SATURDAY 28 MAY 2011
SAT 19:00 The Secret Life of Elephants (b00gvl9w)
The Secret Life of Elephants
Second in a series of three programmes revealing the emotional and dramatic lives of elephants in Kenya's Samburu reserve.
Baby elephant Breeze is growing up fast, but with the dry season approaching, she is about to face her biggest test yet. Meanwhile, Breeze's teenage brother Buster seems intent on getting himself and Breeze into trouble.
Outside the reserve, more trouble is brewing as people and elephants come into conflict. Elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton sends daughter Saba on a mission to help one of their best-known elephants - Mountain Bull - who is on a collision course with farmers and villagers.
Elsewhere, a marauding group of bulls cause havoc by breaking into fields and raiding crops. The team think they might have an unusual solution and will need the help of some African honey bees.
Back in the reserve, a devastating drought takes hold and Breeze and her family are forced to compete with other elephants for food and water. Will baby Breeze survive these hard times?
SAT 20:00 Latin Music USA (b00qjnxf)
Salsa
The second in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA.
Filmed in Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York City, it reveals the untold story of salsa music, which burst onto the New York scene in the late 1960s. It first evolved in the clubs of Havana, Cuba and soon became the vibrant sound of the New York barrios, where Puerto Ricans and Cubans settled amid poverty and discrimination.
Yet out of adversity came a thrilling and innovative dance music that became the voice and spirit of the Latin people in the 70s. From rebellious Latin Boogaloo to the shadowy empire of Fania Records, the story unfolds through the intimate memories of the 'Fania Family' - the greatest salsa musicians of their generation and the purveyors of a music that lives on today.
Featuring Ruben Blades, Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars.
SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00ry8lb)
Series 2
The Guilt
When a six-year-old boy disappears from pre-school, Wallander and the Ystad police join a desperate search to find him. Suspicions immediately fall on a paedophile recently released from prison, but as the investigation develops it becomes evident that the crime has its roots in relationships far more complicated than the police could ever have imagined.
SAT 22:30 Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury (b011g6dw)
The Llangollen Canal
Seasoned stomper Julia Bradbury dons her walking boots once again to explore her own British backyard, travelling along the country's network of canals and their accompanying towpath trails. This sees her navigating Highland glens, rolling countryside and river valleys, as well as our industrial heartlands, following these magical waterways as they cut a sedate path through some of the country's finest scenery.
Julia's final walk takes her to north Wales, where 200 years ago the great engineer Thomas Telford had to overcome seemingly impossible challenges in order to access the valuable slate industries of Snowdonia. In doing so, he created a masterpiece of 19th-century engineering - an aqueduct 126 feet high and spanning 1,000 feet across the Vale of Llangollen. To find out why it has become a world heritage site, Julia follows the cut of the Llangollen Canal, starting at the picturesque Horseshoe Falls. Her six-mile walk takes her along the winding Dee Valley, ending on the aqueduct that Telford described as 'a stream through the skies'.
SAT 23:00 The Golden Age of Canals (b01173hf)
Most people thought that when the working traffic on canals faded away after the war, it would be the end of their story. But they were wrong. A few diehard enthusiasts and boat owners campaigned, lobbied and dug, sometimes with their bare hands, to keep the network of narrow canals open.
Some of these enthusiasts filmed their campaigns and their home movies tell the story of how, in the teeth of much political opposition, they saved the inland waterways for the nation and, more than 200 years after they were first built, created a second golden age of the canals.
Stan Offley, an IWA activist from Ellesmere Port, filmed his boating trips around the wide canals in the 40s, 50s and 60s in 16mm colour. But equally charming is the film made by Ed Frangleton, with help from Harry Arnold, of a hostel boat holiday on the Llangollen Canal in 1961. There are the films shot by ex-working boatman Ike Argent from his home in Nottinghamshire and looked after by his son Barry.
There is astonishing film of the last days of working boats, some shot by John Pyper when he spent time with the Beecheys in the 60s, film taken by Keith Christie of the last days of the cut around the BCN, and the films made by Keith and his mate Tony Gregory of their attempts to keep working the canals through their carrying company, Midland Canal Transport.
There is film of key restorations, the Stourbridge 16 being talked about with great wit and affection by one of the leading activists in that watershed of restorations in the mid-60s, David Tomlinson, and John Maynard's beautiful films of the restoration of the Huddersfield, 'the impossible restoration', shot over two decades.
All these and more are in the programme alongside the people who made the films and some of the stars of them. Together they tell the story of how, in the years after 1945, a few people fought the government like David fought Goliath to keep canals open and restore ones that had become defunct, and won against all the odds.
