A BAFTA award-winning series with John Berger, which rapidly became regarded as one of the most influential art programmes ever made. In this programme, Berger analyses the images of advertising and publicity and shows how they relate to the tradition of oil painting - in moods, relationships and poses.
Third instalment of a six-part series tracing British art from 1066 to the modern day. Writer and presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon travels back to the 18th century, the golden age of British art. He looks at the rich visual world of the aristocracy, from art depicting the great English informal landscape garden to studies of the aristocrat's racehorse, wife, dog and mistress and explore the works of artists like Hogarth, Stubbs and Gainsborough.
Artist David Hockney reveals startling evidence which suggests that cameras have been a secret tool for artists since the 15th century, a discovery that solves century-old mysteries surrounding famous paintings. Presented by Kirsty Wark, and filmed in Bruges, Florence and a stunning Hockney-designed set in Hollywood.
For the past half century, arts programming has been one of the cornerstones of British public service television. This three-part series sees an illustrious line-up of luminaries, including David Attenborough, Joan Bakewell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Miller, Jonathan Meades, Ken Russell, Brian Sewell and Alan Yentob, reflect on the contribution that arts programmes have made to our national broadcasting culture. In the final episode, they reconsider some of the most ambitious and celebrated of all arts programmes - the major landmark series, fronted by some of the art world's biggest names, including Kenneth Clark's epic Civilisation, John Berger's cerebral Ways of Seeing, and the inimitable Robert Hughes' series The Shock of the New.
Series of three programmes profiling the writer Evelyn Waugh. In this first episode, Waugh's early years are explored from his childhood and Oxford University days through to his first failed marriage and his early writing success with classics such as Decline and Fall.
Series of three programmes profiling the writer Evelyn Waugh. This second episode explores Waugh's time in Africa as a journalist and spans the Second World War. After years of negotiating with the church of Rome, Waugh is finally free to marry his second wife Laura.
Series of three programmes profiling the writer Evelyn Waugh. The final episode examines Waugh's deteriorating health in his latter years. After his mental illness Waugh penned The Ordeal of Gilbert Penfold, which describes horror, hallucinations and voices in the head. So accurate were his descriptions of his experiences that the work was highly regarded by psychoanalysts.
How should art depict the relationship between man and God? How can art best express eternal values? Can you, and should you, portray the face of Christ? For over a thousand years these were some of the questions which taxed the minds of the greatest artists of the early West. In this three-part series, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon sets out to unravel the mysteries of the art of the pre-perspective era. Why has this world been so frequently misunderstood and underrated? His journey takes him from the mysterious catacombs of ancient Rome to Coptic Egypt, to the Orthodox Christian world of Istanbul and then onwards to medieval Italy and France.
In the first episode, Andrew Graham-Dixon traces the beginnings of Christian art in the declining Roman Empire, Egypt and medieval France, and reveals the ideas which lay behind the transition from classical art to the first icons.
THURSDAY 02 OCTOBER 2008
THU 19:00 World News Today (b00drtpb)
The latest news from around the world.
THU 19:30 Fossil Detectives (b00drtpd)
Scotland
Series in which Open University associate lecturer Hermione Cockburn leads a team of fossil experts and geologists around different regions of Britain to search for its best fossil treasures and mysteries.
In Scotland, the team go fossil hunting in Loch Ness and track down prehistoric life throughout the country, some of it revealed though cutting-edge MRI scans never seen before. They discover how microfossils help us find fossil fuel and Hermione fishes for strange armoured creatures that date back hundreds of millions of years.
THU 20:00 Hindsight: Lord Beeching (b00dttyd)
Eric Robson talks to Lord Beeching about his time as Chairman of the British Railways Board between 1961 and 1965, asking if he would have done things differently with hindsight.
