SATURDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2019

SAT 19:00 Natural World (b05sz8q8)
2015-2016

Iceland: Land of Ice and Fire

In what turns out to be an explosive year, witness Iceland through the eyes of the animals and people that have made this wild island home.

An arctic fox family must eke out a cliff-top living, an eider farmer has his hands full playing duck dad to hundreds of new arrivals and Viking horsemen prepare to saddle up for the autumn round-up. But nature's clock is ticking, and the constant volcanic threat eventually boils over with one of Iceland's biggest eruptions in more than 200 years. This land of ice and fire will not be tamed.


SAT 20:00 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03l7psf)
Episode 2

Series in which historian 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.

In the second episode he explores modern Istanbul in search of the last desperate centuries of Christian Byzantium, in which the once glorious city was buffeted by enemies from both east and west and yet still produced a golden artistic renaissance. This is story of the Christian crusaders who destroyed the city, and the Ottoman Muslims who restored it to life as an imperial capital after the epic siege of 1453.


SAT 21:00 Trapped (m0002pkr)
Series 2

Episode 1

Icelandic crime drama series. A shocking attack on a politician in Reykjavik means Chief of Police Andri has to return to his hometown in the north of the island, and to working with his former colleagues Hinrika and Asgeir, to investigate a suspected link between the case and far-right nationalists. Things are changing in the countryside. Heavy industry is taking over, to the deep resentment of local farmers and environmentalists, with fears of untold damage to both their livelihoods and their landscape. With Andri’s family life still fractured since the dark events three years ago that sent him to Reykjavik, he is going back to a place that still feels strange to him.

In Icelandic and English with English subtitles.


SAT 21:50 Trapped (m0002pkv)
Series 2

Episode 2

Icelandic crime drama series. Gisli’s links with the far-right organisation, Hammer of Thor, lead Andri and Hinrika to suspect two young local farmers - Torfi and Skuli – of involvement in Finnur’s murder. But rather than face questioning, Skuli escapes into the mountains on horseback. In his absence Torfi confesses to Finnur’s murder, but Andri does not believe him. Thorhildur will still not talk to Andri and has begun going out without telling her aunt so that she can hang around with Finnur’s son Aron.

In Icelandic and English with English subtitles.


SAT 22:40 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.


SAT 23:10 Glen Campbell: The Rhinestone Cowboy (b01pwxs8)
In 2011, Glen Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and that he would be bowing out with a final album and farewell tour across Britain and America. This documentary tells Campbell's remarkable life story, from impoverished childhood in Arkansas to huge success, first as a guitarist and then as a singer, with great records like Wichita Lineman and Rhinestone Cowboy. With comments from friends and colleagues, including songwriter Jimmy Webb and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees, it is a moving story of success, disgrace and redemption as rich as any of the storylines in Campbell's most famous songs.

The peak of Glen Campbell's career was in 1975, when he topped the charts around the world with Rhinestone Cowboy, but his musical journey to that point is fascinating. A self-taught teenage prodigy on the guitar, by his mid-twenties Campbell was one of the top session guitarists in LA, a key member of the band of session players now known as The Wrecking Crew. He played on hundreds of tracks while working for producers like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, including Daydream Believer by The Monkees, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by The Righteous Brothers, Strangers in the Night by Frank Sinatra and Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley.

But Campbell always wanted to make it under his own name. A string of records failed to chart until, in 1967, he finally found his distinctive country pop sound with hits like Gentle on My Mind and By the Time I Get to Phoenix. The latter was written by Jimmy Webb, and together the two created a string of great records like Wichita Lineman and Galveston. Campbell pioneered country crossover and opened the way for artists like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.

By the end of the 1960s, Campbell was the fastest rising star in American pop with his own television show and a starring role in the original version of True Grit. Over the following ten years, he had more success with Rhinestone Cowboy and Southern Nights, but his private life was in turmoil. Divorce, drink and drugs saw this clean-cut all-American hero fall from grace and a tempestuous relationship with country star Tanya Tucker was front-page news.

Despite a relapse in 2003, when he was arrested for drunk driving and his police mug shot was shown around the world, the last two decades have been more settled. He remarried, started a new family and renewed his Christian faith, and was musically rediscovered by a new generation. Like his friend Johnny Cash, he released acclaimed new albums with young musicians, covering songs by contemporary artists like U2 and The Foo Fighters. Therefore the diagnosis with Alzheimer's was all the more poignant, but his dignified farewell has made him the public face of the disease in the USA.

The film includes contributions by many of Campbell's friends and colleagues, including his family in Arkansas, fellow session musicians Carol Kaye and Leon Russell, long-time friend and collaborator Jimmy Webb, former Monkee Mickey Dolenz, broadcaster Bob Harris, lyricist Don Black and country music writer Robert Oermann.


SAT 00:10 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.


SAT 00:55 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.


SAT 01:35 Natural World (b05sz8q8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:35 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03l7psf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2019

SUN 19:00 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06qgh3w)
Knights of the Road: The Highwayman's Story

Few figures in British history have captured the popular imagination as much as the outlaw. From gentleman highwaymen, via swashbuckling pirates to elusive urban thieves and rogues, the brazen escapades and the flamboyance of the outlaw made them the antihero of their time - feared by the rich, admired by the poor and celebrated by writers and artists.

In this three-part series, historian Dr Sam Willis travels the open roads, the high seas and urban alleyways to explore Britain's 17th- and 18th-century underworld of highwaymen, pirates and rogues, bringing the great age of the British outlaw vividly to life.

