SATURDAY 28 JANUARY 2017
SAT 19:00 Crossing England in a Punt: River of Dreams (p00y6r6q)
From the Staffordshire hills to the Humber estuary, spirited explorer Tom Fort embarks on a 170-mile journey down Britain's third-longest river, the Trent. Beginning on foot, he soon transfers to his own custom-built punt, the Trent Otter, and rows many miles downstream. Along the way he encounters the power stations that generate much of the nation's electricity, veterans of the catastrophic floods of 1947, the 19th-century brewers of Burton and a Bronze Age boatman who once made a life along the river.
SAT 20:00 Treasures of the Indus (b069g53h)
The Other Side of the Taj Mahal
This is the story of the Indian subcontinent told through the treasures of three very different people, places and dynasties that have shaped the modern Indian world.
The Mughals created the most famous and dazzling empire that India has ever seen, from the Taj Mahal to fabulously intricate miniatures of court life.
But in the process, did they bring civilisation to India or tear it apart?
From the moment the first Mughal emperor Babur arrived from Afghanistan the debate began - were the Mughals imposing their own religion of Islam on a Hindu country, or were they open to the religion and art of the country they were conquering?
The artworks the Mughals left behind over their 200-year empire - even the very buildings which have traces of Hindu architecture as well as Muslim - clearly show how this debate played out, and Sona Datta traces how this most spectacular of all Indian civilisations also sowed the seeds of discord.
SAT 21:00 Lost Kingdoms of Central America (b04kzrg0)
The Place Where Time Began
Dr Jago Cooper explores the rise and fall of the forgotten civilisations of central America.
His quest takes him from the crystal blue seas of the Caribbean to the new world's most impressive pyramids, flying over the smoking volcanoes of Costa Rica and travelling deep underground in the caves of central Mexico.
He travels in the footsteps of these peoples to reveal their secrets and unearth the astonishing cultures that flourished amongst some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.
In the final episode, Jago explores the ancient civilisation of Teotihuacan that exploded into a position of dominance in the ancient Americas almost 2,000 years ago. For hundreds of years this great city state was the biggest in the New World. Its rulers built monumental pyramids and temples and then went on to build a vast empire that was maintained through force. Yet the identity of the people who led this civilisation remains a mystery.
SAT 22:00 The Young Montalbano (b06z6470)
Series 2
The Settlement
Barely a month has passed since Livia and Salvo decided to spend some time apart. Salvo is gloomy and confused. While investigating the robbery of some 60 security boxes at a small local bank, he seeks the advice of rival bank manager Stella Parenti, whom he'd met during a previous case. Alluring Stella makes no secret of being taken with Salvo and asks him out. Has Montalbano found a way to eclipse his melancholy thoughts of Livia?
Meanwhile, another case presents itself to the Vigata inspector - a retired doctor is found murdered in his own home. The resulting investigation will echo Montalbano's personal dilemmas about the complexities of love.
In Italian with English subtitles.
SAT 23:55 Top of the Pops (b08bqdzj)
John Peel and David Jensen introduce the latest hits from the pop charts, first broadcast on 3 February 1983. Featuring Haysi Fantayzee, Indeep, Tears For Fears, U2 and Men at Work.
SAT 00:35 Otis Redding: Soul Ambassador (b020tphg)
Documentary about the legendary soul singer Otis Redding, following him from childhood and marriage to the Memphis studios and segregated southern clubs where he honed his unique stage act and voice. Through unseen home movies, the film reveals how Otis's 1967 tour of Britain dramatically changed his life and music. After bringing soul to Europe, he returned to conquer America, first with the 'love crowd' at the Monterey Festival and then with Dock of the Bay, which topped the charts only after his death at just 26.
Includes rare and unseen performances, intimate interviews with Otis's wife and daughter and with original band members Steve Cropper and Booker T Jones. Also featured are British fans whose lives were changed by seeing him, among them Rod Stewart, Tom Jones and Bryan Ferry.
SAT 01:40 Classic Soul at the BBC (b0074pvv)
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.
SAT 02:40 ... Sings Motown (b05nyyv5)
Archive compilation celebrating the incredible body of work by Detroit's finest songwriting teams and artists for perhaps America's greatest ever record label, Motown.
