Art historian and curator Tobias Capwell celebrates the great age of armour. Referencing the unstoppable rise of the Royal Almain Armoury at Greenwich, he tells the forgotten story of how Henry VIII fused German high technology with Renaissance artistry in the pursuit of one aim - to become the very image of the perfect knight. Using the talents of foreign craftsmen and his court artist Hans Holbein, Henry transformed himself into a living metal sculpture. His daughter Elizabeth I further exploited that image, making her courtiers parade before her in the most innovative and richly decorated works ever commissioned in steel.
Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the electrifying story of our quest to master nature's most mysterious force - electricity. Until fairly recently, electricity was seen as a magical power, but it is now the lifeblood of the modern world and underpins every aspect of our technological advancements.
Without electricity, we would be lost. This series tells of dazzling leaps of imagination and extraordinary experiments - a story of maverick geniuses who used electricity to light our cities, to communicate across the seas and through the air, to create modern industry and to give us the digital revolution.
Electricity is not just something that creates heat and light, it connects the world through networks and broadcasting. After centuries of man's experiments with electricity, the final episode tells the story of how a new age of real understanding dawned - how we discovered electric fields and electromagnetic waves. Today we can hardly imagine life without electricity - it defines our era. As our understanding of it has increased so has our reliance upon it, and today we are on the brink of a new breakthrough, because if we can understand the secret of electrical superconductivity, we could once again transform the world.
Following the dramatic murder of public prosecutor Peter Schultz, it becomes clear that Emilie Zeuthen's kidnapper will stop at nothing to recover his debt. However, police remain clueless about the perpetrator's motives. Lund and Mathias Borch try to cooperate on the case, while Lund makes a surprise reconciliatory visit to her son Mark. The prime minister's team try to limit his public involvement in the affair of the kidnapping, but yet more troubling information emerges which will make it difficult to focus on the election campaign.
Another failed attempt to capture their man leaves Borch and Lund with a dilemma - should they obey the perpetrator's instructions or take action in spite of his directives, thereby risking Emilie's life? Further links to an old unresolved police case continue to emerge, shedding new light on the investigation while marring the prime minister's political life.
In 1959 Britain's biggest cinema company, the Rank Organisation, decided to replace its newsreels with a series of short, quirky, topical documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. For the next ten years, Look at Life chronicled - on high-grade 35mm colour film - the changing face of British society, industry and culture. Britain on Film draws upon the 500 films in this unique archive to offer illuminating and often surprising insights into what became a pivotal decade in modern British history.
This episode examines Look at Life's surprisingly entertaining films on the British economy, at a time when industry faced ever-increasing competition from abroad.
On 22 November 1981, in the middle of their mammoth American tour, the Rolling Stones arrived in Chicago prior to playing three nights at the Rosemont Horizon. Long influenced by the Chicago blues, the band paid a visit to Buddy Guy's club, The Checkerboard Lounge, to see the legendary Muddy Waters perform. It didn't take long before Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Ian Stewart were joining in on stage and later accompanied by Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Lefty Dizz. This unique occasion was captured on camera and has now been restored from the original footage.
Peter Powell looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces the Jam, the Barron Knights, the Carpenters, Queen, Status Quo, David Bowie, Showaddywaddy, Abba and a Legs & Co dance sequence.
SUNDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2012
SUN 19:00 Timeshift (b017zqw8)
Series 11
The Golden Age of Trams: A Streetcar Named Desire
Move along the car! Timeshift takes a nostalgic trip on the tram car and explores how it liberated overcrowded cities and launched the era of the commuter. The film maps the tram's journey from early horse-drawn carriages on rails, through steam, and to electric power.
Overhead wires hung over Britain's towns and cities for nearly 50 years from the beginning of the 20th century until they were phased out everywhere except Blackpool. Manchester, the last city to lose its trams was, however, among the first to reintroduce them as the solution to modern-day traffic problems.
