5 x 5 No. 4: Todd’s list

1st January 2016

For the end of 2015, when this blog has been less than it should have been, and for the start of 2016, when it will be more than it has been, we offer five short lists of five cultural highlights more

5 x 5 No. 2: John’s list

29th December 2015

For the end of 2015, when this blog has been less than it should have been, and for the start of 2016, when I intend it to be more than it has been, we offer five short lists of five more

Time was…

19th October 2015

Tonight sees the opening of an exciting series of screenings and talks at BFI Southbank exploring the evolution of the television documentary in Britain. Visions of Change features a host of television treasures from the 1950s and '60s - more

Restorations and recollections

18th October 2015

In the past week I have seen three exemplary film restorations courtesy of the BFI London Film Festival. Last Sunday offered a luminous, luscious print of Kiss Me Kate, 1953, in 3D; on Friday the Archive Gala screening more

Reflections from the RA

16th October 2015

Tomorrow night Sky Arts premieres our new film for The Hot Ticket strand, Ai Weiwei at the RA. We have already produced Matthew Bourne's The Car Man as a Hot Ticket and next week we are recording another major more

Trainspotting the Proms

7th September 2015

Long ago and far away I was a ten-year-old trainspotter. I would stand on the station footbridge at Whitstable noting down the numbers of the recently introduced electric trains that passed beneath me. Then I would run home to underline with scrupulous more

A handful of links

6th September 2015

I'm not quite committing yet to (a) posting regularly, or (b) returning to a regular Sunday links, but here are some pieces that I have appreciated over the past week or so: • The movies of my youth: Italo Calvino more

ITV in aspic

5th September 2015

To BFI Southbank for the first screening in a short season marking the 60th anniversary of the ITV network that went on air on 22 September 1955. To celebrate the network's 21st birthday, back in 1976, Thames Television put more