Changing Trains

BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Elieen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.

This is the story of Dame Barbara Windsor, the Cockney kid with a dazzling smile and talent to match. Preparing to perform in the theatre one cold evening in 1993, the cheeky, chirpy blonde Babs recounts the people and events that have shaped her life and career over fifty years from 1943 to 1993. She contemplates her lonely childhood and WWII evacuation, her decision to go from Barbara Ann Deeks to Barbara Windsor - inspired by the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, her complicated relationship with her father, her doomed marriage to Ronnie Knight, capturing the attention of Joan Littlewood and becoming the blonde bombshell in the Carry On films. Babs, ever the consummate professional, never lets her fans down whatever her personal anguish and steps on the stage to rapturous applause.

A shy British teacher looks back nostalgically at his long career, taking note of the people who touched his life.

In 1915, German Counter-Intelligence Chief Von Sturm learns that someone is providing the British with critical strategic planning for the Turkish theater. He suspects Ali Bey, Turkish commander for the Dardanelles, and dispatches Annemarie to Constantinople to secure the proof. En route, she becomes involved with Douglas Beall, a footloose American. Complications ensue, requiring Annemarie to engage in some dangerous improvisations.

In New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying to act and returning home. He goes with her for inspiration when his agent convinces a stage star to take his next effort. When he returns to Broadway, his girl stays behind and starts seeing a local businessman.

A woman is torn between the love of her life, who is married to someone else, and her older husband.

This autobiographical story traces the career of playwright Moss Hart. Moss struggles as a dramatic writer until he concentrates his efforts on writing comedy. He suffers through a series of professional and romantic failures before a meeting with George S. Kaufman which changes his fortunes.

On the set of a playwright's new project, a love triangle forms between his wife, her ex-lover, and the call girl-turned-actress cast in the production.

In 1910, a wayward mother re-visits the family she deserted.

Helena Mora, the head of an eccentric theatrical family, has decided to sell her large estate in the Hamptons because of her recent money troubles. Before she completes the sale, she wants to have one last gathering of family and friends, with dramatic performances. Bringing everyone together, though, creates rivalries and tension, especially for Oona, a temperamental but successful movie actress who seeks the approval of her creative peers.

A burlesque dancer with dreams of becoming a comic book artist investigates the disappearance of a close friend.

When Hollywood film studios reject her because she's too young, an Arkansas woman sets out to build a career as an actress on her own.

After the indomitable and beloved founder of a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York falls into a coma, the eccentric staff must band together with her clueless "crypto-bro" son to keep the thespian paradise afloat.

Isabella Eklöf is an unemployed actress in her early thirties. Her friends all enjoy stable relationships, children and successful careers. In order to jump-start her life she decides to lie a bit on her next job application with unexpected consequences.

A struggling actress is cast in her last off (off) Broadway show - a modern take on “A Christmas Carol” - before giving up her dream and moving home. Instead, she finds romance with her director and a renewed passion for her craft and the city. But when the historic theater loses its lease and the show is set to fold, she and her cast mates are need of a Christmas miracle.

Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began. The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; indeed, as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor. Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.

The story of the romantic and creative partnership between Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. He was a filmmaker and one of theater's most influential choreographers and directors; she was the greatest Broadway dancer of all time. Together, they changed the face of American entertainment — at a perilous cost.

Ms. Julie teaches performing arts workshops with the help of her assistant Gus at their Wellspring Center for the Performing Arts.

For Valerie Cherish, no price is too high to pay for clinging to the spotlight. Desperate to revive her career, she agrees to star in a reality TV series, allowing cameras to follow her every move as she lands a part on a new network sitcom.

Mike Hammer, Private Eye is an American syndicated television program based on the adventures of the fictitious private detective Mike Hammer, created by novelist Mickey Spillane. The show starred Stacy Keach and was seen as an attempt to revive the character he had played in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and The New Mike Hammer - two moderately successful syndicated CBS series from the 1980s. Mike Hammer, Private Eye premiered on September 27, 1997. The show failed to gain a wide audience and, as a result, it was canceled after only one season. The final show of the series aired on June 14, 1998.

The It Factor is a reality television show which aired for two seasons on the Bravo network. It followed actors as they attempted to lead successful careers. The first season profiled actors in New York City, and the second season did the same in Los Angeles. Notable actors who appeared on the show include Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, model/actress LisaRaye, Michaela Conlin, and Godfrey.

An aspiring actress with a larger than life personality and her science geek best friend try to make headway in New York City.

Stuart Pritchard is an awkward, overly-confident Englishman trying to date in Los Angeles – where he repeatedly attempts to infiltrate the world of beautiful people.

A comedy about six friends at different stages in their lives – married, divorced, newly engaged and single – who are outwardly happy, but secretly questioning if their friends have it better. Andi and Bobby are happily married with two kids but at times long for the days they had less responsibility and more fun; Will is newly single and preaching the bachelor lifestyle, but still pining for his ex-wife; Jules and Lowell are high on their passionate new relationship; and Kate has a successful career but may take a swan dive into the L.A. River when she finds out her last remaining single friend, Jules, just got engaged. When it comes to relationships, these six friends are finding it a challenge to look at each other without wondering… who really has the better life?

Mark Cousins invites film actors and directors to watch major scenes in their career to date, and to talk us through them.

Carrying nearly five million passengers per day, the London Tube is one of the world's oldest and busiest metro systems in the world. Today the Tube is undergoing a complete overhaul that is long overdue. Take a behind the scenes look into the daily lives of drivers, emergency personnel, operations managers, and many others among the near twenty thousand employees of this massive rail system, as they navigate the evolution of the London Tube.

Tired of being the comedic sidekick, Kevin Hart gets his wish when a famous director offers him his dream – to be a leading man action star – but there’s a catch: Kevin must first train at the world’s greatest action star school, run by a lunatic.

Going behind the scenes with staff at Birmingham New Street station to provide a vivid insight into the variety of situations they face, from flooding to industrial action, irate passengers, parties on the concourse and even nudity on the platforms.

The Piano is a new talent show that will profile the best amateur pianists in the UK, performing on pianos at four stations around the country. Unbeknown to the contestants, though, it's not just a documentary: it's also a competition. The contestants are secretly being judged and the four best of them - one from each station - will perform at the Royal Festival Hall to an audience of thousands in the final episode.

Lisa, after witnessing a cataclysmic event on Platform 7 of a railway station, finds her own fragmented memory jogged to reveal a connection between her own life and that of the event she has just witnessed.