First in a series of three programmes revealing the emotional and dramatic lives of elephants in Kenya's Samburu reserve.
As the day begins, there is great excitement in one elephant family when a new baby, named Breeze, is born. But her first few weeks look set to be the most dangerous of her life. Meanwhile, elephant experts Iain and Saba Douglas-Hamilton face the huge challenge of fitting a radio collar to a three-tonne female elephant with an entire herd looking out for her. Breeze faces her first big test, crossing a river, and the research team investigate when one of their best-known bull elephants is found dead in suspicious circumstances.
Back in the reserve, a young calf becomes injured and cannot keep up with his herd. His mother sticks with him, but will he survive without the support of a family? There is further tragedy when a matriarch dies. In unique footage, a herd of elephants visit her body, and appear to mourn her death.
Lucy Worsley explores the Edwardian era and the golden age of detective fiction between the wars - the time of Dr Crippen, Agatha Christie and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
The Danons are still hostages in their own home. With Yael having moved the prime minister's operation to buy the family more time, her captors are desperate to get it back on track. Yael is forced to use her wits to bring the operation forward again. Eyal must deal with his money problems to stop people constantly coming to the house, and cracks are beginning to show in the captors' relationships as a power struggle develops.
The Danon family and the kidnappers are surprised when a soldier turns up at the front door, except for Noa, who has been keeping secrets from the rest of the family.
Charlie Brooker looks back at the 30th anniversary celebrations in EastEnders, 'Russell Brand' uncovers the truth about TV and Philomena Cunk contemplates the world of medicine.
A very personal portrait of the truly unique comedy genius of Spike Milligan, as told in his own words and featuring exclusive home movie footage. With contributions from those who worked with him, lived with him and were inspired by him.
They say that blood is thicker than water and this documentary puts that to the test by examining the brothers who have formed and fronted rock bands. From the Everlys to the Gallaghers via the Kinks and Spandau Ballet, it tells the stories of the bands of brothers who went from their bedrooms to become household names - often with a price to pay.
With contributions from Martin Kemp, Matt Goss, Dave Davies, Phil Everly, David Knopfler and the Campbell brothers of UB40.
The story of The Kinks, one of the UK's most important and influential bands, as told from the vaults of the BBC archive.
From their humble beginnings in north London, brothers Ray and Dave Davies, school friend Pete Quaife and local drummer Mick Avory exploded onto the music scene of early 1960s London.
From this series of unique archive performances, we learn that blues was their first love and Dave's signature guitar sound would go on to influence a generation of guitar players. As Ray's uniquely English songwriting style developed, the spectre of Ray and Dave's rocky fraternal relationship continually loomed in the background, through concerts for The Old Grey Whistle Test in the 1970s to appearances on Top of the Pops in the 1980s.
The inevitable band split came in 1996, and the BBC archive continues with Ray's reinvention as a solo artist with performances on the Electric Proms and up to the present day on Later... with Jools Holland. All the while the brothers continue to tease and goad the press - and one another - with talk of a Kinks reunion.
SUNDAY 01 MARCH 2015
SUN 19:00 The Great War (b0074p3f)
What Are Our Allies Doing?
This episode follows the war on all fronts as it continues throughout 1915. Towering over all else was the mighty German offensive of Gorlice-Tarnow, where the Russians lost two million men. Elsewhere, the British, French and new ally Italy made little or no progress. Disappointment was universal, but the end of the year brought one ray of hope. The Allied conference at Chantilly unanimously decided on the strategy for 1916 - simultaneous attacks upon the Central Powers.
SUN 19:40 Wild (b007gt25)
2006-07 Shorts
Secret Fawns of Yellowstone
Documentary film from the heart of the magnificent scenery of Yellowstone National Park, telling the story of helpless elk fawns. Elks give birth amongst the tapestry of pine forests and sagebrush prairie, but should they stay or should they go? Grizzly bears are on the prowl, and the mothers try to hide the fawns in the hope that they will not be found by predators. Secrecy, it seems, is their only defence. But when the bears inevitably come too close, what can the mother elk do?
SUN 19:50 Wild (b0079701)
2006-07 Shorts
New Forest Ponies
The New Forest in Hampshire is home to some very special horses. They live an almost wild existence, roaming these ancient forests freely through most of the year. Winters here can be harsh, but the ponies are true survivors, scraping a living by feeding off gorse and holly. Spring sees the arrival of the foals. But each autumn, the ponies are rounded up by their owners, bringing to these British forests a touch of the American West.
