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A Culture Show Special –
The Books We Really Read

Continuing ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two's focus on novels, the Culture Show's Sue Perkins investigates crime and experiences new romance in her journey to discover the essential ingredients of a bestseller.

As a literature graduate and a judge on last year's Booker Prize, Sue's reading material has consisted mainly of literary classics. Now she's on a mission to find out just what she's been missing and what makes bestsellers so readable.

Her journey takes her to the home of Agatha Christie to find clues as to why she's the best selling crime author of all time. She visits the racetrack with Dick Francis's son Felix to find out what make the perfect backdrop for a thriller, and meets author Lee Child to discover why men and women love his anti-hero Jack Reacher.

In a Flashmob-style raid on an Edinburgh hairdressing salon, Sue also tests the popularity of the latest chick-lit novel by Sophie Kinsella.

Along the way, she meets bestselling authors Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, Colin Dexter, Anthony Horowitz and Joanne Harris and seeks their tips on what makes a bestselling book. She also meets some of the UK's biggest crime, thriller and romance fans to find out what they like best about their favourite authors.

AH

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Productions, Scotland

Arts Strands –
Culture Show and Review Show

The Culture Show and The Review Show are ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two's regular flagship arts strands.

The Culture Show is presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon with a roster of expert reporters providing an intelligent and provocative take on all aspects of cultural life in Britain today. It covers the visual arts, fiction, poetry, theatre, dance, architecture, design, film, media, new media, fashion, photography, comedy and philosophy.

The series is authoritative and opinionated and is not afraid to create mischief or be irreverent. Above all it aims to bring to its audience a fresh take on the best of British arts today. The Autumn run starts in October with an eclectic mix of topics. Some of the highlights include: a Culture Show special on the Booker Prize; for the first time ever The RIBA Stirling Prize will be coming to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ as a live Culture Show outside broadcast, and Grayson Perry will be presenting a Culture Show special from the Frieze art fair.

The Review Show offers intelligent, thoughtful, surprising and sustained cultural conversation. Presented in Glasgow by Kirsty Wark and Martha Kearney, with a rotating panel of four guests, it fosters debate about key cultural events, art and ideas.

Sometimes The Review Show picks a central theme and devotes an entire programme to debating it, and sometimes it reviews a range of current work. It also features live music, and a regular "cultural highlights" slot in which a high profile figure discusses art that has influenced and moved them.

AH

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Productions

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood

Marking Hollywood's 100th anniversary, Paul Merton travels to America to explore how the language of cinema, and the blueprint for the contemporary film industry, were laid down in the age of silent film.

Through Paul's passion for, and knowledge of, early cinema, the series builds on the success of his previous series Silent Clowns, Paul Merton Looks At Alfred Hitchcock and Paul Merton's Weird And Wonderful World Of Early Cinema.

Driven by narrative sequences shot in today's Hollywood, Paul finds out how much modern film-makers owe to the pioneers.

Searching through the archives of the big film studios, interviewing actors, producers and directors in Hollywood, he aims to reunite cinema with its creative origins in a tribute to a century of Hollywood film-making.

AH

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Productions, Bristol

The Goldie Project

Jungle and drum n bass star Goldie takes on a fascinating new musical challenge for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two this autumn, as he explores the transformative power of music in young people's lives today.

This new three-part series showcases the stories and successes of gifted young musicians aged 16-24, whose lives have been energised, improved, even reformed through their relationship with music.

Together with composer Guy Chambers and saxophonist/composer Soweto Kinch, Goldie embarks on a nationwide search for young musicians to put on a concert in an iconic venue.

The series starts with the search for talent, shining a light on the public, voluntary and private sectors, which are doing exceptional grass roots work every day.

Once chosen, the musicians undertake two residencies, where they are given an intensive schedule of tuition, under the guidance of some of the best names in the business. The series climaxes with a concert in front of an invited audience in October.

Over the course of the project, the series shows how music has the power to enable young people to overcome challenging circumstances and to enhance and change people's lives.

RK2

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Productions

Welcome To The Worlds

In March 2010, 5,000 young dancers from around the globe, along with their families and teachers, descended upon Glasgow for one drama-filled week of competition in the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships.

Welcome To The Worlds tells the story of the championships, as dancers clad in wigs, make-up, fake tan, diamante and dresses costing thousands of pounds competed for the coveted world titles.

Award-winning film-maker Sue Bourne was granted access for the very first time to the little known world of competitive Irish Dancing, in which a year of incredibly hard work is realised in just a few tense minutes on stage.

This feature-length documentary goes behind the normally closed doors of Irish Dancing and discovers a remarkable world filled with wonderful characters of all ages from Ireland, Holland, Britain, America and Russia.

It's a world of dedication, hard work, obsession, and passion, where success and failure depends on pure talent pushed to its limit.

KA

A Wellpark Scotland production

Radio 2 Electric Proms

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two creates a unique series of musical landmark evenings this autumn, bringing the audience closer to some of the greatest UK and international musicians who will be appearing at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 2 Electric Proms.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two is set to film the celebrated series of concerts, which are dedicated to creating new moments in music, for broadcast on the channel on successive Saturday nights in October and November.

The performances will form the centrepiece of an evening of celebration exploring that night's Radio 2 Electric Proms, with accompanying documentaries featuring exclusive interviews highlighting the artists' musical history, career highlights and influences.

The featured artists will be announced later this summer.

SH

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Productions