Three-part series in which Professor Richard Fortey investigates why islands are natural laboratories of evolution and meets some of the unique and remarkable species that live on them. Examining some of the crucial influences on natural selection that are normally overlooked - like geology, geography, isolation and time - the series reveals that there is much more to evolution than 'survival of the fittest'. Charting the lifecycle of islands - from their birth and colonisation to the flowering of evolutionary creativity that often accompanies their maturity, and what happens when an island grows old and nears its end - Fortey encounters wild lemurs in the rainforest of Madagascar, acid-resistant shrimps in the rock pools of Hawaii, and giant wolf spiders in Madeira as he searches for the hidden rules of island evolution.
In the first episode, Fortey is on Hawaii to investigate how life colonises a newly born island. According to some estimates, Hawaii has been successfully colonised by only one new species every 35,000 years due to its remote location - yet the Hawaiian Islands teem with a great diversity of life. In search of the evolutionary secrets of how one species becomes many, Fortey encounters beautiful honeycreeper birds whose evolution rivals that of Darwin's famous finches; carnivorous caterpillars who now can't eat leaves, and giant silversword plants that thrive in parched volcanic soil at 10,000 feet.
A look at the dazzling array of mysterious and wonderful creatures that live in China's most beautiful landscapes.
The extreme landscapes north of the Great Wall have shaped some of China's most colourful people and wildlife. From nomadic tribes hunting with eagles to camel trains crossing the Silk Road, from frozen Siberian wastes to baking deserts of central Asia, life in northern China is always on the edge.
Police work to uncover the role of Ryan's elder brother Fouad in the money-laundering scheme. Beckriche calls on his former colleagues at the fraud squad to assist in the investigation, but his decision is controversial. Laure and Gilou make a breakthrough arrest, while Edelman presses for a crime scene reconstruction he thinks will help Joséphine.
The money-laundering operation closes ranks. Beckriche orders his team to let the fraud squad take the lead with their investigation, but will his colleagues comply? Out of prison, Joséphine finds herself trying to pick up the pieces of her personal and professional life.
Lance is obsessed with finding the thief that stole his gold, which means he can ignore the melodrama going on at home. Andy's lies are catching up with him too. They decide that camping out is the safest option.
Andy and Lance become eco-warriors when they find their beloved oak tree is due to be felled. But a 24-hour helpline turns out to be more of a hindrance. Andy stumbles upon treasure when, for once, he wasn't even looking.
'There's something about karma going on' is Lance's wise observation, and there certainly seems to be something in the air. They have one last day on the farm, one last chance to pull out all the stops and find that gold. Terry's got a new gazebo. Perfect time for a rally.
Gary Davies and Nicky Campbell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 25 August 1988 and featuring Big Country, Jane Wiedlin, Brother Beyond, Bomb the Bass, Womack & Womack, Status Quo, Breathe, Yazz & the Plastic Population and Tanita Tikaram.
Steve Wright and Mark Goodier present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 1 September 1988 and featuring Level 42, Julio Iglesias and Stevie Wonder, Womack & Womack, Guns N' Roses, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, Yello, a-ha, Bomb the Bass, Yazz & The Plastic Population and Phil Collins.
SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019
SUN 19:00 American Football (m0009tq2)
2019/20
NFL: Cincinnati Bengals v LA Rams Part 2
Live coverage of the concluding stages of the match between 2019 Super Bowl runners-up, the LA Rams, and Cincinnati Bengals, the first NFL fixture played at Wembley Stadium this season.
The game pits Rams head coach Sean McVay against new Bengals supremo Zac Taylor, who was McVay’s quarterback coach in Los Angeles last year. McVay, aged 33, and Taylor, who is 36, are two of the youngest head coaches in the NFL and the offensive-minded duo have seen their respective teams involved in several high scoring games this season.
Nat Coombs presents all the action with expert analysis from Osi Umenyiora, Jason Bell and Mike Carlson.
SUN 20:20 Wild (b0078zwm)
2005-06 Shorts
Eider Duck Island
Each year the eider ducklings of Inner Farne undertake a great trek across the island. On their way they pass puffins being mugged by black-headed gulls and terns brooding their fluffy chicks. The eider families gather together in crèches for safety as the predatory gulls wheel overhead. But will they reach their ultimate and rather unlikely destination? Narrated by Simon King.
