The Private Life of a Masterpiece

The Private Life of a Masterpiece is a BBC arts documentary series which tells the stories behind great works of art; 29 episodes of the series were broadcast on BBC Two, commencing on 8 December 2001 and ending on 25 December 2010. It initially ran for five seasons from 8 December 2001 to 17 April 2006, for a total of 22 episodes; each episode was 50 minutes long. A seven-DVD box set of the first five series was released in 2007, which re-arranged the documentaries into genres from art history. A further seven episodes were broadcast between 24 December 2006 and 25 December 2010. The series has been widely broadcast around the world, often in re-voiced into national languages. The original narrations were done by the actor Samuel West. Works of art featured range from Michelangelo's David for the first episode to Filippo Lippi's Adoration of the Christ Child for the last.

The Private Life of a Masterpiece
GenreArt documentary
Narrated by
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series5
No. of episodes29
Production
Running time50 minutes
Production companyBBC Cymru Wales
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release8 December 2001 (2001-12-08) –
25 December 2010 (2010-12-25)

The series was produced by independent TV production company Fulmar Television & Film, based in Cardiff.[1] The series producer, who also devised the concept of the programme, was Jeremy Bugler.[2]

The series was well received by art and television critics. The Times' David Chater placed it at Number 30 in his paper's Top 50 TV shows of the Noughties.[3]

Episodes

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Series 1 (2001)
Series 2 (2002)
Series 3 (2004)
Series 4 (2005)
The Private Life of an Easter Masterpiece (2006)
The Private Life of a Christmas Masterpiece (2006)
The Private Life of an Easter Masterpiece (2009)
The Private Life of a Christmas Masterpiece (2009)
The Private Life of an Easter Masterpiece (2010)
The Private Life of a Christmas Masterpiece (2010)

References

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  1. ^ "The Private Life of a Masterpiece". fulmartelevion.co.uk.com. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Jeremy Bugler, Head of Programmes". fulmartelevion.co.uk.com. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  3. ^ Chater, David (12 September 2009). "The top 50 TV shows of the Noughties". The Times. London. Retrieved 18 January 2011.[dead link] (Subscription required).
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