A revealing portrait of our closest star - the sun. Responsible for all life on Earth, the sun has always been worshipped. In the Stone Age, monuments were built to its constancy and predictability. New ways of observing the sun are revealing another side to it - a dark and violent side of turbulent storms and huge explosions. As scientists learn to understand the forces that drive it, they are also trying to control its power. If we could harness the sun's power output for a single second it would supply the world's demands for the next million years.
1972 was the year a great affair ended, as the human race fell out of love with the moon. Just three years after the world was gripped by Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind, the last man left the moon and we have never been back.
This film tells the epic story of our love affair with the moon - what inspired it, how it faded away and how we are now falling in love all over again.
Around the world, a new generation of astronomers are hunting for the most mysterious objects in the universe. Young stars, black holes, even other forms of life.
They have created a dazzling new set of supertelescopes that promise to rewrite the story of the heavens.
This film follows the men and women who are pushing the limits of science and engineering in some of the most extreme environments on earth. But most strikingly of all, no-one really knows what they will find out there.
When the first episode of The Sky at Night was transmitted in April 1957, it was still thought that Mars could be home to advanced life, the Space Age was yet to begin, and the Big Bang was just a controversial theory. So to celebrate its 60th anniversary, this special programme looks at how our knowledge of the universe has been transformed in the last six decades - from the exploration of the solar system to the detection of black holes and planets orbiting distant stars. Featuring contributions from Jim Al-Khalili, Dallas Campbell and Monica Grady and including special birthday messages from a host of stars, this is a celebration of an extraordinary age of discovery, and The Sky at Night's role in covering it.
In August 2008, 25 climbers from several international expeditions converged on high camp of K2, the final stop before the summit of the most dangerous mountain on earth. Just 48 hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished, making it the deadliest day in mountaineering history.
In a century of assaults on K2, only about 300 people have ever seen the view from the planet's second highest peak. More than a quarter of those who made it didn't live long enough to share the glory.
At the heart of this documentary lies a mystery about one extraordinary Irishman, Ger McDonnell. At the very limit of his physical resources, he faced a heartbreaking dilemma. Through recreations, archive and home movie footage, and interviews with survivors and families, the film creates a forensic, vivid version of events that is emotive, engrossing and, at times, deeply shocking.
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
MON 19:00 100 Days (b08nb1zk)
Series 1
24/04/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.
MON 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.'.
MON 20:00 Timeshift (b053pxdr)
Series 14
The Nation's Railway: The Golden Age of British Rail
Timeshift revisits Britain's railways during the era of public ownership. For all its bad reputation today, the old British Rail boldly transformed a decayed, war-torn Victorian transport network into a system fit for the 20th century. With an eye firmly on the future, steam made way for diesel and electric, new modern stations like Euston were built, and Britain's first high-speed trains introduced.
Made with unique access to the British Transport Films archive, this is a warm corrective to the myth of the bad old days of rail, but even it can't hide from the horror that was a British Rail sandwich.
MON 21:00 Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley (b06wrgzw)
The Road to Revolution
Lucy Worsley concludes her history of the Romanov dynasty, investigating how the family's grip on Russia unravelled in their final century. She shows how the years 1825-1918 were bloody and traumatic, a period when four tsars tried - and failed - to deal with the growing pressure for constitutional reform and revolution.
Lucy finds out how the Romanovs tried to change the system themselves - in 1861, millions of enslaved serfs were freed by the Tsar-Liberator, Alexander II. But Alexander paid the ultimate penalty for opening the Pandora's box of reform when he was later blown up by terrorists on the streets of St Petersburg.
Elsewhere, there was repression, denial, war and - in the case of the last tsar, Nicholas II - a fatalistic belief in the power of God, with Nicholas's faith in the notorious holy man Rasputin being a major part in his undoing. Lucy also details the chilling murder of Nicholas and his family in 1918, and asks whether all of this horror have been avoided.
