Sean Fletcher puts on his hiking boots and heads north east to walk the eight-mile route along the River Lea. He takes in the landmarks of an industrial past and discovers what the future holds for the river in this fast-growing part of the capital.
A playful brook becomes the perfect complement for a range of rugged mountains in another magical Bob Ross setting on canvas.
American painter Bob Ross offers soothing words of encouragement to viewers and painting hobbyists in an enormously popular series that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1982. Ross is a cult figure, with nearly two million Facebook followers and 3,000 instructors globally. His soothing, nurturing personality is therapy for the weary, and his respect for nature and wildlife helps heighten environmental awareness.
Across the series, Ross demonstrates his unique painting technique, which eliminates the need for each layer of paint to dry. In real time, he creates tranquil scenes taken from nature, including his trademark ‘happy’ clouds, cascading waterfalls, snow-covered forests, serene lakes and distant mountain summits.
Many of Bob’s faithful viewers are not painters at all. They are relaxing and unwinding with Bob’s gentle manner and encouraging words, captivated by the magic taking place on the canvas.
At the start of 1933, Hitler is the chancellor of Germany but he does not have absolute power - there is still a democratic parliament beneath him, a head of state above him and the rule of law hanging over him. Hitler sets his sights on dismantling the German state.
When Hitler calls a general election to increase Nazi representation in the Reichstag, Hermann Goring sees an opportunity to impress by taking out the left-wing opposition. Goring orders a raid on the Communist Party HQ in the hope of finding evidence of a planned uprising. He doesn’t find it, but when a fire breaks out in the Reichstag it is an opportunity to pin the blame on the left. Goring then has the green light to use the stormtroopers to brutally round up communists and social democrats – terror reigns in German streets.
Thousands of arrests have been made but to make them legal, Hitler calls on president von Hindenburg and a decree is passed giving the Nazis emergency powers to ban free speech, the right to protest and to arrest without charge.
When the Reichstag burned the Nazis persuaded the German people and their president that this was the first sign of a left-wing insurrection. The ensuing fear of left-wing violent lawlessness means that Hitler can push through another law that suspends democracy, allowing him to act without the approval of parliament. Soon, the first laws to restrict the freedom of the Jewish population are passed. One Jewish baker is found dead with a swastika carved into his chest.
Goring has eradicated the Nazis’ parliamentary opposition. He is rewarded with more power and more prestige. Another Nazi wants this type of power and influence but in early 1933 Henrich Himmler is based in Munich, not Berlin. He is the unassuming, uncharismatic head of an elite force of fanatical Nazis known as the SS. Himmler wants to make the SS the central institution in Germany in charge of political repression. Now that Himmler can arrest perceived Nazi opponents indiscriminately, he needs somewhere to put them.
He gives a press conference regarding the opening of a camp to re-educate political prisoners. It has a capacity of around 5,000. The camp is near the small town of Dachau.
In April 1933 a 39-year-old deputy state prosecutor called Josef Hartinger receives a telephone call. Four detainees have tried to escape from the camp at Dachau, three have been shot dead. Under German law it is Hartinger’s job to investigate these unnatural deaths. He visits Dachau and sees the bodies - he realises something is very wrong. The official story just doesn’t add up and it is strange that all the dead happen to be Jewish. Hartinger is sure these deaths are murders and that they are not an isolated case. He collates enough evidence to implicate the commandant of Dachau in the murders.
This means going up against Himmler, whose power is growing. Himmler is in the process of bringing every state in Germany under SS control. He does not want the wider world to know that Dachau is a place of savage brutality and murder.
Hartinger’s boss will not go against Himmler’s authority and shuts his deputy down but Hartinger will not be silenced and files a report. Himmler is worried - the SS does not have the right under German law to kill political opponents. To placate his critics, Himmler fires the commandant and as far as the German public are concerned the concentration camps are benign and humane.
Hartinger’s file goes all the way to Berlin and the killings stop at Dachau – it seems like a victory for the law. But Himmler is starting to impress, and he manages to persuade Hitler to block the legal investigations into Dachau. Now Himmler and the SS feel emboldened and the killings continue.
Göring realises he has to take Himmler seriously and that his grip on power could be under threat, but he has his own secret weapon. He has created a surveillance organisation that listens in on anyone that could move against him. To act on the information gathered, Goring creates a new branch of the secret police, known as the Gestapo.
But Himmler wants Goring’s secret police – this is after all his territory. Goring will not relinquish control. These rivalries mean nothing to Hitler - books are being burned, Jewish people, gay people, intellectuals, anyone held to have anti-Nazi beliefs are disappearing.
