The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on BBC 4 Contact

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



SATURDAY 03 JUNE 2023

SAT 19:00 Monty Don's Japanese Gardens (m0002k0x)
Series 1

Episode 1

Monty Don travels to Japan in spring. Amidst the cherry blossoms, he begins his journey through the iconic gardens of Japan. He visits one of 'the three great gardens of Japan' and the earliest surviving boating garden of the Heian period. He looks at the rolling green moss of a Buddhist garden and learns the secrets of creating a Zen landscape before visiting an unconventional garden created by a modern garden design legend.

Monty continues his travels to learn about the art of Japanese stonemasonry and the famous tea ceremonies and their accompanying gardens, before finally taking a lesson in the delicate art of traditional flower arranging - which turns out to be harder than it looks.


SAT 20:00 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t2w)
Circumnavigation

Explorer Paul Rose reveals the real story behind the first ever circumnavigation of the world.

Ferdinand Magellan set out 500 years ago to find the westward route to the riches of the Spice Islands. But, contrary to popular perception, he never reached them. Rose explains the dramatic sequence of events that led his scurvy-riddled crew to continue around the world without him. The incredible expedition was laced with bloody mutiny and murder, but its achievement was to fundamentally change the lives of the generations that followed, influencing life even today.


SAT 21:00 Afterglow (p0fg5n82)
Series 1

Mystery Break

The brutality of chemotherapy is now hitting hard and taking its toll on Ester. Jørund tries to make up with Charlotte after their bust-up but soon starts to suspect she may be hiding bigger secrets. Lars finally invites love interest Miko on a date.


SAT 21:40 Afterglow (p0fg5p9s)
Series 1

Zero Point

Ester starts to wonder if she has it in her to continue with the harshness of her treatment, Arild is invited to Japan on a once-in-a-lifetime work trip, and Jørund gets a nasty shock.


SAT 22:20 Afterglow (p0fg5r41)
Series 1

The Hour of Truth

There's a lot at stake in this final episode, as Ester gets to find out if the treatment she endured has worked or not, Jørund must decide if he intends to forgive Charlotte, and Finn reveals a big secret he's been carrying around for many years.


SAT 23:00 Timewatch (b00785y5)
2008-2009

The Real Bonnie and Clyde

Hollywood portrayed them as the most glamorous outlaws in American history, but the reality of life on the run for Bonnie and Clyde was one of violence, hardship and danger.

With unprecedented access to gang members' memoirs, family archives and recently released police records, Timewatch takes an epic road trip through the heart of Depression-era America, in search of the true story of Bonnie and Clyde.


SAT 00:00 As Time Goes By (p0479wdb)
Series 2

The Book Signing

It’s the day of Lionel’s book launch, and Alistair has a new publicity stunt prepared in case sales start flagging.


SAT 00:30 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077jl8)
Series 1

Birthday Boy

Terry feels depressed when everyone, even his mother, forgets his birthday. To make up for it, Bob throws a surprise party, but preparations for the bash don't go according to plan.


SAT 01:00 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:00 Monty Don's Japanese Gardens (m0002k0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 04 JUNE 2023

SUN 19:00 Holst and Vaughan Williams: Making Music English (b0bshhss)
Historian Amanda Vickery and broadcaster Tom Service unearth the fascinating story of the life-long friendship between composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst, whose music gave birth to the 'English sound' in the first half of the 20th century. They retrace the walking trips the two composers took together across the country to discover how influences ranging from the Renaissance masters to folk music imbued their music with the 'Englishness' we recognise today. Illustrating the story, the BBC Concert Orchestra perform excerpts of both composers' music.


SUN 20:00 Inside Classical (m001mnkv)
Series 1

The Lark Ascending

Inside Classical: The Lark Ascending comes from Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall and features the BBC Philharmonic conducted by the internationally renowned and Olivier Award-winning conductor Mark Wigglesworth.

The programme features two visionary and radical works by English composers - Sir Edward Elgar’s Symphony No. 2 and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending. The concert opens with a mysteriously resonant orchestral ritual by Richard Wagner: the shimmering prelude to his last music-drama work, Parsifal.

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ most beloved piece, The Lark Ascending, features a solo violin soaring over the orchestra, and the music’s aching, avian lyricism - inspired by George Meredith’s poem - sears itself into the imagination. More than a century after it was written it still flies free of musical convention, straight to the heart. The soloist tonight is the BBC Philharmonic’s leader, Zoë Beyers.

