''Omnibus'' is an arts-based British documentary series, broadcast mainly on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The programme was the successor to the arts-based series ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

''. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BAFTA) awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are: *''

Song of Summer ''Song of Summer'' is a 1968 black-and-white television film co-written, produced, and directed by Ken Russell for the BBC's '' Omnibus'' series which was first broadcast on 15 September 1968. It portrays the final six years of Frederick Deliu ...

'' (1968) biographical film by

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

about

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

and

Eric Fenby Eric William Fenby OBE (22 April 190618 February 1997) was an English composer, conductor, pianist, organist and teacher who is best known for being Frederick Delius's amanuensis from 1928 to 1934. He helped Delius realise a number of works t ...

*''

Cracked Actor ''Cracked Actor'' (or full title, ''Cracked Actor: A Film About David Bowie'') is a 1975 television documentary film about the musician David Bowie, made by Alan Yentob for the BBC's '' Omnibus'' strand. It was first shown on BBC1 on 26 Janu ...

'' (1975), a profile of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

during the peak of his cocaine addiction *''

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood ''Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood'', also known as ''Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision'', is a documentary film produced by BBC '' Omnibus'' in 1978 on the subject of Hunter S. Thompson, directed by Nigel Finch. The film pairs Thomps ...

'' (1978), follows American Gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson and British artist

Ralph Steadman Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration and friendship with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture ...

on a trip to Hollywood during the development of a film based on Thompson's life and work. *''Rene Magritte'' (1979), a graduate film by David Wheatley; *'' Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story'' – a documentary about a 1984 studio recording of Leonard Bernstein conducting his own music from ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

''. Bernstein had not previously conducted the 1957 musical. The episode won the Robert Flaherty Award for the best television documentary in 1986. *''Van Gogh'' (1991) *Anna Benson-Gyles ''Madonna: Behind the American dream'' (1990), a film produced by Nadia Hagger. 7.7 million people watched this episode, which was slightly higher that the average audience of 3.1 million. *Profile of British film director

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...

(1992) *A two-hour career overview of director

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films '' ...

(1995) *A documentary about The K Foundation's various art projects (1995). For one season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by

Barry Norman Barry Leslie Norman (21 August 1933 – 30 June 2017) was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, '' Film...'', from 1972 to 1998. Early life Born at St Thomas’s Hospital ...

. In 2001, the BBC announced that the programme was being switched to

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

, prompting accusations that the corporation was further marginalising its arts programming."BBC arts chief defends Omnibus switch"
by Jason Deans, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', 6 February 2001 BBC controller of arts commissioning

Roly Keating Roland Francis Kester Keating (born 5 August 1961) is Chief Executive of the British Library. He took up his post in September 2012. Early life and education Keating was born on 5 August 1961 to Donald Norman Keating and Betty Katharine Keating ...

defended the move, saying "the documentary strand will be able to tackle a wider range of subjects." Regarded as its "flagship arts programme", ''Omnibus'' was one of only two regular arts platforms broadcast at the time by the BBC. In late 2002, the BBC announced that ''Omnibus'' would be cancelled the following year,"BBC to axe Omnibus, its arts flagship"
by Catherine Milner, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 3 November 2002 to be replaced by the arts series '' Imagine'', hosted by

Alan Yentob Alan Yentob (born 11 March 1947) is a BBC presenter and retired British television executive. He stepped down as Creative Director in December 2015, and was chairman of the board of trustees of the charity Kids Company from 2003 until its colla ...

References

External links

* 1967 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings 1960s British documentary television series 1970s British documentary television series 1980s British documentary television series 1990s British documentary television series 2000s British documentary television series BBC television documentaries English-language television shows {{UK-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub

See also

References

External links