Indie Classics at the BBC

An unemployed pot-smoking slacker and amateur drummer, Anthony Stoner ditches his strict parents and hits the road, eventually meeting kindred spirit Pedro de Pacas. While the drug-ingesting duo is soon arrested for possession of marijuana, Anthony and Pedro get released on a technicality, allowing them to continue their many misadventures and ultimately compete in a rock band contest, where they perform the raucous tune "Earache My Eye."

A chronological account of the influential late 1970s English rock band.

The true story of the rise and fall of Creation Records and its infamous founder Alan McGee; the man responsible for supplying the “Brit Pop” soundtrack to the ‘90s, a decade of cultural renaissance known as Cool Britannia. From humble beginnings to Downing Street soirées, from dodging bailiffs to releasing multi-platinum albums, Creation had it all. Breakdowns, bankruptcy, fights and friendships… and not forgetting the music. Featuring some of the greatest records you have ever heard, we follow Alan through a drug-fuelled haze of music and mayhem, as his rock’n’roll dream brings the world Oasis, Primal Scream, and other generation-defining bands.

Tame comedy in which Julie converts her stuffy husband Roger and his equally prudish parents to the joys of nudism.

Sky Arts presents the definitive story of The Jam, one of the most successful British bands in rock history, who were at the forefront of the late 1970s punk-mod scene. Featuring exclusive interviews with Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, and richly illustrated with archive performances, this documentary, directed by Bob Smeaton, traces the band's formation and success between 1975 and 1982, and is set against the backdrop of the ever changing politics, fashion and attitudes that shaped the period of late 70s and early 80s.

Documentary celebrating the triumph, tragedy and human comedy that was Manchester record company, Factory. Started by the late Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannett in the late 1970s, it became known as the home of Joy Divsion, New Order and Happy Mondays and for creating the Hacienda club. The label pioneered Britain's independent pop culture, creating a new Manchester and blowing a shed-load of money. Includes interviews with all the main players in the Factory story.

Documentary series made in China in the early 90s. Agland was an anthropologist and he’d already made a wonderful series in the 80s about the Baka tribe in Cameroon. For Beyond the Clouds, he spent several years in a small town in Yunnan province telling the stories of various characters he met. He focuses on normal people but in doing so tells us about China’s past as well as its present and the monumental change that was coming.

A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics looks at Hollywood’s biggest screen spectaculars from all sides, including the genre’s beginnings, literary adaptations, great epic directors and actors, the challenges of making big-budget movies, classic set-pieces and epic music scores. The special also looks at how the genre fell out of favor with audiences and filmmakers in the ‘70s and ‘80s, only to be reborn with more recent films like Gladiator, and Dances with Wolves trilogy. Throughout, the special is packed with classic scenes and behind-the-scenes images from such films as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Gone With the Wind (1939), Samson & Delilah (1949), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), El Cid (1961), King of Kings (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).

A tribute to British comedian Mel Smith, who died in July 2013, aged 60, featuring home video footage, rare archive material and many classic sketches. Far more than a comic actor, Smith also wrote and edited a host of celebrated TV comedies in the 1980s and 90s. He was a theatre and film director, and as a TV producer he was responsible for several innovative comedy series. Friends and colleagues, including Griff Rhys Jones, John Lloyd and Richard Curtis, talk about Smith's talents, both in front of- and behind the camera. The programme also traces his time at Oxford and, before that, Latymer Upper School, where Smith's talents were first spotted.

Live performance by English indie band Foals. Filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the band perform a selection of tracks from throughout their career including 'Spanish Sahara', 'Inhaler', 'My Number' and 'Late Night'.

1. Decades 2. Dead Souls 3. Love Will Tear Us Apart 4. Shadowplay 5. Day Of The Lords 6. Digital 7. Colony 8. New Dawn Fades 9. Autosuggestion 10. Transmission 11. Sound Of Music 12. She's Lost Control 13. Walked In Line 14. I Remember Nothing 15. Love Will Tear Us Apart 1 hour half inch tape from Ikon FCL. All songs published by Fractured Music Live footage (albeit poor quality) from the Apollo in Manchester and Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Compilation celebrating some guitar band performances at the BBC that feature some of the best female musicians in rock. Beginning with the oft-forgotten American group Fanny performing You're the One, it's a journey along rock's spectrum from the 1970s to now. The selection includes the powerful vocals of Elkie Brooks on Vinegar Joe's Proud to Be a Honky Woman, the mesmerising poetry of Patti Smith's Horses and the upbeat energy of the Go-Go's on We Got the Beat. Mighty basslines come courtesy of Tina Weymouth on Psycho Killer and Kim Gordon on Sugar Kane, whilst we trace the line of indie rock from the Au Pairs through Lush, Elastica and Garbage to current band Savages.