SUN 20:30 The Women's Football Show (m0009tq4)
2019/20
27/10/2019
Eilidh Barbour presents highlights of the Women’s Super League from Manchester United as they take on Reading. Both teams meet following impressive wins against Tottenham and Everton. Also this week, highlights of Arsenal v Manchester City and the rest of the goals from the WSL.
SUN 21:00 Timeshift (b00nnm7k)
Series 9
The Men Who Built the Liners
Many of the most famous passenger liners in history were built in the British Isles, several in the shipyards along the banks of the Clyde. Timeshift combines personal accounts and archive footage to evoke a vivid picture of the unique culture that grew up in the Clyde shipyards. Despite some of the harshest working conditions in industrial history and dire industrial relations, it was here that the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth and the QE2 were built. Such was the Clyde shipbuilders' pride in their work, and the strength of public support, that in 1971 they were able to defy a government attempt to close them down and win the right to carry on shipbuilding.
SUN 22:00 The Spy Gone North (m0009tq8)
In 1993, Park Seok-young, an army major in South Korean military intelligence, is assigned a mission to determine whether the North Koreans are adhering to their commitment to cease developing nuclear weapons.
Based in Beijing, Park disguises himself as a businessman, desperate to trade with North Korea, and soon reaches the attention of Lee Myng-woon, a high-ranking North Korean official.
In Korean with English subtitles.
SUN 00:10 Border Country: When Ireland Was Divided (m0003n65)
Since the border between the UK and Ireland was created in 1922, film crews and journalists have descended there to try and make sense of its absurdities and contradictions – as well as the turmoil it can cause.
Border Country: When Ireland Was Divided brings 100 years of archival footage together with the stories of people whose lives have been affected by this crucial dividing line.
SUN 01:10 The Sinner (m0001ktg)
Series 1
Episode 5
Cora's memories of events begin to return. Ambrose finds a young person's body in the woods, but his progress is hampered by the arrival of Captain Anne Farmer.
SUN 01:50 Pappano's Classical Voices (b06154q3)
Soprano
Series in which conductor Sir Antonio Pappano explores the great roles and the greatest singers of the last 100 years through the prism of the main classical voice types - soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, baritone and bass. Through discussion, demonstrations and workshops, Pappano explores every aspect of the art of great singing.
Behind every great voice is not just a rock-solid technique, but also a unique personality. As well as specially shot interviews and workshops with stars such as Jose Carreras, Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Joyce DiDonato, Bryn Terfel, Juan Diego Florez, Christa Ludwig, Thomas Allen, Felicity Palmer, John Tomlinson and Sarah Connolly, Pappano examines key performances from some of history's great operatic icons - Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland - as well as those of singers from the more recent past, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Jon Vickers, Peter Pears and Janet Baker.
Antonio explores such topics as what is going on in a singer's body to produce a great voice; how one 'projects' a Brünnhilde over large orchestral forces; whether great singers also need to be great actors; what is vibrato, legato, staccato; what are chest and head voices - how do they work and when does one use them? He examines passaggio, colorature and support, and shows why a tenor's high C hits can pin you to the back of your seat.
He begins with the soprano - at the heart of nearly every opera, although she isn't always alive come the final curtain. Tragic heroines, warriors, feisty servants, divas - the soprano sings some of the most fabulous roles in opera. But while the prima donna may suffer on stage, she doesn't suffer fools off it. The great sopranos have always been larger-than-life characters, adored by their public and, in the case of Maria Callas, famous far beyond the opera house, her private life of as much fascination to the press as her singing.
But how does the soprano carry off these vocally and dramatically demanding roles? How does the body work to produce the sound, and what techniques are at play? How do you make yourself heard up in the gods if you're competing with a huge orchestra? What is going on in a soprano's throat, indeed her whole body? How does she sing coloratura? What effect does vibrato have on us, the listeners?
To find out, Pappano looks in detail at performances from some of the legendary sopranos of the modern era - Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, and Renata Tebaldi. And sharing their secrets are some of the leading sopranos of today - Anna Netrebko, Barbara Hannigan, Carolyn Sampson, Diana Damrau, and Eva-Maria Westbroek.
SUN 02:50 England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation (b0992jdt)
To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Janina Ramirez tells the story of three books that defined this radical religious revolution in England.
