The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Timothy Spall and his wife Shane are back on board their beloved barge the Princess Matilda as they conclude their trip around the British coast.
The Spalls visit Northumberland, Newcastle and Hartlepool. Starting in Amble and the neighbouring town of Warkworth, Tim and Shane are in awe of this historic part of England as they visit the beautiful Church of St Lawrence and Warkworth Castle. In Amble, Tim meets a young sailor circumnavigating Britain in the opposite direction who, like Tim, was inspired to take to the sea after surviving leukaemia.
Next stop is Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a place he is truly fond of as he has been welcomed there ever since he played Barry in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Along the way he meets actress Melanie Hill, who played Barry's first wife Hazel. Tim says that most of Britain saw Barry as a 'bit of a radish, a prannet', but that the Geordies thought of him as a 'sensitive character' and have always made him welcome. He takes us on a tour of his favourite places in the city.
After Newcastle it's on to Hartlepool, which Tim discovers translates to 'Stags by the Sea'. They soon find themselves trapped there after dramatically aborting a journey to Whitby whilst at sea. The North Sea once again reminds us that it's not to be messed with.
Best known for 'Nelson's Ship in a Bottle', which appeared on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, Yinka Shonibare MBE is one of Britain's foremost contemporary artists, rising to fame as part of the 'Sensation' generation along with Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin in the early 1990s.
Since then Shonibare has created a unique body of work. Often influenced by his Nigerian origins and combining darkness and humour, his art challenges our ideas about cultural identity and the post-colonial world.
For the last 20 years Shonibare has created a series of distinctive 'mannequin' figures - anonymous, headless and dressed in African batik fabrics. This film follows Shonibare creating his latest figure and talking about his life and career.
The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum plays host this time. Forty miles from Edinburgh and nestling beneath the historic Stirling Castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in 1542, the Smith houses a remarkably eclectic range of objects. Being put to the test by Griff Rhys Jones are Quizeum regulars Lars Tharp and Janina Ramirez. They are joined by writer and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli and art historian Helen Rosslyn.
Few figures in British history have captured the popular imagination as much as the outlaw. From gentleman highwaymen, via swashbuckling pirates to elusive urban thieves and rogues, the brazen escapades and the flamboyance of the outlaw made them the antihero of their time - feared by the rich, admired by the poor and celebrated by writers and artists.
In this three-part series, historian Dr Sam Willis travels the open roads, the high seas and urban alleyways to explore Britain's 17th- and 18th-century underworld of highwaymen, pirates and rogues, bringing the great age of the British outlaw vividly to life.
Sam shows that, far from being 'outsiders', outlaws were very much a product of their time, shaped by powerful national events. In each episode, he focuses not just on a particular type of outlaw, but a particular era - the series as a whole offers a chronological portrait of the changing face of crime in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Sam begins with the arrival of a new breed of gentleman criminal out of the ashes of the English Civil War - the highwayman. Heavily romanticised in literature, these glamorous gangsters became a social menace on the roads and a political thorn in the side of the creaking British state - threatening to steal our wallets and our hearts. But underneath the dashing image of stylish robbers on horseback lay a far darker reality.
This Sundance award-winning film is a fearless exposé of the terrifying Mexican drug war and the cartels that operate in and around the Mexico/US border. With astonishing access, it follows two vigilante leaders fighting the power of Mexico's drug gangs on both sides of the border.
Tim 'Nailer' Foley heads the Arizona Border Recon, whilst in Mexico Dr José Mireles, a Michoacán-based doctor, runs the Autodefensas.
From the setting up of the civilian group, the documentary follows the early success of the Autodefensas under the charismatic doctor. The rebel militia rousts the enemy, capturing Knights Templar gang henchmen even as the authorities attempt to impede its progress. But as the vigilantes' influence increases, so do questions about its conduct and motives. Are these new sheriffs any more reliable than those they have come to usurp?
With twists and turns that defy expectation, Cartel Land is a gripping, at times harrowing exploration of the drugs trade.
