Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
Michael Portillo arrives in Istanbul, takes a boat trip on the Bosphorus, samples Turkish delight, and crosses from Europe to Asia on the Marmaray metro line which joins the two continents.
Documentary which tells the story of how, in the years following the Second World War, countries competed to launch the most magnificent passenger ships on the great ocean routes.
National pride and prestige were at stake. The Americans had the United States, the fastest liner of all; the Dutch had the elegant Rotterdam; the Italians had the sleek Michelangelo; the French had the France as their supreme symbol of national culture and cuisine; and Britain had the Queens Mary and Elizabeth.
The coming of the jetliner and the 1960s' assault on class and privilege might have swept this world away, but as the film explains, the giant vessels sailed on. Today, more people than ever travel on big ships - liners that have a modern take on glamour and romance.
For more than 60 years, the real story behind Operation Mincemeat has been shrouded in secrecy. Now, Ben Macintyre reveals the extraordinary truth in a documentary based on his best-selling book.
In 1943, British intelligence hatched a daring plan. As the Allies prepared to invade Sicily, their purpose was to convince the Germans that Greece was the real target. The plot to fool the Fuhrer was the brainchild of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.
British agents procured the body of a tramp and reinvented his entire identity. He was given a new name, an officer rank and a briefcase containing plans for a fake invasion of Greece. The body was floated off the Spanish coast where Nazi spies would find it.
The deception was an astonishing success. Hitler fell for it totally, ordering his armies to Greece to await an invasion that never happened. Meanwhile, the Allies landed in Sicily with minimal resistance. The island fell in a month. The war turned in the Allies' favour.
Together with original witnesses, Macintyre recreates the remarkable story of how one brilliant team, and one dead tramp, pulled off a deception which changed the course of history.
In January 1942, the historic Achnacarry Estate was transformed into a wartime paramilitary academy. In four years of operation, 25,000 men came to the Scottish Highlands to endure the world's toughest infantry training course.
Narrated by Rory Bremner, Castle Commando looks back on the larger-than-life characters that helped shape Winston Churchill's legendary raiding troops. Veterans remember how the ferocious Highland landscape was the perfect environment for the most exacting, most gruelling military training of World War II.
Forget oil, coal and gas - a new set of materials is shaping our world and they're so bizarre they may as well be alien technology. In the first BBC documentary to be filmed entirely on smartphones, materials scientist Prof Mark Miodownik reveals the super elements that underpin our high-tech world. We have become utterly dependent on them, but they are rare and they're already running out. The stuff that makes our smartphones work could be gone in a decade and our ability to feed the world depends mostly on a mineral found in just one country. Mark reveals the magical properties of these extraordinary materials and finds out what we can do to save them.
The unlikely story of how one man with some ex-WWII army equipment eventually turned a muddy field in Cheshire into a key site in the space race. That man was Bernard Lovell, and his telescope at Jodrell Bank would be used at the height of the Cold War by both the Americans and the Russians to track their competing spacecraft. It also put Britain at the forefront of radio astronomy, a new science which transformed our knowledge of space and provided the key to understanding the most mind-bending theory of the beginnings of the universe - the Big Bang.
December 1925. Tommy Shelby OBE (Cillian Murphy) has acquired unprecedented legitimacy. The former gangster is also a man alone, estranged from his family and focused only on business. But when he receives a mysterious letter on Christmas Eve, Tommy realises that the Shelbys are in danger of annihilation.
As the enemy closes in, Tommy flees his country house and returns to the only safe place he knows: Small Heath, Birmingham, the slum where he grew up. Facing a more determined and sophisticated threat than ever before, the Shelby family must find a way to put differences aside, work together, take up arms and fight for survival...
As the Shelbys come to terms with the shocking events of Christmas Day, Tommy endeavours to unite his family. Until the current threat is dealt with, their only safe place is together in Small Heath. Johnny Dogs and Charlie set about arming the locals - everyone is now a Peaky bodyguard. Tommy enlists the help of tough Romany Gypsy Aberama Gold, who wants something unusual in return.
Jessie Eden confronts Tommy about the workers' pay. She warns him that revolution is in the air, and when Tommy doesn't relent she calls his bluff. As the situation plays out, Tommy's factory manager tells him he has one more meeting - with a mysterious businessman from Paris. But what transpires is no ordinary meeting with no ordinary businessman...