The Lark Ascending was dedicated to and first performed by the violinist Marie Hall, who also studied under Sir Edward Elgar from just 10 years old. And it’s Elgar’s Second Symphony that is the finale for the concert. The four movements of this 50-minute-long symphony are troubled, grieving, violent, and consoling: the whole piece is a turbulent search for an elusive ‘spirit of delight’.

Elgar conducted the premiere in 1911 and Mark Wigglesworth steps into the composer’s shoes with the BBC Philharmonic for this performance.


SUN 21:30 Secret Knowledge (b0376h9w)
Stradivarius and Me

The name of 17th-century violin maker Antonio Stradivari - or Stradivarius as he is usually known - is one that sends shivers down the spine of music lovers the world over. During his lifetime Stradivari made over 1,000 instruments, about 650 of which still survive. Their sound is legendary and for any violinist the opportunity to play one is a great privilege.

Clemency Burton-Hill indulges in her lifelong passion for the instrument as she explores the mysterious life and lasting influence of Stradivari - through four special violins on display at this summer's Stradivarius exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. She is joined by 2002 Young Musician of the Year winner Jennifer Pike to put some of the violins in the exhibition through their paces.


SUN 22:00 Amol Rajan Interviews (m0018lsw)
Billie Jean King

Amol Rajan talks to a true game changer: Billie Jean King. A record-breaking tennis player on the court, and a boundary-busting social activist off the court, King dominated tennis whilst campaigning to get the women’s sport recognised and female athletes treated as equal to the men.

At her spiritual home of Wimbledon – where she holds the record for most career wins – King talks to Rajan about her lifelong battle for equality and inclusion, and how she has balanced her activism with both a record-breaking sports career and a tumultuous personal life.

In a tennis career spanning nearly 30 years, Billie Jean King became the first female sports superstar, winning 39 Grand Slam titles and holding the world number one position for six years.

As the first female athlete-activist, King transformed the women’s game. She and eight other renegades created professional women’s tennis when they started the first ever women’s tennis tour in 1971. King then co-founded the Women’s Tennis Association and forced the US Open to become the first Grand Slam tournament to offer equal prize money to its male and female players.

During the 1970s, while at the very top of her game and height of her activism, King was contending with intense turmoil in her private life. News of an abortion she had was made public against her will, at a time before the Roe v Wade ruling made legal abortion a constitutional right in the US. Meanwhile, she struggled to come to terms with her homosexuality while married to a man, before being publicly outed. In 1981, King became the first prominent professional female athlete to speak publicly about her homosexuality and, as a result, lost all her endorsements overnight.

In discussing her extraordinary life, Billie Jean King and Amol Rajan also touch on topical issues such as the sport world’s response to the war in Ukraine, trans athletes and mental health matters.


SUN 23:00 Storyville (m0018s57)
Citizen Ashe

Documentary that tells the little-known story of sports legend Arthur Ashe off the tennis court. Known to most on account of his stellar sports career – he became the first black man to win Wimbledon in 1975 – the film uncovers Ashe’s work as a social activist, a role that embraced the civil rights movement in the US, African Americans and oppressed people throughout the world.


SUN 00:25 imagine... (m000lbqd)
2020

Kate Prince: Every Move She Makes

Kate Prince is a remarkable British dance pioneer whose renowned ZooNation dance company has transformed the profile of hip-hop and street dance. imagine… follows her as she embarks on her latest project, Message in a Bottle, a dynamic new West End production set to the hit music of Sting.

With exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the full creative process, the programme follows the highs and lows of birthing a complex new dance show, from day one in the studio to opening night. Alan Yentob talks to Prince’s key collaborators and family, painting an engaging and surprising portrait of a fascinating creative force while exploring the wider impact of her work and politics on a younger generation of upcoming dancers.


SUN 01:35 Inside Classical (m001mnkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 03:00 Holst and Vaughan Williams: Making Music English (b0bshhss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 05 JUNE 2023

MON 19:00 Coastal Path (b07qb61p)
Episode 1

Explorer Paul Rose sets off on the walk of a lifetime - 630 miles of the South West Coast Path. He discovers wildlife, wild traditions and wild adventure at every turn on this spectacular peninsula.


MON 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain (b0074n9y)
Victorian Splendour

In the final programme of the series uncovering the construction and engineering skills that went into the building of Britain, Fred Dibnah indulges his personal passion for the achievements of the builders of the 19th century.

At Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, a young architect called Robert Smirke was commissioned to build a grand house that was as big and impressive as a great medieval castle. As Fred demonstrates, steam-powered machinery made this possible in a fraction of the time - if not the cost - involved originally.

