SATURDAY 08 AUGUST 2015
SAT 19:00 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mq3p1)
Episode 1
Series combining stunning wildlife with high-octane adventure, as a team of scientists and wildlife film-makers from the BBC's Natural History Unit explores one of the last great unspoilt jungle wildernesses on earth.
New Guinea is a rugged tropical island that is home to some of the strangest creatures on the planet. The team is based at the foot of Mount Bosavi, a giant extinct volcano covered in thick and largely unexplored rainforest. With the help of trackers from a remote tribe, they aim to search for the animals that live there - and they make amazing finds.
Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan discovers the nest of the world's smallest parrot, insect expert Dr George McGavin finds a talking beetle, the scientists identify types of frog, gecko and bat that are completely new to science, and adventurer Steve Backshall has to live and sleep underground as he explores a cave system flooded with white water.
The cameras follow the team every sweaty step of the way as they search for the evidence that may help preserve this last great jungle forever.
SAT 20:00 Natural World (b01ntt8p)
2012-2013
Attenborough's Ark
David Attenborough chooses his ten favourite animals that he would most like to save from extinction. From the weird to the wonderful, he picks fabulous and unusual creatures that he would like to put in his 'ark', including unexpected and little-known animals such as the olm, the solenodon and the quoll. He shows why they are so important and shares the ingenious work of biologists across the world who are helping to keep them alive.
SAT 21:00 The Young Montalbano (b03b8pz3)
Series 1
New Year's Eve
A man is shot dead in his hotel room on New Year's Eve, so Montalbano spends his first New Year's Day in Vigata investigating a murder. The case presents several unusual conundrums, not least the fact that the victim was co-owner of the hotel.
In Italian with English subtitles.
SAT 22:55 The Irish Rock Story: A Tale of Two Cities (b0555xv8)
Film telling the story of how rock music helped to change Ireland. The 40-year-old story of Irish rock and pop music is grounded in the very different musical traditions of the two main cities of the island, Belfast and Dublin.
This musical celebration charts the lives and careers of some of the biggest selling acts in Irish rock, punk and pop from Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy to The Undertones and U2. From the pioneers of the showbands touring in the late 50s through to the modern day, the film examines their lineage and connections and how the hardcore, rocking sound of Belfast merged with the more melodic, folky Dublin tradition to form what we now recognise as Irish rock and pop.
The film explores where these bands and musicians came from and the influence the political, social and cultural environments of the day had on them and how the music influenced those environments.
With contributions from many of the heavyweights of Irish rock and pop, including U2, Sinead O'Connor and Bob Geldof, it follows their careers as they forged an international presence and looks at how they helped change the island along the way.
SAT 23:55 Irish Rock at the BBC (b0556qc9)
A whistle-stop tour of rock from over the water, taking in some of the finest Irish rock offerings from the early 70s to the present day, as captured on a variety of BBC shows from The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops to Later... with Jools Holland.
Kicking off with Thin Lizzy's 1973 debut hit Whiskey in the Jar, the programme traces Irish rock's unfolding lineage. Performances from guitar maestro Rory Gallagher, Celtic rock godfathers Horslips and John Peel favourites The Undertones feature alongside rivals Stiff Little Fingers, with their Top of the Pops performance of Nobody's Hero, followed by post-punk U2's 1981 debut UK performance of I Will Follow from The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Then there is Sinead O'Connor's debut single performance of Mandinka, and The Pogues play the Ewan MacColl classic Dirty Old Town from 1986. Into the 90s, there is The Frank and Walters and Therapy? on Top of the Pops, along with early performances on Later... with Jools Holland from Ash and The Divine Comedy.
There is rockabilly with Imelda May's debut hit Johnny Got a Boom Boom, and then more recently Cavan's The Strypes and Hozier, whose Take Me to Church completes this hit-driven tour through Irish rock.
SAT 00:55 ... 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.
