Billy Connolly, Jilly Cooper, Jackie Kay, Hanif Kureishi and Alison Lapper announced as the first subjects in new BBC One series In My Own Words

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.

In this fresh, contemporary series of unmediated interviews, we will get inside the creative minds of some of Britain's leading lights - prepare for a thought-provoking and often emotional ride.— Suzy Klein, Head of Arts and Classical Music TV

BBC Arts has announced the subjects of major new strand In My Own Words for BBC One and iPlayer – 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.

Suzy Klein, Head of Arts and Classical Music TV says: “This country boasts some of the most super-charged creative minds anywhere in the world - our artists, writers, actors, comedians and poets are second to none. But we rarely get the chance to get up close to them and discover what fires their imaginations, and the forces that have shaped their extraordinary lives. In this fresh, contemporary series of unmediated interviews, we will get inside the creative minds of some of Britain's leading lights - prepare for a thought-provoking and often emotional ride.”

More detail on In My Own Words

Made up of intimate first-person testimony and archive, these films take viewers closer than ever before to major creative figures, showcasing great arts stories combined with real psychological revelation. The series will TX in the Autumn.

• Billy Connolly briefly puts his fishing rod down to review his life on screen. With personal archive, rarely seen performances, classic stand up and unflinching honesty, it is an illuminating, poignant and thoughtful programme.
• A new film celebrates a supremely insightful, funny and sharp-eyed chronicler of our lives and times in Dame Jilly Cooper. Few other British writers have so consistently held up a mirror to the British as they really are - what does her extraordinary half-century of work tells us - not just about her world but ourselves?
• The extraordinary personal story of the former Scots Makar and one of Britain’s most loved and lauded poets Jackie Kay is at the centre of her new film, examining how she uses words and literature to capture and process her journey into powerful and emotive work.
• In a definitive and intimate film Hanif Kureishi reflects on his life and work, and with his characteristic honesty and wit gives fascinating insight into how a life’s experience can be transformed into art.
• Alison Lapper is an artist, a muse and a mother who explores her life through art and archive in a new visually rich and emotionally intimate documentary – while emerging from the most difficult period of her life after loss her son Parys.

 Production credits

In My Own Words: Hanif Kureishi is a Turbine Studios and Embankment Films production for BBC One and iPlayer. The director is Nigel Williams and the producers are Tracey Scoffield and Kevin Loader. The commissioning editor for BBC Arts is Mark Bell.

In My Own Words: Jilly Cooper is a Swan Films production for BBC One and iPlayer. The executive producers are Joe Evans and Neil Crombie and the director is Michael Waldman. The commissioning editor for BBC Arts is Mark Bell.

In My Own Words: Billy Connolly is a Whisper production for BBC One and iPlayer. The director is Mike Reilly and the executive producer is Michelle Crowther. The commissioning editor for BBC Arts is Mark Bell.

In My Own Words: Jackie Kay is a BBC Studios Specialist Factual Production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The Executive Producer is Tanya Hudson and the Producer/ Director is Louise Lockwood. It was commissioned for BBC Arts by Mark Bell.

In My Own Words: Alison Lapper is a Chalk Productions film for BBC One and iPlayer. The director is Poppy Goodheart, the executive producers are Victoria Holden and Kira Phillips. The commissioning editor for BBC Arts is Mark Bell.