The South Bank Show Revisited

Published: Thursday, 11 February 2010, 10:11AM

The South Bank Show Revisited

Ten Final Films to TX from Sunday 28 March 2010

Melvyn Bragg is to make an exclusive season of ten films, under the banner of The South Bank Show Revisited, featuring new interviews with an outstanding array of subjects from past South Bank Shows.

Melvyn Bragg will interview Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ian McKellen, Ian McEwan, Stephen Sondheim, Billy Connolly, Kiri Te Kanawa and Judi Dench amongst others, and each new film will be inter-cut with the subject’s original South Bank Shows, and in some of the episodes there will be material drawn from the series’ films on other artists within each of their genres.

Over the years The South Bank Show has interviewed Andrew Lloyd Webber three times: in 1986 focusing on The Phantom Of The Opera; in 2000 looking at his work The Beautiful Game; and in 2003 discussing his love of art and his remarkable art collection, particularly his Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite works. Melvyn Bragg’s final interview will come at a busy time for Andrew Lloyd Webber as he prepares for the opening of Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre. Love Never Dies continues the story of ‘The Phantom’, who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island.

Ian McKellen‘s latest interview for The South Bank Show Revisited will be his fourth visit to The South Bank Show. His first interview with Melvyn Bragg was in 1981, and was filmed after his successful run in Amadeus on Broadway. This was followed with a diary film of a year in the life of McKellen, as he spent a year working at the National Theatre. Twenty years later in 2004, The South Bank Show revisited this diary format with McKellen, who was by now an internationally recognised film star after his roles as Magneto in X-Men and Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. McKellen will be discussing his latest theatrical outing in the acclaimed Waiting For Godot and ITV1’s drama series The Prisoner.

Ian McEwan has been profiled several times on The South Bank Show in 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005; his Revisited interview will encompass his latest novel Solar.

Stephen Sondheim will be interviewed in New York for The South Bank Show Revisited, having been the subject of The South Bank Show in 1980, when working on his musical adaptation of Sweeney Todd and in 1984 when The South Bank Show filmed his master class with students of the Guildhall School Of Performing Arts.

Billy Connolly was first interviewed by Melvyn Bragg in 1979, when he was starting to take his stand-up comedy to the masses and again in 1992, the day after his 25th anniversary stand-up gig back in his hometown of Glasgow. This time, Melvyn Bragg meets him in New York, whilst Billy tours with his show.

Melvyn Bragg‘s first interview with Judi Dench was in 1995; he now speaks to her about her work in film, television and theatre, including once again playing Titania for Sir Peter Hall in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Rose, Kingston - a role she first played for him in 1962.

The tenth and final film in The South Bank Show Revisited season will be a film looking at the history of arts film making. Melvyn Bragg will be talking to past directors who have all made South Bank Shows over the years including Ken Russell and Tony Palmer. The film will show clips from South Bank Shows including those made by: James Ivory, Ken Loach and others.

This final season, The South Bank Show Revisited, will also receive recognition at BFI Southbank, with a season of past South Bank Shows to be screened during May; including films on David Lean (1985), Ingmar Bergman (1978) and the interview between Melvyn Bragg and Francis Bacon (1985).

At BFI Southbank on Wednesday 26 May 2010, following an exclusive preview screening of the final film in The South Bank Show Revisited season; Melvyn Bragg will discuss with Mark Lawson his time at the helm of this seminal arts strand, its place in the history of the arts on British television and the future of arts coverage on television. The interview will be illustrated by some of Melvyn’s favourite moments and personalities over the course of the show’s remarkable 32 year history.

This will coincide with the publication of a book by Melvyn Bragg based on 25 South Bank Show interviews, and called Final Cut.

The South Bank Show Revisited – a final season to cherish.