Jungle tigers are turning into man-eaters in the exotic island of Sumatra. Now a maverick millionaire is catching the killers and releasing them on his land. Is this madness, or could it save them from extinction?
Lucy Worsley explores how real-life crime, science and the emerging art of detection had an influence on the popular culture of homicide during the Victorian Age.
When brilliant surgeon Yael Danon is selected to perform a routine operation on the Israeli prime minister it puts her and her whole family in danger. The night before the operation they are taken hostage in their house by masked men and Yael is given an ultimatum - she must kill the prime minister during his operation or her family will die.
Forced by mysterious captors to kill the Israeli prime minister during his upcoming operation, Yael tries everything she can think of to get the it postponed without putting her family, still held hostage at home, in danger. The kidnappers' plan is put at risk when an angry friend comes to see Eyal about a bounced cheque.
Charlie Brooker runs through the chart climbers, fallers and new entries with a look at the top 40 things to be worried about this week, featuring all the biggest hits from artificial intelligence to fracking.
Jake Yapp compresses talent show The Voice down to 105 seconds and Philomena Cunk takes a moment to wonder about climate change.
Documentary about a group of female singers whose voices make you weep, who sang songs of heartbreak and betrayal, had lives that seemed to mirror their music and deaths that came too soon and made myths of them all. Yet their voices triumph over tragedy and they became icons of the 20th century.
Edith Piaf, the Urchin Queen, stood small but strong and became the voice of her nation and of everyone who ever made mistakes. Billie Holiday, the Jazz Queen, her voice full of pain and yearning. Judy Garland, Showbiz Queen, raised in the film studio that fed her addiction to pills and to fame. Maria Callas, Drama Queen, whose voice brought out the heartache in opera and whose life echoed the roles she played. And Janis Joplin, Wild Queen, who offered up a 'piece of her heart' and died of drug abuse at just 27.
With contributions from Mickey Rooney, Charles Aznavour, Country Joe McDonald, KT Tunstall, Katie Melua and Corinne Bailey-Rae.
A celebration of some of the greatest female jazz singers of the 20th century. It takes an unflinching and revealing look at what it actually took to be a jazz diva during a turbulent time in America's social history - a time when battle lines were being constantly drawn around issues of race, gender and popular culture.
The documentary tracks the diva's difficult progress as she emerges from the tough, testosterone-fuelled world of the big bands of the 30s and 40s, to fill nightclubs and saloons across the US in the 50s and early 60s as a force in her own right. Looking at the lives and careers of six individual singers (Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Annie Ross), the film not only talks to those who knew and worked with these queens of jazz, but also to contemporary singers who sit on the shoulders of these trailblazing talents without having to endure the pain and hardship it took for them to make their highly individual voices heard above the prejudice of mid-century America.
This is a documentary about how these women triumphed - always at some personal cost - to become some of the greatest artists of the 20th century, women who chose singing above life itself because singing was their life.
Steve Wright presents chart hits of the week, with performances from the Tourists, Cliff Richard, the Chords, the Regents, Queen, the Selecter, AC/DC, the Buggles and the Specials, and a dance sequence by Legs & Co.
The late 70s had parents from all over the UK fearing one particular four letter word... punk. With anarchy spreading across the nation, the BBC managed to capture and sometimes contain some of the chaotic energy of these iconic moments in its studios. This episode provides another chance to jump up and down on the couch and pogo to performances from the Stranglers, the Damned, the Sex Pistols, the Jam, Undertones, the Rezillos, Buzzcocks, the Clash, X-Ray Spex and Joy Division.
SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2015
SUN 19:00 The Great War (p00f79tm)
Please God, Send Us Victory
Lord Kitchener recognised the stalemate in the trench lines on the Western Front and looked elsewhere for victory. A British naval expedition attempted to take the Dardanelles, and Allied troops landed at Gallipoli hoping to take Constantinople. For 37 weeks the soldiers clung desperately to small footholds, but to no avail, and they were eventually evacuated from the beaches.
