Live coverage of the evening session of day three at the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
As the red carpet season reaches its climax, Mark turns his keen eye and sharp wit on past winners of the most prestigious awards of all. What gave them the edge over their rivals? Mark shows that, despite their apparent differences, Oscar-winning films have more in common than you might think. Certain kinds of film recur, such as war, social justice and the all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza. But, as Mark explains, it’s not just about your choice of subject; it's how you treat it that counts. In a special show that ranges from the earliest awards winners to the most recent victors, Mark reveals the films that laid down the template for cinematic glory, celebrates the classics that have endured and savours some of the movies’ most acclaimed performances.
The first episode focuses on the run-up to Stephen's murder and the police investigation that follows. As the suspects remain free, tip-offs from the community worry Doreen and Neville, Stephen's parents, about why the police are not making arrests.
A visit from Nelson Mandela seems to prompt action, but Stephen's friend Duwayne, also a victim of the attack, gets into difficulty with the police. When the charges against the suspects are dropped, Doreen realises she must take action into her own hands.
It is one of the most baffling questions that scientists can ask: how big is the universe that we live in?
Horizon follows the cosmologists who are creating the most ambitious map in history, a map of everything in existence. And it is stranger than anyone had imagined, a universe without end that stretches far beyond what the eye can ever see.
And, if the latest research proves true, our universe may just be the start of something even bigger. Much bigger.
TUESDAY 20 APRIL 2021
TUE 19:00 Snooker: World Championship (m000vbt3)
2021
Day 4: Evening Session
Live coverage of the evening session of day four at the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
TUE 21:00 A303: Highway to the Sun (b0116ly6)
The A303 is the road that passes Stonehenge on the way to the beaches of Devon and Cornwall. On the way, it whisks drivers through 5,000 years of remarkable moments in British history. And it is the star of this film made for armchair travellers and history lovers.
Writer Tom Fort drives its 92-mile length in a lovingly restored Morris Traveller. Along the way he has many adventures - he digs up the 1960s master plan for the A303's dreams of superhighway status, meets up with a Neolithic traveller who knew the road like the back of his hand, gets to know a section of the Roman 303, uncovers a medieval murder mystery and discovers what lies at the end of the Highway to the Sun.
TUE 22:00 Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation (b0b09f62)
Series 1
The System
A second police investigation captures shocking surveillance footage of the racism of the gang alleged to have killed Stephen. With help from their lawyer Imran Khan, Doreen and Neville Lawrence launch the first private murder prosecution in 150 years. When it collapses, questions about the failure of the first police investigation mount.
The Daily Mail stages a dramatic intervention. A public inquiry shines an uncomfortable light on the police and leads to some devastating revelations.
TUE 23:00 Lights Up (m000t3h1)
Adam
Inspired by the life of Adam Kashmiry, Adam tells the remarkable story of a young trans man and his struggle across genders and borders to be himself. Originally a multi-award-winning stage play, Adam has been reinvented as a compelling, theatrical on-screen drama.
Born in Egypt, Adam was assigned female at birth but always knew he was a boy. Trapped in a deeply conservative society where falling in love with the wrong person can get you killed, he knew that he had to escape. With a borrowed laptop he typed in a question: ‘Can the soul of a man be trapped in the body of a woman?’ What followed was a catalyst to begin the epic journey for the right to change his body. To the boy he knew himself to be.
Written by playwright and dramaturg Frances Poet, and reworked for the screen, this hour-long drama focuses on Adam’s isolating experiences in a Glasgow flat while awaiting a decision on his asylum claim. Trapped in a Catch-22 where he cannot prove his need for asylum as a trans man until he transitions but is unable to start transitioning until he is granted asylum, Adam is left alone to wrestle with his conflicting thoughts and feelings as every waking moment sees him haunted by figures from both his past and his present.
TUE 00:00 Colour: The Spectrum of Science (b06nxwld)
Colours of Life
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.
The raw, early Earth had plenty of colour, but that was nothing compared with what was going to come next. That canvas was about to be painted with a vast new palette - and the source of those colours was life. Green is the colour of the natural world and yet it's the one colour that plants have evolved not to use.
The huge diversity of human skin tones tells the story of how humanity spread and ultimately conquered the planet. But the true masters of colour turn out to be some of the smallest and most elusive. Helen travels to the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee during the one week in the year when fireflies light up the night sky with their colourful mating display. And she reveals the marine animals that hide from the world by changing the colour of their skin.
