Film, TV, Theatre & Radio

Film and TV

Xanadu (BBC 2 Words On Film, 1992) - wrote and presented a thirty-minute film in verse, set on a housing estate in Lancashire.

Looking For Robinson (BBC2, 1993) - wrote and presented a fifty-minute film on the life and work of American poet Weldon Kees, in prose and verse.

One Foot In The Past (BBC2, 1993) - wrote and presented a ten minute film in verse for BBC2's heritage and landscape programme.

The Late Show (BBC2, 1993)

Building Sights (BBC2, 1995) - wrote and presented a ten minute film for BBC2's contemporary architecture programme.

Words From Jerusalem (BBC1, 1995) - wrote and presented a commissioned poem for Easter.

Saturday Night (Century Films, BBC2, 1996) - wrote and narrated a fifty minute poetic commentary to a documentary about night-life in Leeds. Directed by Brian Hill.

Drinking for England (Century Films, BBC2, 1998) - wrote poetry and song for a fifty minute documentary. Directed by Brian Hill.

Killing Time (Century Films, Channel 4) - 90 minute televised version of the millennium poem, transmitted on New Year’s day 2000. Directed by Brian Hill.

The Tyre (Century Films, Channel 4 2001) - Feature film based on poem of same name. Directed by Brian Hill.

Feltham Sings (Century Films, Channel 4 2002) - wrote poetry and song lyrics for a docu-drama set in Feltham Young Offenders Institution. 2003 BAFTA winner. Winner of Ivor Novello award for best music for television. Directed by Brian Hill.

Pornography: The Musical (Century Films, Channel 4 2003) - wrote poetry and song lyrics for docu-drama about women working in the pornography industry. Directed by Brian Hill.

Late Review (BBC2 2002/2003) - contributor to BBC2’s late night art’s review programme.

A Brief Period of Rejoicing - 30 minute commssioned film-poem for Five to commemmorate the 60th anniversary of VE Day. Performed by Sheila Hancock, directed by Ned Williams.

Songbirds (Century Films/Channel 4 2005) - wrote poetry and song for documentary set in Downview women's prison. Directed by Brian Hill.

Out Of The Blue (Silver River/Channel 5) - Armitage's specially commissioned film-poem to commemorate the fifth aniversary of 9.11. Directed by Ned Williams. Perfromed by Rufus Sewell.

Theatre

Eclipse - commissioned by the National Theatre, sponsored by BT Connections. (available in CloudCuckooLand).

Mister Heracles - a version of the Euripides play The Madness of Heracles, commissioned by West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Jerusalem - commissioned by West Yorkshire Playhouse.

His recent dramatisation of The Odyssey - commissioned by the BBC, was broadcast on Radio 4 in 2004 and released on CD through BBC Worldwide. It received the Gold Award at the 2005 Spoken Word Awards. The book, Homer’s Odyssey - A Retelling, was published by Faber and Faber (2006) in the UK and by Norton in the US.

Radio works

including:

The Mark Radcliffe Show - contributer, BBC Radio 1, 1995 -1998, BBC Radio 2 2004 to present day.

Second Draft from Saga Land - six programmes for BBC Radio 3, retracing the footsteps of W.H.Auden and Louis MacNeice during their visit to Iceland in 1936.

Eyes of a Demigod - forty-minute commissioned programme on politician Victor Grayson in prose and verse, BBC Radio 3.

The Amherst Myth - BBC Radio 4. Wrote and presented forty-minute documentary feature on Emily Dickinson.

Trading Places - A series of ten interviews with leading British, Irish and American poets.

Points of Reference - BBC Radio 4. Wrote and presented four thirty-minute programmes, in verse, on the history of navigation and orientation.

From Salford to Jericho - Ninety-minute verse drama for BBC Radio 4.

To Bahia and Beyond - with Glyn Maxwell. Five thirty-minute verse/travelogue features from Brazil and the Amazon for BBC Radio 3.

The Bayeux Tapestry - Six part dramatisation for BBC Radio 3, with Geoff Young.
- Armitage and Moore’s Guide to Song – writer and co-presenter, BBC Radio 4

A Tree Full of Monkeys specially commissioned work in collaboration with Zoviet France for the opening of the Baltic in Newcastle. 45 minutes, soundscape and poetry, BBC Radio 3.

The Odyssey – three-part dramatisation, BBC Radio 4, 2004.

Writing the City - BBC Radio 3 Commission. 5 poems, recorded live at the West Yorkshire Playhouse 2005, with other northern writers.