Posts Tagged Television industry
Guardian archive, 1960: BBC Television Centre unveiled. Pride in vast new ‘factory’ of TV
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on June 17, 2011
Originally published in the Guardian on 16 June 1960
"An industrial building - a factory - the largest, best equipped, and most carefully planned factory of its kind in the world." This was how the B.B.C.'s great television centre at the White City was described by Mr Gerald Beadle, director of B.B.C. television, in a speech yesterday when the press was taken on a tour of the centre, which will go into operation when Studio 3 gives its first production on June 29.
Mr Beadle said the building was equipped to make about 1,500 hours of electronic programme material each year. "The B.B.C. makes more programmes and buys less from outside sources than does any other television authority . . . The new centre is the principal world centre for electronic programmes . . . we who have made this industry from scratch are aware of immense opportunities for this country if British television is allowed a period of unhampered development."
The centre has taken ten years to get to its present stage. It has seven studios in all. There is a circular main block covering three and a half acres with studios, engineering areas and administrative offices; a scenery block; and a restaurant block. The works block and an extension have yet to be built. In all, the centre will cover about thirteen acres. The entrance hall has a striking mural in mosaic by John Piper. Inside the circular block, which is like a huge hollow drum, there is a grass lawn, a fountain and a golden statue of Helios. Yesterday the statue glinted golden in the June sun and the waters of the fountain echoed against the walls of the circular building. The biggest studio, No. 1, measures 11,000 square feet and part of its floor can be lowered and converted into a pool with water if wanted; this will come into use early next year. Studio 3, to open on June 29, measures 8,000 square feet and can hold an audience of 400. Studio 1 can hold 600. Dressing rooms, make-up and wardrobe rooms are arranged so that the cast for different studios can identify their respective quarters by different colours - red, blue, and green.
The main building is seven floors high and at the top there is a circular roof walk from which there is an impressive view down into the inner ring. Something of the size can be gauged when one realises that this block covers an area nearly twice that of St Paul's Cathedral. Yet this building, so impressive for its sheer size, strikes one inside by the intricacy, the delicacy and the fine adjustment of its engineering set-up. The impression one is left with is that whatever comes out of here to be seen on the small screen will be of the highest quality.
How Television Centre started with a question mark
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on June 13, 2011
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Design of iconic building famously drawn on the back of an envelope
Monty Python's Flying Circus was recorded at BBC Television Centre. The comedy featured Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel, a Silly Party candidate in a spoof of the 1970 general election, and Vivian Smith-Smythe-Smith, a participant in the Upper Class Twit of the Year contest. It also gave us wartime RAF chaps unable to follow one another's banter.
Was it possible the Pythons knew a thing or two about the design history of TV Centre? This impressive broadcasting complex was the architectural brainchild of Graham Dawbarn, a first world war Royal Flying Corps pilot, his business partner Air Commodore Henry Nigel St Valery Norman, 2nd Baronet of Honeyhanger, and the BBC's resident civil engineer, Marmaduke Tudsbery Tudsbery. Sir Nigel, as the baronet was better known, was killed in action in the second world war, but not before he and Dawbarn masterminded a number of civil airports: the BBC White City studios were surely rooted in the design of hangars and other airport buildings as was the easy flow of space between them.
Exactly how the complex should be planned, and what it should look like, however, was still something of a puzzle when Dawbarn and Tudsbery got to grips with the design in the late 1940s. Famously, the architect drew a question mark on an envelope (it still exists) and, one way or another, this punctuation mark formed the basis of the plan offering a circle (or circus) of production spaces and studios penetrated by an access road for the delivery and shifting of scenery, sets and props. The design proved to be outstanding, both functional and instantly recognisable.
Some said TV Centre looked a bit too Soviet for comfort at a time – the 1950s – when Auntie Beeb herself was thought to be sheltering communist sympathisers. As a matter of record, Tudsbery visited the workers' paradise in 1966, publishing a 22-page book, In the Red: Two Weeks in the USSR, on his return.
