SATURDAY 11 APRIL 2015
SAT 19:00 Ice Age Giants (p018cbd4)
Land of the Sabre-tooth
Professor Alice Roberts journeys 40,000 years back in time on the trail of the great beasts of the Ice Age. Drawing on the latest scientific detective work and a dash of graphic wizardry, Alice brings the Ice Age giants back to life.
The Ice Age odyssey begins in the 'land of the sabre-tooth' - North America, a continent that was half covered by ice that was up to two miles thick. Yet this frozen land also boasts the most impressive cast of Ice Age giants in the world.
High in a cave in the Grand Canyon, Alice discovers the mummified excrement of the loveable, grizzly bear-sized Shasta ground sloth. Lying in the sands of Arizona are the shelled remains of a glyptodon, surely the weirdest mammal that ever lived. On the coastal plains of California, Alice encounters the vast Columbian mammoth, an animal far larger than any elephant today.
These leviathans all have one thing in common: they were stalked by the meanest big cat that ever prowled the earth, armed with seven-inch teeth and hunting in packs - Smilodon fatalis, the sabre-toothed cat.
SAT 20:00 Wild China (b00brvjx)
Shangri-La
Documentary that showcases pioneering images capturing the dazzling array of mysterious creatures that live in China's most beautiful landscapes. Beneath billowing clouds, in China's far south west, rich jungles nestle below towering peaks. Jewel-coloured birds and ancient tribes share forested valleys where wild elephants still roam. How do these forests exist? Perhaps the rugged landscape holds the key.
SAT 21:00 Inspector Montalbano (b01nj2zt)
The Age of Doubt
The yacht of a wealthy woman docks at Vigata's harbour as a disfigured body is discovered at sea. Coastguard Laura Belladonna is assigned to the case to assist Montalbano and the two soon become close. The investigation casts doubts on the motives and sincerity of the yacht's crew and Montalbano begins to suspect that there may be more to the story they have given him.
In Italian with English subtitles.
SAT 22:45 Kings of Rock and Roll (b007c95q)
A journey back to the 1950s for a look at the wildest pop music of all time in a film that tells the stories of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, giants from an era when pop music really was mad, bad and dangerous to know.
The programme features the artists themselves, alongside people like Bill Haley's original Comets, The Crickets, Buddy Holly's widow Maria Elena, Jerry Lee Lewis's former wife Myra Gail and his sister, Chuck Berry's son and many more, including June Juanico, Elvis's first serious girlfriend.
Other contributors include Tom Jones, Jamie Callum, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Green Day, Minnie Driver, Jack White of The White Stripes, The Mavericks, Jools Holland, Hank Marvin, Fontella Bass, John Waters and more.
Elvis's pelvis was just the start. Who had to change the lyrics to their biggest hit because the originals were too obscene? Who married their 13-year-old cousin? Who used lard to get their hair just right? And what happened on the day the music died?
SAT 23:45 50s Britannia (b01sgbw2)
Rock 'n' Roll Britannia
Long before the Beatles there was British rock 'n' roll. Between 1956 and 1960 British youth created a unique copy of a distant and scarce American original whilst most parents, professional jazz men and even the BBC did their level best to snuff it out.
From its first faltering steps as a facsimile of Bill Haley's swing style to the sophistication of self-penned landmarks such as Shakin' All Over and The Sound of Fury, this is the story of how the likes of Lord Rockingham's XI, Vince Taylor and Cliff Richard and The Shadows laid the foundations for an enduring 50-year culture of rock 'n' roll.
Now well into their seventies, the flame still burns strong in the hearts of the original young ones. Featuring Sir Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Joe Brown, Bruce Welch, Cherry Wainer and The Quarrymen.
SAT 00:45 Top of the Pops (b05qjxm0)
Peter Powell presents chart hits of the week, with performances from Liquid Gold, Genesis, Brothers Johnson, Dr Hook, Judas Priest, Siouxsie & the Banshees, John Foxx, the Detroit Spinners and the Jam, and a dance sequence by Legs & Co.
SAT 01:20 Timeshift (b044yw1d)
Series 14
Mods, Rockers and Bank Holiday Mayhem
A trip back to the days when 'style wars' were just that - violent confrontations about the clothes you wore. Spring 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the bank holiday 'battles of the beaches', when hundreds of mods and rockers flocked to seaside resorts on scooters and motorbikes in search of thrills and spills.