SAT 00:00 Top of the Pops (b011g8pg)
From the year that sculpted pop, David Hamilton introduces performances from Showaddywaddy, Marmalade, Tina Charles, Robin Sarstedt, Mud, Cliff Richard, the Four Seasons, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, the Rolling Stones and Peter Frampton.
SAT 00:40 Latin Music USA (b00qjnxf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SAT 01:40 La Excelencia at the Barbican (b00qjnxh)
Filmed live at the Barbican, La Excelencia are a vibrant 12-piece salsa orchestra from New York City who venerate and celebrate the vibe and sounds of the legendary Fania All Stars.
The band was founded by Julian Silva and Jose Vazquez-Cofresi in 2005 and created with the intention of bringing a new outlook to salsa music by being hip, young and writing about social issues, yet without losing the true roots of salsa. The hard life of the barrio is reflected in La Excelencia's music through their hardcore sounds known as 'salsa dura'.
SAT 02:40 The Secret Life of Elephants (b00gvl9w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUNDAY 29 MAY 2011
SUN 19:00 A History of Christianity (b00p90kk)
God in the Dock
Diarmaid MacCulloch's own life story makes him a symbol of a distinctive feature about Western Christianity - scepticism, a tendency to doubt which has transformed both Western culture and Christianity.
In the final programme in the series, he asks where that change came from. He challenges the simplistic notion that faith in Christianity has steadily ebbed away before the relentless advance of science, reason and progress, and shows instead how the tide of faith perversely flows back in.
Despite the attacks of Newton, Voltaire, the French Revolutionaries and Darwin, Christianity has shown a remarkable resilience. The greatest damage to Christianity was actually inflicted to its moral credibility by the two great wars of the 20th century and by its entanglement with Fascism and Nazism. And yet it is during crisis that the Church has rediscovered deep and enduring truths about itself, which may even be a clue to its future.
SUN 20:05 Thora Hird Tribute (b007c2dz)
Friends, colleagues and fans, including Julie Walters, Jonathan Ross, Norman Wisdom, Keith Barron and Victoria Wood, pay tribute to Dame Thora Hird, who died in 2003 at the age of 91. Narrated by Jnae Horrocks.
SUN 20:30 Last of the Summer Wine (b00tnvnn)
Series 15
Stop That Bath
Compo, Clegg and Foggy find that bath time can be a moving experience, as they help to take a cast iron bath to Marina as a present from Howard.
SUN 21:00 Welly Telly: The Countryside on Television (b011m8wt)
Kate Humble, Bill Oddie, Bill Bryson, John Craven and Clarissa Dickson Wright discuss television's changing relationship - and recent obsession - with the countryside. What explains the huge appeal of shows like Countryfile and Lambing Live to an urban audience? Is television helping to bring town and country together, or is the gap getting larger?
The programme remembers the pioneers of Welly Telly, like Phil Drabble, Jack Hargreaves and Hannah Hauxwell, and features archive from The Good Life, All Creatures Great and Small and Last of the Summer Wine.
SUN 22:00 Dorset Days: A Year in the Life of Longhorn Jim (b00jyzkq)
Documentary about Falklands War veteran and ex-firefighter Jim Armstrong, who is now a farmer in Dorset.
The film follows Jim through 2007 as he helps to raise a herd of traditional Longhorn cattle and his own flock of sheep. Sad echoes of his war experiences 25 years earlier resurface at times, but they never dent his optimistic spirit or his delight in selling meat locally and spending his days in the great Dorset outdoors.
SUN 23:00 The Joy of Easy Listening (b011g614)
In-depth documentary investigation into the story of a popular music genre that is often said to be made to be heard but not listened to. The film looks at easy listening's architects and practitioners, its dangers and delights, and the mark it has left on modern life.
From its emergence in the 50s to its heyday in the 60s, through its survival in the 70s and 80s and its revival in the 90s and beyond, the film traces the hidden history of a music that has reflected society every bit as much as pop and rock - just in a more relaxed way.
Invented at the dawn of rock 'n' roll, easy listening has shadowed pop music and the emerging teenage market since the mid-50s. It is a genre that equally soundtracks our modern age, but perhaps for a rather more 'mature' generation and therefore with its own distinct purpose and aesthetic.
Contributors include Richard Carpenter, Herb Alpert, Richard Clayderman, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jimmy Webb, Mike Flowers, James Last and others.
SUN 00:30 Easy Listening Hits at the BBC (b011g943)
Compilation of easy listening tracks that offers the perfect soundtrack for your cocktail party. There's music to please every lounge lizard, with unique performances from the greatest easy listening artists of the 60s and 70s, including Burt Bacharach, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, The Carpenters and many more.