Sam shows that, far from being 'outsiders', outlaws were very much a product of their time, shaped by powerful national events. In each episode, he focuses not just on a particular type of outlaw, but a particular era - the series as a whole offers a chronological portrait of the changing face of crime in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Sam begins with the arrival of a new breed of gentleman criminal out of the ashes of the English Civil War - the highwayman. Heavily romanticised in literature, these glamorous gangsters became a social menace on the roads and a political thorn in the side of the creaking British state - threatening to steal our wallets and our hearts. But underneath the dashing image of stylish robbers on horseback lay a far darker reality.


SUN 20:00 Life of a Mountain (b08f1cc0)
A Year on Blencathra

The sequel to Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike sees award-winning film-maker Terry Abraham return to the Lake District to showcase 'the people's mountain' - Blencathra.

This spectacular documentary looks at the lives of local residents, schoolchildren and visitors to the mountain with contributions from comedian Ed Byrne, broadcaster Stuart Maconie, mountaineer Alan Hinkes OBE and record-breaking fell runner Steve Birkinshaw.

Abraham's breathtaking photography and stunning time-lapse sequences of this unique landscape will inspire newcomers and regular visitors alike.


SUN 21:00 Fighting for King and Empire: Britain's Caribbean Heroes (b05v08b7)
This programme is based on a film entitled Divided By Race - United in War and Peace, produced by The-Latest.com.

During the Second World War, thousands of men and women from the Caribbean colonies volunteered to come to Britain to join the fight against Hitler. They risked their lives for king and empire, but their contribution has largely been forgotten.

Some of the last surviving Caribbean veterans tell their extraordinary wartime stories - from torpedo attacks by German U-boats and the RAF's blanket-bombing of Germany to the culture shock of Britain's freezing winters and war-torn landscapes. This brave sacrifice confronted the pioneers from the Caribbean with a lifelong challenge - to be treated as equals by the British government and the British people.

In testimony full of wit and charm, the veterans candidly reveal their experiences as some of the only black people in wartime Britain. They remember encounters with a curious British public and confrontation with the prejudices of white American GIs stationed in Britain.

After the war, many veterans returned to the Caribbean where they discovered jobs were scarce. Some came back to Britain to help rebuild its cities. They settled down with jobs and homes, got married and began to integrate their rich heritage into British culture. Now mostly in their 80s and 90s - the oldest is 104 - these pioneers from the Caribbean have helped transform Britain and created an enduring multicultural legacy.

With vivid first-hand testimony, observational documentary and rare archive footage, the programme gives a unique perspective on the Second World War and the history of 20th-century Britain.


SUN 22:00 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pkk)
Series 1

Eunice 1949

It’s 1949 and a year after arriving on the Empire Windrush, Eunice Daley finds herself moving into a room in her uncle’s house, her belongings crammed into cardboard boxes. The year has not been easy: her aspirations and confidence have been battered by the reality of employment and living conditions in London for West Indians like herself. She dare not tell her family back home about her new existence. However, a surprise relationship with an Englishman that promised so much has had the greatest influence on her life so far and forces her to reassess her image and expectations of the ‘mother country’.


SUN 22:15 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pkm)
Series 1

Cyrus 1951

Cyrus Williams believes that he’s found the love of his life in a young nurse, Eunice Daley. A chance meeting after a hospital appointment was all it took for him to want to spend the rest of his life with her. Like Eunice, Cyrus has recently arrived in London from the West Indies and is having to learn how to navigate all kinds of relationships in a strange new world. But the course of true love doesn’t run smoothly for Cyrus and the constraints of starting out again in England, as well as the disapproval of friends, is as much of a challenge as Eunice herself.


SUN 22:30 Windrush: Movement of the People (m0002pkp)
Phoenix Dance Theatre performs Sharon Watson’s Windrush: Movement of the People, a contemporary dance work exploring the narrative of the arrival of SS Empire Windrush that brought the first Caribbean migrants to the UK.

The work is a lively celebration of the rise of multicultural Britain and features an uplifting soundtrack, which draws on calypso, jazz, gospel and reggae, with original music created by Christella Litras. Set and costume design is by Eleanor Bull.

Commended by audiences and critics since its premiere at Leeds Playhouse in 2018, Phoenix Dance Theatre’s production has toured UK venues to sold-out auditoriums and festivals. This production was supported by The Space and was filmed at Production Park in December 2018.


SUN 23:30 A Timewatch Guide (b06z59g7)
Series 2

Stonehenge

Using 70 years of BBC history archive film, Professor Alice Roberts uncovers how the iconic ancient monument of Stonehenge has been interpreted, argued over and debated by some of Britain's leading historians and archaeologists. She reveals how new discoveries would discredit old theories, how astronomers and geologists became involved in the story and why, even after centuries of study, there's still no definitive answer to the mystery of Stonehenge.


SUN 00:30 A Renaissance Education: The Schooling of Thomas More's Daughter (b0135mv0)
The intellectual forces at work in the Tudor era ensured it was a pivotal period for children's education. Historian Dr Helen Castor reveals how the life and education of Margaret More, daughter of Thomas More, tell a story of the transforming power of knowledge. As a child in Tudor England, and educated to an exceptionally high level, Margaret embodies the intellectual spirit of the age - an era which embraced humanism, the birth of the Church of England and the English Renaissance. This film reveals what a revolutionary intellectual spirit Margaret More was and how the ideas that shaped her education helped change the cultural life of England forever.


