Neil Oliver travels back to ice age Britain as he begins the epic story of the evolution of the land and its occupants over thousands of years of ancient history. In this episode he describes a struggle for survival in a brutal world of climate change and environmental catastrophe.
A look at the one environment that's been made by us for us - the city. Over half of the world's population now lives in the urban jungle. The city is built to keep untamed nature out - but nature can't be pushed away. From bed bugs sucking our blood at night to rats in our restaurants, many animals have adapted to a life with us.
But not all urban animals are seen as pests. In the ancient city of Fez in Morocco, the leather tanneries depend on wild pigeon droppings for their business. Even futuristic Dubai would falter without falcons. In the suburbs of Jaipur, a Bishnoi woman breastfeeds an orphaned fawn. People are starting to realise that nature is key to our continued survival. On Manhattan's rooftops there is a community of beekeepers. In Masdar, Abu Dhabi, British architect Norman Foster is creating a carbon-neutral waste-free future city. Is this the future? The human planet is starting to realise that we'll only survive if we protect nature.
Alf is guilt-ridden about Mia, but he snaps out of his self-pity when Mads makes an amazing discovery. Not only does Energreen have major accounting discrepancies, its coffers are also empty, and they can use this to their advantage. Claudia has reached the same conclusion, but Sander insists on continuing his dangerous game and asks her to throw a spanner in the works and ruin the fraud squad's plans. Sander's henchman finds out where Nicky and Bimse got all their money and insists on getting it back - the Swede isn't a man you refuse.
The media are shocked by Energreen's announcement, and Mads and Alf are busy searching for evidence to use against them. Claudia is at a crossroads in her life as she realises how serious the consequences could be for her. Nicky and Bimse hide from the Swede. Mads helps Kristina who is back in hospital, just like in 'the old days'.
A selection of Dusty Springfield's performances at the BBC from 1961 to 1995. Dusty was one of Britain's great pop divas, guaranteed to give us a big melody in songs soaring with drama and yearning.
The clips show Dusty's versatility as an artist and performer and include songs from her folk beginnings with The Springfields; the melodrama of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me; Dusty's homage to Motown with Heatwave and Nowhere to Run; the Jacques Brel song If You Go Away; the Bacharach and David tune The Look of Love; and Dusty's collaboration with Pet Shop Boys in the late 1980s.
There are also some great duets from Dusty's career with Tom Jones and Mel Torme.
Documentary looking at the life and work of soul and pop diva Dusty Springfield, singer of such classics as You Don't Have to Say You Love Me and Son of a Preacher Man, who was equally famous for her trademark panda eyes and blonde beehive.
Using archive footage and interviews shot in the UK and the US, it charts her progress from plain Catholic schoolgirl to glamorous star and ventures behind the extravagant image to reveal a complex and vulnerable character.
Featuring interviews with fellow musicians from a career spanning four decades, including Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Neil Tennant, Lulu and Martha Reeves.
Dusty's protective inner circle of friends have never spoken about her on camera before. Pat Rhodes, Dusty's personal secretary for her entire solo career, her manager Vicky Wickham, ardent fan-turned-backing singer Simon Bell and others talk about the highs and lows of the woman they knew and loved.
The sisters are truly doing it for themselves in this celebration of the legendary female singers whose raw emotional vocal styles touched the hearts of followers worldwide. Featuring the effortless sounds of Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight, Randy Crawford, Angie Stone, Mary J Blige and Beyonce, to name a few.
The Queens of Soul presents the critically acclaimed and influential female singers who, decade by decade, changed the world one note at a time.
A collection of some of the greatest soul performances from the BBC's archive, featuring Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, Isaac Hayes, Solomon Burke and Percy Sledge.
SUNDAY 17 APRIL 2016
SUN 19:00 50s Britannia (b01skxpp)
Trad Jazz Britannia
Documentary telling the story of Britain's postwar infatuation with old New Orleans jazz. With rare 78rpm imports as their only guide, a generation of amateur jazz enthusiasts including Humphrey Lyttelton and Chris Barber created a traditional jazz scene that strove to recreate the essence and freedom of 1920s New Orleans in 1950s Britain.
