Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the series where knowledge will only take you so far. Patience and lateral thinking are also vital.
The Dandies and Arrowheads return for a last chance to stay in the competition. They compete to find the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria to learn what connects Extra Special, M Signature, Finest and Taste the Difference.
The second round of the quiz for students continues when two teams representing their universities aim to reach the quarter-finals. Jeremy Paxman asks the questions.
This is the story of the most extraordinary journey in human exploration, the Voyager space mission. In 1977 two unmanned spacecraft were launched by NASA, heading for distant worlds. It would be the first time any man-made object would ever visit the farthest planets of the solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. On the way the Voyagers would be bombarded by space dust, fried by radiation and discover many of the remarkable wonders of the solar system.
Now, at the end of 2012, 35 years and 11 billion miles later, they are leaving the area of the sun's influence. As they journey out into the galaxy beyond they carry a message from Earth, a golden record bolted to the side of each craft describing our civilisation in case of discovery by another. This is the definitive account of the most intrepid explorers in Earth's history.
Neil Armstrong's family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly before, tell the story of the first man to set foot on the moon.
Drawing heavily on unbroadcast archive footage and the unique perspectives of the contributors, this is an exclusive account of Armstrong's extraordinary life story. From his childhood during America's Great Depression to the heady days of the space programme, his historic first step on the moon and his famously private later life. Seen through the eyes of those who were with him, the film explores the man behind the myth, a man who was very much a product of his time.
The film goes beyond his days as an astronaut and shows that his life after the flight of Apollo 11 was in many ways equally challenging, as Armstrong came to terms with life outside Nasa and the relentless demands of fame until his death in August 2012.
From the producers of 'In the Shadow of the Moon'. Featuring interviews with Armstrong's first wife Janet, their two sons, Rick and Mark, Neil's brother and sister Dean and June, his best friend Kotcho Solacoff and second wife Carol. Fellow astronauts Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke and Dave Scott also feature in this revealing biopic.
The Sky at Night reports on one of the most unnerving discoveries in space science - that most of the universe is missing.
We live in a material world, so instinctively we know what normal matter is - the world around us, the planets, stars and interstellar dust. But scientists currently estimate that 95 per cent of everything in the universe is actually - one way or another - invisible. Some of this is ordinary matter that we just can't easily see. But there's also stuff that's much more weird. For instance, there's a new kind of matter we think is out there, but whose very existence is still largely hypothetical - dark matter.
And most mysteriously of all, scientists think there is an unknown form of energy pervading the universe that we know so little about, all it has so far is a name - dark energy.
The Sky at Night takes you on a tour of this invisible universe, and shows how its existence - or lack of it - will define the fate of the entire universe.
Drama-documentary about Winston Churchill's extraordinary experiences during the Great War, with intimate letters to his wife Clementine allowing the story to be told largely in his own words. Just 39 and at the peak of his powers running the Royal Navy, Churchill in 1914 dreamt of Napoleonic glory, but suffered a catastrophic fall into disgrace and humiliation over the Dardanelles disaster.
The film follows his road to redemption, beginning in the trenches of Flanders in 1916, revealing how he became the 'godfather' of the tank and his forgotten contribution to final victory in 1918 as Minister of Munitions. Dark political intrigue, a passionate love story and remarkable military adventures on land, sea and air combine to show how the Churchill of 1940 was shaped and forged by his experience of the First World War.
After showing how fundamental mathematics is to our lives, Marcus du Sautoy explores the mathematics of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece.
In Egypt, he uncovers use of a decimal system based on ten fingers of the hand, while in former Mesopotamia he discovers that the way we tell the time today is based on the Babylonian Base 60 number system.
In Greece, he looks at the contributions of some of the giants of mathematics including Plato, Euclid, Archimedes and Pythagoras, who is credited with beginning the transformation of mathematics from a tool for counting into the analytical subject we know today.
When ancient Greece fell into decline, mathematical progress stagnated as Europe entered the Dark Ages, but in the east mathematics reached new heights.
