Alan Ravenscroft

The story behind Blondie's album Parallel Lines, which sold 16 million copies and captured the spirit of 1970s New York at a time of poverty, crime and an exploding artistic life.

The story behind Blondie's album Parallel Lines, which sold 16 million copies and captured the spirit of 1970s New York at a time of poverty, crime and an exploding artistic life.

The story behind Blondie's album Parallel Lines, which sold 16 million copies and captured the spirit of 1970s New York at a time of poverty, crime and an exploding artistic life.

Huddie Ledbetter was born into poverty, battled racism, and did time, but in spite of his early hardships, or perhaps because of them, he became one of the great musicians of the 20th century. We trace the life and career of Lead Belly, a man praised by critics and revered by artists, whose unique music crossed a host of genres and influenced countless industry legends, from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Nirvana and beyond.

“Mr Mojo Risin’” is the story of the making of the Doors’ last album with Jim Morrison “L.A. Woman”. 2011 is the 40th anniversary both of the album’s release and of the death of Jim Morrison and this programme goes into detail of how the album came about, its recording and what was happening to the band at the time. The story is told through new interviews with the three surviving Doors: Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore plus contributions from Jac Holzman, founder of their label Elektra Records, Bill Siddons, who was their manager, Bruce Botnick, engineer and co-producer of the album and others associated with the Doors at this time. The show includes archive footage of the Doors performing both live and in the studio, classic photographs and new musical demonstrations from the Doors.

With a hugely successful career stretching back into the fifties, James Last has proved himself to be one of the greatest entertainers in the world of music. The James Last Orchestra is the most successful big band in chart history and they have sold in excess of 50 million albums worldwide. This spectacular show was filmed in high definition at London's Royal Albert Hall on James Last's 2007 tour and captures the James Last Orchestra at the top of their game in front of a wildly enthusiastic sold out crowd who fervently believe in audience participation.

Live at the Roundhouse is a live concert DVD by American dark cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. On November 3 and 4, 2006, The Dresden Dolls performed at London's recently restored Roundhouse venue. The shows (and resulting DVD) featured a large number of artistic performers, circus acts, gymnasts, and cabaret dancers, both as support acts and participating alongside the band during their set. The set draws from both of their studio albums, previously unreleased songs and covers.

John Peel's Record Box is a documentary film made by Elaine Shepherd, released on 14 November 2005 on Channel 4. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award. It is about a small private collection of the British radio DJ John Peel who died in 2004 at the age of 65. Peel's main archive contained more than 100,000 vinyl records and CDs. This smaller private collection, however, contains 143 singles - some of them doublettes - stored in a private wooden box representing some of his personal favourites. According to the documentary, there are no singles by Peel's favorite group, The Fall, because he kept them in a separate box. The film features interviews with John's wife Sheila Ravenscroft, radio DJs and artists like Mary Anne Hobbs, Sir Elton John, Ronnie Wood, Roger Daltrey, Fergal Sharkey, Jack White, Michael Palin and Miki Berenyi.

They were four ordinary lads from Liverpool who became the biggest rock band the world had ever seen. Wherever they went, they won hearts and sold millions of discs and cinema tickets. What was so special about them that they could fill concert halls and airports form Tokyo to New York with thousands of fans? Why did the dream die and what have "The Fab Four" left behind? In short, who were the Beatles and how did they conquer the world? In this program, we look at their progress week by week through the best days of their lives with footage of fans and interviews, destinations and encounters, good times and bad. The Beatle Diaries tells you all you need to know about the significant events of the Fab Four’s glory years. Travel with John, Paul, George and Ringo from their early days in Liverpool to San Francisco, where they played their last concert together.

With the death of Elizabeth I, 1603 heralded the beginning of the Stuarts; a royal house that was to last for over one hundred years. Here was a period that would see amongst other events; civil war, a great plague, the fire of London, the abolition and re-introduction of the monarchy and the gunpowder plot. James I and Charles I ruled until 1649 when Parliament took over during an eleven year period which came to be known as the Commonwealth and Protectorate. The monarchy was finally restored in 1660 with the crowning of Charles II, he was followed by James II, William III and Mary II and finally in 1702 by Queen Anne. 1714 brought England a new royal line with the coronation of George I and so ended another turbulent chapter of England's royal history. With expert analysis from Alan Ereira and atmospheric period reconstructions this programme is an interesting and informative record of the Stuart years.

The Titanic survivors are interviewed, along with a gathering in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a Titanic historic society convention.

TV documentary in which Robert Redford discusses the Wild West and retraces the old escape route to Mexico.