The traditional Last Night of the Proms is celebrated in style with concerts from parks around the UK. Sean Fletcher and YolanDa Brown present a stunning mix of classical and contemporary performances.
Artists include one of Britain's leading sopranos Elizabeth Watts and pop diva Sophie Ellis-Bextor in Glasgow Green. World-famous classical singer Katherine Jenkins and show-stopping West End star Lee Mead perform at Eirias Park in Colwyn Bay alongside 2018 BBC Young Musician of the Year, pianist Lauren Zhang. Internationally acclaimed Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital and Midge Ure entertain in Titanic Slipways, Belfast, while rising star saxophonist and former Young Musician finalist Jess Gillam, and the sensational voice of soul Gladys Knight, draw the crowds to London's Hyde Park. They all come together for the traditional Last Night celebrations - accompanied by the BBC's orchestras.
When Tate Liverpool opened in 1988, it was England's first gallery of modern art, but its origins were mired in the politics of the decade. It was part of the government's response to the Toxteth riots and was not universally welcomed. Now, as it celebrates its 30th anniversary, comedian and former art student Alexei Sayle assesses its impact on his home city and meets Lord Heseltine, the politician who was made minister for Liverpool to try to solve the city's economic and social problems in the 80s.
In his quest to discover how we, the people, got our wheels, James travels to Germany, Italy and Russia to reveal the extraordinary story of how dictators kickstarted the mobilisation of the masses.
It is a tale of design brilliance, abject failure, war, fraud and double dealing, featuring some of the best (and worst) cars and characters of the 20th century. James discovers how the British motor industry blew a gift-wrapped chance to rule the world and he gets his own back with a stunt that means bad news for one of the planet's most hated cars.
Documentary which combines astonishing footage from Saigon in April 1975 with contemporary reflections from those who were there. During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront the same moral quandary - whether to obey White House orders to evacuate US citizens only - or to risk punishment and save the lives of as many South Vietnamese citizens as they can.
The events recounted in the film mainly centre on the US evacuation of Saigon, codenamed Operation Frequent Wind. Vividly annotating one of the most haunting images of the Vietnam War, that of dozens of South Vietnamese struggling to climb the steps to a rooftop helicopter as Saigon fell, Last Days in Vietnam is a moving and visceral insight into this key moment in history.
Neil Oliver retraces the expeditions of four Scottish explorers who planted ideas rather than flags - ideas that shaped the modern world we know today.
Following in the footsteps of a scientific explorer who has become all but lost to history, Neil charts the remarkable story of William Speirs Bruce, one of Britain's greatest, but least-known, explorers. Bruce set out to conquer Antarctica, not for imperial glory, but to advance scientific knowledge in an era when exploration had become harnessed to national prestige.
Series in which conductor Sir Antonio Pappano (music director of the Royal Opera House since 2002) explores the great roles and the greatest singers of the last hundred years through the prism of the main classical voice types - soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, baritone and bass. Through discussion, demonstrations and workshops, Pappano explores every aspect of the art of great singing.
The tenor is opera's glamour boy, the king of the high Cs, the leading man. Whether the tragic hero or the young romantic lead, whether dramatic or lyric, the tenor usually gets the girl, even if they rarely live happily ever after. Antonio examines the techniques behind the bravura performances, featuring great tenors such as Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli, Fritz Wunderlich, Jon Vickers, Peter Pears and Mario Lanza.
With contributions from leading tenors of today - Jonas Kaufmann, Juan Diego Florez and Jose Carreras - and a voice lesson from Thomas Allen, Antonio seeks out the tricks of the trade. How does a tenor 'colour' his voice? Why do his high notes provoke an animal response in audiences? How does he sing from bottom to top of his two-octave range without seeming to change gear? Why did the tenor only come centre stage in the 1830s? Why is Enrico Caruso still regarded as the greatest and most influential tenor ever? And what does it do to your nerves to sing a high C?
Brenda Emmanus follows acclaimed artist Sonia Boyce as she leads a team preparing a new exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery highlighting artists of African and Asian descent who have helped to shape the history of British art.
Sonia and her team have spent the past three years scouring our public art archives to find out just how many works of art by artists of African and Asian descent the nation really owns. They have found nearly 2,000, but many of these pieces have rarely, if ever, been displayed before. We go into the stores to rediscover these works and, more importantly, meet the groundbreaking artists from the Windrush generation, the 60s counterculture revolution and the Black Art movement of the 80s.
Contributors include Rasheed Araeen, Lubaina Himid, Yinka Shonibare, the BLK Art Group and Althea McNish.
MONDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2018
MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bky8fy)
Series 1
17/09/2018
Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
MON 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04n99gt)
Series 1
Coastal Care
Surprisingly, the National Trust started in Wales. Griff Rhys Jones discovers how the Trust deals with the complexities and conflicts involved in looking after some of Wales's best-loved national treasures. He begins with the 157 miles of coastline owned and cared for by the Trust in Wales.
Griff investigates its roots in Barmouth, discovers how the tiny cove of Mwnt copes with the impact of the modern world and considers the difficulties they face in deciding the fate of a medieval village on the Gower Peninsula which is in the process of being claimed by the sea.
MON 20:00 South Pacific (b00kmv11)
Castaways
In the South Pacific there is no such thing as a deserted island. They may be the most isolated in the world, but every one of the region's 20,000 islands has been colonised, from New Guinea - home to birds of paradise and the tribe whose brutal initiation ceremony turns young warriors into 'crocodile' men - to Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii.
This is the story of the ultimate castaways - from saltwater crocodiles and giant eels to crested iguanas and weird frogs - who succeeded against all odds to reach islands thousands of miles apart. These journeys are no mean feat. It has been estimated that an average of one species in every 60,000 years makes it to Hawaii. Incredibly, many of these colonisers made it to the islands thanks to some of the most violent forces of nature like cyclones and tsunamis.
The voyages of the South Pacific's first people - the Polynesians - were no less remarkable. These journeys were some of the greatest acts of navigation ever undertaken, and they changed the nature of the South Pacific forever.
MON 21:00 Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific with James Fox (b0bkytn4)
Series 1
Polynesia
Continuing his exploration of the collision of the West and Pacific culture, James Fox explores how, ever since Captain Cook's voyages 250 years ago, the West has created a myth of Polynesia as paradise and, in doing so, destroyed the riches of indigenous culture.
He travels across the Pacific to uncover the sites and masterpieces of pre-contact Polynesian art, from the religious complex Taputapuatea on the island of Raiatea to the feathered 'Ku' heads from Hawaii, testament to the rich and sophisticated societies that once lived there. Yet, when Europeans encountered these cultures, waves of explorers, missionaries and colonisers destroyed what they didn't understand and appropriated what was left.
James Fox shows how, from Captain Cook's time onward, these islands were re-imagined as a paradise with women available to be exploited. It's an idea he traces from the Arcadian landscapes depicted by Cook's on-board artist, William Hodges, through the art of Paul Gauguin and on to the tacky holiday idyll of modern Hawaii. And yet, James Fox finds, some indigenous artists are fighting back, reviving the traditional cultures of Polynesia and using art to protest against the objectification of its women.
MON 22:00 Handmade in the Pacific (b0bkyt27)
Series 1
Taupoo
Mama is one of the last traditional weavers from the South Seas island of Rurutu, French Polynesia and one of the last to make the 'taupoo', the traditional ceremonial hats woven from dried pandanus tree leaves.
Taking five weeks to make, these hats were originally introduced to the island by British missionaries in the early 1800s. Now, they're worn to church and given as wedding gifts. But the knowledge of how to make them is dying out. For each hat, 30 or more long pandanus leaves have to be cut down, spliced together, hung, dried, rolled, sorted, dyed and bleached. And that's all before the weaving actually begins. Without a template or stitches or any thread, Mama almost magically weaves the dried leaves into a hat.
Touching upon the island's Christian history, local myths and legends, and offering a unique sense of this island idyll in a moment of flux, this film is a rare visual treat and a chance to enjoy the last vestiges of an ancient tradition.
MON 22:30 The Brecon Beacons with Iolo Williams (b06wyxfx)
Series 1
Summer
It's the busy summer season. A fox family is playing below the Carmarthen Fans, lizards bask in the sun on limestone pavements in the upper Swansea valley and hundreds of dragonflies emerge from pools in the uplands near Brecon.
Iolo Williams is on the Black Mountain foothills as sheep are gathered by shepherds on horseback and a group of dedicated volunteers tries to repair a mountain.
Ancient botanical cures for ailments and old steam railways are two of many hidden histories.
MON 23:00 Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture (b00yml9v)
Mavericks of Empire
By the middle of the 18th century, Britain was in possession of a vast empire. It required a new way of seeing ourselves and so we turned to the statues of ancient Greece and Rome to project the secular power and glory of the British Empire.
The message was clear: Britain was the new Rome, our generals and politicians on a par with the heroes of the ancient world. The flood of funds, both public and private, into sculptural projects unleashed a new golden age, yet it was also a remarkably unorthodox one. The greatest sculptors of the 18th and 19th centuries were those mavericks who bucked prevailing trends - geniuses like John Flaxman, Francis Chantrey and Alfred Gilbert.
Alastair Sooke tells the story of these mavericks and reveals the extraordinary technical breakthroughs behind their key works: carving in marble with a pointer machine and the primal power of the lost-wax technique.
