Talking Pictures

Series 2

February 7, 2015 (11 years ago)

35 episodes

A look back at television appearances by legends of the silver screen, using archive footage to tell the story of their lives and careers.

S02E01

Jack Lemmon

45m

February 7, 2015

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by Some Like It Hot and Days of Wine and Roses star Jack Lemmon, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career.

S02E02

Shelley Winters

45m

February 14, 2015

A look at television appearances made over the years by Oscar-winning actress Shelley Winters, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of her life and career.

S02E03

On the Waterfront

45m

February 21, 2015

Sixty years after its original release, Talking Pictures examines On the Waterfront, one of the greatest films in US cinema history. Archive interviews with the director, writer and cast members, including Marlon Brando, reveal how behind its success lies a story of betrayal and resentment, born from America's anti-communist fervour of the 1950s

S02E04

Albert Finney

45m

February 28, 2015

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by award-winning actor Albert Finney, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career.

S02E05

Noel Coward

45m

March 7, 2015

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by award-winning actor Noel Coward, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career.

S02E06

Kenneth More

45m

March 14, 2015

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by BAFTA-winning actor Kenneth More, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career.

S02E07

Hollywood's Great Directors

45m

April 4, 2015

A retrospective look at the careers of some of the greatest and most successful directors in movie history, talking about their favourite films, the stars they worked with and their sometimes difficult relationships with Hollywood's studio bosses. Features rarely seen interviews with a line-up of directing legends including names like John Ford, Frank Capra, Sidney Lumet, George Cukor, Billy Wilder and Cecil B Demille.

S02E08

Richard Harris

45m

April 25, 2015

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by Richard Harris, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.

S02E09

Hitchcock's Leading Actors

45m

May 9, 2015

To this day, Alfred Hitchcock is looked on as one of cinema's best and most influential directors. But how did the stars of his films finding working with the great man? To some he was 'the master', to others 'the manipulator'. Talking Pictures explores the relationship between Hitch and his leading actors, using rarely seen interviews of the man himself and a line-up that includes Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Joan Fontaine, Janet Leigh and Sean Connery.

S02E10

Christopher Lee

45m

July 11, 2015

A look back at the life and career of one of the greats of British cinema - Sir Christopher Lee. In BBC interviews conducted over six decades, Lee discusses his position as a legendary screen villain and talks about his major roles, from Count Dracula to Count Dooku.

S02E11

Omar Sharif

45m

August 15, 2015

A look back at the life of the actor Omar Sharif, who died in July 2015 at the age of 83. Using archive from his interviews with the BBC and featuring contributions from director David Lean, this episode explores Sharif's dramatic entrance into the film world of the 1960s with Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, sees him considering his reputation as a playboy, and examines how his passion for cards and gambling at one point threatened to eclipse his reputation as an actor.

S02E12

Musicals

45m

August 29, 2015

In this episode, Talking Pictures tells the story of the Hollywood musical, using interviews with stars from the genre's golden age, as well as some of the directors and songwriters who helped create them. Among the big names remembering their experiences are Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison, Barbara Streisand, Liza Minelli and Judy Garland - and the films under discussion include some of the best-loved in cinema history: Singin' In the Rain, On the Town, My Fair Lady, Funny Girl and The Sound of Music.

S02E13

Anthony Hopkins

45m

August 31, 2015

A look back at the life of Oscar-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins and featuring interviews conducted with the BBC over the course of his career.

S02E14

John Huston

45m

October 17, 2015

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by actor and director John Huston, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.

S02E15

Hollywood Actresses

45m

October 24, 2015

Sylvia Syms looks back on the legendary leading ladies of Hollywood - the glamorous and often powerful stars who helped define what it was to be a woman in cinema's golden age. Featuring Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Natalie Wood, Debbie Reynolds and Doris Day, the programme uses rarely seen archive and interviews to examine the relationships these great stars had with audiences, studio bosses - and sometimes with each other.

S02E16

Great British Comedies

45m

October 31, 2015

Sylvia Syms looks back on the great British comedy stars who over the years have had cinema audiences rolling in the aisles with laughter. Featuring rarely-seen interviews from the BBC's archives, the programme starts with the great George Formby and the early days of British cinema, and works its way forwards in time, exploring, amongst others, the classic Ealing comedies, the much-loved Doctor series, the saucy postcard humour of the Carry On films, Peter Sellers and the Pink Panther series, and the ground-breaking movies of Monty Python.

S02E17

Child Stars

45m

November 21, 2015

With classic interviews and rarely seen archive footage, Sylvia Syms examines the world of the big screen's smallest stars - the child actors. Featuring Shirley Temple, Hayley Mills, Jack Wild, Macaulay Culkin, Christian Bale, Jodie Foster and the stars of the Harry Potter films, the programme looks at their different careers and explores how these young talents fared once they had all grown up.

