B4

RADIO-LISTS: BBC FOUR
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/

SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2008

SAT 19:00 London to Brighton in Four Minutes (b00dttsc)
An undercranked film of a train journey from London to Brighton. The camera is positioned on the front of the train and nothing is in shot except the view forward.

SAT 19:05 Crowdie and Cream (b00fw608)
Episode 1

Tha Fionnlagh ceithir bliadhna a dh'aois agus chan eil cuisean a'dol leis anns na Hearadh far am bheil e fuireach comhla ri pharantan . Se canan fuadan a th'aca anns a sgoil agus ged a tha partaidh a'dol anns a bhaile tha e ro og airson a dhol ann. Ach eil eisin a'dol a' leigeal le sin maill a chuir air?

The late Finlay J. Macdonald's popular classic trilogy comes to television. Gruth is Uachdar is a timeless rite-of-passage story about a young boy, Finlay, and his family's efforts to make a home in one of the most magnificent - and uncompromising - landscapes in Europe. The high mountains and white shell-sand beaches of Harris form a breathtaking natural setting for this bitter-sweet tale of boyhood. It is 1930. Finlay, four years old, nearly burns down his family's half-built new home.

As the first episode unfolds, Finlay hears the history of the family, evicted during the Clearances. Too young to attend an engagement party in the new village, Finlay decides to evade his babysitter.

SAT 20:05 Tess of the D'Urbervilles (b00dn8kb)
Episode 2

Second in the four-part drama series based on the novel by Thomas Hardy. Tess returns home in confusion and shame after being seduced by her manipulative 'cousin' Alec D'Urberville.

Her baby, whom she christens Sorrow, is a sickly child, but Tess finds work on a dairy farm where she meets the handsome Angel Clare again. Can he offer her the love and deliverance she craves?

SAT 21:05 France on a Plate (b00fvfmf)
Why does food mean so much more to the French than it does to us British? One reason is that from the time of Louis XIV to the present day, French kings, emperors, and presidents have used it as a tool of power and prestige.

In this unusual programme, cultural historian Andrew Hussey takes us on a gastronomic tour through French history - from Versailles, the spiritual centre of French power politics, and the birthplace of French cuisine, via the French Revolution and the creation of the Michelin guide, through to nouvelle cuisine and ethnic fusion food.

For Hussey, France emerges as 'the Republic of Food', a place where the health of both its democracy and its civilisation can at any one time be gauged by how well its people are being fed. Some of France's top chefs, including Paul Bocuse and Pierre Gagnaire are among those he meets on the way.

SAT 22:05 Maigret (b00fvfmh)
The Shadow in the Courtyard

Legendary French sleuth Maigret is called to the Place des Vosges, where the owner of a serum company has been found shot to death while seated at his desk. Behind him the unlocked safe lies empty and Maigret soon becomes convinced that the answer to the robbery and murder lies among the residents of the block of apartments.

SAT 23:40 Mad Men (b009s6q7)
Series 1

Babylon

Drama series which takes an unflinching look at the world of advertising in 1960s New York. Adultery is the new fashion at the agency - the ladies try on lipstick while their husbands dally. Peggy's ideas get noticed during a pitch meeting and her future begins to look more promising. Don asks Rachel's advice about an ad campaign.

SAT 00:25 The Hard Sell (b009lv1t)
House and Home

Phill Jupitus narrates a series exploring 50 years of British TV advertising. In the world of advertising few items are given a harder sell than household products. The liquids, soaps, sprays and powders on which a multi-million pound industry has been built have revolutionised domestic life and the marketing of these labour-saving devices was the foundation on which the whole industry was created. Contributors include Tim Bell, Sam Delaney, Nicola Mendelsohn, Rula Lenska, Tamara Ingram and Dave Prowse.

SAT 00:55 France on a Plate (b00fvfmf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:05 today]

SAT 01:55 Tess of the D'Urbervilles (b00dn8kb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:05 today]

SAT 02:55 The Hard Sell (b009lv1t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:25 today]

SAT 03:25 France on a Plate (b00fvfmf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:05 today]

SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2008

SUN 19:00 Travels with Vasari (b00fqvnc)
Episode 1

The first part of an exploration of the extraordinary achievement of the chronicler of the Italian Renaissance, Giorgio Vasari, author of the monumental Lives of the Artists.