While British youth jived in smoky dives, the music itself was beset by arguments of authenticity. Begging to differ with the source material, Ken Colyer embarked on a pilgrimage to New Orleans in search of the real deal while a larger ideological war raged between mouldy figs and dirty boppers- traditional and modern jazz fans. As its popularity grew, commercial forces descended and a 'trad' boom sent the purists running for cover at the turn of the decade - the first and last time New Orleans jazz became British pop.
Featuring Acker Bilk, Chris Barber and previously unseen interviews with Humphrey Lyttelton and George Melly.
SUN 20:00 Rock Around the Clock (b04mhsmz)
Classic music-filled movie that introduced the world to some great recording artists. Chancing upon a small-town rock 'n' roll band and dancers, Steve Hollis believes he can manage them to the heights of success, unaware that his cynical former girlfriend and boss Corinne will seek to sabotage his plans.
SUN 21:15 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0615nmw)
Sweet Little Sixteen
In Cold War mid-1950s America, as the new suburbia was spreading fast in a country driven by racial segregation, rock 'n' roll took the country by surprise. Out of the Deep South came a rhythm-driven fusion of blues, boogie woogie and vocal harmony played by young black pioneers like Fats Domino and Little Richard that seduced young white teens and, pre-civil rights, got black and white kids reeling and rocking together.
This fledgling sound was nurtured by small independent labels and travelled up from the Mississippi corridor spawning new artists. In Memphis, Elvis began his career as a local singer with a country twang who rocked up a blues song and sounded so black he confused his white listeners. And in St Louis, black blues guitarist Chuck Berry took a country song and turned it into his first rock 'n' roll hit, Maybellene.
Movies had a big role to play thanks to 'social problem' films exploring the teenager as misfit and delinquent - The Wild One showed teens a rebellious image and a look, and Blackboard Jungle gave them a soundtrack, with the film's theme tune Rock Around the Clock becoming the first rock 'n' roll Number 1 in 1955.
Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Don Everly, Little Richard, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, Pat Boone, The Spaniels, PF Sloan, Joe Boyd, Jerry Phillips, Marshall Chess, JM Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis's drummer), Charles Connor (Little Richard's drummer) and Dick Richards (Bill Haley's drummer).
SUN 22:15 Rock 'n' Roll America (b061fdr7)
Whole Lotta Shakin'
As rock 'n' roll took off with teens in 1955 it quickly increased record sales by 300 per cent in America. Big business and the burgeoning world of TV moved in. Elvis made a big-money move to major label RCA instigated by Colonel Tom Parker, an illegal immigrant from Holland who had made his name at country fairs with a set of dancing chickens. Elvis made his national TV debut with Heartbreak Hotel and followed it with a gyrating version of Hound Dog that shocked America. PTAs, church groups and local councils were outraged. Rock 'n' roll was banned by the mayor of Jersey City and removed from jukeboxes in Alabama. Now Ed Sullivan would only shoot Elvis from the waist up.
The conservative media needed a cleaned-up version and the young, married-with-kids Christian singer Pat Boone shot up the chart, rivalling Elvis for sales. Not that this stopped rock 'n' roll. Jerry Lee Lewis again scandalised the nation with his gyrating finger in Whole Lotta Shakin' and the Everlys shocked with Wake Up Little Susie, both 45s being banned in parts of America.
It took bespectacled geek Buddy Holly to calm things down as a suburban down-home boy who, with his school friends The Crickets, turned plain looks into chart success. But by the end of 1958 the music was in real trouble. Elvis was conscripted into the army, Jerry Lee was thrown out of Britain and into obscurity for marrying his 13-year-old cousin and Little Richard went into the church.
Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Don Everly, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, Pat Boone, DJ Fontana, Eric Burdon, James Burton, Jerry Allison (The Crickets' drummer), Mike Stoller, PF Sloan, Joe Boyd, Jerry Phillips, Marshall Chess and JM Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis's drummer).
