The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on BBC 4 Contact

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



SATURDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2010

SAT 19:00 Life (b00ncr13)
Challenges of Life

In nature, living long enough to breed is a monumental struggle. Many animals and plants go to extremes to give themselves a chance.

Uniquely, three brother cheetahs band together to bring down a huge ostrich. Aerial photography reveals how bottle-nosed dolphins trap fish in a ring of mud, and time-lapse cameras show how the Venus flytrap ensnares insect victims.

The strawberry frog carries a tadpole high into a tree and drops it in a water-filled bromeliad. The frog must climb back from the ground every day to feed it.

Fledgling chinstrap penguins undertake a heroic and tragic journey through the broken ice to get out to sea. Many can barely swim and the formidable leopard seal lies in wait.


SAT 20:00 Bombay Railway (b007t30p)
Pressures

Documentary about Bombay's vast suburban rail network, which serves six-and-a-half million commuters every day. As Bombay's population swells by tens of thousands each week, the railway and the people whose lives revolve around it struggle to cope with the pressure and the peaktime 'super-dense crush load'. From the train driver to the illegal hawker and the homeless shoe-shine boy, each has a story to tell about this remarkable railway system, often described as the lifeline of India.


SAT 21:00 Tell No One (b00qplfr)
Mystery thriller about a paediatrician who is shocked when the eight-year-old investigation into his wife's murder is reopened when two bodies are found near where she was killed. As he tries to come to terms with being a suspect again, he receives a startling email from a seemingly impossible source.


SAT 23:05 Nurse Jackie (b00qjpcl)
Series 1

Nosebleed

Drama series about Jackie Peyton, a no-nonsense emergency room nurse based in New York who has to balance her frenzied job with a complicated home life.

Jackie admits a dying patient she has treated before, learns that O'Hara has betrayed her secrets to a sister in Paris, suffers a drug-induced nosebleed, and forges an organ donation form in Coop's name. The parents of the baby that Akalitus is raising come forward to reclaim their child.


SAT 23:35 The Armstrong and Miller Show (b008dd10)
Series 1

Episode 5

Scratch beneath the surface of po-faced British respectability and you'll find a wealth of great characters, as evidenced in Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller's sketch show.


SAT 00:05 The Thick of It (b00nxmmr)
Series 3

Episode 4

The civil servants at DoSAC are preparing for a visit from the DoSAC shadow minister Peter Mannion. For Mannion and his team, this informal pre-election briefing is a good opportunity to measure up for new curtains. For Terri Coverley, this principally means putting on a bit more make-up. For Nicola Murray, it is simply another distraction on a day when nothing seems to be going right. All she really wants to do is get Glenn and Olly to kick-start the Fourth Sector Pathfinder Initiative. And then she gets a call.


SAT 00:35 La Excelencia at the Barbican (b00qjnxh)
Filmed live at the Barbican, La Excelencia are a vibrant 12-piece salsa orchestra from New York City who venerate and celebrate the vibe and sounds of the legendary Fania All Stars.

The band was founded by Julian Silva and Jose Vazquez-Cofresi in 2005 and created with the intention of bringing a new outlook to salsa music by being hip, young and writing about social issues, yet without losing the true roots of salsa. The hard life of the barrio is reflected in La Excelencia's music through their hardcore sounds known as 'salsa dura'.


SAT 01:35 BBC Proms (b00m6x6d)
2009

Prom 48: Barenboim & West-Eastern Divan

Charles Hazlewood presents as Daniel Barenboim's unique West-Eastern Divan orchestra, which brings together young players from both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide, celebrates its tenth anniversary with a programme including Liszt's Les Preludes, the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.


SAT 03:45 Bombay Railway (b007t30p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2010

SUN 19:00 Timeshift (b00nf0nl)
Series 9

The Golden Age of Liners

Paul Atterbury embarks on an alluring journey into the golden age of ocean liners, finding out how these great ships made such a mark on the popular imagination and why they continue to enchant to this day.

Paul's voyage takes him around Britain and reveals a story of design, politics, propaganda, Hollywood glamour and tragedy. Along the way, he uncovers some amazing survivals from the liners of the past - a cinema in Scotland built from the interiors of the SS Homeric, a house in Poole in which cabins from the Mauretania are lovingly preserved - as well as the design inspiration behind the first great liners.


