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 11 MARCH 2017

SAT 19:00 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06qgh3w)
Knights of the Road: The Highwayman's Story

Few figures in British history have captured the popular imagination as much as the outlaw. From gentleman highwaymen, via swashbuckling pirates to elusive urban thieves and rogues, the brazen escapades and the flamboyance of the outlaw made them the antihero of their time - feared by the rich, admired by the poor and celebrated by writers and artists.

In this three-part series, historian Dr Sam Willis travels the open roads, the high seas and urban alleyways to explore Britain's 17th- and 18th-century underworld of highwaymen, pirates and rogues, bringing the great age of the British outlaw vividly to life.

Sam shows that, far from being 'outsiders', outlaws were very much a product of their time, shaped by powerful national events. In each episode, he focuses not just on a particular type of outlaw, but a particular era - the series as a whole offers a chronological portrait of the changing face of crime in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Sam begins with the arrival of a new breed of gentleman criminal out of the ashes of the English Civil War - the highwayman. Heavily romanticised in literature, these glamorous gangsters became a social menace on the roads and a political thorn in the side of the creaking British state - threatening to steal our wallets and our hearts. But underneath the dashing image of stylish robbers on horseback lay a far darker reality.


SAT 20:00 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dc66v)
Isabella and Margaret

In the medieval and Tudor world there was no question in people's minds about the order of God's creation - men ruled and women didn't. A king was a warrior who literally fought to win power then battled to keep it. Yet despite everything that stood in their way, a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule medieval and Tudor England. In this series, historian Dr Helen Castor explores seven queens who challenged male power, the fierce reactions they provoked and whether the term 'she wolves' was deserved.

In 1308 a 12-year-old girl, Isabella of France, became queen of England when she married the English king. A century later another young French girl, Margaret of Anjou, followed in her footsteps. Both these women were thrust into a violent and dysfunctional England and both felt driven to take control of the kingdom themselves. Isabella would be accused of murder and Margaret of destructive ambition - it was Margaret who Shakespeare named the She Wolf. But as Helen reveals, their self-assertion that would have seemed natural in a man was deemed unnatural, even monstrous in a woman.


SAT 21:00 Follow the Money (b08c26l5)
Series 2

Episode 3

Nicky and Bimse's friendship is tested when Bimse is questioned about the assault on a police officer. The fraud squad uncovers some unsavoury practices at Nova Bank, and Alf and Mads investigate a bank manager who is living well above his means. Claudia tries to get herself a contract of employment to satisfy her parole officer. Kristina and Mads have a big decision to make.

In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:00 Follow the Money (b08cr6bx)
Series 2

Episode 4

Mads and Alf unravel the corrupt practices at Nova Bank, not realising that their boss Nanna is reporting their findings to Nova's chairman, the very man they are trying to bring down. Amanda struggles with her demons as Absalon Bank faces a critical vote from its shareholders. The Swede tries to influence this vote and gives Nicky a dirty job to do.

In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 23:00 Top of the Pops (b08h9ct9)
John Peel and David Jensen present another edition of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 28 April 1983. Featuring Galaxy, The Creatures, Tears for Fears, Kissing the Pink and Spandau Ballet.


SAT 23:35 Top of the Pops (b08h9j0j)
Mike Read and Tommy Vance present another edition of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 12 May 1983. Featuring Modern Romance, Hall & Oates, Hot Chocolate, Galaxy, The Creatures, Men at Work and Spandau Ballet.


SAT 00:15 The People's History of Pop (b08h9j0n)
1997-2010 Closer Than Close

Sara Cox looks at the time when the internet opened up new worlds for music fans and brought them closer to their musical heroes than ever before.

It starts in the years leading up to the year 2000 - a time when information overload and uncertainty about new technologies was creating an anxiety about the future.

We hear from fans who loved a band that were tackling this millennial angst head-on with a new album - Radiohead with their 1997 album OK Computer.

As this new technology enters our lives, we meet people who are starting to change the relationship between fans and bands - a fan who saves his favourite band Travis from the bad press reviews of their second album with a letter written to Melody Maker in 1999 and a chart pop fan who manages to meet his favourite pop heroes with an ingenious, homemade piece of memorabilia.

From the same period, we get an insight into the new clubbing trends - from the outfits, photos and magazine articles saved by a pioneer of a new, fan-powered tribe on the dancefloor - the Crasher Kids - who become the identity of Sheffield club Gatecrasher, to a fan whose flyers chart the rise of grassroots sound UK garage, which went from the airwaves of pirate radio and Sunday night clubs scene in London to the top of the charts.

In the 2000s, fans could now decide who their pop stars were going to be and we meet a mother and daughter whose lives were changed by Will Young, who in turn change his life by voting for him in Pop Idol.

With the arrival of file sharing in the early 2000s, a fan recounts how the unconventional rise of The Arctic Monkeys was all thanks to fans sharing music on online forums and Myspace. And as technology develops, we see how a fan's canny use of YouTube opened up the grime scene of east London to the world.

Along the way we hear the remarkable stories behind photos and signed set-lists from Amy Winehouse, the one-off fan club magazine from The Libertines and footage of a gig in Pete Doherty's flat, and footage of the moment when Adele gave her stage over to two very surprised fans.


