The Art of Gothic

Season 1

BBC Select spends some time down in the dungeon as this fascinating arts documentary delves into the world of the Gothic. Acclaimed art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon explores how a group of 19th-century architects and artists spurned the modern age and turned to Britain's medieval past to create iconic works and buildings with a distinctly creepy edge. But what attracted them to the dark side?

20143 episodes7+

Documentary

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S1 E1 - Liberty, Diversity, Depravity
October 19, 2014
50min
7+
BBC Select takes a walk on the dark side in this insightful arts documentary. As art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon reveals, in England during the middle of the 18th century an entirely surprising thing happened. Out of the Age of Enlightenment and Reason a monster was born - a Gothic fascination with ghouls, ghosts and things that go bump in the night. But where did this obsession come from?
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S1 E2 - The City and the Soul
October 26, 2014
50min
TV-PG
BBC Select delves into the macabre in this fascinating arts documentary. Andrew Graham-Dixon continues his examination of England's Gothic Revival, focusing on the influence of the Industrial Revolution on Gothic art and literature. Frankenstein was born and poets indulged in hallucinatory drugs to reach new Gothic heights. How much was this new, dark form of art an expression of fear?
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S1 E3 - Blood for Sale: Gothic Goes Global
November 2, 2014
48min
7+
BBC Select concludes its dalliance with all things Gothic in this arts documentary. As Andrew Graham-Dixon reveals, the fantasy horror of the previous century soon morphed into the true horrors of the First World War. Gothic literature was no longer a flight of fancy but a reflection of real life and recent history. Could the Gothic ever compete with the emerging terror of the 20th century?
Free trial of BBC Select