Arena
Arena is a British television documentary series produced and broadcast by the BBC. Recognized by leading TV executives in *Broadcast* as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, the series has been running since 1 October 1975. Over 500 episodes have been produced, directed by figures including Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlöndorff, and Vikram Jayanti. The series has profiled some of the most prominent cultural figures of the 20th and 21st centuries, including singers such as Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse, academics like Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, writers including Jean Genet and V S Naipaul, and artists such as Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.
Seasons & Episodes
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Credits
Community tags
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Cast & Crew
889 unique people credited
Top billed cast
B B King
as Self - Guest
Gavin Millar
as Self - Presenter
Kenneth Tynan
as Self
Paul Mccartney
as Self
Philip Hoare
as Self
Nicholas Shakespeare
as Self - Narrator
Penelope Wilton
as Self - Narrator
Ian Mckellen
as Self
Bob Dylan
as Self
Elvis Presley
as Self - King of Rock and Roll
John Walters
as Self - Presenter
Orson Welles
as Self - Interviewee
Supporting cast
248Jonathan Miller
as Self - Associate Director, 1973-1975
Laurence Olivier
as Self - Director, National Theatre, 1963-1973
Alec Guinness
as Self - Readings, Self, Self - Various Roles
Mel Brooks
as Self
Peter Brook
as Self - Director
Graham Greene Nm0001294
as Self
Spike Milligan
as Self
Peter Sellers
as King of Hearts
Eric Sykes
as Self - Bus Driver
Ringo Starr
as Self
Peter Hall
as Self - Director, National Theatre, 1973-1988
Eileen Atkins
as Self
Frank Sinatra
as Self
Martin Scorsese
as Self
John Lahr
as Self - Biographer
John Lennon
as Self
George Harrison
as Self
Peter Cook
as Self - Television, Self - T
Max Bygraves
as Self
Leslie Megahey
as Self - Narrator
Harold Pinter
as Self - Nicolas
Alexei Sayle
as Self - Presenter, Self - John Bull
George Melly
as Self - Guest Columnist
Paul Scofield
as Self, Self - Various, Self - Readings from Buñuel's autobiography
Anthony Powell
as Self
Dirk Bogarde
as Self, Self - Various Roles
John Hurt
as Self - Reader
Jeanne Moreau
as Self - Lulu
Kingsley Amis
as Self
Lindsay Duncan
as Rose, Various characters, Christine Butcher
Phil Everly
as Self - The Everly Brothers, Self - Performer
Richard Attenborough
as Self - Actor and Director
Charlotte Rampling
as Self
Albert Finney
as Self
Quentin Crisp
as Self - Writer
Sophia Loren
as Self
Vanessa Redgrave
as Self
Andy Warhol
as Self
William S Burroughs
as Self
Alan Yentob
as Self - Interviewer, Self - Narrator
Nigel Williams
as Self - narrator, Self - interviewer, Self - Narrator, Self - Interviewee
John Wayne
as Self - Stony Brooke
Dennis Potter
as Self
Auberon Waugh
as Self
Margaret Thatcher
as Self
Billy Wilder
as Self
John Le Carre
as Self
Ava Gardner
as Self
Alex Jennings
as Self - Readings
Nigel Hawthorne
as Self - Readings
Robert Powell
as Self - Narrator
Stephen Fry
as Self - Narrator
Pete Murray
as Self - Narrator, Self - Broadcaster, Self - Panellist
Germaine Greer
as Self
Michael Hordern
as King Lear, Mr. A
Woody Allen
as Self - Interviewee
Roy Plomley
as Self
Salman Rushdie
as Self
George Martin Nm0552326
as Self
Richard Slotkin
