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BBC Four Collections is a selected variation of factual television episodes and series available on British video-on-demand service BBC iPlayer. The collections themselves primarily involve "experts" like Richard Osman, [1] Janet Street-Porter [2] and David Attenborough [3] selecting various programmes from the BBC Archive to be made available on the iPlayer service. Every programme is marked with a short introduction marking the collection with BBC Four branding. Each collection has a particular theme like modern classical music, [4] the British Army [5] and interviews with famous figures. [6] Some collections were established in 2012, more being added to the service until 2014. As of 2023, most of the content is still available on the iPlayer service, with some becoming unavailable due to rights or other reasons, like the Tim Westwood sexual assault allegations.
Only collections with a noted author (mentioned at the start of each programme) are included in this list.
Expert | Collection | Year | Programme | Episode Title or Date | Available (as of 2023) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mark Urban | Army: A Very British Institution | 1968 | Breakaway | 5. "My Friends Think I'm Mad" | Yes |
1990 | Everyman | "A Game of Soldiers" | |||
1977 | In Her Majesty's Service | 6. Corporal of Horse Christopher Slater, The Life Guards Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment | |||
1989 | In the Highest Tradition | N/A, 6-episode series | |||
1989 | Inside Out: Ticking with the Crow/The Officers' Mess | N/A | |||
1960 | Meet the Red Devils: Parachute Regiment | ||||
1985 | Moment of Truth | Episode 6 | |||
1969 | Omnibus | Makers of the Queen's Music | |||
1975 | Panorama | Sandhurst | |||
1983 | The Paras | N/A, 7-episode series | |||
1977 | The Regiment | N/A | |||
Silver Jubilee | Review of the British Army | ||||
Trooping the Colour | Silver Jubilee | ||||
1952 | 1952 | ||||
1974 | Tuesday Documentary | The Bomb Disposal Men | |||
1968 | Death or Glory | ||||
Simon Jenkins | London | 1987 | Open Space | Bad Meaning Good | No [lower-alpha 1] |
1975 | Going Places | 12 | Yes | ||
1964 | A City Crowned with Green | N/A | |||
1950 | The Debate Continues | ||||
1946 | First-Year Flashbacks | ||||
1999 | Inside Story | Fish Tales | |||
1968 | One Pair of Eyes | Georgia Brown: Who are the Cockneys Now? | |||
1956 | Special Enquiry | A Girl Comes to London | |||
1960 | A House in Bayswater | N/A | |||
1969 | How They Dug the Victoria Line | ||||
1971 | Man Alive | Hyde Park | |||
1969 | I Love This Dirty Town | N/A | |||
1985 | Ours to Keep | Incomers | No | ||
1959 | After the Battle | London - Ed Murrow Reports | Yes | ||
1957 | Eye To Eye | London-New York | |||
1955 | Cities of Europe | London: We Live by the River | |||
1968 | Contrasts | Marble Arch to Edgware | |||
1976 | Inside Story | The Market | |||
1991 | Clive James | Postcard from London | |||
1985 | Just Another Day | Soho | |||
The Tower of London | |||||
1996 | Modern Times | Streetwise | |||
1967 | Three Swings on a Pendulum | N/A | |||
1985 | To the World's End: Scenes and Characters on a London Bus Route | ||||
Clemency Burton-Hill | Modern Classical Music | 2005 | Boulez at 80 | N/A | |
BBC Proms 2005 | Michael Berkeley, Ben Britten & Vaughan Williams | ||||
1964 | Celebrity Recital | Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. | |||
2004 | John Cage Live at the Barbican | N/A | |||
1978 | Julian Bream Masterclass | N/A, 5-episode series | |||
2001 | Music Masters | Stockhausen | No | ||
John Adams | Yes | ||||
1968 | Omnibus | Diaghilev: The Years Abroad | |||
2001 | '' Philip Glass Concert: Live at the Barbican | N/A | |||
2013 | The Sound and the Fury in Concert | N/A, 3 episode series | |||
1964 | War Requiem | N/A | |||
Gary Boyd-Hope | Steam Railways | 1968 | 4472 - Flying Scotsman | N/A | |
1963 | Let's Imagine | A Branch Line Railway with John Betjeman | |||
1975 | The World About Us | The Romance of Indian Railways | |||
1986 | Steam Days | N/A, 6 episode series | No | ||
1979 | The Rainhill Story: Stephenson's Rocket | N/A | Yes | ||
1988 | The Train Now Departing | N/A, 6 episode series | No | ||
1969 | Tuesday Documentary | Engines Must Not Enter the Potato Siding | Yes | ||
1962 | In View | Men of Steam | |||
1980 | The Past at Work | Railway Mania | |||
1980 | The Great Railway Cavalcade: Rocket 150 at Rainhill | N/A | |||
1977 | With a Fine Feeling for Steam | ||||