SAT 01:15 Blues America (p01kc7bh)
Woke up This Morning

Blues is usually described as the sound of racial suffering and feeling sad, but this documentary argues that the blues began as a form of black pop music. First appearing in the southern states of the USA around 1900, blues created by the poorest people in the richest nation on earth took America by storm. The film looks at the early years of the blues to discover how Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Patton used the latest media to bring their music to the public. With contributions from Keith Richards, Taj Mahal and Chuck D.


SAT 02:15 Blues America (b03kk1j7)
Bright Lights, Big City

After 1945, artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker rooted the blues firmly in the city, where it contributed to the musical desegregation of America by spawning rock 'n' roll. As the blues conquered the world and the music moved from black to white audiences, arguments developed about what was the real authentic blues. Robert Johnson returned from the dead to sell more records than any other blues artist. By the 21st century, the blues not only retained the earthiness of its roots but was also being celebrated in the White House. With contributions from Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, Seasick Steve and Buddy Guy.


SAT 03:15 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sk2)
Episode 3

Musical memories from the BBC archives. This edition concentrates on the soul and funk artists who found success in the British charts of the 1980s, with performances from Kool and the Gang, The Pointer Sisters, Grace Jones, Cameo, Bobby Womack, Sade, Alexander O'Neal and Whitney Houston.



SUNDAY 12 MARCH 2017

SUN 19:00 Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century (b07d9rwv)
We Can Be Heroes

In the first programme, Suzy Klein tells the story of a creative outpouring unrivalled before or since - the 19th century witnessed the emergence of composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin, Wagner, Verdi and Liszt, just to name a few of the stellar array whose genius we venerate to this day.

As the aristocracy weakened following the French Revolution, the industrial revolution created new wealth and the middle classes flourished, Suzy shows how it was possible for composers and performers to become the superstars of their age, no longer the servants of kings and princes.

Masters like Paganini and Liszt were idolised, commanded immense fees and had a following as adoring as any of the rock stars and singers of today. Composers tore up the rulebooks, embraced the spirit of Romanticism and poured out their souls in their bold and experimental work. And, freed from the chains of aristocratic patronage, they became entrepreneurs too, organising and profiting from their concerts and winning unprecedented wealth, fame and status.

But with commercial success came a very modern backlash - artistic credibility versus X Factor-style fame. Which would win out? Or could one coexist with the other? As music gained increasing power and influence as the art form of the 19th century, composers started to believe that they could change the world... and remarkably, they really did.


SUN 20:00 Dazzling Duets at the BBC (b08j8j2l)
Dazzling duets from four decades of BBC entertainment, from Parkinson to the Proms. Whether it's pianos or banjos, violins or voices, kora, erhu or harmonica, this is a journey full of striking partnerships and extraordinary combinations. Oscar Peterson, Larry Adler, Ballake Sissoko, Kiri Te Kanawa, Nigel Kennedy and Bela Fleck are just some of the featured artists bringing us a musical feast, full of fun and surprises.


SUN 21:00 The Lunchbox (b04d1ls3)
When Saajan, an ill-tempered Mumbai office worker nearing retirement, is delivered the wrong lunch, he is pleasantly surprised by the improvement in his food. The lunchbox had been intended for young housewife Ila's emotionally indifferent husband in an attempt to win back his favour. When he fails to respond to her efforts, Ila decides to enclose a note in the next meal and Saajan, his taste buds tickled and his interest piqued, decides to write back.

In Hindi with English subtitles.


SUN 22:40 Sound Waves: The Symphony of Physics (b08h9ctd)
Series 1

Using Sound

Dr Helen Czerski examines the extraordinary messages sound waves carry and how they help us understand the world around us.

Visiting a hidden location buried beneath the hills of Scotland, Helen experiences some of the most extreme acoustics in the world. Here she learns just how much information can be carried by sound. She discovers how sound has driven the evolution of truly incredible biological systems and complex relationships between creatures that exploit sound for hunting - and escaping from predators. Helen demonstrates how sound waves diffract (bend around objects) and in doing so help us sense danger and locate it.

Through the story of a cochlea implant patient Helen explores the complicated way our ears can translate sound waves - a physical vibration in the air - into an electrical signal our brain can understand.

Helen explains how we are not limited to passively detecting sound waves, we can also use them to actively probe the world. From detecting submarines to uncovering the secrets of our planet, sound waves are instrumental in revealing things hidden from the world of light. On the cold North Sea, Helen investigates how marine archaeologists are using sound waves to uncover the remarkable human stories buried beneath the sea. Yet we are not limited to using sound waves here on Earth, as Helen explains how sound has been used to better understand distant, alien worlds in the outer solar system.


SUN 23:40 The Horizon Guide to Mars (b00p1crx)
The intriguing possibility of life on Mars has fuelled man's quest to visit the Red Planet. Drawing on 45 years of Horizon archive, space expert Dr Kevin Fong presents a documentary on Earth's near neighbour.

Man's extraordinary attempts to reach Mars have pushed technological boundaries past their limit and raised the tantalising prospect of establishing human colonies beyond our own planet.

