Your Local Arena: How Iconic Films can be used to generate new Artwork and Interpretations
A project that combines iconic BBC Arena documentaries with local literature festivals, inspiring new artwork and storytelling.
If a programme isn’t playing, try refreshing your browser, then try playing it again. If that doesn’t work close and re-open the browser, then try playing the programme again.
You can search for another version of a programme by clicking the ‘search for repeats’ link under the programme description.
Yes, you can embed programmes and clips from BoB into your VLEs.
To embed a programme or clip, simply click the ‘share’ button under the player window, and copy and paste the link marked ‘embed’ into your VLE site.
Yes, there’s a flat fee for each institution to access BoB. To subscribe, institutions must hold an ERA licence and Learning on Screen membership. If you’d like to join Learning on Screen and take out a BoB subscription, please send us an email at ask@learningonscreen.ac.uk.
You can find this out within your university or college, or you can contact the Educational Recording Agency directly and they’ll be able to tell you.
Yes, you can find our terms and conditions here.
BoB is intuitive and easy to use, so you may find you can start straight away. However, if you need a bit help finding your feet take a look at our How to use BOB page.
In order to use BoB you need to have a modern browser installed.
We recommend:
Earlier versions of these browsers may work but are not supported.
This isn’t a feature we offer.
Yes, contact us at bob@learningonscreen.ac.uk to request off-air uploads.
Yes, BoB operates under the terms and conditions of the ERA licence, so you can use it anywhere in the UK.
No, it’s not possible to access content in BoB when you’re overseas, under the terms and conditions of the ERA licence and as detailed in our terms and conditions. The service uses geolocation software to block access from outside the UK.
BoB searches the title, metadata and transcripts as well as the broadcast data of upcoming programmes.
To search for content, click on the ‘search’ button at the top of the page. You can search for individual programmes by entering your keywords and clicking the search icon. You can also use the tick box filters under ‘search options’ to adjust your search to precise specifications.
You can also use ‘AND’, ‘OR’, and ‘NOT’ search language to find the content you need. For example, if you need to find a film or TV adaption of the novel Frankenstein, you can search for: ‘Frankenstein’ AND ‘adaption’. Give it a go for yourself…
BoB users can explore over 160,000 publicly available playlists made by other users. Just click the ‘playlist’ option in the search panel and input your keywords. You can search for playlists by title or by contents, and you can limit searching to your institution or widen it up to the entire community of BoB users.
Currently, we’re capturing over 75 channels from a mix of Freeview and Freesat television, with ten channels available in foreign languages. Here’s our full channel list. All channels are potentially subject to change.
My BoB is your personal workspace. Everything you record is automatically sent there and it’s where you will find your clips and playlists.
To record a programme you must be signed in. Either select a programme from the guide and click ‘request programme’, or, use the search bar to look for programmes using keywords. Filter the results with the custom date range and again, click ‘request programme’ to record. Once recorded, you’ll find the programme in My BoB.
You can make 20 recordings a day and unlimited clips.
Once a programme’s been recorded, just go to My BoB and you’ll be able to watch it.
If you’re authenticating using a university username and need to change your password, you’ll need to contact your BoB admin. To update your personal details, just go to the account details section at the top of the screen.
It’s just so we know which institution you’re from and so we can keep you updated with important service information. If you had an account on the previous system then your clips and playlists will be attached to that, so make sure you re-register with the same email address.
BoB works across a large set of devices,including those running iOS 7.1+, Android 4.4+, Windows Phone 8.1+, and Windows Mobile 11+.
Yes, you can paste BoB programme links directly into your presentation. We've made a short video guide on the best way to do this.
To access a physical copy of a programme, check with your library as copies can be recorded locally under their standard ERA licence. If they can’t help, you can order copies of formerly broadcast programmes via our Off-Air Service.
If a programme doesn’t play please check the following:
If the programme still isn’t playing, please send an email to bob@learningonscreen.ac.uk, including the programme’s URL link.
BoB admins can request printed promo materials by sending an email to bob@learningonscreen.ac.uk. You can also download our digital sign.
Yes, but only with registered BoB users. Simply send them the programme page URL.
The programme guide contains tiles for all the programmes available to watch or record. The nine most popular channels are listed first, with all content automatically recorded after broadcast. Other channels will need to be requested by the user within 30 days of broadcast. If you need to plan ahead, recordings can be made seven days in advance too.
To navigate forward and backward in time, use the left and right arrow; scrolling vertically will reveal more channels. The colour of the action text represents the status of that programme:
To access a programme tile, click directly on the text and follow the on-screen instructions.
Please be aware that some archive content accessed via BoB may contain harmful language, images, depictions, views and/ or mistreatment of people or cultures, liable to cause harm, distress and/ or offence. BoB is an educational resource (operating in a similar way to an academic library) providing archived material for teaching, learning and research purposes and all content is only accessible via academic authentication. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it in order to create a more inclusive and safer future.
If you find an inappropriate image in the search results or appearing as a cover image, we may be able to change the image. These thumbnails and cover images are automatically generated but can usually be manually adjusted.
If you have concerns about a programme, thumbnail or cover image, please email bob@learningonscreen.ac.uk or use the "Report problems with this programme" link, which can be found on each programme page.
Get in touch with us at bob@learningonscreen.ac.uk.