This compilation of Motown covers spans the 1960s to the present day and features: Paul Weller and Amy Winehouse with I Heard It Through the Grapevine on Jools's Hootenanny, Roberta Flack's version of Stevie Wonder's Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer from an early edition of the OGWT, early adopter Dusty Springfield with Nowhere to Run on her 60s BBC TV show and The Flying Lizards with Barrett Strong's Money (That's What I Want) from Top of the Pops in 1979.
Of course, there are quite a few 80s hit covers from the decade that rediscovered Motown as a hitmaking machine, many of them from Top of the Pops including Kim Wilde's You Keep Me Hangin' On and Paul Young's 1983 Number 1 with Marvin Gaye's 1962 B-side, Wherever I Lay My Hat.
Then it's on into the 90s with Mercy Mercy Me from the late lamented Robert Palmer and Mariah Carey's take on The Jackson Five's I'll Be There. Plus of course, Phil Collins but, rightly or wrongly, not with You Can't Hurry Love but with his 21st-century reading of Stevie Wonder's Blame It on the Sun from Later with Jools.
SUNDAY 29 JANUARY 2017
SUN 19:00 David Starkey's Music and Monarchy (b038n7gd)
Reinventions
Dr David Starkey's exploration of how the monarchy shaped Britain's music concludes with the 19th and 20th centuries, when the crown rediscovered the power of pageantry and ceremony and when native music experienced a renaissance.
David discovers the royal origins of such classics as Edward Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory, Hubert Parry's I Was Glad and William Walton's Crown Imperial, as well as finding out how the 20th century's coronations - culminating in the crowning of Elizabeth II - cemented the repertory of royal classics in the hearts of the British people. He hears music written by Queen Victoria's beloved Albert, Prince Consort, played for him in Buckingham Palace on a lavish golden piano which was bought by Victoria and Albert themselves. There are also specially recorded performances from St Paul's Cathedral Choir and Westminster Abbey and of works by Felix Mendelssohn, Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford and Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as Hubert Parry's classic Jerusalem.
David uncovers a rarely seen, diamond-encrusted conductor's baton that was a gift from Queen Victoria to her private organist, Sir Walter Parratt. He also recounts the duets sung by Italian opera composer Gioacchino Rossini with George IV in his decadent pleasure palace, the Brighton Pavilion, and visits the Royal College of Music in London and St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, both of which played a crucial role in the revival of British music.
SUN 20:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08bqdzl)
Series 1
The Wars of the Roses
Lucy debunks the foundation myth of one of our favourite royal dynasties, the Tudors.
According to the history books, after 30 years of bloody battles between the white-rosed Yorkists and the red-rosed Lancastrians, Henry Tudor rid us of civil war and the evil king Richard III. But Lucy reveals how the Tudors invented the story of the 'Wars of the Roses' after they came to power to justify their rule.
She shows how Henry and his historians fabricated the scale of the conflict, forged Richard's monstrous persona and even conjured up the image of competing roses. When our greatest storyteller William Shakespeare got in on the act and added his own spin, Tudor fiction was cemented as historical fact.
Taking the story right up to date, with the discovery of Richard III's bones in a Leicester car park, Lucy discovers how 15th-century fibs remain as compelling as they were over 500 years ago. As one colleague tells Lucy: 'Never believe an historian!
SUN 21:00 Rich Hall's You Can Go to Hell, I'm Going to Texas (b036lqsz)
Comedian Rich Hall goes to the Lone Star state in search of the real Texas and asks what it means to be a Texan. From the Alamo to the oil industry and everything in between, Rich explores the landscape, the people and the true heart of this historic state.
With the help of scholars, ranchers and musicians, Rich explores every aspect of what it is to be a Texan. He not only seeks the truth behind so many myths and legends in history and on screen, but gets to the very soul and explores how this land and its people has made such an impact on the rest of the world.
Rich goes from the ranches of Marfa to the music of Austin and the oil fields of Beaumont, and incorporates interviews, archive clips of some of cinema's finest films, historical photographs and footage, all brought together with his customary wit and intelligence.
This is an insight into the Texan psyche through its politics, sports, movies, industries and lifestyle, to find out if everything really is bigger in Texas.
SUN 22:30 Under the Rainbow (b03tqyg7)
When Laura and Sandro meet at a party, it's love at first sight. Laura thinks she has met the prince charming of her dreams - but has she? When she meets the dashing Maxime, her whirlwind engagement to Sandro is thrown into confusion, and their families already have enough problems of their own.
In French with English subtitles.
