Archaeologist Richard Miles presents a series charting the history of the breakthroughs and watersheds in our long quest to understand our ancient past. He begins by going back 2,000 years to explore how archaeology began by trying to prove a biblical truth - a quest that soon got archaeologists into dangerous water.
Neil Oliver and Tessa Dunlop present the ultimate guide to the heart of England's south coast - a stretch book-ended by two pebble beaches at Brighton and Chesil. To try to capture what makes these 'sunshine' shores so special, Neil selects his pick of Coast stories from the past ten years, as well as searching out exciting new ones for our guide. He hops on and off a full flotilla of boats, including Sir Ben Ainslie's prototype yacht for the America's Cup, a Southampton superyacht, a vessel at the heart of a project to reinvigorate the Solent oyster population and an offshore powerboat. Neil finds out why this coast is a maritime leader, a geological marvel and a holidaymaker's dream.
It's high summer in Vigata and the murdered body of a young woman, Agata Cosentino, is found in the municipal archives where she worked. But the building was supposed to be closed for the holidays, so what was Agata doing there?
Meanwhile, Adelina's wayward son Pasquale is engaged in a stand-off with a local security guard, Romildo Bufardeci, a former classmate from elementary school who is now intent on putting a stop to Pasquale’s petty criminality. As chief law enforcer, Montalbano must investigate any wrongdoings while also navigating the rivalry between the two men.
Aisholpan is a 13-year-old girl from a remote Mongolian tribe, who dreams of becoming an eagle hunter - just like her father and her grandfather before him. The ancient tradition stretches back over 1,000 years, but Aisholpan's plans are almost dashed at the outset by the male-dominated eagle hunting community, who strongly disapprove of girls taking part, arguing they should stay at home to milk the cows and make the tea. Meanwhile, Aisholpan and her determined father - who passionately believes girls can do anything that boys can - set out to prove she can become Mongolia's first eagle huntress.
Eagle Huntress premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for best documentary at the 2017 Baftas.
Take a flight on a summer morning with a white-tailed eagle around Scotland's west coast. A falconry-trained sea eagle wearing a specially designed on-board camera is the only way to glimpse the lives of these rare and protected species. From the high tops of Crois Bheinn on the remote Morvern Peninsula, the eagle traverses across beautiful rolling moors and glens, along craggy cliff faces and finally ventures towards the Sound of Mull. With a two-metre wingspan, it is the biggest bird around - but that doesn't stop it being challenged by noisy crows and ravens. After its long flight, the hungry eagle is finally drawn down to the coast by the promise of a fish. Flying through torrential rain, it dives at over 100mph to grab the fish from a coastal pool before being reunited with its handler.
Ride on board with a green sea turtle as it swims around its spectacular coral reef home of Sipidan in Malaysia. Using only natural sounds and elegant embedded graphics delivering detailed information, this is an immersive journey into the turtles’ world like no other.
The turtle embarks on its daily routine, revealing how they utilise all the different areas of the reef, from the inner shallows to the deep drop-off – introducing us to all the fish and animals that they share one of the richest and most diverse places on our planet with in a mesmerising half-hour.
The turtles were filmed for Blue Planet II and part of an ongoing study into their behaviour for the Marine Research Foundation.
SUNDAY 01 AUGUST 2021
SUN 19:00 Holst: The Planets with Professor Brian Cox (m0005prm)
The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ben Gernon, performs Gustav Holst’s masterpiece, The Planets, at the Barbican, 100 years after its composition. Professor Brian Cox introduces each movement against a backdrop of the very latest in planetary imagery.
SUN 20:30 BBC Proms (m000yj8m)
2021
Mozart’s Final Symphonies
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and their dynamic new principal conductor, Maxim Emelyanychev, kick off the BBC Four Proms 2021 season with a night dedicated to Mozart.
For the first time in Proms history, they’ll perform all three of Mozart’s last three symphonies, which together explore all sides of humanity: the grand introduction of No 39 with its fanfares and dances, the dark drama of the famous No 40 and finally No 41, the dazzling 'Jupiter' Symphony.
Tom Service and guests present this much-anticipated evening.
