*Condition of use: Do not alter/ crop this image. Publicity still taken in line with social distancing restrictions
The South Bank Show will make a welcome return to Sky Arts on 22 November as part of a roster of shows on the now free-to-air channel. Edited and presented by Melvyn Bragg, the South Bank Show is the longest-running Arts show on British television. In this series, Melvyn interviews four artists at the height of their powers: Gillian Anderson, Bernardine Evaristo, Benjamin Zephaniah and Simon Armitage.
Gillian Anderson, one of the most highly-regarded actors working today, joins Melvyn for the first episode of the series. On stage at the Young Vic in London, where Gillian starred as Blanche Dubois in the award-winning production of A Streetcar Named Desire' in 2014, Melvyn and Gillian explore her diverse and prolific career across theatre, film and television, and discuss a range of work including The X-Files, Sex Education and The Fall, as well as Gillian's extraordinary current performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Crown.
Author Bernardine Evaristo made history in 2019, when she became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize for her remarkable novel, Girl, Woman, Other. In the second episode of this South Bank Show series, Bernadine talks to Melvyn about her childhood and early life in South London, and the creative influences that inspired her to become both an internationally acclaimed writer and a powerful voice for equality and diversity.
Benjamin Zephaniah is a pioneer of performance poetry: in the third episode of the series, he joins Melvyn for a candid conversation about his life and work, and reveals how his troubled youth inspired him to channel his energies into poetry - and how, in his words, poetry saved his life. He also performs a selection of his poems, exclusively for the South Bank Show, and gives a unique insight into the creative process behind them. This is an intimate profile of a groundbreaking artist.
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage completes the series. In episode four, he talks to Melvyn about how his latest collection of poems Magnetic Field: The Marsden Poems provide a deeply personal perspective on his career as one of the most energetic and powerful forces in contemporary poetry. The film takes him back to his roots in West Yorkshire, and to the moors which have provided such an inspiration to him as, a kind of page which could be written upon.
Melvyn Bragg says: I'm delighted that Sky Arts is now free to air. The South Bank Show's autumn season is a quartet tailor-made to suit this occasion. Gillian Anderson is one of the most famous and versatile actors of her time; Bernardine Evaristo, the first black female writer to win the Booker Prize, is enjoying phenomenal success; Benjamin Zephaniah continues to attract audiences all over the world with his vivid performance poetry; Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, seems to expand that role every month. Four artists at the top of their game.
Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts, says: The South Bank Show continues to be the flagship show for the arts and we are delighted to share the brilliant line up of the new series on our new Freeview platform.
The South Bank Show is part of a portfolio of content on Sky Arts produced by Directors Cut Productions, which includes The South Bank Sky Arts Awards, the only awards ceremony in the world to represent the entire spectrum of the arts, and The South Bank Show Originals, featuring famous past episodes with added footage and extra interviews and contributors.
The South Bank Show airs on Sky Arts, available for everyone to watch on Freeview Channel 11 and Freesat channel 147.
For more information please contact: calum.mcgarry@premiercomms.com and georgie.rennie@premiercomms.com
TX Dates for the South Bank Show 2020 on Sky Arts and NOW TV
Episode 1 - Gillian Anderson - Sunday 22 November, 22:45
Episode 2 - Bernardine Evaristo - Sunday 29 November, 22:45
Episode 3 - Benjamin Zephaniah - Sunday 6 December, 22:45
Episode 4 - Simon Armitage - Sunday 13 December, 22:45
Episode Directors
Episode 1 - Gillian Anderson - Suzannah Wander
Episode 2 - Bernardine Evaristo - Gillian Greenwood
Episode 3 - Benjamin Zephaniah - Suzannah Wander
Episode 4 - Simon Armitage - Navin Thapar
About Sky Arts:
As the UK's only dedicated arts channel, Sky Arts exists to bring more art to more people across the UK. By throwing open the doors to make the channel free to air, we want to increase access to and participation in the arts. Offering something for everyone, whatever their passion, Sky Arts showcases the best of classical and popular music, theatre, opera, dance and the visual arts, as well as original drama and comedy.
About Sky
Sky is Europe's leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Across six countries, we connect our 24 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own award-winning original content.
Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love - TV, music, games, online video, fitness and educational content, all in one place, easy. Our streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.
Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, I Hate Suzie and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, while Sky Arts, the UK's only dedicated free-to-air arts channel, makes the arts accessible for everyone. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years alone.
We believe tha
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
*Condition of use: Do not alter/ crop this image. Publicity still taken in line with social distancing restrictions