The Italians launch another attack on the Peaky Blinders. Tommy realises that the Shelbys need to evolve if they are to survive, but some of the family are reluctant to part with tradition.
As the strike takes hold at the Lanchester factory, Tommy pays a personal visit to Jessie Eden, but he is outmanoeuvred when she reveals something she knows about his past.
Changretta plots to continue the vendetta in the most devastating way possible. As well as identifying an enemy of the Shelby family who could help him, Luca makes direct contact with someone at the heart of the Peaky Blinders organisation.
THURSDAY 27 JUNE 2019
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m000696w)
Series 1
27/06/2019
Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
THU 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b08gdltd)
Series 4 - Reversions
Vienna to Trieste - Part 1
Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo travels the Habsburg imperial line from Vienna across the awe-inspiring Semmering Pass, a handmade railway line blasted through the Alps.
Michael's journey takes him through a patchwork of nations which a century ago formed part of the Austro Hungarian empire. His destination is the Adriatic port of Trieste. In Vienna, he encounters a pre-Cold War spy and hears for himself the concert that caused a riot in 1913. At the winter sports resort of Semmering, rails of a slippier kind prove hard to navigate when Michael takes to a toboggan.
In Austria's second city, Graz, Michael ventures underground at the Lurgrotte Caves to find out about a famous turn-of-the-century rescue operation. Over the border in the former imperial territory of Slovenia, Michael discovers how an earthquake in Ljubljana encouraged its citizens to assert their national identity in architecture and art. In high spirits, with the help of the local liquor, Michael says 'Nosdraviya' to Slovenia and heads south.
Arriving in Italy at the empire's southern port of Trieste, Michael savours the imported coffee which fuelled the cafe culture of its elegant capital, Vienna.
THU 20:00 A Year in the Wild (b01lvh65)
Cairngorms
The harsh beauty and surprising wildlife of Scotland's Cairngorms National Park through the eyes of the people who know it best.
The Cairngorms is Britain's largest and wildest National Park. A land of Arctic extremes in the heart of the Scottish highlands. Its granite mountains and ancient pine forests are home to some of our rarest and most spectacular animals, including golden eagles, ptarmigan, capercaillie, red deer and crested tits. This lyrical and thought-provoking film reveals the inner secrets of this wild landscape over a year through the eyes of individuals who know and love the Cairngorms: a mountain guide, an artist, a salmon ghillie, a gamekeeper and a nature writer.
THU 21:00 Britain's Nuclear Bomb: The Inside Story (b08nz0xh)
In 1957, Britain exploded its first megaton hydrogen bomb - codenamed Operation Grapple X. It was the culmination of an extraordinary scientific project, which against almost insuperable odds turned Britain into a nuclear superpower. This is the inside story of how Britain got 'the bomb'.
The BBC has been granted unprecedented access to the top-secret nuclear research facility at Aldermaston. The programme features interviews with veterans and scientists who took part in the atomic bomb programme, some speaking for the first time, and newly released footage of the British atomic bomb tests.
THU 22:00 Madagascar (b00ytrmr)
Lost Worlds
David Attenborough tells the story of one of the most intriguing wild places on earth: Madagascar, the huge island of dramatic landscapes, where the wildlife is strange and unique, some of it having been filmed for the very first time.
In this episode, we travel deep into Madagascar's most luxuriant landscape: the rainforests that cloak the island's eastern mountains. Remote and mysterious, this little-known region of towering peaks and precipitous escarpments is home to over half of all Madagascar's unique species.
Narrated by David Attenborough, this second episode showcases an amazing collection of wildlife, many of which have never been filmed before. Cyanide-eating lemurs, cannibalistic frogs, meat-eating plants, cryptic leaf-tailed geckos, tadpole-eating wasps, tunnel-digging chameleons and house-proud flycatchers are just some of the weird and wonderful wildlife featured.
Along this coast, every cliff and valley is like a lost world where nature has run riot. Amongst the boulders of the Andringitra Highlands, a few hardy troops of ringtailed lemurs make their home. To fight the sub-zero cold, they have developed thick coats and can only survive the freezing nights by huddling together in rocky crevices. In this high 'desert', they must eat cacti for moisture.
