Eurotunnel teams have a quarter of a century’s worth of experience in getting cars and lorries onto trains. It all hinges on a finely tuned system using letters to send the right vehicles to right trains. But when pre-Brexit passport checks cause slow coaches, how will the allocation team in Folkestone keep the endless stream of half-term holiday traffic flowing?
Meanwhile, with the 25th anniversary well under way, there is some extreme painting going on at both ends of the tunnel: two giant murals that will somehow link to each other across the sea. But how will the
painters work around the tunnel entrance when the trains never stop running? Inside the tunnel, those high-speed trains are being slowed down by the air they push in front of them. And the only way to relieve the pressure is with tubes connecting one tunnel to another. So how do those tubes work and what happens when they need to be repaired? Plus we take a trip on the catenary team’s revolutionary new camera van that will transform the way they look for faults and we meet the Tottenham and Liverpool fans heading to Madrid for the Champion’s League final.
Follow Bob Ross as he leads you into the incredible beauty of the dry lands. A unique oval painting for beginners and accomplished artists too.
The so-called Saturday Night Massacre, the chain of events that unfolded on 20 October 1973, when President Nixon demanded that special prosecutor Archibald Cox be fired.
President Nixon clings on to the White House as the case against him mounts. The automatic recording system he ordered to be installed in the Oval Office, however, contains damning evidence.
The first episode in the Handmade series, part of BBC Four Goes Slow, is a filmed portrait of the making of a simple glass jug.
Filmed in real time and without voiceover or music, the focus is entirely on the craft process, an absorbing, repetitive process of blowing and rolling as glass designer Michael Ruh delicately teases and manipulates the molten glass into shape.
Ruh is a designer of contemporary glass objects, but the method by which he creates them is essentially ancient.
Glass is heated in a crucible until it becomes liquid. Ruh's task, shared with his assistant, is to keep the glass hot and in constant motion as he breathes into it and gradually shapes the expanding globe into the form of a jug.
THURSDAY 29 APRIL 2021
THU 19:00 The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside (m0008ls4)
Series 1
What Goes Around…
After 25 years in business, Eurotunnel is at a junction, with many of its staff facing retirement and new recruits being drafted in. And the next batch of wannabe shuttle drivers has just arrived for the first round of testing. The tests, however, are ruthless, with a 90% fail rate, so who will make it through?
Meanwhile the passenger comings and goings never stop and the summer is the busiest time of all, with super cars arriving in convoy for the Le Mans 24 hour race. But as the French step up their passport controls, and the screens jam at the Terminal Control Centre, will the supercars make it to France on time?
We also find out how the teams cope with “no tarmac day”, the busiest day of the year, when the schools break up and 10,200 cars head for the tunnel. Then we take a rollercoaster ride through the tunnel with train drivers Tash and Steve, who show us why the undersea geology makes the tunnel bend.
Inside the world’s biggest train shed in Calais, we see how maintenance teams keep the locomotives running. Back in Folkestone, we meet the UK team hard at work in the slightly smaller UK shed. Why do they love sheds? How come they don’t want to retire? And why is it that some of the staff are more concerned with Pexit than Brexit?
THU 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000vklz)
Series 4
Lone Mountain
Travel with Bob Ross and enjoy a spectacular view in a painting that offers a fabulous lesson in creating rugged and rocky natural surfaces.
THU 20:00 Snooker: World Championship (m000vkm1)
2021
Day 13: Evening Session
Live semi-final action from the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
THU 22:00 Being AP (b08g8mpz)
Documentary charting the final season of champion jockey AP McCoy as he attempted to do the almost impossible of riding 300 winners in a single season.
THU 23:35 Great War Horses (b094f4tl)
The horses that provided the backbone of the Australian Light Horse regiments in World War I were popularly known as Walers. Bred for Australia's tough Outback conditions, Walers were well-equipped for the harsh climate and terrain of the Middle East, where the ANZAC forces faced the armies of the Ottoman Empire.
Great War Horses is a powerful, moving account of the men and horses of the Australian Light Horse and the pivotal role they played in World War I at the Battle of Romani (1916), the celebrated Light Horse charge at the Battle of Beersheba (1917) and the capture of Damascus in 1918.
THU 00:35 A History of Art in Three Colours (b01lcz2s)
Blue
Dr James Fox explores how, in the hands of artists, the colours gold, blue and white have stirred emotions, changed behaviour and even altered the course of history.
When, in the Middle Ages, the precious blue stone lapis lazuli arrived in Europe from the east, blue became the most exotic and mysterious of colours. And it was artists who used it to offer us tantalising glimpses of other worlds beyond our own.