SUN 00:25 Lost Kingdoms of Central America (b04kzrg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Saturday]
SUN 01:25 Sound of Musicals with Neil Brand (b08bqfd2)
Seasons of Love
Series in which composer Neil Brand explores how musical theatre evolved over the last 100 years to become today's global phenomenon. Neil hears the inside story from leading composers and talent past and present, and recreates classic songs, looking in detail at how these work musically and lyrically to captivate the audience.
In the concluding episode, he explores why musical theatre is thriving in the 21st century. He charts the rise of the 'megamusical' phenomenon, with shows like Cats and Les Miserables, learns the behind-the-scenes story of how Disney transformed The Lion King from a cartoon into a record-breaking stage success, and sees how musicals have captured contemporary life in shows like Rent and Avenue Q. Neil recreates classic numbers to reveal the secrets of their songwriting, including The Rocky Horror Show's Sweet Transvestite, Don't Cry for Me Argentina from Evita, and Les Miserables' Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. Neil meets a host of top musical theatre talent, including master lyricist Tim Rice, Lion King director Julie Taymor, and leading composers Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q and Frozen).
SUN 02:25 Bollywood and Beyond: A Century of Indian Cinema (b069g4qg)
Indian cinema has the largest audience of any art form on the planet.
With a population of over a billion, India has recently enjoyed an economic boom and its movie stars are treated like deities. Today their fame stretches across the diaspora, in what has become a truly global industry.
As Indian cinema celebrates its centenary, Sanjeev Bhaskar travels across the subcontinent to get under the skin of the Indian movie business as never before.
From young hopefuls in the slums of Mumbai to superstars like Kareena Kapoor and Aamir Khan, he meets the stars of the silver screen and the people behind the scenes - legendary producers, directors, musicians and choreographers - exploring the stories behind some of the greatest films ever made.
Sanjeev grew up in west London, with Indian films providing the backdrop to his childhood, and in a warm and nostalgic live performance, Sanjeev takes us on a personal journey through the most chaotic and intriguing entertainment industry on the planet.
MONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017
MON 19:00 100 Days (b08d69cf)
Series 1
30/01/2017
As President Trump takes office, BBC News teams in Washington and London report on the events that are shaping our world.
MON 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jv7kl)
The Roaring Twenties
Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country, to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, to tell the history of modern Britain.
At Cliveden House in Berkshire, Melvyn looks back to the Roaring Twenties to discover how the other half lived, when a group of bright young people created Britain's first modern cult of celebrity.
The tragic story of Britain's original 'it girl', Elizabeth Ponsonby, is told by her niece Elizabeth. The current Lord Astor returns to his ancestral home to give a guided tour. And Martin Blaber explains what life was like below stairs for Cliveden's renowned head butler, his uncle, Edwin Lee.
MON 20:00 The World's Biggest Flower Market (b07czwfd)
Cherry Healey and Simon Lycett tell the story of how the flowers we buy travel across the world via Aalsmeer Flower Auction in Holland to reach us every day in pristine condition.
We reach for flowers to express our most fundamental human emotions - from passionate love to abject apology, joyful celebration of our mums or profound grief of a loved one. We relish our flowers so much that this year we are predicated to spend £2.2 billion on treating ourselves and others to the prefect bouquet.
Cherry and Simon, florist to the Royal Palaces, tell the miraculous story of how the flowers we buy in our florists and supermarkets travel across the globe to reach us every day in pristine condition. We follow three of Britain's favourite flowers, the rose, the tulip and the lily during the busiest time of year, Mother's Day, via Aalsmeer Flower Auction in Holland and its nearby sister markets, which together make up the biggest flower market on earth. Affectionately dubbed 'the Wall Street of Flowers', almost 30 million flowers and plants arrive every day to be bought and sold in its high-paced auctions with over £3 million changing hands daily.
And away from the market, Simon and Cherry continue to explore the cut flower industry. Simon visits Kenya to find out where his beloved rose starts life. And Cherry meets a conscientious tulip breeder who has dedicated a staggering 25 years of his life to breeding stunning new varieties of tulips.
It's an extraordinary story of incredible logistics - one in which science, technology and human ingenuity combine to meet the demands of a multibillion-pound industry built around something as romantic and ephemeral as a flower.