Tyndale's New Testament, Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer and Foxe's Book of Martyrs are no longer commonly recognised titles, yet for nearly four hundred years these works formed the backbone of British life. Their words shaped the English language, fuelled religious division and sparked revolt.
Nina discovers how the trio of texts had a powerful cumulative effect. Tyndale's Bible made the word of God accessible to the common man for the first time; The Book of Common Prayer established a Protestant liturgy; and Foxe's Book of Martyrs enshrined an intolerance of Catholicism. Nina reveals how they formed the nation's Protestant identity, the impact of which can be seen even today.
MONDAY 28 OCTOBER 2019
MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0009tpv)
Series 1
28/10/2019
The latest news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 A Stitch in Time (b09l2rfv)
Series 1
Charles II
Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore. Here, she looks at Charles II.
MON 20:00 Great Barrier Reef (b019851n)
Nature's Miracle
Three-part series exploring Australia's Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world and the largest living structure on our planet.
Monty Halls explores its full 2,000-kilometre length, from the wild outer reefs of the Coral Sea to the tangled mangrove and steaming rainforest on the shoreline, from large mountainous islands to tiny coral cays barely above sea level, from the dark depths of the abyss beyond the reef to colourful coral gardens of the shallows.
Along the way, he experiences the reef at its most dangerous and its most intriguing, and visits areas that have rarely been filmed, from the greatest wildlife shipwreck on earth to the mysterious seafloor of the lagoon, where freakish animals lurk under every rock.
The first film explores the complex structure of the coral reef itself and the wildlife that lives on it. So vast it is visible from space, the reef is actually built by tiny animals in partnership with microscopic plants. It is a place full of surprises that is always changing, responding to the rhythms of weather, tide, sun and moon.
Within this magical and intensely crowded world, this episode reveals how the amazing reef creatures compete and cooperate - from deadly fish-hunting snails to sharks that can walk on land, fighting corals and parrot fish that spin sleeping bags every night.
Remote cameras, cutting-edge underwater macro and digital time-lapse photography have captured many sequences which have never been filmed before, providing completely fresh perspectives on this extraordinary natural wonder.
MON 21:00 Hidden History: The Lost Portraits of Bradford (m0009h27)
Thirty years ago, thousands of portraits from a small studio in Bradford were saved from a skip. They form a unique collection of photographs that records the changing face of a British industrial city in the middle of the 20th century. Many of the people in the portraits were new arrivals from the Asian subcontinent, eastern Europe and the Caribbean, attracted by the offer of work in wool mills. The names of these people are a mystery – only their faces survive.
A small studio, Belle Vue, in the middle of Bradford, built a business on taking portraits of the newly-arrived migrants. Photographer Tony Walker used a battered Victorian camera to take images of his customers, which were often sent back to relatives in the countries they’d left behind.
Working alongside staff from museums in Bradford, presenter Shanaz Gulzar identifies and tracks down the people in the portraits, and uncovers dramatic social change and the hidden stories behind the portraits.
MON 22:00 Storyville (m0009tpx)
Inside Lehman Brothers: The Whistleblowers
In the autumn of 2007, Matthew Lee, a worried accounting executive at Lehman Brothers, began to notice serious financial irregularities in the company's practices. When he refused to approve tens of billions of dollars’ worth of suspicious transactions, he was fired.
Six months later, Lehman Brothers sank with 631 billion dollars of debt. Lee, who has since emerged as a crucial figure in Lehman's downfall, and other whistleblowers recount their personal stories of fraud and deception that went right to the top of the bank. Ultimately, they paid the price for trying to expose the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.
MON 23:00 The Story of China (b071c2kf)
The Last Empire
China's last empire, the Qing, lasted from 1644 to 1912. It began in violence and war as the Manchus swept down from the north, but invaders became emperors, with three generations of one family ruling the country. Among them, Michael Wood argues, was China's greatest emperor - Kangxi.
Under the Qing, China doubled in size to include Xinjiang in the far west, as well as Mongolia and Tibet, creating the essential shape of China today. The new dynasty tolerated a diversity of cultures and religions, including Islam. In Kaifeng, Michael visits a women's mosque with a female imam, a delightful scene that ends with laughter and selfies! The Qing also undertook huge cultural enterprises. At a traditional printing house where the wood blocks are hand-carved, we see how the Complete Tang Poems were reproduced - all 48,000 of them. We travel through the wintry countryside to a remote village where a hardy audience watch open-air opera in the snow and visit a painter's studio, and 'storytelling' houses in Yangzhou.