THU 20:30 Railway Walks with Julia Bradbury (b00dtp4b)
The Peak Express
Julia Bradbury has her backpack on to explore the great outdoors. Julia's walks follow the old tracks, overgrown cuttings and ancient viaducts of Britain's lost rail empire, visiting disused lines across England, Scotland and Wales. Through stunning landscapes and urban backstreets, each contrasting walk has a unique story to tell, offering Julia a window into industrial Britain and how the rise and fall of the railways has altered lives and localities across the country.
Julia begins her exploration of Britain's lost rail empire in Derbyshire, the heart of the Peak District, with a walk along the popular Monsal Trail. Limestone cliffs and gorges abound, not to mention the tunnels and soaring viaducts of the Midland Railway - one of the most dramatic and unlikely main lines ever built.
THU 21:00 Ian Hislop Goes off the Rails (b00drtpj)
Ian Hislop brings his customary humour, analysis and wit to the notorious Beeching Report of 1963, which led to the closure of a third of the nation's railway lines and stations and forced tens of thousands of people into the car and onto the road.
Was author Dr Richard Beeching little more than Genghis Khan with a slide rule, ruthlessly hacking away at Britain's rail network in a misguided quest for profitability, or was he the fall guy for short-sighted government policies that favoured the car over the train?
Ian also investigates the fallout of Beeching's plan, discovering what was lost to the British landscape, communities and ways of life when the railway map shrank, and recalls the halcyon days of train travel, celebrated by John Betjeman.
Ian travels from Cornwall to the Scottish borders, meeting those responsible and those affected and questioning whether such brutal measures could be justified. Knowing what we know now, with trains far more energy efficient and environmentally sound than cars, perhaps Beeching's plan was the biggest folly of the 1960s?
THU 22:00 Great Railway Journeys (b0074rnh)
Series 3
Crewe to Crewe
Victoria Wood makes a round trip to the north of Britain from Crewe, taking in both the east and west coasts.
Along her way, Victoria stops off at Carnforth station, location of the classic film Brief Encounter, where original film extra Elaine Maudsley talks of the film and the demise of the station.
She goes on to the North West Regional Railways service across Morecambe Bay to Barrow, and then up early the next morning for the Cumbrian Coastal line to Carlisle. At Carlisle station, Victoria encounters John Mitton, who teaches her the technique of trainspotting. She then heads over the border to Glasgow and up to Thurso, the most northerly point possible by train.
Heading south, Victoria stops off at Edinburgh, where she takes on the role of 'Vicky, Girl Reporter', examining stories that the Forth Bridge is dangerous and badly in need of repair, and onto Middlesborough, Whitby and York, where the final leg of the journey is broken by a visit to Mel Thorley's home at Adswood, Manchester, to see his collection of trains and station signs on display in the back garden.
Finally, it's back at Crewe where Victoria and the crew are refused permission to film in the station buffet.
THU 22:55 BBC Four Sessions (b0074q95)
June Tabor
One of England's greatest folk voices in session at LSO St Luke's in East London, with material drawn from her entire career including songs from her award-winning Topic album, An Echo of Hooves, and some of our best songwriters, including Richard Thompson.
June is accompanied by her regular band featuring Huw Warren on piano, Tim Harries on double-bass, Mark Emerson on viola and Mark Lockheart on saxophone. They are joined by guitarist Martin Simpson and accordionist Andy Cutting.The concert mixes love songs and meditations on the state of England.
THU 23:55 Railway Walks with Julia Bradbury (b00dtp4b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
THU 00:25 Ian Hislop Goes off the Rails (b00drtpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THU 01:25 Fossil Detectives (b00drtpd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:55 Art of Eternity (b0074t9w)
The Glory of Byzantium
How should art depict the relationship between man and God? How can art best express eternal values? Can you, and should you, portray the face of Christ? For over a thousand years these were some of the questions which taxed the minds of the greatest artists of the early West. In this three-part series, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon sets out to unravel the mysteries of the art of the pre-perspective era. Why has this world been so frequently misunderstood and underrated? His journey takes him from the mysterious catacombs of ancient Rome to Coptic Egypt, to the Orthodox Christian world of Istanbul and then onwards to medieval Italy and France.
