This intimate journey into the heart of Brazil concludes. A fierce drought ensues, culminating in huge and ferocious fires. The capuchin monkeys, giant otters, coatis and jaguars are proving their extreme survival skills, while looking for mates and racing to breed to ensure that the next generation are born just as the good times arrive again.
Simon Sebag Montefiore traces the sacred history of Istanbul. Known as the 'city of the world's desire', it's a place that has been the focus of passion for believers of three different faiths - Paganism, Christianity and Islam - and for nearly 3,000 years its streets have been the battleground for some of the fiercest political and religious conflicts in history.
Montefiore uncovers the city's ancient Greek roots, maps its transformation into the imperial capital of a Christian empire by Emperor Constantine the Great and reveals how ecclesiastical clashes forced eastern and western churches apart.
The Australians find out whether they will be prosecuted, Ismail seeks revenge and the truth of what really happened is finally revealed.
The truth puts one life in danger as Ismail, blinded by grief, seeks retribution.
On Sunday 25 June 2000, David Bowie closed Glastonbury with a two-hour performance. Only half an hour or so of that stunning set was broadcast on BBC television that night at Bowie's insistence. At the time, the BBC were heavily criticised for coming off Bowie after broadcasting the first five songs of the set live and only returning for a couple of encore songs at the end of the show. Fortunately the cameras kept rolling and captured the whole set.
This programme features an hour of highlights from that performance, including such previously unbroadcast hits as Ashes to Ashes, Starman and Let's Dance. Bowie was returning to the festival for the first time since 1971. His star was not in the ascendant after the Tin Machine era and such 90s solo albums as Outside, Earthling and Hours. But from the moment he walked out on the Pyramid Stage, resplendent in an Alexander McQueen frock coat with his hair in Hunky Dory mode, and launched into Wild is the Wind, it was clear that he had decided to embrace and fully restate both his catalogue and his legend. Arguably it was Bowie's greatest live performance since the 70s.
After a heart attack in June 2004 while at the end of the 110-plus dates of A Reality Tour, Bowie never played live with a band again. His final stage performance was at a private Aids benefit show with pianist Mike Garson in 2006.
Simon Bates and Peter Powell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 19 March 1987, featuring Boy George, Erasure, Genesis and The Mission.
Gary Davies and Janice Long present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 2 April 1987, featuring Madonna, Curiosity Killed the Cat and The Pogues & The Dubliners.
Years before they brokered one of the biggest deals in music history – the 2015 sale of Beats Electronics to Apple for $3 billion – Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine navigated very different environments towards destinies that would, ultimately and improbably, bring them together.
In this first episode, their stories are explored. Dr Dre’s began in Compton, where his fascination with dance music, DJ innovations and sound brought him into contact with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren. Together, they would become the core of the 1980s gangsta-rap supergroup NWA.
A native of Red Hook, Brooklyn, Jimmy Iovine talks about gravitating to music following an indifferent academic career, always determined to avoid continuing in the family business as a longshoreman. Jimmy discusses getting a job answering phones in recording studios, and through a combination of hard work and old-fashioned luck, connecting with artists like John Lennon, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen.
In this second episode, Jimmy Lovine’s reputation as a fearless, talented and indefatigable producer is explored, along with how he reached the West Coast following a successful collaboration with Patti Smith.
He describes moving to Los Angeles to produce with Tom Petty and his secret relationship with Stevie Nicks.
Dr Dre talks about provocative songs, such as Straight Outta Compton, which were shaped by the bitter race relations in Los Angeles. NWA evolved into a force to be reckoned with, in LA and beyond. But a devastating personal loss for Dr Dre overshadowed the success.
The desert city of Meybod in southern Iran is famous for its ceramics and Abdol Reza Aghaei's family have been potters there for generations. This beautifully observed film follows Abdol and his father making a simple decorated water jug. Competing with cheap Chinese imports, they sometimes struggle to make a living, but share a dedication to keeping their traditions alive. And with Abdol's father teasing his son about who makes the best pots, the film also offers a touching, intimate portrait of two master craftsmen at work.
SUNDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2019
SUN 19:00 Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest (b07mlplp)
Survival
Two-part documentary in which archaeologist Dr Jago Cooper explores the extraordinary and resilient culture of the American north west, revealing one the most inspiring stories in human history.
1,400 miles of rugged, windswept and rocky coastline in what is now the Alaskan panhandle, British Columbia and Washington state have been home to hundreds of distinct communities for over 10,000 years. Theirs is the longest continuing culture to be found anywhere in the Americas. They mastered a tough environment to create unique and complex communities that have redefined how human societies develop. They produced art infused with meaning that ranks alongside any other major civilisation on earth. And they were very nearly wiped out - by foreign disease, oppression and theft of their lands. But a deep connection to the environment lies at the heart of their endurance, and - unlike many indigenous cultures annihilated following European contact - their culture sustains and has much to offer the rest of the world today.
In the second episode, Jago reveals how a cultural tradition that began over 10,000 years ago managed to survive against the odds. Following European contact, the indigenous peoples of what is now south east Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state suffered disease, theft of their land and oppression. But Jago argues that northwest coast culture has an extraordinary resilience. Its connection to the land has been developed over thousands of years, which meant that it was able to adapt and transform when faced with threats and disruption. These qualities make it one of the longest continuous cultures in the Americas.
SUN 20:00 Discovering... (m0002k5f)
Series 1
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra - Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945) is one of the most frequently performed works of any British composer. It has introduced and enlivened the interest of whole generations of children in the instruments of the orchestra, in thrilling style. It is, however, much more than an instruction manual for youngsters. Now a classic of the concert hall, it is frequently performed to children and adults alike.
Katie Derham presents a detailed analysis of the composition, and the story behind its creation, before it is performed in full by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with guest conductor Moritz Gnann in Cardiff’s Hoddinott Hall.
Orchestra members explain to Katie how Britten drew on the past for themes and techniques, and reapplied them in a twentieth-century context to show off each instrument in captivating fashion. Through interviews and archive Katie learns how the piece was commissioned for a Ministry of Education film during a post-war Britain filled with the optimism and promise of building a new world that would provide high culture for all - a central tenet of Britten’s own approach; to write music that is ‘useful, and to the living’.
