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 17 APRIL 2010

SAT 19:00 Life (b00pcm3h)
Primates

Primates are just like humans - intelligent, quarrelsome, family-centred.

Huge armies of Hamadryas baboons, 400 strong, battle on the plains of Ethiopia to steal females and settle old scores. Japanese macaques in Japan beat the cold by lounging in thermal springs, but only if they come from the right family. An orangutan baby fails in its struggle to make an umbrella out of leaves to keep off the rain. Young capuchins cannot quite get the hang of smashing nuts with a large rock, a technique their parents have perfected. Chimpanzees, humans' closest relatives, have created an entire tool kit to get their food.


SAT 20:00 Wonders of the Solar System (b00rkksg)
Original Series

Order Out of Chaos

Professor Brian Cox visits some of the most stunning locations on earth to describe how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the solar system.

Brian reveals how beauty and order in earth's cosmic backyard was formed from nothing more than a chaotic cloud of gas. Chasing tornados in Oklahoma, he explains how the same physics that creates these spinning storms shaped the young solar system. Out of this celestial maelstrom emerged the jewel in the crown, Brian's second wonder - the magnificent rings of Saturn.

On an ice-choked lagoon in Iceland, he sees the nearest thing on earth to Saturn's rings. Using the latest scientific imagery and breathtaking graphics, he explains how the intricate patterns round Saturn are shaped by the cluster of more than 60 moons surrounding the planet.

One of those moons makes a spectacular contribution to the rings and is the third wonder of the solar system. Brian describes the astonishing discovery of giant fountains of ice erupting from the surface of Enceladus, which soar thousands of kilometres into space.


SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00s2y3h)
Series 2

The Thief

Original Swedish TV adaptation of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander detective series.

When Ystad is hit by a wave of burglaries, a group of neighbours take matters into their own hands by guarding the streets at night. At the same time, a Polish builder is reported missing by his distraught wife. Neither case are deemed high priority, but Wallander and the Ystad police investigate and uncover more than they expected.


SAT 22:25 Walter's War (b00fh1w1)
Drama inspired by the life of Walter Tull who, after years in an orphanage, went on to become a professional footballer and then the first black commissioned officer to lead British troops during the First World War.

The action concerns Tull's turbulent passage from ordinary soldier to extraordinary officer at officer training camp, where he had to face his own demons as well as fight the prejudice that surrounded him.


SAT 23:25 Walter Tull: Forgotten Hero (b00fh1vz)
Walter Tull was a pioneering black British footballer and the first black officer in the British army, who died heroically fighting in the First World War and yet is virtually unheard of today.

Former Eastenders star Nick Bailey relates the story of this forgotten hero, investigating war records to establish whether there was a colour bar in the British Army and asking how Tull managed to become an officer despite army regulations requiring only men of 'pure European descent'. Bailey also tries to discover why Lieutenant Tull was denied a Military Cross for heroism even though his commanding officer recommended him for one.

Tull's parents died before he was seven years old and he was sent to an orphanage in London's East End, but despite that he won a place in the first team of one of Britain's most famous clubs, Tottenham Hotspur. However, after just seven games and great match reports, he received such racial abuse he never played for the first team again. Far from giving up, Tull rebuilt his football career and then signed up for military service at the first opportunity.


SAT 00:25 BBC Young Musician (b00s06v3)
2010

Brass

Clemency Burton-Hill introduces BBC Young Musician 2010. Over 300 of the UK's best young musicians entered this year's competition and just 25 were chosen to go through to the five category finals - brass, keyboard, strings, woodwind and percussion.

In the brass final, five young people compete at the BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff for the title of category winner and an all-important place in the competition semi-final. Expect tension, drama and some exceptional performances, with music by Strauss, Schumann and Fasch.


SAT 01:55 Wonders of the Solar System (b00rkksg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:55 Walter's War (b00fh1w1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:25 today]


SAT 03:55 Walter Tull: Forgotten Hero (b00fh1vz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:25 today]



SUNDAY 18 APRIL 2010

SUN 19:00 Beautiful Minds (b00s04qp)
Series 1

James Lovelock

Great minds don't think alike. In fact, offbeat thinking has led to some of the greatest scientific discoveries of our age.

