The second episode reveals the unsung heroes of the heritage movement, the clever civil servants who saved the great ruins of Britain. It explores the determination of Charles Reed Peers from the Office of Works, who seized the chance in the interwar years to make history a popular cause, and looks at how the increasingly mobile British public began to embrace the idea of a day out at an historic site. As the country houses faced a crisis with owners demolishing or abandoning their homes, who would come to the rescue - the Ministry of Works or the National Trust?
In the first of two episodes in the rich tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the team explores its remote and pristine underwater worlds.
Expedition leader Paul Rose, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue, and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto investigate how schools of manta ray suffering from shark bites are treated by the inhabitants of a remarkable reef. They go in search of one of the Indian Ocean's most elusive creatures, the dugong.
The expedition visits the only 'coral nursery' in this ocean, where an extraordinary technique is being used to repair damaged reefs.
They investigate what is driving the increasing trade in shark fishing, and working with the British Met Office, they take part in a global experiment to collect vital information about the Indian Ocean.
As concerns about public safety grow, a man is violently attacked by a vigilante group. Wallander's investigation widens to another police district as they look for a woman who was on the maternity ward when a nurse was attacked. Just as the team seem to be making progress with the investigation, Wallander is forced to confront the way he neglects his family when his father's illness gets the better of him.
After confusion during the chase at the railway station Wallander is drugged by their escaping suspect and Maja is shot, but the net is closing on their nemesis. When their suspect is finally brought in Wallander faces a race against time to find out not only why this has all been happening, but more importantly where the last victim is being held.
Documentary which looks at how rock 'n' roll has had to deal with the unthinkable - namely growing up and growing old, from its roots in the 50s as music made by young people for young people to the 21st-century phenomena of the revival and the comeback.
Despite the mantra of 'live fast, die young', Britain's first rock 'n' roll generations are now enjoying old age. What was once about youth and taking risks is now about longevity, survival, nostalgia and refusing to grow up, give up or shut up. But what happens when the music refuses to die and its performers refuse to leave the stage? What happens when rock's youthful rebelliousness is delivered wrapped in wrinkles?
Featuring Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Peter Noone, Rick Wakeman, Paul Jones, Richard Thompson, Suggs, Eric Burdon, Bruce Welch, Robert Wyatt, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, Alison Moyet, Robyn Hitchcock, writers Rosie Boycott and Nick Kent and producer Joe Boyd.
Over the last five years an independent record shop has closed in the UK every three days. This film is documentary portrait of one of the very last still trading - a vinyl record shop in Teesside, a cultural haven in one of the most deprived areas in the UK. Filmmaker Jeanie Finlay, who grew up three miles from the shop, follows daily life in a place that is thriving against the odds, ensured of survival by the local community that keeps it alive. A distinctive, funny and intimate film about men, the North and the irreplaceable role music plays in our lives.
Tony Blackburn introduces the weekly pop charts featuring performances from the Boomtown Rats, Suzi Quatro, Andrew Gold, Steve Voice, Racey, Renaissance, Voyage and a dance routine by Legs & Co.
SUNDAY 07 JULY 2013
SUN 19:00 Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (b00hd5mf)
David Attenborough is a passionate Darwinian, and sees evolution as the cornerstone of all the programmes and series he has ever made. Here, he shares his personal view on Darwin's controversial idea. Taking us on a journey through the last 200 years, he tracks the changes in our understanding of the natural world. Ever since Darwin, major scientific discoveries have helped to underpin and strengthen Darwin's revolutionary idea so that today, the pieces of the puzzle fit together so neatly that there can be little doubt that Darwin was right. As David says: 'Now we can trace the ancestry of all animals in the tree of life and demonstrate the truth of Darwin's basic proposition. All life is related.'
David asks three key questions: how and why did Darwin come up with his theory of evolution? Why do we think he was right? And why is it more important now than ever before?