Lucy also shows how there was a growing movement among the people of Russia to determine their own fate. She traces the growth of the intelligentsia, writers and thinkers who sought to have a voice about Russia. Speaking out came with a risk - after Ivan Turgenev wrote about the appalling life of the serfs in 1852, he was sentenced to house arrest by tsar Nicholas I. Lucy also shows how anger against the Romanov regime created a later generation of radicals committed to overturning the status quo. Some would turn to terrorism and, finally, revolution.
As well as political upheaval there is private drama, and Lucy explains how Nicholas II's family life played into his family's downfall. His son and heir Alexei suffered from haemophilia - the secrecy the family placed around the condition led them into seclusion, further distancing them from the Russian people. It also led them to the influence of man who seemed to have the power to heal their son, and who was seen as a malign influence on Nicholas - Rasputin.
MON 22:00 Genius of the Modern World (b07gpdbx)
Marx
Bettany Hughes investigates the revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx. Born to an affluent Prussian family, Marx became an angry, idealistic radical, constantly on the run for his political agitating and incendiary writing. In Paris, he first formulated his explosive analysis of capitalism and its corrosive effects on human nature. In Brussels, he co-authored the Communist Manifesto with Frederick Engels. In London, his obsessive theorizing dragged his family into poverty and tragedy.
Marx's masterpiece Das Capital was largely overlooked in his lifetime, and only 11 people attended his funeral. Yet his ideas would generate one of the most influential, and divisive, ideologies in history. Drawing on expert opinion and new evidence, Bettany reveals the flesh-and-blood man and his groundbreaking ideas.
MON 23:00 The Man who Discovered Egypt (b01f13f4)
Documentary about English Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, the pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology. Ancient Egypt was vandalised by tomb raiders and treasure hunters until this Victorian adventurer took them on. Most people have never heard of him, but this maverick undertook a scientific survey of the pyramids, discovered the oldest portraits in the world, unearthed Egypt's prehistoric roots - and in the process invented modern field archaeology, giving meaning to a whole civilisation.
MON 00:00 Guts: The Strange and Wonderful World of the Human Stomach (p07801ts)
What's really going on inside your stomach? In this one-off special, Michael Mosley offers up his own guts to find out. Spending the day as an exhibit at the Science Museum in London, he swallows a tiny camera and uses the latest in imaging technology to get a unique view of his innards digesting his food. He discovers pools of concentrated acid and metres of writhing tubing which is home to its own ecosystem. Michael Mosley lays bare the mysteries of the digestive system and reveals a complexity and intelligence in the human gut that science is only just beginning to uncover.
MON 01:00 Sex, Lies and Love Bites: The Agony Aunt Story (b0555vjj)
Psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry presents a witty and revealing look at the problem page's enduring appeal. In the documentary Philippa picks her way through three centuries of advice on broken hearts, cheating partners and adolescent angst to uncover a fascinating portrait of our social history.
She talks to fellow agony aunts and uncles like the Telegraph's Graham Norton and the Sun's Deidre Sanders about their experiences, as well as exploring the work of advice columnists past, like the 17th-century inventor of the problem page, John Dunton. The advice may change, but she discovers that, when it comes to subjects like love and courtship, the same old problems keep on cropping up.
Through the work of generations of advice columnists Philippa charts the developing battle of the sexes, the rise of the middle classes and a revolution in social attitudes. For much of the 20th century, agony aunts avoided any mention of trouble in the bedroom. Philippa explores the pioneering work of agony aunts like Claire Rayner, who began to offer frank sex advice in the 1960s. Today, sex takes pride of place on the problem page, as Philippa discovers for herself when she takes a starring role in the Sun's photo casebook, which is famous for its real-life problems illustrated with pictures of semi-clad ladies.
At a time when advice is more easily available than ever before, Philippa reflects on why agony aunts are often still our first port of call, and on what makes reading about other people's problems so irresistible.
MON 02:00 Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds: A Tale of Three Cities (b04gbdww)
New York 1951
Dr James Fox tells the story of New York in 1951, where the world we know today was born. This was the year when Jackson Pollock brought a new dynamism to American painting, when the dazzling jazz style known as bebop hit its stride and when Jack Kerouac defined the Beat Generation with his book On the Road. It was where a young Marlon Brando took cinema by storm, a dapper Brit named David Ogilvy reinvented advertising and modern television arrived with the triumphant debut of a show called I Love Lucy.
