Sounds of the 70s 2 series continues, and this programme features the boys with their guitars turned all the way up to eleven! It is time to don your double denim, let your hair down and headbang your way through half an hour of rock anthems including performances from Alice Cooper, The Faces, Nazareth, Bad Company, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and Black Sabbath.
Poet Ifor ap Glyn gives an insider's view of the secrets and mysteries of the National Eisteddfod of Wales, which is being held this year in Llanelli.
The Eisteddfod is the largest travelling cultural event in Europe and is held each year at different locations. It celebrates Welsh language poetry, music and the arts. As a London Welshman, Ifor is ideally placed to give us an insider's view. He was brought up near Primrose Hill in London which, coincidentally, was the site where the modern druidic ceremony was invented over 200 years ago by an eccentric Welshman Iolo Morgannwg. It was his invention which later developed into the modern National Eisteddfod.
Since leaving London, Ifor ap Glyn has become one of the most acclaimed poets in Wales, winning two prestigious crowns at the National Eisteddfod. Ifor also spends the whole of Eisteddfod week caravanning. He is ideally placed to take us behind the scenes at the event, explaining the secrets of the druidic ceremonies and why the Chair and Crown are the main prizes for poetry.
Ifor also meets a folk singing carpenter, tries his hand at judging a musical competition and sees his niece being made a druid in the Gorsedd of Bards.
The Arctic is the harshest environment on Earth - little food grows, it's dark for months on end and temperatures stay well below freezing for much of the year. Yet four million people manage to survive here. This film tells the remarkable stories of extraordinary people who make their homes in nature's deep freeze.
In springtime, Amos and Karl-Frederik set out across the sea ice with their dogs to catch a real-life sea monster - a Greenland shark. Inuit mussel-gatherers venture underneath the sea ice at low tide for a perilous race against time as they gather their food.
The children of Churchill, Manitoba, set out on the most dangerous trick or treating Halloween in the world, risking coming face-to-face with deadly polar bears on the streets of their town. Who will get the tastiest snack?
The seemingly accidental death of a blind man leads Montalbano to an island off the coast of Sicily. Here the Inspector discovers that both the murder victim and a local fisherman had each deposited huge sums of money in their respective bank accounts.
Following the mysterious demise of a second man, who was also blind, the investigation begins to focus on the operations of a charitable foundation which increasingly looks not so charitable after all.
A performance by singer, songwriter and former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant on the Pyramid Stage in 2014.
As the heavens open on the Saturday afternoon at Worthy Farm, Robert and his band the Sensational Space Shifters deliver a rousing and crowd-pleasing set full of current Plant tunes and some classic Led Zeppelin numbers thrown in for good measure.
Documentary in which Robert Plant discusses his musical journey from Stourbridge, the British blues boom, superstardom with Led Zeppelin in the 70s to 2010's Band of Joy album. He also looks at his work with the Honeydrippers and North African musicians, his reunion with Jimmy Page and his pairing with Alison Krauss.
Concentrating on the 1970s (1969 to 1981 to be exact) and ransacking a host of BBC shows from The Old Grey Whistle Test to Sight & Sound, this compilation is designed to release the air guitarist in everyone, combining great electric guitarists like Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler, The Edge and Peter Green with acoustic masters like John Martyn, Pentangle and Paco Pena.
Physicist Dr Helen Czerski takes us on an amazing journey into the science of bubbles. Bubbles may seem to be just fun toys, but they are also powerful tools that push back the boundaries of science.
The soap bubble with its delicate, fragile skin tells us about how nature works on scales as large as solar system and as small as a single wavelength of light. Then there are underwater bubbles, which matter because they are part of the how the planet works. Out at sea, breaking waves generate huge plumes of bubbles which help the oceans breathe.
From the way animals behave to the way drinks taste, Dr Czerski shows how bubbles affect our world in all sorts of unexpected ways. Whether it's the future of ship design or innovative new forms of medical treatment, bubbles play a vital role.