MON 21:00 Art of France (b08cgjv7)
Series 1
Plus Ça Change
Art historian and critic Andrew Graham-Dixon opens this series with the dramatic story of French art, a story of the most powerful kings ever to rule in Europe with their glittering palaces and astounding art to go in them. He also reveals how art emerged from a struggle between tradition and revolution, between rulers and a people who didn't always want to be ruled.
Starting with the first great revolution in art, the invention of Gothic architecture, he traces its development up until the arrival of classicism and the Age of Enlightenment - and the very eve of the revolution. Along the way some of the greatest art the world has ever seen was born, including the paintings of Poussin, Watteau and Chardin, the decadent rococo delights of Boucher and the great history paintings of Charles le Brun.
MON 22:00 The World's Most Beautiful Eggs: The Genius of Carl Faberge (b0336tf3)
Stephen Smith explores the extraordinary life and work of the virtuoso jeweller Carl Faberge. He talks to HRH Prince Michael of Kent about Faberge items in the Royal Collection and to Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who spent $100 million acquiring nine exquisite Faberge eggs. The bejewelled trinkets Faberge made for the last tsars of Russia in the twilight of their rule have become some of the most sought-after treasures in the world, sometimes worth millions.
Smith follows in Faberge's footsteps, from the legendary Green Vaults in Dresden to the palaces of the tsars and the corridors of the Kremlin museum, as he discovers how this fin-de-siecle genius transformed his father's modest business into the world's most famous supplier of luxury items.
MON 23:00 How It Works (b01g98vb)
Ceramics
Professor Mark Miodownik traces the story of ceramics. He looks at how we started with simple clay, sand and rock and changed them into pottery, glass and concrete - materials that would allow us to build cities, transform the way we view our world and communicate at the speed of light. Deep within their inner structure Mark discovers some of ceramics' most intriguing secrets. He reveals why glass can be utterly transparent, why concrete continues to harden for hundreds of years and how cooling ceramics could transform the way we power cities of the future.
MON 00:00 The Horizon Guide to Space Shuttles (b0109cc7)
In 2011, after more than 30 years of service, America's space shuttle took to the skies for the last time. Its story has been characterised by incredible triumphs, but blighted by devastating tragedies - and the BBC and Horizon have chronicled every step of its career. This unique and poignant Horizon Guide brings together coverage from three decades of programmes to present a biography of the shuttle and to ask what its legacy will be. Will it be remembered as an impressive chapter in human space exploration, or as a fatally flawed white elephant?
MON 01:00 David Starkey's Music and Monarchy (b038n7gd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:00 The World's Biggest Flower Market (b07czwfd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 03:00 Art of France (b08cgjv7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017
TUE 19:00 100 Days (b08d6d1p)
Series 1
31/01/2017
As President Trump takes office, BBC News teams in Washington and London report on the events that are shaping our world.
TUE 19:30 Secrets of Bones (b03yfqj6)
Food for Thought
Ben Garrod uncovers the secrets of how vertebrates capture and devour their food using extreme jaws, bizarre teeth and specialised bony tools. He takes a cherry picker up a sperm whale's jaw and finds out which animal has teeth weighing five kilos each and which uses its skull as a suction pump. Ben gets his own skull scanned and 3D-printed to discover how diet in humans isn't just affecting our waistlines but is also changing the shape of our bones.
TUE 20:00 Planet Earth II (p048sflc)
Islands
Remote islands offer sanctuary for some of the planet's strangest and rarest creatures. The rare pygmy three-toed sloth enjoys a peaceful existence on an idyllic Caribbean island, while nesting albatross thrive in predator-free isolation.
But island life always comes at a cost. On the Galapagos Islands, young marine iguana must escape an onslaught of deadly racer snakes the moment they hatch from the sand. On the sub-Antarctic island of Zavodovski, life gets more extreme still. Every day, one and a half million penguins risk being battered against the rocks by fierce waves as they try to get on and off the island.
TUE 21:00 Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks (b06237md)
Groundbreaking documentary which follows a Japanese-led team of scientists as they attempt to shed light on the mysterious world of deep sea sharks.
Only 50 specimens of the newly discovered 'megamouth' have ever been sighted. Over four years, scientists and film crews voyaged in midget submarines into the depths of Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay to film them. Prehistoric 'living fossil' sharks such as bluntnose sixgill sharks, goblin sharks and frilled sharks also lurk in the depths.