MON 03:00 Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley (b06wrgzw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017
TUE 19:00 100 Days (b08nb1zr)
Series 1
25/04/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.
TUE 19:30 Orangutan Diary (b007clgv)
Series 1
Episode 1
Michaela Strachan and Steve Leonard present a series featuring orphaned and rescued orangutans in Borneo. Steve heads up river where he rescues a tiny orangutan being kept illegally as a pet. Back at the rescue centre she is named Ellie and takes her place alongside the other orphans.
Michaela visits the forest school where the young orangutans are trained in climbing, feeding and socialising - skills their mothers would have taught them in the wild. Steve attempts to rescue an adult orangutan from a fragment of forest destined for destruction. After being shot with an anaesthetic dart, the orangutan must fall more than 50 feet into a net. It's touch and go whether the mission will succeed.
TUE 20:00 Wild Ireland: The Edge of the World (b08jgr5r)
Series 1
Episode 1
Colin Stafford-Johnson begins his Atlantic journey exploring the ancient ruins and wildlife of the Skellig Rocks - stormbound ocean pinnacles off the south western corner of Ireland, where early Christian monks built a monastery on the summit almost 1,500 years ago.
His next stop is the deserted Blasket Islands, home to vast numbers of seals coming ashore in winter to fight, mate and moult, before he heads inland through Ireland's highest mountain range in search of the island's last surviving herd of red deer from prehistoric times.
Back on the coast, he goes on the trail of humpback whales, which are making their mark in Irish waters and returning year after year in increasing numbers, before heading north along the coast to meet Ireland's only toads and lizards, and a dolphin who has set up residence off Ireland's limestone desert region - the Burren.
His journey ends in Clew Bay, an iconic inlet halfway up Ireland's west coast and the place Colin chose to make his home.
TUE 21:00 Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity (p00kjq6h)
Spark
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.
Episode one tells the story of the very first 'natural philosophers' who started to unlock the mysteries of electricity. They studied its curious link to life, built strange and powerful instruments to create it and even tamed lightning itself. It was these men who truly laid the foundations of the modern world. Electricity was without doubt a fantastical wonder. This is the story about what happened when the first real concerted effort was made to understand electricity - how we learned to create and store it, before finally creating something that enabled us to make it at will - the battery.
TUE 22:00 Metamorphosis: The Science of Change (p00zv0wk)
Metamorphosis seems like the ultimate evolutionary magic trick, the amazing transformation of one creature into a totally different being: one life, two bodies.
From Ovid and Kafka to X-Men, tales of metamorphosis richly permeate human culture. The myth of transformation is so common that it seems almost preprogrammed into our imagination. But is the scientific fact of metamorphosis just as strange as fiction or... even stranger?
Film-maker David Malone explores the science behind metamorphosis. How does it happen and why? And might it even, in some way, happen to us?
TUE 23:00 Ray Mears Goes Walkabout (b00c310c)
Torres Strait
Ray Mears travels to the Torres Strait Islands to learn how the islanders' lifestyle has helped them retain much of their bushcraft and knowledge. He finds out how these skills helped people survive during the Second World War and tells the story of Barbara Thompson, a young woman who was shipwrecked in the mid-19th century and survived despite the islands' reputation for cannibalism at the time.
TUE 00:00 Natural World (b00xxf9f)
2010-2011
Miracle in the Marshes of Iraq
It's the largest and most ambitious habitat recreation project ever known - to bring back to life one of the world's greatest marshlands. And it's happening in Iraq.
Considered to be the original Garden of Eden, the marshes were once Iraq's wildlife jewel, where man and nature thrived for 5,000 years. But in the 1990s, Saddam Hussein drained these gigantic wetlands and turned them into a desert, destroying a home to thousands of people and millions of birds.
Donning his body armour, film-maker David Johnson travels to the Mesopotamian marshes to follow the work of Azzam Alwash, the visionary Iraqi engineer at the centre of this extraordinary scheme to reflood hundreds of miles of desert and bring back life to the sands. This is a view of Iraq the world never sees, a world of huge reed beds and vast flocks of birds that fill the sky.