First shown to the public at the Festival of Britain in 1951, the design was meant to have been added to as and when necessary. Today, though, it will be hard to think of a suitable new purpose for the listed buildings at White City. Sensible, and perhaps even some quite silly, suggestions may well be welcome to ensure a bright and possibly creative future for one of British broadcasting's finest and most memorable circuses.
Inside the revamped BBC Broadcasting House
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on December 16, 2010
Corporation unveils £1bn redevelopment of central London base, including high-tech newsroom
James Murdoch’s Sky scraper
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on September 27, 2010
What does this building say about BSkyB? James Murdoch gives Jonathan Glancey an exclusive view of his first big architectural commission: a colossal TV factory
'It's not meant to be pretty," says James Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB, of its new broadcasting centre. This might seem an odd thing to say about the first building BSkyB has commissioned, yet this steel and glass colossus – rising from the heart of BSkyB's jumble of buildings at Osterley, on the Heathrow flight path – is no conventional beauty. In fact, Harlequin 1, a colourful and even comic name for a decidedly serious building, has the look of some futuristic power station: a strange way, perhaps, to express BSkyB's corporate values.
As Murdoch, lean, personable and surprisingly ruminative, emerges from the long shadow of his father Rupert, you might expect to find him and his bright young staff (average age: 27) plotting an expanding empire from some racy new structure designed by Rem Koolhaas or Zaha Hadid. But I get the impression that BSkyB has grown so quickly that, until now, there has been no time for the luxury of architecture.
Founded in 1990, the company's turnover has grown from £93m in 1991 to £5.4bn last year. It now employs 16,500 full-time staff up and down the country, and broadcasts 26 Sky channels. As it's grown, its Osterley base has sprawled out into a ragbag of old industrial sheds and rental offices. The company itself doesn't even seem to take these buildings seriously: in the lobby of the head office, larger-than-life Simpsons mannequins sprawl on a sofa.
"It's very dangerous when companies start building," Murdoch says. It's a curious notion, yet one that makes sense for a business that still has the feel of a muscular young streetfighter looking to take on all comers – rather than that of a long-established and self-consciously cultured set-up like the BBC, whose Broadcasting House looks like an art deco ocean liner carved in stone. "We don't want to build monuments," says Murdoch, "but we've tried to ask what would be the building Sky would build?"
And the £130m Harlequin 1 is the answer: a vast glazed steel box, interrupted by towering columns that prove to be chimneys removing hot and stale air from studios and editing suites. Clearly, Harlequin 1 is not meant to be a contemporary version of the BBC's elegant Broadcasting House. No: with its factory-like bulk, its sleek cladding and forest of chimneys, it's a refined brute of a building. As for its green credentials, it boasts the world's first naturally ventilated recording studios and, despite its scale, daylight and fresh air reach virtually every workspace.
"We've lived in a Portakabin world as we've grown," says Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB's chief executive, sitting alongside James Murdoch. "No, we haven't been after a 'great' building, but one that allows us to change and grow and move on. Harlequin 1 is a factory where we can make and record programmes, edit them and broadcast them under a single roof. It's got eight flexible studios, so we can experiment as we move forward. We've come a long way from the BSkyB people once seemed to associate solely with TV in pubs."
"We're young, slightly raw, dynamic," adds Murdoch. "But we also put out a greater coverage of the arts on Sky than the entire BBC."
As I walk into the lobby with architect Declan O'Carroll of Arup Associates, the building begins to make sense, especially in terms of how Murdoch and Darroch pitch BSkyB. Although essentially hard-edged, Harlequin 1 manages to be both dynamic and even tasteful. A striking black steel stair climbs up to a glazed roof, far above. One wall is sheathed in polished plaster: a crafted and, dare I say it, luxurious touch. Another wall, glazed, offers glimpses of the distant West End, and of jets making their final approach to Heathrow. It's like having a ringside seat at an aerial parade.
