SATURDAY 17 JUNE 2023

SAT 19:00 Caribbean with Simon Reeve (p02l5269)
Episode 1

Simon begins his journey around the Caribbean on the island of Hispaniola and its two very different countries - the Dominican Republic, a tourist hotspot, and Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. He ends this first leg on Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island that is practically America's 51st state.

From flying boats to drug busts, Simon explores both the light and dark sides of the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean's most popular tourist destination. He joins the police anti-narcotics division on the front line in the war against international drug cartels in Santo Domingo before crossing the border to Haiti, where he visits the notorious tented camps of Cite Soleil. These slums remain home to many of the survivors of the worst earthquake to hit the island in two centuries. From voodoo ceremonies to dolphin watching, Simon also discovers a vibrant, colourful and thriving side to life in Haiti borne out of the country's unique history.

Finally, Simon reaches Puerto Rico, an island with close ties to the USA. He visits the tiny, paradisiacal island of Vieques, billed as the Caribbean's next major tourist destination. However, not everything here is as it seems, as Simon examines the impact six decades of bombing and weapons testing by the US Navy and Army has had on the landscape of this tiny island and on the people who live there.


SAT 20:00 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t4k)
Ice King

Explorer Paul Rose tells the story of his hero Fridjtof Nansen who, in 1892, announced a daring plan to be first to the North Pole, an idea considered so off-the-wall that no scientist would volunteer to join him on a venture they believed was nothing short of suicide.

He allowed his ship to become stuck in the crushing pack ice, hoping it would drift to the Pole, and then set off on foot across the frozen wastes. Nansen became the forefather of polar exploration, inventing practical techniques that today allow people to survive, travel and work in the most hostile and forbidding places on our planet.


SAT 21:00 Kursk: The Last Mission (m001j6j3)
Captain-Lieutenant Mikhail Averin prepares for an exercise in the Barents Sea by the Russian Northern Fleet. Budget cuts have meant that he and his colleagues have not received their pay in months, but the submariners of the Oscar II-class submarine Kursk still head out into deep waters. However, the exercise does not go to plan.

Based on a true story.


SAT 22:50 The Big Thinkers (b0788q6m)
Aliens

The hunt for aliens is on! After a distinguished career in cosmology Professor Martin Rees, the astronomer royal, has taken up the search for extra-terrestrials. Looking for aliens is no longer science fiction - it is a question that's engaging some of the greatest minds in science.

As our knowledge of the universe has increased, we're getting closer to answers. Many scientists now think we live in galaxy with a billion Earth-like planets, many of which may be teeming with life. But what kind of life? Has anything evolved into beings we could communicate with? This film gets inside the minds of the scientists considering one of the most exciting and profound questions we can ask - are we alone in the universe?

Professor Rees thinks we may have our idea of what an alien is like all wrong. If he's right, it's not organic extra-terrestrials we should look for, it's machines.


SAT 23:50 Horizon (b08r3xr3)
2017

Strange Signals from Outer Space!

For decades, some have suspected that there might be others out there, intelligent beings capable of communicating with us, even visiting our world. It might sound like science fiction, but today scientists from across the globe are scouring the universe for signals from extraterrestrials.

In 2006, husband and wife team Duncan Lorimer and Maura McLaughlin discovered an enigmatic signal from space, known as a fast radio burst. It was a pulse of radiation so bright, it didn't appear to be caused by any known object in the universe. Explanations ranged from colliding neutron stars to communication signals from an alien civilisation far more advanced from our own.

Scientists have been searching the cosmos for strange signals like the Lorimer Burst for more than 50 years. The film ends with scientists' latest search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Horizon obtained exclusive access to film researchers at the Green Bank Telescope searching for radio signals from Tabby's Star, a star so mysterious that some scientists believe it might be surrounded by a Dyson Sphere, a vast energy collector built by advanced aliens.