While the moon lies 240,000 miles away, Mars is at a distance of 50 million miles. Reaching the moon takes three days, but to land on Mars would take nearly eight months, and only two thirds of the missions to Mars have made it. The BBC has been analysing the highs and lows throughout - including the ill-fated British attempt, the Beagle.

Horizon has explored how scientists believe the only way to truly understand Mars is to send people there. If and when we do, it will be the most challenging trip humanity has ever undertaken.


SUN 00:40 Edwardian Insects on Film (b01rd376)
In 1908, amateur naturalist Percy Smith stunned cinema goers with his surreal film The Acrobatic Fly. Featuring a bluebottle juggling a series of objects, the film became front page news. Now wildlife cameraman Charlie Hamilton-James attempts to recreate this fascinating film.

Along the way, Hamilton-James (helped by Sir David Attenborough, who saw Smith's films as a boy) tells the story of Percy's remarkable career and reveals the genius behind this forgotten pioneer of British film.


SUN 01:40 Timeshift (p0287mq6)
Series 14

Bullseyes and Beer: When Darts Hit Britain

Timeshift tells the story of how a traditional working-class pub game became a national obsession during the 1970s and 80s, and looks at the key role television played in elevating its larger-than-life players into household names.

Siobhan Finneran narrates a documentary which charts the game's surprising history, its cross-class and cross-gender appeal, and the star players that, for two decades, transformed a pub pastime into a sporting spectacle like no other.

Featuring legendary names such as Alan Evans and Jocky Wilson and including contributions from Eric Bristow, Bobby George, John Lowe and Phil Taylor.


SUN 02:40 Dazzling Duets at the BBC (b08j8j2l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 13 MARCH 2017

MON 19:00 100 Days (b08hz3jj)
Series 1

13/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.


MON 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jwrg2)
The End of the Line

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.

Melvyn visits Sheringham in Norfolk, home of the North Norfolk Heritage Railway, to look back to the 1960s when the Beeching Axe led to the closure of 4,000 miles of track, over 2,000 stations and the loss of 67,000 railway jobs.

Susan Hawkes sees her beloved uncle on film for the first time in twenty years, tending his station garden at Aldeburgh. Lifelong signalman Michael Gatenby comes face to face with his younger self on screen. And there is a trip down memory lane with pop mogul and lifelong train enthusiast Pete Waterman.


MON 20:00 The Big Painting Challenge (b08hznb4)
Series 1

Movement

Mariella Frostrup and Rev Richard Coles host the semi-final of the amateur painting competition, and the five remaining artists are facing their toughest challenge yet - capturing the human body in movement.

For two hours, a solo dancer spins, plies and pivots in front of the artists. Mentors Diana Ali and Pascal Anson are on hand to help, but all of the painters are pushed out of their comfort zone.

For the second challenge, a troupe of ballerinas appear and perform selected extracts from Swan Lake. Even the judges admit that this is a challenge they wouldn't want to have to tackle. All five amateur artists step up to the plate and give it their best shot, with some stunning results at the end. But only four of them can make it through to the final. Who will the public viewing panel choose to go straight through, and who will the judges send home?


MON 21:00 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08hznbb)
Series 1

Episode 2

Eamonn McCabe explores how British photographers responded to the most important events of the first half of the 20th century and traces the emergence of a new genre of photography - photojournalism. His journey begins at the Daily Mirror's press plant in Watford, which broke new ground with its dynamic coverage of the siege of Sidney Street in 1911, before tracing the footsteps of pioneering female photojournalist Christina Broom and discovering how cheaper cameras enabled British soldiers to become citizen journalists during the First World War.

Eamonn is joined by Mahtab Hussain to discuss the work of Bill Brandt, who in 1937 travelled to the north of England to record landscapes and portraits of working class communities during the Great Depression. Brandt would go on to work for Picture Post, Britain's most popular news magazine, which was launched in 1938. Armed with a period roll film Leica, Eamonn goes on assignment to the fairground to recreate a famous shoot by the magazine that documented almost every aspect of mid-century life in Britain.

He also sees how photographers captured the Second World War, from the Blitz to shocking images of concentration camps; celebrates photographers who pursued the medium as an art form in its own right; learns about the printing techniques of celebrity portrait photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn; and reflects on Cecil Beaton's glamorous work for Vogue magazine.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b08j8jfn)
Murder in Italy

On Friday, 26th November 2010, in the close-knit town of Bergamo, Letizia Ruggeri received a telephone call. It was Maura Gambirasio, a mother whose 13-year-old daughter Yara hadn't come home from the gym. Letizia, who spent years investigating mafia murders in Sicily, thought of her own daughter and promised she would find Yara.

Three months later, Yara's body was tragically discovered - she had been attacked. With just one piece of DNA evidence to go on, Letizia started a hunt for a perpetrator that would take four years, 20,000 DNA samples, ingenuity and tenacity to find the identity of 'Unknown Male no 1'. It was a revelation that would unlock deep family secrets that still reverberated when the suspect was finally brought to trial.


MON 23:25 Brexit: Britain's Biggest Deal (b08hrf7w)
With the government about to fire the starting gun for negotiations on Brexit, the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg investigates what is likely to be the biggest challenge we have faced since the Second World War. Will doing a Brexit deal be an impossibly complex and all-consuming process which will bog down the whole of Whitehall for years? Or could a quick and clean break be much easier than we think?

