The Art of Dying
BBC4, Wednesday 30 September 9:00pm - 10:00pm An evening about death may sound relentlessly morbid, but it's brave programming. Among archive morsels, Dan Cruickshank presents a sombre meditation on whether art can offer enlightenment and solace. It's leavened by art historian Sister Wendy Beckett, now 79, who, asked what death means, says with some joy, "I'll soon know!" Dan meets artists Maggi Hambling and Jamie McCartney, who have depicted their loved ones after death, but finds contemplating deaths in his own family and reading his BBC obit sobering stuff. As a companion piece to yesterday's Richard Wilson: Two Feet in the Grave on BBC1, the droll actor discusses his background and career with a twitchy Mark Lawson at London's Royal Court Theatre. Clips reaching as far back as Dr Finlay's Casebook and Crown Court should amuse.
VIDEO Plus+: 3243617
Subtitled, Widescreen, Audio-described
Directed by: Matthew Hill
radiotimes
