MONDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2022

MON 19:00 Canal Boat Diaries (m000bpkr)
Series 1

Barton Swing Aqueduct to Liverpool Docks

Life on board a narrowboat with Robbie Cumming. There are engine issues and a leaky boat to fix before Robbie reaches Liverpool Docks.


MON 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam (b0078kym)
The Early Pioneers

Fred Dibnah traces the development of steam power from the earliest experiments in the ancient world to the modern nuclear power station. Fred visits Cornwall to look at the early history of the steam engine, first developed to pump water from tin mines.


MON 20:00 The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution (b013cqpz)
Final Flourish

This episode takes a closer look at the late years of Impressionism, using the last show these artists did together as a starting point.

Waldemar looks in considerable depth at the work of Georges Seurat, taking into consideration his academic training at the Beaux-Arts School in Paris and the artists that influenced him, such as Piero della Francesca and Puvis de Chavannes.

There is also an insight into the complex but fascinating world of optics and art, and the ways in which the Impressionists were using the new discoveries in light and eyesight to influence their work. A fascinating 'after-image' experiment brings to life the ways in which our own eyes see colour, both in its presence and its absence.

Van Gogh's time in Paris, a period very little is known about, is also covered, charting the incredible journey the artist made from his brown and dull canvases to the splendid colour and light that pervaded his work on the cusp of his departure for the South of France.

The film finishes with a revisiting of Monet and his later waterlily paintings in the Orangerie in Paris. Waldemar investigates how a bad case of cataracts was responsible for a seismic shift in his colour palette and his brushstrokes. Spending time with an ophthalmologist, he finds out how old age and a fairly common ailment of the eyes caused Impressionism to shift and become radical again at the turn of the century and into the 20th century.


MON 21:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (m001494m)
Series 5

Glasgow

Britain’s premier art detectives, Bendor Grosvenor and Emma Dabiri, are on the hunt to find and restore one of the nation’s great lost masterpieces. Can a mysterious painting of a beautiful society woman really be by the celebrated artist Joshua Reynolds and which celebrity playwright will lead them from Rome to Bath to London’s Royal Academy? With a fascinating treasure hunt into the art of the Georgians and a very modern 21st century digital restoration the results are truly spectacular.

Bendor traces the remarkable life of Sir Joshua from humble beginnings in the West Country to reach the pinnacle of the artistic establishment, becoming the first president of the Royal Academy and the country's most respected authority on art. In Rome, Bendor explores how Reynolds developed his style, known as the Grand Manner, and visiting the home of a private collector he looks at a little-known self-portrait by Reynolds. Bendor explains why he believes it to be the greatest self-portrait ever made by a British artist, with virtuoso brushwork and a fluidity that gives it a remarkably modern appeal. Intensely personal and sympathetic it was painted when Reynolds was at the height of his success, wealthy enough to buy a large house in the centre of London, lavishly furnished and adapted for his own needs. Bendor is also pleased to see the picture has many similarities to the portrait of Elizabeth Linley.

Emma explores the story of the man who donated the picture, Archibald McLellan, a wealthy businessman whose passion for art saw him amass an outstanding collection which he left to the city of Glasgow.

Reynolds' achievements culminated with his presidency of the newly created Royal Academy of the Arts, a position he made his own and which gave him an authority to promote his own opinions about painting. The suite of rooms at Somerset House in the Strand, where the Academy was originally housed, have recently been restored and Bendor visits to get a taste of the spaces that would have been familiar to Reynolds, including the Great Room where the tradition of the Summer Exhibition was born under Sir Joshua.

At the restoration studio the portrait itself has been subject to close scrutiny. At some point in the last few years, the surface of the painting had been coated with a thick varnish which has now discoloured and darkened. However, Reynolds' unorthodox painting methods, often using wax instead of oil to mix his paints, mean it must undergo stringent technical analysis to ensure it is safe to clean it. It soon becomes clear it will be impossible to restore the picture, which Bendor feels will damage the prospects of a favourable verdict from the Reynolds expert, Martin Postle.

