B4

RADIO-LISTS: BBC FOUR
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/

SATURDAY 27 OCTOBER 2018

SAT 19:00 Natural World (b0133r58)
2011-2012

My Life as a Turkey

Biologist Joe Hutto was mother to the strangest family in the world, thirteen endangered wild turkeys that he raised from egg to the day they left home.

For a whole year his turkey children were his only companions as he walked them deep through the Florida Everglades. Suffering all the heartache and joy of any other parent as he tried to bring up his new family, he even learnt to speak their language and began to see the world through turkey eyes. Told as a drama documentary with an actor recreating the remarkable scenes of Joe's life as a turkey mum.

SAT 20:00 Life Story (p026vhrd)
Series 1

Parenthood

In the final episode of Life Story,
animals attempt to rear their offspring. This takes extraordinary
commitment, and a parent may even need to risk its own life for its
offspring. A female turtle, returning to the island where she was born 30
years ago, hauls herself up the beach to lay her eggs in a safe place above
the tide line. But her commitment may prove her undoing. The low tide traps
her on the island behind a wall of coral. If she cannot climb over it, the
heat of the sun will kill her. A mother bonobo chimpanzee lavishes care on
her son for five years, deep in the Congo forest. Their bond will endure for
the rest of her life. She will teach him how to survive in the jungle. One
of her most important lessons is showing him a hidden forest pool where they
harvest lilies rich in minerals essential for their good health. A mother
zebra must decide where to lead her young foal across the Mara river so that
they can reach new grazing grounds. Should she cross where they will face
predators such as crocodiles? Or should she lead her foal through
treacherous rapids? Her foal's life may rest on the decision she makes. In a
touching scene, elephants delicately stroke the bones of an ancestor. We
cannot know what they are thinking, but perhaps like humans they have a
sense of a shared history? It is a communal experience that appears to draw
the family members closer together.

SAT 21:00 54 Hours: The Gladbeck Hostage Crisis (b0bqmhdp)
Series 1

Episode 2

Acclaimed two-part series based on the true story of an unprecedented hostage crisis which shocked Germany in the summer of 1988. The situation escalates as the runaway robbers hijack a bus full of people in Gladbeck city centre.

In German with English subtitles.

SAT 22:30 There She Goes (b0bpw76q)
Series 1

Bubble Chess

It's bath night for Rosie and, as usual, that means chaos as she insists on having all the bubble bath. Emily decides that she needs to form a strategy - she lays a trap for Rosie, putting the bubble bath out of reach, then leaves the bathroom and waits. Rosie falls for it, and Emily wins this round of 'bubble chess'. But the game becomes more complex as Rosie twigs what is going on. Can she outthink Emily?

SAT 23:00 Top of the Pops (b0bpz9dq)
Gary Davies and Peter Powell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 23 July 1986. Featuring Hollywood Beyond, Sinitta, Audrey Hall, Robert Palmer, Haywoode and Madonna.

SAT 23:30 Top of the Pops (b0bpzd98)
Janice Long and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 31 July 1986. Featuring Spandau Ballet, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Five Star, Stan Ridgway and Chris de Burgh.

SAT 00:00 Britain's Most Dangerous Songs: Listen to the Banned (b048wwlk)
From My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock to God Save the Queen, this is the story of ten records from the 1930s to the present day that have been banned by the BBC. The reasons why these songs were censored reveals the changing controversies around youth culture over the last 75 years, with Bing Crosby and the Munchkins among the unlikely names to have met the wrath of the BBC.

With contributions from Carrie Grant, Paul Morley, Stuart Maconie, Glen Matlock, Mike Read and John Robb.

SAT 01:00 Neil Sedaka: King of Song (b03v2yxt)
Neil Sedaka is one of the most successful American singer-songwriters of the last century. A classically trained musician, he won a scholarship to the Juilliard School at the age of nine and four years later he embarked on a writing career that would see him create some of the most perfect pop songs of all time. Throughout his career he wrote, recorded and sang a number of instantly recognisable and memorable tunes, as well as delivering a string of hits as a songwriter for other artists.

This documentary portrait film tells the story of Neil Sedaka's life and career, in which he had two distinct periods of success. Between 1958 and 1963 he sold over 25 million records, but then his career nose-dived after the Beatles and the British Invasion hit the USA. Leaving his homeland, he found success in the UK in the early 1970s and relaunched his career before returning to the US and achieving new stardom with songs like Solitaire and Laughter in the Rain.

Neil gives great insight into how he created catchy classics like Calendar Girl, (Is This the Way to) Amarillo, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen and Stupid Cupid, amongst many others.

SAT 01:00 Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC (b06nsxyn)
In the first of a two-part series, the BBC delves into its archives to discover British acting greats as they take their first tentative steps on the road to success. Long before they were knighted for their services to drama, we see early appearances from Michael Caine in a rare Shakespearean role, Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon.

Featuring unique behind-the-scenes footage alongside a wealth of classic British productions like War and Peace, the Mayor of Casterbridge and the Singing Detective, it reveals many career-defining moments from the first generation of acting talent to fully embrace television drama.