SUN 01:30 Last of the Summer Wine (b00tnvnn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
SUN 02:00 Thora Hird Tribute (b007c2dz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:05 today]
SUN 02:25 A History of Christianity (b00p90kk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUN 03:25 Welly Telly: The Countryside on Television (b011m8wt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MONDAY 30 MAY 2011
MON 19:00 100 Years of Wildlife Films (b007xnvt)
From the most memorable wildlife films and rare cinematic gems, to amateur footage and the poignant last shots of vanished animals, Bill Oddie explores 100 years of wildlife filming. The documentary looks at how societal attitudes towards wildlife have shaped film-making - from hunting and safaris in the 1930s to a fresh-faced David Attenborough leaping on to animals to catch them for zoos in the 1950s.
MON 21:00 Storyville (b011m97q)
Pol Pot's Executioner: Welcome to Hell
On 28 February 2009 Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, appeared in the ECCC courtroom and made a two-hour speech where he asked for forgiveness for the appalling torture and execution of at least 13,000 prisoners at Tuol Sleng and probably more in the security camps of M-13 and M-99. Until this date, with the exception of a handful of judges, lawyers and a priest, he had not been seen or heard of for the last thirty years. How did a man, known to be kind and generous to fellow students, possibly transform himself into Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge's infamous executioner? This documentary revisits and searches for clues.
Part of the Justice Season on BBC4.
MON 22:30 The Night Shift (b011m97s)
Episode 11
Georg's mother decides to stop looking after neglected grandson Flemming and dumps the boy at the petrol station with his father. Having overheard a hungover Olafur boasting about visiting a strip club, Georg overreacts in inimitable fashion.
MON 22:55 The Night Shift (b011m97v)
Episode 12
Despite warnings from his colleagues, Olafur continues to go along with what is clearly a money scam. Meanwhile, Georg has taken time off to attend a May Day demonstration, leaving Olafur in charge.
MON 23:25 Rubicon (b011g8pl)
Caught in the Suck
Miles and Tanya are taken on a secret mission with the CIA to help with a suspect's interrogation. When Will becomes increasingly frustrated by his inability to find answers, Kale suggests he follows up Ed's research.
MON 00:10 The Highest Court in the Land: Justice Makers (b00xz0s5)
They are the UK's most powerful arbiters of justice and now, for the first time, four of the Justices of the Supreme Court talk frankly and openly about the nature of justice and how they make their decisions. The film offers a revealing glimpse of the human characters behind the judgments and explores why the Supreme Court and its members are fundamental to our democracy.
The 11 men and one woman who make up the UK Supreme Court have the last say on the most controversial and difficult cases in the land. What they decide binds every citizen. But are their rulings always fair, do their feelings ever get in the way of their judgments and are they always right?
In the first 14 months of the court they have ruled on MPs' expenses, which led to David Chaytor's prosecution, changed the status of pre-nuptial agreements and battled with the government over control orders and the Human Rights Act.
They explain what happens when they cannot agree and there is a divided judgment, and how they avoid letting their personal feelings effect their interpretation of the law. And they face up to the difficult issue of diversity; there is only one woman on the court, and she is the only Justice who went to a non-fee-paying school.
MON 01:10 Justice: A Citizen's Guide to the 21st Century (b00xyzjw)
A specially-commissioned documentary in which renowned Harvard professor Michael Sandel looks at the philosophy of justice.
Is it acceptable to torture a terrorist in order to discover where a bomb has been hidden? Should wearing the burka in public be banned in Europe, if the majority of citizens disapprove? Should beggars be cleared off the streets of London?
Sandel goes in search of Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel Kant and Aristotle, three philosophers whose ideas inform much contemporary thinking on justice, and tests their theories against a range of contemporary problems.
Filmed in Berlin, Boston, Athens and London, this thought-provoking film includes interviews with the world's great philosophers, modern-day politicians and thinkers from all around the globe.
MON 02:10 Storyville (b011m97q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 31 MAY 2011
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b011m9cs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 How Britain Got the Gardening Bug (b00jkrkp)
Documentary looking at the extraordinary changes and crazes that have happened to British gardening since the Second World War, from garden gnomes and crazy paving to Leylandii and decking.
As recently as the 1960s, garden centres did not exist and gardening was strictly for old boys in sheds, yet today it has become the height of cool.
Contributors include Penelope Keith, Laurence Llewellyn Bowen, Germaine Greer and Carol Klein.
