In My Own Words - Season 1

Season 1
BBC Arts has announced the subjects of major new strand In My Own Words – ranging from comedian, actor, writer and musician Billy Connolly and author Jilly Cooper, to poet and novelist Jackie Kay; playwright, screenwriter and author Hanif Kureishi and artist Alison Lapper. Together, they will take BBC audiences closer than they've ever been into the life and work of some of the UK's leading cultural figures.

Episodes

Billy Connolly
An astonishingly intimate self-portrait. With unflinching honesty and brilliant humour, Sir Billy looks back on his triumphs and failings as an entertainer, husband and father.

Alison Lapper
Alison Lapper – an artist, a muse, a mother – explores her life through art and archive in this visually rich and emotionally intimate documentary as she emerges from the most difficult period of her life after the loss of her son Parys.

Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi explores his life and career using personal archive footage and his films to reveal a portrait of a man who is as honest, challenging and witty as his work.

Jackie Kay

Jilly Cooper
Best-selling novelist and journalist Jilly Cooper reflects on her life and work. Now aged 87, she recalls her childhood in Yorkshire, and her early career in journalism and publishing in the 1950s and 1960s. Jilly revisits the home in south-west London she left 42 years ago, where she lived with her late husband Leo and her children. She also discusses married life, her attitude to sex, moving to the Cotswolds, and the breakthrough success of her 1985 novel, Riders.
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