SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER 2023

SAT 19:00 Down the Mighty River with Steve Backshall (b08k8t56)
Series 1

Episode 2

Adventurer and naturalist Steve Backshall sets out to explore one of the wildest rivers in the world, the mighty Baliem River in the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia. He is on a mission to discover the ancient tribes that live along its banks, explore unknown caves and meet the dangerous animals lurking in the river and surrounding jungle. But the only way to discover these hidden worlds is to travel the river from source to sea - a feat that has never been achieved before.

In this second episode, Steve and his crew kayak Baliem's lower gorge, one of the most extreme stretches of white water on the planet. With jagged rock walls looming overhead and crashing currents bearing down on the kayaks, the risk of capsizing is constant. Battling wild weather and dense jungle, Steve's explorations of the surrounding valley prove equally as challenging. Steve encounters large spiders, fierce wasp nests and a local tribe who have little contact with the outside world.

Finally entering the tidal reaches of the Baliem River, Steve has to reconcile his passionate belief in conservation with a local tribe's determination to hunt crocodiles in the region.


SAT 20:00 The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver (b06kpzcv)
Episode 3

The Roman army turns its attention to an island of rich resources, powerful tribes and druids, and advanced military equipment - Britain. This episode tells the story of the Celts' last stand against the Roman army - a revolt led by another great leader, the warrior queen Boudicca.


SAT 21:00 Dark Hearts (p0ggk1ck)
Series 1

Piege

The team are under pressure to move Zaid to Paris, so they have to act quickly. Hilaire is tasked with finding an Argentinian doctor who left an NGO abruptly two years earlier.


SAT 21:55 Dark Hearts (p0ggk5h7)
Series 1

Tarek

Adele is forced to wait to interview Zaid, while the team follow the two remaining leads they have for finding his daughter and grandson.


SAT 22:50 The Hollow Crown (p00s91rf)
Series 1

Henry V

Henry V has settled onto the throne and has the makings of a fine king, when the French ambassador brings a challenge from the Dauphin. Inspired by his courtiers Exeter and York, Henry swears that he will, with all force, answer this challenge. The chorus tells of England's preparations for war, and Henry's army sails for France. After Exeter's diplomacy is rebuffed by the French king, Henry lays a heavy siege and captures Harfleur. The French now take Henry's claims seriously and challenge the English army to battle at Agincourt.


SAT 01:05 Simon Schama's Shakespeare (p00qhwln)
This England

Simon Schama argues that it is impossible to understand how Shakespeare came to belong 'to all time' without comprehending just how much he was of his time.

Schama explores how, in his history plays, Shakespeare created a vision of England that still rings true today. Against the backdrop of the Reformation, Shakespeare began to dramatise English history and the English character in a new and unprecedented way. From his first blockbuster, Henry VI, he made sure that his England was not just a place where kings and queens strutted and preened, but where ordinary Englishmen and women took centre stage.

It was inclusive vision that Shakespeare expanded upon in his masterpiece - Henry IV - a play which presents England in glorious technicolour: kings and pickpockets, country squires and common prostitutes, corrupt knights and ragged soldiers. And at the centre of it all is the outsized figure of Sir John Falstaff - a character that transfixed Elizabethan audiences and still moves us today.

Falstaff is Shakespeare's most stupendous creation; an outsized dream of Englishness who embodies more purely the essence of English irreverence, generosity and wit that any of the characters with whom he shares the stage.

As well as this, an extraordinary cast of actors deliver some of Shakespeare's most moving and profound soliloquies.


SAT 01:05 Brothers in Dance: Anthony and Kel Matsena (m0016smb)
The uplifting story of Swansea-based Anthony and Kel Matsena, whose work is gaining them a growing reputation, putting them at the forefront of the next-generation UK dance.

Born in Zimbabwe, the brothers moved to Wales as children when their parents made the life-changing decision to leave their homeland in search of a better life. This film tells the brothers' remarkable story as they begin rehearsals for a major new theatre work inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, which premieres at Sadler’s Wells this spring. From family tragedy to euphoric appearances on Britain’s Got Talent, the fun-loving duo retrace their steps, visiting the people and places of Wales that helped shape them into the artists they are today.