In the 18th century, China was arguably the greatest economy in the world, and we get a fabulous sense of the rich culture that came with prosperity. But then came the clash with the British, in the first Opium War, when a British expedition destroyed the Qing navy and extracted territory and trading rights. We leave with a glimpse of the future. 'Every dynasty has risen and declined,' says Michael, 'and has needed new life to regenerate, and this time the catalyst was the British.' Among the ports China ceded was an almost uninhabited island, Hong Kong, one of today's greatest financial centres, and Shanghai, a small town then but now one of the greatest cities in world.
MON 00:00 Genius of the Modern World (b07gpdbx)
Marx
Bettany Hughes investigates the revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx. Born to an affluent Prussian family, Marx became an angry, idealistic radical, constantly on the run for his political agitating and incendiary writing. In Paris, he first formulated his explosive analysis of capitalism and its corrosive effects on human nature. In Brussels, he co-authored the Communist Manifesto with Frederick Engels. In London, his obsessive theorizing dragged his family into poverty and tragedy.
Marx's masterpiece Das Capital was largely overlooked in his lifetime, and only 11 people attended his funeral. Yet his ideas would generate one of the most influential, and divisive, ideologies in history. Drawing on expert opinion and new evidence, Bettany reveals the flesh-and-blood man and his groundbreaking ideas.
MON 01:00 All Aboard! The Canal Trip (b05t7kc1)
A two-hour, real-time canal boat journey down one of Britain's most historic waterways, the Kennet and Avon Canal, from Top Lock in Bath to the Dundas Aqueduct. Using an uninterrupted single shot, the film is a rich and absorbing antidote to the frenetic pace and white noise of modern life.
Taking in the images and sounds of the British countryside, underpinned by the natural soundscape of water lapping, surrounding birdsong and the noise of the chugging engine, this is a chance to spot wildlife and glimpse life on the towpath while being lulled by the comforting rhythm of a bygone era.
Along the journey, graphics and archive stills embedded into the passing landscape deliver salient facts about the canal and its social history.
MON 03:00 Hidden History: The Lost Portraits of Bradford (m0009h27)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2019
TUE 19:00 BBC News Special (m000b95n)
Election Vote
Live coverage as MPs vote on whether to hold an early general election in December. Christian Fraser and Vicki Young report from Westminster.
TUE 19:30 A Stitch in Time (b09ll1fx)
Series 1
Arnolfini
Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore. Here, she looks at Dutch painter Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait.
TUE 20:00 The Bermuda Triangle: Beneath the Waves (b007c68n)
Professor Bruce Denardo attempts to prove whether there is any truth behind the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, where many ships and planes have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. New investigation techniques reveal the truth behind the infamous disappearance of Flight 19. Graham Hawkes is also able to reveal, by using a state-of-the-art submarine, how five wrecks mysteriously wound up 730 feet down in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle.
TUE 21:00 Murder in Soho: Who Killed Freddie Mills? (b0bcy56k)
Murder in Soho: Who Killed Freddie Mills? is a real-life murder mystery about the life and untimely death of a national boxing hero, who is often described as Britain’s first sporting celebrity.
Set in 1960s Soho, this film delves into the world of UK and US organised crime, with gangland figures such as the Krays, boxing, gambling, police corruption, and a string of brutal unsolved murders that would become synonymous with the name Freddie Mills.
With access to eight hours of previously unseen home movies, this is an intimate portrayal of a man who rose from the humble surroundings of the fairground boxing booth to become light-heavyweight champion of the world, and became a household name appearing in films and co-presenting the BBC music show Six-Five Special. But it all ended on the 25th July 1965, when he was found shot dead in the back seat of his car. 50 years after his death his family still challenge the coroner’s verdict of suicide. They have always maintained he was murdered.