SAT 01:55 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mq3p1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SAT 02:55 Natural World (b01ntt8p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SUNDAY 09 AUGUST 2015
SUN 19:00 BBC Proms (b065ggg7)
2015
BBC Proms Sunday Symphony: Pastoral Symphonies
Nature has always been a source of inspiration for composers, and in this Prom two great pastoral symphonies meet from across the ages. The Australian composer Brett Dean explores the destructive relationship we have with nature in his Pastoral Symphony from 2000. Sir Mark Elder explains how this complex score works - he describes Dean as 'one of the most important composers of his time.'
It was written as a companion piece to Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony from 200 years earlier, a work which the Aurora Orchestra and conductor Nicholas Collon perform from memory. The programme also includes another new work - the world premiere of Anna Meredith's Smatter Hauler, commissioned especially by the BBC for this concert.
Presented from the Royal Albert Hall by Katie Derham.
SUN 20:30 Brushing up on... (b01s6h36)
Series 1
British Towers
Danny Baker turns his attention to Britain's towers, those soaring structures that loom loftily above us but about which little is known.
SUN 21:00 Storyville (b065y1dx)
Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise
The bombing of Hiroshima showed the appalling destructive power of the atomic bomb. Mark Cousins's bold documentary looks at death in the atomic age, but life too. Using only archive film and a new musical score by the band Mogwai, the film shows us an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times - protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima - but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. The nuclear age has been a nightmare, but dreamlike too.
SUN 22:10 The Sky at Night (b06626c5)
Cosmic Blasts
The Sky at Night team look at cosmic explosions. They explore the beautiful but potentially deadly outbursts of our very own star - the sun - and the most violent and energetic events in the universe, gamma ray bursts.
SUN 22:40 Chalkie Davies: Rock Photographer (b05xd4yv)
In the late 70s Chalkie Davies was a photographer at the New Musical Express, taking pictures of bands like Thin Lizzy, the Clash, the Sex Pistols and many more. Now, as his first major exhibition opens at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, and showing as part of BBC Music Day, he looks back on an extraordinary life, and old friends like Elvis Costello reflect on how Chalkie's images are so enduring.
Chalkie Davies was born in Sully just outside Cardiff and his first job was as an engineer at Heathrow Airport. But he was always a keen amateur photographer and when he won a camera club competition in 1973 the door opened onto a career in rock 'n' roll.
He was allowed in to take pictures on the last night of David Bowie's legendary Ziggy Stardust tour and the results were so good he never looked back. Joining the New Musical Express in the mid-70s, he was in the right place at the right time and became a favourite amongst the punk and new wave bands including the Clash, The Specials, Squeeze and Elvis Costello.
Chalkie's pictures summed up the era and many are classics of rock and roll photography. But by the mid-80s he'd become disenchanted with the music business, where image mattered more than music. The death of his close friend Phil Lynott, leader singer of Thin Lizzy, led Chalkie to quit rock music.
For 25 years Chalkie's collection of rock images remained hidden away until an invitation from the National Museum of Wales led him to bring them out for a new generation. This documentary follows Chalkie as he prepares for the exhibition, revisits his childhood haunts and reflects on an extraordinary career.
There are contributions from many of the musicians he photographed including Elvis Costello, Chris Difford of Squeeze, songwriter Nick Lowe, the Specials mainman Jerry Dammers and punk poet John Cooper Clarke.
SUN 23:10 Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (b064jgws)
Series 1
Episode 1
An up-close and personal examination of the life, music and career of the legendary entertainer. In 1971, Frank Sinatra sang his legendary 'retirement concert' in Los Angeles, featuring music which was said to reflect his own life. Told in his own words from hours of archived interviews, along with commentary from those closest to him, this definitive four-part series weaves the legendary songs he chose with comments from friends and family, as well as never-before-seen footage from home movies and concert performances.