The film includes a specially recorded reading by Alan Bennett of his short story Leeds Trams, and contributions from Ken Dodd and Roy Hattersley.
SUN 20:00 Michael Wood: The Story of India (b008095g)
Freedom
Documentary series about the history of India presented by Michael Wood. This episode examines the British Raj and India's struggle for freedom. Wood reveals how in South India a global corporation came to control much of the subcontinent, and explores the magical culture of Lucknow, discovering the enigmatic Briton who helped found the freedom movement. He traces the Amritsar massacre, the rise of Gandhi and Nehru, and the events that led to the Partition of India in 1947.
SUN 21:00 Why Poverty? (p010jxyz)
Give Us the Money
Documentary taking an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at 30 years of Bob Geldof and Bono's campaign against poverty. Their work has made them icons of aid and even garnered them Nobel Peace Prize nominations, but what impact has it really had on Africa? Through archive footage and candid new interviews with key players including Geldof, Bono and Bill Gates, the film re-examines three decades of unprecedented campaigns and scrutinises the effectiveness of celebrity-led activism.
Nearly 30 years ago, two young pop singers set out to challenge the world. Their aim - to use their celebrity status to end poverty in Africa. After Bob Geldof instigated a chart-topping charity single and staged one of the biggest rock concerts ever seen, he and Bono joined forces and went on to build a multi-million dollar lobbying organisation. Along the way, they hi-jacked the Brits, enlisted IT billionaires, fashion models and academics, won over the wiliest of politicians, lobbied world leaders and put the politics of poverty firmly on the international agenda. They raised vast sums for charity and persuaded western powers to dramatically reduce third world debt.
But did they really help make poverty history in Africa? What impact has their work really had on economic growth and poverty reduction? And if they haven't made poverty history, has their campaign at least been responsible for a big step forward?
A BBC Storyville film, produced in partnership with the Open University, the film screens as part of Why Poverty? - when the BBC and the OU, in conjunction with more than 70 broadcasters around the world, hosts a debate about contemporary poverty.
SUN 22:00 Even the Rain (b019h75h)
Two Mexican film-makers who are shooting a film in Bolivia about the conquest by Christopher Columbus, become embroiled in controversy when their film schedule runs up against the Cochabamba protests. With local natives rising up against the privatisation of their water supply, Daniel, one of the film's lead actors, is heavily involved in the protest movement. As the production is beset by more and more problems and the riots escalate, the tension rises between the crew members.
In Spanish with English subtitles.
SUN 23:35 Michael Wood: The Story of India (b008095g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SUN 00:35 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
Do you remember buying your first single? Where you bought it? What it was? The thrill of playing it for the first time? What it sounded like? How it maybe changed your life? Lots of us do. Lots of us still have that single somewhere in a dusty box in the attic, along with other treasured memorabilia of an adolescence lost in music and romance. The attic of our youth.
The Joy of the Single is a documentary packed with startling memories, vivid images and penetrating insights into the power of pop and rock's first and most abiding artefact - the seven-inch, vinyl 45-rpm record, a small, perfectly formed object that seems to miraculously contain the hopes, fears, sounds and experiences of our different generations - all within the spiralling groove etched on its shiny black surface, labelled and gift-wrapped by an industry also in its thrall.
In the confident hands of a star-studded cast, the film spins a tale of obsession, addiction, dedication and desire. The viewer is invited on a journey of celebration from the 1950s rock 'n' roll generation to the download kids of today, taking in classic singles from all manner of artists in each decade - from the smell of vinyl to the delights of the record label, from the importance of the record shop to the bittersweet brevity of the song itself, from stacking singles on a Dansette spindle to dropping the needle and thrilling to the intro.
Featuring contributions from Noddy Holder, Jack White, Richard Hawley, Suzi Quatro, Holly Johnson, Jimmy Webb, Pete Waterman, Norah Jones, Mike Batt, Graham Gouldman, Miranda Sawyer, Norman Cook, Trevor Horn, Neil Sedaka, Paul Morley, Rob Davies, Lavinia Greenlaw, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.
