MONDAY 17 AUGUST 2009

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00m6n2m)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Legends (b0074s0m)
James Last: Non Stop Dancing

James Last is one of the most successful bandleaders and arrangers in the history of popular music. In a career lasting more than 50 years, he has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.

This documentary goes behind the James Last phenomenon to ask why his music is loved by the public but often loathed by the critics. The music is often described as easy listening or happy music, but what is the James Last sound? Is it just a string of revamped Beatles hits, non-stop Abba medleys, updated classics and polka parties, or is his achievement in popular music being under-estimated and dismissed unfairly by the musical elite?

Influenced by jazz, swing, the Beatles and rock and roll in 1960's Hamburg, Last would soon become one of the most famous bandleaders of all time. This programme explores the music, the musicians and the life of the man who invented the non-stop party and re-invented the classics.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00m6n2p)
Series 2

Chessmen v Rugby Boys - Semi-Final

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

In the second semi-final, three quietly strategic chess players pit their wits against the brawn of the Rugby Boys. Who will win the battle, as they compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random? How does Carmilla link to Neo via Lord Voldemort and Sir Leigh Teabing?


MON 21:00 Wallander (b00m9jky)
Series 1

The Photographer

A woman is found dead after the opening of a war photographer's exhibition. Murder is suspected, as is the photographer. Wallander and his team of police investigate.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


MON 22:30 The Grandparent Diaries (b00llg5q)
Ian Batten

Documentary series about grandparents in Britain today introduces Londoner Ian Batten - fashion designer, father of four and grandfather of seven.

Ian takes all seven of his grandchildren, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, for a weekend by the sea for the first time. As a 1960s dad who brought his own children up in the liberal spirit of the time, his approach seems to be a hit with the children. Bedtimes are relaxed and the kids happily chip in, but do his own children recall their upbringings as similarly idyllic, and how has the free, liberal approach influenced their own views on parenting?

Through interviews spanning three generations, the family's archive footage and observation, the film looks at how the philosophies of the 1960s influence Ian as a grandfather whilst celebrating the enduring traditions of grandparenting through the 20th century.


MON 23:30 The Grandparent Diaries (b00lpk38)
The Littles

Molly Little is a typical 15-year-old - pushing boundaries, battles at home as she rallies for later curfews, shorter hem lines and more phone credit. But her living situation is not, as she and her 10- year-old brother Mitch are brought up by their grandparents in Kent.

Val and Ron have been looking after these two of their seven grandchildren for eight years after their mother Tammy died unexpectedly in 2001 and their father left the family. They are among the 200,000 grandparents in this country bringing up their grandchildren, numbers which are rising.

Tammy was murdered at her home in Cornwall by her estranged partner - the children's father, a paranoid schizophrenic. The children were in the house at the time and Molly was the person who pressed the panic button which brought the police to the house.

Mitch has grown up with his grandparents as surrogate parents, but for Molly, who already had a very close bond with and strong memories of her mother, it has been harder to adjust.

The desire to keep absolute normality for the children has been paramount since Tammy died. Living with the generation gap is not easy, as well their own private struggles to deal with the loss of a mother and a daughter. But clinging to the normal routine of every day life has helped get them through.

Through family archive, actuality, interview and the children's video diary, the film builds up an intimate picture of the family, past and present. It explores how far the love of these two doting (and grieving) grandparents has gone to repair a family coping with a tragic loss. Through the laughter, routines and arguments of daily life, we observe to what degree grandparental love can and cannot fill the breach of a lost member of the middle generation.


MON 00:30 The Grandparent Diaries (b00lszpy)
Avril Pengilly

When a widowed elderly grandmother moves in with one of her children and grandchildren, it is usually assumed it is because she is too old and frail to continue to look after herself. But three years ago, when 78-year-old Avril Pengilly sold her bungalow to live with her youngest daughter Liz, her son-in-law Dave and her grandsons Jake and Mike, it was because they needed her help, both financially and practically, as much as she needed them.

Through interview and observation, the film explores both the advantages and challenges for all three generations living under one roof. Using personal photographs and Avril's memories of the her life in a small north Devon farming community, Avril looks back at her own history and how it has informed her role as a grandmother and mother today.


MON 01:30 Only Connect (b00m6n2p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 02:00 Style on Trial (b00gqxrr)
1960s

Stuart Maconie and Lauren Laverne put British style and fashion between the 1940s and the 1990s into the dock. To discuss the 1960s they are joined in the studio by designer John Bates, the man who created Diana Rigg's catsuits for The Avengers, top 1960s model Jill Kennington and veteran fashion journalist Eve Pollard.


MON 03:00 Style on Trial (b00gvb2y)
1970s

Stuart Maconie and Lauren Laverne put British style and fashion between the 1940s and the 1990s into the dock. To discuss the 1970s they are joined in the studio by British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, the maker of three-tier wedge sandals for the 70s rock aristocracy Terry de Havilland, and Wayne Hemingway, a teenager of the decade who went on to create his own fashion label.