SUN 20:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b054f521)
Alexander McCall Smith
Mark Lawson talks to the internationally successful author Alexander McCall Smith, whose No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series of books, set in Botswana and centring on the investigations of the redoubtable Precious Ramotswe, have sold in their millions around the world.
McCall Smith talks about the influence of Armistead Maupin on his literary serial 44 Scotland Street and about his Corduroy Mansions series of novels which feature a fictional Liberal Democrat MP, Oedipus Snark.
He also discusses his childhood in southern Rhodesia, where his father worked as a public prosecutor, as well as his literary influences and his career as a professor of medical law, during which time he published works on the forensic aspects of sleep and the prosecution of historic crimes.
SUN 21:00 Arts Question Time with Kirsty Wark (b054v0v0)
Kirsty Wark chairs a special one-off edition of the lively and provocative debate show. A panel of leading creative people answer questions from the audience about the challenges, opportunities, failings and future of the arts in the UK.
SUN 22:00 Storyville (b054v0v2)
The Great European Disaster Movie
Authored documentary by Italian director Annalisa Piras and former editor of The Economist Bill Emmott, which explores the crisis facing Europe. Through case studies of citizens in different countries, the film explores a range of factors that have led to the present crisis, economic and identity challenges across Europe. High-level experts analyse how and why things are going so wrong.
The film includes fictional scenes, set in a post-EU future, which feature archaeologist Charles Granda (played by Angus Deayton) travelling on a flight through a menacing storm, explaining to a child passenger what the EU was. Sombre, thought-provoking and witty, the film frames Europe through the eyes of those who have most at stake - the Europeans themselves.
SUN 23:20 The Great European Disaster Movie: Newsnight Debate (b054v5cf)
Robert Peston presents a discussion in which a panel of guests debate the issues raised by Annalisa Piras and Bill Emmott's authored Storyville documentary on the problems facing the European Union.
SUN 23:50 Animals Through the Night: Sleepover at the Zoo (b03x3yff)
In a never-before-attempted sleep experiment, Bristol Zoo has been rigged with cameras and sensors and Liz Bonnin and sleep expert Bryson Voirin stay up all night to see what the animals get up to when they think no-one is watching. From red pandas and lions to meerkats and tapirs, for the first time a whole range of animal sleep behaviours is compared and contrasted across the course of a single night.
The programme delves into the extraordinary world of animal sleep, looking at not only what science has already discovered, but the questions which remain to be answered. From dolphins, which have come up with ingenious solutions to allow them to sleep while swimming, through to ants that have developed complex behavioural patterns which ensure that the colony sleeps undisturbed, to meerkats, who keep an ear open for danger during sleep, and flamingos, which arrange themselves in order to keep a wary eye out for night-time predators.
SUN 01:20 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074shx)
Episode 1
The 80s saw many great contributions to the fields of art and culture. Not the least of these was floppy hair. Floppy hair dominates this episode of pop morsels from the BBC archive, featuring Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran, Culture Club, ABC, Wham!, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Bananarama and Kylie Minogue.
SUN 01:50 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!
SUN 02:50 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.
MONDAY 02 MARCH 2015
MON 19:00 World News Today (b054bvmz)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8jf)
Series 2 - Reversions
Madrid to Gibraltar: Part 2
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.
MON 20:00 Nature's Great Events (b00hn4hs)
The Great Melt
The summer melt of Arctic ice, opening up nearly three million square miles of ocean and land, provides opportunities for millions of animals, including beluga whales, families of arctic foxes, vast colonies of seabirds and the fabled arctic unicorn, the narwhal.
For polar bears, however, it is the toughest time of year. Why? How will they survive?
A mother polar bear and her cub make their first journey together onto the sea ice. They are looking for ringed seals, their favourite prey. It is a serious business, but the cub just wants to play. The melting ice makes it harder for them to hunt and threatens their survival.
In a unique aerial sequence, the migration of narwhal with their distinctive unicorn-like tusks is filmed for the first time. The whales' journey is risky as they travel along giant cracks in the ice. If the ice were to close above them, they would drown.
Hundreds of beluga whales gather in the river shallows. They rub themselves on smooth pebbles in one of the most bizarre summer spectacles.