An unprecedented tribute to the beloved showman, with the full participation of the Frank Sinatra Estate, the opening episode takes us from Sinatra's birth to his early years as a roadhouse performer, revealing the influences behind his meteoric rise.
SUN 00:10 BBC Proms (b064jgwv)
2015
Friday Night at the Proms: Seth MacFarlane Sings Sinatra
The Proms welcomes Hollywood royalty to the Albert Hall to celebrate the 100th birthday year of Frank Sinatra. The legendary John Wilson Orchestra is joined on stage by Family Guy and American Dad creator Seth MacFarlane to perform some of Sinatra's most memorable songs. Packed full of favourites like Let's Face the Music and Dance, Come Fly with Me and I've Got You Under My Skin, it's a musical journey through the highlights of Sinatra's Capitol Years 1954-1962.
MacFarlane is joined on stage by actor/singer Jamie Parker and jazz singer Claire Martin for some seriously smooth jammin'. The evening is hosted by The Wire star Clarke Peters and Radio 3's Clemency Burton-Hill.
SUN 01:35 Doris Day - Virgin Territory (b0074rwd)
Doris Day has often been dismissed as an actress and overlooked as a singer, despite career highs such as Calamity Jane and Pillow Talk. Covering her early years as a band singer, and her troubled private life, this documentary re-evaluates one of the screen's most enduring legends.
SUN 02:35 Storyville (b065y1dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MONDAY 10 AUGUST 2015
MON 19:00 World News Today (b065b7f0)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b03t7ql3)
Series 5
Norwich to Brandon
Guided by his 19th century Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey from Norwich to Chichester. On this first leg he explores Norwich's medieval heart. In the city's Norman castle he uncovers the Victorian public's gory fascination with crime and punishment and finds out how campaigners such as Elizabeth Fry, who was born in Norwich, worked to improve conditions for prisoners. At the city's livestock market, Michael learns how to buy a calf at auction with a subtle twitch of his guidebook.
He then heads west to Thetford to explore the rabbit warrens of the Brecks. He discovers how the Victorian appetite for rabbits and their fur led to special train services to London, known as Bunny Trains.
After a painful encounter with a polecat, Michael heads northwest to Brandon, home of some of the best quality flint in Britain and tries his hand at flint-knapping.
MON 20:00 A Very British Renaissance (b03zmmk5)
The Elizabethan Code
Art historian Dr James Fox continues his exploration of a Renaissance that he believes was as rich and as significant in Britain as it was in Italy and Europe. He tells the story of the painters, sculptors, poets, playwrights, composers, inventors, craftsmen and scientists who revolutionised the way we saw the world.
In this episode, he explores the Elizabethans' love of secrecy, codes and complexity, and the cultural revolution sparked by an age of discovery and exploration.
MON 21:00 Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield (b065x080)
Lying on the remote north west coast of England is one of the most secret places in the country - Sellafield, the most controversial nuclear facility in Britain. Now, Sellafield are letting nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili and the television cameras in to discover the real story. Inside, Jim encounters some of the most dangerous substances on earth, reveals the nature of radiation and even attempts to split the atom. He sees inside a nuclear reactor, glimpses one of the rarest elements in the world - radioactive plutonium - and even subjects living tissue to deadly radiation. Ultimately, the film reveals Britain's attempts - past, present and future - to harness the almost limitless power of the atom.
MON 22:00 Race for the World's First Atomic Bomb: A Thousand Days of Fear (b065y7qq)
The personalities behind the creation of the world's first atomic bomb were as extraordinary, and often as explosive, as the science they were working in. This is the inside-the-barbed-wire story of the men and women who worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. Through first-hand accounts and never-before-seen interviews, this documentary looks inside the atomic insiders' hearts and minds, their triumphs and failures, their bravery in the face of paralyzing fear and, ultimately, their war-winning and world-changing accomplishments.
