Arena Season 16 Episodes

Episode 1

Agatha Christie - Unfinished Portrait

60 mins

The first bio-film of the world's most read author and the creator of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. With dramatic reconstructions and contemporary archive, it unravels a life as mysterious as Agatha Christie's and the shared obsession with murder.

Episode 2

The Complete History of the Potato

Traces the history of the patata from the food staple of the Incas to the raw material of the gigantic crisp industry. Featuring an Irish politician, an English historian, a French chef and a Peruvian geneticist.

Episode 3

Arena Animal Night: Animals on Trial

Episode 4

Arena Animal Night: Sacred Elephant

Episode 5

The Animal Night Debate

Episode 6

Lifepulse - a Natural Thriller

Episode 7

Miller Meets Mandela

Episode 8

Derek Jarman - A Portrait

Episode 9

Anselm Kiefer: Operation Sealion

Episode 10

The Very Strange Story of... The Legendary Joe Meek

60 mins

Detailing the life of an influential 1960s British record producer, the first to top both the UK and US pop music charts with the same record.

Episode 11

The Other

Episode 12

Caroline 199: A Pirate's Tale

This is the story of Radio Caroline the legendary pirate radio station that helped to reinvent the 60s and lead to an explosion of popular music and the opening up of the airwaves. It shows how charismatic club owner and artist manager Ronan O'Rahilly desperate at the lack of space on the air ways to hear the new emerging music came up with a plan. He would park a boat in international waters and broadcast pop and rock into the UK in defiance of the authorities. It worked beyond his wildest dreams.

Episode 13

Staring at the Ceiling

Episode 14

Three Irish Writers

Episode 15

One Irish Rover

Irish musician and singer Van Morrison, his musical styles and influences and his versatility as a performer, including footage of him performing with various famous artistes and making Irish music in Belfast with The Chieftans.

Episode 16

The Importance of Being Oscar

Episode 17

Hollywood Babylon

58 mins

Reenactments of passages from the controversial Kenneth Anger collection of tawdry gossip about the golden age of Hollywood.

Episode 18

Elmore Leonard 's Criminal Records

Episode 19

The Human Face

A highly innovative arts documentary, which uses the latest special effects, to investigate the cultural and scientific background behind the way we judge people by their face. The documentary was presented by US artist and musician, Laurie Anderson whose face was transformed into iconic and historic stereotypes as she talked. Special effects were created by Christopher Tucker.