In the second of a three-part series uncovering the minds behind some of the greatest scientific discoveries of our age, James Lovelock explains how his maverick way of thinking led him not only to technical breakthroughs in atmospheric detection systems on Earth and Mars, but also to Gaia - a new way of thinking about the Earth as a holistic, self-regulating system.

He tells of his struggle against the scientific consensus of the day, the ridicule of his peers and his passionate belief that the mainstream scientific establishment stifles intellectual creativity.


SUN 20:00 The Moon (b0074s8j)
1972 was the year a great affair ended, as the human race fell out of love with the moon. Just three years after the world was gripped by Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind, the last man left the moon and we have never been back.

This film tells the epic story of our love affair with the moon - what inspired it, how it faded away and how we are now falling in love all over again.


SUN 21:00 Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession (b00s2wvh)
Windows on the World

In a series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton uncovers how maps aren't simply about getting from A to B, but are revealing snapshots of defining moments in history and tools of political power and persuasion.

Visiting the world's first known map, etched into the rocks of a remote alpine hillside 3,000 years ago, Brotton explores how each culture develops its own unique, often surprising way of mapping. As Henry VIII's stunning maps of the British coastline from a bird's-eye view show, they were also used to exert control over the world.

During the Enlightenment, the great French Cassini dynasty pioneered the western quest to map the world with greater scientific accuracy, leading also to the British Ordnance Survey. But these new scientific methods were challenged by cultures with alternative ways of mapping, such as in a Polynesian navigator's map which has no use for north, south and east.

As scientifically accurate map-making became a powerful tool of European expansion, the British carved the state of Iraq out of the Middle East. When the British drew up Iraq's boundaries, they had devastating consequences for the nomadic tribes of Mesopotamia.


SUN 22:00 Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? (b00s01xm)
Episode 1

Goldsmiths is renowned for producing a generation of well-known contemporary artists, including the likes of Damien Hirst and five other Turner prize winners. But what is behind its unrivalled reputation for producing the art stars of the future?

The first in a two-part documentary follows a group of student artists from Goldsmiths as they struggle to make art and a name for themselves during the run up to their final masters show, where dealers and collectors jostle to sign up the latest art sensation.

The artists are all desperate to make the kind of work that will propel them to centre stage in the art world, but only a chosen few will succeed. The film explores the culture of contemporary art through the ambitions, influences and attitudes of the next generation of young British artists.


SUN 23:00 Mad Men (b00s01fs)
Series 3

Shut the Door, Have a Seat

Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Pryce come up with a cunning plan to avoid being sold to McCann. Betty and Don begin to formalise a divorce. Betty kicks Don out of the house and leaves for Reno to commence a six-week residency requirement with Henry Francis. Is this the end?


SUN 23:45 The Songs of Nick Drake: Way to Blue (b00s06v5)
Filmed at the Barbican in January 2010 and curated by Joe Boyd, producer and general champion of Nick Drake, 90 minutes of performance highlights from a diverse but renowned cast of modern day troubadours.

Presenting their own interpretations of Drake's songs are Vashti Bunyan, Green Gartside, Lisa Hannigan, Scott Matthews, Teddy Thompson, Krystle Warren, Robyn Hitchcock, Kirsty Almeida and Harper Simon.

A celebration of the songs of Nick Drake, the concert features the original orchestrations of Nick's friend, the late Robert Kirby. It includes a house band anchored by Danny Thompson, the legendary bassist who played on Drake's first two albums.

Highlights include Teddy Thompson's version of the timeless River Man, Lisa Hannigan's haunting and compelling version of Black Eyed Dog, Krystle Warren's bluesy take on Time Has Told Me, Robyn Hitchcock's psychedelic spin on Parasite and Neil MacColl's accomplished rendition of the classic Northern Sky.

During his lifetime Nick Drake found little mainstream success, but since his death at the untimely age of 26 in 1974 he has been revered as one of the most influential and important English songwriters of his era.


SUN 01:15 Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession (b00s2wvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 02:15 Mad Men (b00s01fs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


SUN 03:00 Beautiful Minds (b00s04qp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 04:00 The Moon (b0074s8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 19 APRIL 2010

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00s2x93)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys (b007hfx3)
Robert Baden-Powell's handbook Scouting for Boys, written in 1908, may be largely forgotten today, but it is one of the most influential and best-selling books of all time. In the 20th century, only the Bible, the Koran and the Thoughts of Chairman Mao sold more. But they had fewer jokes, no pictures and were useless at important stuff like tying knots.

