A striking and poignant portrayal of time passing in a beautiful Sussex walled garden. Using real-time and time-lapse footage, the film explores the relationship between the seasons and the plants and people who work within the walls of the garden. Locked into the clock of the solar system, the garden performs its annual display, guided by those passionately engaged with its soil.
The British back garden is a familiar setting, but underneath the peonies and petunias is a much wilder hidden world, a miniature Serengeti, with beauty and brutality in equal measure. In this documentary, Chris Packham and a team of wildlife experts spend an entire year exploring every inch of a series of interlinked back gardens in Welwyn Garden City. They want to answer a fundamental question: how much wildlife lives beyond our back doors? How good for wildlife is the great British garden?
Through all four seasons, Chris reveals a stranger side to some of our more familiar garden residents. In summer he meets a very modern family of foxes - with a single dad in charge - and finds that a single fox litter can have up to five different fathers. In winter he shows that a robin's red breast is actually war paint. And finally, in spring he finds a boiling ball of frisky frogs in a once-in-a-year mating frenzy.
The secret lives of the gardens' smallest residents are even weirder. The team finds male crickets that bribe females with food during sex, spiders that change colour to help catch prey, and life-and-death battles going on under our noses in the compost heap.
So how many different species call our gardens home? How well do our gardens support wildlife? By the end of the year, with the help of a crack team from London's Natural History Museum and some of the country's top naturalists, Chris will find out. He'll also discover which type of garden attracts the most wildlife. The results are not what you might expect... You'll never look at your garden in quite the same way again.
In February, orbiters from China and the UAE settled into their positions above Mars, and Nasa’s Perseverance rover touched down on its surface. Maggie Aderin-Pocock reviews the astonishing footage the rover has already sent back, and talks with its legendary chief designer Adam Seltzer about the challenges of missions to the red planet.
Chris Lintott reveals the incredible ‘track-and-trace’ story behind the discovery of the Winchcombe Meteorite, and is given special access to the labs at the Natural History Museum to see the meteorite itself. Chris meets Dr Ashley King, who is co-ordinating UK-wide research into the rocky interloper, which it is hoped might tell us more about the early universe and reveal clues to the origin of life.
Pete Lawrence is on hand with a guide to viewing planets in the night sky, and to tell us what to look out for over the course of the rest of the year, and Maggie pays tribute to her childhood hero, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who became the first person in space 60 years ago this month.
Drama series about internal investigations within the police. After a brutal armed robber is released, DCI Tony Clark investigates the officer accused of bending the rules to obtain his conviction.
Tony Clark is called in to investigate claims of police brutality when a full-scale riot erupts at a picket line. Given no help by Commander Neame, he approaches journalist Molly Cope for information and soon begins to suspect a police cover-up.
Historian Dan Snow explores the greatest maritime archaeology project in British history - the Mary Rose. Using 40 years of BBC archive footage Dan charts how the Mary Rose was discovered, excavated and eventually raised, and what the latest research has revealed about this iconic ship and her crew. Dan also investigates how the Mary Rose project helped create modern underwater archaeology, examining the techniques, challenges and triumphs of the divers and archaeologists involved.
MONDAY 12 APRIL 2021
MON 19:00 Walk the Line (b069frfx)
Series 2
Episode 1
Barra Best sets off to walk the line once again. Criss-crossing some of Northern Ireland's most spectacular countryside, Barra explores County Antrim's lost railway routes.
MON 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000v491)
Series 4
Cabin at Trail's End
Take a leisurely hike down a weathered pathway and happen upon an old cabin - create a beautiful oval painting you can be proud of with Bob Ross.
MON 20:00 Fake or Fortune? (b0bhfph7)
Series 7
Henry Moore
The team investigate whether a small watercolour sketch could be by the British 20th-century sculptor Henry Moore. It is the only piece thought to be that of a British artist in a Nazi hoard of around 1,500 works discovered in Germany in 2012. Known as the Gurlitt hoard, it is now housed in the Museum of Fine Art in Bern, Switzerland. Every piece in the hoard has to be researched, as if it was art stolen or looted from Jewish families, it should be returned.