The film demonstrates how Britten takes the orchestra apart, allowing each instrument its own variation on Henry Purcell’s theme of 250 years earlier. Through the performance we see how the 13 variations get to the essence of each instrument’s characteristics, showing each section of the orchestra at its individual best.
SUN 21:00 The Final Frontier? A Horizon Guide to the Universe (p00yjn1x)
Dallas Campbell looks back through almost 50 years of the Horizon archives to chart the scientific breakthroughs that have transformed our understanding of the universe. From Einstein's concept of spacetime to alien planets and extra dimensions, science has revealed a cosmos that is more bizarre and more spectacular than could have ever been imagined. But with every breakthrough, even more intriguing mysteries that lie beyond are found. This great journey of discovery is only just beginning.
SUN 22:00 The Sky at Night (m0002k5h)
Is Cosmology in Crisis?
Ever since we discovered that distant galaxies are racing away from us, there has been a heated debate over just how fast the Universe is expanding.
At the beginning of the 21st century, we thought we knew the answer. But now, two very different viewpoints have emerged. And they are dividing the scientific community.
The Sky at Night meets leading astronomers and cosmologists on both sides of the debate. Which team has the right answer? Or could both
teams be right? If so, we may need to rethink everything we think we know about the Universe.
SUN 22:30 War Requiem - Staging a Masterpiece (m0002k5k)
War Requiem: Staging a Masterpiece
‘My subject is war and the pity of war,
The poetry is in the pity,
All a poet can do today is warn.'
Wilfred Owen, from the Preface to his Poems, inscribed by Britten at the head of the score of War Requiem.
Filmed over 12 months, with unprecedented access, this landmark film follows the English National Opera as they pursue the challenge of staging Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. One of the greatest British choral works of the 20th Century, War Requiem is seen by many as a true masterpiece.
The ENO are the first company to transform the work into a dramatised performance. Artistic Director Daniel Kramer engaged a team drawn from across the world including the Turner Prize-winning artist Wolfgang Tillmans: ‘By keeping War Requiem alive and relevant today, we will be able to remember the sense of urgency that people in the post war generation felt, a sense of never again.’
For Britten, writing a piece for the re-consecration of Coventry Cathedral was the opportunity he had been waiting for. The original building was destroyed during World War II. He wanted to create a powerful statement against the horrors of war, a piece that inspired reconciliation. The result was an emotionally charged piece that requires three soloists, a large choir, a children’s choir, a large orchestra, two organs as well as a chamber orchestra. Juxtaposing the traditional Latin Requiem Mass with the World War I poet Wilfred Owen’s powerful anti-war poetry, the overall effect is a powerful emotional journey.
The destruction of war is no less a significant theme now than when War Requiem was first performed. Daniel Kramer’s ambition in creating a staged version of the music was fostered by a belief that he could amplify Britten’s original intentions.
The film begins where the music itself was born – in Coventry. Wolfgang and Daniel explore the ruins of the old Coventry Cathedral before moving into the vast echoing space of the new cathedral. It is a visit that becomes a critical moment in shaping their creative approach to staging the piece.
The programme follows over twelve months the development of Tillmans’s vision around three eight-metre-high LED screens forming the backdrop to the stage. He engages British fashion designer Nasir Mazhar to craft the 123 costumes and, as the vision grows, the cast grows. It is not long before the whole English National Opera family has joined this momentous journey. We witness the design discussions, costume-making and set builds, sculpture-making, movement rehearsals and snow tests, and last, but definitely not least, the orchestra rehearsals.
Working alongside the design team is celebrated conductor and ENO Music Director, Martyn Brabbins. His role could be seen as the guardian of the music. ‘It really is a masterpiece. My job as a conductor is to serve the composer. My whole life has been spent understanding what composers mean and how they want their music to be presented.’
As the production edges nearer the Coliseum’s stage, the cast widens to include three soloists, a chorus of 80 men and women, and a 40-strong children’s choir.
Revered baritone Roddy Williams, tenor David Butt Philips and soprano Emma Bell lead the singers in this unique journey. They reveal what War Requiem means to them, how the process they have been involved in has affected their understanding of the piece, and their thoughts about war and violence today. Preparing for his solo in the Dies Irae, Roddy tells us, ‘In that moment I understood with great clarity what it is like to have the power in the room because you are holding a weapon.’
Just one week before they share their work with the world, the ENO’s War Requiem moves to the London Coliseum. Once on stage, all the elements must come together and work seamlessly including the eight-metre high LED screens, a vast wasteland sculpture on wheels, not to mention the 123 ‘bodies of war’. Daniel, Wolfgang and Martyn all look on as the vision starts to become a reality for the very first time.
Finally, when all the moving pieces are working together, we are backstage with the performers as they prepare to perform on the first night. And, as the finished production opens, we experience first-hand what it feels like to stage the masterpiece that is War Requiem.
SUN 23:30 Secret Life of Sue Townsend (Aged 68 ¾) (b080391j)
Sue Townsend left school at 14 with no qualifications and in her early twenties was a single mother struggling to feed her three children. A decade later, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 was a critical and commercial smash and she had become the best-selling author of her era.
Julie Walters narrates this extraordinary story of a working-class woman who achieved literary stardom through sheer talent and an irrepressible will to write. From Adrian Mole to The Queen & I, Sue Townsend's books combine a brilliantly funny writing style with often biting satire, captivating not just a nation's readers but influencing a generation of writers and performers.
A warm and witty celebration of Sue Townsend's life and writing, the story is told with the help of children from Sue's old school, her friends and family, as well as the comedy and literary stars she inspired - including Stephen Mangan, Ian Hislop, David Nicholls, Isy Suttie and Adrian Scarborough. Drawing on Sue Townsend's own archive of letters and notebooks, the film also features unseen photographs, footage and even her appointment diary, which includes poignant entries about her struggles with ill health, written in a humorous style instantly recognisable from her books.