SUN 23:15 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0623809)
Be My Baby
In the years bookended by Buddy Holly's death in early 1959 and The Beatles landing at JFK in spring 1964, rock 'n' roll calmed down, went uptown and got spun into teen pop in a number of America's biggest cities. Philadelphia produced 'teen idols' like Fabian who were beamed around the country by the daily TV show Bandstand. Young Jewish songwriters in New York's Brill Building drove girl groups on the east coast who gave a female voice to teenage romance. Rock 'n' roll even fuelled the Motown sound in Detroit and soundtracked the sunshiny west coast dream from guitar instrumental groups like The Ventures to LA's emerging Beach Boys.
In the early 60s, rock 'n' roll was birthing increasingly polished pop sounds across the States, but American teens seemed to have settled back into sensible young adulthood. Enter the long-haired boys from Liverpool, Newcastle and London.
Featuring exclusive interviews with Jerry Lee Lewis, Ben E King, Chubby Checker, Ronnie Spector, Barrett Strong, Eric Burdon and Pat Boone.
SUN 00:15 Natural World (b01lb4vn)
2012-2013
Tiger Island
Jungle tigers are turning into man-eaters in the exotic island of Sumatra. Now a maverick millionaire is catching the killers and releasing them on his land. Is this madness, or could it save them from extinction?
SUN 01:15 Rich Hall's California Stars (b04bbfzw)
Rich Hall continues his cultural critique of American people and places.
California has always been an empty sales pitch. Its first settlements were borne of missionary zeal. It promised a haven from marauders, banditos and mercenaries. Since then it has wiled us with unlimited gold, boundless harvests, silver-screen stardom, dotcom salvation and hi-tech silicon marvels. It has always been a place that promises a good chance of success - if you're youthful or white. And if you're Mexican, it at least promises a decent chance of survival.
The California dream has always eclipsed its facts or its history. Most other US states are named after geographical place names or Indian tribes or British royalty - New York, Nebraska, Maryland. California was named for Calafia, a mythical Spanish queen, a kind of Spanish Snow White. At the California History Attraction in Anaheim she is portrayed in a 20-minute film narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.
And that's California in a nutshell - a place that instantly forgets its past so it can reinvent it for tourists and dreamers. True reality has never been good enough for Californians. They are always vaguely dissatisfied with themselves, their bodies, their spirituality, their government and their present car. Yet they still believe they shape both American culture and American character. And to a large degree, they have.
In his unique and sardonic way, Rich takes the viewer on a skewed but keenly eyed journey to the place built on a tectonic faultline that still deigns to call itself the Land of Dreams.
SUN 02:45 Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City (b017znj7)
Wellspring of Holiness
Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world. For the Jewish faith, it is the site of the Western Wall, the last remnant of the second Jewish temple. For Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the site of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest sanctuary of Islam.
In episode one, Simon delves into the past to explore how this unique city came into being, explaining how it became of such major importance to the three Abrahamic faiths, and how these faiths emerged from the Biblical tradition of the Israelites.
Starting with the Canaanites, Simon goes on a chronological journey to trace the rise of the city as a holy place and discusses the evidence for it becoming a Jewish city under King David. The programme explores the construction of the first temple by Solomon through to the life and death of Jesus Christ and the eventual expulsion of the Jews by the Romans, concluding in the 7th century AD, on the eve of the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslim caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
MONDAY 18 APRIL 2016
MON 19:00 World News Today (b077qrhv)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 The Flying Archaeologist (b01s1hnr)
The Thames: Secret War
Archaeologist Ben Robinson flies over the Thames to uncover new discoveries about World War 1. A whole network of trenches has been discovered on The Hoo peninsula. Invisible from the ground, they were recently found from aerial images of the area next to the former Chattenden Barracks.
The trenches were used for experimentation and training of soldiers and can be directly linked to trenches used in Belgium in WW1.
The trenches are just one feature revealed by the first full aerial survey of the area by English Heritage. Much of the history of this area is being recorded from the air before it is destroyed by coastal erosion and development.