Talking to key players on all sides, Laura Kuenssberg maps out the key issues facing Britain and Europe in the coming years, the political minefield Theresa May's government needs to navigate - and why it matters to us all.


MON 00:25 Oceans (b00fvf4d)
Atlantic Ocean

The team explores a corner of the Atlantic Ocean. This ocean is the youngest of the great oceans and critical in influencing our climate.

Expedition leader Paul Rose, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto make a dangerous dive into a 'black hole' to discover how different our planet's earliest oceans were 3.5 billion years ago. They dive one of only two places on the planet where the oldest life form on Earth still survives: stromatolites, the creatures responsible for transforming our ancient oceans by producing oxygen.

They brave waters teeming with sharks to act as human bait in an experiment to test a shark repellent. They also investigate how the Atlantic has been invaded by the poisonous lionfish, which is decimating local fish stocks and spreading fast. And they try to identify a lost British warship, the HMS Southampton, which was shipwrecked after winning a battle against an American vessel in the war of 1812.


MON 01:25 Art of China (b04dg5q7)
Episode 3

Andrew Graham-Dixon charts the journey from imperial to modern - the glorious rise and calamitous fall of China's last dynasty. Rulers were so entranced by the spell of western art that they failed to notice the rise of western dominance, with disastrous consequences. The subsequent profound identity crisis saw China's artists struggle with outside influence. It was an age of crisis, which ultimately led to bloody revolution and rebirth. After tyrant Mao's Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square, does its new art reveal a different side to the modern China we think we know?


MON 02:25 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08hznbb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017

TUE 19:00 100 Days (b08hz3k0)
Series 1

14/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.


TUE 19:30 Weird Nature (b0078hk2)
Puzzling Partners

Discover a lizard that uses a scorpion as a bodyguard, a toad that sets up home with a tarantula, an animal that uses hummingbirds as an air charter, the barber that fish use, a crab that carries living fisticuffs, mutant frogs, a snake that acts as pest controller in an owl's nest, dolphins that co-operate with fishermen, a bird that guides people to honey and an odd farmyard full of strange friendships.


TUE 20:00 Timewatch (b00jj523)
2008-2009

WWI Aces Falling

Edward Mannock VC and James McCudden VC rose from modest backgrounds to become two of Britain's greatest fighter aces in World War One.

As the number of their victories grew, so did their chances of dying in flames. Timewatch tells the story of their battle to survive against the odds, and of the 90-year-old mystery surrounding the death of one of them.


TUE 21:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
2010-2011

The Himalayas

Documentary looking at the wildlife of the most stunning mountain range in the world, home to snow leopards, Himalayan wolves and Tibetan bears.

Snow leopards stalk their prey among the highest peaks. Concealed by snowfall, the chase is watched by golden eagles circling above. On the harsh plains of the Tibetan plateau live extraordinary bears and square-faced foxes hunting small rodents to survive. In the alpine forests, dancing pheasants have even influenced rival border guards in their ritualistic displays. Valleys carved by glacial waters lead to hillsides covered by paddy fields containing the lifeline to the east, rice. In this world of extremes, the Himalayas reveal not only snow-capped mountains and fascinating animals but also a vital lifeline for humanity.


TUE 22:00 The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank (b01jv5nr)
Dan Cruickshank explores the mysteries and secrets of the bridges that have made London what it is. He uncovers stories of Bronze-Age relics emerging from the Vauxhall shore, of why London Bridge was falling down, of midnight corpses splashing beneath Waterloo Bridge, and above all, of the sublime ambition of London's bridge builders themselves.


TUE 23:00 Calculating Ada: The Countess of Computing (p030s5bx)
Ada Lovelace was a most unlikely computer pioneer. In this film, Dr Hannah Fry tells the story of Ada's remarkable life. Born in the early 19th century, Ada was a countess of the realm, a scandalous socialite and an 'enchantress of numbers'. The film is an enthralling tale of how a life infused with brilliance, but blighted by illness and gambling addiction, helped give rise to the modern era of computing.

Hannah traces Ada's unlikely union with the father of computers, Charles Babbage. Babbage designed the world's first steam-powered computers - most famously the analytical engine - but it was Ada who realised the full potential of these new machines. During her own lifetime, Ada was most famous for being the daughter of romantic poet Lord Byron ('mad, bad and dangerous to know'). It was only with the advent of modern computing that Ada's understanding of their flexibility and power (that they could be far more than mere number crunchers) was recognised as truly visionary. Hannah explores how Ada's unique inheritance - poetic imagination and rational logic - made her the ideal prophet of the digital age.

This moving, intelligent and beautiful film makes you realise we nearly had a Victorian computer revolution.


TUE 00:00 A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol (b067fw3w)
Andy Warhol created some of the most instantly recognisable art of the 20th century. But perhaps his greatest work of art was himself - the cool, enigmatic pop art superstar.

In this film, Stephen Smith sets out to discover the real Andy Warhol - in the hour-by-hour detail of his daily life.

Taking a playful approach, mixing archive and entertaining encounters with Warhol's closest friends and confidantes, Stephen pieces together a typical day in the mid 1960s.