David starts his journey in Darwin's home at Down House in Kent, where Darwin worried and puzzled over the origins of life. He goes back to his roots in Leicestershire, where he hunted for fossils as a child and where another schoolboy unearthed a significant find in the 1950s, and he revisits Cambridge University, where both he and Darwin studied and where many years later the DNA double helix was discovered, providing the foundations for genetics.
At the end of his journey in the Natural History Museum in London, David concludes that Darwin's great insight revolutionised the way in which we see the world. We now understand why there are so many different species, and why they are distributed in the way they are. But above all, Darwin has shown us that we are not set apart from the natural world and do not have dominion over it. We are subject to its laws and processes, as are all other animals on earth to which, indeed, we are related.
SUN 20:00 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.
SUN 21:00 Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (b036r5cz)
Alice Walker made history as the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her groundbreaking novel The Color Purple, in 1983. It was transformed into a Hollywood movie nominated for 11 Oscars and more recently to a successful Broadway musical. This film follows this extraordinary woman's journey from her birth in a shack in the cotton fields of Georgia to her recognition as a key writer of the 20th century.
The Color Purple's theme of triumph against the odds is not that different from Alice's own experience. Her early life unfolded in the midst of violent racism and poverty during some of the most turbulent years of profound social and political upheaval in North American history. Her writing was a vital voice at a time when the personal became the political.
Featuring interviews with Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones, this is a penetrating insight into the life and work of an artist, a self-confessed renegade and passionate human rights activist.
SUN 22:00 Oslo, August 31st (b01qqyt4)
Norwegian drama about a day in the life of Anders, a recovering drug addict. Reaching the end of a treatment course at a rehab centre, Anders is clean and has a day's leave in Oslo to go to a job interview, see old friends and take stock of himself and his situation.
In Norwegian with English subtitles.
SUN 23:30 Paul McCartney & Wings: Rockshow (b036fdwr)
In 1976, Paul McCartney and Wings undertook an epic world tour which brought their music to a live audience of two million people in ten countries, an experience captured on the Wings over America triple album. The climax of that tour was an incredible performance at the mammoth Kingdome in Seattle, Washington, where a staggering 67,000 fans listened to Wings perform their greatest songs.
Fully restored and remastered from the original film and audio masters, this is Wings at their best - live on stage in a concert that was destined to live forever.
SUN 00:30 Wings over the World (b01sjt78)
TV special featuring footage filmed throughout Wings' tour of 1975/1976, following the band in England, Australia and America. It contains live concert performances featuring fifteen of Wings' greatest songs and home movies of Paul McCartney and his family, providing a fascinating profile of the McCartneys' life off-stage.
The tour itself was a major triumph for Wings - the first time the group had appeared in Australia and America, and Paul's first performance in the States for ten years. Three million people saw the shows and a then-world record attendance for an indoor concert of 67,053 was set at the Kingdome, Seattle.
Starting with Paul and Linda in Scotland, the special features the gradual build-up of the band and follows Wings on tour with hit songs such as Jet, Maybe I'm Amazed, Yesterday, Silly Love Songs and Band on the Run. The Wings line-up for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English.
SUN 01:45 The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic (b01qnrb8)
In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the famous 12-hour session at Abbey Road which resulted in the Beatles' iconic album Please Please Me, leading artists such as Stereophonics, Graham Coxon, Gabrielle Aplin, Joss Stone, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Paul Carrack, Mick Hucknall and I Am Kloot attempted to record the same songs, in the same timescale, in the same studio.
The results are captured in this programme, presented by Stuart Maconie.
Amongst those paying their own tribute to the album's success are Burt Bacharach and Guy Chambers, as well as people lucky enough to have been there 50 years ago telling the remarkable story of what happened that day, including engineer Richard Langham and the Beatles' press officer Tony Barrow.