MON 20:00 Antiques Uncovered (b01hn8wt)
Travel
Dr Lucy Worsley discovers how taking a holiday became something everyone aspires to do, and she also meets a man with a life-size train set.
Antiques expert Mark Hill learns how intricate figures are put onto a piece of Wedgwood, and he gets a sneak preview of the Titanic auction.
MON 21:00 A History of Ancient Britain (b00ysr2l)
Series 1
Age of Ancestors
Neil Oliver continues the story of how today's Britain and its people were forged over thousands of years of ancient history. It's 4,000 BC and the first farmers arrive from Europe, with seismic consequences for the local hunter-gatherers.
MON 22:00 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dc66v)
Isabella and Margaret
In the medieval and Tudor world there was no question in people's minds about the order of God's creation - men ruled and women didn't. A king was a warrior who literally fought to win power then battled to keep it. Yet despite everything that stood in their way, a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule medieval and Tudor England. In this series, historian Dr Helen Castor explores seven queens who challenged male power, the fierce reactions they provoked and whether the term 'she wolves' was deserved.
In 1308 a 12-year-old girl, Isabella of France, became queen of England when she married the English king. A century later another young French girl, Margaret of Anjou, followed in her footsteps. Both these women were thrust into a violent and dysfunctional England and both felt driven to take control of the kingdom themselves. Isabella would be accused of murder and Margaret of destructive ambition - it was Margaret who Shakespeare named the She Wolf. But as Helen reveals, their self-assertion that would have seemed natural in a man was deemed unnatural, even monstrous in a woman.
MON 23:00 imagine... (b037yx1l)
Summer 2013
Zaha Hadid: Who Dares Wins
Another chance to see an Imagine profile of the late Zaha Hadid, first shown in 2013, three years before her recent death. Born in Baghdad in 1950 and based in London, Zaha Hadid was perhaps the most successful female architect there has ever been. She was one of a handful of global superstar designers who have changed the way people think about the world through buildings. Yet this wasn't always the case - Hadid once had a reputation as unbuildable, a 'paper architect' whose projects began as vivid paintings of gravity-defying shapes exploding into the void. How did this extraordinary and pioneering woman - by turns charming, stubborn, visionary yet exacting - come to build the impossible? Imagine visits her buildings across the globe, from Austria to Azerbaijan to find out, as Alan Yentob explores what makes Zaha Hadid tick.
MON 00:10 Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth (b039vj0v)
Romans
Classicist Dr Michael Scott examines the vital role played by the Romans in the preservation of Greek drama and in the history of theatre. He explores how the Romans absorbed Greek theatre and adapted it to their own, very Roman, ends and looks at how this famous empire provides one of the crucial connections between our modern drama and the great plays of the ancient Greeks.
MON 01:10 Secret Knowledge (b05ql1l7)
The Body Beautiful - Ancient Greeks, Good Looks and Glamour
Writer and classicist Natalie Haynes leads us on a journey into ancient beauty and modern glamour, examining how our current obsession with the body beautiful goes back thousands of years to an era of stunning artistic achievement. With unique access to a major British Museum exhibition, Haynes explores the Greek preoccupation with the human form, ranging from objects of abstract simplicity to breathtaking realism.
MON 01:40 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dc66v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
MON 02:40 Antiques Uncovered (b01hn8wt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUESDAY 19 APRIL 2016
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b077qrj4)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04n99gt)
Series 1
Coastal Care
Surprisingly, the National Trust started in Wales. Griff Rhys Jones discovers how the Trust deals with the complexities and conflicts involved in looking after some of Wales's best-loved national treasures. He begins with the 157 miles of coastline owned and cared for by the Trust in Wales.
Griff investigates its roots in Barmouth, discovers how the tiny cove of Mwnt copes with the impact of the modern world and considers the difficulties they face in deciding the fate of a medieval village on the Gower Peninsula which is in the process of being claimed by the sea.
TUE 20:00 Timeshift (b06csy8c)
Series 15
The Engine that Powers the World
The surprising story of the hidden powerhouse behind the globalised world, the diesel engine, a 19th-century invention that has become indispensable to the 21st century. It's a tortoise-versus-hare tale in which the diesel engine races the petrol engine in a competition to replace ageing steam technology, a race eventually won hands down by diesel.