SUN 01:35 Ultimate Number Ones (b01nwfxv)
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UK chart, from the vaults of the BBC archive comes a selection of hits that attained the toppermost of the poppermost prize and made it to number one in the hit parade. From across the decades, we applaud the most coveted of all chart positions with smash hits and classics from The Bee Gees, T. Rex, Donna Summer, John Lennon, Culture Club, The Spice Girls, James Blunt, Rihanna, Adele and many more.
SUN 02:35 Love Me Do: The Beatles '62 (b01nfbt2)
On October 5th 1962 the Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do. It was a moment that changed music history and popular culture forever. It was also an extraordinary year in social and cultural history, not just for Liverpool but for the world, with the Cuban missile crisis, John Glenn in space and beer at a shilling a pint.
Stuart Maconie explores how the Beatles changed from leather and slicked back hair to suits and Beatle mops, and how their fashion set the pace for the sixties to follow. Pop artist Sir Peter Blake, Bob Harris and former Beatles drummer Pete Best join friends to reflect on how the Beatles evolved into John, Paul, George and Ringo - the most famous band in the world.
MONDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2012
MON 19:00 World News Today (b01p2ls1)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psz43)
Series 1
Todmorden to York
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains. His first journey is from Liverpool to Scarborough.
Michael travels back in time on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, finds out about the latest Roman discoveries in York and takes to the air in the Network Rail helicopter.
MON 20:00 Nature's Microworlds (b01lndd2)
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay on California's coast is one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, its giant kelp forest bursting with life, from microscopic plankton to visiting ocean giants. The secret key to success in such a busy microworld is balance. Steve Backshall guides us through the unique geography of the bay and introduces some of its key characters in a quest to find the one species that keeps life in the kelp forest in check.
MON 20:30 Only Connect (b01p2mrh)
Series 6
Footballers vs Draughtsmen
In the first of the semi-finals three football fans take on a trio of beer enthusiasts, competing to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria Coren if you want to know what connects Hercule Poirot 06/08/1975, Tour de France 26/07/2007, Captain Birdseye 07/06/1971 and English cricket 02/09/1882.
MON 21:00 The Toilet: An Unspoken History (b01kxyhd)
We each spend three years of our lives on the toilet, but how happy are we talking about this essential part of our lives? This film challenges that mindset by uncovering its role in our culture and exploring the social history of the toilet in Britain and abroad - as well as exploring many of our cultural toilet taboos.
Starting in Merida, Spain, with some of the earliest surviving Roman toilets, we journey around the world - from the UK to China, Japan and Bangladesh - visiting toilets, ranging from the historically significant to the beautiful, from the functional and sometimes not-so-functional to the downright bizarre.
Leading our journey is Everyman figure, Welsh poet and presenter Ifor ap Glyn, who has a passionate interest in the toilet, its history and how it has evolved over the centuries, right up to the development of the current design. Finally, there's a glimpse of the future and a possible solution to the global sanitation issues we now face.
MON 22:00 Why Poverty? (p010jx25)
Stealing Africa
Ruschlikon is a village in Switzerland with a very low tax rate and very wealthy residents. There is so much money in the public coffers that mayor can't spend it all, largely thanks to the contribution from one resident - Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of commodities giant Glencore. However, Glencore's copper mines in Zambia don't generate similar tax windfalls for Zambians. The country has the third largest copper reserves in the world, but 60 per cent of the population live on less than $1 a day and 80 per cent are unemployed. Christoffer Guldbrandsen investigates the dark heart of the tax system employed by multi-nationals and asks how much profit is fair.
A BBC Storyville film, produced in partnership with the Open University, Stealing Africa screens as part of Why Poverty? - when the BBC, in conjunction with more than 70 broadcasters around the world, hosts a debate about contemporary poverty. The global cross-media event sees the same eight films screened in 180 countries to explore why, in the 21st Century, a billion people still live in poverty.