TUE 01:00 David Stratton’s Stories of Australian Cinema (m000j45c)
Series 1
Episode 2
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 episode, David looks at how Australian cinema celebrates the endurance of outsiders, whether they are newcomers to a strange new land in films like They’re a Weird Mob and Wake in Fright, or locals out of step with the mainstream in Evil Angels, Muriel’s Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
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 02:00 A303: Highway to the Sun (b0116ly6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUE 03:00 Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation (b0b09f62)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL 2021
WED 19:00 Snooker: World Championship (m000vbts)
2021
Day 5: Evening Session
Live coverage of the evening session of day five at the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
WED 21:10 Watergate (m000vbtv)
Series 1
Scapegoat
President Richard Nixon had the Watergate burglars paid to keep silent about their links to the White House, a cover-up that enabled him to win a second presidential term in 1972. But once the facts began to emerge, the president sought a succession of scapegoats. The revelation that conversations in his office had been recorded meant his crimes were no longer a secret.
WED 22:00 Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation (b0b09fnz)
Series 1
Corruption and Conviction
Stephen's killers remain free. The public inquiry leads to a change in the law that means that the suspects can be retried. Questions of racism and corruption swirl around the police.
An unconventional detective, Clive Driscoll, takes on the case and, with the help of advances in forensic science, arrests Gary Dobson and David Norris. As justice seems to be done, revelations that the police spied on the Lawrence family start to surface.
WED 23:00 Lights Up (m000vbtx)
Orpheus in the Record Shop
She cared for him, she understood him… And now she’s gone.
Orpheus is alone, playing tunes in his record shop, when a visit from an enigmatic stranger sets music, myth and his own fragile reality into a spin. Driven by an astonishing original soundtrack of hip-hop, soul and funk, he ventures back into the past to confront some painful truths in the hope of reconciling himself with his future.
Inspired by ancient Greek myth, acclaimed rapper and playwright Testament fuses spoken word and beatboxing with a cinematic score performed by members of the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North.
In an extraordinary feat of storytelling and musicianship, Testament fills an empty theatre with Orpheus’s dreams, reminiscences and struggle for redemption. The result is a compelling examination of isolation and an affirmation of the need for kindness and empathy, and of trust in the redemptive power of music.
A Leeds Playhouse and Opera North co-production premiered to a socially distanced audience in October 2020, Orpheus in the Record Shop returned to the locked-down Leeds Playhouse in early 2021 to be reworked for this new film.
WED 00:00 Storyville (m000tpzn)
Collective: Unravelling a Scandal
No programme information found
WED 01:45 How to Make (m000hbdk)
Series 1
Headphones
Zoe Laughlin, designer, maker and materials engineer, is fascinated by the science and technology hidden within the everyday objects we take for granted. In this series she dismantles and dissects three classic items to understand the wonders of form, function and material that go into making them, before building her own truly bespoke versions step by step.
In this episode, Zoe explores an item that is extraordinarily intimate and transports us to other worlds – headphones. With 12 pairs sold globally every second, Zoe is on a mission to build her own unique pair. In search of inspiration, she heads to Hull University to discover an exciting new substance that can turn any surface into a speaker, from a wall to a table and even the bone of your skull. In the depths of an anechoic chamber, she experiences the wonder behind directional sound and ear-tracking technology, which creates a personal sound bubble without the need to wear headphones at all.
A trip back through headphone history reveals the stethoscope-style home contraptions of the 19th century and the game-changing 80s Sony Walkman. Zoe also heads to high-end manufacturers Bowers & Wilkins, climbs into a mock aircraft cabin to explore the principles of noise cancellation, and goes on a trip down one of London’s busiest streets with a billboard-style contraption slung across her body, all in the name of material research. Her final headphones raise the bar high, with a distinctive headband to avoid big hair issues, alongside characterful Plasti Dip connections.
WED 02:45 Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation (b0b09fnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THURSDAY 22 APRIL 2021
THU 19:00 Snooker: World Championship (m000vbv1)
2021
Day 6: Evening Session
Live coverage of the evening session of day six at the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
THU 21:00 Hunting the Nazi Gold Train (b07yc9zf)
In August 2015, two amateur researchers declared they had found a lost Nazi train buried in a railway cutting near Walbrzych, southern Poland. Better still, they believed the train might be loaded with gold, armaments or precious treasure, all left behind by the Nazis at the end of World War II. The claim sparked a global media frenzy. Locals have long believed that at least one train, loaded with looted Nazi gold, left the provincial capital Wroclaw in early 1945. But until now, no one has discovered what happened to it.
Dan Snow follows the treasure hunters as they look for the gold train, while also carrying out his own investigation into this story, one that leads all the way to Adolf Hitler himself and his secret plans for this remote corner of the Third Reich during the last months of World War II.
Dan explores the astonishing underground tunnel complex called Riese, built on the fuehrer's orders almost certainly as an underground city to house armaments production beyond the reach of Allied bombing. Nearby, Dan visits the Ksiaz Castle, which at the end of the war was converted into a possible bolthole for Hitler and his high command. A door from the fuehrer's bedroom leads down to tunnels that could have linked the palace with the underground Riese complex.