Eastnor also provides an introduction to the work of architect and designer Augustus Welby Pugin, who was inspired by medieval Gothic architecture. At St Giles in Cheadle, Staffordshire, Fred examines one of Pugin's best Gothic works, achieved thanks to one of the finest teams of craftsmen that have ever been seen in the building of Britain. The building with which Pugin is most commonly associated is the Palace of Westminster, where he worked alongside fellow architect Sir Charles Barry. Fred reveals how the two men came up with a building that matched the medieval Westminster Abbey next door, as well as demonstrating how the builders overcame the challenges posed by the riverbank location.

Fred's final stop on this epic journey sees him scaling the heights again, this time inside the Westminster clock tower - the one we call Big Ben - where he reveals what makes the country's best-known clock tick to time and how the huge bell was originally constructed.


MON 20:00 Italy's Invisible Cities (b0881gly)
Series 1

Naples

Using the latest 3D scanning technology, Alexander Armstrong and Dr Michael Scott uncover 2,500 years of hidden history in Naples, from its earliest Greek and Roman origins.

They explore how the volcano of Mount Vesuvius both nurtured the region and exacted a terrible price on the local population. They also delve into a labyrinth of fascinating underground spaces that helped build and sustain the city.


MON 21:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b096tyw5)
Series 2

Derby

Along with a hippo skeleton, a stuffed hedgehog and a log boat, Derby Museum has the best collection of Joseph Wright of Derby paintings in the world. Wright of Derby is one of the greatest English artists who ever lived. He painted the most astounding 'birth of science' scenes, his landscapes and portraits are exquisite and he was inspired by the Industrial Revolution.

But can our team peel back layers of modern restoration on a mysterious landscape painting stuck in the Derby vaults to reveal another hidden masterpiece by Wright of Derby? Dr Bendor Grosvenor and Emma Dabiri travel to Derby to investigate a painting which suffered industrial scale restoration in the 1970s. Can it be saved and carefully restored now? While Bendor travels to Italy to find where the landscape may have been painted, Emma investigates Derby as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution and the 'lunar-tics' of the Midlands who changed the world through science and philosophy.


MON 22:00 Britain's Biggest Warship (b0b11bb1)
Series 1

In at the Deep End

After eight years in build, HMS Queen Elizabeth embarks on dangerous sea trials in the North Sea. The 700 sailors on board have to test everything on the ship for the first time - from galleys to guns and from power plants to propellers. What is the supercarrier's top speed? How manoeuvrable is she and how stable in rough waters? Meanwhile, the ship's company start the process of becoming a sea-born community. On board is chef Mohamad Khan, who has to work out how to prepare pork dishes without offending his religion, able seaman Ricky Gleeson, who had 49 convictions before he was 21, and Dave Garraghty, the most senior non-commissioned officer on board, with a passion for car boot sales.

After four days at sea, the first aircraft lands on the flight deck and all seems well, but then there is an explosion in a cooling plant, a fuel leak that sprays everyone with diesel and the ship's rubbish disposal system goes wrong. There are also strange knocking sounds coming from underneath the ship.


MON 23:00 Timewatch (b008pyps)
2007-2008

In Search of the Wreckers

In January 2007, the MSC Napoli ran aground, spilling its cargo on Branscombe beach in Devon. The public were delighted, but the authorities were determined to police opportunists. Looters of the Napoli were reviving a centuries' old tradition: 'wrecking'. Author Bella Bathurst discovers the social history of a national crime.


MON 23:50 Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet (m000jjjq)
What is it like to be a male ballet dancer in the modern world? Is there still a stigma for boys who enter what is commonly seen as a female domain? Award-winning film-maker Richard Macer hopes to find out as he gets invited to film with a golden generation of talented young male dancers at the Royal Ballet.

An American TV host got into hot water for ridiculing Prince George for taking ballet at school. But why is that men are still an easy target if they want to pull on a pair of tights instead of kicking a ball around a pitch?

Macer learns that, in the past, the man’s role was just to lift the ballerina into the air. But things have changed. Top male dancers have fan bases that rival those enjoyed by the best ballerinas. And choreography is starting to reflect masculinity in different ways. It is becoming more fluid, mirroring our changing perception of what it is to be man outside in the wider world.

Russian Vadim Muntagirov is considered by many to be the best dancer in the world today. He tends to open most classical ballets (Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake) at the Royal Opera house alongside his world-renowned dance partner, Marianela Nuñez. Matthew Ball, from Liverpool, is a younger principal who has a super fan attend his every performance and even give him notes on how many mistakes he made during the show!