SAT 00:50 Hancock's Half Hour (p032kj0z)
The Blood Donor

Hancock decides to donate some blood but is aghast to find out how much he has to give. When he discovers he has a rare blood type he resolves to find out where it will end up.


SAT 01:20 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077jrd)
Series 1

No Hiding Place

Bob and Terry are desperate not to know the result of the England v Bulgaria football match, but with eight hours to go will they succeed in their mission?


SAT 01:50 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t4k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:50 Caribbean with Simon Reeve (p02l5269)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 18 JUNE 2023

SUN 19:00 Blankety Blank Classic (m001n9ns)
Series 13

Episode 13

Join Les and his friends for lots of fun and frolics. His special guests this week are: Joe Brown, Bernie Clifton, Ian Krankie, Janette Krankie, Janice Long and Anthea Turner.


SUN 19:30 Pop Quiz (m001n364)
Series 3

Episode 10

Mike Read is joined by Cliff Richard, Cheryl Baker, Stuart Adamson, Micky Dolenz, Nick Heyward and Hal Lindes for the pop music quiz.


SUN 20:00 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (m001n367)
2023

Grand Final

Following a week of remarkable performances, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World reaches its climax with the final from St David’s Hall. Sixteen of the world’s most outstanding young opera singers gathered in the Welsh capital to compete for one of the most prestigious titles in opera. Now, just five remain to sing again.

Petroc Trelawny and Josie d’Arby present full coverage from St David’s Hall where they are joined by guests Jamie Barton, the American mezzo-soprano who won the competition ten years ago, and Neal Davies, the Welsh bass-baritone who won the Song Prize title in 1991.

For the finalists, this is the last chance to impress our panel of judges: Sir Brian McMaster, former director of both Welsh National Opera and the Edinburgh International Festival, acclaimed Argentinian mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink, Welsh soprano Rosemary Joshua, multi-award-winning composer Errollyn Wallen, and returning as chair of the jury, Aidan Lang, general director of Welsh National Opera.

The finalists perform with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Ryan Bancroft and Michael Christie.

At the end of the evening, one singer will be awarded the title BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2023.


SUN 22:30 Just Call Me Martina (b07k1d94)
Sue Barker presents a documentary looking at the life and career of tennis star Martina Navratilova. They first met on the tennis tour in 1974, so Sue was there throughout the landmarks of Martina's life: defection, coming out and breaking records. In this programme, Martina takes Sue back to Revnice, her home in the Czech Republic, and allows the cameras to film her wedding in New York and their glamorous celebrations in Miami.

There are also insights from her sister Jana and greatest rival Chris Evert, plus contributions from some of her greatest fans - Sir Elton John, Stephen Fry and other legendary tennis stars including Billie Jean King, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Pam Shriver and Rod Laver.


SUN 23:30 Sue Barker: Our Wimbledon (b08xdgvx)
Sue Barker travels the globe to meet some of the legends who have graced the famous grass courts. Tennis royalty including Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Virginia Wade, Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker and John McEnroe share memories and reflect on their own experiences at the iconic tennis tournament. These are their stories as never told before, emotional and self-deprecating, revealing how their lives and careers were changed by the Championships.

For Sue herself, Wimbledon has been a big part of her life for nearly 50 years as a fan, player and broadcaster. She also meets the Duke of Kent, who is president of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and the Duchess of Cambridge, who is now a patron.


SUN 00:45 Africa Turns the Page: The Novels That Shaped a Continent (m000mf8x)
Africa has become a superpower in the world of the novel. Shortlists for the world’s major literary prizes are packed with African authors, while novelists like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have become international celebrities. But how did Africa become such a hotbed of literary talent? In this fascinating and insightful film, Nigerian-born presenter and historian David Olusoga explores the incredible story of the African novel.

From the 1950s, as African nations fought for independence, writers such as Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Wole Soyinka became the conscience of a continent – often paying a personal price for speaking out against both colonialism and corruption. In their wake, the African novel was to spread around the world - writers of the African diaspora such as Buchi Emecheta and Ben Okri created masterpieces from their adopted home of the United Kingdom. These novelists wrote books that are funny, witty and often tragic. They achieved something that stretched beyond the world of literature – transforming the image of Africa itself.

