museum after hours, John Bly seeks out the Kimbolton Cabinet, an exquisite piece of 18th century English furniture that promises to reveal much about not only our nation's craft heritage but also his very own childhood.

  • S2013E02 The Art of the Vikings

    • March 5, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Through interpretations of some of the archaeological treasures of the Swedish National Museum, now on display in Edinburgh, Dr Janina Ramirez of Oxford University explores the fascinating wealth of Viking culture and its long-lasting influence on the British Isles.

  • S2013E03 Bolsover Castle

    • March 27, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Lucy Worsley tells the story of Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. Built in the early 17th century, it became the pleasure palace of playboy Cavalier William Cavendish.

  • S2013E04 Walter Scott's Castle

    • July 1, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Stuart Kelly gets behind-the-scenes access as over 13,000 treasures are moved back into Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford House.

  • S2013E05 Stradivarius and Me

    • July 15, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Clemency Burton-Hill indulges in her lifelong passion for the violin as she explores the mysterious life and lasting influence of legendary violin maker Antonio Stradivari.

  • S2013E06 The King's Lost Bed

    • August 6, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Jonathan Foyle believes he has uncovered the bed of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

  • S2013E07 The Art of Witchcraft

    • August 29, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Artist Lachlan Goudie presents a personal documentary, inspired by his father, in which he investigates why witches have cast such a powerful spell over generations of artists.

  • S2013E08 The Hidden Jewels of the Cheapside Hoard

    • October 15, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Jewellery designer Shaun Leane uncovers some of the secrets of the hoard of nearly 500 Elizabethan and Jacobean jewels discovered by workmen in London's Cheapside district in 1912.

  • S2013E09 Tracey Emin on Louise Bourgeois - Women Without Secrets

    • November 25, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Tracey Emin offers an insight into the life and work of the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois, famed for her sculptures and installations embodying her personal emotions.

  • S2013E10 Castiglione - Rogue Genius of the Baroque

    • November 27, 2013
    • BBC Four

    Helen Rosslyn makes the case for troubled, turbulent 17th century printmaker and draftsman Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione to be seen as one of the great artists of the Baroque.

Season 2014

  • S2014E01 Hogarth - One Man and His Pug

    • March 27, 2014
    • BBC Four

    Lars Tharp appeals to the nation to help him recover a rare piece of long-lost William Hogarth memorabilia - a precious terracotta sculpture of the artist's beloved pet pug.

  • S2014E02 The Russian Revolutionary: Zaha Hadid on Kazimir Malevich

    • September 12, 2014
    • BBC Four

    Architect Zaha Hadid considers the influence of Russian abstract artist Kazimir Malevich's avant-garde art on her own avant-garde architecture.

  • S2014E03 The Living Mountain: A Cairngorms Journey

    • December 2, 2014
    • BBC Four

    Travel-writer Robert MacFarlane presents a documentary telling the story of Scottish poet and novelist Nan Shepherd and her book, The Living Mountain.

Season 2015

  • S2015E01 In Search of Rory McEwen

    • February 13, 2015
    • BBC Four

    Jools Holland tells the story of his father-in-law Rory McEwen - aristocrat, artist, folk singer and pioneering TV presenter, and the man who brought the blues to Britain.

  • S2015E02 Wondrous Obsessions: The Cabinet of Curiosities

    • February 25, 2015
    • BBC Four

    Professor Nandini Das reveals the story behind the Cabinet of Curiosities - the original collecting craze that began in Renaissance Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.

  • S2015E03 The Private Life of a Dolls' House

    • March 3, 2015
    • BBC Four

    Lauren Child explores the history of dolls' houses, speaks to craftspeople who create perfect miniatures and meets collectors willing to pay big money for tiny objects of desire.

  • S2015E04 The Body Beautiful - Ancient Greeks, Good Looks and Glamour

    • April 8, 2015
    • BBC Four

    Natalie Haynes takes a journey into ancient beauty and modern glamour, examining how our obsession with the body beautiful goes back to an era of stunning artistic achievement.

  • S2015E05 Nina Simone & Me with Laura Mvula

    • May 29, 2015
    • BBC Four

    In a personal tribute, British soul singer Laura Mvula travels to New York to celebrate the Nina Simone songs that mean most to her and explore their musical roots.

  • S2015E06 Thomas Chatterton: The Myth of the Doomed Poet

    • June 15, 2015
    • BBC Four

    Michael Symmons Roberts explores the mythic afterlife of the 18th-century poet Thomas Chatterton, whose early death was immortalised by poets, painters and photographers.

  • S2015E07 The Art of the Impossible: MC Escher and Me

    • September 20, 2015
    • BBC Four

    Sir Roger Penrose takes a personal journey through artist MC Escher's work, marvelling at his intuitive brilliance and the light it still sheds on complex mathematical concepts.

  • S2015E08 Jacobi on Garrick: Godfather of the British Stage

    • November 1, 2015
    • BBC Four

    Derek Jacobi goes in search of David Garrick, 18th-century superstar and the man who reinvented acting for the modern era.

Season 2016

  • S2016E01 Goya Exposed with Jake Chapman

    • January 10, 2016
    • BBC Four

    Jake Chapman explores why Goya's The Disasters of War etchings are so central to his own art and explains why, for him, there is a fundamental conflict at the heart of Goya's art.

  • S2016E02 A Very British Pornographer: The Jack Kahane Story

    • October 31, 2016
    • BBC Four

    Neil Pearson looks at the life of Jack Kahane, who combined a career selling low-grade smut with publishing some of the most significant works of avant-garde literature.

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