SUN 20:00 High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air (b00nnlz3)
Documentary which tells the story of the golden age of British aviation and of how the original 'jet set' shaped air travel for generations to come. In Britain in the 1920s and '30s a revolution took place that would change forever our perspective on the world. While the country was in the grip of recession, dashing pilots and daring socialites took to the air, pushed back boundaries and forged new links across the globe. The era of commercial air travel was born.


SUN 21:00 Around the World by Zeppelin (b00qpjpr)
In 1929, for the first time in history a Graf Zeppelin circumnavigated the globe. Beneath the enormous airship hung a gondola to accommodate the lucky passengers and crew for the duration of the 21-day voyage, among them the young journalist Lady Grace Drummond-Hay, reporting for the Hearst media empire. Based upon her letters and diaries and told exclusively through archival and newsreel film from the time, this film relives the incredible voyage.

As a crew of forty kept the zeppelin in the air, Lady Grace feasted her eyes on the world's major cities, white alpine peaks, oceans and swamps, and fell in love with a married man. Rare archival footage gives glimpses of day-to-day life in a zeppelin gondola, Grace listening to one of her fellow passengers playing the accordion, the repair of a tear in the cloth shell during the flight, the sleeping cabins and lounge, and the splendid views from the windows. The film offers a fascinating look into the world of the roaring twenties which would soon be gone forever.


SUN 22:25 Bennett on Bennett (b00pd958)
Star Gazing

John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, Noel Coward ... and Alan Titchmarsh. Few escape the beady observations of Alan Bennett and eventual immortalisation in his diaries. In this compilation from the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bennett turns his gaze onto the showbiz world and the results are as moving as they are amusing.


SUN 22:35 Latin Music USA (b00qjnxf)
Salsa

The second in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA.

Filmed in Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York City, it reveals the untold story of salsa music, which burst onto the New York scene in the late 1960s. It first evolved in the clubs of Havana, Cuba and soon became the vibrant sound of the New York barrios, where Puerto Ricans and Cubans settled amid poverty and discrimination.

Yet out of adversity came a thrilling and innovative dance music that became the voice and spirit of the Latin people in the 70s. From rebellious Latin Boogaloo to the shadowy empire of Fania Records, the story unfolds through the intimate memories of the 'Fania Family' - the greatest salsa musicians of their generation and the purveyors of a music that lives on today.

Featuring Ruben Blades, Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars.


SUN 23:35 Mad Men (b00qjnnb)
Series 3

My Old Kentucky Home

A mandatory overtime session leaves the creatives trying to stave off late-night boredom. Roger throws a party, while Joan and Greg host one of their own; and Gene loses some money - he's sure it's been stolen.


SUN 00:25 Storyville (b00qjnjn)
Last White Man Standing

Tom Cholmondeley, heir to one of the largest estates in Kenya and the Lord Delamere title, stands accused of murder in Nairobi, charged with killing black poacher Robert Njoya on his land. If convicted, Cholmondeley could hang. Serah Njoya, the widow with four children who lives on the edge of the Delamere estate, wants her husband's killer brought to justice.

The trial has gripped the nation, and is seen as a symptom of the contrast between the lives of a few wealthy Kenyan landowners and the many eking out an existence on the margins of society.

With access to all the key participants in the trial, this documentary follows the case till after the judgement and features contributions from Lord and Lady Delamere, Tom Cholmondeley's girlfriend Sally Dudmesh, Serah Njoya, defence lawyer Fred Ojiambo, Carl Tundo and his parents, Fred and Lynn Tundo, the prosecutor Tobiko and Cholmondeley's godmother Tobina Cole.


SUN 01:25 Murder on the Lake (b00qjngb)
Joan Root, with her husband Alan, produced beautiful and famous natural history films, born of her deep love of Africa and its flora and fauna. This delicate but determined member of Kenya's Happy Valley was gunned down in January 2006 by intruders bearing AK-47s. Four men were charged with her murder, including David Chege, the leader of a private vigilante group Root herself had financed to stop the illegal fishing that was killing Lake Naivasha, the beautiful lake beside which she lived.

Chege was from Karagita, the largest of the slums that has sprung up beside the lake in the last twenty years. In that time, the population of Naivasha has rocketed from 30,000 to 350,000 as a desperate tide of impoverished migrant workers arrived in search of employment on Kenya's flourishing flower farms. This has created squalor, crime and, in the minds of Root and her fellow naturalists, ecological apocalypse.

