Picture of Britain, A

Synopsis

A series of six programmes in which David Dimbleby tours Britain, exploring artistic response to the landscape and contemplating subjects such as travel, nationhood and romantic yearning. Individual programmes cover the North, South, East and West of Britain, the Heart of England and the Highlands and Glens.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2005

Year of production

2005

Notes

Broadcast in 5 weekly parts on BBC1 beginning 5/6/05

Subjects

Art; Geography

Keywords

history of art; landscapes; paintings - British; paintings - landscape paintings; physical geography; history of music

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

24.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

360 minutes

Year

2005

Sections

Title

Romantic North, The

Synopsis

The first programme in the series covers the Lake District. David Attenborough visits Gordale Scar, for years deemed unpaintable by even the most Romantic artists until James Ward came along and changed the history of art.

Duration

60 mins

Title

Flatlands, The

Synopsis

David Attenborough visits East Anglia - Constable country, a land of mists, meadows, windmills and fenland; he goes to Newmarket, home of George Stubbs; takes to a balloon to view the Flatlands; sails the Norfolk Broads in 19th centrury style and confronts the murder scene of Dorothy Sayers’ The Nine Tailors.

Duration

60 mins

Title

Highlands and Glens

Synopsis

This programme visits the Scottish Highlands, taking in Edwin Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen, and crosses the Irish Sea to examine the paintings of Paul Henry, who came to Achill for a holiday and stayed on for years. Dimbleby’s return trip takes him to the island of Staffa.

Duration

60 mins

Title

Heart of England, The

Synopsis

David Dimbleby travels through the heartland of England exploring how landscape painters dramatised the early days of the Industrial Revolution, on to the mellow beauty of the Cotswold Hills towards the home of Edward Elgar who composed the nation’s most familiar anthems.

Duration

60 mins

Title

Home Front, The

Synopsis

In this programme David Dimbleby explores the images that have helped define England - thatched cottages, rolling downs and hidden villages along the coast of Hampshire, Sussex and Kent. He sails through the the Solent which inspired JMW Turner’s seascapes and explores the hills immortalised by William Blake in Jerusalem.

Duration

60 mins

Title

Mystical West, The

Synopsis

In Wales and the West Country, David Dimbleby experiences the mystery of crop circles, the spectacular mountain paintings of Richard Wilson in Snowdonia, the voices of a Welsh Male Voice Choir perched on a Welsh peak singing Land of Our Fathers, the drunken sprees of Dylan Thomas, the horror of the Hound of the Baskervilles and the melodrama of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

Duration

60 mins

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

BBC Shop

Email

bbcshop@bbc.co.uk

Web

http://www.bbcshop.com External site opens in new window

Phone

0844 848 9799

Fax

01795 414 555

Address

PO Box 308
Sittingbourne
ME9 8LW

Notes

The BBC Shop closed on March 29th 2016. It was replaced by the BBC Store (www.bbcstore.com) where many BBC programmes can be bought and downloaded in digital format only. The BBC continues to make many of its programmes available on DVD and Blu-Ray but these are now only available from other online retailers.

Name

E1 Home Entertainment

Email

smorgan@e1ent.com

Web

http://www.e1entertainmentuk.com/index.php?category_id=4 External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7907 3773

Fax

020 7907 3777

Address

120 New Cavendish Street
London
W1W 6XX

Notes

Formerly known as Contender Entertainment, E1 Home Entertainment distributes contemporary film and television titles, many licensed from the BBC. Focuses particularly on long running series and one-off dramas released directly after transmission. DVD sale through retail outlets.

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