SUN 00:30 Leningrad and the Orchestra that Defied Hitler (b06vkbcs)
In August 1942, a concert took place in Leningrad that defies belief. A year earlier, the Germans had begun the deadliest siege in history which would kill three quarters of a million civilians. In the midst of the terror, a group of starving musicians assembled to perform Shostakovich's 7th Symphony in what would become a defiant moment in the city's ultimate survival. Historian Amanda Vickery and BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom Service reveal the extraordinary story of triumph of the human spirit over unspeakable terror.
Amanda shows how Leningrad was simultaneously persecuted by Stalin and Hitler, the 'twin monsters' of the 20th century. Meeting with siege survivors and uncovering diaries and photographs, she reveals the reality of life in Leningrad as it literally starved to death.
Meanwhile, Tom explores the thin line walked by Dmitri Shostakovich as the composer came perilously close to becoming a victim of Stalin's paranoia, and reveals how, as Leningrad starved, his 7th Symphony was performed around the world, uniting audiences against a common enemy before finally returning to the city.
Shot entirely on location in St Petersburg, the story is interwoven with excerpts of the symphony performed specially by the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich, the composer's son.
SUN 02:00 Discovering... (m0002k5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SUN 03:00 Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest (b07mlplp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019
MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002k5y)
Series 1
11/02/2019
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbrkp)
A Railway War Begins
World War I was a railway war. Michael Portillo finds out how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war, shaped how it was fought, conveyed millions to the trenches and bore witness to its end. He takes to historic tracks to rediscover the locomotives and wagons of the war that was supposed to end all war and hears the stories of the gallant men and women who used them in life and in death.
Michael travels through Britain and northern Europe uncovering railway stories from the Great War. He begins his quest in the French city of Metz on European tracks built with war in mind, charts the birth of the railway war at a small station in Luxembourg and discovers how Britain's railways coped with the challenge of sending thousands of troops to join the conflict from Southampton. Finally, he returns to France to learn how the early war of movement gave way to the stalemate of the trenches.
MON 20:00 Coast (b07xs2r9)
The Great Guide
Southern Wales
Tessa Dunlop and Neil Oliver present an insider guide to southern Wales - from the Severn Bridge to St Davids - as they unearth the stories that give this coast its wild appeal.
Building on the best of ten years of Coast stories from these shores, Tessa takes to the seas to seek out new stories and extreme experiences for the guide. She tries her hand at coastal rowing, braves the high seas to explore why Gower was made Britain's first area of outstanding natural beauty, gets close to nature in a kayak at Worm's Head and tries her hand at a local tradition - cockle picking - at Penclawdd.
MON 21:00 A Very British History (b0bty2w8)
Series 1
A Very British History: Romany Gypsies
"Welcome to Gypsy Land!" Writer Damian Le Bas invites us to join him as he explores a pivotal decade in the lives of Romany people. In the 1960s many were forced to abandon their nomadic way of life for a more settled existence. Focusing on the Home Counties, Damian draws on his own Romany family background and rich film archive to show how Gypsy people faced becoming outlaws in their own land. Regular stopping places for their caravans were drying up and tighter planning laws put further pressure on finding somewhere to live. Local and national government were slow to react to a mounting crisis for a group of citizens with a distinct culture but living on the margins of society. Breakthrough legislation in 1968 finally compelled councils to provide permanent sites for Gypsy people. It gave hope to many, but at the cost of losing a freedom closely tied to their identity.
MON 22:00 Storyville (m0002k62)
Under the Wire
On 13 February 2012, war-correspondent Marie Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy entered war-ravaged Syria to cover the plight of civilians trapped in the besieged city of Homs, under attack by the Syrian army. Only one of them returned.
This is their story.
Marie Colvin was one the most fearless reporters of her time. She dedicated her life to bearing witness to the lives of ordinary people caught up in the world’s most dangerous conflicts. She covered Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Sri Lanka, Chechnya and East Timor, and was on first-name terms with leaders like Muammar Gaddafi and Yasser Arafat.
In 2001 she lost the sight in her left eye after being caught in crossfire by a piece of shrapnel. On 13 February 2012, Marie was smuggled into Syria with her photographer, Paul Conroy. Despite intelligence reports that foreign journalists found in the area ‘would be executed and their bodies put on the battlefield, as if caught in crossfire’, they headed to Homs, determined to uncover the horror of Syrian civilians trapped by the conflict. Only one of them would return.
Based on the book of the same name by Paul Conroy, Under The Wire is the incredible story of Paul and Marie’s fateful mission, and Paul’s epic battle to escape the city to tell the world of his fallen colleague and the plight of the people of Homs. Under the Wire is a film about real journalism, about war and about an extraordinary commitment to telling the truth, whatever the cost.
MON 23:35 The Art That Made Mexico: Paradise, Power and Prayers (b09j2vvp)
Series 1
Power
Alinka Echeverria reveals how artists became the authors of Mexico's official history, defining the origins of its power and wielding significant influence over millennia.
Following the Mexican Revolution that began in 1910, landscape paintings established a new style that was resolutely Mexican, and confirmed the re-established connections between Mexico's indigenous population and their land. Forces of nature and Mexico's landscape continue to be integral to the Mexican sense of artistic identity.
The relationship between art and power can be seen throughout world history. But Alinka argues that Mexico differs. Not only did indigenous artists project the power of the elites in its ancient civilisations, artists became the authors of Mexican history and the power brokers in the struggles for political dominance.
In Mexico's history, power changes hands quickly and often violently. The city state of Cholula dominated central Mesoamerica around 1,000 years ago, but fell to Spanish conquistadors in the space of a day.
Nearly 500 years later, one of the largest triumphal arches in the world was intended to express the unassailable power of Porfirio Diaz. But before the arch was completed, the Mexican Revolution swept Diaz from power. The fragile nation needed a new national story to provide unity and stability. Art was to create it.
Diego Rivera painted a spectacular sweep of Mexican history as he, and the government who commissioned him, wanted it understood. It was origin myth and propaganda rolled into one. The power of art to establish Mexican nationalism was extraordinary. Frida Kahlo used her considerable influence to make the personal political, in both gender politics and amplifying indigenous voices.
Today, nowhere is it more important to express Mexican power and identity than at its borders. In Tijuana, on the border with the United States, the creativity of individual artists and collectives is fired by matters of everyday politics and the proximity to their northern neighbour. The results underline how art and power in Mexico are inextricably linked.
