Imagining

Early draft....

Presented by Alan Yentob, BBC One’s flagship arts strand returns this winter with an impressive line-up, profiling a fascinating and diverse array of creative talent: Alan joins novelist Howard Jacobson re-imagining Shakespeare's Shylock in Venice; Rachel Johnson, Stephen Frears, Hanif Kureishi, Mariella Frostrup, Anish Kapoor and David Gilmour consider Notting Hill's role as the UK's creative hub; Alan revisits "A Cracked Actor", his seminal David Bowie documentary, 50 years on, just two years after Imagine last revisited it. Alan will also pay tribute to the work of BBC2 documentary strand Arena, which Alan didn't actually start, but nearly did, 50 years ago. 

Note to Editors: This is Alan's last series as Editor and Presenter of Imagine, and Alan will also be stepping down from his role as BBC Creative Director at the end of the year. This follows Lord Hall's re-structuring of senior management across the BBC, where people paid over £180,000 have to demonstrate that they're actually responsible for something. Anything.