Steven McRae has the biggest following on Instagram but tends to post more these days about his rehabilitation routine than his dancing, since he is coming back from two serious injuries. And then there is Ed Watson who has been at the top of his profession for many years but now, at the age of 42, is contemplating retirement.

We might assume ballet is a genteel, middle-class art form but some of the dancers at the Opera House dismantle this stereotype with personal stories that some viewers might finding surprising, such as that of Marcelino Sambé and Joseph Sissens, who both overcame considerable hardship before arriving in Covent Garden.

Nearly all the dancers Macer talks to share one main inspiration - Rudolf Nureyev. It was not just the Russian’s ability on the stage that struck such a chord with them, but also the aura he created, which transcended ballet and came to represent a new kind of machismo.

What we learn is that male ballet is incredibly competitive, just as it is for the women, with dancers pushing themselves towards a goal of perfection that, rather like utopia, remains always just out of reach. But for the men, there is often an added obstacle on their journey to success, the notion that society still sees ballet primarily as a female activity. So, for our golden generation, they have had to swim against the tide in a way their sisters have not. Perhaps, as Macer discovers, that is why these young men describe their occupation as a ‘calling’.


MON 00:50 Coastal Path (b07qb61p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 01:20 Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain (b0074n9y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 01:50 Italy's Invisible Cities (b0881gly)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:50 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b096tyw5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 06 JUNE 2023

TUE 19:00 Coastal Path (b07tbxp6)
Episode 2

Paul Rose explores the rugged north Cornish coast, taking a grand tour of Tintagel Castle, joining in the hustle and bustle of Padstow's Obby Oss festival and channelling his inner Turner in St Ives.


TUE 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age (b0074m97)
Wind, Water and Steam

Documentary series celebrating Britain's rich industrial heritage, presented by Fred Dibnah. The tour of treasured sites of industrial history begins on the old Bolton, Bury and Manchester Canal, looks at the early use of wind and water power, and traces the development of the steam engine. Fred visits a man who has built a windmill in his own back garden, and hunts for examples of early beam engines that are still functioning today.


TUE 20:00 The Best of Les Dawson (m001mqrz)
Compilation of classic comedy performances by the late Les Dawson.


TUE 20:30 Talking Comedy (b05qt7vj)
Les Dawson

A laughter-filled look back at much-loved deadpan comic Les Dawson's appearances over the years on a selection of the BBC's talk shows.


TUE 21:00 The Many Faces of... (b018nvwc)
Series 1

Les Dawson

Les Dawson was one of Britain's all time great comedy talents, best known as a comedian but also a talented musician, writer and actor. This programme traces his career, with familiar favourite TV clips and some rare gems from the archives. Together with interviews from friends, relatives and colleagues, the programme unpicks the secrets of his enduring legacy nearly 20 years after his untimely death.

After 'discovery' on the Opportunity Knocks talent show in the 60s, he quickly became a regular face on TV, hosting comedy-led variety shows like Sez Les and The Les Dawson Show. His trademarks were short, pithy jokes, usually targeting his wife or mother in law, long verbose monologues and, perhaps most famously, piano recitals that went hilariously off key.

His reputation attracted guest appearances from some unexpected fans like John Cleese and Shirley Bassey, and he created an overweight dance troupe, The Roly Polys.

The programme shows how his career unfolded and illustrates the different facets of his comedy genius. John Cleese remembers their unlikely friendship, modern comedy stars Robert Webb and Russell Kane talk about his inspiration and Dawson's widow Tracy recalls their marriage and his joy at being a father late in life.


TUE 22:00 Brian Cox's Jute Journey (b00n5pvr)
Hollywood actor Brian Cox is a son of Dundee. The city is the big constant of his life. He grew up amid the clatter of the jute mills, where both his parents began their working lives.

The jute trade, making hessian from India's 'golden' fibre, dominated Dundee for over a century, linking it with Kolkata. It is now fast becoming a memory. Documentary journey into Brian Cox's past, and on to Kolkata in the footsteps of the Dundee jute workers who left to seek their fortunes in India.


TUE 23:00 Neutrino: Hunting the Ghost Particle (m000zwqr)
This is an astonishing tale of perseverance and ingenuity that reveals how scientists have battled against the odds for almost a century to detect and decode the neutrino, the smallest and strangest particle of matter in the universe.

Inside the world-renowned physics laboratory Fermilab, a team of scientists are constructing an audacious experiment to hunt for a mysterious new ‘ghost’ neutrino. If they find it, this could transform our understanding of the nature and fabric of our universe. The problem is, these tiny particles are almost impossible to detect.