As part of the investigation, a sperm whale carcass was placed at the bottom of the sea to attract these sharks, which were then studied and observed from the submersible vessels. Revealing in detail the previously unknown behaviour of deep sea sharks, the film unravels another of the intriguing mysteries of our planet's biodiversity.
TUE 21:50 Natural World (b0377t15)
2013-2014
Giant Squid: Filming the Impossible - Natural World Special
The giant squid is a creature of legend and myth which, even in the 21st century, has never been seen alive. But now, an international team of scientists thinks it has finally found its lair, 1,000 metres down, off the coast of Japan. This is the culmination of decades of research. The team deploys underwater robots and state-of-the-art submersible vessels for a world first - to find and film the impossible.
TUE 22:35 The Maharajas' Motor Car: The Story of Rolls-Royce in India (b00j4c2s)
Documentary telling the story of Rolls-Royce in India through the fortunes of India's princes.
Combining newly shot high-definition sequences, archive film and photographs, this film follows the princes from the zenith of British imperial power in the early 1900s through to their decline in the aftermath of independence in 1947.
Contributors include: HH Shriji Arvind Singh, the Maharana of Udaipur; Manvendra Barwani, Rana of Barwani; Pranlal Bhogilal, India's foremost Rolls-Royce collector, and Sharada Dwivedi, writer and cultural commentator.
TUE 23:35 Bombay Railway (b007t30p)
Pressures
Documentary about Bombay's vast suburban rail network, which serves six-and-a-half million commuters every day. As Bombay's population swells by tens of thousands each week, the railway and the people whose lives revolve around it struggle to cope with the pressure and the peaktime 'super-dense crush load'. From the train driver to the illegal hawker and the homeless shoe-shine boy, each has a story to tell about this remarkable railway system, often described as the lifeline of India.
TUE 00:35 Bought with Love: The Secret History of British Art Collections (b0376y1l)
The Pioneers
Britain's country houses are home to astonishing world-class art collections full of priceless old masters and more. In this three-part series art historian Helen Rosslyn opens the doors of some of our most impressive country houses to tell the story of how so many great paintings came to Britain and of the adventurous men and women who brought them here.
In the first episode she reveals the immense influence of the 17th-century pioneer collectors such as Thomas Howard, the 'Collector' Earl of Arundel, King Charles I and his entourage known as the Whitehall Group. Rosslyn explores how this group also brought a taste for the Baroque to Britain, commissioning continental artists such as Rubens, Van Dyck and later Antonio Verrio.
Featuring Verrio's extraordinary Hell Staircase at Burghley House in Cambridgeshire, as well as highlights from the collections at Arundel Castle in Sussex and Wilton House in Wiltshire, the series offers not only a visual treat but a surprising narrative to our national treasures.
TUE 01:35 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 02:35 Planet Earth II (p048sflc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2017
WED 19:00 100 Days (b08d6jg1)
Series 1
01/02/2017
As President Trump takes office, BBC News teams in Washington and London report on the events that are shaping our world.
WED 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jw06l)
Britain's National Disgrace
Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, and tell the history of modern Britain.
This episode comes from Columbia Road in the East End of London and looks back to the 1930s, a time when millions of people across Britain lived in the squalor of urban slums.
Two cousins, Pat and Carole, come face to face with their grandfather, who was captured in a remarkable 1935 film of Stepney tenement slums. Childhood friends Roger Packer and Brian Davies talk about the sense of community which existed amongst the slum dwellers, and Stan Hardy shares his incredible story about his years in the workhouse as a young boy.
WED 20:00 Fair Isle: Living on the Edge (b083xzhb)
Episode 1
Fair Isle is Britain's most remote inhabited island, situated halfway between the Shetland and Orkney Islands. It's an extraordinary place to live. There's no power at night, no pub and it can be cut off for days at any time of the year. Once home to nearly 400 people, today Fair Isle's population is just 55 - a perilously low number on an island where all essential jobs are carried out by the hard-working community, who are doing everything they can to increase their population and ensure the island's survival.
This intimate two-part series begins with the arrival of a new couple and follows them as they settle in and adapt to island life, and follows a family whose 11-year-old son has to leave home to board at secondary school on mainland Shetland.
WED 21:00 A Timewatch Guide (b08cwrf2)
Series 3
British Empire: Heroes and Villains
Less than 100 years ago, the British ruled a quarter of the planet and one in five of the global population. Once, people were proud to call themselves imperialists, but now, to many, that seems like a badge of shame.