High profile gangsters such as Eddie Richardson give first hand accounts of the criminal underworld that existed at the time, and ultimately a man comes forward who claims to have been involved in the murder of Freddie Mills. It’s a piece of testimony that could finally conclude a 50-year mystery for Freddie’s family; allowing a British boxing great to be remembered for the man he was, and his achievements in life, rather than for the single day of his death
TUE 22:30 Metamorphosis: The Science of Change (p00zv0wk)
Metamorphosis seems like the ultimate evolutionary magic trick, the amazing transformation of one creature into a totally different being: one life, two bodies.
From Ovid and Kafka to X-Men, tales of metamorphosis richly permeate human culture. The myth of transformation is so common that it seems almost preprogrammed into our imagination. But is the scientific fact of metamorphosis just as strange as fiction or... even stranger?
Film-maker David Malone explores the science behind metamorphosis. How does it happen and why? And might it even, in some way, happen to us?
TUE 23:30 Storyville (m0004vyd)
Brexit: Behind Closed Doors
Part 1
The gripping untold story of the Brexit negotiations... from the other side. For two years, Belgian film-maker Lode Desmet has had exclusive access to the Brexit coordinator of the European parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, and his close knit team. This revelatory fly-on-the-wall film captures the off-the-record conversations and arguments of the European negotiators as they devise their strategy for dealing with the British.
Episode one watches as the Europeans’ respect for a formidable negotiating opponent turns into frustration and incredulity as the British fail to present a united front. At moments funny and tragic, it ends with the debacle in December 2017 when Theresa May flies in to Brussels to finalise details of a deal and is publically humiliated by her coalition partner, Arlene Foster of the DUP, who refuses to support the deal.
TUE 00:30 Storyville (m0004vzb)
Brexit: Behind Closed Doors
Part 2
The gripping untold story of the Brexit negotiations... from the other side. For two years, Belgian film-maker Lode Desmet has had exclusive access to the Brexit coordinator of the European parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, and his close knit team. This revelatory fly-on-the-wall film captures the off-the-record conversations and arguments of the European negotiators as they devise their strategy for dealing with the British.
Episode two follows the rollercoaster events from December 2017 to the present day. Europe watches on incredulously as divisions in the British parliament and cabinet become more bitter and leave the talks paralysed. Eighteen months after the referendum, Britain still does not know what it wants and spends more time discussing internally than negotiating with Europe. Respect for Britain turns to irritation and finally ridicule.
TUE 01:30 A Stitch in Time (b09ll1fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 02:00 Korea: the Never Ending War (m0009m7x)
Between 1950 and 1953, more than 24 nations sent troops to Korea as the opposing ambitions and ideologies of the emerging Cold War superpowers - China, Russia and the USA - fought for supremacy on the peninsula.
With first-hand testimony and new historical material, Korea: The Never Ending War retraces the history of a conflict that resulted in millions of deaths, brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, and continues to shape history to this day. The 1953 armistice brought a fragile peace to the Korean Peninsula, but the war has never officially ended and deep divisions - and the threat of nuclear conflict - remain.
WEDNESDAY 30 OCTOBER 2019
WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0009trh)
Series 1
30/10/2019
The latest news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 A Stitch in Time (b09mbb41)
Series 1
The Hedge Cutter
Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through their clothes. A rare portrait of a working man.
WED 20:00 Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (b0853mvq)
Episode 1
Documentary series featuring dramatic reconstruction in which Lucy Worsley revisits key events in the lives of Henry VIII's six wives, revealing how each attempted to exert influence on the king and the Tudor court. Lucy delves into records of private moments and personal feelings in the women's lives that ended up shaping the course of history.
This episode follows the emotional and physical struggles of Catherine of Aragon as she strove to give Henry the male heir he so desired. As Henry's eye wandered over the women at court, Anne Boleyn, not wishing to be cast aside as her sister Mary had been, repeatedly rejected the king's advances and insisted on marriage.
Henry set about trying to arrange an annulment, but Catherine was defiant and passionately defended her position.
WED 21:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (m0009trk)
Series 4
Oxford
In the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Dr Bendor Grosvenor identifies a portrait of a fellow of Merton College from the 1750s, George Oakley Aldrich. It is not known who painted the picture, but Bendor believes it is by the most famous painter of British grand tourists that ever lived, Italian artist Pompeo Batoni.
