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 02 JANUARY 2016

SAT 19:00 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01s74g9)
Pagans of Roman Britain

Series in which archaeologist Julian Richards returns to some of his most important digs to discover how science, conservation and new finds have changed our understanding of entire eras of ancient history.

Julian goes back to the excavation of two burials from Roman Britain - a wealthy man from Roman Winchester and a lavishly appointed grave of a woman from the heart of London that holds a special and unexpected secret only recently unlocked.


SAT 20:00 Castles: Britain's Fortified History (b04t6n19)
Instruments of Invasion

Sam Willis looks at the history of the castle from its first appearance with the Normans in 1066 to the longest siege on English soil at Kenilworth Castle 200 years later. The castle arrived as an instrument of invasion but soon became a weapon with which unruly barons challenged the Crown. Tintagel Castle, the place where King Arthur is said to have been conceived, is also on the itinerary. It remains one of the most evocative of castles to this day, drawing visitors from around the world with its tales of myth and legend.


SAT 21:00 The Young Montalbano (b06vn81l)
Series 2

The Man Who Followed Funerals

Pasqualino Cutufa' is a Vigata inhabitant who for years has made a habit of showing up at other people's funerals mourning their deaths. Despite having no enemies in the town, one day Pasqualino is found brutally murdered in the street. His death seems totally inexplicable, until the disappearance of a woman linked to his former employer gives Montalbano his first lead. Meanwhile, Livia has come to stay at Marinella, but her behaviour is erratic and Salvo starts to suspect that something may be wrong.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:50 The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill (b04dzswb)
Documentary exploring Kate Bush's career and music, from January 1978's Wuthering Heights to her 2011 album 50 Words for Snow, through the testimony of some of her key collaborators and those she has inspired.

Contributors include the guitarist who discovered her (Pink Floyd's David Gilmour), the choreographer who taught her to dance (Lindsay Kemp) and the musician who she said 'opened her doors' (Peter Gabriel), as well as her engineer and ex-partner (Del Palmer) and several other collaborators (Elton John, Stephen Fry and Nigel Kennedy).

Also exploring their abiding fascination with Kate are fans (John Lydon, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui) and musicians who have been influenced by her (St Vincent's Annie Clark, Natasha Khan (aka Bat for Lashes), Tori Amos, Outkast's Big Boi, Guy Garvey and Tricky), as well as writers and comedians who admire her (Jo Brand, Steve Coogan and Neil Gaiman).


SAT 23:50 Kate Bush at the BBC (b04f86xk)
Between 1978 and 1994, Kate Bush appeared on a variety of BBC programmes, including Saturday Night at the Mill, Ask Aspel, the Leo Sayer Show, Wogan and Top of the Pops. This compilation showcases her performances of hit songs such as Wuthering Heights, Babooshka, Running up That Hill and Hounds of Love, alongside other intriguing and lesser-known material in the BBC studios.


SAT 00:50 An Evening with Glen Campbell (b01pyfht)
A special concert recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in 1977, where 80 musicians played new arrangements of Glen Campbell's hit songs.


SAT 02:10 Country at the BBC (b017zqwb)
Grab your partner by the hand - the BBC have raided their archive and brought to light glittering performances by country artists over the last four decades.

Star appearances include Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and, of course, Dolly Parton. All the greats have performed for the BBC at some point - on entertainment shows, in concert and at the BBC studios. Some of the rhinestones revealed are Charley Pride's Crystal Chandeliers from the Lulu Show, Emmylou Harris singing Together Again on the Old Grey Whistle Test and Billie Jo Spears's Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad from the Val Doonican Music Show.

We're brought up to date with modern country hits by kd lang, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss and Taylor Swift, plus a special unbroadcasted performance from Later...with Jools Holland by Willie Nelson.