MON 00:00 Timeshift (p0287mq6)
Series 14
Bullseyes and Beer: When Darts Hit Britain
Timeshift tells the story of how a traditional working-class pub game became a national obsession during the 1970s and 80s, and looks at the key role television played in elevating its larger-than-life players into household names.
Siobhan Finneran narrates a documentary which charts the game's surprising history, its cross-class and cross-gender appeal, and the star players that, for two decades, transformed a pub pastime into a sporting spectacle like no other.
Featuring legendary names such as Alan Evans and Jocky Wilson and including contributions from Eric Bristow, Bobby George, John Lowe and Phil Taylor.
MON 01:00 The Story of Scottish Art (b06myf12)
Episode 4
The climactic episode of the series explores how, over the last 100 years, Scottish art has wrestled as never before with questions of identity and exploded like a visual firecracker of different ideas and styles. During the last century, Scottish artists embroiled themselves with some of the most exciting and dynamic art movements ever seen - provoking, participating and creating stimulating works of art that have left an extraordinary legacy.
Lachlan Goudie discovers how artists such as William McCance attempted to bring about a Scottish renaissance in the visual arts, while a creative diaspora of artists such as Alan Davie and William Gear would court controversy and play vital roles in the revolutions of postwar art.
Long before the 'Glasgow Miracle', the Glasgow School of Art was responsible for upholding a very different kind of tradition, of which Lachlan's father was proud to be a part. He discovers how artists such as Joan Eardley helped to bring the city to life, just as John Bellany did for the fishing villages of the east coast. Rebels such as Bruce McLean help explain how conceptual art would come to play such a large role in the Scottish art of today, and Lachlan meets one of the world's most expensive living artists, Peter Doig, to delve into the complexities of what it actually means to be a Scottish artist in today's market-dominated art world. He finishes his epic journey on the Isle of Lewis with a powerful call to arms for the continued relevance of Scottish art today.
MON 02:00 The Joy of Data (b07lk6tj)
A witty and mind-expanding exploration of data, with mathematician Dr Hannah Fry. This high-tech romp reveals what data is and how it is captured, stored, shared and made sense of. Fry tells the story of the engineers of the data age, people most of us have never heard of despite the fact they brought about a technological and philosophical revolution.
For Hannah, the joy of data is all about spotting patterns. Hannah sees data as the essential bridge between two universes - the tangible, messy world that we see and the clean, ordered world of maths, where everything can be captured beautifully with equations.
The film reveals the connection between Scrabble scores and online movie streaming, explains why a herd of dairy cows are wearing pedometers, and uncovers the network map of Wikipedia. What's the mystery link between marmalade and One Direction?
The film hails the contribution of Claude Shannon, the mathematician and electrical engineer who, in an attempt to solve the problem of noisy telephone lines, devised a way to digitise all information. Shannon singlehandedly launched the 'information age'. Meanwhile, Britain's National Physical Laboratory hosts a race between its young apprentices in order to demonstrate how and why data moves quickly around modern data networks. It's all thanks to the brilliant technique first invented there in the 1960s by Welshman Donald Davies - packet switching.
But what of the future? Should we be worried by the pace of change and what our own data could be used for? Ultimately, Fry concludes, data has empowered all of us. We must have machines at our side if we're to find patterns in the modern-day data deluge. But, Fry believes, regardless of AI and machine learning, it will always take us to find the meaning in them.
MON 03:00 Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific with James Fox (b0bkytn4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2018
TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bky9sp)
Series 1
18/09/2018
Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
TUE 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04nz0mn)
Series 1
Plas Newydd
Griff Rhys Jones discovers how the National Trust, which was started in Wales, deals with the complexities and conflicts involved in looking after some of Wales's best-loved national treasures.
In this programme, he visits Plas Newydd on the island of Anglesey in north west Wales, which the Trust acquired in the 1970s. Once it was the family home of the Marquis of Anglesey, and now property manager Nerys Jones has to think of new ways to attract visitors to this remote location.
Griff investigates how this great stately home is run - and how it survives in these financially straitened times.
TUE 20:00 A Very British Romance with Lucy Worsley (b06gxzkj)
Episode 1
Lucy Worsley presents a series about the 'invention' of British romance - our very own, surprisingly passionate, tradition of love.
Lucy's romp through three centuries of love's rituals begins with the Georgian age, when the rules of courtship were being rewritten. Traditionally, marriage had been as much about business as love. Now, a glamorisation of romantic love inspired women and men to make their own romantic choices - they could flirt in newly-built assembly rooms, or elope to Gretna Green as an act of romantic rebellion.
But the main force of change was the arrival of the novel - Samuel Richardson, Fanny Burney and Jane Austen didn't just map out women's changing desires, they made people seek out the feelings and emotions described in their own lives, permanently changing how the British feel.