SAT 02:05 Yes, Minister (b00784dk)
Series 2

The Devil You Know

Classic political sitcom. The minister is upset by rumours of a cabinet reshuffle and decides to take drastic action to keep his post.


SAT 02:35 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (b0078897)
Series 2

The Baby Arrives

After a few false alarms, the great day has arrived, and Betty and Frank's baby is due. Betty wakes during the night, and Frank must follow his 'routine' to get her to hospital on time. Frank is present at the birth and encourages Betty as only he can!

SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER 2023

SUN 19:00 Life of a Mountain (b04y4gd7)
A Year on Scafell Pike

A beautifully cinematic documentary following a year in the life of England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike, through the eyes of the farmers who work the valleys and fells, those who climb the mountain for pleasure and those who try to protect its slopes.

Filmed over a twelve-month period, it follows the seasons on the mountain from spring lambs through to winter snows. The contributions of the British Mountaineering Council and National Trust volunteers make clear the crucial importance of maintaining the landscape quality of England's highest peak for future generations.


SUN 20:00 Shakespeare Sonnets: A Modern Love Story (m001s1nb)
Twenty love poems are weaved together to create a fresh and original story set in contemporary Britain.

Including Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day and My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun, four lovers show us how Shakespeare’s words, with their raw emotion and feeling, are as relevant today as they were more than 400 years ago. The four narrators’ relationships are at different stages, from falling in love to moving on.

Featuring EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing star Rose Ayling-Ellis along with Eloka Ivo, Eben Figueiredo and Ioanna Kimbook.


SUN 20:45 Dame Helen Mirren Remembers... As You Like It (m001s1nd)
Dame Helen Mirren looks back on one of her earliest television roles, filmed before she’d become a household name and international star, playing Rosalind in the BBC’s 1978 production of the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It. She shares her thoughts on the potential that As You Like It’s playing with gender could have for today’s audiences, reflects on the quality of the roles Shakespeare wrote for women and explains why she thinks the Bard will be as significant in 100 years’ time as he is today.


SUN 21:00 The BBC Television Shakespeare (p014jvqc)
As You Like It

Classic comedy by William Shakespeare about the travails of lovers Rosalind and Orlando, who become entangled in a beguiling game of love, lust and mistaken identity.


SUN 23:30 The BBC Television Shakespeare (p00v3k2v)
Macbeth

Classic tragedy by William Shakespeare about how ambition can corrupt. Three witches foresee a great future for Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis.


SUN 02:00 Down the Mighty River with Steve Backshall (b08k8t56)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 03:00 The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver (b06kpzcv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]

MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2023

MON 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vlpk)
Series 12

Guildford to Aldershot

Michael Portillo resumes his tour of the Home Counties in the picturesque and historic county town of Guildford. His 1936 Bradshaw’s guide commends its 'fine old castle keep' and guildhall but makes no mention of its hilltop cathedral. Michael meets head guide Janet Matthews to discover the origins of the first Anglican cathedral to be built on a new site in the south of England since the Reformation – begun in 1936. He finds splendid architecture and modern materials have combined to produce a gloriously open building full of space and light. Michael climbs its 160 foot tower for a panoramic view of Surrey.

Michael’s next stop is Chilworth, from which he follows his guide to Newlands Corner on the slopes of the North Downs. At this popular beauty spot, the famous crime writer Agatha Christie disappeared, sparking a massive search and a tabloid frenzy. A Christie biographer pieces the puzzle together for Michael.

Heading west across the county, Michael reaches the Georgian market town of Farnham with its 12th-century castle, once home to the bishops of Winchester. Intrigued by his Bradshaw’s reference to a famous Farnham painter, WH Allen, Michael joins the artist’s great-great-niece in the castle’s splendid gardens to learn more about him. A kind Farnham artist encourages Michael to commit the castle to canvas in his own way.