Timeshift tells the story of how this led to violence, arrests and widespread concern about the state of British youth. But mods and rockers had more in common than was first obvious - they were the first generation of baby boomers to reach their teenage years at a time when greater prosperity and wider freedoms were transforming what it meant to be young.
SAT 02:20 Wild China (b00brvjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SAT 03:20 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01gymg9)
Reggae - Stir it Up
By the start of the 70s, the Windrush generation of immigrants who came to the UK from the Caribbean and West Indies were an established part of the British population and their influence and culture permeated UK society.
This second programme rejoices and revels in the reggae music exported from Jamaica and the home-grown reggae-influenced sounds that sprouted from the cities of England. Reggae's dominance of the UK charts is celebrated with performances from Ken Boothe, Dave and Ansel Collins, Steel Pulse, Althea and Donna, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Janet Kay, Susan Cadogan and The Specials.
SUNDAY 12 APRIL 2015
SUN 19:00 Horizon (b013pnv4)
2011-2012
Seeing Stars
Around the world, a new generation of astronomers are hunting for the most mysterious objects in the universe. Young stars, black holes, even other forms of life.
They have created a dazzling new set of supertelescopes that promise to rewrite the story of the heavens.
This film follows the men and women who are pushing the limits of science and engineering in some of the most extreme environments on earth. But most strikingly of all, no-one really knows what they will find out there.
SUN 20:00 Voyager: To the Final Frontier (b01nj48v)
This is the story of the most extraordinary journey in human exploration, the Voyager space mission. In 1977 two unmanned spacecraft were launched by NASA, heading for distant worlds. It would be the first time any man-made object would ever visit the farthest planets of the solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. On the way the Voyagers would be bombarded by space dust, fried by radiation and discover many of the remarkable wonders of the solar system.
Now, at the end of 2012, 35 years and 11 billion miles later, they are leaving the area of the sun's influence. As they journey out into the galaxy beyond they carry a message from Earth, a golden record bolted to the side of each craft describing our civilisation in case of discovery by another. This is the definitive account of the most intrepid explorers in Earth's history.
SUN 21:00 Do We Really Need the Moon? (b00yb5jp)
The moon is such a familiar presence in the sky that most of us take it for granted. But what if it wasn't where it is now? How would that affect life on Earth?
Space scientist and lunar fanatic Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock explores our intimate relationship with the moon. Besides orchestrating the tides, the moon dictates the length of a day, the rhythm of the seasons and the very stability of our planet.
Yet the moon is always on the move. In the past, it was closer to the Earth and in the future it will be farther away. That it is now perfectly placed to sustain life is pure luck, a cosmic coincidence. Using computer graphics to summon up great tides and set the Earth spinning on its side, Aderin-Pocock implores us to look at the Moon afresh: to see it not as an inert rock, but as a key player in the story of our planet, past, present and future.
SUN 22:00 The Sky at Night (b05qyqwb)
Hubble: The Five Greatest Images of the Cosmos
For 25 years the Hubble Space Telescope has been showing us the cosmos as we've never seen it before. The team reveals the 'top five' greatest images Hubble has produced, images that have astounded us, transforming our understanding of the universe and our place in it.
SUN 22:30 Biggest Band Break Ups and Make Ups (b05q472d)
Mark Radcliffe presents a look at the highs and lows of band life - the creative tension that produces great music and the pressures that come with success and fame, and pull most bands apart. Radcliffe lifts the lid on the main reasons why bands break up and the secrets of bands that manage to stay together.
SUN 23:30 More Dangerous Songs: And the Banned Played On (b048wwpz)
Compilation of songs previously banned by the BBC, including Lola by The Kinks, Jackie by Scott Walker and We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang by Heaven 17.
SUN 00:30 Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story (b03cw8g0)
In 1973, an album was released that against all odds and expectations went to the top of the UK charts. The fact the album launched a record label that became one of the most recognisable brand names in the world (Virgin), formed the soundtrack to one of the biggest movies of the decade (The Exorcist), became the biggest selling instrumental album of all time, would eventually go on to sell over 16 million copies and was performed almost single-handedly by a 19-year-old makes the story all the more incredible. That album was Tubular Bells, and the young and painfully shy musician was Mike Oldfield.
This documentary features contributions from Sir Richard Branson, Danny Boyle, Mike's family and the original engineers of the Tubular Bells album among others. The spine of the film is an extended interview with Mike himself, where he takes us through the events that led to him writing Tubular Bells - growing up with a mother with severe mental health problems; the refuge he sought in music as a child, with talent that led to him playing in folk clubs aged 12 and signing with his sister's folk group at only 15; his frightening experience of taking LSD at 16; and finally arriving at the Manor Recording Studios as a young session musician where he gave a demo tape to a recording engineer who passed it along to young entrepreneur Richard Branson.
After the album's huge success, Mike retreated to a Hereford hilltop, shunned public life and became a recluse until he took part in a controversial therapy which changed his life.
In 2012 Mike captured the public's imagination once again when he was asked to perform at the London Olympic Opening Ceremony, where Tubular Bells was the soundtrack to 20 minutes of the one-hour ceremony.
Filmed on location at his home recording studio in Nassau, Mike also plays the multiple instruments of Tubular Bells and shows how the groundbreaking piece of music was put together.
SUN 01:30 Horizon (b013pnv4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUN 02:30 Voyager: To the Final Frontier (b01nj48v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SUN 03:30 The Sky at Night (b05qyqwb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
MONDAY 13 APRIL 2015
MON 19:00 World News Today (b05qqfjf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbs8k)
Railways and Railwaymen Called to Action
World War I was a railway war. Michael Portillo finds out how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war, shaped how it was fought, conveyed millions to the trenches and bore witness to its end. He takes to historic tracks to rediscover the locomotives and wagons of the war that was supposed to end all war and hears the stories of the gallant men and women who used them in life and in death.
Michael's journey begins in England's north east, where he finds out about the brave railwaymen who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Moving south to Oxfordshire, he learns how the manufacturing expertise of the railways turned a crisis into a victory. In Hampshire, Michael meets the proud son of a railwayman who, as a Royal Engineer, taught soldiers to be railwaymen and trained railwaymen to be soldiers. Finally, on the south coast he meets the big guns that turned the tide of war.
MON 20:00 The First World War from Above (b00vyrzh)
Fergal Keane tells the story of the World War One from a unique new aerial perspective. Featuring two remarkable historical finds, including a piece of archive footage filmed from an airship in summer 1919, capturing the trenches and battlefields in a way that has rarely been seen before. It also features aerial photographs taken by First World War pilots - developed for the first time in over 90 years - that show not only the devastation inflicted during the fighting, but also quirks and human stories visible only from above.
MON 21:00 Kim Philby - His Most Intimate Betrayal (b0406w88)
Episode 1
In programme one of this two-part special, best-selling author Ben Macintyre explores the truth behind the most famous double agent in modern history - Harold Kim Philby.
He argues that Philby has become a caricature of the gentleman spy, obscuring the fact that Philby was a ruthless killer, who betrayed everyone around him.
The key to Philby's success and his survival, Macintyre explains, lay in his friendship with a man that history has largely forgotten - Nicholas Elliott. Elliott was Philby's colleague in MI6 who befriended him, defended him, and unwittingly supplied him with secrets until he discovered the truth.
This is the remarkable tale of two friends and two spies, each working on opposite sides in the Cold War.
MON 22:00 North by Northwest (b025ydrv)
Classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller. When advertising executive Roger Thornhill is mistaken for the mysterious Mr Kaplan by a ruthless espionage ring, he soon faces deadly peril, framed for murder. On the run, Thornhill seeks Kaplan, the one person who can verify his story.
MON 00:10 Do We Really Need the Moon? (b00yb5jp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
MON 01:10 The First World War from Above (b00vyrzh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 02:10 Kim Philby - His Most Intimate Betrayal (b0406w88)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MON 03:10 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbs8k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2015
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b05qqbq8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbskt)
Keeping the War Moving
World War I was a railway war. Michael Portillo finds out how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war, shaped how it was fought, conveyed millions to the trenches and bore witness to its end. He takes to historic tracks to rediscover the locomotives and wagons of the war that was supposed to end all war and hears the stories of the gallant men and women who used them in life and in death.
Michael travels through Britain and northern France uncovering railway stories from the Great War. He gets hands-on experience of the miniature tracks and trains that kept supplies flowing to the front line and visits North Eastern Railway headquarters in York to find out about the Great War's forgotten railway leader. He hears the story of the Bath railway poet, and pays homage at the site of Britain's deadliest train crash in Quintinshill. Finally, Michael crosses the Channel to discover how the railways fed millions of men in the trenches from a depot in Abancourt.
TUE 20:00 Crossing England in a Punt: River of Dreams (p00y6r6q)
From the Staffordshire hills to the Humber estuary, spirited explorer Tom Fort embarks on a 170-mile journey down Britain's third-longest river, the Trent. Beginning on foot, he soon transfers to his own custom-built punt, the Trent Otter, and rows many miles downstream. Along the way he encounters the power stations that generate much of the nation's electricity, veterans of the catastrophic floods of 1947, the 19th-century brewers of Burton and a Bronze Age boatman who once made a life along the river.
TUE 21:00 The Plantagenets (b03yr973)
Series 1
The Devil's Brood
Professor Robert Bartlett tells the extraordinary story of England's most dysfunctional, yet longest-ruling, royal dynasty. Henry II forges a mighty empire encompassing England and much of France. His sons, Richard the Lionheart and John, then turn on their father and each other, bringing the dynasty to the edge of annihilation.
TUE 22:00 A Very British Airline (b046sby4)
Episode 2
For many years London to New York has been the most glamorous and profitable route in BA's long-haul network. This was the route made famous by Concorde, and even today BA's JFK terminal caters for more of the rich and famous than anywhere else.
This looks at the heart of BA's New York operations to discover what it takes to keep the 28 flights a day running smoothly on this all-important route, even as the worst winter on record causes cancellations and delays.
At the other extreme, BA is opening a new route to the Chinese city of Chengdu. China is a key new market, but BA is well behind its rivals and having to learn fast how to cope with the unique challenges of operating in mainland China.
Back at Heathrow, the cabin crew trainees reach the moment of truth. Will they all make it through the course or will some of them learn the hard way that they aren't quite what BA considers the right stuff?
TUE 23:00 Voyager: To the Final Frontier (b01nj48v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Sunday]
TUE 00:00 Ice Age Giants (p018cbd4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
TUE 01:00 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbskt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 01:30 The High Art of the Low Countries (b01rsfgd)
Dream of Plenty
Andrew Graham-Dixon shows how the art of Renaissance Flanders evolved from the craft of precious tapestries within the Duchy of Burgundy into a leading painting school in its own right. Starting his journey at the magnificent altarpiece of Ghent Cathedral created by the Van Eyck brothers, Andrew explains their groundbreaking innovation in oil painting and marvels at how the colours they obtained can still remain so vibrant today.
Andrew describes how, in the early Renaissance, the most urgent preoccupation was not the advancement of learning, humanist or otherwise, but the Last Judgment. People believed they were living in the end of days; a subject popular with preachers and artists and intensely realised in swarming microscopic detail by Hieronymus Bosch.
TUE 02:30 The Plantagenets (b03yr973)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2015
WED 19:00 World News Today (b05qqbqf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbspx)
On Track to Victory
World War I was a railway war. Michael Portillo finds out how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war, shaped how it was fought, conveyed millions to the trenches and bore witness to its end. He takes to historic tracks to rediscover the locomotives and wagons of the war that was supposed to end all war and hears the stories of the gallant men and women who used them in life and in death.
Michael travels through Britain and Belgium uncovering railway stories from the Great War. At Bristol's Temple Meads station he hears a first-hand account from the front line, then in Yorkshire discovers how women took over railwaymen's roles and began to literally wear the trousers. He finds out about the extraordinary exploits of Belgian trainspotters who spied on enemy rail movements, and hears how the end of the war also marked the decline of the railways.
WED 20:00 Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney (b05q19lj)
Episode 4
Martha Kearney walks in the footsteps of a 19th-century artist and geologist who spent his life charting the landscape, people and buildings of Ireland. She retraces the journey of George Victor Du Noyer, whose 35-year odyssey left a unique record of how Ireland looked during a period of great change.
In her final journey, Martha hits the spiritual trail, starting with the Blasket Islands off the coast of Kerry. In the Dingle Peninsula, Du Noyer discovered clochans - stone beehive huts. Martha heads north on a spiritual trail, taking in the islands of the Fermanagh Lakelands - White Island, Boa Island and the renowned Station Island.
WED 20:30 The Quizeum (b05qqgrp)
Series 1
Episode 4
At the Foundling Museum - home to an extraordinary collection of art and sculpture, often donated by the artists themselves to support Britain's first home for abandoned children - the experts being put to the test by Griff Rhys Jones are historian Professor Kate Williams, medieval art historian Dr Janina Ramirez, author and historian Dan Cruickshank, and cultural historian Dr Gus Casely-Hayford.
WED 21:00 Treasures of Ancient Greece (b05qqgrr)
The Classical Revolution
Alastair Sooke unpicks the reasons behind the dazzling revolution that gave birth to classical Greek art, asking how the Greeks got so good so quickly. He travels to the beautiful Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, and to the island of Mozia to see the astonishing charioteer found there in 1979, and marvels at the athletic bodies of the warriors dragged from the seabed - the Riace Bronzes.
It was a creative explosion that covered architecture, sculpting in marble, casting in bronze, even painting on vases. Perhaps the most powerful factor was also its greatest legacy - a fascination with the naked human body.
WED 22:00 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.
WED 23:00 Do We Really Need the Moon? (b00yb5jp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
WED 00:00 Timeshift (b037w38s)
Series 13
A Day at the Zoo
Using unique home movie footage, this is the story of how zoos captured the imagination of the British - from the first 'scientific zoological garden' in Regent's Park to Gerald Durrell's 'conservation ark', which became Jersey Zoo. It's a nostalgic tale of show-stopping animals - such as the original Jumbo the elephant and Bristol Zoo's Alfred the gorilla - as well as bold innovations like the make-believe mountains of London Zoo and Dudley's animal enclosures without bars. No wonder, despite modern concerns about keeping animals captive, a day at the zoo remains one of Britain's most popular family days out.
WED 01:00 The Quizeum (b05qqgrp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
WED 01:30 Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo (b04dbspx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:00 The High Art of the Low Countries (b01rtf47)
Boom and Bust
Andrew Graham-Dixon looks at how the seemingly peaceful countries of Holland and Belgium - famous for their tulips and windmills, mussels and chips - were in fact forged in a crucible of conflict and division. He examines how a period of economic boom driven for the first time by a burgeoning and secular middle class led to the Dutch golden age of the 17th century, creating not only the concept of oil painting itself, but the master painters Rembrandt and Vermeer combining art and commerce together as we would recognise it today.
WED 03:00 Treasures of Ancient Greece (b05qqgrr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 16 APRIL 2015
THU 19:00 World News Today (b05qqbqn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b05qyqwb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Sunday]
THU 20:00 Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys (b007hfx3)
Robert Baden-Powell's handbook Scouting for Boys, written in 1908, may be largely forgotten today, but it is one of the most influential and best-selling books of all time. In the 20th century, only the Bible, the Koran and the Thoughts of Chairman Mao sold more. But they had fewer jokes, no pictures and were useless at important stuff like tying knots.
In this entertaining and affectionate film, Ian Hislop uncovers the story behind the book which kick-started the Scout Movement - a work which is very eccentric, very Edwardian and very British.
Ian discovers that the book is actually very radical and addresses all sorts of issues that we think of as modern, such as citizenship, disaffected youth and social responsibility. He explores the maverick brilliance of Baden-Powell, a national celebrity after his heroism in the Boer War, and considers the book's candid focus on health and wellbeing - from the importance of what Baden-Powell called a 'daily rear' to his infamous warning on the dangers of masturbation.
Contributors include his grandson Lord Baden-Powell, minister for culture and former cub scout David Lammy, biographer Tim Jeal and Elleke Boehmer, editor of the re-issue of the original Scouting for Boys.
THU 21:00 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.
THU 22:00 Wild China (b00brvjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
THU 23:00 The Plantagenets (b03yr973)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
THU 00:00 Timeshift (b03gtg7g)
Series 13
When Coal Was King
Timeshift explores the lost world of coal mining and the extraordinarily rich social and cultural lives of those who worked in what was once Britain's most important industry. It's a story told through a largely forgotten film archive that movingly documents the final years of coal's heyday from the 1940s to the 1980s. One priceless piece of footage features a ballet performance by tutu-wearing colliers.
Featuring contributions from those who worked underground, those who lived in the pit villages, those who filmed them at work and at play and those - like Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall - who have been inspired by what made coalfield culture so unique.
Narrated by Christopher Eccleston.
THU 01:00 The Sky at Night (b05qyqwb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Sunday]
THU 01:30 Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney (b05q19lj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 The High Art of the Low Countries (b01rxpy1)
Daydreams and Nightmares
Following a brief period of decline, the entrepreneurial and industrious region of the Low Countries rose again to become a cultural leader in the modern age. Despite its small and almost insignificant size it produced important forward-thinking artists like van Gogh, Mondrian, Magritte and Delvaux, who changed the face of art forever.
Andrew's journey takes him to a remote beach in north west Holland that inspired Mondrian's transition to his now-renowned abstract grid paintings. Andrew digs deep into the psychology and social history of the region, exploring how the landscape of the past has informed the culture and identity of the Low Countries today and the impossibility of the Dutch drive to turn the philosophy of Mondrian's geometric order into a way of living.
THU 03:00 Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys (b007hfx3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2015
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b05qqbqt)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074shx)
Episode 1
The 80s saw many great contributions to the fields of art and culture. Not the least of these was floppy hair. Floppy hair dominates this episode of pop morsels from the BBC archive, featuring Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran, Culture Club, ABC, Wham!, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Bananarama and Kylie Minogue.
FRI 20:00 BBC Young Dancer (p023t46k)
2015
Contemporary Final
The BBC turns the spotlight on the UK's best young dancers with a nationwide talent search to find the first BBC Young Dancer. Dancers aged 16-20 were invited to enter one of four categories - ballet, contemporary, hip hop and south Asian dance. In the first of these finals, five dancers compete for the contemporary category title and a place in the grand final at Sadler's Wells.
With behind-the-scenes access to workshops with mentors, rehearsals and an introduction to the world of contemporary dance, we follow the finalists as they prepare two solos and a duet for performance at the Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport. They must impress an expert judging panel - Kenneth Tharp, chief executive of The Place, a leading UK centre for contemporary dance, Jasmin Vardimon, artistic director of the Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company and Mark Baldwin, artistic director of Rambert Dance Company.
Finalists: Kai Tomioka, Kasichana Okene-Jameson, Jacob O'Connell, Diana Patience and Connor Scott.
FRI 21:00 How to Make a Number One Record (b05r6q4r)
Great pop records are the soundtrack to our lives, and that is why number one hits hold a totemic place in our culture. This film goes in search of what it takes to get a number one hit single, uncovering how people have done it and the effect it had on their lives. As the exploration moves through the decades, the goal is to trace the various routes that lead to the top of the singles chart and discover the role played by art, science, chance and manipulation in reaching the pinnacle of pop.
FRI 22:00 One-Hit Wonders at the BBC (b05r7nxx)
Compilation of some indelible hits by artists we hardly heard from again, at least in a chart sense. Featuring Peter Sarstedt's Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)? - a number one in 1969 and a hit he never really matched, Trio's 1982 smash Da Da Da, Phyllis Nelson's 1985 lovers rock-style classic Move Closer, and The New Radicals' 1999 hit You Get What You Give.
We travel through the years selecting some of your favourite number ones and a few others that came close, revealing what's happened to the one-off hitmakers since and exploring the unwritten laws that help make sense of the one-hit wonder phenomenon.
FRI 23:00 Sting: When the Last Ship Sails (b03n2gh6)
Sting performs songs from his album The Last Ship in an intimate live performance recorded at the Public Theatre, New York. Inspired by the shipbuilding community of Wallsend in the north east of England where Sting was born and raised, the songs form part of his Broadway play. For his first new work in a decade he and his band, many of whom hail from the north east, are joined by actor and singer Jimmy Nail.
FRI 00:20 How to Make a Number One Record (b05r6q4r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 01:20 BBC Young Dancer (p023t46k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRI 02:20 One-Hit Wonders at the BBC (b05r7nxx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 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
23:45 SAT (b01sgbw2)
A Very British Airline
22:00 TUE (b046sby4)
BBC Young Dancer
20:00 FRI (p023t46k)
BBC Young Dancer
01:20 FRI (p023t46k)
Biggest Band Break Ups and Make Ups
22:30 SUN (b05q472d)
Crossing England in a Punt: River of Dreams
20:00 TUE (p00y6r6q)
Do We Really Need the Moon?
21:00 SUN (b00yb5jp)
Do We Really Need the Moon?
00:10 MON (b00yb5jp)
Do We Really Need the Moon?
23:00 WED (b00yb5jp)
Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney
20:00 WED (b05q19lj)
Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney
01:30 THU (b05q19lj)
Horizon
19:00 SUN (b013pnv4)
Horizon
01:30 SUN (b013pnv4)
How to Make a Number One Record
21:00 FRI (b05r6q4r)
How to Make a Number One Record
00:20 FRI (b05r6q4r)
Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys
20:00 THU (b007hfx3)
Ian Hislop's Scouting for Boys
03:00 THU (b007hfx3)
Ice Age Giants
19:00 SAT (p018cbd4)
Ice Age Giants
00:00 TUE (p018cbd4)
Inspector Montalbano
21:00 SAT (b01nj2zt)
Kim Philby - His Most Intimate Betrayal
21:00 MON (b0406w88)
Kim Philby - His Most Intimate Betrayal
02:10 MON (b0406w88)
Kings of Rock and Roll
22:45 SAT (b007c95q)
More Dangerous Songs: And the Banned Played On
23:30 SUN (b048wwpz)
North by Northwest
22:00 MON (b025ydrv)
One-Hit Wonders at the BBC
22:00 FRI (b05r7nxx)
One-Hit Wonders at the BBC
02:20 FRI (b05r7nxx)
Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves
22:00 WED (b015yh6f)
Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo
19:30 MON (b04dbs8k)
Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo
03:10 MON (b04dbs8k)
Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo
19:30 TUE (b04dbskt)
Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo
01:00 TUE (b04dbskt)
Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo
19:30 WED (b04dbspx)
Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo
01:30 WED (b04dbspx)
Sounds of the 70s 2
03:20 SAT (b01gymg9)
Sounds of the Eighties
19:30 FRI (b0074shx)
Sting: When the Last Ship Sails
23:00 FRI (b03n2gh6)
The First World War from Above
20:00 MON (b00vyrzh)
The First World War from Above
01:10 MON (b00vyrzh)
The High Art of the Low Countries
01:30 TUE (b01rsfgd)
The High Art of the Low Countries
02:00 WED (b01rtf47)
The High Art of the Low Countries
02:00 THU (b01rxpy1)
The Plantagenets
21:00 TUE (b03yr973)
The Plantagenets
02:30 TUE (b03yr973)
The Plantagenets
23:00 THU (b03yr973)
The Quizeum
20:30 WED (b05qqgrp)
The Quizeum
01:00 WED (b05qqgrp)
The Sky at Night
22:00 SUN (b05qyqwb)
The Sky at Night
03:30 SUN (b05qyqwb)
The Sky at Night
19:30 THU (b05qyqwb)
The Sky at Night
01:00 THU (b05qyqwb)
Timeshift
01:20 SAT (b044yw1d)
Timeshift
00:00 WED (b037w38s)
Timeshift
00:00 THU (b03gtg7g)
Timewatch
21:00 THU (b00sl29f)
Top of the Pops
00:45 SAT (b05qjxm0)
Treasures of Ancient Greece
21:00 WED (b05qqgrr)
Treasures of Ancient Greece
03:00 WED (b05qqgrr)
Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story
00:30 SUN (b03cw8g0)
Voyager: To the Final Frontier
20:00 SUN (b01nj48v)
Voyager: To the Final Frontier
02:30 SUN (b01nj48v)
Voyager: To the Final Frontier
23:00 TUE (b01nj48v)
Wild China
20:00 SAT (b00brvjx)
Wild China
02:20 SAT (b00brvjx)
Wild China
22:00 THU (b00brvjx)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b05qqfjf)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b05qqbq8)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b05qqbqf)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b05qqbqn)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b05qqbqt)