SAT 02:00 Natural World (b0133r58)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER 2018

SUN 19:00 Locomotion: Dan Snow's History of Railways (b01q7brf)
Episode 2

In the late 1830s, the railways arrived in London and linked the capital to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. This was the start of a truly national network - and one of the greatest civil engineering projects in history.

The spread of the railways triggered a mania across Britain. Railway tycoons like Samuel Morton Peto and George Hudson made fortunes as the stock markets boomed around these new developments. Yet the bubble burst in 1847 and shares plummeted. Thousands of ordinary shareholders filled the bankruptcy courts. However as Dan Snow reveals, the legacy of the mania was an incredible rail network for 19th-century Britain and a revolution in the way people lived.

SUN 20:00 The Ghan: Australia's Greatest Train Journey (b0bq3jnv)
The Ghan follows one of the world's great rail journeys, taking viewers on an immersive and visually stunning ride on Australia's most iconic passenger trains. Known as the Ghan, it travels for 2979 kilometres over 54 hours from the bottom to the top of the country. It begins in the suburban city of Adelaide, traversing a seemingly endless outback that includes the magnificent red centre, ending in the tropical coastal town of Darwin at the north western tip of Australia. The transcontinental train line led to the development of central Australia and the growth of towns along its path - Port Augusta, Alice Springs and Darwin. It took an epic 127 years to complete and was constructed by local Aboriginal surveyors and early immigrants, including the famous Afghan camel drivers, after whom the train is named.

SUN 23:00 I was a Yazidi Slave (p06mfhr0)
In June 2014 so-called Islamic State fighters occupied huge areas of Syria and Iraq, overwhelming the Yazidi settlements grouped around Mount Sinjar. Yazidi men were killed, young women forced into slavery. This film tells the story of Shirin and Lewiza, two Yazidi women captured by IS, who escape to Germany thanks to the intervention of Dr Jan Kizilhan, an expert on trauma. In all, he brings a thousand women and girls - all victims of IS sexual violence - from the refugee camps in Iraq to his clinic in the Black Forest for treatment.

Yazidis believe that sexual contact with a non-Yazidi, even through rape, results in a loss of Yazidi identity. As a way of destroying the community, the rape of women and girls is almost as effective as the execution of the men. Kizilhan believes it will aid the women's recovery if they know that the enormity of what happened to them is recognised.

With international lawyer Philippe Sands he explores the possibility of a genocide trial. We observe investigators gathering evidence of IS crimes, meet a German prosecutor intent on bringing perpetrators to justice, and consider the relevance of ongoing trials in Iraq.

SUN 00:00 Art of France (b08f1bw0)
Series 1

This Is the Modern World

In the final episode, Andrew begins with the impressionists. He plunges into one of the most wildly creative periods in the history of art, when France was changing at a rapid pace and angry young artists would reinvent how to paint, finding their muses in the bars, brothels and cabarets of belle epoque Paris and turning the world of art on its head. Monet, Degas and friends launched a febrile conversation about the role of painting in the modern world that would pave the way for just about every modern art movement of note, from the cubists to the Fauves, from the surrealists to the existentialists and from conceptual artists to the abstract expressionists.

SUN 01:00 Timeshift (b00x7c3z)
Series 10

The Golden Age of Coach Travel

Documentary which takes a glorious journey back to the 1950s, when the coach was king. From its early origins in the charabanc, the coach had always been the people's form of transport. Cheaper and more flexible than the train, it allowed those who had travelled little further than their own villages and towns a first heady taste of exploration and freedom. It was a safe capsule on wheels from which to venture out into a wider world.

The distinctive livery of the different coach companies was part of a now-lost world, when whole communities crammed into coach after coach en route to pleasure spots like Blackpool, Margate and Torquay. With singsongs, toilet stops and the obligatory pub halt, it didn't matter how long it took to get there because the journey was all part of the adventure.

SUN 02:00 Timeshift (b00xf6xk)
Series 10

The Modern Age of the Coach

Documentary which brings the story of the coach up to date, as it explores the most recent phase of Britain's love affair with group travel on four wheels - from school trips and football away-days to touring with bands and 'magic bus' overland treks to India.

The establishment of the National Coach Company may have standardised the livery and the experience of mainstream coach travel in the 1970s, but a multitude of alternative offerings meant the coach retained its hold on the public imagination, with even striking miners and New Age travellers getting in on a very British act.

SUN 03:00 The Culture Show (b03vkt8l)
2013/2014

Lego - The Building Blocks of Architecture

Tom Dyckhoff explores the contribution of Lego to architecture, and its continuing influence, arguing that it's changed the way we think about buildings.

Lego's plastic yellow bricks were launched in the 50s, and resonated with new visions of rebuilding society - with ethical, imaginative children's play at its heart. Tom meets the artists and architects reared on Lego who are using it to reimagine our cities today, from Bjarke Ingels, the leading architect of his generation, to international artist Olafur Elliasson, whose Collectivity project took three tonnes of Lego to the citizens of Tirana, Albania.

But with Hollywood franchises and huge expansion, has Lego lost its original ethos of creativity and construction? Tom looks at Lego's successors and how cult computer game Minecraft may be set to transform the cities of the future.

MONDAY 29 OCTOBER 2018

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bpb2lf)
Series 1

29/10/2018

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London return to report on the events that are shaping the world.

MON 19:30 Dangerous Earth (b08445rk)
Aurora

Dr Helen Czerski looks at the latest scientific insight into the aurora - dancing lights in the night sky that have fascinated cultures throughout our history. From the networks of cameras now capturing its vast scale, to novel experiments that probe the threat it poses to modern technology, Helen reveals the dramatic transformation in our understanding of the aurora, and the many mysteries that remain to be solved.

MON 20:00 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (b01p96g4)
Divine Gamble

Simon Sebag Montefiore charts the rocky course of Rome's rise to become the capital of western Christendom and its impact on the lives of its citizens, elites and high priests.

Rome casts aside its pantheon of pagan gods and a radical new religion takes hold. Christianity was just a persecuted sect until Emperor Constantine took a huge leap of faith, promoting it as the religion of Empire. But would this divine gamble pay off?

MON 21:00 Timeshift (b06jnzjx)
Series 15

The People's Liners - Britain's Lost Pleasure Fleets

Timeshift casts off for a colourful voyage of 'high teas on the high seas' in the company of passengers and crew of the vintage steamers which were once a common sight on the rivers and coastal waters around Britain.

Far more than a means of transport, these steamers attracted a devoted following, treating their passengers, whatever their pocket, to the adventure and trappings of an ocean voyage whilst actually rarely venturing out of sight of land. A highlight of the great British seaside holiday from the 1820s until the early 1960s - and open to all - they were 'the people's liners'.

MON 22:00 Storyville (p06mfd1f)
Selling Children

For middle-class Indian director Pankaj Johar, child slavery was an issue seemingly far removed from his life. Despite seeing children in the marketplace, factories and street corners, Pankaj rarely considered the circumstances which led millions of children to be forced into labour. This changed when Cecilia, a long-serving maid employed by Pankaj's family, suffered a devastating loss: her 14-year-old daughter killed herself following the trauma of being trafficked into sexual slavery.

Pankaj sets out to understand how, in the world's largest democracy, it is possible for children to be bought and sold with such ease. Meeting with Nobel peace prize winner and child rights activist Kailash gives Pankaj a sense of the magnitude of the issue as well as a better understanding of the ways in which poverty, illiteracy and corruption conspire to provide a breeding ground for child trafficking. He travels the country, meeting with both trafficked children and the traffickers, as well as activists, legal experts and the police. Working with activists from the organisations Save the Childhood and Guria, Pankaj gets exclusive access to film rescue operations and speaks with some of the enslaved children, who have been denied a childhood and an education, offering an insight into their lives.

Pankaj discovers how bigoted attitudes and corruption have lead to a state-wide failure to protect those who are most vulnerable. While he struggles to reconcile India's rapid economic development with the poverty and lack of opportunity which defines the lives of so many victims of child trafficking, an uncomfortable truth emerges: India's booming economy and the subsequent rise of the middle class is a major force which fuels the demand for cheap labour in the form of child slaves. Pankaj invites us to take responsibility, as consumers and as passive bystanders, to put an end to the selling of children in India and the world over.

MON 23:00 Venus Uncovered: Ancient Goddess of Love (b09g0k3j)
In 1914, the suffragette Mary Richardson attacked the Rokeby Venus at the National Gallery in London. But why did this painting fire such outrage? Professor Bettany Hughes embarks on a voyage of discovery to reveal the truth behind the Venus depicted in the painting, proving that this mythological figure is so much more than just an excuse for sensual nudity and chocolate-box romance. Venus Uncovered is the remarkable story of one of antiquity's most potent forces, and more than that. Hers is the story of human desire, and how desire transforms who we are and how we behave.

Charting Venus's origins in powerful ancient deities, Bettany demonstrates that Venus is far more complex than first meets the eye. Beginning in Cyprus, the goddess's mythical birthplace, she explores the mysterious and obscure ways this ancient goddess was imagined and looks into Venus's own love life to see that, even for her, tangling with another was often bittersweet.

Through ancient art, evocative myth, exciting archaeological revelations and philosophical explorations Bettany reveals how this immortal goddess endures through to the 21st century, and what her story and journey through time reveals about what matters to us as humans. Uncovering Venus shows us why we still need to care about this primordial companion on the human journey - and how we trivialise her power at our peril.

MON 00:00 Letters from Baghdad (b095vnm7)
The extraordinary and dramatic story of Gertrude Bell, the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day. She shaped the modern Middle East after World War I in ways that still reverberate today. More influential than her friend and colleague Lawrence of Arabia, Bell helped draw the borders of Iraq and established the Iraq Museum.

Using never-seen-before footage of the region, the film chronicles Bell's extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian desert and the inner sanctum of British male colonial power. With unique access to documents from the Iraq National Library and Archive and Gertrude Bell's own 1,600 letters, the story is told entirely in the words of the players of the day, excerpted verbatim from intimate letters, private diaries and secret communiques. It is a unique look at both a remarkable woman and the tangled history of Iraq.

MON 01:25 Swim the Channel (b07ll8s6)
In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb - with little more than some brandy, beer and beef tea to keep him going - became the first man to successfully swim from England to France. Since then more people have conquered Everest than successfully swum across the Channel. To this day, it remains the ultimate open water swimming challenge.

This documentary tells the story of those who keep Captain Webb's vision alive - the volunteer coaches and the unlikeliest of athletes who they tirelessly support in their dream to swim from England to France. The rules are simple - no physical aids, no wimp/wet suits, just a swimsuit, goggles, the all-important swimming cap and a spot of grease to stop the chafing.

At the heart of the community are pensioners Freda, Irene and Barry. They can be found in Dover every weekend from May to September come rain or shine, ready to train, feed and grease the wannabe Channel swimmers. The swimmers do not take on this arduous journey alone, and also rely on the skill of the pilots who navigate them safely to the other side of the busiest shipping lane in the world.

The community share their highs and lows both in and out of the water as they train together on this small stretch of pebbled beach shadowed by the ferry port. Feasting on jelly babies, and fuelled by adrenalin and dreams, the modern-day swimmer continues to risk it all in this, the ultimate challenge of man versus nature.

MON 02:25 Dangerous Earth (b08445rk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

MON 03:00 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (b01p96g4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUESDAY 30 OCTOBER 2018

TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bpb2lp)
Series 1

30/10/2018

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London return to report on the events that are shaping the world.

TUE 19:30 Dangerous Earth (b084n7z1)
Tornado

Dr Helen Czerski peers into the heart of the storm to find out how advances in technology are giving new insight into tornadoes - the fastest winds on the planet. From the breathtaking footage that capture the extreme weather events that produce them, to the latest experiments investigating their incredible destructive power, Helen discovers how our increasing understanding of the subtle changes deep within a storm is improving our ability to predict when and where these devastating beasts will strike.

TUE 20:00 Origins of Us (p00jjjyz)
Brains

Dr Alice Roberts explores how our species, Homo sapiens, developed its large brain and asks why humans are the only ape of its kind left on the planet today.

The evolution of the human mind is one of the greatest mysteries. It is the basis of religion, philosophy and science. We are special because of our extraordinary brains, and to understand why we think and act the way we do, we need to look at where and why our brains evolved.

The Rift Valley in Kenya is thought to be the crucible of human evolution, and here Alice examines the fossils in our family tree which reveal our brains have more than quadrupled in size since our ancestors split from chimpanzees. Research investigating sediments and rocks laid down during the period of greatest brain growth suggests a fluctuating environment may have played a part. Drawing on research on social politics in chimpanzees, the cognitive development of children and the tools that have been found littered across the Rift Valley, Alice explores how and why our ancestors brains became so big.

Successive species of increasingly large-brained humans migrated around the world - from Homo erectus to heidelbergensis, the Neanderthals to us. It has always been assumed the reason that Homo sapiens succeeded where others failed is to do with our large brains. Comparing skulls it's clear Neanderthals had just as big a brain as us, so why is there only us left? Alice goes to meet Svante Paabo, who is decoding the Neanderthal and human genome, and Clive Finlayson, who is unearthing the Neanderthals' final settlement, to try to find out.

TUE 21:00 New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands (b07n2hmt)
New Arrivals

New Zealand was one of the last land masses to be found and settled by people. Lush and fertile, almost everything brought here flourishes, often with surprising consequences.

Told through the experiences of its native species - in particular, a charismatic and peculiar giant, flightless parrot - this is the moving story of the changing fortunes of New Zealand's wildlife since humans first arrived.

TUE 22:00 There She Goes (b0bqrdsr)
Series 1

What Rosie Wants

A trip to Rosie's favourite place - the swimming pool - ends in disaster when she decides she hates it. Emily begins to wonder if it's just that Rosie wanted to do something else. Simon goes off to take pictures of all the places they regularly visit to put together a booklet. Rosie types 'onetwoman', which Emily and Ben try to cross-reference with her iPad to figure out what it means. In the earlier timeline, Emily's academic nature and desire for answers is yielding much less success. At their first appointment with a genetics doctor, she finds him a like-minded soul who seems to view Rosie as a problem to be solved.

TUE 22:30 The Silk Road (p03qb25g)
Episode 2

In the second episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, Dr Sam Willis travels west to Central Asia, a part of the Silk Road often overlooked and yet the place of major innovations, big historical characters and a people - the Sogdians - whose role was pivotal to its success.

In the high mountain passes of Tajikistan, Sam meets the last survivors of that race, who once traded from the Mediterranean to the China Sea. In the Uzbek cities of Samarkand and Bukara, he discovers how they were built by armies of captive craftsmen for one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen - Timur.

From here, Sam follows the flow of goods back towards the markets of the west, showing how their trading culture sparked cultural, technical and artistic revolutions all along the Silk Road, and goes back to school to learn where modern mathematics and astronomy were born.

TUE 23:30 Lost Kingdoms of Central America (b04hkb5p)
Kingdom of the Jaguar

Dr Jago Cooper explores the rise and fall of the forgotten civilisations of Central America.

His quest takes him from the crystal-blue seas of the Caribbean to the New World's most impressive pyramids, flying over the smoking volcanoes of Costa Rica and travelling deep underground in the caves of central Mexico.

He travels in the footsteps of these peoples to reveal their secrets and unearth the astonishing cultures that flourished amongst some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.

Jago begins by journeying through southern Mexico to investigate the rise and fall of America's oldest civilisation, the Olmec, which thrived over 3,000 years ago. He encounters colossal stone heads and the oldest rubber balls in the world and descends deep inside an ancient cave network in search of a were-jaguar.

TUE 00:30 Too Much, Too Young: Children of the Middle Ages (b013rknh)
Medievalist Dr Stephen Baxter takes a fresh look at the Middle Ages through the eyes of children. At a time when half the population was under eighteen he argues that, although they had to grow up quickly and take on adult responsibility early, the experience of childhood could also be richly rewarding. Focusing on the three pillars of medieval society - religion, war and work - Baxter reveals how children played a vital role in creating the medieval world.

TUE 01:30 Origins of Us (p00jjjyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUE 02:30 New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands (b07n2hmt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 31 OCTOBER 2018

WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bpb2lz)
Series 1

31/10/2018

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London return to report on the events that are shaping the world.

WED 19:30 Dangerous Earth (b084n7z7)
Iceberg

Dr Helen Czerski reveals the latest scientific insights into icebergs. From side-scanning sonar that scrutinises the edge of glaciers where icebergs are born, to satellite images that show how icebergs create hotspots for life and eyewitness pictures that give us a unique glimpse of how they transform over time, we can now capture on camera the mysteries of icebergs - and how their lifecycle is intricately linked to our changing planet.

WED 20:00 Teenage Tommies (b04pcmz5)
In this moving tribute to the teenage heroes of the Great War, Fergal Keane unearths the most powerful stories of Britain's boy soldiers. With as many as 250,000 boys under the age of 18 having served in the British Army during World War I, and with every tenth volunteer lying about his age, Fergal finds out what made them enlist. Was it motivated by patriotism or the spirit of adventure?

Fergal follows the children into the trenches to see how they coped with the reality of war. He explores how, as the casualties began to mount, a movement grew in Britain to get them home. Fergal also meets the children and grandchildren of these former boy solders, uncovering heartrending but often uplifting stories and taking them on an emotional journey to the places where their ancestors trained and fought.

WED 21:00 The Secret Story of Stuff: Materials of the Modern Age (b0bqjrpt)
Welcome to the magical world of materials, where designer, materials engineer and enthusiast Zoe Laughlin explores the stuff that shapes the world around us. Everything, from the cars we drive to the clothes we wear is manufactured from something. From her workshop at the Institute of Making, Zoe travels the country to discover the alchemy behind the latest developments in the science of those materials. Everlasting dental crowns are being 3D printed in Loughborough. In Chester, vets are repairing broken bones with porous metals. New textiles with thread 8 times stronger than cotton is the latest revolution in fashion and in London, fungus is being used to make a self extinguishing insulation that could revolutionise the construction industry. Bringing these wondrous material innovations back to her workshop Zoe puts them through their paces and in the process reveals why now is the most exciting time to be exploring this Stuff.

WED 22:00 The Thirteenth Tale (b03n30p9)
Psychological drama adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton from Diane Setterfield's bestselling novel.

Biographer Margaret Lea is summoned to the Yorkshire home of dying novelist Vida Winter, who has handpicked Margaret to write her biography. Though initially hesitant, as Vida has a reputation for distorting facts in interviews, Margaret becomes fascinated by her previously untold story.

As the novelist recounts her dark and disturbing childhood, Margaret is compelled to finally face the trauma of her own past. But as time runs out, Margaret, desperate to hear the end of Vida's story, begins to wonder if she is hearing the confessions of a murderer.

WED 23:30 Fear Itself (p0351g0z)
Fear Itself takes viewers on a journey through fear and cinema, and asks whether horror movies know us better than we know ourselves. Encouraging viewers to interrogate a diverse range of images and sounds sampled from 100 years of cinema, Fear Itself informs and unnerves in equal measure, changing the way you watch horror movies for good.

WED 01:00 Treasures of the Louvre (b01r3n6r)
Paris-based writer Andrew Hussey travels through the glorious art and surprising history of an extraordinary French institution to show that the story of the Louvre is the story of France. As well as exploring the masterpieces of painters such as Veronese, Rubens, David, Chardin, Gericault and Delacroix, he examines the changing face of the Louvre itself through its architecture and design. Medieval fortress, Renaissance palace, luxurious home to kings, emperors and more recently civil servants, today it attracts eight million visitors a year. The documentary also reflects the latest transformation of the Louvre - the museum's recently-opened Islamic Gallery.

WED 02:30 Carved with Love: The Genius of British Woodwork (b01q6xrv)
The Divine Craft of Carpentry

This series about the history of British woodworking concludes by looking at the Middle Ages, a golden era. Sponsored by the monarchy and the church, carvers and carpenters created wonders that still astound us today, from the magnificent roof of Westminster Hall to the Coronation Chair, last used by Elizabeth II but created 700 years ago. The film also shows how this precious legacy was nearly destroyed during the fires of the Reformation.

WED 03:30 Dangerous Earth (b084n7z7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

THURSDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2018

THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bpb2mg)
Series 1

01/11/2018

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London return to report on the events that are shaping the world.

THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0bqr3l5)
Simon Bates presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 14 August 1986. Featuring It Bites, Lionel Richie, Anita Dobson, Phil Fearon and Chris De Burgh.

THU 20:00 Human Universe (p0276q28)
A Place in Space and Time

Professor Brian Cox explores our origins, place and destiny in the universe. We all start our lives thinking that we are at the centre of the universe, surrounded by our family and the world as it spins around us. But the urge to explore is strong. Brian tells the story of how our innate human curiosity has led us from feeling that we are at the centre of everything, to our modern understanding of our true place in space and time - that we are living 13.8 billion years from the beginning of the universe, on a mere speck of rock in a possibly infinite expanse of space.

The story begins with Brian climbing to the summit of the spectacular fortified village of Ait-Ben-Haddou in the foothills of Morocco's Atlas Mountains. Here he reveals how, by watching the stars' motion across the night sky, it was natural for us to believe we were at the centre of everything - a view that held sway for millennia.

It was in Renaissance Venice that our demotion from the centre of the universe began. Here, thanks to the artisan glass-blowers in the city, Galileo was able to build the first telescope and discover our position was not at the centre, rather just one of a number of planets that orbit the sun.

Perhaps the true scale of the universe was most keenly felt by those rare individuals who, for a moment, left our planet behind and headed off into deep space. Astronaut Bill Anders recounts what it was like to see the Earth from this extraordinary vantage point. He tells the story of one of the most famous images in history, his Earthrise photograph taken from lunar orbit in 1968.

Since then, our satellites and telescopes have allowed us to see further into space - to the edges of our own Milky Way galaxy and beyond, to thousands of other galaxies, all the way to the extremities of the visible universe some 46 billion light years away.

Having found our place in space, Brian turns his attention to our location in time. The film follows 19-year-old Souad ait Malik as she leaves her isolated village in the High Atlas to attend the annual marriage festival. For as long as anyone can remember, generations of Berber have returned to this one place to find a partner and so begin the next generation. In the same way, Brian reveals how - as our exploration of the cosmos has deepened - we have even been able to piece together how the universe itself began.

In a powerful conclusion, Brian pieces together this story of creation that started with what Einstein called the 'happiest thought of his life' - the moment that he realised that gravity was far stranger than anyone had imagined. In an incredible experiment inside the largest vacuum chamber, Brian reveals how Einstein formulated a new theory of gravity that ultimately took us back to the big bang. And how in doing so, we humans found our true place in space and time.

THU 21:00 The Machine Gun and Skye's Band of Brothers (b03z2d1g)
In the summer of 1914, a company of Cameron Highlanders left Portree and sailed off to war. On the battlefields of France, these raw recruits would meet the Maxim machine gun - invented in London, and capable of firing a hellish 666 rounds per minute. The German army deployed these weapons with mathematical efficiency.

Neil Oliver examines the development of these ruthless, impersonal weapons, and the legacy they left in one Hebridean community.

THU 22:00 Blackadder (b00819cc)
Blackadder Goes Forth

Plan C - Major Star

Sitcom set during the Great War. The October Revolution in Moscow produces three appalling results: a ceasefire by Russia, an offensive by Germany and a Charlie Chaplin impression by Baldrick.

THU 22:30 Blackadder (p00bf6s9)
Blackadder Goes Forth

Plan D - Private Plane

Edmund, George and Baldrick join the Royal Flying Corps. However, Edmund and Baldrick are shot down soon afterwards and are taken prisoner by the Red Baron. George persuades dashing pilot Lord Flashheart to mount a rescue attempt, but when they hear what the Red Baron has planned for them, Blackadder and Baldrick are in no hurry to be saved.

THU 23:00 The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars (b01skvnh)
Beneath the Somme battlefield lies one of the great secrets of the First World War, a recently-discovered network of deep tunnels thought to extend over several kilometres. This lost underground battlefield, centred on the small French village of La Boisselle in Picardy, was constructed largely by British troops between 1914 and 1916. Over 120 men died here in ongoing attempts to undermine the nearby German lines and these galleries still serve as a tomb for many of those men.

This documentary follows historian Peter Barton and a team of archaeologists as they become the first people in nearly a hundred years to enter this hidden, and still dangerous, labyrinth.

Military mines were the original weapons of shock and awe - with nowhere to hide from a mine explosion, these huge explosive charges could destroy a heavily-fortified trench in an instant. In order to get under the German lines to plant their mines, British tunnellers had to play a terrifying game of subterranean cat and mouse - constantly listening out for enemy digging and trying to intercept the German tunnels without being detected. To lose this game probably meant death.