SUN 19:40 Wild (b00793gb)
2006-07 Shorts
Stoats of Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall is a grand stately home nestled in the Derbyshire countryside. In its grounds lives one of the most elusive of British mammals, the stoat. On the estate at the end of winter, we catch a rare glimpse of a stoat in ermine. A visiting shrike, or butcher bird, is another unusual sight.
The stately stoats have resided in Kedleston for many years, and each spring an old walled garden is where they choose to raise their young. The kits give a new meaning to the word hyperactive, and their mum is kept busy catching rabbits to feed them. Eventually the stoat family start to explore their estate, where more surprises are in store.
SUN 19:50 Wild (b007hh6n)
2006-07 Shorts
Mull: Eagle Paradise
The story of the white-tailed sea eagle is one of the great successes of British conservation. When wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan grew up on Mull there were no sea eagles at all, but now they are back and thriving. A third of all Britain's sea eagles now live on the island. Gordon returns to Mull to find out what makes this place such a paradise for the magnificent birds.
SUN 20:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b05439vx)
Kazuo Ishiguro
Mark Lawson talks to the Booker Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro about his life and career.
Ishiguro, who was born in Nagasaki in 1954, discusses the influence of Japan on his early novels A Pale View of Hills and An Artist's View of the Floating World, and the impact of American cowboy series and Victorian novels on his grasp of English as a child.
The author reflects on the book which made his literary reputation, The Remains of the Day, which won him the UK's leading prize for fiction, and which was made into an Oscar-winning film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. He talks about the importance of first-person narrators, and on why he is drawn to writing about the past rather than the present.
He also reflects on the influence of the pioneering Professor Malcolm Bradbury, who founded the University of East Anglia's MA course in Creative Writing, talks about his early days as a singer-songwriter, and explains why his new novel The Buried Giant is his first in almost ten years.
Featuring readings from The Buried Giant and from some of the author's previous books.
SUN 21:00 Storyville (b052vb0d)
Love Is All: 100 Years of Love and Courtship
A magical and moving archive trip through the universal theme of love, set to a stunning soundtrack by Richard Hawley. It takes us on a journey through the 20th century, exploring love and courtship on screen in a century of unprecedented social upheaval. From the very first kisses ever caught on film, through the disruption of war to the birth of youth culture, gay liberation and free love, we follow courting couples flirting at tea dances, kissing in the back of the movies, shacking up and fighting for the right to love.
This is the celluloid story of love and courtship since the birth of the movie camera, told with spellbinding archive footage and directed by award-winning director Kim Longinotto.
SUN 22:15 Mystery Road (b0544dqh)
A murdered girl is found under a bridge on a remote road and indigenous detective Jay Swan, recently returned home after years in the city, gets the case. Mistrusted by locals, under-resourced by his boss and even estranged from his own family, Jay finds that no-one is that interested in solving the murder of an indigenous teenager and he is forced to work alone.
SUN 00:10 Status Quo: Live and Acoustic (b052yq1f)
Throughout Status Quo's six decades of rockin' and double denim, they have notched up 65 hit singles, sold over 100m records worldwide and have spent 415 weeks in the British singles chart, so it's no wonder Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt were awarded OBEs in 2010 for their services to music. And now, in a rare departure from their usual heads-down and boogie approach, they've gone acoustic!
Autumn 2014 saw the release of their 31st studio album and, in a complete departure from their usual rock sound, they transformed many of their legendary songs into acoustic, stripped-down versions. To celebrate this unique enterprise, they then performed many of the songs live at north London's legendary Roundhouse. Sitting down!
This concert features many of their classic tracks including Pictures of Matchstick Men, Down Down, What You're Proposing, Whatever You Want, Marguerita Time, Rockin' All Over the World and many more, performed with a string section, percussion, accordion, backing vocals and a front line of five acoustic guitars. Throughout the show Francis and Rick reminisce about taking this bold step and remind us of some of the stories behind some of their classic songs.
