Talking Pictures
Talking Pictures is a TV show on BBC2. A look back at television appearances by legends of the silver screen, using archive footage to tell the story of their lives and careers. The program has been available since 2024. A total of 18 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in August 2025.
Last episode
Talking Pictures
A look back at television appearances made over the years by Hollywood legend Bette Davis, capturing the milestones of her life and career. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.
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Moments from interviews conducted on a range of BBC shows over the years help to tell the story of Dustin Hoffman, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and his films.
June 2025
Celia Imrie tells the story of the 1960 epic Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas, revealing how the film, which was then the most expensive of all time, made it onto the big screen.
May 2025
The story of the Hollywood musical, featuring interviews with stars from the genre's golden age, as well as some of the directors and songwriters who helped create them.
A look back at television appearances made over the years by the Oscar-winning actor Sir John Mills, capturing the milestones of his life and career.
April 2025
Celia Imrie celebrates the cinema’s marvellous musicals, venturing back through the BBC’s archives to look at film’s most joyous and arguably enduring genre.
March 2025
A look at the life of acting legend Michael Caine, using rarely seen television interviews and classic archive clips to tell the story of one of Britain's most successful actors.
February 2025
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.
A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by Jack Lemmon, capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career.
January 2025
An examination of the life of actor Paul Newman, using rarely seen interviews from the BBC archives to tell the story of a career that made him one of Hollywood's greatest stars.
A look at the life and work of the late Richard Attenborough, with interviews and archive clips illustrating a career that has made him one of cinema's most popular figures.
December 2024
Celia Imrie unwraps a selection of the very best Christmas movies ever made and looks at why films are such an important part of the festive ritual.
Sylvia Syms presents rarely seen footage from the BBC archives that explores the life and career of one of Britain's best-loved actors, Dame Judi Dench.
Celia Imrie takes a look at some of the leading ladies who’ve proved time and again, year after year, that they are amongst the very best of British talent.
September 2024
Sylvia Syms presents rarely seen footage from the BBC archives that explores the life and career of one of Britain's best-loved actresses, Maggie Smith.
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.
An examination of the life and career of one of cinema's most glamorous stars, Sophia Loren, with rarely seen archive material telling the story of her hugely successful career.
A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall, following the changes and highlights of her life and career.