Splendidly, car enthusiast presenter Mark Evans gets excitedly hands-on with some of the many applications of Mr Diesel's - yes, there was one - original creation, from vintage submarines and tractors to locomotive trains and container ships. You'll never feel the same about that humble old diesel family car again.
TUE 21:00 Britain's Treasure Islands (b07882lk)
Southern Ocean
Stewart McPherson continues his quest to visit all of the UK's Overseas Territories.
His second journey begins on Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island on earth and home to the entire world population of a spectacular albatross. From here, he travels to the Falkland Islands, coming face to face with a fearsomely intelligent bird of prey, and arrives in Stanley, the capital, in time for celebrations following the referendum in which the islanders decided overwhelmingly to remain part of Britain.
Leaving the Falklands, he follows in the wake of Shackleton and his ill-fated Antarctic expedition, first to South Georgia to witness one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet, then on to the frozen wilderness of the Antarctic peninsula.
TUE 22:00 Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City (b0186b56)
Invasion, Invasion, Invasion
Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world. For the Jewish faith, it is the site of the western wall, the last remnant of the second Jewish temple. For Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the site of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest sanctuary of Islam.
In episode two, Simon discovers the impact on the holy city of a new faith - Islam. He explores Muhammad's relationship with Jerusalem, the construction of one of Islam's holiest shrines - the Dome of the Rock - and the crusaders' attempts to win it back for Christianity.
He also brings to life lesser-known characters, whose impact still resonates - Al Hakim's destructive delusions of grandeur and Queen Melisende's embellishment of crusader Jerusalem, as well as the notorious stand-off between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.
The episode ends in the 13th century with King Frederick II, whose groundbreaking power-sharing deal prefigures the tortuous peace negotiations of our own times. Then, as now, peace did not last.
TUE 23:00 Scotland's Vital Spark: The Clyde Puffer (b06s5n0f)
David Hayman explores the rich history of one of Scotland's best-loved boats, the Clyde Puffer. He meets the last of the men who worked on them, explores the communities whose lives they transformed, celebrates their fictional history in the form of the Vital Spark, and takes a trip out to sea on the last remaining steam-powered puffer.
TUE 00:00 A History of Ancient Britain (b00ysr2l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood (b011pr2s)
Episode 2
Paul Merton's journey through early Hollywood reaches the 1920s when in prohibition America the cinema industry was on a collision course with its public because of a run of drink, drugs and sex scandals.
Having cynically used the popular press to promote its stars and keep their reputations spotless, it now faced a media obsessed with exposing the dark and decadent side of their glamour.
The programme tells the story of the rise and fall of the lost comic genius of silent Hollywood - Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - who was charged with the murder of a young actress after an illegal drinks party went wrong. Paul Merton makes a powerful case that Arbuckle was an innocent man, an unfortunate victim of a new type of fame created by the Hollywood studios which had been turned against them. In their rush to clean up their act they were prepared to make the genial Arbuckle a sacrificial victim.
TUE 02:00 Britain's Most Fragile Treasure (b0161dgq)
Historian Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of a centuries-old masterpiece in glass. At 78 feet in height, the famous Great East Window at York Minster is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the country and the creative vision of a single artist, a mysterious master craftsman called John Thornton, one of the earliest named English artists.
The Great East Window has been called England's Sistine Chapel. Within its 311 stained-glass panels is the entire history of the world, from the first day to the Last Judgment, and yet it was made 100 years before Michelangelo's own masterpiece. The scale of Thornton's achievement is revealed as Dr Ramirez follows the work of a highly skilled conservation team at York Glaziers Trust. They dismantled the entire window as part of a five-year project to repair centuries of damage and restore it to its original glory.
It is a unique opportunity for Dr Ramirez to examine Thornton's greatest work at close quarters, to discover details that would normally be impossible to see and to reveal exactly how medieval artists made images of such delicacy and complexity using the simplest of tools.
