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 09 NOVEMBER 2013

SAT 19:00 Frozen Planet (b00zj35k)
Spring

Spring arrives in the polar regions, and the sun appears after an absence of five months; warmth and life return to these magical ice worlds - the greatest seasonal transformation on our planet is under way.

Male adelie penguins arrive in Antarctica to build their nests - it takes a good property to attract the best mates and the males will stop at nothing to better their rivals. But these early birds face the fiercest storms on the planet.

In the Arctic, a polar bear mother is hunting with her cubs. Inland, the frozen rivers start to break up and billions of tons of ice are swept downstream in the greatest of polar spectacles. This meltwater fertilizes the Arctic Ocean, feeding vast shoals of Arctic cod and narwhal. The influx of freshwater accelerates the breakup of the sea ice - an area of ice the size of Australia will soon vanish from the Arctic.

On land, a woolly bear caterpillar emerges from the snow having spent the winter frozen solid. Caterpillars normally become moths within months of hatching, but life is so harsh here that the woolly bear takes 14 years to reach adulthood. Once mature, it has only days to find a mate before it dies. Alongside the caterpillars, white arctic wolves race to raise their adorable cubs before the cold returns.

In Antarctica, vast numbers of seabirds arrive on South Georgia joining the giant albatross and king penguins that have been there all winter. Elephant seals fight furious battles over females on a beach that contains the greatest mass of animals on the planet.

Finally, the female adelie penguins arrive, chased from the water by killer whales. Mating and chick rearing lie ahead of them.


SAT 20:00 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01sgx9m)
Sacred Women of the Iron Age

Archaeologist Julian Richards returns to some of his most important digs to discover how science, conservation, and brand new finds have changed our understanding of entire eras of ancient history. Julian goes back to the excavation of two very different Iron Age woman - the possible sacrifice of a teenage girl from the Cotswolds, and the extraordinary chariot queen whose well preserved possessions are leading to some astonishing new conclusions about Iron Age belief, all because of a mirror and its otter-fur bag.


SAT 21:00 Inspector Montalbano (b03hdm57)
A Ray of Light

A woman is attacked and robbed on her way home late at night, but the case leaves Montalbano wondering whether there isn't more to the story than he's being told. An abandoned cattle shed in the countryside has been boarded up by unknowns and used for mysterious purposes.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:45 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r7hk5)
1975-79

A romp through the BBC archive library from 1975 to 1979 has unearthed some seldom-seen performances of the rarely explored genre of pub rock and other late 70s rock 'n' roll gems from classic music programmes like the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Before the DIY culture of punk took hold there was a whole breed of real musicians who honed their craft in the backrooms of pubs. And towards the end of the 70s men's hair was starting to get shorter too.

This compilation has uncovered rarely seen footage from the likes of Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood, original pub rockers Ducks DeLuxe, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Elvis Costello, Meal Ticket, Steve Gibbons Band, Dave Edmunds and chum Nick Lowe, a pre-Mike & the Mechanics' Paul Carrack in his first band Ace, a post-Faces Ronnie Lane, The Motors, the first TV performance from Dire Straits, Graham Parker and the Rumour and many more.


SAT 23:45 Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance (b03gq719)
Elvis Costello is one of the uncontested geniuses of the rock world. 33 albums and dozens of hit songs have established him as one of the most versatile and intelligent songwriters and performers of his generation. This film provides a definitive account of one of Britain's greatest living songwriters - the first portrait of its kind - directed by Mark Kidel, who was won numerous awards for his music documentaries, including portraits of Rod Stewart, Boy George, Tricky, Alfred Brendel, Ravi Shankar, John Adams and Robert Wyatt.

Elvis is a master of melody, but what distinguishes him above all is an almost uncanny way with words, from the playful use of the well-worn cliche to daring poetic associations, whether he is writing about the sorrow of love or the burning fire of desire, the power play of the bedroom or the world of politics.

The film tells the story of Elvis Costello - a childhood under the influence of his father Ross McManus, the singer with Joe Loss's popular dance band; a Catholic education which has clearly marked him deeply; his overnight success with The Attractions and subsequent disenchantment with the formatted pressures of the music business; a disillusionment which led him to reinvent himself a number of times; and writing and recording songs in various styles, including country, jazz, soul and classical.