In this entertaining and affectionate film, Ian Hislop uncovers the story behind the book which kick-started the Scout Movement - a work which is very eccentric, very Edwardian and very British.

Ian discovers that the book is actually very radical and addresses all sorts of issues that we think of as modern, such as citizenship, disaffected youth and social responsibility. He explores the maverick brilliance of Baden-Powell, a national celebrity after his heroism in the Boer War, and considers the book's candid focus on health and wellbeing - from the importance of what Baden-Powell called a 'daily rear' to his infamous warning on the dangers of masturbation.

Contributors include his grandson Lord Baden-Powell, minister for culture and former cub scout David Lammy, biographer Tim Jeal and Elleke Boehmer, editor of the re-issue of the original Scouting for Boys.


MON 20:30 The Beauty of Maps (b00s3v0t)
Medieval Maps - Mapping the Medieval Mind

Documentary series charting the visual appeal and historical meaning of maps.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi is the largest intact Medieval wall map in the world and its ambition is breathtaking - to picture all of human knowledge in a single image. The work of a team of artists, the world it portrays is overflowing with life, featuring Classical and Biblical history, contemporary buildings and events, animals and plants from across the globe, and the infamous 'monstrous races' which were believed to inhabit the remotest corners of the Earth.

The Mappa Mundi, meaning 'cloth of the world', has spent most of its long life at Hereford Cathedral, rarely emerging from behind its glass case. The programme represents a rare opportunity to get close to the map and explore its detail, giving a unique insight into the Medieval mind. This is also the first programme to show the map in its original glory, revealing the results of a remarkable year-long project by the Folio Society to restore it using the latest digital technology.

The map has a chequered history. Since its glory days in the 1300s it has languished forgotten in storerooms, been dismissed as a curious 'monstrosity', and controversially almost sold. Only in the last 20 years have scholars and artists realised its true depth and meaning, with the map exerting an extraordinary power over those who come into contact with it. The programme meets some of these individuals, from scholars and map lovers to Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, whose own work, the Map of Nowhere, is inspired by the Mappa Mundi.


MON 21:00 Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? (b00s2x95)
Episode 2

Goldsmiths is renowned for producing a generation of well-known contemporary artists, including the likes of Damien Hirst and five other Turner prize winners. What is behind its unrivalled reputation for producing the art stars of the future?

The second in a two-part documentary starts at the final Masters show for the Goldsmiths students, following them in the vital months after graduation as they take the first faltering steps as professional artists. A lucky few get picked up by galleries but the rest are left to rely on their ingenuity to be noticed. Who will make a living from this most precarious of careers?


MON 21:50 Timeshift (b0074qcj)
Series 4

Art School

A look at the history of Britain's art schools, the most exciting educational establishments in Britain for two decades. The engines of the 1960s counter culture, they produced a generation of young go-getters who would take on the establishment and create the new industries of fashion, graphic design and pop music. Contributors include Brian Eno, Mary Quant, Kim Howells and Brian Rice.


MON 22:30 The Man Who Shot the 60s (b00pwsns)
A tribute to Brian Duffy, who passed away in May 2010. Duffy was one of the greatest photographers of his generation. Along with David Bailey and Terence Donovan he defined the image of the 1960s and was as famous as the stars he photographed. In the 1970s he suddenly disappeared from view and burned all his negatives. Filmed on the eve of the first-ever exhibition of his work, Duffy agrees to talk about his life, his work and why he made it all go up in flames.


MON 23:30 The Beauty of Maps (b00s3v0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 00:00 Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? (b00s2x95)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 00:50 Where Is Modern Art Now? (b00nxm6s)
Documentary in which art historian Dr Gus Casely-Hayford explores the state of British art in 2009. Set against the backdrop of a contemporary art bubble that has burst, he spends the summer speaking to artists about their work and their thoughts about the future.

Following a period in which discussions about prices of art have dominated, this is a film about art itself rather than the market or the celebrities it created. Gus journeys from whitewashed studios to squats to explore what British artists are making, where they are making it and how things have changed.