This is the story, as told by fans and fellow musicians, of one of the greatest indie rock bands of all time: Solar Bear. Retold through a collection of archival footage and never-before-seen interviews with the band, the reign of Solar Bear at the top of the independent music world is brought to life in this retrospective.

Through archival interviews and footage, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley relive the arc of their Wham! career, from 70s best buds to 80s pop icons.

Honing his craft as an indie filmmaker in Germany in the early 90s, Uwe Boll never could have imagined the life that lay before him. From working with Oscar-winning actors and making films with US$60million budgets to having actors publicly disparage him and online petitions demanding he stop making films, Boll continued to work; he has a filmography of 32 features, a career that has led to his new life as a successful high-end restauranteur. Already a cult legend, he will be remembered forever in the film world; for some, as a modern-day Ed Wood, who made films so bad, they're good, while for others, a prolific filmmaker who came from a small town in Germany and never compromised his integrity while forging his own unique Hollywood trajectory.

The Mr. Men Show was an animated television series based on the original Mr. Men and Little Miss books created in the 1970s, 80s and 90s by British author Roger Hargreaves and his son Adam Hargreaves. Adapted from the published source material into a television variety program, The Mr. Men Show features comedy sketches, pantomimes, dance numbers and music videos. The TV series is directed by Mark Risley and executive produced by Eryk Casemiro & Kate Boutilier. Original score and songs are composed by Jared Faber. Season 1 first aired on February 4, 2008 and Season 2 aired on September 8, 2009.

Set in the early 1960's in New York City's Public Morals Division, where cops walk the line between morality and criminality as the temptations that come from dealing with all kinds of vice can get the better of them.

The Division is an American crime drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine and starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focused on a team of women police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The series premiered on Lifetime on January 7, 2001 and ended on June 28, 2004 after 88 episodes.

Take a trip back in time to see what Christmas and the holiday season were like in America not too long ago as we reveal how many of today’s popular holiday celebrations and traditions had their start in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. With experts and cultural icons offering their own insight and personal memories, we reveal how your favorite holiday films, fads, television specials, songs and toys are still part of your holiday celebrations today.

True and her friends are dropping sweet, silly beats with freshly modern music videos set to the sounds of classic nursery rhyme songs.

Michael Palin revisits his first four TV travel documentaries. He draws on his personal archive of audio recordings and diary notebooks, and reflects on how he became a seasoned global traveller. Featuring contributions from fans and friends, including David Attenborough, Joanna Lumley and Simon Reeve.

Host Chris Spencer and a series of talking heads take a nostalgic look back at all the things we loved, hated and miss about the 70s, 80s and 90s, from the best black family sitcoms to the most memorable athlete endorsement deals ever on TV.

The story of the legendary record producers who dominated pop music in the 80s and 90s, selling countless millions of records and launching the careers of Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Jason Donovan and others.

An extended family and four young people are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone music, which exploded from the grass roots of Coventry and Birmingham in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, uniting black, white and Asian youths.

Taking a deliberately post-modern approach to the CBC and Canadian culture, the series raids the bulging vaults of the national broadcaster. Viewers will see images of Canada’s past five decades, ranging from the long-running celebrity quiz show Front Page Challenge through ’70s pop star Rene Simard to stirring footage of legendary hockey icons. Deliberately using a stylistic melange, the series will use contemporary footage shot in Betacam video and Super 8 with old kinescopes from the ’50s, black-and-white footage of the ’60s and the more standard color format from the ’70s through the ’90s.

Videos, photos, ads and games from the pre-Internet era and a focus on things that would have gone viral had the web existed back then. A group of guest panelists will join in and comment, as well as share their memories from the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

Failed actress Jackie Beat has finally become a psychotherapist. Using role-playing, primal scream therapy, ink-blot tests and even puppets, she is helping her funny, famous and fabulous "friends" navigate the rocky road of mental health.

Profesional amateur dancing is the fastest-growing division of ballroom dancing in the world. In this sport, known as Pro-Am, amateur dancers pay professional dance partners to compete with them in competitions around the country each week. No stone goes unturned and no price is too high for these women dancers who are obsessed to a spectacular degree. From the producers of "90 Day Fiance," this access-driven docuseries will follow and intercut the stories of the most fascinating, talented, and obsessed ballroom amateur dancers in the country.

This new CBC documentary series uses contemporary interviews and archival footage to chronicle Canada’s long history of anti-Black racism, including episodes on police brutality and the rise of hip-hop music.

Early NBC series showcasing compilation films - documentaries made from existing archival footage. Patterned on the successful Victory at Sea, it employed fast-paced editing, music, and narration. Concentrating on public affairs and public life, it steered clear of controversial subjects and enjoyed strong ratings, inspiring many competitors such as Air Power and The Twentieth Century. In later years, however, it would be criticized as superficial in comparison to "serious" documentary and current events programs.