TUE 01:00 Amazon Abyss (b00hh4ws)
Compilation 1
The bottom of the Amazon River is home to many of the strangest and fiercest creatures in the world. This is the first in a two-part series following the high-adrenaline adventures of a team of divers as they explore and film the depths of the world's greatest river system.
It is the first time an expedition has ever attempted anything so ambitious, and they discover an alien world, full of beautiful and bizarre creatures. Stingray, freshwater dolphins, talking fish and the mysterious Jau are all to be found in the river's depths.
Mike deGruy and Kate Humble lead the international team of scientists and divers as they search for species new to science and come face to face with the monsters of the deep.
TUE 02:00 The Story of Scottish Art (b06h7xsm)
Episode 1
The story of Scottish art and its impact on the international art world is celebrated in this four-part series presented by acclaimed artist Lachlan Goudie. The series spans 5,000 years of Scotland's history, from the earliest Neolithic art to the present day.
In the first programme, Lachlan explores Scotland's earliest art. He visits the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, where standing stones have watched the seasons pass for thousands of years. On the island of Westray he encounters an ancient figurine - the Westray Wife - the oldest sculpted human figure in the British Isles. He explores the sophisticated art of the Picts and the Gaels, the exuberant Renaissance period of the early Stewart kings, and the destructive heights of the Reformation, when religious artworks were all but wiped out in Scotland.
TUE 03:00 Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity (p00kjq6h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017
WED 19:00 100 Days (b08nb201)
Series 1
26/04/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.
WED 19:30 Orangutan Diary (b007clvj)
Series 1
Episode 2
The second instalment of the dramatic story of rescued and orphaned orangutans in Borneo.
All over the island, their forests are being destroyed and being replaced with palm oil plantations.
Michaela Strachan and Steve Leonard help babies Lomon, Grendon and Ellie learn how to behave like wild orangutans. It is a tough job - six years of love and education that their mothers would have provided in the wild. Lomon is one of the weakest orphans of all, and when a serious virus starts to spread at the centre, Michaela fears that he may not survive.
WED 20:00 Nature's Wonderlands: Islands of Evolution (b06zdkds)
Madeira: Island Ark
In the final episode, Richard Fortey travels to Madeira to examine what happens to a volcanic island as it nears the end of its life cycle and starts sinking back into the sea. Here, in the island's laurisilva forest, he examines the remains of an ancient forest that once carpeted all of Europe, finds island lizards that live to be four times older than their mainland counterparts, and meets a huge wolf spider. With the help of local divers, he also discovers an unexpectedly rich marine habitat populated by whales, dolphins and unusual deep-sea species that have much to tell us about the changing nature of our seas.
WED 21:00 The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver (b06jcxg7)
Episode 2
In episode two, we discover the golden age of the La Tene Celtic warrior and reveal how their world extended as far as central Turkey. But by the middle of the first century BC, the Celts were under threat from an expanding Roman Empire, and the Gallic warrior Vercingetorix would challenge Julius Caesar in an epic battle that would shape the future of Europe.
WED 22:00 When God Spoke English: The Making of the King James Bible (b00yvs8n)
Documentary telling the unexpected story of how arguably the greatest work of English prose ever written, the King James Bible, came into being.
Author Adam Nicolson reveals why the making of this powerful book shares much in common with his experience of a very different national project - the Millennium Dome. The programme also delves into recently discovered 17th-century manuscripts, from the actual translation process itself, to show in rich detail what makes this Bible so good.
In a turbulent and often violent age, the king hoped this Bible would unite a country torn by religious factions. Today it is dismissed by some as old-fashioned and impenetrable, but the film shows why, in the 21st century, the King James Bible remains so great.
WED 23:00 Horizon (b013pnv4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
WED 00:00 Metalworks! (b01fhmhp)
The Golden Age of Silver
Dan Cruickshank visits Britain's finest country houses, museums and factories as he uncovers the 18th- and 19th-century fascination with silver. Delving into an unsurpassed era of shimmering opulence, heady indulgence and conspicuous consumption, Dan discovers the Georgian and Victorian obsession with this tantalising precious metal which represented status, wealth and excellent taste. He gives us a glimpse of some of the most extensive collections and exquisite pieces of silverware to have ever been made on British shores.
