In 2009, NASA celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing. This documentary series offers audiences a unique chance to glimpse an astronaut's view of space flight. It is an epic story of heroes and their breathtaking successes as they further humanity's innate desire to explore.
To land a human being on another celestial body is the first step to living beyond our planet. The breathless pace and daring of the Apollo programme sees NASA master previously unimagined tasks in an attempt to achieve the most incredible accomplishment in the history of human endeavour.
From the ashes of tragedy on Apollo 1 emerges a determination that puts Apollo 8 in orbit around the Moon ahead of schedule. Apollo 9 and 10 each break bold new ground and pave the way for something few dared to believe was possible. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon and return safely to Earth, the whole planet throws them a party.
Lucy Worsley investigates the dark and revealing history of our curious relationship with killing. She explores notorious real-life crimes from the first half of the 19th century, finding out how these murders were transformed into popular entertainments.
A coastal tanker leaves the Oresund waterway and is headed straight for the Oresund Bridge. When the coastguard board the ship they discover there is no crew and three Swedish and two Danish youths are chained below deck. Saga Noren of Malmo County Police is put in charge of the case and contacts Martin Rohde, who is still haunted by the death of his son. Together they embark on investigating the case.
While Saga and Martin are quarantined, someone posts a video online where four individuals wearing masks use signs to claim responsibility for the plague. This coincides with several reported deaths as a result of eating, among other things, poisoned apples. Saga and Martin are quick to connect the two cases. And they realise this is just the beginning.
Long before the Beatles there was British rock 'n' roll. Between 1956 and 1960 British youth created a unique copy of a distant and scarce American original whilst most parents, professional jazz men and even the BBC did their level best to snuff it out.
From its first faltering steps as a facsimile of Bill Haley's swing style to the sophistication of self-penned landmarks such as Shakin' All Over and The Sound of Fury, this is the story of how the likes of Lord Rockingham's XI, Vince Taylor and Cliff Richard and The Shadows laid the foundations for an enduring 50-year culture of rock 'n' roll.
Now well into their seventies, the flame still burns strong in the hearts of the original young ones. Featuring Sir Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Joe Brown, Bruce Welch, Cherry Wainer and The Quarrymen.
Trawled from the depths of the BBC Archive and classic BBC shows of the day - Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Full House - a collection of performance gems from a totally rock 'n' roll early 1970s.
This was a golden era for British rock 'n' roll as everyone moved on from the whimsical 60s and looked around for something with a bit more oomph! In a pre-heavy metal world bands were experimenting with influences that dated back to 50s rock 'n' roll, whilst taking their groove from old-school rhythm and blues. It was also a time when men grew their hair long!
In a celebration of this era, we kick off with an early 1970s Badfinger number direct from the BBC library and continue the groove from the BBC vaults with classic rock 'n' roll heroes like Free, Status Quo, the Faces, Humble Pie and Mott the Hoople. Plus from deep within the BBC archives we dig out some rarities from the likes of Babe Ruth, Stone the Crows, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Man, Heavy Metal Kids and original rockers Thin Lizzy... to name but a few.
Sit back and enjoy a 60-minute non-stop ride of unadulterated Totally British 70s Rock 'n' Roll!
Documentary telling the bruised and battered, but triumphant, tale of one of the UK's most cherished rock 'n' roll bands, Mott the Hoople.
Originating from Herefordshire, the band were thrown together in 1969 and signed to Island Records by the increasingly erratic manager/producer Guy Stevens, in a bid to find a band that would combine The Rolling Stones rhythmic power with the melody and lyricism of 'Blonde on Blonde' era Bob Dylan.
The documentary charts their journey from cult struggling touring band to their successful transformation into 'glam rock players' thanks to the intervention of David Bowie who gave them their biggest hit, 'All The Young Dudes', and their subsequent collapse after the addition of Mick Ronson to their line-up.
Mott the Hoople's story is brought to life through a combination of rare and unseen archive footage, their magnificent music and the testimony of band members Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Verden Allen, Dale Griffin, Luther Grosvenor aka Ariel Bender and various other associates and witnesses, including boyhood fan Mick Jones of The Clash and Queen's Roger Taylor.
SUNDAY 05 JANUARY 2014
SUN 19:00 Britain by Bike (b00tjr3z)
The Scottish Highlands
Clare Balding's two-wheeled odyssey to re-discover Britain by bicycle hits the Scottish Highlands, uncovering a series of vivid human stories connected to this stunning landscape.