THU 01:35 The Joy of Painting (m000vklz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 02:05 The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside (m0008ls4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
THU 02:35 Fighting for King and Empire: Britain's Caribbean Heroes (b05v08b7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:40 on Monday]
FRIDAY 30 APRIL 2021
FRI 19:00 BBC Young Musician (m000vkmc)
2020
Semi-Final
The 2020 edition of BBC Young Musician remained incomplete when we left it last spring. Tonight the story resumes with extensive highlights of the semi-final, which was filmed just days before the first UK-wide lockdown back in March last year. The semi-final sees the winners of the keyboard, strings, brass, woodwind and percussion finals compete for the three coveted places in the grand final.
Organist and conductor Anna Lapwood is our guide to proceedings, and she’s joined by Tim Rhys-Evans - director of music at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama who provides insight and analysis. Josie D’Arby also joins the line-up with interviews with the semi-finalists and Jess Gillam continues her series of conversations discussing the changing face of classical music with visionary conductor Nicholas Collon.
As always, the five talented performers provide a tough challenge for the judges.
The semi-finalists are:
Fang Zhang, winner of the percussion final, oboist Ewan Miller winner of the woodwind final, Annemarie Federle, who won the brass final on French horn, winner of the keyboard final, pianist Thomas Luke, and violinist Coco Tomita, who won the strings final.
Making the all-important decisions are:
Lisa Tregale, director of the National Chorus and Orchestra of Wales, Chi-Chi Nwanoku, acclaimed double bassist and founder, artistic and executive director of the Chineke! Foundation, John Hardy, award winning composer and head of composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and Angela Dixon, chief executive of performance space Saffron Hall, and the chair of the judging panel for BBC Young Musician 2020.
The semi-final was filmed at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in March 2020 before the first national lockdown.
FRI 20:30 Snooker: World Championship (m000vkmf)
2021
Day 14: Evening Session
Live semi-final action from the 2021 World Snooker Championship.
FRI 22:00 Ronnie’s: Ronnie Scott and His World-Famous Jazz Club (m000pjcm)
A music documentary that celebrates the legacy of Ronnie Scott and his world-famous jazz club. Featuring previously unseen and unheard performances as well as interviews with some of the most iconic figures in music, the film explores the club’s 60-year history and shines a light on the uncompromising men and women who both built it and who took to its stage.
Named after the late tenor saxophonist who founded the club in London’s bohemian district of Soho in 1959 with business partner Pete King, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club was inspired by the vibrant postwar music scene in New York and quickly became the city’s most famous music venue. Since then the club has consistently played host to the world’s greatest musical legends, including Chet Baker, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Roland Kirk, Buddy Rich, Oscar Peterson and Nina Simone.
Ronnie Scott was among the earliest British musicians influenced by Charlie Parker and became one of the finest saxophone players in Europe. His chief motivation in starting a jazz club was to create a space where he and his contemporaries were free to play modern, forward-thinking music.
Ronnie was beloved by many, from the great and famous who frequented his club to the many hard-up musicians who were often helped by his warmth and generous spirit. However, Ronnie was as complex and colourful as the music played on his stage. In private, Ronnie battled with depression, and when his untimely death occurred in 1996, it left the jazz community bereft of a respected and favourite leader.
FRI 23:45 Jazz 625 (m0004nrl)
For One Night Only
A special 90-minute jazz show that pays tribute to the iconic 1960s BBC Two series of the same name and recreates the look and feel of the original broadcasts.
Recorded live at the 2019 Cheltenham Jazz Festival and hosted by Andi Oliver, the programme features a house band and special guests including Gregory Porter, Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones, Joshua Redman, Jacqui Dankworth and Cleo Laine.
The programme also includes classic archive performances from the original series and interviews and features looking back at a classic time in jazz.
FRI 01:15 Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland (b0bbyy1w)
Series 1
Episode 3
Two 80s icons explore the distinct sounds that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in one of pop's golden decades.
Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox and one of the men behind Band Aid, and Kim Appleby, who had a string of hits with her sister Mel in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced band Mel and Kim, go on a journey back in time to the 80s to figure out why certain cities produced their own diverse tunes.
It's a fascinating tale. Emerging from the ashes of punk, British and Irish music ripped up the pop rule book in the 80s and topped the charts worldwide. But there was no definitive 'British' pop sound. Innovative chart-toppers were being produced by artists hailing from all over the UK and Ireland.
In this third and final episode, Midge and Kim visit London and Manchester, the two cities that did battle with each other for musical pre-eminence as 80s music turned towards the new sounds of dance.
