First transmitted in 2004 to commemorate the channel's 40th birthday, stars and programme makers come together to look back at the story of BBC Two.
Stars and programme-makers look back at the early years of BBC Two in a programme first transmitted in 2004 to commemorate the channel's 40th birthday. After a disastrous power failure on the opening night, long-running series including Playschool and Match of the Day made their debuts and the channel became the first in the UK to broadcast in colour, with groundbreaking programmes including Kenneth Clark's documentary series Civilisation and the adaptation of Robert Graves's I, Claudius. Other series shown on the channel in its first decade include The Likely Lads, The Forsyth Saga, Pot Black, The Goodies and The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Stars and programme-makers come together to look back at landmark series from BBC Two, including the long-running arts series Arena and David Attenborough's natural history masterpiece Life on Earth. The channel became home to hard-hitting and groundbreaking drama including Law & Order, Boys from the Blackstuff, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Empire Road, as well as classic comedies such as Fawlty Towers and Yes, Minister. In the 1980s, documentary strand 40 Minutes was launched, politicians began to be grilled on Newsnight, Janet Street-Porter's 'yoof' slot DEF II went on air and The Late Show brought late-night cultural discussion to the nation's screens.
A look back at some of BBC Two's most popular programmes, including Red Dwarf, Top Gear, Later... with Jools Holland, Gardeners' World and Have I Got News For You? In the 1990s, the channel was home to groundbreaking drama series such as Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Our Friends in the North and This Life, as well as the Screen Two strand of one-off films. The Death of Yugoslavia was a landmark documentary series chronicling the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, made and shown while the conflicts in the region were far from over. Meanwhile, Video Diaries allowed members of the public to make programmes about themselves. There is also a look at some memorable comedy moments from The Fast Show, The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer and I'm Alan Partridge.
The series celebrating the story of BBC Two concludes with a look at more recent highlights, including comedy classics The Office, The League of Gentlemen, Goodness Gracious Me and Little Britain. As the channel approached its fifth decade on air, Two Fat Ladies and The Naked Chef redefined cookery shows, A History of Britain told the story of the British Isles, My Family and Autism opened viewers' eyes to an issue previously rarely seen on television and Anne Robinson became the quiz show host the country loved to hate in The Weakest Link. In drama, Stephen Poliakoff returned to BBC Two with Shooting the Past, Holocaust Memorial Day was marked with Conspiracy, which examined how Nazi officials decided upon the 'final solution', and there were bold looks at disability in Every Time You Look at Me and Flesh and Blood.