SUN 02:40 Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (b00hd5mf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MONDAY 08 JULY 2013
MON 19:00 World News Today (b036q4kn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Wainwright Walks (b007wg5d)
Series 2
Crinkle Crags and Bowfell
Series in which Julia Bradbury explores the stunning Lake District landscape that inspired the great British fell walker and author Alfred Wainwright to produce his beautifully crafted guidebooks.
Julia faces a new physical challenge as she experiences the world of Wainwright - not one summit, but two. The Lake District's most famous walker loved to explore routes that link fell tops together, and Julia aims to find her way along the best ridge-mile in Lakeland, reaching the summits of Crinkle Crags and Bowfell, two of the biggest peaks in the area.
MON 20:00 Secret Knowledge (b036qfcy)
Walter Scott's Castle
Novelist, poet and all-round cultural impresario Sir Walter Scott is renowned for inventing many of the myths of Scotland that still dominate how the country is imagined. His home in the Scottish Borders, Abbotsford House, brilliantly brings to life his romantic views of Scotland.
In the run-up to the reopening of Abbotsford House Scott-fan Stuart Kelly gets exclusive behind-the-scenes access as over 13,000 treasures are moved back into the strange and wonderful building. Exploring some newly discovered secret corners Stuart finds out just how controversial the bizarre building and the man who built it remain.
MON 20:30 Only Connect (b036r46p)
Series 7
Festival Fans v Cat Lovers
A trio of festival fans take on three cat lovers in both teams' last chance to make it to the semi-finals, competing to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria Coren Mitchell if you want to know what connects air stewardess, Hughes H-4 Hercules, Alexandra Palace and England cricket supporters.
MON 21:00 Howzat! Kerry Packer's War (b036t8w6)
Episode 1
Two-part fact-based drama centred around Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, who fought a cricket war by signing up 50 of the world's greatest players to form a breakaway tournament.
In 1976, infuriated that ABC had been given the TV broadcasting rights by the Australian Cricket Board without his own Channel 9 being given the chance to bid, Packer is delighted when John Cornell, one of his producers, comes to him with a rough idea about setting up a rival tournament. Amongst great secrecy, Packer and Cornell start signing up some of the best players in Australia, but soon find themselves at war with the established game.
MON 22:30 Not Cricket (b0074qcq)
The Basil D'Oliveira Conspiracy
With explosive new evidence this film tells the full story of the D'Oliveira scandal, explaining the critical political role that cricket played in bringing about the fall of apartheid in South Africa.
In 1968, Basil D'Oliveira, a brilliant 'coloured' cricketer from South Africa who had made his home in the UK, found himself at the centre of a row that rocked the English political and sporting establishment. Excluded from the England team to tour South Africa - apparently because of his race - the 'D'Oliveira Affair' led directly to the sporting isolation of South Africa, which became crucial in bringing about the fall of the apartheid system of white rule in South Africa.
Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous events of 1968, this documentary tells the story of Basil D'Oliveira and his betrayal by the English establishment, as D'Oliveira himself speaks out for the first time.
MON 23:50 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (b01p96g4)
Divine Gamble
Simon Sebag Montefiore charts the rocky course of Rome's rise to become the capital of western Christendom and its impact on the lives of its citizens, elites and high priests.
Rome casts aside its pantheon of pagan gods and a radical new religion takes hold. Christianity was just a persecuted sect until Emperor Constantine took a huge leap of faith, promoting it as the religion of Empire. But would this divine gamble pay off?
MON 00:50 The Pharaoh Who Conquered the Sea (b00pq9gs)
Over 3,000 years ago legend has it that Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's first female pharaoh, sent a fleet of ships to the wonderful, distant land of Punt. A bas-relief in the temple where she is entombed in Luxor shows them bringing back extraordinary treasures. But did this expedition really happen? And if it did, where exactly is the land of Punt?