TUE 21:00 Storyville (b011m9cx)
Amnesty! When They Are All Free
To celebrate its 50th anniversary in May 2011, this probing documentary brings together an extraordinary cast of interviewees, from Sting to former home secretary Jack Straw, to shed light on how, as a 'letter-writing organisation, Amnesty International has changed the world and how the world has changed Amnesty International. It poses the fundamental question: has the human rights movement been able to hold back mankind's capacity for atrocity?
Part of BBC4's Justice season.
TUE 22:10 Arena (b0074qw2)
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
A celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Secret Policeman's Ball in aid of Amnesty International. Many of Britain's finest comedians, including John Cleese, Sir Bob Geldof, Alan Bennett, Jennifer Saunders, Stephen Fry, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Ruby Wax, Lenny Henry, Sting, Phil Collins and Rowan Atkinson are reunited in a reflection of the changes in British comedy over the last quarter of a century. The film examines the event, with interviews and recollections of the original stars alongside classic comedy moments.
TUE 23:25 Mrs Mandela (b00qbyhn)
Fact-based drama which charts how Winnie Mandela went from innocent country girl to politicised fighter against apartheid, and from an adoring and loving wife to firebrand revolutionary.
In February 1990, Winnie Mandela arrived at Victor Verster prison for the release of her husband Nelson after 27 years' incarceration, a moment of freedom that will be etched on the minds of billions around the world.
But behind her public face of triumphant celebration lay an inner turmoil, based on the realisation that she could no longer play the loyal and faithful wife.
After following Winnie through her years of imprisonment, torture and exile at the hands of the white ruling class, the film comes to a dramatic crescendo as the consequences of her brutalisation by the South African state blur into the madness of the last days of apartheid.
We are left with what this all means for one of the most famous couples in the world - Nelson and Mrs Mandela.
TUE 00:55 The Real Winnie Mandela (b00qbyhq)
Documentary about the late Winnie Mandela. Was she mother of the nation or an out-of-control egotist? Whilst her husband will forever be associated with taking South Africa to democracy, it is Winnie's life that most accurately mirrors the story of the struggle. The apartheid regime targeted her with harassment, torture and banishment, but Winnie responded with bravery and defiance bordering on recklessness.
Illustrated with rich BBC archive drawn from the last seven decades and interviews with leading British and South African journalists, the film charts the role that Winnie played in the struggle and shows why she continues to divide opinion.
TUE 01:55 How Britain Got the Gardening Bug (b00jkrkp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 03:25 Storyville (b011m9cx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 01 JUNE 2011
WED 19:00 World News Today (b011m9rq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 The Joy of Easy Listening (b011g614)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Sunday]
WED 21:00 African Railway (b00s6bgw)
In a moving and often funny documentary, award-winning film-maker Sean Langan is off to east Africa to ride the rails of the Tazara railroad, whose passenger and goods trains travel through spectacular scenery and a game park teeming with wild animals.
The railway was built by the Chinese just after independence to link Zambia's copper belt to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, and once carried the region's hopes and dreams. But now it is in crisis. Every day there are derailments, trains running out of fuel and mechanical breakdowns.
Langan meets the train crews, controllers and maintenance crews who battle to keep it going - and at Tazara HQ he is on the track of Tazara's elusive Chinese railway advisors to find out why it is in such a parlous state.
WED 22:00 Storyville (b011m9vy)
Fight to Save the World: Sergio
As part of BBC 4's Justice season, this documentary which chronicles the brilliant life and tragic fate of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the former head of the UN mission to Baghdad. Colleagues and loved ones recount how his extraordinary career was cut short when a bomb exploded below his office in August 2003, and the film tracks the painstaking attempts to rescue him from the debris.
WED 23:30 Wallander (b00ry8lb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Saturday]
WED 01:00 The Joy of Easy Listening (b011g614)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Sunday]
WED 02:30 Storyville (b011m9vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THURSDAY 02 JUNE 2011
THU 19:00 World News Today (b011m9xt)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b011m9xw)
A weekly look at the charts with Jimmy Savile, who introduces Heavy Metal Kids, the Wurzels, JJ Barrie, Mac and Katie Kissoon, the Real Thing and Gladys Knight and the Pips.
THU 20:00 Welly Telly: The Countryside on Television (b011m8wt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
THU 21:00 Storyville (b011m9xy)
Prosecutor
Critics say Luis Moreno-Ocampo's justice threatens peace, while champions of justice criticise his weaknesses. The world's first permanent International Criminal Court is making headlines - issuing an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state for war crimes, Sudanese President Al-Bashir in July 2008 and now seeking the arrest of Colonel Gaddafi, his son Saif and his brother-in-law, the intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi.