The programme features interviews with some of the most pre-eminent novelists working today. We hear from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Aminatta Forna and 2019 Booker winner Bernardine Evaristo. The documentary features extraordinary archive of the key novelists and insightful contributions from leading figures whose lives were touched by their writing, including dramatist Kwame Kwei-Armah and MPs Diane Abbott and Kwasi Kwarteng.


SUN 01:45 Just Call Me Martina (b07k1d94)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


SUN 02:45 The Big Thinkers (b0788q6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:50 on Saturday]

MONDAY 19 JUNE 2023

MON 19:00 The Lakes with Paul Rose (b0bcys6d)
Series 1

Coniston

Paul Rose has an adrenaline overdose on his way to Coniston in the latest episode of his Lake District journey. He starts by entering a retro-cycling event on a penny farthing, before joining the mountain bikers of Grizedale Forest. Paul also relives the final moments of Donald Campbell in his attempt to break the world water-speed record on Coniston Water. He ends his trek with a spot of rock climbing at Dow Crag, before the ascent of one of the area's best-known hills, the Old Man of Coniston.


MON 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078w0c)
Castings

Documentary series in which Fred Dibnah travels around Britain in his restored traction engine in search of engineering skills and technology from a bygone age, visiting ancient iron foundries, industrial sites and little workshops.

Fred and his steersman Alf travel up to Scotland, where they marvel at the ingenuity of the Falkirk Wheel and visit one of the few surviving traditional iron works left in the region. After stopping at Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway for a few repairs, they're ready for the off and the traction engine becomes the first to cross the Forth Road Bridge under its own steam.


MON 20:00 An Art Lovers' Guide (b08nz05n)
Series 1

Amsterdam

With sumptuous palaces, exquisite artworks and stunning architecture, every great city offers a dizzying multitude of artistic highlights. In this series, art historians Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke take viewers on three cultural city breaks, hunting for off-the-beaten-track artistic treats and finding new ways of enjoying some very famous sights.

In this opening episode, they head to Amsterdam, a city that pioneered so much of modern life, from multinational trade to the way we design our homes. To find out how, Alastair and Janina take us on a fast-paced tour of the city's cultural hotspots. Picking their way through the crowds queuing to see Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum, they also introduce us to the paintings of Jan Steen, a Dutch legend whose paintings capture the city's freewheeling lifestyle.

They take us on an entertaining tour of the canals that helped build Amsterdam and explore the city's reputation for tolerance in the oldest surviving Jewish library in the world. Along the way, Alastair and Janina discover how art and culture reflect the liberal attitudes, appetite for global trade and love of home comforts that helped shape the character of this trailblazing city.


MON 21:00 Windrush (b0074ksb)
Arrival

Four-part historical documentary series tracing the changes to British national life brought about by the first major influx of people from the Caribbean on the troopship Empire Windrush. This part follows the initial warm reception, the growing sense of rejection and isolation, and the first flash point of racial intolerance in Britain.


MON 22:00 Windrush (b0074ktc)
Intolerance

Documentary series tracing the changes brought about since the first major influx of people from the Caribbean to Britain. The 1959 Notting Hill riots saw the murder of Kelso Cochrane, the first acknowledged racial killing in Britain. But the story is not all bleak. Against increasing racial division came the black churches, the growth of communities and the beginning of the fight to be recognised.


MON 23:00 Windrush (b0074kv9)
A New Generation

Documentary series tracing the changes brought about since the first major influx of people from the Caribbean to Britain. Focusing on the education of black children, their search for an identity through their music and lifestyle, and the tragedy of the New Cross house fire in 1981.