By 1964, Warhol had established himself as a famous pop artist and his creative ambitions were exploding in new directions in a creative frenzy of art, films - and even music.

From an early-hours chat with John Giorno, Warhol's lover and star of his notorious film Sleep, to recreating Warhol's intimate telephone conversations with Factory superstar Brigid Berlin, Stephen immerses himself in the round-the-clock whirl of Warhol's daily life.

Visiting the church where Warhol worshipped with his mother, discussing the day-to-day running of the Factory with Warhol's assistant Gerard Malanga, talking to Bibbe Hansen and Jane Holzer, stars of his famous Screen Tests, the film offers a fresh and illuminating new portrait of Warhol.

And from the obsessive desire to document his everyday life to the endless fascination with fame and his own celebrity image, a day with Andy Warhol appears surprisingly familiar to 21st century eyes.

"In his lifetime", concludes Stephen, "some people thought Warhol came from another planet. But in fact he hailed from somewhere equally exotic - the future.".


TUE 01:00 Al Murray's Great British Spy Movies (b04w85jj)
Comedian and history buff Al Murray is joined by former director of MI5 Dame Stella Rimington, political comedian Matt Forde and film expert Matthew Sweet for a fresh look at the great British spy movie. This round-table discussion looks at the films themselves - not to mention the spies that star in them - and uses them as a lens on the British people, our fear of the world and our changing views of espionage over the decades.

As well as discussing the inevitable moral ambiguity, the limited female roles and general distrust of the intelligence community, we also find out what Dame Stella Rimington, the real M, actually thinks about James Bond, what you really say at a party when someone inevitably asks what you do, the spy gadget she'd really like to get her hands on, and the film that was genuinely used as a training movie when she first joined the service.


TUE 02:00 Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth (b039kr77)
Kings

Classicist Dr Michael Scott looks at the dramatic decline of Athens and the remarkable triumph and transformation of theatre. During the 4th century BC Athens would lose its Empire, its influence and even its democracy. But theatre, that most Athenian of inventions, would thrive, spreading throughout the Greek world and beyond and giving rise to a new kind of comedy, one so popular and prevalent that it is still at the heart of comedy today.


TUE 03:00 The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank (b01jv5nr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 15 MARCH 2017

WED 19:00 100 Days (b08hz3kc)
Series 1

15/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.


WED 19:25 DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal (b08l2cj0)
Matt Baker presents the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal.

You can give by calling 0370 60 60 610 (standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply), Text HELP to 70000 to give £5 or send a cheque payable to DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal to:

DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal
PO Box 999
London
EC3A 3AA.


WED 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jwrk7)
Dawn of a New Era

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.

In Manchester, Melvyn looks back to the 1900s and the dawn of a new era, when the invention of the film camera put everyday people in the picture.

Margaret Koppens talks about her grandfather, who was one of the thousands of children who risked life and limb in the cotton mills of Lancashire. Fairground owner Peter Sedgwick comes face to face with his great grandfather, who started the family business back in 1900. Plus, how a discovery of film stock in a Blackburn basement ended up a world treasure.


WED 20:00 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mq3p1)
Episode 1

Series combining stunning wildlife with high-octane adventure, as a team of scientists and wildlife film-makers from the BBC's Natural History Unit explores one of the last great unspoilt jungle wildernesses on earth.

New Guinea is a rugged tropical island that is home to some of the strangest creatures on the planet. The team is based at the foot of Mount Bosavi, a giant extinct volcano covered in thick and largely unexplored rainforest. With the help of trackers from a remote tribe, they aim to search for the animals that live there - and they make amazing finds.

Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan discovers the nest of the world's smallest parrot, insect expert Dr George McGavin finds a talking beetle, the scientists identify types of frog, gecko and bat that are completely new to science, and adventurer Steve Backshall has to live and sleep underground as he explores a cave system flooded with white water.

The cameras follow the team every sweaty step of the way as they search for the evidence that may help preserve this last great jungle forever.


WED 21:00 Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story (b08j8mvl)
For the last 150 years, Britain has been a nation of bike lovers. And for much of that time, one make has been associated with quality, innovation and Britishness - Raleigh bikes.

Born in the back streets of Nottingham in 1888, Raleigh grew to become the biggest bicycle manufacturer in the world. For over a century, the company was known for its simple and practical bikes, built to last a lifetime. For generations, its designs were thought second to none, enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Now, with wonderful personal testimony and rare and previously unseen archive film, this documentary tells the extraordinary tale of the ups and downs of Raleigh bikes - a beautifully illustrated story full of remarkable characters, epic adventures and memorable bikes.

Meet the people who rode and raced them, the workers who built them and the dealers who sold them. Find out how cycling saved the life of Raleigh's founder, discover the technological advances behind the company's success and join Raleigh bike riders who recall epic adventures far and wide.

Along the way, the programme takes viewers on a journey back to cycling's golden age - rediscover the thrill of learning to ride your first bike and find out what went on inside the Raleigh factory, where the company's craftsmen produced some of Britain's most iconic bikes.

Finally, the documentary reveals what went wrong at Raleigh - the battles it had with its rivals, the controversy behind the design of the Chopper and the effect the closure of its factories had on its loyal workers. This is the extraordinary untold story of the rise and fall of Raleigh bikes.