SUNDAY 10 AUGUST 2014
SUN 19:00 BBC Proms (b04dg1lx)
2014
The Sunday Prom: John Tavener Premiere
Sir John Tavener, who died in 2013, was one of the country's defining musical voices. His sacred choral music, inspired by his deep Orthodox faith, touches the hearts of millions and has been the soundtrack to some of this nation's most moving events.
Just before he died he completed his Requiem Fragments, commissioned by the BBC for this Prom. The Tallis Scholars are conducted by Sir John's great friend Peter Phillips, who describes the work as a miraculous masterpiece. The concert begins with his radiant choral work Ikon of Light.
Presented by Katie Derham.
SUN 20:25 Secret Knowledge (b01rml7t)
Bolsover Castle
Lucy Worsley tells the story of Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. Built in the early 17th century, it became the pleasure palace of playboy Cavalier and ambitious courtier William Cavendish.
Guiding us on a tour of the castle and its remarkable collection of artworks, Lucy brings to life the spectacular masque held by Cavendish to win the favour of King Charles I.
And from within the walls of this eccentric architectural gem emerges a colourful tale, capturing the tensions of early 17th-century England that would eventually lead the nation to civil war.
SUN 21:00 Great Poets in Their Own Words (b04dg1lz)
Making It New 1908-1955
The first episode explores the stylistic shifts in poetry as the 20th century dawned, when poets began to jettison tradition for modern forms of expression. They would reject the sentiment and moralising of Victorian poetry and call for a new directness and economy of language fitting for a postwar generation. Featuring the works of Ezra Pound, TS Eliot, Edith Sitwell, WH Auden, Stevie Smith, John Betjeman, RS Thomas and Dylan Thomas.
SUN 22:00 Edinburgh Extra (b04dg1m1)
Episode 1
Kirsty Wark talks to the playwright Rona Munro and to members of the cast (including Sofie Gråbøl) of The James Plays, a trilogy of plays about medieval kings of Scotland.
Newsnight's culture correspondent Stephen Smith investigates the weird and wonderful aspects of the Edinburgh Festival and meets some of the festival's enduring eccentrics.
Comedian Arthur Smith explores the history of The Pleasance, an iconic Edinburgh Festival venue which has helped to launch the careers of a whole host of leading comedians, including The League of Gentlemen, Graham Norton, Miranda Hart and The Mighty Boosh. Featuring interviews with Mark Gatiss and Ben Miller.
Alastair Sooke speaks to artist Susan Hiller about her Edinburgh exhibition and picks his other highlights of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
This year's Festival has a South African flavour - there is a look at shows which celebrate 20 years of full democracy in South Africa and which also remind us of Africa's colonial past.
Plus special performances filmed on board one of Edinburgh's shiny new trams.
SUN 23:00 The Sky at Night (b04dg5jq)
How to Catch a Comet
The team goes behind the scenes at mission control for the critical point of the most ambitious space project of the decade. The European Space Agency's Rosetta probe finally catches up with the comet it has been chasing across the solar system for ten years and prepares to send out a lander armed with drills and harpoons for a daredevil attempt to hitch a ride.
With the latest images revealing that it may even be two comets stuck together, Dr Chris Lintott is on hand in Germany with updates from the mission team on this unparalleled challenge, whilst Dr Maggie Aderin- Pocock reveals the instruments that the lander is carrying.
SUN 23:30 Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon (b00llgs8)
Professor Brian Cox takes a look through nearly 50 years of BBC archive at the story of man's relationship with the moon.
From the BBC's space fanatic James Burke testing out the latest Nasa equipment to 1960s interviews about the bacon-flavoured crystals that astronauts can survive on in space, to the iconic images of man's first steps on the moon and the dramatic story of Apollo 13, Horizon and the BBC have covered it all.
But since President Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s was reached, no-one has succeeded in reigniting the public's enthusiasm for space travel and lunar voyages. Why?
On his journey through the ages, Professor Cox explores the role that international competition played in getting man to the moon and asks if, with America no longer the world's only superpower, we are at the dawn of a bright new space age.
