Is Arena coming back?
Arena (1975–present) — history on BBC Two
The answer: Between seasons — last episode March 28, 2025, no return date announced yet.
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50seasons
546episodes
About Arena
Arena is the BBC's multi award-winning arts strand. Founded in 1975, Arena continues to produce gold standard documentaries for the BBC and world service.
Arena episode schedule
546 aired
Aired · 546
| Date | Ep. | Title |
|---|---|---|
| March 28, 2025 | S2025·E2 | My Brain: After the Rupture |
| March 14, 2025 | S2025·E1 | Steven McRae: Dancing Back To The Light |
| November 29, 2023 | S2023·E6 | Being Kae Tempest |
| September 15, 2023 | S2023·E5 | Coco Chanel Unbuttoned |
| June 4, 2023 | S2023·E4 | All the Beauty and the Bloodshed |
| May 15, 2023 | S2023·E3 | The Stones and Brian Jones |
| April 26, 2023 | S2023·E2 | The Mysterious Mr Lagerfeld |
| April 22, 2023 | S2023·E1 | Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll |
| November 27, 2022 | S2022·E5 | Kanaval: A People's History of Haiti in Six Chapters |
| October 22, 2022 | S2022·E4 | TS Eliot: Into the Waste Land |
| September 7, 2022 | S2022·E3 | James Joyce's Ulysses |
| July 25, 2022 | S2022·E2 | River |
| February 13, 2022 | S2022·E1 | The Most Beautiful Boy in the World |
| November 28, 2021 | S2021·E8 | The Vasulka Effect |
| November 21, 2021 | S2021·E7 | B. Catling: Where Does It All Come From? |
| October 31, 2021 | S2021·E6 | Painted with My Hair |
| October 10, 2021 | S2021·E5 | Dylan Thomas: From Grave to Cradle |
| May 29, 2021 | S2021·E4 | Dark Matter: A History of the Afrofuture |
| May 22, 2021 | S2021·E3 | African Apocalypse |
| May 16, 2021 | S2021·E2 | Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes |
| March 21, 2021 | S2021·E1 | My Father and Me |
| November 21, 2020 | S2020·E5 | Fela Kuti: Father of Afrobeat |
| July 4, 2020 | S2020·E4 | Keith Haring: Street Art Boy |
| June 20, 2020 | S2020·E3 | I Am Not Your Negro |
| May 18, 2020 | S2020·E2 | The Changin' Times of Ike White |
| March 7, 2020 | S2020·E1 | Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall |
| December 30, 2019 | S2019·E9 | Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens |
| November 10, 2019 | S2019·E8 | Everything Is Connected - George Eliot's Life |
| November 4, 2019 | S2019·E7 | A British Guide to the End of the World |
| September 22, 2019 | S2019·E5 | Bergman: A Year in the Life |
Show next 200 of 516 earlier episodes
| September 1, 2019 | S2019·E4 | Kusama: Infinity |
| July 28, 2019 | S2019·E3 | Cindy Sherman #untitled |
| July 7, 2019 | S2019·E2 | That Summer |
| April 6, 2019 | S2019·E1 | Unstoppable: Sean Scully and the Art of Everything |
| November 4, 2018 | S2018·E4 | Make Me Up! |
| June 2, 2018 | S2018·E3 | Nothing Like a Dame |
| March 30, 2018 | S2018·E2 | Bob Dylan - Trouble No More |
| February 4, 2018 | S2018·E1 | Stanley and His Daughters |
| June 9, 2017 | S2017·E6 | American Epic Part 4: The Sessions |
| June 4, 2017 | S2017·E5 | American Epic Part 3: Out of the Many, the One |
| May 29, 2017 | S2017·E4 | Kirsty Young: 75 Years of Desert Island Discs |
| May 28, 2017 | S2017·E3 | American Epic Part 2: Blood and Soil |
| May 21, 2017 | S2017·E2 | American Epic Part 1: The Big Bang |
| February 10, 2017 | S2017·E1 | Alone with Chrissie Hynde |
| October 23, 2016 | S2016·E4 | The Roundhouse - The People's Palace |
| July 24, 2016 | S2016·E3 | 1966 - 50 Years Ago Today |
| April 24, 2016 | S2016·E2 | All the World's a Screen - Shakespeare on Film |
| March 18, 2016 | S2016·E1 | Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl |
| November 22, 2015 | S2015·E2 | Night and Day |
| June 28, 2015 | S2015·E1 | Nicolas Roeg - It's About Time |
| June 29, 2014 | S2014·E3 | The 50 Year Argument - The New York Review of Books |
| April 2, 2014 | S2014·E2 | The National Theatre - Learning Zone |
