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 13 FEBRUARY 2010

SAT 19:00 Life (b00nj6dr)
Reptiles and Amphibians

Reptiles and amphibians look like hang-overs from the past. But they overcome their shortcomings through amazing innovation.

The pebble toad turns into a rubber ball to roll and bounce from its enemies. Extreme slow-motion shows how a Jesus Christ lizard runs on water, and how a chameleon fires an extendible tongue at its prey with unfailing accuracy. The camera dives with a Niuean sea snake, which must breed on land but avoids predators by swimming to an air bubble at the end of an underwater tunnel. In a TV first, komodo dragons hunt a huge water-buffalo, biting it to inject venom, then waiting for weeks until it dies. Ten dragons strip the carcass to the bone in four hours.


SAT 20:00 Bombay Railway (b007t367)
Dreams

India is undergoing unprecedented growth and Bombay is its financial powerhouse. The city promotes itself as a positive vision of the future, a place where dreams can come true. Like an extended family, the Bombay railway provides an unfailing lifeline to the city. This series follows the hope and dreams of some the people who work for the railway.

Hans Dev Sharma is a senior operations clerk. He works in the timetabling department, which schedules over 2,000 trains a day - under its cultural quota, Hans was talent-spotted as an exceptional actor and dancer and the railways offered him a job. Hans is living the Bollywood dream, with Bombay Railways as his life and his stage. But will he get his big break?

Jagdish Paul Raj was born in Bombay and is as ambitious as the city he lives in. The son of a railway catering officer, Jagdish, like his father, always had an interest in food but none in the railway. He graduated in politics and economics and became a fully qualified chef. Now 31, he is running a successful catering business on the train to Goa. He is tendered for more trains, but will he be successful?

Mumtaz Kazi is Indian Railways' first fully qualified female train driver and has driven trains all over India. Mumtaz was brought up in a traditional Muslim family - a railway family. Now her father has retired and her immediate family live in Canada - Mumtaz is the only member left in Bombay. It will be Mumtaz's responsibility to find a wife for her brother, to get him married and back to Canada in just eight weeks. Can she do it and still drive the train?


SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00fy2zw)
Series 1

Sidetracked

New drama series, in which Swedish detective Kurt Wallander investigates a series of violent and terrifying murders in the beautiful setting of Skane, Southern Sweden.

What connects the shocking suicide of a young woman and the vicious murder of a government minister? Inspector Kurt Wallander's investigation uncovers wrongdoing and corruption that extends to the heart of the Swedish establishment.


SAT 22:30 Nurse Jackie (b00qpkv6)
Series 1

Ring Finger

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 resorts to extreme measures to get Coop off her back over the fake organ donor card; O'Hara helps Jackie over her her wedding ring problem. And Jackie begins mother-daughter dance lessons with Grace.


SAT 23:00 The Armstrong and Miller Show (b008fn10)
Series 1

Episode 6

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


SAT 23:30 The Thick of It (b00p270j)
Series 3

Episode 5

After weeks of trading bitter blows in the press, DoSAC minister Nicola Murray MP and her shadow Peter Mannion MP are invited onto BBC Radio 5Live for a debate on Richard Bacon's late-night phone-in programme.

Director of communications Malcolm Tucker and opposition PR guru Stewart Pearson decide to listen in the comfort of their respective offices, but when some breaking news threatens to make things difficult for the politicians, the programme quickly turns into a phone-in like no other. Malcolm and Stewart are left no choice but to start getting their people over to the studios.


SAT 00:00 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.


SAT 01:00 BBC Proms (b00mbwqt)
2009

Prom 57: Tchaikovsky Night

Tchaikovsky dominates the evening, as Stephen Hough concludes his one-man piano marathon with the Concert Fantasia in G Minor for piano and orchestra. Cellist Steven Isserlis also plays Tchaikovsky, in his Variations on a Rococo Theme, followed by the tumultuous symphonic fantasy, Francesca da Rimini.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra begin the evening with Agon, one of eleven Stravinsky ballets performed at the Proms this season, under the baton of David Robertson.


