The undaunted splendour of the sky, trees and a lake, beautifully portrayed in another Bob Ross creation.
The village of Milton Abbas in Dorset perfectly captures our romantic notion of what the idyllic English village should look like. But as archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals, behind it lurks a history of one man's wealth and power. With help from local historians, Ben learns how the local landowner in the 18th century destroyed a nearby town, uprooting its residents, because it ruined the view from his house. The landscape was transformed and a new village was built as part of his showpiece estate.
Sitcom about a couple who try to live self-sufficiently in Surbiton. Tom and Barbara are visited by the press.
The pilot episode of the classic comedy series about the inmates of HM Slade Prison. For wily old lag Fletcher, en route to incarceration, the prospect of spending the next five years studying woodwork and botany in the halls as a guest of the Queen provokes only one thought - escape.
To really understand Rome, you must understand its people - or the mob, as they were known in ancient times. As Giorgio Locatelli and Andrew Graham-Dixon explore Italy's iconic capital, they are in search of the generations of ordinary Romans who have left their mark on the city's culture and gastronomy.
Giorgio insists that they travel, in true Roman style, by moped. They start their journey at the Trevi fountain, immortalised in Fellini's La Dolce Vita - which itself featured countless locals as extras to capture the real faces of Rome. Giorgio leads Andrew to some of his personal favourite districts, including Garbatella, Italy's first garden suburb, with its vibrant market stalls and village architecture, and introduces him to the simplest Roman food - 'the true food of the people'. He also insists on showing him how spaghetti carbonara should really be made - 'add cream and I'll kill you'.
In turn, Andrew introduces Giorgio to some of the most moving pictures by Caravaggio, 'the painter of the people', in what was once the
city's foremost church for poor pilgrims - and they set out together to enjoy one of the great erotic masterpieces of Baroque painting. La Dolce Vita still exists, you just have to know where to find it.
Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli continue their exploration of Rome off the beaten track. In search of its Papal, Renaissance and Baroque history, they discover that it is visible all around them. In Rome, everything has been kept, from broken cooking pots from the time of the empire that piled up to form one of the city's hills to the gastronomy, art and architecture created not just by successive popes and Caesars but by ordinary Romans.
As well as marvelling at the mosaics in the 12th-century Basilica di San Clemente, Andrew takes Giorgio to its deepest basement and an ancient Roman schoolteacher's classroom. Then it is on to a true architectural and civic wonder - the vast Testaccio Slaughterhouse, where workers were once paid in offal which they took home and used as the basis of delicious dishes that are still sold in Rome today. Giorgio takes Andrew to his favourite Trippa stall to sample some of the best. Travelling to the Palazzo Colonna, Andrew in turn wants to show Giorgio just one painting - the Beaneater by Carracci, a Baroque masterpiece that makes an everyday subject extraordinary. Finally, together they discover Rome's Fascist architecture, which might have been destroyed anywhere else, but here remains standing in a city that houses all of its history. To understand the truth about the past, they argue, you have to taste all its layers - just like one of Giorgio's lasagnes.
Francesco da Mosto takes to the Italian road again in search of Shakespeare in Italy. From Romeo and Juliet to the jealousy of Othello, Shakespeare used the land of love to tell his most passionate stories about falling in love. Needless to say, along the way Francesco adds some insights of his own and revels in claims that not only did Shakespeare visit Italy, but also was born in Sicily. It's a whole new take on the Bard!
Second of a two-part documentary in which Jonathan Meades makes the case for 20th-century concrete Brutalist architecture, which is once again being appreciated by a younger generation. Focusing initially on the massive influence of Le Corbusier's post-war work, he reclaims the reputation of buildings that, once much maligned, he argues stood for optimism and grandeur. Delivered in his signature provocative and confrontational manner, Meades's film draws on extraordinary buildings from all over Europe in a lavish, sometimes surreal, visual collage.
Julia moves out of her comfort zone when she reluctantly invites the entire class to her daughter's birthday party. With her mum still refusing to help out she relies on Liz's party hacks and Kevin's entertaining skills. She organises events for a living anyway, so this will be a breeze.
A school fundraiser is not Julia's idea of an evening out but somehow she finds herself heavily involved in order to impress a former colleague and new mum crush. Kevin has a battle with the cloakroom and despite Anne's protests, Liz takes care of the bar.
