The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Three Welsh families give up their 21st-century creature comforts and travel back in time to 1944 to face the hardships of life in World War II. It is time for the men to hang up their lamps, the women to take off their uniforms, and the evacuees to return to their parents in the city - but not before everyone gets in the swing at the community dance for a final send-off.
Documentary which looks at farming in England in the 20th Century, featuring an interview with a Suffolk farmworker who talks about the harsh times in the 1930s.
Mel's 21st has arrived and the regulars look forward to a free buffet. Joe discovers the perks of being a DJ as Nicola uses her assets to attract his attention, and Phil and Nige take the opportunity to try out their new business venture.
Jean wonders if she will ever get the chance of a nice semi detached with conservatory and Ken makes the decision they've all been waiting for.
Marcus Brigstocke hosts a chat show in which he invites someone to step out of their comfort zone and try five new cultural experiences. Comedian Hugh Dennis's tasks include eating road kill and visiting a mine.
Drama series which takes an unflinching look at the world of advertising in 1960s New York.
Betty takes Don to visit her father, who has had a stroke. Paul and Pete look set to go to LA for a rocket fair, but Paul's girlfriend Sheila wants him to go on a civil rights march. Betty finds a surprise in the Wendy House. Pete decides he doesn't like his mother.
Drama series about the British judicial system, seen from the viewpoints of those who keep it, those who break it and those who live off it.
Documentary looking back at 1959 through the eyes of the long-running BBC current affairs programme Panorama, recalling a time when Britain finally realised that the old world was fast disappearing.
The game was up with the Empire and attitudes to class, race and gender were beginning to shift, while television was entering a golden age, with Panorama playing a key role in documenting the birth of modern Britain.
WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2009
WED 19:00 World News Today (b00jwc9z)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jqp0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 on Sunday]
WED 20:00 Victorian Farm (b00gn2bl)
Episode 1
Historical observational documentary series following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year. Wearing period clothes and using only the materials that would have been available in 1885, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn are going back in time to relive the day-to-day life of the Victorian farmer.
The project is based on the Acton Scott estate in Shropshire - a world frozen in time, lost in Victorian rural England. Its buildings and grounds are cluttered with antique tools and machinery collected by the Acton family, who have lived on the estate since the 12th century.
Working for a full calendar year, Ruth, Alex and Peter are rediscovering a lost world of skills, crafts and knowledge, assisted by an ever-dwindling band of experts who keep Victorian rural practices alive.
The team move into a Victorian smallholding on the Acton Scott estate that has not been used in nearly half a century. Their first task is the restoration of the cottage. As incoming tenants, they help thresh the previous summer's wheat crop, their first experience of steam-powered machinery. Alex attempts to sow a wheat crop using horse-power. Ruth and Peter install a range in the cottage and take a trip to the canals to load up on coal. It's time for the apple harvest, so Alex and Peter turn their hand to making cider. Ruth explores the challenges of Victorian cooking by making preserves ready for winter and cooks her first meal on the range. And the team must learn shepherding skills the hard way as the first livestock arrive on the farm - a flock of Shropshire ewes.
WED 21:00 Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture (b00jwcb1)
Milk
Documentary series looking at the history of 20th-century farming in Britain opens by focusing on milk.
In the early years of the century, 150,000 dairy farmers milked by hand and sold milk door to door. By the end of the century, the 15,000 that were left were breeding cows that increased yields by 400 per cent and milk was sold through supermarkets.
This episode features the home movies and stories of two dairy farmers who survived to tell the story of how and why the revolution happened.
WED 22:00 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jqp0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 on Sunday]
WED 22:30 Newswipe (b00jwcb3)
Series 1
Episode 4
Charlie Brooker sets his satirical sights on news and current affairs, taking a look at how graphics have morphed over the years from modest explaining devices to shouty, scary, video game-style extravaganzas.
Brooker also charts the way the media handled both the politics and the protests of the G20 summit in London, while Ben Goldacre, author of Bad Science, vents his anger over its coverage of science stories.
WED 23:00 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jqp0r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 on Tuesday]
WED 23:30 Pop Britannia (b008nkvq)
A Well Respected Man
Three-part documentary series telling the story of British popular music and its place in British culture since the 1950s. In the 60s Britain went pop mad. The architects were a group of artists and entrepreneurs who would prise pop out of the grasp of showbiz interests to create a truly authentic British sound of the Beatles, Stones and Who and at the same time prepared the way for a new, more corporate pop business. With Pete Townsend, Sir George Martin, Bryan Ferry, Sandie Shaw and Lulu.
WED 00:30 Pop on Trial (b008prdf)
1960s
Stuart Maconie puts pop in the dock to decide which has been the most influential musical decade. Neil Innes and Tony Blackburn help make the case for the 1960s, from the very British pop of the The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to the California sound of The Beach Boys.
WED 01:30 Batman (b00801j9)
Series 1
Fine Feathered Finks
Sixties fantasy series.