This film tells the story of the extraordinary life and brutal death of Joan Root, and of her campaign to save the lake she loved. Who killed Joan Root? Was it the fish poachers, whom Root stopped from plying their illegal trade in a bid to save her beloved Lake Naivasha? Was it her loyal lieutenant Chege, whom Root ultimately cut off from her payroll? Or was it one of her white neighbours, with whom Root had feuded?

Through the telling of Root's story, the film opens a window onto contemporary Africa and the developed world's relationship to it. For it is the Kenyan rose, which is exported by the millions on a daily basis from Naivasha, that has brought not just jobs and foreign exchange earnings, but a population explosion that has caused the destruction of the environment Root worked so hard to stop. Her campaign may have ultimately cost her her life.


SUN 02:55 High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air (b00nnlz3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 03:55 Mad Men (b00qjnnb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:35 today]



MONDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2010

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00qpk08)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Shooting the War (b00qjnmy)
Women

Series looking at how WW2 was documented by both German and British home movie makers.

Women who were drawn into the war were workers, mothers and combatants for the first time in history and those experiences were filmed, sometimes by women themselves.

In Germany, amateur filmmaker Elisabeth Wilms shot everyday life of women in her home city of Dortmund and as those lives changed she continued to record events, including the stunning films of the destitution experienced by women in the immediate aftermath of the blitz on her home town.

In Britain, Rosie Newman was doing very much the same, filming women as war changed their lives. She had remarkable access to the military and was able to capture the lives of woman at war in a way few others could match.

Jean Riesco's father filmed her life as she became a woman at the start of the war. Jean recalls how everyone felt that there was no point in being cautious, how she got married and had a child. Other women joined the war effort, some working for the first time. Anne Richmond joined the Land Army, Iris Watts made armaments and Betty Hockey danced for the troops.

It was the same in Germany. Renate Teller became a nurse, while Ilse Rohde, a member of the BDM, became a factory worker. The Jewish woman Esther Bejarano was a slave labourer in Auschwitz, her life saved by becoming a member of the Auschwitz orchestra.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00qpk0b)
Series 3

Exeter Alumni v Gourmands

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

Three former flatmates and graduates of Exeter University pit their wits against a news producer, a civil servant and an IT consultant who share a passion for fine food. Who will win the battle as they compete to draw together the connections between things, which, at first glance, seem utterly random?


MON 21:00 Getting Our Way (b00qpk0d)
Security

Sir Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador to the USA, presents a series telling the behind-the-scenes story of British diplomacy over 500 years of intrigue and adventure.

In the opening episode, he puts himself in the shoes of diplomats battling to protect British national security at three very different stages of our history. From the Machiavellian days of Elizabethan espionage, he shows how the Virgin Queen's diplomat, Sir Henry Killigrew, foiled the Catholic terror on England's doorstep - as her ambassador to Scotland.

At the Congress of Vienna, arguably the most important summit in history, Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh survived the endless balls and bed-hopping to mastermind the redrawing of the map of Europe following Napoleon's defeat in a way that kept Britain safe and supreme for close to a century.

As British power waned in the 20th Century, there's a look at the crucial role played by one of Sir Christopher's predecessors in Washington, David Ormsby-Gore, in artfully manoeuvring to acquire nuclear weapons from a reluctant United States. This coup not only guaranteed Britain's security in the Cold War, but also its continuing place at the top table of nations.

Meyer uses these examples to tease out the timeless essentials of diplomacy - the need for tact, patience, charm, cunning and a focus on helping Britain Get Her Way at all costs.

Interviewees include Henry Kissinger, Douglas Hurd, Chris Patten, Alex Salmond, William Hague, JFK's speechwriter Ted Sorensen, Mrs Thatcher's foreign policy aide Charles Powell, former head of the FO Patrick Wright and 'the mandarins' mandarin', the late Sir Percy Cradock.

Meyer concludes by arguing that a nation which loses sight of its interests and neglects its diplomacy is a nation lost.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b00qpk0g)
Kim Jong-Il's Comedy Club

A journalist with no scruples and a pair of Danish comedians travel to North Korea with a mission to use humour to uncover the truth behind one of the world's most notorious regimes

On the pretext of being a small Danish theatre troupe on a cultural exchange, the filmmaker was granted permission by the North Korean government to stage a performance for a select audience in the capital. In reality, the troupe was comprised of an unscrupulous journalist, Mads Brugger, and two Danish/Korean comedians, Jacob and Simon, of whom the former is handicapped. Their goal is to use humour to expose the intricate effects of an oppressive regime.