SUN 01:10 When Rock Goes Acoustic (b0141myx)
The cliche of classic rock guitar is one of riffs, solos and noise. But write a list of great guitarists and their finest moments and a quieter, more intense playing comes to the fore. The acoustic guitar is the secret weapon in the armoury of the guitar hero, when paradoxically they get more attention by playing quietly than being loud.
This documentary takes an insightful and occasionally irreverent look at the love affair between rock and the humble acoustic guitar. Exploring a much less celebrated, yet crucial part of the rock musician's arsenal, contributors including Johnny Marr, Keith Richards, Ray Davies, James Dean Bradfield, Biffy Clyro, Joan Armatrading, Donovan and Roger McGuinn discuss why an instrument favoured by medieval minstrels and singing nuns is as important to rock 'n' roll as the drums, bass and its noisy sister, the electric guitar.
SUN 02:10 Acoustic at the BBC (b0141mz1)
A journey through some of the finest moments of acoustic guitar performances from the BBC archives - from Jimmy Page's television debut in 1958 to Oasis and Biffy Clyro.
Highlights include:
Neil Young - Heart of Gold
David Bowie - Starman
Oasis - Wonderwall
Donovan - Mellow Yellow
Joan Armatrading - Woncha Come on Home
Bert Jansch, Johnny Marr and Bernard Butler - The River Bank
Joni Mitchell - Chelsea Morning
Biffy Clyro - Mountains.
SUN 03:10 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01kcq0k)
New Wave - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
By the end of the 70s the world had changed and so had music. In America, it was all about memorable melodies, great guitar rhythms, a little bit of post-punk angst and looking really cool. In the UK it was about Brit style cheekiness, social commentary, a melody and a hook, a lot of attitude - and looking really cool. This episode goes beyond punk and looks into the dawning of a new decade and the phenomenon of New Wave, including performances from Elvis Costello, the Police, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Squeeze, Blondie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Cars, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop.
MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2015
MON 19:00 World News Today (b053mjr6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b01rj43f)
Series 1 - Reversions
Berlin to the Rhein Part 1
Michael Portillo continues his railway adventure which takes him across the heart of Europe. Steered by his 1913 railway guide, Michael's journey through Germany begins in Berlin, which at the beginning of the 20th century was a powerhouse of science and technology. He then heads west via the picturesque Harz Mountains to the industrial Ruhr Valley to learn how imperial Germany was war-ready.
MON 20:00 Natural World (b00xxf9f)
2010-2011
Miracle in the Marshes of Iraq
It's the largest and most ambitious habitat recreation project ever known - to bring back to life one of the world's greatest marshlands. And it's happening in Iraq.
Considered to be the original Garden of Eden, the marshes were once Iraq's wildlife jewel, where man and nature thrived for 5,000 years. But in the 1990s, Saddam Hussein drained these gigantic wetlands and turned them into a desert, destroying a home to thousands of people and millions of birds.
Donning his body armour, film-maker David Johnson travels to the Mesopotamian marshes to follow the work of Azzam Alwash, the visionary Iraqi engineer at the centre of this extraordinary scheme to reflood hundreds of miles of desert and bring back life to the sands. This is a view of Iraq the world never sees, a world of huge reed beds and vast flocks of birds that fill the sky.
MON 21:00 Asylum (b053pv26)
Public Relations
Dan decides to raise his public profile and present his manifesto to the world by holding a press conference. Unfortunately he inadvertently accuses the El Ricans of torturing him, which does terrible damage to their World Cup bid. The terrifying El Rican foreign minister jets in to try to force Dan to issue a public apology, but with the world suddenly on his side Dan is extremely reluctant. Instead it falls to Ludo to use his hacking skills to get El Rico's World Cup bid back on track.
MON 21:30 Bob Servant (b04v2tjn)
Series 2
Wedding
Frank's getting married and Bob's feeling the pressure. He's confident that he's the best best man in history, but Frank isn't so sure. Frank reveals that he's planning to leave Broughty Ferry and Bob's reaction is extreme - placing the wedding and Frank's future in serious jeopardy.