Drawing upon recent finds, archaeologist Cheryl Ward sets out to recreate the voyage in a full-size replica of one of these ancient ships, sailing it in the wake of Hatshepsut's fleet in search of the mythical land of Punt. A human adventure as well as a scientific challenge, the expedition proves that, contrary to popular belief, the ancient Egyptians had the necessary tools, science and techniques to sail the seas.
MON 01:50 Only Connect (b036r46p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
MON 02:20 Not Cricket (b0074qcq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
TUESDAY 09 JULY 2013
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b036q4kt)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Wainwright Walks (b007x53d)
Series 2
Helm Crag
Series in which Julia Bradbury explores the Lake District landscape that inspired the great British fell walker and author Alfred Wainwright to produce his beautifully crafted guidebooks.
Julia is in the village of Grasmere for a climb up Helm Crag, defined by the collection of rock formations at its summit - a feature that has lent it the nickname of the Lion and the Lamb. The rocks make for a summit scramble for Julia as she finds out why this was the only summit Wainwright never reached.
TUE 20:00 Julia Bradbury's Icelandic Walk (b0110grr)
Julia Bradbury heads for Iceland to embark on the toughest walk of her life. Her challenge is to walk the 60 kilometres of Iceland's most famous hiking route, a trail that just happens to end at the unpronounceable volcano that brought air traffic across Europe to a standstill in 2010. With the help of Icelandic mountain guide Hanna, Julia faces daunting mountain climbs, red hot lava fields, freezing river crossings, deadly clouds of sulphuric gas, swirling ash deserts and sinister Nordic ghost stories as she attempts to reach the huge volcanic crater at the centre of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier.
TUE 21:00 China in Six Easy Pieces (b036r5cx)
For centuries the west has been enthralled by flamboyant blue-and-white ceramics from China but unaware that all the time the Chinese were making porcelains for themselves that were completely different - subtle monochromes for the Imperial court, beautiful objects for the scholar's table and delicate domestic wares.
Ceramics expert Lars Tharp, Antiques Roadshow resident and presenter of Treasures of Chinese Porcelain, has picked his six favourite pieces representing Chinese taste. He goes on a journey through a thousand years of Chinese history, travelling from the ancient capital of Huangzhou in the south to Beijing's Forbidden City in the north, to uncover what these six pieces tell us about Chinese emperors, scholars, workers, merchants and artists.
To him, they are China in ceramic form. But can they help us to understand China today?
TUE 22:00 Wild China (b00bf5b0)
Heart of the Dragon
The fairy-tale hills of Guilin and the cormorant fishermen of the Li River form the heart of this exploration of the colourful rice-growing cultures and strange creatures of southern China - a land of endless hills, mysterious caverns, spectacular rock pinnacles and traditional cultures with a taste for wildlife.
TUE 23:00 Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (b036r5cz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
TUE 00:00 Julia Bradbury's Icelandic Walk (b0110grr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUE 01:00 Wainwright Walks (b007x53d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 01:30 Wild China (b00bf5b0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
TUE 02:30 China in Six Easy Pieces (b036r5cx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 10 JULY 2013
WED 19:00 World News Today (b036q4kz)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Wainwright Walks (b007xnzr)
Series 2
High Street
Series in which Julia Bradbury explores the Lake District landscape that inspired the great British fell walker and author Alfred Wainwright to produce his beautifully crafted guide books.
Julia starts her walk in the quiet, mysterious valley of Mardale, where the local village was lost forever when the valley was flooded to create the Haweswater reservoir. The history continues as she climbs 2,500ft to the summit of High Street, the most well-trodden high ground in the Lakes. This was where Roman legions crossed the fells 2,000 years ago, making, quite literally, a high street.
WED 20:00 Timewatch (b00sl29f)
Atlantis: The Evidence
Historian Bettany Hughes unravels one of the most intriguing mysteries of all time. She presents a series of geological, archaeological and historical clues to show that the legend of Atlantis was inspired by a real historical event, the greatest natural disaster of the ancient world.