Richard Hammond investigates the crucial role temperature plays in all weather. Without heat, there would be no weather - no clouds, no rain, no snow, no dust storms, no thunder and lightning.
Richard sets off to find out about hot air and with the help of a quarry and a massive hot plate discovers just why it is so hard to pull a sword out of snow. He discovers, by building his own massive dust storm with the help of a few friends and dust specialist Dr Nigel Tapper, just how sand from the Sahara bounces its way to the UK.
In Canada he creates his own ice storm. He also drops in on Dan Morgan, who creates lightning bolts in his lab, where Richard is able to see thunder and hear lightning with the aid of some special cameras, light bulbs and a few candles.
Offering more fascinating depictions of the 1960s as witnessed by the cameras of the Rank Organisation, Britain on Film continues with an absorbing exploration of the prevailing attitudes and values that shaped our society. Rank's outstanding and rarely-seen high-quality colour footage captures the post-war emergence of dynamic youth cultures, and celebrates an age when creativity was flourishing in the music industry and an increasingly multicultural nation was embracing more cosmopolitan tastes.
TUESDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2015
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b06q78q5)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Timothy Spall: All at Sea (b01d24tt)
God's Own Coast
The Spalls are now in Yorkshire, and had been proudly steaming towards their final destination of London. But on the sea while travelling to Whitby, Tim is deeply troubled by strange engine noises. A failed engine at sea is incredibly dangerous so an engineer is called to Whitby to assess the problem. Tim is keen to see the town as this is where Bram Stoker based the opening of his novel, Dracula. Armed with his treasured antique walking cane, once owned by Stoker, Tim finds the hotel where Stoker stayed and looks for the part of the coastline featured in the novel.
Next is Scarborough, where Tim filmed The Damned United. It's high summer and Britain's first seaside resort is crammed with holidaymakers. Arriving at Spurn Head they are now completely alone - there's no harbour or marina here, no town or access to land. They are moored to a single buoy owned by the local lifeboat crew and are waiting patiently for the perfect sea conditions to take them out of the north of England and into the south. It's a big journey - as well as the North Sea they have to watch out for heavy sea traffic, the turbulence of the Wash and dangerous sandbanks.
In the dark of night arriving at the north Norfolk coast, a pilot boat guides them into the port of Wells-next-the-Sea. They soon discover it's a trip worth making as they explore this stunning coastline.
TUE 20:00 The Fisherman's Apprentice with Monty Halls (b01d7bns)
Episode 2
Marine biologist Monty Halls explores the challenges facing the British fishing industry by living and working as a traditional Cornish fisherman.
In this episode he goes it alone and soon learns that making a living as an inshore fisherman is a lot harder than he thought. A bout of violent sea sickness puts the whole project in jeopardy.
TUE 21:00 Power to the People (b06q9c93)
It's Not Easy Being Green
We take electricity for granted - never giving a second thought to how it's made. In this observational documentary series, one of Britain's controversial Big Six energy companies, SSE, has let the cameras in. Filmed over a year, this is the surprising story of an army of workers battling to keep our power flowing.
In this episode, we follow the people behind the giant gamble that could revolutionise our energy supply - by making it go green. From £3.5bn being spent on wind power by SSE to a massive new power line for green energy being built down the spine of Scotland, this is the story of an engineering project on a colossal scale. It's transforming some of our most remote and beautiful landscapes - but at what cost?
We meet Paul 'Chicken' McDermott and his gang as they build a wind turbine from scratch in just one day at Britain's newest wind farm. There's a storm coming in, so Chicken has to get the 230ft-high turbine up before nightfall.
800 contractors are labouring to finish a gigantic new power line, the Beauly-Denny line, which will stretch across 137 miles of Scotland's wildest countryside - to carry the power from remote wind farms to the cities where it's consumed. Andy 'Chopper' Simpson is masterminding the ticklish task of 'stringing' - threading cable through new pylons - by helicopter. To finish the line, the specialist skills of a gang of Filipino pylon-builders are called upon. The new power line was one of the most objected-to construction projects in recent history. 'I feel quite bitter that it's been imposed on us,' says Sir John Lister-Kaye, who lives near the line.