WED 01:00 The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver (b06jcxg7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WED 02:00 Nature's Wonderlands: Islands of Evolution (b06zdkds)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 03:00 The Brits Who Built the Modern World (b03vgz8d)
The Power of the Past
How an exceptional generation of British architects, led by Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, conquered the globe with their high-tech vision.
This episode focuses on the 1980s, when modern architecture was deeply unpopular and under attack from the Prince of Wales. The architects reveal the dramatic stories behind some of their most famous creations, including Rogers's Lloyd's of London building and Foster's Stansted Airport.
Terry Farrell reveals how he was kept in the dark when he was designing the MI6 Headquarters, Michael Hopkins recalls the challenges of bringing ultra-modern architecture into the traditional world of Lord's Cricket Ground, and Nicholas Grimshaw follows in the footsteps of the great Victorian engineers with his Waterloo International station.
THURSDAY 27 APRIL 2017
THU 19:00 100 Days (b08nb206)
Series 1
27/04/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08ndh0r)
David Jensen and John Peel present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 6 October 1983. Featuring Freeez, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, David Grant, The Alarm, New Order and Culture Club.
THU 20:00 The Sky at Night (b08nddnb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Sunday]
THU 21:00 Bob Monkhouse: The Last Stand (b086tw3q)
Summer 2003: Bob Monkhouse entertains a room full of comedians with stand-up, chat and a comedy masterclass. The night became the stuff of legend among comedians but was not transmitted until much later.
THU 22:00 Bucket (b08nb5mk)
Series 1
Episode 3
It's the night before cousin Pat's daughter Gemma's wedding. When she reveals she doesn't want to go through with it, Mim and Fran try to help her, making some important discoveries in the process.
THU 22:25 Wild Ireland: The Edge of the World (b08jgr5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
THU 23:25 Dan Cruickshank: At Home with the British (b07c645b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
THU 00:25 Top of the Pops (b08ndh0r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:05 Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (b06tg506)
[Repeat of broadcast at
00:00 on Saturday]
THU 03:00 Bucket (b08nb5mk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRIDAY 28 APRIL 2017
FRI 19:00 100 Days (b08qlsgp)
Series 1
28/04/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08ndh2k)
Peter Powell and Richard Skinner present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 13 October 1983. Featuring Roman Holliday, Tracey Ullman, Siouxsie & The Banshees, George Benson, Lydia Murdock, Lionel Richie and Culture Club.
FRI 20:00 The Good Old Days (b08nb6gz)
Leonard Sachs chairs the old-time music hall programme, originally broadcast on 14 March 1978. With Ken Dodd, Kenneth McKellar, Jan Hunt, Francis Van Dyke, Pat Mooney, Bartschelly, Albert Aldred and members of the Players' Theatre, London.
FRI 20:50 Sounds of the Seventies (b0074t1m)
Shorts
Sweet, Slade and Mud
More fizzy nuggets of seventies pop from the BBC archive. Three giants of the seven-inch single perform Blockbuster, Mama Weer All Crazee Now and Tiger Feet.
FRI 21:00 When Albums Ruled the World (b01qhn70)
Between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s, the long-playing record and the albums that graced its grooves changed popular music for ever. For the first time, musicians could escape the confines of the three-minute pop single and express themselves as never before across the expanded artistic canvas of the album. The LP allowed popular music become an art form - from the glorious artwork adorning gatefold sleeves, to the ideas and concepts that bound the songs together, to the unforgettable music itself.
Built on stratospheric sales of albums, these were the years when the music industry exploded to become bigger than Hollywood. From pop to rock, from country to soul, from jazz to punk, all of music embraced what 'the album' could offer. But with the collapse of vinyl sales at the end of the 70s and the arrival of new technologies and formats, the golden era of the album couldn't last forever.
With contributions from Roger Taylor, Ray Manzarek, Noel Gallagher, Guy Garvey, Nile Rodgers, Grace Slick, Mike Oldfield, Slash and a host of others, this is the story of When Albums Ruled the World.