WEDNESDAY 25 AUGUST 2021
WED 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000np09)
Series 3
Mountain Exhibition
Mountains seem to sing in harmony with the sky as Bob Ross’s brushes tell a story in breathtaking hues and depth.
WED 19:30 Canals: The Making of a Nation (b06822p8)
Heritage
Liz McIvor explores the heritage of our canal network. After years of decline in the postwar period much of the network was eventually restored. Once places of labour and industry, they became places of leisure and tranquillity. The newly renovated canals were increasingly popular for boating holidaymakers. Liz visits the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales and travels to Birmingham where canals have become catalysts for property development and urban regeneration. Canals offer so many benefits today. Perhaps, Liz suggests, it is time to construct a few more?
WED 20:00 Earth's Great Rivers (b0bx73pk)
Series 1
Amazon
This episode is a pioneering exploration of the latest discoveries concerning the Amazon - by far the greatest river on earth. It is the river of superlatives, flowing more than 4,000 miles from the Andes to the Atlantic. Its 1,100 tributaries drain the greatest river basin on the planet and along its incredible journey it collects and transports one-fifth of the world's fresh water. Its outflow into the Atlantic Ocean per second is greater than the next six rivers combined. It truly lives up to its mighty reputation.
Due to its enormous size, it still hides secrets - it truly is the mysterious river of myth and legend, and it really does have monsters living in it, like giant electric eels and botos - the world's largest species of river dolphin. For most of its length, it is impossible to see into its murky waters. However, there are a few secret springs, bubbling with water as clear as gin, providing an unparalleled window into the Amazon's rich and spectacular underwater world.
One exclusive location is the Blue Lagoon, home to an anxious young couple - a newly discovered species of cichlid. These fish take their babies out for a swim in this natural aquarium bounded by an ominous underwater curtain of dark river water. Camera traps reveal some of the infamous predators lurking within, like freshwater stingrays and Amazon barracuda. Prowling nearby are giant electric eels capable of generating more than 500 volts, who give the cameraman a run for his money.
The team scoured the entire river system for its most beautiful locations. The rocky terraces of the Cristalino River were the perfect setting to try out float cams which enabled the team to join a family of giant river otters on a fishing foray. In Peru, there is a newly mapped Amazon tributary that boils! Scientists believe it is the longest stretch of thermal river in the world, creating a snake of steam over the canopy at dawn. The show joins shaman Juan Flores as he prays to the water spirits and makes medicine from the river's sacred waters and medicinal plants he collects from the jungle nearby.
Every year the Amazon floods on an almost unbelievable scale. Stretches of the river can rise by ten metres and the weight of so much water temporarily sinks the earth's crust by three inches! GPS drone technology reveals this gigantic transformation as never before, transporting viewers through the many vistas and atmospheres of the great river, capturing swathes of rainforest steaming in the dawn, and revealing the incredible expanse of the immense river which, in some places, stretches far beyond the horizon. It creates the Amazon's legendary flooded forests, home to the hoatzin, or stinkbird, so named for its particular and pungent smell - they feed on a diet of leaves and are basically flying compost heaps.
On the shores of the river town of Alter do Chao are some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in Brazil. Known as the Caribbean of the Amazon, it hosts a dolphin-themed carnival complete with hundreds of sequined dancers, spectacular floats and colourful processions. When all this water finally reaches the sea, it creates the last and newest secret world of the giant river, the Amazon reef. Spectacular drone footage captures the spectacle of the Amazon's fresh water floating over the surface of the ocean as a vast green cloud (which can cover more than a million square kilometres).
High-tech submarines allow cameras to reveal the wonders of the Amazon algal reef, not just packed with technicolour fish but also home to 'gardens' of giant sponges, many a thousand years old and a metre across. The sponges feed on the nutrients that the Amazon has collected on it's incredible journey. No other river shapes the landscape, and even the ocean, in the way the Amazon can, and what is so fantastic is that it is still one of the few remaining healthy great rivers on earth.
WED 21:00 H2O: The Molecule That Made Us (m000z2ct)
Series 1
Pulse
Pulse investigates the inseparable bond between water and life. It reveals how a few drops of rain can cause deserts to bloom through a time-lapse sequence that took a decade to make, follows the journey of a molecule of water through trees in the Amazon to create giant rivers in the air and maps how the great animal migrations follow water around the planet.
But the world is changing. Drought-chasing scientists examine what happens when the pulse falters, showing how the flow of water is driven by its relationship with life.