TUE 21:00 Horizon (b07z8034)
2016
The Lost Tribes of Humanity
Alice Roberts explores recent discoveries in the study of human origins, revealing the transformation that has been brought about in this field by genetics.
Traditional paleo-anthropology, based on fossils, is being transformed by advanced genome sequencing techniques. We now know that there were at least four other distinct species of human on the planet at the same time as us - some of them identified from astonishingly well-preserved DNA extracted from 50,000-year-old bones, others hinted at by archaic sections of DNA hidden in our modern genome. What's more, we now know that our ancestors met and interacted with these other humans, in ways that still have ramifications today. Alice uses these revelations to update our picture of the human family tree.
TUE 22:00 The Silent War (b03lb1fn)
Know Your Enemy
For decades, Britain and America's Cold War submarines waged a secret war of espionage against the Soviet navy. Deep in the ocean, crews were locked in a game of cat and mouse as each side battled to gain the tactical and technological advantage.
After decades of silence, submariners from both the east and west are now allowed to talk more openly than ever before about how they plotted to win the war beneath the waves. The west's superior technology allowed them to secretly shadow the Soviet fleet, at close quarters, giving them vital intelligence and the upper hand if war broke out.
Shadowing submarines was dangerous. The film explores close encounters between western and Soviet forces that put the lives of submariners at risk. Candid interviews with British, American and Russian submariners reveal the pressures of lengthy underwater patrols that drove them to the edge of their physical and mental limits.
TUE 23:00 Hidden Histories: Britain's Oldest Family Businesses (b03qlp97)
Toye the Medal Maker
Fiona Toye married into a family that has been making regalia for generations, including OBEs for the royal family. The film follows Fiona as she steers this traditional company through the 21st century.
Narrated by Margaret Mountford.
TUE 00:00 Tales from the National Parks (b016psp6)
The Peak District
The national parks are Britain's most treasured landscapes, but they are increasingly becoming battlefields. They were designated 60 years ago as places for everyone, but is that still the case? In this series, the award-winning film-maker Richard Macer spent a year amid conflicts in three different parks, on a journey to discover who they are really for.
In each park the stories are very different, but there is something that unites them all - fiercely divided communities who are prepared to fight in order to preserve their right to enjoy the countryside. For each film Macer has secured access to the National Park Authority - an organisation which looks after the landscapes and decides upon planning matters. In all these stories the park authorities have a key role to play in trying to find amicable solutions to the problems which confront them.
A war is breaking out in the charming villages of the Peak District, with walkers, horseriders and residents angry at 4x4 drivers and trailbikers motoring up and down the green lanes for pleasure. So an 80-year-old retired primary school teacher decides to launch a campaign to get the motorists banned from a lane in her village of Great Longstone. Over the next few months the campaign snowballs, and more and more villages decide they've had enough of the off-roaders on their lanes.
Macer filmed for over a year in the Peak District and was granted exclusive access to the inner workings of how the park is run. Will the Peak District Park Authority bow down to public pressure or will it side with the off-roaders?
TUE 01:00 War at Sea: Scotland's Story (b05qqhcn)
The Dreadnoughts of Scapa Flow
As the Great War began, the Royal Navy rushed to Orkney's great natural harbour, Scapa Flow.
David Hayman uncovers the compelling characters of the little-known naval war - cautious Admiral Jellicoe and Admiral Beatty, a playboy.
The story of great technologies and epic battles for control of the North Sea.
TUE 02:00 Horizon (b07z8034)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUE 03:00 A Very British Romance with Lucy Worsley (b06gxzkj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2018
WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bkybl2)
Series 1
19/09/2018
Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
WED 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04pgc2y)
Series 1
Farms
The National Trust started in Wales. Griff Rhys Jones examines how it manages its farmland and tenanted farms across the country, beginning in Pembrokeshire with the Trust's latest bequest, Treleddyd Fawr - the most painted and photographed cottage in Wales. Griff discusses the daunting restoration work facing National Trust building surveyor Nathan Goss.
Through this derelict farm worker's cottage, as well as a working farm producing potatoes sold under National Trust branding and a farm which no longer farms but instead operates as a children's adventure camp, Griff explores the variety of ways in which the Trust approaches its guardianship of farms and farmland.
WED 20:00 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044z1k0)
Great Plains
Ray Mears explores how 500,000 square miles of flat, treeless grassland was the setting for some of the Wild West's most dramatic stories of Plains Indians, wagon trains, homesteaders and cattle drives.
Ray joins the Blackfeet Indian Nation as they demonstrate bareback riding skills before a ritual buffalo hunt and sacrifice, and learns how their ancestors were dependent upon the buffalo for their survival. He follows in the wagon ruts of the early pioneers along the Oregon Trail and hitches a ride on a prairie schooner with wagon master Kim Merchant. He discovers the stories of the early homesteaders who lived in sod-houses and farmed the wild grassland around them.