Batoni arrived in Rome at the age of 19 and quickly made a name for himself as one of the most talented painters of both religious, and mythical history, subjects. He found himself in huge demand to paint altarpieces for churches and chapels throughout the city, but after a monumental work for an altar in St Peter’s was rejected by a committee of priests, a furious Batoni turned to portrait painting and was adopted by the British aristocracy.
WED 22:00 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 23:00 Queen Victoria's Letters: A Monarch Unveiled (b04p1vx1)
Episode 1
Examining the first half of Queen Victoria's life, biographer AN Wilson goes in search of a monarch too often misunderstood as the solid black-clad matron and reveals a woman who was passionately romantic and who spent her years as a child and young queen fighting the control of domineering men.
Queen Victoria was one of the 19th century's most prolific diarists, sometimes writing up to 2,500 words a day. From state affairs to family gossip, she poured out her emotions onto paper. Those close to her were afraid her more alarming opinions might escape in written form, causing havoc. In fact much of her writing was destroyed after her death and her personal journals edited by her daughter. But what survives frequently reveals a woman quite different to the one we think we know. AN Wilson reads her personal journals and unpublished letters and discovers the factors that shaped the queen's personality. From the tortured relationship with her mother, to the dominant men she clung to in search of a father figure and the powerful struggle that made her marriage to Prince Albert a battleground, Queen Victoria was always a woman in search of intimate relationships. As a daughter, a wife, a mother and the queen of a growing empire, as friends and family came and went, her pen remained her constant companion and friend.
Queen Victoria's journals and letters are read by Anna Chancellor throughout.
WED 00:00 Francesco's Venice (b0078sx5)
Death
Final episode of a documentary series telling the story of Venice, presented by Francesco da Mosto.
Venice may be sinking, it may even be in peril, but da Mosto is in no mood to throw in the towel. The fate of Venice still hangs in the balance, and he puts at least some of the blame at the door of the British. From the moment that Byron put Venice on the tourist map, the city has been caught up in a trail of events that has made life harder and harder for the Venetians.
But this episode is also Francesco's personal story, and he has pledged his belief in the future of Venice by continuing to live and bring up his children there, even though his life has been affected by the dangers the city faces. In the great flood of 1966 that threatened to wash the city away, he was a terrified child of five who watched the waters invade his home and wondered if life could ever continue. Francesco's father, Count da Mosto, reminisces about the 1966 floods with chilling immediacy, and Francesco swims the Grand Canal.
It has not just been the tourists or the rising waters of the lagoon that have threatened the city. Outrageous ideas to bring the city into the modern age have included bridges linking the city with mainland Italy, flattening old churches and even converting the Grand Canal into an eight-lane motorway.
WED 01:00 The Renaissance Unchained (b070sq9t)
Gods, Myths and Oil Paints
Waldemar Januszczak challenges the traditional notion of the Renaissance having fixed origins in Italy and showcases the ingenuity in both technique and ideas behind great artists such as Van Eyck, Memling, Van der Weyden, Cranach, Riemenschneider and Durer.
WED 02:00 Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (b0853mvq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 03:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (m0009trk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 31 OCTOBER 2019
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0009tpl)
Series 1
31/10/2019
The latest news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0009tpn)
Mike Read and Andy Crane present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 8 September 1988 and featuring Mark Almond, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, Spagna, Anthrax, Bill Medley, The Proclaimers, Michael Jackson, Yello, Phil Collins and Jane Wiedlin.
THU 20:00 Forces of Nature with Brian Cox (b07m57mz)
The Pale Blue Dot
In this final episode Professor Brian Cox travels to Iceland, where the delicate splendour of a moonbow reveals the colours that paint our world, and he visits a volcano to explain why the sun shines. By exploring how sunlight transforms the plains of the Serengeti, drives the annual migration of humpback whales to the Caribbean and paints the moon red during a lunar eclipse, Brian reveals the colour signature of our life-supporting planet.
Finally, at an observatory high in the Swiss Alps, he shows how these colours aren't simply beautiful, but that understanding how they're created is allowing us to search for other Earths far out in the cosmos.
THU 21:00 The Secrets of Quantum Physics (b04v85cj)
Let There Be Life
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili routinely deals with the strangest subject in all of science - quantum physics, the astonishing and perplexing theory of sub-atomic particles. But now he's turning his attention to the world of nature. Can quantum mechanics explain the greatest mysteries in biology?