MON 22:00 Norman Wisdom: His Story (b00vhmqq)
From street urchin to knight of the realm - the story of Norman Wisdom, who used to be one of the biggest film stars in the UK, portraying a man who rarely stepped out of character in public, and whose highly individual comic style hid the private tragedy of his early life.
The actor's life story is told through the people who knew him well - his son and daughter Nick and Jacqui Wisdom, his daughter-in-law Kim, film director Stephen Frears, actors Ricky Tomlinson, Leslie Phillips and Honor Blackman, and singer Dame Vera Lynn.
MON 23:00 Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries (b052zxhm)
Episode 1
Dr Janina Ramirez explores how monasteries evolved from a cult of extreme isolation and self-deprivation into powerhouses of Anglo-Saxon art, industry and learning.
Janina begins her journey on the desolate rock of Skellig St Michael off the east coast of Ireland, home to the oldest surviving monastery in the British Isles. She investigates the harsh lives led by these early monks, and tells the story of the arrival of hermetic Irish monasticism in Anglo-Saxon Northumberland. Monasteries such as Lindisfarne and Whitby became beacons of civilisation and literature in the barbaric Anglo-Saxon world, creating wondrous works of art including the Lindisfarne Gospels and St Cuthbert's pectoral cross.
A rival form of regimented, communal monasticism was imported into southern Britain from Rome, and Janina reveals the holy struggle that ensued between these two opposing monastic ideals. The victors would transform the culture and landscape of England, until they too were destroyed by a new wave of barbarian invaders.
MON 00:00 Natural World (b00xxf9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 01:00 Wallander (b00m0hzx)
Series 1
The African
When a Liberian immigrant is found murdered in a train yard, Wallander and the Ystad team follow the trail to an African dancing class and a cuckolded former white supremacist.
All of this happens against the backdrop of an election and the possibility of Kurt's childhood friend, the democratic candidate, being elected and 'opening the doors' to more immigrants.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
MON 02:25 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b01rj43f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 02:55 Asylum (b053pv26)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MON 03:25 Bob Servant (b04v2tjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2015
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b053mjrh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b01rj4b8)
Series 1 - Reversions
Berlin to the Rhein Part 2
Steered by his 1913 railway guide, on the second part of this train journey through Germany, Michael Portillo continues through the industrial Ruhr Valley to learn how imperial Germany was war-ready, before travelling south to Cologne and along the tourist trail of the castle-studded River Rhine. His journey ends in the Rheingau, tasting the wines of its age-old vineyards.
TUE 20:00 Digging for Ireland (p021j8bm)
Professor Alice Roberts and archaeologist Matt Williams present the highlights from this year's archaeology in Ireland.
There is new evidence and a new theory to explain the amazing phenomenon of Ireland's perfectly preserved Iron Age bog bodies. Could these men really have been kings, murdered when their reigns failed?
A dig at the iconic Dunluce Castle opens up the controversial Plantation of Ulster.
A disagreement pits experts against local knowledge as the hunt is on for the location of the Battle of Ford of the Biscuits from the Elizabethan Nine Years' War - with unexpected results.
A burial ground yields clues to a Bronze Age invasion of Ireland, a period when it became known as Europe's Eldorado.
An astonishing lough yields perfectly preserved boats from Bronze, Iron and Viking Ages. The burial ground of the prison known as Ireland's Alcatraz offers up unexpected evidence of kindness among the inmates.
Plus amazing plunder from the Spanish Armada, from Viking raiders and from Ireland's age of heroes, all curated from the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
TUE 21:00 Timeshift (b053pxdr)
Series 14
The Nation's Railway: The Golden Age of British Rail
Timeshift revisits Britain's railways during the era of public ownership. For all its bad reputation today, the old British Rail boldly transformed a decayed, war-torn Victorian transport network into a system fit for the 20th century. With an eye firmly on the future, steam made way for diesel and electric, new modern stations like Euston were built, and Britain's first high-speed trains introduced.
