B4

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

SATURDAY 21 APRIL 2012

SAT 19:00 South Pacific (b00kmv11)
Castaways

In the South Pacific there is no such thing as a deserted island. They may be the most isolated in the world, but every one of the region's 20,000 islands has been colonised, from New Guinea - home to birds of paradise and the tribe whose brutal initiation ceremony turns young warriors into 'crocodile' men - to Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii.

This is the story of the ultimate castaways - from saltwater crocodiles and giant eels to crested iguanas and weird frogs - who succeeded against all odds to reach islands thousands of miles apart. These journeys are no mean feat. It has been estimated that an average of one species in every 60,000 years makes it to Hawaii. Incredibly, many of these colonisers made it to the islands thanks to some of the most violent forces of nature like cyclones and tsunamis.

The voyages of the South Pacific's first people - the Polynesians - were no less remarkable. These journeys were some of the greatest acts of navigation ever undertaken, and they changed the nature of the South Pacific forever.

SAT 20:00 Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves (b015yh6f)
Just off the southern coast of mainland Greece lies the oldest submerged city in the world. It thrived for 2,000 years during the time that saw the birth of western civilisation.

An international team of experts uses cutting-edge technology to prise age-old secrets from the complex of streets and stone buildings that lie less than five metres below the surface of the ocean. State-of-the-art CGI helps to raise the city from the seabed, revealing for the first time in 3,500 years how Pavlopetri would once have looked and operated.

Underwater archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson leads the project in collaboration with Nic Flemming, the man whose hunch led to the discovery of Pavlopetri in 1967, and a team from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Working alongside the archaeologists are a team from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics.

The teams scour the ocean floor, looking for artefacts. The site is littered with thousands of fragments, each providing valuable clues about the everyday lives of the people of Pavlopetri. From the buildings to the trade goods to the everyday tableware, each artefact provides a window into a forgotten world.

Together these precious relics provide us with a window to a time when Pavlopetri would have been at its height, showing us what life was like in this distant age and revealing how this city marks the start of western civilisation.

SAT 21:00 The Bridge (b01gmbvb)
Series 1

Episode 1

A woman is found murdered in the middle of Oresund Bridge, exactly on the border between Sweden and Denmark. Saga Noren from Malmo CID and Martin Rohde from the Copenhagen police department are called to the scene. What at first looks like one murder turns out to be two. The bodies have been brutally cut off at the waist and joined together - the torso of a high-profile Swedish politician and the lower body of a Danish prostitute. The Swedish and Danish police need to cooperate in a race against the clock, desperately searching for a murderer determined to go beyond all moral limits to get his message across.

In Swedish and Danish with English subtitles.

SAT 22:00 The Bridge (b01gmbvd)
Series 1

Episode 2

The murderer makes his presence known and chooses sharp-witted tabloid journalist Daniel Ferbe to act as middle man to communicate with the outside world. The murder on the bridge was only the beginning, and the purpose of that heinous act was to draw attention to the unpleasant truths and problems in society that most turn a blind eye to, the first one being that 'we are not all equal before the law'. Saga and Martin now realise they are dealing with a ruthless killer.

In Swedish and Danish with English subtitles.

SAT 23:00 Parkinson: The Interviews (b01gkj72)
Series 1

David Niven

Actor, writer and raconteur David Niven spills the beans about the golden days of Hollywood as he talks about his work, his loves and his autobiographies with the wit and charm that became his trademark in two interviews from 1972 and 1975.

SAT 23:40 Top of the Pops (b01g9c8n)
07/04/77

David Jensen looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces the Dead End Kids, Showaddywaddy, Elkie Brooks, the Manhattans, Deniece Williams, OC Smith and a Legs & Co dance sequence.

SAT 00:10 Stuff: A Horizon Guide to Materials (b01g996c)
Engineer Jem Stansfield looks back through the Horizon archives to find out how scientists have come to understand and manipulate the materials that built the modern world. Whether it is uncovering new materials or finding fresh uses for those man has known about for centuries, each breakthrough offers a tantalising glimpse of the holy grail of materials science - a substance that is cheap to produce and has the potential to change the world.