Germany is well on its way to becoming a Nazi dictatorship, but there is a serious obstacle in Hitler’s way: the country’s elderly president.
Classical historian Dr. Michael Scott takes us on an extraordinary journey through the often-invisible treasures of one of the greatest ancient cities in the world – Istanbul.
The city has been at the crossroads of Europe and Asia for over two and a half millennia. From the Greeks and Romans, through the Ottomans to the Turks, Istanbul has been fought over, destroyed and rebuilt time after time.
First Michael brings the city’s tumultuous history alive in one iconic building - the Hagia Sophia. Built by the Romans, this Christian Cathedral has survived earthquakes, riots, sieges and conquest to become a mosque and now a museum. As Michael explores, he reveals the ingenious solutions that enabled this awe-inspiring church to survive 1,500 years of turmoil.
As Istanbul, once known as Constantinople, was built by Emperor Constantine to outdo Rome itself, Michael goes in search of the mighty city the emperor built – Constantinople. Michael discovers that Istanbul is built upon layer upon layer of history and culture, one era's buildings erected on top of the other. With the help of local archeologists and experts, Michael delves into some surprising spaces – such as the once enormous Hippodrome. It began as a stadium for chariot racing but it's foundations were later converted into a huge water cistern to supply the Emperor’s Great Palace. Michael wades through its foul smelling water to uncover the Hippodrome’s secrets.
With many of the city’s most extraordinary places concealed, out of sight or underground, we turn to the latest 3D imaging technology to reveal them. Our scanning team help us to see the city as no human eye ever could; peeling back the layers of history; showing how the city has had to reinvent itself over and over through its turbulent past.
Michael’s adventure finds him unearthing a holy well, hidden 30 feet under a modern carpet shop. He walks high above the city on the most sophisticated and longest aqueduct of the Roman world and finds that part of the once glorious Great Palace of Constantine is now a burned out shelter for a homeless man. He explores the fortress headquarters of the Muslim Sultan who captured the city. And with the help of the hi-tech 3D scans, reveals one of the fortress towers as a ruthlessly efficient war machine that helped end the Roman Empire, less than 50 years before Columbus discovered America.
Along the way Michael visits the teaming exuberance of the conquering Sultan’s Grande Bazaar and uncovers the engineering innovations of the magnificent Süleymaniye Mosque, a treasure of the Ottoman Empire’s “golden age”.
But Michael goes beyond even the extraordinary 3D scans to experience Istanbul in a whole new way – through Virtual Reality - flying up, right through the ancient dome of the Hagia Sophia, seeing Istanbul as even the locals have never seen it before.
When America's last standing roller rinks are threatened with closure, a community of thousands battles in a racially charged environment to save an underground subculture - one that has remained undiscovered by the mainstream for generations, yet has given rise to some of the world's greatest musical talent.
We would all love to live in a cottage. It is the national fantasy - thatch on the roof, roses over the door, fire in the grate. Dan is in Stoneleigh in the beautiful Warwickshire countryside. The village has barely changed in 500 years, its cottages perfectly preserved. But even better, there is a treasure trove of documents in the local abbey which reveal centuries of daily life in extraordinary detail. Whether it is the pub owner fined for serving poor beer, the widow told to pay for her new home with her best chicken, or the first glass windows in the village, this film charts the cottage's transformation from humble medieval hovel to modern dream home.
WEDNESDAY 15 JULY 2020
WED 19:00 River Walks (b0bty0gp)
Series 1
The Nidd
Blind adventurer Amar Latif takes us on a route along one of Yorkshire’s most stunning river valleys. He abseils into a hidden gorge, canoes across a reservoir, and meets the local llamas while following a riverside trail along the Nidd.
Grab your boots and join adventurer Amar Latif as he takes us on a journey along one of Yorkshire’s most surprising rivers. As a blind man with a passion for outdoor adventure, Amar discover how the stunning landscape along the River Nidd has been shaped, while abseiling into a hidden canyon, discovering the remains of an abandoned village, canoeing over Bradford’s water supply and meeting the local llamas.
Amar’s 13-mile route takes in the most stunning parts of this unique river valley. It’s the place where mysterious gorges have been carved out over thousands of years, where villages have been left abandoned after huge civil engineering projects, and where the farms of the future are taking hold in the landscape. It is packed with intriguing history, stunning nature and incredible views.
We hear how Amar was introduced to outdoor adventure after he became blind when he was 18. Climbing Yorkshire’s Three Peaks was his first major challenge so the scenery of North Yorkshire still means the world to him.