SUN 01:30 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06qgh3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 02:30 A Timewatch Guide (b06z59g7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:30 today]



MONDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2019

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002pk6)
Series 1

18/02/2019

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 (b04dbspx)
On Track to Victory

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 Belgium uncovering railway stories from the Great War. At Bristol's Temple Meads station he hears a first-hand account from the front line, then in Yorkshire discovers how women took over railwaymen's roles and began to literally wear the trousers. He finds out about the extraordinary exploits of Belgian trainspotters who spied on enemy rail movements, and hears how the end of the war also marked the decline of the railways.


MON 20:00 Coast (b07yk7f4)
The Great Guide

England's South East

Tessa Dunlop and Neil Oliver present their insiders' guide to our frontline shoreline - England's south east. From the heart of the capital to Hastings, they reveal the stories of trade and defence that characterise this coast.

As well as selecting the best Coast stories from a decade of exploring these shores, Tessa hitches a ride with the Thames river police to the new London Gateway, where she gets an overview of Britain's trade with the world from the vantage point of a giant crane. From Ramsgate, she embarks on one of the Dunkirk 'Little Ships' to discover the vital role it played during the Second World War, before making her way to Dover, where she finds a magnificent Roman lighthouse that has guarded the shores for centuries.


MON 21:00 A Very British History (b0bty31k)
Series 1

The First Black Brummies

Poet Sue Brown looks at what life was like in the post-war years for Birmingham’s Caribbean community. Sue, whose parents came to Britain in the 50s from Jamaica, meets people who remember and experienced the hostile environment that faced many of the early migrants. She explores her home city to discover the cultural significance of local black churches, music and the rise of Rastafarianism. She also meets legendary singer Jimmy Cliff to discuss his hit song Many Rivers to Cross. Cliff and others have written about the challenges faced by many early ‘settlers’. Sue recalls how migration literally divided families, including her own, and meant people lived thousands of miles apart.


MON 22:00 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pkb)
Series 1

Kev 1968

It’s 1968, and while the world is exploding around him, racially and politically, 17-year old Kev Williams keeps a low profile working as a mechanic, the only black man in a white-owned garage. He was keen to leave a school where he was an anomaly. A loyal son to Eunice and Cyrus, Kev knows his place in the family hierarchy and stays within it, despite the pain it causes him to see his half-sister Yvonne getting most of the attention. But times are changing for Kev too. He is not all he seems and has his own plans for moving on.


MON 22:15 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pkd)
Series 1

Yvonne 1981

Yvonne has always been proud to call herself black in spite of her mixed heritage. She has ignored her West Indian parents’ natural inclination to keep a low profile in their adopted homeland and looks down on her brother Kev for it too. Inspired by the black activism that she has seen around her since the 1960s, giving voice to injustice has been the driving force in her life. However, as she prepares to go on a demonstration for the young black victims of the tragic New Cross fire in 1981, she finds herself giving expression to a deeper, more personal loss for the very first time.


MON 22:30 The Story of Skinheads with Don Letts (b07yv0qj)
Documentary in which director and DJ Don Letts looks at a very particular and very provocative British subculture - skinhead. He explores how skinhead has become associated with street fighting, trouble on the football terraces and violent racism in the public consciousness in Britain and around the world, but reveals that its origins lie in a cultural coming together that could not be further from its tarnished image.

Don shows in fascinating detail how the roots of skinhead are in a brilliant cultural collision between the young white working-class kids and their Jamaican counterparts in British inner cities, a moment of multicultural harmony. He traces the history of skinhead from the late 60s to the present, looking at the music and styles of skinhead from the reggae-influenced ska to the punk-influenced Oi. Throughout Don meets people who were committed members of various skinhead scenes, and he considers the conflicts and the contradictions that skinhead has attracted over five decades.


MON 23:30 The Art That Made Mexico: Paradise, Power and Prayers (b09jj0k0)
Series 1

Prayer

In this final episode, Alinka explores how faith has always driven life in Mexico, and how the need for a visual image created a unique blend of Mesoamerican and Catholic faith.

Artists were kept close to the elites in Mexico's ancient civilisations to depict the deities that were the foundations of the society's structures and beliefs. Gods and goddesses were created in the mind's eye of millions, who in turn worshipped the imagery that the artists provided.

When the Spanish imposed Catholicism, the notion of venerating the divine using iconography already existed. And in some of Mexico's most spectacular art, iconography incorporating both Mesoamerican and Catholic belief can be found. This unique hybridity could only exist in Mexico, where art has long been crucial to the personal relationship between believer and the divine. Ex-votos paintings are offerings of thanks to saints and expressions of devotion. They have long been the preserve of poor and rural Mexicans, and depict very personal situations.

Today, one artist is pushing the boundaries of belief, incorporating symbols of secular culture and consumerism with religious iconography. Even as the power of the church wains in Mexico, religious imagery can still be found everywhere.


MON 00:30 Art of Spain (b008x4bp)
The Dark Heart

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. He journeys to the country’s scorched centre to explore Spanish art of the 16th and 17th centuries. From the mystical world of El Greco to the tender genius of Velazquez, this was a moment so extraordinary it became known as the Golden Age. But beneath the glittering surface was a dark and savage heart. Travelling from the architectural jewel of Toledo to majestic Madrid, Andrew Graham-Dixon traces the rise and fall of the Spanish Empire, the brutal conquest of the New World, and the religious madness of the Inquisition, to discover how a history so violent could produce some of the most beautiful art ever seen.