In this Timewatch guide, David Olusoga examines not whether the British Empire was a force for good or ill, but rather how it has been portrayed on British television over the last 70 years.
Drawing on decades of the documentary series Timewatch, plus many other gems from the BBC archive, David sees how Britain's Caribbean colonies grew rich on slave labour, how chaos gripped India post-independence, and how Africa was plundered for her mineral wealth.
David investigates how film-makers through the years have represented the actions and legacy of Britain's period as the world's ultimate superpower. It used to be said that the sun would never set on the British Empire - now, long after it's gone, the arguments surrounding it are very far from being settled.
WED 22:00 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 23:00 Storyville (b08cgm58)
The Great Literary Scandal: The JT Leroy Story
An inside account of a scandal that duped celebrities and the literary world. Former homeless youth JT LeRoy become an 'it boy' beloved by stars like Madonna and Courtney Love. His tough prose about his sordid childhood captivated icons and luminaries internationally. But in 2005 an article in a New York magazine sent shockwaves through the literary world when it unmasked JT LeRoy. It turned out LeRoy didn't actually exist. He was dreamed up by 40-year-old San Francisco punk rocker and phone sex operator Laura Albert.
The JT LeRoy Story takes us down the infinitely fascinating rabbit hole of how Laura Albert breathed not only words but also life into her avatar for a decade. Albert's epic and entertaining account plunges us into a glittery world of rock shows, fashion events, and the Cannes red carpet where LeRoy becomes a mysterious sensation. As she recounts this astonishing odyssey, Albert also reveals the intricate web spun by irrepressible creative forces within her. Her extended and layered JT LeRoy performance still infuriates many, but for Albert, channelling her brilliant fiction through another identity was the only possible path to self-expression.
A gripping yarn about fantasy, deceit and the nature of celebrity.
WED 00:45 When Pop Ruled My Life: The Fans' Story (b05wn8hf)
Journalist Kate Mossman explores the unique relationship between artist and fan, from The Beatles to One Direction, and her own evolving fascination with Queen.
WED 01:45 Treasures of the Indus (b069g53h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
WED 02:45 A Timewatch Guide (b08cwrf2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 02 FEBRUARY 2017
THU 19:00 100 Days (b08d6l2b)
Series 1
02/02/2017
As President Trump takes office, BBC News teams in Washington and London report on the events that are shaping our world.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08bqfct)
Janice Long and Pat Sharp present the weekly look at the pop charts, first broadcast on 10 February 1983. Featuring The Belle Stars, Toto, Level 42, Michael Jackson, Central Line, China Crisis and Men at Work.
THU 20:00 Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney (b087vh70)
Episode 1
Orkney - seven miles off the coast of Scotland and cut off by the tumultuous Pentland Firth, the fastest flowing tidal race in Europe, is often viewed as being remote. But recent discoveries there are turning the stone age map of Britain upside down. Rather than an outpost at the edge of the world, recent finds suggest an extraordinary theory - that Orkney was the cultural capital of our ancient world and the origin of the stone circle cult which culminated in Stonehenge.
In this three-part series, Neil Oliver, Chris Packham, Andy Torbet and Dr Shini Somara join hundreds of archaeologists from around the world who have gathered there to investigate at one of Europe's biggest digs.
Chris Packham uncovers the secrets revealed by the DNA of Orkney's unique vole, Neil Oliver explores Orkney's tombs and monuments, Dr Shini Somara experiments to discover how the Orcadians could have moved giant blocks of stone over rough ground and archaeological adventurer Andy Torbet climbs Orkney's most challenging sea-stack to unlock the story of Orkney's unusual geology.
THU 21:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08cgp55)
Series 1
The Glorious Revolution
In this episode, Lucy debunks another of the biggest fibs in British history - the 'Glorious Revolution'.
In 1688, the British Isles were invaded by a huge army led by Dutch prince, William of Orange. With his English wife Mary he stole the throne from Mary's father, the Catholic King James II. This was the death knell for absolute royal power and laid the foundations of our constitutional monarchy. It was spun as a 'glorious and bloodless revolution'. But how 'glorious' was it really? It led to huge slaughter in Ireland and Scotland. Lucy reveals how the facts and fictions surrounding 1688 have shaped our national story ever since.
THU 22:00 The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich (b07l6bd0)
Medieval art historian Dr Janina Ramirez tells the incredible story of a book hidden for centuries in the shadows of history, the first book ever written in English by a woman, Julian of Norwich, in 1373.