SUN 22:35 The Joy of Mozart (b04yrj6n)
Tom Service plunges into the life and times of Mozart to try and rediscover the greatness and humanity of the living man in his moment. Mozart's prodigious output and untimely death have helped place him on a pedestal that can often blind us to the unique brilliance of his work in the context of his life and times. Tackling the sentimental tourist industry of Salzburg and the cloying reverence in which Mozart is too often held, Service visits the key cities and rooms in which Mozart lived and worked, plays some of Mozart's original instruments and scores, and gradually uncovers the brilliance and originality of his work as the 18th century turns into the early 19th.
There is the prodigious childhood when Mozart was feted as an infant phenomenon around Europe's most glittering courts, and his golden decade in Vienna in which masterpiece followed masterpiece - operas, symphonies, piano concertos, string quartets - as if this short, high-voiced man-child must have been taking dictation from some divine source, until his death at the age of just 35 in 1791.
Even more than the music, Mozart's tragic demise sets the seal on his myth. The trajectory of Mozart's life sets the template for the romantic paradigm whose throes we are still in today, which requires our creative heroes to die young to prove that they were too good for this madding world, whether it be Wolfgang Amadeus or Jimi Hendrix.
Service travels from London to Vienna and Salzberg, unpicking the living, breathing genius that was Mozart. With Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Nicola Benedetti, Paul Morley and others.
SUN 23:35 Horizon (b037y0zf)
2013-2014
What's Killing Our Bees? A Horizon Special
Bill Turnbull investigates one of the biggest mysteries in the British countryside: what is killing our bees. It is a question that generates huge controversy. Changes in the weather, pesticides and even a deadly virus have all all been blamed. It is a question that Bill is all too familiar with as a beekeeper himself. He meets the scientists who are fitting minute radar transponders on to bees to try to find answers.
SUN 00:35 Handmade on the Silk Road (b079cgml)
The Weaver
The Uyghur community in north west China have been making atlas silk for thousands of years. Mattursun Islam and his family are continuing the tradition, using a combination of handmade techniques and mechanised looms. From designing the patterns to colouring, dyeing and weaving the thread, this film follows each stage in absorbing detail. We also get an engaging glimpse into how their family and working life are closely connected. With rival companies often copying his designs, Mattursan is proud of his reputation. But he and his wife also enjoy a good-natured rivalry over who really runs things.
SUN 01:05 Handmade on the Silk Road (b079zyb8)
The Wood Carver
Shavkat Jumanijozov has been working with wood for over 30 years. In his workshop in Khiva in Uzbekistan, he makes doors, chests and impressive wooden columns. Trained by the grandson of a famous 19th-century carver, Shavkat is a proud master of his craft and oversees a team of brothers, sons and nephews, passing on his expertise to the next generation.
In this beautifully filmed portrait of a traditional craftsman at work, we follow the painstaking carving of a wooden pillar, from the first cuts into the wood to its sanding, shaping and varnishing, each stage captured in absorbing detail.
SUN 01:35 Turtle, Eagle, Cheetah: A Slow Odyssey (m0001kxf)
A Cheetah's Hunt
Join three young, orphaned cheetah siblings as they set out across the savannah in Namibia in search of prey. The orphaned cats are being reintroduced into the wilds of Namibia, and specially designed on-board cameras are being used to monitor their progress.
The summer rains have turned the land into a verdant scene, unleashing new sounds, sights and smells for the young cats to experience. As they move through the acacia woodland, thorny scrub and open grassy plains, they encounter herds of gemsbok and zebra and the occasional warthog. These are encounters that will test the young cheetah's hunting skills.
At this age, the siblings are still learning the ropes and are curious about everything they come across. The siblings pursue zebra and chase a warthog, but both are more than a match for them. Undeterred, the siblings continue on their journey, next testing their prowess on a herd of gemsbok that immediately turn the tables and chase the cheetah.
SUN 02:05 Holst: The Planets with Professor Brian Cox (m0005prm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MONDAY 02 AUGUST 2021
MON 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000mts5)
Series 3
Winter Stillness
Ice cold pond, snow-covered banks, soft hues in the sky. Bob Ross teaches us to admire the simple beauty of nature.