MON 23:00 The Killing (b01p2lyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Saturday]
MON 00:00 Timeshift (b01nj3xx)
Series 12
The British Army of the Rhine
The affectionate story of British servicemen and their families who had to make Germany a home from home in the decades after the Second World War. For nearly 70 years, generations would grow up on bases with special schools, shops, housing and even their own radio station, as parts of the Rhineland became little bubbles of Britishness.
Featuring a nostalgic soundtrack of German language versions of period pop hits and contributions from military historians such as Max Hastings and former BBC sports commentator Barry Davies - himself a former British Army of the Rhine soldier - as well as those of military wives and children.
Once the front line in the Cold War, the BAOR is now being called home as the Ministry of Defence begins preparations to finally pull British forces out.
MON 01:00 Nature's Microworlds (b01lndd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 01:30 Only Connect (b01p2mrh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
MON 02:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psz43)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 02:30 The Toilet: An Unspoken History (b01kxyhd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2012
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01p2ls6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psz7n)
Series 1
Pontefract to Bridlington
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain. His first journey is from Liverpool to Scarborough.
Michael searches for the last liquorice grower in Pontefract, discovers how the railways turned Hull into one of the largest white fish ports in the world and goes fishing for sea bass in Bridlington.
TUE 20:00 Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury (b01173hc)
The Kennet and Avon 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 starts this walk in the beautiful world heritage city of Bath, where the Kennet and Avon Canal provided a 19th-century 'canal superhighway' between the country's two most important ports, Bristol and London. But only forty years later the trade along the canal was usurped by rail travel, leaving the once great waterway neglected and derelict. Julia's 20-mile walk along what is arguably the most picturesque stretch of the canal tells the story of how the waterway was restored to its former glory after it was awarded the biggest ever lottery heritage grant. The walk ends at the spectacular Caen Hill flight of locks, listed as one of the seven wonders of British waterways.
TUE 20:30 Britain on Film (b01p2pd4)
Series 1
Dedicated Followers of Fashion
Throughout the 1960s, the Rank Organisation produced hundreds of short, quirky documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. Shot on high-quality colour film stock, they were screened in cinemas, but until now very little of the footage has been shown on television. This series draws on this unique archive to offer illuminating and often surprising insights into a pivotal decade in modern British history.
This episode examines the films that recorded developments in one of 1960s Britain's most dynamic, innovative industries - the glamorous and fast-moving world of fashion.
TUE 21:00 The Dark Ages: An Age of Light (p00zbtmr)
The Clash of the Gods
The Dark Ages have been misunderstood. History has identified the period following the fall of the Roman Empire with a descent into barbarism - a terrible time when civilisation stopped.
Waldemar Januszczak disagrees. In this four-part series he argues that the Dark Ages were a time of great artistic achievement, with new ideas and religions provoking new artistic adventures. He embarks on a fascinating trip across Europe, Africa and Asia, visits the world's most famous collections and discovers hidden artistic gems, all to prove that the Dark Ages were actually an 'Age of Light'.
In the first episode he looks at how Christianity emerged into the Roman Empire as an artistic force in the 3rd and 4th centuries. But with no description of Jesus in the Bible, how were Christians to represent their God? Waldemar explores how Christian artists drew on images of ancient gods for inspiration and developed new forms of architecture to contain their art.
TUE 22:00 Why Poverty? (p010jx3m)
Park Avenue - Money, Power and the American Dream
740 Park Avenue - an exclusive apartment building in Manhattan - is currently home to more billionaires than any other building in the United States. Less than five miles to the north is another Park Avenue in the South Bronx, where almost 40 per cent live in poverty and life prospects are less promising for those stuck at the bottom of the American pile. As international attention focuses on the US elections, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney looks at inequality in the US through the prism of these two, near-adjacent places, to ask if America is still the land of opportunity.