Descend just a few hundred metres and it's a very different world, where dense forests are permanently shrouded in clouds. The Marojejy Massif is the last sanctuary of one of Madagascar's rarest lemurs, the elusive, ghostly white silky sifaka. There are thought to be only two hundred of these playful and endearing creatures left on earth.
Lower again are the lush rainforests of Ranomafana, where thickets of bamboo hide one of Madagascar's most remarkable animals, the golden bamboo lemur, only discovered recently. It's incredibly specialised, eating just one species of bamboo, a plant loaded with highly toxic cyanide. No one knows how they can survive consuming lethal doses of this poison.
THU 23:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b0bgfwdn)
Series 3
Manchester
At the Manchester Art Gallery, Dr Bendor Grosvenor discovers a painting of a country gentleman from the 1770s which he believes has been misattributed to Nathaniel Dance. He feels sure it is in fact by the German painter Johann Zoffany, a favourite portraitist of the royal family under King George III. While the painting is restored, Bendor investigates the life of Zoffany - a chancer and adventurer who squandered his royal patronage through a series of predictable errors of judgement.
Travelling to Florence to see the location of Zoffany's greatest painting, the Tribuna of the Uffizi Gallery, Bendor also visits Parma, where Zoffany painted an extraordinary self-portrait. The artist ended his career in India, where he made a fortune, and Bendor goes to look at Colonel Mordaunt's Cock Match in Tate Britain with art historian Sona Datta. They unpack the undercurrent of sexual innuendo Zoffany had filled the picture with.
Emma Dabiri investigates Manchester's support for the abolition of slavery through the history of the gallery's first purchase - a portrait of the black American actor Ira Aldridge. She discovers the story of the Manchester Art Treasures exhibition of 1857, the largest art exhibition ever held in Britain, and looks into the Manchester Gallery attacks by three suffragettes in 1913.
THU 00:00 Utopia: In Search of the Dream (b092sb6f)
Series 1
A Good Place Within
Art historian Richard Clay asks whether utopia is, ultimately, a state of mind. Can we find utopia within? He explores the many ways we have created to immerse ourselves in a perfect moment, of epiphany or transcendence, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and pleasure.
Seeking answers in a broad range of arts, Richard meets digital games pioneer Sid Meier, Rada improvisation teacher Chris Heimann and opera impresario Martin Graham. He tries to compose a haiku and uncovers traces of the hedonistic medieval carnival tradition in the churches and pubs of his native Lancashire.
Richard also compares and contrasts different musical escapes, interviewing Acid House legend A Guy Called Gerald and the celebrated minimalist composer Steve Reich. This is not about the utopia of the future but about the utopia of the immediate world that we can experience now.
THU 01:00 Peaky Blinders (b09j0hxs)
Series 4
Dangerous
The Peaky Blinders are lured by the Italians into a cat-and-mouse chase on the streets of Birmingham, where it becomes clear that Tommy has met his match. Trapped in Small Heath, Tommy tries to console himself with a visit from an old flame but it soon becomes clear that he can't always get what he wants.
As his factory lies idle, Tommy confronts the possibility that the Communists might win and he will be deemed a traitor to his class. Meanwhile, Changretta prepares to spring another trap.
THU 02:00 Peaky Blinders (b09jhn03)
Series 4
The Duel
Tommy finds himself engaged in bloody battle with Luca Changretta and his gang. The family gather to find out what happened, but Lizzie has even greater news to break.
Meanwhile, an army colonel has questions for Ada about her past as a communist, and Jessie Eden confirms just how far she is prepared to go in pursuit of her cause. And sensing an opportunity to capitalise on his situation, Luca Changretta makes his way to London to present a plan to Alfie Solomons.
THU 03:00 Peaky Blinders (b09k8gjf)
Series 4
The Company
It is the night of the big fight - Bonnie Gold versus Goliath. But as the bell rings and the crowd goes wild, dangers lurk in the shadows for Tommy Shelby and his family.
When Changretta plays his final ace, he sets in motion a series of events that will change the Peaky Blinders forever.
FRIDAY 28 JUNE 2019
FRI 19:00 World News Today (m000696v)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b00zwrn5)
1964 to 1975 - Big Hits
1964 saw the birth of a very British institution. Spanning over four decades, Top of the Pops has produced many classic moments in pop culture.
