Season 2016

Presented by Jeremy Vine, this programme examines the life and music of David Bowie, one of the most influential artists of modern times. It explores how Bowie continually reshaped his image and sound, from the psychedelic innocence of Space Oddity, through the characters of Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke, to his later years as a confident, soul-inflected rock performer.

Often mocked as the ultimate symbol of rock excess, the concept album has also produced some of the genre’s most ambitious and rewarding works. At a time when listeners engaged with records as complete journeys, these albums offered narrative-driven or thematically linked experiences on an almost operatic scale. Presented by Rick Wakeman, this documentary playfully examines the rise of the concept album, from its folk and psychedelic roots to its grandest—and most outrageous—expressions. Spanning classics from Pink Floyd to The Beach Boys and beyond, the film explores how big ideas, imagination, and excess combined to create rock’s most theatrical moments, with insights from artists who helped shape the form.

For decades, EMI was a defining force in popular music. From introducing the The Beatles to the world, the company went on to shape each successive era of British music. Behind the hits, however, stood a traditional institution often struggling to keep pace with the artists it championed—grappling with psychedelia, confronting punk, and funding the excesses of the 1980s. Through interviews with musicians and former staff, the film reveals how artists’ demands for creative control transformed EMI from within. It also uncovers the myths, excess, and personalities of an industry that helped make British music a global cultural force, with EMI at its very centre.

This documentary essay by Julien Temple examines the postwar childhood and teenage years of Keith Richards in Dartford and London. It explores the social, cultural, and intellectual shifts in England between 1945 and 1962 that laid the foundations for the British rock explosion of the 1960s. By placing Richards’s early life within this changing landscape, the film shows how these formative years helped shape an artist who would play a pivotal role in transforming popular music worldwide.

This documentary tells the Back to Life story of Jazzie B, charting an unlikely rise from a young Black British musician in a decade of unemployment and social upheaval to global success. Starting out with a mobile reggae sound system touring London, he went on to lead Soul II Soul to international chart-topping hits. Alongside the music, Jazzie B created the Funki Dred look, pioneering a new Black British street style and fashion brand before branding became a concept. Built as a collective during an era of individualism, Soul II Soul helped shape a multicultural British identity, turning underground culture into worldwide success by the decade’s end.

At the close of the 1970s, a shy young artist shot to the top of the charts and suddenly became a global star. After three decades of innovative, highly influential work, he disappeared from the studio for six years. This documentary follows Gary Numan as he sets out to rebuild his career in America, break into Hollywood, and return to recording after a long absence. Alongside the professional journey, the film offers an intimate portrait of renewal and family life, as Numan, his wife Gemma, and their children begin a new chapter together in Los Angeles.