Guillemot chicks take their first flights from precipitous sea cliff nests to the sea 300 metres below. They attempt to glide to safety, but many miss their target. Their loss is a bonus for the hungry arctic fox family waiting below.
As the melt comes to an end, the bears gather, waiting for the sea to freeze again. Two 400kg males square up to each other to spar.
In the final ten-minute diary, Quest for Ice Whales, the crew show how they managed to capture footage of the elusive narwhal on their annual journey through the ice.
MON 21:00 Climate Change by Numbers (p02jsdrk)
At the heart of the climate change debate is a paradox - we've never had more information about our changing climate, yet surveys show that the public are, if anything, getting less sure they understand what's going on.
This programme aims to remedy that, with a new perspective on the whole subject. Presented by three mathematicians - Dr Hannah Fry, Prof Norman Fenton and Prof David Spiegelhalter - it hones in on just three key numbers that clarify all the important questions around climate change. The stories behind these numbers involve an extraordinary cast of characters, almost all of whom had nothing to do with climate change, but whose work is critical to our understanding of the climate.
The three numbers are:
0.85 degrees (the amount of warming the planet has undergone since 1880)
95 per cent (the degree of certainty climate scientists have that at least half the recent warming is man-made)
1 trillion tonnes (the total amount of carbon we can afford to burn - ever - in order to stay below 'dangerous levels' of climate change)
Understanding how scientists came up with these three numbers gives a unique perspective on what we know about the past, present and future of our changing climate.
MON 22:15 Storyville (b054f7qp)
1.7 Billion Dollar Fraud: Full Exposure
In October 2011, Olympus Corporation, a multibillion dollar Japanese optical company, dismissed its president and CEO, British-born Michael Woodford, over cultural differences in management style. Japanese media dutifully reported the dismissal with minimum coverage, another foreign CEO failing to adapt to the Japanese way. But international media reported a brewing scandal where Japanese board members of the company unanimously voted to dismiss Woodford for blowing the whistle on a 1.7 billion dollar fraud that the 93-year-old Japanese company had kept secret for more than two decades.
Film-maker Hyoe Yamamoto unravels the events that led to one of the most mystifying corporate scandals in the world.
MON 23:30 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.
MON 00:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8jf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 01:00 Wallander (b00mfbr4)
Series 1
The Container Lorry
The police launch a murder investigation after finding an abandoned lorry with a container full of dead refugees.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
MON 02:25 Climate Change by Numbers (p02jsdrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 03 MARCH 2015
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b054bvn4)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8pl)
Series 2 - Reversions
Turin to Venice: Part 1
Steered by his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo takes the train from the former political capital of Italy, Turin, to Casanova's capital of romance, Venice.
Along the way, he recreates the famous Italian Job on an historic Fiat test track and follows fashion in Milan before investigating the early 20th-century British love affair with Lake Como in a seaplane. In Verona, Michael discovers the 'House of the Capulets', bought to attract Edwardian tourists to the scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He then heads over the rail bridge across the lagoon to Venice, where he finds a microcosm of pre-First World War Europe in the Venice Biennale art exhibition.
TUE 20:00 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8t3)
Series 2 - Reversions
Turin to Venice: Part 2
Steered by his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo takes the train from the former political capital of Italy, Turin, to Casanova's capital of romance, Venice.
Along the way, he recreates the famous Italian Job on an historic Fiat test track and follows fashion in Milan before investigating the early 20th-century British love affair with Lake Como in a seaplane. In Verona, Michael discovers the 'House of the Capulets', bought to attract Edwardian tourists to the scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He then heads over the rail bridge across the lagoon to Venice, where he finds a microcosm of pre-First World War Europe in the Venice Biennale art exhibition.
TUE 20:30 Secret Knowledge (b054fkzz)
The Private Life of a Dolls' House
Lauren Child, author, illustrator and creator of Charlie and Lola, has a secret passion - dolls' houses. She has worked on her own dolls' house for the past 30 years and her lifelong obsession continues to inspire her ideas and shape her work. But why do these interior worlds have the power to cast a spell beyond childhood?
Lauren explores the history of dolls' houses from some of the earliest examples to their modern incarnations, speaks to craftspeople who create perfect miniatures and meets ardent collectors willing to pay big money for tiny objects of desire.
TUE 21:00 Emma (b007969t)
Adaptation of the Jane Austen classic about a privileged young woman's misguided attempts at matchmaking.