Elsewhere, physicists conduct experiments in some of the most extreme environments on the planet: from deep mine shafts in South Dakota to vast ice fields at the South Pole. In these unlikely places supersized neutrino detectors hope to unlock the universe’s deepest secrets. Could neutrinos overturn the most precise theory of particle physics that humans have ever written down? Could they even be a link to a hidden realm of new particles that permeate the cosmos – so called dark matter? Scientists at Fermilab are edging towards the truth.


TUE 00:00 The Capture (m00085sv)
Series 1

What Happens in Helmand

When soldier Shaun Emery’s conviction for a murder in Afghanistan is overturned due to flawed video evidence, he returns to life as a free man with his young daughter. But when damning CCTV footage from a night out in London comes to light, Shaun’s life takes a shocking turn and he must soon fight for his freedom once again. Newly promoted DI Rachel Carey is drafted in to investigate Shaun’s case, and she quickly learns that the truth can sometimes be a matter of perspective. Should she trust Shaun Emery?


TUE 00:55 The Capture (m0008cq8)
Series 1

Toy Soldier

The truth about Shaun Emery's crime isn’t as clear as it first appeared to DI Carey, as crucial CCTV evidence is redacted by a mysterious MI5 officer. This surprise development forces Carey, Flynn and Latif to scramble for more evidence. But with forensics drawing a blank on Shaun's car, Commander Hart offering little support, and weak witness statements, Carey is forced to release Shaun. After a run-in with his ex-partner Karen, who is enraged by his failure to pick up their daughter from school, Shaun is determined to prove his innocence and enlists best mate Mat to help him break into Hannah’s apartment in search of clues. Closely followed by a suspicious Carey on CCTV, and Flynn and Latif on foot, Shaun somehow manages to evade Carey’s watch, forcing her to question an even more problematic issue – the surveillance network itself.


TUE 01:55 The Capture (m0008kgv)
Series 1

Truffle Hog

The stakes intensify for Shaun as he is interrogated by inscrutable US agent Frank Napier at a covert CIA outpost in a Belgravia safe house. While Napier is trying to discover Hannah's whereabouts, Carey is simultaneously attempting and failing to locate Shaun in the Belgravia house she saw him enter on her CCTV watch.


TUE 02:55 Coastal Path (b07tbxp6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 03:25 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age (b0074m97)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



WEDNESDAY 07 JUNE 2023

WED 19:00 Coastal Path (b07v8bhz)
Episode 3

Paul Rose explores the spectacular South Cornwall coastline where he discovers one of the world's finest stages at the Minack Theatre, tries the high-octane sport of coasteering on the Lizard and fires Tudor cannons at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth.


WED 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age (b0074m9h)
Mills and Factories

Documentary series celebrating Britain's rich industrial heritage, presented by Fred Dibnah.

Fred traces the development of Britain's textile industry from the picturesque Scottish countryside of New Lanark to the urban mill town of Burnley and talks to ex-weavers about life in the mills, and meets a group of volunteers who have spent 30 years saving mill engines from the scrapheap.


WED 20:00 Secret Knowledge (b01rml7t)
Bolsover Castle

Lucy Worsley tells the story of Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. Built in the early 17th century, it became the pleasure palace of playboy Cavalier and ambitious courtier William Cavendish.

Guiding us on a tour of the castle and its remarkable collection of artworks, Lucy brings to life the spectacular masque held by Cavendish to win the favour of King Charles I.

And from within the walls of this eccentric architectural gem emerges a colourful tale, capturing the tensions of early 17th-century England that would eventually lead the nation to civil war.


WED 20:30 Lucy Worsley's Fireworks for a Tudor Queen (b09cfwt4)
Historian Lucy Worsley teams up with artist and materials scientist Zoe Laughlin to explore the explosive science and fascinating history of fireworks, using an original pyrotechnics instruction manual, and other 400-year-old historical documents, to recreate one of the most spectacular fireworks displays from the Tudor era.

Lucy and Zoe are joined by a team of top class pyrotechnicians to replicate a mind-blowing fireworks display especially designed for Queen Elizabeth I - one of the first documented firework displays in England. Lucy pieces together clues from some of the earliest instruction manuals for making fireworks in England, as well as eyewitness accounts of the display laid on in 1575. Armed with this information, the team apply their understanding of cutting-edge pyrotechnics to recreate it in the grounds of Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, where it was originally staged.

Using hands-on experiments to test their designs, the team construct Tudor rockets, firework fountains and a fire-breathing dragon, as well as discovering the secrets of Elizabethan gunpowder.

Throughout the show, Lucy explores the history of the three-week extravaganza laid on by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in his final attempt to win the queen's hand in marriage - from the elaborate food the Tudor audience would have eaten, to the colours that the set might have been painted in.