At a cattle auction in Dodge City he explores the story of the railways, cow-towns and the buffalo massacre. His journey across the Great Plains ends at Moore Ranch where he joins a long-horn cattle drive and learns about the life and myth of one of the Wild West's most iconic figures, the cowboy.
WED 21:00 Ian Hislop's Olden Days (b041dqp3)
Forward into the Past
Ian Hislop travels back to the era of the Industrial Revolution and Victorian Britain. This was a time of some of the greatest progress and modernisation the country had ever seen - and yet, throughout these decades, writers, artists and politicians were trying to make sense of this new world by retreating into a very old world indeed: the Middle Ages.
The medieval revival had a huge impact on the country as it faced enormous upheaval. The novelist Walter Scott became a bestseller with his books Waverley and Ivanhoe, tales of gallant heroes and knights in armour. A dissatisfied workforce, faced with the threat of job losses from industrialisation, formed an ancient-style band of brothers to protest, calling themselves the Luddites. The Houses of Parliament were rebuilt in a medieval gothic style. And prime minister Benjamin Disraeli led a government that improved living and working conditions for millions by looking back to the values of the olden days.
With rich storytelling, fascinating anecdotes and a wry sense of humour, Ian explains how the Middle Ages actually made Britain modern.
WED 22:00 Patrick Kielty's Mulholland Drive (b06wy729)
Patrick Kielty's journey to find the truth about William Mulholland, the man who provided water for Los Angeles. Patrick's family are water men - from his great-grandfather to his father, they all worked for the water company in Northern Ireland. Water runs in his veins, along with gin on a Sunday night. Nowadays his second home is Los Angeles, so he was surprised to discover that the man who gave LA its water, and hence made the city we know today possible, was from Belfast. That man was William Mulholland, and this is Patrick's journey to find out why no-one has really heard of him.
WED 22:50 Arena (b00dn7hf)
Philip Hoare's Guide to Whales
Baleen
Acclaimed author and whale-watcher Philip Hoare takes us into the world of baleen whales, the largest animals ever to have lived.
With plates of bristly baleen instead of teeth with which they filter their food, blue whales, fin whales and humpback whales swim the Atlantic. Hoare shows us how to identify whales from their tails or flukes, and explores the strange shared history between humans and whales.
WED 23:00 Queen Victoria's Letters: A Monarch Unveiled (b04pl2mn)
Episode 2
AN Wilson discovers the real story behind the woman who supposedly spent the last half of her life in hiding, mourning the loss of her beloved Prince Albert. Alongside this well-known image of Victoria as the weeping widow, Wilson reveals that the years after Albert's death were actually a process of liberation and her most productive and exciting.
By examining her closest relationships in the four decades after Albert's death, Wilson tells the story of the Queen's gradual freedom from a life spent under the shadow of domineering men. Victoria's marriage had been a source of constraint as well as love, as Albert had used her pregnancies as a way to gain power and punished her for resenting it. But in her widowhood Queen Victoria, although bereft and deranged, was free to move in the world of politics and make deep friendships without concern.
From the controversial friendship with her highland servant John Brown to her most unconventional behaviour with her young Indian servant Abdul Karim, Wilson uncovers Victoria as a woman who was anything but 'Victorian'. Far from being prim and proper, she loved life in all its richness - she was blind to class and colour and, contrary to what we think, had a great sense of humour.
Queen Victoria's journals and letters are read by Anna Chancellor throughout.
WED 00:00 A Very British Airline (p01yyhgg)
Episode 1
British Airways is one of the UK's most visible brands, selling Britishness as a mark of quality. But in the last decade, the business has faced financial crisis and today more people fly Easyjet than BA. As the airline reaches a turning point, the BBC's cameras have been allowed unique access to its inner world, from top level decisions to the daily challenges of a global operation.
This episode explores how the airline tries to persuade people to spend more to fly, revealing the world found behind the 'millionaire's door' at Heathrow Terminal 5 - a lounge, restaurant, spa and champagne bar reserved for those select few who are happy to part with small fortunes to fly in the airline's first class.
Also this episode, a look at how the airline is playing catch-up with some of its rivals as it brings its first A380, the world's biggest passenger plane, into service. Plus, the programme follows 18 anxious new recruits on their journey to become cabin crew with British Airways. With exacting standards of dress, behaviour and knowledge, not all of them will make it through the six-week training course designed to uncover who is - and who is not - BA.
WED 01:00 War at Sea: Scotland's Story (b05rbnrk)
The Battle of the U-Boats
In April 1917, German U-boats were sinking a dozen British ships every day. The first sea lord, Jellicoe, warned that Britain might not be able to carry on fighting into 1918.