Wealthy and charming Emma Woodhouse is convinced she knows what is best for everyone's love lives. Having never been in love herself, she is naive about matters of the heart and is gently guided by the patient Mr Knightley, a family friend whom she regards as a brother. But when Emma falls for a newcomer to the village, the eligible bachelor Mr Churchill, she fails to recognise that her own true love may have been right before her eyes all along.
TUE 22:55 Twin Sisters: A World Apart (b053pxdt)
Documentary telling the poignant true story of twin sisters from China, found as babies in a cardboard box in 2003 and adopted by two separate sets of parents - one from California, the other from a remote fishing village in Norway.
In the US, Mia is raised a typical all-American girl, with a bustling life filled with violin lessons, girl scouts and soccer, while Alexandra grows up in the quietude of the breathtakingly beautiful but isolated village of Fresvik, Norway.
Neither of the adoptive parents were told their daughters were twins, but a chance sighting at the orphanage enabled them to keep in touch, until a DNA test proved their hunch had been right. Both girls grew up knowing they had an identical twin living on the other side of the world.
The film tells the remarkable story of their parallel journey, punctuated by only the odd visit, videos and photographs - until they meet for a longer visit in Norway when they are eight years old. Despite living completely different lives and speaking different languages, they are mirrors of each other - the magical bond between them is extraordinary.
This is the story of our notions of family - the genetic ones we inherit and the ones we create.
TUE 23:55 Rise of the Continents (p019bctl)
Africa
Geologist Prof Iain Stewart shows how the continent of Africa was formed from the wreckage of a long lost supercontinent.
TUE 00:55 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8pl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 01:25 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8t3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUE 01:55 Wallander (b00mk3sg)
Series 1
The Castle Ruins
When an old man is murdered at a luxury housing development by the sea, suspicions fall on the residents. It seems that their perfect lives are not so perfect after all.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
TUE 03:20 Secret Knowledge (b054fkzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
WEDNESDAY 04 MARCH 2015
WED 19:00 World News Today (b054bvn9)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty91g)
Series 2 - Reversions
Dresden to Kiel: Part 1
Steered by his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo explores Germany, the powerhouse of today's European Union, and learns how tourists in the early 20th century would have been visiting quite a new country, which they admired and envied but also feared.
Beginning in Dresden, Michael explores the city of one of his favourite opera composers, Richard Wagner. He learns about the health craze of the time and attempts the equivalent of a 1913 Jane Fonda workout. He travels to Leipzig on a historic railway line, built by British engineers in 1839. In Brunswick, he learns how the arrival of the railway added its own flavour to the local beer before moving on to Hamburg, where he discovers model railway making on the grandest of scales.
In Kiel, Michael learns about the intense rivalry between Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and his uncle, British King Edward VII, at the Kiel Week yacht races. Michael boards an early 20th-century yacht to experience the thrill for himself and learns how British yachtsmen spied on the German navy.
WED 20:00 Nature's Great Events (b00j4c6b)
The Great Flood
The great flood in the Okavango turns 4,000 square miles of arid plains into a beautiful wetland. Elephant mothers guide their families on an epic trek across the harsh Kalahari Desert towards it, siphoning fresh water from stagnant pools and facing hungry lions. Hippos battle for territory, as the magical water draws in thousands of buffalo and birds, and vast clouds of dragonflies. Will the young elephant calves survive to reach this grassland paradise?
The experienced mother elephants time their arrival at the delta to coincide with the lush grass produced by the great flood. In a TV first, the programme shows the way they use their trunks to siphon clean water from the surface layers of a stagnant pool, while avoiding stirring up the muddy sediment on the bottom with their feet.
Bull hippos also converge on prime territories formed by the rising floodwater. Two big bulls do bloody battle, at times being lifted out of the water by their rival.
Lechwe swamp deer, zebras, giraffes, crocodiles and numerous fish and thousands of birds arrive in the delta. And, in a phenomenon never before filmed in the Okavango, thousands of dragonflies appear - seemingly from nowhere - within minutes of the flood arrival, mating and laying eggs.
As the flood finally reaches its peak, elephants and buffalo, near the end of their epic trek across the desert, face the final gauntlet of a hungry pride of lions.
In a heartrending sequence, a baby elephant is brought down by a lion in broad daylight.
The diary section - Mission Impassible - shows how the versatility and persistence of cameraman Mike Holding results is some amazing sequences of the flood advancing.
