Arena
Arena is a documentary on BBC2. The gold standard for arts documentaries, from 1975 to the present day. A cultural map of the world’s greatest artists and musicians, as captured by exceptional film-makers. The program has been available since 2025. A total of 26 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in June 2026.
Last episode
Arena
Arena's profile of Clint Eastwood continues with his directorial debut, Play Misty for Me, which he completed in five weeks before going on to huge success in Dirty Harry.
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Clint Eastwood recalls his tough childhood and looks back at his early career, from Rawhide to Dirty Harry and the spaghetti westerns.
May 2026
Newly discovered film footage of tenor sax legend Sonny Rollins at Ronnie Scott's in 1974, with a band featuring guitarist Yoshiaki Masuo and soprano saxophone player Rufus Harley.
April 2026
River takes its audience on a journey through space and time spanning six continents, showing rivers on a scale and from perspectives never seen before.
March 2026
Ronald Eyre presents the first episode of Arena, the long-running arts documentary series created by Humphrey Burton when he was head of Music and Arts at the BBC. From 1975.
January 2026
Dramatist Mike Leigh talks to Arena about his work and demonstrates his unique processes of building the characters of his dramas.
Friends, family and co-stars take part in this revealing and entertaining look at British icon Roger Moore and his rise to global fame. With rare home-movie footage.
November 2025
Film exploring three decades of Soviet space culture, from the glory days of Yuri Gagarin to the saga of Sergei Krikalev, the Soviet citizen who was stranded in space for ten months.
Documentary about the tube, the world's oldest underground system, with its own unwritten rules of behaviour and protocol, and used by three million passengers every day.
Documentary telling the personal story of Sister Wendy Beckett, who travelled the world telling the story of Christian art and painting in the 1990s, quickly becoming a star.
A witty look at the history of the Ford Cortina, which was, in the 1980s, Britain's most popular, most stolen and most misunderstood car. With Alexei Sayle, John Betjeman and Magnus Magnusson.
First transmitted in 1981, this documentary looks at New York's Chelsea Hotel - a haven for some of the 20th century's greatest talents, from Mark Twain to Dylan Thomas.
On the occasion of his 75th birthday, Francis Bacon talks with great candour to his friend of many years, the distinguished writer and critic David Sylvester.
October 2025
When pop artist Peter Blake confessed that his fantasy was to be the mysterious masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki, little did he know what the consequences would be. From 1992.
Singer and writer George Melly takes a walk from his home in north London to the Hayward Gallery, reminiscing along the way about the influence of surrealism on his early life.
Documentary about Hollywood star Bette Davis, spanning her life and career from the 1920s to the 1980s, on stage and on screen, including an interview with the actress herself.
A film portrait of one of jazz's greatest singers. Billie Holiday's tragic story is told in the words of her closest friends and colleagues and through the songs themselves.
September 2025
Profile of Orson Welles, looking at his life and career in theatre, radio and particularly film. This part deals with his work up to Touch of Evil.
Profile of Orson Welles, looking at films including The Trial, Chimes at Midnight, The Immortal Story and F for Fake and discussing his unfinished projects, including Don Quixote.
Programme exploring the cultural significance of the banana. Featuring contributions from John Cale, Auberon Waugh, John Walters and Brendan Batson.