SUN 00:30 imagine... (b036yl2v)
Summer 2013
Rod Stewart: Can't Stop Me Now
From beatnik to mod, from folkie to disco tart, from glam rocker to, most recently, crooner of American standards, Rod Stewart has had a remarkable musical journey. Alan Yentob visits Rod at his homes in Beverly Hills and Essex and talks to his friends and family, including all eight children aged from two years old to 50.
Featuring rare archival footage of Rod when he was barely out of his teens and living above his parents' north London sweetshop, Imagine examines an entertaining career across five musical decades.
SUN 01:55 Rod Stewart at the BBC (b03m81n5)
Compilation of Rod Stewart's finest performances at the BBC. We revisit the early 70s with The Faces performing Stay with Me and Three Button Hand Me Down on Sounds for Saturday. The BBC charted Rod's solo success over the years and there are classic performances and interviews that will make you dance, sing and pull on your heartstrings. Songs include Sailing, You're in My Heart, I Don't Want to Talk about It and Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?
We also have Rod's performance from Glastonbury 2002 of the classic Handbags and Gladrags, and we dip into the Great American Songbook with his version of the Dorothy Fields classic I'm in the Mood for Love. Finally, rounding off over five decades in music is a performance from Rod's Radio 2 concert from May 2013.
SUN 02:55 ... Sings the Great American Songbook (b00rs3w4)
Presenting the best and most eclectic performances on the BBC from the world's best-known artists performing their interpretations of classic tracks from The Great American Songbook.
In chronological order, this programme takes us through a myriad of BBC studio performances, from Dame Shirley Bassey in 1966 performing The Lady is A Tramp, to Bryan Ferry in 1974 on Twiggy's BBC primetime show performing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, to Captain Sensible on Top of the Pops in 1982 with his number one hit version of Happy Talk, through to Kirsty MacColl singing Miss Otis Regrets in 1994 to Jamie Cullum with his version of I Get a Kick Out Of You on Parkinson in 2004 and bang up to date with Brit winner Florence from Florence and the Machine performing My Baby Just Cares for Me with Jools Holland on his Annual Hootenanny at the end of 2009.
The Great American Songbook can best be described as the music and popular songs of the famous and prolific American composers of the 1920s and onwards. Composers such as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Hoagy Carmichael to name but a few... songwriters who wrote the tunes of Broadway theatre and Hollywood musicals that earned enduring popularity before the dawning of rock 'n' roll.
These famous songwriters have penned songs which have entered the general consciousness and which are now best described as standards - tunes which every musician and singer aspires to include in their repertoire.
MONDAY 11 AUGUST 2014
MON 19:00 World News Today (b04dcvs2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b03pmrvk)
Series 5
Manchester to Birkenhead
Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey from Manchester, birthplace of George Bradshaw, the publisher of his trusted guide, to Chesterfield, burial place of George Stephenson, the father of the railway.
In the first leg of the journey, Michael finds out how the world's first industrialised city also gave birth to a revolutionary political movement and hears how railway workers founded one of the most successful football clubs in the world. Along the way, Michael does the washing in Port Sunlight and discovers the legacy of an American named George Francis Train in Birkenhead.
MON 20:00 Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (b01m81f5)
Military Marvels
In the heady postwar years of the 1950s and 60s, British flying was at its zenith and its aircraft industry flourished in a dazzling display of ingenuity and design brilliance. Having invented the jet engine, Britain was now set to lead the world into the jet age with a new generation of fighters and bombers. The daring test pilots who flew them were as well known as the football stars of today, while their futuristic-looking aircraft, including the Meteor, Canberra, Valiant, Vulcan and the English Electric Lightning, were the military marvels of the age.
MON 21:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03l7kj8)
A World Turned Upside Down
Shipwrecks are the nightmare we have forgotten - the price Britain paid for ruling the waves from an island surrounded by treacherous rocks. The result is a coastline that is home to the world's highest concentration of sunken ships. But shipwrecks also changed the course of British history, helped shape our national character and drove innovations in seafaring technology, as well as gripping our imagination.