Clare is following the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe, whose evocative guide books of the late 1940s painted a picture of 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 goes in search of the world he described and charts how a series of incomers have changed our view of the Highlands - a diverse group which includes Dr Johnson, an English army of occupation, a North American spruce tree and author Gavin Maxwell, plus otter.
And for those wondering whatever happened to TV naturalist Terry Nutkins, the answer is revealed.
SUN 19:30 Return of Colmcille (b03k1xng)
The inside story of the midsummer highlight of City of Culture 2013 when writer Frank Cottrell Boyce joins with the people of Derry-Londonderry to stage an epic confrontation on the River Foyle between the Loch Ness monster and Colmcille.
SUN 20:30 Apples, Pears and Paint: How to Make a Still Life Painting (b03ny8wk)
A richly detailed journey through the epic history of still-life painting, featuring a range of delights from the earliest existing Xenia mural paintings discovered at Pompeii to the cubist masterpieces of Picasso.
Awash with rich imagery of fruit, flowers and humble domestic objects, this lively take on the story of still life encompasses the work of some of the genre's greatest artists from Caravaggio to Chardin and Cezanne. But it also captures the surprising contributions of the less well-known, including asparagus enthusiast Adriaen Coorte and female flower painter in the court of Louis XVI, Anne Vallayer-Coster.
With contributions from historians Bettany Hughes and Janina Ramirez, art historians Andrew Graham Dixon and Norman Bryson, and philosopher Alain de Botton amongst others, it opens up the huge social histories that lie behind the paintings and the fascinating lives of the people who made them.
SUN 22:00 Nigel Slater's Great British Biscuit (b03lyy33)
Nigel Slater takes us on a nostalgic, funny and heart-warming journey back in time - through the biscuit tins of mum and dad, the doilies and saucers of aunties and grannies, the lunch boxes of friends and siblings. Nigel charts the origins of the humble biscuit, from its vital contribution to Britain's nautical dominance of the globe, through to the biscuit tin becoming that most ubiquitous of household items. He explores the history of our most famous brands, uncovering the Georgian and Quaker origins of the biscuits we love and eat today, meeting eccentric biscuit anoraks who have dedicated their lives to a love of these simple baked treats and meeting scientists who squash, dunk and ignite biscuits for research purposes.
Nigel recalls the biscuits he found in his lunch box, the ones he cherished and the ones that would shape his formative years.
He asks why it is, that of all the treats we indulge in on a regular basis, the biscuit has become such a dependable culinary companion. What makes Britain a nation of ardent biscuit eaters like no other in the world, with a £2.3 billion industry to match?
SUN 23:00 Elena (b01r0hdr)
Moscow housewife and former nurse Elena lives in a run-down estate in the suburbs but has a close relationship with Vladimir, a rich business tycoon and former patient. Elena hopes to inherit his fortune and solve all her family's money worries, but when Vladimir suffers a shock heart attack and his estranged daughter suddenly returns, Elena feels forced to take desperate measures.
In Russian with English subtitles.
SUN 00:45 Top of the Pops (b03mpphw)
The Story of 1979
1979 was a unique year for Top of the Pops, which saw the show record its highest audience of 19 million viewers and in which physical format singles sales hit an all-time high of 79 million. 1979 is maybe the most diverse year ever for acts on Top of the Pops with disco at its peak, new wave, 2 Tone, reggae, rock, folk and electro records all making the top five.
Original interviews with Gary Numan, Nile Rodgers, Woody from Madness, Jah Wobble, Chas and Dave, Janet Kay, Linda Nolan, Jim Dooley, Secret Affair, the Ruts, Legs and Co and many others tell the story of an exceptional year.
In the year that the 'winter of discontent' saw continuing strikes black out ITV and TOTP reduced during a technicians strike to a narrator introducing videos, the show also found itself the site of conflict backstage. TOTP's old guard of 70s MOR acts had their feathers continually ruffled by new wave bands, as the Skids spat at the Nolan Sisters backstage and Generation X urinated off the roof onto the Dooleys.
Elsewhere in the corridors of TV Centre, in preparation for playing their single Death Disco, Public Image Ltd demanded their teeth were blacked out in make-up to appear ugly, while Gary Numan remembers the overbearing union presence which prevented TOTP artists moving their own microphones without a union technician and the Musicians Union trying to ban him from the show for his use of synthesizers.
