Episode 1

Hello and welcome to Hull, the UK's City of Culture for 2017.

A 365 day celebration of all things arty and culture.

We are at Hull Truck Theatre where the Royal Shakespeare Company

have upped sticks from their home in Stratford-upon-Avon to come

here and on the world premiere of a brand-new play.

Called The Hypocrite, about the English Civil War.

We will take you behind the scenes with actors

We will find out why this 75 metre long turbine blade has landed

And take a look at the tiny footprints making a giant

artwork celebrating life, birth and memory.

As you can see there is already quite a buzz at Hull Truck Theatre.

But then again it's not everyday that the RSC up sticks and move

But then again it's not a usual year for Hull, we are the UK City

I'm the arts and culture correspondent for the BBC in Hull.

I'm the face of Hull, chosen by the BBC to tell the world

about the City of Culture, after I auditioned here.

You can see the stage, it's just down there,

It's three months since Kofi was over there

But if, unlike him, you weren't here in Hull for the start of 2017,

It was in with a bang on January 1st with three and a half tonnes

of fireworks over the Humber and a spectacular light display

What do you think to the unbelievable display?

I've got family in Canada and they are watching it live now.

I'm from London and if this was in London, I can't find

the words to explain the reaction you'd get.

It's amazing. Hurray!

Really moving, very emotional. Yeah.

I'm from Brazil and spent a couple of years in Copacabana

and to be honest this is the same quality here.

This was amazing. I'm so proud of Hull.

I just think it will launch a really positive year.

If that opening looked very much to Hull's past,

the next spectacle to grace the city centre looked

Looking at Hull's place in the world's industry of building

Despite what you're thinking, what you're looking at didn't

Since January this monumental piece of art has taken up residence

It's an incredible 75 metres long and to put

that into perspective, I'm about six foot, so I would fit

So if the blade didn't come from outer space,

The answer is very slowly and very carefully in

Here, you can see it making its way through the city centre.

Its journey began in the Siemens factory in Hull's Alexandra Dock.

They make a lot of wind turbine blades are usually they end up out

at sea and not in the centre of a city.

I'm going to take my daughter who is eight years old and let

Because we are in the unique position where we can see these

blades up close and personal and even touch them,

which blew my mind, which it did the first time

It takes weeks to make every single blade.

The result is this incredible handmade object, somewhere

between a whale bone and the wing of a giant robotic bird.

What we are asking, by declaring it to be an art object,

is to challenge and make people think about not only

the values that it represents, but what it means to place this kind

of production into the heart of the city.

It doesn't feel like a wind turbine blade here.

When you are looking at it like this, it feels

like it is something organic, feels like a bone.

That's how the blade was made, which brings us to the small matter

of transporting it here to the very centre of Hull, from a factory three

It all started in the middle of the night to try

The blade is so big no normal lorry can carry it,

so a specialist haulage team used remote-controlled vehicles.

One of the main roads into the city was closed and 50 pieces

of street furniture, lamp post and traffic lights, had

As it got near the square, there was a seriously

tricky 3-point turn, not easy when you are

manoeuvring the equivalent of eight buses end to end.

By dawn it had finally arrived in the square.

And as the city woke up on the 8th of January 2017,

there was just one job left to do, the very delicate task

of lowering the blade into position on to two plinths.

Fortunately the blade did make it safely into Queen Victoria Square

It's something that you won't see anywhere else.

I'm surprised there's no sign saying mind your head.

Would you consider it a piece of art?

Everything can be art, really, it really depends

It is like art but then it is used for a job.

Some people feel it's a feat of great engineering and not art.

Some people think it's because it's so beautiful and unique.

I think it's amazing because it's getting people engaged and talking

But what ever you think about it, you can't deny that it

And walking through the city centre in any direction,

But you have to be quick if you want to see the blade

because it's only going to be here until the 18th of March.

Until then, it's going out the way that it came in.

But is not just about what's great in Hull,

this is a UK wide arts festival, showcasing the best in the world.

The arrival of an Italian masterpiece has caused

a stir in the city centre but you are the art expert and I'm

Hull's Ferens Art Gallery has always prided itself on its collection

And for 2017 it wanted to raise its game and after spending

millions on refurbishment it needed a new superstar exhibit to match.

It's not the biggest work of art and it's far

from the most expensive, but Christ Between Saints Paul and

Because it's the only painting by Pietro Lorenzetti in the UK.