MON 01:30 Handmade: By Royal Appointment (b07fky64)
Wedgwood

Film which follows the making of a Wedgwood vase. The culmination of over 250 years of expertise and heritage, the panther vase is handcrafted by artisan potters using the same techniques pioneered by Josiah Wedgwood in the 18th century. But the Wedgwood factory in Stoke is now a very different place. Under new, foreign ownership, it's a gleaming, modern operation, and as we follow the vase slowly taking shape, the film also takes a gentle look at how this quintessentially British company is reinventing itself for the 21st century.


MON 02:00 Return to Larkinland (b06hhlyl)
Writer and critic AN Wilson revisits the life and work of one of the greatest English poets of the 20th century, Philip Larkin - a poet soon to be honoured with a place in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.

Wilson traces Larkin's life from his childhood in Coventry, through to his student days at Oxford and then his adult years working in university libraries, whilst writing some of the best-loved and notorious poems in the English language.

Wilson, who knew Larkin in his later life, remembers memorable encounters with the poet and this personal connection helps him to reveal a complex man with a complicated, and at times tortured, private life. As part of this candid exploration into Larkin's life, Wilson confronts the allegations of racism, bigotry and misogyny that emerged following the publication of his Selected Letters and authorised biography, and which have dogged his posthumous reputation.

However, Wilson concludes that it is Larkin's poems, not his faults, that have survived. Featuring readings of his work by Larkin himself, including the greatness of The Whitsun Weddings, Arundel Tomb, Church Going and Aubade, Wilson argues that Larkin spoke for Britain between the 1950s and 1970s perhaps more than any other writer.


MON 03:00 A Very British History (b0bty31k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2019

TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002pk0)
Series 1

19/02/2019

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 (b04dbt1w)
Railways and Remembrance

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 wars and hears the stories of the gallant men and women who used them in life and in death.

In this final episode, Michael explores the aftermath of this earth-shattering conflict. For four years, the railways had fed the front line with vast numbers of men, munitions and supplies. But even after the armistice had been signed in a railway carriage, the work of the railways was not done. As Britain continued to mourn its dead, the railways played an important part in their remembrance. Michael hears stories of railway war heroes and encounters a remarkable railway wagon used to honour them. He hears how the railways helped give birth to battlefield tourism, and in the cemeteries of Ypres he meets the great-grandchildren of some of the fallen.


TUE 20:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08cgp55)
Series 1

The Glorious Revolution

In this episode, Lucy debunks another of the biggest fibs in British history - the 'Glorious Revolution'.

In 1688, the British Isles were invaded by a huge army led by Dutch prince, William of Orange. With his English wife Mary he stole the throne from Mary's father, the Catholic King James II. This was the death knell for absolute royal power and laid the foundations of our constitutional monarchy. It was spun as a 'glorious and bloodless revolution'. But how 'glorious' was it really? It led to huge slaughter in Ireland and Scotland. Lucy reveals how the facts and fictions surrounding 1688 have shaped our national story ever since.


TUE 21:00 Black Nurses: The Women Who Saved the NHS (b083dgtb)
Documentary which tells the story of the thousands of Caribbean and African women who answered the call 70 years ago to come to the UK to save the then ailing health service. It's a tale of a struggle to overcome racism, their fight for career progression and their battle for national recognition.


TUE 22:00 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pk2)
Series 1

Samantha 1993

As the only white person in her husband’s large family, Samantha Williams has had to counter racial assumptions from both his family and her own. It has not been easy, but she gives as good as she gets, and her father’s disapproval and casual racism towards Kev did not stop her marrying him. In the wake of Stephen Lawrence’s murder in 1993, she is heartbroken by the killing, worried for her own children and acutely aware of how her black relations are looking to her for answers. For once, she questions her ability to balance both sides of the family and whether her love for Kev is enough.


TUE 22:15 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pk4)
Series 1

Malcolm and David 2000

At the start of a new century, 21-year-old cousins Malcolm and David reflect on their radically different upbringings and consider their current situations: Malcolm, black and in trouble with the police; David, never really thinking about his mixed-heritage and enjoying life at university. Malcolm is fiercely conscious of his colour, instilled in him by his activist mother, Yvonne. For David, life with his parents, Samantha and Kev, was much more relaxed. But Malcolm has a secret that David unwittingly unlocks when he invites him to a uni event, and the two young men reach for an understanding that will make them closer than ever.


TUE 22:30 James May's Big Ideas (b00f085h)
Power to the People

In this, the last of his Big Ideas programmes, James May tries to find smarter, brighter and bolder ways of powering the planet for future generations, and sets off on a global search to find people who share his dream. It takes him from Guildford, where he takes a solar powered car to its limit at night, to the US where he joins some aerospace engineers who are trying to build an 'elevator' into space.

In Holland, James meets the first Dutchman in space who has put away his rockets and has swapped them for kites as he tries to harvest the power of the jet-stream. And finally, in the deserts of New Mexico, he seeks out some modern-day alchemists, who offer the promise of allowing him to drive his car on petrol conjured out of thin air.