The Great East Window of York Minster is far more than a work of artistic genius, it is a window into the medieval world and mind, telling us who we once were and who we still are, all preserved in the most fragile medium of all.
TUE 03:00 Britain's Treasure Islands (b07882lk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 20 APRIL 2016
WED 19:00 World News Today (b077qrjd)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04nz0mn)
Series 1
Plas Newydd
Griff Rhys Jones discovers how the National Trust, which was started in Wales, deals with the complexities and conflicts involved in looking after some of Wales's best-loved national treasures.
In this programme, he visits Plas Newydd on the island of Anglesey in north west Wales, which the Trust acquired in the 1970s. Once it was the family home of the Marquis of Anglesey, and now property manager Nerys Jones has to think of new ways to attract visitors to this remote location.
Griff investigates how this great stately home is run - and how it survives in these financially straitened times.
WED 20:00 Britain's Treasure Islands (b07882lk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 21:00 Miss Potter (b00cyjjj)
Biopic of one of the literary phenomena of the 20th century.
London, 1902. At a time when most young women of her class only aspired to a good marriage, Beatrix Potter became an iconic figure. She created a series of children's books and characters that are still admired today and have never been out of print. She swam against the mores of her day and found true love.
WED 22:30 Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones (b06t3vb9)
Biography of iconic rock balladeer Roy Orbison told through his own voice, casting new light on the triumphs and tragedies that beset his career. Using previously unseen performances, home movies and interviews with many who have never spoken before, the film reveals Orbison's remote Texas childhood, his battles to get his voice heard, and how he created lasting hits like Only the Lonely and Crying.
The film follows Roy's rollercoaster life, often reflected in the dark lyrics of his songs, from success to rejection to rediscovery in the 80s with The Traveling Wilburys supergroup. It uncovers the man behind the shades, including interviews with his sons, many close friends and collaborators like Jeff Lynne, T Bone Burnett, Bobby Goldsboro and Marianne Faithfull.
WED 23:30 Timeshift (b06csy8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys (b007hfx3)
Robert Baden-Powell's handbook Scouting for Boys, written in 1908, may be largely forgotten today, but it is one of the most influential and best-selling books of all time. In the 20th century, only the Bible, the Koran and the Thoughts of Chairman Mao sold more. But they had fewer jokes, no pictures and were useless at important stuff like tying knots.
In this entertaining and affectionate film, Ian Hislop uncovers the story behind the book which kick-started the Scout Movement - a work which is very eccentric, very Edwardian and very British.
Ian discovers that the book is actually very radical and addresses all sorts of issues that we think of as modern, such as citizenship, disaffected youth and social responsibility. He explores the maverick brilliance of Baden-Powell, a national celebrity after his heroism in the Boer War, and considers the book's candid focus on health and wellbeing - from the importance of what Baden-Powell called a 'daily rear' to his infamous warning on the dangers of masturbation.
Contributors include his grandson Lord Baden-Powell, minister for culture and former cub scout David Lammy, biographer Tim Jeal and Elleke Boehmer, editor of the re-issue of the original Scouting for Boys.
WED 01:30 Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry with Jonathan Meades (b03vrphc)
Episode 1
Two-part documentary in which Jonathan Meades makes the case for 20th-century concrete Brutalist architecture in an homage to a style that he sees a brave, bold and bloody-minded. Tracing its precursors to the once-hated Victorian edifices described as Modern Gothic and before that to the unapologetic baroque visions created by John Vanbrugh, as well as the martial architecture of World War II, Meades celebrates the emergence of the Brutalist spirit in his usual provocative and incisive style. Never pulling his punches, Meades praises a moment in architecture he considers sublime and decries its detractors.
WED 02:30 The Man Who Fought the Planners: The Story of Ian Nairn (b03vrz4h)
These days, opinionated journalists are two a penny. But back in the 1950s, Ian Nairn was part of a new breed of Angry Young Men. Aged just 25 and fresh out of the RAF, he burst onto the architectural scene with Outrage, a blistering attack on the soulless destruction of Britain by shoddy post-war planners. Published in the influential Architectural Review in June 1955, it led to the formation of the Civic Trust, whose remit was to tackle the 'subtopian' eyesores Nairn had so graphically exposed.
Over the next two decades, Nairn became a tireless and passionate campaigner, both in print and on the BBC, inspiring a whole generation to take up arms against the second-rate in our towns and cities. But he himself was a deeply flawed and troubled character, who slowly drank himself to death, feeling the battle to save Britain's soul had been lost. Close colleagues and admirers, including Jonathan Meades, Gillian Darley and Jonathan Glancey, pay tribute to a remarkable man who made us look afresh at the world around us.
THURSDAY 21 APRIL 2016
THU 19:00 World News Today (b077qrjl)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0788q6h)
Richard Skinner introduces the pop programme, featuring Startrax, Ultravox, Cliff Richard, The Rolling Stones, Aneka and Genesis, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
THU 20:00 Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners (b04fd6s9)
Home
Professor Mark Miodownik shows us what is so great about stuff. All the things of modern life around us that we maybe take for granted are revealed to be little pieces of domestic magic - everyday miracles - from razor blades to tights, via plywood and foam rubber. On the road and in the lab with explosive experiments, Mark reveals why the everyday, and even the mundane, is anything but.
THU 21:00 The Big Thinkers (b0788q6m)
Aliens
The hunt for aliens is on! After a distinguished career in cosmology Professor Martin Rees, the astronomer royal, has taken up the search for extra-terrestrials. Looking for aliens is no longer science fiction - it is a question that's engaging some of the greatest minds in science.
As our knowledge of the universe has increased, we're getting closer to answers. Many scientists now think we live in galaxy with a billion Earth-like planets, many of which may be teeming with life. But what kind of life? Has anything evolved into beings we could communicate with? This film gets inside the minds of the scientists considering one of the most exciting and profound questions we can ask - are we alone in the universe?
Professor Rees thinks we may have our idea of what an alien is like all wrong. If he's right, it's not organic extra-terrestrials we should look for, it's machines.
THU 22:00 Horizon (b00vv0w8)
2010-2011
Asteroids - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Famed for their ability to inflict Armageddon from outer space, asteroids are now revealing the secrets of how they are responsible for both life and death on our planet.
Armed with an array of powerful telescopes, scientists are finding up to 3,000 new asteroids every night. And some are heading our way.
But astronomers have discovered that it's not the giant rocks that are the greatest danger - it's the small asteroids that pose a more immediate threat to Earth.
Researchers have explained the photon propulsion that send these rocks across space, and have discovered that some asteroids are carrying a mysterious cargo of frost and ice across the solar system that could have helped start life on Earth.
THU 23:00 Secrets of the Universe: Great Scientists in Their Own Words (b04ndw2j)
Film telling the story of the greatest physicists of the 20th century and the discoveries they made, told in their own words. Men and women who transformed our understanding of the universe, from unlocking the secrets of the atom to solving the mysteries of the cosmos.
Revealing archive provides a unique insight into the lives and personalities of a cast of complex characters, eccentric geniuses and fantastic showmen who had to overcome personal struggles and intense rivalries before they could succeed. The film reveals the human side of scientific endeavour and shows how the great advances in our understanding of the cosmos depended on the character and personality of the scientists who made them, as much as on their intellectual abilities.
THU 00:00 Top of the Pops (b0788q6h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 00:35 Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones (b06t3vb9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:35 Chuck Berry in Concert (b0074rbc)
Legendary rock 'n' roller Chuck Berry performs at the BBC Television Theatre in 1972. Johnny B Goode, Roll Over Beethoven and Nadine are just some of the highlights of this concert, shown in an extended cut. This version includes, for the first time, an epic rendition of My Ding-a-Ling that carries all before it and raises innuendo to an art form.
THU 02:35 The Big Thinkers (b0788q6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 22 APRIL 2016
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b077qrjs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (b07883b4)
2016
Percussion Final
Percussion is in the spotlight as five gifted performers take centre stage. Clemency Burton-Hill and celebrated trumpeter Alison Balsom present extended highlights from the percussion final, with modern masterpieces from the 20th and 21st centuries. There's even a world premiere with a piece composed by British composer Jan Bradley especially for one of tonight's competitors.