MON 00:00 Windrush (b0074kvz)
A British Story

Documentary series tracing the changes brought about since the first major influx of people from the Caribbean to Britain. The 1990s saw the emergence of a new black British identity, with black peers in the House of Lords and black celebrities in sport, entertainment and broadcasting.


MON 01:00 Black Firsts (m001n37x)
Series 1

Learie Constantine

Clive Lloyd, former West Indies cricket captain, looks at the life of Learie Constantine, the Trinidad-born cricketer who fought against injustice and discrimination.


MON 01:10 Black Firsts (m001n389)
Series 1

Carlton Duncan

A profile of Carlton Duncan, Britain's first black secondary school headmaster.


MON 01:20 Black Firsts (m001n38g)
Series 1

Brenda Edwards

A profile of Brenda Edwards, who won a place at the London School of Contemporary Dance at 17 and became artistic director of London Festival Ballet. She later returned to her contemporary roots, becoming a teacher and choreographer.


MON 01:30 The Lakes with Paul Rose (b0bcys6d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 02:00 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078w0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:30 An Art Lovers' Guide (b08nz05n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUESDAY 20 JUNE 2023

TUE 19:00 The Lakes with Paul Rose (b0bdpxs3)
Series 1

Eskdale

Remote Eskdale is the final destination in explorer Paul Rose's trek through the Lake District. This corner of the western Lakes is off the normal tourist track but it boasts England's highest mountain. Before heading for the tough Lakeland summit of Scafell Pike, Paul meets the folk who run one of the country's most scenic railways, he has a close encounter with a vulture, and gets to grips with the locals in a spot of Cumberland wrestling.


TUE 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078w3r)
Water and Boilers

Documentary series in which Fred Dibnah travels around Britain in his restored traction engine in search of engineering skills and technology from a bygone age, visiting ancient iron foundries, industrial sites and little workshops.

Fred visits Ryhope pumping station in Sunderland and meets the volunteers who maintain the museum, travels across the Middlesborough transporter bridge and sees the Israel Newton boiler works in Bradford.


TUE 20:00 Hancock's Half Hour (p032kj02)
The Cold

Hancock is suffering with a cold, and none of his remedies seem to work. In desperation, he listens to Sid, who recommends a keep fit course to keep him healthy.


TUE 20:30 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077jx1)
Series 1

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Bob thinks Terry needs new friends, but inviting him to Alan and Brenda's trendy dinner party might not be such a great idea.


TUE 21:00 Una Marson: Our Lost Caribbean Voice (m001dht8)
The extraordinary story of Una Marson, a trailblazing poet, playwright and campaigner, and the first black producer and broadcaster at the BBC.

A Caribbean woman born in the early 1900s, Una defied the limits society placed on her. Joining the BBC’s Empire Service during World War II, she was the first broadcaster to give voice to Caribbean writers and intellectuals, bringing their stories and culture to a global audience accustomed to hearing only English accents.

During her time in London, Una wrote and produced a play for London’s West End, the first black writer to do so. She was also an activist, championing women’s rights, the rights of black people, literacy programmes and the education of children, and working with the deposed Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.

Una’s writing, letters and her BBC personnel file are used to gain a unique insight into her life and work, while leading academics and her friends consider Una’s life as a black woman in a professional role in Britain at a time when that was highly unusual - and had significant personal costs attached.


TUE 22:00 Timeshift (b080dvyc)
Series 16

Sailors, Ships & Stevedores: The Story of British Docks

Throughout the 20th century, Britain's docks were the heartbeat of the nation - bustling, exciting and often dangerous places where exotic goods, people and influences from across the globe ebbed and flowed and connected Britain with the wider world. Thousands of men, with jobs handed down from father to son through generations, sustained these emblems of national pride, typified by London, the hub of the British Empire.

The waterside cities within cities where they lived and worked formed the frontier of the country's postwar recovery. Communities connected to the sea grew around them, some as unique as the multicultural sailortown of Tiger Bay in Cardiff, others like Liverpool primed for a new wave of world fame thanks to the music and style being brought into the country by the city's seafarers. The 1960s heralded the arrival of new forms of technological innovation in our ports, and thanks to a simple metal box, the traditional world of dockside would be radically transformed, but not without a fierce struggle to protect the dock work that many saw as their birthright.