MON 00:35 Art of Spain (b008vsgz)
The Moorish South
Critic and art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels from southern to northern Spain to tell the story of some of Europe's most exciting and vital art. For 700 years, most of Spain was an Islamic state, and the south was its beating heart. Under the Moors, Spain became the most advanced, wealthy and populous country in Europe. Andrew travels to Cordoba, Seville and Granada, visiting beautiful Moorish palaces and mosques, telling the story of one of the most colourful and sophisticated cultures to ever appear in Europe.
MON 01:35 Dancing in the Blitz: How World War II Made British Ballet (p01s4z2h)
David Bintley, director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, explores how the Second World War was the making of British ballet and how fundamental the years of hardship and adversity were in getting the British public to embrace ballet. Bintley shows how the then Sadler's Wells Ballet Company, led by Ninette de Valois and featuring a star-studded generation of British dancers and choreographers including Margot Fonteyn and Frederick Ashton, was forged during the Second World War.
It's the story of how de Valois and her small company of dancers took what was essentially a foreign art form and made it British despite the falling bombs, the rationing and the call-up. Plus it is the story of how Britain, as a nation, fell in love with ballet.
Using rare and previously unseen footage and interviews with dance icons such as Dame Gillian Lynne and Dame Beryl Grey, Bintley shows how the Sadler's Wells Ballet company survived an encounter with Nazi forces in Holland, dancing whilst the bombs were falling in the Blitz, rationing and a punishing touring schedule to bring ballet to the British people as an antidote to the austerity the country faced to emerge, postwar, as the Royal Ballet.
MON 02:35 A Very British History (b0bty2w8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2019
TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002k65)
Series 1
12/02/2019
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbs8k)
Railways and Railwaymen Called to Action
World War I was a railway war. Michael Portillo finds out how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war, shaped how it was fought, conveyed millions to the trenches and bore witness to its end. He takes to historic tracks to rediscover the locomotives and wagons of the war that was supposed to end all war and hears the stories of the gallant men and women who used them in life and in death.
Michael's journey begins in England's north east, where he finds out about the brave railwaymen who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Moving south to Oxfordshire, he learns how the manufacturing expertise of the railways turned a crisis into a victory. In Hampshire, Michael meets the proud son of a railwayman who, as a Royal Engineer, taught soldiers to be railwaymen and trained railwaymen to be soldiers. Finally, on the south coast he meets the big guns that turned the tide of war.
TUE 20:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08bqdzl)
Series 1
The Wars of the Roses
Lucy debunks the foundation myth of one of our favourite royal dynasties, the Tudors.
According to the history books, after 30 years of bloody battles between the white-rosed Yorkists and the red-rosed Lancastrians, Henry Tudor rid us of civil war and the evil king Richard III. But Lucy reveals how the Tudors invented the story of the 'Wars of the Roses' after they came to power to justify their rule.
She shows how Henry and his historians fabricated the scale of the conflict, forged Richard's monstrous persona and even conjured up the image of competing roses. When our greatest storyteller William Shakespeare got in on the act and added his own spin, Tudor fiction was cemented as historical fact.
Taking the story right up to date, with the discovery of Richard III's bones in a Leicester car park, Lucy discovers how 15th-century fibs remain as compelling as they were over 500 years ago. As one colleague tells Lucy: 'Never believe an historian!
TUE 21:00 Dark Son: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (b0c062xj)
It is the biggest unsolved serial murder case in British criminal history - the so-called 'Jack the Stripper' murders took place in Swinging Sixties London.
Six women lost their lives to a killer who was never caught. Criminologist Professor David Wilson leads an investigation to unmask the killer, who claimed more victims than even his notorious Victorian namesake, Jack the Ripper.
Professor Wilson and his investigative team - which includes former detective Jackie Malton and forensic psychologist Professor Mike Berry - begin their hunt for the killer not in London, but 150 miles away in Abertillery, South Wales. In 1921, the Welsh mining town was devastated by the double murder of two schoolgirls when eight-year-old Freda Brunell and 11-year-old Florence Little were killed just weeks apart by a local boy, 15-year-old Harold Jones, who the Abertillery residents still refer to as their 'Dark Son'.
Those murders - especially the sadistic nature of their deaths and the treatment of the bodies afterwards - have eerie parallels with the 'Jack the Stripper' murders. Could Harold Jones the boy killer really have matured in later life into a serial killer?
To test this theory, the team revisit the scenes of the murders in west London. They use contemporary policing techniques such as geographical and offender profiling to see if the crimes of Jones the boy can be measured against those of Jack the Stripper. And from the outset, it becomes apparent there are many chilling similarities.
TUE 22:30 James May's Big Ideas (b00dxdwl)
Man-Machine
James May sets off to discover if his childhood vision of a world populated by robots will ever become a reality. He begins in Japan, where he is charmed by a woman wearing an electro-mechanical jumpsuit that can double her strength, before having a close encounter of the weird kind with a robot that's almost human - it's designed to look and behave exactly like its creator.
In the US, he meets the two million dollar bionic woman, and, in the unlikeliest of laboratories, he is astonished by the most sophisticated walking robot in the world, not because it can climb stairs and run, but because it walks straight into a door.
But is James' vision of the future just a little old-fashioned? To find out, he takes his first nervous step into a world where he becomes a ghost within a machine.
TUE 23:30 Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds: A Tale of Three Cities (b04gbdww)
New York 1951
Dr James Fox tells the story of New York in 1951, where the world we know today was born. This was the year when Jackson Pollock brought a new dynamism to American painting, when the dazzling jazz style known as bebop hit its stride and when Jack Kerouac defined the Beat Generation with his book On the Road. It was where a young Marlon Brando took cinema by storm, a dapper Brit named David Ogilvy reinvented advertising and modern television arrived with the triumphant debut of a show called I Love Lucy.
TUE 00:30 The Brits Who Built the Modern World (b03wctxm)
The Politics of Power
Series looking at how an exceptional generation of British architects, led by Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, conquered the globe with their high-tech vision.