The film focuses in particular on his collaborations with Paul McCartney and Allen Toussaint, who both contribute. It also features exclusive access to unreleased demos of songs written by McCartney and Costello. Elvis was interviewed in Liverpool, London and New York, revisiting the places in which he grew up. The main interview, shot over two days at the famed Avatar Studios in NYC, is characterised by unusual intimacy. Elvis talks for the first time at great length about his career, songwriting and music, and often breaks into song with relevant examples from his repertoire.


SAT 01:20 The Sky at Night (b03gtgsy)
Moore Moon Marathon

The moon is a most familiar sight in our sky - it is the astronomer's friend and was Sir Patrick Moore's favourite object - yet fundamentally we still do not know how it was formed and why its far side looks so different. The team join astronomers on Blackheath to watch a lunar eclipse; find out how everyone got on in the Moore Moon Marathon, the list of fascinating features you can see on the moon; and discuss the new missions that will explore this reassuringly familiar yet still most mysterious of cosmic satellites.


SAT 01:50 Frozen Planet (b00zj35k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:45 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01sgx9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2013

SUN 19:00 Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain (b0394j6q)
A Revolution in the City

Using her skills to uncover long-forgotten and abandoned plans, architectural investigator Dr Olivia Horsfall Turner explores the fascinating and dramatic stories behind some of the grandest designs that were never built.

Destruction, whether intentional or circumstantial, often creates a clean slate and demands a fresh outlook in which we come to think the unthinkable. This programme looks at bold, and in some cases shocking, plans to make revolutionary changes to Britain's biggest cities.

In the mid 17th century, the capital was reeling from the devastation caused by the Great Fire of London. But amid the destruction, a huge opportunity arose to completely remodel and modernise London and make it into a very different city than the one we know today.

London was effectively a blank sheet of paper and, within a week of the city being razed to the ground, architect Sir Christopher Wren presented King Charles II with a vision to create a completely new city. Wren wanted the winding streets and old courtyards that had existed almost unchanged since medieval times to be replaced by monumental Parisian-style avenues in a formal grid pattern with large piazzas. This was a unique opportunity to improve on the past but, while Wren's design for St Paul's Cathedral did become a reality, London was reconstructed on essentially the same street plan as before the fire.

Three centuries later, Glasgow was the second city of the empire and the industrial powerhouse of the nation, but was struggling to cope with overcrowding and slum housing. Many believed the only solution was to start again. The city's leading planner, Robert Bruce, proposed demolishing the entire city centre - the celebrated buildings of Mackintosh and Greek Thompson would all have been bulldozed - to create a 1940s vision of the future. The new Glasgow would have been built as a system of regular tower blocks, ringed by a motorway, built in districts according to function. Bruce's justification for these drastic proposals was the creation of a new 'healthy and beautiful city'. Although his plan was not realised in its entirety, many of his ideas were carried out, and the M8 motorway which cuts right through the city centre is probably the most visible legacy of the 'Bruce Report'.

In both plans, destruction was the driving force behind creating a new city on a fresh slate. Separated in time by 300 years, these two radical thinkers, Christopher Wren and Robert Bruce, devised colossal, transformative schemes for their respective cities in a bid to create their very personal vision of the 'perfect city'.


SUN 20:00 The Review Show (b03hhqch)
Martha Kearney and guests Paul Morley, Bonnie Greer and Sarfraz Manzoor discuss the UK premiere of Kander and Ebb's musical The Scottsboro Boys and the winner of this year's Palme D'Or at Cannes, Blue is the Warmest Colour. The panel also give their verdict on Zadie Smith's latest book The Embassy of Cambodia, new documentaries from John Pilger and David France and the Turner Prize Exhibition in Derry.


SUN 21:00 Requiem (b03hhqck)
From plainsong to Penderecki, this film for Remembrance Sunday shows how music has shaped the requiem over 500 years. John Bridcut explores the significance and history of one of the oldest musical forms and discusses its enduring appeal with some of its greatest exponents.