TUE 23:30 The Town That Thread Built (b08tl9nr)
Paisley, Scotland's biggest town, was one of its wealthiest when local mill owners J & P Coats were at the peak of their powers and one of the world's three biggest companies. This social history tells the story of the company, its workers, and the rise and fall of their town as the centre of the world thread industry. Narrated by leading actress and one-time 'mill girl' Phyllis Logan.


TUE 00:30 Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? (b00l7qdh)
Episode 1

King Henry VIII had a fascinating and enlightening relationship with art. He came to the throne as the Renaissance swept across Europe, yet England's new king never lost sight of the medieval chivalry of his forefathers. In the first of a two-part documentary, architectural historian Jonathan Foyle looks at the palaces, tapestries, music and paintings created in Henry's name and questions whether the art he commissioned compensates for the religious treasures he would come to destroy.


TUE 01:30 Handmade: By Royal Appointment (b07g9q28)
John Lobb Shoes

In the shadow of St James's Palace is the workshop of shoemakers John Lobb. Since the mid-19th century, they have handcrafted shoes for gentlemen and boast royal warrants from both the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. It's a rare heritage company still run by the original family and this film follows a day in the life of the shoemakers, who use methods that have barely changed since the company was founded. From pencilled outlines on brown paper to the cutting and stitching of leather, heels hammered on soles to the final polishing, the film follows the meticulous craft process and hears from the shoemakers themselves, many of whom have spent decades working for the company.


TUE 02:00 Return to TS Eliotland (b0bn6tr1)
AN Wilson explores the life and work of TS Eliot. From the halls of Harvard University to a Somerset village, via a Margate promenade shelter, he follows the spiritual and psychological journey that Eliot took in his most iconic poems. From The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock to The Waste Land and from Ash Wednesday to Four Quartets, Wilson traces Eliot's life story as it informs his greatest works.

Wilson travels to the places that inspired them, visiting Eliot's family's holiday home on the Massachusetts coast, following the poet to Oxford, where he met and married his first wife, Vivien Haigh-Wood, and on to London. He explores how Eliot's realisation that he and Vivien were fundamentally incompatible influenced The Waste Land and examines how Eliot's subsequent conversion to Anglicanism coloured his later works. Wilson concludes his journey by visiting some of the key locations around which the poet structured his final masterpiece, Four Quartets.

Eliot's poetry is widely regarded as complex and difficult; it takes on weighty ideas of time, memory, faith and belief, themes which Wilson argues have as much relevance today as during the poet's lifetime. And whilst hailing his genius, Wilson does not shy away from confronting the discomforting and dark side of his work - the poems now widely regarded as anti-Semitic.


TUE 03:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08cgp55)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2019

WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002pgg)
Series 1

20/02/2019

The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Secret Knowledge (b01rml7t)
Bolsover Castle

Lucy Worsley tells the story of Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. Built in the early 17th century, it became the pleasure palace of playboy Cavalier and ambitious courtier William Cavendish.

Guiding us on a tour of the castle and its remarkable collection of artworks, Lucy brings to life the spectacular masque held by Cavendish to win the favour of King Charles I.

And from within the walls of this eccentric architectural gem emerges a colourful tale, capturing the tensions of early 17th-century England that would eventually lead the nation to civil war.


WED 20:00 Jumbo: The Plane that Changed the World (b03wtnfv)
Documentary about the development of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The 747 was a game changer, the airliner that revolutionised mass, cheap air travel. But the first wide-bodied plane was originally intended as a stopgap to Boeing's now-abandoned supersonic jet. This is the remarkable untold story of the jumbo, a billion-dollar gamble that pushed 1960s technology to the limits to create one of the world's most recognisable planes.


WED 21:00 Woof! A Horizon Guide to Dogs (b01cqrvs)
Dallas Campbell looks back through the Horizon archives to find out what science can tell us about our best friend the dog, and whether new thinking should change the way we treat them. From investigating the domestic dog's wild wolf origins to discovering the remarkable impact that humans have had on canine evolution, Dallas explores why our bond with dogs is so strong and how we can best use that to manage them.


WED 22:00 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pgj)
Series 1

Cyrus 2011

It is 2019, but in Cyrus’s confused mind it could be London 2011, and there are riots outside the house. Dementia forces his memories to fragment, bringing back painful incidents from his early life in England as well as reinforcing his feelings for his family and his love for Eunice. His relations with his son Kev still seem problematic. There is one shocking revelation that is too much for him, however, and that he will do anything to avoid. As we come full circle from Cyrus’s arrival in London decades earlier, he balances sober reflection with his trademark humour as, in the midst of his confusion, he contemplates whether life in England has been worth everything.


WED 22:15 Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (m0002pgm)
Series 1

Michaela 2019

Teenager Michaela Williams has always considered herself black but looks white. Fighting for her right to self-identify at school, she was puzzled when, years earlier, her great-grandmother Eunice seemed to approve of the fact she looked the way she did. She was close to Eunice, but went to her great-aunt Yvonne for answers. Now, the Windrush scandal has brought the question of her heritage and belonging into sharp relief. A school project gives Michaela an opportunity to look at her own family, explore the wider implications for the Caribbean community in Britain and consider how much longer the community can survive with a discrete identity.


WED 22:30 How We Built Britain (b007w7by)
The North: Full Steam Ahead

David Dimbleby's architectural tour of Britain heads north to Newcastle, home of George and Robert Stephenson, and then west to Manchester, where Dimbleby finds warehouses based on Venetian palaces and a stunning town hall. He explores the sewers that changed the lives of the Victorian poor, the model village of Saltaire, and the grand merchant houses and shopping arcades of Leeds. He ends his journey in Blackpool, where Victorian engineering was put to the serious business of having fun.