Not much of his work still exists in its original form, this is a

fragment of a much larger altarpiece, but when they bought it

here for more than five and pounds in 2012 it's set a world record for

the artist -- ?5 million. But time had not been kind to this tiny work

of art, buried under varnish, dirt and clumsy repairs. So in 2013 the

painting was sent to the National Gallery in London to be worked on by

one of the world's best restoration teams. Repairs were done a long time

ago using gold coloured bronze, powder, as paint, and that has

discoloured enormously into a kind of slimy green and black. Smears

across much of the background. St Peter was quite buried under layers

of varnish. The fact that Paul is wearing these kind of wonderful

lilac and mustard robes when he arrived, he was looking like a

Francesca and Mike, he looked very Brownie grey -- Franciscan monk. You

might be thinking who is Lorenzetti? He is not grow well known in this

country, but one of the biggest developments in the history of art

might never have happened without him. Lorenzetti worked as a painter

in 14th century Italy and in the Tuscan city of Siena and was

probably taught in the workshop of this late medieval master, but in a

time when religion dominated art, they started to paint their

spiritual figures in a more human, more naturalistic style, with more

perspective, something that paved the way for world-famous artists

like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, to develop in the

Renaissance. Lorenzetti along with a few others stands at the beginning

of this new movement which developed since the Renaissance which is so

important for the development of art throughout Europe so we're looking

at a art Tulisa -- piece of art which is at the start of this

approach, which is concerned with natural appearances and human

psychology. Something that already is talking to us in a language we

can understand. But restoring the painting was a huge task, the

scientists had to remove a virtually insoluble crust of the same mineral

founding gallstones to try to get the Lorenzetti back to how the

painting himself would have seen it. I think we are closer, but the

picture has changed colours and faded and things have happened which

can't be reversed, but there is less between you and Lorenzetti then

there was. In January this year, after I'm told hours of work, the

Lorenzetti came home to Hull and was on failed to great fanfare. On show

alongside loans on the National Gallery, the 700-year-old artwork

was seen by around 60,000 people in the first month alone. Lorenzetti

has been a big draw for people because it is so different to what

we have in the collection, it is amazing to have this seven -- 700

year artwork here, people are intrigued to see how it has survived

and made it here to the gallery. It might be small but this painting has

become a mighty attraction. And a treasure for the nation.

Still to come on Britain's City of Culture, Alex posted look behind the

scenes of the RSC show The Hypocrite -- our explosive look. And we look

at the giant artwork which is reflecting life, birth and memory in

Hull in 2017. But first this is my guide to the best of the rest and

some highlights to look forward to. The installation of coloured lights

was the first series of 60 committee based projects. I think it is

brilliant. It makes you feel really good that you are part of the City

of Culture. Hollywood icons has taken the city by storm. The artist

photographed members of the public re-enacting their favourite film

poses in different parts of the city. Humber Street Gallery is a

brand-new arts -based near Hull Marina, home to contemporary art

including the provocative and challenging transmission exhibition.

Hot lot was exactly what it said on the ticket, audiences paid ?5 but

did not know what they would see on the event started. Anything from

spoken word to film. These tracks, these unbelievable streets. I'm not

100% on spoken word, but some of the acts have been unbelievable. So

engaging and funny. Potluck. Fantastic. Still to come, flood, an

ethics during which includes a word performance, online elements and a

BBC broadcast -- an epic. And a circus show taking place in the

General Cemetery, and the Royal Ballet will help reopen a theatre

after a transformation with a special gala performance. The actors

are about to go on stage for the opening weekend of The Hypocrite.

It's a play that brings together the Welsh expect company and Hull's

playwright Richard Bean who is best known for one man, to governors. It

is a swashbuckling farce about the dish Civil War. We have been looking

at the rehearsals from the start. In January the Royal Shakespeare

Company found a new temporary home in Hull, a disused church on a

housing estate. The English Civil War starts now. Who will make the

first advance? It's a play which is Hull through and through, written by

a playwright from Hull, it is being produced here and is based on a key

moment in Hull's past. This is a very historic spot for Hull. The

inspiration for your play. In 1642 Hull was a town, very secure

fortress town, and Sir John Holland stood on the Beverly gave low wall

and he spoke directly to the king and he refused him entry at that

moment. He became treacherous and a moment and would be executed. The

writer Richard Bean started researching his lead character more

than two years ago. But rather than a historical drama he has turned the

events of 1642 into a comedy. I thought I would be doing the

politics, but when I started reading all of this, these original papers,

it's like reading a farce, a French farce. That final thing where the

governor of the town is running on his own chaste, I'm not going to say

Benny hill. I could see that in your eyes. Richard Bean had found his

central character. And being claimed another Yorkshireman. TV and film

store mark Addy. I've spent the last couple of days running around inside

a cardboard box which represents a commode. For reasons that are too

complex to explain, but yes, farce is ultimately a physical form.

Richard Bean's probably our best comedy writer at the moment.

Especially in terms of farce. He can ride a farce like nobody else. Be

more careful next time. While the actors rehearse, work started on the

project of building the sets. The largest they have ever made at this

bitter. Backstage they are even converting offices into dressing

rooms to make stage for the 21 strong cast. The play is filled with

tricks and illusions. From a sword through the neck to Mark Addy being

beheaded on stage. The man in charge of pulling it off work on behalf of

Potter play in London, and he says this show is proving just as tough.