WED 21:50 Aquarela (m000z2cy)
A cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water that provides a visceral wake-up call for humankind that we are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of earth’s most precious element.
From the precarious frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angel Falls, water’s many personalities are captured in startling cinematic clarity.
WED 23:15 Motherland (p05j376v)
Series 1
Episode 3
A pool party ruins Julia's plans before an important event at work. When an attractive man leaves his wallet in the newsagents, Liz takes it in the hopes of returning it and securing a date. And a new dad on the scene who has a history with Amanda puts Kevin's nose out of joint.
WED 23:45 Motherland (p05j39b9)
Series 1
Episode 4
While Paul is away, he has the perfect solution to aid Julia: he sends his parents to help. Luckily, Kevin has a huge fondness for the elderly and assists Julia in her in-laws' wrangling. Meanwhile, Amanda has a clear-out and reluctantly gives Liz her old coat, which seems to have an effect on our Liz.
WED 00:10 Motherland (p05j39xn)
Series 1
Episode 5
Anne's new car propels her into the limelight as the mums try to get in on her new car pool. Kevin finds himself in the new role of confidant as Amanda shares a deep secret. And Liz and Julia's friendship is under fire as Liz realises she is just a 'mum' friend.
WED 00:40 Motherland (p05j3br1)
Series 1
Episode 6
Julia's childcare problems are solved after she finds the perfect nanny, but her friendship with Liz is strained. Amanda is keeping a low profile after Kevin blurted out her secret. Liz visits Lee's new partner to give her some advice. The school caretaker is in hospital, but the mums have lost their ringleader, and there's nobody to organise a card.
WED 01:10 Motherland (p07mvqj6)
Series 2
No Mum Left Behind
As a new school year begins, a new mum at the school gates attracts the attention of Julia, Liz and Kevin. Amanda has all the gossip and tells them Meg is a high-flying businesswoman with five kids and a sexy silver-fox husband.
Meanwhile, Julia is struggling to keep her head above water at work when she is offered the choice of promotion or redundancy. When Meg invites the gang for drinks, they go along against Julia’s better judgement and the evening takes a surprising turn, leading Julia to make a big decision.
WED 01:40 Canals: The Making of a Nation (b06822p8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:10 H2O: The Molecule That Made Us (m000z2ct)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 26 AUGUST 2021
THU 19:00 Cricket: Today at the Test (m000z2dy)
England v India 2021
Third Test: Day Two Highlights
Cricket highlights from Headingley of the second day of the third Test between India and England.
THU 20:00 BBC Proms (m000z2f0)
2021
Chineke! with Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Tom Service hosts a Prom bursting with premieres from around the world, performed by Britain’s foremost diverse ensemble, the Chineke! Orchestra.
Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason gives the Proms premiere of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Overture to Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast and First Symphony in A Minor sit alongside the Proms premiere of African Suite for Strings by Nigerian composer Fela Sowande.
Conducted by Kalena Bovell, the Prom shines a light on rarely heard composers of African heritage who were huge stars in the first half of the 20th century but were subsequently written out of classical music performance history.
THU 22:05 Silence (m000b1x5)
In 1640, two young Jesuit priests travel from Portugal to Japan on a mission to track down their former spiritual mentor, Father Ferreira, who is rumoured to have disappeared after renouncing Christianity. The mission puts their own faith to the test.
The third film in Martin Scorsese's trilogy about faith.
THU 00:35 Motherland (p07mvr9b)
Series 2
Soft Opening
Having resigned from her job in PR, Julia tries to adapt to life as a freelancer and reluctantly agrees to help Amanda launch her new shop even though she believes it is nothing but a vanity project. The soft opening is a success but a careless online post threatens to destroy her good work.
Meanwhile, Liz rails against the gentrification of the area and the loss of her beloved kebab shop and Kevin reveals he has written an unusual children’s book, which he wants Amanda to sell in her shop.
THU 01:05 Motherland (p07mvrqr)
Series 2
Mother's Load
Julia finds that working from home is impossible due to all the tasks she has to do for her family. Meg tells her this is her 'mother’s load' - all the things that no-one else will do but that need to be done to keep the home running. Julia removes herself to the cafe to work but even there finds that it is not that easy to get her work done. A possible solution presents itself when she shares a table with a fellow freelancer, but is Julia taking advantage of him?
