Talking Pictures is an occasional BBC Two television series which examines the lives and careers of well-known actors, as well as exploring various cinematic themes and genres. Episodes largely comprise interview clips from the BBC archives and vary in length between 30 and 60 minutes. With just two exceptions, the first 66 episodes were narrated by actress Sylvia Syms (2013–2019), following which the role was taken over by Celia Imrie (2020 onwards).[1] Only one film, On the Waterfront, has been the subject of an episode in its own right.[2] Episode 64 is notable in that it did not cover an aspect of the film-making industry itself, but rather was a look back at the career of film critic and longtime presenter of the BBC Film... programme, Barry Norman, who had died earlier in 2017.[3][4]

Episodes

Since the BBC does not group episodes into distinct series on the programme website, they are listed below in strict chronological order (according to the date when an episode was first shown). Episodes have been repeated on an ad hoc basis at fairly regular intervals, but the complete series (as it stands currently) has never been shown sequentially.[5]

No. Date first shown Subject
1 5 January 2013 Bette Davis
2 12 January 2013 John Mills
3 19 January 2013 David Niven
4 2 February 2013 Gene Kelly
5 16 February 2013 John Wayne
6 23 February 2013 Tony Curtis
7 2 March 2013 Dirk Bogarde
8 9 March 2013 James Stewart
9 29 March 2013 Lauren Bacall
10 1 April 2013 Orson Welles
11 27 April 2013 Ingrid Bergman
12 11 May 2013 Alec Guinness
13 6 July 2013 Gregory Peck
14 3 August 2013 James Mason
15 26 August 2013 Charlton Heston
16 12 October 2013 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
17 2 November 2013 Richard Burton
18 1 March 2014 Alfred Hitchcock
19 8 March 2014 Shirley MacLaine
20 12 April 2014 Joan Fontaine
21 3 May 2014 Richard Attenborough
22 10 May 2014 Deborah Kerr
23 17 May 2014 Laurence Olivier
24 24 May 2014 Sophia Loren
25 26 May 2014 Paul Newman
26 31 May 2014 Robert Mitchum
27 19 July 2014 Peter O'Toole
28 2 August 2014 Robert Redford
29 23 August 2014 David Lean
30 13 September 2014 Judi Dench
31 20 September 2014 Maggie Smith
32 28 December 2014 Julie Andrews
33 10 January 2015 Michael Caine
34 17 January 2015 Sean Connery
35 7 February 2015 Jack Lemmon
36 14 February 2015 Shelley Winters
37 21 February 2015 On the Waterfront
38 28 February 2015 Albert Finney
39 7 March 2015 Noël Coward
40 14 March 2015 Kenneth More
41 4 April 2015 Hollywood's Great Directors
42 25 April 2015 Richard Harris
43 9 May 2015 Hitchcock’s Leading Actors
44 11 July 2015 Christopher Lee
45 15 August 2015 Omar Sharif
46 29 August 2015 Musicals
47 31 August 2015 Anthony Hopkins
48 18 August 2015 John Huston
49 24 October 2015 Hollywood Actresses
50 31 October 2015 Great British Comedies
51 21 November 2015 Child Stars
52 2 January 2016 Sex Symbols
53 26 March 2016 War Films
54 27 August 2016 Bing Crosby
55 12 November 2016 The Black Stars of Film
56 1 January 2017 Alan Rickman
57 31 January 2017 Debbie Reynolds
58 18 February 2017 John Hurt
59 29 April 2017 60s Icons
60 28 October 2017[lower-alpha 1] Harry Potter
61 16 December 2017 Roger Moore
62 17 December 2017 Jane Fonda
63 23 February 2017 Bette and Joan[lower-alpha 2]
64 30 December 2017[lower-alpha 3] Barry Norman
65 30 March 2018 Epics
66 15 September 2019 Westerns
67 15 February 2020 Rom Coms
68 4 April 2020 70s Legends
69 23 May 2020 Joan Collins
70 6 December 2020 Christmas Classics[lower-alpha 4]
71 28 December 2020 Agatha Christie[lower-alpha 5]
72 1 January 2021 Great Dames[lower-alpha 6]
73 30 May 2021 War Stories[lower-alpha 7]
74 12 June 2021 Marvellous Musicals
75 4 September 2021 Film's Family Favourites
76 2 April 2022 Perfect Partners
77 7 May 2022 Meryl Streep
78 30 December 2023 Glenda Jackson
79 4 January 2024 Dustin Hoffman

Last updated 8 December 2023.