His journey starts at Scar House Reservoir, where the source of the Nidd rises dramatically behind the dam wall. He starts his journey by canoe with a local instructor, paddling across the reservoir – before he explores the remains of a mysterious vanishing village that was once home to 1,250 people. With impressive archive pictures, he discovers how it housed families working on the revolutionary reservoir project which now provides most of Bradford’s water supply. Remains include the projection booth of a stunning 600-seat cinema.
Amar’s journey then continues down the Nidd valley – where the landscape is rapidly changing. Farmer Martyn Brown has turned his back on sheep and crops, and spent this year planting 10,000 trees on his 970-acre farm by the Nidd. He is part of a movement to revolutionise the way farms connect with nature. Amar meets him to investigate how this farm is transforming the fortunes of the local wildlife – and also helps out with a spot of dry stone walling to stop the sheep nibbling the new trees.
Walking with his guide, Amar then heads up and over the moor before descending to the dramatic How Stean Gorge. On the way, there is a brief stop at Middlesmoor where he explains how blind people can still enjoy stunning views like this.
Putting on his wetsuit, Amar then takes on a spectacular limestone ravine carved out over thousands of years by the power of the river. With instructor Tony Liddy, he abseils 45 feet into the gorge below. With specialist waterproof cameras, they explore a hidden area of incredible beauty and examine the natural rock formations and how the gorge came to be.
Continuing downstream, with stunning aerials and idyllic filming, Amar and his guide continue to Pateley Bridge – stopping to help catch wild brown trout on the river.
Amar then heads to what is officially the oldest sweet shop in England. Tasting the old classics, operating the vintage confectionary machines and talking all things sweet with its charismatic owner, Amar revels in the nostalgia that brings so many visitors to this beautiful village.
His journey then continues down the river valley – as the autumn leaves line the path as the river widens. His journey concludes by meeting a remarkable farmer’s wife. After going to buy a horse and coming home with a llama ten years ago, Suzanne Benson is the proud owner of a llama trekking farm in the beautiful countryside beside the River Nidd. Suzanne takes Amar on a llama trek, where he reflects on how he was in Peru when he last came across one, and wonders if a llama would make for a good guide dog replacement. They finish with a scenic trek overlooking this unique part of the Yorkshire Dales.
With high quality drone filming, stunning helicopter aerials, shots under the surface of the river itself and bespoke craft filming, this is a high quality film showcasing one of the most impressive but rarely visited parts of Yorkshire – all fronted by a witty, engaging and dynamic new presenter.
WED 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000kxkt)
Series 2
Winter Hideaway
Bob Ross creates an unexpected place of respite for the weary traveller by painting a lonesome cabin in the middle of a snowy setting.
American painter Bob Ross offers soothing words of encouragement to viewers and painting hobbyists in an enormously popular series that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1982. Ross is a cult figure, with nearly two million Facebook followers and 3,000 instructors globally. His soothing, nurturing personality is therapy for the weary, and his respect for nature and wildlife helps heighten environmental awareness.
Across the series, Ross demonstrates his unique painting technique, which eliminates the need for each layer of paint to dry. In real time, he creates tranquil scenes taken from nature, including his trademark ‘happy’ clouds, cascading waterfalls, snow-covered forests, serene lakes and distant mountain summits.
Many of Bob’s faithful viewers are not painters at all. They are relaxing and unwinding with Bob’s gentle manner and encouraging words, captivated by the magic taking place on the canvas.
WED 20:00 Rise of the Nazis (m0008lf9)
Series 1
Night of the Long Knives
Adolf Hitler has been chancellor of Germany for just under a year. It is a challenging balancing act. On the one hand, the Nazis must be mindful of President Paul von Hindenburg and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen, who are members of Germany’s traditional aristocratic ruling elite. On the other, there is the Nazis’ own power base – the stormtroopers - millions of angry, disenfranchised men who wreak havoc on German streets.
The stormtroopers are led by Ernst Röhm, one of Hitler’s oldest and closest friends. Röhm wants Hitler to fulfil his promise to sweep away the traditional ruling class. Hitler owes Röhm: he has paved the way for Hitler’s political career, and his stormtroopers have helped to eradicate left-wing opposition to the Nazi Party. Now, though, they’re a potential threat - stormtrooper violence is undermining Hitler’s credibility as chancellor.
In a bid to placate Röhm, Hitler makes him a minister, but Röhm tries to wrestle control of the existing army that reports to President Hindenburg, putting Hitler is in a difficult position, stuck between his president and his old friend.