Fiona and Philip need to establish two things - firstly whether this a genuine work by Henry Moore or a whether it is a fake, And secondly, if it is genuine, how did a sketch by a British artist end up in a Nazi art hoard? The answer to this will decide its fate.
The film goes on a journey from prewar Britain, where the little-known Henry Moore was beginning to make waves as a daring and progressive sculptor, to Germany in the 1930s. In England Philip meets Henry Moore's only child Mary, hoping that she will offer some insights into the way her father worked, and he asks if she can see her father's hand in the sketch. He compares the sketch to other genuine works by Moore from the time and subjects it to forensic tests. Will this reveal the smoking gun that would firmly put the name Henry Moore to this small drawing?
In Germany, Fiona is on the provenance trail. She discovers that in the early 1930s, Hildebrand Gurlitt, the man who amassed this valuable hoard, was a forward-looking museum curator who encouraged the avant garde artists like Henry Moore. But this wasn't to last. In 1933 Hitler consolidated his power in Germany and set out to purge the country of any modern progressive art - or what the Nazi called degenerate art. Hildebrand Gurlitt lost his job but in an extraordinary transformation used his knowledge of the art Hitler hated to become one of four dealers allowed to sell degenerate art on the international market to make money for the Nazi regime. Could the sketch have been one that Hitler wanted to supress? And if so, how and when did Hildebrand Gurlitt get his hands on it? Fiona follows the trail to Berlin and to the Schonhausen Palace, where a lot of the so-called degenerate art was stored and viewed by the chosen few dealers. Could this have been where Hildebrand Gurlitt had the opportunity to buy the Moore sketch?
Will the art investigators find enough evidence to convince the Henry Moore Review Panel that this is a genuine early work by Henry Moore? Will the outcome of the provenance search show that it was legitimately bought by Hildebrand Gurlitt and so can rightfully stay in the museum in Bern?
MON 21:00 An Evening with Peter Alliss (b062nqp9)
A celebration of the inimitable 'voice of golf' Peter Alliss, revealing the man behind the microphone. Renowned for his charismatic and unique style of commentary, Peter was also one of the top golfers of his era and has quietly raised millions for his wheelchair charity. There are anecdotes from the world of golf, celebrities and family members which give an insight into this charming, witty man. Contributors include Peter's wife Jackie, Tom Watson, Gary Lineker, Sir Terry Wogan, Chris Evans, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Darren Clarke, Jimmy Tarbuck, Gary Player, Hazel Irvine and Steve Rider. The programme is narrated by Sue Johnston.
There is also a chance to relive top moments from Peter's popular programmes such as Pro-Celebrity Golf, A Round with Alliss and A Golfer's Travels.
Alliss was a familiar figure on the BBC before setting the tone for golf commentary worldwide. His voice was iconic in the world of sports commentary, but then so was this golfer, broadcaster and gentleman.
MON 22:00 A Round with Alliss with Terry Wogan (m000v763)
Sir Terry Wogan discusses the importance of family and his love of golf with his friend Peter Alliss. From the BBC archives.
MON 22:30 Art of France (b08f1bw0)
Series 1
This Is the Modern World
In the final episode, Andrew begins with the impressionists. He plunges into one of the most wildly creative periods in the history of art, when France was changing at a rapid pace and angry young artists would reinvent how to paint, finding their muses in the bars, brothels and cabarets of belle epoque Paris and turning the world of art on its head. Monet, Degas and friends launched a febrile conversation about the role of painting in the modern world that would pave the way for just about every modern art movement of note, from the cubists to the Fauves, from the surrealists to the existentialists and from conceptual artists to the abstract expressionists.
MON 23:30 The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons (b07xtbhr)
Nicholas Parsons, Just a Minute host and stalwart of the entertainment world, explores his life-long enthusiasm for clocks when he goes in search of the most valuable and famous watch in the world.
The so-called Marie Antoinette, once the target of one of the biggest museum heists in history, was the masterpiece made by 18th-century genius Nicholas Breguet for that doomed queen.
Tracing the enthralling story of Breguet's rise to fame, Parsons visits Paris and Versailles, and the vaults of today's multimillion-pound Breguet business. Exploring the innovative and dazzling work of the master watchmaker, Parsons unravels the mystery behind the creation of his most precious and most brilliant work.
