SATURDAY 04 SEPTEMBER 2010

SAT 19:00 Nature's Great Events (b00hvw59)
The Great Migration

Each year more than one million wildebeest and zebra invade the Serengeti grasslands, making it a paradise for the predators that live there. But what happens when the herds move off again? This programme follows the moving story of one lion family's struggle to survive until the return of the great migration.

Nature's Great Events tells the story of the epic trek of herds that follow the rains to fresh pastures, and the tale of the predators they leave behind.

The crew captures the desperate plight of a single pride of lions, revealing a different side to the Serengeti. Rather than being a predators' paradise, it is a land in constant change, with wildebeest following the rains and leaving the lions to tough it out.

The Ntudu pride has seven cubs, and is already suffering as the wildebeest leave to find fresh pastures. The four pride females struggle to find enough food for their hungry offspring.

As weeks turn to months, the pride members become more emaciated and frailer, and the number of cubs dwindles to just two.

As the herds begin to return, the plains reveal one final secret. For the first time since 1967, the Serengeti's only active volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai, begins to billow ash and smoke. Filmed from the air, the team captures the exciting action. Fertilised by the volcanic ash over millions of years, these short grass plains are among the most productive grasslands in the world.

After months of hardship, the pride's tragic story, through sickness, drought and fire, is over as the herds return, providing plentiful food.

The final ten-minute diary, Pride and Peril, tells the harrowing story captured by film-maker Owen Newman of the Ndutu pride which he followed for more than a year.


SAT 20:00 Lonesome George and the Battle for Galapagos (b0074sy3)
Documentary about Lonesome George, officially the loneliest animal on the planet until his death in June 2012. He was the last remaining Pinta Island giant tortoise in existence and now his race is extinct. He was an icon of his native Galapagos Islands and symbol of the battle to preserve their unique wildlife. The islands are at a critical point in their history - threatened by illegal fishing, the demands of a booming population and an ever-expanding tourism industry - yet the will within the islanders to protect Galapagos is strong. This is both the personal story of Lonesome George and of the local characters intent on turning around the fortunes of their unique tropical paradise.


SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00m4q5x)
Series 1

The Tricksters

When a riding pupil finds the stable owner dead in his barn, Wallander is initially at a loss for suspects - he had no friends, no social life and seemingly no enemies. But a little digging reveals a much more complicated and sinister story, and soon the suspect list is too large.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 Roger and Val Have Just Got In (b00tn7hk)
Series 1

Reply All

Real-time sitcom following the lives of a middle-aged couple during their first half-hour home from work. Roger is a botanist at the Winter Gardens and Val is a food technology teacher at a local school. With no children, the couple rely only on each other for distraction.

Roger lies almost mute in bed in the spare room. Val tries hard to reach him, but there's more to this crisis than the recent news about his father. Roger reveals that, alone in the house, he has followed grief counselling advice and written out an idealised self-image; however he has mistakenly emailed it to his management team at work.

Hideously embarrassed, he and Val try to salvage the situation, but it leads to a terrible and definite schism between them. For the first time in the series, someone leaves the house.


SAT 23:00 Hancock and Joan (b009lv9j)
Drama which tells the story of comedian Tony Hancock's love affair with his friend's wife, and her fight to save the man and his career. Only months into her marriage to John Le Mesurier, Joan fell in love with Tony, who, despite his struggles with drink, remained charismatic and funny. They embarked on a passionate affair, but Tony's demons were never far away, and after months of turmoil Joan gave him an ultimatum: If he made a go of a new series in Australia and stayed sober, she would leave John for good. Tony left, determined to succeed.


SAT 00:25 The Eiger: Wall of Death (b00tlwj3)
A history of one of the world's most challenging mountains, the Eiger, and its infamous north face. The film gets to the heart of one of Europe's most notorious peaks, exploring its character and its impact on the people who climb it and live in its awesome shadow.


SAT 01:25 Munro: Mountain Man (b00mwgyq)
Little more than 100 years ago, Scottish mountains standing at more than 3,000 feet were virtually unknown. Today they are familiar terrain to many thousands of climbers, thanks to Victorian adventurer Hugh Munro's determination to list the high peaks which now define the highlands and islands of Scotland.

This documentary tells the story of the magnificent peaks that bear his name and the people who have been possessed by them.

The birth of this obsession - now known as Munrobagging - is a twisting tale of intrigue, which presenter Nicholas Crane unravels high on the ridges and pinnacles of some of Scotland's most spectacular mountains.


SAT 02:25 Lonesome George and the Battle for Galapagos (b0074sy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 03:25 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tlwfb)
Dark Beginnings

Richard Taylor explains how churches were originally simple buildings intended to protect the altar and the most important Christian rite of all, the Eucharist. He visits Britain's finest early medieval churches to untangle the mystery of why the Anglo-Saxons and Normans seem to have been unwilling to shake off their pre-Christian past and to have continued to fill their sacred buildings with mysterious pagan images. An ancient book in an Oxford library helps Richard find an answer.