Today, docksides are places of cultural consumption, no longer identifiable as places that once forged Britain's global standing through goods and trade. People visit waterfronts at their leisure in bars, cafes and marinas or buy a slice of waterside living in converted warehouses and buildings built on the connection to the sea. While the business of docks has moved out of sight, over 95 per cent of national trade still passes through the container yard on ever-larger ships. However, it is still possible to glimpse the vanished dockside through the archive films and first-hand stories of those who knew it best.

Narrated by Sue Johnston.


TUE 23:00 imagine... (b0842jbg)
Autumn 2016

The Triumphs and Laments of William Kentridge

Alan Yentob joins South African artist William Kentridge as he prepares an epic frieze along the banks of the river Tiber in Rome. Alan visits him in his hometown of Johannesburg, the inspiration for the magical hand-drawn animated films he calls 'drawings for projection'. Brought up under apartheid, Kentridge has witnessed the fragile transition to a multi-racial democracy, and his art continues to reflect South Africa's turbulent times.


TUE 00:05 Black Firsts (m001n3d9)
Series 1

Edric Connor

Edric Connor came to England in 1944 and took a job with the World Service. In 1958, he became the first black actor to appear with the Royal Shakespeare Company.


TUE 00:15 Black Firsts (m001n3dk)
Series 1

Gloria Cumper

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1920, Gloria Cumper became the first black female law graduate of Girton College, Cambridge, and was instrumental in setting up the University of the West Indies.


TUE 00:25 Black Firsts (m001n3dt)
Series 1

Andrew Ramroop

A profile of Savile Row tailor Andrew Ramroop.


TUE 00:35 The Lakes with Paul Rose (b0bdpxs3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 01:05 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078w3r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 01:35 Una Marson: Our Lost Caribbean Voice (m001dht8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 02:35 Timeshift (b080dvyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 21 JUNE 2023

WED 19:00 Yorkshire Wolds Way (b088nwg0)
Episode 1

Adventurer Paul Rose explores the 79 miles of the Yorkshire Wolds Way, arguably Britain's least well-known national walking trail. The trail starts at the Humber Estuary and ends at the Yorkshire seaside resort of Filey. On the way, Paul takes in the views of the Yorkshire Wolds from the top of the Humber Bridge, learns to ride a penny farthing and searches out the spots made internationally famous by the artist David Hockney.


WED 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078w6r)
The Road to Steel City

Documentary series in which Fred Dibnah travels around Britain in his restored traction engine in search of engineering skills and technology from a bygone age, visiting ancient iron foundries, industrial sites and little workshops.

Fred fulfils an ambition by driving across the imposing Scammonden Bridge over the M62. He and Alf also visit the steel city of Sheffield to take a tour round a fascinating forge and watch crucible steel being produced by experts Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.


WED 20:00 Thailand: Earth's Tropical Paradise (b08bg31f)
The Mysterious North

Northern Thailand is dominated by mountains and cloaked in forest. It hides ancient creatures and surprising partnerships. To survive here, both the wildlife and people rely on maintaining the natural harmony of the mysterious north.


WED 21:00 Lenny Henry's Caribbean Britain (p0ccw85z)
Series 1

Episode 2

Lenny looks back on his coming of age and explores how he and other second- and third-generation British-born Caribbean kids began to mesh their identity into their art.

From the theatre and arts collectives of the 80s to the making of brands, to the evolution of jungle and grime music, he explores how the output of successive generations has moved into the mainstream, enriching and transforming Britain’s cultural offering. And he hears how the third and fourth generations are determined to reconnect with their Caribbean roots and culture.


WED 22:00 Stephen Poliakoff Remembers... She's Been Away (m001n3h0)
Stephen Poliakoff introduces his drama about an unexpected pact between two women.