Made with unique access to the British Transport Films archive, this is a warm corrective to the myth of the bad old days of rail, but even it can't hide from the horror that was a British Rail sandwich.
TUE 22:00 Cosmonauts: How Russia Won the Space Race (b04lcxms)
When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon in 1969, America went down in popular history as the winner of the space race. However, the real pioneers of space exploration were the Soviet cosmonauts.
This remarkable feature-length documentary combines rare and unseen archive footage with interviews with the surviving cosmonauts to tell the fascinating and at times terrifying story of how the Russians led us into the space age. A particular highlight is Alexei Leonov, the man who performed the first spacewalk, explaining how he found himself trapped outside his spacecraft 500 miles above the Earth. Scary stuff.
TUE 23:00 Natural World (b01lb4vn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
TUE 00:00 Digging for Ireland (p021j8bm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUE 01:00 Wallander (b00g2j7h)
Series 1
Mastermind
Investigating a grisly local murder and the disappearance of a policeman's daughter, Kurt Wallander and his colleagues at the Ystad station begin to suspect the two are connected. As the investigation proceeds it seems that the criminal knows every move they will make and is practically controlling them. So begins a struggle to outwit a master criminal.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
TUE 02:40 Timeshift (b053pxdr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2015
WED 19:00 World News Today (b053mjsh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8dk)
Series 2 - Reversions
Madrid to Gibraltar - Part 1
Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo returns to his native Spain to discover what the intrepid tourists of the Belle Epoque experienced on their travels through the fading Spanish empire. Hard on their heels in Madrid, he visits the scene of a grim assassination attempt at the royal wedding of a British princess and a Spanish king.
Striking south to historic Cordoba, Michael dances with an unusual partner and enjoys all the fun of the feria. Heading further into Andalusia, Michael arrives in Seville, the city he has made his Spanish home and where, in the city's tobacco factory, he learns about a gypsy girl named Carmen.
After sipping sherry in Jerez, he traces Winston Churchill's tense diplomatic mission to Algeciras on Spain's Costa del Sol and finishes with tales of British espionage on the Rock of Gibraltar.
WED 20:00 Secret Knowledge (b053pzmb)
Wondrous Obsessions: The Cabinet of Curiosities
As the popularity of collecting fairs and Pinterest would attest, we are a nation of magpie obsessions. Renaissance expert Professor Nandini Das reveals the story behind the Cabinet of Curiosities - the original collecting craze that began in Renaissance Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, and which is experiencing a surprising revival in the work of contemporary artists today.
WED 20:30 Secret Knowledge (b04tqk1n)
The Living Mountain: A Cairngorms Journey
A forgotten literary masterpiece celebrating the majesty of the Cairngorm mountains is the subject of this documentary presented by travel writer Robert MacFarlane.
The Living Mountain, written by Scottish poet and novelist Nan Shepherd in the 1940s, recounts her experience of walking in the Cairngorms during the early years of the Second World War. When Robert MacFarlane first discovered it he found it to be one of the finest books ever written on nature and landscape in Britain.
This love letter to the Cairngorms instantly challenged his preconceptions about nature writing. Unlike other mountaineering literature that focused on a quest to reach the summit, this remarkable book described a poetic and philosophical journey into the mountain.
Now Robert MacFarlane retraces Nan Shepherd's footsteps, exploring the Cairngorms through her thoughtful and lucid descriptions, in an attempt to discover what she called the living mountain: "So there I lie on the plateau, under me the central core of fire from which was thrust this grumbling mass of plutonic rock, over me blue air, and between the fire of the rock and the fire of the sun, scree, soil and water, grass, flower and tree, insect, bird and beast, wind, rain, snow - the total mountain."
This film brings the story of Nan Shepherd and her little-known work to a new audience, and along the way offers a moving and memorable tour of the Cairngorm mountains, seen afresh through the passion and poetry of her writing.