Revelations of Divine Love dared to present an alternative vision of man's relationship with God, a theology fundamentally at odds with the church of Julian's time. The book was suppressed for 500 years. It re-emerged in the 20th century as an iconic text for the women's movement and was acknowledged as a literary masterpiece.
Janina follows the trail of the lost manuscript, travelling from Norwich to Cambrai in northern France to discover how the book survived and the brave women who championed it.
THU 23:00 Nazis: A Warning from History (b0074kmy)
Helped into Power
How was it possible that the cultured nation at the heart of Europe ever allowed Hitler to come to power?
With the help of film archive discoveries from Russia and interviews with eye witnesses, many of whom are former members of the Nazi party and have never appeared on television before, this film reveals how the Nazi party was born and grew in support in the late 1920s, and shows just why in January 1933 Germany's President Hindenburg appointed a new popular chancellor who was openly committed to overthrowing Germany democracy - Adolf Hitler.
Hitler's personality was to dominate the Nazi party. But eyewitnesses have very different recollections of his effect upon them. To Nazi supporter Fridolin von Spaun 'the long gaze which he gave me convinced me completely that he was a man with honourable intentions.' But to German diplomat Herbert Richter, who saw Hitler in the 1920s, 'he wasn't quite normal. He was spooky.'
The Nazis wanted the world to believe that Hitler's rise to power was inevitable - this programme shatters that myth.
THU 23:50 A Timewatch Guide (b08cwrf2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:50 Top of the Pops (b08bqfct)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:30 Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney (b087vh70)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 02:30 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08cgp55)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2017
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b08cggpg)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08cgpkf)
Peter Powell and Gary Davies present the weekly chart show, first broadcast on 17 February 1983. Featuring Wham, Tears for Fears, Icehouse, Musical Youth, Madness, Haysi Fantayzee, Fun Boy Three and Kajagoogoo.
FRI 20:00 The Good Old Days (b08d80fb)
Leonard Sachs presents the silver jubilee edition of the old-time music hall programme, first broadcast on 10 January 1978. With Ken Dodd, Jan Hunt and members of the Players' Theatre, London.
FRI 20:50 Sounds of the Sixties (b051rz4l)
Reversions
1964-5: Getting in on the Act 3
The Seekers kick off this episode of the sixties archive pop programme. The Hollies and The Byrds, precursors to Crosby, Stills and Nash, also appear.
FRI 21:00 One-Hit Wonders at the BBC (b05r7nxx)
Compilation of some indelible hits by artists we hardly heard from again, at least in a chart sense. Featuring Peter Sarstedt's Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)? - a number one in 1969 and a hit he never really matched, Trio's 1982 smash Da Da Da, Phyllis Nelson's 1985 lovers rock-style classic Move Closer, and The New Radicals' 1999 hit You Get What You Give.
We travel through the years selecting some of your favourite number ones and a few others that came close, revealing what's happened to the one-off hitmakers since and exploring the unwritten laws that help make sense of the one-hit wonder phenomenon.
FRI 22:00 EMI: The Inside Story (b07c6fj7)
One record company has been a constant presence in popular music throughout our lives.
EMI brought The Beatles to the world and in every decade since has been instrumental in producing some of Britain's most celebrated and enduring music.
But behind the success lay a very British institution often at odds with the music it released. It had to come to terms with psychedelia, face punk head-on and find huge sums of money to feed the excesses of the 1980s.
Interviews with EMI artists including members of Queen, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols and Pet Shop Boys reveal how their demands for more and more control ultimately led to drastic changes at EMI. Former EMI employees share the gossip and goings-on in an industry infamous for its extravagance.
The British music industry is world-renowned. It has produced decades of memorable music that have reached all corners of the globe. EMI has always been at the forefront and has left an indelible mark on our culture forever.
FRI 23:00 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.
FRI 00:00 Top of the Pops (b08cgpkf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 00:30 Prog at the BBC (b00g8tfx)
Compilation of some of the greatest names and British bands in what they still dare to call prog rock, filmed live in the BBC studios in the early 1970s. Expect to see stadium names like Yes, Genesis and Emerson, Lake and Palmer alongside much-loved bands of the era including Caravan, Family, Atomic Rooster and more.
FRI 01:30 EMI: The Inside Story (b07c6fj7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 02:30 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b015f5c8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]