Robin Lane Fox | Archaeology at the BBC | 1956 | Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? | 3 May 1956 | |
1958 | 1 October 1958 | ||||
1960 | The Grandeur That Was Rome | N/A, 3 episode series | |||
1958 | Armchair Voyage: Hellenic Cruise | ||||
1974 | Sir Mortimer and Magnus | N/A, 6 episode series | |||
1966 | Chronicle | Vikings in North America | |||
The Roman Goose March: The Holy Sailors | |||||
1973 | The Ape Man That Never Was | ||||
1954 | Buried Treasure | Stonehenge | |||
1956 | The Walls of Jericho | ||||
1958 | King Solomon's Mines | ||||
1957 | Mohenjo-daro | ||||
1954 | The Peat Bog Murder Mystery | ||||
Julian Joseph | Blues | 1985 | Arena | Blues Night (5-episode series) | |
1979 | The Devil's Music (series 2) | N/A, 4-episode series | |||
1972 | Sounding Out | B.B. King | |||
Janet Street-Porter | Post-War Architecture | 1986 | Architecture at the Crossroads | Doubt and Reassessment | |
Stop the Bulldozer | |||||
Houses Fit for People | |||||
1988 | Building Sights | Schlumberger Building | |||
Byker Wall | |||||
Alexander Fleming House | |||||
1989 | Janet Street-Porter | ||||
1991 | Lloyd's Building | ||||
Trellick Tower | |||||
Boarbank Hall Oratory | |||||
1996 | Canary Wharf | ||||
Worsley Medical Building | |||||
Hauer-King House | |||||
Humber Bridge | |||||
Wood Street Police Station | |||||
Alton Estate | |||||
Willis Corroon | |||||
1972 | Nairn Across Britain | N/A, 3-episode series | |||
1969 | Omnibus | The More We Are Together | |||
1979 | Where We Live Now | New Town, Home Town | |||
David Attenborough | The Early Years | 2013 | David Attenborough: The Early Years | N/A | |
1963 | Adventure | Quest under Capricorn (6-episode series) | |||
1965 | Zambezi (3 episodes) | ||||
1961 | Zoo Quest | To Madagascar (5 episodes) | |||
1956 | for a Dragon (6 episodes) | ||||
1955 | to West Africa | ||||
1960 | The People of Paradise | First 5 episodes of 6 | |||
1969 | The Miracle of Bali | N/A, 3-episode series | |||
1961 | Elsa the Lioness | N/A | |||
Michael Parkinson | Talk | 1959 | Face to Face | Bertrand Russell | |
Dame Edith Sitwell | |||||
Carl Jung | |||||
1960 | Stirling Moss | ||||
Evelyn Waugh | |||||
Adam Faith | |||||
1961 | Martin Luther King | ||||
1994 | Maya Angelou | ||||
Jeanette Winterson | |||||
1995 | Lauren Bacall | ||||
Ken Dodd | |||||
1972 | Parkinson | David Niven | |||
1974 | Dr Jacob Bronowski | ||||
1998 | Billy Connolly & David Attenborough | ||||
1974 | The Frost Interview | David Frost interviews Muhammad Ali | |||
Brian Clough | |||||
2003 | Breakfast with Frost | Tony Blair | |||
Dominique de Villepin | |||||
2004 | Donald Rumsfeld | ||||
1965 | Late Night Line-Up | 16 October 1965 | |||
1966 | 20 November 1966 | ||||
Coco the Clown | |||||
Imtimations | 10. John le Carre | ||||
People to Watch | Ronald Reagan | ||||
1960 | Monitor | Henry Moore | |||
1955 | In Town Tonight | 22 October 1955 | |||
29 October 1955 | |||||
Panorama | Salvador Dali | ||||
Ed Murrow | |||||
Press Conference | Orson Welles | ||||
1982 | Arena | Desert Island Discs | |||
1963 | The Solitary Billionaire: J. Paul Getty | N/A | |||
1971 | Daphne Du Maurier | ||||
1984 | Wogan | 18 February 1984 | |||
25 December 1984 | |||||
1987 | 9 November 1987 | ||||
1970 | Personal Choice | Jane Fonda | |||
1956 | Picture Parade | Joan Crawford | No | ||
Adam Curtis | All American | 1972 | Alistair Cooke's America | The First Impact | |
1981 | Arena | Chelsea Hotel | Yes | ||
2004 | Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus | ||||
1999 | Close Up | Jackson Pollock: Love and Death on Long Island | |||
1965 | Inside America | 13. The Quiet Persuader | |||
1985 | Omnibus | Stud Terkel's Chicago | |||
1966 | Panorama | California 2000 | |||
2001 | Timewatch | The Empire State Story | |||
1967 | Whicker's World | Conflict in Kentucky | |||
Richard Osman | Classic Game Shows | 2000 | Friends Like These | 18 November 2000 | |
1982 | Ask the Family | 2 November 1982 | |||
2009 | The Weakest Link | 27 January 2009 | No | ||
2001 | Big Break | 19 May 2001 | Yes | ||
1987 | Bob's Full House | 19 December 1987 | |||
1974 | What's My Line? | 19 January 1974 | No | ||
1999 | Call My Bluff | 19 November 1999 | |||
1966 | Quiz Ball | 22 December 1966 | Yes | ||
1954 | Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? | 28 October 1954 | |||
Max Hastings | The Great War Interviews | 1960s | The Great War Interviews | N/A, 13-episode series |
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