In the Studio

With the autumn fashion season in full swing, we meet the Norwegian designer who’s creating new collections and a gown for this year's Met Gala in New York. Peter Dundas is renowned for his catwalk couture and for dressing some of the world’s most powerful women including Beyoncé and Michelle Obama. Join Anna Bailey, who follows Peter as he makes a bespoke gown for the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Ciara, while also preparing a new collection for the catwalk with his team at Dundas in London.

The makers of James Bond's car are entering new territory. Aston Martin, the British manufacturer usually associated with 007's sports car, are launching their first family motor - an SUV. In The Studio has gained exclusive access to the design and manufacturing process. We join head of design, Marek Reichman, in his studio, follow the car through rigorous testing, and finally, see it launched to the public.

A bowler hatted, gas mask-wearing figure descends in a diving bell into an apocalyptic landscape of nightmarish creatures. Flames and searchlights puncture the darkness as the ‘Assassin’ begins his wordless quest in a shattered world. Welcome to Mad God. This is a film that has been 30 years in the making. The dark, disturbing vision of filmmaker and visual FX artist Phil Tippett, Mad God is his tormented love song for the craft and power of stop motion animation. A technique as old as cinema itself but largely abandoned since the coming of digital technology. Tippett won two Oscars for his work on The Empire Strikes Back and Jurassic Park. That film effectively spelled the end for stop motion in major motion pictures. But Mad God remained an unshakeable vision for Tippett. It was begun and abandoned as too costly and time consuming. Tippett had his own all digital vfx studio to run with projects like Starship Troopers & Evolution. That was until the new century and a new generation of colleagues who saw the footage and urged him to revive the project. Tippett mentored these younger animators, all keen to experience the art and craft of stop-motion and volunteering their spare time. Jointly they expanded Mad God from a 6 minute short into a full blown apocalyptic vision. As Mad God enters its final weeks of completion and unveiling, Mark Burman speaks to Tippett and some of his key collaborators about the art, madness and dreams that have fuelled the project and their collective love for the hand crafted magic of stop motion.

With new leadership in full swing at Williams Racing, model and racing driver Jodie Kidd gets exclusive access to explore the factory of the once-great British F1 team. Nestled in the Oxfordshire countryside, the Williams Racing factory is a hub of activity as engineers and mechanics work around the clock to produce the best car they can. In this programme, we’ll follow the various changes to the barge board, an integral part of an F1 car, through the first half of the 2021 season. Operations director James Colgate gives us a guided tour of the factory floor, while Dave Robson, head of vehicle performance, talks us through the intricacies of the racing car. Jodie also meets Williams driver George Russell, who will take us into the simulator and explain how the smallest of changes can make or break a race. Williams Racing was founded in 1977 by Frank Williams who, until last year, still ran the team, with the help of his daughter, Claire Williams. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Williams was a tour de force, with the best cars and best drivers in Formula 1 and an enviable winning streak. In recent times, though, Williams have found themselves at the bottom of the grid and the league tables on an almost weekly basis. We’ll learn about the intricacies of the car and get a sense of the teamwork involved in building and maintaining one of the world's fastest cars.

As the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games begin, we meet the composer who’s creating music for Para Equestrian dressage competitors, Natasha Baker and Laurentia Tan.

Tom Hunt specialises in composing original music for one of the most exciting parts of competitive dressage, Freestyle.

Join Hilary Dunn as she discovers how Tom works with Natasha and Laurentia to make music which brings out the best from them and their horses, and allows them to remain at the top of their game in this highly competitive performance-led Olympic event.

Presented by Hilary Dunn

We hear from Tareq Abu Kwaik, known by his stage name El Far3i - songwriter and producer.

Dick Pope, the Oscar-nominated cinemtatographer of Mr. Turner and The Illusionist, visits master paint-maker Michael Harding at his colour mill in Cwmbran, Wales. Michael takes Dick on a drive to his local stables to collect a special ingredient for an ancient paint recipe. On the way, they discuss the challenges of their respective crafts, and the time-tested ways they each create colour in their work. Back at the colour mill, Michael shows Dick around and recounts some of the weird and wonderful ways paints and pigments have historically been made, taking him into a heavily padlocked shipping container where the special ingredient they collected earlier helps to create a brilliant white paint.

All Melody is the latest work and tour by contemporary composer and pianist, Nils Frahm. This programme reveals the creative, emotional and physical processes involved when new material is combined with vast stage shows for an international schedule of truly daunting proportions. Captured during a number of visits to his studio, Nils opens up to his good friend, Sebastian Schipper, director of single-take Berlin heist, Victoria, for which Nils composed the award-winning original score. He also chats to his biggest fan, British TV, film and stage writer, Sam Bain. Not only does the show combine three incredible minds of music, film and TV, the audience is also treated to an immersive binaural experience, recorded at London’s Barbican Centre during a run of sold out concerts.

Aditi Mittal came to prominence as one of the first female stand-up comedians in India and has won plaudits for her work, observing what she calls “fempowerment” and her life as an Indian woman. Her shows have toured around the world and been on Netflix. Now she’s writing new work from her home in Mumbai for her first online comedy show, and trialling it out on the internet. But without an audience in the room, and with new technical demands, it’s a challenge. Yasmeen Khan follows Aditi over a month as she writes, performs, rewrites and hones her material. How will she adapt to the constraints of Zoom? And with India in the grip of Covid-19, how easy is it to find humour during this time?

These boots - if a success - will go on to sit on shop shelves across the world and grace the feet of the biggest footballing stars.

In this episode of In the Studio, football journalist Raphael Honigstein guides us through this creative duo's process, as they balance new, exciting ideas with tried and tested formulas that have brought the company success before.

We’ll join Dave as he sketches out the new design, discussing the delicate balance between emerging technologies and the dream boots he has in his mind. He’s also keen to reflect the history of the sport too, taking us inside the Archive Room to search for design inspiration from the past.

For Rob, his domain lies in what’s worked before. Armed with the stats about which designs sell well and why, he guides Dave and his team towards a boot that not only looks good, but performs well on the pitch and the shop floor too.