In the second of this three-part series, Andrew Graham-Dixon travels to Istanbul to immerse himself in the tumultuous world of the Byzantine Empire. He reveals the art that emerged, decodes the iconography and explains its continuing relevance to everyday people.
THU 02:55 Ian Hislop Goes off the Rails (b00drtpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 03 OCTOBER 2008
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00drtw8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Pinchas Zukerman (b00drtwb)
Celebrated portrait of violinist Pinchas Zukerman from director Christopher Nupen.
Six years in the making, this Emmy-nominated film traces the development of one of the finest violin talents of the 20th century. It follows him through the difficult transition from child prodigy through to early maturity. It also shows the growth of his relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra, which drew him into conducting for the first time.
FRI 20:30 Only Connect (b00drsq2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Monday]
FRI 21:00 Once Upon a Time in New York: The Birth of Hip Hop, Disco and Punk (b007mw93)
How the squalid streets of '70s New York gave birth to music that would go on to conquer the world - punk, disco and hip hop.
In the 1970s the Big Apple was rotten to the core, yet out of the grime, grit and low rent space emerged new music unlike anything that had gone before.
Inspired by the Velvet Underground, a new wave of 'punk' rock emerged in lower Manhattan including The New York Dolls, The Ramones and the Patti Smith Group. Meanwhile, downtown loft parties held by gay New Yorkers heralded the birth of disco, which would eventually spawn the ultimate club for the privileged few: Studio 54. The swanky mid-town discos were out of bounds to black New York so in the Bronx DJs such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa created their own parties, heralding the birth of hip hop.
With David Johansen, Patti Smith, John Cale, Richard Hell, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Nile Rodgers, Chuck D, Tommy Ramone, Chris Stein, Fab 5. Freddy, Lenny Kaye, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Syl Sylvain, Nicky Siano, David Mancuso, DJ AJ, David Depino, Jayne County, Leee Childers, Nelson George, Victor Bokris and Vince Aletti.
FRI 22:00 Arena (b0074m2h)
The Burger and the King
A remarkable guided tour through the culinary world of Elvis Presley, in his later years famed as much for his appetite as for his music. The King's passion for food is recounted by close friends, relatives and personal cooks who share the recipes that kept their idol happy. From the squirrel and raccoon dishes of his youth to the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches that contributed to his demise. (1996)
FRI 22:55 Arena (b0074lx2)
My Way
An investigation of the appeal and power of the popular song My Way, which was written by Paul Anka and was recorded by many artists, including Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Elvis Presley and Sid Vicious. Contributors include Paul Anka, George Brown, Barry John and Dorothy Squires.
FRI 23:35 The Avengers (b0074szl)
Series 4
Silent Dust
Steed and Emma are called in to investigate an environmental disaster when areas of countryside are laid to waste and birds and beasts start dying in their hundreds.
FRI 00:25 The Avengers (b0074t09)
Series 4
Room without a View
Classic 1960s crime drama series. Emma finds herself inside a concentration camp in London's West End.
FRI 01:15 Only Connect (b00drsq2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Monday]
FRI 01:45 Art of Eternity (b0074tbk)
When East Meets West
How should art depict the relationship between man and God? How can art best express eternal values? Can you, and should you, portray the face of Christ? For over a thousand years these were some of the questions which taxed the minds of the greatest artists of the early West. In this three-part series, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon sets out to unravel the mysteries of the art of the pre-perspective era. Why has this world been so frequently misunderstood and underrated? His journey takes him from the mysterious catacombs of ancient Rome to Coptic Egypt, to the Orthodox Christian world of Istanbul and then onwards to medieval Italy and France.
In the final part of this series Andrew Graham-Dixon examines early Christian art and the reasons for its evolution during the Renaissance. He also reveals just how far modern artists have been influenced by the pre-perspective view of the world.
FRI 02:45 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00drr0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:50 on Saturday]