The lobby stair leads to cafes and "break-out" spaces for informal meetings, all sharing these panoramas. This part of the building, the place where it relaxes and puts its feet up, is housed in a cantilevered steel and glass tower that seems to be breaking away from the main structure. It promises to be a lively, attractive spot when Harlequin 1 goes live next year, ahead of schedule and £5m under budget.
"The building really is a big machine," says O'Carroll, as we take an exhaustive tour. The eight studios are cave-like spaces fronted by huge sliding steel doors. The Sky Sports studio sits at its heart: set behind clear glass screens, it will be on view to the public as they tour Harlequin 1. "We definitely want people to come and see us," says Murdoch. "We're not trying to hide out in the boondocks. We're already involved with local schools and the community. We want Harlequin 1 to be somewhere people feel they are a part of."
It is not hard to see how this mighty machine would be fun to work in. Part ocean freighter, part James Bond set, part Darth Vader battleship, it will suit a young, creative and energetic staff, the kind of people who find slick, corporate headquarters alien. Corridors loop around each floor like giant racetracks making everything easy to find, while floors are raised up on steel props to accommodate 50km of cabling. There is little in the way of plush carpets, exotic veneers and plump armchairs, yet the building is anything but unfriendly. "Wherever possible," says O'Carroll, "people work around the perimeter. Here, they have real control over their environment: opening windows, daylight, views . . ."
This might sound obvious, but all too many people work in buildings where they have little control over how hot or cold, bright or dark, humid or dry it is. "Energy costs should be a third less than a conventional building of this kind," says O'Carroll, on the benefits of those chimneys. "The aim has been to create a carbon-neutral design. No one pretends this is easy, and of course the cooling and ventilation system has a back-up, in case it gets stifling."
If planning permission comes through, Harlequin 1 will be topped with a wind turbine on its west side. Meanwhile, rainwater will flush toilets, and a wood-chip burner will fuel the cooling and heating systems. It all adds up to one very big green machine – or at least as green a machine as something of this size can be. But creating an environmentally friendly building was not Murdoch's only concern: "The question of how you reconcile an increasingly digital world with a real world is so important. In the end, we're producing a stream of ones and zeros beamed out to satellites and back to TVs, laptops and mobiles, but I've wanted to get something of the feeling newspapers once had."
Murdoch enthuses about the days when newspaper buildings were great story-weaving machines: the chipping of typewriters, the calls for copy, the whisky bottles. "And the way," he beams, "complete buildings used to rumble and sway as the presses rolled. I want our staff to share that kind of excitement, but brought up to date."
Murdoch is also busy with the redevelopment of News International's Fortress Wapping (a nickname he bridles at), which is to be transformed by adventurous new architecture, currently under wraps. As the rest of the BSkyB campus at Osterley is transformed, and as BSkyB matures, I hope Murdoch and his team will learn to relax with architecture. Had they done so earlier, they might have encouraged their architects to give Harlequin 1 a little more urban drama. Yes, this new broadcasting centre is an impressive beast, but if only those chimneys had been more forcefully expressed, if only those facades hadn't been so relentlessly smooth.
As I leave, Murdoch asks if the Guardian's conference room at its newish King's Place HQ really does have beanbags for staff to flop on. Sadly, no. But it does have a giant yellow sofa: Homer Simpson would approve. Harlequin 1 might be hard-edged and modern, yet, in its own dynamic, digital way it has a lot in common with the mighty media works of yore. As Murdoch says, it's "not fancy, not slick – it's there to show what it does, and not to show off".
What to see in 2010
Posted by The Sheet in Architecture News on December 31, 2009
Can Martin Scorsese pull off a horror movie? Is Glasgow the new Venice? And what's Ricky Gervais up to in Reading? Our critics pick next year's hottest tickets
Film
Cemetery Junction
Having conquered Hollywood, Ricky Gervais is coming home. With his long-time collaborator Stephen Merchant, he has set out to create a British film in the tradition of Billy Liar and the Likely Lads – and of course his own masterpiece The Office – about three blokes working for the Prudential insurance company in Gervais's hometown of Reading. Released on 7 April.
