ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COMING TO A

A&E; showcases some of its new programming on “A&E; Premieres,” hosted by newsman Jack Perkins and airing Sundays at 5 and 9 p.m. The show began in January to focus on A&E;’s new programs. The acclaimed seven-part “Arrund the World in 80 Days,” starring Michael Palin of “Monty Python” fame, was the first offering.

Over the next few months “A&E; Premieres” will feature a BBC documentary on the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; “Art in the Third Reich,” a investigation of how Hitler and the German government used art, paintings, sculpture and music as propaganda, and a five-part series from ABC News about blacks in the 20th Century.

Other new programming over the next few weeks:

Sunday at 5 and 9 p.m., A&E; kicks off “Challenge of the Seas,” a 26-part series hosted by Ted Danson that examines the role the oceans and its inhabitants play in the balance of the Earth’s ecology.

“Frontiers,” a new eight-part documentary series, exploring the dividing lines between cultures, languages, religion and race, premieres Saturday at 5 and 9 p.m.

Dame Peggy Ashcroft plays Agatha Christie and Ian Holm is ace sleuth Hercule Poirot in the thriller, “Murder by the Book,” June 17.

During July, A&E; will honor “Women of Achievement.” Included among the programs will be “Fergie: Duchess of York,” the two-part “Ballerina” and the three-part “Women in Politics.”

August marks the premiere of the A&E;/BBC co-production, “Survivors,” a four-part series on species trying to survive in the world today.

In September, A&E; will air another “As It Happened” special (the first was November’s repeat of coverage of Kennedy’s assassination). This time it’s the Kennedy/Nixon debates of 1960. “Campaign ‘60” will air Sept. 26.

Also on tap over over the next year is a Shakespeare festival featuring the late Laurence Olivier and his wife, Joan Plowright, in “The Merchant of Venice,” and a festival of several classic “Hallmark Hall of Fame” specials.