The most popular musical styles of 1979 were 2 Tone, reggae and disco. The latter saw Nile Rodgers, the man of the year, score four hits with Chic as well as writing and producing a further four hits with Sister Sledge, Sheila B Devotion and Sugarhill Gang, who appeared with what would prove to be the first ever rap hit.
Jamaican and UK reggae artists scored continual hits through the year and then watched as the Police notched up three hits with white reggae and the label 2 Tone revived the 60s reggae style known as ska. In November, in what is remembered as the 2 Tone edition, all three of the label's new acts - Madness, Specials and Selecter - appeared on one historic night and took the show by storm, with Madness capping off their performance of One Step Beyond by leading a 'nutty train' conga through the studio.
SUN 01:45 Top of the Pops (b03mpphy)
1979 - Big Hits
1979 Top of the Pops collection, offering 60 minutes of the year's greatest, cheesiest and oddest performances. 1979 was the year music went portable with the launch of the Sony walkman and another year Top of the Pops, the BBC's flagship music show, managed to still draw over 15 million viewers every Thursday night.
The mod revival and 2 Tone was in full stomp, featured here with the Jam, the Specials, Madness and the Selecter. If new wave was your bag there is Elvis Costello, Squeeze and Gary Numan. In 1979 there was little chance of seeing a show on TV featuring Dame Edna's performance of Waltzing Matilda alongside the Ruts with Babylon's Burning, but the British public's eclectic taste predicted the chart and thus saw them together on TOTP in June.
With singles sales at their peak, it was a regular occurrence for groups like Racey and The Nolans to sell over a million copies and their performances may tell us why, or maybe not! Plus new wave pop from Lene Lovich, disco from Chic and a peek at the nation's favourite, Chas & Dave, singing Gertcha.
SUN 02:45 New York Rock at the BBC (b007mwcf)
From the streets of New York City to the studios of the BBC comes the cream of the New York rock scene, including classic archive performances from The Ramones, New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Lou Reed and many more.
MONDAY 06 JANUARY 2014
MON 19:00 World News Today (b03ny9dx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Orangutan Diary (b007clgv)
Series 1
Episode 1
Michaela Strachan and Steve Leonard present a series featuring orphaned and rescued orangutans in Borneo. Steve heads up river where he rescues a tiny orangutan being kept illegally as a pet. Back at the rescue centre she is named Ellie and takes her place alongside the other orphans.
Michaela visits the forest school where the young orangutans are trained in climbing, feeding and socialising - skills their mothers would have taught them in the wild. Steve attempts to rescue an adult orangutan from a fragment of forest destined for destruction. After being shot with an anaesthetic dart, the orangutan must fall more than 50 feet into a net. It's touch and go whether the mission will succeed.
MON 20:00 The Bermuda Triangle: Beneath the Waves (b007c68n)
Professor Bruce Denardo attempts to prove whether there is any truth behind the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, where many ships and planes have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. New investigation techniques reveal the truth behind the infamous disappearance of Flight 19. Graham Hawkes is also able to reveal, by using a state-of-the-art submarine, how five wrecks mysteriously wound up 730 feet down in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle.
MON 21:00 The Ipcress File (b0074sv0)
Spy thriller in which intelligence agent Harry Palmer is plunged into the shabby and treacherous world of counter-espionage as he uncovers a bizarre brain drain among scientists. Based on the novel by Len Deighton.
MON 22:45 The Many Faces of... (b0129bp9)
Series 1
Michael Caine
Series of screen biographies that chart the careers of Britain's best-loved film and television faces through their most significant roles and sometimes forgotten gems from the archives.
This follows Sir Michael Caine's impressive career, featuring archive clips woven together with interviews from colleagues and critics. It covers his 50-year-long career with classic films like Zulu, The Ipcress File, The Man Who Would Be King and Get Carter, plus the more recent controversial British film, Harry Brown.
MON 23:45 Endeavour: Everest (b03mp9gp)
By Balloon
In 1991, in a field near the Nepalese hamlet of Gokyo, four men climbed into two fragile wicker baskets and poured flame into their hot air balloons. They were to become the first balloonists to fly over Mount Everest.