Parsons then heads to Israel to discover how, in the 1980s, the world's most expensive watch was stolen in a daring heist and went missing for over 20 years.
Revealing a little-known side of one of our favourite TV and radio hosts, the film offers a glimpse into Parsons's own private clock collection while also telling an enthralling tale of scientific invention, doomed decadence and daring robbery.
MON 00:30 The Joy of Painting (m000v491)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 01:00 Walk the Line (b069frfx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MON 01:30 Fake or Fortune? (b0bhfph7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 02:30 Art of France (b08f1bw0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
TUESDAY 13 APRIL 2021
TUE 19:00 Women's Football: Internationals (m000v487)
2021
England v Canada
Live coverage of the women's football international friendly between England and Canada from the home of Stoke City FC.
TUE 21:15 Catching Britain's Killers: The Crimes That Changed Us (m0009mg4)
Series 1
Episode 3
Beginning in 1972, this episode tells the story of a miscarriage of justice that would lead to major changes in police powers.
In 1972, the body of Maxwell Confait was found in a house in Catford, south London. After a short investigation, three local boys confessed to arson and murder. At the Old Bailey, all three were convicted, despite retracting their statements and protesting their innocence.
Following the unfolding story, the programme explores how, after taking up their case, their local MP made sure it received maximum publicity, which finally led to an appeal where all three of the convictions were quashed. The fact that three teenage boys could have confessed to something they hadn’t done would shine a light on dangerous police practices and lead to a royal commission and an overhaul of the law.
Weaving together archive and interviews with police officers, lawyers, politicians and relatives of the accused boys and of the late MP Christopher Price, this episode tells the story of the new rights for suspects that were brought in following the boys’ wrongful convictions. One miscarriage of justice would lead to a change in the law which brought in the right to a lawyer, a responsible adult and the tape recording of all police interviews.
As the programme moves forward, the consequences of the case go further still, as tape recording reveals police practices have not yet universally caught up with the changes in the law. Further reforms have led to the search for evidence, rather than pressing for confessions, as the goal for UK police investigations. As the episode shows, one single murder investigation in 1972 led to major reforms in British policing, transforming the rights of us all.
TUE 22:15 Lights Up (m000v489)
Harm
When a lonely estate agent sells a house to Alice, a charismatic social media influencer, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. But as her obsession with Alice’s seemingly perfect world intensifies, the lines between the online world and reality become dangerously blurred.
A razor-sharp, twisted comedy that explores the corrosive effects of social media and isolation.
TUE 23:15 Colour: The Spectrum of Science (p02vmx6x)
Colours of Earth
We live in a world ablaze with colour. Rainbows and rainforests, oceans and humanity, Earth is the most colourful place we know of. But the colours we see are far more complex and fascinating than they appear. In this series, Dr Helen Czerski uncovers what colour is, how it works, and how it has written the story of our planet - from the colours that transformed a dull ball of rock into a vivid jewel to the colours that life has used to survive and thrive. But the story doesn't end there - there are also the colours that we can't see, the ones that lie beyond the rainbow. Each one has a fascinating story to tell.
In the first episode, Helen seeks out the colours that turned planet Earth multicoloured. To investigate the essence of sunlight Helen travels to California to visit the largest solar telescope in the world. She discovers how the most vivid blue is formed from sulphur atoms deep within the Earth's crust and why the presence of red ochre is a key sign of life. In gold, she discovers why this most precious of metals shouldn't even exist on the surface of the planet and in white, Helen travels to one of the hottest places on Earth to explore the role salt and water played in shaping planet Earth.
TUE 00:15 David Stratton’s Stories of Australian Cinema (m000hy15)
Series 1
Episode 1
Much-loved film critic David Stratton tells the fascinating story of Australian cinema, focusing in on the films that capture this idiosyncratic nation with drama, emotion and humour.
David played a pivotal role supporting film-makers and helping them to find audiences both locally and abroad. He rose to fame co-hosting a movie review show with Margaret Pomeranz, which the nation religiously tuned in to for almost 30 years.