The film follows the troupe as they are lovingly yet firmly escorted by a motherly government employee around the important historical sights, and as they 'collaborate' with other government officials on their performance.

Their double life is wearing on Jacob who feels conflicting emotions of affection and hatred for his hosts. With a sensibility similar to that of Lars Von Trier's controversial film The Idiots, this documentary takes a darkly humorous look inside the North Korean dictatorship.

North Korea's 23 million citizens are ruled by the iron hand of 'The Dear Leader', General Kim Jong-il. The country has a history of starving its people, violating human rights and abusing and killing its handicapped citizens.


MON 23:00 Dinner with Portillo (b00ptkjg)
Is It Dishonourable to Publish a Political Diary?

Michael Portillo and his guests discuss whether it is fair for politicians to profit from their years in power by betraying the confidences of their colleagues. Is the modern diarist motivated by money, fame or revenge, rather than the public interest? Or do political diaries serve an important purpose by throwing light on the inner workings of government? Guests include Gyles Brandreth, Oona King, Chris Mullin MP and Lord Hattersley.


MON 23:30 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qjnqc)
The Power of the Elements

The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. From fiery phosphorous to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements - the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood.

In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.

In the final part, Professor Al-Khalili uncovers tales of success and heartache in the story of chemists' battle to control and combine the elements, and build our modern world. He reveals the dramatic breakthroughs which harnessed their might to release almost unimaginable power, and he journeys to the centre of modern day alchemy, where scientists are attempting to command the extreme forces of nature and create brand new elements.


MON 00:30 Only Connect (b00qpk0b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 01:00 Getting Our Way (b00qpk0d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 02:00 Storyville (b00qpk0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 03:00 Shooting the War (b00qjnmy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 09 FEBRUARY 2010

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00qpkd8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Hidden Histories (b00p1kyw)
Series 2

Episode 3

Narrated by Huw Edwards, this series looks at Welsh history.

Discovering what may be a Roman villa in Mid Wales, uncovering the hidden secrets of a Renaissance ceiling at St David's Cathedral, and observing the preservation of a major sculpture at a leading Welsh college.


TUE 20:00 The Sky at Night (b00qpkdb)
The Spirit of Mars

Mars is the brightest thing in the sky and is at its closest to Earth for the next four years. With NASA announcing that its Martian rover Spirit is to rove no more on the red planet, there is an interview with Prof Steve Squyres, the principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission, about the attempts to get it out of the sand dune which ensnared it in May 2009 and the agonising decision to stop the rescue.


TUE 20:30 Around the World by Zeppelin (b00qpjpr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


TUE 22:00 We Need Answers (b00qpkdd)
Series 2

Nature

Anarchic comedy game show in which celebrity guests answer questions set by the public.

Mark Watson hosts, Tim Key is in the questionmaster's chair and Alex Horne provides expert analysis from a booth as two celebrities battle it out to be crowned the winner and avoid the shame of donning 'The Clogs of Defeat'.

Former spy and Good Housekeeping editor Aggie MacKenzie of How Clean Is Your House takes on fearless gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

The rules are simple - contestants must match their answer to the one given by a text answering service. Questions range from 'Can I donate my body to a zoo when I die?' to 'What's the ratio of tree to man in Sheffield?'.

In the cunning physical challenge which pits the contestants against each other, Aggie and Peter compete in a name-dropping contest - literally.


TUE 22:30 Newswipe (b00qpkdg)
Series 2

Episode 4

A caustic mix of gags and finger-pointing as Charlie Brooker finds fun and fault with the news. They say politics is an instant turn off, so it's a good job this episode doesn't focus on that. No it doesn't. Not at all.


TUE 23:00 Dinner with Portillo (b00c3k8t)
The Iron Lady and the Glass Ceiling

Michael Portillo hosts a dinner party with a cross-section of guests, including Baroness Shirley Williams, Lord Rees-Mogg and Lionel Shriver. They explore the early years of Margaret Thatcher's political career and ask if she was a feminist role model, why the Left has not produced a successful female equivalent and whether women in politics have an easier time now.


