Eras – Details, episodes & analysis

Join Scott Mills for the ultimate celebration of the UK’s best-loved pop star, who this year headlines Radio 2 in the Park on Sunday 17th September.

When a teenage Kylie lit up Aussie screens in Neighbours, the die was cast for her meteoric rise to fame. Before long, she’d launched a parallel career as a singer - and left Ramsay Street in the rear-view mirror.

After that? No prizes for guessing. Sold-out stadiums. Hollywood. Heartbreak. A music career spanning five decades - with hits in every single one of them.

No artist works at Kylie’s level for that long without a gift for reinvention. In Eras: Kylie Minogue, Scott follows Kylie as she deftly navigates a changing music industry, personal crises, and harsh critics - and never stops winning. Along the way, you’ll hear the tracks that left deep grooves on the face of pop culture - and are still making them today.

In Episode One, new interviews and BBC Archive reveal a star who’s finding her feet - but always knows where she stands. Smart, self-assured, and in the studio with synthpop svengalis Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Kylie discovers the value of great collaborators - and the power of her own image.

But Britpop is on the horizon. New relationships - both professional and personal - are making their mark. A new era beckons - time for a change.

Contributors include fellow performer at Radio 2 in the Park Beverley Knight, Jack Savoretti, David Tennant (who Kylie starred with in a special Christmas episode of Doctor Who in 2007, watched by over 13 million viewers), Tia Kofi, Jaime Winstone, and Radio 2 presenters Fearne Cotton, Owain Wyn Evans and Michelle Visage.

Join Scott Mills for the ultimate celebration of the UK’s best-loved pop star, who this year headlines Radio 2 in the Park on Sunday 17 September.

The 90s are well underway, and Kylie Minogue is in uncharted territory. After splitting with powerhouse production team Stock, Aitken and Waterman, she’s joined forces with indie label Deconstruction Records, spurning the advances of a slew of record industry suits.

For Kylie, it’s an era defined by experimentation. A new look, a new ethos and a host of unexpected collaborations: M People, Pet Shop Boys, Manic Street Preachers, Nick Cave and more.

It’s not always an easy ride. As an artist, she’s maturing in the public eye. Caught between the worlds of pop and ‘credible’ indie, Kylie fiercely resists pigeonholing from the press and fans alike.

Through revealing interviews, both brand new and from the BBC Archive, you’ll witness one of pop’s great metamorphoses. A process that takes the girl who was Charlene, and molds her into one of pop’s savviest operators, following her own road to megastardom.

On the cusp of a new millennium, Kylie’s ready to dominate the charts. However will she pull it off?

Contributors include Keith Blackhurst, David Tennant, Beverley Knight, Jessie Ware (who collaborated with Kylie on the single Kiss of Life released in October 2021), Jack Savoretti (who duetted with Kylie for their 2018 song Music’s Too Sad Without You), Jake Shears (who collaborated with Kylie for her 2004 single I Believe in You, as well as her 2010 album Aphrodite and their 2018 song Voices), and Radio 2 presenters Rylan Clark and Dermot O’Leary.

In the final episode of Eras: The Beatles we hear the story behind The Beatles final single ‘Now and Then’, including new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Narrated by Martin Freeman, the episode also features insight on the new track from Sean Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison and Peter Jackson. In 1994, Yoko Ono gave Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr a selection of unfinished demo tapes, recorded by John Lennon in the 1970s. Two of those songs, Free as a Bird and Real Love, were arranged and released on 1995’s Beatles: Anthology project. A third demo was never completed. At the time, the tape was deemed too muddy to work with. But decades later, a new machine assisted learning programme, pioneered by Get Back director Peter Jackson and his team made ‘Now and Then’, the final Beatles single, possible – with each Beatle performing on the track. Listen to the story of how it came about as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and more reflect on the decades and discuss the making of the band’s last song.

They’re famous for their marriages, divorces, and impossibly perfect pop songs.

But how much do you really know about ABBA?

In this series, Sara Cox is your guide to Sweden’s biggest musical export.

When Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, their lives changed forever. But that win didn’t come easy.

Because the road to Waterloo is a long one. It took years of hard work, and the combination of four world-class talents - each of them already successful in their own right - to pull it off.

Through the BBC’s archive and new interviews with experts and insiders - as well as the group’s timeless back catalogue - you’ll get to know ABBA like never before.

With Waterloo, ABBA became an international act. But in the aftermath, they were almost written off as one-hit wonders.

In Episode 2 of ABBA: Eras, Sara Cox tells the story of how the group pulled themselves back from the brink of obscurity - and found legions of new fans a very long way from Sweden.

Featuring rare BBC archive, expert interviews and lashings of ABBA’s indelible pop, this is your window into the musical genius and sheer perseverance that brought ABBA to their rightful place at the top.

It’s 1979, and ABBA are one of the world’s most famous bands. But beneath their successful surface, things are changing.

In Episode 3, Sara Cox follows the band to the peak of their career. As ABBA release some of their most iconic and sophisticated music, their personal relationships come under incredible strain. The band play on - but how long can they really last?

Through the BBC Archive and brand new interviews, we chronicle the beginning of the end for the masters of the scene.

After a wildly successful but grueling decade, ABBA were no more. Their ‘indefinite hiatus’ allowed each member of the group to follow their own path. But nothing lasts forever - not even endings.

In Episode 4, Sara Cox tells the story of a comeback like no other.

From pop history’s greatest Greatest Hits, to theatrical smashes, Hollywood acclaim and futuristic entertainment experiences, ABBA have achieved a truly timeless legacy.

Through the BBC Archive and brand new interviews, you’ll understand exactly why.

After establishing themselves as one of music’s pop giants, the ABBA legacy continues in an exciting new chapter - ABBA Voyage. The futuristic and visually groundbreaking show ignites a new love for ABBA, once again.

In Episode 5, Sara Cox sits down with the producers of ABBA Voyage - Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson (who is also Benny from the band’s son) to discuss how the concept came about, and what really went into creating one of the most talked about shows of the last decade.

As Svana and Ludvig give us an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at ABBA in the studio and Sara Cox also digs into what might be on the cards for ABBA in the future.

Storyteller. Activist. Superstar. This is the story of Sting.

Vernon Kay is your guide to one of British music’s most individual artists.

In Episode One, you’ll hear the stories, and the music, that shaped Sting’s early life. From the terraces of Wallsend to Punk-era London, where a single phone call changed his destiny forever.

Told in Sting’s own words through the BBC archive, and featuring brand new interviews with friends, fans and collaborators, you’ll get to know the man behind the name.

A Cup and Nuzzle Production. Written and produced by Joe Foley.

When Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers formed the Police, none of them could have predicted the phenomenon that they would become.

In Episode Two, we follow the band from the start of that journey to their world-dominating peak. In 5 years, they’ll go from grubby bars to the home of arena rock - Shea Stadium.

Along the way, they’ll produce some of the defining hits of a generation. But as Sting asserts himself as a songwriter, tensions brew… and something has to give.

Featuring rare BBC archive, expert interviews and iconic tunes, this is your window into the blend of genius and hard work that propelled Sting and the Police to the top of the charts around the globe.

A Cup and Nuzzle Production. Written and produced by Joe Foley.