WED 22:00 Timeshift (b03fv7sl)
Series 13

Full Throttle: The Glory Days of British Motorbikes

Timeshift returns with an exploration of the British love of fast, daring and sometimes reckless motorbike riding during a period when home-grown machines were the envy of the world. From TE Lawrence in the 1920 to the 'ton-up boys' and rockers of the 1950s, motorbikes represented unparalleled style and excitement, as British riders indulged their passion for brands like Brough Superior, Norton and Triumph.

But it wasn't all thrills and spills - the motorbike played a key role during World War II and it was army surplus bikes that introduced many to the joy and freedom of motorcycling in the 50s, a period now regarded as a golden age. With its obsession with speed and the rocker lifestyle, it attracted more than its fair share of social disapproval and conflict.

Narrated by John Hannah.


WED 23:00 Digging for Britain (b084xym3)
Series 5

West

Professor Alice Roberts presents the very best in British archaeology 2016 - filmed by the archaeologists themselves, straight from the trenches, so you can see each exciting discovery as it happens. The teams then bring their best finds - from skeletons to treasure - back to the Digging for Britain lab, to examine them with Alice and reveal how they are changing the story of Britain.

This episode looks at the west of Britain, and archaeologists are in the lab to look at the new finds and what they mean.

Finds include the lost World War I training trenches on Salisbury Plain, Britain's first 'double henge' - discovered just down the road from Stonehenge, where the evidence suggests our ancestors feasted and made sacred offerings as part of a visit to the ritualistic Stonehenge landscape, and luxury foreign goods discovered at Tintagel, the legendary childhood home of King Arthur.


WED 00:00 imagine... (b01p9b9c)
Winter 2012

Jeanette Winterson: My Monster and Me

First shown in 2012, nearly 30 years after her triumphant debut novel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson returns with Alan Yentob to the scenes of her extraordinary childhood in Lancashire. She was adopted and brought up to be a missionary by the larger-than-life Mrs Winterson. But Jeanette followed a different path - she found literature, fell in love with a girl, and escaped to university. Following her recent memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, Jeanette Winterson tells the story of her recent breakdown and suicide attempt, her quest to find her birth mother and how the power of books helped her to survive.


WED 01:15 Wild China (b00c5n6g)
Land of the Panda

China's heartland is the centre of a 5,000-year-old civilization and is home to the giant panda, the golden snub-nosed monkey and the golden takin. China faces environmental problems, but the relationship the Chinese have with their environment is deep and extraordinary. We will understand what this means for the future of China.


WED 02:15 Britain on Film (b03c26xf)
Series 2

This Sporting Life

Series in which high-quality 1960s colour footage from the vaults of the Rank Organisation is brought together to offer compelling insights into British life during that seminal decade.

This episode salutes the Rank filmmakers' attempts to reflect our near-obsessive national preoccupation with a range of competitive sports, ranging from golf and cycling to skiing and stock car racing. Featuring vintage prose praising the idiosyncratic appeal of cricket by the incomparable commentator Richie Benaud, as well as rare colour footage of the England football team in training shortly before their greatest-ever triumph in the 1966 World Cup.


WED 02:45 Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story (b08j8mvl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 16 MARCH 2017

THU 19:00 100 Days (b08hz3km)
Series 1

16/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08hzrdx)
Simon Bates and Gary Davies present another edition of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 19 May 1983. Featuring D Train, New Edition, David Grant, Blancmange, The Beat and Wham.


THU 20:00 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 20:30 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b08j8jj1)
Dougie Wallace

Photographer Dougie Wallace's eye-catching images capture life on the streets of Knightsbridge and Chelsea in all its blinged-up glory - from women dripping in diamonds and designer shopping bags, to men cruising around in gold-plated Lamborghinis.

This film follows Wallace as he finishes Harrodsburg, an acclaimed photography series documenting the super-rich in one of the UK's most wealthy and exclusive postcodes.

The recent winner of a Magnum Award for his work, Dougie's images are bold, confrontational and divisive. But he is unrepentant about his methods and his message: "I'm just showing what's happening, just shining a wee bit of a torch on things, you know? Don't shoot the messenger."

Told at breakneck speed, the film is a rip-roaring, hilarious and provocative portrait one of the world's top street photographers.


THU 21:00 Smile! The Nation's Family Album (b08j8jj3)
In today's digital age, the classic family photo album has become an object of nostalgic affection. But it's much more than just a collection of sentimental snapshots.

Celebrating everyday moments and shared experiences, family photography offers an intimate portrait of Britain's postwar social history. And each generation had a different camera to tell their story.

Discovering how new technologies and evolving social attitudes inspired the nation to pick up a camera, the film charts a journey from the Box Brownie to Instagram, offering a touching portrait of our changing lives, taken not by the professional photographer but on our own cameras.

With increasingly affordable, quick-to-load and easy-to-use cameras, domestic photography became part of family life in the 20th century.

Suddenly we could all now document our family's celebrations, holidays and hobbies, and capture the most fleeting and precious memories, from birth to death.

We became a nation obsessed with taking photos, and tirelessly curating scrapbooks, and filling shoeboxes and albums with pictures that tell our family's own story.