For Leo Dickinson and Chris Dewhirst, the cameraman and pilot in one of the balloons, the flight was to settle old scores after three previous attempts and several life-threatening crashes. This documentary follows their successful flight over the finest panorama on earth in the oldest of flying machines, before their final crash landing in a remote corner of Tibet. Their voyage remains the only balloon flight over Everest to this day.
MON 00:40 The Bermuda Triangle: Beneath the Waves (b007c68n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 01:40 Michael Grade's Stars of the Musical Theatre (b03kk0s0)
Michael Grade saw Annie Get Your Gun as a small boy in the 1950s and ever since he has been hooked on musicals - and their stars. He and his family have represented some of the world's greatest musical performers and he knows and understands talent. But one question has always fascinated him - is it the musical which creates the star or the star who makes the musical?
In search of answers, Michael interviews stars and directors on both sides of the Atlantic, including Michael Ball, Elaine Paige, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Joel Grey, Chita Rivera, Hal Prince and Trevor Nunn.
In what way are the qualities of a musical star unique? Michael explores the alchemy of the musical by looking at performances from the 1940s onwards in key shows like Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Evita and Les Miserables - examining the union of musicals that brilliantly reflect their time with performers who can interpret their magic.
Michael uses all the knowledge, taste and judgement he has built up over decades as he sets out to define what it is that makes the great musical stars great.
MON 02:40 Secret Voices of Hollywood (b03bxrxj)
In many of Hollywood's greatest movie musicals the stars did not sing their own songs. This documentary pulls back the curtain to reveal the secret world of the 'ghost singers' who provided the vocals, the screen legends who were dubbed and the classic movies in which the songs were ghosted.
TUESDAY 07 JANUARY 2014
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b03p7gvf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Orangutan Diary (b007clvj)
Series 1
Episode 2
The second instalment of the dramatic story of rescued and orphaned orangutans in Borneo.
All over the island, their forests are being destroyed and being replaced with palm oil plantations.
Michaela Strachan and Steve Leonard help babies Lomon, Grendon and Ellie learn how to behave like wild orangutans. It is a tough job - six years of love and education that their mothers would have provided in the wild. Lomon is one of the weakest orphans of all, and when a serious virus starts to spread at the centre, Michaela fears that he may not survive.
TUE 20:00 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01s74g9)
Pagans of Roman Britain
Series in which archaeologist Julian Richards returns to some of his most important digs to discover how science, conservation and new finds have changed our understanding of entire eras of ancient history.
Julian goes back to the excavation of two burials from Roman Britain - a wealthy man from Roman Winchester and a lavishly appointed grave of a woman from the heart of London that holds a special and unexpected secret only recently unlocked.
TUE 21:00 God's Cadets: Joining the Salvation Army (b03p7gvh)
To become a Salvation Army officer, cadets must shed the skin of their old lives, promise to reject treasures on earth in favour of true spiritual gifts and commit to 'care for the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, love the unlovable and befriend those who have no friends'.
This documentary takes us inside the training college for this most distinctive of British institutions, introducing the individuals and families who give up their jobs and leave their homes to work full-time for 'The Army' for just £7,500 a year.
We meet new recruit Darron, who has left behind a successful career as a commercial baker and moved his family onto the college campus; Sylvia, a former ballroom dancer turned social worker who is beginning her work on the streets helping the fallen; and Annmarie, who was rescued by social services when she was a child and joined the Salvation Army when she was adopted.
The uniforms, rank structure and brass bands are as much as part of Army life as social work with the homeless, prostitutes, trafficked women and addicts.
This subtle and sensitive film also explores the universal questions of virtue, faith, doubt and the nature of salvation. As the new recruits adjust to the strict code and unwritten rules of this deeply institutionalised organisation, we hear their stories of God's personal calling, the transformation that led them to take this leap of faith and the doubts they face.
TUE 22:30 The Many Faces of... (b018nvwc)
Series 1
Les Dawson
Les Dawson was one of Britain's all time great comedy talents, best known as a comedian but also a talented musician, writer and actor. This programme traces his career, with familiar favourite TV clips and some rare gems from the archives. Together with interviews from friends, relatives and colleagues, the programme unpicks the secrets of his enduring legacy nearly 20 years after his untimely death.
After 'discovery' on the Opportunity Knocks talent show in the 60s, he quickly became a regular face on TV, hosting comedy-led variety shows like Sez Les and The Les Dawson Show. His trademarks were short, pithy jokes, usually targeting his wife or mother in law, long verbose monologues and, perhaps most famously, piano recitals that went hilariously off key.