MON 23:00 Natural World (b01ntt8p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
MON 00:00 The Fantastical World of Hormones with Professor John Wass (b03wctdg)
Hormones shape each and every one of us, affecting almost every aspect of our lives - our height, our weight, our appetites, how we grow and reproduce, and even how we behave and feel.
This documentary tells the wonderful and often weird story of how hormones were discovered.
Presenter John Wass, one the country's leading experts on hormones, relates some amazing stories - how as recently as the 19th century boys were castrated to keep their pure soprano voice, how juices were extracted from testicles in the hope they would rejuvenate old men and how true medical heroes like Frederick Banting discovered a way to make insulin, thus saving the lives of countless diabetes sufferers.
And hormones remain at the cutting edge of medicine as we try and deal with modern scourges like obesity.
MON 01:00 Brushing up on... (b01s6h36)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:30 Irish Rock at the BBC (b0556qc9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:55 on Saturday]
MON 02:25 Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield (b065x080)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 11 AUGUST 2015
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b065b7f5)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b03t7rgg)
Series 5
Ipswich to Chelmsford
Michael Portillo continues his journey from the east coast to the south coast beginning in the port of Ipswich, capital of the farming county of Suffolk. His first port of call is an agricultural implement works with its own railway sidings. Michael investigates what could have earned the Victorian manufacturer a special mention in his Bradshaw's.
Continuing his journey south west into Essex, Michael dredges oysters off Mersea Island before taking the train to Witham, where he discovers a model farming establishment at Tiptree. His final destination is Chelmsford and the world's first purpose-built radio equipment factory, established by Guglielmo Marconi.
TUE 20:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b03t7spn)
Series 5
Ilford to Rochester
Steered by his Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo heads along the Essex bank of the Thames before crossing the river into the Garden of England, Kent.
He begins this leg at Barkingside, where a Victorian philanthropist called Dr Thomas Barnardo made it his life's work to transform the lives of destitute children.
From Upminster Michael takes the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway to Tilbury and finds out how the line and the old station transformed the town into one of the country's most important ports. At the docks, Michael tries his hand at loading a container on to a pocket wagon.
Over the river at Gravesend Michael discovers how one of Queen Victoria's favourite army officers, General Gordon, left his mark on the town.
Michael's last destination on this leg is Rochester, where he encounters a host of familiar characters and explores the city which was home to one of the Victorian era's greatest writers, Charles Dickens.
TUE 20:30 Hive Minds (b065gkjb)
Series 1
Mendelians v Goats
Fiona Bruce presents the quiz show where players not only have to know the answers, but have to find them hidden in a hive of letters. It tests players' general knowledge and mental agility, as they battle against one another and race against the clock to find the answers.
In a second-round match, Mendelians play the Goats for a chance to stay in the competition.
TUE 21:00 The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (b042twvq)
Episode 2
Lucy Worsley's inside story of Britain's imported German dynasty, made with extensive access to the Royal Collection, reaches the reign of George II. She shows how he had to adapt to a growing 'middling rank' in society no longer content with being downtrodden subjects. Affairs of state were being openly discussed in coffee houses, while the king and his ministers were mocked in satirical prints and theatres.
George II was an easy target - grumpy, and frequently absent in Hanover. To his British subjects he became The King Who Wasn't There. But his wife, the enlightened Caroline, popularized a medical breakthrough against smallpox. However, it was their son, Frederick Prince of Wales, who really understood this new world - he had the popular touch monarchy would need to survive into the modern era.
TUE 22:00 War Book (b065ylyy)
Drama in which civil servants take part in a regular role-playing game to practise their response to a nuclear explosion leading to all-out nuclear war.
TUE 23:30 Precision: The Measure of All Things (b02xgf5d)
Mass and Moles
Deep underground in a vault beneath Paris lives the most important lump of metal in the world - Le Grand K. Created in the 19th century, it's the world's master kilogramme, the weight on which every other weight is based. But there is a problem with Le Grand K - it is losing weight. Professor Marcus du Sautoy explores the history of this strange object and the astonishing modern day race to replace it.