On a spectacular journey through Renaissance Italy, Andrew Graham-Dixon searches for the shadowy figure who wrote one of the most important books on art and looks at some dazzling works, including masterpieces of the early Renaissance by Giotto, Masaccio and Donatello.

SUN 20:00 Vivaldi's Women (b0074sbz)
In the early 18th century, Antonio Vivaldi composed music for La Pieta in Venice, a home for children who were abandoned at birth. The institution had its own all-female orchestra and choir who provided entertainment in the church for visiting tourists. This film tells the story of that extraordinary partnership through the eyes of a modern group of female singers and musicians as they travel to Venice to recreate Vivaldi's music in the Pieta as it sounded 300 years ago.

SUN 21:00 Vatel (b00fvg6w)
Desperate to impress King Louis XIV, a prince invites him to his palace hoping for a commission to the military. The lavish festivities are capably overseen by the prince's steward Vatel, but as the prince continues to ask more and more of Vatel, the steward finds himself attracted to the prince's mistress Anna de Monatausier. Under the scrutiny and stress of the public functions, can their romance blossom?

SUN 22:40 France on a Plate (b00fvfmf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:05 on Saturday]

SUN 23:40 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fqq3t)
Series 4

Episode 2

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen, including capsule reviews of the week's highs and lows.

In an advertising special, there are reports from a mysterious insider dishing the dirt on all that is bad in the industry, plus a potted history of advertising. Brooker reveals the changing psychology used to keep people buying, and how the portrayal of men and women in advertising has changed. Plus, poet Tim Key gives us an advert-related verse.

SUN 00:10 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00drr0x)
Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg divides his time between broadcasting and writing. He has presented The South Bank Show since 1978 and his best-selling books include A Time To Dance, The Routes of English and the semi-autobiographical Remember Me. He discusses growing up in Cumbria, the death of his first wife, and the state of arts television, with Mark Lawson.

SUN 01:10 Travels with Vasari (b00fqvnc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUN 02:10 Vivaldi's Women (b0074sbz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

SUN 03:10 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00drr0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:10 today]

MONDAY 01 DECEMBER 2008

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00fvgdl)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

MON 19:30 France on a Plate (b00fvfmf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:05 on Saturday]

MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00fvgdn)
Series 1

Episode 12

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take players so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital. It is all about making connections between things which may appear, at first glance, not to be connected at all.

MON 21:00 The Department Store (b00fvgdq)
JT Morgan

Series in which filmmaker Richard Macer visits the high street independent department stores that are fighting back against the big brands.

The oldest department store in Wales is battling to survive or nearly 80 people will lose their jobs. Macer spent six months at JT Morgan's in Swansea as the shop fought to stay open. They just needed a good Christmas to secure the shop's future, but would they get it?

MON 22:00 Maigret (b00fz7hv)
Maigret at the Doctor

Maigret travels to Neuilly to investigate the mysterious death of a servant girl who had been working at the home of a local doctor. The case takes a dramatic turn when the autopsy reveals a horrific cause of death and that the girl had been four months pregnant.

MON 23:30 Vatel (b00fvg6w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]

MON 01:10 The Department Store (b00fvgdq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

MON 02:10 France on a Plate (b00fvfmf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:05 on Saturday]

MON 03:10 The Department Store (b00fvgdq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 02 DECEMBER 2008

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00fvgj1)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

TUE 19:30 Versailles Stories (b0074sht)
Putting on a Show

Series exploring the history and modern evolution of one of France's great palaces through the stories of the people who work there today.

The spectacular height of the summer season at Versailles is the Fetes de Nuit, a six-night extravaganza of music and horsemanship rooted in a tradition going back to the time of Louis XIV. This programme goes behind the scenes as 70 performers and 100 horses prepare for the event

The event is the creative vision of Artistic Director Bartabas, the man described by many as 'half man, half horse'. For six weeks the young, mainly female, dressage riders de-camp from their permanent home in the chateau's historic stable block, where they are students at Versailles' exclusive riding academy, to temporary tented accommodation in the heart of the palace grounds. Here from dawn to dusk they are subject to Bartabas' sharp tongue as he drums home his exacting standards of horseman ship and artistry.

To stage the spectacular performance, and in another first for the centuries-old chateau, a ten and a half thousand-seat stadium is being built across Versailles' historic Neptune's Basin. It's a huge build and one that has to fit around rehearsals, and Bartabas' whim.