Jem explores how a series of extraordinary advances has done just that - from superconductors to the silicon revolution.

SAT 01:10 Frank Skinner on George Formby (b016fpz0)
George Formby was a huge star of stage and film. In his heyday he was as big as The Beatles, earning vast sums of money on stage and starring in films which broke box office records. Formby's trademark ukulele still inspires millions of dedicated fans, including comedian and performer Frank Skinner, who believes Formby was the greatest entertainer of his time.

Playing the ukulele and performing the songs that keep the Formby legend alive today, Skinner follows the music hall star's extraordinary rise to fame and fortune, explores his worldwide popularity and reveals the ruthless exploitation that surrounded his sudden and tragic death.

SAT 02:10 Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves (b015yh6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

SAT 03:10 South Pacific (b00kmv11)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 22 APRIL 2012

SUN 19:00 Frank Skinner on George Formby (b016fpz0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:10 on Saturday]

SUN 20:00 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.

SUN 21:00 Rabbit-Proof Fence (b0074sr8)
Australian drama set in the 1930s about three mixed-race girls who are brutally torn from their Aboriginal mother and sent over a thousand miles away to a training camp for domestic workers as part of a government policy to forcibly integrate them into white society.

Linking the camp and their distant home territory is a vast rabbit-proof fence, which stretches from one coast to another and just might help the girls find their way back.

SUN 22:25 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b01gnq96)
Felicity Kendal

Mark Lawson talks to Felicity Kendal about her childhood in India and returning to the UK in the 1960s to become one of the best-loved actors of her generation. In a career that has spanned over six decades, she talks about travelling through the Far East with her family's classical theatre company, her hugely popular role in the BBC TV series The Good Life and her subsequent award-winning theatre work. Kendal also talks candidly about her private life, including how she coped with tabloid headlines when her relationship with Tom Stoppard came under media scrutiny.

Kendal left full-time education aged 12 to join her family's theatre company, first appearing on stage with them as a baby. Her big break came aged 18 when she appeared in Shakespeare Wallah, the second film from the director/producer duo Merchant Ivory. She returned to England, but found the British acting world difficult to break into. "I came to England green with no qualifications having not been to drama school, so shock horror how could you possibly act".

Roles opposite Sir John Gielgud in the BBC's The Wednesday Play and Alan Ackybourn's The Norman Conquests eventually followed. Richard Briers then asked her to play his wife in a small sitcom that he thought would be great fun to do but wouldn't get many viewers - The Good Life. Four decades on, the show is still seen as comedy gold and continues to be screened around the world and Kendal's work in TV has continued alongside her highly successful theatre career.

SUN 23:25 Kathleen Ferrier: An Ordinary Diva (b0074qm0)
Profile of the great British contralto Kathleen Ferrier. Contributors include Janet Baker, George Christie, Evelyn Barbirolli and Ian Jack.

SUN 00:25 Rick Stein's Taste of Italian Opera (b00sm1g0)
Chef Rick Stein takes a light-hearted look at the role that food played in the creation of Italian opera and shows how music and food are intrinsically linked in Italy. He draws parallels between cooking and composing, noting how both involve the skilful combination of ingredients and how they share the common purpose of bringing pleasure to many. Rick also explains why he thinks the music of Verdi, Rossini and Puccini are linked to the food of the regions where they lived and worked.

SUN 01:25 Reggae Britannia (b00ydp83)
The acclaimed BBC Four Britannia series moves into the world of British reggae. Showing how it came from Jamaica in the 1960s to influence, over the next 20 years, both British music and society, the programme includes major artists and performances from that era, including Big Youth, Max Romeo, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jerry Dammers and The Specials, The Police, UB40, Dennis Bovell, lovers rock performers Carroll Thompson and Janet Kay, bands like Aswad and Steel Pulse and reggae admirers such as Boy George and Paul Weller.

The programme celebrates the impact of reggae, the changes it brought about and its lasting musical legacy.