WED 21:00 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (b01pdt0s)
The Rebirth of God's City
Simon Sebag Montefiore charts Rome's rise from the abandonment and neglect of the 14th century into the everlasting seat of the papacy recognised today. His story takes us through the debauchery and decadence of the Renaissance, the horrors of the Sack of Rome and the Catholic Reformation, through to the arrival of fascism and the creation of the Vatican State. By taking us inside Rome's most sensational palaces and churches and telling the stories behind some of the world's most beloved art, Sebag Montefiore's final instalment is a visual feast.
WED 22:00 Some People with Jokes (p00w07vc)
Series 1
Some Vicars with Jokes Part 1
Sing hosanna! Clergy folk from around the UK swap the good book for the joke book and share their favourite gags. Old, new, clean, not so clean, these vicars are hell bent on getting us laughing - and that's gospel!
WED 22:30 The Crow Road (b0074t1q)
Original
Prentice
Student Prentice McHoan carries out his recently deceased grandmother's request to find out what happened to his Uncle Rory, who disappeared seven years before. After meeting Rory's girlfriend Janice, Prentice discovers he had been working on a murder mystery novel called The Crow Road. Janice gives Prentice the computer discs containing the novel. Prentice starts to search for Rory with the help of his friend Ashley.
WED 23:30 Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past (b01r7h3t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
WED 00:30 Timewatch (b00sl29f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 01:30 Some People with Jokes (p00w07vc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
WED 02:00 Wainwright Walks (b007xnzr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:30 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (b01pdt0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 11 JULY 2013
THU 19:00 World News Today (b036q4l4)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b08spg81)
Solstice
Every year thousands flock to Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice. Seeing the rise of the summer sun at Stonehenge is one of the most obvious connections between ancient man and the celestial calendar, but there is still fierce debate about possible links between this ancient site and the moon and stars. The team join in the solstice revelry and also launch the Moore Moon Marathon, with some easy things to look at on the moon over summer.
THU 20:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077kmd)
Series 1
Boys' Night In
Terry is horrified when Bob refuses to go on a stag night and insists on a quiet night in instead. But pre-wedding nerves mean Bob's plan to celebrate his nuptials sober goes awry.
THU 20:30 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077kqp)
Series 1
End of an Era
The day of the wedding dawns and the women are racing around getting ready for the big event. Meanwhile, Terry has his hands full looking after a nervous Bob.
THU 21:00 United (b010tb6z)
Drama based on the true story of Manchester United's legendary Busby Babes, the youngest side ever to win the Football League, and the 1958 Munich air crash that claimed eight of their number. The film draws on first-hand interviews with the survivors and their families to tell the inspirational story of a team and community overcoming terrible tragedy.
THU 22:30 Howzat! Kerry Packer's War (b036t8w6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 00:00 John Arlott in Conversation with Mike Brearley (b018gwvh)
An edited version of a landmark series first broadcast in 1984. The distinguished BBC commentator John Arlott talks to former England cricket captain Brearley about growing up between the wars, his career as a helper in a mental hospital, a policeman, a poet, a wine and football correspondent, and a cricket writer and commentator. The interview provides a fascinating insight into the life experience and attitudes of a liberal thinker born almost a hundred years ago and who died in 1991.
THU 01:00 Metamorphosis: The Science of Change (p00zv0wk)
Metamorphosis seems like the ultimate evolutionary magic trick, the amazing transformation of one creature into a totally different being: one life, two bodies.
From Ovid and Kafka to X-Men, tales of metamorphosis richly permeate human culture. The myth of transformation is so common that it seems almost preprogrammed into our imagination. But is the scientific fact of metamorphosis just as strange as fiction or... even stranger?
Film-maker David Malone explores the science behind metamorphosis. How does it happen and why? And might it even, in some way, happen to us?