"There's always been a gap between the wealthiest in our society and everyone else, but in the last 30 years something changed: that gap became the Grand Canyon," says Gibney. Through the story of the two Park Avenues, he argues that the extreme wealth of a few has been used to impose their ideas on the rest of America. By focusing on the residents of 740 Park, he asks questions about the influence of CEOs in Washington in return for tax policies that favour the ultra-rich. What chances do those at the bottom of the ladder have for upward mobility? Can someone who starts life on Park Avenue in the South Bronx end up living on Park Avenue in Manhattan?
Through archive and interviews with academics, political scientists, psychologists, former lobbyists and even a former doorman at 740 Park, Gibney's film is a polemical look at the socio-economic political landscape of contemporary USA.
A BBC Storyville film, produced in partnership with the Open University, Park Avenue screens as part of Why Poverty? - when the BBC and the OU, in conjunction with more than 70 broadcasters around the world, hosts a debate about contemporary poverty.
TUE 23:00 The Killing (b01p2lyf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Saturday]
TUE 00:00 Timeshift (b017zqw8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
TUE 01:00 Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury (b01173hc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUE 01:30 Britain on Film (b01p2pd4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
TUE 02:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psz7n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 02:30 The Dark Ages: An Age of Light (p00zbtmr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2012
WED 19:00 World News Today (b01p2lsc)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00pszd7)
Series 1
Filey to Scarborough
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain. This leg of the journey takes him from Liverpool to Scarborough.
Michael goes birdwatching on the wild cliffs of Flamborough Head, learns to decipher traditional knitting patterns in Filey and meets one of the oldest residents of the Victorian seaside resort of Scarborough - a 4,000-year-old skeleton called Gristhorpe Man.
WED 20:00 Britain's Best Drives (b00j6sjc)
Richard Wilson Learns to Drive
In preparation for a motor journey around Britain, Richard Wilson is put through his paces as he learns how to use a gear stick again, having driven only automatics for the past 30 years.
He drives classic cars, goes off-road, experiences the thrills and spills of the skidpan and gets a lesson in driving high performance cars from five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell.
WED 20:30 Britain by Bike (b00t4lqf)
North Devon
Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to re-discover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle.
In a six-part series, Clare follows the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guide books of the late 1940s lovingly describe by-passed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads.
Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own bicycle, Clare embarks on six iconic cycle rides to try and find the world he described - if it is still there.
Her first journey takes Clare to the rugged and beautiful Atlantic coast of north Devon - from Lynmouth, scene of Britain's worst flood disaster in the early 1950s, to Ilfracombe via Little Switzerland, and a hidden silver mine whose riches probably helped England win the Battle of Agincourt.
WED 21:00 Immortal? A Horizon Guide to Ageing (b01kxxys)
Is there any way to slow or even prevent the ravages of time? Veteran presenter Johnny Ball looks back over the 45 years that Horizon, and he, have been on air to find out what science has learned about how and why we grow old. Charting developments from macabre early claims of rejuvenation to the latest cutting-edge breakthroughs, Johnny discovers the sense of a personal mission that drives many scientists and asks whether we are really any closer to achieving the dream of immortality.
WED 22:00 More Old Jews Telling Jokes (b01p2pm8)
Episode 1
They're back! More old Jews tell their favourite jokes. Old, new, clean and not so clean, the evergreen pensioners provide the laughs in this fresh batch of funnies.
WED 22:30 Why Poverty? (p010jy97)
Poor Us - An Animated History of Poverty
Do we know what poverty is? Throughout human existence, the poor have always been with us. Beginning with the Neolithic age, Ben Lewis's funny and sinister animated odyssey takes us through the changing image of poverty - helping us define what poverty looks like today and question whether it is inevitable.