WED 21:00 Picasso: Love, Sex and Art (b0543hfx)
At the time of his death in April 1973, aged 91, Pablo Picasso had become one of the 20th century's most influential and prolific artists. Picasso has been painted as many men - genius, womaniser, egomaniac. His reputation is still fiercely debated. Brought up in the Spanish town of Malaga, he would represent himself as the mythological minotaur - half-man, half-bull. The bull craved the women who would feed his life and his art.
Picasso reconstructed the female form - to the point of total abstraction. Many women would find themselves damaged forever by the experience of being his partner. Now, for the first time, the people who knew him best tell the story of those women, giving a new insight into the artist and his work.
WED 22:00 Wolf Hall: The Inside Story (b05471yp)
After the success of the BBC drama Wolf Hall, Mark Rylance and the director Peter Kosminsky join Kirsty Wark in the Chapel Royal of Saint Peter Ad Vincula, the Tower of London, to look back over the series.
WED 22:30 Horizon (b0094cym)
2007-2008
Are We Alone in the Universe?
For 50 years, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETA) has been scanning the galaxy for a message from an alien civilisation. So far to no avail, but a recent breakthrough suggests they may one day succeed. Horizon joins the planet hunters who have discovered a new world called Gliese 581c, which may have habitats capable of supporting life.
NASA hopes to find 50 more Earth-like planets by the end of the decade, all of which dramatically increases the chance that alien life has begun elsewhere in the galaxy.
WED 23:20 The Search for Life: The Drake Equation (b00wltbk)
For many years our place in the universe was the subject of theologians and philosophers, not scientists, but in 1960 one man changed all that.
Dr Frank Drake was one of the leading lights in the new science of radio astronomy when he did something that was not only revolutionary, but could have cost him his career. Working at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Greenback in Virginia, he pointed one of their new 25-metre radio telescopes at a star called Tau Ceti twelve light years from earth, hoping for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.
Although project Ozma resulted in silence, it did result in one of the most seminal equations in the history of science - the Drake Equation - which examined seven key elements necessary for extraterrestrial intelligence to exist, from the formation of stars to the likely length a given intelligent civilisation may survive. When Frank and his colleagues entered the figures, the equation suggested there were a staggering 50,000 civilisations capable of communicating across the galaxy.
However, in the 50 years of listening that has followed, not one single bleep has been heard from extraterrestrials. So were Drake and his followers wrong and is there no life form out there capable of communicating? Drake's own calculations suggest that we would have to scan the entire radio spectrum of ten million stars to be sure of contact.
The answers to those questions suggest that, far from being a one-off, life may not only be common in the universe but once started will lead inevitably towards intelligent life.
To find out about the equation's influence, Dallas Campbell goes on a worldwide journey to meet the scientists who have dedicated their lives to focusing on its different aspects.
WED 00:20 Asylum (b053pv26)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
WED 00:50 Bob Servant (b04v2tjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 on Monday]
WED 01:20 Wallander (b00m4q5x)
Series 1
The Tricksters
When a riding pupil finds the stable owner dead in his barn, Wallander is initially at a loss for suspects - he had no friends, no social life and seemingly no enemies. But a little digging reveals a much more complicated and sinister story, and soon the suspect list is too large.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
WED 02:50 Picasso: Love, Sex and Art (b0543hfx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2015
THU 19:00 World News Today (b053mjsn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b052hpyd)
What Have UFOs Done for Us?
From unexplained flashes in the night sky to flying saucers, this episode delves into the mysterious world of UFOs. How our drive to explain these bizarre phenomena, and desire to discover little green men, has in fact transformed our understanding of the universe.
THU 20:00 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (b03ccs7k)
Pus
Infection can take over the entire human body, and if our immune systems aren't strong enough we will die - in fact, infectious disease has regularly wiped out millions of people across the planet. Dr Michael Mosley explores our earliest attempts to tackle infection and reveals the moment we began to harness the power of microbes to fight back. This is the story of how scientists, chemists and doctors helped us win the battle, from Louis Pasteur to Howard Florey, and how a small team of dedicated men and women wiped out one of mankind's deadliest diseases - smallpox.
