127 HOURS worth of binge watching with BBC

BBC Studios in Africa confirmed today that it has inked its first content deal with MultiChoice’s streaming services for an exclusive array of Arts and Culture content, set to inspire DStv Premium customers this spring.

For those wanting to dust off those winter cobwebs and step into the new season feeling invigorated and informed on the world and its wonders, then they need look no further. From Tuesday, 4 September, DStv Premium customers will be able to sit back and enjoy nearly 130 hours of new content ranging from opera, to architecture, through to the great masters of art. The content will be available to stream or download on Catch Up on DStv Now online and on the app, and also on Catch Up Plus, accessible when you connect your DStv Explora to the internet.

The wave of new and exciting content from the BBC can be categorised into ten genres. Music spans live concerts from some of the world’s most celebrated musicians Roberta Flack and Robbie Williams, symphonic orchestra and opera and thought-provoking documentaries on some of the greatest musicians of all time including Jimi Hendrix, Duran Duran and for younger audiences – One Direction. Whereas The Great Masters delve into the works of Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Da Vinci to name just a few, or audiences can choose to explore the splendour of our manmade world with explorations of gothic architecture, through to some of the British Royal families’ most iconic palaces.

Standout shows that will soon be available to stream include:

Queen’s Golden Jubilee Concerts: Party At The Palace

A two-hour concert from Buckingham Palace in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee starring a top line-up of the world’s most popular artists. The show saw a seemingly never-ending stream of music A-listers perform a very special combination of each other’s work and favourite material. Performers included Sir Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Brian May, Annie Lennox, Rod Stewart, Tom Jones and Will Young.

BBC Proms 2017: Last Night Of The Proms

An exuberant Last Night of the Proms commemorating composers Zoltán Kodály and Malcolm Sargent, lead by Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and starring Nina Stemme, the world’s greatest Wagnerian soprano.

Royal Opera House: The Nutcracker

To get audiences in the festive mood ahead of Christmas comes the live performance of the classic The Nutcracker, with its wonderful score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The story takes place during a Christmas party where the toy maker Drossellmeyer (Sir Anthony Dowell) comes to entertain the children. He gives Clara (Alina Cojocaru) a Nutcracker doll and she at once falls in love with it. When everyone has gone to bed Clara comes downstairs to find her doll and suddenly gets involved in a great adventure. Sir Peter Wright’s production for the Royal Ballet is designed by Julia Trevelyan Oman and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House is conducted by Evgenii Svetlanov. The programme is introduced by Deborah Bull.

One Direction – Road to San Siro

This concert film captures One Direction at the peak of their pop-music powers, performing all their biggest hits from What Makes You Beautiful and Live While We’re Young to One Thing and Story of My Life. A joyful celebration of the band’s journey so far, it’s an impressive snapshot of the world’s biggest boy band in action.

The Queen’s Palaces

Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse – these buildings have been part of British royal history for hundreds of years. Presented by Fiona Bruce, The Queen’s Palaces showcases the art and architecture, the interior decoration and the treasures stored inside these fabulous buildings and reveals the surprising and fascinating stories behind them.

Van Gogh – Painted With Words

Hollywood A-lister and multi award winning actor Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Vincent Van Gogh to perfection in this powerful and critically acclaimed docudrama, with every single word of dialogue sourced from the artist’s original correspondence.

The Private Life Of A Masterpiece: Special: The Mystic Nativity

The truth behind great art. One of the most popular paintings in London’s National Gallery, Botticelli’s Mystic Nativity is a picture of hope in difficult times. In this programme Private Life of a Masterpiece explores the connections between the symbolism in Botticelli’s painting and the preaching of a radical Dominican monk, Girolamo Savonarola, later executed for his views.

Art Of America/ Russia/ France/ Scandinavia/ Spain

Art historian Andrew Graham Dixon unlocks the mystery, variety and history of some the world’s most influential countries including separate series on Russia, America, France, Spain and Scandinavia and each of their unique art.

Fry’s Planet Word

It’s all about communication. Language is what defines humans from other species, and with our planet home to around 7,000 different languages (with South Africa having 11 official languages alone) words have played a crucial role in our evolution. Renowned wordsmith Stephen Fry is the perfect guide for this fascinating exploration of language in all its forms: from cutting edge linguistic research to the glories of world literature. Revealing how language is used, abused and continues to evolve, Fry’s Planet Word looks at whether we are any closer to understanding the most complex activity of the human brain.

The full list of programmes soon to be available exclusively to DStv Premium customers include:

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