MON 19:30 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p8s)
Episode 1
Martha Kearney's year gets off to a bad start when unseasonal snow in spring threatens to kill the bee colonies she keeps in her garden in Suffolk. With help from a master beekeeper Martha feeds her bees and takes one of the hives to a wildflower meadow at a neighbour's house along with two brand new hives.
She discovers the intricate hierarchy within the bee colony and learns how the organisation of the hive has become a metaphor for human society. At a London school she learns the secrets of urban bees' success even while bees in the country as a whole are in decline. The episode ends with three new hives established on a wildflower meadow, ready to start producing classic British wildflower honey.
MON 20:00 An Art Lovers' Guide (b0b0g5cj)
Series 2
Baku
In the final episode of the series, Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke set off on their most adventurous trip yet - to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.
A former Soviet state, bordering the Caspian Sea, Baku offers a tantalising mix of the ancient and modern - at the crossroads of east meets west, on the ancient silk trading route. It is also an authoritarian state, where cultural life is tightly controlled. So, not their regular city break...
But it is a city looking westwards, eager to turn itself into a tourist destination. They discover a city for which oil has been both a blessing and a curse. The profits from oil transformed its architecture twice - first in the late nineteenth century, and again in the twentieth.
As a result, Baku is full of buildings that feel like 19th-century Paris, but also gleaming new structures by architectural stars like Zaha Hadid. And all around, the traces of Soviet rule offer other surprising clashes of art and architecture.
Nina and Alastair pick their way through this maze of influences and travel back in time, seeking the roots of Azerbaijani identity. Alastair visits the world's first museum devoted entirely to rugs while Nina marvels at stunning prehistoric rock art on the city's outskirts. Together they wander the medieval old city, discovering the early impact of Islamic culture.
And in the stunning Heydar Aliyev Centre designed by Zaha Hadid, they discover an exhibition devoted to Heydar Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, whose government exerts a strong influence on the city's art and culture. But Alistair also meets Sabina Shikhlinskaya, an artist with a truly independent voice.
As night falls they discover why Azerbaijan is known as the 'Land of Fire' when they visit Yanar Dag, a spectacular 10-metre long natural gas fire which blazes continuously. And they end their visit to Baku with a performance of Maugham, Azerbaijan's ancient, haunting folk music as they reflect on their time in a city that has fascinated and surprised them both.
MON 21:00 Leonora Carrington: The Lost Surrealist (b09j0lp9)
British surrealist Leonora Carrington was a key part of the surrealist movement during its heyday in Paris and yet, until recently, remained a virtual unknown in the country of her birth. This film explores her dramatic evolution from British debutante to artist in exile, living out her days in Mexico City, and takes us on a journey into her darkly strange and cinematic world.
MON 22:00 Omnibus (p02t9jbw)
Lucian Freud
For much of his career, Lucian Freud allowed his paintings to speak for themselves, but in 1988 he talked for the first time - to Omnibus - about his work and ambitions.
'The greatest living realist painter' is critic Robert Hughes' description of Lucian Freud, whose major retrospective at London's Hayward Gallery in 1988, brought together the paintings of a lifetime. The exhibition was seen as a revelation, just as it had been in Washington and Paris.
MON 22:40 How to Be a Surrealist with Philippa Perry (b08l6qd8)
Melting clocks, lobster telephones - the perplexing images of surrealist art are instantly recognisable to millions. But for psychotherapist Philippa Perry the radical ideas which inspired the original artists are often overlooked. In this film, Philippa takes us on a playful journey into the unconscious to discover the deep roots of surrealism in the political upheavals of 1920s Europe and new ways of understanding the human psyche.
Among her surrealist adventures, Philippa sets up her own Bureau of Surrealist Research on the streets of Paris and invites members of the public to tell her their dreams, she uncovers the role of women in the surrealism movement and has a go at being an artist's muse herself, rolls up her sleeves to try some surrealist techniques with art critic Adrian Searle, and puts on a screening of Dali and Bunuel's famous film Un Chien Andalou for a group of unsuspecting art students.
MON 23:40 Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA (b0b618m6)
Series 1
Episode 3
This episode looks at America's most controversial cultural territory - the interstitial America of small towns and trailer parks. As his road trip takes him from Iowa to Tennessee, Waldemar Januszczak discovers how this much maligned territory had an immensely beneficial impact on American art. From the small town brilliance of Grant Wood, to the small town alienation of Edward Hopper, to the spooky Dust Bowl symbolism of Alexandre Hogue, interstitial America inspired much that was great. The film culminates in the brilliant assemblages of David Smith, the leading sculptor of abstract expressionism.