The final episode focuses on the period from the late 90s to the present day, when they were at the peak of their success - building iconic landmarks across Britain and the world - but also faced some of the biggest controversies of their careers. Rogers reveals what went wrong with the Millennium Dome, Foster recalls the wobbles of London's Millennium Bridge and Michael Hopkins explains how his new parliamentary building, Portcullis House, became the most expensive office block in Britain.
Also featured are the stories behind some of Britain's most popular modern architecture - Nicholas Grimshaw's Eden Project and Foster's 'Gherkin' - and a look at this generation's success overseas, including Terry Farrell's success in China.
TUE 01:30 A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol (b067fw3w)
Andy Warhol created some of the most instantly recognisable art of the 20th century. But perhaps his greatest work of art was himself - the cool, enigmatic pop art superstar.
In this film, Stephen Smith sets out to discover the real Andy Warhol - in the hour-by-hour detail of his daily life.
Taking a playful approach, mixing archive and entertaining encounters with Warhol's closest friends and confidantes, Stephen pieces together a typical day in the mid 1960s.
By 1964, Warhol had established himself as a famous pop artist and his creative ambitions were exploding in new directions in a creative frenzy of art, films - and even music.
From an early-hours chat with John Giorno, Warhol's lover and star of his notorious film Sleep, to recreating Warhol's intimate telephone conversations with Factory superstar Brigid Berlin, Stephen immerses himself in the round-the-clock whirl of Warhol's daily life.
Visiting the church where Warhol worshipped with his mother, discussing the day-to-day running of the Factory with Warhol's assistant Gerard Malanga, talking to Bibbe Hansen and Jane Holzer, stars of his famous Screen Tests, the film offers a fresh and illuminating new portrait of Warhol.
And from the obsessive desire to document his everyday life to the endless fascination with fame and his own celebrity image, a day with Andy Warhol appears surprisingly familiar to 21st century eyes.
"In his lifetime", concludes Stephen, "some people thought Warhol came from another planet. But in fact he hailed from somewhere equally exotic - the future.".
TUE 02:30 Secret Knowledge (b01r3n6p)
The Art of the Vikings
Through interpretations of some of the archaeological treasures of the Swedish National Museum, now on display in Edinburgh, Dr Janina Ramirez of Oxford University explores the fascinating wealth of Viking culture and its long-lasting influence on the British Isles.
TUE 03:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08bqdzl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2019
WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002k68)
Series 1
13/02/2019
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbskt)
Keeping the War Moving
World War I was a railway war. Michael Portillo finds out how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war, shaped how it was fought, conveyed millions to the trenches and bore witness to its end. He takes to historic tracks to rediscover the locomotives and wagons of the war that was supposed to end all war and hears the stories of the gallant men and women who used them in life and in death.
Michael travels through Britain and northern France uncovering railway stories from the Great War. He gets hands-on experience of the miniature tracks and trains that kept supplies flowing to the front line and visits North Eastern Railway headquarters in York to find out about the Great War's forgotten railway leader. He hears the story of the Bath railway poet, and pays homage at the site of Britain's deadliest train crash in Quintinshill. Finally, Michael crosses the Channel to discover how the railways fed millions of men in the trenches from a depot in Abancourt.
WED 20:00 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b01c301b)
Raising Arms
Military historian Saul David looks at how generals have struggled to kit out their armies for battle.
WED 21:00 Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain (b007qmsj)
New Britannia
In the final part of Andrew Marr's epic national saga, Britain enters the uncharted waters of the post-Thatcher era. Many have done well during the Thatcher years but now boom is turning to bust. Britain feels more vulnerable than ever to rapid international change - from the influence of powerful new global market forces to global warming. Just when many in post-war Britain are getting used to the good things in life, it seems we are going to have to start giving up our big cars and foreign holidays - or at least go back to some form of rationing. But who could persuade us to do this? Churchill had that kind of power in the 1940s, but which politician would we trust and follow today?
Step forward the unassuming Brixton boy John Major and New Labour's smiling master of spin Tony Blair. From Black Wednesday to war in Iraq, from the British inventor of the World Wide Web to millennium fever, this is Andrew Marr's up-to-the moment story of Britain's extraordinary transformation from imperial power to an island at the heart of the global economy.
WED 22:00 How We Built Britain (b007r7mf)
The West: Putting on the Style
On his architectural tour of Britain, David Dimbleby discovers how the Georgian dream of order and beauty transformed our buildings and cities. Travelling west, he discovers the grandeur of Blenheim Palace, the man-made paradise of Stourhead garden in Wiltshire and the elegance of Bath. He pays tribute to the terraced house, a great British invention, before discovering the tin mines of Cornwall and crossing the mighty Menai Bridge to the Georgian jewel of Dublin.
WED 23:00 Castles: Britain's Fortified History (b04v85sy)
Defence of the Realm
Sam Willis explores how, by the Wars of the Roses, castles were under attack from a new threat - the cannon - but survived into the Tudor era only to find their whole purpose challenged. What had once been strategic seats of power now had to keep up with the fickle fashions of the court and become palaces to impress monarchs such as Elizabeth I.
Just as castles seemed to have lost their defensive function, the English Civil War erupted. The legacy of that tumultuous period resulted in castles no longer being associated with protection. Rather, their ruins took on a unique appeal, embodying a nostalgia for an age of chivalry that became a powerful part of the national psyche.
WED 00:00 Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule (b04w7m97)
Comedian Rik Mayall died suddenly on 9 June 2014. Mayall's blend of rocket-fuelled physical comedy, surrealism, subversive satire and pompous punk wit left a body of work that spanned four decades. Mayall's characters include the Black Country's investigative nerd Kevin Turvey, Felicity Kendal-adoring student and 'People's Poet' Rik in The Young Ones, ruthless MP Alan B'Stard in The New Statesman, seedy loser Richie in Bottom, and larger-than-life characters Robin Hood and flying ace Lord Flashheart from Blackadder.
Narrated by Simon Callow, this programme salutes Rik Mayall and celebrates his part in the UK's comedy history using rare and unseen archive footage. It also features contributions from people who knew or admired him, including Michael Palin, Simon Pegg, Lenny Henry, Ben Elton, Alexei Sayle, Christopher Ryan, Tim McInnerny, Jools Holland, Ruby Wax and Greg Davies.