In this first episode, we learn how Aussie film-makers gained the confidence to tell their own stories with the boldness of Picnic at Hanging Rock and Mad Max, the global success of Crocodile Dundee and Shine, the flamboyance of Strictly Ballroom and the raw authenticity of Samson and Delilah.
The series takes us on a thrilling journey across Australian cinema's most moving moments and unforgettable scenes and into the heart of the stories portrayed on the big screen that helped shape a nation’s idea of itself.
TUE 01:15 Nolan: Australia’s Maverick Artist (m000264q)
Sidney Nolan is unquestionably one of the best-known names in the history of Australian modern art. His images are iconic treasures of the Australian visual language – everyone feels they know Nolan, but that is far from the truth. He was a restless spirit, boundlessly curious, intellectual and mischievous, and his creativity was unrelenting; he was a genius. This film explores and celebrates the artist and the man, going well beyond his early years to his extraordinary international career and all the success and turmoil that came with it.
The prodigious Nolan came from humble working-class beginnings and from a young age made his way straight to the centre of contemporary artistic and intellectual circles in Melbourne, where he both produced some of his most enduring images and also became tightly enmeshed in the complicated and doomed love affair that was to stay with him for the rest of his life. Restless and on fire with the excitement of the international modernist movement, Nolan created the St Kilda, Wimmera, Ned Kelly and the Central Australia series - passionate responses to the world, and the landscape and national mythology of Australia, but more importantly and more deeply, windows into the poetic psyche of the man.
Fuelled by insatiable curiosity, Nolan became a tireless traveller, settling in London, where he found 'his people', the stellar intellectual circle of artists, musicians, writers, collectors and connoisseurs. While living in London, Nolan continued to visit and travel around Australia because, he said simply, 'he was Australian', and then returned to England to paint what had inspired him here and in other parts of the world. He welcomed artistic challenges; he was an entrepreneur and an unselfconscious-self promoter who threw himself into music, theatre and opera design.
The film shows Nolan’s unexamined work in new light, exploring the range of experimental, innovative qualities that marked him as one of the world’s truly great painters in the 20th century - a man ahead of his time, exploring digital manipulation in its early incarnations, experimenting with desiccated carcasses many decades before Damien Hirst, and taking selfies before Instagram was thought of.
TUE 02:15 Catching Britain's Killers: The Crimes That Changed Us (m0009mg4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:15 today]
WEDNESDAY 14 APRIL 2021
WED 19:00 Walk the Line (b06b8dl7)
Series 2
Episode 2
Barra Best continues to 'walk the line' and his journey today follows the lost railway routes through towns and villages around Lough Neagh.
WED 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000v4bl)
Series 4
Mountain Rhapsody
Experience the blissful pleasure of the coldest season under a splendid pastel sky as Bob Ross creates a fabulous mountain masterpiece.
WED 20:00 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01fv16l)
The Golden Age
Lucy Worsley explores the Edwardian era and the golden age of detective fiction between the wars - the time of Dr Crippen, Agatha Christie and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
WED 21:00 Watergate (m000v4bn)
Series 1
Break-In
The full story of the Watergate scandal. In 1974, Richard Nixon, brought down by the Watergate scandal, became the only US president ever to resign. This programme looks at the break-in at the Democrats' headquarters in the Watergate Hotel on the night of 17 June 1972.
WED 21:50 Watergate (m000v4bq)
Series 1
Cover-Up
Nixon's burglars are caught and the president himself is at the head of a cover-up that links the crime to the White House. In November 1972, five months after the break-in, Nixon is returned to office.
WED 22:40 Lights Up (m000v4bs)
Buttercup
Fortune is live streaming an informal spoken word gig to her online followers. As she takes the mic, she desperately hopes that her audience will include the one person who needs to hear her truth: her mother.
Weaving together words, poems, and memories, she shares her story, from her life as a vulnerable little girl in a bedroom in Kinshasa to a bold young woman partying and performing in Liverpool.
Only now is she ready to revisit a past she has locked away, to recognise the power behind her mother’s warnings, and to accept the truth that she was never to blame for what happened to her.