His reputation attracted guest appearances from some unexpected fans like John Cleese and Shirley Bassey, and he created an overweight dance troupe, The Roly Polys.
The programme shows how his career unfolded and illustrates the different facets of his comedy genius. John Cleese remembers their unlikely friendship, modern comedy stars Robert Webb and Russell Kane talk about his inspiration and Dawson's widow Tracy recalls their marriage and his joy at being a father late in life.
TUE 23:30 Endeavour: Everest (b03nh545)
Without Oxygen
In 1978, Italian and Austrian mountaineers Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made mountaineering history, becoming the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the use of additional oxygen. Known as the death zone, above 8,000 metres in the Himalayas there is only a fraction of the oxygen at sea-level. Climbers suffer sickness and headaches and risk life-threatening oedemas. As they struggled up the route through the Khumbu icefall into the Western Cwm, then up to the South Col and summit, Messner and Habeler faced all these dangers and more.
Award-winning filmmaker Leo Dickinson followed them through it all and his classic film is the real-life record of their ascent.
TUE 00:20 The Code of Life: Great Scientists in their Own Words (b03mpdtq)
Documentary telling the story of some of the most important scientific thinkers of the modern age - an epic tale of men and women obsessed by intellectual challenges but dogged by their human failings - of bitter personal rivalries, clashes of ideology and unlikely collaboration. These are the people who discovered the structure of DNA and worked out how our genes work, who changed our view of life forever. The film is an unvarnished account of the scientists who dared to discover the secret of life - told through fascinating and revealing archive - in their own words.
Contributors interviewed include: Sir Paul Nurse - biologist, Nobel laureate and President of the Royal Society, Professor Lisa Jardine - historian of science and daughter of Jacob Bronowski, who hence knew many of the Cambridge scientists involved with the DNA story as a child and an undergraduate, and Professor Steve Jones, a geneticist at UCL.
TUE 01:20 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01s74g9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUE 02:20 God's Cadets: Joining the Salvation Army (b03p7gvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 08 JANUARY 2014
WED 19:00 World News Today (b03p7jh6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Orangutan Diary (b007clvk)
Series 1
Episode 3
There is tragedy at the rescue centre when a newly arrived baby fights for its life. Michaela hopes for the best and is encouraged when her favourite orphan Lomon finally starts to make some progress.
Steve helps out at the place where young orangutans like Grendon and Ellie learn the skills that will equip them for a life in the wild. As the school day ends there's a dramatic interruption - a female orangutan is giving birth back at the rescue centre. Qualified vet Steve rushes to help.
WED 20:00 Rome's Lost Empire (b01pc063)
Dan Snow uses satellite technology to reveal the secrets of the Roman Empire. Together with space archaeologist Sarah Parcak, Dan sets out to identify and then track down lost cities, amphitheatres and forts in an adventure that sees him travel through some of the most spectacular parts of the vast empire. Cutting-edge technology and traditional archaeology help build a better understanding of how Rome held such a large empire together for so long.
WED 21:30 Timeshift (b03p7jh9)
Series 13
Hurricanes and Heatwaves: The Highs and Lows of British Weather
A glorious national obsession is explored in this archive-rich look at the evolution of the weather forecast from print via radio to TV and beyond - and at the changing weather itself. It shows how the Met Office and the BBC have always used the latest technology to bring the holy grail of accurate forecasting that much closer - even if the odd messenger like TV weatherman Michael Fish has been shot along the way.
Yet as hand-drawn maps have been replaced by weather apps, the bigger drama of global warming has been playing itself out as if to prove that we were right all along to obsess about the weather. Featuring a very special rendition of the shipping forecast by a Cornish fishermen's choir.
WED 22:30 Horizon (b01f893x)
2011-2012
Global Weirding
Something weird seems to be happening to our weather - it appears to be getting more extreme.
In the past few years we have shivered through two record-breaking cold winters and parts of the country have experienced intense droughts and torrential floods. It is a pattern that appears to be playing out across the globe. Hurricane chasers are recording bigger storms and in Texas, record-breaking rain has been followed by record-breaking drought.
Horizon follows the scientists who are trying to understand what's been happening to our weather and investigates if these extremes are a taste of what is to come.