Du Sautoy visits China and explores how maths helped build imperial China and was at the heart of such amazing feats of engineering as the Great Wall.
In India, he discovers how the symbol for the number zero was invented and Indian mathematicians' understanding of the new concepts of infinity and negative numbers.
In the Middle East, he looks at the invention of the new language of algebra and the spread of eastern knowledge to the west through mathematicians such as Leonardo Fibonacci, creator of the Fibonacci Sequence.
MONDAY 15 JANUARY 2018
MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09m93fg)
Series 1
15/01/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03x1211)
Series 2 - Reversions
Copenhagen to Oslo: Part 2
Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo explores Scandinavia and discovers the royal roots of early 20th-century British travellers' close dynastic ties with the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway. After braving one of the world's oldest rollercoasters in Copenhagen's famous Tivoli Gardens, Michael takes the train across the Oresund Bridge linking Denmark to Sweden, where he retraces the tracks of a train which carried a revolutionary Russian passenger on an epic voyage.
In Lund, he samples a smorgasbord before having a highland fling in Gothenburg, where he test-drives a vintage Volvo. Crossing the border again into Norway, Michael discovers how in 1913 this young nation expressed its own distinctively modern identity in plays, paintings and polar exploration.
MON 20:00 Highlands - Scotland's Wild Heart (p03q48wr)
Summer- The Greatest Race
Summer is the most intense of all the seasons in the Highlands. Animals are in a great race to raise their young to independence before the nights close in and the storms of autumn arrive. Some, like otters and pine martens, are single mothers working ceaselessly for their young, while others, including golden eagles, work in pairs to look after the chicks. Most spectacularly of all, young guillemots on dramatic Handa face a leap for life as they tumble to the sea from 400ft cliffs.
MON 21:00 Anjelica Huston on James Joyce: A Shout in the Street (b09mb966)
James Joyce led an eventful and turbulent life. From the beginning, he was something of an outsider. His childhood was impoverished and chaotic. Nonetheless, his alcoholic father ensured that he was educated at Ireland's elite schools. From an early age, Joyce revealed an impulse to rebel against social conventions. He not only rejected the Catholic religion, but, in his own words, 'declared open war on the Catholic church by all that I write and say and do'. He was a brilliant student - winning numerous scholarships and awards - and he was also sexually precocious, frequenting Dublin's prostitutes while still very young.
Then, on 16 June 1904, he became intimate with a young chambermaid from Galway called Nora Barnacle. That date would become the day on which he set all the action of his great novel, Ulysses. Nora became his lifelong partner, and they spent the rest of their lives outside Ireland. For many years, they lived in miserable conditions, but Joyce was ready to sacrifice himself - and others when necessary - to further his artistic ambitions. Eventually, he won worldwide literary celebrity, but he continued to live in some chaos, subject to recurrent eye complaints and other serious illnesses.
When the Nazis invaded France, he was concerned for the safety of his grandson Stephen, who was half-Jewish. Eventually, he managed to find sanctuary in Switzerland, but he died just a few weeks after he and his family had arrived there. Since then, his fame has grown, and he is now recognised as a towering figure in world literature, with Ulysses often cited as the most influential work of fiction of the twentieth century.
The story of Joyce's life and work is presented by the celebrated Oscar-winning actress, Anjelica Huston. She grew up in the west of Ireland, and has had a close association with Joyce's work for many years. She delivered an acclaimed stage performance of Molly Bloom's famous soliloquy from Ulysses some years ago, and also played the lead female role in the final movie made by her father, legendary director John Huston. This was an adaptation of Joyce's most famous short story, The Dead, generally reckoned to be one of the finest short stories ever written in the English language. Anjelica has said that, when she first read The Dead, it 'spoke to her soul', and her performance in her father's film is little short of sublime. The Dead is widely regarded as the most successful - and most authentic - adaptation of Joyce's work. However, it was filmed on a sound stage in downtown Los Angeles.