As well uncovering the grim reality of this strange underground war, Peter discovers the story of the men who served here, including the tunnelling companies' special military units made up of ordinary civillian sewer workers and miners. He reveals their top secret mission that launched the Battle of the Somme's first day and discovers why British high command failed to capitalise on a crucial tactical advantage they had been given by the tunnellers.

THU 00:00 Top of the Pops (b0bqr3l5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

THU 00:30 Timewatch (b00fg9hw)
2008-2009

The Last Day of World War One

Michael Palin tells the story of how the First World War ended on 11th November 1918 and reveals the shocking truth that soldiers continued to be killed in battle for many hours after the armistice had been signed. Recounting the events of the days and hours leading up to that last morning, Palin tells the personal stories of the last soldiers to die as the minutes and seconds ticked away to the 11 o'clock ceasefire.

THU 01:30 The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons (b07xtbhr)
Nicholas Parsons, Just a Minute host and stalwart of the entertainment world, explores his life-long enthusiasm for clocks when he goes in search of the most valuable and famous watch in the world.

The so-called Marie Antoinette, once the target of one of the biggest museum heists in history, was the masterpiece made by 18th-century genius Nicholas Breguet for that doomed queen.

Tracing the enthralling story of Breguet's rise to fame, Parsons visits Paris and Versailles, and the vaults of today's multimillion-pound Breguet business. Exploring the innovative and dazzling work of the master watchmaker, Parsons unravels the mystery behind the creation of his most precious and most brilliant work.

Parsons then heads to Israel to discover how, in the 1980s, the world's most expensive watch was stolen in a daring heist and went missing for over 20 years.

Revealing a little-known side of one of our favourite TV and radio hosts, the film offers a glimpse into Parsons's own private clock collection while also telling an enthralling tale of scientific invention, doomed decadence and daring robbery.

THU 02:30 Human Universe (p0276q28)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

FRIDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2018

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b0bpb2mv)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0bqr550)
Gary Davies and Bruno Brookes present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 21 August 1986. Featuring Depeche Mode, Prince and The Revolution, Bruce Hornsby and The Range, Modern Talking, Boris Gardiner, and The Communards.

FRI 20:00 Indie & Beyond with Shaun Ryder and Alan McGee (b0bn6xl4)
Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder and Creation Records boss Alan McGee reveal a selection of their all-time favourite tracks.

From first jobs to private jets, longtime friends Ryder and McGee unpack the songs that formed the soundtrack to their lives.

In an hour of eclectic tunes, Shaun Ryder also discovers his lost Top of the Pops appearance and Alan McGee declares an alternative Scottish national anthem.

Theirs is a blistering playlist of indie, punk and ska classics from Buzzcocks to The Specials, Junior Murvin to Marc Bolan, Orange Juice to Underworld and many more.

FRI 21:00 Marc Bolan: Cosmic Dancer (b094mcwl)
This intimate biography, narrated in Marc Bolan's own words, traces his remarkable journey from Hackney's 'king of the mods' to Tyrannosaurus Rex, as he evolved into the artist known as 'the hippie with a knife up his sleeve'.

With the dawn of the 1970s and the breakup of The Beatles, Bolan became the gender-bending glam rocker whose band T. Rex revitalised the British music scene. But director Jeremy Marre - incorporating unseen movies shot by record producer Tony Visconti and Marc Bolan himself - reveals a far more complex and driven figure whose life was tragically cut short, aged 29.

Featuring those who were closest to Marc, his friends, colleagues, family, partner Gloria Jones and producer Tony Visconti.

FRI 22:00 Radio 2 In Concert (b0bq3zyj)
Paul Weller

Recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in London as part of BBC Radio 2's In Concert series, the iconic British singer and songwriter Paul Weller performs with members of his regular band in a more acoustic set up, accompanied by a small orchestra in the intimate setting within Broadcasting House. The set includes songs from his new and well-received record True Meanings, his 26th album, which sees him in a reflective and introspective mood having just turned 60, as well as classic tracks from his back catalogue.

FRI 23:00 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00pjl55)
Part V

Series featuring legendary guitarists treading the boards and trading licks at the BBC studios. Expect riffs, solos and histrionics from the likes of Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls, Brian May from Queen, Duane Eddy, BB King and Joan Jett, filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Complete line-up:
Alice Cooper - School's Out
New York Dolls - Jet Boy
Peter Green - Heavy Heart
Queen - Killer Queen
Robin Trower - Alethea
Duane Eddy and the Rebelettes - Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar
John Martyn - Discover the Lover
Budgie - Who Do You Want For Your Love
Peter Frampton - Show Me the Way
BB King - When It All Comes Down
Whitesnake - Trouble
Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
The Skids - Into the Valley
Joan Jett - I Love Rock 'n' Roll.

FRI 00:00 Top of the Pops (b0bqr550)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

FRI 00:30 Island at the BBC (b00kvd3b)
Compilation of performances from the BBC archives of top Island Records artists, including Cat Stevens's Father and Son, Roxy Music's Do the Strand and Stir It Up by Bob Marley and The Wailers, plus tracks from Steel Pulse, U2, PJ Harvey, Baaba Maal and Amy Winehouse.

