Investigating how the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet has become a rite of passage for actors including Ralph Fiennes, Derek Jacobi and Jonathan Pryce. The programme follows five actors rehearsing to play the tragic hero.

35 :08x02 - Yusuf, the Artist Formerly Known as Cat Stevens

First aired: May/29/2006

36 :08x03 - The Ingenious Thomas Heatherwick

First aired: Jun/05/2006

37 :08x04 - A Picture of the Painter Howard Hodgkin

First aired: Jun/13/2006

38 :09x01 - Peter Pan, A Hard Act to Follow

First aired: Oct/17/2006

39 :09x02 - Velazquez, The Painter's Painter

First aired: Oct/24/2006

40 :09x03 - A Play for Today

First aired: Oct/31/2006

41 :09x04 - The Movie Brats. Take Two

First aired: Nov/07/2006

42 :09x05 - Who Cares About Art?

First aired: Nov/14/2006

43 :09x06 - Hans Holbein - International Man of Mystery

First aired: Nov/21/2006

44 :09x07 - Being a Diva

First aired: Nov/28/2006

45 :09x08 - www.herecomeseverybody.co.uk

First aired: Dec/05/2006

46 :09x09 - And Then There Was Television

First aired: Dec/19/2006

47 :09x10 - The Beatles In Love

First aired: Dec/27/2006

48 :10x01 - Gilbert And George: No Surrender

First aired: May/08/2007

Alan looks at the work of artists Gilbert and George.

49 :10x02 - Stealing Klimt

First aired: May/15/2007

This week the show follows Maria Altmann's crusade to get back five Klimt paintings taken from her family by the Nazis just before the outbreak of the second world war.

50 :10x03 - Scott Walker

First aired: May/22/2007

Alan takes a look at the life of Scott Walker who gave up his pop career in the 1960's to follow a very different musical path.

51 :10x04 - It's The Surreal Thing

First aired: May/29/2007

This week Alan takes a magical journey from Sigmund Freud's couch to the Victoria and Albert museum which currently is showing a 'Surreal Things' exhibition.

52 :10x05 - Damon And Jamie's Excellent Adventure

First aired: Jul/04/2007
Guest star: Jamie Hewlett (Himself), Damon Albam (Himself)

Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albam are interviewed by Alan about their decision to try and break into the world of opera.

53 :11x01 - Henry Perkins: Bolshoi Boy

First aired: Oct/23/2007

The cameras follow sixteen your old British boy Henry as he attempts to make It through the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.

54 :11x02 - Bollywood's Big B

First aired: Oct/30/2007

Alan looks at the life of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

55 :11x03 - Show 3

First aired: Nov/06/2007

56 :11x04 - Louise Bourgeois

First aired: Nov/13/2007

Alan takes a look at the work of artist Louise Bourgeois.

57 :11x05 - How to Get on in the Art World

First aired: Nov/20/2007

Alan Yentob takes a visit to Frieze Art Fair week in London's Regent Park where he has £5000 of his own money to spend. Whilt he there he chats to both artists and buyers.

58 :12x01 - The Secret of Life

First aired: Feb/19/2008

Alan takes a look at the reasons why self help books are currently so popular.

59 :12x02 - Richard Rogers, Inside Out

First aired: Feb/26/2008

Alan takes a look at the career of Richard Rogers.

60 :12x03 - Mark Newson: Urban Spaceman

First aired: Mar/04/2008

Alan takes a look at the career of Mark Newson who has created some of the most iconic pieces of furniture of the late twentieth century.

61 :13x01 - Doris Lessing - The Hostess And The Alien

First aired: May/27/2008

The series takes a look at the life of Nobel Prize winning author Doris Lessing.

62 :13x02 - Oliver Sacks

First aired: Jun/03/2008

Alan takes a look at how music can have different effects on the human brain.

63 :13x03 - Annie Leibovitz, Life Through A Lens

First aired: Jun/10/2008

The show profiles the life of the famous photographer, Annie Leibovitz.

64 :13x04 - Berlin Philharmonic

First aired: Jun/17/2008

The Berlin Philharmonic set off on a tour of asia and talk about what life is like on the road.

65 :13x05 - Murakami

First aired: Jun/24/2008

The show takes a look at the life of Haruki Murakami.

66 :13x06 - Werner Herzog

First aired: Jul/01/2008

Alan Yentob talks to the famous German director Werner Herzog.

67 :13x07 - Love, Loss and Anthony Minghella

First aired: Jul/08/2008

The show pays a tribute to the famous director Anthony Minghella.

68 :14x01 - Dangerous Liaison: When Akram met Juliette

First aired: Oct/14/2008

Akram Khan has just a few months to teach actress Juliette Binoche to dance.