She also reveals the important role fireworks had during the Tudor era - from the firework effects used on stage at the Globe Theatre to the pyrotechnical experimentation that took place at the Tower of London, the MI5 of its day.

But not all the clues can be found in England - some of the fireworks described need to be tracked down further afield. Lucy travels to Italy to recreate the mysterious Girandola - a horizontal spinning wheel of fire - whilst Zoe flies to South Korea to witness the ancient, and rather terrifying, rocket box launcher in action.

The danger and technical challenges involved in recreating 400-year-old fireworks creates a real sense of scale and event. And the detective work needed to decipher these Tudor pyrotechnic manuals, and the engineering ingenuity to recreate them, form the narrative spine of the film, culminating in a spectacular recreation of Elizabeth I's mind-blowing firework display at Kenilworth Castle.


WED 22:00 Play For Today (p0424r6f)
Series 13

Kisses at Fifty

Colin Welland’s play about what takes place after Harry kisses barmaid Audrey in front of the whole pub on his fiftieth birthday.


WED 23:10 The Capture (m0008s7m)
Series 1

Blind Spots

Surveillance thriller. Carey develops a theory as answers begin to reveal themselves, and Shaun finds himself trusting an enigmatic stranger who promises to lead him to the truth.


WED 00:05 The Capture (m0008zv5)
Series 1

A Pilgrim of Justice

Surrounded by the architects of his downfall, the truth behind what happened to Shaun is revealed to him in precise detail. Meanwhile, having seen the footage of Hannah entering the bus, and wholly convinced now that Shaun has been set up, Carey seeks for answers of her own and uncovers the complex conspiracy that is Correction.


WED 01:05 The Capture (m000969y)
Series 1

Correction

Carey teams up with Shaun Emery to try and expose Correction, but Napier is one step ahead. Shaun’s future, and that of the nation’s system of justice, lie with one person. Carey has a decision to make.


WED 02:05 Coastal Path (b07v8bhz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 02:35 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age (b0074m9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



THURSDAY 08 JUNE 2023

THU 19:00 Coastal Path (b07w13bp)
Episode 4

This week Paul Rose explores the soft and rolling south Devon coastline, where he takes a snorkelling trip around Burgh Island and hitches a ride on the Dartmouth to Paignton steam train.


THU 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age (b0074m9s)
Iron and Steel

Fred traces the development of the production of iron and steel, beginning his journey at Ironbridge. Travelling throughout Britain, he concludes his journey in Sheffield, the home of steel.


THU 20:00 A House Through Time (m000k4cz)
Series 3

Episode 4

The final episode of the series sees David tracing the lives of 10 Guinea Street’s occupants through World War II to the present day, discovering stories of love, loss and renewal.

In the run-up to the war, the house is occupied by the younger generation of the Wallingtons, the long-term owners of number 10, who move back to the house after several years living in the rural Somerset. The Wallingtons are letting rooms to lodgers when war is declared in 1939 and would have sheltered in their cellar as German bombs rain down on Bristol. Over the ten months of the Bristol Blitz, the old city is devastated and 3,000 houses destroyed. Number 10 itself is almost among them, as a bomb falls directly on Guinea Street, only missing the house by a whisker.

Amongst the casualties of the blast is Isaac Long, a neighbour living further down the road at 5 Guinea Street. As David discovers, Isaac and his wife Mary move into number 10 when the bombing renders their house uninhabitable. David follows the Longs’ trail into the fifties, when Isaac and Mary move out of number 10 to another house in Guinea Street.

David then sets out to investigate the postwar tenants of number 10. Amongst them he finds a man named Cyril Tabrett, whose story proves to be something of a puzzle. The records of Cyril’s life show different dates of birth, places of birth and different combinations of first and second names. Is this a mistake of record-keeping or a deliberate attempt by Cyril to change his identity?

David’s attention turns next to the Wallingtons, the owners of 10 Guinea Street since the late 1880s. By the 1950s, four family members still live here - siblings Cyril, Norris, Hilda and Winifred Wallington, now well into middle age. He is unable to find any children or any living relatives who can provide detailed information about them. But he does discover a former tenant of the house who remembers a Mr Wallington living in the basement.

By the late 1960s, the house is in a serious state of neglect, and it takes a series of careful owners before the house is restored to its former glory. David meets a selection of more recent residents, from a young man recovering from a serious car accident to a refugee fleeing political unrest in Ethiopia. Finally, he asks the current owners, Karen and David, to listen to the stories of some of the former occupants of Guinea Street, and to reflect on the extraordinary 300-year history of 10 Guinea Street.


