About this season
Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.
Episodes (20)
1. The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
Aired 11 October 1994
2. Doris Lessing: A Part of Me
Aired 18 October 1994
3. Quentin Tarantino: Hollywood's Boy Wonder
Aired 25 October 1994
4. About Face
Aired 1 November 1994
5. The Trials of Dominick Dunne
Aired 8 November 1994
6. Pink Floyd: The Story
Aired 15 November 1994
A look back at the band's 30 year career.
7. Henri Cartier-Bresson: Question for a Question
Aired 22 November 1994
8. Stevenson's Travels 1
Aired 29 November 1994
First part of a two part doc on Robert Louis Stevenson, tracing his life from his childhood in Edinburgh through teenage travels with his father to his time as a wild student in Edinburgh.
9. Stevenson's Travels 2
Aired 6 December 1994
Part 2 covers last 14 years of his life and work, including his return to America, touring the South Pacific, and settling in Samoa. Also a newly discovered 1940's interview with step-daughter Belle Strong.
10. The Greatest Living Painter: De Kooning
Aired 21 February 1995
Documentary about abstract expressionist artist Willem de Kooning. This explores his late work and the allegations that they have been kept off the market to inflate their value.
11. Carnival: The Biggest Party in the World
Aired 28 February 1995
12. Joshua Bell
Aired 7 March 1995
13. Ready When You Are, Mr Patel
Aired 14 March 1995
14. Darker Than Blue: Curtis Mayfield
Aired 21 March 1995
Soul legend Curtis Mayfield talks to writer Caryl Phillips about his life, career and contribution to the Civil Rights Movement in America. Program includes archive footage and contributions from family, friends and colleagues.
15. Jean Renoir: From La Belle Epoque to WW1
Aired 4 April 1995
16. Jean Renoir: Hollywood & Beyond
Aired 11 April 1995
17. Perry & Croft: The Sitcoms
Aired 18 April 1995
A look at the work of television comedy writers David Croft and Jimmy Perry, featuring interviews with the men themselves, the many stars of the shows they created and other famous admirers.
18. Divas
Aired 25 April 1995
19. Ginger Rogers: A Tribute
Aired 30 April 1995
Hollywood star Ginger Rogers, who died at her California home on 25 April, began her career as a teenage vaudeville dancer and became the world's highest paid film actress. Above all, she is remembered for her dancing partnership with Fred Astaire. This film, screened as an Omnibus special on 30 April, shortly after her death, looks at how the legendary musicals were made, with anecdotes by Ginger herself, and clips from Astaire's last television interview.
20. Dave Stewart: Greetings from the Gutter
Aired 2 May 1995