FRI 22:30 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
Do you remember buying your first single? Where you bought it? What it was? The thrill of playing it for the first time? What it sounded like? How it maybe changed your life? Lots of us do. Lots of us still have that single somewhere in a dusty box in the attic, along with other treasured memorabilia of an adolescence lost in music and romance. The attic of our youth.
The Joy of the Single is a documentary packed with startling memories, vivid images and penetrating insights into the power of pop and rock's first and most abiding artefact - the seven-inch, vinyl 45-rpm record, a small, perfectly formed object that seems to miraculously contain the hopes, fears, sounds and experiences of our different generations - all within the spiralling groove etched on its shiny black surface, labelled and gift-wrapped by an industry also in its thrall.
In the confident hands of a star-studded cast, the film spins a tale of obsession, addiction, dedication and desire. The viewer is invited on a journey of celebration from the 1950s rock 'n' roll generation to the download kids of today, taking in classic singles from all manner of artists in each decade - from the smell of vinyl to the delights of the record label, from the importance of the record shop to the bittersweet brevity of the song itself, from stacking singles on a Dansette spindle to dropping the needle and thrilling to the intro.
Featuring contributions from Noddy Holder, Jack White, Richard Hawley, Suzi Quatro, Holly Johnson, Jimmy Webb, Pete Waterman, Norah Jones, Mike Batt, Graham Gouldman, Miranda Sawyer, Norman Cook, Trevor Horn, Neil Sedaka, Paul Morley, Rob Davies, Lavinia Greenlaw, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.
FRI 23:30 Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie (b06hhxr7)
Into the Mainstream
The story of British indie over three musically diverse episodes. Much more than a genre of music, it is a spirit, an attitude and an ethos.
It's 1989 and a new grassroots music craze is sweeping across Britain. Despite the authorities railing against 'the zombification of a nation', acid house and its bed partner ecstasy are influencing a wave of indie bands. On the eve of a new decade while original independent labels struggle in the wake of acid, young indie labels Heavenly and Creation are thriving, signing both Manic Street Preachers and Primal Scream respectively.
By the mid 90s, in a bid to break the stranglehold of American grunge bands, the music press construct Britpop and push two bands, Oasis and Blur, to the top of the pile. The key thing that separates Britpop bands from the previous generation is the mindset. These bands, who grew up in the Thatcher era, want to sell (and make) a million. Bands with an old indie ethos, such as Suede, are still breaking through but will switch from independent labels to majors, thus guaranteeing international recognition.
Indie truly goes mainstream when Noel Gallagher shakes hands with Tony Blair and Oasis fill Knebworth. The spirit of the DIY boom had all but gone and indie becomes a genre rather than an alternative approach to making and releasing music. The late 90s are dark days for indie, but as Rough Trade rises from the ashes with two fresh signings - The Strokes and The Libertines - it feels like a new dawn.
More new completely independent labels emerge. They've learnt from the mistakes of old and are excellent at artist development - labels such Domino, who manage the Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. We hear why these two bands - who had the majors tripping over themselves to sign them - choose Domino instead.
These bands also heralded a new way in which music was being discovered. It's the fans at a grassroots level, sharing their favourite band via clips on social media, who would be the new A&R - alerting the record labels to new talent.
We finally come full circle to discover just what constitutes indie music now, if there still a need for independent labels and, finally, whether the spirit of rebellion that inspired the DIY movement of the 1970s still exists today.
The series is presented by BBC Radio 6 Music's Mark Radcliffe and this episode features exclusive interviews with performers including Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays, The Libertines' Carl Barat, Stuart Murdoch from Belle & Sebastian and Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne. It also includes interviews with a number of influential music industry figures such as James Endeacott, formerly of Rough Trade Records and founder of Sony BMG subsidiary record label 1965 Records, Heavenly Recordings' Jeff Barrett, Creation Records' Alan McGee and indie music author Richard King.
FRI 00:30 Top of the Pops (b08ndh2k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 01:10 When Albums Ruled the World (b01qhn70)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:35 Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie (b06hhxr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:30 today]