WED 23:25 An Art Lovers' Guide (b08nz05n)
Series 1

Amsterdam

With sumptuous palaces, exquisite artworks and stunning architecture, every great city offers a dizzying multitude of artistic highlights. In this series, art historians Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke take viewers on three cultural city breaks, hunting for off-the-beaten-track artistic treats and finding new ways of enjoying some very famous sights.

In this opening episode, they head to Amsterdam, a city that pioneered so much of modern life, from multinational trade to the way we design our homes. To find out how, Alastair and Janina take us on a fast-paced tour of the city's cultural hotspots. Picking their way through the crowds queuing to see Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum, they also introduce us to the paintings of Jan Steen, a Dutch legend whose paintings capture the city's freewheeling lifestyle.

They take us on an entertaining tour of the canals that helped build Amsterdam and explore the city's reputation for tolerance in the oldest surviving Jewish library in the world. Along the way, Alastair and Janina discover how art and culture reflect the liberal attitudes, appetite for global trade and love of home comforts that helped shape the character of this trailblazing city.


WED 00:25 Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? (b00lc71z)
Episode 2

In the 1530s, King Henry VIII was at a crossroads. In his desperation for a new wife and an heir he had broken with Rome, divorced Catherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. Isolated and vulnerable, he needed a powerful new image as head of church and state.

In the second of a two-part documentary, architectural historian Jonathan Foyle looks for clues in the king's art to glimpse what was going on inside his head as he faced his darkest days.


WED 01:25 Handmade: By Royal Appointment (b07gys9d)
House of Benney

In a small workshop in a country house in Wiltshire, silversmith Simon Benney makes distinctive jewellery and exquisite household objects for the royal family and private clients. Simon is following in the footsteps of his father Gerald Benney, who revolutionised the design of British silverware in the postwar era. This film follows the making of an engraved gold and diamond pendant, featuring Simon's trademark enamel finish, using techniques his father learnt from Faberge.


WED 01:55 Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism (b09twd7y)
Series 1

New York

In this episode Charles Hazlewood meets the genre's superstars Philip Glass and Steve Reich.

Across the 1960s these New Yorkers added new orchestral dimensions to compositions based on repetition, transcendence and new technology, and broke into the mainstream in the following decade. Charles explores how breakthrough techniques Reich first explored on tape were transposed for orchestral performance. Glass's experiments with repetitive structures, along with his innovative work in opera - Einstein on the Beach - revealed new possibilities for classical music.

The episode includes excerpts from minimalist pieces, including Reich's Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards performed by the Army of Generals orchestra. Charles Hazlewood's All Stars Collective performs part of Mike Oldfield's minimalist-inspired Tubular Bells.

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; director of music at the Southbank Centre, Gillian Moore; composers Laurie Spiegel, Nico Muhly, Julia Wolfe, Max Richter and Bryce Dessner; and musicians Jarvis Cocker and Adrian Utley.


WED 02:55 Jumbo: The Plane that Changed the World (b03wtnfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019

THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0002pfl)
Series 1

21/02/2019

The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0002pfn)
Gary Davies presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 23 April 1987, featuring Five Star, The Smiths, Kim Wilde & Junior, Judy Boucher, Starship, Tom Jones, Glenn & Chris, Madonna and Terence Trent D'Arby.


THU 20:00 The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed (b096slhz)
Series 1

Grow

Over your lifetime you undergo an extraordinary change - no other animal on earth goes through such a dramatic metamorphosis. In this programme, Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the latest understanding of how we all grow. They uncover the reason our childhood is longer than any other creature on Earth and reveal the communities of microbes - our microbiome - that we cultivate throughout our lives. They uncover the mysterious trigger for our transformation from child to adult and, for the first time, show the remarkable spark of life that is emitted when sperm and egg first meet.


THU 21:00 Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema (m0002pfq)
Oscar Winners: A Secrets of Cinema Special

As the red carpet season reaches its climax, Mark turns his keen eye and sharp wit on past winners of the most prestigious awards of all. What gave them the edge over their rivals? Mark shows that, despite their apparent differences, Oscar-winning films have more in common than you might think. Certain kinds of film recur, such as war, social justice and the all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza. But, as Mark explains, it’s not just about your choice of subject; it's how you treat it that counts. In a special show that ranges from the earliest awards winners to the most recent victors, Mark reveals the films that laid down the template for cinematic glory, celebrates the classics that have endured and savours some of the movies’ most acclaimed performances.


THU 22:00 The Artist (b01n1vhr)
Award-winning comedy drama. When upcoming actress Peppy Miller meets George Valentin, the most celebrated silent movie actor in Hollywood, and gets a part in his latest film, she can't believe her luck. The year is 1927 and with the advent of the talkies, their careers spiral in opposite directions.


THU 23:35 Top of the Pops (m0002pfn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 00:05 Better than the Original: The Joy of the Cover Version (b06n9q8y)
Documentary which celebrates the role of the cover version in the pop canon and investigates what it takes to reinvent someone else's song as a smash.

Through ten carefully chosen cover versions that whisk us from the British Invasion to a noughties X Factor final, this film journeys over five decades to track how artists as varied as The Moody Blues, Soft Cell, Puff Daddy and Alexandra Burke have scored number ones with their retake on someone else's song. Each of the ten classic cover versions has its own particular tale, tied not only into its musical and cultural context but also the personal testimony of the artists, producers and songwriters whose lives were changed in the process.