WED 23:30 Endeavour: Everest (b03nh3mz)
By Canoe
In 1976 a British expedition made mountaineering history, becoming the first kayakers to descend the Dudh Kosi river that runs off Mount Everest. High in the Himalayas, and at incredible speed, six Olympic-class canoeists battled with white water over rocks, waterfalls and treacherous whirlpools. As they struggled to negotiate a 30-pound canoe over a river with 30mph waterfalls, the threat of capsizing was ever present. Winner of over 25 international awards, this is a story of teamwork, bravery and individual brilliance.
WED 00:15 Krakatoa Revealed (b00791fm)
In 1883, the volcanic island of Krakatoa erupted without warning. Within a day the island had virtually disappeared in the loudest explosion ever recorded. The eruption generated a succession of massive tsunamis that wiped out the Indonesian coastline and killed over 30,000 people. These waves were three times higher than those seen on Boxing Day in 2004. And over 30 miles from the volcano, across open ocean, thousands more were killed by hot ash.
For over a century geologists have been unable to explain how so many people died. But today, through field studies, experiments and analysis of historical records, they think they have finally found the answers. And these answers are hugely important because the volcano is back.
Since 1927, the volcano Anak Krakatoa, the child of Krakatoa, has been growing. It is now over half the size of the original volcano. And geologists are certain that it will erupt again. The only questions that remain are how and when.
WED 01:05 Rome's Lost Empire (b01pc063)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 02:35 Timeshift (b03p7jh9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
THURSDAY 09 JANUARY 2014
THU 19:00 World News Today (b03nxzj8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b03pcjh8)
Weekly pop chart programme presented by Mike Read. Featuring Generation X, Elton John, Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Olivia Newton-John, Racey, Barry White, Brotherhood of Man, Village People and a dance sequence by Legs & Co.
THU 20:00 Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer (b00jhv9g)
Cleopatra - the most famous woman in history. We know her as a great queen, a beautiful lover and a political schemer. For 2,000 years almost all evidence of her has disappeared - until now.
In one of the world's most exciting finds, archaeologists believe they have discovered the skeleton of her sister, murdered by Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
From Egypt to Turkey, Neil Oliver investigates the story of a ruthless queen who would kill her own siblings for power. This is the portrait of a killer.
THU 21:00 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv16n)
The Birth of Art
In a visual treat taking in Egypt's greatest historical sites, Alastair Sooke tells the story of ancient Egyptian art through 30 extraordinary masterpieces. Tracing the origins of Egypt's unique visual style, he treks across the Sahara and travels the Nile to find the rarely seen art of its earliest peoples. Exploring how this civilisation's art reflected its religion, he looks anew at the Great Pyramid, and the statuary and painting of the Old Kingdom. Sooke is amazed by the technical prowess of ancient artists whose skills confound contemporary craftsmen.
THU 22:00 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mq3p1)
Episode 1
Series combining stunning wildlife with high-octane adventure, as a team of scientists and wildlife film-makers from the BBC's Natural History Unit explores one of the last great unspoilt jungle wildernesses on earth.
New Guinea is a rugged tropical island that is home to some of the strangest creatures on the planet. The team is based at the foot of Mount Bosavi, a giant extinct volcano covered in thick and largely unexplored rainforest. With the help of trackers from a remote tribe, they aim to search for the animals that live there - and they make amazing finds.
Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan discovers the nest of the world's smallest parrot, insect expert Dr George McGavin finds a talking beetle, the scientists identify types of frog, gecko and bat that are completely new to science, and adventurer Steve Backshall has to live and sleep underground as he explores a cave system flooded with white water.
The cameras follow the team every sweaty step of the way as they search for the evidence that may help preserve this last great jungle forever.
THU 23:00 The Other Pompeii: Life and Death in Herculaneum (b01rrld8)
Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill presents a documentary following the scientific investigation that shows what life was like in the small Roman town of Herculaneum, moments before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption.
Just 10 miles from Pompeii, 12 vaults tell a new story about what life was like before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They contain the skeletons of 340 people, 10 per cent of the local population, killed by the volcano. Amongst them are the first new skeletons to be found in the area for 30 years which are now the subject of a ground-breaking scientific investigation. The finds included a toddler holding his dog, a two-year-old girl with silver earrings and a boy embracing his mother.
Those found inside the vaults were nearly all women and children. Those found outside on the shoreline were nearly all men. Why?