THU 01:35 Motherland (p07mvsgm)
Series 2
The Purge
Kevin reluctantly agrees to host a last-minute Halloween party despite the fact that he’s had no time to prepare. Meanwhile at the school gates the mums are all talking about a celebrity who has moved into the neighbourhood - Lee Mead from Holby.
As this is Julia’s favourite programme she is determined to meet him and decides to take all the kids trick or treating hoping that they will find his house. Liz tags along as she has been stood up by a date and Anne is in attendance trying to make sure that the kids are safe. However by the time they reach Kevin’s one of the kids is missing - Amanda’s little boy Manus. Despite the fact that the happy teatime trick or treat atmosphere has now turned violent and terrifying Liz, Kevin and Julia must venture back out into the streets to search for him through terrifying hordes of teenage zombies and mutant nuns.
THU 02:05 Motherland (p07mvszc)
Series 2
Le Weekend
The gang are delighted when Kevin books a cottage for them to spend half term holidays in the countryside with all their kids. But it is not as nice as the pictures online, and Kevin seems to have miscalculated the number of bedrooms.
When it transpires that Julia has failed to bring any booze, the atmosphere takes a turn for the worse. All hopes rest on Kevin’s plan to cook an event meal by roasting a whole pig in a pit he has dug in the garden. As the long night wears on, tempers begin to fray. Meanwhile, Liz catches the eye of a handsome shepherd.
THU 02:35 Motherland (p07mvtbr)
Series 2
Good Job
Julia struggles to abide by the rules and clashes with Mrs Lamb as she attends her first ever school sports day. Apparently it's no longer acceptable to cheer for individual kids, and you can only offer generic support like 'good job'. Over at the Kidiverse soft play centre, Kevin is devastated that an important work presentation means he will miss the dads' race. Liz worries that her new boyfriend is blanking her. And Anne discovers something that leads to a nasty surprise for Amanda.
THU 03:05 Motherland (p09gv90z)
Series 3
Episode 4
It’s time for the Year 6 school trip, and Julia, Liz and Meg find themselves on the coach journey from hell with humourless school secretary Mrs Lamb and clueless teaching assistant Ms Vaughn.
It all kicks off when a boy banned for bad behaviour is allowed on the coach along with his mother Ashley, and Liz decides to play the hero.
Meanwhile, Kevin takes his driving test, and Amanda pivots her lifestyle brand Hygge Tygge online. She manages to persuade Kevin to help pack up the shop - with unimaginable consequences.
FRIDAY 27 AUGUST 2021
FRI 19:00 BBC Proms (m000z2j0)
2021
Joshua Bell’s Seasons – Vivaldi vs Piazzolla
American violinist Joshua Bell and the string orchestra of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields mix up the familiar with the unfamiliar, 18th-century Italy with 20th-century Argentina, baroque with tango, as they interweave Vivaldi’s famous Four Seasons with Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.
Argentinian musician Guillermo Willis joins presenter Josie d’Arby for this celebration of the centenary year of Astor Piazzolla - and of virtuosic talent, past and present.
FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (m000z2j2)
Jakki Brambles presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 18 July 1991 and featuring Cathy Dennis, Little Angels and Kim Appleby.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000z2j4)
Mark Goodier presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 25 July 1991 and featuring The Shamen, Cher and Bryan Adams.
FRI 21:30 When Bob Marley Came to Britain (m000m7ht)
In the 1970s, Bob Marley rose from humble beginnings to become a global superstar. It was a journey that took place not just in his homeland of Jamaica but also in Britain - the place he came to regard as his second home.
Featuring rarely seen archive and interviews with people who met him, this documentary examines Marley’s special relationship with Britain and reveals how his presence influenced British politics, culture and identity during a time of massive social and civil unrest in the UK - and how his universal message of one love and unity helped inspire a generation of black British youth.
This documentary also takes a revealing look at how Marley spent his time while he was in Britain – from the houses he lived in to football kickabouts in Battersea Park (Marley is revealed to have been a Tottenham Hotspur fan) and visits to the UK’s growing Rastafarian community, including secret gigs in the north of England.
It was in Britain that Marley established himself as an international artist, recorded some of his most successful albums and performed some of his most memorable concerts.
The film features interviews with people who met and worked with Bob Marley in the UK - and whose lives were changed by meeting him – including photographer Dennis Morris (who accompanied Marley on tour), Aswad star Brinsley Forde, Locksley Gishie from The Cimarons and film-maker Don Letts. Also interviewed is reggae legend Marcia Griffiths of Bob Marley’s vocal group The I-Threes.