Dan considers the evidence that Hitler was planning to retreat to this near impregnable complex and fight on. As Dan uncovers Hitler's possible plans for this region, it also lends weight to the theories and stories that there is a hidden tunnel here, a tunnel that could even contain the legendary train full of gold.
Finally, Dan joins the treasure hunters as they begin the excavation itself, and reveals the outcome of the hunt for the Nazi gold train.
THU 22:00 The Man with the Iron Heart (m000ggpp)
Following a meteoric rise through the ranks of the Nazi party, Reinhard Heydrich establishes himself as one of the most ruthless leaders of the Third Reich. Two brave Czech Resistance fighters, Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, travel to Prague from their training base in Britain on a mission to assassinate him.
Tough historical thriller drama, based on true events.
THU 23:55 Storyville (m00052bf)
A German Life: Goebbels's Secretary Remembers
Actress Maggie Smith made a triumphant return to the stage to perform the role of 103-year-old Brunhilde Pomsel, secretary and stenographer to the Nazi-propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels - one of the worst war criminals of the 20th century. The playwright, Christopher Hampton, was inspired to write the play after seeing a powerful documentary about Brunhilde, made not long before she died.
In A German Life, the extraordinary story of an ordinary human being living through traumatic times raises profound questions about the moral choices and personal sacrifices that one is faced with when confronted by evil. Reflecting back on her life, Brunhilde Pomsel makes it clear that the dangers that led to the rise of fascism have not been overcome. ‘So I joined the party,’ she recalls. ‘Why shouldn’t I? Everyone was doing it.’
THU 01:15 A History of Art in Three Colours (b01l4fyl)
Gold
For the very first civilisations, the yellow lustre of gold is the most alluring and intoxicating colour of all. From the midst of prehistory to a bunker deep beneath the Bank of England, Fox reveals how golden treasures made across the ages reflect everything that has been held as sacred.
THU 02:15 Hunting the Nazi Gold Train (b07yc9zf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 23 APRIL 2021
FRI 19:00 Snooker: World Championship (m000vbsp)
2021
Day 7: Evening Session
Live coverage of the evening session of day seven at the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000v4b6)
Simon Mayo presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 13 December 1990 and featuring Shakin' Stevens, Malandra Burrows and Seal.
FRI 21:30 Top of the Pops (m000v4b8)
Bruno Brookes presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 20 December 1990 and featuring Snap!, Cliff Richard and The Carpenters.
FRI 22:00 St George's Day at the BBC (m000vbst)
To mark St George’s Day, join BBC Four for a trip through the archives and a selection of songs celebrating English history, landmarks and places. This eclectic mix features a huge array of musical styles and tastes, ranging from Elton John to Maddy Prior and Joe Strummer, as well as one of English football’s oddest cheerleading combinations in The Spice Girls and Echo & The Bunnymen.
FRI 23:00 Definitely Dusty (b00780bt)
Documentary looking at the life and work of soul and pop diva Dusty Springfield, singer of such classics as You Don't Have to Say You Love Me and Son of a Preacher Man, who was equally famous for her trademark panda eyes and blonde beehive.
Using archive footage and interviews shot in the UK and the US, it charts her progress from plain Catholic schoolgirl to glamorous star and ventures behind the extravagant image to reveal a complex and vulnerable character.
Featuring interviews with fellow musicians from a career spanning four decades, including Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Neil Tennant, Lulu and Martha Reeves.
Dusty's protective inner circle of friends have never spoken about her on camera before. Pat Rhodes, Dusty's personal secretary for her entire solo career, her manager Vicky Wickham, ardent fan-turned-backing singer Simon Bell and others talk about the highs and lows of the woman they knew and loved.
FRI 00:00 Kate Bush at the BBC (b04f86xk)
Between 1978 and 1994, Kate Bush appeared on a variety of BBC programmes, including Saturday Night at the Mill, Ask Aspel, the Leo Sayer Show, Wogan and Top of the Pops. This compilation showcases her performances of hit songs such as Wuthering Heights, Babooshka, Running up That Hill and Hounds of Love, alongside other intriguing and lesser-known material in the BBC studios.
FRI 01:00 Classic Albums (m000f8xc)
Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
Documentary that explores the creation of the second album by Tears for Fears. Songs from the Big Chair took the gothic synth-pop foundations of the band and combined them with arena-ready anthems, leading to critical acclaim and three international hit singles, Mothers Talk, Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
This documentary, made with the full cooperation of the band, explores how the album was recorded and how the band left their indelible imprint on new wave music.
FRI 02:00 St George's Day at the BBC (m000vbst)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 03:00 Definitely Dusty (b00780bt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]