THU 02:00 The Sky at Night (b08spg81)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 02:30 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077kmd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 03:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077kqp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
FRIDAY 12 JULY 2013
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b036q4lc)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Darcey Bussell Dances Hollywood (b018nwbx)
Darcey Bussell steps into the shoes of her Hollywood heroes to celebrate the enduring legacy of classic dance musicals.
In the age of Strictly Come Dancing and Streetdance 3D, Darcey, one of Britain's greatest living dancers and Hollywood musical superfan, discovers that the key to understanding where this dance-mad culture comes from lies in classic movie musicals. She takes famous dance routines from her favourite Hollywood musicals and reveals how they cast their spell, paying tribute to the legends of the art form and discovering the legacy they left.
Darcey pays homage to Fred Astaire in an interpretation of Puttin' on the Ritz, plays Ginger Rogers in a rendition of Cheek to Cheek, pays tribute to the exuberant Good Morning from Singin' in the Rain, and stars in a new routine inspired by Girl Hunt Ballet from The Band Wagon.
Darcey works with leading choreographer Kim Gavin and expert conductor John Wilson, who has painstakingly reconstructed the original scores, as she discovers how dance in the movies reached a pinnacle of perfection and reveals how the legacy of the golden age lives on.
FRI 21:00 When Albums Ruled the World (b01qhn70)
Between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s, the long-playing record and the albums that graced its grooves changed popular music for ever. For the first time, musicians could escape the confines of the three-minute pop single and express themselves as never before across the expanded artistic canvas of the album. The LP allowed popular music become an art form - from the glorious artwork adorning gatefold sleeves, to the ideas and concepts that bound the songs together, to the unforgettable music itself.
Built on stratospheric sales of albums, these were the years when the music industry exploded to become bigger than Hollywood. From pop to rock, from country to soul, from jazz to punk, all of music embraced what 'the album' could offer. But with the collapse of vinyl sales at the end of the 70s and the arrival of new technologies and formats, the golden era of the album couldn't last forever.
With contributions from Roger Taylor, Ray Manzarek, Noel Gallagher, Guy Garvey, Nile Rodgers, Grace Slick, Mike Oldfield, Slash and a host of others, this is the story of When Albums Ruled the World.
FRI 22:30 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
Do you remember buying your first single? Where you bought it? What it was? The thrill of playing it for the first time? What it sounded like? How it maybe changed your life? Lots of us do. Lots of us still have that single somewhere in a dusty box in the attic, along with other treasured memorabilia of an adolescence lost in music and romance. The attic of our youth.
The Joy of the Single is a documentary packed with startling memories, vivid images and penetrating insights into the power of pop and rock's first and most abiding artefact - the seven-inch, vinyl 45-rpm record, a small, perfectly formed object that seems to miraculously contain the hopes, fears, sounds and experiences of our different generations - all within the spiralling groove etched on its shiny black surface, labelled and gift-wrapped by an industry also in its thrall.
In the confident hands of a star-studded cast, the film spins a tale of obsession, addiction, dedication and desire. The viewer is invited on a journey of celebration from the 1950s rock 'n' roll generation to the download kids of today, taking in classic singles from all manner of artists in each decade - from the smell of vinyl to the delights of the record label, from the importance of the record shop to the bittersweet brevity of the song itself, from stacking singles on a Dansette spindle to dropping the needle and thrilling to the intro.
Featuring contributions from Noddy Holder, Jack White, Richard Hawley, Suzi Quatro, Holly Johnson, Jimmy Webb, Pete Waterman, Norah Jones, Mike Batt, Graham Gouldman, Miranda Sawyer, Norman Cook, Trevor Horn, Neil Sedaka, Paul Morley, Rob Davies, Lavinia Greenlaw, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.
FRI 23:30 The Richest Songs in the World (b01pjrt5)
Mark Radcliffe presents a countdown of the ten songs which have earned the most money of all time - ten classic songs each with an extraordinary story behind them. Radcliffe lifts the lid on how music royalties work and reveals the biggest winners and losers in the history of popular music.
FRI 01:00 When Albums Ruled the World (b01qhn70)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:30 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth
21:00 SUN (b036r5cz)
Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth
23:00 TUE (b036r5cz)
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
19:00 SUN (b00hd5mf)
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
02:40 SUN (b00hd5mf)
China in Six Easy Pieces
21:00 TUE (b036r5cx)
China in Six Easy Pieces
02:30 TUE (b036r5cx)
Darcey Bussell Dances Hollywood
19:30 FRI (b018nwbx)
Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up
23:00 SAT (b00sxjls)
Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past
19:00 SAT (b01r7h3t)
Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past
01:40 SAT (b01r7h3t)
Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past
23:30 WED (b01r7h3t)
Howzat! Kerry Packer's War
21:00 MON (b036t8w6)
Howzat! Kerry Packer's War
22:30 THU (b036t8w6)
John Arlott in Conversation with Mike Brearley
00:00 THU (b018gwvh)
Julia Bradbury's Icelandic Walk
20:00 TUE (b0110grr)
Julia Bradbury's Icelandic Walk
00:00 TUE (b0110grr)
Metamorphosis: The Science of Change
01:00 THU (p00zv0wk)
Not Cricket
22:30 MON (b0074qcq)
Not Cricket
02:20 MON (b0074qcq)
Oceans
20:00 SAT (b00fzb9c)
Oceans
02:40 SAT (b00fzb9c)
Only Connect
20:30 MON (b036r46p)
Only Connect
01:50 MON (b036r46p)
Oslo, August 31st
22:00 SUN (b01qqyt4)
Paul McCartney & Wings: Rockshow
23:30 SUN (b036fdwr)
Rome: A History of the Eternal City
23:50 MON (b01p96g4)
Rome: A History of the Eternal City
21:00 WED (b01pdt0s)
Rome: A History of the Eternal City
02:30 WED (b01pdt0s)
Secret Knowledge
20:00 MON (b036qfcy)
Some People with Jokes
22:00 WED (p00w07vc)
Some People with Jokes
01:30 WED (p00w07vc)
Sound It Out
00:00 SAT (b01nwfxx)
The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic
01:45 SUN (b01qnrb8)
The Crow Road
22:30 WED (b0074t1q)
The Joy of the Single
22:30 FRI (b01nzchs)
The Joy of the Single
02:30 FRI (b01nzchs)
The Pharaoh Who Conquered the Sea
00:50 MON (b00pq9gs)
The Richest Songs in the World
23:30 FRI (b01pjrt5)
The Sky at Night
19:30 THU (b08spg81)
The Sky at Night
02:00 THU (b08spg81)
Timeshift
20:00 SUN (b00dwflh)
Timewatch
20:00 WED (b00sl29f)
Timewatch
00:30 WED (b00sl29f)
Top of the Pops
01:00 SAT (b036fc2k)
United
21:00 THU (b010tb6z)
Wainwright Walks
19:30 MON (b007wg5d)
Wainwright Walks
19:30 TUE (b007x53d)
Wainwright Walks
01:00 TUE (b007x53d)
Wainwright Walks
19:30 WED (b007xnzr)
Wainwright Walks
02:00 WED (b007xnzr)
Wallander
21:00 SAT (b01m5cbx)
Wallander
22:00 SAT (b01m87pf)
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
20:00 THU (b0077kmd)
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
20:30 THU (b0077kqp)
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
02:30 THU (b0077kmd)
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
03:00 THU (b0077kqp)
When Albums Ruled the World
21:00 FRI (b01qhn70)
When Albums Ruled the World
01:00 FRI (b01qhn70)
Wild China
22:00 TUE (b00bf5b0)
Wild China
01:30 TUE (b00bf5b0)
Wings over the World
00:30 SUN (b01sjt78)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b036q4kn)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b036q4kt)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b036q4kz)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b036q4l4)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b036q4lc)