A Single Man
The smart money says Colin Firth will be bringing home a certain gold, bald-headed statuette for his performance as a bereaved gay man in Los Angeles. Based on the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood, the movie – fashion designer Tom Ford's directorial debut – follows one day in the life of Firth's literature academic as he confronts his own mortality. Released on 12 February.
A Prophet
Tahar Rahim is Talik, a scared young Arab guy in jail who is made an offer he can't refuse by Corsican mobster César, played by Niels Arestrup: he must murder a supergrass, or be killed himself. A gripping prison movie from French director Jacques Audiard. Released on 22 January.
Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese's much-anticipated new movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio was originally slated to come for autumn; the delay was reportedly due to its promotional budget getting credit-crunched. Anyway, better late than never. It's a mystery thriller with a generous spoonful of horror – a new generic twist for this master director. Released on 12 March.
The Headless Woman
A wealthy woman accidentally hits something in her car. Was it a dog? A person? She slips into woozy confusion, and the movie mimics the woman's disorientation and denial as she attempts to carry on with her life. An arthouse cult classic from Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel. Released on 19 February.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Edgar Wright is the British director who struck gold with Shaun of the Dead. Now he tackles his first proper Hollywood project – a wacky comedy based on the Bryan Lee O'Malley comic-book series. Michael Cera plays bass guitarist Scott Pilgrim, who, having fallen in love with a woman, must now do battle with her seven former boyfriends. Released on 27 August.
Father of My Children
A discreetly directed and superbly acted drama based on the tragic life of the French film producer Humbert Balsan. Grégoire is a much-loved mover-and-shaker in world cinema whose finances are crumbling. The ensuing crisis is brilliantly portrayed. Released on 5 March.
Visual art
Glasgow international festival of contemporary art
A huge, budget-melting installation by Swiss artist Christoph Büchel in the vast Tramway; a major new film by Gerard Byrne; works by Fiona Tan, Douglas Gordon, Linder and many more spread around Scotland's liveliest city, in the UK's best annual visual arts festival. Forget Edinburgh, forget Liverpool: this is the one. Venues across Glasgow (0141-287 8994, glasgowinternational.org), 16 April-3 May.
The Real Van Gogh: the Artist and His Letters
Van Gogh was erudite, intelligent, a great artist and an inveterate writer of letters. But he also did that thing to his ear, drank too much absinthe and killed himself. This show looks at his art in the light of his letters, recently published in English in full. Royal Academy of Arts, London W1 (020-7300 8000), 23 January-18 April.
Chris Ofili
Manchester-born Chris Ofili has rolled joints from elephant dung, made paintings decorated with dung, and moved on to territory that brings together German expressionism, Trinidadian myth, lovers, prophets, gods and ghosts. Promises to be blasphemous and inspiring, elegiac and sexy. Tate Britain, London SW1 (020-7887 8888), 27 January-16 May.
Jenny Holzer
There's more to American artist Holzer's work than an endless tickertape of words spelled out in LED lights. There are billboards, benches, condom wrappers and paintings. This is poetry with a plug, light shows with literature, an art of anger and beauty. Baltic, Gateshead (0191-478 1810), 5 March-16 May.
Sixth Berlin Biennial
The Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art is always fascinating, and sometimes great. In a city infested with artists and overshadowed by history, it attracts fewer wannabes, hangers-on, art-surfers and arrogant airheads than Venice. Berlin is serious, the food is a joke, the weather uncertain and the art at the time of writing a complete mystery. Go anyway. Venues across Berlin (00 49 [0] 302 434 5910, berlinbiennale.de), 11 June-8 August.