| March 20, 2014 | S2014·E1 | Whatever Happened to Spitting Image? |
| October 31, 2013 | S2013·E3 | The National Theatre Part Two: War and Peace |
| October 24, 2013 | S2013·E2 | The National Theatre Part One: The Dream |
| April 21, 2013 | S2013·E1 | aka Norman Parkinson |
| December 25, 2012 | S2012·E10 | Sister Wendy and the Art of the Gospel |
| December 22, 2012 | S2012·E9 | Screen Goddesses |
| October 6, 2012 | S2012·E8 | The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour - 2. 'The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour |
| October 6, 2012 | S2012·E7 | The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour - 1. Magical Mystery Tour Revisited |
| July 23, 2012 | S2012·E6 | Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came to Dingle |
| March 31, 2012 | S2012·E5 | Jonathan Miller |
| March 17, 2012 | S2012·E4 | The Dreams of William Golding |
| February 17, 2012 | S2012·E2 | Sonny Rollins: Beyond the Notes |
| February 17, 2012 | S2012·E3 | Sonny Rollins '74: Rescued! |
| January 10, 2012 | S2012·E1 | Dickens on Film |
| November 13, 2011 | S2011·E3 | George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Part 2 |
| November 12, 2011 | S2011·E2 | George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Part 1 |
| April 25, 2011 | S2011·E1 | Produced by George Martin |
| December 29, 2010 | S2010·E6 | Rolf Harris Paints His Dream |
| December 3, 2010 | S2010·E5 | Dave Brubeck - In His Own Sweet Way |
| April 4, 2010 | S2010·E4 | Johnny Mercer - The Dream's on Me |
| April 2, 2010 | S2010·E3 | Frank Sinatra - The Voice of the Century |
| January 24, 2010 | S2010·E2 | Harold Pinter - A Celebration |
| January 22, 2010 | S2010·E1 | Brian Eno - Another Green World |
| June 6, 2009 | S2009·E3 | T.S. Eliot |
| April 3, 2009 | S2009·E2 | Cool |
| February 14, 2009 | S2009·E1 | Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends |
| December 24, 2008 | S2008·E6 | Paul Scofield |
| October 25, 2008 | S2008·E5 | The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector |
| September 21, 2008 | S2008·E4 | The Whale in the Museum |
| September 20, 2008 | S2008·E3 | The Hunt for Moby Dick |
| July 26, 2008 | S2008·E2 | Cab Driver |
| April 10, 2008 | S2008·E1 | The Strange Luck of V.S. Naipaul |
| December 31, 2007 | S2007·E16 | Shadowing the Third Man |
| December 24, 2007 | S2007·E15 | Ken Dodd's Happiness |
| October 14, 2007 | S2007·E14 | The Other Side of the Mirror - Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival |
| October 14, 2007 | S2007·E13 | Dylan's Folk - the Pure, the Bad and the Holy |
| October 6, 2007 | S2007·E12 | Tribute Bands - Live |
| October 6, 2007 | S2007·E11 | Into the Limelight - Tribute Bands |
| October 4, 2007 | S2007·E10 | The Archers |
| October 1, 2007 | S2007·E9 | Radio Ha! It's Time for Just a Minute |
| September 30, 2007 | S2007·E8 | The Comic Strip Hero |
| September 2, 2007 | S2007·E7 | Flames of Passion: The Other Side of British Cinema |
| July 25, 2007 | S2007·E6 | Art and Design: The Journey |
| July 14, 2007 | S2007·E5 | Bergman and the Cinema: Arena |
| July 13, 2007 | S2007·E4 | Bergman and Faro Island: Arena |
| July 13, 2007 | S2007·E3 | Encountering Bergman |
| June 3, 2007 | S2007·E2 | Bob Marley Exodus '77 |
| March 18, 2007 | S2007·E1 | The Underground |
| December 17, 2006 | S2006·E3 | Saints |
| November 12, 2006 | S2006·E2 | Pete Doherty |
| September 11, 2006 | S2006·E1 | Chi-Chi the Panda |
| December 25, 2005 | S2005·E9 | Lunch with Galton and Simpson |
| December 10, 2005 | S2005·E8 | Routemasters! The Double Decker Bus Conductors |
| November 8, 2005 | S2005·E7 | The Princess and Panorama |
| September 27, 2005 | S2005·E6 | No Direction Home - Bob Dylan Part 2 |
| September 26, 2005 | S2005·E5 | No Direction Home - Bob Dylan Part 1 |
| September 3, 2005 | S2005·E4 | Arena at 30 |
| March 19, 2005 | S2005·E3 | Francis Bacon's Arena |
