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Lauren Laverne and Mark Kermode return with a new series of The Culture Show
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The Culture Show
Tuesday 3 June on BBC TWO
 Programme copy
Actor and director Kenneth Brannagh says: "it's being here, being part of these fantastic people, enjoying a great cinema and a lovely evening"; the new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, believes it's "what distinguishes human beings from animals"; and a fishmonger from London states it's "what we fought World Wars for".
But what are they all talking about? Culture.
From what we watch to what we wear, from how we talk to the way we walk, everyone has an idea of what culture is. To mark The Culture Show's move to a new prime-time slot on BBC Two, hundreds of people have been asked for their definition of culture.
Artists, writers, schoolchildren, thinkers, designers, taxi drivers, musicians, film-makers, bee-keepers, comedians, sportsmen and performers of every kind have pitched in with their own attempts at defining culture.
With answers ranging from the academic to the bizarre, personal to offensive, outrageous to provocative, from the hilarious to the ridiculous, and just about everything in between, the most interesting contributions will be featured on The Culture Show when it returns this week.
The great and the good certainly can't agree on what culture is. TV presenter Andrew Marr says: "There is all the stuff you do to keep yourself fed and dry and all the rest is culture."
Diane Abbott, MP, says: "Culture is what elevates men from beasts; culture is what makes us reach for the stars instead of staying anchored in the ground."
Michael Ball, singer/presenter, says: "Things that are mundane – tax, accountancy – are not culture. Culture should be uplifting. Anything that's mundane, that's dreary, that's matter of fact, that puts a lid on the human soul, that stops self-expression, is the antithesis of what culture is."
John Wilson, broadcaster: "Culture is a way of making sense of the world, a way of making sense of ourselves. For me, that's watching Arsenal play beautiful football or listening to a great soul record, or getting lost in the National Gallery – all great cultural moments."
Louis de Bernieres, author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, says: "Culture to me is about 30 per cent of what I live for. The other 70 per cent is probably pleasure, and, of course, culture is sometimes pleasure too."
1Xtra BBC presenter Mistajam says: "Anything that anyone finds entertaining to me is culture, so from the new blockbuster film to that art house film, to the radio show that you must not miss, even to the drunk guy on the train."
Diana Quick, actress says: "Culture is about telling stories – stories which we recognise either because they are like us or because they are not like us, but which illuminate our place in the world as a human being."
Sebastian Horsley, artist, says: "Culture is basically anything too boring to be shown on television."
Jimmy Carr, comedian, says: "Culture is pretentious entertainment."
James Corden, actor and writer, says: "Culture is nothing to do with how intelligent you are and some people think it is. Just because they know about Francis Bacon, it doesn't mean they're intelligent. You can be really intelligent and uncultured, or you can be really intellectual and not actually very bright."
Alan Shearer, football pundit, says: "Culture is sightseeing out in Newcastle Quayside – very interesting sights..."
Viewers can have their say and join the debate at www.bbc.co.uk/cultureshow, or head to one of the two 30-foot Culture Show installations, where they can write their idea of culture onto a giant canvas. The installations will be at Soho Square in London on 22-23 May and at St Luke's Church, Liverpool, on 24-25 May.
The Culture Show returns on Tuesdays from 3 June at 10.00pm with an extended programme on Fridays at 11.35pm. It follows Later Live... With Jools Holland in to this new slot and, from now on, seasons of the two series will alternate, establishing a year-round presence for contemporary culture, music and arts in the heart of BBC Two's schedule.
The show is co-presented by Lauren Laverne and Mark Kermode, who steer viewers through a packed and diverse programme each week, with a regular
on-screen team including Verity Sharp, Nihal, Andrew Graham Dixon, Tim Samuels and Tom Dyckhoff.
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