SATURDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2024

SAT 19:00 Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez (m0008c5c)
Series 1

The Lion Man

The Lion Man takes Nina deep into the dark heart of Nazi Germany, where in a remote cave in late August 1939, archaeologist Robert Wetzel came across the 40,000-year-old artwork now known as the Lion Man.

Just a week later, WWII broke out, the excavation came to halt and, in one of the great mysteries of archaeology, Wetzel never mentioned his incredible find again.

As Janina discovers, the Lion Man represents a revolution in the human story. Half-man and half-animal, it is the first artwork created from the human imagination, revealing the very origins of human art, religion and culture.

But, in fact, Janina learns that it is almost a miracle the Lion Man came to light at all, because it was not pulled out of the cave as a single artwork but as hundreds of tiny ivory shards, found in numerous chance discoveries across eight decades.

This incredible tale of exploration takes Janina from caves in southern Germany to Arctic Norway, as she finds out how the Lion Man gave us our first understanding of the birth of civilisation.

She also explores how the artwork gives us a disturbing insight into one of the most troubled periods in our recent history, asking how a pioneering archaeologist like Robert Wetzel could also believe that an ice-age artwork like the Lion Man could support the ideology of Nazi Germany.


SAT 20:00 South Pacific (b00kmv11)
Castaways

In the South Pacific there is no such thing as a deserted island. They may be the most isolated in the world, but every one of the region's 20,000 islands has been colonised, from New Guinea - home to birds of paradise and the tribe whose brutal initiation ceremony turns young warriors into 'crocodile' men - to Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii.

This is the story of the ultimate castaways - from saltwater crocodiles and giant eels to crested iguanas and weird frogs - who succeeded against all odds to reach islands thousands of miles apart. These journeys are no mean feat. It has been estimated that an average of one species in every 60,000 years makes it to Hawaii. Incredibly, many of these colonisers made it to the islands thanks to some of the most violent forces of nature like cyclones and tsunamis.

The voyages of the South Pacific's first people - the Polynesians - were no less remarkable. These journeys were some of the greatest acts of navigation ever undertaken, and they changed the nature of the South Pacific forever.


SAT 21:00 Full Time (m001wk90)
Single mother of two children Julie Roy is the head chambermaid at a five-star hotel in central Paris. Her commute from the suburbs is precision-timed, as she relies on a tolerant neighbour for childcare.

Just as Julie has a job interview for a much better and higher paid job, Paris is near paralysed by a strike of the entire transport network and civil unrest.

In French with English subtitles


SAT 22:25 Parkinson (p00p13h1)
Billy Connolly and Sir David Attenborough

First transmitted in 1998, Michael Parkinson's guests are Billy Connolly, who talks about his flourishing acting career and how he used an apple to try to help him sleep better, and Sir David Attenborough, who tells anecdotes about the sex life of the penduline tit and explains how a carrion crow uses traffic lights and the wheel of a lorry to crack walnuts.


SAT 23:15 Mark Lawson Talks To... (m001wrcj)
Michael Parkinson

The interviewer turns interviewee as Michael Parkinson sits in the guest's chair, talking to Mark Lawson about turning to journalism to avoid life in the Yorkshire coalmines, his schoolboy cricket record, flirting with his female guests, meeting Muhammad Ali and how the run-ins with Emu and Meg Ryan will follow him to the grave.


SAT 00:15 To the Manor Born (b00786vg)
Series 1

A Touch of Class

Stately sitcom. When DeVere decides to film a commercial at the manor, Audrey thinks the world should know the truth about him - and about her.


SAT 00:45 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074rw6)
Series 1

One of Us

The papers of a recently deceased head of MI5 show that he was, at one stage, spying for Russia. Worse still, he was investigated and cleared by an internal Civil Service Committee of Enquiry headed by Sir Humphrey Appleby.