Meeting a spectrum of those who call themselves artists, from Turner Prize-winner Grayson Perry to those just out of college, Gus asks whether a new era in art is dawning and whether there is a reason to be optimistic.


MON 01:50 Kidult: My Kid Could Paint That (b00csk9p)
Documentary that gets to the heart of an extraordinary artworld cause célèbre.

In the span of only a few months, 4-year-old Marla Olmstead rocketed from total obscurity into international renown - and sold over $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. She was compared to Kandinsky and Pollock, and called 'a budding Picasso'. Inside Edition, The Jane Pauley Show, and NPR did pieces on her, and The Today Show and Good Morning America got in a bidding war over an appearance by the bashful toddler. There was talk of corporate sponsorship with the family fielding calls from The Gap and Crayola.

Then, five months into Marla's new life as a celebrity, and just short of her fifth birthday, a bombshell dropped. CBS's 60 Minutes aired an exposé suggesting strongly that the paintings were painted by her father, himself an amateur painter. As quickly as the public built Marla up, they tore her down. The New York Post asked whether 'the juvenile Jackson Pollock may actually be a full-fledged Willem de Frauding'. The Olmsteads were barraged with hate mail and ostracized, whilst sales of the paintings dried up and Marla's art dealer considered moving. Embattled, the Olmsteads themselves turned to a documentary filmmaker to clear their name.

Torn between his own responsibility as a journalist and the family's desire to see their integrity restored, the director finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a situation that can't possibly end well for him and them, and could easily end badly for both.


MON 03:10 Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? (b00s2x95)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 04:00 Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys (b007hfx3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 20 APRIL 2010

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00s2xf6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard (b00kk49c)
Ian Hislop takes an amused look at one of the most peculiar offices in the British establishment, that of Poet Laureate. Its 341-year history produces a gloriously eccentric picture of who we are, how we are ruled, what we want to say about ourselves and just how hard it is to do that in verse.

We know that Poets Laureate write about royal weddings but Hislop discovers a whole lot more, such as 534, John Masefield's brilliant poem on the launch of the Queen Mary from the Clydebank shipyards and Nicholas Rowe's New Year's Ode for 1716 dedicated to the Princess of Wales's labour pains. There was Colley Cibber, the Laureate so ashamed of his poor output he adopted a pseudonym and wrote poems attacking himself, and Alfred Tennyson, who wrote the nation's favourite laureate poem, Charge of the Light Brigade.

The film also throws light on the shadowy process by which the appointment is made. Lord Gowrie, the arts minister in Mrs Thatcher's cabinet, reveals how Ted Hughes came to be Thatcher's choice for Laureate, when many people were still hostile towards him due to his wife Sylvia Plath's suicide.

A visit to the National Archive unearths a hilarious list by C P Duff, a top civil servant, ranking the poets of the day for the benefit of one very confused prime minister, and Candida Lycett Green reveals to Ian just how much whisky it took before her father, John Betjeman, could summon up a poem to celebrate Princess Anne's wedding.

Ian gets to the bottom of the bizarre tradition of the payment in sherry (650 bottles of the stuff), and after trying a glass or two himself, poetic inspiration strikes and he concludes the film with his very own ode to Carol Ann Duffy, our newest Poet Laureate.


TUE 20:30 The Beauty of Maps (b00s5p6k)
City Maps - Order out of Chaos

Documentary series charting the visual appeal and historical meaning of maps.

The British Library is home to a staggering 4.5 million maps, most of which remain hidden away in its colossal basement, and the programme delves behind the scenes to explore some amazing treasures in more detail. This is the story of three maps, three 'visions' of London over three centuries; visions of beauty that celebrate but also distort the truth. It's the story of how urban maps try to impose order on chaos.

On Sunday 2 September 1660, the Great Fire of London began reducing most of the city to ashes, and among the huge losses were many maps of the city itself. The Morgan Map of 1682 was the first to show the whole of the City of London after the fire. Consisting of sixteen separate sheets, measuring eight feet by five feet, it took six years to complete. Morgan's beautiful map symbolised the hoped-for ideal city.