69 :14x02 - A Love Story

First aired: Oct/21/2008

Alan explores at how the emotion of love has helped inspire the arts over the centuries.

70 :14x03 - Jay-Z: He Came, He Saw, He Conquered

First aired: Oct/28/2008

Alan takes a look at the life of rapper and multi-millionaire businessman Jay-Z.

71 :14x04 - Let There Be Light

First aired: Nov/11/2008

The series looks at the work of artists who focus on light.

72 :14x05 - How an Orchestra Saved Venezuela's Children

First aired: Nov/18/2008

The series looks at how an orchestra saved some of Venezuela's children from a life of crime.

73 :14x06 - Richard Serra: Man of Steel

First aired: Nov/25/2008

Richard Serra talks about his work as a sculptor and also discusses his personal life.

74 :14x07 - Heavy Metal in Baghdad

First aired: Dec/02/2008

The series takes a look at Iraq's only metal band called Acrassicauda.

75 :15x01 - Company of Elders

First aired: Jun/23/2009

Alan takes a look at the Company of Elders dance troupe where all of the members are 61 and over. The cameras follow them as they prepare to perform some new contemporary work at Sadler's Wells. They have just eight weeks to perfect the routine.

76 :15x02 - David Hockney - A Bigger Picture

First aired: Jun/30/2009

The series takes a look at the life of David Hockney as he approaches 70.

77 :15x03 - Rufus Wainwright

First aired: Jul/07/2009

Alan Yentob talks to one of modern music's newest talents, Rufus Wainwright about his rapid rise to stardom, his past and his family.

78 :15x04 - The Colourful Mr Eggleston

First aired: Jul/14/2009

Alan takes a look at the life and career of William Eggleston, one of the most influential photographers still alive today.

79 :15x05 - Art in Troubled Times: A New Deal for Art

First aired: Jul/21/2009

Alan takes a look at whether the current recession will change what is expected from the arts.

80 :15x06 - Art In Troubled Times (2)

First aired: Jul/28/2009

Alan continues to take a look at whether the current recession will change what is expected from the arts.

81 :16x01 - The Year Of Anish Kapoor

First aired: Nov/17/2009

Alan talks to Anish Kapoor about his career as a sculptor.

82 :16x02 - Dame Shirley Bassey: The Girl From Tiger Bay

First aired: Nov/24/2009

Dame Shirley Bassey is joined by Alan as she goes from rehearsals to recording her new album.

83 :16x03 - Own Art

First aired: Dec/01/2009

Alan takes a look at a new set of art collectors, many of who have incomes equal or below the national average.

84 :16x04 - Joan Baez

First aired: Dec/08/2009

Alan talks to Joan Baez about her life and career.

85 :16x05 - Plácido Domingo

First aired: Dec/15/2009

Alan talks to Plácido Domingo as the 40th anniversary of his debut at Covent Garden approaches.

86 :16x06 - Scrabble

First aired: Dec/22/2009

Alan takes a look at the history of the popular baord game, Scrabble.

87 :17x01 - The Stones in Exile

First aired: May/23/2010

90 :17x02 - Nigel Kennedy's Polish Adventure

First aired: Jun/15/2010

88 :17x03 - Art is Child's Play

First aired: Jun/22/2010

For lots of artists their formative childhood experience of play has helped them to unleash their creativity and shape their work in later years. Alan talks about the influence of play with Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, Marc Quinn, Gavin Turk, Mat Collishaw and David Bailey.

89 :17x04 - Growing Old Disgracefully

First aired: Jun/29/2010

Alan talks to 92 year old bestselling author Diana Athill who is a literary celebrity who has helped to make the memoir the thriving form it is today.

91 :17x05 - Tom Jones

First aired: Jul/06/2010

Alan talks to Tom Jones about his life and career as he approaches his 70th birthday.

92 :18x01 - Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favour

First aired: Nov/16/2010

Alan chats to Ai Weiwei, the outspoken Chinese artist behind the Tate Modern installation Sunflower Seeds.

93 :18x02 - Smash His Camera

First aired: Nov/23/2010

Alan introduces a short film by Leon Gast which takes a look at the life of American photojournalist Ron Galella, who many believe to be the world's first true paparazzo.

94 :18x03 - The Weird World Of Eadweard Muybridge

First aired: Nov/30/2010

Alan takes a look at the strange life and the great achievements of photographer and inventor Eadweard Muybridge who helped pioneer the creation of photographic techniques that prefigured modern cinema and the digital age.

95 :18x04 - Bruce Springsteen: Darkness Revisited

First aired: Dec/07/2010

Alan hosts a specially re edited reversion of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Thom Zimny's 1978 portrait on the making of Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album.