THU 21:00 The Eiger Sanction (m0011f71)
Dragged out of retirement by his old C2 bosses, ex-intelligence operative turned art teacher, Jonathan Hemlock, reluctantly agrees to carry out two final 'sanctions' - in other words, assassinations. The first 'mark' is an easy target, but the second involves a treacherous climb up the brutal Eiger, one of the most inhospitable mountains in the Swiss Alps, setting up a deadly game of cat and mouse.


THU 23:05 Hell or High Water (m001mnvc)
Film thriller. A divorced father and his ex-con older brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family's ranch in west Texas.


THU 00:40 Lucy Worsley's Fireworks for a Tudor Queen (b09cfwt4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Wednesday]


THU 02:10 A House Through Time (m000k4cz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 09 JUNE 2023

FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m001mnyk)
Michelle Gayle presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 17 November 1994 and featuring M-People, Suede, Baby D, Blur, Urge Overkill, New Order, Sheryl Crow, Kate Bush and Pato Banton.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m001mnym)
Mark Goodier presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 24 November 1994 and featuring Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Jimmy Nail, Louis Armstrong, New Atlantic, Jamiroquai, Kylie Minogue, Sinead O’Connor, Luther Vandross and Baby D.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b093lx59)
John Peel and David Jensen present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 7 June 1984. Includes appearances from Spandau Ballet, Howard Jones, Evelyn Thomas, Bananarama, Bronski Beat and Wham!


FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (b020tp4r)
Noel Edmonds introduces the weekly pop charts featuring performances from Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Lindisfarne, The Rolling Stones, Goldie, AC/DC, Boney M, Guy Marks, Maxine Nightingale, David Soul and dance troupe Legs & Co.


FRI 21:00 Queens of Soul (b05nhjsx)
The sisters are truly doing it for themselves in this celebration of the legendary female singers whose raw emotional vocal styles touched the hearts of followers worldwide. Featuring the effortless sounds of Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight, Randy Crawford, Angie Stone, Mary J Blige and Beyonce, to name a few.

The Queens of Soul presents the critically acclaimed and influential female singers who, decade by decade, changed the world one note at a time.


FRI 22:00 Killing Me Softly: The Roberta Flack Story (b046psxl)
Roberta Flack's Grammy Award-winning song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was America's biggest selling single of 1972. The following year her gentle, pure voice charmed middle America once again when Killing Me Softly with His Song reached the top of the charts and ran off with another Grammy for single of the year. In the early 70s Roberta Flack was one of the most successful pop stars in the world.

But Flack was no overnight sensation. She didn't have a hit single till she was 35 years of age. Nor was her success a traditional African-American rags-to-riches story. She came from the black middle class that had been born out of the self-contained hub of segregated America. She studied classical music at Howard University, America's top black university, and probably would have pursued a classical career had that door been open to her in 50s America. Instead, she taught music in Washington's public school system for 10 years while she struggled for her break.

In those race-conscious times, she also had her detractors. While she was singing duets of black consciousness with soul singer Donnie Hathaway, she was married to her white bass player. Also, they said she sounded too white; the gospel-infused voices of Aretha Franklin and James Brown, which came out of the dominant Baptist church, were what real soul singers sounded like. What those critics didn't understand was that there are many musical traditions within black America and Roberta Flack came from the more restrained Methodist one where they sang hymns rather than gospel.

This is the story of the emergence of a different kind of soul singer, set against the turbulent backdrop of America's Civil Rights movement. Contributors include Roberta Flack, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Cissy Houston, Imani Perry, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, musician and critic Greg Tate, musicologist Fredera Hadley and film-maker and critic John Akomfrah.


FRI 23:00 Aretha Franklin: Duets (m00164b5)
A chance to hear admirers including Elton John, Gloria Estefan, Smokey Robinson, PM Dawn, Bonnie Raitt and Rod Stewart sharing a stage with the Queen of Soul herself.

The concert took place at New York City's Neederlander Theatre in 1993, as an Aids benefit. Elton, Smokey and Rod provide backing vocals on the first number Chain of Fools.


FRI 00:00 BBC Proms (m001bdx5)
2022

Aretha Franklin: A Tribute to the Queen of Soul

In Aretha Franklin’s six-decade career, she won 18 Grammys and was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Celebrating what would have been the singer’s eightieth birthday, the BBC Proms pay tribute to a true icon.

Jules Buckley debuts his new ensemble and is joined by American singer and Quincy Jones protégée Sheléa to showcase the songs made famous by the Queen of Soul.