Mutiny, murder and mayhem on the high seas as Sam Willis takes the story of shipwrecks into the Georgian age when Britain first began to rule the waves. But with maritime trade driving the whole enterprise, disasters at sea imperilled all this. As key colonies were established and new territories conquered, the great sailing ships became symbols of the power of the Georgian state - and the shipwreck was to be its Achilles' heel. By literally turning this world upside down, mutinous sailors, rebellious slaves and murderous wreckers threatened to undermine Britain's ambitions and jeopardise its imperial venture.
MON 22:00 Art of China (b04cryjg)
Episode 2
Andrew Graham-Dixon travels to the Yellow mountains in southern China to understand the power of Chinese landscape painting. The period from the 10th to the 15th centuries - from the Song to the Ming dynasties - was the golden age of art in China. Andrew discovers an emperor so in love with art and beauty that he neglected to rule his country and scholar artists who fled the Mongol invasion to immerse themselves in nature, combining wondrous landscape painting and calligraphy. While Europe was still in the Dark Ages, Chinese art was being reborn.
MON 23:00 China in Six Easy Pieces (b036r5cx)
For centuries the west has been enthralled by flamboyant blue-and-white ceramics from China but unaware that all the time the Chinese were making porcelains for themselves that were completely different - subtle monochromes for the Imperial court, beautiful objects for the scholar's table and delicate domestic wares.
Ceramics expert Lars Tharp, Antiques Roadshow resident and presenter of Treasures of Chinese Porcelain, has picked his six favourite pieces representing Chinese taste. He goes on a journey through a thousand years of Chinese history, travelling from the ancient capital of Huangzhou in the south to Beijing's Forbidden City in the north, to uncover what these six pieces tell us about Chinese emperors, scholars, workers, merchants and artists.
To him, they are China in ceramic form. But can they help us to understand China today?
MON 00:00 Climbing Everest with a Mountain on My Back: The Sherpa's Story (b01qchgv)
Every year, over a thousand climbers try to reach the summit of Mount Everest, with the annual record for successful attempts currently standing at 633. But of that number, nearly half were Sherpas - the mountain's unsung heroes. Yet the Sherpa community has remained secretive about their nation, culture and experiences living in the shadow of the world's highest mountain. Now, for the first time, they open the door into their world.
Without the expertise of the Sherpas, only the hardiest and most skilful climbers would succeed. Every day they risk their lives for the safety of others, yet they seek neither glory nor reward, preferring to stay in the background. Following the stories of four such Sherpas - Phurba, Ngima, Ngima Tenji and Gelu - this film reveals the reality of their daily lives, not just up the mountain, but with their families after they return home.
MON 01:00 Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams (b0229pbp)
Documentary presented by Professor Simon Schaffer which charts the amazing and untold story of automata - extraordinary clockwork machines designed hundreds of years ago to mimic and recreate life.
The film brings the past to life in vivid detail as we see how and why these masterpieces were built. Travelling around Europe, Simon uncovers the history of these machines and shows us some of the most spectacular examples, from an entire working automaton city to a small boy who can be programmed to write and even a device that can play chess. All the machines Simon visits show a level of technical sophistication and ambition that still amazes today.
As well as the automata, Simon explains in great detail the world in which they were made - the hardship of the workers who built them, their role in global trade and the industrial revolution and the eccentric designers who dreamt them up. Finally, Simon reveals that these long-forgotten marriages of art and engineering are actually the ancestors of many of our most-loved modern technologies, from recorded music to the cinema and much of the digital world.
MON 02:00 Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (b01m81f5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 03:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03l7kj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 12 AUGUST 2014
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b04dcvs7)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b03pmxg5)
Series 5
Southport to Leyland
Michael Portillo continues his journey through the north west of England. He begins in the elegant Lancashire resort of Southport, where the railways brought thousands of visitors to enjoy the pier and all the fun of the fair.
Michael discovers Victorian entrepreneurship in Wigan, traces the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in Bolton and drives a hundred-year-old commercial vehicle in Leyland.