It's not all new technology. One of our oldest forms of renewable energy - hydroelectric power - is being worked harder than ever in the bid to get more of our electricity from clean, green sources. But the dams, lochs and turbines of the hydroelectric power system don't run themselves. High in the hills above Loch Lomond, Bobby Bennett and his team of 'watermen' are digging a ditch to make sure every drop of water that falls on the hills here makes its way down to the turbines below.
Alastair Stephen, the company's in-house ecologist, is trying to make sure that young salmon - known as smolts - are able to make their way past the dams of the hydroelectric schemes. He and colleagues from the Fisheries Board decide to take drastic action when they find out not enough young salmon are making it past the dams. They set up a fish taxi service, transporting the salmon downriver by road, to give them a chance of making it out to sea.
TUE 22:00 Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity (p00kjqch)
The Age of Invention
Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the electrifying story of our quest to master nature's most mysterious force - electricity. Until fairly recently, electricity was seen as a magical power, but it is now the lifeblood of the modern world and underpins every aspect of our technological advancements.
Without electricity, we would be lost. This series tells of dazzling leaps of imagination and extraordinary experiments - a story of maverick geniuses who used electricity to light our cities, to communicate across the seas and through the air, to create modern industry and to give us the digital revolution.
Just under 200 years ago scientists discovered something profound, that electricity is connected to another of nature's most fundamental forces - magnetism. In the second episode, Jim discovers how harnessing the link between magnetism and electricity would completely transform the world, allowing us to generate a seemingly limitless amount of electric power which we could utilise to drive machines, communicate across continents and light our homes. This is the story of how scientists and engineers unlocked the nature of electricity in an extraordinary century of innovation and invention.
TUE 23:00 Tankies: Tank Heroes of World War II (b01pvbds)
Episode 1
The Second World War was the ultimate conflict of the machine age, and the tank was its iconic symbol. The 'tankies' who fought inside had experience of much of the conflict from the fall of France to the deserts of Africa, from the invasion of Italy to D-Day, and on to the final victory in Germany.
In this two-part series, historian, BBC diplomatic editor and former officer in the Royal Tank Regiment, Mark Urban tells the story of six remarkable men from one armoured unit - the Fifth Royal Tank Regiment, also known as the Filthy Fifth.
Using first-hand testimony from the last surviving veterans alongside previously unseen letters and diaries, Mark brings the story of an extraordinary 'band of brothers' to life, in visceral detail. At the same time he analyses the evolution of tank production in Britain and illustrates how we fell far behind our German enemies in both technology and tactics, relying instead on dogged determination and a relentless drive to victory, whatever the costs.
In part one, Mark begins his journey in northern France, introducing our band of brothers in the midst of the fall of France and the retreat to Dunkirk. Characters such as 'rookie' tank driver Gerry Solomon join veterans, themselves still only in their twenties, such as and Jake Wardrop and Harry Finlayson.
Mark then follows in the tankies' footsteps across the deserts of North Africa. Here he looks at the game-changing tank battles of Sidi Rezegh, Alam Halfa and, of course, the battle that changed the course of the Second World War - Alamein. He then takes us back to England where the tankies expect a well-earned rest, instead they are confronted with the news that as battle-hardened troops they must fight again, this time on the beaches of Normandy.
With spectacular archive footage, including rarely seen colour footage, it brings to life the Second World War from a unique point of view.
TUE 00:00 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06qgh3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Icebound: The Greatest Dog Story Ever Told (b03pzv9m)
Documentary about an adventure that has become known as the greatest dog story ever told and captured the imagination of children and adults throughout the world for almost a century.
On January 28 1925, newspapers and radio stations broke a terrifying story - diphtheria had broken out in Nome, Alaska, a city separated from the rest of the world for seven months by a frozen ocean. With aviation still in its infancy and amidst one of the harshest winters on record, there was only one way to reach the town - dogsled. In minus 60 degrees, over 20 men and at least 150 dogs, among them the famous Balto, set out to relay the antitoxin across 674 miles of Alaskan wilderness to save the town.