MON 00:40 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 01:10 Leonora Carrington: The Lost Surrealist (b09j0lp9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MON 02:10 An Art Lovers' Guide (b0b0g5cj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUESDAY 03 AUGUST 2021
TUE 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000n1b9)
Series 3
Quiet Pond
Go on a journey with Bob Ross and discover the beauty of a shimmering pool gently cradled by a soft, beautiful, bright forest.
TUE 19:30 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p94)
Episode 2
Martha discovers a bee with deformed wing virus in one of the hives she has set up on a Suffolk wildflower meadow. With the help of a master beekeeper, she treats the hive for verroa mite. Britain's leading bee scientist explains the role of verroa in the decline of bees throughout the country.
As spring arrives, Martha witnesses the growth of the colony and watches as bee larvae hatch out. She investigates the science behind the decline of the honey bee and examines evidence that pesticides may be to blame. Back at her cottage, she tackles a colony of angry bees by replacing their queen with a more mild-mannered individual ordered online and delivered through the post, and she meets the Archbishop of Canterbury to talk about his family's love of beekeeping and why he told the bees about his girlfriends.
TUE 20:00 Yes, Minister (b0074rm8)
Series 3
The Whisky Priest
Jim, as a former journalist, learns that arms from a government factory are being sold to foreign terrorists, thus giving Jim as a minister a moral dilemma.
TUE 20:30 The Good Life (b007818c)
Series 1
The Pagan Rite
As Tom and Barbara's savings dwindle, Tom sets about earning some extra money. But he doesn't want to use it to pay boring old bills. Jerry and Margo decide the time is ripe to bring the Goods to their senses, and invite them to dinner - with Tom's ex-boss.
TUE 21:00 Write Around the World with Richard E Grant (p09nlf5g)
Series 1
Episode 1
Book and travel lover Richard E Grant journeys to southern Italy, visiting Naples, Pompeii, Positano and Matera in the footsteps of writers inspired by the country, its culture and history.
Reading key passages from their books as he goes along, including works by Charles Dickens, Elena Ferrante, Elizabeth Gilbert, Norman Lewis, Robert Harris, Patricia Highsmith and Carlo Levi, Richard learns about both the lives and experiences of these great authors.
His journey gives him fresh insights into the people and diversity of the region as well as its distinctive and captivating landscapes. He also discovers examples of books that have had a direct effect on the area’s prosperity.
TUE 22:00 Naples '44 (b09gvjc2)
In late 1943, Norman Lewis was posted by the British Intelligence Corps to newly liberated Naples. He arrived to witness a city devastated by fascism, bombings, Nazi occupation and the Allied invasion. Written 30 years later, his remarkable memoir evocatively captures the resilience and resourcefulness of the city in the desperate months following the Nazis' withdrawal.
Director Francesco Patierno combines extracts from this account, read by Benedict Cumberbatch, with powerful archival footage and clips from films set in Naples in the 50s and 60s, to portray a war-torn and once-dynamic city returning to life.
TUE 23:20 Armando's Tale of Charles Dickens (b0195pt7)
Armando Iannucci presents a personal argument in praise of the genius of Charles Dickens. Through the prism of the author's most autobiographical novel, David Copperfield, Armando looks beyond Dickens - the national institution - and instead explores the qualities of Dickens's work that still make him one of the best British writers.
While Dickens is often celebrated for his powerful depictions of Victorian England and his role as a social reformer, this programme foregrounds the elements of his writing which make him worth reading, as much for what he tells us about ourselves in the twenty-first century as our ancestors in the nineteenth.
Armando argues that Dickens's remarkable use of language and his extraordinary gift for creating characters make him a startlingly experimental and psychologically penetrating writer who demands not just to be adapted for television but to be read and read again.
