The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Liz McIvor discovers how carving up the landscape in order to build canals helped further our understanding of the earth below. The canal builders struggled with rocks. Without maps or geological surveys, construction often relied on guesswork. The Kennet and Avon had more than its fair share of problems. William Smith, a surveyor working on the connecting Somerset Coal Canal, discovered a way of ordering layers of rocks. He eventually created the first geological map of England and Wales - the so-called 'map that changed the world'.
The second leg of Simon Reeve's journey around the Caribbean Sea sees him start at beautiful islands and travel along the coast of South America. On the beautiful and wealthy island of Barbados, he meets the owner of a traditional chattel house who has turned down offers of millions of dollars from luxury property developers and dives the reef on a hunt for invading lionfish which are disrupting the delicate ecosystem.
On the green volcanic slopes of St Vincent, Simon meets the marijuana growers hoping, like their prime minister, that the drug will soon be decriminalised. Venezuela is one of the most turbulent countries in the Caribbean and from a high-rise slum in Caracas to the lawless border lands, Simon tries to work out how a country so rich in oil has fallen so low.
Ending his epic journey in Colombia, Simon gains rare access to the Kogi - an indigenous people who have maintained their traditional forest lifestyle in the face of an encroaching and damaging modern world.
This episode is set in the American metropolis - the soaring new cities of the East Coast with their futuristic skylines and lofty skyscrapers. But instead of looking up at the futuristic towers, Waldemar Januszczak explores the squalid boxing rings painted by George Bellows, Reginald Mash's decadent awaydays on Coney Island and the crazy escape into theosophy and abstraction mounted by Thomas Wilfred. The film culminates in the harsh immigrant experience of Ellis Island and the profound impact that rootlessness had on the art of Mark Rothko.
In the second part of his four-part series, historian David Olusoga explores the business of slavery and remembers the black sailors who fought for Britain at Trafalgar.
He also celebrates a Georgian boxing superstar and the men and women who crossed continents in pursuit of freedom.
From the Himalayas in the north to the Nilgiris in the south - for a hundred years these little trains have climbed through the clouds and into the wonderful world of Indian hill railways.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a line so close to the people that it flows like a river through their lives. The relationship between the train and the people is changing, however, as a new generation of Gurkhas populates these hills, demanding an independent state and fighting for a new identity as they journey into the modern Indian world.
Author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor, Henry VII. From his victory over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, to his secret death and the succession of his son Henry VIII, the film reveals the ruthless tactics Henry VII used to win - and cling on to - the ultimate prize, the throne of England. Exploring magnificent buildings and long-lost documents, Penn reveals the true story of this suspicious, enigmatic and terrifying monarch.
Medieval historian Dr Janina Ramirez looks back to a time when British craftsmen and their patrons created a new form of architecture. The art and architecture of France would dominate England for much of the medieval age. Yet British stonemasons and builders would make Gothic architecture their own, inventing a national style for the first time - Perpendicular Gothic - and giving Britain a patriotic backdrop to suit its new ambitions of chivalry and power. From a grand debut at Gloucester Cathedral to commemorate a murdered king to its final glorious flowering at King's College Chapel in Cambridge, the Perpendicular age was Britain's finest.
THURSDAY 31 MAY 2018
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0b4kwyc)
Series 1
31/05/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0b5b8mf)
Gary Davies and Paul Jordan present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 3 October 1985. Featuring Colonel Abrams, Iron Maiden, Cameo, Rene & Angela and Midge Ure.
THU 20:00 Orbit: Earth's Extraordinary Journey (b01d7kd5)
Episode 1
Right now you're hurtling around the sun at 64,000 miles an hour (100,000km an hour). In the next year you'll travel 584 million miles, to end up back where you started.
Presenters Kate Humble and Dr Helen Czerski follow the Earth's voyage around the sun for one complete orbit, to witness the astonishing consequences this journey has for us all.
In this first episode they travel from July to the December solstice, experiencing spectacular weather and the largest tides on Earth. To show how the Earth's orbit affects our lives, Helen jumps out of an aeroplane and Kate briefly becomes the fastest driver on Earth.
THU 21:00 City in the Sky (b07g710g)
Departure
What does it take to get a million people and their luggage off the ground and up in the air? From building the world's biggest passenger plane to navigating through the busiest airport on the planet, to the perils of getting airborne in the coldest city on earth, Dallas and Hannah go to extremes to get under the skin of the remarkable story of departure.
You will never look at flying in the same way again...
THU 22:00 Missions (b0b4nqct)
Series 1
Alliance
French sci-fi drama series. Jeanne struggles to recall what she learnt from Komarov. Visitor Gemma Williams, the Z-2's captain, prompts a string of revelations.
THU 22:25 Missions (b0b4nqrw)
Series 1
Irene
French sci-fi drama series. Is Komarov the 'unicorn' Earth-bound billionaire Goldstein hunts? Gramat tries a desperate gambit to regain the initiative on Mars.
THU 22:50 Horizon (p0327fp0)
2016
Tim Peake Special - How to be an Astronaut
In December 2015, Tim Peake became Britain’s first astronaut on board the International Space Station. For two years Tim had been filming a video diary for Horizon as he prepared to leave; from family life, to the rigorous training, this is an intimate portrait and remarkable insight into the world of an astronaut.
THU 23:00 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (b03ccs7k)
Pus
Infection can take over the entire human body, and if our immune systems aren't strong enough we will die - in fact, infectious disease has regularly wiped out millions of people across the planet. Dr Michael Mosley explores our earliest attempts to tackle infection and reveals the moment we began to harness the power of microbes to fight back. This is the story of how scientists, chemists and doctors helped us win the battle, from Louis Pasteur to Howard Florey, and how a small team of dedicated men and women wiped out one of mankind's deadliest diseases - smallpox.
THU 00:00 Horizon (b0148vph)
2011-2012
The Core
For centuries we have dreamt of reaching the centre of the Earth. Now scientists are uncovering a bizarre and alien world that lies 4,000 miles beneath our feet, unlike anything we know on the surface. It is a planet buried within the planet we know, where storms rage within a sea of white-hot metal and a giant forest of crystals make up a metal core the size of the moon.
Horizon follows scientists who are conducting experiments to recreate this core within their own laboratories, with surprising results.
THU 01:00 The Joy of Stats (b00wgq0l)
Documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power they have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend.
Rosling is a man who revels in the glorious nerdiness of statistics, and here he entertainingly explores their history, how they work mathematically and how they can be used in today's computer age to see the world as it really is, not just as we imagine it to be.
Rosling's lectures use huge quantities of public data to reveal the story of the world's past, present and future development. Now he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes.
The film also explores cutting-edge examples of statistics in action today. In San Francisco, a new app mashes up police department data with the city's street map to show what crime is being reported street by street, house by house, in near real-time. Every citizen can use it and the hidden patterns of their city are starkly revealed. Meanwhile, at Google HQ the machine translation project tries to translate between 57 languages, using lots of statistics and no linguists.
Despite its light and witty touch, the film nonetheless has a serious message - without statistics we are cast adrift on an ocean of confusion, but armed with stats we can take control of our lives, hold our rulers to account and see the world as it really is. What's more, Hans concludes, we can now collect and analyse such huge quantities of data and at such speeds that scientific method itself seems to be changing.
THU 02:00 Orbit: Earth's Extraordinary Journey (b01d7kd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 03:00 City in the Sky (b07g710g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 01 JUNE 2018
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b0b4kwzh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0b5bj2g)
Peter Powell and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 17 October 1985. Featuring Shakin' Stevens, A-ha, Elton John, Colonel Abrams and Jennifer Rush.
FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b018zv8d)
1977 - Big Hits
The celebration of Top of the Pops 1977 continues with a selection of outstanding complete archive performances from Britain's silver jubilee year. 1977 was dominated by funk and punk, with Heatwave's Boogie Nights and The Stranglers' No More Heroes in the top ten. Classic top of the charts hits included Baccara's Yes Sir, I Can Boogie and Angelo by Brotherhood of Man. Some of the enduring heroes to take to the stage that year were David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Queen and Elvis Costello, with rare studio performances from The Jacksons and Bob Marley & The Wailers.
FRI 21:00 The Everly Brothers: Harmonies from Heaven (b077x1fh)
Documentary which celebrates, over the period covering the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 60s, the phenomenon of The Everly Brothers, arguably the greatest harmony duo the world has witnessed, who directly influenced the greatest and most successful bands of the 60s and 70s - The Beatles, The Stones, The Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel to name but a few.
Don and Phil Everly's love of music began as children, encouraged by their father Ike. Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil sang on Ike's early morning radio shows in Iowa.
After leaving school, the brothers moved to Nashville where, under the wing of Ike Everly's friend, the highly talented musician Chet Atkins, Don and Phil signed with Cadence Records. They exploded onto the music scene in 1957 with Bye Bye Love, written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant.
After Bye Bye Love came other hits, notably Wake Up Little Susie, followed by the worldwide smash hit All I Have to Do Is Dream and a long string of other great songs which also became hits.
By 1960, however, the brothers were lured away from Cadence to Warner Bros with a $1,000,000 contract. Their biggest hit followed, the self-penned Cathy's Clown, which sold 8 million copies. Remaining at Warner Bros for most of the 60s, they had further success with Walk Right Back, So Sad and the King/Greenfield-penned track Crying in the Rain.
FRI 22:00 Africa: A Journey into Music (b0b54cmq)
Series 1
Nigeria
DJ and broadcaster Rita Ray travels to Nigeria, home of some of the most influential African music of the last 60 years. The country's extraordinary polyrhythms have powered highlife, funk and Afrobeat for decades, and can still be heard in modern pop music.
Travelling to Lagos and beyond, Rita traces the importance of rhythm in Nigeria's music and discovers the many different musical styles it has created, from Yoruba juju music, to acoustic singer-songwriters and world-class pop.
FRI 23:00 Top of the Pops (b0b5bj2g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 23:30 Glam Rock at the BBC (b094mcwn)
A spangly celebration of the outburst of far-out pop and fuzz-filled rock that lit up the British charts in the early 1970s. Top of the Pops is our primary arena and its gloriously gaudy visual effects are used here aplenty! The compilation also utilises footage from a selection of BBC concerts as well as from Crackerjack and Cilla. It features classic BBC TV performances from T. Rex, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Alice Cooper, Suzi Quatro, Slade, The Sweet, Elton John, Queen, Sparks and many more.
FRI 00:30 Oh You Pretty Things: The Story of Music and Fashion (b04j8ttm)
Idols
Just how did Britain become the place where the best music goes with the most eye-catching styles? Lauren Laverne narrates a series about the love affair between our music and fashion, looking at how musicians and designers came up with the coolest and craziest looks and how we emulated our idols.
British pop and rock is our great gift to the world, at the heart of the irrepressible creative brilliance of Britain. But it has never just been about the music. Across the decades we have unleashed a uniquely British talent for fusing the best sounds with stunning style and fashion to dazzling effect.
The second episode takes us through the 1970s, a decade of political, social and cultural upheaval reflected best in its music and fashion. Suzi Quatro on Top of the Pops unleashed her leather jumpsuit into the living rooms of Britain at the birth of the rock chick look. The fantastical world of prog rock emerged, with its golden-caped leader Rick Wakeman and his army of intellectual but corduroy-wearing followers journeying from the university campus to medieval and fantastical Arthurian worlds. Queen rocked the rainbow in their Zandra Rhodes-designed costumes, amazing the audience and cementing the band as one of the country's most loved and most flamboyant bands of all time.
But no other British music and fashion movement has had more reverberation than the international phenomena of punk, beginning (and, some say, ending) with The Sex Pistols' sweary appearance with Bill Grundy on the Today programme.
However, this isn't just a story of brilliant musicians and maverick designers, it's a story that touches us all because, at some point in our lives, we've all delved into the great dressing-up box and joined the pageant that is British music and fashion.
FRI 01:30 The Everly Brothers: Harmonies from Heaven (b077x1fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:30 Africa: A Journey into Music (b0b54cmq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]