SAT 01:15 South Pacific (b00kmv11)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:15 Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez (m0008c5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2024

SUN 19:00 Attenborough's Paradise Birds (p023wbh0)
Birds of paradise are one of David Attenborough's lifelong passions. He was the first to film many of their beautiful and often bizarre displays, and over his lifetime he has tracked them all over the jungles of New Guinea. In this very personal film, he uncovers the remarkable story of how these 'birds from paradise' have captivated explorers, naturalists, artists, film-makers and even royalty. He explores the myths surrounding their discovery 500 years ago, the latest extraordinary behaviour captured on camera and reveals the scientific truth behind their beauty: the evolution of their spectacular appearance has in fact been driven by sex.

And in a final contemporary twist to this story of obsession and royalty, he travels to the desert of Qatar, to a state-of-the-art facility which houses the largest breeding group of these birds in the world - a sheikh's very own private collection. There he has his closest ever encounter with a greater bird of paradise and its dramatic display, reliving the experience that captivated him in the forests of New Guinea more than 50 years ago.

'For me birds of paradise are the most romantic and glamorous birds in the world. And this is a film I have wanted to make for 40 years.' - Sir David Attenborough.


SUN 20:00 The Fairy-Tale Castles of King Ludwig II with Dan Cruickshank (b036f9vc)
Ludwig II of Bavaria, more commonly known by his nicknames the Swan King or the Dream King, is a legendary figure - the handsome boy-king, loved by his people, betrayed by his cabinet and found dead in tragic and mysterious circumstances. He spent his life in pursuit of the ideal of beauty, which found expression in three of the most extraordinary, ornate architectural schemes imaginable - the castle of Neuschwanstein and the palaces of Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. Today, these three buildings are among Germany's biggest tourist attractions.

In this documentary, Dan Cruickshank explores the rich aesthetic of Ludwig II - from the mock-medievalism of Neuschwanstein, the iconic fairy-tale castle that became the inspiration for the one in Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty, to the rich, baroque splendour of Herrenchiemsee, Ludwig's answer to Versailles. Dan argues that Ludwig's castles are more than flamboyant kitsch and are, in fact, the key to unravelling the eternal enigma of Ludwig II.


SUN 21:00 The River: A Year in the Life of the Tay (m0006gz1)
Writer and naturalist Helen Macdonald traces the dramatic journey of Britain’s greatest river, the Tay, over an entire year. Mixing natural history, cutting-edge science and historical biography with a spectacular travelogue, the film is a celebration of our largest river as it transforms from melting Highland snow to a vast torrent flowing into the cold North Sea.

Following the river’s course from Ben Lui in the west to Dundee in the east, Helen explores the Tay’s magical landscapes, encounters its rare and beautiful wildlife and traces the epic lifecycle of its iconic Salmon population across four spectacular seasons. Spring’s mountain glens reveal hardy lifeforms, honed for life in rushing water, from the Dipper, the world’s only swimming songbird, to a mayfly nymph that mimics the shape of a racing car’s aerofoil to withstand fast-flowing streams.

Helen continues her travels with a visit to the remote Tay tributary, whose riverbed rocks led to an 18th-century man of science, James Hutton, becoming the first person to fully grasp the Earth’s true age, sparking the ‘heretical’ concept of deep time. As spring moves into summer, Helen studies a newly introduced wild Beaver colony to see how this controversial returnee is transforming the Tay’s landscape. She also takes a fascinating look at the microscopic life that fills the sun-drenched waters in a lab where these tiny green algae are helping to answer one of life’s great questions: how multicellular bodies like ours first evolved.

Autumn’s cooling air creates darker, richer waters as the Tay’s riverside trees shed millions of leaves. This huge influx of nutrients threatens to upset the delicate balance of the river’s ecosystem. But Helen meets an unlikely saviour: the unassuming freshwater pearl mussel. As winter starts to grip, Helen’s journey reaches Perth, the point where the river begins to mingle with the sea. In the brackish water downstream lies the UK’s largest reed bed, a sanctuary for one of our rarest birds, the bearded tit, a wonderful example of man and nature working together to support each other. As the river finally becomes the North Sea beyond Dundee, Helen reflects on the extraordinary legacy of local polymath D’Arcy Thompson, whose insights a century ago revealed how simple mathematical rules can explain the complex beauty of the natural world.