WED 21:00 Climate Change: A Horizon Guide (b054fg05)
Today, the topic of climate change is a major part of daily life, yet 40 years ago it was virtually unheard of. Since then, Horizon and the BBC have followed scientists as they have tried to unpick how the climate works and whether it is changing. Dr Helen Czerski delves into this unique archive to chart the transformation of a little-known theory into one of the greatest scientific undertakings in history. It has been a constantly surprising journey of discovery that has revolutionised our understanding of climate, and seen scientists face unprecedented controversy and criticism.
WED 22:00 Storyville (b05534p0)
India's Daughter
The story of the brutal gang rape and murder of 23-year-old medical student Jyoti on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012, and the unprecedented protests and riots which this horrific event ignited throughout India, leading to the demand for changes in attitudes towards women. The film examines the values and mindsets of the rapists, and interviews the two lawyers who defended the men convicted of Jyoti's rape and murder.
WED 23:00 Rise of the Continents (p019bd2j)
Australia
Professor Iain Stewart uncovers the mysterious history of Australia, and shows how Australia's journey as a continent has affected everything from Aboriginal history to modern-day mining, and even the evolution of Australia's bizarre wildlife, like the koala.
Iain begins searching for the platypus - a strange creature that is half mammal and half reptile. 200 million years ago reptile-like mammals were found across much of the world because at this time Australia was just one part of a huge landmass called Gondwana, that dominated the southern hemisphere.
Piecing together evidence from fossils found in a sea cliff outside Sydney and rocks recovered from Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole, Professor Stewart shows that Gondwana was covered by a forest of now extinct trees called glossopteris. This was the habitat of the ancestors of today's platypus.
To discover the fate of Gondwana, Iain visits an unusual mining town called Coober Pedy where many of the buildings are underground in dug-out caves. The opals that are mined here enable him to recreate the breakup of Gondwana, and also show how Australia's formation led to the creation of a vast underground aquifer. This source of hidden water sustained the Aboriginal people as they criss-crossed the otherwise arid Australian interior.
Iain travels to the cliffs of the Australian Bight to show how Australia was once joined to Antarctica, and how their split led to the evolution of the biggest group of mammals on earth - the filter feeding whales.
Australia's journey away from Antarctica has also left its mark on the koala. Its big, round face and fluffy ears are a result of adaptations to the climate change that Australia has undergone on its northwards journey.
Finally Iain travels to Indonesia to meet the Bajau people of the Banda Sea - sea gypsies who glean almost all they need to live from the waters around them. Contained within these waters is evidence that shows Australia's eventual fate. Over the next 50 million years, Australia will collide with Asia, its isolation will be over, and it will become forested and lush once again.
WED 00:00 Nature's Great Events (b00j4c6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 01:00 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty91g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 01:30 Wallander (b00pfs6y)
Series 1
Blood Line
Following an argument with her lover on her boat, a woman is found dead. Wallander and the Ystad police investigate - their enquiries lead them to a farm commune and to an old friend of Linda's.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
WED 03:00 Climate Change: A Horizon Guide (b054fg05)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 05 MARCH 2015
THU 19:00 World News Today (b054bvng)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0544glm)
Simon Bates presents chart hits of the week, with performances from Matchbox, Keith Michell, the Flying Lizards, Elvis Costello, Michael Jackson, Dave Edmunds, Jon & Vangelis, Marti Webb and Kenny Rogers, and a dance sequence by Legs & Co.
THU 20:00 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (p01f53b9)
Poison
Dr Michael Mosley ends the series with a look at poisons, exploring the turning points when scientists went from finding antidotes to poisons to applying poisons as cures, and celebrating the eccentrics and mavericks whose breakthroughs were to pave the way for some of the most striking treatments of modern medicine. Of the medicines explored in this series, those that are derived from poisons are perhaps the most extraordinary. The story of turning poisons into medicines encompasses the planet's most deadly substances, in which we turned killers into cures.
THU 21:00 Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries (b054fmzl)
Episode 3
In the final episode of the series, Dr Janina Ramirez discovers how the immensely rich and powerful monasteries that had dominated British society for 1,000 were annihilated in less than five years.
