'South Bank Show' airs last ever edition

The South Bank Show has aired its last ever edition, as the 31-year-old vintage arts programme comes to an end.

The show, which debuted in 1978, is the longest-running arts series around and has been broadcast in over 60 countries.

Presenter Melvyn Bragg had already decided to quit ITV before the programme was axed, saying: "They've killed the show, so I thought I'll go as well."

The final episode visited the Royal Shakespeare Company for a second time, following director Michael Boyd as he researched the Ukrainian famine of the early 1930s.

In the voiceover for the final scenes, Bragg noted: "The brave work is continuing, keeping this now-well established British institution full of new life as it moves into the future."

Filmmaker Sir David Lean once famously claimed that the "best directors in Britain [were] working on The South Bank Show".

Subjects have also included Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney and feminist Germaine Greer in 1978, Fawlty Towers actor John Cleese in 1986, Manchester indie band The Smiths in 1987, the Pet Shop Boys in 1989, Coronation Street in 1995, Blur in 1999, Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor in 2002 and Disney Pixar in 2009.

Bragg will move to BBC Two to anchor two documentaries on the issue of class in 2010.

Meanwhile, ITV has commissioned ten retrospective documentaries to celebrate The South Bank Show's success.