TUE 23:30 The Sky at Night (b00qpkdb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 00:00 High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air (b00nnlz3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Sunday]


TUE 01:00 Newswipe (b00qpkdg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


TUE 01:30 Around the World by Zeppelin (b00qpjpr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


TUE 03:00 The Sky at Night (b00qpkdb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 03:30 We Need Answers (b00qpkdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2010

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00qpl7t)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 It's Only a Theory (b00n59t6)
Episode 1

Comedians Andy Hamilton and Reginald D Hunter host a series in which qualified professionals and experts submit their theories about life, the universe and everything for examination by a panel of Hamilton, Hunter and a guest celebrity, who then make a final decision on whether the theory is worth keeping.

The guest celebrity is sports presenter Clare Balding and the experts are Dr Aubrey de Grey and Lucy Beresford.


WED 20:00 Snowdrift at Bleath Gill (b00f2ksz)
Produced in 1955 and part of the British Transport Films' collection, this short film follows the heroic actions of railway workers who rescue a snowbound train in the north Pennines.


WED 20:10 Great Railway Journeys (b0074pk9)
Series 3

Aleppo to Aqaba

Comedian Alexei Sayle attempts to travel from Aleppo in northern Syria to Aqaba in Jordan on the Red Sea, by a variety of trains.

The first leg of the journey is Aleppo to Lattakia on the Mediterranean coast. On arrival at Lattakia, Alexei takes a taxi to al Siwar restaurant where he meets Syria's favourite comic Bashar Ismail.

Then it's back on the train heading for the Syrian capital Damascus, but stopping off for a short break at Crac de Chevaliers where Khaled Mourad and his father show Alexei round the castle.

On reaching Hejaz station, Alexei manages to catch the International Train to Deraa, and then takes a steam (actually diesel) train from Deraa to Bosra where he visits the Roman amphitheatre, but turns out to be two months early for the annual music and arts festival.

He then passes through Amman, hitches a lift on a service trolley to Petra, and takes a freight train for the final leg of the journey to Wadi Rum and on to Aqaba where, at journey's end, he reflects on 'the explosive intimacy of the Middle East'.


WED 21:00 Syrian School (b00qpl7w)
Changing Schools

Five-part series following a year in the life of four schools in Damascus, a high pressure crossroads in the Middle East.

It concentrates on some remarkable characters finding their way in a country that has never before opened ordinary life up to the cameras in this way, challenges the usual cliches of Arab life and charts the highs and lows of the school year.

Mrs Amal Hassan is the larger-than-life headteacher of Zaki Al Arsouzi Girls' School, intent on teaching her girls to stick up for themselves and 'be free'. She has a new girl at school, Dua'a, who comes from a devout Muslim family. Until now Dua'a has been educated at a conservative Islamic school, but this term she has moved to the more liberal Zaki Al-Arsouzi School. How will she get on with the big ideas of her new headteacher?

Across town at Jaramana Boys' School, Yusif is football mad. He's an Iraqi refugee who lived through the bombs of Baghdad. Now, in the relative calm of Syria, he must start to overcome his deep-seated fear of loud bangs.


WED 22:00 Mad Men (b00qpl7y)
Series 3

The Arrangements

A new client with money to throw around is very excited about doing business with the firm, but his father is a friend of Bertram's - will they take the money? Peggy searches for a new roommate and Betty receives bad news.


WED 22:45 We Need Answers (b00qpkdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


WED 23:15 It's Only a Theory (b00n59t6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 23:45 Dinner with Portillo (b00qsv61)
The Legacy of President George W Bush

In a programme first broadcast in 2006, Michael Portillo is joined by both Americans and Britons to discuss the legacy of George W Bush as his presidency neared its end.

After 9/11, when the Bush declared a War on Terror, the champion of neo-conservatives and the religious right enjoyed all-time high approval ratings. But five years later, with two and a half thousand American soldiers killed in Iraq and criticism at home of his response to Katrina, the polls showed he had lost huge support.


WED 00:15 Great Railway Journeys (b0074pk9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:10 today]


WED 01:05 Syrian School (b00qpl7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 02:05 Latin Music USA (b00qjnxf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:35 on Sunday]


WED 03:10 La Excelencia at the Barbican (b00qjnxh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:35 on Saturday]



THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2010

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00qplfm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Only Connect (b00qpk0b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


THU 20:00 Light Fantastic (b0074qw0)
The Light of Reason

Simon Schaffer explores how, from Galileo to Darwin, light changed man's understanding of the universe. Simple tools of light let us look deeper and deeper into the heavens, but the stars revealed a dangerous truth about creation.