TUE 20:00 The Thirties in Colour (b00csk9m)
Adventures in the Americas

Four-part series using rare, private and commercial colour film and photographs to give poignant and surprising insights into the 1930s.

One of the most prolific collectors of colour film in the period was the American industrialist Harry Wright. A self-made millionaire with a passion for film, he acquired and commissioned hundreds of films, which he screened for guests at the private cinema he had built in his home in Mexico City.

The programme examines Wright's extraordinary colour films of Africa and Central America, including his so-called Ethnographic Series of Unknown Mexican Indians, a unique visual record of the lives and customs of indigenous peoples living in the remote rural regions of Mexico.

TUE 21:00 Only Connect (b00fvgdn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]

TUE 21:30 Flight of the Conchords Special: One Night Stand (b00801jb)
The duo of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement perform several of their best and silliest songs, including Business Time, Jenny and Albi the Racist Dragon.

TUE 22:00 That Mitchell and Webb Look (b009gd02)
Series 2

Episode 4

Off-beat comedy sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Featuring a clip from the first ever daytime TV talk show, The Mrs Patricia Wilberforce Programme; a trip to the not very normal theme Park Flamingo World, where the motto is 'Of course they're real flamingos'; and some explorers debate whether Virginia mightn't be quite an odd name for a colony.

TUE 22:30 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fvgj5)
Series 4

Episode 3

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen, including capsule reviews of the week's highs and lows.

In a writers' special, Brooker is joined by some of the best in the business to talk about how you make a TV programme actually happen. The people and pens behind Doctor Who, Father Ted, Peep Show, Life on Mars, Shameless and many more lead us through the joys and pitfalls of writing, with the added benefit of some of the best bits from the programmes.

TUE 23:20 Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me (b009s7gv)
Candid and poignant drama about the comedian Frankie Howerd and the relationship with his long-term, long-suffering manager, and gay partner, Dennis Heymer. Despite his overtly camp persona, Howerd kept his companionship with Heymer under wraps for 35 years, until his death in 1992. Yet through career disaster, social stigma, illegality, numerous infidelities and Howerd's own deep-seated issues about his homosexuality, their love endured.

TUE 00:20 Only Connect (b00fvgdn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]

TUE 00:50 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fvgj5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]

TUE 01:40 Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me (b009s7gv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:20 today]

TUE 02:40 Only Connect (b00fvgdn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]

TUE 03:10 Flight of the Conchords Special: One Night Stand (b00801jb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]

WEDNESDAY 03 DECEMBER 2008

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00fvgq6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

WED 19:30 Nation on Film (b007960s)
Series 1

Flying with Cobham

David Jason narrates the story of one trail-blazing pilot in the 1920s and his mission to get the British public airborne.

Alan Cobham sought every available means to achieve his goal, and moving footage became a vehicle for his propaganda. This documentary uses rare footage of his crusade to discover whether it succeeded or not.

WED 20:00 Francesco's Venice (b0078sny)
Beauty

Documentary series telling the story of the birth of Venice, one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world, presented by Francesco da Mosto. The golden age of art and architecture arrived and it was the moment the Venice we know today emerged - when wooden houses transformed into stone and marble palaces covered in gold and jewel-encrusted palaces lined the Grand Canal.

The fishermen of early Venice were changing, turning into princely merchants who traded throughout the east and west to become some of the richest patrons of art. Fine paintings and sculpture came to adorn every home as Venetians vied to impress.

This was the age of Venice producing the world's most famous artists and most heroic buildings as Titian and Palladio transformed the look and reputation of the city.

Meanwhile, a calamity hovered over the city, threatening to engulf it and ultimately take Venice to the very brink of disaster - the plague. No one, rich or poor would escape and the city would be left in ruins.

WED 21:00 Travels with Vasari (b00fvgq8)
Episode 2

Concluding the exploration of the extraordinary achievement of the chronicler of the Italian Renaissance, Giorgio Vasari, author of the monumental Lives of the Artists.

On a spectacular journey through Renaissance Italy, Andrew Graham-Dixon searches for the shadowy figure who wrote one of the most important books on art and looks at some dazzling works, including masterpieces of the early Renaissance by Giotto, Masaccio and Donatello.