as Commentator
Indira Varma
as Self - Various, Self - Gila
Jude Law
as Various Characters
Jimmy Breslin
as Self - Columnist and Writer, Self - Journalist
Jayne Mansfield
as Self
Dilly Barlow
as Self - Readings, Self - Listeners' Comments, Self - Narrator
Sting
as Self - Just Like Eddie, Self - Machiavelli
Alan Bennett Nm0003141
as Self
Terry Gilliam
as Self - Interviewee
Don Everly
as Self - Performer
Kenneth Cranham
as Self - Various characters
James Mason Nm0000051
as Self
Marianne Faithfull
as Self
Queen Elizabeth Ii
as Self
Adolf Hitler
as Self
Judi Dench
as Self - Sweetie Simpkins
Joan Plowright
as Self
Peter Shaffer
as Self - Playwright
Don Siegel
as Self
Joan Bakewell
as Self - Reporter
Gore Vidal
as Self
Donald Pleasence
as Self - Mourner, Self - Mac Davies, Self - Bernard Jenkins
Victoria Wood
as Self
Russell Harty
as Self
Monica Sims
as Self - Controller, Radio 4
Buddy Holly
as Self
Malcolm Muggeridge
as Self
Cyril Connolly
as Self
The Beatles
as Themselves
Nelson Mandela
as Self - Interviewed Guest
Sylvia Syms
as Self
Martin Luther King
as Self
Little Richard
as Self
Peter Quennell
as Self
John Mortimer
as Self
Evelyn Waugh
as Self
Diana Mosley
as Self
Harold Acton
as Self
Clint Eastwood
as Self
Carole Hersee
as Self
Volker Schlondorff
as Self
Anthony Burgess
as Self
Vivien Greene
as Self
Richard West
as Self
Irene Handl
as Self
Harry Secombe
as Self
Bryan Forbes
as Self
Terry Thomas
as Self
Graham Stark
as Self
Michael Pennington
as Narrator
David Lodge
as Self
Michael Sellers
as Self
Sarah Sellers
as Self
Anne Levy
as Self
Peg Sellers
as Self
John Mills Nm0590055
as Self
Ronald Neame
as Self
Brian Epstein
as Self
Noel Coward
as Self
Sheridan Morley
as Self
Michael Billington
as Self
George Bernard Shaw
as Self
Ingmar Bergman
as Self
Robert Redford
as Self - Narrator
Tony Bennett
as Self - Singer
Gary Glitter
as Self
Jack Nicholson
as Self
Gerald Scarfe
as Self
Eddie Cochran
as Self
Frankie Howerd
as Self
Bette Davis
as Self
Billie Holiday
as Self - Jazz Singer
Stephen Rea
as Various characters
Nat King Cole
as Self
Elizabeth Mcgovern
as Self - Narrator, Self - Readings
Paul Merton
as Self
Francis Bacon
as Self
Peter Bogdanovich
as Self
Lloyd Hutchinson
as Various characters, Victor
Ben Kingsley
as Self - Readings
Anthony Perkins Nm0000578
as Self
Louise Brooks
as Self
Robbie Coltrane
as Detective, Self
Reggie Nadelson
as Self - Presenter
Henry Woolf
as Self, Self - Mr. Kidd, Self - Various characters
Mario Cuomo
as Self - Governor of New York, 1982-1994, Self - Governor of New York, 1982-84
Phil Collins
as Self - Panellist
John Lee Hooker
as Self
Peter Donaldson
as Self - Readings, Self - Announcer
Brian Clarke
as Self
John Huston
as Self
Michael Palin
as Self
Jerry Allison
as Self - Crickets Drummer
Jill Evans
as Self - Commentator, Self - Narrator
Koo Stark
as Self
Gloria Swanson
as Self
Susan Wooldridge
as Self - Various characters
Eric Idle
as Self - Bus Passenger
Andy De La Tour
as Self - Various characters
Graham Chapman
as Bus Conductor
Rolf Harris
as Self
David Hockney
as Self
Rowan Atkinson
as Self
Buddy Rich
as Self - Drummer
Bill E Burk
as Self - Writer and Friend of Elvis
Bernard Cribbins
as Self
Chet Atkins
as Self - Guitarist and WA4CZD
Colin Firth
as Self - Narrator, Self - Various
Mitch Miller
as Self
Ed Sullivan
as Self
Elvis Costello
as Self - Interviewee
Kenneth Williams
as Self
Fred Zinnemann