In the second of this two-part series, David Hayman explores Germany's World War One U-boat threat and the fascinating and dastardly ploys Britain used against the submarines.
WED 02:00 Handmade in the Pacific (b0bkyt27)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Monday]
WED 02:30 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044z1k0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THURSDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2018
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bkykzt)
Series 1
20/09/2018
Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
THU 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04q1h03)
Series 1
Tredegar House
Griff Rhys Jones visits one of the grandest Restoration houses in Britain to find out why they have taken on what was once known as 'the most expensive council house in Britain'.
Just off the M4 motorway in south Wales lies the jewel in the crown of Newport - Tredegar House - home to generations of the glittering Morgan dynasty and now a feather in the cap of National Trust Wales. But alongside the benefits of running this stunning visitor attraction comes the responsibility of maintenance - as well as a remit to work with the local community who live cheek by jowl with the big house.
Griff investigates how the Trust manages this while also carrying on the painstaking work of unearthing the hidden history of the house and its beautiful gardens.
THU 20:00 Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea (b00j0c54)
Body and Soul
In the first episode of the three-part series, Andrew Marr explores how Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has taken on a life of its own far beyond the world of science.
He argues that Darwin's theory has transformed our understanding of what it means to be human. Over the last 150 years, Darwin's ideas have challenged the need for a creator, undermined religious authority and provided new ways of looking at the origins of human morality.
Marr's journey begins following Darwin's footsteps in Tierra del Fuego at the southernmost tip of South America, where Darwin first encountered a native tribe. This began to raise questions in his mind about the origins of the human race. The answers to these questions would emerge over the next 30 years, culminating in the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859.
Marr then traces the development of Darwin's idea as it spread around the world and finds a range of influences that Darwin could never have imagined: from the existential philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche to the battlefields of the First World War; from the Freudian psychoanalyst's couch to the Vatican; from the genetic logic of kindness to an Islamic creationist's claim that Darwin is to blame for modern terrorism. Darwin's dangerous idea is as influential and challenging today as it was 150 years ago.
THU 21:00 Mercury Prize (b0bkfrsv)
2018
Hyundai Mercury Prize 2018: Album of the Year Live
Coverage of this year's prestigious music awards ceremony from the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London. Making her debut as host is DJ, BBC Radio 1 presenter and former Mercury Prize judge Annie Mac.
Each year, a highly regarded panel of artists, broadcasters, and music industry heavyweights shortlist what they believe to be the best albums of the year. As ever, the shortlist reflects the current eclectic music scene in the UK and this show recognises all of the shortlisted albums through special performances, culminating in the live announcement of this year's winner.
Albums range from Who Built the Moon? by rock 'n' roll legend Noel Gallagher with his High Flying Birds; the soulful debut Lost & Found from Walsall's Jorja Smith; intergalactic opus Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino by previous winners Arctic Monkeys; self-released album Novelist Guy, the debut from south London grime MC Novelist; and High as Hope, the fourth offering from ethereal songstress Florence + the Machine.
Concluding the list are albums by Manchester's indie pop quartet Everything Everything; south London's understated and unsettling Archie Marshall aka King Krule; record company boss and producer Richard Russell's star-studded impromptu collective Everything Is Recorded; South Tyneside's passionate singer-songwriter Nadine Shah; jazz four-piece Sons of Kemet, led by sax maestro Shabaka Hutchings; plus festival favourites Wolf Alice and, completing the list, the pop queen who wears her heart on her sleeve through her confessional songs - Lily Allen.
THU 22:15 Hidden Killers (b07chyly)
The Post-War Home
Dr Suzannah Lipscomb explores the time when British people embraced modern design for the first time after years of austerity and self-denial. The look and feel of the postwar 1950s home - a 'modern' world of moulded plywood furniture, fibreglass, plastics and polyester - had its roots in the innovative materials discovered during World War II. In fact, no other war before or since has had such a profound effect on the technologies of our current life. This bright new era encompassed a host of social changes including higher living standards and improved technologies, but - as Suzannah discovers - there were also unexpected dangers lurking throughout the changing home.
THU 23:15 Timeshift (b08lvtz6)
Series 17
Blazes and Brigades: The Story of the Fire Service
Timeshift looks back on nearly two centuries of British firefighting, and explores how major incidents and the evolution of equipment from manual pumps to motorised fire engines have helped forge the modern fire service.
The founding father of modern firefighting was Scotsman James Braidwood, whose pioneering techniques helped save Westminster Hall when the Houses of Parliament were consumed by fire in 1834. Remarkably, London had no publicly funded fire service at the time - and it was only after Braidwood's death tackling a warehouse blaze nearly 30 years later that the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was created.