In the 15th century, 800 monasteries in England owned one-third of the nation's land. Many monks were living in palatial monasteries and were patrons of the finest art and architecture. Janina examines monastery kitchen records and the bones of a medieval monk to discover the truth behind accusations of monastic gluttony and vice. She also explores how the arrival of the printing press put paid to the monasteries' monopoly of publishing and education.
Janina then traces the story of the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell. She explores whether the dissolution was the violent action of a greedy and overbearing monarch or if it was the inevitable 'end of days' for a rotten and outmoded institution.
She uncovers stories of shocking corruption alongside examples of extraordinary pious sacrifice. Although not a single monastery survived the systematic liquidation, Janina shows the lasting impact Britain's millennium of monasteries had on our society and culture.
THU 22:00 Climate Change by Numbers (p02jsdrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 23:15 Rise of the Continents (b0368kb2)
The Americas
Professor Iain Stewart uncovers clues hidden within the New York skyline, the anatomy of American alligators and inside Bolivian silver mines, to reconstruct how North and South America were created. We call these two continents the New World, and in a geological sense they are indeed new worlds, torn from the heart of an ancient supercontinent - the Old World of Pangaea.
Iain starts in New York, where the layout of the city's skyscrapers provide a link to a long-lost world. Deep within their foundations is evidence that 300 million years ago New York was at the heart of a huge mountain range - part of the vast supercontinent called Pangaea.
Trekking into the Grand Canyon, Iain uncovers a layer of sandstone from Pangaean times that shows there was a vast desert either side of the mountains. Footprints in the rocks of the Grand Canyon reveal that there was only one type of animal that could thrive here - a newly evolved group called the reptiles. Iain meets the closest living relative of those early reptiles - the alligator.
Two hundred million years ago, Pangea underwent a transformation. North and South America were carved from Pangaea, and pushed westwards as separate island continents. To see how this westward movement shaped South America's often bloody human history, Iain travels to Potosi in Bolivia. Cerro Rico is one of the most dangerous mines in human history. Iain goes to the heart of this extinct volcano to reveal the process that has shaped South America - subduction.
Subduction has also created the longest continual mountain range in the world - the Andes. At its heart lies the stunning ethereal landscape of the Salar de Uyuni, a vast salt flat where a lake has been uplifted thousands of metres above sea level. The lithium found here may be a new source of mineral wealth for Bolivia, for use in mobile phones.
The last chapter in the story of the Americas is told through that most typically Andean animal, the llama. But like much of South America's wildlife it originated in North America, and only came south when the two island continents of North and South America joined three million years ago.
Since that momentous joining the story of the Americas has been a shared one. Together they continue their westward drift away from the Old World. However, on a cultural and economic level you could argue that the opposite is the case. In our new global economy the Americas are at the very heart of our connected world.
THU 00:15 Top of the Pops (b0544glm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 00:50 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sjk)
Episode 2
Serious and sincere they may have been, never cracking a smile where a tortured, artistic look would do, but this tranche of 80s pop stars know how to make that look work - Eurythmics, Spandau Ballet, Phil Collins, Fine Young Cannibals, Tears for Fears, Suzanne Vega and Simply Red.
THU 01:15 Wallander (b00phkkw)
Series 1
The Joker
When a woman is shot dead on the beach outside her restaurant, the only witness is her young daughter. Wallander and his team are informed about a restaurant mafia in Malmo run by Jack Hansson, so the Malmo police are called in to help. One of their cops, Frank Borg, knows a little bit too much about Jack's business dealings, and his methods are unconventional.
In Swedish with English subtitles.
THU 02:45 Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries (b054fmzl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 06 MARCH 2015
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b054bvnm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Sounds of the Sixties (b0074qcb)
Original Series
The Singer and the Song
Rock, pop and R'n'B performances from the BBC archives, with Sandie Shaw, Dusty Springfield, Long John Baldry, Lulu, Tom Jones, Brenton Wood, Cliff Richard, Cilla Black and Peter Sarstedt.
FRI 20:00 Darcey Bussell's Looking for Audrey (b04w7mfk)
Behind Audrey Hepburn's dazzling image, Darcey Bussell unravels an epic tale of betrayal, courage, heartache and broken dreams.
For as long as she can remember, Darcey has been fascinated by Audrey Hepburn - style icon, star of Breakfast at Tiffany's and an Oscar winner at 24. Now, Darcey follows in Audrey's footsteps through Holland, London, Rome, Switzerland and Hollywood to find out more. She discovers that Audrey started out as a dancer, risked her life in the Second World War and, although adored the world over, was always looking for love.