Röhm’s actions present Hermann Göring with an opportunity to persuade Hitler that his old comrade is no longer a friend, but a threat. But Göring will also need the help of his own rival, Heinrich Himmler. Himmler agrees to help destroy Röhm and his stormtroopers and make the SS Germany’s only paramilitary force.
WED 21:00 Ian Hislop's Stiff Upper Lip - An Emotional History of Britain (b01nhccs)
Last Hurrah?
In the final part of his series, Ian Hislop takes a wry and witty look at the ups and downs of the stiff upper lip since the First World War and asks whether it still has a role in contemporary Britain.
He begins with the General Strike of 1926 and reveals how, despite growing class conflict, British resilience and control helped hold the nation back from all out revolution. He considers how, as the Empire declined in the 1930s, the stiff upper lip became something to have an affectionate laugh at, exploring in particular the British Character series of cartoons by Pont. From then onwards, Britons became increasingly self-conscious about the stiff upper lip; everyone, regardless of how they felt about it, recognised it as a facet of the national character.
This would serve us in good stead during the war years, when 'keeping calm and carrying on' became essential for national survival. Ian examines the original poster behind the now ubiquitous slogan and tells its story. He also unpicks the truths from the untruths which make up the legendary blitz spirit.
Ian shows, however, that for the post-war generation the stiff upper lip began to be something treated with disdain. He meets writer Alan Bennett, cast member of the groundbreaking 1960s satirical show Beyond the Fringe - and discusses its assault on old establishment values. But Ian also travels to the Welsh community of Aberfan, where in 1966 local people met terrible tragedy with an old-fashioned resilience and dignity in the face of an increasingly intrusive media which was now insisting that we all had a right to share in other people's grief.
Ian identifies the influence of American 'therapy culture' on British attitudes to emotional expression in the 1970s and peeks inside Cosmopolitan magazine to see how this seduced a wider public. A general national unbuttoning was epitomised by the touchy-feely approach of Princess Diana and the nation's outpouring of grief at her death. Ian meets the first person to lay flowers at Kensington Gardens and shares his own feelings about the day of the funeral.
Finally Ian asks whether the frequent displays of emotion and floods of tears on today's TV confirm the stiff upper lip's departure or whether just possibly, when the going gets tough, there's still a little of it left?
WED 22:00 Top of the Pops (m000kxky)
Kylie Minogue
A compilation of classic Kylie performances from the Top of the Pops studio.
WED 22:30 Germaine Bloody Greer (b0b6q27f)
What is it like being Germaine Greer? This observational documentary spends time with her and finds out.
Fearless, original and utterly charismatic, the 31-year-old Germaine Greer burst in to the national consciousness in 1970 with her game-changing bestseller The Female Eunuch. What did it feel like to be at the eye of the storm? What did the events at the time mean to the people caught up in them? Germaine takes us back to those giddy days and reflects with honesty, candour and caustic wit about what it was about then and how it all feels now. A rich seam of archive, including previously unseen footage, and an explosive soundtrack immerses us in those revolutionary times.
Is The Female Eunuch still relevant? Are women and girls today any less slavish when it comes to male approval? And what does Germaine think of Me Too? Germaine Greer: funny, clever, contrary, sensitive and caustic - there is simply no one like her. This film gets to know her.
WED 23:30 Virago: Changing the World One Page at a Time (b0817n9n)
Despite the 1960s free-love and alternative culture, many women found that their lives and expectations had barely altered. But by the 1970s, the Women's Liberation Movement was causing seismic shifts in the march of the world's events, and women's creativity and political consciousness was soon to transform everything - including the face of publishing and literature.
In 1973 a group of women got together and formed Virago Press - an imprint, they said, for 52 per cent of the population. These women were determined to make change - and they would start by giving women a voice, by giving them back their history and reclaiming women's literature.
Patronized and welcomed, criticized and praised, these women published books that showed the world how they saw it. They took out loans and invested their own money into the company, trusting and believing they could change lives through books - novels, nonfiction and polemics.
It is a story that continues today, over 40 years later, as a new generation of young feminists find their voice. This is the account of a determined group of women from 1973 to today - writers and readers who fuelled a revolution in how the world sees women and how women see themselves.
WED 00:30 Andrew Marr's Great Scots: The Writers Who Shaped a Nation (b04fh2rr)
James Boswell
As Scotland stands on the brink of a momentous decision, Andrew Marr explores the writers who have reflected, defined and challenged Scottish national identity over the last three hundred years.