SAT 03:10 Bombay Railway (b007t367)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2010

SUN 19:00 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.


SUN 20:00 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'.


SUN 21:00 Indian Hill Railways (b00qvk99)
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

From the Himalayas in the north to the Nilgiris in the south - for a hundred years these little trains have climbed through the clouds and into the wonderful world of Indian hill railways.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a line so close to the people that it flows like a river through their lives. The relationship between the train and the people is changing, however, as a new generation of Gurkhas populates these hills, demanding an independent state and fighting for a new identity as they journey into the modern Indian world.


SUN 22:00 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.


SUN 23:00 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.


SUN 23:50 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.


SUN 00:50 Indian Hill Railways (b00qvk99)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 01:50 The Great Offices of State (b00qplfp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 02:50 Mad Men (b00qpl7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


SUN 03:35 Getting Our Way (b00qpk0d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2010

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00qvkrk)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 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.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00qvkrm)
Series 3

Insurers v Gamblers

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

A team of insurance professionals face off against a trio of committed gamblers. Who will win the battle as they compete to draw together the connections between things, which, at first glance, seem utterly random - such as Prince of Darkness, Bambi, Grocer and Tarzan?


MON 21:00 Getting Our Way (b00qvkrp)
Prosperity

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

In this second episode, Meyer looks at how for 200 years Britain's lust for trade and cash has shaped our chequered relationship with China. He follows in the footsteps of Lord Macartney, Britain's first envoy to China, and finds out how the 1792 mission ended in fiasco when Macartney refused to conform to Chinese court etiquette and was sent home in disgrace - the first but not the last time that deciding whether to kowtow to China has troubled Britons desperate for a piece of the Chinese action.

60 years later, governor of Hong Kong Sir John Bowring went for the row rather than kowtow and was more successful, but only after provoking a dubious war (the second Opium War) with the aid of a 'sexed up' dossier.

The consequences of this unsavoury diplomacy were finally played out in the negotiations over handing back Hong Kong in the 1980s and 90s, when passions ran high among British diplomats who disagreed about the best way to handle China.

13 years after the Hong Kong handover the argument still rages, and contributors include the last governor, Chris Patten, and his adversary, the late Sir Percy Cradock, formerly Britain's top negotiator with the Chinese. Former foreign secretary Douglas Hurd and Hong Kong super-tycoon Sir David Tang also feature.

Meyer concludes that it is time we started learning from our diplomatic history - now more than ever, as trade with China is a crucial element for British prosperity. It necessarily forces our diplomats to tread a delicate tightrope - in both standing up for human rights and looking out for British interests.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b00qvkrr)
The Most Dangerous Man in America

In 1971, leading Vietnam War strategist Daniel Ellsberg concluded that the war was based on decades of lies. He leaked 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to the New York Times, a daring act of conscience that led directly to Watergate, President Nixon's resignation and the end of the Vietnam War.


MON 23:30 Storyville (b007mwjw)
How Vietnam Was Lost

Based on David Maraniss's book They Marched into Sunlight, a documentary telling the story of two seemingly unconnected events in October 1967 that changed the course of the Vietnam War.

Whilst a US battalion unwittingly marched into a Viet Cong ambush which killed 61 young men, half a world away angry students at the University of Wisconsin were protesting the presence of Dow Chemical recruiters on campus.


MON 00:50 Only Connect (b00qvkrm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 01:20 Getting Our Way (b00qvkrp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 02:20 Storyville (b00qvkrr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 03:50 Syrian School (b00qpl7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2010

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00qvl43)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Hidden Histories (b00p6bqb)
Series 2

Episode 4

Narrated by Huw Edwards, this series investigates the little-known aspects of Welsh history.

There's the house that time forgot near Raglan, a visit to the best preserved World War I training trenches at Penally in Pembrokeshire, and a look at new plans to open a visitor centre at Parys Mountain in Anglesey, once the biggest copper mine in the world.


TUE 20:00 Timeshift (b00pht5q)
Series 9

Oliver Postgate: A Life in Small Films

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a man whose name was Oliver Postgate. He had a shed where he made things.