The fireman soon became an iconic figure of heroism in Victorian painting and popular literature - but the provision of fire brigades and the standard of their equipment varied widely across the country. Motorised fire engines were available from the beginning of the 20th century, but it took the arrival of World War Two for the fire service to be organised on a national footing. Professional and volunteer firefighters worked side by side to tackle the devastating incendiary bombs dropped on British cities by the Nazis. Doug Lightning, the last surviving firefighter of the Sheffield Blitz in December 1940, recalls his own experience of helping to save key buildings during the attack.
In the post-war years, improvements to the fire service saw the introduction of new equipment, including the state-of-the art Dennis F7 fire engine - we take one of the last surviving examples back on the road in Manchester. Firemen were also called on to help with non-fire-related disasters. Interviewee Brian Sadd recalls the exploits of his father Fred during the floods that hit the east coast of England in 1953. Fred rescued 27 people, was awarded the George Medal and became the star of a comic strip in The Eagle.
A series of tragic incidents in the 1960s raised awareness of the importance not just of tackling blazes but of fire prevention. However, Britain was unprepared for the record hot summer of 1976, when a series of fires swept through the countryside. We speak to Mary-Joy Langdon, who in volunteering to help became Britain's first female firefighter, heralding changes to what was once seen very much as a man's job.
But the service wasn't immune to the industrial unrest of the decade. 1977 saw once tight-knit teams divided by the first national firefighters' strike, the film explores the media and public reaction to this unprecedented event. With the strike resolved, technology and equipment continued to improve in the 1980s, spurred on by a series of high-profile tragedies, culminating in the King's Cross underground station fire of November 1987, in which 31 people lost their lives, including one of the first firemen on the scene.
The King's Cross disaster led to a further overhaul of fire safety regulations. Today there are more than 50 regional fire services in the UK, dealing with nearly 2,000 call-outs a day. Increasingly, fewer of these are to actual fires. Firefighters respond to a range of incidents from road traffic accidents to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, and in recognition of this, in 2004 the service was officially renamed the Fire and Rescue Service.
THU 00:15 Horizon (b00nslc4)
2009-2010
Who Is Afraid of a Big Black Hole?
Black holes are one of the most destructive forces in the universe, capable of tearing a planet apart and swallowing an entire star. Yet scientists now believe they could hold the key to answering the ultimate question: what was there before the big bang?
The trouble is that researching black holes is next to impossible. They are by definition invisible and there is no scientific theory able to explain them. Horizon meets the astronomers and theoretical physicists who, despite these obvious obstacles, are attempting to image a black hole for the very first time and get ever closer to unlocking its mysteries. It is a story that goes into the heart of a black hole and to the very edge of what is thought to be known about the universe.
THU 01:15 Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism (b07d7nj9)
Having previously investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin's regimes, Jonathan Meades turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European dictator, Mussolini.
His travels take him to Rome, Milan, Genoa, the new town of Sabaudia and the vast military memorials of Redipuglia and Monte Grappa.
When it comes to the buildings of the fascist era, Meades discovers a dictator who couldn't dictate, with Mussolini caught between the contending forces of modernism and a revivalism that harked back to ancient Rome. The result was a variety of styles that still influence architecture today.
Along the way, Meades ponders on the nature of fascism, the influence of the Futurists, and Mussolini's love of a fancy uniform.
THU 02:45 Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea (b00j0c54)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRIDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2018
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b0bl27my)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0bl26sm)
Janice Long and Dixie Peach present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 24 April 1986. Featuring The S.O.S Band, The Grange Hill Cast, Aurra, George Michael, Madonna and Queen.
FRI 20:00 Gregory Porter's Popular Voices (p05d3p0d)
Series 1
Showstoppers
Gregory Porter explores 100 years of voices on the brink, those that go one note higher, turn it up to eleven and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.
Starting with the world's first pop star, the legendary Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, Gregory explores the sound and work of his favourite vocal showstoppers - the genius of Ella Fitzgerald, the soul of Mahalia Jackson, the power and stagecraft of Freddie Mercury, the artistry and extravagance of Prince, and the modern melisma of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. With Dave Grohl, Beck, Adam Lambert, Wendy & Lisa.
FRI 21:00 Kenny Rogers: Cards on the Table (b04pl3kw)
Examining the life and career of the artist who 'knows when to hold 'em and knows when to fold 'em', this documentary chronicles Kenny Rogers's remarkable rise to the top of his game and the golden era of country music he ushered in.
With an exclusive, candid interview from Rogers himself and performance footage gathered on his recent Through the Years tour, this honest and eye-opening film provides a backstage pass to a remarkable 50-year career of performing and recording.