He begins with an unlikely literary hero, James Boswell, a man torn between his patriotic duty at home and his desire for fame and adventure elsewhere. It is his colourful life and work that captures so vividly the uneasy relationship between England and Scotland in the century that followed the Acts of Union.
WED 01:30 The Joy of Painting (m000kxkt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:00 River Walks (b0bty0gp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 02:30 Ian Hislop's Stiff Upper Lip - An Emotional History of Britain (b01nhccs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 16 JULY 2020
THU 19:00 River Walks (b0bty0zm)
Series 1
The Severn
Shobna Gulati takes a revealing stroll through Shropshire and Worcestershire beside our longest river.
These days this stretch of the river is tranquil and quiet. But once hundreds of boats served the industries which had grown up along its banks. For Shobna it’s a voyage of discovery, as the former star of Coronation Street finds out about a part of the country that’s a world away from her native north west.
THU 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000kxlx)
Series 2
Foot of the Mountain
A lake and some tall trees pay homage to a commanding mountain in the background with a cabin standing nearby in another classic Bob Ross creation.
American painter Bob Ross offers soothing words of encouragement to viewers and painting hobbyists in an enormously popular series that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1982. Ross is a cult figure, with nearly two million Facebook followers and 3,000 instructors globally. His soothing, nurturing personality is therapy for the weary, and his respect for nature and wildlife helps heighten environmental awareness.
Across the series, Ross demonstrates his unique painting technique, which eliminates the need for each layer of paint to dry. In real time, he creates tranquil scenes taken from nature, including his trademark ‘happy’ clouds, cascading waterfalls, snow-covered forests, serene lakes and distant mountain summits.
Many of Bob’s faithful viewers are not painters at all. They are relaxing and unwinding with Bob’s gentle manner and encouraging words, captivated by the magic taking place on the canvas.
THU 20:00 Emma (b00n7pk1)
Episode 1
Adaptation of the Jane Austen classic by Bafta award-winning writer Sandy Welch.
Nothing delights Emma more than meddling in the love lives of others. But when she takes protégé Harriet Smith under her wing, her plans can only end in disaster.
A sumptuous, playful and witty new adaptation of Jane Austen's comic masterpiece from the pen of Bafta award-winning writer Sandy Welch.
Rich, independent and kind-spirited, Emma Woodhouse has no need to marry, but nothing delights her more than matchmaking those around her. Once she has married off her close companions, she alights upon the pretty Harriet Smith to fashion into her new playmate and ally.
She persuades Harriet that she is too good for her suitor, the farmer Robert Martin, and encourages her to set her sights higher. But close family friend Mr Knightley warns Emma that her meddling will cause great pain - to both Robert and Harriet. Emma refuses to listen, and Mr Knightley is furious at Emma's stubbornness.
THU 21:00 Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors (b08sqxk1)
Lucy Worsley explores the different houses in which Jane Austen lived and stayed, to discover just how much they shaped Jane's life and novels.
On a journey that takes her across England, Lucy visits properties that still exist, from grand stately homes to seaside holiday apartments, and brings to life those that have disappeared. The result is a revealing insight into one of the world's best-loved authors.
THU 22:00 My Friend Jane (b08ywkjv)
Jane Austen may have died 200 years ago but the Pride and Prejudice author's legacy lives on to this day. Prepare to be dazzled and charmed in equal measure by the writer's modern-day superfans - 'Janeites', who live, read and breathe the Regency period - as they reveal what a vicar's daughter from Hampshire means to them. Hold on to your bonnets folks, there's bound to be a Mr Darcy somewhere close by causing hearts to skip a beat.
THU 22:30 The Sky at Night (m000kxjy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
THU 23:00 Britain's Star Men: Heroes of Astronomy (b07xjh6z)
Four British astronomers celebrate 50 years of work and friendship by going on a road trip to revisit some of the world's greatest observatories. In California, a world leader in observational astronomy at a time when America's space programme was at its height, the astronomers spent their formative years developing friendships that would last a lifetime, and making scientific discoveries that would change the course of history.
Together they represent the most productive period astronomy has ever had. Their journey through the southwestern United States allows them to see once again the places and landscape they explored as young men. Now in their seventies, they share their reflections on a life spent looking at the universe.
Star Men celebrates the history of stargazing - the inventions and discoveries that have enabled us to learn so much about the universe, but more importantly to understand how much more we have yet to discover.