But with the advent of digital cameras, the era of patiently waiting for the holiday snaps to come back from the processor and carefully arranging them in photo albums feels a long way from today's frenzy of digital images, instantly shared and uploaded...

The film features expert voices explaining the impact of different camera technologies, the role of Kodak in helping create an industry of popular photography, the impact of the digital revolution and the way changes in family photography have also reflected shifts in the family dynamic itself. It's no longer just dad in control of the camera, and mobile phones and social media have turned kids into photographers from a young age...

Among the stories featured in the film...

Using her father's Box Brownie as a young girl, then armed with the latest Kodak instamatic in her teens, and now using a digital SLR, Jenny Bowden's photos capture the past 60 years, from the 1950s street parades to the 60s mods, the 70s fashions when she married and started her own family, the various birthdays, graduations and weddings and deaths, and in the past decade the arrival of her own grandchildren, her albums span across her house. Today when her grandchildren visit, they head straight to the shelves as they love to flick through the albums and see themselves as babies.

Besotted and first-time mum Astrid has taken thousands of photos on her iPhone of her son Alexander since his birth eight months ago. Unlike her own mother Terry, whose photos of Astrid as a baby were considered and less frequent due to the costs of 35mm film, Astrid has the luxury of snapping away all day, taking advantage of the ease and low costs of the digital age, as she records her and Alexander's first year together. Proud Astrid spreads the happiness Alexander brings with Terry and other family via WhatsApp and Instagram.

We meet the English eccentric John Dobson, who has 161 carefully annotated scrapbooks - and counting! His careful curating of happy family memories helped him overcome his own childhood spent in a children's home.

We also meet the devoted Yorkshire dad Ian Macleod, who took a photo of his son every single day until his 21st birthday, and the Slight family in Essex, whose larger-than-life characters grew up in a pub and captured an East End way of life that no longer exists.

And we discover the emotional impact of family photos, with a family movingly sharing the very last film taken on a father's camera before he died.

From the extraordinary to the mundane, family photos capture the intimate moments of our lives. Often overlooked in the official story of photography, this film champions the family photo and the unique portrait it reveals of how the nation tells its own story.


THU 22:00 On Camera: Photographers at the BBC (b08jgr3w)
Drawing on the BBC's rich archive, this documentary reveals the working practices, lives and opinions of some of the greatest photographers since the 1950s. From Norman Parkinson to David Bailey, Eve Arnold to Jane Bown, Henri Cartier-Bresson to Martin Parr, for decades the BBC has drawn our attention to the creators of what has become the most ubiquitous, contemporary art form.

Pioneering BBC programmes like Arena, Monitor and Omnibus have given unique insights into the careers of photography's leading practitioners. Through a selection of fascinating clips, this programme brings into focus the key genres - fashion, portraiture, documentary and landscape - and the characters behind the camera who have helped define them.


THU 23:00 We'll Take Manhattan (b01b674s)
Winter 1962, and cockney photographer David Bailey and unknown model Jean Shrimpton are sent to New York for a prestigious Vogue photo shoot. This drama tells the story of a wild week, their love affair, terrible fights with their fashion editor - and how two young people with no such intention happened to change the world of fashion forever.


THU 00:30 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06qgh3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


THU 01:30 Top of the Pops (b08hzrdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:05 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b08j8jj1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


THU 02:35 Smile! The Nation's Family Album (b08j8jj3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 17 MARCH 2017

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b08hz3kx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08hzs4m)
Peter Powell and Pat Sharp present another edition of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 26 May 1983. Featuring Big Country, Hot Chocolate, The Police, New Edition and Forrest.


FRI 19:50 Sounds of the Sixties (b075f7r4)
Reversions

Swinging Sixties 1

Forget Madchester, forget Factory, forget Oasis. Manchester never sounded better than Herman's Hermits and the Hollies, who feature in this archive extravaganza.


FRI 20:00 The Good Old Days (b08hzs4p)
Leonard Sachs presents the old-time entertainment show, first broadcast on 28 February 1978. Featuring Bernard Cribbins, Ian Wallace, Barry Cryer, Marti Webb, Penelope Beavan, Rocky Rendall, Dinardi, Albert Aldred and members of the Players' Theatre, London.


FRI 21:00 Rich Hall's Countrier Than You (b08j8lqb)
Award-winning comedian Rich Hall takes a country music journey from Tennessee to Texas to look at the movements and artists that don't get as much notoriety but have helped shape the genre over the years.

With the help of prominent performers and producers including Michael Martin Murphey, Robbie Fulks and Ray Benson, Rich explores the early origins of country music in Nashville and Austin. He visits the rustic studios where this much-loved sound was born and discovers how the genre has reinvented itself with influences from bluegrass, western swing and Americana.

Rich also explores how the music industries differ between these two cities and how they each generated their own distinct twist on the genre, from cosmic country and redneck country to the outlaw artists of the 1970s. Through Working Dog, a three-minute self-penned soap opera about a collie dog, Rich illustrates how different styles can change.

As he unearths the roots and inner workings of country music, Rich finds it's more than just music - it's a lifestyle.