SUN 02:55 Kathleen Ferrier: An Ordinary Diva (b0074qm0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:25 today]

MONDAY 23 APRIL 2012

MON 19:00 World News Today (b01gkj2k)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

MON 19:30 Petworth House: The Big Spring Clean (b0110grp)
Art in the Deep Freeze

Andrew takes a turn around Britain's earliest globe and reveals the hidden identity of a 2,000-year-old Roman, while an ailing Gainsborough landscape is restored to glory.

MON 20:00 Inside the Medieval Mind (b009wzw3)
Sex

Leading authority on the Middle Ages, Professor Robert Bartlett presents a series which examines the way we thought during medieval times. He unearths remarkable evidence of the complex passions of medieval men and women. The Church preached hatred of the flesh, promoted the cult of virginity and condemned woman as the sinful heir to Eve. Yet this was the era that gave birth to the idea of romantic love.

MON 21:00 The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History (p00qhsr7)
Incertainties

American scholar James Shapiro presents a three-part series about Shakespeare in the reign of King James, beginning with the anxious mood of 1603 when a new dynasty came to power. Puritans, plague, an extravagant gift to a Spanish diplomatic delegation, and a new British coin called the Unite all feature in Shapiro's rich and fascinating history of a troubled time which saw an extraordinary creative outpouring.

MON 22:00 Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures (b01b4wmr)
The Great Dying

It is estimated that 99 per cent of species have become extinct, and there have been times when life's hold on earth has been so precarious it has seemed to hang on by a thread.

This series focuses on the survivors, the old-timers whose biographies stretch back millions of years, and who show how it is possible to survive a mass extinction event which wipes out nearly all of their neighbours. The Natural History Museum's Professor Richard Fortey discovers what allows the very few to carry on going - perhaps not forever, but certainly far beyond the life expectancy of normal species. What makes a survivor when all around drop like flies?

In the opening episode, Professor Fortey focuses on 'the great dying' - a series of cataclysms over a million-year period 250 million years ago.

MON 23:00 The Bridge (b01gmbvb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]

MON 00:00 Beautiful Minds (b01g99j3)
Series 2

Professor Andre Geim

Physicist Professor Andre Geim's constant search for new ideas has led to some extraordinary discoveries, from levitating frogs to a tape that sticks to surfaces like a gecko's foot. He reveals how his playful approach to his research helped him uncover the properties of graphene, the world's thinnest material, and won him a Nobel Prize.

MON 01:00 Inside the Medieval Mind (b009wzw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

MON 02:00 Petworth House: The Big Spring Clean (b0110grp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

MON 02:30 The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History (p00qhsr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 24 APRIL 2012

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01gkj2q)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00qgyv4)
Series 1

Cromford to Burton-on-Trent

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, he travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

His journey takes him from Buxton along one of the first railway routes south to the capital, London. This time, Michael visits the oldest working factory in the world at Cromford, explores the country's first public park in Derby and finds out why Burton's beer is said to be the best.

TUE 20:00 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b01c301b)
Raising Arms

Military historian Saul David looks at how generals have struggled to kit out their armies for battle.

TUE 21:00 Unnatural Histories (b011s4k0)
Serengeti

More than anywhere, the Serengeti is synonymous with wilderness and has even come to represent Africa. But the story of the Serengeti is just as much about humans as it is about wildlife. Right from the origin of our species in Africa, humans have been profoundly shaping this unique wilderness - hunters and pastoralists with cattle and fire, ivory traders and big game hunters, conservationists, scientists, film-makers and even tourists have all played a part in shaping the Serengeti.

Probably most powerful of all was a tiny microbe unknowingly brought to Africa by a small Italian expeditionary force - Rinderpest, a deadly virus that swept through the continent decimating cattle and wildlife alike and forever changing the face of the wild. The Serengeti is far from timeless, it is forever changing - and wherever there is change, the influence of Homo sapiens is not far behind.

TUE 22:00 Ancient Apocalypse (b0074m64)
Mystery of the Minoans

A look at how the Minoan civilisation, situated on the Mediterranean island of Crete, was wiped out 3,500 years ago by one of the biggest volcanic eruptions since the Ice Age on the nearby island of Thira. 21st century science reveals the horror the volcano unleashed.