Gauguin
Paul Gauguin, stock-broker turned post-impressionist and symbolist painter and sculptor, mystified Van Gogh, with whom he shared a house for a while. What an odd couple. Gauguin died in French Polynesia in 1903 at the age of 54. His art, however, is a time bomb, still ticking in the 21st century; and this is the first major show in Britain for 50 years. Tate Modern, London SE1 (020-7887 8888), from 30 September.
Pop
Whitney Houston
Houston's misadventures during the last decade made the likelihood of her touring again seem nil. But here she is playing her first UK dates since 1998, rehabbed and in robust voice – although her ability to hit those power notes has diminished somewhat. Which may be a good thing. MEN Arena, Manchester (0844 847 8000), 8-9 April. Then touring.
Green Day
Here's a thing: an overtly political US band who are big enough to play stadiums. Mind you, if Green Day's views weren't complemented by radio-friendly rock, their two British summer dates would probably be somewhere cosier. Old Trafford (0871 2200 260), June 16; Wembley, London (020-7403 3331), June 19.
The xx
It's all about understatement and nuance with this indie band, earmarked just about everywhere as 2010's ones to watch. Don't expect fireworks or obvious "wow" moments on their first major headlining tour: they and their acclaimed self-titled album are very much insidious pleasures. Komedia, Brighton (0845 293 8480), 1 March. Then touring.
Lily Allen and Dizzee Rascal
Lily and Dizzee have more in common than you would think: they easily rank with 2009's most successful British musicians, and she's as influenced by Rascal's hip-hop milieu as he is by the pop world she inhabits. MEN Arena, Manchester (0844 847 8000), 5 March; 02 Arena, London (0844 856 0202), 7 March.
Glastonbury
The daddy of them all celebrates its 40th anniversary, and Glasto virgins U2 will be among those braving the mud to celebrate. Sold out, but returns go on sale in the new year. Worthy Farm, Somerset, 23-27 June.
Jazz and world music
Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA Orchestra
Specials and 2 Tone co-founder Dammers pays tribute to mystic free-jazz bandleader Sun Ra, who died in 1993, with a mix of jazz, funk, reggae, dub, hip-hop and rock. The all-star lineup includes Nathaniel Facey, Zoe Rahman and Jason Yarde. Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry (024-7652 4524), 4 March. Touring until 9 April.
Dan Berglund's Tonbrucket
Swedish pianist Esbjörn Svensson's death in 2008 wound up popular jazz trio EST, but bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrom visit not only EST's music, but Pink Floyd, Arvo Pärt and more in their new quartet. Queen's Hall, Edinburgh (0131-668 2019), 13 March. Touring until 1 April.
Wynton Marsalis
The prolific Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Orchestra celebrate 80 years of big-band history in three major concerts, with jams all over London, including the Vortex. Barbican, London EC2 (0845 120 7550), 17 and 18 June; Hackney Empire, London E8 (020-8510 4500), 20 June.
African Soul Rebels
Mali's Oumou Sangaré, famed for her bravely outspoken views, is one of the stars of the sixth African Soul Rebels outing. She's joined by the rousing big band Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, and the veteran South African experimental political band, Kalahari Surfers. Poole Lighthouse (0844 406 8666), 18 February. Then touring.
Ali and Toumani
The most eagerly awaited African album of the year, this is the final recording by the great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, and the kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté – recorded a few months before Touré's death. Out 22 February.
Dance
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
After the shock of Bausch's death this summer, her company has announced plans to continue under the joint direction of Dominique Mercy and Robert Sturm. In April, they come to London with Kontakthof, Bausch's 1978 meditation on love and human foibles. It will be performed by two radically different, alternating casts – one made up of senior citizens, the other of teenagers. Barbican, London EC2 (020-7638 8891), 1-4 April.
Mark Morris Dance Group
Morris made L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, an ecstatic embrace of a dance, more than 20 years ago; it still ranks as one of the great experiences in the repertory. Handel's score will be played and sung by members of English National Opera. Coliseum, London WC2 (0871-911 0200), 14-17 April.
