Arena Season 2011

Profile of record producer Sir George Martin. He began with Nellie the Elephant, 633 Squadron and Peter Sellers, then came The Beatles and then the golden age of rock. Martin recorded the soundtrack of the second half of the 20th century. This rich and intimate portrait follows Sir George at 85 with his wife Judy, son Giles, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Cilla Black, Michael Palin, Rolf Harris and Bernard Cribbins among the many contributors.

A story told in flashbacks, Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines the immediacy of Bob Dylan's controversial 1966 tour of the British Isles with his remarkable personal and musical journey. Drawing from hundreds of hours of unseen footage and rare recordings, in-depth interviews and revealing photographs, the film strikes a remarkable balance - telling the story of one man's journey and at the same time placing that story within the greater canvas of human events. This opening part traces his journey from a rock 'n' roll loving kid in the Midwest to his arrival as a major force in the world of folk music. In his own words, Dylan tells viewers how he became smitten with folk music as the story shifts scenes from the iron range in Minnesota to Greenwich Village in New York City. An amazing cast of characters includes Dave Van Ronk, the king of Greenwich village folk clubs, Joan Baez, queen of the folk music world and Allen Ginsburg, America's beat poet laureate. And, most importantly, the wide range of music that influenced the young Bob Dylan is explored. As Dylan's fame and notoriety grows, his skill as a performer matures rapidly and the songs begin to pour out - Blowing in the Wind, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Masters of War, Don't Think Twice It's Alright and many more. Part one ends with what seems to be the dawn of a new generation - Dylan, hands intertwined with musician Pete Seeger, the Freedom Singers and Odetta singing Blowin' in the Wind at the closing night of the Newport Folk Festival in 1963.

Martin Scorsese continues to explore the emotional, musicial and intellectual journey of Bob Dylan's early career. The story turns dark. At 23, Dylan is already a newsworthy phenomenon and with that success comes expectations - from the old left to become a politicial activist, and from the media to articulate the concerns of America's youth. It's a role in which Dylan is completely uninterested. He is already on the move, finding a new musical vocabulary to capture the complexity of a seismic cultural shift. He injects a heightened sense of poetry into his writing and adds electricity to his music, electricity that now seems inevitable but at the time saw him labelled a sell-out and a traitor. Scorsese delicately balances Dylan's internal world with signpost images from the external world. Dylan's music is the backdrop as the war in Vietnam escalates and the nightly news brings home images people would never have dreamed of seeing on their television sets. Scorsese takes the time to let viewers really see the music unfold in revelatory concert performances. By 1966 Dylan's personal world has become one of constant touring and press conferences. By the end of the film it is plainly obvious that for Dylan there are some journeys from which there is No Direction Home.

Arena broadcasts the UK television premiere of Martin Scorsese's portrait of the late George Harrison. Scorsese traces Harrison's life from his beginnings in Liverpool to becoming a world-famous musician, philanthropist and filmmaker, weaving together interviews with George and his closest friends, photographs and archive footage including live performances - much of it previously unseen. The result is a rare glimpse into the mind of one of the most talented artists of his generation. Part one looks at George's early years in The Beatles - from their first gigs in Hamburg and the beginning of Beatlemania, through to his psychedelic phase and involvement in religion and Indian music. The programme includes contributions from Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Sir George Martin and Phil Spector.

Arena broadcasts the second and concluding part of Martin Scorsese's portrait of George Harrison. Part two looks at Harrison's post-Beatles days - as a member of the Travelling Wilburys and a solo artist, as well as looking at his non-musical ventures, including his work as a movie producer and his family life with wife Olivia and son Dhani. Racing legend Jackie Stewart tells of George's love of motor racing, Monty Python's Eric Idle recounts how George saved the Life of Brian from catastrophe by re-mortgaging his mansion to help finance it, and there are contributions from Travelling Wilbury bandmates including Tom Petty. Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison gives a poignant account of her life with the Beatle, including the harrowing tale of the night when a violent intruder attacked them at home one evening in 1999. Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, among many others, talk openly about George's many gifts and contradictions and reveal the lives they shared together.

A programme exploring the work of crime writer James Ellroy, whose credits include LA Confidential, The Black Dahlia and My Dark Places, the latter a harrowing memoir of his own mother's murder. Ellroy later moved on from crime writing to pen his own secret history of the United States. As the second volume of his 'Underworld USA' trilogy - The Cold Six Thousand - was published in the UK in 2001, the film takes a tour of Ellroy's often disturbing world.