As the Penguin awaits his release from prison, he has already begun to plan his next caper. The devious villain uses exploding umbrellas as part of a plot designed to trick Batman into committing crimes for him.
WED 01:55 Batman (b007zlfy)
Series 1
The Penguin's a Jinx
Sixties fantasy series.
Batman and Robin calculate that the Penguin's next crime will be the kidnapping of beautiful actress Dawn Robbins. The situation becomes more complicated when Dawn falls in love with Batman.
WED 02:20 Mad Men (b009pg6v)
Series 1
Five G
Drama series which takes an unflinching look at the world of advertising in 1960s New York. Don's past catches up to him when he wins an award and gets his picture on a prominent industry periodical. Ken makes his colleagues envious when he gets a short story published in a national monthly magazine.
WED 03:10 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.
THURSDAY 16 APRIL 2009
THU 19:00 World News Today (b00jwck0)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:40 The New Avengers (b00jyzkn)
Series 2
Obsession
A missile goes missing from an air display, a spy satellite is taking photographs of Buckinghamshire and one of Purdey's old flames reappears. Are these events connected and is it anything to do with a visiting Arab?
THU 20:30 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jwck2)
The Heart of the Lakes
Julia Bradbury follows in the footsteps of legendary guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright by walking across the whole of northern England from the west to the east coast.
This was Wainwright's last great venture and has become his greatest legacy - a beautifully simple proposition, linking three national parks that lie between the Irish and the North Sea.
36 years after its creation, Julia is off through sunshine, wind and rain, to cross the changing landscape, understand the history and meet the people that make up almost 200 miles of northern England.
Over three mountain ranges and across three valleys, the second stage of Julia's journey is a grand traverse of Wainwright's much-loved Lake District. Having shrugged off the rain, Julia ends with the epic 17-mile final day in the Lakes, including the length of Haweswater and the highest peak on the entire walk.
THU 21:00 Dorset Days: A Year in the Life of Longhorn Jim (b00jyzkq)
Documentary about Falklands War veteran and ex-firefighter Jim Armstrong, who is now a farmer in Dorset.
The film follows Jim through 2007 as he helps to raise a herd of traditional Longhorn cattle and his own flock of sheep. Sad echoes of his war experiences 25 years earlier resurface at times, but they never dent his optimistic spirit or his delight in selling meat locally and spending his days in the great Dorset outdoors.
THU 22:00 Crooked House (b00gf5l2)
Something Old
When schoolteacher Ben unearths an old door knocker in the garden of his new home, the curator suggests it may come from the now-demolished house, reputed to be haunted. Ben prompts the curator to tell him stories about the house's past.
In the 1920s, Lady Constance de Momery presides over a costume ball for her grandson, but all is not as it seems and when young heir to the estate Felix de Momery announces his engagement to sweetheart Ruth, his friends Billy and Katherine seem far from pleased.
Is the happy couple's destiny inextricably linked with another tragic wedding day many years ago and does the sight of a ghostly bride in a grave-stained wedding dress explain why there has not been a wedding at Geap Manor since then?
THU 22:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jwck4)
Series 1
Nigel Havers
Marcus Brigstocke hosts a chat show in which he invites his guest Nigel Havers to step out of his comfort zone and try some new experiences for the first time.
THU 23:00 Newswipe (b00jwcb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 on Wednesday]
THU 23:30 Dorset Days: A Year in the Life of Longhorn Jim (b00jyzkq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THU 00:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jwck4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
THU 01:00 Newswipe (b00jwcb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Crooked House (b00gf5l2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 02:00 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jwck2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
THU 02:30 The New Avengers (b00fl64x)
Series 1
House of Cards
Classic 1970s secret agent fantasy adventure series. Steed, Purdey and Gambit find themselves fighting people they thought were their friends after a network of sleeper agents, called the House of Cards, is activated.
THU 03:25 Crooked House (b00gf5l2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2009
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00jwcr0)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Jazz 625 (b00jwcr2)
The Thelonious Monk Quartet
1960s concert featuring jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and his quartet of Ben Riley, Larry Gayles and Charlie Rouse.
FRI 20:05 4 Better 4 Worse: The Anatomy of a String Quartet (b0074tl9)
Documentary about what makes string quartets tick, focusing on the British Lindsay Quartet as they attend the annual Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival near the Arctic Circle in Finland.
FRI 21:00 Storyville (b00jwcr6)
The Jazz Baroness
Documentary, made by her great niece, about the British Jewish baroness who fell in love with the jazz genius Thelonious Monk.
Pannonica Rothschild was born with everything, got married and had five children, but one track by a man she had never met inspired her to leave and start a new life in America.
Helen Mirren is the voice of 'Nica', while Sonny Rollins, TS Monk Jr, the Duchess of Devonshire, Quincy Jones, Lord Rothschild, Roy Haynes, Chico Hamilton and others appear as themselves.