After a luxurious night at the castle, Michael crosses into Hampshire to reach Aldershot. At the home of the British Army, he hears how in the years leading up to the World War II, the town began to receive conscripts for military training.


MON 19:30 Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure (m0009hyp)
Series 1

Episode 1

Gareth Edwards, once voted the greatest rugby player of all time, is not quite so coordinated when put in charge of a seventy-foot narrowboat. Now in his 70s, the rugby legend is busier than ever and constantly racing from one thing to the next. Which is why his wife, childhood sweetheart Maureen, has determined he needs to chill out more. She’s hatched a plan to whisk him away to explore the four Welsh canals. As no narrowboat is allowed to go more than three miles an hour, she figures that exploring the Welsh canals is the one way to finally get him to relax. But the plan is not entirely successful as Gareth’s stress levels go through the roof once he is in charge of his narrowboat. Even though everything around them happens slowly, avoiding hitting obstacles along the way proves no easy feat. Maureen, meanwhile, has some previous experience of driving a barge so knows the perils but also struggles when she jumps in the driving seat. After a pub lunch, Gareth and Maureen return to find their boat has drifted off and blocked the entire canal.

Somehow, Wales’s much-loved couple still find time to appreciate the breathtaking scenery. The Llangollen canal is one of the most scenic canals in Britain, with stunning landscapes and the 300m long Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The aqueduct was designed by Thomas Telford in 1795 and carries the canal over the River Dee on 19 vast arches. In its day it was radical new technology. Even now it’s not for the faint-hearted, and a good head for heights is needed before setting out to cross the 200-year-old structure.

Gareth takes an opportunity to catch up with an old friend who lives near the canal. Dai Davies was goalkeeper for Wales between 1969 and 1987, but he and Gareth go back further than that. While young men, still dreaming of sporting success, they were flatmates. Now Dai has left international sporting success behind him to focus on alternative therapies. Maureen hopes Dai will finally manage to slow Gareth down. Even if she doesn’t succeed, this warm and funny duo will have still enjoyed some of the best landscapes you can imagine on this spectacular route.


MON 20:00 Simon Schama's Power of Art (b00793sw)
David

Simon Schama recounts the story of eight moments of drama in the making of eight great works of art. He looks at Jacques Louis David's revolutionary painting Death of Marat.


MON 21:00 Art That Made Us (p0bvgvt3)
Series 1

Revolution of the Dead

An alternative history of the Black Death of the Middle Ages and its bitter – but profoundly creative – aftermath. Contemporary artists and performers, alongside historians and curators, reveal how a century of creative renewal emerged from the chaos of plague as survivors found their voice, questioning authority and challenging status and class. Above all, writing in English was revived by works including Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, William Langland’s angry satire The Vision of Piers Plowman and breakthrough works by women like the spirited pilgrim Margery Kempe.

Poet laureate Simon Armitage reflects on the poem of loss, Pearl, as a window into the medieval mind, and artist Sarah Maple shines a light on the subversive Lincoln Cathedral misericords, carved in the wake of plague. Meanwhile, writer Maria Fusco explores how the profound faith of female mystic Julian of Norwich is unshaken by illness.

As tensions rose over taxes on the plague’s survivors, the Peasants’ Revolt triggered a counter-reaction from an insecure king, Richard II. Royal photographer Chris Levine dissects the first portrait of a living English king, and artist Marc Quinn explores the beautiful but enigmatic Wilton Diptych, which Richard used to project his divine right to rule. We discover how this was also a moment of new imagination and new opportunities in cathedral-building and music as people increasingly sought their fortunes and patrons in towns and cities. Sarah Brown of the York Glaziers Trust shows us the magnificent, recently restored Great East Window at York Minster, a pinnacle of European stained glass art, and Rory McCleery and the Marian Consort perform John Dunstaple’s Veni Sancte Spiritus, a game changer for medieval music.


MON 22:00 This Cultural Life (m001s1nk)
Series 2

Jeremy Deller

Award-winning artist Jeremy Deller discusses his career and creative influences with John Wilson.