Narrated by Meera Syal, it explores the stories behind such iconic hits as House of the Rising Sun, Respect, Tainted Love, I'll Be Missing You and Hallelujah, with contributors including John Cale, Gloria Jones, Marc Almond, Rick Rubin, Faith Evans and British singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot.

The cover version has always been a staple of the pop charts. Yet it's often been viewed as the poor relation of writing your own songs. This film challenges and overturns that misconception by celebrating an exciting, underrated musical form that has the power to make or break an artist's career. Whether as tribute, reinterpretation or as an act of subversion, the extraordinary alchemy involved in covering a record can create a new, defining version - in some cases, even more original than the original.


THU 01:05 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.


THU 02:05 Handmade: By Royal Appointment (b07ht061)
Steinway

Travelling between the factory in Hamburg, where Steinway pianos are still made largely by hand, and Steinway Hall in London, where a team of technicians maintain and restore the pianos, this film offers a portrait of the craftsmen behind the famous instrument.

From the stoic German factory workers bending the frames and polishing the veneers, to long-standing British restorer Jeff about to retire from the company, the film lifts the lid on the dedication and skills required to make and maintain a prestige piano.

Holders of a royal warrant since the days of Queen Victoria, Steinway supplies pianos to the royal household as well as many leading performers, and the film also follows renowned pianist Lang Lang preparing for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.


THU 02:35 ... Sings Dylan II (b06nszhz)
A feast of cover versions of Bob Dylan songs from the BBC archives, with classic tracks old and new and some surprises from the 1960s to the present.

From the essential folk queen Joan Baez to punk princess Siouxsie and the Banshees, from The Hollies to Adele, taking in the likes of Julie Felix, Richie Havens, Bryan Ferry and KT Tunstall along the way, the programme reflects Dylan's long career of writing extraordinary songs and the fascination of other artists with them.

Peter, Paul and Mary's sublime The Times They Are A-Changin' rubs shoulders with the close harmony of Cliff Richard and The Nolan Sisters' smooth interpretation of the protest classic Blowin' in the Wind. The Blues Band's energetic 1980s updating of Maggie's Farm contrasts with Tom Jones's powerful rootsy What Good Am I?

A treat for the Dylan fan and the Dylan novice alike.



FRIDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2019

FRI 19:00 World News Today (m0002pf2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0002pf4)
Peter Powell and Steve Wright present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 30 April 1987, featuring the Jesus and Mary Chain, Starship, Labi Siffre, Level 42, Spear of Destiny, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Jones, Madonna and Duran Duran.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b07g9rc4)
1982 - Big Hits

The Top of the Pops vaults are opened once more, this time to celebrate the mega-hits of 1982.

A new pop sound had arrived, shattering the chart domination of mainstream pop-rock, which in turn coincides with a second British invasion of the US charts. Step forward Adam Ant, Yazoo, Wham, ABC and The Associates, all breakthrough acts in a golden year for British pop.

Madness provide a little two-step with their ska revival, and Junior and Patrice Rushen's R&B tracks pack a punch. Pop-infused reggae beats are provided by Culture Club and Musical Youth, while the mods get a nod from The Jam. And did we mention Tight Fit?


FRI 21:00 Score: Cinema's Greatest Soundtracks (m0002pf6)
What makes a film score unforgettable? Featuring Hans Zimmer, James Cameron, Danny Elfman, John Williams, Quincy Jones and Trent Reznor, amongst many others, Score: Cinema’s Greatest Soundtracks brings Hollywood's elite composers together for a privileged look inside the challenges and creative secrecy of the world's most international music genre, the film score.


FRI 22:30 The Defiant Ones (m0002pf8)
Series 1

Episode 5

Dr Dre talks about his time with Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. All of them became embroiled in a violent feud with their East Coast rap rivals, notably Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs and his company, Bad Boy Records. This drove Dre to seek out another new beginning and establish a subsidiary of Interscope called Aftermath Entertainment.

Dre discusses enduring a string of disappointing solo releases, but Jimmy Iovine stood by him as others argued he should be dropped. Dre’s fortunes turned when Jimmy turned him on to the music of unknown white rapper Eminem. Dre talks about producing The Slim Shady LP, which took the rap music world by storm.

Series directed by Allen Hughes.


FRI 23:10 The Defiant Ones (m0002pfb)
Series 1

Episode 6

The Defiant Ones reaches its final part. Jimmy Iovine talks about his worry that his and Dr Dre’s bubble might burst due the emergence of Napster.

Although Jimmy was on a roll with Dre and an enviable list of hot new acts, he also looked to forge partnerships and opportunities to secure their future.

An opportune sit-down between Jimmy and Dre led to the idea of Beats Electronics. This was the speaker-headphone phenomenon that would vault the partners to new heights and pave the way for an historic 2014 deal with Apple.

However, Apple was not just interested in headphones; it was investing in the genius of Jimmy and Dre, who continue to innovate at Apple Music while picking up accolades such as giving back to the communities that fostered their unique talents.

Series directed by Allen Hughes.


FRI 23:55 Hits, Hype & Hustle: An Insider's Guide to the Music Business (b09q04ts)
Series 1

Revivals and Reunions

Part three of this entertaining, behind-the-scenes series about how the music business works, explores the phenomenon of band reunions.

