| The Culture Show | |
|---|---|
The Culture Show logo |
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| Format | Magazine, reviews |
| Created by | BBC Productions |
| Directed by | Various |
| Presented by | Andrew Graham-Dixon |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Editor(s) | Janet Lee |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Two |
| Original run | 1 November 2004 – present |
The Culture Show is a weekly BBC Two Arts magazine programme. It is broadcast in the UK on Thursday nights at 7pm, focusing on the best of the week's arts and culture news, covering books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show is now in its seventh year, having weathered early criticism to establish itself as one of the longest-running Arts magazine shows in the history of BBC television.
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Launched in November 2004, the show initially transmitted on Thursday nights in a 7pm slot, lasting 60 minutes. The first main presenter was Verity Sharp, though she shared presenting duties in the show's first run with Kwame Kwei-Armah and Andrew Graham-Dixon. The first series included strong articles on film director Martin Scorsese, the conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, the then little-known indie rock group Kaiser Chiefs and the contemporary visual artist Anselm Kiefer, among others. The launch editor, George Entwistle,[1] was previously editor of BBC Two's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight.
Entwistle was succeeded as editor by Edward Morgan in summer 2005. In May 2006, the show was moved to Saturday nights, shortened to 50 minutes, and began to be regularly presented by Lauren Laverne. The programme then also started to make occasional spin-off specials, which have so far included an hour-long interview with Steven Spielberg on the occasion of his 60th birthday; a programme exploring the work of Michael Palin; and interviews with Lou Reed and Arcade Fire. In January 2010, the team produced a successful one-hour special to cover the launch of BBC Radio 4's A History of the World in 100 Objects.
The main presenters have chopped and changed since the programme's launch. After a long period with Laverne as anchor, by January 2010 the main presenter role had switched back to Andrew Graham-Dixon. Other regular presenters and reporters have included Mark Kermode, Tom Dyckhoff, Clemency Burton-Hill, Mark Radcliffe, Tim Samuels, Matthew Sweet, Lauren Laverne and Danny Robbins. Guest presenters in the 2006/07 series included Stewart Lee, who interviewed his hero, the cult comedian Ted Chippington; Frank Skinner, who met singer Mark E. Smith for the show; author Grace Dent, who watches TV in her caravan; Guardian TV columnist and Screenwipe presenter Charlie Brooker, who came on the show to rant about Saturday night talent shows; and Russell Brand who presented a segment on Oxford University.
Under the editorship of Edward Morgan, each edition of the programme featured at least one live performance from a musical artist. Musical guests who performed on the show in the 2006/07 season included Regina Spektor, Dizzee Rascal, Fence Collective, Field Music, Babyshambles, Manic Street Preachers, Underworld, Mika, Faithless, Jarvis Cocker, Eduardo Niebla, Groove Armada, Example (rapper), Joan As Policewoman, Sting, Carlos Acosta, Bryan Ferry, Maxim Vengerov, Bat for Lashes, Patrick Wolf, Antony and the Johnsons and Paul McCartney.
From 3 June 2008, the programme moved into the 10pm Tuesday slot, previously occupied by Later With Jools Holland, with an extended edition shown on Thursdays at 11.20pm. On the relaunch, the show was jointly based in London and BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow.[2]
The show has been confirmed to be shown in HD in late 2009.[3]
Edward Morgan was succeeded as editor of The Culture Show in Autumn 2009 by Grierson-award winning Janet Lee,[4] previously the editor of the BBC flagship arts and culture strand Imagine, presented by Alan Yentob. Lee's version of the show reverted to the launch model - 60 minutes long, broadcast at 7pm on Thursdays, pre-recorded with presenters on location and no live music performance.