MON 22:30 Jeremy Deller: We're Here Because We're Here (b083bk7n)
Documentary which sees Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller give an exclusive insight into the live, nationwide memorial that he created to mark the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 2016.

The groundbreaking event made in collaboration with Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, saw hundreds of volunteers dressed as First World War soldiers appear unexpectedly in areas across the UK. The project titled 'We're here because we're here' was commissioned by 14-18 NOW and produced by Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the National Theatre, together with 26 organisations from around the country.


MON 23:00 Darcey Bussell: Dancing to Happiness (b0btt5n1)
Darcey Bussell knows how important dancing has been throughout her life. As a prima ballerina, she found it gave her structure and confidence. And when she retired from her professional career 12 years ago, she realised just how crucial dancing had become. 'About a year afterwards it came in this massive wave that I was missing something about who I was as a person, and it was dance basically.' So today she still dances, 'different styles of dance but just not taking it to the obsession I did with classical ballet'.

Since her retirement from professional ballet, Dame Darcey Bussell has become a formidable advocate for promoting dance at all stages of life, and to help not just the body, but just as importantly the mind. She has piloted dance classes for schoolchildren across the country and spoken in Parliament calling for dance to be a key part of the curriculum to help children's fitness. She is aware that tackling our mental health crisis is an important challenge that affects many in the UK today and strongly believes that the value of dancing is undervalued in improving our mental health. So in this programme, Darcey's mission is to meet a wide range of people using dance as therapy and as a result experiencing the joy of 'dancing to happiness'.

In Manchester Darcey meets an inspiring choreographer and dancer, Kevin Turner. Kevin draws on his personal mental health experiences to help young people across the world and has returned to his home town to start a therapeutic dance project for young women who have been referred by a local support group. In the last 25 years, depression amongst teenagers has risen by 70% in the UK and the girls Kevin works with suffer from a range of conditions that affect all aspects of their lives. Darcey takes part in a six-week course to see if Kevin's work can help the girls learn, often for the first time, just how much they can achieve.

At the University of Hertfordshire dancer turned scientist Dr Peter Lovatt is now at the cutting edge of dance research. He is part of a growing movement of practitioners using dance to help with mental health. Peter and his colleagues are researching to find out if the psychological benefits of social dance have a positive effect on people with degenerative conditions. They are focusing on Parkinson's and at the class they run Darcey finds their work is delivering some surprising results.

In Bury, the Silver Swans are using dance to overcome the isolation and loneliness which so often troubles people when they retire. Darcey joins their weekly ballet class and hears their stories about the value they see in dancing. To the class's surprise, she even takes them through one of their dances! In Edinburgh, Darcey meets the ladies and gentlemen of Morningside to understand how those lost to dementia - a condition that affects over 850,000 people in the UK - might be helped through music and movement.

At the end of her journey, Darcey returns to Manchester for the final rehearsals before the girls let their families see them perform. She talks to both girls and their mums about what the dance class has meant to them, and watches the hugely impressive dance they have created. It is a very emotional moment for all.


MON 00:00 Border Country: The Story of Britain's Lost Middleland (b040mkvp)
Episode 2

Hadrian's Wall cut a deep scar across Britain that would never be forgotten. A thousand years after the Romans left, the island split once again, near the line of the wall, into the Kingdoms of England and Scotland.

Historian and MP Rory Stewart tells the story of how Britain was torn in two. The border country dividing Britain's lost Middleland became a zone of anarchy, as violent as border areas in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.


MON 01:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vlpk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 01:30 Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure (m0009hyp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:00 Simon Schama's Power of Art (b00793sw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 03:00 Art That Made Us (p0bvgvt3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 31 OCTOBER 2023

TUE 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vlk7)
Series 12

Farnborough to Winchester

Michael is heading for Farnborough, Hampshire, famous today for its airshow and home to what was then the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Richard Gardner of the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust tells Michael about the boffins who worked here and the inventions they came up with, such as retractable landing gear and flight-pressurised suits. Michael discovers that research here was so secret that the airfield was not marked on the map, let alone mentioned in his Bradshaw’s guide.