96 :18x05 - Ben Hur In Bath

First aired: Dec/14/2010

The series follows the progress as hundreds of volunteers spend a year working under the guidance of theatre professionals to produce a production on the stage in the Theatre Royal in Bath. Actress Margot Boyd left a sum of money in her estate to finance the ambitious production.

97 :18x06 - Ray Davies: The Imaginary Man

First aired: Dec/21/2010

Alan Yentob meets The Kinks' Ray Davies, who is widely considered one of the most important songwriters in the history of popular music, as he learns more about his life and career.

98 :18x07 - The Trouble With Tolstoy – At War With Himself

First aired: Mar/27/2011

Alan takes a look at the life and times of novelist Leo Tolstoy.

99 :18x08 - The Trouble With Tolstoy (2)

First aired: Apr/03/2011

Alan travels east of Moscow to Samara where he samples Tolstoy's favourite drink, fermented mare's milk, on the large, empty Russian Steppe, which was the place where Tolstoy's ideology began to take shape.

100 :19x01 - The Man Who Forgot How to Read and Other Stories

First aired: Jun/28/2011

Alan talks to clinical neurologist and author Oliver Sacks about his work.

101 :19x02 - The Pharaohs' Museum on Liberation Square

First aired: Jul/05/2011
Guest star: Omar Sharif (Himself)

In January when the uprising in Tahrir Square in Cairo took place, the Egyptian National Museum was looted, prompting revolutionaries to form a cordon around the building to protect it. Alan talks to officials, curators and Omar Sharif to learn how Egypt's cultural history has shaped the present day.

102 :19x03 - Lennon In Limbo

First aired: Jul/12/2011

The series looks back to when John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved to New York City as he attmpted to escape the mayhem of the Beatles era and try and focus on his family . Whilst there John created some of his most famous work.

103 :19x04 - Harry Nilsson: The Missing Beatle

First aired: Jul/19/2011

The series takes a look at the of the life and music of Harry Nilsson who was a friend and hero of John Lennon's.

104 :19x05 - Iraq in Venice

First aired: Jul/26/2011

Jill Nicholls's film which explores the stories of Iraqi artists exhibiting works at the prestigious Venice Biennale is presented by Alan.

105 :19x06 - Being a Concert Pianist

First aired: Aug/02/2011

Alan learns about the experiences of talented piano players in a documentary that is inspired by Benjamin Grosvenor who won the piano section of the Young Musician of the Year competition in 2004.

106 :20x01 - Grayson Perry: The Tomb Of The Unknown Craftsman

First aired: Nov/01/2011

Over a two-year period, the series was given exclusive access to the creation of Perry's latest exhibition at the British Museum. lan Yentob looks into Grayson Perry's childhood and joins him on a motorbike pilgrimage to Germany and follows him as he explores the artefacts in the British Museum's collection which will inspire his own exhibition.

107 :20x02 - Simon & Garfunkel: The Harmony Game

First aired: Nov/08/2011

The series takes a look at the story of Simon and Garfunkel's 1970 album Bridge Over Troubled Water which was created during a particularly creative period in the duo's career and ended up being their final studio album.

108 :20x03 - Alan Ayckbourn - Greetings from Scarborough

First aired: Nov/15/2011

Alan talks to Alan Ayckbourn as he launches his 75th peice of work, Neighbourhood Watch, in Scarborough.

109 :20x04 - Vidal Sassoon - A Cut Above

First aired: Nov/22/2011

Craig Teper's film takes a look at the career of Vidal Sassoon who invented the bob-cut and over fifty years has created one of the most recognisable brands in the beauty business.

110 :20x05 - The Lost Music of Rajasthan

First aired: Dec/06/2011

This week the show comes from the desert state of Rajasthan, where musicians whose existence is under threat from the new India are talked to.

111 :20x06 - Books: The Last Chapter?

First aired: Dec/13/2011

Alan Yentob talks to writers Alan Bennett, Douglas Coupland, Ewan Morrison and Gary Shteyngart, publisher Gail Rebuck, agent Ed Victor and librarian Rachael Morrison about the rise of electronic books and if the final chapter is about to be written in the long love story between books and their readers.

112 :20x07 - The Art of Stand-Up (1)

First aired: Dec/19/2011

Alan talks to comedians both in Britain and America, finding out their about different backgrounds and influences and their passion for making people laugh.

113 :20x08 - The Art of Stand-Up (2)

First aired: Dec/20/2011

Alan Yentob continues to talks to comedians both in Britain and America, exploring the evolution of stand-up and how it has managed to transfer to different mediums.