Star interviewees include Denise Pearson from Five Star, Soul II Soul's Jazzie B, Mark Moore of S'Express, Shaun Ryder from The Happy Mondays and Peter Hook of New Order.
It's a tale of how studio technology changed music, with British bands putting their own unique spin on dance to produce contrasting northern and southern sounds.
FRI 02:15 Jazz Divas Gold (b01sbxqy)
BBC Four explores the archives for the sultry sounds and looks of 'Jazz Divas Gold'! Featured Jazz legends include Ella Fitzgerald, Marion Montgomery, Cleo Laine, Blossom Dearie, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Betty Carter, Amy Winehouse, Eartha Kitt and many more who can be seen from 1965 to 2008 on BBC treasures such as Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life, Show of the Week, Not Only...But Also, Birdland, Parkinson, Later..with Jools Holland, Morecambe and Wise and more...so let's hear it for the ladies!
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
00:35 THU (b01lcz2s)
BBC Young Musician
19:00 FRI (m000vkmc)
Being AP
22:00 THU (b08g8mpz)
Between the Lines
22:00 SUN (m000vkk9)
Between the Lines
22:50 SUN (m000vkkc)
Coast
21:50 SUN (b00ttmkn)
Colour: The Spectrum of Science
00:40 MON (b06pm7t8)
David Stratton’s Stories of Australian Cinema
00:00 TUE (m000jb62)
Fighting for King and Empire: Britain's Caribbean Heroes
23:40 MON (b05v08b7)
Fighting for King and Empire: Britain's Caribbean Heroes
02:35 THU (b05v08b7)
Great War Horses
23:35 THU (b094f4tl)
Handmade
23:40 WED (b05tpv83)
How to Build... a Nuclear Submarine
23:00 TUE (b00syt1w)
How to Build... a Nuclear Submarine
03:00 TUE (b00syt1w)
Inside Chernobyl's Mega Tomb
22:00 TUE (b08650s6)
Inside Chernobyl's Mega Tomb
02:00 TUE (b08650s6)
Jazz 625
23:45 FRI (m0004nrl)
Jazz Divas Gold
02:15 FRI (b01sbxqy)
Lights Up
19:00 SUN (m000vkk7)
Lights Up
22:00 MON (m000vk7z)
Lights Up
01:10 WED (m000vkk7)
New Power Generation: Black Music Legends of the 1980s
23:55 SAT (b0177bjb)
Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise
19:00 SAT (b06gqsqn)
Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise
02:55 SAT (b06gqsqn)
Rome's Invisible City
22:55 SAT (b05xxl4t)
Rome's Invisible City
02:10 SUN (b05xxl4t)
Ronnie’s: Ronnie Scott and His World-Famous Jazz Club
22:00 FRI (m000pjcm)
Screengrabbed: BBC Introducing Arts
02:40 MON (m000bt4t)
Scuffles, Swagger and Shakespeare: The Hidden Story of English
23:40 SUN (m000b8ny)
Sinatra: All or Nothing at All
00:55 SAT (b06tkbvh)
Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland
01:15 FRI (b0bbyy1w)
Snooker: World Championship
20:00 SAT (m000vklc)
Snooker: World Championship
20:00 MON (m000vk7x)
Snooker: World Championship
20:00 TUE (m000vkm7)
Snooker: World Championship
20:00 WED (m000vklk)
Snooker: World Championship
20:00 THU (m000vkm1)
Snooker: World Championship
20:30 FRI (m000vkmf)
Sold! Inside the World's Biggest Auction House
00:10 SUN (b083s5t6)
Sold! Inside the World's Biggest Auction House
01:10 SUN (b084kqsg)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
19:00 MON (m00080yb)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
02:10 MON (m00080yb)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
19:00 TUE (m00086zf)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
01:30 TUE (m00086zf)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
19:00 WED (m0008dpr)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
00:40 WED (m0008dpr)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
19:00 THU (m0008ls4)
The Channel Tunnel – Life on the Inside
02:05 THU (m0008ls4)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 MON (m000vk7v)
The Joy of Painting
01:40 MON (m000vk7v)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 TUE (m000vkm5)
The Joy of Painting
01:00 TUE (m000vkm5)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 WED (m000vklh)
The Joy of Painting
00:10 WED (m000vklh)
The Joy of Painting
19:30 THU (m000vklz)
The Joy of Painting
01:35 THU (m000vklz)
The Young Montalbano
21:00 SAT (b06z6470)
Watergate
22:00 WED (p00frf9w)
Watergate
22:50 WED (p00frfb5)