TUE 22:50 The Bridge (b01gmbvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Saturday]

TUE 23:50 Storyville (b01ghtll)
The Real Great Escape

For the first time, the true story of the mastermind behind World War II's Great Escape is told by his niece, Lindy Wilson. Squadron Leader Roger Bushell was a young London barrister, an auxiliary pilot and a champion skier when he was shot down and captured early in the war. He escaped three times and, in spite of the Gestapo's threat to shoot him if he ever escaped again, Bushell accepted the role of 'Big X' on his return to the top-security PoW camp, Stalag Luft 111.

After 18 months of preparation, one of the greatest escapes of the war took place. Their aim to distract the enemy succeeded, as it was estimated that five million Germans were deployed to recapture the 76 escapees. However, Hitler's rage was uncontainable and he personally ordered a terrible reckoning.

TUE 01:15 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b01c301b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUE 02:15 Unnatural Histories (b011s4k0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUE 03:15 Ancient Apocalypse (b0074m64)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 25 APRIL 2012

WED 19:00 World News Today (b01gkj2w)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00qgz23)
Series 1

Walsall to Bournville

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, he travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

His journey takes him from Buxton along one of the first railway routes south to the capital, London. This time, Michael meets the queen's saddler in Walsall, learns how to cook an authentic Indian curry in Birmingham and visits Bournville, rumoured to be the best place to live in Britain.

WED 20:00 The Joy of Stats (b00wgq0l)
Documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power they have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend.

Rosling is a man who revels in the glorious nerdiness of statistics, and here he entertainingly explores their history, how they work mathematically and how they can be used in today's computer age to see the world as it really is, not just as we imagine it to be.

Rosling's lectures use huge quantities of public data to reveal the story of the world's past, present and future development. Now he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes.

The film also explores cutting-edge examples of statistics in action today. In San Francisco, a new app mashes up police department data with the city's street map to show what crime is being reported street by street, house by house, in near real-time. Every citizen can use it and the hidden patterns of their city are starkly revealed. Meanwhile, at Google HQ the machine translation project tries to translate between 57 languages, using lots of statistics and no linguists.

Despite its light and witty touch, the film nonetheless has a serious message - without statistics we are cast adrift on an ocean of confusion, but armed with stats we can take control of our lives, hold our rulers to account and see the world as it really is. What's more, Hans concludes, we can now collect and analyse such huge quantities of data and at such speeds that scientific method itself seems to be changing.

WED 21:00 Beautiful Minds (b01glqt3)
Series 2

Professor Richard Dawkins

Professor Richard Dawkins reveals how he came to write his explosive first book The Selfish Gene, a work that was to divide the scientific community and make him the most influential evolutionary biologist of his generation. He also explores how this set him on the path to becoming an outspoken spokesman for atheism.

WED 22:00 Parkinson: The Interviews (b01gkj72)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Saturday]

WED 22:40 Episodes (b00ysm34)
Series 1

Episode 6

Sean and Beverly Lincoln are a happily married English couple, who are also the creators of a hit British TV show. Their life seems complete. That is until a hugely powerful and charismatic US network president persuades them to move to Los Angeles to recreate their show for American television.

Convinced that Sean is having an affair with Morning, Beverly packs a bag and leaves, intending to head back to London. However, in her distress, she is unaware that she is driving on the left-hand side of the road and doesn't realise her mistake until a head-on collision, a collision which leads her down a road with even more dire consequences.

WED 23:10 The Great Outdoors (b00td53g)
Episode 3

On the annual trip to the south coast, Bob and Christine's rivalry finally comes to a head. Meanwhile, Victor is hoping he will finally get his promised kiss from Hazel and Tom plucks up courage for his own romance.

WED 23:40 Frost on Satire (b00srhgn)
Sir David Frost presents an investigation into the power of political satire with the help of some of the funniest TV moments of the last 50 years.