WED 22:10 Screen One (b0074m3z)
Series 1

She's Been Away

Stephen Poliakoff's drama about an unexpected pact that develops between two women - Lillian, who's been away in a 'home' since she was a rebellious girl half a century ago, and sophisticated, 'happily married Harriet. Brought reluctantly together when Lillian is returned to the world, the pair find a common purpose which has hilarious and risky consequences for those around them.


WED 23:55 South Africa in Pictures (b00s6bdh)
British fashion photographer Rankin explores South Africa's rich photographic tradition, discovering how its leading photographers have captured this complex, often turbulent, nation through remarkable images and charting the unique role photography has played in documenting the story and people of this fascinating country.

Through encounters with legendary conflict photographers the Bang Bang Club, documentary photographer David Goldblatt and photojournalist Alf Kumalo amongst others, Rankin goes on a compelling and moving photographic journey to see the nation through their gaze.


WED 00:55 Yorkshire Wolds Way (b088nwg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 01:25 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078w6r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 01:55 Thailand: Earth's Tropical Paradise (b08bg31f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:55 Lenny Henry's Caribbean Britain (p0ccw85z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THURSDAY 22 JUNE 2023

THU 19:00 Yorkshire Wolds Way (b08bbmyb)
Episode 2

Adventurer Paul Rose continues his exploration of the Yorkshire Wolds Way, arguably Britain's least well-known national walking trail. The 79-mile trail starts at the Humber Estuary and ends at the Yorkshire seaside resort of Filey. In this episode, Paul takes to the skies to get a unique view of this stretch of chalk downland and gets a special invitation to a military base that's been keeping the country safe since the start of the Second World War.


THU 19:30 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078wb3)
Mechanics and Riveters

Documentary series in which Fred Dibnah travels around Britain in his restored traction engine in search of engineering skills and technology from a bygone age, visiting ancient iron foundries, industrial sites and little workshops. Fred stops off at Andy Thornton's, a company that makes ornate carvings, moves on to Worsborough to have a go at making hot forge rivets, then travels down to Derbyshire to visit the Midland Railway Centre.


THU 20:00 The Magnificent Seven (m000crzp)
After the latest raid by bandits, the villagers in a small settlement in Mexico band together to hire a group of disparate gunfighters to protect them.


THU 22:05 The French Connection (b00748sh)
A brutal maverick cop uses unconventional methods to smash a Franco-American drug ring operating in New York. This pacy, gritty thriller deservedly garnered five Oscars, including an award for film editor Jerry Greenberg's cutting of one of the most exciting car chases in cinema history.


THU 23:45 Talking Pictures (m000h3fy)
70s Legends

A look back at television appearances by legends of the silver screen, using archive footage to tell the story of their lives and careers.


THU 00:35 Black Firsts (m001n3sk)
Series 1

Emmanuel McDonald Bailey

A profile of Olympic sprinter Emmanuel McDonald Bailey, who set a British 100m mark that stood for over a quarter of a century.


THU 00:45 Black Firsts (m001n3sn)
Series 1

Karlene Davis

A profile of Karlene Davis, who became the first black woman to head the Royal College of Midwives.


THU 00:55 Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain (b0078wb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:25 Yorkshire Wolds Way (b08bbmyb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


THU 01:55 Horizon (b08r3xr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:50 on Saturday]


THU 02:55 South Africa in Pictures (b00s6bdh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:55 on Wednesday]

FRIDAY 23 JUNE 2023

FRI 19:00 Women's Test Cricket (m001n3xt)
Ashes Highlights 2023

Test Match, Day Two

Highlights of the second day of the only Test match in the England v Australia Women's Ashes multi-format series.


FRI 20:00 Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens (m0013pk0)
Series 1

Episode 3

Monty begins the last leg of his journey in Corfu, a Greek island with strong links to Venice, including olive trees planted by the Venetians that are still grown today. Here, Monty visits a spectacular garden made by an Englishman with Greek connections, as well as meeting up with English writer Gerald Durrell's widow, who takes Monty up into the mountains on a wildflower trail.