TUE 02:00 The Secret Life of Elephants (b00h6yk1)
The Secret Life of Elephants
After the drought, the rains have arrived, but has baby elephant Breeze survived?
As hundreds of elephants descend on the reserve for the breeding season, the research team hit their busiest time of year. With the help of new technology, Saba Douglas-Hamilton tracks down the biggest land animals on earth - the mighty bull elephants. But even Saba is keeping her distance when Rommel, a dangerous bull who once flattened a car and tried to kill two of the team's researchers, arrives on the scene.
Outside the reserve, there is a shocking development when Onesmas Kahindi investigates two mysterious deaths - could poachers be targeting the local elephants?
When field researcher David Daballen finds a baby elephant in desperate trouble, he and the team must mount a life-or-death operation to save her.
TUE 03:00 Power to the People (b06q9c93)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2015
WED 19:00 World News Today (b06q78qb)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Timothy Spall: All at Sea (b01dc59m)
The Last Splash
Six years ago, Timothy Spall and his wife Shane left London to tour Britain's coast. This final episode of their journey sees them complete their circumnavigation, but not before a dramatic and frightening twist.
They arrive in Suffolk where they moor in Shotley marina, the site of the former naval training camp HMS Ganges. From here they venture into the serene Walton backwaters and then out into the North Sea for a trip to Brightlingsea, Essex. Essex to Kent should have been fairly trouble-free. Tim filled his boat with friends, including actress Frances Barber, before setting off on this celebratory leg.
Chatham is the port were the Spalls spent months learning the art of navigation before venturing out into the sea for the first time all those years ago. They know the area well, but Tim hadn't realised how much the waters of the Medway would change in the blackness of night. After hours at sea they are close to land, but soon become lost. The lights from all the factories and power plants on land add confusion and low tide increases the risk of running aground. After hours of fretting, Tim reluctantly calls the coastguard. The lifeboat crew take them to the nearest port, Queenborough in Sheppey.
The next day they safely make it to Chatham, where both Tim and Shane are emotionally drained and relieved. The final journey up the Thames into London is where he eventually realises why he did this adventure in the first place - 'It's been a celebration of life and a spit in the eye of the audacity of fate trying to kill me, so we went out and tried to kill ourselves.'.
WED 20:00 Kind Hearts and Coronets (b01sjsx1)
Classic Ealing comedy. When his dear mother - the spurned and disinherited heir to the dukedom of Chalfont - dies, poor Louis Mazzini forms a dastardly plot. He will kill all her family, the D'Ascoynes, and rise to fulfil his destiny as the Duke of Chalfont.
WED 21:40 Wild (b00jd9yx)
Scotland
Otters, Puffins and Seals
Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan explores his native Mull and some of the nearby islands, filming otters, deer, puffins, seals and a minke whale.
WED 22:00 Natural World (b0388q39)
2013-2014
Sri Lanka: Elephant Island
Sri Lanka, the tropical island lying off the southern coast of India, is home to its own special elephants. A subspecies of the Asian elephant, they have their own unique characteristics. In this programme, award-winning wildlife cameraman Martyn Colbeck of Echo of the Elephants fame travels to Sri Lanka to try and get to know them.
Martyn has planned his arrival to coincide with the start of the monsoon, hoping it will be the best time to find and follow a newborn calf. By drawing on local knowledge, Martyn begins to unravel the complex social world of Sri Lanka's elephants - he witnesses a fight over a calf, a battle between two bulls in musk and, at an elephant sanctuary, befriends an orphaned elephant who sadly lost a leg to a snare and is facing an uncertain future.
WED 23:00 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4px7)
Traces of Guilt
There will always be those who think they can commit the perfect murder. In reality it's virtually impossible to leave no evidence at the scene of a crime. Fingerprints, hair, fibres and blood can all lead to the killer. In this second episode, surgeon Gabriel Weston explores the cases that were solved by examining the smallest traces of forensic evidence, from the first murder case solved in the UK based on fingerprint evidence to the patterns of blood in a bedroom which helped overturn an infamous murder conviction.