The great requiems of Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi and Fauré have been rooted in the Latin requiem mass of the Roman Catholic Church. But now, thanks to Brahms and Britten, the requiem has spread into other Christian traditions, producing some of the finest classical music ever written.

This feature-length documentary has specially-shot musical performances by the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales (conducted by Edward Gardner), with sopranos Elin Manahan Thomas and Annemarie Kremer, and bass-baritone Neal Davies. It also features the choir Tenebrae, conducted by Nigel Short. Contributors include the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the conductors Sir Colin Davis and Jane Glover, and the bass-baritone Bryn Terfel.


SUN 22:30 About Elly (b015gnhz)
A group of old university friends from Tehran take a three-day break at a Caspian beach resort in the north of Iran. Ahmad is back in Iran after many years living in Germany and his best friend Sepideh is attempting to set him up with Elly.

In Farsi with English subtitles.


SUN 00:25 50s Britannia (b01skxpp)
Trad Jazz Britannia

Documentary telling the story of Britain's postwar infatuation with old New Orleans jazz. With rare 78rpm imports as their only guide, a generation of amateur jazz enthusiasts including Humphrey Lyttelton and Chris Barber created a traditional jazz scene that strove to recreate the essence and freedom of 1920s New Orleans in 1950s Britain.

While British youth jived in smoky dives, the music itself was beset by arguments of authenticity. Begging to differ with the source material, Ken Colyer embarked on a pilgrimage to New Orleans in search of the real deal while a larger ideological war raged between mouldy figs and dirty boppers- traditional and modern jazz fans. As its popularity grew, commercial forces descended and a 'trad' boom sent the purists running for cover at the turn of the decade - the first and last time New Orleans jazz became British pop.

Featuring Acker Bilk, Chris Barber and previously unseen interviews with Humphrey Lyttelton and George Melly.


SUN 01:25 Later Presents... Elvis Costello in Concert (b03h8qyt)
Jools Holland presents a live studio performance by singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, accompanied by the Attractions, the Brodsky Quartet and a chamber-jazz septet. The set features songs from throughout his career, including classics Pump It Up and Watching the Detectives.


SUN 02:25 Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain (b0394j6q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2013

MON 19:00 World News Today (b03hdlc9)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b019j188)
Series 3

Reading to Alton

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

Following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria, Michael uses the railways she often rode from Windsor Castle to her country getaway on the Isle of Wight, from where his journey continues west to Portland.

Michael tastes a Victorian superfood in Alton, explores the fascinating Whitchurch silk mill, untouched for over 150 years, and tries his hand at driving a steam train on the challenging Watercress Line.


MON 20:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077lf0)
Series 2

Some Day We'll Laugh about This

Terry suggests he look after the house when Bob and Thelma go away to Scotland for the weekend. Bob is reluctant at first, but agrees to hand over the keys when Terry promises to do some much-needed DIY. But Terry has an ulterior motive for making such a generous offer.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b03hmgl1)
Series 7

Children in Need Special: Scrabblers v The Balding Team

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts a special celebrity edition of the quiz where knowledge will only take you so far, and patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

In this Pudsey Special, two teams of clever celebrities prepare to lose their dignity in honour of Children in Need, as the Balding Team (Clare Balding, Clive Anderson and Sir Simon Jenkins) take on the Scrabblers (Alice Arnold, Konnie Huq and John Finnemore).

So join Victoria Coren Mitchell if you want to know what connects: Bread song, Steve Bell cartoon, Lindsay Anderson film and Rudyard Kipling poem.


MON 21:00 Climbing Everest with a Mountain on My Back: The Sherpa's Story (b01qchgv)
Every year, over a thousand climbers try to reach the summit of Mount Everest, with the annual record for successful attempts currently standing at 633. But of that number, nearly half were Sherpas - the mountain's unsung heroes. Yet the Sherpa community has remained secretive about their nation, culture and experiences living in the shadow of the world's highest mountain. Now, for the first time, they open the door into their world.

Without the expertise of the Sherpas, only the hardiest and most skilful climbers would succeed. Every day they risk their lives for the safety of others, yet they seek neither glory nor reward, preferring to stay in the background. Following the stories of four such Sherpas - Phurba, Ngima, Ngima Tenji and Gelu - this film reveals the reality of their daily lives, not just up the mountain, but with their families after they return home.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b03hmgz2)
Hotel Folly - Folie a Deux

Filmed over five years, this is an emotional rollercoaster of a documentary which explores the sometimes extreme highs and lows of one of life's biggest gambles - buying a home.

Helen has seven children, a new partner and a very comfortable lifestyle when they decide to get a mortgage to buy one of the most historical houses in England. They want to convert the shabby 72-room mansion in the centre of York into a tasteful hotel, but when the financial crisis hits their dream turns into their worst nightmare.

For five years, feisty Helen fights the banks for a loan for the spiralling renovation costs and her neighbours over rights to the courtyard. While her house gradually becomes unsellable, she persists with her neigbourhood wars.

Part black comedy, part nail-biting journey, this shows the human cost of the mortgage crisis.


MON 23:25 Speeches that Shook the World (b03f3v3w)
Speech-making is the art of persuasion. Well-honed rhetoric appeals not just to the mind, but to the heart and, deeper down, in the guts. Examining the speeches that provoked radical change, surprised pundits or shocked listeners, poet Simon Armitage dissects what makes a perfect speech.

Simon gets the inside story behind some of the famous speeches of the modern age, talking to Tony Blair's speechwriter, to Earl Spencer on his controversial address at his sister's funeral and the woman who challenged the rioters in Hackney. We hear how Peter Tatchell confronted the BNP, Paul Boateng on how Enoch Powell's divisive speech personally affected him as a child, and Colonel Tim Collins, whose charge was to motivate his troops on the eve of the Iraq war. Simon discusses the nuts and bolts of speech writing with Vincent Franklin, aka the blue-sky thinking guru Stuart Pearson from The Thick of It, and gets tips on powerful delivery from actor Charles Dance.

Looking at both contemporary speeches and the classics - Churchill, Martin Luther King, Emmeline Pankhurst - Simon explores whether it is carefully wrought rhetoric, a well-argued stance or a bombastic delivery that wins over an audience.


MON 00:25 Martin Luther King and the March on Washington (b039dyn8)
Documentary commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington, a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

The film tells the story of how the march for jobs and freedom began, speaking to the people who organised and participated in it. Using rarely seen archive footage the film reveals the background stories surrounding the build up to the march as well as the fierce opposition it faced from the JFK administration, J Edgar Hoover's FBI and widespread claims that it would incite racial violence, chaos and disturbance. The film follows the unfolding drama as the march reaches its ultimate triumphs, gaining acceptance from the state, successfully raising funds and in the end, organised and executed peacefully - and creating a landmark moment in the struggle for civil rights and racial equality in the United States.

Including interviews with some of the key actors: members of the inner circles of the core organizational groups such as Jack O'Dell, Clarence B Jones, Julian Bond and Andrew Young; Hollywood supporters and civil rights campaigners including Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll and Sidney Poitier; performing artists at the march such as Joan Baez and Peter Yarrow; JFK administration official, Harris Wofford; the CBS Broadcaster who reported from the march, Roger Mudd; Clayborne Carson, the founding director of Stanford's Martin Luther King Jr Research and Education Institute and a participant in the march; as well as those who witnessed the march on TV and were influenced by it, such as Oprah Winfrey, and most of all, the remembrances of the ordinary citizens who joined some 250,000 Americans at the capital on that momentous day.


MON 01:25 Only Connect (b03hmgl1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 01:55 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077lf0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:25 Great British Railway Journeys (b019j188)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:55 Climbing Everest with a Mountain on My Back: The Sherpa's Story (b01qchgv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2013

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b03hdlcg)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b019j19t)
Series 3

Winchester to Isle of Wight

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

Following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria, Michael uses the railways she often rode from Windsor Castle to her country getaway on the Isle of Wight, from where his journey continues west to Portland.

Michael experiences the magnificent Victorian organ at Winchester Cathedral, goes behind the scenes at a 19th-century rail works still running in Eastleigh today and travels to Queen Victoria's favourite holiday destination, the Isle of Wight.


TUE 20:00 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792vj)
The Dark Lords of Hattusha

It was one of the greatest vanishing acts in history. More than 3,000 years ago a mysterious and ruthless civilisation rose from nothing, created a brutal and unstoppable army and built an empire that rivalled Egypt and Babylon. Yet, just as it was at the height of its powers, the great empire suddenly vanished from history.

This is the story of the formidable Hittites, a civilisation bent on world domination. Their long-lost capital, Hattusha, which disappeared thousands of years ago, was recently rediscovered, and archaeologists have unearthed one of the most astonishing and ingenious cities of the ancient world, featuring rings of impenetrable walls, secret tunnels, temples, palaces and a vast pyramid-like structure facing Egypt.

Buried in this lost city is one of the greatest libraries of the ancient world. All the secrets of the mysterious Hittite empire were written in two codes - one a unique form of hieroglyphs. Using these deciphered texts, the film recreates the ancient world of the Hittites, telling the story of what happened to them, and what caused an empire built to last forever to vanish so completely from history.


TUE 20:58 DEC Philippines Typhoon Appeal (b03kp6hs)
Kirsty Young presents the DEC Philippines Typhoon Appeal. Typhoon Haiyan has devastated parts of the Philippines leaving up to 10,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands without shelter. The Disasters Emergency Committee representing 14 UK aid agencies has launched this appeal to raise much needed funds to help those affected by this catastrophic storm.


TUE 21:00 Cathedrals (b03hhwvl)
Wakefield

The first of a new trilogy in which award-winning documentary maker Richard Alwyn turns his camera on three Church of England cathedrals - Wakefield, Wells and Southwark. Each film explores the purpose and daily workings of these extraordinary edifices that stud the English landscape.

In November 2012, when Alwyn begins filming, Wakefield Cathedral is entering the final phase of a costly renovation project driven by its charismatic dean, the Very Reverend Jonathan Greener. But a heavy cloud hangs over the cathedral. A Church of England commission has responded to the failing fortunes of the Church in Yorkshire with an unprecedented proposal - to dissolve three dioceses, including Wakefield, and replace them with one 'super diocese' of Leeds in which Wakefield would become one of three cathedrals.

The dean has theological and financial misgivings and vehemently opposes the proposal. A cathedral is the spiritual headquarters of a diocese, sole seat of its bishop - if the diocese were to go, the dean believes that the theological understanding of the cathedral would begin to 'wobble' and future funding might be jeopardised.

With remarkable access to the dean and the bishop of Wakefield, filming chapter meetings and synod votes, Alwyn's film becomes an intimate portrait of the dean's passionate defence of his cathedral. Increasingly ground down by the process, he confesses thet 'being a professional churchman does take some of the enthusiasm and life out of my faith; congregations still like to think that clergy are holy people with good intentions, and I suppose I know what clergy are like inside because I have to live with myself'.


TUE 22:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b03hhwvn)
Steve Coogan

An extended interview in which Mark Lawson talks to the writer, comedian, actor and producer Steve Coogan about his life and career. Coogan, who made his name by winning the coveted Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1992, found TV fame with the comic characters Paul Calf and Alan Partridge, later appearing as pop impresario Tony Wilson in Michael Winterbottom's film 24 Hour Party People and porn baron Paul Raymond in Winterbottom's The Look of Love.

Coogan's latest project is Stephen Frears's film Philomena, which he co-wrote and in which he stars as former BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith, who helps to investigate what happened to the son an elderly Irish woman (Judi Dench) reluctantly gave up for adoption in the 1950s.


TUE 23:00 In the Loop (b00rf174)
When British Secretary of State for International Development Simon Foster accidentally backs military action on TV, he suddenly has a lot of friends in Washington DC.

If Simon and his entourage of one can get in with the right DC people, and if they can stop the PM's chief spin doctor Malcolm Tucker rigging the vote at the UN, then maybe they can halt the war.


TUE 00:45 Britain on Film (b01p2pd4)
Series 1

Dedicated Followers of Fashion

Throughout the 1960s, the Rank Organisation produced hundreds of short, quirky documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. Shot on high-quality colour film stock, they were screened in cinemas, but until now very little of the footage has been shown on television. This series draws on this unique archive to offer illuminating and often surprising insights into a pivotal decade in modern British history.

This episode examines the films that recorded developments in one of 1960s Britain's most dynamic, innovative industries - the glamorous and fast-moving world of fashion.


TUE 01:15 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792vj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:15 Great British Railway Journeys (b019j19t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:45 Cathedrals (b03hhwvl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2013

WED 19:00 World News Today (b03hdlcm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b019j1v4)
Series 3

Brockenhurst to Poole

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

Following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria, Michael uses the railways she often rode from Windsor Castle to her country getaway on the Isle of Wight, from where his journey continues west to Portland.

On the trail of a Victorian snake catcher, Michael visits the New Forest seeking out venomous adders, uncovers a secret library in Wimborne containing some very rare books and visits the Poole potteries founded in the 19th century, which are still working today.


WED 20:00 Britain by Bike (b00t6yhb)
The Welsh Borders

Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to rediscover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle. In a six-part series, she follows in the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guidebooks of the late 1940s lovingly describe bypassed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads.

Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own Dawes Super Galaxy bicycle, Clare goes in search of the world he described. Is it lost for ever? Or still there, waiting to be found?

Clare's journey into Wales is rich in literary connections to both Bruce Chatwin and AE Housman. She reveals how a cycle factory went to war and finds out about the Bride's Tree - a bizarre village ceremony with a dark secret.


WED 20:30 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b03hzxqh)
Shani Rhys James

A past winner of the Jerwood Painting Prize, Shani Rhys James is one of Wales's leading artists. She lives and works in a renovated 17th-century house and barn in Llangadfan, mid-Wales and her studio space is filled with striking paintings which combine domestic scenes with intense self-portraits often depicting powerful childhood memories.

'I paint because it is my way to express something. I'm trying to capture my own personal mythology in paint, so I paint what I feel and what effects me'.

This intimate film follows Shani as she prepares for her exhibition in Aberystwyth in November and captures her deep in concentration working on a new large oil painting.


WED 21:00 Timeshift (p01k49cg)
Series 13

Bouffants, Beehives and Bobs: The Hairstyles That Shaped Britain

It is said that the average woman gets through around 30 hairstyles in a lifetime, with some changing their look entirely every 15 months. Timeshift takes a loving and sometimes horrified look back at the iconic hairdos and 'must have' haircuts that both men and women in Britain have flirted with over the past 60 years.

And it's some journey... from the meringue-like confections of Raymond 'Teasy Weasy' via the geometric 'bob' cuts of Vidal Sassoon, stopping off to take in the 'big hair' heyday of bouffants and beehives, and not forgetting the mullet, the feather cut and the ultimate 'bad hair day' look of 1970s perms.

Our hair is the one part of our identity we can change in an instant and which speaks volumes about who we are, where we've come from and where we're going. Today, young women are revisiting hair fashions of an earlier generation - big hair and blowdrying are back in demand, whilst many young men sport Edwardian 'peaky blinder' short back and sides.

Narrated by Wayne Hemingway.


WED 22:00 Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls (b01j2fcq)
Act One: At Court

The years after the Civil War and the Restoration of Charles II marked the end of the medieval and the beginning of the modern age. These were exciting times for women and some rose to prominence like never before. Some had remarkably modern attitudes and ambitions and achieved wealth, celebrity and power that still seems outstanding even by 21st century standards. But, at the same time, they faced a world that was still predominantly male, misogynistic and positively medieval in its outlook.

In the first episode, Dr Lucy Worsley investigates the lives of women at the top - the king's mistresses at the royal court. When Charles and his entourage returned from exile, they came back with a host of continental ideas. Some of the women at court gained unprecedented political influence and independence. Amongst a fascinating cast of female characters, the most astonishing were Charles II's own mistresses - the royalist Barbara Villiers, the French spy Louise de Keroualle and the infamous Cockney actress Nell Gwynn.

Lucy examines the lives of these women, discovering how their fortunes were shaped by the Restoration and how their stories reflect the atmosphere of these extraordinary years. Along her journey, Lucy gets the full mistress make-over, takes to the dance floor and treads the corridors of power. As she discovers, these women were key Restoration players, but, as mistresses, were they truly in charge of their own destinies or were they simply part of the world's oldest profession?


WED 23:00 Frozen Planet (b00zj35k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


WED 00:00 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01sgx9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


WED 01:00 Requiem (b03hhqck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


WED 02:30 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b03hzxqh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 03:00 Timeshift (p01k49cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2013

THU 19:00 World News Today (b03hdlcx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b03hwgnl)
Peter Powell presents the weekly look at the 1978 pop charts, with the Rezillos, Boney M, Elton John, Heatwave, Leo Sayer, Darts, Buzzcocks, Mankind, Blondie, the Barron Knights, Rod Stewart and dance sequences by Legs & Co.


THU 20:00 Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures (b01bs7jq)
Frozen in Time

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 seems it hangs 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 its 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? Professor Fortey travels across the globe to find the survivors of the most dramatic of these obstacles - the mass extinction events.

In episode three, Fortey looks at the ice age. 2.8 million years ago - triggered by slight changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun and shifts in its ocean currents - the world began to cool. Within a few thousand years much of the planet was shrouded in a dense cloak of ice that would come and go until only 10,000 years ago. We call this age of ice - the Pleistocene Age - and it transformed the hierarchy of nature. This is the story of how a few specialist species that evolved to live in the biting cold survived into the present day.


THU 21:00 Britten's Endgame (b03hj038)
Writer and film-maker John Bridcut presents a documentary for the centenary anniversary of the birth of composer Benjamin Britten which explores Britten's creativity in the face of death. Those closest to him watched anxiously as he raced to complete his final opera Death in Venice, tackling an edgy subject which resonated with his own life. Britten's eventual heart operation after years of stress and illness left him incapacitated and prematurely old and frail, yet somehow he rediscovered his creative urge to produce two late masterpieces.

Nine years after Bridcut made his award-winning Britten's Children, this is a rich and poignant film about the final years of a surprisingly insecure composer and the impact of what Britten's partner Peter Pears called 'an evil opera'.

The film features specially filmed performances of Britten's music by Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), John Graham-Hall and Allan Clayton (tenors), Xavier Phillips (cello), the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Paul Kildea, Schola Cantorum of Oxford conducted by James Burton, and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet.


THU 23:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00ydp30)
Sir Anthony Caro

Mark Lawson talks to the influential sculptor Sir Anthony Caro about his life and career in art. In this thoughtful interview Caro reflects on his time as Henry Moore's assistant, his groundbreaking shift from figurative to abstract sculpture, his position on public art and his dream of working 'until I drop'.

Since his pioneering show at the Whitechapel London Gallery in 1963, Anthony Caro became recognised as one of the most important and prolific sculptors in the world. His innovative approach to scale, form and materials to 'expand the language of sculpture' has not only won him international plaudits but has revolutionised the field of three-dimensional art.


THU 00:00 Cathedrals (b03hhwvl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


THU 01:00 Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures (b01bs7jq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 02:00 Top of the Pops (b03hwgnl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:40 Fabric of Britain (b03bgrvf)
Knitting's Golden Age

Documentary exploring how knitting rose from basic craft to the height of popular fashion in the 20th century. It's a craft that has given us scratchy jumpers, sexy bathing costumes and the infamous poodle loo cover, has sustained Britain through the hardships of war and shown a mother's love to generations of little ones. Today, knitwear has become a staple of every wardrobe thanks to a prince's golfing taste, The Beatles and 80s breakfast television. Warm-hearted and surprising, this is the story of the people's craft, and a very British one at that.



FRIDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2013

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b03hdld8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b03hj0xl)
2013

Britten at the Proms

From the Royal Albert Hall, Petroc Trelawny presents a Prom to mark the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten, one of the greatest British composers of the 20th century. The virtuoso violinist Janine Jansen joins the Orchestre de Paris and conductor Paavo Jarvi to perform one of Britten's masterworks, the evocative Violin Concerto. Also in the programme is Arvo Part's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, Berlioz's overture Le Corsaire and Saint-Saens's Organ Symphony with soloist Thierry Escaich.


FRI 21:30 Radio 2 In Concert (b03hj0xn)
Paul McCartney In Concert 2013

As part of BBC Radio 2's In Concert series, Paul McCartney returns to BBC Maida Vale studios where he recorded 275 performances with the Beatles between 1962 and 1965. Paul performs classic Beatles and Wings songs including Eight Days a Week, Back in the USSR, Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Band on the Run and Jet, plus tracks from his solo career and his latest album, New.


FRI 22:30 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.


FRI 23:45 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.


FRI 00:45 Radio 2 In Concert (b03hj0xn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]


FRI 01:45 Wings over the World (b01sjt78)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


FRI 03:00 The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic (b01qnrb8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 today]




LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)

50s Britannia 00:25 SUN (b01skxpp)

About Elly 22:30 SUN (b015gnhz)

BBC Proms 19:30 FRI (b03hj0xl)

Britain by Bike 20:00 WED (b00t6yhb)

Britain on Film 00:45 TUE (b01p2pd4)

Britten's Endgame 21:00 THU (b03hj038)

Cathedrals 21:00 TUE (b03hhwvl)

Cathedrals 02:45 TUE (b03hhwvl)

Cathedrals 00:00 THU (b03hhwvl)

Climbing Everest with a Mountain on My Back: The Sherpa's Story 21:00 MON (b01qchgv)

Climbing Everest with a Mountain on My Back: The Sherpa's Story 02:55 MON (b01qchgv)

DEC Philippines Typhoon Appeal 20:58 TUE (b03kp6hs)

Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain 19:00 SUN (b0394j6q)

Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain 02:25 SUN (b0394j6q)

Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance 23:45 SAT (b03gq719)

Fabric of Britain 02:40 THU (b03bgrvf)

Frozen Planet 19:00 SAT (b00zj35k)

Frozen Planet 01:50 SAT (b00zj35k)

Frozen Planet 23:00 WED (b00zj35k)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b019j188)

Great British Railway Journeys 02:25 MON (b019j188)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b019j19t)

Great British Railway Journeys 02:15 TUE (b019j19t)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b019j1v4)

Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls 22:00 WED (b01j2fcq)

In the Loop 23:00 TUE (b00rf174)

Inspector Montalbano 21:00 SAT (b03hdm57)

Later Presents... Elvis Costello in Concert 01:25 SUN (b03h8qyt)

Lost Cities of the Ancients 20:00 TUE (b00792vj)

Lost Cities of the Ancients 01:15 TUE (b00792vj)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 22:00 TUE (b03hhwvn)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 23:00 THU (b00ydp30)

Martin Luther King and the March on Washington 00:25 MON (b039dyn8)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b03hmgl1)

Only Connect 01:25 MON (b03hmgl1)

Radio 2 In Concert 21:30 FRI (b03hj0xn)

Radio 2 In Concert 00:45 FRI (b03hj0xn)

Requiem 21:00 SUN (b03hhqck)

Requiem 01:00 WED (b03hhqck)

Speeches that Shook the World 23:25 MON (b03f3v3w)

Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited 20:00 SAT (b01sgx9m)

Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited 02:45 SAT (b01sgx9m)

Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited 00:00 WED (b01sgx9m)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b03hmgz2)

Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures 20:00 THU (b01bs7jq)

Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures 01:00 THU (b01bs7jq)

The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic 23:45 FRI (b01qnrb8)

The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic 03:00 FRI (b01qnrb8)

The Review Show 20:00 SUN (b03hhqch)

The Sky at Night 01:20 SAT (b03gtgsy)

Timeshift 21:00 WED (p01k49cg)

Timeshift 03:00 WED (p01k49cg)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b03hwgnl)

Top of the Pops 02:00 THU (b03hwgnl)

Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll 22:45 SAT (b01r7hk5)

What Do Artists Do All Day? 20:30 WED (b03hzxqh)

What Do Artists Do All Day? 02:30 WED (b03hzxqh)

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 20:00 MON (b0077lf0)

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 01:55 MON (b0077lf0)

Wings over the World 22:30 FRI (b01sjt78)

Wings over the World 01:45 FRI (b01sjt78)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b03hdlc9)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b03hdlcg)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b03hdlcm)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b03hdlcx)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b03hdld8)