as Self - Director
Cilla Black
as Self
Marilyn Monroe
as Self
George Nichopoulos
as Self - Elvis's personal physician, Self - Elvis's Personal Doctor
Anna Ford
as Self
Jeff Beck
as Self
Neil Innes
as Self
Lia Williams
as Mrs. Sands, Various characters
Winston Churchill
as Self
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
as Self
Elizabeth Taylor Nm0000072
as Self
Jerry Hall
as Self
Leon Vitali
as Self
Deborah Norton
as Self
Alan Ayckbourn
as Self - Playwright
Leo Mckern
as Socrates
Christopher Hampton
as Self
Alan Bates
as Mick
Arnold Wesker
as Self
Billie Whitelaw
as Self
Claire Bloom
as Self
Trevor Peacock
as Self - Reading
Peggy Ashcroft
as Winnie
Henry Moore
as Self - Sculptor
Barbara Jefford
as Self
Peter Barnes Nm0055726
as Self
Derek Jacobi
as Self
Alec Mccowen
as Self
Placido Domingo
as Self
Pauline Kael
as Self
Ralph Steadman
as Self
Bernardo Bertolucci
as Self
Alasdair Milne
as Self
Sid Vicious
as Self
Tim Page
as Self
David Bowie
as Self
David Mcgillivray
as Self
Peter Fluck
as Self - Co-creator, Spitting
Roger Law
as Self - Co-creator, Spitting
Mark Knopfler
as Self
Michael Powell
as Self
Emeric Pressburger
as Self
Sheila Sim
as Alison Smith
Jerry Lewis
as Self
Deborah Kerr
as Self, Self - Sister Clodagh
Nabil Shaban
as Self
Art Spiegelman
as Self
William Rushton
as Self
Richard Ingrams
as Self
John Peel
as Self
Catherine Deneuve
as Self
Jackie Curtis
as Self - Nurse
Allen Ginsberg
as Self
Carlos Fuentes
as Self
David Astor
as Self
Bernard Crick
as Self - Biographer
Jacintha Buddicom
as Self
Tosco Fyvel
as Self - Critic & Friend
Kay Ekevall
as Self
Mabel Fierz
as Self - Family Friend
Barry Humphries
as Self - Dame Edna Everage, Self - Sir Les Patterson
Jean Genet
as Self - interviewee
Dizzy Gillespie
as Self - Performer
Akira Kurosawa
as Self
Charles Chaplin
as Self
Robert Crumb
as Self
Simon Fraser 15th Lord Lovat
as Self
Bill Deedes
as Self
Brian Eno
as Self
Grace Kelly Nm0000038
as Self
Audrey Hepburn
as Self
Jane Fonda
as Self
Burt Lancaster
as Self
Michael Winner
as Self - Film Director
Milton Berle
as Self
George Wendt
as Oblomov
Greta Garbo
as Self
Producers
3Alan Yentob
producer / executive producer / series editor / series editor: Arena43 episodes • 1977–1985
Anthony Wall
executive producer / producer / associate producer / executive producer for BBC arena / series producer / executive producer: for BBC / executive producer: for BBC Arena / series editor112 episodes • 1982–2018
Nigel Finch
executive producer / producer / series editor40 episodes • 1985–1995
Other crew
646Bill Couturie
(as Bill Couturie)1 episode • 1990
David Baillie
(as David Baillee)1 episode • 2002
David M Thompson
(as David Thompson)7 episodes • 2003–2016
Goran Hugo Olsson
(as Göran Olsson)1 episode • 2019
Karl Stieg
(as Karl Steig)1 episode • 2017, assistant editor (as Karl Steig)2 episodes • 2017
Michael Russell
(as Mike Russell)1 episode • 1994
Pamela Brighton
(as Pam Brighton)1 episode • 1982
Pawe Pawlikowski
(as Paul Pawlikowski)1 episode • 1994
Sarah Mcculloch
(as Sarah McCullock) / photography2 episodes • 2002, camera assistant1 episode • 2001
Kristina Hetherington
(as Tina Hetherington)1 episode • 1985
Witold Stok
(as Witold Stok B.S.C.)1 episode • 1994
Bob Blagden
(segment "The Illustrators")1 episode • 1976
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Parents Guide
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