As well as looking to the past, Gabriel investigates the cutting-edge techniques that are proving vital in catching the killers of today. Amazingly, forensic science can now detect with pinpoint accuracy where someone has walked across an area the size of Scotland, based on nothing more than the soil stuck to the sole of a suspect's shoe.
WED 00:00 Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History (b00ydp38)
Writer and broadcaster Stephen Smith uncovers the secret history of the humble fig leaf, opening a window onto 2,000 years of western art and ethics.
He tells how the work of Michelangelo, known to his contemporaries as 'the maker of pork things', fuelled the infamous 'fig leaf campaign', the greatest cover-up in art history, how Bernini turned censorship into a new form of erotica by replacing the fig leaf with the slipping gauze, and how the ingenious machinations of Rodin brought nudity back to the public eye.
In telling this story, Smith turns many of our deepest prejudices upside down, showing how the Victorians had a far more sophisticated and mature attitude to sexuality than we do today. He ends with an impassioned plea for the widespread return of the fig leaf to redeem modern art from cheap sensation and innuendo.
WED 01:00 The Fisherman's Apprentice with Monty Halls (b01d7bns)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity (p00kjqch)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Natural World (b0388q39)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THURSDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2015
THU 19:00 World News Today (b06q78qk)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b06q9h8w)
Peter Powell presents the pop show, with performances from St Winifred's School Choir, Eddy Grant, Jona Lewie, AC/DC, the Boomtown Rats and ABBA, plus a dance routine from Legs and Co.
THU 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.
THU 21:00 Tankies: Tank Heroes of World War II (b01pzv78)
Episode 2
In the last of this two-part series, historian and former tank commander Mark Urban continues the story of six remarkable men from the Fifth Royal Tank Regiment in World War II.
Surviving veterans and previously unseen letters and diaries relate in visceral detail how an extraordinary 'band of brothers' fought throughout the war.
This episode picks up the story with the regiment's triumphant return from north Africa and victory at Alamein. Expecting a well-earned rest, instead they are joined by new recruits and re-equipped with brand new British-made Cromwell Tanks in preparation for D-Day - the invasion of Europe.
Fighting in the hedgerows in northern France is a shock to the men of the Fifth Tanks, who were used to fighting in the wide-open spaces of the desert. German soldiers lie in ambush behind hedgerows with hand-held anti-tank weapons. Veteran Gerry Solomon, one of the most experienced tank commanders, tells how his tank is knocked out and he is wounded.
The new Cromwell tank proves no match against the German Tiger tank. At the battle of Villers Bocage, a single Tiger brings the advance of the whole British Army to a standstill. But it meets its match when it comes up against another new British tank - the Sherman Firefly.
Veterans describe how for two months they fought a battle of attrition, losing hundreds of tanks in the British Army's biggest ever tank battle, but keeping the German tanks fighting in the British sector so the Americans could break out of their sector into open countryside beyond.
The Fifth Tanks advance rapidly, the first to liberate Ghent in Belgium. Pushing on into Germany just days before the end of the war, some of the regiment's most experienced veterans, who had been fighting since the beginning, are tragically killed.
THU 22:00 Detectorists (b06q9h8y)
Series 2
Episode 5
After recent revelations, Lance, Andy, Becky and Sophie are all trying to come to terms with an uncertain future. In fact, only one of them is going to get a good night's sleep when Terry puts his emergency plan into action.
THU 22:30 Brian Pern (b03vrsfr)
The Life of Rock with Brian Pern
Middle Age of Rock
Brian looks at rock stars who turn to acting (himself included), charity singles and protest songs. Noel Edmonds reveals for the first time how the Russians tried to take down the Concorde containing Phil Collins on his way to Live Aid in Philadelphia.
THU 23:00 The Many Faces of... (b01pvb9q)
Series 2
Stanley Baxter
Celebrating the extraordinary career of entertainer Stanley Baxter, whose shows captivated huge audiences for twenty years before the cost of his epics priced him off our screens. Tracing his origins to Scotland's variety and review stages, his story is told by admiring fans including Michael Grade, Barry Cryer, Bill Oddie and Gregor Fisher.