In 1746 John Rocque produced what was at the time the most detailed map ever made of London. Like Morgan's, Rocque's map is all neo-Classical beauty and clinical precision, but the London it represented had become the opposite. In engravings of the time, such as Night, the artist William Hogarth shows a city boiling with vice and corruption. Stephen Walter's contemporary image, The Island, plays with notions of cartographic order and respectability. His extraordinary London map looks at first glance to be just as precise and ordered as his hero Rocque's but, looking closer, it includes 21st-century markings, such as 'favourite kebab vans' and sites of 'personal heartbreak'.


TUE 21:00 Small Island (b00ph9l4)
Episode 2

The emotional and moving climax to the stories of Hortense, Queenie and Gilbert whose lives entwine in post Second World War London.

Hortense begins her new life in England and soon learns it is not the golden land she hoped it would be. She and Gilbert suffer racism and ignorance, but in adversity they discover new qualities in each other and begin to fall in love. Queenie is shocked when her husband Bernard returns to her after years away. When she goes into labour and has a baby by a mysterious father, the lives of all four are changed forever.


TUE 22:30 Tales from the Front Room (b0074tkr)
Documentary in which a host of black British names share memories of their front parlour, a room kept pristine and only for strangers, and one of the colonial teachings which early West Indian immigrants brought back to the mother country.

Forced to live out of one room in their early years in Britain, the front room was an aspiration and, like the Sunday Best they'd arrived in, the room bestowed dignity and respectability. Viewed chronologically from 1948 to 2006 and using a mixture of interviews, archive footage and mood reconstructions, the film explores the experiences of an evolving private space, illuminating much of the British experience of the last half century.


TUE 23:30 The Beauty of Maps (b00s5p6k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 00:00 A Man from the Sun (b0074nt1)
Groundbreaking docudrama from 1956 exploring the experiences of the then 75,000 West Indians who had newly settled in this country and the disparity they found between the mythical Britain and the real Britain.


TUE 01:00 TV's Black Pioneers (b0074tln)
Documentary highlighting the experiences, trials and tribulations of the first generation of black African-Caribbean actors that worked in UK theatre, film and television during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. They recount their lives in the acting profession through personal testimony which is illustrated by the use of archive film and photography. Contributors include Cy Grant, Joan Hooley, George Harris, Mona Hammond, Rudolph Walker and Jim Pines.


TUE 01:30 Tales from the Front Room (b0074tkr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


TUE 02:30 Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard (b00kk49c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL 2010

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00s2xv2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species (b00hd1mr)
Documentary telling the little-known story of how Darwin came to write his great masterpiece On the Origin of Species, a book which explains the wonderful variety of the natural world as emerging out of death and the struggle of life.

In the 20 years he took to develop a brilliant idea into a revolutionary book, Darwin went through a personal struggle every bit as turbulent as that of the natural world he observed. Fortunately, he left us an extraordinary record of his brilliant insights, observations of nature, and touching expressions of love and affection for those around him. He also wrote frank accounts of family tragedies, physical illnesses and moments of self-doubt, as he laboured towards publication of the book that would change the way we see the world.

The story is told with the benefit of Darwin's secret notes and correspondence, enhanced by natural history filming, powerful imagery from the time and contributions from leading contemporary biographers and scientists.


WED 20:30 The Beauty of Maps (b00s64f4)
Atlas Maps - Thinking Big

Documentary series charting the visual appeal and historical meaning of maps.

The Dutch Golden Age saw map-making reach a fever pitch of creative and commercial ambition. This was the era of the first ever atlases - elaborate, lavish and beautiful. This was the great age of discovery and marked an unprecedented opportunity for mapmakers, who sought to record and categorise the newly acquired knowledge of the world. Rising above the many mapmakers in this period was Gerard Mercator, inventor of the Mercator projection, who changed mapmaking forever when he published his collection of world maps in 1598 and coined the term 'atlas'.

The programme looks at some of the largest and most elaborate maps ever produced, from the vast maps on the floor of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, to the 24-volume atlas covering just the Netherlands, to the largest atlas in the world, The Klencke Atlas. It was made for Charles II to mark his restoration in 1660. But whilst being one of the British Library's most important items, it is also one of its most fragile, so hardly ever opened. This is a unique opportunity to see inside this enormous and lavish work, and see the world through the eyes of a king.