| February 12, 2005 | S2005·E2 | Calling Hedy Lamarr |
| February 5, 2005 | S2005·E1 | Hank Williams - Honky Tonk Blues |
| December 25, 2004 | S2004·E5 | Painting the Clouds: A Portrait of Dennis Potter |
| December 9, 2004 | S2004·E4 | Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball? |
| October 2, 2004 | S2004·E3 | Shadowing the Third Man |
| July 9, 2004 | S2004·E2 | Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus |
| May 29, 2004 | S2004·E1 | Pavarotti: The Last Tenor |
| December 29, 2003 | S2003·E3 | Alec Guinness: A Secret Man |
| December 19, 2003 | S2003·E2 | Buffalo Bill's Wild West: How the Myth Was Made |
| November 22, 2003 | S2003·E1 | Dylan Thomas - From Grave to Cradle |
| September 20, 2003 | S2003·E5 | Imagine Imagine |
| August 25, 2003 | S2003·E7 | The Many Lives of Richard Attenborough - Part 2 |
| August 24, 2003 | S2003·E6 | The Many Lives of Richard Attenborough - Part 1 |
| December 26, 2002 | S2002·E6 | Radio Ha! It's Time for Just a Minute |
| December 26, 2002 | S2002·E5 | Radio Ha! Meet Dead Ringers |
| November 5, 2002 | S2002·E4 | The Room |
| October 26, 2002 | S2002·E1 | Harold Pinter - Part One: The Room |
| October 26, 2002 | S2002·E3 | One for the Road |
| October 26, 2002 | S2002·E2 | Harold Pinter - Part Two: Celebration |
| December 26, 2001 | S2001·E9 | The Private Dirk Bogarde |
| December 25, 2001 | S2001·E8 | Sykes and a Day |
| December 25, 2001 | S2001·E10 | Max Bygraves: I Wanna Tell You a Story |
| October 6, 2001 | S2001·E7 | According to Beryl |
| May 31, 2001 | S2001·E6 | Stalin - the Red God |
| May 30, 2001 | S2001·E5 | Salgado - the Spectre of Hope |
| May 28, 2001 | S2001·E4 | The Source |
| May 19, 2001 | S2001·E3 | Budd Schulberg - a Contender |
| May 13, 2001 | S2001·E2 | And the Winner is... |
| May 6, 2001 | S2001·E1 | James Ellroy's Feast of Death |
| July 2, 2000 | S2000·E1 | Wisconsin Death Trip |
| May 20, 2000 | S2000·E3 | The Veil |
| January 2, 2000 | S2000·E2 | The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money |
| December 27, 1999 | S1999·E7 | Blondes - Anita Ekberg |
| December 26, 1999 | S1999·E6 | Blondes - Diana Dors |
| December 24, 1999 | S1999·E5 | Blondes - Jayne Mansfield |
| December 20, 1999 | S1999·E4 | Casanova |
| November 7, 1999 | S1999·E3 | Looking for the Iron Curtain |
| April 22, 1999 | S1999·E2 | Salman Rushdie and the Ground beneath His Feet |
| January 2, 1999 | S1999·E1 | The 40-Year Face-off |
| December 26, 1998 | S1998·E2 | The Brian Epstein Story: The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow (Part 2) |
| December 25, 1998 | S1998·E1 | The Brian Epstein Story: The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow |
| December 25, 1997 | S1997·E1 | Cigars - Out of the Humidor |
| December 24, 1997 | S1997·E20 | The Banana |
| March 30, 1997 | S1997·E19 | Busby, Stein and Shankly - the Football Men: The Price of Glory |
| March 29, 1997 | S1997·E18 | Busby, Stein and Shankly - the Football Men: Football is the Faith |
| March 28, 1997 | S1997·E17 | Busby, Stein and Shankly - the Football Men: Underground |
| January 2, 1997 | S1997·E16 | There 's No Such Thing as a Small Head of State |
| December 24, 1996 | S1996·E3 | Caesar's Writers |
| December 22, 1996 | S1996·E2 | Tony Bennett 's New York |
| May 9, 1996 | S1996·E1 | The Burger & the King: The Life & Cuisine of Elvis Presley |
| August 20, 1995 | S1995·E4 | Punk and the Pistols |
| February 25, 1995 | S1995·E3 | The Peter Sellers Story Part 3 - I am Not a Funny Man |
| February 18, 1995 | S1995·E2 | The Peter Sellers Story Part 2 - From Jack to Jacques |
| February 11, 1995 | S1995·E1 | The Peter Sellers Story Part 1 - From Southsea to Shepperton |
| August 6, 1994 | S1994·E13 | Louise Bourgeois |
| May 31, 1994 | S1994·E12 | The Ring - A South London Tale |
| May 20, 1994 | S1994·E11 | Sandra Bernhard - Confession of a Pretty Lady |
