Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Simon Barnes | 20120305 | In this series, five writers look at how sports have been captured in the arts, from novels to film, photography to painting. Each looks at how the sport illuminates and resonates in the artform, and how it increases our understanding and love of the sport. Today, award-winning sportswiter and author Simon Barnes considers the immortalisation of Roger Bannister's record-breaking mile in a still photograph - by agency snapper Norman Potter. He argues that these often anonymous or little-known sports photographers have become the architects of the archetypes of our age. Simon Barnes is Chief Sports Writer and columnist for 'The Times', and author of several books on sport. Producer: Justine Willett. Simon Barnes on the immortalisation of Roger Bannister's mile in a still photograph. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 02 | Lynne Truss | 20120306 | In this series, five writers look at how sports have been captured in the arts, from novels to film, photography to painting. Each looks at how the sport illuminates and resonates in the artform, and how it increases our understanding and love of the sport. Today, writer Lynne Truss looks at George Stubbs' 1770 portrait of the racing legend Eclipse - a masterpiece which manages to capture all the glamour, excitement and yet inevitable cruelty of the sport of horse racing. Lynne Truss is an author and broadcaster, best known for her book 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'. Producer: Justine Willett. Writer Lynne Truss on the celebrity racehorse Eclipse captured in Stubbs's 1770 portrait. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 03 | Richard T Kelly | 20120307 | In this series, five writers look at how sports have been captured in the arts, from novels to film, photography to painting. Each looks at how the sport illuminates and resonates in the artform, and how it increases our understanding and love of the sport. Today: the grit and steel of rugby league, as Richard T. Kelly considers the plight of the working-class sportsman whose glory days are numbered in Lindsay Anderson's 1960s film, 'This Sporting Life'. Richard T. Kelly is the author of several books on film, as well as a TV documentary on the dogme movement, as well as two novels. Producer: Justine Willett. Author Richard T Kelly on rugby league in Lindsay Anderson's film This Sporting Life. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 04 | Richard Cohen | 20120308 | The next in the series in which writers look at how sports have been portrayed in the arts, from novels to painting, film to photography. Today, author and former Olympic fencer Richard Cohen looks at swordplay in Dumas' 'The Three Musketeers'. From the first moment he encountered the Musketeers as a young boy, Cohen was hooked, and his ambitions to become the next D'Artagnan not to mention international fencing champion fully fuelled... Producer: Justine Willett. Former Olympic fencer Richard Cohen on swordplay in Dumas's The Three Musketeers. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 05 | Ed Smith | 20120309 | The last in the series in which writers look at how sports have been portrayed in the arts, from books to painting, film to photography. Today, former England cricketer and writer Ed Smith looks at what we can learn from the portrayal of cricket in the very English novels of J. L. Carr, such as 'A Month in the Country', and 'A Season in Sinji'. Ed Smith was a professional cricketer for 13 years, including playing three Test matches for England. He is now an author, journalist and broadcaster. Producer: Justine Willett. Writer and former England cricketer Ed Smith on cricket in the novels of JL Carr. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |