British film director Richard Attenborough has died at the age of 90. His sixty year career, first as an actor, then as a director, has been one of the longest running in British cinema history. Over many years, he has also been the driving force behind numerous chartiable causes, institutions and campaigns, receiving a knighthood in 1967. He will be remembered as one of the great figures of his generation.

Perhaps his most famous film, winning eight Oscars, was the 1982 biopic 'Gandhi'. It took Attenborough many years to get this film made after being approached with the idea by an Indian civil servant working in London in 1962. From that moment, Attenborough became obsessed with Gandhi's story and continued to raise funds until the idea became a reality twenty years later. In 2003, to mark his 80th birthday, Arena was granted special access to film Attenborough's day to day life. During the course of this, he took us back to the East London lodgings where Gandhi stayed on a visit to London. Here, Attenborough reflects on the long lasting effect and inspiration that Gandhi had on his own life and work.

��Arena: Tha Many Lives Of Richard Attenborough (2003). Directed by Adam Low. Series Editor - Anthony Wall

'MATCH OF THE DAY' HITS 50

As the new football season kicks off, the television institution that is Match Of The Day celebrates 50 years since it was first aired. The iconic programme has long been an ingrained part of Saturday night television, bridging the gap between the fans and the action before the days of full live TV coverage. The show made a special anniversary edition where footballers, pundits and commentators sing their praise for the show that has inspired and entertained them since 1954.

Watch the full programme on iplayer here:

Back in 2013, MOTD2 and Arena had an unlikely run in. To coincide with the broadcast of Arena: The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, MOTD made a special feature of the weekends football highlights cut together with scenes from the Beatles' pioneering film from 1967. The fab four and the premier league's finest...we always knew it was a match made in heaven...

��From Arena: Magical Mystery Tour Revisited (2012). Directed by Francis Hanly, Series Editor - Anthony Wall

��'LET'S KILL ALL THE LAWYERS'

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers!". This famous line from Shakespeare's Henry VI part two has been a much reused phrase and now the inspiration behind a new play from David Epstein. A retired lawyer himself, he became fascinated by the audiences reaction to this line, cheering at the idea of it. Lawyers are often thought of as the most hated profession, and in Epstein's new script 'Incitement', he examines the social acceptability of such sentiments.

In July 1987, Ken Russell was summoned to defend himself in New York Supreme Court. The accusation was breach of contract, the plaintiff, Bob Guccione, one of the richest men in the world and publisher of Penthouse magazine. Guccione had engaged Russell to script and direct an adaptation of Defoe's 18th century novel 'Moll Flanders'. However, an acrimonious breakdown of relations between the two of them resulted in the cancellation of the film. Guccione claimed losses of over one million dollars and began a case to sue Russell. Arena followed Russell to New York as he prepared for the trial, and he gives us an insight into the rather unorthodox deal he made with his lawyer to keep his legal costs down.

From Arena: Your Honour, I��Object��(1987). Directed by Nigel Finch, Series Editor - Anthony Wall��

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Kellie Maloney is the new name of former boxing promoter Frank Maloney who has revealed he is undergoing gender reassignment. Maloney, best known for guiding Lennox Lewis to the world heavyweight title in 1993, says “I was born in the wrong body and I have always known I was a woman”. Kellie admitted she didn’t feel able to come out whilst working in the boxing industry and would not have been able to do the job as a woman.

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Whilst this is a new phenomenon for the boxing industry, it has long been part of the vibrant and diverse culture of cities such as San Francisco. In 1992, Arena interviewed the American author, playwright and gender theorist Kate Bornstein who received sex reassignment surgery in 1986. She recalls her first encounter with the works of Armistead Maupin, who’s famous novels ‘Tales Of the City’, set in San Francisco, were pioneering in their representation of gay and transgender characters. San Francisco has always had a reputation as a city for tolerant attitudes, and Bornstein explains her move to ‘the city’ and the way in which Maupin’s characters and writing gave hope to transsexuals like herself.����

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��Arena: Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreampt Up (1992). Directed by Kate Meynell, Series Editor -Anthony Wall

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GEORGE ORWELL'S BIRTHPLACE BECOMES MUSEUM

The birthplace of George Orwell is in a north eastern Indian town where he spend the first year of his life, before moving to Henley on Thames.�� This region was originally poppy country and Orwell’s father worked for the opium department of the British government overseeing the production and storage of the drug before it was exported to China. More than a century after Orwell’s departure, the colonial style bungalow where he was born is being turned into a museum.

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George Orwell, christened Eric Blair, left Eton at 18 and enrolled in the imperial military police in Burma, having always had a fascination with ‘The East’. His friends and family were mystified at his decision to enter the Burmese police force rather than the Indian civil service, but it was here that he wrote the novel ‘Burmese Days’ published in 1934. Orwell’s harsh portrail of colonial society details the waning days of the British empire when Burma was ruled from Delhi as part of British India. Arena interviewed those who knew Orwell in his early days for the 1983 documentary, seen here discussing his life and work in Burma.����

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��Arena: George Orwell - Such, Such Were The Joys (1983). Directed by Nigel Williams, Series Editor - Anthony Wall

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��GIANT PANDA TIAN TIAN SUSPECTED PREGNANT

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Edinburgh Zoo believes its panda Tian Tian is pregnant and may give birth later this month. She was artificially inseminated earlier this year after attempts to bring her together with male partner, Yang Guang, failed. If Tian Tian is pregnant, it will be the first time a giant panda has been born in Britain.

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Perhaps Britain’s best known giant panda was Chi Chi, London Zoo’s star attraction from 1958 until her death in 1972. She was bought from China by the animal dealer Heini Demmer to the West after being refused entry to the USA because of a trade embargo on enemy goods to the country. As a result, she toured the European zoos hoping to find a home before settling in London. Chi Chi, an instant celebrity as a victim of the��Cold War,��made front page news around the world and became Britain’s best loved zoo animal. Visit the Arena Hotel on the link below��to see a snippet from Arena’s 1992 film on the life of Chi Chi and how she came to be immortalised at the natural history museum.

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Check into the Arena Hotel to see what else is in store....http://www.arenahotel.tv/floors/lobby

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To celebrate this year's World Cup, Arena looks back on some of our finest Brazilian football and music moments from the archive. From Jorge Ben to Pele to Rio Carnival, take a journey into the heart and soul of Brazil....

JORGE BEN'S 'FIO MARAVILHA'

Joao Batista de Sales, better known as Fio Maravilha, is a former Brazilian football player. He is perhaps most famous for Jorge Ben's 1972 hit single 'Fio Maravilha'. Ben's inspiration came after he attended a game between Flamengo and Benfica at the Maracana Stadium in Rio. Fio Maravilha was left out of Flamengo's starting line-up but after a chorus of fans demanded he play, he was brought in as a substitute. Half an hour into the second half he scored "the goal of an angel" that was immortalised in Ben's song.

From Arena series Rhythms of the World - Tudo Da Samba (1991), Directed by Anthony Wall

HUGH MCILVANNEY ON PELE

Pelé��is regarded by many as the best football player of all time, with a total number of 1281 goals in 1368 games. In his native Brazil he is hailed as a national hero, winning three World Cups in 1958, 1962 and perhaps the greatest final in World Cup history, the 1970 match against Italy.��Pelé's electrifying play and skill made him a star around the world, and sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney looks back at the 1970 World Cup final to see the master at work.

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Arena: Sportswriter (1992). Directed by Francis Hanly

CAETANO VELOSO AND MARDI GRAS

Brazilian composer and singer Caetano Veloso became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, encompassing theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s at the beginning of the Brazilian military dictatorship. The government viewed his music and political action as subversive and he was arrested along with fellow musician Gilberto Gil in 1969. The two were eventually exiled from Brazil and moved to London where they lived for two years before returning to their home country. Here, Veloso performs famous Jorge Ben track 'Charles - Angel 45', the story of a 'Robin Hood' of the Favelas.