Transcripts and downloadable subtitles of some episodes in SRT/ASS (SSA) format are available from the Subsaga website.[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ This episode (which was narrated by actor Warwick Davis) appears to have been completed[6][7] but, for reasons which are not entirely clear, was never actually shown - except, perhaps, in one or two regions. To the apparent dismay of some Potter fans, it seems to have been supplanted in the schedule by an episode of Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs and was not given an alternative time slot.[8][9]
  2. ↑ That is to say, the legendary rivalry between actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (also the subject of eight-part TV drama series Feud, first shown on BBC Two beginning in December 2017).
  3. ↑ Narrated by impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner.[10]
  4. ↑ Features clips from The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Holiday Inn (1942), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Miracle on 34th Street (1947 original and 1994 remake), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), Scrooge (1970), The Snowman (1982), Gremlins (1984), Die Hard (1988), Home Alone (1990), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Elf (2003), Love Actually (2003), and Nativity! (2009). Also extracts of interviews with Fred Astaire (1976), Richard Attenborough (1994), James Caan (2003), Bing Crosby (1972), Macaulay Culkin (1990), Richard Curtis (2003), Will Ferrell (2003), Albert Finney (1970), Martin Freeman (2009), Brian Henson with Muppets Gonzo and Kermit (1992), Debbie Isitt (2009), Ronald Neame (1970), James Stewart (1972 and 1973), and Bruce Willis (1988).
  5. ↑ Includes clips from The Alphabet Murders (1965), Appointment with Death (1988), Death on the Nile (1978 original and 2022 remake). Murder Ahoy! (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974 and 2017 versions), Murder, She Said (1961), and Witness for the Prosecution (1957). Also features interviews with Lauren Bacall (1974), Kenneth Branagh (2017), Albert Finney (1992), Derek Jacobi with Olivia Colman (2017), Charles Laughton (1958), Sidney Lumet, Margaret Rutherford (1962), Peter Ustinov (1978 and 1988), and Billy Wilder.
  6. ↑ Features interviews with Judi Dench (2002), Helen Mirren (1975), Diana Rigg (1976 and 1980), Maggie Smith (1967 and 1993), Emma Thompson (1996), and Julie Walters (1984 and 2010). Also includes news footage of Julie Andrews and Elizabeth Taylor receiving their honours from the Queen on the same day in 2000.
  7. ↑ Includes clips from 1917 (2019), Apocalypse Now (1979), American Sniper (2014), Battle of Britain (1969), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Dunkirk (2017), Escape to Victory (1981), The Hurt Locker (2008), The Great Escape (1963), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Where Eagles Dare (1968), and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Also features excerpts of interviews with Kathryn Bigelow (2013), Richard Burton (1977), Michael Caine (1969 and 1981), Francis Ford Coppola (1985), Tom Cruise (2005), Clint Eastwood (1977 and 2015), Stewart Granger (1981), Ron Kovic (1980), Lee Marvin (1980), Sam Mendes (2019), Bobby Moore (1981), David Niven (1962), Gregory Peck (1986), Pelé (1981), Sylvester Stallone (1981 and 1985), John Sturges (1989), and Harry Styles with Fionn Whitehead (2017).

References

  1. ↑ "Talking Pictures, now narrated by Celia Imrie". United Voices. London. 6 February 2020. Archived from the original on 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "BBC Two - Talking Pictures, On the Waterfront". BBC.
  3. ↑ "Film critic Barry Norman dies". BBC News. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah; Slawson, Nicola (1 July 2017). "Film critic Barry Norman dies at 83". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "BBC Two - Talking Pictures - Episode guide". BBC.
  6. ↑ "BBC Two - Talking Pictures, Harry Potter". BBC. 28 October 2017.
  7. ↑ Davis, Warwick [@WarwickADavis] (27 October 2017). "I narrate 'Talking Pictures - Harry Potter', a fascinating journey into the magical archives of the film series. Sat 28th, @BBCTwo, 8.30pm" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 April 2019 – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ Davis, Warwick [@WarwickADavis] (28 October 2017). "Just heard that The Ministry of Magic cancelled the broadcast of the muggle programme, 'Talking Pictures: Harry Potter' on @BBCTwo. #Sorry" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 April 2019 – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ "Harry Potter Talking Pictures replaced by repeat of Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands". Digital Spy (Forums). 28 October 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "BBC Two - Talking Pictures, Barry Norman". BBC.
  11. ↑ "Talking Pictures". Subsaga. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
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