WED 21:00 Beautiful Minds (b00s2xv4)
Series 1

Tim Hunt

The final part of this series looking at three brilliant contemporary scientists features Sir Tim Hunt, awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the mechanism of how cells divide - a discovery fundamental to the life and growth of every single creature on the planet, as well as a vital clue into the mystery of cancer.

Hunt recalls moments in his life that provided inspiration for his career as a scientist, from his father's intent scholarship which shaped his early methods to his mother's battle with cancer and the influence of this on his current position at Cancer Research UK.

In his own words, Hunt recounts the events that informed his discovery, from chance encounters to life-changing conversations and reveals his own opinions on the thought processes, both logical and emotional, that led to his extraordinary discovery.


WED 22:00 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 22:30 Outnumbered (b00s1t8h)
Series 3

Episode 2

When Mum finds an inappropriate image on the family computer, an investigation begins. Gran is still staying, and Dad is horrified at the thought of having a heart-to-heart with her.

Meanwhile, the ancient game of chess will never be quite the same again after Ben brings his own special talents to it.


WED 23:00 Flight of the Conchords (b00kld6c)
Series 2

A New Cup

After Bret spends $2.79 on a new cup the boys can't pay any of their bills and, having sold their guitars, Jemaine turns to prostitution to try and make ends meet.


WED 23:25 The Beauty of Maps (b00s64f4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 23:55 In Search of Medieval Britain (b009vsbp)
North of England

Medieval art historian Dr Alixe Bovey uses the oldest surviving route map of Britain to make a series of journeys through Britain in the Middle Ages. She follows the trail north from York to the hotly-contested Scottish border and uncovers tantalising clues to Medieval Britain's most dangerous war zone.


WED 00:25 In Search of Medieval Britain (b009wzw1)
Wales

Medieval art historian Dr Alixe Bovey uses the oldest surviving route map of Britain to make a series of journeys through Britain in the Middle Ages. She heads west from Gloucester to follow in the footsteps of the huge armies of Edward I into Wales and uncovers evidence of a lawless borderland, a Medieval arms race and clues to the origins of the map itself.


WED 00:55 In Search of Medieval Britain (b00b0cc0)
London and South East

Medieval art historian Dr Alixe Bovey uses the oldest surviving route map of Britain to make a series of journeys through Britain in the Middle Ages. She follows the ancient pilgrim trail from the east coast to London and tracks the flow of commodities and ideas from the rest of Europe, a trade that ultimately cost the lives of half the population of London.


WED 01:25 Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species (b00hd1mr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:25 Beautiful Minds (b00s2xv4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 03:25 Flight of the Conchords (b00kld6c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


WED 03:55 It's Only a Theory (b00n59t6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



THURSDAY 22 APRIL 2010

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00s2y3f)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart (b00qhs5v)
Fire

Visible from space, Africa's Great Rift Valley runs three thousand miles from the Red Sea to the mouth of the Zambezi. It's a diverse terrain of erupting volcanoes, forest-clad mountains, spectacular valleys, rolling grasslands, huge lakes and mighty rivers, and is home to crocodiles, hippos, lions, elephants, flocks of flamingos and a diversity of indigenous peoples.

Using state-of-the-art high-definition filming techniques, this series investigates the geological forces which shaped East Africa's Great Rift, and which make it one of the world's most wildlife-rich landscapes.

The valley is the product of deep-seated geological forces which have spewed out a line of cloud-wreathed volcanoes stretching from Ethiopia to Tanzania. Their peaks provide a refuge for East Africa's most extraordinary wildlife, including newly discovered and previously unfilmed species which have evolved surprising survival strategies to cope with their challenging mountain environment.


THU 20:30 The Beauty of Maps (b00s64hx)
Cartoon Maps - Politics and Satire

The series concludes by delving into the world of satirical maps. How did maps take on a new form, not as geographical tools, but as devices for humour, satire or storytelling?

Graphic artist Fred Rose perfectly captured the public mood in 1880 with his general election maps featuring Gladstone and Disraeli, using the maps to comment upon crucial election issues still familiar to us today. Technology was on the satirist's side, with the advent of high-speed printing allowing for larger runs at lower cost. In 1877, when Rose produced his Serio Comic Map of Europe at War, maps began to take on a new direction and form, reflecting a changing world.