SUNDAY 03 JANUARY 2016

SUN 19:00 Treasures of Heaven (b012248j)
Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the ancient Christian practice of preserving holy relics and the largely forgotten art form that went with it, the reliquary. Fragments of bone or fabric placed inside a bejewelled shrine, a sculpted golden head or even a life-sized silver hand were, and still are, objects of religious devotion believed to have the power to work miracles. Most precious of all, though, are relics of Jesus Christ, and the programme also features three reliquaries containing the holiest of all relics - those associated with the Crucifixion.

The story of relics and reliquaries is a 2,000-year history of faith, persecution and hope, reflected in some of the most beautiful and little-known works of art ever made. Featuring interviews with art historian Sister Wendy Beckett and Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum.


SUN 20:00 Westminster Abbey (b01pg23c)
Episode 3

The third programme in this unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at one of Britain's most iconic landmarks sees how the workforce of 250 people confront the challenge of taking a 1,000-year-old institution into the 21st century, while maintaining the traditions of the past.

The new intake of eight-year-old choristers at the abbey choir school talk about what it is like to be trained to sing in one of the most famous choirs in the world.

At the other end of the age spectrum, war veterans and relatives of the fallen speak movingly about what the abbey means to them as a place to remember the sacrifices made in World War II and later conflicts.

Senior judges talk openly as they take part in an ancient ceremony marking the start of the new legal year.

Reflecting the abbey's role in national life, this final episode explores the importance of the abbey as a place of memorial and reveals that it is in the gift of the dean to nominate those Britons who have made a significant contribution to the nation to be remembered.

As surveyor of the fabric, Ptolemy Dean explores some of the hundreds of memorials which adorn the abbey. The dean explains why, in 2012, he has chosen to pay tribute to Octavia Hill, a radical Victorian social reformer and co-founder of the National Trust.

The endless cycle of renewal at the abbey is symbolised in the preparations for one of the busiest times in the Christian calendar, Christmas. The programme witnesses the arrival of the abbey's Christmas trees and the annual carol concert attended by hundreds of members of the public.


SUN 21:00 Citizen Kane (b0074n82)
Frequently voted one of the best films ever made, Orson Welles's masterpiece tells the story of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane in a series of flashbacks. A reporter is intrigued by the dying Kane's last word - rosebud - and sets out to find a new angle on the life of one of the most powerful men in America. Nine Oscar nominations resulted in only one award for the outspoken Welles - Best Screenplay.


SUN 23:00 Talking Pictures (b01rscc0)
Orson Welles

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by the legendary Hollywood actor and director Orson Welles, capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.


SUN 23:45 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.


SUN 01:15 Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia (b06t3w73)
Curious about a powerful but violent painting that caught his eye, Michael Palin sets off on a quest to discover the astonishing story of the forgotten female artist who painted it over 400 years ago. Travelling to Italy in search of Artemisia Gentileschi's tale, Michael encounters her work in Florence, Rome and Naples.

Michael unearths not only her paintings but a complex life which included her rape as a teenager and the ensuing indignity of a full trial, her life as a working mother and her ultimate success against all odds as one of the greatest painters of the Baroque age who transformed the way women were depicted in art and who was sought after in many courts across 17th-century Europe.


SUN 02:15 Westminster Abbey (b01pg23c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 03:15 Britain on Film (b0229pbj)
Series 2

Kids Today

This episode delves into the fast-changing world of childhood, a life-stage that was being transformed by sweeping changes to the British educational system including the introduction of radical technologies and teaching methods in schools and the emergence of new organised leisure activities that gave a generation of children the freedom to enjoy play as never before.



MONDAY 04 JANUARY 2016

MON 19:00 World News Today (b06v98xf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Sorry! (b03vrw24)
Series 1

For Love or Mummy

Timothy Lumsden meets a girl at his amateur dramatics society and determines to go on a riverboat shuffle with her, despite all his mother's attempts to prevent him.