FRI 22:25 Jazz 625 (b00jw7z3)
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
1965 concert featuring Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, one of America's most dynamic jazz groups.
FRI 23:05 Jazz 625 (b00jwcr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 23:40 Mad Men (b00jwbtp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Tuesday]
FRI 00:25 The New Avengers (b00jyzkn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:40 on Thursday]
FRI 01:20 Storyville (b00jwcr6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:40 4 Better 4 Worse: The Anatomy of a String Quartet (b0074tl9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:05 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
13 Tzameti
23:40 MON (b008563q)
1959: The Year that Changed Jazz
21:20 SAT (b00jf64y)
1959: The Year that Changed Jazz
00:15 SAT (b00jf64y)
4 Better 4 Worse: The Anatomy of a String Quartet
20:05 FRI (b0074tl9)
4 Better 4 Worse: The Anatomy of a String Quartet
02:40 FRI (b0074tl9)
All Our Working Lives
20:00 TUE (b00jwbtm)
All Our Working Lives
02:35 TUE (b00jwbtm)
Batman
01:30 WED (b00801j9)
Batman
01:55 WED (b007zlfy)
Coal House
19:30 TUE (b00f7zds)
Cranford
19:00 SUN (b008cxm8)
Cranford
00:55 SUN (b008cxm8)
Crooked House
22:00 THU (b00gf5l2)
Crooked House
01:30 THU (b00gf5l2)
Crooked House
03:25 THU (b00gf5l2)
Dorset Days: A Year in the Life of Longhorn Jim
21:00 THU (b00jyzkq)
Dorset Days: A Year in the Life of Longhorn Jim
23:30 THU (b00jyzkq)
Early Doors
21:00 TUE (b0078sly)
I've Never Seen Star Wars
21:30 TUE (b00jqp0r)
I've Never Seen Star Wars
02:05 TUE (b00jqp0r)
I've Never Seen Star Wars
03:35 TUE (b00jqp0r)
I've Never Seen Star Wars
23:00 WED (b00jqp0r)
I've Never Seen Star Wars
22:30 THU (b00jwck4)
I've Never Seen Star Wars
00:30 THU (b00jwck4)
Jackie Stewart: The Flying Scot
19:00 SAT (b00jw9gn)
Jackie Stewart: The Flying Scot
01:15 SAT (b00jw9gn)
Jazz 625
19:30 FRI (b00jwcr2)
Jazz 625
22:25 FRI (b00jw7z3)
Jazz 625
23:05 FRI (b00jwcr2)
Jazz Goes to College
20:30 SAT (b00jw7yz)
Law and Order
22:45 TUE (b00jwbtr)
Mad Men
22:00 TUE (b00jwbtp)
Mad Men
02:20 WED (b009pg6v)
Mad Men
03:10 WED (b009s6q7)
Mad Men
23:40 FRI (b00jwbtp)
Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture
21:00 WED (b00jwcb1)
Newswipe
23:25 SUN (b00jqm9x)
Newswipe
03:25 SUN (b00jqm9x)
Newswipe
22:30 WED (b00jwcb3)
Newswipe
23:00 THU (b00jwcb3)
Newswipe
01:00 THU (b00jwcb3)
Panorama
01:05 TUE (b00jf64w)
Performance: Suddenly Last Summer
22:00 SUN (b00jt57y)
Pop Britannia
23:30 WED (b008nkvq)
Pop on Trial
00:30 WED (b008prdf)
Sacred Music
20:00 SUN (b009lt2b)
Sacred Music
01:55 SUN (b009lt2b)
Smokey Dives
23:15 SAT (b0074msy)
Smokey Dives
02:45 SAT (b0074msy)
Spiral
22:00 MON (b0074snb)
Spiral
22:50 MON (b0074tp2)
Storyville
21:00 FRI (b00jwcr6)
Storyville
01:20 FRI (b00jwcr6)
The Car Show
23:55 SUN (b00j4d3d)
The Jet Stream and Us
20:00 MON (b00909b0)
The Jet Stream and Us
01:05 MON (b00909b0)
The New Avengers
19:40 THU (b00jyzkn)
The New Avengers
02:30 THU (b00fl64x)
The New Avengers
00:25 FRI (b00jyzkn)
The Weather
21:00 MON (b00jz8gj)
The Weather
02:05 MON (b00jz8gj)
Timeshift
19:00 MON (b00jqp0p)
Timeshift
03:05 MON (b00jqp0p)
Victorian Farm
20:00 WED (b00gn2bl)
Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast
21:30 SUN (b00jqp0m)
Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast
19:30 WED (b00jqp0m)
Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast
22:00 WED (b00jqp0m)
Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast
20:30 THU (b00jwck2)
Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast
02:00 THU (b00jwck2)
West End Jungle
22:20 SAT (b00jw9cy)
West End Jungle
00:10 TUE (b00jw9cy)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b00jwbtk)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b00jwc9z)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b00jwck0)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b00jwcr0)