WED 23:25 How to Make (m000h3cs)
Series 1
The Toothbrush
Designer, maker and materials engineer Zoe Laughlin explores an item so ubiquitous that most of us don’t give it a moment’s thought - the toothbrush. With 200 milion thrown away each year in the UK, she’s on a mission to find a more sustainable solution.
In search of inspiration, she heads to Sweden’s impressive low-impact mega-factory Tepe, where handles made from sugar-cane-based plastic are ahead of the pack. She explores bespoke production techniques, employing 3D-laser sintering, and dips into the archives of the British Dental Association, revealing the light-bulb moment when the modern brush was hit upon in a prison cell.
Turning to toothpaste itself, pioneering scientists are using bio-active glass to get more fluoride to our teeth. Unconventional options used at Lush Cosmetic’s Willy Wonker-style lab get Zoe's taste buds tingling, before she reveals her final toothbrush and alternative 'paste'. Both are uniquely Zoe - and just a bit bonkers - but they could also provide a very real eco-friendly answer to our daily brushing needs.
WED 00:25 Peter Rice: An Engineer Imagines (m0007zg7)
An Engineer Imagines tells the story of Peter Rice, widely regarded as the most distinguished structural engineer of the late 20th century, and his massive impact on modern architecture. Without his innovations in material and design, and his collaboration with the leading architects of his time, some of the most recognisable architectural buildings in the world would not have been possible. These buildings include the Sydney Opera House, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Lloyds of London building.
The documentary traces Rice's extraordinary work and short life, from his native Dundalk through Belfast, London, Sydney and Paris, to his untimely death in 1992, and explores his lasting legacy, which can be seen today, not only in Europe and beyond, but also in his native Ireland.
WED 01:25 The Joy of Painting (m000v4bl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 01:55 Walk the Line (b06b8dl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 02:25 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01fv16l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THURSDAY 15 APRIL 2021
THU 19:00 Wild (b008tfyt)
2007-08 Shorts
Glacier Mountain Goats
Wildlife documentary. It's spring for the mountain goats of Glacier National Park in Canada's Rocky Mountains. The young goats will have to learn how to survive in this beautiful but treacherous wilderness.
THU 19:10 Walk the Line (b06bqb4b)
Series 2
Episode 3
Criss-crossing some of Northern Ireland's most spectacular countryside Barra Best explores County Tyrone's lost railway routes.
THU 19:40 The Joy of Painting (m000v49r)
Series 4
By the Sea
Enjoy the gentle rhythm of waves caressing the shoreline by visiting the coast with Bob Ross to paint a glorious seascape.
THU 20:10 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2pq)
Series 1
Bulldog Breed
What can a country vet do when a herd is struck by a disease for which there is no cure - especially when a man's life savings are at risk?
THU 21:00 Topkapi (m00068rh)
International jewel thief Elizabeth Lipp recruits her ex-lover Walter Harper to train a motley crew of characters to steal the famous emerald-encrusted dagger of Sultan Mahmud from the Topkapi museum in Istanbul.
THU 22:55 Parkinson (b0074q5h)
Peter Ustinov
In a selection of highlights from Sir Peter Ustinov's appearances on his show, Michael Parkinson looks back at a multitalented and multilingual writer, director, actor, raconteur, Oscar winner and tireless ambassador for Unicef. The interviews offer a poignant reminder of Ustinov's intelligence and ability to entertain.
THU 23:55 The Sky at Night (m000v495)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 on Sunday]
THU 00:25 Around the World in 80 Treasures (b0078w9h)
Series 1
Homeward Bound
At last, the end is in sight, and Dan's circumnavigation of the globe almost complete. But first there are some of the most brilliant treasures of all to enjoy. Venice, Florence and Rome revive an exhausted but ebullient Dan about to take his 92nd flight of the trip before he sails for home.
His first destination was once the most dangerous place on earth - Mostar and its famous bridge spanning the Christian and Muslim worlds. Destroyed by missiles and now rebuilt. Then on to Athens and the glories of the Parthenon before heading for the ultimate treasure trove of Italy - the beauties of Venice, the splendour of the Pantheon in Rome and the fabulous chapel of the Medici princes in Florence. Then in Spain, Dan is astonished by the unrivalled brilliance of the Alhambra, and echoes of the days when a large part of Europe was under Islamic rule.