Michael continues west across Hampshire to Basingstoke to visit a glorious neo-Gothic stately home set in the North Wessex Downs. The magnificent Highclere Castle, seat of the Earls of Caernarvon, is perhaps best-known today as Downton Abbey. Michael meets the present Lady Carnarvon, wife of the eighth Earl, to find out more about her husband’s ancestor, a passionate Egyptologist who made a discovery that stunned the world: the tomb of Tutankhamun.

In the countryside around Highclere, Michael visits a chapel dedicated to the memory of Harry Willoughby Sandham, who died in 1919 as a result of his military service in Macedonia. 19 oil paintings by the artist Stanley Spencer fill this extraordinary and moving space. And in Ropley, there's a rendezvous with an old friend on the Mid Hants Railway, where Thomas the Tank engine is oozing steam on the Watercress Line.


TUE 19:30 Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure (m0009q7k)
Series 1

Episode 2

Gareth Edwards, once voted the greatest rugby player of all time, is not quite so coordinated when put in charge of a seventy-foot narrowboat. Stress levels are running high from the off when Gareth and his wife, childhood sweetheart Maureen, face their first lock on the Montgomery Canal. Gareth assumes the role of captain, while Maureen takes charge of the heavy lifting.
The intrepid canal explorers discover the incredible story of the narrowboat Cressy as they pass the place it was built. Use of the canals for the transporting of goods was dying out in the latter half of the 20th century. But the writer LTC Rolt took Cressy along the overgrown canal system and wrote the bestselling book Narrow Boat. It's credited with inspiring interest in canals for pleasure not industry, kick-starting the canal leisure industry and saving many old waterways from being lost forever.
Gareth and Maureen get a lift on a horse-drawn narrowboat, finally experiencing the tranquillity of near silence drifting through a pristine landscape without a roaring engine. At a section of canal that is still impassable, they learn of plans underway to restore the canal back to its former glory.
Gareth also manages to hitch a lift on a barge taking schoolchildren deep into the countryside to experience life on the canal. Finally, Gareth is asked to fire the starting gun at a triathlon in which people cycle, run and row the entire length of the canal to raise money to help fund the restoration. The journey along the Montgomery canal with two of Wales' most loved figures delivers plenty of humour and a heart-warming celebration of some of the best landscape the country has to offer.


TUE 20:00 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (b0077wwx)
Series 3

Moving House

Classic sitcom about the one-man disaster area, Frank Spencer. Frank finds it hard to believe that the council has condemned their old house - especially after all the DIY improvements he made.


TUE 20:30 Yes, Minister (b0074rh7)
Series 2

The Quality of Life

Political sitcom. Jim Hacker makes a rash promise to save a popular city farm from closure but he needs Sir Humphrey's help.


TUE 21:00 Lucy Worsley Investigates (p0bvhk4g)
Series 1

The Black Death

How did the Black Death change Britain? Lucy Worsley examines the latest science and explores how the huge death toll affected religious beliefs, class structure, work and women.


TUE 22:00 The Hidden Children of Ruinerwold Farm (p0g1dnbf)
Series 1

Episode 3

As their father’s trial starts, the four older children unpack the painful allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse and finally meet their five younger siblings, all now young adults, who continue to support their father.


TUE 22:45 The Hidden Children of Ruinerwold Farm (p0g1dp1h)
Series 1

Episode 4

As their father’s physical and mental state delays the trial, the four older children regroup, concerned for the welfare of their five younger siblings.


TUE 23:35 Storyville (m0016489)
The Truffle Hunters

Deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, a handful of elderly men hunt for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle. This award-winning film follows these truffle hunters, who live and work alongside their cherished dogs in an eccentric world, guided by a secret culture and a training passed down through the generations.


TUE 00:50 Deep Down & Dirty: The Science of Soil (b040y925)
For billions of years our planet was devoid of life, but something transformed it into a vibrant, living planet. That something was soil.

