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 25 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in November 2026.
Last episode
Arena
Film-maker Ingmar Bergman shows us his world on the desolate and mysterious Baltic island of Faro. He talks about his childhood and how the art of film was often a comfort to him.
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Ingmar Bergman pays one final visit to Filmstaden, where many of his films were made. Featuring numerous clips from Bergman's best work and material from his private archives.
Contemporary artist Gillian Wearing celebrates the legacy of Victorian novelist George Eliot in an experimental film made up of a diverse cast of people.
Arena spends the summer with supercool, self-confessed rock chick Chrissie Hynde. Featuring a glorious live performance at one of London's most intimate venues.
Documentary profiling Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama whose work, including her much-visited Infinity Mirror Room installations, defies classification.
Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham, the inspiration behind two Buddy Holly songs, tells how they both came to be written and provides some fresh insights into Holly's tragically short career.
Documentary looking at the short but brilliant career of legendary rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly. Features interviews with contemporaries and fans including Paul McCartney.
An examination of the work and the legend of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, originally broadcast in 2003 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
Adrian Thrills investigates 2 Tone, the exhilarating musical blend of reggae, rock, soul, ska, blue beat and punk, which took the country by storm in the late 70s and early 80s.
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.
Film biography looking at the famous playwright. Pinter's key theme, the room, is explored through the rooms in which he wrote his first series of plays.
Film biography which explores the relationship between the public and private dimensions of the playwright and actor, following him at work over two years.
Once dubbed the 'king of cool', a look at the man behind the silky voice as Tony Bennett - civil rights activist, jazz enthusiast, painter and New Yorker - takes a tour around his native city.
An intimate portrait of a fiercely independent Hollywood star who left it all behind to live life on her own terms.
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.
Clint Eastwood recalls his tough childhood and looks back at his early career, from Rawhide to Dirty Harry and the spaghetti westerns.
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.
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.
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.
Dramatist Mike Leigh talks to Arena about his work and demonstrates his unique processes of building the characters of his dramas.