The Best Episodes of The South Bank Show
Every episode of The South Bank Show ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The South Bank Show!
The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show that was produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.
Top Episode Highlight
The best episode of "The South Bank Show" is "Ian McKellen", rated 9.4/10 from 30 user votes. It was directed by N/A and written by N/A. "Ian McKellen" aired on 6/29/2004 and is rated 0.2 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "David Lean: a Life in Film".
9.4/10 30 votes#1 - Ian McKellen
Season 27 Episode 13 - Aired 2004-06-29
No description available
Director: N/A
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- 9.2/10 27 votes
#2 - David Lean: a Life in Film
Season 8 Episode 15 - Aired 1985-02-17
No description available
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- 9.2/10 5 votes
#3 - Malcolm Arnold (1)
Season 28 Episode 4 - Aired 2004-09-26
No description available
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- 8.8/10 11 votes
#4 - Dusty Springfield
Season 30 Episode 5 - Aired 2006-04-09
No description available
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- 8.6/10 27 votes
#5 - Ralph Vaughan Williams
Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 1984-04-08
No description available
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- 8.5/10 21 votes
#6 - Cecilia Bartoli
Season 15 Episode 16 - Aired 1999-11-28
No description available
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- 8.4/10 11 votes
#7 - Peter Gabriel
Season 6 Episode 3 - Aired 1982-10-31
Cameras follow Peter Gabriel during the recording of his fourth solo album.
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8.4/10 28 votes#8 - Douglas Adams
Season 15 Episode 13 - Aired 1992-01-05
Interviews with Douglas Adams Some parts of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency are filmed as link items, including the Electric Monk.
Director: N/A
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- 8.3/10 7 votes
- 8.2/10 29 votes
#10 - Ian McKellen, Diary of a Year
Season 9 Episode 3 - Aired 1985-10-20
No description available
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- 8.2/10 18 votes
#11 - Michael Powell
Season 10 Episode 4 - Aired 1986-10-26
No description available
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- 8.2/10 11 votes
#12 - The Smiths
Season 11 Episode 3 - Aired 1987-10-18
This documentary on The Smiths was filmed just days before the band went their separate ways in 1987. Contains interviews of Morrissey, Marr, Joyce and Rourke, as well as Linder, Shaun Duggan, Jo O'Keefe, John Peel, Nick Kent, Sandie Shaw and Viv Nicholson.
Director: N/A
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- 8.2/10 6 votes
#13 - George Formby
Season 16 Episode 6 - Aired 1992-11-08
No description available
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- 8.2/10 5 votes
#14 - Andrew Lloyd Webber
Season 37 Episode 1 - Aired 2010-03-28
No description available
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- 8.0/10 6 votes
#15 - Vivienne Westwood
Season 13 Episode 23 - Aired 1990-04-08
No description available
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- 7.9/10 108 votes
#16 - Ken Russell's View of The Planets
Season 6 Episode 26 - Aired 1983-06-12
No description available
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- 7.9/10 8 votes
#17 - George Michael
Season 14 Episode 1 - Aired 1990-09-02
No description available
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- 7.8/10 23 votes
#18 - The Golden Age of Television
Season 11 Episode 15 - Aired 1988-02-14
A lecture about television given at the British Film Institute.
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- 7.8/10 11 votes
#19 - Michael Collins
Season 20 Episode 6 - Aired 1996-10-27
No description available
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- 7.8/10 11 votes
#20 - John Lennon's Jukebox
Season 27 Episode 7 - Aired 2004-03-14
Original Air Date—14 March 2004 In the mid-1960s, John Lennon bought a portable jukebox and stocked it with 40 of his favorite 45-rpm records. This documentary showcases those songs and uses them to explore Lennon's musical tastes and influences. Featured are interviews with many of the artists whose songs were in Lennon's jukebox.
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- 7.7/10 7 votes
#21 - Talking Heads
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 1979-12-23
No description available
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- 7.6/10 11 votes
#22 - Velvet Underground
Season 9 Episode 23 - Aired 1986-04-27
The South Bank Show’s Velvet Underground documentary contains interviews with Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker, Nico, Andy Warhol and lots of early Velvet performance footage.
Director: N/A
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- 7.6/10 6 votes
#23 - Sting
Season 19 Episode 12 - Aired 1996-04-14
This report brings you back in 1996, when Sting records "Mercury falling". You will see Sting in his home of lake house, talking about the writting process, see him recording the varied tracks of the album and heard them as working versions... a superb moment...
Director: N/A
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- 7.4/10 33 votes
#24 - A Time There was ... (Benjamin Britten)
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 1980-04-06
No description available
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- 7.4/10 12 votes
#25 - August Wilson
Season 14 Episode 15 - Aired 1991-01-13
No description available
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