It's a much-misunderstood substance, often dismissed as 'dirt', something to be avoided. Yet the crops we eat, the animals we rely on, the very oxygen we breathe, all depend on the existence of the plant life that bursts from the soil every year.

In this film, gardening expert Chris Beardshaw explores where soil comes from, what it's made of and what makes it so essential to life. Using specialist microphotography, he reveals it as we've never seen it before - an intricate microscopic landscape, teeming with strange and wonderful life forms.

It's a world where the chaos of life meets the permanence of rock, the two interacting with each other to make a living system of staggering complexity that sustains all life on Earth.

Chris explores how man is challenging this most precious resource on our planet and how new science is seeking to preserve it.


TUE 01:50 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vlk7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 02:20 Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure (m0009q7k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:50 Lucy Worsley Investigates (p0bvhk4g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2023

WED 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vst1)
Series 12

Saxmundham to Dedham

Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide, Michael Portillo explores East Anglia between the wars. His railway journey begins at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, where archaeologists made a staggering discovery. Laura Howarth from the National Trust walks Michael to the top of a mound in a field, where in 1939 a 27-metre-long Anglo-Saxon ship was found buried in the earth. Buried along with the ship were precious objects from across the world.

At Leiston, Michael visits the oldest children’s democracy in the world, Summerhill School, founded in 1921 by a forward-thinking Scottish educator called A.S. Neill. Today, his daughter Zoe Readhead is school principal, and she introduces Michael to the school’s ethos and some of its pupils.

In the Essex village of Dedham, Michael unearths a nasty brush between painters. East Anglian art experts explain the antipathy between traditional artist Sir Alfred Munnings and the modern art school established in the village by Cedric Morris.

Michael takes the harbour ferry from Felixstowe to Harwich to find out about the young Jewish passengers who arrived in Harwich in 1938, having fled Nazi Germany as part of the Kindertransport. Siblings Ruth Jacobs and Harry Heber, now in their 80s, were among them, and Michael is moved to hear their story.


WED 19:30 Talking Doctor Who (m001s1n0)
As part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, David Tennant time travels back through the BBC archives to tell the story of the Doctor’s classic era, with a selection of rarely seen interviews and clips covering William Hartnell’s first incarnation right through to the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

On the way, David compares some of his own experiences with the actors who came before him and shares special archive moments that reveal, amongst other things, how to film a regeneration, which actor was a master of modern gadgetry - including a collapsible caravan - and what the factors were that helped to decide how a Doctor selects his own individual and distinctive costume.


WED 20:30 Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration (m001s697)
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Singers, conducted by Alastair King, celebrate the glorious musical sounds of the iconic and much-loved TV series.


WED 22:00 Margi Clarke Remembers... Making Out (m001s1n2)
Actress Margi Clarke looks back on the BBC’s popular 1980s comedy drama series Making Out, written by Debbie Horsfield. Acclaimed for being a celebration of working women in the north of England, the series followed the ups and downs of life on the factory floor at the fictional New Lyne Electrics building in Manchester.

Margi returns to the hotel where the cast and crew stayed while filming, reveals a selection of behind-the-scenes stories and shares her memories of playing Queenie, the brassy blonde who took no nonsense from the bosses while taking everything she could get from the system.


WED 22:15 Making Out (p0g1cyrj)
Series 1

Episode 1

Who's going to bring the money in? With a young family to feed and an unemployed husband, Jill is off to work for the first time, earning her spurs among the girls at Lyne Electronics.


WED 23:00 Making Out (p0g1d8ts)
Series 1

Episode 2

Who's getting the push, and what's Pauline got to hide?


WED 23:50 Making Out (p0g1dgq5)
Series 1

Episode 3

When mysterious men from the East arrive, the games come to a stop and the pressure is on at both work, and at home, for the girls of Lyne Electronics.


WED 00:40 Making Out (p0g1j4yn)
Series 1

Episode 4

Who's turned up from the other side of the world unannounced? A strange weekend with Queenie and Chunky lies in store for the mysterious visitor.