Next, Monty travels to Greece’s capital, Athens, the place where the study of botany first began. As well as the Royal Gardens, which act as a green lung through the city and provide much needed shade from the Mediterranean summers, Monty visits a reforestation project on Mount Hymettus and two modern gardens in and around the city.

Finally, he rolls up his sleeves and gets to work on a garden he has helped to create on another Greek island.


FRI 21:00 Greece with Simon Reeve (p03gk743)
Episode 1

In the first episode of this two-part travel series, Simon Reeve travels from the islands of the Aegean to Greece's capital, Athens. To learn more about Greece and the Greeks, he meets an extraordinary cast of characters, from gun-toting priests to the last remaining sponge divers. Getting behind the picture postcard image of this beautiful country, he finds out how the Greeks are coming to terms with a seemingly endless crisis.


FRI 22:00 The Royle Family (p00bk9q6)
Series 2

Episode 4

Nana has come to stay to recuperate after an operation, but how much longer can the family cope with her?


FRI 22:30 Classic Albums (b08pg5tq)
Carly Simon: No Secrets

Carly Simon is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of her generation. The classic album that made her a global star was No Secrets, which included the enigmatic song You're So Vain. The album spent five weeks at number one in the US chart.

In this new interview Carly ties together her life and work on No Secrets - she is at her most honest, sometimes defiant, but with a wit and wisdom that comes from her rich and turbulent life. She tells of how the second single from the album, Right Thing to Do, was a refreshingly realistic love song, choosing to ignore her lover's problems. That lover was James Taylor; Carly wrote the lyrics on a plane after looking over at James and thinking 'there's nothing you can do to turn me away.'

The album's title track, We Have No Secrets, struck a chord with a generation trying to reconcile honesty in relationships with the emotional consequences that followed. Carly had a number of highly public affairs in the early 70s and her experience fed into the album's most famous song, the global hit You're So Vain. She performs the missing fourth verse on the piano, the first time she has ever sung it along with the melody.

Carly tells of how her producer made her do the vocal track on 'Vain' over and over, and how Mick Jagger ended up on backing vocals. The film has access to the master tapes and we hear Jagger's vocal track. Her producer reveals Carly was 'so turned on' after singing with Jagger that she recorded the whole vocal again - and that is the one on the album.

Finally, the film includes footage of Taylor Swift and Carly Simon performing You're So Vain together, and extracts from an interview where Swift herself talks about her love for the song.


FRI 23:30 Duran Duran: A Night In (b0b7szrj)
A celebration of one of the UK's most enduring pop bands of all time, Duran Duran. The programme joins Simon, John, Roger and Nick as they sit back, relax, watch and talk through personally selected clips of archive television, music shows, movies, performances, adverts and children's shows that have inspired them across their career spanning four decades.

In this exclusive hour-long special, they discuss their influences from the worlds of music, film, TV and art. From The Beatles and Sex Pistols to Top of the Pops, Tomorrow's World and the Apollo 11 moon landing, A Night In is a trip down memory lane with the band as they remember the shows that capture a particular moment in their creative lives.


FRI 00:30 Bruce Dickinson: Scream for Me Sarajevo (m000qpkh)
In 1994, Sarajevo was a city under siege. Mortars and rocket-propelled grenades rained onto the city, killing indiscriminately every day. Amongst the madness, two United Nations personnel, a British military officer and another Brit working for the UN fire department, decided it would be fun to persuade a global rock star, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, to come and play a gig to the population.

Scream for Me, Sarajevo brings that story, in all its madness, to the big screen. A story of musicians who risked their lives to play a gig to people who risked their lives to see them.


FRI 01:45 Classic Albums (b08pg5tq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


FRI 02:45 Duran Duran: A Night In (b0b7szrj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:30 today]