You have people watching from three different sides so where are

sometimes you can do things with magic and you don't want people to

be able to see from the size, with this, you have got to think about

those things because everyone is up close and they are closer than in a

conventional theatre. At one point there is a sword which goes through

a neck. This is a solid thing. That is quite a feat. That is the

challenge. Solid sword through a neck, but we are doing it. Tell us

how. I can't, it's magic. Big stars and a big cast and a big-name

Theatre Company, creating the biggest theatrical moment of 2017 so

far. And one other stars Caroline Quentin. Best known for TV show

member having badly but alighted to be taken to the stage for this play.

Apart from paying the bills, why did you want to take this role? I was

sent the script by Richard Bean and everyone knows he's a great

playwright and I had worked with him on a workshop years ago and I really

liked him as a man and then I went to see one man, to governors, and I

thought, yes, he relies what he's doing. My agent said you have been

sent a play, I read five pages, I was with my husband, and I said,

I've got to do this play. I couldn't bear the thought of somebody else

playing Lady Sarah before I did. I really glad I'm doing it first. Even

though it means living away from home for three months. I am a long

way from home. I live in Devon. If you live in London or Manchester is

not such a huge Jodie, but it is a long way from the South West to

hear. -- huge journey. The really great piece of work like this, they

don't come along very often, they genuinely don't. It has been an

amazing response, the tickets have been the fastest selling in the

history of this theatre in as Karen location. Do you feel any pressure

knowing that so many people are going to be watching? Brilliantly

for me, it was sold out before I was connected with it. I feel no

pressure at all, but actually the people of Hull, and I know it will

have a longer life, this play, but the people of Hull are going to love

this play. Member having badly is what you are best known for and

given a cold feet as had a revival, has anyone asked you to do that

again? Not yet. There is always talk about that coming back, it is one of

the most asked questions, really. I've never heard of there being a

revival. But with cold feet coming back, I've worked with Mark, as

well. Anything is possible. You just don't know in this game. You Vydra

don't know what you're going be doing next. That's what's great

about it -- you really. How much are you looking forward to opening

night? It is very nerve-racking. It gets worse. The older you get. You

don't remember lines as well. It's nerve-racking. It is nerve-racking.

But I'm really looking forward to the people of Hull seeing this play.

Because they will, there's so much great stuff in it, they... Some of

the jokes, they are so deeply entrenched in the culture here. They

will love it. They will love it. Caroline Quentin might be one of the

big names coming to the City of Culture, but at the heart of this is

the notion that art can transform lives and give something back to a

community. As part that the City of Culture had given at 60 to community

groups, or to anyone who has had a good idea, really, and one of those

people was a midwife from the maternity hospital. Kate has been to

meet her and some of the newest arrivals in Hull in 2017. At Hull

women and Children's Hospital thousands of babies are born every

year and for those born in 2017 there's a chance to be part of a

very special art project. It is time to do the baby's footprint. It

doesn't hurt the baby but it does make them cry. This morning at four

hours old, baby Lana is making her mark on history. There we go. I'm

very proud. It makes it more exciting and more magical. Something

to look back on, definitely. It's all the idea of midwife Sally Ward.

When I found out Hull was going to be the City of Culture I thought,

what better idea than to start right at the beginning of life. Babies

will be born into the City of Culture and that is how we came up

with the name of the project, it would be lovely to celebrate birth

and do something special for the hospital. On an average between 15

and 20 babies born in this hospital every day, 400 footprints being

taken by these midwives every month, and by the end of 2017 they expect

to have a collection of more than five and a half thousand footprints.

The idea is that we scanned these feet and this is all of January.

281. Each scan is based on a piece of artwork and this is generated

here, and we go on to build up the piece of artwork. Some are bigger

than others? Yes, there are a couple of spikes in babies being born, one

around March and one around September, I've been told. You might

think why that might be. What were people doing Minos before. Yes, say,

at Christmas. The size of the footprints vary from large babies to

the tiny Prince of those which haven't survived. We felt it was

important that it was not just a celebration of both, but also

remembrance, and we want all babies to be included for 2017, so mums

have a choice if they want their babies to be included, and even if

they have been stillborn we will still do that footprint and that

will go on the artwork. We are going to stump this on the piece of paper.

Back at the hospital baby Theo is the latest to join the born in the

City of Culture project. Conceived through IVF and born prematurely he

is now thriving and his parents Kate and Becky say they are thrilled he

is taking part. He has such big feet, as well. He is absolutely

beautiful. They could not wish for anything better. It is great that he

was born in 2017 and the little footprint is a great idea. It will

be a gorgeous tribute to him and a lovely tribute to the staff, as

well. That's all from the whole truck Theatre and the City of

Culture. Plenty to come, next time we will be speaking to battling

Barbra, she was the world's first women's boxing champion. And we'll

be looking at the Symphony forward macro, composed by Sir Karl Jenkins.

If you can't hold out until the spin, head over to the website, for

Hull 2017. Goodbye. See you soon. Good evening, there is a disturbed

look to the weather in the next few days. We will see a fair share of

rain and many