Anjelica brings a passionate understanding of the humanity, courage and consummate artistry of Joyce's writing. In this documentary, she is joined by other leading writers - such as Man Booker Prize winner Anne Enrigh and David Simon, the writer of groundbreaking TV series The Wire - as she explores Joyce's work, and seeks to explain its universal appeal. Other contributors include Colm Toibin, Dominic West, Ruth Gilligan, Fintan O'Toole, Edna O'Brien, Frank McGuinness, Jeffrey Eugenides and Elmear McBride.
MON 22:00 Ireland's Treasures Uncovered (b070w5kh)
The story of the iconic Irish artefacts that have helped to shape and create modern Ireland, both north and south.
The programme reveals the surprising tales behind treasures such as the Tara Brooch, the Broighter Hoard, the Waterford Charter Roll and others, revealing new stories behind the artefacts that we thought we knew. It also reveals the most recent astounding finds that are adding to the list of Ireland's Treasures.
Using key access to Ireland's two largest museums, in Belfast and Dublin, the programme brings together archaeologists and curators who have spent their lives working to understand the true context for these emblematic treasures.
MON 23:00 The Victorians (b00hvtbp)
Series 1
Home Sweet Home
Jeremy Paxman continues his exploration of the Victorian world by entering the typical Victorian home, a haven of order, respectability and morality.
But not everything was always as it should be, with sexual double standards and the perils of drink, disease and poverty all threatening to destroy the cherished dream of 'home sweet home'.
MON 00:00 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.
MON 01:00 Top of the Pops (b06zdpkm)
Tommy Vance introduces the pop programme, featuring The Teardrop Explodes, Kim Wilde, Linx, Status Quo, Kelly Marie, Freeez, Beggar & Co, Landscape, Talking Heads, Kiki Dee, Coast to Coast and Roxy Music, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
MON 01:40 Top of the Pops (b070mypz)
Peter Powell introduces the pop programme, featuring Sharon Redd, Bucks Fizz, Colin Blunstone & Dave Stewart, Toyah, The Who, Phil Collins, Shakin Stevens, Visage, Roxy Music and Duran Duran, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
MON 02:20 Anjelica Huston on James Joyce: A Shout in the Street (b09mb966)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 16 JANUARY 2018
TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09m93fm)
Series 1
16/01/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03x129l)
Series 2 - Reversions
Prague to Munich - Part 1
With his 1913 guidebook in hand, Michael Portillo explores the stunning art nouveau architecture of the Czech capital. In a cafe popular with artists of the time, he discovers the dance craze of the day - the tango - and gamely gives it a go. In the spa of kings, Marienbad, now known as Marianske Lazne, Michael samples the sulphurous waters and wallows in peat and mud. At the Skoda factory in Pilsen, he investigates how the machine products of peacetime gave way to the manufacture of armaments for war and test-drives a state-of-the-art passenger train locomotive made there today.
Crossing the border from Bohemia to Bavaria, Michael encounters a fire-breathing dragon in Furth-im-Wald, and in Nuremberg he rides German railway history - made in Britain. Arriving in Munich, he finds a blue horse created at the time of his guidebook and discovers an early 20th-century pioneer who laid the foundations for the city's pre-eminence in science and technology today.
TUE 20:00 Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain (b00ny3mx)
The Great War
Britain gets its first taste of total war. Marr argues that no shock has ever hit these islands with quite the force of what became known as the Great War. It transformed the lives of the British people - most dramatically the millions who fought on the frontline, but also those at home who were bereaved, bombed, uprooted and bankrupted.
With vivid archive and extraordinary anecdotes, Andrew Marr tells the story of Lord Kitchener's volunteer army - the biggest in history. He also describes German gun-boat assaults on the north-east coast of England; the strange disappearance of Britain's First Sea Lord at the height of the war; the first bomb ever to fall on Britain; and the sex scandal that threatened to destroy the British establishment.
Visiting the trenches of Flanders, Marr imagines the horrors of industrialised warfare and reveals the gallows humour that thrived there. Three quarters of a million men never returned from the battlefields. At home, civilians pulled together and worked for the war effort as never before. Under the premiership of David Lloyd George, they also witnessed the birth of 'big government' in Britain.
TUE 21:00 Art, Passion & Power: The Story of the Royal Collection (p05qqyd8)
Series 1
Dangerous Magic
In a major four-part series, Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the history of the Royal Collection, the dazzling collection of art and decorative objects owned by the Queen. Containing over a million items, this is one of the largest art collections in the world - its masterpieces by Van Dyck, Holbein, Leonardo da Vinci, Vermeer and Canaletto line the walls of Windsor Castle, Hampton Court and many other palaces, museums and institutions around Britain.
Andrew argues that on the surface, the Royal Collection projects permanence, but within these objects are stories of calamity, artistic passions and reinvention. Their collecting shows how these kings and queens wielded power, but it also reveals their personalities - it's through their individual passions that we see them at their most human.
In this first episode, Andrew marvels at the works acquired by the great founders of the modern Royal Collection - Henry VIII and Charles I. Henry VIII deployed the most essential rule of royal collecting, that great art projects great power. Andrew decodes The Story of Abraham series of tapestries in Hampton Court Palace's Great Hall, explaining how these luxury artworks contain a simple message for his terrified court - obedience.
But Henry also presided over the first great age of the portrait in England; his painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, was a magician who stopped time, preserving the faces of Henry's court forever. Andrew visits the Royal Collection's set of over 80 Holbein drawings in Windsor Castle's print room to see how the artist helped the English to understand themselves in a new way.
Henry VIII tried to overwhelm with magnificence, but for Charles I art was a way to compete with other kings through taste. He was our first connoisseur-king and the greatest royal collector in British history. It was a fateful journey to Spain to win the hand of a Spanish princess that opened Charles's eyes to the works of Titian and Raphael. But his transformation into a world-class collector was sealed with the wholesale purchase of the enormous art collection of the impoverished Mantuan court. The greatest of the Mantuan treasures were Mantegna's nine-picture series of The Triumphs of Caesar that Charles installed at Hampton Court. They are themselves a visual depiction of how power - and art - passes from the weak to the strong. Charles was top dog for now - but for how long?
Andrew explores how Charles I's Royal Collection introduced a new artistic language to British art. The sensuality of Titian and the epic canvases of Tintoretto, still in the Royal Collection today, were a revelation for a country whose visual culture had been obliterated by the Reformation. And we see how Sir Anthony van Dyck created a glamorous new style for the king that could have served as a new beginning for British art. But this was a future that would never happen - the English Civil War and Charles I's execution put an end to this first great age of royal collecting, with the king's artworks sold in 'the most extravagant royal car-boot sale in history'.
TUE 22:00 The Stuarts (p01lknsc)
And I Will Make Them One Nation
Presented by Dr Clare Jackson of Cambridge University, this three-part series argues the Stuarts, more than any other, were Britain's defining royal family. We tend to take today's modern United Kingdom for granted, but there was nothing inevitable about its creation. During the 17th century, the Stuarts grappled with the chaos of three separate Kingdoms, multiple religions and civil war. Britain has not known a century like it and some of the questions this dynasty faced have not gone away.
In the opening episode, Clare looks at James VI and I's attempts to unite Scotland and England under the umbrella of his crowns and persuade his subjects to feel more 'British'.
TUE 23:00 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4px7)
Traces of Guilt
There will always be those who think they can commit the perfect murder. In reality it's virtually impossible to leave no evidence at the scene of a crime. Fingerprints, hair, fibres and blood can all lead to the killer. In this second episode, surgeon Gabriel Weston explores the cases that were solved by examining the smallest traces of forensic evidence, from the first murder case solved in the UK based on fingerprint evidence to the patterns of blood in a bedroom which helped overturn an infamous murder conviction.
As well as looking to the past, Gabriel investigates the cutting-edge techniques that are proving vital in catching the killers of today. Amazingly, forensic science can now detect with pinpoint accuracy where someone has walked across an area the size of Scotland, based on nothing more than the soil stuck to the sole of a suspect's shoe.
TUE 00:00 Timeshift (b03pzsd9)
Series 13
How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective
For over 100 years, more than 80 actors have put a varying face to the world's greatest consulting detective - Sherlock Holmes. And many of them incorporated details - such as the curved pipe and the immortal line 'Elementary, my dear Watson' - that never featured in Conan Doyle's original stories. In charting the evolution of Sherlock on screen, from early silent movies to the latest film and television versions, Timeshift shows how our notion of Holmes today is as much a creation of these various screen portrayals as of the stories themselves.
With contributions from Sherlocks past and present, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Tim Pigott-Smith and Mark Gatiss. Narrated by Peter Wyngarde.
TUE 01:00 Top of the Pops (b070n0l9)
Richard Skinner introduces the pop programme, featuring Graham Bonnet, Hazel O'Connor, Tony Capstick, Gillan, Lene Lovich, Bad Manners, Shakin' Stevens, Linx, Landscape, the Polecats and Kim Wilde, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
TUE 01:40 Top of the Pops (b071796z)
Simon Bates introduces the pop programme, featuring Stiff Little Fingers, Liquid Gold, Light of the World, Children of Tansley School, Sugar Minott, Lena Zavaroni, Spandau Ballet, Shakin' Stevens, Stevie Wonder, The Nolans and Bucks Fizz, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
TUE 02:25 Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain (b00ny3mx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018
WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09m93fs)
Series 1
17/01/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03x12j1)
Series 2 - Reversions
Prague to Munich - Part 2
With his 1913 guidebook in hand, Michael Portillo explores the stunning art nouveau architecture of the Czech capital. In a cafe popular with artists of the time, he discovers the dance craze of the day - the tango - and gamely gives it a go. In the spa of kings, Marienbad, now known as Marianske Lazne, Michael samples the sulphurous waters and wallows in peat and mud. At the Skoda factory in Pilsen, he investigates how the machine products of peacetime gave way to the manufacture of armaments for war and test-drives a state-of-the-art passenger train locomotive made there today.
Crossing the border from Bohemia to Bavaria, Michael encounters a fire-breathing dragon in Furth-im-Wald, and in Nuremberg he rides German railway history - made in Britain. Arriving in Munich, he finds a blue horse created at the time of his guidebook and discovers an early 20th-century pioneer who laid the foundations for the city's pre-eminence in science and technology today.
WED 20:00 Handmade: By Royal Appointment (b07g9q28)
John Lobb Shoes
In the shadow of St James's Palace is the workshop of shoemakers John Lobb. Since the mid-19th century, they have handcrafted shoes for gentlemen and boast royal warrants from both the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. It's a rare heritage company still run by the original family and this film follows a day in the life of the shoemakers, who use methods that have barely changed since the company was founded. From pencilled outlines on brown paper to the cutting and stitching of leather, heels hammered on soles to the final polishing, the film follows the meticulous craft process and hears from the shoemakers themselves, many of whom have spent decades working for the company.
WED 20:30 A Stitch in Time (b09mbb41)
Series 1
The Hedge Cutter
Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through their clothes. A rare portrait of a working man.
WED 21:00 Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (b0853mvq)
Episode 1
Documentary series featuring dramatic reconstruction in which Lucy Worsley revisits key events in the lives of Henry VIII's six wives, revealing how each attempted to exert influence on the king and the Tudor court. Lucy delves into records of private moments and personal feelings in the women's lives that ended up shaping the course of history.
This episode follows the emotional and physical struggles of Catherine of Aragon as she strove to give Henry the male heir he so desired. As Henry's eye wandered over the women at court, Anne Boleyn, not wishing to be cast aside as her sister Mary had been, repeatedly rejected the king's advances and insisted on marriage.
Henry set about trying to arrange an annulment, but Catherine was defiant and passionately defended her position.
WED 22:00 Henry VIII's Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell (b01t03ky)
Thomas Cromwell has gone down in history as one of the most corrupt and manipulative ruffians ever to hold power in England. A chief minister who used his position to smash the Roman Catholic church in England and loot the monasteries for his own gain. A man who used torture to bring about the execution of the woman who had once been his friend and supporter - Anne Boleyn.
Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, reveals a very different image of Cromwell. The award-winning novels of Hilary Mantel began the revival of Cromwell's reputation, and now Professor MacCulloch presents Henry VIII's chief minister as a principled and pioneering statesman who was driven by radical evangelism.
Cromwell's extraordinary career blossomed after a childhood marked by poverty and violence. The unschooled son of a brewer, he travelled across Europe as a young man and mysteriously taught himself to speak several languages in addition to accounting and knowledge of the law. When Henry VIII failed to persuade the pope to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Cromwell engineered an incredible solution. Using his political skills he persuaded Parliament and the people to accept a mythological rewriting of the history of England in which the English monarch was as an emperor whose power superseded that of the pope.
Professor MacCulloch describes Cromwell as an evangelical reformer, determined to break the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church and introduce the people of England to a new type of Christianity in which each individual makes direct contact with God.
WED 23:00 Timeshift (b0864zn9)
Series 16
Booze, Beans & Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop
What is it about the British and the corner shop? The corner shop has always been there for us, it's a British institution. It was on the front line of what was happening in society from the '40s to the noughties. It saved our bacon during World War II and it has become a rite of passage for new immigrants.
Journalist Babita Sharma, the daughter of shopkeepers, explores the growing and shifting fortunes of the corner shop to discover why this unsung hero has been at the centre of ordinary lives for more than 70 years. With contributions from comedian Sanjeev Singh Kholi and actor Nitin Ganatra, the film uses the shop as a way to explore the social fabric of Britain - from economic change to immigration.
The death of the corner shop has been predicted many times - but still it soldiers on. So just how has it managed to survive?
WED 00:00 Insect Dissection: How Insects Work (p00zst23)
Insects outnumber us by 200 million to one. They thrive in environments where humans wouldn't last minutes. We mostly perceive them as pests - yet without bugs, entire ecosystems would collapse, crops would disappear and waste would pile high.
The secret of their success? Their incredible alien anatomy.
To reveal this extraordinary hidden world, entomologists Dr James Logan and Brendan Dunphy carry out a complete insect dissection. Cutting-edge imaging technology shows us the beauty and precision of the natural engineering inside even the simplest insects.
Stripping back the layers, they uncover ingenious body systems and finely tuned senses - a bug body plan that is the hidden blueprint behind insects' 'global domination'. They also discover how science is now using the secrets of insect anatomy to inspire technology that could save human lives.
WED 01:00 Top of the Pops (b071gx24)
Mike Read introduces the pop programme, featuring Keith Marshall, Bucks Fizz, Public Image, Eddy Grant, Linx, Saxon, Graham Bonnet, Gillan, The Whispers and Shakin' Stevens, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
WED 01:40 Top of the Pops (b071gy17)
Peter Powell introduces the pop programme, featuring Bad Manners, Girlschool, Department S, The Beat, The Cure, The Nolans, UK Subs, The Jacksons, Whitesnake, Spandau Ballet, Sugar Minott, Bucks Fizz and Ennio Morricone, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
WED 02:20 Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (b0853mvq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 18 JANUARY 2018
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09m93gd)
Series 1
18/01/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b09mj749)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Sunday]
THU 20:00 How We Got to Now with Steven Johnson (b053hgc9)
Clean
From the ultra-clean environment of a microchip factory to the railway engineer who lifted a city to install sewers, innovation expert Steven Johnson traces the surprising journey from dirty to clean in our lives. He discovers the unsung heroes of this transformation, like the doctor who secretly experimented with a deadly chemical to treat the water supply, and the storekeeper who revolutionised cleanliness in the home.
THU 21:00 Forces of Nature with Brian Cox (b07k7m4z)
The Universe in a Snowflake
Brian uncovers how the stunning diversity of shapes in the natural world are shadows of the rules that govern the universe. In Spain, he shows how an attempt by hundreds of people to build the highest human tower reveals the force that shapes our planet.
In Nepal, honey hunters seek out giant beehives that cling to cliff walls. The perfect hexagonal honeycombs made by the bees to store their honey conceal a mathematical rule.
Off the coast of Canada, Brian explains how some of the most irregular, dangerous shapes in nature - massive icebergs that surge down from Greenland and into shipping lanes of the Atlantic - emerge from a powerful yet infinitely small force of nature. Even the most delicate six-sided snowflake tells a story of the forces of nature that forged it.
THU 22:00 Prehistoric Autopsy (p00xfdmw)
Neanderthal
Anatomist professor Alice Roberts and biologist Dr George McGavin go on an extraordinary evolutionary journey to meet three of our ancient ancestors. By the end they will have travelled back nearly four million years.
At the Prehistoric Autopsy HQ in Glasgow, with the help of a team of international experts, each episode follows the rebuilding of one of our most iconic ancient ancestors from the bones up. They start with our closest prehistoric relative - a Neanderthal.
To make the reconstructions as accurate as possible, Alice and George have travelled the globe, gathering evidence from the world's leading scientists. In the lab at the Prehistoric Autopsy HQ, scientists put the latest theories to the test to see how similar or different we really are to our ancient ancestors, while experimental archaeologists look for clues as to how they lived.
All the research has been fed to a team of model makers, who have spent months painstakingly reconstructing skeletons, muscles, skin and hair.
The team reveal the latest research that is casting a new light on Neanderthals - not just in the way they may have hunted, clothed their families and even painted jewellery, but also what they may have sounded like.
Alice and George also put their own DNA to the test to see just how closely related we really are to Neanderthals.
And at the end of the programme, our reconstructed Neanderthal will finally be revealed - as we come face-to-face with one of our prehistoric ancestors from 70,000 years ago.
THU 23:00 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mqjx2)
Episode 2
The second part of this exploration series combining stunning wildlife with high energy adventure.
A team of scientists and wildlife film-makers have made base camp on a remote extinct volcano at the heart of the tropical island of New Guinea. Their aim is to search the thick jungle for the weird and endangered animals that hide there. Now they are pushing deeper into the rainforest, and cameraman Gordon Buchanan enlists the help of a tribe to find and film the extraordinary birds of paradise as they perform their bizarre courtship displays.
George McGavin has to manhandle a giant crocodile, and Steve Backshall is living deep underground where he discovers a new cave system never seen by humans.
THU 00:00 Play it Loud: The Story of the Marshall Amp (b04c3l7j)
One iconic black box has probably more than anything else come to define the sound of rock - the Marshall amplifier. It has been, quite literally, behind some of the greatest names in modern music.
It all started in 1962 when drum shop owner Jim Marshall discovered the distinctive growl that gave the electric guitar an exciting new voice. Music got a whole lot louder as young musicians like Clapton, Townshend and Hendrix adopted the revolutionary 'Marshall Sound'. The electric guitar now spoke for a new generation and the genre of rock was born.
Soon Marshall stacks and walls were an essential backdrop of rock 'n' roll. The excesses of rock machismo were gloriously lampooned in the 1984 movie This is Spinal Tap. In an extraordinary piece of reverse irony, it was this comic exposure that rescued the company from financial meltdown.
With contributions from rock legends like Pete Townshend, Lemmy and Slash, plus an interview with the 'Father of Loud' Jim Marshall, this documentary cruises down the rock ages with all the dials set to 'eleven'.
THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b072w25g)
Tommy Vance introduces the pop programme. Includes appearances from Thin Lizzy, Department S, Tenpole Tudor, Sheena Easton, Kim Carnes and Adam and the Ants, plus a dance performance by Legs and Co.
THU 01:20 Top of the Pops (b0739zgh)
Simon Bates introduces the pop programme, featuring The Polecats, UB40, Hazel O'Connor, Coast to Coast, Adam & the Ants and Kim Carnes, plus a dance performance from Legs & Co.