WED 01:00 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.
WED 02:00 Unsung Heroines: Danielle de Niese on the Lost World of Female Composers (b0b6znwz)
Danielle de Niese explores the lives and works of five female composers - from the Middle Ages to the late 20th century - who were famous in their lifetimes, but whose work was then forgotten.
Western classical music has traditionally been seen as a procession of male geniuses, but the truth is that women have always composed. Hildegard of Bingen, Francesca Caccini, Clara Schumann, Florence Price and Elizabeth Maconchy - all these women battled to fulfil their ambitions and overcome the obstacles that society placed in their way. They then disappeared into obscurity, and only some have found recognition again.
WED 03:00 Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism (b09tbh10)
Series 1
California
In this episode Charles Hazlewood tracks down the pioneers of minimalism, which began on America's west coast in the 1950s. Describing them as 'prophets without honour', Charles explores La Monte Young's groundbreaking experiments with musical form that included notes held for exceptionally long periods of time, and drones inspired by Eastern classical music and Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath.
He drives out into the Californian countryside to the ranch of Terry Riley and discusses the musician's revolutionary experiments with tape recording looping and phasing, along with early synthesizer sound. The episode includes excerpts from key early minimalist pieces, including Riley's now famous In C, performed by Charles Hazlewood's All Stars Collective and detailed workshopping by Hazlewood where pieces are deconstructed musically.
The key attributes of minimalism, its reliance on repetition, its mesmerizing transcendent qualities and innovative use of technology are also discussed with broadcaster and writer Tom Service; Gillian Moore, Director of Music at the Southbank Centre; composers Morton Subotnick, Max Richter and Bryce Dessner, and musicians Jarvis Cocker and Adrian Utley.
THURSDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2019
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002k6c)
Series 1
14/02/2019
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (m0002k5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Sunday]
THU 20:00 Horizon (b0791nhx)
2016
How to Find Love Online
Dr Xand van Tulleken is single and looking for love. Mathematician Dr Hannah Fry wants to use him as her guinea pig to test whether the algorithms that dating sites use to match people actually work.
While Hannah builds a dating site, Xand meets the scientists investigating online dating - and learns what pictures to use and what to write in his profile. He tries out a 'bot' that has automated a swiping app and has an MRI scan to find out whether his brain is equipped for love.
Fifty members of the public take part in some mini-experiments at a date night - and Xand goes on various dates to test whether the algorithm is better than him choosing randomly.
THU 21:00 Venus Uncovered: Ancient Goddess of Love (b09g0k3j)
In 1914, the suffragette Mary Richardson attacked the Rokeby Venus at the National Gallery in London. But why did this painting fire such outrage? Professor Bettany Hughes embarks on a voyage of discovery to reveal the truth behind the Venus depicted in the painting, proving that this mythological figure is so much more than just an excuse for sensual nudity and chocolate-box romance. Venus Uncovered is the remarkable story of one of antiquity's most potent forces, and more than that. Hers is the story of human desire, and how desire transforms who we are and how we behave.
Charting Venus's origins in powerful ancient deities, Bettany demonstrates that Venus is far more complex than first meets the eye. Beginning in Cyprus, the goddess's mythical birthplace, she explores the mysterious and obscure ways this ancient goddess was imagined and looks into Venus's own love life to see that, even for her, tangling with another was often bittersweet.
Through ancient art, evocative myth, exciting archaeological revelations and philosophical explorations Bettany reveals how this immortal goddess endures through to the 21st century, and what her story and journey through time reveals about what matters to us as humans. Uncovering Venus shows us why we still need to care about this primordial companion on the human journey - and how we trivialise her power at our peril.
THU 22:00 Sex, Lies and Love Bites: The Agony Aunt Story (b0555vjj)
Psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry presents a witty and revealing look at the problem page's enduring appeal. In the documentary Philippa picks her way through three centuries of advice on broken hearts, cheating partners and adolescent angst to uncover a fascinating portrait of our social history.
She talks to fellow agony aunts and uncles like the Telegraph's Graham Norton and the Sun's Deidre Sanders about their experiences, as well as exploring the work of advice columnists past, like the 17th-century inventor of the problem page, John Dunton. The advice may change, but she discovers that, when it comes to subjects like love and courtship, the same old problems keep on cropping up.
Through the work of generations of advice columnists Philippa charts the developing battle of the sexes, the rise of the middle classes and a revolution in social attitudes. For much of the 20th century, agony aunts avoided any mention of trouble in the bedroom. Philippa explores the pioneering work of agony aunts like Claire Rayner, who began to offer frank sex advice in the 1960s. Today, sex takes pride of place on the problem page, as Philippa discovers for herself when she takes a starring role in the Sun's photo casebook, which is famous for its real-life problems illustrated with pictures of semi-clad ladies.
At a time when advice is more easily available than ever before, Philippa reflects on why agony aunts are often still our first port of call, and on what makes reading about other people's problems so irresistible.
THU 23:00 Roy Orbison: Love Hurts (b09j0r8s)
Roy Orbison died 29 years ago but he's hardly forgotten. As one of rock 'n' roll's pioneers he achieved superstar status in the 60s, writing and releasing a series of smash singles such as Oh, Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely, In Dreams and Crying. But while his professional life was full of triumph, Roy suffered terrible misfortune in his personal life, losing his wife and two of his children in successive tragedies, rebuilding his life by relying on his music to distract him from desolation.
Roy's legacy as a beloved rock legend and a devoted father is revealed through intimate interviews with Roy's three surviving sons, featuring previously unseen home videos as Alex, Roy Jnr and Wesley Orbison discuss the immense talent and fierce determination that provided the driving force behind their father's incredible success and the dedication to Roy's family that helped create a strong spiritual base to escape the pressures of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.
This is the personal story of the relationship between three children and their father; a father who died when they were young, and who they have reconnected with and come to understand through embracing his life's work. It is not often that one gets to understand the person who is the music phenomenon, but in this film about relationships, family, love, loss and affirmation, we get to see the man behind the ever-present dark sunglasses and brooding loner persona, witnessing his struggle with personal demons, and ultimately redemption and acknowledgement from his peers.