There are also memories of the most important gigs he played in Britain as told by those who were there to see it happen, including early Wailers gigs in small pubs and clubs when the band were still largely unknown, a now legendary acoustic performance in the school gym of a Peckham high school and a triumphant show at London’s Lyceum Theatre that helped propel Marley to global fame.
FRI 22:30 Reggae at the BBC (b00ymljd)
An archive celebration of great reggae performances filmed in the BBC Studios, drawn from programmes such as The Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Later... with Jools Holland, and featuring the likes of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Gregory Isaacs, Desmond Dekker, Burning Spear, Althea and Donna, Dennis Brown, Buju Banton and many more.
FRI 00:00 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01gymg9)
Reggae - Stir It Up
By the start of the 70s, the Windrush generation of immigrants who came to the UK from the Caribbean and West Indies were an established part of the British population and their influence and culture permeated UK society.
This second programme rejoices and revels in the reggae music exported from Jamaica and the home-grown reggae-influenced sounds that sprouted from the cities of England. Reggae's dominance of the UK charts is celebrated with performances from Ken Boothe, Dave and Ansel Collins, Steel Pulse, Althea and Donna, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Janet Kay, Susan Cadogan and The Specials.
FRI 00:30 Reggae Fever: David Rodigan (b0brzpsb)
David Rodigan's unlikely career as a reggae broadcaster and DJ has developed in parallel with the evolution of Jamaican music in the UK. His passion and his profession have given him a privileged, insiders' view of the UK's love affair with Jamaican music that began in the 1950s. His constant championing of it has afforded him national treasure status with generations of British Jamaicans and all lovers of reggae music.
This is a film about the career of David Rodigan but it's also a window through which to see a wider human story about social change in the UK: a story of immigration and integration, and music's role within it.
The beginning of his career conjures up a forgotten era when reggae was reviled by liberal, hippyish music fans because of its association with skinheads. At one point, his fellow students agreed to share a house with him only if Rodigan agreed not to play reggae. Instead, he would haunt London's specialist record shops and sneak out to Jamaican clubs alone.
His break first came on BBC Radio London, where his knowledge and infectious enthusiasm won him the gig. Since that first break, he's had shows on Capital, Kiss and now BBC Radio 1Xtra and BBC Radio 2. In the 80s, his radio show became such a Sunday lunchtime fixture in London's West Indian households that it was colloquially known as 'rice 'n' peas'. Bob Marley personally chose Rodigan's show to play out the world exclusive of Could You Be Loved.
As well as being a DJ, Rodigan also began to 'soundclash' on a global stage. This musical competition where crew members from opposing sound systems pit their skills against each other involves the playing of records in turn, with the crowd ultimately deciding who has 'killed' the other crew, by playing the better chosen track. But standard versions of tracks don't cut it in a clash, where the true currency is 'dubplates' - versions of tracks recut, often by the original artist, with lyrics changed to praise the playing crew or diss the opposing one.
In Jamaica, after he began clashing live on national radio with DJ Barry G, he became so famous that his name was even adopted by a Kingston gangster. He began competing on the World Soundclash stage alongside the likes of Jamaica's Stone Love and Japan's Mighty Crown as the soundclash became a global phenomenon. David is probably the only person ever to have been awarded an MBE and the title of World Clash Champion.
In recent years, Rodigan's live DJ appearances have started attracting a far younger audience. It can be seen as a reflection of the way different forms of music from the different cultures that have arrived in Britain over the last 70 years have integrated, taken root and spawned new scenes, attitudes and tastes.
As well as appearing at student unions across the country and continuing to clash by himself, he's also now a part of clash crew Rebel Sound, first assembled for Red Bull Culture Clash in 2014. In this environment, David found himself amidst a melting pot of beats, loops and popping, infectious bass-driven riddims - playing to the kids who are discovering him and therefore reggae music through other artists.
Now in his 40th professional year, David is quite rightly celebrating, his passion for the music he loves burning as brightly as ever. This film is a testament to this most unlikely of reggae aficionados - a celebration of a man whose story is strangely intertwined with not only the evolution of music in this country but also the evolution of the culture.
FRI 01:30 Top of the Pops (m000z2j2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (m000z2j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:30 When Bob Marley Came to Britain (m000m7ht)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]