His first encounter is with the robin. This familiar little bird turns out to navigate using one of the most bizarre effects in physics - quantum entanglement, a process which seems to defy common sense. Even Albert Einstein himself could not believe it.
Jim finds that even the most personal of human experiences - our sense of smell - is touched by ethereal quantum vibrations. According to the latest experiments, it seems that our quantum noses are listening to smells. Jim then discovers that the most famous law of quantum physics - the uncertainty principle - is obeyed by plants and trees as they capture sunlight during the vital process of photosynthesis.
Finally, Jim asks if quantum physics might play a role in evolution. Could the strange laws of the sub-atomic world, which allow objects to tunnel through impassable barriers in defiance of common sense, effect the mechanism by which living species evolve?
THU 22:00 The Dead Room (m0001qqr)
Mark Gatiss brings the Christmas ghost story tradition back to life with The Dead Room, the tale of a long-running radio horror series of the same name. Simon Callow (Victoria & Abdul, Shakespeare in Love, Four Weddings and a Funeral) plays Aubrey Judd, the veteran presenter of the series and national treasure, who finds that he must adapt to changing times and tastes. But whatever happened to the classic ghost stories? The good old days?
THU 22:30 Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema (b0bfp4h7)
Series 1
Horror
Mark Kermode continues his fresh and very personal look at the art of cinema by examining the techniques and conventions behind classic film genres, uncovering the ingredients that keep audiences coming back for more.
Mark turns to horror and shows how film-makers have devilishly deployed a range of cinematic tricks to exploit our deepest, darkest and most elemental fears. He explores the recurring elements of horror, including the journey, the jump scare, the scary place, the monster and the chase. He reveals how they have been refined and reinvented in films as diverse as the silent classic The Phantom of the Opera, low-budget cult shockers The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Evil Dead, and Oscar-winners The Silence of the Lambs and Get Out. Mark analyses the importance of archetypal figures such as the clown, the savant and the 'final girl'. And of course, he celebrates his beloved Exorcist films by examining two unforgettable but very different shock moments in The Exorcist and The Exorcist III.
Ultimately, Mark argues, horror is the most cinematic of genres, because no other kind of film deploys images and sound to such powerful and primal effect.
THU 23:30 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (p01f53b9)
Poison
Dr Michael Mosley ends the series with a look at poisons, exploring the turning points when scientists went from finding antidotes to poisons to applying poisons as cures, and celebrating the eccentrics and mavericks whose breakthroughs were to pave the way for some of the most striking treatments of modern medicine. Of the medicines explored in this series, those that are derived from poisons are perhaps the most extraordinary. The story of turning poisons into medicines encompasses the planet's most deadly substances, in which we turned killers into cures.
THU 00:30 Top of the Pops (m0009tpn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:00 Africa's Great Civilisations (b0b5b4w8)
Series 1
Origins
The award-winning film-maker and academic Henry Louis Gates Jr travels the length and breadth of Africa to explore the continent's epic history. In this first episode, Gates focuses on the origins of human existence and looks at the anthropological and scientific discoveries that point to Africa as the genetic home of all currently living humanity. He then traces the roots of agriculture, writing, artistic expression and iron working to their birthplaces on the African continent.
THU 01:55 Africa's Great Civilisations (b0b64h37)
Series 1
The Cross and the Crescent
The award-winning film-maker and academic Henry Louis Gates Jr travels the length and breadth of Africa to examine the continent's epic history. This episode charts the emergence of Christianity and Islam and examines how the two religions reshaped Africa between the first and the 12th centuries AD, as well as for centuries thereafter.
Gates also recounts the strategic importance of the Horn of Africa - a meeting place between the Red and Arabian seas that has served as a vital trade corridor between Africa, the Middle East and Europe for millennia.
THU 02:45 Great Barrier Reef (b019851n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
FRIDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2019
FRI 19:00 World News Today (m0009tq7)
The latest news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0009tqc)
Simon Mayo and Peter Powell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 15 September 1988 and featuring Bros, The Commodores, The Proclaimers, The Pasadenas, Coldcut ft Junior Reid, Salt-N-Pepa, Jason Donovan, The Hollies, Phil Collins and Inner City.