THU 00:00 Love Songs at the BBC: A Valentine's Day Special (b00ymh70)
It's a time for guilty pleasures, for courtship, for declarations of love, for looking someone in the eye and whispering sweet nothings, accompanied by a compilation of some of the greatest and squishiest love songs from the likes of Celine Dion, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, Jason and Kylie, 10cc and Lionel Richie, all from the Top of the Pops era. If Hot Chocolate and Chaka Khan don't get the temperatures rising, then nothing will.
THU 01:00 Timeshift (b00ff170)
How to Write a Mills and Boon
What happens when a literary novelist tries to write popular romantic fiction? To mark 100 years of romance publishers Mills and Boon, literary novelist Stella Duffy takes on the challenge of writing for them.
Romantic fiction is a global phenomenon, and Mills and Boon are among the biggest names in the business. The company welcomes submissions from new authors, but as Duffy soon finds out, writing a Mills and Boon is harder than it looks.
Help is at hand from the publishers themselves, a prolific Mills and Boon author and some avid romance fans, as Duffy's quest to create the perfect romantic novel takes her from London to Italy on a journey that is both an insight into the art of romantic fiction and the joy and frustration of writing itself.
THU 02:00 Horizon (b0791nhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 03:00 Venus Uncovered: Ancient Goddess of Love (b09g0k3j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2019
FRI 19:00 World News Today (m0002k6f)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0002k6h)
Janice Long and Peter Powell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 16 April 1987, featuring Fine Young Cannibals, David Bowie, Herb Alpert, Bon Jovi and Madonna.
FRI 20:00 Classic Albums (b08pg5tq)
Carly Simon: No Secrets
Carly Simon is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of her generation. The classic album that made her a global star was No Secrets, which included the enigmatic song You're So Vain. The album spent five weeks at number one in the US chart.
In this new interview Carly ties together her life and work on No Secrets - she is at her most honest, sometimes defiant, but with a wit and wisdom that comes from her rich and turbulent life. She tells of how the second single from the album, Right Thing to Do, was a refreshingly realistic love song, choosing to ignore her lover's problems. That lover was James Taylor; Carly wrote the lyrics on a plane after looking over at James and thinking 'there's nothing you can do to turn me away.'
The album's title track, We Have No Secrets, struck a chord with a generation trying to reconcile honesty in relationships with the emotional consequences that followed. Carly had a number of highly public affairs in the early 70s and her experience fed into the album's most famous song, the global hit You're So Vain. She performs the missing fourth verse on the piano, the first time she has ever sung it along with the melody.
Carly tells of how her producer made her do the vocal track on 'Vain' over and over, and how Mick Jagger ended up on backing vocals. The film has access to the master tapes and we hear Jagger's vocal track. Her producer reveals Carly was 'so turned on' after singing with Jagger that she recorded the whole vocal again - and that is the one on the album.
Finally, the film includes footage of Taylor Swift and Carly Simon performing You're So Vain together, and extracts from an interview where Swift herself talks about her love for the song.
FRI 21:00 Flat Pack Pop: Sweden's Music Miracle (m0002k6k)
Flat Pack Pop: Sweden’s Music Miracle charts the remarkable rise of Sweden as a global music superpower. Journalist James Ballardie explores the uniquely Swedish songwriting formula created by record producer Denniz Pop, discovering how the biggest chart hits of the last 30 years have been inspired by the myths and legends of this Land of the Midnight Sun.
In the 1990s, an elite band of unlikely entrepreneur songwriters and producers became responsible for the most dramatic revolution in music since Elvis first shook his hips. What started out as an experiment on the Stockholm underground club scene soon blossomed into an entire genre of its own. These unlikely heroes of bubblegum pop surfed the wave of the dotcom boom, launching the careers of Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Westlife and many, many more. Hundreds of millions of record sales later, today they have a combined net worth of many billions.
Featuring interviews with key Swedish songwriters, plus producers and artists including Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Ace of Base and Robyn, James’s search for the real lever-pullers behind today’s top tunes takes him from the icy streets of Stockholm to the barren plains of Kronoberg.
But why should Sweden – of all places – have become such a hotbed for hot tracks? Some say it’s the terrible weather and long months of darkness that created the perfect environment for Swedes to refine their craft. Others praise the stellar state-funded musical education programmes promoted by the socialist governments of the 60s and 70s. A Swedish love for simplistic melodies – harking back to the medieval cattle-herding calls that form the basis of Swedish folk music – is also a key weapon in the Swedish musical juggernaut’s arsenal.
Perhaps most impressive of all about Sweden’s musical miracle is the sheer duration of its success - with a streak of hits that has lasted longer than any of the classic songwriting factories that have defined pop history - from Motown and Tin Pan Alley to the Brill Building, Leiber and Stoller, and the Wall of Sound.
At its heart – Swedish pop sounds effortless and uncomplicated. In reality, it is the most intricate and precise songwriting method of any genre. These are industrial-strength melodies handcrafted to pierce the 21st century’s hubbub - in malls, stadiums, airports, casinos, gyms and the Super Bowl half-time shows.
It is the same ethos that drove IKEA and H&M to become such world-beating brands. Swedes are so successful at exporting their culture because ingrained in the Swedish mindset is a curious knack for appealing to the residents of other countries. Pulling apart the very best ideas from British and American music, and then rearranging them in a more effective and efficient way is the cornerstone of Swedish musical thinking.
As the 1990s drew to a close, the songwriting formula created by Denniz Pop made him and his followers filthy rich, a potential source of embarrassment in equality-obsessed Sweden. In accordance with Swedish ‘Jante Law’ – a social code that promotes the good of the community over the individual – Denniz and his team shunned the limelight, preferring to leave the pressures of fame to the unabashed Brits and Americans who sang their hits. But the dream could not last forever. In 1997 Denniz was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died a year later at the age of just 35, less than two months before his greatest creation yet – Britney Spears’s Baby One More Time hit record store shelves.
Today, the most successful of Denniz Pop’s motley band of followers is his protégé Max Martin. Max is famously modest about his mixing desk wizardry – but he is responsible for some of the most potent melodies of our time, standing third only to John Lennon and Paul McCartney when it comes to racking up US No 1 hits.
