Matthew Durkan

The Barber of Seville (in Italian Il barbiere di Siviglia) is an opera in four acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. Despite a disastrous opening night – the music teacher tripped over and had a prolonged nosebleed and an unexpected cat wandered on stage – it has gone on to be ‘perhaps the greatest of all comic operas’. Indeed, Rossini himself stayed at home for the second night, until he was awoken by the sound of applause and cheering and his opera has delighted audiences ever since. Based on a play called Le Barbier de Séville by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais, this is the first of three plays about a character called Figaro. His second play, Le Mariage de Figaro, was the inspiration for another opera – The Marriage of Figaro by Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, therefore, is considered a prequel to the story of Mozart’s opera, although it was composed 30 years later.

The true story of the rise and fall of Creation Records and its infamous founder Alan McGee; the man responsible for supplying the “Brit Pop” soundtrack to the ‘90s, a decade of cultural renaissance known as Cool Britannia. From humble beginnings to Downing Street soirées, from dodging bailiffs to releasing multi-platinum albums, Creation had it all. Breakdowns, bankruptcy, fights and friendships… and not forgetting the music. Featuring some of the greatest records you have ever heard, we follow Alan through a drug-fuelled haze of music and mayhem, as his rock’n’roll dream brings the world Oasis, Primal Scream, and other generation-defining bands.

Against the backdrop of Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage. As the young double act stumble their way in and out of the action of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, they become increasingly out of their depth as their version of the story unfolds.

'Just one more drink' becomes a spontaneous night out for Fatimah and Leon as they avoid the inevitable conversation that awaits at the end.

Soulful thriller set in Tokyo and London, exploring the butterfly effect of a single murder across two cities. A dark, witty and daring examination of morality and redemption.

This series brings the rise and fall of the Roman Empire to life through the lens of one of the most exhilarating and brutal arenas in the history of humanity: the Colosseum. From the savage truth of a gladiator's life as a slave-warrior to the fascinating ways Rome's emperors used the vast amphitheater to demonstrate total power, "Colosseum" offers a unique and personal look inside history's most iconic empire. Spanning several hundred years, the series unfolds chronologically, from the arena's incredible opening day to its very last games.