Beginning with the 1960s and That Was the Week That Was, he charts the development of television satire in Britain and the United States and is joined by the leading satirists from both sides of the Atlantic. From the UK, Rory Bremner, Ian Hislop and John Lloyd discuss their individual contributions, while from the US, Jon Stewart analyses the appeal of The Daily Show, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell talk about their respective portrayals of Sarah Palin and George W Bush, and Chevy Chase remembers how Saturday Night Live turned them into huge stars.

All of them tackle the key question of whether satire really can alter the course of political events.

WED 00:40 Great British Railway Journeys (b00qgz23)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

WED 01:10 Timeshift (b00dwflh)
Series 8

Between the Lines - Railways in Fiction and Film

Novelist Andrew Martin presents a documentary examining how the train and the railways came to shape the work of writers and film-makers.

Lovers parting at the station, runaway carriages and secret assignations in confined compartments - railways have long been a staple of romance, mystery and period drama. But at the beginning of the railway age, locomotives were seen as frightening and unnatural. Wordsworth decried the destruction of the countryside, while Dickens wrote about locomotives as murderous brutes, bent on the destruction of mere humans. Hardly surprising, as he had been involved in a horrific railway accident himself.

Martin traces how trains gradually began to be accepted - Holmes and Watson were frequent passengers - until by the time of The Railway Children they were something to be loved, a symbol of innocence and Englishness. He shows how trains made for unforgettable cinema in The 39 Steps and Brief Encounter, and how when the railways fell out of favour after the 1950s, their plight was highlighted in the films of John Betjeman.

Finally, Martin asks whether, in the 21st century, Britain's railways can still stir and inspire artists.

WED 02:10 Episodes (b00ysm34)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:40 today]

WED 02:40 The Great Outdoors (b00td53g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:10 today]

WED 03:10 Beautiful Minds (b01glqt3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THURSDAY 26 APRIL 2012

THU 19:00 World News Today (b01gkj33)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01glqzy)
14/04/77

Jimmy Savile looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces the Brothers, Cleo Laine & John Williams, Billy Ocean, Brendon, the Stylistics, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr, David Soul, Abba and a Legs & Co dance sequence.

THU 20:00 Horizon (b01d99vb)
2011-2012

Solar Storms - The Threat to Planet Earth

There is a new kind of weather to worry about and it comes from our nearest star.

Scientists are expecting a fit of violent activity on the sun, which will propel billions of tonnes of superheated gas and pulses of energy towards our planet. They have the power to close down our modern technological civilisation - in 1989, a solar storm cut off the power to the Canadian city of Quebec.

Horizon meets the space weathermen who are trying to predict what is coming our way, and organisations like the National Grid, who are preparing for the impending solar storms.

THU 21:00 The Kidnap Diaries (b01glr00)
Dramatised account of film-maker Sean Langan's kidnapping in 2008 while on a quest to become the first western journalist to film the Taliban training camps. In a bizarre meeting of East and West, the self-confessed adrenaline junkie strikes up an unlikely friendship with the deeply Islamic family holding him captive. As his captors become his hosts, he begins to question his own motives and discovers a common humanity across the vast cultural divide.

THU 22:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b01gxkgw)
Sean Langan

In this in-depth interview Mark Lawson meets the award-winning journalist and filmmaker Sean Langan, whose kidnap by the Taliban in 2008 inspired BBC Four's hostage drama The Kidnap Diaries. Langan's professional life began as a TV entertainment presenter, but his investigative nose led him to document some of the most volatile and war-torn regions in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Armed with a camera and irrepressible courage, he has produced a series of enlightening documentaries including Afghan Ladies Driving School, African Railway, Langan Behind the Lines, Mission Accomplished and Fighting the Taliban.