MON 20:00 The End of the World? A Horizon Guide to Armageddon (b00zj1c2)
Our understanding of the world around us is better now than ever before. But are we any closer to knowing how it is all going to end?

Dallas Campbell delves into the Horizon archive to discover how scientists have tried to predict an impending apocalypse - from natural disaster to killer disease to asteroid impact - and to ask: when Armageddon arrives, will science be able to save us?


MON 21:00 To Boldly Go (b0195rlg)
Down

Doctor Kevin Fong sets out to discover how unsuited human biology is to living on much of the planet - and how we have developed the technology to let us survive there.

In this first programme, about how to survive underwater, Dr Fong escapes from a sinking helicopter, walks through a tank of sharks in an antique diving suit and intentionally gives himself nitrogen narcosis.

We have one fundamental problem with water - we can only survive under its surface for as long as we can make one breath of air last. But the way our bodies respond can dramatically alter how long we can make that breath last - a fact graphically demonstrated by Kevin's attempt to escape from the Royal Navy's helicopter escape trainer. As it is plunged into the water and turned upside down, the body's response is to activate its fight or flight response, preparing it for sudden action, but limiting the time he can hold his breath to just 25 seconds. It's long enough to make it back to the surface - but only just.

Travelling to Egypt, Kevin meets Sara Campbell - a champion free-diver, who can hold her breath for over five minutes and dive to depths of nearly 100m. However, to really explore the depths, we need to turn to technology. In an aquarium in Cheshire, Kevin tries one of the oldest diving technologies - a 'Standard Dress' diving suit - with brass helmet and boots. These suits allowed divers to work deep underwater for long periods of time - but they came with a downside - a terrible industrial disease that saw divers coming to the surface contorted or paralysed. To demonstrate its causes, Kevin climbs into a decompression chamber to subject himself to the sort of pressure divers experience.


MON 22:00 Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks (b06237md)
Groundbreaking documentary which follows a Japanese-led team of scientists as they attempt to shed light on the mysterious world of deep sea sharks.

Only 50 specimens of the newly discovered 'megamouth' have ever been sighted. Over four years, scientists and film crews voyaged in midget submarines into the depths of Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay to film them. Prehistoric 'living fossil' sharks such as bluntnose sixgill sharks, goblin sharks and frilled sharks also lurk in the depths.

As part of the investigation, a sperm whale carcass was placed at the bottom of the sea to attract these sharks, which were then studied and observed from the submersible vessels. Revealing in detail the previously unknown behaviour of deep sea sharks, the film unravels another of the intriguing mysteries of our planet's biodiversity.


MON 22:55 Top of the Pops (b00zwrn5)
1964 to 1975 - Big Hits

1964 saw the birth of a very British institution. Spanning over four decades, Top of the Pops has produced many classic moments in pop culture.

Digging deep within the darkest depths of the BBC's archive, this compilation offers some memorable performances from 1964 through to 1975 from the likes of The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Status Quo, Procol Harum, Stevie Wonder, Queen and The Kinks, and opens the vintage vaults to rare performances from Stealers Wheel, Julie Driscoll, Peter Sarstedt and The Seekers.

So sit back and witness once again where music met television.


MON 00:25 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 01:25 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01s74g9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


MON 02:25 To Boldly Go (b0195rlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 03:25 Britain on Film (b02w63mx)
Series 2

Island Nation

In 1959 Britain's biggest cinema company, the Rank Organisation, decided to replace its newsreels with a series of short, quirky, topical documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. During the 1960s - a decade that witnessed profound shifts across Britain's political, economic and cultural landscapes - many felt anxiety about the dizzying pace of change.

Look at Life reflected the increasing social and moral unease in films that tackled subjects ranging from contraception to immigration; from increasing stress at work to the preservation of the Sabbath; and from the environmental implications of waste management to the threat of nuclear weapons. Through these films, we can glimpse many of the seismic societal transformations of the Sixties developments that polarised the nation and changed life in Britain forever.

This episode focuses on the films that examine the implications of Britain's identity as an island nation, a geographical reality that has influenced not just our coastal landscape but our national psyche too. Featuring footage from well-known offshore isles like Wight and Man to the more isolated, culturally-distinctive and splendidly-idiosyncratic places like Harris and Cromer, which was inhabited year-round by just a single family of four.



TUESDAY 05 JANUARY 2016

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b06v9bg2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Sorry! (b03vrw27)
Series 1

Buttons

The latest girl in Timothy's life has a jealous boyfriend who doesn't take kindly to him trying to steal her away.


TUE 20:00 The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings (b03n2yzh)
Art critic Alastair Sooke delves into the murky world of art theft. Despite the high stakes - and often daring - involved, many cases are shrouded in mystery and go unnoticed by the media.

Around 47,000 works of art are reported missing each year, yet it is only the heists involving the world's most valuable paintings that hit the headlines. But high-profile or not - once gone, the works are rarely recovered.


TUE 21:00 The Queen's Castle (b00792nm)
The Banquet

Three-part documentary series which goes behind the scenes at the Queen's favourite home, Windsor Castle. President Chirac of France and his retinue are coming to stay. Not only must the castle look spectacular, but the kitchens must produce a banquet to impress the first nation of food. On top of all that, the castle is attempting to stage a performance of Les Miserables in one of the state apartments as after-dinner entertainment.


TUE 22:00 The Crusades (b01b3ftw)
Holy War

Dr Thomas Asbridge presents a revelatory account of the Crusades, the 200-year war between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land.

The story of the Crusades is remembered as a tale of religious fanaticism and unspeakable violence, but now fresh research, eyewitness testimony and contemporary evidence from both the Christian and Islamic worlds shed new light on how these two great religions waged war in the name of God.

Episode one traces the epic journey of the first crusaders as they marched 3,000 miles from Europe to recapture the city of Jerusalem from Islam, enduring starvation, disease and bloodthirsty battle to reach their sacred goal, and then unleashed an appalling tide of barbaric violence upon their Muslim enemies. Yet far from being the invincible holy warriors of legend, Dr Asbridge reveals that these crusaders actually considered surrender in the midst of their titanic expedition.


TUE 23:00 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.


TUE 00:30 To Boldly Go (b0195rlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 01:30 The Joy of Logic (b03k6ypz)
A sharp, witty, mind-expanding and exuberant foray into the world of logic with computer scientist Professor Dave Cliff. Following in the footsteps of the award-winning The Joy of Stats and its sequel Tails You Win - The Science of Chance, this film takes viewers on a new rollercoaster ride through philosophy, maths, science and technology- all of which, under the bonnet, run on logic.

Wielding the same wit and wisdom, animation and gleeful nerdery as its predecessors, this film journeys from Aristotle to Alice in Wonderland, sci-fi to supercomputers to tell the fascinating story of the quest for certainty and the fundamentals of sound reasoning itself.

Dave Cliff, professor of computer science and engineering at Bristol University, is no abstract theoretician. 15 years ago he combined logic and a bit of maths to write one of the first computer programs to outperform humans at trading stocks and shares. Giving away the software for free, he says, was not his most logical move...

With the help of 25 seven-year-olds, Professor Cliff creates, for the first time ever, a computer made entirely of children, running on nothing but logic. We also meet the world's brainiest whizz-kids, competing at the International Olympiad of Informatics in Brisbane, Australia.

The film also hails logic's all-time heroes: George Boole who moved logic beyond philosophy to mathematics; Bertrand Russell, who took 360+ pages but heroically proved that 1 + 1 = 2; Kurt Godel, who brought logic to its knees by demonstrating that some truths are unprovable; and Alan Turing, who, with what Cliff calls an 'almost exquisite paradox', was inspired by this huge setback to logic to conceive the computer.

Ultimately, the film asks, can humans really stay ahead? Could today's generation of logical computing machines be smarter than us? What does that tell us about our own brains, and just how 'logical' we really are...?


TUE 02:30 Treasures of Heaven (b012248j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


TUE 03:30 Britain on Film (b02xgf58)
Series 2

The World of Work

In the 1960s, Britain's biggest film company, the Rank Organisation, produced hundreds of short colour films on almost every aspect of British life. This fascinating material had lain largely dormant in an archive until Britain on Film accessed it and reworked it into a series that offers richly informative and often surprising insights into a decisive period of modern British history.

This episode is devoted to the activity that occupies so many of our waking hours - our working lives. During a period when new technology was transforming our factories and fierce competition from overseas was forcing many employers to make far-reaching changes to production processes and patterns of working, these films hint at the enormous challenges confronting workers in Britain's increasingly fragile industrial economy.



WEDNESDAY 06 JANUARY 2016

WED 19:00 World News Today (b06v9cbv)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Sorry! (b03vrzq7)
Series 1

The Godfather

Sitcom about a middle-aged bachelor who lives with his domineering mother and ineffectual father. Timothy tries to stop his godson being bullied at school.


WED 20:00 The Story of Scottish Art (b06h7xsm)
Episode 1

The story of Scottish art and its impact on the international art world is celebrated in this four-part series presented by acclaimed artist Lachlan Goudie. The series spans 5,000 years of Scotland's history, from the earliest Neolithic art to the present day.

In the first programme, Lachlan explores Scotland's earliest art. He visits the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, where standing stones have watched the seasons pass for thousands of years. On the island of Westray he encounters an ancient figurine - the Westray Wife - the oldest sculpted human figure in the British Isles. He explores the sophisticated art of the Picts and the Gaels, the exuberant Renaissance period of the early Stewart kings, and the destructive heights of the Reformation, when religious artworks were all but wiped out in Scotland.


WED 21:00 Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley (b06vm9qp)
Reinventing Russia

Lucy Worsley travels to Russia to tell the extraordinary story of the dynasty that ruled the country for more than three centuries. It's an epic tale that includes giant figures such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, the devastating struggle against Napoleon in 1812, and the political murders of Nicholas II and his family in 1918 which brought the dynasty to a brutal end.

In this first episode, Lucy investigates the beginning of the Romanovs' 300-year reign in Russia. In 1613, when Russia was leaderless, 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov was plucked from obscurity and offered the crown of Russia. Mikhail was granted absolute power and began the reign of the Romanovs as the most influential dynasty in modern European history.

Lucy also charts the story of Peter the Great, the ruthless and ambitious tsar who was determined to modernise Russia at the end of the 17th century. Lucy traces Peter's accession to the throne as a nine-year-old, when he witnessed a revolt led by royal guards and the slaughter of his uncles and close advisors. Sixteen years later, Peter would vengefully execute a thousand rebellious guards. Throughout his reign, Peter would demonstrate an unwavering commitment to establishing Russia as a naval power - Lucy explores the lengths to which Peter would go to ensure this became a reality, including the creation of a new maritime capital, St Petersburg.

Lucy shows how the Romanovs embraced and sponsored the arts on an astonishing scale - from building spectacular palaces to commissioning grand artworks - that all still dazzle today.

As well as studying this unique royal family, Lucy also considers the impact the Romanovs had on the lives of ordinary Russians, who were often little better than slaves to the elite.


WED 22:00 The Queen's Castle (b00792nm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 23:00 Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones (b06t3vb9)
Biography of iconic rock balladeer Roy Orbison told through his own voice, casting new light on the triumphs and tragedies that beset his career. Using previously unseen performances, home movies and interviews with many who have never spoken before, the film reveals Orbison's remote Texas childhood, his battles to get his voice heard, and how he created lasting hits like Only the Lonely and Crying.

The film follows Roy's rollercoaster life, often reflected in the dark lyrics of his songs, from success to rejection to rediscovery in the 80s with The Traveling Wilburys supergroup. It uncovers the man behind the shades, including interviews with his sons, many close friends and collaborators like Jeff Lynne, T Bone Burnett, Bobby Goldsboro and Marianne Faithfull.


WED 00:00 The Crusades (b01b3ftw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


WED 01:00 The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings (b03n2yzh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 02:00 The Story of Scottish Art (b06h7xsm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 03:00 Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley (b06vm9qp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 07 JANUARY 2016

THU 19:00 World News Today (b06v9d7v)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Canals: The Making of a Nation (b0685bp2)
The Workers

This is the story of the men who built our canals - the navigators or 'navvies'. They represented an 'army' of hard physical men who were capable of enduring tough labour for long hours. Many roved the countryside looking for work and a better deal. They gained a reputation as troublesome outsiders, fond of drinking and living a life of ungodly debauchery. But who were they? Unreliable heathens and outcasts, or unsung heroes who used might and muscle to build canals and railways? We focus on the Manchester Ship Canal - the swansong for the navvies and hailed as the greatest engineering feat of the Victorian Age. The navvies worked at a time of rising trade unionism. But could they organise and campaign for a better deal?


THU 20:00 Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces (b046w5c1)
Towards an Architecture of Majesty

Royal palaces are the most magnificent buildings in our history. Often built to extraordinary levels of luxury and excess, they express the personalities of our kings and queens since 1066.

From the Tower of London to Hampton Court Palace, Dan Cruickshank reveals an extraordinary story of buildings, often fortified, that cemented the monarch's claim to the throne. Palaces reveal our monarchs like no other buildings - their taste for luxury, their fear of the mob, even their relationship with God. Palaces have been caught up in some of the most dramatic events in history - some survive in all their magnificence like Hampton Court while others have vanished from the surface of the earth as completely as if they'd never existed.


THU 21:00 Timeshift (b053pxdr)
Series 14

The Nation's Railway: The Golden Age of British Rail

Timeshift revisits Britain's railways during the era of public ownership. For all its bad reputation today, the old British Rail boldly transformed a decayed, war-torn Victorian transport network into a system fit for the 20th century. With an eye firmly on the future, steam made way for diesel and electric, new modern stations like Euston were built, and Britain's first high-speed trains introduced.

Made with unique access to the British Transport Films archive, this is a warm corrective to the myth of the bad old days of rail, but even it can't hide from the horror that was a British Rail sandwich.


THU 22:00 India's Frontier Railways (b0555xgw)
The Maitree Express

Filmed during the holy month of Ramadan, this is a journey from India into Bangladesh on a train that reunites the region of Bengal. Partitioned in 1947, Bengal was divided in half, creating East Pakistan - a satellite state ruled by Pakistan. It was an unwelcome occupation. In 1971, they fought a war of independence and East Pakistan became the People's Republic of Bangladesh. 37 years later, the first train ran between India and Bangladesh - the Maitree Express. Maitree means friendship.

It takes 12 hours to make the 392km journey from Kolkata to Dhaka, and staffing on the train is almost the same on both sides of the border. They speak the same language, share a history and all love fish.

Amirul, once a freedom fighter in the war of independence, now plays announcements and religious tapes on the Maitree. Aalo supports his family by selling chocolates on the train, but has a problem with the 30-degree heat. Sixteen-year-old Abdullah ran away from home and a madrasa. Now he sells papers on Dhaka's trains and platforms, hoping for a brighter future. Gautam Bannerjee is a guard on the Maitree and a respected astrologer. Can his calculations foretell the future? Urmi Rahman, a writer, was born in Bangladesh, married an Indian and lives in Kolkata, but she is very clear about her identity. Krishendu Basu is happy with his life. Not only a guard, he is also a tabla player, photographer and self-confessed foodie. But music is his passion.

These stories of people who work, travel or depend on the Maitree Express take us on a journey through history, sharing their hopes, needs and desires - on India's frontier railways.


THU 23:00 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.


THU 00:00 Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks (b06237md)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


THU 00:55 The End of the World? A Horizon Guide to Armageddon (b00zj1c2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


THU 01:55 Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces (b046w5c1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 02:55 Timeshift (b053pxdr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 08 JANUARY 2016

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b06v9fdm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 The Good Old Days (b06s5zw2)
A celebration of music hall favourites from the famous City Varieties Theatre, Leeds. Featuring chairman Leonard Sachs and a host of special guests, this Christmas special was originally broadcast in 1983.


FRI 20:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01k68gc)
Punk - Anarchy on the BBC

The late 70s had parents from all over the UK fearing one particular four letter word... punk. With anarchy spreading across the nation, the BBC managed to capture and sometimes contain some of the chaotic energy of these iconic moments in its studios. This episode provides another chance to jump up and down on the couch and pogo to performances from the Stranglers, the Damned, the Sex Pistols, the Jam, Undertones, the Rezillos, Buzzcocks, the Clash, X-Ray Spex and Joy Division.


FRI 21:00 Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC (b049mtxy)
Compilation of BBC performances featuring some of the best axe men and women in rock 'n' roll, from Hendrix to The Kinks, Cream to AC/DC, The Smiths to Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead to Foo Fighters. Whether it is The Shadows playing FBI on Crackerjack, Jeff Beck with The Yardbirds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream's Sunshine of Your Love from their final gig, Pixies on the Late Show, AC/DC on Top of the Pops or Fools Gold from The Stone Roses, this compilation is a celebration of rock 'n' roll guitar complete with riffs, fingerstylin', wah-wah pedals and Marshall amps.


FRI 22:00 Top of the Pops (b06v9fdp)
The Story of 1981

The year the teens take over and 80s 'new pop' is born with Depeche Mode, the teen-fronted Human League, Kim Wilde and Duran Duran all debuting, while Ultravox and Visage master the art of pop videos. The show embraces the shift with a new theme tune and titles and, as Legs and Co leave, invite a swathe of club kids and cheerleaders in to create a permanent 80s party atmosphere. Britain is torn between rioting, unemployment and the royal wedding, a mood captured in the Specials' Ghost Town, which the band perform on Top of the Pops, and then promptly split up in their dressing room at Television Centre.

With Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, the Human League, Kim Wilde, Midge Ure, Jerry Dammers (the Specials), Leee John, Freeez, Beggar and Co, Richard Skinner, Mike Read and Carrie Grant.

Narrated by Mel Giedroyc.


FRI 23:00 Top of the Pops (b06vkg5r)
1981 - Big Hits

A bumper crop of hits from the Top of the Pops archive showcasing an exciting year on the pop charts. 1981 embraced disco and ska, new wave punk, the burgeoning New Romantic scene and the rise of synthpop, with some prog quirkiness and good old rock 'n' roll thrown in.

Performances from big-hitter soloists Phil Collins, Shakin' Stevens and Kim Wilde are featured alongside the exuberant chaos of groups like Tenpole Tudor, Adam and the Ants and The Teardrop Explodes. It's party time as Odyssey fill the dancefloor with the infectious Going Back to My Roots and Clare Grogan adopts some unorthodox shapes for Altered Images' Happy Birthday. And The Specials' 2 Tone social-commentary classic Ghost Town vies with Ultravox's Vienna and The Human League's Don't You Want Me for song of the year.


FRI 00:00 Genesis: Together and Apart (b04l3phb)
A feature-length documentary about one of the most successful British bands in rock music, reuniting Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett to tell their story. The film recounts their extraordinary musical story, exploring the songwriting and the emotional highs and lows. It features previously unseen archive material and rare footage from across their entire career.


FRI 01:30 Top of the Pops (b06vkg5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


FRI 02:30 Top of the Pops (b06v9fdp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 03:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01k68gc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]




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

An Evening with Glen Campbell 00:50 SAT (b01pyfht)

Britain on Film 03:15 SUN (b0229pbj)

Britain on Film 03:25 MON (b02w63mx)

Britain on Film 03:30 TUE (b02xgf58)

Canals: The Making of a Nation 19:30 THU (b0685bp2)

Castles: Britain's Fortified History 20:00 SAT (b04t6n19)

Citizen Kane 21:00 SUN (b0074n82)

Country at the BBC 02:10 SAT (b017zqwb)

Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley 21:00 WED (b06vm9qp)

Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley 03:00 WED (b06vm9qp)

Genesis: Together and Apart 00:00 FRI (b04l3phb)

Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC 21:00 FRI (b049mtxy)

India's Frontier Railways 22:00 THU (b0555xgw)

Kate Bush at the BBC 23:50 SAT (b04f86xk)

Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks 22:00 MON (b06237md)

Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks 00:00 THU (b06237md)

Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces 20:00 THU (b046w5c1)

Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces 01:55 THU (b046w5c1)

Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia 01:15 SUN (b06t3w73)

Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones 23:00 WED (b06t3vb9)

Sorry! 19:30 MON (b03vrw24)

Sorry! 19:30 TUE (b03vrw27)

Sorry! 19:30 WED (b03vrzq7)

Sounds of the 70s 2 20:30 FRI (b01k68gc)

Sounds of the 70s 2 03:30 FRI (b01k68gc)

Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited 19:00 SAT (b01s74g9)

Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited 01:25 MON (b01s74g9)

Talking Pictures 23:00 SUN (b01rscc0)

The Crusades 22:00 TUE (b01b3ftw)

The Crusades 00:00 WED (b01b3ftw)

The End of the World? A Horizon Guide to Armageddon 20:00 MON (b00zj1c2)

The End of the World? A Horizon Guide to Armageddon 00:55 THU (b00zj1c2)

The First World War from Above 00:25 MON (b00vyrzh)

The Good Old Days 19:30 FRI (b06s5zw2)

The Joy of Logic 01:30 TUE (b03k6ypz)

The Joy of the Single 23:00 THU (b01nzchs)

The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill 22:50 SAT (b04dzswb)

The Queen's Castle 21:00 TUE (b00792nm)

The Queen's Castle 22:00 WED (b00792nm)

The Richest Songs in the World 23:45 SUN (b01pjrt5)

The Story of Scottish Art 20:00 WED (b06h7xsm)

The Story of Scottish Art 02:00 WED (b06h7xsm)

The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings 20:00 TUE (b03n2yzh)

The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings 01:00 WED (b03n2yzh)

The Young Montalbano 21:00 SAT (b06vn81l)

Timeshift 21:00 THU (b053pxdr)

Timeshift 02:55 THU (b053pxdr)

To Boldly Go 21:00 MON (b0195rlg)

To Boldly Go 02:25 MON (b0195rlg)

To Boldly Go 00:30 TUE (b0195rlg)

Top of the Pops 22:55 MON (b00zwrn5)

Top of the Pops 22:00 FRI (b06v9fdp)

Top of the Pops 23:00 FRI (b06vkg5r)

Top of the Pops 01:30 FRI (b06vkg5r)

Top of the Pops 02:30 FRI (b06v9fdp)

Treasures of Heaven 19:00 SUN (b012248j)

Treasures of Heaven 02:30 TUE (b012248j)

Westminster Abbey 20:00 SUN (b01pg23c)

Westminster Abbey 02:15 SUN (b01pg23c)

When Albums Ruled the World 23:00 TUE (b01qhn70)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b06v98xf)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b06v9bg2)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b06v9cbv)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b06v9d7v)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b06v9fdm)