THE BBC's cultural output, now based in Glasgow, is to go back to basics with a series of shows harking back to classic arts programming of the 1960s.

The corporation's head of arts for the UK network is Jonty Claypole, newly installed at BBC Scotland's Pacific Quay headquarters.

He has been inspired by the simpler formats of classic series such as Monitor, the Huw Wheldon show from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Producing in-house arts output for the entire BBC network, Mr Claypole is in charge of 150 hours of arts programming a year, with 75 hours made in Glasgow.

Programmes include Imagine for BBC 1 and a David Dimbleby series, Britain and The Sea. For BBC 2 his team make 29 hours of the Culture Show, and the new monthly Review Show.

For BBC 4 they will make the programme What Do Artists Do All Day, which is focused on individual artists in simply shot films with no presenter.

BBC 4 shows also include Secret Knowledge, in which experts – many of them academics – will explain individual objects; and Opening Night, a series that will include the launch of the revamped Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in its coverage of major openings.

Mr Claypole was series producer on Seven Ages of Britain and Picture of Britain, which was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award.

He said he was deliberately looking to the style of arts programming made by the broadcasters of the past.

In his first interview since moving to Glasgow, he said: "With What Do Artists- there is no presenter and we shoot it all in one day. It is very much in the tradition of the arts programming of the 1950s, or Monitor in the 1960s.

"I am very proud of these films. I think it is something that we do very well and the idea is that they take their place in the BBC archive for the future.

"Secret Knowledge is a very old-fashioned kind of show, and unashamedly so.

"It is also a good vehicle to see people on television that have not done it before."

Monitor was a BBC arts programme launched in February 1958, which ran for seven years.

Huw Wheldon was its editor and he was also the principal interviewer and anchor.

Before he became the UK head of arts, Mr Claypole worked on shows such as British Masters, The Birth of the British Novel, Ceramics: A Fragile History and Gershwin's Summertime.

He defended the move of The Review Show to a monthly slot on BBC 4, saying he did not see it as a "demotion".

"One of the things I feel very passionately about is that the audiences for BBC4 are frequently as good as BBC 2. The whole country has access to the channel now," he said.

"The first thing is how the audiences come to it – the audiences that come to arts programming are very large. For example our woodwork series, Carved With Love, got one million viewers in January. A series on Roman art drew a million viewers.

"I don't think the audiences see it as a demotion.

"BBC4 is this extraordinary thing, and for programme-makers and film makers it is a privilege to make something for BBC 4, so I would like to challenge that narrative. Certainly we in the programming side do not see it that way."

Another new film series being made in Scotland for the BBC is The Great Collectors.

One episode, to be presented by Kirsty Wark, will focus on Sir William Burrell, founder of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow

Another documentary will focus on the history of tartan.