WED 22:00 36 (b00fvgqb)
French thriller in which two policemen become embroiled in an increasingly bitter race to secure promotion. The detectives are trying to track down a violent gang of bank robbers in Paris, but their personal ambitions begin to cloud their judgement as each conspires against the other.

WED 23:45 Travels with Vasari (b00fvgq8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WED 00:45 Francesco's Venice (b0078sny)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

WED 01:45 Vivaldi's Women (b0074sbz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Sunday]

WED 02:45 Travels with Vasari (b00fvgq8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THURSDAY 04 DECEMBER 2008

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00fvh1g)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

THU 19:40 The New Avengers (b00fypqj)
Series 1

The Midas Touch

The murder of Steed's old adversary Hong Kong Harry leads the team to Professor Turner and his creation Midas, an Adonis who is a carrier of every disease known to man, and whose very touch leads to instant death.

THU 20:30 Beeching's Tracks (b00fw4n6)
London and South East

Edwina Currie takes a journey across London and the South East to examine the legacy left behind by one of the most notorious men in British railway history, Dr Beeching. She meets the people and places affected by his cuts and discovers how, 40 years later, they have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

THU 21:00 Growing Babies (b00fvh1j)
War in the Womb

Laverne Antrobus investigates the theory of foetal-maternal conflict, an idea championed by Harvard evolutionary biologist Professor David Haig and controversially believed by some to be to blame for a wide range of behavioural and psychological disorders such as Tourettes, depression and autism.

On a biological level at least, the odyssey of pregnancy is dogged by conflict. It begins with the battle between 500 million sperm to reach the single egg, through the aggressive tactics employed by the cells of the placenta as they invade the wall of the uterus, to the escalation of hormones in later pregnancy that have been likened by some to a kind of hormonal cold war between mother and baby.

Antrobus discovers how the symptoms of pre-eclampsia in the mother are driven by the foetus lashing out for survival when the placenta begins to fail. She meets Dr Ananth Kuramanchi, the scientist who believes he has found the smoking gun of pre-eclampsia - a protein produced by foetal tissue that is capable of totally remodelling the maternal bloodstream to suit the foetus's goals.

Finally, Antrobus explores how conflict in the womb permeates the foetal genome as she investigates one of the most recent discoveries in genetics, genomic imprinting. She discovers how the genes of mother and father employ strategies of cunning and subterfuge to suit their own selfish ends.

THU 22:00 The Department Store (b00fvgdq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]

THU 23:00 BBC Four Sessions (b0074n0d)
Salif Keita

Singer-songwriter Salif Keita performs songs from his album Moffou at Islington's Union Chapel. Includes a profile of the man widely regarded as being one of the founders of the Afro-pop genre and who received a Grammy nomination for his first album Amen.

THU 00:00 Growing Babies (b00fvh1j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THU 01:00 36 (b00fvgqb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Wednesday]

THU 02:45 Growing Babies (b00fvh1j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

FRIDAY 05 DECEMBER 2008

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00fvhfy)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

FRI 19:30 Gergiev Conducts Mahler (b00fvhg0)
6th

Renowned conductor Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler's Symphony No 6, a powerful work which had huge personal significance and in which Mahler wrote some of his darkest, most devastating and prophetically autobiographical music. It is in the finale where the most telling and famous characteristic of the symphony is heard, the crushing hammer blows of fate.

FRI 21:00 Legends (b00fwdwp)
Nana Mouskouri - The White Rose of Athens

Profile of Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, known as the White Rose of Athens and one of the best-selling female artists of all time.

The documentary features a revealing interview with Nana herself, rare archive footage and interviews with family and friends including Harry Belafonte, Julio Iglesias and Charles Aznavour.

There is also exclusive footage from her July 2008 farewell concert in Athens which, following a four year long world tour, marked her retirement from performing.

FRI 22:00 Nana Mouskouri at the BBC (b00fvhg4)
A vintage collection of Nana Mouskouri's performances from the BBC archive, including her entry in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest and musical collaborations with Michel Legrand, Charles Aznavour and Cliff Richard.

FRI 23:00 Nana Mouskouri (b00fvhg6)
Episode 3

From 1976, an edition of Greek singer Nana Mouskouri's music show with guests Demis Roussos, The King's Singers and James Galway. Songs include Time in a Bottle, I'm Coming Home, The Other Side of Me and Bridge over Troubled Water.