TUE 00:20 Handmade on the Silk Road (b07blsjw)
The Potter
The desert city of Meybod in southern Iran is famous for its ceramics and Abdol Reza Aghaei's family have been potters there for generations. This beautifully observed film follows Abdol and his father making a simple decorated water jug. Competing with cheap Chinese imports, they sometimes struggle to make a living, but share a dedication to keeping their traditions alive. And with Abdol's father teasing his son about who makes the best pots, the film also offers a touching, intimate portrait of two master craftsmen at work.
TUE 00:50 Fabric of Britain (b03bgrvf)
Knitting's Golden Age
Documentary exploring how knitting rose from basic craft to the height of popular fashion in the 20th century. It's a craft that has given us scratchy jumpers, sexy bathing costumes and the infamous poodle loo cover, has sustained Britain through the hardships of war and shown a mother's love to generations of little ones. Today, knitwear has become a staple of every wardrobe thanks to a prince's golfing taste, The Beatles and 80s breakfast television. Warm-hearted and surprising, this is the story of the people's craft, and a very British one at that.
TUE 01:50 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p94)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 02:20 Write Around the World with Richard E Grant (p09nlf5g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 04 AUGUST 2021
WED 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000n1b3)
Series 3
Bubbling Brook
Bob Ross paints a fast-flowing little waterfall happily running through lush, green, meadow grass in the evening light.
WED 19:30 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6pgg)
Episode 3
Spring has well and truly sprung and the hives are going from strength to strength, but that brings with it a problem of its own - the swarm. As the colonies become overcrowded, the bees become likely to depart in a swarm with the queen, leaving just a few behind to rear a new queen. It's a natural process, but for the beekeeper it can be a disaster, leaving the hive all but empty with little prospect of a harvest of honey.
Martha discovers methods to control the swarms, including clipping the wings of the queen, but she also meets a natural beekeeper for whom wing clipping is horrifying. When one of her hives swarms, Martha's neighbours leap to the rescue and she harvests the first honey of the year.
WED 20:00 Earth from Space (p072n7v7)
Series 1
Patterned Planet
Cameras in space tell stories of life on our planet from a brand new perspective. Earth’s surface is covered in weird and wonderful patterns. The Australian outback is covered in pale spots, the work of wombats; a clearing in the endless green canopy of the Congo rainforest has been created by an incredible elephant gathering; and the twists and turns of the Amazon make a home for rehabilitated manatees. This is our home, as we’ve never seen it before.
WED 21:00 The Planets (p06qj30b)
Series 1
The Godfather: Jupiter
Professor Brian Cox continues his exploration of the solar system with a visit to a planet that dwarfs all the others: Jupiter. Its enormous size gives it a great power that it has used to manipulate the other planets - a power both for good and bad that it wields to this day.
Jupiter is not only the biggest but also the oldest planet in the solar system. It alone witnessed the birth of the Sun and ever since its immense gravity has shaped the destiny of the other worlds. Soon after its birth, its orbit shifted inwards bringing it ever closer to the sun. As it moved, it created chaos in the the region of space that would become the asteroid belt, ensuring that no planet could form here, only a tiny failed planet Ceres, which remains today.
As it continued into the inner solar system, Jupiter used its power to throw raw material needed to form planets into the Sun, stunting the growth of Mars, a planet that might otherwise have grown as large as Earth. Indeed, Jupiter would have obliterated every last rocky world on its journey into the Sun, if a tussle with another giant - Saturn - had not brought it back from the brink.
Today Jupiter’s great mass continues to be felt. Its gravity torments its moon Io, creating the most volcanically active body in the solar system. And through the vice-like grip it exerts over the asteroid belt, Jupiter’s influence extends as far as Earth – where it retains the power to change the course of life on our planet. And where, as Brian reveals, it might even have created the conditions for humanity to inherit the Earth.
WED 22:00 Missions (p09mz5tg)
Series 2
Passage
French sci-fi drama series. At the forest edge, Jeanne seeks the stranger. Meanwhile, approaching Mars, Alex’s state of mind causes concern. In French with English subtitles.
WED 22:25 Missions (p09mz82v)
Series 2
Replica
French sci-fi drama series. A suspicious death reported four years earlier lays the groundwork for major revelations beneath the Martian surface. In French with English subtitles.
WED 22:45 Missions (p09mzrty)
Series 2
Alice
French sci-fi drama series. Meyer recalls initial conflicts with his daughter, while Komarov lets Jeanne learn more of her true purpose, and a portal opens. In French with English subtitles.