WED 01:30 Talking Doctor Who (m001s1n0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:30 Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration (m001s697)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]

THURSDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2023

THU 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vswy)
Series 12

Colchester to Chadwell Heath

Michael Portillo continues his Bradshaw’s-inspired journey through East Anglia, where he discovers the Essex origins of the BBC, joins the Women’s Land Army to pick damsons at Tiptree, and visits homes fit for heroes in Becontree.

He begins close to Colchester at Abberton Reservoir, a man-made thousand-acre body of freshwater, begun in the year of his guidebook, 1936. He discovers how it was protected during the Second World War by hundreds of mines. It’s now an important wetland habitat for ducks, swans and water birds, and Michael spots a marsh harrier.

In the village of Tiptree, Michael finds out how, as war loomed once again and men were called up to fight, women stepped up to take their places on the farm as part of a revived Women’s Land Army.

From Chelmsford, Michael heads for the chocolate box village of Writtle, where he is surprised to discover Britain’s first regular scheduled radio broadcasting station in a tiny hut. Michael is intrigued by the technology of 1919.

Next stop is Chadwell Heath in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham. A massive building programme after the First World War resulted in what was, at the time, the largest municipal housing estate in the world. Michael learns about the estate from residents past and present.


THU 19:30 Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure (m0009xs7)
Series 1

Episode 3

Rugby legend Gareth Edwards and wife Maureen’s canal adventure continues in style as they are entrusted with a classy craft on which to explore the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. Determined to show that he has mastered the art of narrow-boating, Gareth takes charge of the Bentley of barges. But no amount of determination prevents a few bumps and scrapes along the way. As a reward for their endeavours, the intrepid duo discover a way to make gin with ingredients found in the hedgerows.
Gareth is a lifelong fisherman and loves nothing more than a few hours on a riverbank. When the canal passes the Glanusk Estate, Gareth seizes the chance to meet up with Tiggy Pettifer. Once nanny to the royal princes, Tiggy now runs the estate. Gareth admits that if he had to make a choice between scoring a try for Wales or catching the perfect salmon, it would be catching the fish every time. As Gareth and Maureen pull into Brecon, where the canal ends, they couldn’t have a more appropriate welcoming party. A jazz band – a style of music with which the town is synonymous thanks to its annual festival - is waiting to greet them.


THU 20:00 Mars Uncovered: Ancient God of War (m0003m0c)
Bettany Hughes investigates the enduring relationship between warfare and worship, by following the trail through time of the ancient god of war, Mars. She begins in Carthage, site of one of the most significant and bloodiest victories in the history of the Roman Empire and explores the vital role of Mars in Rome's imperial expansion.

Visiting the British Museum, Bettany sees, at first hand, the earliest known evidence of human warfare - a 13,000-year-old graveyard in which many of the bodies showed signs of violent deaths. With bodies so carefully buried, Bettany asks if ritualising and celebrating war is a way of bringing societies together – of creating 'them' and 'us'.

Back in North Africa, at the spectacular Roman amphitheatre in El Djem, Bettany examines the symbolic role of the ‘ludi martiales’, or gladiatorial games, and finds out about the challenge posed by early Christianity to this celebration of war and ritualised death. Travelling to Jordan, she then tells the story of one of the bloodiest episodes in Crusader history and examines how the Christian notion of Holy War played out in practice, with Mars still very much a presence. She then tracks how the figure of Mars was used by artists such as Botticelli and Rubens to examine the inevitability of war, and whether peace might not proffer a better option. Following the World Wars, the red scare, and contemporary conflict in the Middle East, Bettany considers how Mars’s dominion has been sustained and asks whether the benefits of war still outweigh the horrors.


THU 21:00 All Is True (m000yhk2)
After London's Globe Theatre burns to the ground in 1613, William Shakespeare stops writing and returns to his home town of Stratford-upon-Avon, much to the surprise of his family members, who he has neglected for two decades. Here, Shakespeare faces new challenges as he grapples with the story of his own life and sets out to resolve its final chapter.