THU 00:00 Top of the Pops (b06q9h8w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 00:35 Detectorists (b06q9h8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 01:05 Timeshift (b053pzmd)
Series 14
Spicing Up Britain: How Eating Out Went Exotic
Timeshift looks at how postwar Britain went from a place where eating out was more of a chore than a pleasure to a nation of food adventurers, now spending up to a third of our food budget on restaurant meals. It's the story of the British palate being slowly introduced to a range of what would then have been 'exotic' cuisines by successive generations of migrants opening eateries - first Italians, then Chinese and Indians. By encouraging us to try something new - be it spaghetti, stir fry or samosa - they spiced up not just our food but our high streets and our lives.
THU 02:05 Brian Pern (b03vrsfr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
THU 02:35 The Many Faces of... (b01pvb9q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]
FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2015
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b06q78qr)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01h7pzm)
Troubadours – Peaceful Easy Feeling
In the early 70s as the UK got to grips with the new coinage and decimalisation and braced itself for strike after strike, a group of young troubadours were hanging out in Laurel Canyon and the environs of California USA having a ball and creating music that would define a generation. It's time to kick back and relax and enjoy performances from Crosby and Nash, Neil Young, America, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King, The Eagles, and Seals and Crofts.
FRI 20:00 Easy Listening Hits at the BBC (b011g943)
Compilation of easy listening tracks that offers the perfect soundtrack for your cocktail party. There's music to please every lounge lizard, with unique performances from the greatest easy listening artists of the 60s and 70s, including Burt Bacharach, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, The Carpenters and many more.
FRI 21:00 Burt Bacharach: A Life in Song (b06qnnbz)
A unique concert staged at the Royal Festival Hall celebrating the music of the legendary songwriter and performer Burt Bacharach.
Some of Burt's most famous songs are performed by a stellar line-up of artists including Alfie Boe, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Shaun Escoffery, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Hayward, Michael Kiwanuka, Laura Mvula and Joss Stone. Burt himself also performs accompanied by his band. During the concert Burt chats to Michael Grade about the art of songwriting and shares the stories behind some of his best-loved hits.
FRI 22:30 The Joy of Easy Listening (b011g614)
In-depth documentary investigation into the story of a popular music genre that is often said to be made to be heard but not listened to. The film looks at easy listening's architects and practitioners, its dangers and delights, and the mark it has left on modern life.
From its emergence in the 50s to its heyday in the 60s, through its survival in the 70s and 80s and its revival in the 90s and beyond, the film traces the hidden history of a music that has reflected society every bit as much as pop and rock - just in a more relaxed way.
Invented at the dawn of rock 'n' roll, easy listening has shadowed pop music and the emerging teenage market since the mid-50s. It is a genre that equally soundtracks our modern age, but perhaps for a rather more 'mature' generation and therefore with its own distinct purpose and aesthetic.
Contributors include Richard Carpenter, Herb Alpert, Richard Clayderman, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jimmy Webb, Mike Flowers, James Last and others.
FRI 00:00 Kings of 70s Romance (b007cjtw)
While teenage girls in the 1970s were screaming for Donny Osmond and David Cassidy, the more mature woman had fantasy figures of her own setting her heart a-flutter. Kings of 70s Romance tells the story of these - some might say unlikely - pin-ups. Whether it was Gilbert O'Sullivan or Barry White, Leo Sayer or David Soul - or for those with more exotic tastes, Demis Roussos - these were men whose lyrics conjured up images of candle-lit dinners, red roses, and cosy nights in with the man of your dreams. For millions of female fans their romantic music was the perfect soundtrack for dreams of escape from the day-to-day drudgery of life in 70s Britain. As well as our main contributors we feature comments form Gloria Hunniford and Martha Kearney.
FRI 01:00 Burt Bacharach: A Life in Song (b06qnnbz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:30 The Joy of Easy Listening (b011g614)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]