WED 23:10 James May at the Edge of Space (b00lc5ph)
James May always wanted to be an astronaut. Now, 40 years after the first Apollo landings, he gets a chance to fly to the edge of space in a U2 spy plane. But first he has to undergo three gruelling days of training with the US Air Force and learn to use a space suit to stay alive in air so thin it can kill in an instant. He discovers that during the flight there are only two people higher than him, and they are both real astronauts on the International Space Station.
WED 23:40 Write Around the World with Richard E Grant (p09nlf5g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:40 Motherland (p09gvb8k)
Series 3
Episode 5
Amanda’s PTA charity FUNraiser is doubling up as her birthday celebration, meaning everyone is dragged into a big event.
Mixing sponsored cycling with Anne’s lethal cocktails results in a night of high drama and big revelations. Julia is ready to call time on her marriage to Paul and run off with builder Garry; Liz is thrown by the arrival of an unexpected visitor; and Meg rides high on her cancer all clear.
Meanwhile, Kevin’s attempts to clear the air with Amanda just make everything worse, and a put-upon Anne finally loses her rag.
WED 01:10 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6pgg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 01:40 Earth from Space (p072n7v7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 02:40 The Planets (p06qj30b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 05 AUGUST 2021
THU 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000n18j)
Series 3
Arizona Splendour
In a brilliant scene drawn from the south west of the USA, Bob Ross portrays a unique view of nature, with clear blue skies, dry mountains and a graceful river.
THU 19:30 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6pjf)
Episode 4
Martha enjoys the English countryside at its best, offers her honey to the public at a village fair and finally succeeds in harvesting the true wildflower honey she set out to achieve.
At the height of summer the owners of the meadow have invited the public to an open day to celebrate this unique bit of countryside. The pressure is on Martha to get the honey ready in time. With such a late spring the meadow flowers are late opening and the bees are still foraging on a neighbouring farmer's crops when the day arrives.
Martha visits Cornwall's Tregothnan Estate to discover the secret of the highly-prized manuka honey and returns to Suffolk with plans for a final harvest of wildflower honey. By now the meadow is in its prime. When Martha sends her honey to be tested it is proved to be true wildflower honey. It only remains to prepare the bees for the winter and reflect on a rewarding and fascinating season of beekeeping.
THU 20:00 BBC Proms (m000yh1n)
2021
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla Conducts the CBSO
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla returns to the BBC Proms to conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a concert featuring Brahms’s beloved Third Symphony as its lyrical centrepiece.
Two British works complete the programme: a London premiere from composer Thomas Adès, celebrating his 50th birthday in 2021, and a Proms premiere from the prodigiously talented but neglected composer Ruth Gipps, born 100 years ago.
Petroc Trelawny presents a night of musical delight and discovery from the Royal Albert Hall.
THU 22:00 The Go-Between (b06cwkf5)
One of the most influential British novels of the 20th century, The Go-Between is a story of forbidden love, Edwardian strictures, betrayal and tragic naivety.
Told from the perspective of Leo Colston, a callow 12-year-old middle-class boy, the story starts when he is invited by upper-class school friend Marcus Maudsley to stay at his elegant family home for the blazing hot summer of 1900. Leo is instantly enthralled by Marcus's family, and most especially his beautiful and wilful older sister Marian. When Marcus is taken ill, Leo is left to his own devices, but finds himself alone and adrift in a world of alien social mores and adult concerns.
Gauche and anxious to please, Leo is slowly and unwittingly drawn into a web of deceit as Marian pursues an illicit and passionate affair with tenant farmer Ted Burgess, a man of much inferior social position whom she can never marry. Marian and Ted befriend the lonely and easily influenced Leo and use him to carry secret messages between them. Leo quickly grows friendly with Ted and worships Marian with a mixture of innocent love and incipient sexuality he barely understands. Only when he meets Hugh Trimingham, the kind, war-wounded aristocrat to whom Marian is promised, does Leo start to question his role as intermediary.
As Leo's 13th birthday approaches, Marian's moods fluctuate and the summer heat becomes more oppressive. Wholly unable to comprehend the true implications of the adult emotions seething around him, Leo sets in motion a chain of events that ultimately prove the catalyst for a shocking tragedy that will haunt him forever.
