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The Best Episodes of The Culture Show

Every episode of The Culture Show ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Culture Show!

A weekly BBC Two magazine programme focusing on the best of the week's arts and culture news, covering books, art, film, architecture and more.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 1 - Episode 1
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Episode 1

    S1:E1

    Verity Sharp presents an accessible guide to the best exhibitions, books, films and music. As Disney's effects-laden The Incredibles opens in cinemas, The Culture Show considers the future of traditional hand-painted animation. And David Hockney talks to Andrew Marr about his new book Hockney's Pictures.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 2 - Episode 2
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    #2 - Episode 2

    S1:E2

    As the newly expanded Museum of Modern Art in New York reopens, world-renowned art critic Robert Hughes is offered a first look into the building designed by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. Kwame Kwei-Armah presents the arts round-up.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 3 - Episode 3
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    #3 - Episode 3

    S1:E3

    Ahead of its official opening by the Queen, Charles Hazlewood gets an advance look inside the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, and examines whether this long-awaited performing arts centre can live up to expectations. Plus the other top arts and cultural stories of the week.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 4 - Episode 4
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    #4 - Episode 4

    S1:E4

    Dissected livestock, a cast of a house, a painting with elephant dung and an electrical time switch - all past winners of the Turner Prize. Tonight Mariella Frostrup takes a look at this year's shortlist ahead of next week's award ceremony. Plus the most prominent arts and culture stories of the week.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 5 - Episode 5
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #5 - Episode 5

    S1:E5

    Germaine Greer meets artist Paula Rego and Andrew Graham-Dixon uncovers the secret of Velazquez's 'Lady with a Fan'. Plus reports on animated film 'Valiant' and the death of broadsheet newspapers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 6 - Episode 6
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #6 - Episode 6

    S1:E6

    A report on Gateshead's new Sage music centre, which opens tomorrow, plus the rest of the top stories in art and culture. With Charles Hazlewood.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Culture Show

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  7. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 7 - Episode 7
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #7 - Episode 7

    S1:E7

    Reports on Charles Saatchi 's rediscovery of painting, the competition to be recognised as Britain's best museum and a close-up look at what makes a great news photograph. Plus a profile of conductor Simon Rattle and an appreciation of the Hammond organ's place in pop music over the past 50 years.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 8 - Episode 8
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #8 - Episode 8

    S1:E8

    The review of the latest developments on the arts and culture scene includes a report on the Celtic Connections music festival, a 19-day celebration taking place in Glasgow.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 9 - Episode 9
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #9 - Episode 9

    S1:E9

    London's Abbey Road Studios opens its doors to the public next month for the first time in 20 years. Mariella Frostrup previews the forthcoming festival celebrating 25 years of films scored in Studio One - the world's biggest purpose-built recording studio. Shelley Jofre, meanwhile, talks to author Malcolm Gladwell about his guide to effective decision-making - Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 10 - Episode 10
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #10 - Episode 10

    S1:E10

    Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five was inspired by his experiences in Dresden during the devastating Second World War bombing. To mark 60 years since the attack on the German city, Vonnegut gives a rare interview in which he talks about his life and work.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 11 - Episode 11
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Episode 11

    S1:E11

    Director Martin Scorsese explains the influence of Caravaggio on his films, particularly with regard to light, shadow and realism. Plus Kazuo Ishiguro on his novel 'Never Let Me Go', and the troubled history of EastEnders as it celebrates its 20th birthday.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 12 - Episode 12
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #12 - Episode 12

    S1:E12

    A report from Ferryside in Carmarthenshire where a trial for TV's digital switchover is taking place. Plus Liam Neeson on his biopic of controversial sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, and a backstage pass to Kaiser Chiefs' tour.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 13 - Episode 13
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    #13 - Episode 13

    S1:E13

    Woody Allen talks about his latest film Melinda and Melinda, starring Radha Mitchell and Chloe Sevigny, and there's an interview with children's author Jacqueline Wilson. Plus an edifying peek into the secret world of fonts.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 14 - Episode 14
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Episode 14