Rose's map exploited these possibilities to the full using a combination of creatures and human figures to represent each European nation. The personification of Russia as a grotesque-looking octopus, extending its tentacles around the surrounding nations, perfectly symbolised the threat the country posed to its neighbours.


THU 21:00 Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession (b00s2wvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


THU 22:00 Wallander (b00s2y3h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


THU 23:25 Beautiful Minds (b00s2xv4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 00:25 The Beauty of Maps (b00s64hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


THU 00:55 In Search of Medieval Britain (b00b413n)
Heartlands

Medieval art historian Dr Alixe Bovey uses the oldest surviving route map of Britain to make a series of journeys through Britain in the Middle Ages. Exploring the life of the commoner, she discovers the origins of precedent in common law and uncovers the foundations of modern parliament in a bloody power struggle.


THU 01:25 In Search of Medieval Britain (b00b6w6k)
Scotland

Medieval art historian, Dr Alixe Bovey, uses the oldest surviving route map of Britain to make a series of journeys through Britain in the Middle Ages. She explores the most mysterious region on the whole map - Scotland, a nation so young it still had no capital, where wolves reigned over its highland wilderness and gangsters terrorised its border lands.


THU 01:55 In Search of Medieval Britain (b00bbxqr)
West Country

Medieval art historian, Dr Alixe Bovey, uses the oldest surviving route map of Britain to make a series of journeys through Britain asit was in the Middle Ages. In the West Country, she investigates some of the myths and legends depicted on the Gough Map and discovers how these were used to legitimise wars and empires.


THU 02:25 The Beauty of Maps (b00s3v0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


THU 02:55 Beautiful Minds (b00s2xv4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 03:55 Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession (b00s2wvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]



FRIDAY 23 APRIL 2010

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00s2y8x)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (b00s3vz9)
2010

Strings

Clemency Burton-Hill introduces BBC Young Musician 2010. Over 300 of the UK's best young musicians entered this year's competition and just 25 were chosen to go through to the five category finals - brass, keyboard, strings, woodwind and percussion.

In the strings final, five young people aged between 13 and 18 compete at the BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff for the title of category winner and an all-important place in the competition semi-final. Expect tension, drama and some exceptional performances, with music by Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Ravel.


FRI 21:00 Oil City Confidential: Dr Feelgood (b00s2y91)
Director Julien Temple's film celebrates Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood, the Essex R 'n' B band that exploded out of the UK in the prog era of the early Seventies, delivering shows and albums that helped pave the way for pub rock and punk.

Temple examines Canvey Island culture as a 'Thames delta' for British rhythm and blues, with a central performance from the Feelgood's guitarist and songwriter Wilko Johnson. A British original, his dynamic stage presence and relationship with lead singer Lee Brilleaux drove the band through their early performances, characterising their three albums between 1975 and 1976, Down by the Jetty, Malpractice and the number one live album, Stupidity.

Wilko left the band in 1977, bassist John B Sparks and drummer The Big Figure both left in 1982, and Lee Brilleaux died in 1994. This is an imaginative, filmic and moving study of the place, times and characters that created the heyday of a seminal British band, and the personal forces that pulled them apart.


FRI 22:50 Sight and Sound in Concert (b00s3vzc)
Dr Feelgood and Ian Dury

Pete Drummond introduces a concert from Queen Mary College with Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Chaz Jankel and Dr Feelgood.


FRI 23:50 If It Ain't Stiff (b007j2hr)
Adrian Edmondson narrates a documentary chronicling the story of Stiff Records, a tiny independent that took music out of the boardroom and gave it back to the fans. Stiff's successes included Nick Lowe, the Damned, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Madness, Tracey Ullman and the Pogues. Contributors include Captain Sensible, Jonathan Ross, Suggs, Shane MacGowan and label founders Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson.