S02E18

Sex Symbols

45m

January 2, 2016

Sylvia Syms looks at the handsome heroes, gorgeous heroines, pin-ups and bombshells who came to be known as cinema's greatest sex symbols, hearing from the stars themselves.

S02E19

War Films

45m

March 26, 2016

A look back at the great British war films that boosted the nation's morale in the postwar years and launched the careers of some of our best-loved actors and directors.

S02E20

Bing Crosby

45m

August 27, 2016

A look at TV appearances made over the years by Bing Crosby, with interviews from the archive and classic clips capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career.

S02E21

The Black Stars of Film

45m

November 12, 2016

A retrospective look at some of the best-loved and most popular black stars to have graced cinema screens over the past seven decades, from Gone With the Wind right up to 12 Years a Slave. The programme examines how black actors' achievements have been recognised by the movie industry and the Oscars Academy, and explores Hollywood's complicated role in America's fight for civil rights - sometimes praised for championing black artists, often condemned for perpetuating racial stereotypes. Featuring rarely seen interviews with Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg and Halle Berry. Narrated by Don Warrington.

S02E22

Alan Rickman

45m

January 1, 2017

A look back at the life and work of Alan Rickman, one of Britain's best-loved actors, who died in January 2016. We hear from the man himself, talking at different key stages of his career in several rarely seen interviews. The conversations, filled with insight and anecdotes, reveal how one of the leading lights of British theatre found movie stardom with Die Hard, and take us through all his favourite film roles, including his special part in the phenomenon that is the Harry Potter franchise.

S02E23

Debbie Reynolds

45m

January 21, 2017

A look back at the life of the actress Debbie Reynolds - one of the best-loved stars of Hollywood's golden age, who died in December 2016. In a selection of rarely-seen interviews, we find Debbie discussing her favourite film roles, including her career-making appearance in Singin' in the Rain. She also talks about her husband Eddie Fisher leaving her for Elizabeth Taylor and the ensuing scandal that rocked Hollywood, and discusses life as Princess Leia's mum and her relationship with her daughter Carrie Fisher, who also passed away in December 2016, just one day before Debbie's own death.

S02E24

John Hurt

45m

February 18, 2017

A look back at the life and work of Sir John Hurt - one of Britain's acting greats, who died last month aged 77 after a career that spanned six decades and took in over 100 films. In a selection of rarely seen interviews, we find John discussing some of his most iconic screen creations - most notably Quentin Crisp from The Naked Civil Servant, John Merrick from The Elephant Man and Max from Midnight Express. The conversations also cover John's personal perspective on the craft of acting, the tragedy that claimed the life of the woman he planned marry and his reputation for being a hard-drinking hellraiser - which he felt was largely undeserved.

S02E25

60s Icons

45m

April 29, 2017

Sylvia Syms explores the BBC's archives and chooses a selection of rarely seen interviews that tell the story of the acting stars who made 60s Britain swing.

S02E26

Harry Potter

45m

October 28, 2017

Actor Warwick Davis - AKA Professor Flitwick and Griphook - explores the BBC archives and conjures up the story of the Harry Potter films - a tale that starts with the casting of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, and ends with the trio firmly established as internationally recognised teenage superstars. The programme uses rarely seen footage and interviews to explore behind the scenes, looks at how the franchise became one of the biggest in cinema history and gets the unique perspectives of the series's producer, directors, actors and JK Rowling herself.

S02E27

Roger Moore

45m

December 16, 2017

A look back at the life and career of one of Britain's best-loved actors, Sir Roger Moore, who died in 2017, just months before his 90th birthday.

S02E28

Jane Fonda

45m

December 17, 2017

As double-Oscar winner Jane Fonda approaches her 80th birthday, a look back at the life of one of Hollywood's most successful and controversial actresses.

S02E29

Bette and Joan

45m

December 23, 2017

Sylvia Syms looks through the BBC archives to tell the story of one of Hollywood's greatest ever feuds - the rivalry between legendary actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

S02E30

Barry Norman

45m

December 30, 2017

Rory Bremner explores the BBC archives for an affectionate look back at the career of Barry Norman, who hosted the BBC's Film Review show for 26 years.

S02E31

Epics

45m

March 30, 2018

Sylvia Syms looks through the BBC archive to discover what makes an epic. The programme looks at the history of epics, which featured lavish budgets and huge sets, from the Ten Commandments and Ben Hur through to Titanic and Gladiator. Including interviews from some of the biggest stars in the world, who starred in some of the biggest films in the world.

S02E32

Westerns

45m

September 15, 2019

Sylvia Syms looks back through the BBC’s archives to tell the story of what is perhaps cinema’s most enduring and most visual genre.

S02E33

Rom Coms

45m

February 15, 2020

Celia Imrie explores one of the best-loved movie genres - the romantic comedy. With classic interviews from cinematic couples like Doris Day and Rock Hudson and Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.

S02E34

70s Legends

45m

April 4, 2020