FRI 23:45 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fvgj5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]

FRI 00:35 The New Avengers (b00fypqj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:40 on Thursday]

FRI 01:30 The Avengers (b0074t9z)
Series 4

How to Succeed... at Murder

Sixties adventure series. Businessmen are being bumped off, so Emma turns secretarial while Steed becomes boss.

FRI 02:20 Gergiev Conducts Mahler (b00fvhg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)

36 22:00 WED (b00fvgqb)

36 01:00 THU (b00fvgqb)

BBC Four Sessions 23:00 THU (b0074n0d)

Beeching's Tracks 20:30 THU (b00fw4n6)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 23:40 SUN (b00fqq3t)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 22:30 TUE (b00fvgj5)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 00:50 TUE (b00fvgj5)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 23:45 FRI (b00fvgj5)

Crowdie and Cream 19:05 SAT (b00fw608)

Flight of the Conchords Special: One Night Stand 21:30 TUE (b00801jb)

Flight of the Conchords Special: One Night Stand 03:10 TUE (b00801jb)

France on a Plate 21:05 SAT (b00fvfmf)

France on a Plate 00:55 SAT (b00fvfmf)

France on a Plate 03:25 SAT (b00fvfmf)

France on a Plate 22:40 SUN (b00fvfmf)

France on a Plate 19:30 MON (b00fvfmf)

France on a Plate 02:10 MON (b00fvfmf)

Francesco's Venice 20:00 WED (b0078sny)

Francesco's Venice 00:45 WED (b0078sny)

Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me 23:20 TUE (b009s7gv)

Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me 01:40 TUE (b009s7gv)

Gergiev Conducts Mahler 19:30 FRI (b00fvhg0)

Gergiev Conducts Mahler 02:20 FRI (b00fvhg0)

Growing Babies 21:00 THU (b00fvh1j)

Growing Babies 00:00 THU (b00fvh1j)

Growing Babies 02:45 THU (b00fvh1j)

Legends 21:00 FRI (b00fwdwp)

London to Brighton in Four Minutes 19:00 SAT (b00dttsc)

Mad Men 23:40 SAT (b009s6q7)

Maigret 22:05 SAT (b00fvfmh)

Maigret 22:00 MON (b00fz7hv)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 00:10 SUN (b00drr0x)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 03:10 SUN (b00drr0x)

Nana Mouskouri at the BBC 22:00 FRI (b00fvhg4)

Nana Mouskouri 23:00 FRI (b00fvhg6)

Nation on Film 19:30 WED (b007960s)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00fvgdn)

Only Connect 21:00 TUE (b00fvgdn)

Only Connect 00:20 TUE (b00fvgdn)

Only Connect 02:40 TUE (b00fvgdn)

Tess of the D'Urbervilles 20:05 SAT (b00dn8kb)

Tess of the D'Urbervilles 01:55 SAT (b00dn8kb)

That Mitchell and Webb Look 22:00 TUE (b009gd02)

The Avengers 01:30 FRI (b0074t9z)

The Department Store 21:00 MON (b00fvgdq)

The Department Store 01:10 MON (b00fvgdq)

The Department Store 03:10 MON (b00fvgdq)

The Department Store 22:00 THU (b00fvgdq)

The Hard Sell 00:25 SAT (b009lv1t)

The Hard Sell 02:55 SAT (b009lv1t)

The New Avengers 19:40 THU (b00fypqj)

The New Avengers 00:35 FRI (b00fypqj)

The Thirties in Colour 20:00 TUE (b00csk9m)

Travels with Vasari 19:00 SUN (b00fqvnc)

Travels with Vasari 01:10 SUN (b00fqvnc)

Travels with Vasari 21:00 WED (b00fvgq8)

Travels with Vasari 23:45 WED (b00fvgq8)

Travels with Vasari 02:45 WED (b00fvgq8)

Vatel 21:00 SUN (b00fvg6w)

Vatel 23:30 MON (b00fvg6w)

Versailles Stories 19:30 TUE (b0074sht)

Vivaldi's Women 20:00 SUN (b0074sbz)

Vivaldi's Women 02:10 SUN (b0074sbz)

Vivaldi's Women 01:45 WED (b0074sbz)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00fvgdl)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00fvgj1)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00fvgq6)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00fvh1g)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00fvhfy)