imagine…

Top Cast

Alan Yentob as Self - Presenter
Sophie Dahl as Self
Cameron Mackintosh as Self
Bryn Terfel as Self
Simon Rattle as Self
Margaret Atwood as Self
Charles Pachter as Self
Johnnie Christmas as Self
José Carreras as Self
Claudio Abbado as Self

Seasons

Specials (Unknown Year) - (15 Episodes)

Summer 2003 (2003) - (7 Episodes)

Autumn 2003 (2003) - (6 Episodes)

Summer 2004 (2004) - (9 Episodes)

Winter 2004 (2004) - (8 Episodes)

A Short History of Tall Buildings (2005) - (3 Episodes)

Summer 2005 (2005) - (8 Episodes)

Winter 2005 (2005) - (8 Episodes)

Winter 2006 (2006) - (4 Episodes)

Autumn 2006 (2006) - (9 Episodes)

Autumn 2006 (2006) - (8 Episodes)

Spring 2007 (2007) - (14 Episodes)

Autumn 2007 (2007) - (8 Episodes)

Summer 2008 (2008) - (10 Episodes)

Autumn 2008 (2008) - (10 Episodes)

Summer 2009 (2009) - (7 Episodes)

Winter 2009 (2009) - (8 Episodes)

Spring 2010 (2010) - (6 Episodes)

Summer 2010 (2010) - (8 Episodes)

Autumn 2010 (2010) - (6 Episodes)

Summer 2011 (2011) - (7 Episodes)

Winter 2011 (2011) - (12 Episodes)

Summer 2012 (2012) - (6 Episodes)

Winter 2012 (2012) - (8 Episodes)

Spring 2013 (2013) - (6 Episodes)

Winter 2013 (2013) - (6 Episodes)

Summer 2014 (2014) - (4 Episodes)

Winter 2014 (2014) - (7 Episodes)

Summer 2015 (2015) - (5 Episodes)

Autumn 2015 (2015) - (7 Episodes)

Summer 2016 (2016) - (4 Episodes)

Autumn 2016 (2016) - (5 Episodes)

Winter 2017 (2017) - (4 Episodes)

Summer 2017 (2017) - (4 Episodes)

Winter 2017/18 (2017) - (7 Episodes)

2018 (2018) - (9 Episodes)

2019 (2019) - (7 Episodes)

2020 (2020) - (6 Episodes)

2021 (2021) - (7 Episodes)

2022 (2022) - (8 Episodes)

2023/24 (2023) - (4 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (Unknown Year) - (5 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (Unknown Year) - (4 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (Unknown Year) - (7 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (Unknown Year) - (9 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (2019) - (7 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (2020) - (6 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (2021) - (4 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (2022) - (8 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (Unknown Year) - (4 Episodes)

TO BE DELETED (Unknown Year) - (1 Episodes)

Specials

No overview available for this season.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: TO BE DELETED - NOT A SPECIAL

TO BE DELETED - NOT A SPECIAL
Ep. 2: The Plinth, the Model, the Artist and his Sculpture (2011-02-23)

In 2005, an extraordinary sculpture by leading Brit artist Marc Quinn of a naked, heavily pregnant, disabled Alison Lapper was unveiled on the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. It's a project that's been dogged with controversy. Following the creation of Alison Lapper Pregnant over five years, this film tells the compelling story of how two very different people came together to challenge preconceptions about beauty and what is considered normal.
Ep. 3: The Beatles in Love (2006-12-27)

Film documenting the creation of Love, a spectacular collaboration bringing together the magic of The Beatles' music with the imagination of Cirque Du Soleil. The project was initially the idea of George Harrison, two years before his death from cancer in 2001. Sir George Martin, along with his son/co-producer Giles Martin demonstrate the process by which the soundtrack was created. Also features interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison.
Ep. 4: Damon and Jamie's Excellent Adventure (2007-07-04)

Alan Yentob presents a documentary about cartoon pop group Gorillaz' foray into the world of Chinese opera, with Damon Albarn composing his first full length score and Jamie Hewlett designing a myriad of gigantic sets and elaborate costumes. Drawing on the 1970s cult television series, Monkey - Journey to the West has a cast that includes the cloud-hopping, mountain-somersaulting Monkey, his mates Pigsy, Sandy and Tripitaka, plus acrobats, martial artists, umbrella-twirling girls, a horse-eating dragon, a skeleton demon and a giant Buddha. Produced by Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris), in co-production with Manchester International Festival and the State Opera House in Berlin, they present a new contemporary opera entirely in Mandarin directed by Chen Shi-Zheng. This film follows Albarn and Hewlett on a journey from Beijing to Paris, working with martial artists and acrobats; leading up to its world premiere at the Manchester International Festival.
Ep. 5: Vincent Van Gogh: Painted with Words (2010-04-05)

Drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role as Van Gogh. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced from the letters that Van Gogh sent to his younger brother Theo, and of those around him. What emerges is a complex portrait of a sophisticated, civilised and yet tormented man. The film won a Rockie for Best Arts Documentary at the Banff World Media Festival in 2011, receiving critical acclaim for its fascinating insight into the life of the artist and its unique approach to storytelling.
Ep. 6: Yes We Can! The Lost Art Of Oratory (2009-04-05)

The remarkable election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States has been propelled as much by his exceptional skill as an orator as by any other factor. From the silver-tongued to the tongue-tied, the sublime to the ridiculous, this programme takes a fond look at the art and history of the political speech. Alan Yentob joins the crowds at the inauguration in Washington, and traces the awesome power of orators from Cicero onwards, via Cromwell, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, Martin Luther King and many others. Among the contributors are Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Bob Geldof, Neil Kinnock, Ted Sorensen, Tony Benn, William Hague, Geoffrey Howe, Diane Abbott, Charlotte Higgins, Alastair Campbell and Germaine Greer.
Ep. 7: Stones in Exile (2010-05-23)

Alan Yentob introduces a revealing documentary which tells the story of the making of The Rolling Stones' acclaimed 1972 album, Exile on Main Street. Facing huge unpaid tax bills in Britain, the band fled to the French Riviera. Life was crazy and chaotic there, yet the band still managed to make one of the seminal albums of rock and roll history.
Ep. 8: U2: From the Sky Down (2011-10-09)

Imagine presents a feature-length documentary about the making of U2's seminal album Achtung Baby. Early in 2011, U2 returned to Hansa Studio in Berlin to discuss the making of Achtung Baby in this film directed by Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim (It Might Get Loud, Waiting for Superman, An Inconvenient Truth). From The Sky Down was then selected to open the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September, the first ever documentary to open the festival in its 36-year history. Twenty years after the 1991 release of Achtung Baby, Davis Guggenheim traces the album's genesis using animation and previously unseen footage from Berlin and Dublin alongside interviews with the band as they reflect on what was a key chapter in their career.
Ep. 9: TO BE DELETED - NOT A SPECIAL

TO BE DELETED - NOT A SPECIAL
Ep. 10: Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender (2012-10-16)

Renowned as the bravura front man of one of Britain's greatest rock bands, Freddie Mercury's life outside Queen is rarely celebrated or explored. In a touching portrait, imagine... charts Mercury's solo projects and interests, including a previously unheard collaboration with Michael Jackson and the triumphant Barcelona project with Dame Montserrat Caballe, as well as the life of a gay man who was not yet publicly out. Rare interviews reveal a shy man in search of love, and a driven artist living behind the protection of his stage persona.
Ep. 11: Beyoncé: Life is But a Dream (2013-03-28)

Following in the footsteps of Alan Yentob's 2008 profile of Jay-Z, imagine... presents the much-heralded Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream. With Beyoncé herself in the director's chair, this unique and confessional film combines spectacular showpieces and video diary footage, giving a revealing insight into the life of the 16-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, wife and mother. This is Beyoncé, by Beyoncé.
Ep. 12: David Bowie - Cracked Actor (2013-04-04)

To mark David Bowie's comeback album and a new exhibition at the V&A, Alan Yentob looks back at his legendary 1975 documentary, Cracked Actor. The film follows Bowie during the Diamond Dogs tour of 1974. Alan Yentob says "I'd caught him at what was an intensely creative time, but it was also physically and emotionally gruelling. Our encounters tended to take place in hotel rooms in the early hours of the morning or in snatched conversations in the back of limousines. He was fragile and exhausted, but also prepared to open up and talk in a way he had never really done before." Cracked Actor has become one of the classic rock documentaries of all time, remaining an enduring influence on generations of Bowie fans.
Ep. 14: Alan Yentob interviews Robert B Weide (2013-07-24)

No overview for this episode.
Ep. 15: The Smoking Diaries Update (2009-07-25)

Arts series. As part of an evening of programmes celebrating the life and work of the playwright and diarist, Simon Gray, who died in 2008. This updated Imagine is a rare insight into one of Britain's foremost playwrights, author of many West End hits, but best known for his work with Harold Pinter, and as the writer of the notorious Cell Mates. This intimate film gives a darkly entertaining account of his childhood experiences and very personal views on addictions to smoking, alcohol and the traumas of modern day life for a writer. By way of tribute, the conclusion to the film is provided by a number of friends, well known actors and writers, reading from Simon Gray's last volume of diaries, CODA.
Ep. 16: When Alan Yentob Met Jenny Saville (2025-06-08)

As part of a tribute night to broadcaster and television executive Alan Yentob, an interview with leading British artist Jenny Saville. One of the most successful figurative painters working today, she came to prominence as part of the YBA movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She has been reluctant to discuss her work for many years on television, until now. Alan Yentob was working with her on a film for Imagine and caught up with her in Vienna on the eve of two major 2025 exhibitions she is mounting. This was the last interview Alan Yentob conducted in a career spanning six decades at the BBC, bringing many of the world’s leading artists and creatives to the screen. Alan also persuaded Jenny to allow cameras into her painting studio for the first time in almost three decades.