TUE 00:30 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03lyyrc)
Episode 3
Simon discovers surprises in Istanbul as it rose to become the imperial capital and Islam's most powerful city. Visiting the great mosques and palaces built by the Ottoman emperors, he tells the stories behind them - of royal concubines, murderous bodyguards and sultans both the powerful and the depraved. He shows how the Christians, Muslims and Jews of the city once co-existed before the waves of nationalist rebellions brought the Ottoman empire to its knees. In the 20th century the ancient capital was once more transformed by the new secular vision of Ataturk.
TUE 01:30 Hive Minds (b065gkjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
TUE 02:00 The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (b042twvq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUE 03:00 Race for the World's First Atomic Bomb: A Thousand Days of Fear (b065y7qq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Monday]
WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2015
WED 19:00 World News Today (b065b7fb)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 The Sky at Night (b06626c5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:10 on Sunday]
WED 20:00 British Gardens in Time (b042638j)
Nymans
Nymans, one of the most fashionable and romantic gardens of the Edwardian and interwar years, was the creation of a family of German emigres of Jewish descent. The Messels arrived in Britain in 1870 at a time when both anti-semitism and anti-German sentiment were rife. Nevertheless, Ludwig Messel succeeded in establishing a successful stockbroking firm and creating at Nymans the quintessential English garden with rare plants and a theatrical herbaceous border inspired by William Robinson.
His children and grandchildren would continue to develop the garden and the family's spectacular social trajectory reached its apogee with Ludwig's great-grandson Antony Armstrong-Jones's marriage to Princess Margaret. However, Nymans was to repeatedly face disaster as a fire devastated the house leaving just a romantic ruin to dominate the garden, while the garden itself came close to total destruction in the Great Storm of 1987.
WED 21:00 Genius of the Ancient World (b065gv2m)
Socrates
Historian Bettany Hughes is in Greece, on the trail of the hugely influential maverick thinker Socrates, who was executed for his beliefs.
WED 22:00 Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves (b015yh6f)
Just off the southern coast of mainland Greece lies the oldest submerged city in the world. It thrived for 2,000 years during the time that saw the birth of western civilisation.
An international team of experts uses cutting-edge technology to prise age-old secrets from the complex of streets and stone buildings that lie less than five metres below the surface of the ocean. State-of-the-art CGI helps to raise the city from the seabed, revealing for the first time in 3,500 years how Pavlopetri would once have looked and operated.
Underwater archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson leads the project in collaboration with Nic Flemming, the man whose hunch led to the discovery of Pavlopetri in 1967, and a team from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Working alongside the archaeologists are a team from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics.
The teams scour the ocean floor, looking for artefacts. The site is littered with thousands of fragments, each providing valuable clues about the everyday lives of the people of Pavlopetri. From the buildings to the trade goods to the everyday tableware, each artefact provides a window into a forgotten world.
Together these precious relics provide us with a window to a time when Pavlopetri would have been at its height, showing us what life was like in this distant age and revealing how this city marks the start of western civilisation.
WED 23:00 Timewatch (b00sl29f)
Atlantis: The Evidence
Historian Bettany Hughes unravels one of the most intriguing mysteries of all time. She presents a series of geological, archaeological and historical clues to show that the legend of Atlantis was inspired by a real historical event, the greatest natural disaster of the ancient world.
WED 00:00 Delphi: The Bellybutton of the Ancient World (b00w4jtx)
What really went on at the ancient Greek oracle at Delphi, how did it get its awesome reputation and why is it still influential today?
Michael Scott of Cambridge University uncovers the secrets of the most famous oracle in the ancient world. A vital force in ancient history for a thousand years, it is now one of Greece's most beautiful tourist sites, but in its time it has been a gateway into the supernatural, a cockpit of political conflict, and a beacon for internationalism. And at its heart was the famous inscription which still inspires visitors today - 'Know Thyself'.