It is revealed that the local population went to their deaths not as in often portrayed in Pompeii's popular myth, but more like the passengers of the Titanic, where women and children were put first.
Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill takes us to meet the scientists leading the forensic project - Luca Bondioli and Luciano Fattore - and then on a tour of the town. He uncovers houses, wooden furniture (including their beds and the only surviving baby's cradle from the Roman world), and food and human waste, preserved by a layer of ash up to five times deeper than Pompeii, as well as perfectly preserved court transcripts scratched on wooden tablets telling of slaves challenging their status in the town's courts. New scientific analysis has enabled us to unearth not just what they ate, but how they ate it, it seems they had a penchant for eating fish whole including their heads, a tradition, that has survived in Herculaneum to this day.
THU 00:00 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01s74g9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b03pcjh8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:30 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mq3p1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 02:30 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv16n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 10 JANUARY 2014
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b03nxzjf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b03p7p6n)
Chamber Music
Vilde Frang and Michail Lifits
Petroc Trelawny introduces highlights from the first in a series of BBC Proms chamber music concerts from Cadogan Hall in London. The young Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang, accompanied by the German pianist Michael Lifits, plays Mozart's Violin Sonata in G, the 'Blues' movement from Ravel's second Violin Sonata and Estrellita by the Mexican composer Manuel Ponce.
FRI 20:00 Chamber Music at the BBC (b03p7p6q)
Yehudi Menuhin at the BBC
Petroc Trelawny presents music performances at the BBC by the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin, including his appearance with Stephane Grappelli on Parkinson and his performance of Cesar Franck's Sonata in A for Violin and Piano with his sister Hephzibah. Also included is an extract from the Walton Viola Concerto conducted by the composer and a performance from Blue Peter as Menuhin joined Valerie Singleton for an item about Paganini's violin. Petroc also talks to programme maker and Menuhin biographer Humphrey Burton about this extraordinary musician.
FRI 21:00 Born to be Wild: The Golden Age of American Rock (b03p7p6s)
Riders on the Storm
During the era of flower power, Vietnam and LSD, bands such as the Doors, Jefferson Airplane and MC5 not only sang about the revolution, they were the revolution. This episode explores the artists that made the soundtrack to the peace and love generation. The culmination of this era was when half a million people descended on a field in the small hamlet of Woodstock. At that moment rock music seemed a beacon of hope for those who believed in the ideals of equality and freedom. But instead of inspiring a new generation of artists to lead the revolution through political songs the festival proved to be a watershed moment for rock music's reactionary era. The marketing men lined up ready to sign and keen to turn this music from protest into profit.
Interviewees include John Densmore and Ray Manzarek of the Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival's Doug Clifford, Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane, Alice Cooper, Tom Petty, MC5's Wayne Kramer and Steppenwolf's John Kay.
FRI 22:00 Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock (b03p7p6v)
The definitive documentary record of one of Jimi Hendrix's most celebrated performances, now digitally remastered and featuring footage never seen on television before. It includes such signature songs as Purple Haze, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, as well as interviews with Woodstock promoter Michael Lang and Hendrix band members Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Larry Lee and Juma Sultan among others.
FRI 23:00 The Doors - The Story of LA Woman (b01f7y7c)
By 1969, the Doors had found themselves at the forefront of a movement that consisted of a generation of discontents. Operating against a backdrop of the Vietnam War and of social unrest and change in the USA, the Doors were hip, they were dangerous, they were anti-establishment, anti-war and they were hated by middle-America.
Featuring exclusive interviews with surviving band members Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Kreiger and their closest colleagues and collaborators, along with exclusive performances, archive footage and examination of the original multi-track recording tapes with producer Bruce Botnick, this film tells the amazing story of landmark album LA Woman by one of the most influential bands on the planet.
FRI 00:00 Born to be Wild: The Golden Age of American Rock (b03p7p6s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 01:00 Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock (b03p7p6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 02:00 The Doors - The Story of LA Woman (b01f7y7c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]
FRI 03:00 Later... with Jools Holland (b00dwfyy)
Guitar Heroes
Guitar heroes from as far away as Mexico and as close to home as Chiswick have all come to rock the Later studio since 1995. This collection of performances brings together the best of them, from the legendary Buddy Guy to the homegrown guitar superstars he inspired, such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Pete Townshend. Joining them on the bill are Santana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The White Stripes, Radiohead and more.