TUE 20:00 King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons (b03816y5)
Alfred of Wessex
King Alfred the Great fights a desperate guerrilla war in the marshes of Somerset - burning the cakes on the way - before his decisive victory at Edington. Creating towns, trade and coinage, reviving learning and literacy, Alfred then laid the foundations of a single kingdom of 'all the English'. Filmed on location from Reading to Rome, using original texts read in old English, and interviews with leading scholars, Michael Wood describes a man who was 'not just the greatest Briton, but one of the greatest rulers of any time or place'.
TUE 21:00 Egypt's Lost Cities (b011pwms)
It is possible that only one per cent of the wonders of ancient Egypt have been discovered, but now, thanks to a pioneering approach to archaeology, that is about to change.
Dr Sarah Parcak uses satellites to probe beneath the sands, where she has found cities, temples and pyramids. Now, with Dallas Campbell and Liz Bonnin, she heads to Egypt to discover if these magnificent buildings are really there.
TUE 22:30 Natural World (b03fq319)
2013-2014
Killer Whales: Beneath the Surface
The killer whale was long feared as a sea monster until, in May 1964, one was brought into captivity for the first time. This spawned a journey of discovery into the killer whale's true nature.
It quickly became clear these were not mindless killers - they were, in fact, highly intelligent social creatures. Today, our understanding is deepening still further and the latest revelations are among the most sensational - not only will these top predators 'adopt' and care for injured and abandoned orphans, but it seems there's no longer just the 'killer whale'.
TUE 23:30 Human Planet (b00rrd7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
TUE 00:30 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074lrd)
Series 2
Revolutions
Simon Schama examines the turbulent years in Britain from 1649 to 1689, from Oliver Cromwell's republic to Charles II's restoration and James II's subsequent pro-Catholic rule from which he was quickly deposed. This is the dramatic story of the revolutionary period after the execution of Charles I, when Cromwell ruled with an iron hand and Charles II attempted to restore the lustre of the monarchy.
TUE 01:30 Great Poets in Their Own Words (b04dg1lz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
TUE 02:30 King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons (b03816y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 13 AUGUST 2014
WED 19:00 World News Today (b04dcvsd)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 The Sky at Night (b04dg5jq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Sunday]
WED 20:00 The Wonder of Animals (b04dq5tb)
Penguins
At first sight, penguins seem ill-suited to their environment - rotund abdomens, stubby little legs and stiff wings appear to make the going tough. But in fact it is these very traits that enable this bird to thrive.
Chris explores details of the penguin's anatomy, using new scientific research to reveal how its legs, wings and body shape have allowed it to conquer an extraordinary range of habitats, from deep forests to tropical waters, bustling cities and even the toughest place on the planet - Antarctica.
WED 20:30 The Beauty of Anatomy (b04dq8kl)
Galen and Leonardo
Adam Rutherford begins his series investigating the close relationship between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them by looking at the work of the 2nd-century Roman anatomist Claudius Galen and the artist and part-time dissector Leonardo da Vinci.
WED 21:00 Art of China (b04dg5q7)
Episode 3
Andrew Graham-Dixon charts the journey from imperial to modern - the glorious rise and calamitous fall of China's last dynasty. Rulers were so entranced by the spell of western art that they failed to notice the rise of western dominance, with disastrous consequences. The subsequent profound identity crisis saw China's artists struggle with outside influence. It was an age of crisis, which ultimately led to bloody revolution and rebirth. After tyrant Mao's Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square, does its new art reveal a different side to the modern China we think we know?
WED 22:00 Wild China (b00bwky1)
Tibet
Documentary capturing pioneering images to exhibit the dazzling array of mysterious and wonderful creatures that live in China's most beautiful landscapes.
The vast Tibetan Plateau is one of the world's most remote places and home to chiru antelopes, wild yaks, foxes and bears. It has a remarkable culture shaped by over one 1,000 years of Buddhism, while its mountains and glaciers provide a vital life support system for half the planet.
