Perspectives

Famed for his hit musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera and Joseph the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is less well-known as a collector of art. But in this film he will reveal his passion for the Pre-Raphaelites as he shows us some of the best examples of this period from around the country, as well as selected works from his own collection.

Ever since he stumbled upon a book about Rene Magritte in an Oxford bookshop at the age of 15, singer and actor Will Young has had a passion for the surrealist artist's work. In this film, Will travels to Magritte's native Belgium to find out more about the man whose trademark was a bowler hat and whose apparently conventional exterior concealed the mind of a subversive rebel. Will uncovers a childhood marked by tragedy, a marriage that lasted from Magritte's adolescence until his death in 1967, and a stunning artistic legacy which endures to this day.

David Harewood embarks on a personal, three-year journey across Britain, Jamaica and Crimea, tracing the creation of a statue honouring Mary Seacole, the Jamaican woman who set up a British hotel and served as a nurse during the Crimean War. Seacole has always been one of Harewood's heroines, and here he tells the story of how the unveiling of her memorial statue - standing opposite the Houses of Parliament in London - marks the first time a statue has been created in honour of a named black woman.

Singer Alfie Boe explores the extraordinary life and work of Freddie Mercury. He discusses Freddie's legacy as a performer and a musician with those who knew him best, including Queen guitarist Brian May, opera diva Montserrat Caballe, designer Zandra Rhodes, Sir Bob Geldof and other close friends and family.

If anything defined the 20th century as the age of anxiety, it's the Cold War with its ultimate no-win nuclear endgame. While conflicts in Korea and Vietnam dragged on, providing the traditional images of modern warfare, some of the conflict's most dangerous battles were invisible–tactical, intellectual, and fought primarily in the minds and war rooms of U.S. and Soviet leaders: Kennedy, Krushchev, Castro, Kissinger, Gorbachev, and Reagan.

Warwick Davis explores the miraculous survival story of the Ovitz family - ten Jewish brothers and sisters from Romania, seven of whom were born with dwarfism. Their musical group The Lilliput Troupe toured Eastern Europe during the 1930s and 1940s, managing to elude Nazi persecution of Jews until 1944 when they were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The family underwent horrific experiments but lived to see the liberation of Auschwitz, spending several months returning to their home on foot.

Singer Alfie Boe explores the extraordinary life and work of Freddie Mercury. He discusses Freddie's legacy as a performer and a musician with those who knew him best, including Queen guitarist Brian May, opera diva Montserrat Caballe, designer Zandra Rhodes, Sir Bob Geldof and other close friends and family.

"Ancient Superstructures" reveals the secrets behind the world's most famous monuments. Some of the ancient marvels which are among the most studied and scrutinized monuments in the world still remain shrouded in mystery. What if the answers were right in front of us… but invisible to the human eye?

This ninety-minute film takes audiences on an epic journey across nine countries and over 1,400 years of history. It explores the richness of Islamic art in objects big and small, from great ornamented palaces and the play of light in monumental mosques to the exquisite beauty of ceramics, carved boxes, paintings and metal work. It revels in the use of color and finds commonalities in a shared artistic heritage with the West and East.

A French real estate developer prepares an old Romanian thermal resort for renovation. A Roman fresco in a crypt delays the project, so he tries to burn it down. But he locks himself in a courtyard by mistake. He stays trapped for days, the neighborhood being deserted. He tries communicating with the few remaining residents and changes from a civilized being to a beast, until finding new perspectives. Will he leave the courtyard, or not?