THU 22:35 This Cultural Life (m0011v72)
Series 1

Kenneth Branagh

Actor and film-maker Sir Kenneth Branagh talks to John Wilson about the key influences and inspirations that have shaped his own work. In a wide-ranging conversation, he reveals some of his formative artistic experiences and discusses his creative process.

Branagh discusses his working-class upbringing in late 1960s Northern Ireland at the start of the Troubles, as explored in his most personal film to date, Belfast. He traces the beginnings of his passion for Shakespeare back to the discovery of LP recordings of Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, and reveals his admiration for Alan Bleasdale's 1980s television series Boys from the Blackstuff. He also discusses his participation in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

This Cultural Life is a BBC Radio 4 podcast.


THU 23:05 Macbeth (b00pmbyl)
Classic film version of Shakespeare's play about a Scottish nobleman heavily influenced by his wife's lust for power. Dominated by actor/director/producer Orson Welles, both in terms of his screen presence and his departures from the text, the film was shot in just 23 days in the summer of 1947.


THU 00:50 Talking Pictures (b01rscc0)
Orson Welles

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by the legendary Hollywood actor and director Orson Welles, capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.


THU 01:30 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vswy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


THU 02:00 Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure (m0009xs7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:30 Mars Uncovered: Ancient God of War (m0003m0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

FRIDAY 03 NOVEMBER 2023

FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m001s1hy)
Whigfield presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 4 May 1995 and featuring The Wildhearts, Joshua Kadison, Paul Weller, Adina Howard, Runrig, Weezer, Björk & Skunk Anansie, Jimmy Nail and Oasis.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m001s1j2)
Simon Mayo presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 11 February 1995 and featuring Supergrass, Montell Jordan, Manchester United FC featuring Stryker, Scatman John, Blessid Union of Souls, Shed Seven, Love City Groove, Celine Dion and Livin' Joy.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m000th90)
Simon Mayo presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 1 November 1990 and featuring Black Box, Kim Appleby and Kylie Minogue.


FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (b04nqrq3)
Mike Read presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 1 November 1979 and featuring Sparks, The Ramblers, Darts, The Jam, Lene Lovich, Thin Lizzy, Suzi Quatro, BA Robertson, Lena Martell and dance sequences by Legs & Co.


FRI 21:00 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1j5)
Episode 1

Bobbie sings of the fragrance, love, sorrow and humour of the Delta country. She is joined by Long John Baldry. Featuring Tears of Joy on backing vocals and dancing by Pan's People.


FRI 21:30 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1j8)
Episode 2

Bobbie sings of the fragrance, love, sorrow and humour of the Delta country. Her guest is Donovan. Featuring vocal backing from Tears of Joy and dancing by Pan's People.


FRI 22:00 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1jb)
Episode 3

Series featuring the music and friends of singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry. Her special guests in this edition are The Hollies.


FRI 22:30 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1jf)
Episode 4

Bobbie Gentry is joined by special guests Jerry Reed, Sue and Sunny, and Hank Strzelecki. Featuring dancing by Pan's People.


FRI 23:00 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1jk)
Episode 5

Series featuring the music and friends of singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry. Her special guest in this episode is Mason Williams. With dancing by Pan's People.


FRI 23:30 Country Queens at the BBC (p028vwnv)
Classic female country stars in action on a variety of BBC studio shows and featuring Bobbie Gentry, Anne Murray, Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette, Billie Jo Spears, Crystal Gayle, Taylor Swift, Lucinda Williams with Mary Chapin Carpenter and more. A chronological celebration of country queens at the BBC whether on Top of the Pops, OGWT, Later with Jools Holland, Parkinson or their own entertainment specials.


FRI 00:30 Top of the Pops (b04nqrq3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


FRI 01:00 Top of the Pops (m000th90)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 01:30 Top of the Pops (m001s1hy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (m001s1j2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:30 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1j5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:00 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1j8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]


FRI 03:30 Bobbie Gentry (m001s1jb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]