FRI 21:00 Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity (b054v27d)
In the early 1980s, Culture Club was one of the biggest bands in the world, selling 150 million records worldwide. Formed in London, the band was comprised of Boy George on vocals, Mikey Craig on bass, Roy Hay on guitar and keyboards and Jon Moss on drums. As well as their UK success, the band was huge in the USA - notching up ten top 40 hits. Being part of Band Aid cemented them as stalwarts of the 80s, a band that broke down barriers and left a huge legacy for the stars that came later, before they disbanded in 1986.
However, they are a band with a past as colourful as their music. George had a secret affair with his drummer Jon Moss and when they acrimoniously split, the band fell apart and George descended into heroin addiction. Over the years there have been numerous failed attempts to reunite the band.
In 2014 Culture Club decided to come back together to record a new album and embark on a UK and US tour. Director Mike Nicholls has unique access, following the band as they first meet in George's London home to write new material. However, it's not long before creative differences and tensions from their past begin to emerge. Faultlines develop further when the band travel to Spain to record the new album, spending two weeks working and living together in a remote recording studio.
As the band return to London to prepare for the tour, they suffer a Twitter mauling after their first big public performance on Strictly Come Dancing. Relations are even more strained when George and the band sign to separate managers and a sudden illness threatens the whole reunion.
The film looks at the band's troubled past, examining the themes of success, fame and ego, and reveals the personalities behind one of the most iconic bands of all time.
FRI 22:00 TOTP2 (b00sfz04)
80s Special
Mark Radcliffe presents a look back at some of the most memorable Top of the Pops performances from the 80s including Adam Ant, Kylie and Jason, Culture Club, Bucks Fizz, Yazz, Duran Duran and Wham!
FRI 23:00 The New Romantics: A Fine Romance (b007btt3)
Culture Club, Spandau Ballet, Visage, Marilyn, Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran, ABC... At the dawn of the 80s, a whole host of strangely dressed men in make-up burst forth onto the music scene brandishing synthesisers and kicking against the visual ugliness of punk.
They came mainly from the London club scene, led by gender-bending host Steve Strange and pioneering electronic DJ Rusty Egan, and conquered the charts with classic tracks such as Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, To Cut a Long Story Short, Kings of the Wild Frontier, Planet Earth, Fade to Grey, Calling Your Name and Poison Arrow.
Magenta Devine narrates this gay and colourful behind-the-scene documentary of sex and drugs and frocks and hair-rollers, which includes interviews with Boy George, Gary Kemp, Adam Ant, Nick Rhodes, Steve Strange, Rusty Egan, Marilyn, Jonathan Ross, Caryn Franklin, Fiona Bruce and Robert Elms.
FRI 23:50 Nile Rodgers: The Hitmaker Remastered (b01rk2tm)
The last two years have seen Nile Rodgers launched back into the limelight following the massive success of Daft Punk's single Get Lucky, his distinctive guitar work helping the French dance music duo to one of their biggest hits.
This 2013 documentary has been brought up to date to tell the story of his work with Daft Punk and how his band Chic has been introduced to a brand new audience.
As the co-founder, songwriter, producer and guitarist of Chic he helped define the sound of the 70s, as disco took the world by storm. But the music that had made Chic would also break them, thanks to the 'Disco Sucks' backlash. What could have been the end for Nile Rodgers would actually be a new beginning as a producer, helping create some of the biggest hits of the '80s for the likes of Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran.
The ever-charismatic Rogers contributes an engaging and often frank interview to tell the tale of how, born to beatnik, heroin-addict parents in New York, he picked up a guitar as a teenager and embarked on a journey to learn his craft as a musician, before becoming one of disco's most successful artists.
In the '70s and '80s he lived the party lifestyle thanks to his success with Chic and as one of the music industry's hottest producers. Drugs and alcohol would become part of everyday life for Nile, contributing in part to the break-up of Chic in the early '80s. The band would reform in the mid '90s, but their return was quickly marked by tragedy with the death of Nile's long-time friend and musical partner Bernard Edwards in 1996.
The film recounts a captivating and moving story of a man who has been making hit music for nearly four decades and has found himself back in the limelight once again.
FRI 00:50 Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity (b054v27d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 01:50 TOTP2 (b00sfz04)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 02:50 The New Romantics: A Fine Romance (b007btt3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]