WED 01:00 British Gardens in Time (b042638j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 02:00 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03lyyrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
00:30 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Genius of the Ancient World (b065gv2m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 13 AUGUST 2015
THU 19:00 World News Today (b065b7fh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 BBC Proms (b065gxc2)
2015
Concerto at the BBC Proms: Nicola Benedetti Plays Korngold
Former BBC Young Musician of the Year Nicola Benedetti brings a touch of Hollywood glamour to the Royal Albert Hall, performing Korngold's Violin Concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Kirill Karabits also conducts the seaside orchestra in a Proms favourite - Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes. Presenter Tom Service follows the action.
THU 20:35 The Chopin Etudes (b0074pnr)
Opus 10, No 6
Pianist Freddy Kempf plays Chopin's Etude in E flat minor, Op 10 no 6.
THU 20:40 The Chopin Etudes (b0074pqr)
Opus 25, No 11
Pianist Freddy Kempf plays Chopin's Etude in A minor, Op 25 no 11.
THU 20:45 The Chopin Etudes (b008wmkw)
Opus 25, No 7
Chopin's Opus 25 no 7 performed by Freddy Kempf.
THU 20:55 London to Brighton Side by Side (b00f2zxt)
In 1953, the BBC made a point-of-view film from the London to Brighton train. In 1983, they did the same again. This is a film made of both runs at once, with every bridge, siding, tunnel and station running side by side in unlikely synchronisation.
THU 21:00 Britain's Deadliest Rail Disaster: Quintinshill (b05vqx7v)
On 22 May 1915, a collision at the Quintinshill signal box, near Gretna, became Britain's deadliest ever rail crash. Involving a military train filled with troops - most of whom were from Leith - heading for Gallipoli and two passenger trains, the crash claimed an estimated 226 lives and left hundreds more injured.
The duty signalmen, George Meakin and James Tinsley, were found responsible for the disaster and were both jailed on the charges of culpable homicide.
Neil Oliver explores the series of mistakes that may have caused the collision, the part played by the train companies and the government, and determines whether the investigation would have come to the same conclusions if it were carried out today. Dramatised reconstructions add to this compelling account of a tragedy which had a profound effect on several communities in Scotland, and remains the deadliest in the annals of Britain's railways.
Britain's Deadliest Rail Disaster: Quintinshill is a Finestripe Productions programme for BBC Scotland.
THU 22:00 Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield (b065x080)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 23:00 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mq3p1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
THU 00:00 A Very British Renaissance (b03zmmk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
THU 01:00 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.
THU 02:00 Sex, Lies and Love Bites: The Agony Aunt Story (b0555vjj)
Psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry presents a witty and revealing look at the problem page's enduring appeal. In the documentary Philippa picks her way through three centuries of advice on broken hearts, cheating partners and adolescent angst to uncover a fascinating portrait of our social history.
She talks to fellow agony aunts and uncles like the Telegraph's Graham Norton and the Sun's Deidre Sanders about their experiences, as well as exploring the work of advice columnists past, like the 17th-century inventor of the problem page, John Dunton. The advice may change, but she discovers that, when it comes to subjects like love and courtship, the same old problems keep on cropping up.
Through the work of generations of advice columnists Philippa charts the developing battle of the sexes, the rise of the middle classes and a revolution in social attitudes. For much of the 20th century, agony aunts avoided any mention of trouble in the bedroom. Philippa explores the pioneering work of agony aunts like Claire Rayner, who began to offer frank sex advice in the 1960s. Today, sex takes pride of place on the problem page, as Philippa discovers for herself when she takes a starring role in the Sun's photo casebook, which is famous for its real-life problems illustrated with pictures of semi-clad ladies.