FRI 01:30 Sound of Song (b050rbz8)
Mix It Up and Start Again

Composer and musician Neil Brand's series exploring the alchemy that creates great songs reaches the modern era, when a revolution in how they were made took place. From the synthesisers of symphonic rock to the mixes of disco and the samplings of hip hop, music was transformed by the arrival of digital technology and the computer, which gave some songwriters more power but others much less. Along the way Neil talks synths with Rick Wakeman from Yes, samples with Public Enemy's Hank Shocklee, uncovers the surprising lo-fi origins of Bruce Springsteen's stadium-busting Born in the USA, and finds out how Cher changed the sound of her voice on the smash hit Believe.

FRI 02:30 Indie & Beyond with Shaun Ryder and Alan McGee (b0bn6xl4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

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

54 Hours: The Gladbeck Hostage Crisis 21:00 SAT (b0bqmhdp)

Art of France 00:00 SUN (b08f1bw0)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 MON (b0bpb2lf)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 TUE (b0bpb2lp)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 WED (b0bpb2lz)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 THU (b0bpb2mg)

Blackadder 22:00 THU (b00819cc)

Blackadder 22:30 THU (p00bf6s9)

Britain's Most Dangerous Songs: Listen to the Banned 00:00 SAT (b048wwlk)

Carved with Love: The Genius of British Woodwork 02:30 WED (b01q6xrv)

Dangerous Earth 19:30 MON (b08445rk)

Dangerous Earth 02:25 MON (b08445rk)

Dangerous Earth 19:30 TUE (b084n7z1)

Dangerous Earth 19:30 WED (b084n7z7)

Dangerous Earth 03:30 WED (b084n7z7)

Fear Itself 23:30 WED (p0351g0z)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 23:00 FRI (b00pjl55)

Human Universe 20:00 THU (p0276q28)

Human Universe 02:30 THU (p0276q28)

I was a Yazidi Slave 23:00 SUN (p06mfhr0)

Indie & Beyond with Shaun Ryder and Alan McGee 20:00 FRI (b0bn6xl4)

Indie & Beyond with Shaun Ryder and Alan McGee 02:30 FRI (b0bn6xl4)

Island at the BBC 00:30 FRI (b00kvd3b)

Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC 01:00 SAT (b06nsxyn)

Letters from Baghdad 00:00 MON (b095vnm7)

Life Story 20:00 SAT (p026vhrd)

Locomotion: Dan Snow's History of Railways 19:00 SUN (b01q7brf)

Lost Kingdoms of Central America 23:30 TUE (b04hkb5p)

Marc Bolan: Cosmic Dancer 21:00 FRI (b094mcwl)

Natural World 19:00 SAT (b0133r58)

Natural World 02:00 SAT (b0133r58)

Neil Sedaka: King of Song 01:00 SAT (b03v2yxt)

New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands 21:00 TUE (b07n2hmt)

New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands 02:30 TUE (b07n2hmt)

Origins of Us 20:00 TUE (p00jjjyz)

Origins of Us 01:30 TUE (p00jjjyz)

Radio 2 In Concert 22:00 FRI (b0bq3zyj)

Rome: A History of the Eternal City 20:00 MON (b01p96g4)

Rome: A History of the Eternal City 03:00 MON (b01p96g4)

Sound of Song 01:30 FRI (b050rbz8)

Storyville 22:00 MON (p06mfd1f)

Swim the Channel 01:25 MON (b07ll8s6)

Teenage Tommies 20:00 WED (b04pcmz5)

The Culture Show 03:00 SUN (b03vkt8l)

The Ghan: Australia's Greatest Train Journey 20:00 SUN (b0bq3jnv)

The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons 01:30 THU (b07xtbhr)

The Machine Gun and Skye's Band of Brothers 21:00 THU (b03z2d1g)

The Secret Story of Stuff: Materials of the Modern Age 21:00 WED (b0bqjrpt)

The Silk Road 22:30 TUE (p03qb25g)

The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars 23:00 THU (b01skvnh)

The Thirteenth Tale 22:00 WED (b03n30p9)

There She Goes 22:30 SAT (b0bpw76q)

There She Goes 22:00 TUE (b0bqrdsr)

Timeshift 01:00 SUN (b00x7c3z)

Timeshift 02:00 SUN (b00xf6xk)

Timeshift 21:00 MON (b06jnzjx)

Timewatch 00:30 THU (b00fg9hw)

Too Much, Too Young: Children of the Middle Ages 00:30 TUE (b013rknh)

Top of the Pops 23:00 SAT (b0bpz9dq)

Top of the Pops 23:30 SAT (b0bpzd98)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b0bqr3l5)

Top of the Pops 00:00 THU (b0bqr3l5)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (b0bqr550)

Top of the Pops 00:00 FRI (b0bqr550)

Treasures of the Louvre 01:00 WED (b01r3n6r)

Venus Uncovered: Ancient Goddess of Love 23:00 MON (b09g0k3j)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b0bpb2mv)