FRI 22:30 The Shires: New Country (b08j8lqd)
Documentary following the rise of The Shires, the first British country group to have a top ten album in the pop charts, and the band to have spearheaded today's interest in country music in the UK. The programme follows Ben and Crissie both as they launch their second album My Universe and on a working trip to Nashville, where they are signed by leading country label Big Machine. They play the Bluebird, the legendary club where the performances from the TV series Nashville are filmed, and meet with Scott Borchetta, who discovered Taylor Swift. Interviews include Scott Borchetta, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes of The Shires, sisters Catherine and Lizzy of Ward Thomas and Thomas Rhett, a rising star of American country music who mixes country with funk, pop and rock.


FRI 23:30 Country at the BBC (b08qgkzv)
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 Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy from The Val Doonican Music Show.

We're brought up to date with modern country hits from Top of the Pops and Later...with Jools Holland.


FRI 00:30 Top of the Pops (b08hzs4m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 00:55 Sounds of the Sixties (b075f7r4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:50 today]


FRI 01:00 Rich Hall's Countrier Than You (b08j8lqb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 02:35 The Shires: New Country (b08j8lqd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]




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

100 Days 19:00 MON (b08hz3jj)

100 Days 19:00 TUE (b08hz3k0)

100 Days 19:00 WED (b08hz3kc)

100 Days 19:00 THU (b08hz3km)

A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol 00:00 TUE (b067fw3w)

Al Murray's Great British Spy Movies 01:00 TUE (b04w85jj)

Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth 02:00 TUE (b039kr77)

Art of China 01:25 MON (b04dg5q7)

Blues America 01:15 SAT (p01kc7bh)

Blues America 02:15 SAT (b03kk1j7)

Brexit: Britain's Biggest Deal 23:25 MON (b08hrf7w)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 21:00 MON (b08hznbb)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 02:25 MON (b08hznbb)

Britain on Film 02:15 WED (b03c26xf)

Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues 19:00 SAT (b06qgh3w)

Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues 00:30 THU (b06qgh3w)

Calculating Ada: The Countess of Computing 23:00 TUE (p030s5bx)

Canals: The Making of a Nation 20:00 THU (b0685bp2)

Country at the BBC 23:30 FRI (b08qgkzv)

DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal 19:25 WED (b08l2cj0)

Dazzling Duets at the BBC 20:00 SUN (b08j8j2l)

Dazzling Duets at the BBC 02:40 SUN (b08j8j2l)

Digging for Britain 23:00 WED (b084xym3)

Edwardian Insects on Film 00:40 SUN (b01rd376)

Follow the Money 21:00 SAT (b08c26l5)

Follow the Money 22:00 SAT (b08cr6bx)

Lost Land of the Volcano 20:00 WED (b00mq3p1)

Natural World 21:00 TUE (b00tj7j4)

Oceans 00:25 MON (b00fvf4d)

On Camera: Photographers at the BBC 22:00 THU (b08jgr3w)

Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story 21:00 WED (b08j8mvl)

Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story 02:45 WED (b08j8mvl)

Reel History of Britain 19:30 MON (p00jwrg2)

Reel History of Britain 19:30 WED (p00jwrk7)

Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century 19:00 SUN (b07d9rwv)

Rich Hall's Countrier Than You 21:00 FRI (b08j8lqb)

Rich Hall's Countrier Than You 01:00 FRI (b08j8lqb)

She-Wolves: England's Early Queens 20:00 SAT (b01dc66v)

Smile! The Nation's Family Album 21:00 THU (b08j8jj3)

Smile! The Nation's Family Album 02:35 THU (b08j8jj3)

Sound Waves: The Symphony of Physics 22:40 SUN (b08h9ctd)

Sounds of the Eighties 03:15 SAT (b0074sk2)

Sounds of the Sixties 19:50 FRI (b075f7r4)

Sounds of the Sixties 00:55 FRI (b075f7r4)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b08j8jfn)

The Big Painting Challenge 20:00 MON (b08hznb4)

The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank 22:00 TUE (b01jv5nr)

The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank 03:00 TUE (b01jv5nr)

The Good Old Days 20:00 FRI (b08hzs4p)

The Horizon Guide to Mars 23:40 SUN (b00p1crx)

The Lunchbox 21:00 SUN (b04d1ls3)

The People's History of Pop 00:15 SAT (b08h9j0n)

The Shires: New Country 22:30 FRI (b08j8lqd)

The Shires: New Country 02:35 FRI (b08j8lqd)

Timeshift 01:40 SUN (p0287mq6)

Timeshift 22:00 WED (b03fv7sl)

Timewatch 20:00 TUE (b00jj523)

Top of the Pops 23:00 SAT (b08h9ct9)

Top of the Pops 23:35 SAT (b08h9j0j)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b08hzrdx)

Top of the Pops 01:30 THU (b08hzrdx)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (b08hzs4m)

Top of the Pops 00:30 FRI (b08hzs4m)

We'll Take Manhattan 23:00 THU (b01b674s)

Weird Nature 19:30 TUE (b0078hk2)

What Do Artists Do All Day? 20:30 THU (b08j8jj1)

What Do Artists Do All Day? 02:05 THU (b08j8jj1)

Wild China 01:15 WED (b00c5n6g)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b08hz3kx)

imagine... 00:00 WED (b01p9b9c)