With his friend Peter Firmin, Oliver created entire worlds for characters including Bagpuss, The Clangers and Ivor the Engine. These stories fired the imaginations of generations of children, and his lullaby voice became a universal reminder of childhood.

Time Shift celebrates Oliver Postgate's life and work through a treasury of clips from well-known and rarely seen films, alongside film and photos from the family archive. Fans including Lauren Child (Charlie and Lola) and Andrew Davenport (In the Night Garden) are on hand to heap praise on the man who is such an inspiration for their work.

Postgate's family help delve deep into his history and discover the inventions, such as Oliver's old camera adapted with Meccano, that powered his imagined worlds. Co-creator Firmin reveals the story behind his most celebrated characters and introduces his daughter Emily, familiar to millions as the owner of Bagpuss.

The documentary also reveals how, as the grandson of Labour leader George Lansbury, Postgate's life was shaped by radical politics. His deeply held beliefs influenced his classic creations, and campaigning became his focus until his death in December 2008.


TUE 21:00 Skippy: Australia's First Superstar (b00qvl9g)
Documentary telling the story of Australia's most cherished TV star, Skippy the bush kangaroo, the crime-busting marsupial who conquered the world in the late 60s and early 70s.

The 91 episodes of Skippy were sold in 128 countries and watched by hundreds of millions. It put Australia on the map and - for those of a certain generation - the heroic marsupial is synonymous with their childhood, often in more profound ways than they realise.

Includes interviews with every surviving member of the cast and some of the key crew - not least those responsible for getting the best performances out of the temperamental star.


TUE 22:00 We Need Answers (b00qvl9j)
Series 2

Music, Fauna and Smut

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 editor of the Erotic Review and Daily Mail columnist Rowan Pelling battles against Radio One DJ Nihal Arthanayake.

The rules are simple - contestants must match their answer to the one given by a text answering service. Questions range from 'How old were the UK's oldest couple when they divorced?' to 'Is music a language?'.

In the cunning physical challenge which pits the contestants against each other, Rowan and Nihal attempt to stuff a week's worth of shopping down their trousers.


TUE 22:30 Newswipe (b00qvl9l)
Series 2

Episode 5

Another instalment of caustic commentary, satirical observations and laughs from Charlie Brooker, with the regular mix of contributors and fun.


TUE 23:00 Timeshift (b00pht5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 00:00 Skippy: Australia's First Superstar (b00qvl9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 01:00 Newswipe (b00qvl9l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


TUE 01:30 Latin Music USA (b00qbzxs)
East Side Story

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

The massive success of Santana's innovative Latin-blues at the Woodstock Festival leads back in time to the first Cuban immigrants arriving, with their Afro-Cuban music, into the States. Using feature film clips, rare archive and location filming, the programme examines how Afro-Cuban music has impacted - since early last century - on jazz, pop rhythms and dance styles.

From Cuban rumba to New York mambo, Latin music enthralled 1950s America, challenging racial attitudes and changing the stereotypes projected in movies like West Side Story. It influenced Hollywood, TV sitcoms and 60s rock 'n' roll, as the Beatles and many American R&B bands absorbed Latin rhythms into the wider worlds of rock music, fashion and culture.

Featuring Carlos Santana, Cachao, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie and the greatest names in Afro-Cuban music.


TUE 02:30 The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra at the Barbican (b00qbzxv)
One of the greatest Latin bands, the Big 3 Palladium Orchestra, takes to the stage at London's Barbican for a unique concert. They embody the spirit of the original Mambo Kings and perform the music of the three legendary bandleaders and composers - Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente - who set light to the dance floor of New York's Palladium Ballroom throughout the 1950s.

The Orchestra contains members who played in the original Palladium Ballroom and is fronted by Machito Jr (son of the original bandleader, Machito AKA Frank Grillo) and Tito Rodriguez Jr (son of the legendary singer). Joining this scorching ensemble are guest soloists, legendary Fania pianist and producer Larry Harlow and trombonist Jimmy Bosch.