THU 02:00 Forces of Nature with Brian Cox (b07k7m4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THU 03:00 Peaky Blinders (b09k8gjf)
Series 4
The Company
It is the night of the big fight - Bonnie Gold versus Goliath. But as the bell rings and the crowd goes wild, dangers lurk in the shadows for Tommy Shelby and his family.
When Changretta plays his final ace, he sets in motion a series of events that will change the Peaky Blinders forever.
FRIDAY 19 JANUARY 2018
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b09m93gk)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b09lv82p)
Peter Powell and Gary Davies present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 17 January 1985. Featuring The Limit, Prince, Amii Stewart, Russ Abbott, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Foreigner.
FRI 20:00 The Good Old Days (b09n0r8q)
Leonard Sachs presents the old-time music hall programme, first broadcast on 31 December 1980. Featuring Danny La Rue, Duggie Brown, Robert White, Keith Harris, Teresa Cahill, Bablu Mallick, Deryk Parkin and members of the Players' Theatre, London.
FRI 21:00 Hits, Hype & Hustle: An Insider's Guide to the Music Business (b09mbfjx)
Series 1
Making a Star
In the first programme of the series, music agent Emma Banks looks at how the music business finds talent and creates superstars.
Over 25 years as one of the top agents in the business, Emma has worked with some of the world's most famous artists, including Katy Perry, Kanye West and Red Hot Chili Peppers. She's seen first-hand the fine line between success and failure, following the careers of hundreds of acts - from geniuses who never quite made it to megastars who conquered the world.
The secret to success and stardom is an elusive formula of luck, timing and of course talent. But as Emma explores in this film, it's also about the team behind the talent - the record execs, label bosses and A&R gurus who find, develop and make a star. From Motown's musical finishing school to Damon Dash's dogged promotion of Jay-Z, the missed potential of sixties group The Zombies to Blur's record label steering their career from one-hit wonders towards chart domination, this film offers an entertaining behind-the-scenes peek into the peaks and pitfalls of making a musical superstar.
Contributors include Motown's Martha Reeves, Blur's Alex James, record producing legend Clive Davis, Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell and Labelle's Nona Hendryx. And we follow Emma as she works with new grime star Lady Leshurr to take her career to the next level.
FRI 22:00 Radio 2 In Concert (b09hgfck)
Paloma Faith
Award-winning British singer-songwriter Paloma Faith takes to the stage at the iconic Radio Theatre in the heart of London for a very special Radio 2 In Concert. The double-platinum songstress performs tracks from her latest album The Architect, a record that has seen her work with the likes of Sia, John Legend, Rag'n'Bone Man and Samuel L Jackson, along with some of the much-loved tunes from her previous best-selling albums.
FRI 23:00 Wild Boys: The Story of Duran Duran (b007bqdj)
Duran Duran came out of Birmingham and conquered the world during the 1980s. Originally a New Romantic band in full make-up and cossack pants, they rapidly became bedroom pin-ups for a generation of teenage girls.
Led by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, Duran Duran dominated the British and American charts in the mid-1980s with classic singles such as Rio, Save a Prayer and Wild Boys. Pioneers of the MTV-style promo video - from the X-rated Girls on Film to Raiders of the Lost Ark spoof Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran were the 80s equivalent of The Beatles in America and outsold Spandau Ballet and Wham! in their pomp.
Sixty million records later, Le Bon and Rhodes are seen touring America with their Pop Trash project from the early 2000s. The documentary reflects on the heady heights of Duran Duran's career, the cracks in their make-up plus the effects of sex, drugs and fame on ordinary boys from working-class backgrounds.
Apart from the key Durannies - Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor - the programme also features celebrity interviews with Debbie Harry, Yasmin Le Bon, Duran Duran managers Paul and Michael Berrow, Claudia Schiffer, Nile Rodgers and Lou Reed.
FRI 23:50 Top of the Pops (b09lv82p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 00:30 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 01:30 Hits, Hype & Hustle: An Insider's Guide to the Music Business (b09mbfjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:30 Radio 2 In Concert (b09hgfck)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]