| May 7, 1994 | S1994·E10 | Bahia of All the Saints |
| April 24, 1994 | S1994·E9 | Cindy Sherman - Nobody's Here but Me |
| April 23, 1994 | S1994·E8 | Voices from the Island |
| April 9, 1994 | S1994·E7 | Philip K. Dick: A Day in the Afterlife |
| March 12, 1994 | S1994·E6 | Theatre without Actors |
| March 5, 1994 | S1994·E5 | Glitterbug - Derek Jarman |
| February 22, 1994 | S1994·E4 | The Two Voyages of Donald Crowhurst |
| February 12, 1994 | S1994·E3 | The Dark Side of Black |
| February 5, 1994 | S1994·E2 | Who Is Vladimir Pozner? |
| January 29, 1994 | S1994·E1 | In Search of Oz |
| December 18, 1993 | S1993·E5 | The Time Signal |
| May 8, 1993 | S1993·E15 | Tales of Rock 'N' Roll: Highway 61 Revisited |
| May 1, 1993 | S1993·E4 | Tales of Rock 'n' Roll: Walk on the Wild Side |
| April 24, 1993 | S1993·E14 | Tales of Rock 'N' Roll: Heartbreak Hotel |
| April 18, 1993 | S1993·E13 | Not a Bad Girl |
| April 17, 1993 | S1993·E12 | Tales of Rock 'N' Roll: Peggy Sue |
| April 2, 1993 | S1993·E10 | Weegee |
| April 2, 1993 | S1993·E11 | Duchamp's Fountain |
| March 26, 1993 | S1993·E9 | Only the Names Have Been Changed.... |
| March 19, 1993 | S1993·E3 | Philip Roth |
| March 12, 1993 | S1993·E8 | Zhang Yimou - A Story of China |
| February 26, 1993 | S1993·E7 | Derek Walcott |
| February 19, 1993 | S1993·E6 | The Last Soviet Citizen |
| February 12, 1993 | S1993·E2 | Edward Said: The Idea of Empire |
| January 29, 1993 | S1993·E1 | A Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie |
| December 26, 1992 | S1992·E6 | Linda McCartney - Behind the Lens |
| March 27, 1992 | S1992·E5 | Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up |
| January 31, 1992 | S1992·E4 | Masters of the Canvas |
| January 25, 1992 | S1992·E3 | Billy, How Did You Do It? - Part 3 |
| January 24, 1992 | S1992·E2 | Billy, How Did You Do It? - Part 2 |
| January 23, 1992 | S1992·E1 | Billy, How Did You Do It? - Part 1 |
| October 13, 1991 | S1991·E16 | The Complete Citizen Kane |
| April 19, 1991 | S1991·E15 | The Human Face |
| April 12, 1991 | S1991·E14 | Elmore Leonard's Criminal Records |
| April 5, 1991 | S1991·E13 | Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon |
| March 29, 1991 | S1991·E12 | Lifepulse |
| March 22, 1991 | S1991·E11 | The Other Roci |
| March 17, 1991 | S1991·E10 | The Importance of Being Oscar |
| March 16, 1991 | S1991·E9 | One Irish Rover |
| March 15, 1991 | S1991·E8 | Three Irish Writers |
| March 8, 1991 | S1991·E7 | Staring at the Ceiling |
| March 1, 1991 | S1991·E6 | Caroline 199 - A Pirate's Tale |
| February 12, 1991 | S1991·E5 | Mardi Gras |
| February 8, 1991 | S1991·E4 | The Very Strange Story of... The Legendary Joe Meek |
| February 1, 1991 | S1991·E3 | Anselm Kiefer: Operation Sealion |
| January 25, 1991 | S1991·E2 | Derek Jarman - A Portrait |
| January 18, 1991 | S1991·E1 | Miller Meets Mandela |
| September 20, 1990 | S1990·E9 | Agatha Christie - Unfinished Portrait |
| June 1, 1990 | S1990·E8 | Oooh er Missus! The Frankie Howerd Story |
| April 15, 1990 | S1990·E7 | Jana Bokova's Havana |
| April 6, 1990 | S1990·E6 | Paris Is Burning |
| March 2, 1990 | S1990·E5 | Salif Keita |
| February 23, 1990 | S1990·E4 | Next Time Dear God Please Choose Someone Else |
| February 9, 1990 | S1990·E3 | Roberto Rossellini |
| February 2, 1990 | S1990·E2 | Jerry Lee Lewis |
| January 19, 1990 | S1990·E1 | Numbers |
| December 27, 1989 | S1989·E14 | 25 X 5 The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones |
| April 21, 1989 | S1989·E13 | The Other Graham Greene |
| April 7, 1989 | S1989·E12 | Heavy Metal |
| March 31, 1989 | S1989·E11 | Lubetkin Thoughts of a Twentieth Century Anarchist |
| March 19, 1989 | S1989·E10 | Juke Box Jury |
| March 17, 1989 | S1989·E9 | The Old Brass Plate Rattle Test - The Englishman and His Jukebox |
| March 3, 1989 | S1989·E8 | Power in the Blood |
…and 316 earlier episodes not shown. Long-running show.