The Orchestra is the brainchild of Machito Jr, who approached the Puente and Rodriguez families to recreate the music of this golden era, and the band has quickly become recognised as probably the finest Latin Jazz ensemble in the USA. Much of the music is based on historic charts by the three original bandleaders, and the Barbican concert explores a repertoire from the beginnings of Mambo right through to the explosive and enduring sound created in the hot house of the Fania label - a sound which has been one of the defining styles of salsa.


TUE 03:30 Skippy: Australia's First Superstar (b00qvl9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2010

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00qvlqs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 It's Only a Theory (b00n9105)
Episode 2

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 broadcaster and journalist Martha Kearney and the experts are Professor David Crystal, John Man and Dr Kathleen Richardson.


WED 20:00 Around the World in 80 Faiths (b00h35t7)
The Middle East

Pete Owen Jones's epic journey exploring the world's beliefs continues in the Middle East, where he encounters an unknown side to a land scarred by religious strife.

In a moving and at times disturbing film, Pete travels to Israel where he meets the African-Americans who have settled in the Holy Land to live by the principles of the Old Testament - including polygamy. He travels to Syria to explore Islam and meet the Sufi Whirling Dervishes, to Samaria to witness the 3000-year-old Passover sacrifice, and to northern Iraq to track down the ancient and obscure Yazidi sect, who have a curious reputation for devil worship.

Pete also visits Jerusalem, revered as the ultimate city of spiritual power, where he takes part in two great rituals - the Christian Via Dolorosa and the Jewish Purim festival.

His journey is full of uncomfortable revelations about the roots of religious intolerance, but ends with a redemptive message of peace.


WED 21:00 Syrian School (b00qvlqv)
Rap Refugees

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.

Yarmouk Girls' Secondary School sits in the heart of a Palestinian refugee camp that has sat on the southern edge of the city for over sixty years. Nearly all its students are Palestinian, coming of age in a society obsessed with its Palestinian identity and right to return to its homeland.

Two schoolgirls are breaking the mould. Shaza and Rahaf dream of serving the Palestinian cause though rap music, but their plans put them on a collision course with their parents and traditionalist head teacher as they try to bring their radical rap into the classroom.


WED 22:00 Mad Men (b00qvlqx)
Series 3

The Fog

Sally's behaviour at school is giving Don and Betty cause for concern. Betty goes into labour. A face from the past turns up. Peter is working on a TV account and he believes he has identified a new market, but is it too controversial?


WED 22:45 We Need Answers (b00qvl9j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


WED 23:15 It's Only a Theory (b00n9105)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 23:45 Around the World in 80 Faiths (b00h35t7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 00:45 Syrian School (b00qvlqv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 01:45 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.


WED 02:45 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'.


WED 03:45 We Need Answers (b00qvl9j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]



THURSDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2010

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00qvlvz)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Only Connect (b00qvkrm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


THU 20:00 Light Fantastic (b0074qwt)
The Stuff of Light

In tracing the journey from light bulb to atomic bomb, Simon Schaffer reveals how the quest to understand what light really is had disturbing consequences.


THU 21:00 The Great Offices of State (b00qvlw1)
Palace of Dreams

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.

The Foreign Office is the grandest of the three, built in Victorian times to impress foreigners when the British lion still strutted the globe. How the Foreign Office has sought over the years to come to terms with Britain's reduced status in the world makes an often tragicomic tale.

Cockerell blends fresh access filming, rare and previously unseen archive and interviews with past and present foreign secretaries and their normally camera-shy senior officials. The film tells of the many behind-the-scenes battles in the FO between its mandarins and ministers and against 10 Downing Street.

Successive prime ministers have regarded the Foreign Office as temperamentally inclined to kow-tow to foreigners and have sought to be their own foreign secretaries - often with disastrous consequences. The film also explores the always-uneasy relationship between the FO and its offshoot, Britain's spy agency, MI6.


THU 22:00 Newswipe (b00qvl9l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]


THU 22:30 Yella (b00qvlw3)
Drama about a woman who is estranged from the possessive and violent husband who can't bring himself to give her up. When their fraught interaction finally comes to a dramatic conclusion, her life takes an odd shift.