THU 00:00 Art, Passion & Power: The Story of the Royal Collection (p05qqyd8)
Series 1
Dangerous Magic
In a major four-part series, Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the history of the Royal Collection, the dazzling collection of art and decorative objects owned by the Queen. Containing over a million items, this is one of the largest art collections in the world - its masterpieces by Van Dyck, Holbein, Leonardo da Vinci, Vermeer and Canaletto line the walls of Windsor Castle, Hampton Court and many other palaces, museums and institutions around Britain.
Andrew argues that on the surface, the Royal Collection projects permanence, but within these objects are stories of calamity, artistic passions and reinvention. Their collecting shows how these kings and queens wielded power, but it also reveals their personalities - it's through their individual passions that we see them at their most human.
In this first episode, Andrew marvels at the works acquired by the great founders of the modern Royal Collection - Henry VIII and Charles I. Henry VIII deployed the most essential rule of royal collecting, that great art projects great power. Andrew decodes The Story of Abraham series of tapestries in Hampton Court Palace's Great Hall, explaining how these luxury artworks contain a simple message for his terrified court - obedience.
But Henry also presided over the first great age of the portrait in England; his painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, was a magician who stopped time, preserving the faces of Henry's court forever. Andrew visits the Royal Collection's set of over 80 Holbein drawings in Windsor Castle's print room to see how the artist helped the English to understand themselves in a new way.
Henry VIII tried to overwhelm with magnificence, but for Charles I art was a way to compete with other kings through taste. He was our first connoisseur-king and the greatest royal collector in British history. It was a fateful journey to Spain to win the hand of a Spanish princess that opened Charles's eyes to the works of Titian and Raphael. But his transformation into a world-class collector was sealed with the wholesale purchase of the enormous art collection of the impoverished Mantuan court. The greatest of the Mantuan treasures were Mantegna's nine-picture series of The Triumphs of Caesar that Charles installed at Hampton Court. They are themselves a visual depiction of how power - and art - passes from the weak to the strong. Charles was top dog for now - but for how long?
Andrew explores how Charles I's Royal Collection introduced a new artistic language to British art. The sensuality of Titian and the epic canvases of Tintoretto, still in the Royal Collection today, were a revelation for a country whose visual culture had been obliterated by the Reformation. And we see how Sir Anthony van Dyck created a glamorous new style for the king that could have served as a new beginning for British art. But this was a future that would never happen - the English Civil War and Charles I's execution put an end to this first great age of royal collecting, with the king's artworks sold in 'the most extravagant royal car-boot sale in history'.
THU 01:00 Bought with Love: The Secret History of British Art Collections (b0376y1l)
The Pioneers
Britain's country houses are home to astonishing world-class art collections full of priceless old masters and more. In this three-part series art historian Helen Rosslyn opens the doors of some of our most impressive country houses to tell the story of how so many great paintings came to Britain and of the adventurous men and women who brought them here.
In the first episode she reveals the immense influence of the 17th-century pioneer collectors such as Thomas Howard, the 'Collector' Earl of Arundel, King Charles I and his entourage known as the Whitehall Group. Rosslyn explores how this group also brought a taste for the Baroque to Britain, commissioning continental artists such as Rubens, Van Dyck and later Antonio Verrio.
Featuring Verrio's extraordinary Hell Staircase at Burghley House in Cambridgeshire, as well as highlights from the collections at Arundel Castle in Sussex and Wilton House in Wiltshire, the series offers not only a visual treat but a surprising narrative to our national treasures.
THU 02:00 The Joy of Painting (m000kxlx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 02:30 River Walks (b0bty0zm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
THU 03:00 Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors (b08sqxk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 17 JULY 2020
FRI 19:00 Nigel Kennedy at the BBC (b04w0fyx)
Compilation of performances and appearances by Nigel Kennedy from the BBC archive, following his music development and career from a seven-year-old child on Town and Around to his virtuoso showstopper Czardas from the Last Night of the Proms 2013.
Featuring interviews with him through the years, and demonstrating a versatility of styles from classical to experimental to a jazz duet with Stephane Grappelli.
FRI 20:00 TOTP2 (b05y09mh)
FA Cup
Mark Radcliffe rounds up the best and worst football records from the TOTP archives. Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Gazza and West Ham all feature alongside Arsenal.
FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (m000kxm8)
Nicky Campbell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 14 December 1989 and featuring Rob'n'Raz, Van Morrison and Cliff Richard.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000kxmb)
Bruno Brookes and Anthea Turner present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 21 December 1989 and featuring Sonia, Bros and Band Aid II.
FRI 21:30 Huey Morgan's Latin Music Adventure (m000kxmd)
Series 1
Puerto Rico
Migration has shaped music right across Latin America, but perhaps never more so than in Puerto Rico, where over half the population live, not on the island, but in the United States. Reflecting this story of two halves, Huey starts his final adventure right back on the streets where he first fell in love with the hot sounds of Latin Music - in New York City.
For Latinos leaving their home country and arriving in New York, identity and community was everything. ’El Barrio’, or Spanish Harlem, became the focal point for the Puerto Rican community, and Latin music the soundtrack to their survival. Fusing traditional music with American R&B and soul, newly minted Nuyoricans created the 60s Latin dance craze the boogaloo. Huey talks to Joe Bataan about his role as a boogaloo pioneer, and how music saved him from a life running gangs on the streets. Huey also drops in on music writer, and proud Nuyorican, Aurora Flores, who was there in El Barrio during the birth of salsa and witnessed the rise of legendary record label Fania.
Flying south to Puerto Rico itself, Huey sets off on a journey to discover the music that was left behind, hunting down the roots of salsa in the capital San Juan, and the traditional folk styles of bomba and plena. These songs still play an important role in marking births and deaths in rural areas of the country, and Grammy-nominated band Plena Libre believe they are the source of that fierce Puerto Rican pride. Recently Puerto Ricans have needed every bit of that strength and pride - the island is still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Huey heads to a local bar to see how traditional music brought the community together after the storm.
Musical migration is still plays a huge part in Puerto Rico’s story - some of the most successful pop music of the last few years has come from this small island. Meeting up with cuatro player Christian Nieves, Huey discovers that traditional instruments are right at the heart of the most streamed and downloaded song of all time - Despacito! Huey heads back to the capital to learn about the birth of the world-dominating reggaeton rhythm with DJ Negro, the founder of The Noise, and meets breakout artist iLe to understand why Puerto Ricans are once again looking to their musical roots in their hope for a better future.
FRI 22:30 Latin Music: A Session with (m000kxmg)
Series 1
Edwin Colón Zayas
Edwin Colón Zayas is a world-renowned cuatro player, the Latin American guitar made famous in Luis Fonsi’s hit Despacito. Grammy Award-winning Edwin is joined by family and friends in the mountains of Puerto Rico to perform some of his favourite music.
FRI 23:00 Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones (b06t3vb9)
Biography of iconic rock balladeer Roy Orbison told through his own voice, casting new light on the triumphs and tragedies that beset his career. Using previously unseen performances, home movies and interviews with many who have never spoken before, the film reveals Orbison's remote Texas childhood, his battles to get his voice heard, and how he created lasting hits like Only the Lonely and Crying.
The film follows Roy's rollercoaster life, often reflected in the dark lyrics of his songs, from success to rejection to rediscovery in the 80s with The Traveling Wilburys supergroup. It uncovers the man behind the shades, including interviews with his sons, many close friends and collaborators like Jeff Lynne, T Bone Burnett, Bobby Goldsboro and Marianne Faithfull.
FRI 00:00 Southern Rock at the BBC (b01f1bwb)
Classic clips - from the Old Grey Whistle Test, In Concert and even Wogan - of Southern rock boogie in excelsis from the bands who poured out of the Deep South in the 70s. Includes performances from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Delaney & Bonnie with Eric Clapton, Dickey Betts from The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, Black Oak Arkansas, The Charlie Daniels Band, Gregg Allman with then-wife Cher, Edgar Winter and, of course, Lynyrd Skynyrd.
FRI 01:00 The Defiant Ones (m0002fyf)
Series 1
Episode 1
Years before they brokered one of the biggest deals in music history – the 2015 sale of Beats Electronics to Apple for $3 billion – Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine navigated very different environments towards destinies that would, ultimately and improbably, bring them together.
In this first episode, their stories are explored. Dr Dre’s began in Compton, where his fascination with dance music, DJ innovations and sound brought him into contact with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren. Together, they would become the core of the 1980s gangsta-rap supergroup NWA.
A native of Red Hook, Brooklyn, Jimmy Iovine talks about gravitating to music following an indifferent academic career, always determined to avoid continuing in the family business as a longshoreman. Jimmy discusses getting a job answering phones in recording studios, and through a combination of hard work and old-fashioned luck, connecting with artists like John Lennon, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen.