WED 23:00 Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (b01m81f5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 00:00 The Wonder of Animals (b04dq5tb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 00:30 The Beauty of Anatomy (b04dq8kl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
WED 01:00 The Sky at Night (b04dg5jq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Sunday]
WED 01:30 Secret Knowledge (b01rml7t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:25 on Sunday]
WED 02:00 Wild China (b00bwky1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
WED 03:00 Art of China (b04dg5q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 14 AUGUST 2014
THU 19:00 World News Today (b04dcvsk)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 BBC Proms (b04dlzyq)
2014
BBC Proms Masterworks: Strauss and Mahler
Tom Service presents as Russian maestro Valery Gergiev brings the World Orchestra for Peace to the Proms for a performance of Mahler's all-encompassing Sixth Symphony. In celebration of Richard Strauss's 150th birthday year, Gergiev also conducts the symphonic fantasia Die Frau ohne Schatten.
THU 21:20 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074ls0)
Series 2
Britannia Incorporated
Simon Schama's epic history reaches the 18th century and the birth of modern Britain. Due to an economic explosion, the consumer society is born, agriculture becomes big business and London becomes the fastest growing city in Europe.
However, many in Scotland are unhappy with the union of the Scottish and English parliaments. When Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite army advance on London, the country's new-found peace and prosperity are threatened.
THU 22:20 Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe (b00791y3)
A British Love Affair
Francesco da Mosto enters Tuscany and Umbria to look at the long love affair that Britain has had with the area. He learns how to be the perfect courtier in Urbino, goes grape harvesting in Chianti, discovers the romantic inspiration at the heart of Puccini's operas, travels to Assisi to find out why he was named after St Francis and takes Dame Maggie Smith on a sightseeing tour of Florence.
THU 23:20 King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons (b03816y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
THU 00:20 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03l7kj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 01:20 Planet Ant: Life Inside the Colony (p00scslp)
Ant colonies are one of the wonders of nature - complex, organised and mysterious. This programme reveals the secret, underground world of the ant colony in a way that's never been seen before. At its heart is a massive, full-scale ant nest, specially designed and built to allow cameras to see its inner workings. The nest is a new home for a million-strong colony of leafcutter ants from Trinidad.
For a month, entomologist Dr George McGavin and leafcutter expert Professor Adam Hart capture every aspect of the life of the colony, using time-lapse cameras, microscopes, microphones and radio tracking technology. The ants instantly begin to forage, farm, mine and build. Within weeks, the colony has established everything from nurseries and gardens to graveyards.
The programme explores how these tiny insects can achieve such spectacular feats of collective organisation. This unique project reveals the workings of one of the most complex and mysterious societies in the natural world and shows the surprising ways in which ants are helping us solve global problems.
THU 02:50 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074ls0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:20 today]
FRIDAY 15 AUGUST 2014
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b04dcvsq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b04dm0mw)
2014
Friday Night at the Proms: Beethoven's Eroica Symphony
The work that changed the course of music forever, Beethoven's epic Eroica Symphony is the culmination of this concert from Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé. Berlioz's swashbuckling overture Le corsaire, depicting the adventures of pirates on the ocean wave, opens the concert with a splash. Elder is famed for his Elgar and he is joined by British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote for the Sea Pictures, Elgar's orchestral song-cycle exploring the fascination and fear inspired by the sea. Presented by Suzy Klein and Rodney Earl Clarke.
FRI 21:10 Great American Rock Anthems: Turn it up to 11 (b03n2w37)
It's the sound of the heartland, of the midwest and the industrial cities, born in the early 70s by kids who had grown up in the 60s and were now ready to make their own noise, to come of age in the bars, arenas and stadiums of the US of A. Out of blues and prog and glam and early metal, a distinct American rock hybrid started to emerge across the country courtesy of Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad et al, and at its very heart is The Great American Rock Anthem.
At the dawn of the 70s American rock stopped looking for a revolution and started looking for a good time; enter the classic American rock anthem - big drums, a soaring guitar, a huge chorus and screaming solos. This film celebrates the evolution of the American rock anthem during its glory years between 1970 and 1990 as it became a staple of the emerging stadium rock and AOR radio and then MTV.
From School's Out and Don't Fear the Reaper to Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit, these are the songs that were the soundtrack to teenage lives in the US and around the world, anthems that had people singing out loud with arms and lighters aloft.