Cameras follow the prosecutor in New York as he defends the Al-Bashir warrant at the UN Security Council; in The Hague, as he opens the Court's first trial of alleged Congolese war criminal Thomas Lubanga; and in the Congo as he meets citizens affected by the trial. The prosecutor must keep one step ahead of them all.
Part of BBC 4's Justice season.
THU 22:00 Rubicon (b011m9y0)
No Honesty in Men
Knowing that his apartment is under surveillance, Will finds refuge with a neighbour. Katherine continues pursuing the names of the boys in the photograph. Miles and Grant welcome Julia to the team.
THU 22:45 Destination Titan (b0109ccd)
It's a voyage of exploration like no other - to Titan, Saturn's largest moon and thought to resemble our own early Earth. For a small team of British scientists this would be the culmination of a lifetime's endeavour - the flight alone, some two billion miles, would take a full seven years.
This is the story of the space probe they built, the sacrifices they made and their hopes for the landing. Would their ambitions survive the descent into the unknown on Titan's surface?
THU 23:45 Top of the Pops (b011m9xw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 00:20 Welly Telly: The Countryside on Television (b011m8wt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
THU 01:20 Last of the Summer Wine (b00tnvnn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Sunday]
THU 01:50 Dorset Days: A Year in the Life of Longhorn Jim (b00jyzkq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Sunday]
THU 02:50 Storyville (b011m9xy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 03 JUNE 2011
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b011mb8b)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Mendelssohn, the Nazis and Me (b00l7rg2)
Felix Mendelssohn was a passionate Christian. He was also born a Jew. This film, marking the 200th anniversary of his birth, tells the extraordinary story of what happened, generations later, both to Mendelssohn's family and to his music, when the Nazis remembered the Jewish roots of Germany's most celebrated composer.
It also examines how the influences of both Judaism and Christianity affected Mendelssohn's music and was made by documentary-maker Sheila Hayman, Mendelssohn's great-great-great-great niece.
FRI 20:30 Transatlantic Sessions (b00n93c2)
Series 4
Episode 5
Folk musicians come together in what have been called 'the greatest backporch shows ever', as Shetland fiddle virtuoso Aly Bain and dobro ace Jerry Douglas host a Highland gathering of the cream of Nashville, Irish and Scottish talent.
Highlights include the classic Carrickfergus sung by American star Alison Moorer, which Bain considers the best interpretation of the song he has ever heard.
FRI 21:00 Annie Nightingale: Bird on the Wireless (b011mb8d)
It's over 40 years since Annie Nightingale's very first show on Radio 1 - she was the station's first female DJ and is its longest-serving broadcaster. A lifelong champion of new music, first with punk, then new wave, acid house and dubstep, Annie is still at the cutting edge in her current incarnation as the 'Queen of the Breaks'.
In this film Annie takes us on a counter-cultural journey through the events, people and sounds that have inspired her career. Full of insightful anecdotes about her sonic adventures and the numerous pop-cultural shifts that have helped shape her idiosyncratic outlook and tastes, the film features exclusive contributions from some of the many artists Annie has worked with and admired, including Sir Paul McCartney and Mick Jones of The Clash. We also hear from the new generation of artists who confirm that she's an icon of the British music scene.
FRI 22:00 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b011pxlv)
Police in the East
Documentary-style film of the Police's tour of Japan, Hong Kong, India, Egypt and Greece in 1980. Anne Nightingale accompanies the band and interviews its members during the tour. Includes concert footage and behind-the-scenes sequences of the band.
FRI 22:50 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b011qkh6)
Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Anne Nightingale presents a live concert special featuring Ian Dury and the Blockheads at the Dominion Theatre.
FRI 23:55 Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements (b00g8tfv)
Documentary about progressive music and the generation of bands that were involved, from the international success stories of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson and Jethro Tull to the trials and tribulations of lesser-known bands such as Caravan and Egg.
The film is structured in three parts, charting the birth, rise and decline of a movement famed for complex musical structures, weird time signatures, technical virtuosity and strange, and quintessentially English, literary influences.
It looks at the psychedelic pop scene that gave birth to progressive rock in the late 1960s, the golden age of progressive music in the early 1970s, complete with drum solos and gatefold record sleeves, and the over-ambition, commercialisation and eventual fall from grace of this rarefied musical experiment at the hands of punk in 1977.
Contributors include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Pete Sinfield, Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer and Ian Anderson.
FRI 01:25 Annie Nightingale: Bird on the Wireless (b011mb8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:25 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b011pxlv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 03:15 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b011qkh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:50 today]