THU 23:55 BBC Four Sessions (b008yw99)
kd lang

Series of unique concerts featuring musicians from around the world at St Luke's in London. Canadian country singer and four-times Grammy award winner kd lang performs together with a 30-strong strings section from the BBC Concert Orchestra. The set features songs from across her 25-year career, including her biggest hit Constant Craving, covers of Neil Young and Leonard Cohen songs, and material from her 2008 album Watershed.


THU 00:55 Newswipe (b00qvl9l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]


THU 01:25 Latin Music USA (b00qpm4c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 02:25 Later... with Jools Holland (b00qpm4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:00 on Saturday]


THU 03:25 The Great Offices of State (b00qvlw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2010

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00qvm3t)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Tchaikovsky's Women (b00qvm3w)
The first of two films by Christopher Nupen about the music and the artistic preoccupations of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky covers the period from the first tentative stirrings of Tchaikovsky's musical talent to the composition of his opera Eugene Onegin and the disastrous failure of his marriage to Antonina Milyukova.

It looks at the women who fired his musical imagination in the early years, from Katerina Kabanova in his first orchestral work, The Storm, to his dearly loved Tatyana in Onegin. There are, however, natural correspondences with the women in his private life - his mother Alexandra, his governess Fanny Durbach, the Belgian opera singer Desiree Artot, Antonina Milyukova and his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck.

Up to the time of his marriage the prime source of inspiration for much of his best music lay in Tchaikovsky's deep identification with the fate of his vulnerable young heroines. All through his life he was preoccupied with the idea of fate and in the beginning it was the fate of these young women that touched him most - Katerina in The Storm, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Francesca in Francesca da Rimini and above all Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. His identification with Tatyana was so complete that it had a direct influence on his decision to marry Antonina Milyukova with such unhappy consequences.

The film features Cynthia Harvey and Mark Silver, both principal dancers with the Royal Ballet, as well as Welsh soprano Helen Field and Swedish Soprano Clarry Bartha. The music is performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.


FRI 20:40 Folk America at the Barbican (b00jp7nm)
Seasick Steve

Maverick veteran blues man Seasick Steve performs at the Barbican mixing old numbers from the likes of Furry Lewis with self-penned songs, including live favourite Chiggers.


FRI 21:00 Latin Music USA (b00qvm3y)
The Latin Explosion

The last in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA looks at how Latin pop was born in Miami, created by Cuban immigrants fleeing Fidel Castro, and how it has impacted on the worlds of music, business, fashion and media across the Americas and the world.

In the 1980s, Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio moulded a crossover pop sound which exploded out of Miami into every city in the States. From TV shows like Miami Vice to the movie Scarface and the corporate influences that embrace Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez, Latin pop reflects a new-found power and confidence for a community that has found its place in mainstream USA.

Featuring Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Gloria Estefan and the stars of Reggaeton.


FRI 22:00 TOTP2 (b00qvm8x)
Goes Latin

Compilation of memorable Top of the Pops performances from some of the biggest names in Latin music, including Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Santana, Gloria Estefan and Lou Bega.


FRI 22:30 Skippy: Australia's First Superstar (b00qvl9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (b0074srh)
Comedy about Barry McKenzie, a die-hard Aussie who is sent to England by his family, accompanied by his eccentric aunt Edna Everage. Loud-mouthed, lager-crazy Bazza encounters a totally alien culture and becomes embroiled in a series of strange vicissitudes, from being pressured to marry the unattractive daughter of an aristocratic-but-penniless family to being kidnapped by a group of hippies and re-encountering an Australian childhood sweetheart who now lives a different lifestyle in London.