Associates and luminaries provide personal insight into how the poor, music-obsessed boy from Houston, Texas went on to become a superstar with over 120 million albums sold worldwide. Singer, songwriter and producer Kim Carnes recalls how the New Christy Minstrels folk group - of which she and Kenny were members in the late 1960s - was like a 'school on the road' that provided them both with a springboard from which to explore other musical ambitions. Actor and musician Mickey Jones recounts his time with Kenny in the band The First Edition, whose hit single Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) made Kenny an unlikely poster boy for the psychedelic generation. Longtime friend Lionel Richie reveals how a trip to the bathroom played a crucial role in the recording session for Lady, one of Kenny's biggest hits.
Away from music, the programme reveals how Kenny's drive and ambition - what he describes as his 'impulsive-obsessive' nature - led to success in other fields: according to the renowned photographer John Sexton, the country music legend was determined to master the art of photography (Kenny was recently awarded an honorary Master of Photography degree by the Professional Photographers Association).
For over half a century, Kenny has kept us entertained with some of the best-known and best-loved music ever recorded. With a career spanning everything from jazz to folk, 60s psychedelia to R&B, perhaps his real legacy lies in the fact that he introduced a trailblazing pop sensibility to country music.
FRI 22:00 Can You Feel It - How Dance Music Conquered the World (b0bkz064)
Series 1
The Beat
House music is now one of the most popular music genres on the planet. The charts are packed with 4/4 tunes made or remixed by superstar DJs. The irresistible and relentless groove of the dance floor fills clubs and stadiums, themes the biggest TV shows and is the soundtrack to mega advertising. You can't escape the beat. But how did we get here?
In the first episode we follow the 4/4 beat from its disco origins through remix culture to house, techno, acid house and the current EDM explosion.
With contributions from disco legends Nicky Siano and Tom Moulton, house pioneers like Marshall Jefferson, Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk and Steve 'Silk' Hurley, Detroit techno inventors Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May and modern DJ superstars such as Pete Tong and David Guetta.
FRI 23:00 Tales from the Tour Bus: Rock 'n' Roll on the Road (b05rjc9c)
Rock legend and tour bus aficionado Rick Wakeman takes us on a time-travelling trip through the decades in this first-hand account of rockers on the road from the late 1950s to the 80s and beyond.
It's an often bumpy and sometimes sleepless ride down the A roads and motorways of the UK during the golden age of rock 'n' roll touring - a secret history of transport cafes, transit vans, B&Bs, sleepless roadies and of loved ones left at home or, on one occasion, by the roadside. And it's also a secret history of audiences both good and bad, and the gigs themselves - from the early variety package to the head clubs, the stadiums and the pubs.
This is life in the British fast lane as told by Rick and the bands themselves, a film about the very lifeblood of the rock 'n' roll wagon train. With members of Dr Feelgood, Suzi Quatro, The Shadows, The Pretty Things, Fairport Convention, Happy Mondays, Aswad, Girlschool, The Damned and many more.
FRI 00:00 Top of the Pops (b0bl26sm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 00:30 Music Moguls: Masters of Pop (p039x5f7)
Myth Makers
Part three of this illuminating series exploring the music business from behind the scenes takes a look at PR, the unseen force behind all the biggest musical acts in the world. With unique revelations, unseen footage and unrivalled access, it tells the story of the rise of PR within the music industry through the eyes of the people who lived it. Highlights include the PR campaigns behind superstars Jimi Hendrix, Taylor Swift and David Bowie.
Narrated by PR Alan Edwards.
FRI 01:30 The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark (b03tdd6k)
Bob Dylan described Missouri-born country boy Gene Clark as one of the three best songwriters in the world. He was the original frontman for one of the most iconic and influential bands of the 60s. After his abrupt departure from the Byrds at the peak of their popularity, he made records that are still regarded as classics. And he was one of the great pioneers of both folk rock and country rock. Yet, as far as the public is concerned, Clark is largely unknown and his reputation lags far behind that of peers such as Gram Parsons.
Since his death in 1991 at the age of 46, his songs have been covered by artists ranging from Robert Plant to Yo La Tengo and he has been hailed as a key influence by successive generations of musicians such as Tom Petty, Primal Scream and Fleet Foxes, despite some of his albums having been unavailable for long periods, and only now all available again.
This documentary explores the mystery of why this richly talented but deeply enigmatic and often self-destructive man failed to enjoy the success his work deserved. Drawing on interviews with his family, friends and fellow musicians including fellow Byrds David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, a wealth of great music from the four-decade span of his career and previously unseen archive material, it is a story that is both compelling and moving, veering between moments of magic and moments of madness.
The film was made by a father and sons team - Paul, Jack and Dan Kendall - as a labour of love which took them right across America in search of the people and places that were part of Gene Clark's life.
FRI 03:00 Gregory Porter's Popular Voices (p05d3p0d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]