The five hoping to win and claim their place in the BBC Young Musician semi-final are: 18-year-old Tom Pritchard from Yorkshire; 16-year-old Joe Parks from Bromley; from Bulgaria but now studying in the UK, 17-year-old Hristiyan Hristov; from Crewe, 15-year-old Matthew Brett; and 16-year-old Andrew Woolcock from Preston.
FRI 21:00 The Everly Brothers: Harmonies from Heaven (b077x1fh)
Documentary which celebrates, over the period covering the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 60s, the phenomenon of The Everly Brothers, arguably the greatest harmony duo the world has witnessed, who directly influenced the greatest and most successful bands of the 60s and 70s - The Beatles, The Stones, The Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel to name but a few.
Don and Phil Everly's love of music began as children, encouraged by their father Ike. Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil sang on Ike's early morning radio shows in Iowa.
After leaving school, the brothers moved to Nashville where, under the wing of Ike Everly's friend, the highly talented musician Chet Atkins, Don and Phil signed with Cadence Records. They exploded onto the music scene in 1957 with Bye Bye Love, written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant.
After Bye Bye Love came other hits, notably Wake Up Little Susie, followed by the worldwide smash hit All I Have to Do Is Dream and a long string of other great songs which also became hits.
By 1960, however, the brothers were lured away from Cadence to Warner Bros with a $1,000,000 contract. Their biggest hit followed, the self-penned Cathy's Clown, which sold 8 million copies. Remaining at Warner Bros for most of the 60s, they had further success with Walk Right Back, So Sad and the King/Greenfield-penned track Crying in the Rain.
FRI 22:00 New Power Generation: Black Music Legends of the 1980s (b0177bjb)
Prince: A Purple Reign
Film which explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionised the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as 1999, Kiss, Raspberry Beret and Alphabet Street. He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continued right up to his passing in April 2016, aged 57.
From the psychedelic Around the World in a Day to his masterpiece album Sign O' the Times and experiments with hip-hop and jazz, Prince was one of most ambitious and prolific songwriters of his generation. He tested the boundaries of taste and decency with explicit sexual lyrics and stage shows during his early career, and in the 1990s fought for ownership of his name and control of his music, played out in a public battle with his former label, Warner. Highly regarded as one of the most flamboyant live performers ever, Prince was a controversial and famously elusive creative force.
Contributors include Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson, Paisley Park label president Alan Leeds, hip-hop legend Chuck D and Prince 'Mastermind' and UK soul star Beverley Knight.
FRI 23:00 Billy Fury: The Sound of Fury (b077x1fk)
Documentary which recounts the story of Billy Fury and the birth of British pop music. His first album, The Sound of Fury (released in 1960), has become a landmark record in British rock 'n' roll history.
Born in Liverpool during the Second World War, Ronnie Wycherley became an overnight sensation in 1958 when he was asked to go on stage and sing a couple of his self-penned songs by showbiz impresario Larry Parnes. Ronnie's knees shook with nerves, but over 2,000 screaming girls welcomed the new star of British rock 'n' roll and the headline in the local newspaper the following day was 'Dingle boy with a hot guitar'.
With more Top 40 hits than The Beatles during the 60s, Billy Fury's major hits included Halfway to Paradise, Wondrous Place, Jealousy, Last Night Was Made For Love and many more.
Aged just 42, Billy died of heart failure after a recording session. But his fans have never forgotten him, and every year on the anniversary of his death they gather to pay their tributes at Mill Hill cemetery. Lord Puttnam sums up Fury's contribution to modern music in the programme by saying that, 'without Billy Fury, I honestly don't think The Beatles would have happened'.
FRI 00:25 50s Britannia (b01skxpp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
FRI 01:25 The Everly Brothers: Harmonies from Heaven (b077x1fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:25 Billy Fury: The Sound of Fury (b077x1fk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]