FRI 01:15 Latin Music USA (b00qvm3y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 02:15 TOTP2 (b00qvm8x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:45 Tchaikovsky's Women (b00qvm3w)
[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 in 80 Faiths 20:00 WED (b00h35t7)

Around the World in 80 Faiths 23:45 WED (b00h35t7)

BBC Four Sessions 23:55 THU (b008yw99)

BBC Proms 01:00 SAT (b00mbwqt)

Bombay Railway 20:00 SAT (b007t367)

Bombay Railway 03:10 SAT (b007t367)

Folk America at the Barbican 20:40 FRI (b00jp7nm)

Getting Our Way 19:00 SUN (b00qpk0d)

Getting Our Way 03:35 SUN (b00qpk0d)

Getting Our Way 21:00 MON (b00qvkrp)

Getting Our Way 01:20 MON (b00qvkrp)

Hidden Histories 19:30 TUE (b00p6bqb)

Indian Hill Railways 21:00 SUN (b00qvk99)

Indian Hill Railways 00:50 SUN (b00qvk99)

It's Only a Theory 19:30 WED (b00n9105)

It's Only a Theory 23:15 WED (b00n9105)

La Excelencia at the Barbican 02:45 WED (b00qjnxh)

Later... with Jools Holland 00:00 SAT (b00qpm4f)

Later... with Jools Holland 02:25 THU (b00qpm4f)

Latin Music USA 22:00 SUN (b00qpm4c)

Latin Music USA 01:30 TUE (b00qbzxs)

Latin Music USA 01:45 WED (b00qjnxf)

Latin Music USA 01:25 THU (b00qpm4c)

Latin Music USA 21:00 FRI (b00qvm3y)

Latin Music USA 01:15 FRI (b00qvm3y)

Life 19:00 SAT (b00nj6dr)

Light Fantastic 20:00 THU (b0074qwt)

Mad Men 23:00 SUN (b00qpl7y)

Mad Men 02:50 SUN (b00qpl7y)

Mad Men 22:00 WED (b00qvlqx)

Newswipe 22:30 TUE (b00qvl9l)

Newswipe 01:00 TUE (b00qvl9l)

Newswipe 22:00 THU (b00qvl9l)

Newswipe 00:55 THU (b00qvl9l)

Nurse Jackie 22:30 SAT (b00qpkv6)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00qvkrm)

Only Connect 00:50 MON (b00qvkrm)

Only Connect 19:30 THU (b00qvkrm)

Skippy: Australia's First Superstar 21:00 TUE (b00qvl9g)

Skippy: Australia's First Superstar 00:00 TUE (b00qvl9g)

Skippy: Australia's First Superstar 03:30 TUE (b00qvl9g)

Skippy: Australia's First Superstar 22:30 FRI (b00qvl9g)

Storyville 23:50 SUN (b00qpk0g)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b00qvkrr)

Storyville 23:30 MON (b007mwjw)

Storyville 02:20 MON (b00qvkrr)

Syrian School 19:30 MON (b00qpl7w)

Syrian School 03:50 MON (b00qpl7w)

Syrian School 21:00 WED (b00qvlqv)

Syrian School 00:45 WED (b00qvlqv)

TOTP2 22:00 FRI (b00qvm8x)

TOTP2 02:15 FRI (b00qvm8x)

Tchaikovsky's Women 19:30 FRI (b00qvm3w)

Tchaikovsky's Women 02:45 FRI (b00qvm3w)

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie 23:30 FRI (b0074srh)

The Armstrong and Miller Show 23:00 SAT (b008fn10)

The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra at the Barbican 02:30 TUE (b00qbzxv)

The Great Offices of State 20:00 SUN (b00qplfp)

The Great Offices of State 01:50 SUN (b00qplfp)

The Great Offices of State 21:00 THU (b00qvlw1)

The Great Offices of State 03:25 THU (b00qvlw1)

The Thick of It 23:30 SAT (b00p270j)

Timeshift 20:00 TUE (b00pht5q)

Timeshift 23:00 TUE (b00pht5q)

Wallander 21:00 SAT (b00fy2zw)

We Need Answers 22:00 TUE (b00qvl9j)

We Need Answers 22:45 WED (b00qvl9j)

We Need Answers 03:45 WED (b00qvl9j)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00qvkrk)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00qvl43)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00qvlqs)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00qvlvz)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00qvm3t)

Yella 22:30 THU (b00qvlw3)