Huey Morgan narrates the story of some of the greatest American rock anthems and tracks the emergence of this distinct American rock of the 70s and 80s. Anthems explored include School's Out, We're an American Band, Don't Fear the Reaper, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, Eye of the Tiger, I Want to Know What Love Is, Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Contributors include: Alice Cooper, Dave Grohl, Butch Vig, Meat Loaf, Todd Rundgren, Richie Sambora, Blue Oyster Cult, Survivor, Toto and Foreigner.
FRI 22:10 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
Documentary which looks at how rock 'n' roll has had to deal with the unthinkable - namely growing up and growing old, from its roots in the 50s as music made by young people for young people to the 21st-century phenomena of the revival and the comeback.
Despite the mantra of 'live fast, die young', Britain's first rock 'n' roll generations are now enjoying old age. What was once about youth and taking risks is now about longevity, survival, nostalgia and refusing to grow up, give up or shut up. But what happens when the music refuses to die and its performers refuse to leave the stage? What happens when rock's youthful rebelliousness is delivered wrapped in wrinkles?
Featuring Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Peter Noone, Rick Wakeman, Paul Jones, Richard Thompson, Suggs, Eric Burdon, Bruce Welch, Robert Wyatt, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, Alison Moyet, Robyn Hitchcock, writers Rosie Boycott and Nick Kent and producer Joe Boyd.
FRI 23:10 Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC (b049mtxy)
Compilation of BBC performances featuring some of the best axe men and women in rock 'n' roll, from Hendrix to The Kinks, Cream to AC/DC, The Smiths to Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead to Foo Fighters. Whether it is The Shadows playing FBI on Crackerjack, Jeff Beck with The Yardbirds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream's Sunshine of Your Love from their final gig, Pixies on the Late Show, AC/DC on Top of the Pops or Fools Gold from The Stone Roses, this compilation is a celebration of rock 'n' roll guitar complete with riffs, fingerstylin', wah-wah pedals and Marshall amps.
FRI 00:10 Top of the Pops (b01pkjy6)
The Story of 1978
In 1978, Top of the Pops began to turn the credibility corner. As the only major pop show on television, Top of the Pops had enjoyed a unique position in the nation's hearts since the 1960s - the nation's teenagers who were now fed up with the show's predominantly light entertainment blend still tuned in every week in the hope of seeing one of the new young outfits thrown up by punk, new wave and disco. In 1978 it seemed the kids' time had come again for the first time since glam rock. Yet the biggest-selling singles of 1978 were by the likes of Boney M, John Travolta & Olivia Newton John, Rod Stewart, The Bee Gees and Abba.
Punk never quite fitted in with the mainstream - it had been treated with disdain by Top of the Pops and largely ignored by the show. Britain's teenagers had to endure the all-round family entertainment on offer when all they wanted was teenage kicks. Along came a generation of young post-punk and new wave bands armed with guitar and bass, ready to storm the Top of the Pops stage - from The Undertones, The Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Skids and Ian Dury and the Blockheads to The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, The Jam and Squeeze - some weeks teenagers would get to see one of their bands, very rarely they got two, but there they were on primetime TV.
With contributions from The Boomtown Rats, Squeeze, Boney M, Sham 69, Brian & Michael, The Barron Knights, Mike Read, Kid Jensen, Kathryn Flett, Richard Jobson, Ian Gittins and Legs & Co.
FRI 01:00 Great American Rock Anthems: Turn it up to 11 (b03n2w37)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:10 today]
FRI 02:00 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:10 today]
FRI 03:00 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00pjk73)
Part IV
Series featuring legendary guitarists treading the boards and trading licks at the BBC studios.
This edition kicks off with big hits from The Rolling Stones and David Bowie before taking things down a notch with the acoustic picking of Michael Chapman and the Irish mysticism of Horslips.
However, it's not long before the likes of Motorhead, Nazareth and straight-up blues rocker George Thorogood turn the volume right back up to 11. A spot of flamenco from Paco De Lucia and a classic track from Strat master Eric Clapton round off the show.
Filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops, Parkinson, Rock Goes to College and the Old Grey Whistle Test, these rocking tracks leave viewers wondering why pianos were ever invented.