    S1:E14

    As well as an interview with 1960s counter-culture cartoonist Robert Crumb at his house in France, there's analysis of the legacy of the Arts & Crafts movement on the eve of a major exhibition at London's V&A Museum. Plus a fly-on-the-wall report from Brixton Prison as some of the inmates rehearse a production of Shakespeare's Othello.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 15 - Episode 15
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - Episode 15

    S1:E15

    Damien Hirst, dubbed Britain's most expensive living artist, discusses his recently opened exhibition of paintings in New York. Plus the imminent return of Doctor Who, and the English village that's launched its own book prize.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 16 - Episode 16
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - Episode 16

    S1:E16

    Composer and Master of the Queen's Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies talks about his career, there's an interview with maverick architectural talent Zaha Hadid, and a look at the arctic Cape Farewell Expedition, which is all about deriving inspiration from the ice, seas and environment in temperatures of -35°C. Plus Robert Hughes on the latest big art history book.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 17 - Episode 17
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Episode 17

    S1:E17

    Sylvie Guillem - widely considered one of the greatest dancers of her generation - is interviewed in the week she and the Ballet Boyz perform An Evening of Work by Russell Maliphant at Sadler's Well in London. Harold Pinter discusses director Lindsay Posner's new staging of his first full-length play, The Birthday Party. And which is the true-life portrait of William Shakespeare? A centuries-old debate could finally be resolved.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 18 - Episode 18
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #18 - Episode 18

    S1:E18

    Conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, discusses the art of playing Johann Sebastian Bach. Plus a look at what makes an "original" work of art - is the art-buying public being misled?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 19 - Episode 19
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Episode 19

    S1:E19

    As Tate Modern celebrates its fifth birthday, Charles Hazlewood considers the extent of its cultural impact. Plus, Matthew Sweet on how TV taught us parenting, Nick Hornby on his latest novel, and a preview of Robert Lepage's production of opera Nineteen Eighty-Four.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 20 - Episode 20
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Episode 20

    S1:E20

    American crime novelist Ed McBain talks about turning real life into fiction and discusses his battle with cancer. Plus a visit to West Sussex for a display of the best examples of British sculpture, and a mysterious new game that has players around the world competing for clues.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 21 - Episode 21
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Episode 21

    S1:E21

    Lawrence Pollard reports on a new approach to public art being trialled in Bristol, with temporary exhibits taking the place of traditional permanent statues. Plus cinematographer Chris Doyle gives a masterclass in movie-making and Kathy Burke discusses her new role as an acclaimed theatre director.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 22 - Episode 22
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Episode 22

    S1:E22

    Gillian Ayres discusses her work and Louisa Buck visits two art exhibitions. Lawrence Pollard considers whether 'book towns' such as Hay-on-Wye can halt the decline of second-hand bookshops in the internet age, and there's news on the debate about the siting and design of wind farms.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 23 - Episode 23
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Episode 23

    S1:E23

    Germaine Greer and artist Susan Wilson are among the women explaining what Mexican artist Frida Kahlo's work means to them, and singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright reveals how Verdi's music has influenced his career.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 24 - Episode 24
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Episode 24

    S1:E24

    Maverick artists Gilbert and George discuss their work for the British Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale. Ewan McGregor talks about his role in stage musical Guys and Dolls, and DJ Annie Mac goes to Glyndebourne to find out how they're trying to appeal to younger audiences.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The Culture Show Season 1 Episode 25 - Episode 25
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Episode 25

    S1:E25

    U2 talk about music, politics and 25 years together, on the eve of the UK leg of their world tour. There's a rare interview with controversial German artist Anselm Kiefer, and leading operatic baritone Bryn Terfel discusses singing Wagner.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Episode 1" is the best rated episode of "The Culture Show". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 11/11/2004. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Episode 2".