Arena 1975

Overview

Arena is a British television documentary series produced and broadcast by the BBC. The program premiered on October 1, 1975, and is recognized as a wide-ranging arts series. Over the course of its run, the show has produced more than five hundred episodes, with some sources noting the total exceeds six hundred. The series has been directed by various filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff, Vikram Jayanti, and Jana Bokova. The program was created by Anthony Haas, Duke Erikson, Bernard MacMahon, and Allison McGourty. Arena focuses on a wide array of cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, featuring subjects such as Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, Edward Said, Eric Hobsbawm, Jean Genet, Paul McCartney, and Kenneth Tynan. Leading television executives polled by Broadcast magazine have voted the series as one of the top 50 most influential programs of all time. The show continues to be documented as an ongoing production.