THU 21:00 The Great Offices of State (b00qplfp)
The Dark Department

Three-part series in which award-winning reporter Michael Cockerell uncovers the secret world of Whitehall, showing what the trio of great offices - Home, Foreign and Treasury - are really like.

In his look at the Home Office - the ministry of law and order, immigration, MI5 and counter-terrorism - Cockerell blends fresh access filming with formerly unseen and rare archive, and interviews with present and past home secretaries and their senior officials.

Cameras follow Alan Johnson from the moment he became the sixth home secretary in twelve years, after the resignation of Jacqui Smith. Johnson is briefed by the Home Office spin doctor about what to say to story-hungry journalists waiting for him. 'The Home Office's job is to confront human evil', says one mandarin, 'but every person in the pub has his own view of how to do it and is his or her own home secretary'.


THU 22:00 Newswipe (b00qpkdg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]


THU 22:30 Later... with Jools Holland (b00qpm4f)
Later Latin

This eclectic compilation of Latin-speaking artists from the Later with Jools Holland archive travels through North, South and Central America and across to Portugal and Spain, with performances from Santana, Shakira, Gloria Estefan, Mariza, Buena Vista Social Club, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Gotan Project, Los Lobos, Larry Harlow's Fania All-Stars and many more.


THU 23:30 Tell No One (b00qplfr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


THU 01:35 Newswipe (b00qpkdg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]


THU 02:05 The Great Offices of State (b00qplfp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 03:05 Light Fantastic (b0074qw0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 04:05 The Great Offices of State (b00qplfp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2010

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00qplrd)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Paganini's Daemon (b00qplrg)
Niccolo Paganini created the most elaborate and enduring legend of all instrumental soloists in the history of Western music but, as so often with legends, the excitement and the chatter obscured the true figure both of the man and of the artist.

Christopher Nupen looks at the legend and the strange man who created it all with his dazzling combination of technical brilliance, supreme showmanship, Italian melody and unbridled manipulative skill. Paganini was a man whose extraordinary personality unsettled even the most sophisticated and educated of minds and provoked wildly contradictory opinions.

The documentary draws on Paganini's music with extracts from letters and quotations from both his admirers and his many detractors, and features music by Gidon Kremer, John Williams and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, conducted by Lawrence Foster.


FRI 20:45 Herb Alpert and His Tijuana Brass (b00qsyx3)
Latin big band Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass play Something Special. Includes The Lonely Bull, What Now My Love, Up Cherry Street and Spanish Flea.


FRI 21:00 Latin Music USA (b00qpm4c)
Borderlands

The third in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA follows the historic waves of immigration across the often violent borderlands between the USA and Mexico, and reveals the dynamic role that Mexican-American music has played as it accompanied 'the largest migration in the history of the world'.

It starts on the streets of east Los Angeles, where 1950s rock legend Ritchie Valens 'crossed the tracks' to inspire other Mexican-American musicians like Los Lobos, Carlos Santana and Linda Ronstadt. But it is in the troubled borderlands, stretching 2,000 miles from Texas to California, that that music has most vividly depicted the myths and legends of an immigrant people who have demanded, and achieved, their place in American society.

Featuring Los Lobos, Santana, Linda Ronstadt, Freddie Fender, Selena, Flaco Jimenez and more.


FRI 22:00 La Bamba (b00qpm4h)
Film based on the life of Ritchie Valens, who rose from a poor Mexican farming family in California to Latin rock star with songs such as La Bamba, Come On, Let's Go and Donna. His life was tragically cut short at 17, when he was killed in a plane crash in 1959, alongside Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.


FRI 23:45 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b00qpm9q)
Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder in a special 1977 concert recorded at BBC Television Centre, playing with the Chicken Skin Band.