Digging deep within the darkest depths of the BBC's archive, this compilation offers some memorable performances from 1964 through to 1975 from the likes of The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Status Quo, Procol Harum, Stevie Wonder, Queen and The Kinks, and opens the vintage vaults to rare performances from Stealers Wheel, Julie Driscoll, Peter Sarstedt and The Seekers.
So sit back and witness once again where music met television.
FRI 21:00 Glastonbury (m0006nq6)
2019
Sheryl Crow, Jorja Smith
Nine-times Grammy Award winner, Sheryl Crow, supported The Eagles at Wembley last weekend and is about to release her eleventh studio album, the duet-heavy Threads. Expect a career-spanning Pyramid Stage hits set from Missouri-born Crow who last played Glastonbury in 1997.
Walsall’s Jorja Smith was born in 1997 and her smoky and Drake-endorsed R&B helped her win first the Brits Critics’ Choice award in 2018 and then this year’s Best British Female in recognition of the success of her Lost & Found debut album.
FRI 22:00 Glastonbury (m0006nq8)
2019
The Charlatans
West Midlands’ finest The Charlatans are celebrating 30 years of their organ-fuelled swirling British garage rock and have been drafted in at short notice to perform on the Other Stage. The Charlatans have released 13 studio albums and, despite having lost two key members since their inception in 1989, remain one of Britain’s most enduring and best-loved live bands. Earlier this year they released a retrospective box set of 7-inch singles, Everything Changed, to celebrate Record Store Day.
FRI 22:30 Glastonbury (m0006972)
2019
Tame Impala
Enter the wonderous psych pop universe guided by frontman Kevin Parker.
FRI 00:00 Boy George's 1970s: Save Me from Suburbia (b07z7y5v)
British popstar Boy George recalls, revisits and assesses how the 1970s moulded the person and artist he has become. This is his musical, social and sexual coming of age, when he discovered the power of his own sexuality before setting about turning that persona into a popstar. Set against a backdrop of social discord, disenfranchisement and sexual repression, the 70s was also conversely the decade that revelled in colour and creative chaos, giving the world glam rock, disco and punk, and the young George O'Dowd was at the birth of them all. The documentary includes contributions from contemporaries like Martin Degville (Sigue Sigue Sputnik), Andy Polaris (Animal Nightlife), DJ Princess Julia and popstar Marilyn.
Boy George says: 'I think of the 70s as being this glorious decade where I discovered who I was and discovered all these amazing things - punk rock, electro music, fashion, all of that. And yeah of course there was that dark side to the 70s, the rubbish, the strikes, the poverty, and I'd get chased and confronted for the way I looked. But I was a teenager. I didn't have any time for misery. I was just having a great time with my friends.'.
FRI 01:00 Top of the Pops (b00zwrn5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 02:30 Storyville (b00ml582)
How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin
Documentary which tells the extraordinary unknown story of how The Beatles helped to destroy the USSR.
In August 1962, director Leslie Woodhead made a two-minute film in Liverpool's Cavern Club with a raw and unrecorded group of rockers called The Beatles. He arranged their first live TV appearances on a local show in Manchester and watched as the Fab Four phenomenon swept the world.
Twenty-five years later while making films in Russia, Woodhead became aware of how, even though they were never able to play in the Soviet Union, The Beatles' legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of kids. This film meets the Soviet Beatles generation and hears their stories about how the Fab Four changed their lives, including Putin's deputy premier Sergei Ivanov, who explains how The Beatles helped him learn English and showed him another life.
The Soviet authorities were alarmed by the seditious potential of rock 'n' roll, with The Beatles a special target and denounced as 'bugs' in official papers. Their smuggled records were destroyed and their music was banned, but the myth blossomed as bootlegs and photos were covertly traded and even rented amongst fans.
Soon there were thousands of rock bands across the USSR trying to make music with crude homemade guitars. Speakers on lampposts installed to broadcast propaganda were grabbed by rock hopefuls, while reports that an electric pickup could be cannibalised from a telephone led to phone boxes being raided and disabled.
Millions of young people fell in love with The Beatles and the culture of the Cold War enemy, and defected emotionally from the Soviet system. The Beatles prepared the cultural way for the fall of the Berlin Wall and ultimately helped to wash away the foundations of that system.