THU 21:00 Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries (b053pzv1)
Episode 2
The golden age of the British monastery was during the medieval period, when monks transformed British society and rose to a position of immense power. Fighting back after centuries of defeat and neglect, a wave of new monasteries spread across the nation, with over 500 British monastic houses established by the 14th century. Far from the inward-looking recluses of legend, monks were exceptionally creative, and became pioneers in the fields of medicine, science, scholarship, industry, farming, art and music. They didn't turn their back on the medieval world, but helped transform it.
Yet as the monasteries mingled with the world outside their cloisters they began to take on its corruption. They had begun with a vow of poverty, but eventually came to own a third of the nation's land. This wealth, combined with the sins of individual monks, sealed their fate, and as the medieval period ended the monks were on the brink of a catastrophic and total collapse.
From Viking-ravaged Lindisfarne to the astonishing achievements of Durham and Peterborough cathedrals (both built for monks), from cutting-edge hospitals to the rediscovery of the oldest collection of two-part music in the world, this is a story of astonishing success and spectacular artistic achievement that proved too good to last.
THU 22:00 Timeshift (b053pxdr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
THU 23:00 Digging for Ireland (p021j8bm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
THU 00:00 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (b03ccs7k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 01:00 The Sky at Night (b052hpyd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:30 Wallander (b00m9jky)
Series 1
The Photographer
A woman is found dead after the opening of a war photographer's exhibition. Murder is suspected, as is the photographer. Wallander and his team of police investigate.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
THU 03:00 Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries (b053pzv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2015
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b053mjtv)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Sounds of the Sixties (b0074qc9)
Original Series
1968-69: The Swinging Sixties
Ten-part series featuring rock, pop and R'n'B performances from the BBC archives, this time looking at the height of the hippie era. Featuring the music of Manfred Mann, Herman's Hermits, Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger, the Alan Price Set, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and the Rolling Stones.
FRI 20:00 Symphony (b017j75d)
Revolution and Rebirth
Simon Russell Beale's journey takes him into the 20th century, a time when the certainties of empire were falling away, war was looming and the world was changing faster than ever before.
Simon investigates the extraordinary symphonic world of Shostakovich, the star composer of the new Soviet Union, as well as the work of Ives and Copland who were both, in their different ways, creating a new American sound. He discovers how the development of the gramophone and broadcasting meant that more people could hear their music than ever before and how it became possible to immortalise the symphony in sound.
The symphonies are played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
FRI 21:00 Joy Division (b0543ytw)
On June 4 1976, four young men from ruined, post-industrial Manchester went to see a Sex Pistols show at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall. Inspired by the gig that is now credited with igniting the Manchester music scene, they formed what was to become one of the world's most influential bands, Joy Division.
Over 30 years later, despite a tragedy that was to cut them off in their prime, they are enjoying a larger audience and more influence than ever before, with a profound legacy that resonates fiercely in today's heavily manufactured pop culture.
Featuring the unprecedented participation of all the surviving band members, this film examines the band's story through never-before-seen live performance footage, personal photos, period films and newly discovered audiotapes.
A fresh visual account of a unique time and place, this is the untold story of how four men transcended economic and cultural barriers to produce an enduring musical legacy, at a time of great social and political change.
FRI 22:35 Synth Britannia at the BBC (b00n93c6)
A journey through the BBC's synthpop archives from Roxy Music and Tubeway Army to New Order and Sparks. Turn your Moogs up to 11 as we take a trip back into the 70s and 80s!
FRI 23:35 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.
FRI 00:35 Joy Division (b0543ytw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:05 Synth Britannia at the BBC (b00n93c6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:35 today]
FRI 03:05 Sounds of the Sixties (b0074qc9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]