FRI 00:25 Latin Music USA (b00qpm4c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:25 Later... with Jools Holland (b00qpm4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Thursday]


FRI 02:25 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b00qpm9q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 today]


FRI 03:05 Paganini's Daemon (b00qplrg)
[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)

Around the World by Zeppelin 21:00 SUN (b00qpjpr)

Around the World by Zeppelin 20:30 TUE (b00qpjpr)

Around the World by Zeppelin 01:30 TUE (b00qpjpr)

BBC Proms 01:35 SAT (b00m6x6d)

Bennett on Bennett 22:25 SUN (b00pd958)

Bombay Railway 20:00 SAT (b007t30p)

Bombay Railway 03:45 SAT (b007t30p)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 23:30 MON (b00qjnqc)

Dinner with Portillo 23:00 MON (b00ptkjg)

Dinner with Portillo 23:00 TUE (b00c3k8t)

Dinner with Portillo 23:45 WED (b00qsv61)

Getting Our Way 21:00 MON (b00qpk0d)

Getting Our Way 01:00 MON (b00qpk0d)

Great Railway Journeys 20:10 WED (b0074pk9)

Great Railway Journeys 00:15 WED (b0074pk9)

Herb Alpert and His Tijuana Brass 20:45 FRI (b00qsyx3)

Hidden Histories 19:30 TUE (b00p1kyw)

High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air 20:00 SUN (b00nnlz3)

High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air 02:55 SUN (b00nnlz3)

High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air 00:00 TUE (b00nnlz3)

It's Only a Theory 19:30 WED (b00n59t6)

It's Only a Theory 23:15 WED (b00n59t6)

La Bamba 22:00 FRI (b00qpm4h)

La Excelencia at the Barbican 00:35 SAT (b00qjnxh)

La Excelencia at the Barbican 03:10 WED (b00qjnxh)

Later... with Jools Holland 22:30 THU (b00qpm4f)

Later... with Jools Holland 01:25 FRI (b00qpm4f)

Latin Music USA 22:35 SUN (b00qjnxf)

Latin Music USA 02:05 WED (b00qjnxf)

Latin Music USA 21:00 FRI (b00qpm4c)

Latin Music USA 00:25 FRI (b00qpm4c)

Life 19:00 SAT (b00ncr13)

Light Fantastic 20:00 THU (b0074qw0)

Light Fantastic 03:05 THU (b0074qw0)

Mad Men 23:35 SUN (b00qjnnb)

Mad Men 03:55 SUN (b00qjnnb)

Mad Men 22:00 WED (b00qpl7y)

Murder on the Lake 01:25 SUN (b00qjngb)

Newswipe 22:30 TUE (b00qpkdg)

Newswipe 01:00 TUE (b00qpkdg)

Newswipe 22:00 THU (b00qpkdg)

Newswipe 01:35 THU (b00qpkdg)

Nurse Jackie 23:05 SAT (b00qjpcl)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00qpk0b)

Only Connect 00:30 MON (b00qpk0b)

Only Connect 19:30 THU (b00qpk0b)

Paganini's Daemon 19:30 FRI (b00qplrg)

Paganini's Daemon 03:05 FRI (b00qplrg)

Shooting the War 19:30 MON (b00qjnmy)

Shooting the War 03:00 MON (b00qjnmy)

Snowdrift at Bleath Gill 20:00 WED (b00f2ksz)

Storyville 00:25 SUN (b00qjnjn)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b00qpk0g)

Storyville 02:00 MON (b00qpk0g)

Syrian School 21:00 WED (b00qpl7w)

Syrian School 01:05 WED (b00qpl7w)

Tell No One 21:00 SAT (b00qplfr)

Tell No One 23:30 THU (b00qplfr)

The Armstrong and Miller Show 23:35 SAT (b008dd10)

The Great Offices of State 21:00 THU (b00qplfp)

The Great Offices of State 02:05 THU (b00qplfp)

The Great Offices of State 04:05 THU (b00qplfp)

The Old Grey Whistle Test 23:45 FRI (b00qpm9q)

The Old Grey Whistle Test 02:25 FRI (b00qpm9q)

The Sky at Night 20:00 TUE (b00qpkdb)

The Sky at Night 23:30 TUE (b00qpkdb)

The Sky at Night 03:00 TUE (b00qpkdb)

The Thick of It 00:05 SAT (b00nxmmr)

Timeshift 19:00 SUN (b00nf0nl)

We Need Answers 22:00 TUE (b00qpkdd)

We Need Answers 03:30 TUE (b00qpkdd)

We Need Answers 22:45 WED (b00qpkdd)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00qpk08)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00qpkd8)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00qpl7t)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00qplfm)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00qplrd)