Mysterious Max has turbocharged Denniz’s songwriting formula into a theory he calls ‘Melodic Math’. It is a complex musical algorithm perfect for the digital age. Decoding the secrets of Melodic Math, James will uncover centuries-old Swedish customs and folklore hidden in the unlikely music of One Direction, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber.
With its huge hooks, massive drops and unmistakable sense of melancholy, the sound of Swedish pop is in fact the sound of modern pop. In Flat Pack Pop: Sweden’s Music Miracle, BBC Four will uncover how this bizarre brew of influences came to dominate our charts, without us even knowing where it came from.
FRI 22:00 The Defiant Ones (m0002k6m)
Series 1
Episode 3
Jimmy Iovine discusses how he continued to rise up the music industry ladder via successful collaborations with Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks, and Dr Dre talks about the difficulties he faced both professionally and personally.
Jimmy talks about hitting a wall and how he considered a career shift after a particularly difficult collaboration with U2, whose tireless drive in the studio rivalled his own. By 1989, Jimmy had parlayed his production expertise into a new career as co-founder of Interscope Records, committing the label to artists such as Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt.
Dr Dre discusses a series of calamities he experienced, including personal losses on the streets, run-ins with the law and a bitter contract dispute and clash over management that strained his relationship with Eazy-E. He talks about landing at a crossroads and looking to make a fresh start.
Series directed by Allen Hughes.
A Silverback 5150 production in association with Alcon Television Group for HBO.
Acquired by BBC Music for BBC Four.
FRI 22:45 The Defiant Ones (m0002k6p)
Series 1
Episode 4
In this episode, Dr Dre talks about recording his debut solo LP, The Chronic, with Death Row Records, a post-NWA label he created with Suge Knight, the D.O.C. and Dick Griffey.
Blown away by Dre’s singular talent, Jimmy discusses cutting a deal with Death Row for Interscope to become the label’s distributor. The Chronic became a huge hit and spawned even bigger LPs from Dre’s protege Snoop Dogg and new Death Row signee Tupac Shakur.
The programme explores the hostility that was mounting across America towards the misunderstood violent influence of rap music. Interscope and Time Warner (which owned 25% of the company) found themselves in the crosshairs of an angry political mainstream. And Jimmy talks about resisting overtures to sell Interscope’s stake in Death Row.
Series directed by Allen Hughes.
A Silverback 5150 production in association with Alcon Television Group for HBO.
Acquired by BBC Music for BBC Four.
FRI 23:25 Hits, Hype & Hustle: An Insider's Guide to the Music Business (b09p6stj)
Series 1
On the Road
Music promoter John Giddings takes us on an entertaining ride behind the stage lights to tell the story of how live performance has become a billion-pound industry.
As the founder and promoter of the modern Isle of Wight festival and one of the world's biggest live promoters, John knows more than most how to put a show on the road. And how the world of live performance has changed.
Where once bands would tour to promote an album, in the age of downloads and disappearing record sales, the live arena is a huge business. Bigger than ever before.
For a genuine behind-the-scenes insight into the scale and logistics of the modern mega-tour, John takes us backstage at U2's latest stadium spectacular. We also join John behind the scenes at Isle of Wight 2017, the festival he runs and where Rod Stewart and Run DMC are among the big names on the line-up.
But we also travel back to tell the story of the original Isle of Wight Festival, where a bunch of young promoters with big ideas persuaded Bob Dylan, The Who and Leonard Cohen to perform. A tale of unpaid artists, frantic last-minute negotiations and general mayhem, it was an event that transformed the music industry. And for a young John Giddings, who was in the audience, it was the beginning of a whole career.
Along the way, some of the biggest names in rock and pop share their insights from life on the road and how the world of live performance has changed.
Phil Collins reminisces about his youthful trips to the Marquee Club. Earth, Wind & Fire reveal the extraordinary planning that went into their theatrical stage shows. Stewart Copeland recalls The Police's pioneering international tours, including a memorable visit to India at the invitation of a local women's organisation, The Time and Talents Club. Melanie C talks of her nerves taking to the road with the Spice Girls, who unlike most touring bands had no real experience of live performance. And Alex James remembers the thrill of live performance but also the reality behind some of their tours... not just to please the fans but to pay the taxman.
FRI 00:25 Top of the Pops (m0002k6h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 00:55 The Last Pirates: Britain's Rebel DJs (b096k6g1)
In the 1980s a new generation of pirate radio stations exploded on to Britain's FM airwaves. Unlike their seafaring swinging 60s forerunners, these pirates broadcast from London's estates and tower blocks to create a platform for black music in an era when it was shut out by legal radio and ignored by the mainstream music industry.
In the ensuing game of cat and mouse which played out on the rooftops of inner-city London across a whole decade, these rebel DJs used legal loopholes and technical trickery to stay one step ahead of the DTI enforcers who were tasked with bringing them down. And as their popularity grew they spearheaded a cultural movement bringing Britain's first multicultural generation together under the banner of black music and club culture.
Presented by Rodney P, whose own career as a rapper would not have been possible without the lifeblood of pirate radio airplay, this film also presents an alternative history of Britain in the 1980s - a time of entrepreneurialism and social upheaval - with archive and music that celebrates a very different side of Thatcher's Britain.
Featuring interviews with DJs, station owners and DTI enforcers - as well as some of the engineers who were the secret weapon in the pirate arsenal - this is the untold story of how Britain's greatest generation of pirate radio broadcasters changed the soundtrack of modern Britain forever.
FRI 01:55 Arena (b08rnyxq)
American Epic
The Big Bang
The first episode takes us back to 1920s America, where the growth of radio had shattered record sales. Record companies travelled rural America and recorded the music of ordinary people for the first time. The poor and oppressed were given a voice as their recordings spread from state to state.
The film introduces the early recordings of The Carter Family, the founders of modern country music, steeped in the traditions of their isolated Appalachian community. It also features Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band, whose music told the story of street life in Memphis, and laid the foundations for modern-day rap and R'n'B.
Robert Redford narrates this meticulously researched story of a cultural revolution that changed the world.
FRI 02:55 Flat Pack Pop: Sweden's Music Miracle (m0002k6k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]