At last, it's time for Dan to reflect on the immensity of his journey round the world - how has it changed him and what is he to make of it all? What can we all learn as human beings from the fantastic variety of mankind's creations that Dan has seen? And what single thing more than any other has inspired man to create?
THU 01:25 The Joy of Painting (m000v49r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:40 today]
THU 01:55 Walk the Line (b06bqb4b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:10 today]
THU 02:25 How to Make (m000h3cs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:25 on Wednesday]
FRIDAY 16 APRIL 2021
FRI 19:00 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 20:00 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01kcq0k)
New Wave - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
By the end of the 70s the world had changed and so had music. In America, it was all about memorable melodies, great guitar rhythms, a little bit of post-punk angst and looking really cool. In the UK it was about Brit style cheekiness, social commentary, a melody and a hook, a lot of attitude - and looking really cool. This episode goes beyond punk and looks into the dawning of a new decade and the phenomenon of New Wave, including performances from Elvis Costello, the Police, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Squeeze, Blondie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Cars, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop.
FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (m000ty1n)
Nicky Campbell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 29 November 1990 and featuring Dream Warriors, Chris Isaak and Pet Shop Boys.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000ty1q)
Mark Goodier presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 6 December 1990 and featuring The Farm, Cliff Richard and Vanilla Ice.
FRI 21:30 Duran Duran: There's Something You Should Know (b0b7szrg)
With exclusive access, the band open up about their extraordinary career and talk candidly about the highs and lows they have endured together over four long decades. This is the band at their most relaxed, intimate and honest. We spend time with John at his LA home, Simon pays a visit to his former choir master, Roger goes back to where it all started in Birmingham, and Nick dusts off some of the 10,000 fashion items that the band have meticulously catalogued and collected over the course of their career. Joining the conversation is fellow new romantic and singer Boy George, lifelong fan and record producer Mark Ronson, friend, fan and supermodel Cindy Crawford, and Highlander film director Russell Mulcahy.
Charting their trajectory over four decades, the story is told through seven of their albums. Each record uncovers a compelling chapter in the band’s journey - the fame, the fortune, the melt downs, the hits, the flops, the exotic videos, the tours, the fans, the partying and the supermodels.
FRI 22:30 Duran Duran: A Night In (b0b7szrj)
A celebration of one of the UK's most enduring pop bands of all time, Duran Duran. The programme joins Simon, John, Roger and Nick as they sit back, relax, watch and talk through personally selected clips of archive television, music shows, movies, performances, adverts and children's shows that have inspired them across their career spanning four decades.
In this exclusive hour-long special, they discuss their influences from the worlds of music, film, TV and art. From The Beatles and Sex Pistols to Top of the Pops, Tomorrow's World and the Apollo 11 moon landing, A Night In is a trip down memory lane with the band as they remember the shows that capture a particular moment in their creative lives.
FRI 23:30 Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland (b0bb2pyf)
Series 1
Episode 2
Two 80s icons explore the distinct sounds that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in one of pop's golden decades.
Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox and one of the men behind Band Aid, and Kim Appleby, who had a string of hits with her sister Mel in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced band Mel and Kim, go on a journey back in time to the 80s to figure out why certain cities produced their own diverse tunes.
It's a fascinating tale. Emerging from the ashes of punk, British and Irish music ripped up the pop rule book in the 80s and topped the charts worldwide. But there was no definitive 'British' pop sound. Innovative chart-toppers were being produced by artists hailing from all over the UK and Ireland.
In this second episode, Midge and Kim explore the sounds that came from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. They start in Glasgow with the American influences that shaped a substantial part of Scottish music, look at the punk and folk backdrop to Irish music and, finally, delve into the Welsh merger of folk and punk.
The show features evocative archive, superb music and interviews with significant figures, like Bob Geldof, Clare Grogan from Altered Images, Pat Kane from Hue and Cry, Moya Brennan of Clannad and Mike Peters from legendary Welsh band The Alarm.
FRI 00:30 Exotic Pop at the BBC (b013g87m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 01:30 Duran Duran: There's Something You Should Know (b0b7szrg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
FRI 02:30 Duran Duran: A Night In (b0b7szrj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]