A BBC Storyville film, produced in partnership with the Open University, Poor Us screens as part of Why Poverty? - when the BBC, in conjunction with more than 70 broadcasters around the world, hosts a debate about contemporary poverty. The global cross-media event sees the same eight films screened in 180 countries to explore why, in the 21st Century, a billion people still live in poverty.
WED 23:30 Metalworks! (b01hdhpy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
WED 00:30 Britain's Best Drives (b00j6sjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 01:00 Britain by Bike (b00t4lqf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
WED 01:30 More Old Jews Telling Jokes (b01p2pm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
WED 02:00 Immortal? A Horizon Guide to Ageing (b01kxxys)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2012
THU 19:00 World News Today (b01p2lsj)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01n7ptd)
10/11/77
Noel Edmonds looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces the Tom Robinson Band, Tina Charles, Darts, Kenny Everett & Mike Vickers, Roxy Music, Boney M, Elvis Costello, Ruby Winters, Santana, Abba and a Legs & Co dance sequence.
THU 20:00 Horizon (b00jgtl2)
2008-2009
Why Can't We Predict Earthquakes?
Last century, earthquakes killed over one million, and it is predicted that this century might see ten times as many deaths. Yet when an earthquake strikes, it always takes people by surprise.
So why hasn't science worked out how to predict when and where the next big quake is going to happen? This is the story of the men and women who chase earthquakes and try to understand this mysterious force of nature.
Journeying to China's Sichuan Province, which still lies devastated by the earthquake that struck in May 2008, as well as the notorious San Andreas fault in California, Horizon asks why science has so far fallen short of answering this fundamental question.
THU 21:00 The Secret Life of Rubbish (b01p48tt)
Episode 1
With tales from old binmen and film archive that has never been broadcast before, this two-part series offers an original view of the history of modern Britain - from the back end where the rubbish comes out.
The first programme deals with the decades immediately after the Second World War. Ninety-year-old Ernie Sharp started on the bins when he was demobbed from the army in 1947, and household rubbish in those days was mostly ash raked out of the fire-grate. That's why men like Ernie were called 'dust' men.
But the rubbish soon changed. The Clean Air Act got rid of coal fires so there was less ash. Then supermarkets arrived, with displays of packaged goods. And all that packaging went in the bin.
In the 1960s consumerism emerged. Shopping for new things became a national enthusiasm. It gave people the sense that their lives were improving and kept the economy going. And as the binmen recall, the waste stream became a flood.
As the programme sifts through the rubbish of the mid-20th century, we discover how the Britain of 'make do and mend' became a consumer society.
THU 22:00 The Dark Ages: An Age of Light (p00zbtmr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
THU 23:00 Treasures of the Anglo Saxons (b00t6xzx)
Art historian Dr Nina Ramirez reveals the codes and messages hidden in Anglo-Saxon art. From the beautiful jewellery that adorned the first violent pagan invaders through to the stunning Christian manuscripts they would become famous for, she explores the beliefs and ideas that shaped Anglo-Saxon art.
Examining many of the greatest Anglo Saxon treasures - such as the Sutton Hoo Treasures, the Staffordshire Hoard, the Franks Casket and the Lindisfarne Gospels - Dr Ramirez charts 600 years of artistic development which was stopped dead in its tracks by the Norman Conquest.
THU 00:00 The Toilet: An Unspoken History (b01kxyhd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 01:00 Horizon (b00jgtl2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 02:00 Top of the Pops (b01n7ptd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 02:30 The Secret Life of Rubbish (b01p48tt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2012
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01p2lsp)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Sacred Music (b03d09b3)
Series 1
The Gothic Revolution
Documentary series in which actor and former chorister Simon Russell Beale explores the flowering of Western sacred music.
He begins his journey at Notre Dame in Paris, where an enigmatic medieval music manuscript provides the key to the early development of polyphony - music of 'many voices'. Featuring music performed by members of the award-winning choir The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers.