FRI 01:20 Oil City Confidential: Dr Feelgood (b00s2y91)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:10 BBC Young Musician (b00s3vz9)
[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)

A Man from the Sun 00:00 TUE (b0074nt1)

BBC Young Musician 00:25 SAT (b00s06v3)

BBC Young Musician 19:30 FRI (b00s3vz9)

BBC Young Musician 03:10 FRI (b00s3vz9)

Beautiful Minds 19:00 SUN (b00s04qp)

Beautiful Minds 03:00 SUN (b00s04qp)

Beautiful Minds 21:00 WED (b00s2xv4)

Beautiful Minds 02:25 WED (b00s2xv4)

Beautiful Minds 23:25 THU (b00s2xv4)

Beautiful Minds 02:55 THU (b00s2xv4)

Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species 19:30 WED (b00hd1mr)

Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species 01:25 WED (b00hd1mr)

Flight of the Conchords 23:00 WED (b00kld6c)

Flight of the Conchords 03:25 WED (b00kld6c)

Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? 22:00 SUN (b00s01xm)

Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? 21:00 MON (b00s2x95)

Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? 00:00 MON (b00s2x95)

Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? 03:10 MON (b00s2x95)

Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard 19:30 TUE (b00kk49c)

Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard 02:30 TUE (b00kk49c)

Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys 19:30 MON (b007hfx3)

Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys 04:00 MON (b007hfx3)

If It Ain't Stiff 23:50 FRI (b007j2hr)

In Search of Medieval Britain 23:55 WED (b009vsbp)

In Search of Medieval Britain 00:25 WED (b009wzw1)

In Search of Medieval Britain 00:55 WED (b00b0cc0)

In Search of Medieval Britain 00:55 THU (b00b413n)

In Search of Medieval Britain 01:25 THU (b00b6w6k)

In Search of Medieval Britain 01:55 THU (b00bbxqr)

It's Only a Theory 22:00 WED (b00n59t6)

It's Only a Theory 03:55 WED (b00n59t6)

Kidult: My Kid Could Paint That 01:50 MON (b00csk9p)

Life 19:00 SAT (b00pcm3h)

Mad Men 23:00 SUN (b00s01fs)

Mad Men 02:15 SUN (b00s01fs)

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession 21:00 SUN (b00s2wvh)

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession 01:15 SUN (b00s2wvh)

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession 21:00 THU (b00s2wvh)

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession 03:55 THU (b00s2wvh)

Oil City Confidential: Dr Feelgood 21:00 FRI (b00s2y91)

Oil City Confidential: Dr Feelgood 01:20 FRI (b00s2y91)

Outnumbered 22:30 WED (b00s1t8h)

Sight and Sound in Concert 22:50 FRI (b00s3vzc)

Small Island 21:00 TUE (b00ph9l4)

TV's Black Pioneers 01:00 TUE (b0074tln)

Tales from the Front Room 22:30 TUE (b0074tkr)

Tales from the Front Room 01:30 TUE (b0074tkr)

The Beauty of Maps 20:30 MON (b00s3v0t)

The Beauty of Maps 23:30 MON (b00s3v0t)

The Beauty of Maps 20:30 TUE (b00s5p6k)

The Beauty of Maps 23:30 TUE (b00s5p6k)

The Beauty of Maps 20:30 WED (b00s64f4)

The Beauty of Maps 23:25 WED (b00s64f4)

The Beauty of Maps 20:30 THU (b00s64hx)

The Beauty of Maps 00:25 THU (b00s64hx)

The Beauty of Maps 02:25 THU (b00s3v0t)

The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart 19:30 THU (b00qhs5v)

The Man Who Shot the 60s 22:30 MON (b00pwsns)

The Moon 20:00 SUN (b0074s8j)

The Moon 04:00 SUN (b0074s8j)

The Songs of Nick Drake: Way to Blue 23:45 SUN (b00s06v5)

Timeshift 21:50 MON (b0074qcj)

Wallander 21:00 SAT (b00s2y3h)

Wallander 22:00 THU (b00s2y3h)

Walter Tull: Forgotten Hero 23:25 SAT (b00fh1vz)

Walter Tull: Forgotten Hero 03:55 SAT (b00fh1vz)

Walter's War 22:25 SAT (b00fh1w1)

Walter's War 02:55 SAT (b00fh1w1)

Where Is Modern Art Now? 00:50 MON (b00nxm6s)

Wonders of the Solar System 20:00 SAT (b00rkksg)

Wonders of the Solar System 01:55 SAT (b00rkksg)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00s2x93)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00s2xf6)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00s2xv2)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00s2y3f)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00s2y8x)