THU 23:00 The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History (p00qhsr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]

THU 00:00 Top of the Pops (b01glqzy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

THU 00:30 The Kidnap Diaries (b01glr00)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THU 01:30 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b01gxkgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

THU 02:30 Horizon (b01d99vb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

THU 03:30 The Kidnap Diaries (b01glr00)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

FRIDAY 27 APRIL 2012

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01gkj3b)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (b01glr7v)
2012

Strings Final

Week three of BBC Young Musician 2012 from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, and with the winners of the keyboard and brass categories already decided, the focus moves to strings. Presenter Clemency Burton-Hill, herself an accomplished violinist, is in her element as she meets two cellists and three violinists, each hoping to win the strings title and gain that all-important place in the semi-final.

In a category final close to her heart, Clemency takes us behind the scenes, with competitor profiles, performance highlights and all the news from this year's competition. Violinists Julia Hwang, 16, Juliette Roos, 16, and Cristian Grajner-De Sa, 17, along with cellists Joel Sandelson, 17, and this year's youngest category finalist, Laura van der Heijden, at just 14, each have just twenty minutes to prove they are the best young string player in the country, before a panel of distinguished judges.

Whoever wins goes through to the semi-final, taking them a step closer to the final at the Sage, Gateshead on May 13th and a chance for a shot at the title of BBC Young Musician 2012.

FRI 21:00 Sinatra Sings (b0192r0w)
Ol' Blue Eyes in concert in his 1960s, 70s and 80s prime from a variety of US TV specials and in the recording studio. Sinatra the great swinger, saloon singer and balladeer sings classics like That's Life, Moonlight in Vermont, Fly Me to the Moon, Young at Heart and Theme from New York, with some reminiscences from Frank's third child, Tina.

FRI 22:00 ... Sings Bacharach and David! (b01gxl5w)
The BBC have raided their remarkable archive once more to reveal evocative performances from Burt Bacharach and Hal David's astonishing songbook. Love songs from the famous songwriting duo were a familiar feature of 60s and 70s BBC entertainment programmes such as Dusty, Cilla and The Cliff Richard Show, but there are some surprises unearthed here too.

Highlights include Sandie Shaw singing Always Something There to Remind Me, Aretha Franklin performing I Say a Little Prayer, Dusty Springfield's Wishin' and Hopin', The Stranglers' rendition of Walk on By on Top of the Pops, The Carpenters in concert performing (They Long to Be) Close to You and Burt Bacharach revisiting his classic Kentucky Bluebird with Rufus Wainwright on Later...with Jools Holland.

FRI 23:00 Burt Bacharach... This Is Now (b011g945)
Dusty Springfield narrates a documentary profile of the songwriter who won an Oscar for the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid score, enjoyed stage success with Promises, Promises and whose classic songs continue to influence modern music. Featuring interviews with Dionne Warwick, Noel Gallager, Hal David, Herb Alpert, Elvis Costello, Cilla Black, Richard Carpenter, Carol Bayer Sager and Gillian Lynne.

FRI 23:50 Easy Listening Hits at the BBC (b011g943)
Compilation of easy listening tracks that offers the perfect soundtrack for your cocktail party. There's music to please every lounge lizard, with unique performances from the greatest easy listening artists of the 60s and 70s, including Burt Bacharach, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, The Carpenters and many more.

FRI 00:50 The Joy of Easy Listening (b011g614)
In-depth documentary investigation into the story of a popular music genre that is often said to be made to be heard but not listened to. The film looks at easy listening's architects and practitioners, its dangers and delights, and the mark it has left on modern life.

From its emergence in the 50s to its heyday in the 60s, through its survival in the 70s and 80s and its revival in the 90s and beyond, the film traces the hidden history of a music that has reflected society every bit as much as pop and rock - just in a more relaxed way.

Invented at the dawn of rock 'n' roll, easy listening has shadowed pop music and the emerging teenage market since the mid-50s. It is a genre that equally soundtracks our modern age, but perhaps for a rather more 'mature' generation and therefore with its own distinct purpose and aesthetic.

Contributors include Richard Carpenter, Herb Alpert, Richard Clayderman, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jimmy Webb, Mike Flowers, James Last and others.

