Imagine: Tom Stoppard: A Charmed Life
10:00 pm - 11:30 pm, Monday, December 29 on BBC Four (9)
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About this Broadcast
Tom Stoppard: A Charmed Life
Tom Stoppard is one of the world's leading, funniest and cleverest playwrights. Ever since he hit the ground running in the 1960s with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, there has always been a streak of melancholy beneath the sparkling surface of his work. In this programme from 2021, he recounts his extraordinary life story to Alan Yentob and talks about his 2020 play Leopoldstadt, in which he came full circle and faced up to the pain and loss in his past
HD
subtitles
16x9
Arts/Culture (without Music)
Documentary
General
News/Current Affairs
Cast & Crew
Alan Yentob
(Presenter)
Tom Stoppard
(Guest)
Jill Nicholls
(Producer)
Tanya Hudson
(Executive editor)
More Information
Did You Know..
Alan Yentob
(Presenter)
Born:
March 11, 1947
in
London
Best Known For:
His stint as a BBC TV executive.
Early-life:
Born in London on 11 March, 1947. He and his non-identical twin brother, Robert, who went on to run the family textile business, boarded at the King's School, Ely. Alan passed his A-levels at 16, and left school for spells in France at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Grenoble University before studying law at Leeds University. He made his first foray into TV as a general trainee in 1968, taking his first job in the BBC World Service. In 1978, he created the mould-breaking arts series Arena, and was the programme's editor until 1985. During this time, Arena produced a number of influential documentaries including The Private Life of The Ford Cortina and My Way.
Career:
In 1985, Yentob became the BBC's Head of Music and Arts and stayed in the post until 1988, when he was appointed Controller of BBC Two. Under Yentob's five-year stewardship, he introduced many innovations in programming including The Late Show, Have I Got News For You, Absolutely Fabulous and Wallace and Gromit's The Wrong Trousers. He was appointed Controller of BBC One in 1993 and worked at the BBC under the title of Creative Director until he resigned in 2015. He has fronted the Imagine strand, the BBC's answer to the South Bank Show, since 2003.
Quote:
"The relationship between TV and film is a very potent one. It's extraordinary how much British talent there is."
Trivia:
He is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables children to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres.
Tom Stoppard
(Guest)
Jill Nicholls
(Producer)
Tanya Hudson
(Executive editor)
