About this season
The biggest names from the world of art, film, music, literature and dance. Alan Yentob gets close up with those shaping today's cultural world.
Episodes (8)
1. Marian Keyes: My (not so) Perfect Life
Aired 7 February 2022
Alan Yentob meets Marian Keyes to explore her incredible journey from hard-partying waitress to best-selling author and everything she's learned about life, love and storytelling.
2. Labi Siffre: This Is My Song
Aired 14 February 2022 • 59 min
Alan Yentob presents a film exploring the life and work of the Ivor Novello Award-winning black British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre.
3. Wayne McGregor: Dancing on the Edge
Aired 21 February 2022 • 59 min
Alan Yentob profiles groundbreaking dance pioneer Wayne McGregor, the resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet, charting his ascent from childhood in 1970s Stockport.
4. Miriam Margolyes: Up for Grabs
Aired 25 April 2022 • 66 min
Following the release of her autobiography, This Much Is True, actress Miriam Margolyes opens up to Alan Yentob about her career highs and her most vulnerable moments.
5. Jacob Collier: The Room Where It Happens
Aired 2 May 2022
Presenter Alan Yentob gains unique access to the extraordinary world of astonishing musician Jacob Collier. This 20-something year-old has managed to outdo the Beatles by winning Grammy Awards for each of his first four albums. As a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, singer, and arranger, we meet the musicians Jacob has collaborated with including Stormzy, Chris Martin, and film composer Hans Zimmer.
6. Malorie Blackman: What If?
Aired 31 October 2022 • 70 min
Alan Yentob follows one of Britain’s best-loved writers: Malorie Blackman, former Children’s Laureate and the first children’s writer to win the prestigious Pen Pinter Prize. Bold, provocative and challenging, her books have plunged children’s literature into previously uncharted waters: her tragic reverse-racism novel Noughts and Crosses challenged assumptions and declared her a writer like no other. As she prepares to publish her long-awaited autobiography, Malorie discusses the key moments in her life that made her a writer.
7. Sonia Boyce: Finding Her Voice
Aired 7 November 2022 • 66 min
Alan Yentob follows acclaimed artist Sonia Boyce as she prepares to make history as the first black woman to represent Great Britain at the Venice Biennale.
8. Douglas Stuart: Love, Hope and Grit
Aired 14 November 2022 • 59 min
Alan Yentob meets Douglas Stuart, the author of the Booker Prize-winning novel Shuggie Bain, which was based on Stuart’s own troubled upbringing amid poverty and addiction in 1980s Glasgow.