FRI 01:45 Huey Morgan's Latin Music Adventure (m000kxmd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
FRI 02:45 Latin Music: A Session with (m000kxmg)
[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)
A History of Art in Three Colours
01:00 MON (b01l4fyl)
All Aboard! The Canal Trip
19:00 SUN (b05t7kc1)
Ancient Invisible Cities
21:00 TUE (b0bkz22l)
Ancient Invisible Cities
02:25 TUE (b0bkz22l)
Andrew Marr's Great Scots: The Writers Who Shaped a Nation
00:30 WED (b04fh2rr)
Art, Passion & Power: The Story of the Royal Collection
00:00 THU (p05qqyd8)
Being Beethoven
21:00 MON (m000kxl2)
Being Beethoven
03:00 MON (m000kxl2)
Being Beethoven
23:25 TUE (m000kxl2)
Bought with Love: The Secret History of British Art Collections
01:00 THU (b0376y1l)
Britain's Star Men: Heroes of Astronomy
23:00 THU (b07xjh6z)
Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare
21:30 SUN (p089zj52)
Dan Cruickshank: At Home with the British
00:25 TUE (b07c645b)
Earth's Natural Wonders
20:00 SAT (b09sqtdw)
Earth's Natural Wonders
02:30 SAT (b09sqtdw)
EastEnders 2008
01:30 SUN (b00b0tg2)
EastEnders 2008
02:00 SUN (b00b0tgn)
EastEnders 2008
02:30 SUN (b00b0tn2)
EastEnders 2008
03:00 SUN (b00b0v81)
Emma
20:00 THU (b00n7pk1)
Germaine Bloody Greer
22:30 WED (b0b6q27f)
Great Continental Railway Journeys
23:55 SAT (b08h7s8h)
Great Continental Railway Journeys
22:00 MON (b08h80s0)
Huey Morgan's Latin Music Adventure
21:30 FRI (m000kxmd)
Huey Morgan's Latin Music Adventure
01:45 FRI (m000kxmd)
Ian Hislop's Stiff Upper Lip - An Emotional History of Britain
21:00 WED (b01nhccs)
Ian Hislop's Stiff Upper Lip - An Emotional History of Britain
02:30 WED (b01nhccs)
Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors
21:00 THU (b08sqxk1)
Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors
03:00 THU (b08sqxk1)
Latin Music: A Session with
22:30 FRI (m000kxmg)
Latin Music: A Session with
02:45 FRI (m000kxmg)
My Friend Jane
22:00 THU (b08ywkjv)
Nigel Kennedy at the BBC
19:00 FRI (b04w0fyx)
Rise of the Nazis
20:00 MON (m00084tb)
Rise of the Nazis
20:00 TUE (m0008c79)
Rise of the Nazis
20:00 WED (m0008lf9)
River Walks
19:00 MON (b0bty0pm)
River Walks
02:30 MON (b0bty0pm)
River Walks
19:00 TUE (b0bty0j0)
River Walks
01:55 TUE (b0bty0j0)
River Walks
19:00 WED (b0bty0gp)
River Walks
02:00 WED (b0bty0gp)
River Walks
19:00 THU (b0bty0zm)
River Walks
02:30 THU (b0bty0zm)
Roy Orbison: One of the Lonely Ones
23:00 FRI (b06t3vb9)
Seven Ages of Britain
22:30 MON (b00rqsfm)
Shakespeare in Italy
00:30 SUN (b01h7p6k)
Sicily: The Wonder of the Mediterranean
22:55 SAT (b08dzx1h)
Southern Rock at the BBC
00:00 FRI (b01f1bwb)
Storyville
23:30 MON (m0003vj3)
Storyville
22:00 TUE (m000kxl0)
TOTP2
20:00 FRI (b05y09mh)
The Defiant Ones
01:00 FRI (m0002fyf)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 MON (m000kxm1)
The Joy of Painting
02:00 MON (m000kxm1)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 TUE (m000kxkx)
The Joy of Painting
01:25 TUE (m000kxkx)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 WED (m000kxkt)
The Joy of Painting
01:30 WED (m000kxkt)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 THU (m000kxlx)
The Joy of Painting
02:00 THU (m000kxlx)
The Sky at Night
21:00 SUN (m000kxjy)
The Sky at Night
22:30 THU (m000kxjy)
The Young Montalbano
21:00 SAT (b03dtq1g)
This Farming Life
19:00 SAT (b074b7d7)
This Farming Life
00:25 SAT (b074b7d7)
Top of the Pops
01:25 SAT (m000kqq9)
Top of the Pops
02:00 SAT (m000kqqc)
Top of the Pops
22:00 WED (m000kxky)
Top of the Pops
20:30 FRI (m000kxm8)
Top of the Pops
21:00 FRI (m000kxmb)
Virago: Changing the World One Page at a Time
23:30 WED (b0817n9n)