Aretha’s live performances were visceral rituals, in which she readily opened her heart to her audience. Her song Respect became an anthem of both the Civil Rights Movement and gender empowerment. In 2009, she performed at Barack Obama’s first inauguration. Her music was the soundtrack to African American history.

Clara Amfo presents this unforgettable event, with special guests.


FRI 01:50 Top of the Pops (m001mnyk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


FRI 02:20 Top of the Pops (m001mnym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 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 House Through Time 20:00 THU (m000k4cz)

A House Through Time 02:10 THU (m000k4cz)

Afterglow 21:00 SAT (p0fg5n82)

Afterglow 21:40 SAT (p0fg5p9s)

Afterglow 22:20 SAT (p0fg5r41)

Amol Rajan Interviews 22:00 SUN (m0018lsw)

Aretha Franklin: Duets 23:00 FRI (m00164b5)

As Time Goes By 00:00 SAT (p0479wdb)

BBC Proms 00:00 FRI (m001bdx5)

Brian Cox's Jute Journey 22:00 TUE (b00n5pvr)

Britain's Biggest Warship 22:00 MON (b0b11bb1)

Britain's Lost Masterpieces 21:00 MON (b096tyw5)

Britain's Lost Masterpieces 02:50 MON (b096tyw5)

Coastal Path 19:00 MON (b07qb61p)

Coastal Path 00:50 MON (b07qb61p)

Coastal Path 19:00 TUE (b07tbxp6)

Coastal Path 02:55 TUE (b07tbxp6)

Coastal Path 19:00 WED (b07v8bhz)

Coastal Path 02:05 WED (b07v8bhz)

Coastal Path 19:00 THU (b07w13bp)

Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain 19:30 MON (b0074n9y)

Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain 01:20 MON (b0074n9y)

Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age 19:30 TUE (b0074m97)

Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age 03:25 TUE (b0074m97)

Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age 19:30 WED (b0074m9h)

Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age 02:35 WED (b0074m9h)

Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age 19:30 THU (b0074m9s)

Hell or High Water 23:05 THU (m001mnvc)

Holst and Vaughan Williams: Making Music English 19:00 SUN (b0bshhss)

Holst and Vaughan Williams: Making Music English 03:00 SUN (b0bshhss)

Inside Classical 20:00 SUN (m001mnkv)

Inside Classical 01:35 SUN (m001mnkv)

Italy's Invisible Cities 20:00 MON (b0881gly)

Italy's Invisible Cities 01:50 MON (b0881gly)

Killing Me Softly: The Roberta Flack Story 22:00 FRI (b046psxl)

Lucy Worsley's Fireworks for a Tudor Queen 20:30 WED (b09cfwt4)

Lucy Worsley's Fireworks for a Tudor Queen 00:40 THU (b09cfwt4)

Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet 23:50 MON (m000jjjq)

Monty Don's Japanese Gardens 19:00 SAT (m0002k0x)

Monty Don's Japanese Gardens 02:00 SAT (m0002k0x)

Neutrino: Hunting the Ghost Particle 23:00 TUE (m000zwqr)

Play For Today 22:00 WED (p0424r6f)

Queens of Soul 21:00 FRI (b05nhjsx)

Secret Knowledge 21:30 SUN (b0376h9w)

Secret Knowledge 20:00 WED (b01rml7t)

Storyville 23:00 SUN (m0018s57)

Talking Comedy 20:30 TUE (b05qt7vj)

The Best of Les Dawson 20:00 TUE (m001mqrz)

The Capture 00:00 TUE (m00085sv)

The Capture 00:55 TUE (m0008cq8)

The Capture 01:55 TUE (m0008kgv)

The Capture 23:10 WED (m0008s7m)

The Capture 00:05 WED (m0008zv5)

The Capture 01:05 WED (m000969y)

The Eiger Sanction 21:00 THU (m0011f71)

The Many Faces of... 21:00 TUE (b018nvwc)

Timewatch 23:00 SAT (b00785y5)

Timewatch 23:00 MON (b008pyps)

Top of the Pops 19:00 FRI (m001mnyk)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (m001mnym)

Top of the Pops 20:00 FRI (b093lx59)

Top of the Pops 20:30 FRI (b020tp4r)

Top of the Pops 01:50 FRI (m001mnyk)

Top of the Pops 02:20 FRI (m001mnym)

Voyages of Discovery 20:00 SAT (b0074t2w)

Voyages of Discovery 01:00 SAT (b0074t2w)

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 00:30 SAT (b0077jl8)

imagine... 00:25 SUN (m000lbqd)