With unique revelations, rare archive and backstage access to an impressive line-up of old favourites strutting their stuff once more, music PR legend Alan Edwards tells the story of why so many bands are getting back together, what happens when they do - and how it's changing the music business.

Alan Edwards, who has looked after everyone from Prince to The Rolling Stones, from David Bowie to The Spice Girls, is our musical guide. He's been in the business long enough to see countless acts enjoy pop stardom, split up, fall out, only to re-emerge triumphant decades later, to the joy of their fans.

Alan starts by telling the story of the UK's first revival concert which took place over 40 years ago at Wembley Stadium. Featuring some of the biggest acts from the birth of rock 'n' roll - Bill Haley and the Comets, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis - the concert opened the eyes of promoters to the power of yesterday's hitmakers to reach an audience and make serious money.

From there, Alan takes us on a musical journey through some of the biggest reunions of the last thirty years. Highlights include Glen Matlock, ex-bassist in The Sex Pistols who talks candidly about their 1996 reunion. Called the Filthy Lucre tour, Glen reveals how one section of the band had to travel on a separate tour bus just to keep the fragile band reunion on track so they could finish the tour.

Alan also meets the three remaining members of Blondie, who tell him how they've navigated their reunion. Debbie Harry reveals how she didn't want to get back together with the band at first, had to be persuaded to do it, but then teared up when they first played together - 'when we put the band back together for the first time and everybody started playing I sort of teared up because, oh there really is that sound, that really does exist, we do have an identity and that is probably the really successful band is to have a successful uniqueness to it.'

Stewart Copeland, the drummer in The Police, tells us about their reunion tour, one the most successful of all time. In rare archive of the band's rehearsals, Stewart tells us these 'were hell'. Copeland also reveals how the band had therapy during their comeback tour, 'we started to say things that I, we'd never said. I heard things from him (Sting) that just blew my mind, that's what you've been thinking for thirty years.'

Melanie C talks about The Spice Girls' reunion and reveals which of the girls called to ask her to give it another go. Alex James from Blur gives us the inside track on how Blur's revival happened and Shaun Ryder, with typical bluntness, tells us why he decided to take The Happy Mondays back on the road. We also hear from OMD, who for the first time reveal what really happened during their bitter break-up.

Eighties musical phenomenon Musical Youth take us behind the scenes of their rebirth and tell us why they still do it, and one of the biggest bands of the 60s, The Zombies, tell the remarkable story of how good old-fashioned 'word of mouth' played a big part in their rebirth.

The programme also looks at how to stage a reunion when no members of the band want to get involved. Alan Edwards explores how pop music is increasingly popping up in West End musicals and at how bands are staging their own exhibitions as a way to come back without actually having to stage a reunion.

And finally, Alan ponders the ultimate comeback - from beyond the grave - and asks whether technology and the arrival of hologram performances mean that in the future bands will never really break up, they'll just keep on regenerating.


FRI 00:55 Killing Me Softly: The Roberta Flack Story (b046psxl)
Roberta Flack's Grammy award-winning song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was America's biggest selling single of 1972. The following year her gentle, pure voice charmed middle America once again when Killing Me Softly with His Song reached the top of the charts and ran off with another Grammy for single of the year. In the early 70s Roberta Flack was one of the most successful pop stars in the world.

But Flack was no overnight sensation. She didn't have a hit single till she was 35 years of age. Nor was her success a traditional African-American rags-to-riches story. She came from the black middle class that had been born out of the self-contained hub of segregated America. She studied classical music at Howard University, America's top black university, and probably would have pursued a classical career had that door been open to her in 50s America. Instead, she taught music in Washington's public school system for 10 years while she struggled for her break.

In the race conscious times, she also had her detractors. While she was singing duets of black consciousness with soul singer Donnie Hathaway, she was married to her white bass player. Also, they said she sounded too white; the gospel-infused voices of Aretha Franklin and James Brown, which came out of the dominant Baptist church, were what real soul singers sounded like. What those critics didn't understand was that there are many musical traditions within black America and Roberta Flack came from the more restrained Methodist one where they sang hymns rather than gospel.

This is the story of the emergence of different kind of soul singer set against the turbulent backdrop of America's Civil Rights movement. Contributors include: Roberta Flack; Dionne Warwick; Johnny Mathis; Cissy Houston; Imani Perry - Princeton University, professor of African American Studies; Greg Tate - musician and critic; Fredera Hadley - musicologist; and John Akomfrah - filmmaker and critic.


FRI 01:55 Arena (b08s3fcd)
American Epic

Blood and Soil

This episode takes a look at the stories of those early music pioneers whose names have largely been forgotten.

In the small South Carolina town of Cheraw, Elder Burch held lively church gatherings which inspired young musicians - including jazz giant Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie's autobiography cites Burch and his sons as direct inspirations; it is no exaggeration to say that modern music would not look the same without Burch's early influence.

The programme takes a look at the gritty songs and musicians that came from the coal mines of Logan County, West Virginia - The Williamson Brothers, Dick Justice and Frank Hutchinson. The hellish conditions of the coal mines inspired them to find a way out, through their music.

Finally we head to the home of the blues - the Mississippi Delta, where Charley Patton captured the sounds and struggles of life in the cotton fields. Patton's significance cannot be understated; he is widely considered the most influential musician in the birth of blues, teaching some of the best blues artists that followed including Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson and Honeyboy Edwards.


FRI 02:55 Top of the Pops (b07g9rc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]