Emma investigates the brief and tragic life of the woman who has always been the accepted subject of the picture, Elizabeth Linley. A child prodigy, she became a celebrity singer performing in her hometown of Bath from the age of nine. In her teens she was regarded as a great beauty and suffered frequent but unwelcome attention from suitors. She eloped and married the playwright and politician Richard Brindsley Sheridan and found herself at the centre of a constitutional crisis before her tragic early death at the age of 37. Emma is puzzled to know what evidence there is that the portrait is really Elizabeth as there have been doubts expressed in the past. When she looks at some of Reynolds' vivid and insightful portraits of female celebrities from the Georgian era she is surprised when she uncovers the true identity of the sitter in our portrait.

In order to give a sense of how the portrait would look if it had been possible to clean it, Bendor is amazed to see the results that can be achieved digitally. Using laser scanning techniques and high resolution re-colourisation a three-dimensional facsimile is created which he hopes will give his case a boost. The portrait is returned to Glasgow for the verdict to be revealed.


MON 22:00 Metalworks! (b01fhmhp)
The Golden Age of Silver

Dan Cruickshank visits Britain's finest country houses, museums and factories as he uncovers the 18th- and 19th-century fascination with silver. Delving into an unsurpassed era of shimmering opulence, heady indulgence and conspicuous consumption, Dan discovers the Georgian and Victorian obsession with this tantalising precious metal which represented status, wealth and excellent taste. He gives us a glimpse of some of the most extensive collections and exquisite pieces of silverware to have ever been made on British shores.


MON 23:00 Metalworks! (b01hdhpy)
The Knight's Tale

Art historian and curator Tobias Capwell celebrates the great age of armour. Referencing the unstoppable rise of the Royal Almain Armoury at Greenwich, he tells the forgotten story of how Henry VIII fused German high technology with Renaissance artistry in the pursuit of one aim - to become the very image of the perfect knight. Using the talents of foreign craftsmen and his court artist Hans Holbein, Henry transformed himself into a living metal sculpture. His daughter Elizabeth I further exploited that image, making her courtiers parade before her in the most innovative and richly decorated works ever commissioned in steel.


MON 00:00 Africa with Ade Adepitan (m0002jl2)
Series 1

Episode 2

The second leg of Ade Adepitan’s four-part journey around Africa, a continent undergoing huge change. This leg takes him across central Africa, from the coast of Gabon, through the giant Democratic Republic of Congo, and on to Uganda.

He starts off the coast of Gabon looking for humpback whales. It is one of Africa’s best spots for seeing them, thanks to Gabon’s vast marine sanctuaries. The country is an eco-paradise, not just in the water, but on land as well where 80% of it is forested. But the country has recently introduced one of the most destructive agri-businesses in the tropics - palm oil farming. Ade discovers how Gabon hopes to do it sustainably. The country has impressive environmental credentials, but on a tour of its divided capital Ade hears that some people are skeptical. One critic suggests it is a way for the country’s autocratic ruler Ali Bongo Ondimba to curry favour with the international community.

Next up is perhaps the most chaotic and corrupt country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ade discovers first-hand how everyone from the traffic police to the country’s top politicians are on the take. He also spends time with some of Kinshasa’s musicians and ‘sapeurs’ – people who get kitted out in the finest haute couture in one of the poorest countries on the planet.

In DRC’s far east, he finds out what lies at the heart of the country’s problems: a never-ending conflict amongst local militia, fuelled by foreign countries who want to get their hands on the DRC’s vast resources. After going on a tank patrol with the UN, he meets Kibomango, a champion boxer who is helping to rehabilitate some of the country’s 30,000 child soldiers.

Travelling into one of the most famous national parks in the world, Virunga, Ade discovers that few areas of the country have been left unscarred by the violence. And the impact on the wildlife has been extreme, as Ade encounters some of the world’s few remaining mountain gorillas.

His final stop on this trip is Uganda where he meets Bobi Wine, one of Africa’s most outspoken political campaigners. Bobi was recently arrested and beaten, and his driver killed, after his protests drew the attention of long-serving autocratic ruler Yoweri Museveni. Ade meets a defiant man who will not give up, no matter what threats are made on his life. He is part of a new generation of Africans who are fighting to take back control from the post-colonial leaders who have done so much to wreck the continent.


MON 01:00 Canal Boat Diaries (m000bpkr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 01:30 Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam (b0078kym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:00 The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution (b013cqpz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 03:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (m001494m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]