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Summer in the Sixties

Art and the 60s

London's art scene in the Sixties wasn't just swinging - it was exploding.

A tidal wave of ideas, experimentation and social revolution brought the era of pop art; a landmark moment in the development of abstract art; and the early days of conceptual and performance art.

The radical, flower-power Sixties spirit, which gave birth to peace activism and civil rights, also brought such highly influential artists as David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Anthony Caro, Patrick Caulfield and others to the fore, changing the artistic landscape forever.

With archive footage and a rare cast of interviewees, many of whom haven't spoken on camera for decades - if ever - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ FOUR tells the extraordinary story of London's art world in the Sixties.

Each of the films highlights a different aspect of this era. The tale of two influential dealers - businessman Kasmin and wildly promiscuous socialite, 'Groovy Bob' Fraser - conjures up the Sixties of folklore.

Another film tells the story of St Martin's School of Art, where the seeds of today's contemporary art were sown.

It traces art's progression, in just ten years, from Henry Moore's bronzes, via Anthony Caro, to Gilbert and George serving up baked beans in ice-cream cones.

A third film considers artists working outside the commercial art world whose stance reflected the countercultural politics of the time.

From the makers of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ FOUR's BritArt, and accompanied by a major exhibition at Tate Britain, this is the captivating and often eccentric story of one of art's most definitive decades, told by the artists, dealers and collectors themselves. (IC)

The Truth About Sixties TV

Was British television in the Sixties really the golden age hailed by many commentators today?

People remember Cathy Come ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and Civilisation, but spend less time recalling the ratings success of Miss World, The Billy Cotton Band Show and The Black And White Minstrel Show.

In this provocative documentary, Mark Lawson examines the evidence and challenges some cherished myths.

What did people really watch? Did US imports dominate primetime? How much were attitudes and programme styles still stuck in the Fifties?

Specially commissioned research and analysis reveals the weak spots, oddities and contradictions of TV schedules in the swinging decade. (DC)

A Night In The Sixties

For one night only, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ FOUR takes its entire schedule back 40 years, with a complete 'dream evening' of Sixties classics.

From children's to news to entertainment - even the weather forecast - every component in A Night In The Sixties will be either authentic programming from across the decade or, where the original no longer exists, a loving re-creation.

Highlights will come from ITV as well as ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE and the fledgling ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO. (IC)

Round The Horne… Revisited

In an age of great radio comedy, Round The Horne was arguably the greatest and best loved.

At its peak, some 15 million listeners tuned in each week to hear Kenneth Horne - the ultimate unflappable ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ straight man - encounter figures as diverse as Dame Celia Molestrangler, J Peasmold Gruntfuttock, Rambling Syd Rumpo and the legendarily camp Julian and Sandy.

With its endlessly inventive innuendo and cheerfully British twist on surrealism, Round The Horne ran from 1965 to 1969, and proved a brilliant showcase for the talents of Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden, Hugh Paddick and Douglas Smith.

Now the one surviving member of the original writing team, Brian Cooke, has developed the scripts into a hit stage show, Round The Horne... Revisited, which will come to the screen exclusively for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ FOUR's Summer in the Sixties season. (FP)

What A Gay Decade

Julian and Sandy, The Servant, decriminalisation... the Sixties are remembered as the decade when homosexuality came out of the national closet.

But this mix of oral history and television archive shows how secretive, contradictory and sometimes dangerous life still was for the majority of Britain's gay population. (IC)

Dennis Potter - The Nigel Barton Plays

Political controversy has always dogged the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and these early classics by playwright Dennis Potter are a case in point.

Highly autobiographical, Stand Up, Nigel Barton and Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton chronicle a young man's journey from student activism to his attempt to stand for parliament as a Labour candidate in a safe Conservative seat.

Potter's depiction of a manipulative party agent dismayed ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ executives and led to a controversial rewrite.

As an early tribute to mark the tenth anniversary of Potter's death, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ FOUR screens these two famous but rarely seen dramas alongside a new programme exploring the controversy they provoked. (IC)

Vivian Stanshall: The Canyons Of His Mind

A veteran of the common-law marriage between art school and rock 'n' roll, Vivian Stanshall was co-founder, lead singer and co-writer of cult Sixties sensation The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - the missing link between satire and psychedelia, pop and performance art, pastiche and Python.

He died tragically early, virtually drinking himself to death before dying in a fire at his house in 1995.

This touching and funny new portrait traces Viv's musical journey from its Bonzo beginnings to Rawlinson End and beyond, and is peppered with contributions from colleagues, close friends and comic descendants. (HN)

I Hate The Sixties

For some people, the Sixties were when it all went wrong for British society.

In their view, it was the decade's moral permissiveness, collapse of respect for institutions and failed experiments in 'progressive' education that led directly to the state we are in today.

Ranging across culture, politics, fashion and morality, this provocative but entertaining film will be shamelessly revisionist, challenging head-on what Norman Tebbit once memorably described as "the insufferable, smug, sanctimonious, naïve, guilt-ridden, wet, pink orthodoxy... of that third-rate decade, the Sixties". (DC)

Saturday Night and Sunday Cinema

The image of Britain in the Sixties is irrevocably shaped by the icons of cinema.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ FOUR's popular weekend movie slot, Saturday Cinema, expands to host a mini-season of influential films from the era, including A Hard Day's Night, Alfie and Cul de Sac.

There is also a special edition of The DVD Collection exploring the latest reissues of collectible Sixties film and television classics. (IC)

Fantasy Sixties

The Sixties were a boom time for adventure, sci-fi and fantasy in UK television and film - a strange fusion of new-tech excitement, cold war preoccupations and a very British tradition of adventure storytelling.

What made this such a fruitful time for the weird or escapist side of popular drama and film? And why was it so short-lived?

This Timeshift special goes into the unknown in search of answers... (HS)

The Sporting Sixties

It was the decade when sportsmen became sports stars, when home-grown heroes became international icons and the nation learnt to love sport like never before. The Sixties set the template for sport on television.

At the beginning of the decade men in blazers lectured viewers on the finer points of swimming, show jumping and cycling and the viewers listened attentively.

By the end, household names including Coleman, Carpenter, Vine and McLaren raved about football, rugby and cricket.

Television brought the national games to the nation. In this affectionate history of the decade, the pioneers and stars explore how sport itself was transformed by a revolution in broadcasting.

Contributors include Harry Carpenter, Jimmy Greaves, Peter Dimmock, Anne Jones, Barry Davies, Jackie Stewart, Cliff Morgan, Jimmy Hill, David Vine and Bill McLaren. (IC)