At a time when advice is more easily available than ever before, Philippa reflects on why agony aunts are often still our first port of call, and on what makes reading about other people's problems so irresistible.
THU 03:00 Britain's Deadliest Rail Disaster: Quintinshill (b05vqx7v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2015
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b065b7fn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b065gyln)
2015
Friday Night at the Proms: Eric Whitacre's Choral Prom
A celebration of some truly inspiring American composers, from the early 20th century to the present day and with a few European premieres thrown in for good measure.
The ever-popular and endlessly charismatic Eric Whitacre puts the BBC Singers and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra through their paces in a programme that's packed to the rafters. Kicking off proceedings with the European premiere of Jonathan Newman's electrifying Blow It Up, Start Again, Whitacre's own enchanting compositions The River Cam and Cloudburst are followed by a piece that you couldn't leave out of this repertoire - George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, with solo piano performed by Young Musician of the Year winner Martin James Bartlett.
Aaron Copland's Quiet City follows, before the concert is capped by Whitacre's Equus and the European premiere of his new work Deep Field which, in a Proms first, is accompanied by a free interactive smartphone app which lets everyone at home join in the performance with unearthly sounds and images.
FRI 21:30 Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (b065h3vy)
Series 1
Episode 2
An up-close and personal examination of the life, music and career of the legendary entertainer. In 1971, Frank Sinatra sang his legendary 'retirement concert' in Los Angeles, featuring music which was said to reflect his own life. Told in his own words from hours of archived interviews, along with commentary from those closest to him, this definitive four-part series weaves the legendary songs he chose with comments from friends and family, as well as never-before-seen footage from home movies and concert performances.
An unprecedented tribute to the beloved showman, with the full participation of the Frank Sinatra Estate, the second episode follows Sinatra's growing political profile, his relationship with Ava Gardner and the split from Nancy, his first wife.
FRI 22:30 Guys and Dolls (b0078gmw)
Lavish film version of the classic Broadway musical, based on Damon Runyon's short stories. A gambler in need of cash bets he can make any girl go to Havana with him. But his pals pick a girl at the Save a Soul Mission in need of recruiting sinners to her cause. Includes songs such as Adelaide's Lament and Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat.
FRI 00:55 Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (b065h3vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
FRI 01:50 ... Sings Bacharach and David! (b01gxl5w)
The BBC have raided their remarkable archive once more to reveal evocative performances from Burt Bacharach and Hal David's astonishing songbook. Love songs from the famous songwriting duo were a familiar feature of 60s and 70s BBC entertainment programmes such as Dusty, Cilla and The Cliff Richard Show, but there are some surprises unearthed here too.
Highlights include Sandie Shaw singing Always Something There to Remind Me, Aretha Franklin performing I Say a Little Prayer, Dusty Springfield's Wishin' and Hopin', The Stranglers' rendition of Walk on By on Top of the Pops, The Carpenters in concert performing (They Long to Be) Close to You and Burt Bacharach revisiting his classic Kentucky Bluebird with Rufus Wainwright on Later...with Jools Holland.
FRI 02:50 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b015f5c8)
Series 2
Episode 1
The celebration of the singing songwriting troubadours of the 1960s and 70s continues with a further trawl through the BBC archives for timeless and classic performances.
Don McLean performs his huge hit American Pie from 1972 and Tim Buckley provides some sublime sounds with a rendition of his song Happy Time. Also making an appearance is the long-lamented John Martyn, folk queen Sandy Denny and, in a duet with Joe Egan as Stealers Wheel, the late Gerry Rafferty. Stealers Wheel chum and one-time collaborator Rab Noakes also makes a contribution to this compilation.
Leonard Cohen and Julie Felix present a unique collaboration and performance of Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye, and there's an unforgettable performance of Case of You by Joni Mitchell. No celebration of this genre would be complete without contributions from songwriting heavyweights such as Elton John, Paul Simon, Loudon Wainwright III and Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens.