SATURDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2017
SAT 19:00 Timeshift (b01n8hl9)
Series 12
Magnificent Machines: The Golden Age of the British Sports Car
Timeshift sets its rear-view mirror to look back at the golden age of the British sports car. It's the story of how - in the grey austerity of the postwar years - iconic marques like Jaguar, Austin-Healey, MG and Triumph sparked a manufacturing frenzy that helped to democratise speed and glamour.
From the MG Midget, much loved by American GIs, through to the more affordable Austin Healey 'frog-eye' Sprite and the E-Type Jaguar, seen by many as the ultimate sports car, this is a tale of how, for a brief time, Britain was home to two-seater heaven.
SAT 20:00 Treasures of the Indus (b06bblwb)
Of Gods and Men
In a journey across the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Sona Datta traces the development of the Hindu religion from its origins as an amalgamation of local faith traditions to its dominant position today. She uncovers this fascinating tale by looking at the buildings in which the faith evolved, moving from the caves and rock temples on the shores of the Bay of Bengal at Mahabalipurem, through the monolithic stone temple at Tanjavur to the vast complex of ornately carved towers, tanks and courtyards at Madurai, where every evening the god Shiva processes around the precincts to visit the bedchamber of his partner Parvati.
SAT 21:00 Attenborough and the Giant Egg (b00z6dsg)
David Attenborough returns to the island of Madagascar on a very personal quest.
In 1960, he visited the island to film one of his first ever wildlife series - Zoo Quest. Whilst he was there, he acquired a giant egg belonging to an extinct bird known as the 'elephant bird' - the largest bird that ever lived. It has been one of his most treasured possessions ever since.
Fifty years older, he now returns to the island to find out more about this amazing creature and to see how the island has changed. Could the elephant bird's fate provide lessons that may help protect Madagascar's remaining wildlife?
Using Zoo Quest archive and specially shot location footage, this film follows David as he revisits scenes from his youth and meets people at the front line of wildlife protection. On his return, scientists at Oxford University are able to reveal for the first time how old David's egg actually is, and what that might tell us about the legendary elephant bird.
SAT 22:00 The Young Montalbano (b06zdgfg)
Series 2
The Honest Thief
Salvo requests a transfer to Genoa so that he can be closer to Livia, but it's clear that the prospect of leaving his beloved Sicily is a tough one. Meanwhile, a Milanese barmaid who had been living in Vigata goes missing, and the investigation must navigate the many speculations about the young woman's promiscuous sex life. Montalbano divides his time between trying to find the missing girl and investigating a bout of unusual burglaries, in which the victims report the theft of bafflingly small amounts of money.
In Italian with English subtitles.
SAT 23:45 Top of the Pops (b08bqfct)
Janice Long and Pat Sharp present the weekly look at the pop charts, first broadcast on 10 February 1983. Featuring The Belle Stars, Toto, Level 42, Michael Jackson, Central Line, China Crisis and Men at Work.
SAT 00:25 Top of the Pops (b08cgpkf)
Peter Powell and Gary Davies present the weekly chart show, first broadcast on 17 February 1983. Featuring Wham, Tears for Fears, Icehouse, Musical Youth, Madness, Haysi Fantayzee, Fun Boy Three and Kajagoogoo.
SAT 00:50 Glastonbury (b048sflv)
2014
Robert Plant
A performance by singer, songwriter and former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant on the Pyramid Stage in 2014.
As the heavens open on the Saturday afternoon at Worthy Farm, Robert and his band the Sensational Space Shifters deliver a rousing and crowd-pleasing set full of current Plant tunes and some classic Led Zeppelin numbers thrown in for good measure.
SAT 02:00 The Rolling Stones at the BBC (b01p1pmf)
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Rolling Stones we delve into the BBC vaults to deliver some timeless Stones archive. From the early days of their career and some unforgettable performances on Top of the Pops with the Last Time, Let's Spend the Night Together and Get Off of My Cloud through the late 60s and early 70s era of prolific song writing when the band were knocking out a classic album every other year and offering up such classics as Honky Tonk Women and Gimme Shelter.
The late 70s brought a massively successful nod to disco with Miss You and the early 80s a stomping return to form with the rock 'n' roll groove of Start Me Up. Peppered amongst the performances are snippets of wisdom from the two main men - the Glimmer Twins, aka Mick and Keith. Plus as a special treat, some lost footage of the band performing 19th Nervous Breakdown on Top of the Pops in 1966 - recently discovered in a BBC documentary from the 1960s about women with depression.
SAT 02:45 Radio 2 In Concert (b06pk50c)
Jeff Lynne's ELO
The BBC's Radio Theatre opens its doors to an iconic band that have been making music history since the 1970s. ELO and their frontman Jeff Lynne have sold over 50 million albums worldwide and created a back catalogue of chart-topping hits that include Mr Blue Sky, Telephone Line, Livin' Thing and Strange Magic. Jeff Lynne's ELO play his classic tracks along with some new songs from their first album of new material in almost 15 years, Alone in the Universe, to an intimate crowd of fans.
Known as one of the most iconic forces in music history, ELO delivers the new album, Jeff Lynne's ELO Alone in the Universe , which will be the first new ELO music in a decade. As with ELO's previous chart-topping albums, Jeff Lynne continues to serve as ELO's producer, songwriter, arranger, lead singer and guitarist. Jeff Lynne was the creative genius behind ELO which sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, had more than 20 Top 40 Hits across the US and the UK and received countless awards and accolades. At the time of ELO's formation, Lynne had said the goal was to create modern rock and pop songs - a goal that remains true some 30 years later with the creation of this new material.
SUNDAY 05 FEBRUARY 2017
SUN 19:00 Hidden Killers (b01rp5hh)
The Victorian Home
While the Victorians confronted the challenges of ruling an empire, perhaps the most dangerous environment they faced was in their own homes. Householders lapped up the latest products, gadgets and conveniences, but in an era with no health and safety standards they were unwittingly turning their homes into hazardous death traps.
In a genuine horror story, Dr Suzannah Lipscomb reveals the killers that lurked in every room of the Victorian home and shows how they were unmasked. What new innovation killed thousands of babies? And what turned the domestic haven into a ticking time bomb?
SUN 20:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08cgp55)
Series 1
The Glorious Revolution
In this episode, Lucy debunks another of the biggest fibs in British history - the 'Glorious Revolution'.
In 1688, the British Isles were invaded by a huge army led by Dutch prince, William of Orange. With his English wife Mary he stole the throne from Mary's father, the Catholic King James II. This was the death knell for absolute royal power and laid the foundations of our constitutional monarchy. It was spun as a 'glorious and bloodless revolution'. But how 'glorious' was it really? It led to huge slaughter in Ireland and Scotland. Lucy reveals how the facts and fictions surrounding 1688 have shaped our national story ever since.
SUN 21:00 Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot (b0868lnk)
Margot Fonteyn has inspired generations of ballerinas. She was beautiful, brilliant, talented and never put a foot wrong on stage. Her late flowering partnering with a much younger man, Rudolf Nureyev, created the most dazzling ballet partnership in history.
And yet behind the scenes, as Darcey Bussell discovers, Margot's life was marked by tragedy and disappointment. She barely knew her father and was dominated by her well-meaning, yet fiercely ambitious, mother. She couldn't find love and never had children. And when she finally did marry, to a man she loved from afar for many years, he turned out to be very different from what she expected: a hero to his people, but not always to his wife.
Darcey goes behind the scenes at the Royal Opera House and the Royal Ballet, and travels from London to New York and Panama looking for Margot. She finds how Margot lost out in love, got drawn into a failed foreign revolution, danced on for far too long and died alone and in poverty, miles from home. Along the way, Darcey speaks to many people who have not spoken out before about Margot. In the end, Darcey learns that by following her heart, Margot did find a kind of happiness, even though it came at a very high price.
SUN 22:00 The Past (b09sqss5)
Drama about an Iranian man, separated from his wife, who returns to Paris to attend their divorce hearing. Re-establishing relationships with his stepchildren, he finds himself embroiled in the turmoil of his wife's new relationship and the deteriorating relationship of his wife and her eldest daughter, who is concealing a shattering secret.
In French and Farsi with English subtitles.
SUN 00:05 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.
SUN 01:00 Natural World (b0377t15)
2013-2014
Giant Squid: Filming the Impossible - Natural World Special
The giant squid is a creature of legend and myth which, even in the 21st century, has never been seen alive. But now, an international team of scientists thinks it has finally found its lair, 1,000 metres down, off the coast of Japan. This is the culmination of decades of research. The team deploys underwater robots and state-of-the-art submersible vessels for a world first - to find and film the impossible.
SUN 01:45 Horizon (b03wcchn)
2013-2014
The Power of the Placebo
They are the miracle pills that shouldn't really work at all. Placebos come in all shapes and sizes, but they contain no active ingredient. Now they are being shown to help treat pain, depression and even alleviate some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Horizon explores why they work, and how we could all benefit from the hidden power of the placebo.
SUN 02:45 Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot (b0868lnk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MONDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2017
MON 19:00 100 Days (b08f0fjw)
Series 1
06/02/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
MON 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jw1tv)
Britain On the Move
Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country, to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, and tell the history of modern Britain.
This episode comes from the Haynes International Motor Museum in Somerset, and looks back to the 1960s when dreams of the open road became a reality for the first time for millions of people.
Joan Wright remembers the impact on her family when her father acquired his first car, and Joe Moran talks about being one of the thousands of men who travelled from Ireland to build Britain's motorways. And Anna Purkiss sees footage of her parents that evokes emotional memories of the time they were forced to make way for the motorway.
MON 20:00 Natural World (b00q9y41)
2009-2010
The Secret Leopards
Jonathan Scott narrates the extraordinary story of the leopard, investigating what it is about the natural history of these cats that makes them born survivors.
MON 21:00 Art of France (b08d7qlq)
Series 1
There Will Be Blood
Andrew Graham-Dixon explores how art in France took a dramatic turn following the French Revolution that ushered in a bold new world. From the execution of King Louis XVI and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte - a figure who simultaneously repelled and inspired artists of his time - through to the rise of Romanticism and an art of seduction, sex and high drama, Andrew explores artists including Jacques-Louis David - whose art appeared on the barricades and in the streets - as well as the work of Delacroix, Ingres and the tragic but brilliant Theodore Gericault.
MON 22:00 Yves Saint Laurent (b04kjjjb)
On the early death of Christian Dior, the career of one of the greatest names in fashion history was launched when Yves Saint Laurent became the head of design at the House of Dior and his spring collection of 1958 saved the house from financial ruin. This film gives a tender insight into the man behind the fashion and his lifelong relationship with his partner Pierre Berge.
In French and English with English subtitles.
MON 23:40 Rich Hall's Inventing the Indian (b01nqbqk)
Comedian Rich Hall goes in search of the real American Indian, a people who have too often been stereotyped. This image portrayed through cinema and literature is not a true representation of the Native American, giving Rich the opportunity to redress the balance.
With the help of a Native American, Dallas Goldtooth, Rich explores a different idea of what the American Indian is and what life is like for them today. He not only questions the screen image of the 'savage Indian' in films such as Soldier Blue, Stagecoach and A Man Called Horse, but looks at the written one, through literature such as The Last of the Mohicans, Black Elk Speaks and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
The programme takes Rich from the Navajo Reservation in Arizona to the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota and incorporates interviews with tribal elders and activists, archive clips of some of cinema's finest films, historical photographs and footage, all brought together with Rich's customary wit and intelligence.
A documentary which uncovers the truth about the American Indian and gives us a different perspective on the people who set foot on American soil first.
MON 01:10 The Maharajas' Motor Car: The Story of Rolls-Royce in India (b00j4c2s)
Documentary telling the story of Rolls-Royce in India through the fortunes of India's princes.
Combining newly shot high-definition sequences, archive film and photographs, this film follows the princes from the zenith of British imperial power in the early 1900s through to their decline in the aftermath of independence in 1947.
Contributors include: HH Shriji Arvind Singh, the Maharana of Udaipur; Manvendra Barwani, Rana of Barwani; Pranlal Bhogilal, India's foremost Rolls-Royce collector, and Sharada Dwivedi, writer and cultural commentator.
MON 02:05 Timewatch (b0078wrs)
2005-2006
Britain's Lost Colosseum
The Romans loved their bloody spectacles with gladiators and wild beasts, so they built amphitheatres all over their empire. In Britain there were at least 25 and the largest was in Chester, a fortress city of huge importance. What exactly did it look like and was it built by Emperor Vespasian, the man who built the Colosseum in Rome?
Archaeologists Tony Wilmott and Dan Garner lead us through three months of hard graft and painstaking analysis to excavate the complex site. With the help of computer animation, they bring Chester's magnificent amphitheatre back to life.
MON 02:55 Art of France (b08d7qlq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2017
TUE 19:00 100 Days (b08f0gdf)
Series 1
07/02/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
TUE 19:30 Secrets of Bones (b03z05zx)
Sex
Ben Garrod seeks out the big part that bones can play in reproduction. Through sexual selection, the skeleton has adapted to aid courtship, competition and even copulation. On his travels, Ben meets baseball players, drops a 10kg weight on a sheep's skull and finds out that by not having a penis bone humans are very much in the minority.
TUE 20:00 Planet Earth II (b08397lq)
Mountains
The great mountain ranges are some of the planet's most spectacular landscapes, but they are unforgiving places to live in, and only a few animals have what it takes to live at extreme altitude. Mountain animals are amongst the most elusive in the world, and this film provides unique and intimate glimpses into their secretive lives.
Witness the moment four snow leopards come together when a mother and cub become trapped between two rival males. Join grizzly bears as they dance against trees to rub off their winter fur and soar with golden eagles hunting amongst Europe's snow-capped peaks.
TUE 21:00 Timeshift (b08dwxhn)
Series 16
Flights of Fancy: Pigeons and the British
Timeshift ventures inside places of sporting achievement, scientific endeavour and male obsession - the lofts of pigeon fanciers - to tell the story of a remarkable bird. As racer, messenger and even beauty pageant contestant, the humble pigeon has been a steadfast part of British life for centuries.
Pigeons have served in two world wars, flown over oceans and crossed barriers of age, class and race to take their place as man's best feathered friend. Meanwhile, pigeon fanciers have contrived to make them faster and more eye-catching, using backyard genetics to breed the perfect bird.
Popular affection for pigeons has nosedived in recent decades due to a growing distaste at what they leave behind, and legislation has seen them chased out of public spaces. But as this programme shows, dedicated British pigeon fanciers are determined to keep their pastime alive. So what does the future hold for the 21st-century pigeon?
TUE 22:00 D-Day: The Last Heroes (p0198pxz)
Original Series
Episode 1
In the first of a two-part series, historian Dan Snow examines how two years of meticulous planning, espionage and the analysis of millions of three-dimensional aerial photographs helped the Allied forces gain a foothold in northern France.
TUE 23:00 Bombay Railway (b007t367)
Dreams
India is undergoing unprecedented growth and Bombay is its financial powerhouse. The city promotes itself as a positive vision of the future, a place where dreams can come true. Like an extended family, the Bombay railway provides an unfailing lifeline to the city. This series follows the hope and dreams of some the people who work for the railway.
Hans Dev Sharma is a senior operations clerk. He works in the timetabling department, which schedules over 2,000 trains a day - under its cultural quota, Hans was talent-spotted as an exceptional actor and dancer and the railways offered him a job. Hans is living the Bollywood dream, with Bombay Railways as his life and his stage. But will he get his big break?
Jagdish Paul Raj was born in Bombay and is as ambitious as the city he lives in. The son of a railway catering officer, Jagdish, like his father, always had an interest in food but none in the railway. He graduated in politics and economics and became a fully qualified chef. Now 31, he is running a successful catering business on the train to Goa. He is tendered for more trains, but will he be successful?
Mumtaz Kazi is Indian Railways' first fully qualified female train driver and has driven trains all over India. Mumtaz was brought up in a traditional Muslim family - a railway family. Now her father has retired and her immediate family live in Canada - Mumtaz is the only member left in Bombay. It will be Mumtaz's responsibility to find a wife for her brother, to get him married and back to Canada in just eight weeks. Can she do it and still drive the train?
TUE 00:00 Sappho: Love & Life on Lesbos with Margaret Mountford (b05tc6w7)
With a PhD in papyrology, Margaret Mountford goes in search of the truth behind the legend of Sappho, the most controversial writer of the ancient world and the first authentic woman's voice in western history.
The sensational discovery of a lost papyrus containing the words to songs unheard for 1,700 years sends Margaret on a journey of exploration.
From the fragmentary documents, ruined temple architecture and surviving oriental jewellery, the programme conjures the real world of the woman, whose erotic writings gave us the words 'sapphic' and 'lesbian', after the island of Lesbos the place of her birth.
Was she indeed the first lesbian, a priestess, prostitute, a stern schoolmistress or an aristocratic lady of leisure as readers over the centuries have variously alleged. Plus how each generation's view of the archetypal liberated woman of letters tells us as much about us and our fears and concerns as it does about her.
TUE 01:00 Bought with Love: The Secret History of British Art Collections (b037c5gt)
The Golden Age
With Britain's country houses being home to world-class art collections full of priceless old masters and more, this three-part series sees art historian Helen Rosslyn tell the story of how great art has been brought to Britain by passionate collectors and how these same collectors have also turned patron and commissioned work from the cream of their contemporary crop of painters.
In this episode she focuses on the 18th century, the Grand Tour era when aristocrats filled their Palladian villas with masterpieces by 17th-century classical painters. Throwing open the doors of some of our most magnificent stately homes, Rosslyn visits Holkham Hall in Norfolk to view the Grand Tour collection there, before going on to explore the legacy of the Dukes of Richmond at Goodwood House. She also visits Petworth House in Sussex, where the one-time Lord Egremont patronised JMW Turner.
TUE 02:00 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 03:00 Timeshift (b08dwxhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2017
WED 19:00 100 Days (b08f0gwv)
Series 1
08/02/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
WED 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jw27t)
The Glory Days of Fishing
Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country, to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, to tell the history of modern Britain.
This episode comes from Great Yarmouth, once home to the world's largest herring fleet, and looks back to the 1920s and the heyday of British fishing.
Melvyn speaks to Fred Normandale, whose family have been fishing since the early eighteenth century, and Ronnie King who first went to sea in a steam drifter in 1937. Maritime historian and writer Mike Smylie talks about the heyday of herrings before the fish finger got us hooked. And fishing lassie descendant Irene Watt provides an unexpected musical treat with a sea shanty about the work of her ancestors.
WED 20:00 Fair Isle: Living on the Edge (b084jyl0)
Episode 2
Fair Isle is Britain's most remote inhabited island, situated halfway between the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Life here is at the mercy of the weather. Once home to nearly 400 people, today there are just 57. Fair Isle must boost its population if it is to survive. Filmed over a critical year, this intimate series captures the community as they launch their development plan with an aim of bringing new families to the isle and bolstering the fragile economy. This final episode continues to follow 11-year-old Ythan and his family as they learn to deal with his homesickness, and reveals if Fair Isle's newest inhabitants Shaun and Rachel have survived their first winter and decided to stay on.
WED 21:00 Roots (b07vcv81)
Series 1
Episode 1
Juffere, West Africa, 1767 - young, proud Kunta Kinte is being initiated as a Mandinka warrior and ready to start thinking about his future. But a feud with a rival family results in him being kidnapped and sold to English slave traders, who are in the business of transporting shiploads of enslaved Africans to America to be sold. Following an attempted rebellion onboard the ship, Kunta is eventually brought to Maryland, where he is purchased by Virginia tobacco baron John Waller. But the young warrior's indomitable spirit is not ready to be subjugated.
WED 22:35 Genius of the Ancient World (b066d0v5)
Confucius
In the final episode, Bettany travels to China on the trail of Confucius, a great sage of Chinese history whose ideas have fundamentally shaped the country of his birth for around 2,500 years.
WED 23:35 Natural World (b00q9y41)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 00:35 Horizon (b0148vph)
2011-2012
The Core
For centuries we have dreamt of reaching the centre of the Earth. Now scientists are uncovering a bizarre and alien world that lies 4,000 miles beneath our feet, unlike anything we know on the surface. It is a planet buried within the planet we know, where storms rage within a sea of white-hot metal and a giant forest of crystals make up a metal core the size of the moon.
Horizon follows scientists who are conducting experiments to recreate this core within their own laboratories, with surprising results.
WED 01:35 Treasures of the Indus (b06bblwb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
WED 02:35 Planet Earth II (b08397lq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
THURSDAY 09 FEBRUARY 2017
THU 19:00 100 Days (b08f0hcw)
Series 1
09/02/2017
As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08d7y3l)
John Peel and David Jensen present the weekly look at the pop charts, from March 1983. Featuring OMD, Bananarama, Patti Austin and James Ingram, and Michael Jackson.
THU 20:00 Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney (b088pnv1)
Episode 2
Orkney - seven miles off the coast of Scotland, and cut off by the tumultuous Pentland Firth, the fastest-flowing tidal race in Europe is often viewed as being remote. However it is one of the treasure troves of archaeology in Britain, and recent discoveries there are turning the Stone Age map of Britain upside down. Rather than an outpost at the edge of the world, recent finds suggest an extraordinary theory - that Orkney was the cultural capital of our ancient world and the origin of the stone circle cult which culminated in Stonehenge.
In the second of this three-part series, Neil Oliver, Chris Packham, Andy Torbet and Dr Shini Somara join hundreds of archaeologists from around the world who have gathered there to investigate at one of Europe's biggest digs.
Andy and some local seafaring volunteers build a boat made of just willow and cow hide and set out to cross the dangerous Pentland Firth as the ancient Orcadians would have done. Neil investigates the extraordinary discovery of some human bones, Chris goes in search of whales and Shini uncovers the powers of the tides.
THU 21:00 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08d7y3n)
Series 1
The Jewel in the Crown
Lucy debunks the fibs that surround the 'jewel in the crown' of the British Empire - India. Travelling to Kolkata, she investigates how the Raj was created following a British government coup in 1858. After snatching control from the discredited East India Company, the new regime presented itself as a new kind of caring, sharing imperialism with Queen Victoria as its maternal Empress.
Tyranny, greed and exploitation were to be things of the past. From the 'Black Hole of Calcutta' to the Indian 'mutiny', from East India Company governance to crown rule, and from Queen Victoria to Empress of India, Lucy reveals how this chapter of British history is another carefully edited narrative that is full of fibs.
THU 22:00 Love and Betrayal in India: The White Mughal (p02z8109)
Historian and author William Dalrymple travels to the Deccan Plains of India to trace the romantic love affair between a British diplomat and a young Muslim princess. James Achilles Kirkpatrick was the British East India Company resident at the court of Hyderabad when he risked everything, converting to Islam and, sources suggest, even becoming a double agent, to marry Khair un Nissa 'Most Excellent among Women.'
Pursuing this compelling story of seduction and betrayal through the archives across both continents, Dalrymple unearths a world almost entirely unexplored by history. Kirkpatrick's behaviour might appear to breach the conventional boundaries of empire, but it was not unique. At the turn of the 18th century, one in three British men in India, known as white mughals, lived with Indian women, wore local dress and adopted Indian ways, much to the embarrassment of successive colonial administrations. To protect them from growing disapproval their mixed race children were sent back to England for their education and were ultimately absorbed into Victorian society.
Dalrymple tells the story of the Kirkpatricks and their children through the art and architecture of the time - from the classic Georgian portraiture of George Chinnery and Thomas Hickey to the fantastical Deccani miniatures of Venkatchellam and Tajully Ali Shah. And in this melding of influences, he asks why Christian and Islamic cultures cannot be at one again when once they made great marriages and produced such outstanding art.
THU 23:00 Nazis: A Warning from History (b0074knp)
Chaos and Consent
A look at the extraordinary popularity of both Hitler and the Nazis, as well as the astonishing degree of voluntary support ordinary Germans gave the infamous Gestapo.
THU 23:50 Attenborough and the Giant Egg (b00z6dsg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Saturday]
THU 00:50 Top of the Pops (b08d7y3l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:25 Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney (b088pnv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 02:25 British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (b08d7y3n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2017
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b08d7jgh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08d80f8)
Tony Blackburn and Gary Davies present the weekly chart show, first broadcast on 17 March 1983. Featuring Bananarama, The Style Council, Ultravox, Joan Armatrading, Bonnie Tyler and Bucks Fizz.
FRI 20:00 The Good Old Days (b08dmpv0)
Leonard Sachs chairs the old-time music hall programme, first broadcast on 17th January 1978. With John Inman, Lyn Kennington, Ray C Davis, Tudor Davies, Keith Harris, Norma Lunbar, Salvano, Jenny Kenna and members of the Players' Theatre, London.
FRI 21:00 Arena (b08d80fd)
Alone with Chrissie Hynde
Arena spends the summer with supercool self-confessed rock chick, Chrissie Hynde - shopping for clothes in Paris, hanging out with Sandra Bernhard in New York, life in London and a special trip back to her home town of Akron, Ohio.
A thoughtful and intimate portrait of a 'lone, hungry, irritable wolf', featuring a glorious live performance at one of London's newest venues.
FRI 22:00 Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line (b06l17fn)
All too often, every great female rock musician has to answer a predictable question - what is it like being a girl in a band?
For many, the sight of a girl shredding a guitar or laying into the drums is still a bit of a novelty. As soon as women started forming their own bands they were given labels - the rock chick, the girl band or one half of the rock 'n' roll couple.
Kate Mossman aims to look beyond the cliches of fallen angels, grunge babes and rock chicks as she gets the untold stories from rock's frontline to discover if it has always been different for the girl in a band.
FRI 23:00 Girls in Bands at the BBC (b06mxpjc)
Compilation celebrating some guitar band performances at the BBC that feature some of the best female musicians in rock. Beginning with the oft-forgotten American group Fanny performing You're the One, it's a journey along rock's spectrum from the 1970s to now.
The selection includes the powerful vocals of Elkie Brooks on Vinegar Joe's Proud to Be a Honky Woman, the mesmerising poetry of Patti Smith's Horses and the upbeat energy of The Go-Go's on We Got the Beat.
Mighty basslines come courtesy of Tina Weymouth on Psycho Killer and Kim Gordon on Sugar Kane, whilst we trace the line of indie rock from the Au Pairs through Lush, Elastica and Garbage to current band Savages.
FRI 00:00 Top of the Pops (b08d80f8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 00:30 Arena (b08d80fd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 01:30 Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line (b06l17fn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 02:30 Girls in Bands at the BBC (b06mxpjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
100 Days
19:00 MON (b08f0fjw)
100 Days
19:00 TUE (b08f0gdf)
100 Days
19:00 WED (b08f0gwv)
100 Days
19:00 THU (b08f0hcw)
Arena
21:00 FRI (b08d80fd)
Arena
00:30 FRI (b08d80fd)
Art of France
21:00 MON (b08d7qlq)
Art of France
02:55 MON (b08d7qlq)
Attenborough and the Giant Egg
21:00 SAT (b00z6dsg)
Attenborough and the Giant Egg
23:50 THU (b00z6dsg)
Bombay Railway
23:00 TUE (b007t367)
Bought with Love: The Secret History of British Art Collections
01:00 TUE (b037c5gt)
Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney
20:00 THU (b088pnv1)
Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney
01:25 THU (b088pnv1)
British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
20:00 SUN (b08cgp55)
British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
21:00 THU (b08d7y3n)
British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
02:25 THU (b08d7y3n)
D-Day: The Last Heroes
22:00 TUE (p0198pxz)
Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot
21:00 SUN (b0868lnk)
Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot
02:45 SUN (b0868lnk)
Fair Isle: Living on the Edge
20:00 WED (b084jyl0)
Genius of the Ancient World
22:35 WED (b066d0v5)
Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line
22:00 FRI (b06l17fn)
Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line
01:30 FRI (b06l17fn)
Girls in Bands at the BBC
23:00 FRI (b06mxpjc)
Girls in Bands at the BBC
02:30 FRI (b06mxpjc)
Glastonbury
00:50 SAT (b048sflv)
Hidden Killers
19:00 SUN (b01rp5hh)
Horizon
01:45 SUN (b03wcchn)
Horizon
00:35 WED (b0148vph)
Legends of the Deep: Deep Sea Sharks
00:05 SUN (b06237md)
Love and Betrayal in India: The White Mughal
22:00 THU (p02z8109)
Natural World
01:00 SUN (b0377t15)
Natural World
20:00 MON (b00q9y41)
Natural World
23:35 WED (b00q9y41)
Nazis: A Warning from History
23:00 THU (b0074knp)
Planet Earth II
20:00 TUE (b08397lq)
Planet Earth II
02:35 WED (b08397lq)
Radio 2 In Concert
02:45 SAT (b06pk50c)
Reel History of Britain
19:30 MON (p00jw1tv)
Reel History of Britain
19:30 WED (p00jw27t)
Rich Hall's Inventing the Indian
23:40 MON (b01nqbqk)
Roots
21:00 WED (b07vcv81)
Sappho: Love & Life on Lesbos with Margaret Mountford
00:00 TUE (b05tc6w7)
Secrets of Bones
19:30 TUE (b03z05zx)
The Good Old Days
20:00 FRI (b08dmpv0)
The Maharajas' Motor Car: The Story of Rolls-Royce in India
01:10 MON (b00j4c2s)
The Past
22:00 SUN (b09sqss5)
The Rolling Stones at the BBC
02:00 SAT (b01p1pmf)
The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings
02:00 TUE (b03n2yzh)
The Young Montalbano
22:00 SAT (b06zdgfg)
Timeshift
19:00 SAT (b01n8hl9)
Timeshift
21:00 TUE (b08dwxhn)
Timeshift
03:00 TUE (b08dwxhn)
Timewatch
02:05 MON (b0078wrs)
Top of the Pops
23:45 SAT (b08bqfct)
Top of the Pops
00:25 SAT (b08cgpkf)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b08d7y3l)
Top of the Pops
00:50 THU (b08d7y3l)
Top of the Pops
19:30 FRI (b08d80f8)
Top of the Pops
00:00 FRI (b08d80f8)
Treasures of the Indus
20:00 SAT (b06bblwb)
Treasures of the Indus
01:35 WED (b06bblwb)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b08d7jgh)
Yves Saint Laurent
22:00 MON (b04kjjjb)