FRI 20:00 Exotic Pop at the BBC (b013g87m)
Compilation of international hits from the BBC archives that paint exotic musical portraits of far away countries or instantly conjure up memories of holidays abroad. This smorgasbord of foreign pop delights includes performances by Demis Roussos, Vanessa Paradis, Gheorghe Zamfir and Sylvia, amongst many others.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m0009tqf)
Nicky Campbell and Andy Crane present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 22 September 1988 and featuring Pet Shop Boys, Womack & Womack, Bill Withers, Transvision Vamp, Whitney Houston, Bon Jovi, Rick Astley, The Hollies and The Pasadenas.
FRI 21:30 Get Rich or Try Dying: Music's Mega Legacies (m0009tqh)
Both Bob Dylan and Nick Cave have testified in song that death is not the end. But, not all stories from the musical afterlife are created equal. Death may have its obvious downside. However, in the world of pop, shuffling off your mortal coil could be a unique business opportunity.
In this documentary, Scissor Sisters star Ana Matronic goes on a journey into the afterlife of pop. Think of her as music’s pearly gatekeeper of making it big in the ever after. But here’s the rub: this isn’t about the music; no, this is about the many other ways dead pop stars earn a living when they’re gone. So join her as she books in with the agents, publicists, producers and families to discover the dos and don’ts of keeping the dream alive.
Using a combination of interview, archive and investigation, Get Rich or Try Dying peels back the complicated mechanics of the pop music industry, showing how it really works and who ultimately profits from it. Once the mansions, yachts, luxury cars, private jets and entourages are dispensed with, death ushers in a new cast of characters, not all of whom were party to creating the wealth in the first place, but all of them are interested in profiting from it.
The documentary reveals how Elvis was the architect of the entire legacy industry and how his lawyers, working on behalf of his family, changed American law to permit the surviving family members to benefit from his rights of publicity. It shows Prince’s story to be a cautionary tale for those without a will, and ponders how Bob Marley has retained his dignity despite attaching his name to everything from bath salts to electric goods and Californian marijuana. Linda Ramone professes her love of ‘merch’ and explains how her dead husband’s influential but niche NY punk act, The Ramones, continues to stand for something way beyond their music. Finally, Frank Zappa’s son delves into the morality of hologram tours, as illustrated by his father’s, before the immaculate planning of David Bowie sets out how to go about it the right way.
Last year, the top five estates of the most cherished ‘deceased’ popstars earned an incredible US$0.5bn - this documentary shows you how they did it.
FRI 22:30 TOTP2 (b00874gg)
Halloween Special
To get you in the mood for Halloween, Steve Wright pops out from behind the cellar door to introduce an hour of the spookiest Top of the Pops clips ever. Enjoy the Automatic, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Ray Parker Jr and Bobby 'Boris' Pickett. Hide behind the sofa as we bring you witches, monsters and Michael Jackson.
FRI 23:30 Rod Stewart at the BBC (b03m81n5)
Compilation of Rod Stewart's finest performances at the BBC. We revisit the early 70s with The Faces performing Stay with Me and Three Button Hand Me Down on Sounds for Saturday. The BBC charted Rod's solo success over the years and there are classic performances and interviews that will make you dance, sing and pull on your heartstrings. Songs include Sailing, You're in My Heart, I Don't Want to Talk about It and Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?
We also have Rod's performance from Glastonbury 2002 of the classic Handbags and Gladrags, and we dip into the Great American Songbook with his version of the Dorothy Fields classic I'm in the Mood for Love. Finally, rounding off over five decades in music is a performance from Rod's Radio 2 concert from May 2013.
FRI 00:30 Top of the Pops (m0009tqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 01:00 Totally 60s Psychedelic Rock at the BBC (b06jp24d)
A compilation from the depths of the BBC archive of the creme de la creme of 1960s British psychedelic rock from programmes such as Colour Me Pop, How It Is, Top of the Pops and Once More with Felix.
Featuring pre-rocker era Status Quo, a rustic-looking Incredible String Band, a youthful Donovan, a suitably eccentric performance from The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, a trippy routine from Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity, a groovy tune from The Moody Blues, a raucous rendition by Joe Cocker of his version of With a Little Help From My Friends and some pre-Wizzard Roy Wood with The Move.
Plus classic performances from the likes of Procol Harum, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and The Who.
FRI 02:00 Exotic Pop at the BBC (b013g87m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRI 03:00 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.