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Arena: All On A Mardi Gras Day (1988). Directed by Anthony Wall, Mark Dickinson and Nigel Finch

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Bob Dylan's original hand written lyrics for ground-breaking song 'Like A Rolling Stone' are to be sold at auction in New York. The manuscript has been described as 'the most significant piece of rock material to appear at auction', written in pencil on small sheets of hotel stationery with corrections and doodles in the margins, including a rooster and a fedora hat.

You might think that nothing was left to chance on Dylan's most legendary rock recording, but in Arena's 2005 documentary 'Bob Dylan: No Direction �鶹Լ��', musician Al Kooper recalls how he came to improvise on the opening chords of 'Like A Rolling Stone'.

Arena: No Direction �鶹Լ�� (2005). Directed by Martin Scorsese

A Production of Spiftire Pictures, Grey Water Park Production, �鶹Լ�� Arena, Skelia Productions, Thirteen/WNET New York/PBS

US INMATE DIES AFTER 'BOTCHED' LEGAL INJECTION

Clayton Locket, a US death row inmate in Oklahoma, died of a heart attack after a botched lethal injection from the state executioner. The problems surrounding Locket's execution are part of a wider debate over the legality of the 'three drug method' and whether this treatment violates the US constitutional vow 'against cruel and unusual punishment'.

Director James Marsh's film 'Death Row - The Last Supper', first broadcast in 1990 as part of Arena's 'Food Night', takes a look at the custom and practice of allowing inmates to chose their last meal on death row. The ritual of the last meal goes back to 18th century England, where prisoners would often have a farewell party��before execution��as a celebration of life and preparation of what lay ahead. Here in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Arena looks at the choices inmates have made for their last meal and how some have used this decision to make a final statement on earth.

Arena: Death Row - The Last Supper (1990)

Directed by James Marsh, Series Editor - Anthony Wall

MOYES SACKED AS MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER

This week saw David Moyes sacked as Manchester United manager after just nine months in charge. Following a 2-0 defeat at Moyes' old club Everton and a failure to qualify for the Champions League, the club's owners lost patience after a 'calamatous' first season.

Following in the footsteps of the great Alex Ferguson proved an impossible legacy for Moyes, but this is not the first time Manchester United have suffered such a fate. Sir Matt Busby, one of the greatest football managers in history, took his team to the European Cup Final in 1968 where Manchester United beat Benfica 4-1. Busby was a hero to his fans who often chanted they would have him as Prime Minister. Following his European victory and knighthood, Busby stepped down as manager and was replaced by former player and coach Wilf McGuiness. Arena interviewed McGuinness in the 1997 documentary 'The Football Men' and he discusses the difficulties he faced in taking over from a much loved legend.

Arena: The Football Men (1997)

Directed by Francis Hanly, Series Editor - Anthony Wall

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After retiring as manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has published his autobiography to be released later today. It is expected to be the most influential book about football to-date, revealing the truth behind the beautiful game. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, heard here on Radio 4's Today Programme joked "we all fear the worst."

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Back in 1997, when Manchester United were dominating the Premiere League, Arena filmed a rare interview with Alex Ferguson who talked about his mentor, the legendary football manager Jock Stein.��'The��Football Men' examines the lives and careers of the three greatest football managers��Britain has ever seen��- Sir Matt Busby, Jock Stein and Bill Shankly, all born within a few miles of each other in the coalfields of South Glasgow. Sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney talks to Sir Alex about the influence of Jock Stein on his early days of football management and where he developed his notorious 'hairdryer' treatment.

��Arena: The Football Men (1997), Directed by Francis Hanly, Series Editor - Anthony Wall

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