Hofesh Shechter
The rise and rise of Shechter continues with Political Mother, a large ensemble piece that plays with definitions of shock and normality, and comes with Shechter's own score. Dome, Brighton (01273 709709), 20 and 21 May; Sadler's Wells, London EC1 (0844 412 4300), 14-17 July.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
A posthumous season for the late, great Merce includes the UK premiere of the work he choreographed just months before he died. Nearly Ninety belies its title with a score including music by Sonic Youth. Barbican, London EC2 (020-7638 8891), 26-30 October.
Theatre
Arthur and George
David Edgar adapts Julian Barnes's gripping novel about a Birmingham solicitor who, after being convicted of a grisly crime, recruits the help of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Fact merges with fiction in a story that deals with race, innocence, guilt and spiritualism - with echoes of Sherlock Holmes. Rachel Kavanaugh directs what promises to be that rare thing: a necessary adaptation. Birmingham Rep (0121-236 4455), 19 March-10 April.
Peter Pan
David Greig relocates JM Barrie's masterpiece to a gas-lit Victorian Edinburgh. Director John Tiffany (Black Watch, The Bacchae) and designer Laura Hopkins are at the helm, so this Pan shouldn't simply fly, but soar. Kings, Glasgow (0844 871 7648), 23 April–8 May. Then touring.
Hamlet
Once again, it looks like we're set for a major battle of the princes. John Simm has first crack at the title in a Paul Miller production in the refurbished Sheffield Crucible. Then Rory Kinnear takes on the moody Dane, with Clare Higgins as Gertrude, directed by Nicholas Hytner at the National. Some people, recalling the very recent David Tennant-Jude Law clash, resent this duplication. I say: "Bring it on." Crucible Theatre, Sheffield (0114-249 6000), from September; Olivier theatre, London SE1 (020-7452 3000), from October.
Posh
Just in time for the general election, Laura Wade's new play deals with a group of Oxford hearties, all members of an elite student dining society. They hunt, booze, take illegal substances (possibly) and are, it seems, destined to rule over us. It's good to see Wade, who made a big impact with Breathing Corpses in 2005, resurrecting the class war in a topical Court production, directed by Lyndsey Turner. Royal Court, London SW1 (020-7565 5000), 9 April-22 May.
Oh! What a Lovely War
Joan Littlewood's timeless musical satire on the first world war gets its first major post-Iraq outing, with directors Erica Whyman and Sam Kenyon leading the troops over the top. Northern Stage, Newcastle (0191-230 5151), 6 March-27 March. Then touring.
The Persians
A Brecon military range becomes the setting for a site-responsive revival of Aeschylus's great play about war and defeat. Mike Pearson, who has been using found spaces with his legendary company Brith Gof long before it became fashionable, directs. Cilieni Village, Powys, Wales (01874 611622), 11-21 August.
Architecture
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford
Dynamic reconstruction of the famous 1930s theatre. New work includes a 1,030-seat modern take on a 17th-century courtyard stage, a revamped art deco foyer, a rooftop restaurant and a bridging tower linking old and new spaces. November.
Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany
Six rigorously geometrical new wings parade around four urban courtyards in this major extension by David Chipperfield of a fine museum devoted to 19th and 20th-century French and German art. The model of a modern building for a (hopefully) less wilfully ostentatious era. April.
Rolex Learning Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland
This exquisite Swiss building – a single, undulating floor boasting lake and mountain views – is a coming of age for Tokyo's Sanaa, designers of the 2009 Serpentine Pavilion. A science research centre that's as much landscape as architecture. February.
Television
Mad Men
The immaculately dressed alcoholic misogynists of the Sterling Cooper ad agency return to alternately horrify and entrance us. Nine months on, how is the company's merger with a London firm working out for boss Don, copywriter Peggy and co? And what state is Don's estranged wife Betty in? BBC4, from 27 January.