FRI 20:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01jv6sd)
Disco - Ain't No Stopping Us Now
Disco was all pervasive in the mid and early 70s. And while towards the end of the decade punk stole the headlines, disco still had the high street. Everyone was into it and getting down on it at the local discotheque. Join us in a celebration of all things disco including performances by The Jacksons, Thelma Houston, Sylvester, Carl Douglas, George McCrae, Sister Sledge, McFadden and Whitehead, Eruption and Gloria Gaynor.
FRI 21:00 The Beach Boys: Doin' it Again (b01p2q5q)
Everybody goin' surfin'. Surfin' USA!
To commemorate their 50th anniversary as one of America's most beloved and chart-topping bands, the Beach Boys launched a triumphant 2012 reunion that has earned them massive critical accolades. With this documentary, music lovers can take a behind-the-scenes look at the reunion as well as pivotal moments in the band's history.
If you love the Beach Boys, then this is your steeze.
Surviving members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston gathered earlier in 2012 for an emotional reunion in Los Angeles to record their first album of new material in 20 years, reflect on their remarkable history and kick off a worldwide tour.
The film features exclusive 2012 interviews with the Beach Boys, live performances from the band's 2012 world tour, never-before-seen footage from the 1966 Good Vibrations recording sessions, moving tributes to founding members Carl and Dennis Wilson and behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions for their latest album, That's Why God Made the Radio.
FRI 21:55 The Beach Boys: Live at Knebworth (b01p2q5s)
On a cold and rainy summer night in June 1980, the Beach Boys played to a capacity crowd at a rock festival in England - a rocking, stomping show that got people up on their feet and brought a bit of California sunshine to the thousands of British fans who packed the show. An exceptional concert, which is one of the few from the era to feature all six Beach Boys - Mike, Carl, Dennis, Alan, Bruce and Brian - and a setlist that covers all the essential hits such as Good Vibrations, California Girls, I Get Around and Surfin' USA.
FRI 23:05 Legends (b00r0t24)
Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy
Dennis Wilson was the drummer in the Beach Boys. And he was the real Beach Boy. In a band of geeks who sang about surfing, cars and girls, Dennis was the only one who surfed, the one who drove hot rod cars in competition and the one who got all the girls.
He was married five times, shared a house with Charles Manson (with whom he wrote songs, including one recorded by the Beach Boys) but died, ironically by drowning, at the age of 39. He was also the first Beach Boy to release a solo album, the stunning Pacific Ocean Blue, which after years of being out of print and fetching hundreds on Ebay, was re-released in 2008 to widespread acclaim, being voted No 1 Reissue of the Year by Mojo and Uncut magazines.
This documentary tells the story of Dennis's life and music, with unseen archive footage and original interviews with Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, his sons Michael and Carl and many friends and fellow musicians. These include Taylor Hawkins, drummer with the Foo Fighters who provided a vocal for the lost track on Pacific Ocean Blue, Holy Man, for which Dennis never laid down a vocal when he recorded the song in 1977.
FRI 00:05 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00pjl55)
Part V
Series featuring legendary guitarists treading the boards and trading licks at the BBC studios. Expect riffs, solos and histrionics from the likes of Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls, Brian May from Queen, Duane Eddy, BB King and Joan Jett, filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Complete line-up:
Alice Cooper - School's Out
New York Dolls - Jet Boy
Peter Green - Heavy Heart
Queen - Killer Queen
Robin Trower - Alethea
Duane Eddy and the Rebelettes - Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar
John Martyn - Discover the Lover
Budgie - Who Do You Want For Your Love
Peter Frampton - Show Me the Way
BB King - When It All Comes Down
Whitesnake - Trouble
Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
The Skids - Into the Valley
Joan Jett - I Love Rock 'n' Roll.
FRI 01:05 The Beach Boys: Doin' it Again (b01p2q5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:05 The Beach Boys: Live at Knebworth (b01p2q5s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:55 today]