Interwoven with Helen’s journey downstream is the story of the Tay’s most iconic species: Atlantic salmon. The majestic king of Fish has suffered a rapid decline in recent decades. Helen will meet the river guardians striving to save these wonderful creatures, and the scientists using new technology to solve the mystery of why they are disappearing. More than just the Tay’s stunning natural and geographical highlights, Helen also seeks to understand how rivers enter our imaginations. The story of the Tay interweaves history and nature, human endeavour and misadventure, and ultimately captures how the fine balance of our complex lives is reflected in its constant winding silver thread.


SUN 22:30 Panorama (p0142mhl)
The Coal War (1984)

First transmitted in 1984. The prospect of closure for collieries across Britain is believed to be pushing moderate areas towards more militant approaches. Led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers, many believe that participation in the strike is their only hope of securing a future for the mining industry. In the studio, Scargill and Ned Smith of the National Coal Board discuss the issues surrounding this wave of industrial action.

The programme also looks back to the incidents at Saltley during the 1972 miners' strike when, after ten days of picketing, the miners succeeded in forcing the closure of the gates at Saltley coke depot/gas works thanks to support from 40,000 engineering workers who had joined the picket. The strike was seen by many as a pivotal moment in the miners' victory that year.


SUN 23:20 Timeshift (b03gtg7g)
Series 13

When Coal Was King

Timeshift explores the lost world of coal mining and the extraordinarily rich social and cultural lives of those who worked in what was once Britain's most important industry. It's a story told through a largely forgotten film archive that movingly documents the final years of coal's heyday from the 1940s to the 1980s. One priceless piece of footage features a ballet performance by tutu-wearing colliers.

Featuring contributions from those who worked underground, those who lived in the pit villages, those who filmed them at work and at play and those - like Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall - who have been inspired by what made coalfield culture so unique.

Narrated by Christopher Eccleston.


SUN 00:20 Attenborough's Paradise Birds (p023wbh0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 01:20 The Fairy-Tale Castles of King Ludwig II with Dan Cruickshank (b036f9vc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 02:20 The River: A Year in the Life of the Tay (m0006gz1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

MONDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2024

MON 19:00 Dynasties (m0015xjd)
Series 2

Elephant

In Amboseli, Kenya, an incredibly rare event pushes a struggling elephant family to its limits. To save their dynasty, they have to work together and overcome the challenge of a lifetime.


MON 20:00 Art of America (b017755r)
Looking for Paradise

In the first episode of a series exploring the history of American art, Andrew Graham-Dixon embarks on an epic journey from east to west, following in the footsteps of the pioneers who built the foundations of modern America.

During his journey, he travels to Massachusetts to see the earliest portraits in America depicting the Puritan settlers and visits Pennsylvania to uncover the dark truth behind Benjamin West's most famous painting, the spectacular Treaty of Penn with the Indians. In Philadelphia, he turns the pages of one of the world's most expensive books - John James Audubon's exquisite Birds of America, and explores the wilderness that inspired America's greatest landscape painter, Thomas Cole.

He also uncovers the paradox at the heart of America: that progress and innovation have come at a tragic price, the destruction of the unique cultural heritage of Native Americans by European settlers.

Andrew's journey takes us to the end of the 19th century and the announcement that the era of westward expansion was officially over.


MON 21:00 Mysteries of the Bayeux Tapestry (m0015nnc)
The Bayeux Tapestry is a remarkable and unique work of art that has survived for almost 1,000 years. Made in the 11th century, it tells the story of William of Normandy’s claim to the English throne, culminating in the Norman invasion of England and the Battle of Hastings.

Surprisingly for an object of its size, the Bayeux Tapestry is not mentioned in any contemporary records. So where does it come from? Who made it and why? Archaeologists, historians, biologists, anthropologists and even astrophysicists are unlocking some of the tapestry’s mysteries to understand better the story it tells us about England and France at that time.

At nearly 70 metres in length, the Bayeux Tapestry includes 623 characters, hundreds of animals and a wide diversity of scenes depicting everyday life and epic events. It is a treasure trove of information, offering an extraordinary insight into a pivotal moment in history.


MON 22:00 Brian Cox: Seven Days on Mars (m0018cd1)
Professor Brian Cox fulfils a childhood dream by going behind the scenes at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), mission control for Mars 2020 – one of the most ambitious missions ever launched that may finally reveal if life ever existed on the red planet.