Glee
Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy's new musical comedy-drama about a high-school choir (the "glee club" of the title) is huge in the US. The club's show tunes and chart hits have sold millions, while viewers and critics have embraced the cast of engaging misfits (Murphy has a sharp eye for school dynamics, as fans of his shortlived cheerleader show Popular will recall). E4, from 11 January.
Money
This two-part slice of 1980s nostalgia, based on Martin Amis's novel, should offer a thought-provoking look at the era of flash cash and queasy living. Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shawn of the Dead) stars as anti-hero John Self in a cast that includes Mad Men's Pete (Vincent Kartheiser). BBC2, spring.
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
Maxine Peake (Shameless, Criminal Justice) plays a lesbian who keeps a coded journal of her love-life in a 19th-century Yorkshire village. Everything about this 90-minute drama screams "record", "hit" and "award-winning". BBC2, March/April.
Mistresses
Furtive hotel sex; frantic muffin-baking; guilty pinot grigio guzzling. This soapy drama about four Bristol thirtysomething women returns for a third series with some inspired new casting: Joanna Lumley joins as the bossy mother of muddle-headed doctor Katie, played by Sarah Parish. BBC1, late 2010.
Classical and opera
Mahler in Manchester
The most innovative celebration of Gustav Mahler's 150th birthday you'll hear all year: the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic's cycle of his symphonies, in which each symphony is paired with a new piece from an international line-up of composers, from Austrian surrealist Kurt Schwertsik to Parisian organist Olivier Latry. Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (0161-907 9000), 16 January-5 June.
Placido sings Handel
Whoever thought you'd see this at Covent Garden? Placido Domingo takes the composer's greatest tenor role, Bajazet, in Tamerlano, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the pit. Mouth-watering. Royal Opera House, London WC2 (020-7304 4000), 5-20 March.
Elegy for Young Lovers
English National Opera continues its part-time residency at the Young Vic with Hans Werner Henze's 1961 opera on crazed creative amorality in the Alps, with a libretto by WH Auden, and a production directed by Fiona Shaw. The only chance to see Henze, the greatest living opera composer, in the theatre in the UK this year. Young Vic, London SE1 (020-7922 2922), 24 April-8 May.
WNO's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
The operatic role of the year: Bryn Terfel sings Hans Sachs for the first time in Wagner's Meistersinger. It's a part he should play even more convincingly than the Wotan he sang in Covent Garden's Ring. This new staging by Richard Jones could be the one that cracks Wagner's complex comedy. Welsh National Opera, Cardiff (08700 40 2000), 19 June-10 July.
Total Immersion: Wolfgang Rihm
No composer alive has written as much music as Wolfgang Rihm; yet no major figure in new music is as shamingly unfamiliar to British audiences. With this two-day event, part of its Total Immersion series, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with the help of the London Sinfonietta and the Arditti Quartet, put that right. Barbican, London EC2 (020-7638 8891), 12-13 March.
Comedy
Dara O'Briain
From Three Men in a Boat to one man on a stage, TV favourite O'Briain takes to the nation's concert halls for a 64-date tour. A civilised and smart standup long before TV fame came calling, this is the Mock the Week anchorman's first tour in two years. Regent, Stoke (0844 871 7649), 1 March. Then touring.
Laura Solon
With her latest show, Rabbit Faced Story Soup, the winner of the last-ever Perrier award has turned her talent for creating comic characters into a comedy play about an ailing publishing house and its missing star novelist. Now she's taking it on a national tour. Junction, Cambridge (01223 511 511), 29 January. Then touring.
Pappy's Fun Club
The fast-rising young quartet take to the road with their Edinburgh 2009 hit show World Record Attempt: 200 Sketches in an Hour. It's less Fast Show, more nonsense cabaret, supplying music, anarchy and good cheer. Komedia, Brighton (0845 293 8480), 21 January. Then touring.
Chosen by Judith Mackrell, Michael Billington, Caroline Sullivan, Lyn Gardner, Jonathan Glancey, Peter Bradshaw, Adrian Searle, John Fordham, Robin Denselow, Brian Logan and Tim Lusher