THU 23:30 Pride and Prejudice (m000yh1q)
The Bennet family of Longbourn are delighted to learn of the occupancy of nearby Netherfield Park by Charles Bingley, a wealthy young bachelor. Bingley develops an interest in Jane, the eldest of the five unmarried Bennet girls, but her sister Elizabeth is far from impressed by Bingley's haughty companion Mr Darcy.
THU 01:30 Motherland (m000w173)
Series 3
Episode 1
As a nit pandemic sweeps the school, Julia finds herself accused of triggering a second wave. Ostracised by the other mums, Julia needs to find a way back into their good books, so she throws a nit treatment party that brings everyone’s drama (and headlice) into her home.
The party reveals that Anne has some big news, Meg is facing a crisis and Kevin has committed a terrible crime of passion. As Amanda super-spreads the gossip, Liz waits for news about a career move – will she beat that 17-year-old to a job in the local shoe shop?
THU 02:00 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6pjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 02:30 Horizon (b037y0zf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:35 on Sunday]
FRIDAY 06 AUGUST 2021
FRI 19:00 BBC Proms (m000yhby)
2021
Saint-Saëns and Brahms’s Fourth Symphony
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales present a concert featuring composers who found inspiration in music that came before them.
Musical echoes resonate in a programme featuring Brahms’ Fourth Symphony and a string arrangement of Purcell’s timeless masterpiece, Dido’s Lament, as well as a performance of Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto by Guy Johnston.
Join Suzy Klein and her guest, double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku, for an evening that also celebrates the world premiere of a new piece by Elizabeth Ogonek and the 150th birthday of the Royal Albert Hall.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000yhc0)
Jakki Brambles present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 13 June 1991 and featuring Sonia, All About Eve and Lenny Kravitz.
FRI 21:30 Top of the Pops (m000yhc2)
Nicky Campbell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 20 June 1991 and featuring Rebel MC, Kenny Thomas and Bette Midler.
FRI 22:00 Jazz Legends in Their Own Words (b044yqv1)
A journey into the BBC archives unearthing glorious performances and candid interviews from the golden age of jazz. Featuring some of the greatest names in American music, including the godfather of New Orleans jazz Louis Armstrong, the King of Swing Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.
FRI 23:00 Louis Armstrong in Concert (m000yhc4)
First broadcast on the centenary of his birth, legendary jazz trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong in performance.
FRI 23:55 Jazz Horns Gold (b01sg8fl)
Jazz Horns Gold blows its own trumpet (and saxophone and nose flute) with a cool array of BBC archive from the jazz vaults.
Legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz and Rahsaan Roland Kirk play boldly alongside new stars who emerged in the 80s like Wynton Marsalis and the young jazz disciples of the 21st century such as Joshua Redman and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. Not forgetting the Brits including Acker Bilk, John Dankworth, Courtney Pine and John Surman and the late, lamented Andy Hamilton. Archive sources include Jazz 625, the Late Show, Later with Jools Holland and Crackerjack.
Blow man blow!
FRI 00:55 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b015j8g7)
Series 2
Episode 2
The celebration of the singing songwriting troubadours of the 1960s and 70s continues with a further trawl through the BBC archives for timeless and classic performances.
Tom Paxton starts proceedings with a rare black and white performance of his classic song The Last Thing on My Mind filmed in 1964. Also making an appearance is the 'fifth Beatle', Harry Nilsson, with a performance from his BBC concert in 1972. Other gems from this year include Canadian Gordon Lightfoot, songwriting duo Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan as Stealers Wheel and the most popular acoustic act of the 1970s, the gentle, bespectacled John Denver.
From the Basil Brush Show in 1973, Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance make a surprise appearance. Californian Beach Boy Bruce Johnston offers a sublime version of Disney Girls, and Joan Armatrading injects a bit of brio on the Old Grey Whistle Test. Rounding it all off is six-time Grammy winner Billy Joel.
FRI 01:55 Top of the Pops (m000yhc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:25 Top of the Pops (m000yhc2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
FRI 02:55 Jazz Legends in Their Own Words (b044yqv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]