FRI 02:20 ... Sings Bacharach and David! (b01gxl5w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

FRI 03:20 BBC Young Musician (b01glr7v)
[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)

... Sings Bacharach and David! 22:00 FRI (b01gxl5w)

... Sings Bacharach and David! 02:20 FRI (b01gxl5w)

Ancient Apocalypse 22:00 TUE (b0074m64)

Ancient Apocalypse 03:15 TUE (b0074m64)

BBC Young Musician 19:30 FRI (b01glr7v)

BBC Young Musician 03:20 FRI (b01glr7v)

Beautiful Minds 00:00 MON (b01g99j3)

Beautiful Minds 21:00 WED (b01glqt3)

Beautiful Minds 03:10 WED (b01glqt3)

Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War 20:00 TUE (b01c301b)

Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War 01:15 TUE (b01c301b)

Burt Bacharach... This Is Now 23:00 FRI (b011g945)

Easy Listening Hits at the BBC 23:50 FRI (b011g943)

Episodes 22:40 WED (b00ysm34)

Episodes 02:10 WED (b00ysm34)

Frank Skinner on George Formby 01:10 SAT (b016fpz0)

Frank Skinner on George Formby 19:00 SUN (b016fpz0)

Frost on Satire 23:40 WED (b00srhgn)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b00qgyv4)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b00qgz23)

Great British Railway Journeys 00:40 WED (b00qgz23)

Horizon 20:00 THU (b01d99vb)

Horizon 02:30 THU (b01d99vb)

Inside the Medieval Mind 20:00 MON (b009wzw3)

Inside the Medieval Mind 01:00 MON (b009wzw3)

Kathleen Ferrier: An Ordinary Diva 23:25 SUN (b0074qm0)

Kathleen Ferrier: An Ordinary Diva 02:55 SUN (b0074qm0)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 22:25 SUN (b01gnq96)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 22:00 THU (b01gxkgw)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 01:30 THU (b01gxkgw)

Parkinson: The Interviews 23:00 SAT (b01gkj72)

Parkinson: The Interviews 22:00 WED (b01gkj72)

Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves 20:00 SAT (b015yh6f)

Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves 02:10 SAT (b015yh6f)

Petworth House: The Big Spring Clean 19:30 MON (b0110grp)

Petworth House: The Big Spring Clean 02:00 MON (b0110grp)

Rabbit-Proof Fence 21:00 SUN (b0074sr8)

Reggae Britannia 01:25 SUN (b00ydp83)

Rick Stein's Taste of Italian Opera 00:25 SUN (b00sm1g0)

Sinatra Sings 21:00 FRI (b0192r0w)

Skippy: Australia's First Superstar 20:00 SUN (b00qvl9g)

South Pacific 19:00 SAT (b00kmv11)

South Pacific 03:10 SAT (b00kmv11)

Storyville 23:50 TUE (b01ghtll)

Stuff: A Horizon Guide to Materials 00:10 SAT (b01g996c)

Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures 22:00 MON (b01b4wmr)

The Bridge 21:00 SAT (b01gmbvb)

The Bridge 22:00 SAT (b01gmbvd)

The Bridge 23:00 MON (b01gmbvb)

The Bridge 22:50 TUE (b01gmbvd)

The Great Outdoors 23:10 WED (b00td53g)

The Great Outdoors 02:40 WED (b00td53g)

The Joy of Easy Listening 00:50 FRI (b011g614)

The Joy of Stats 20:00 WED (b00wgq0l)

The Kidnap Diaries 21:00 THU (b01glr00)

The Kidnap Diaries 00:30 THU (b01glr00)

The Kidnap Diaries 03:30 THU (b01glr00)

The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History 21:00 MON (p00qhsr7)

The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History 02:30 MON (p00qhsr7)

The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History 23:00 THU (p00qhsr7)

Timeshift 01:10 WED (b00dwflh)

Top of the Pops 23:40 SAT (b01g9c8n)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b01glqzy)

Top of the Pops 00:00 THU (b01glqzy)

Unnatural Histories 21:00 TUE (b011s4k0)

Unnatural Histories 02:15 TUE (b011s4k0)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b01gkj2k)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b01gkj2q)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b01gkj2w)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b01gkj33)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b01gkj3b)