Charles Dance Set to Play Michelangelo in New Renaissance Series as BBC Sets Arts, Culture Slate
variety.comK.J. Yossman Charles Dance is set to play Italian artist Michaelangelo in new BBC docu-drama “Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty.” Dance’s casting in the three-part series came as the BBC unveiled its arts and culture slate across television and radio at a dedicated event in London on Wednesday evening. “Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty” is a co-commission with PBS exploring an era of violence and power politics that produced some of the Western world’s greatest works of art.
Other highlights on the slate include Simon Schama’s take on the culture wars in “The History of Us,” the return of archaeological series “Civilisations” with a new iteration tentatively titled “Civilisations: Rise and Fall,” and a docu-drama about Jane Austen to mark the 250th anniversary of her birth next year. “Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius” will include interviews with writers, actors, and biographers.
A series of new films as part of the BBC’s documentary film strand Arena are also planned, about subjects ranging from opera singer Maria Callas to 007 Roger Moore, as well as the new documentary strand In My Own Words, which explores the U.K.’s leading cultural figures from writer Hanif Kureishi to artist Alison Lapper.
There will also be a film about legendary playwright Alan Bennett in honor of his 90th birthday and another film to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day.
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