In 1980, a young Brian Cox wrote to JPL asking for photos from some of their missions to the planets. The pictures they sent him from Voyager and the Viking mission to Mars were a source of inspiration that set him on the path to becoming a physicist.

Now, over 40 years later, he has been granted privileged access to JPL, including key mission areas that are usually off-limits to film crews. Brian spends a week following the team who guide the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter - the first powered aircraft ever sent to another planet - across the surface of Mars during a critical stage of the mission.

Perseverance’s goal is to search for signs of long extinct life on the surface of Mars in an area called Jezero Crater, which, 3.8 billion years ago, was filled by a vast lake. If it finds evidence of that life, it could change everything we know about life in the universe - and even transform our understanding of our own origins.


MON 23:30 Horizon (b09574pc)
2017

Mars - A Traveller's Guide

The dream of sending humans to Mars is closer than ever before. In fact, many scientists think that the first person to set foot on the Red Planet is alive today. But where should the first explorers visit when they get there? Horizon has gathered the world's leading experts on Mars and asked them where they would go if they got the chance - and what would they need to survive?

Using incredible real images and data, Horizon brings these Martian landmarks to life - from vast plains to towering volcanoes, from deep valleys to hidden underground caverns. This film also shows where to land, where to live and even where to hunt for traces of extraterrestrial life.

This is the ultimate traveller's guide to Mars.


MON 00:30 Dynasties (m0015xjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 01:30 Mark Lawson Talks To... (m001wrcj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:15 on Saturday]


MON 02:30 Art of America (b017755r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2024

TUE 19:00 Dynasties (m00164d9)
Series 2

Cheetah

On Zambia’s plains, a cheetah mother must keep her precious cubs safe, preparing them for life without her. They take on dangerous prey, battle hyenas and learn that even tiny neighbours can bite back.


TUE 20:00 To the Manor Born (b00786xl)
Series 2

The New Farm Manager

Richard offers Ned's services to Audrey in Brabinger's absence but Ned thinks it is all a plot to remove him from his tied cottage so that the new farm manager can move in. Audrey decides to take her revenge.


TUE 20:30 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074rwy)
Series 2

Man Overboard

Sir Humphrey must stop Jim supporting a plan to move armed service jobs from the south to the north east to ease unemployment.


TUE 21:00 Wild Weather with Richard Hammond (b04vr2p4)
Original Series

Temperature: The Driving Force

Richard Hammond investigates the crucial role temperature plays in all weather. Without heat, there would be no weather - no clouds, no rain, no snow, no dust storms, no thunder and lightning.

Richard sets off to find out about hot air and with the help of a quarry and a massive hot plate discovers just why it is so hard to pull a sword out of snow. He discovers, by building his own massive dust storm with the help of a few friends and dust specialist Dr Nigel Tapper, just how sand from the Sahara bounces its way to the UK.

In Canada he creates his own ice storm. He also drops in on Dan Morgan, who creates lightning bolts in his lab, where Richard is able to see thunder and hear lightning with the aid of some special cameras, light bulbs and a few candles.


TUE 22:00 Storyville (m001wkcr)
Total Trust: Surveillance State

A Storyville documentary that explores, in intimate detail, state surveillance and digital social control in China by following the experiences of two families and a journalist.

Zijuan Chen is fighting for the release of her imprisoned husband, human rights lawyer Weiping Chang, while trying to keep his memory alive for their son.

Wenzu Li and her newly freed husband, Quanzhang Wang, struggle against surveillance that is not only stopping him from being able to work but also affecting ordinary tasks like taking their son to school.

Journalist Sophie Xueqin Huang, a pivotal figure in bringing the Me Too movement to China, is at constant risk of arrest.

Chinese film-maker Jialing Zhang gives an exclusive and previously impossible intimate insight into the interior of China and tells a deeply disturbing story of how the state uses technology to control its citizens as well as propaganda to convince its people to trust it.


TUE 23:35 The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts (b0c1sx9p)
Series 1

Episode 4

In the final episode, Anita Rani, potter Keith Brymer Jones, and arts and crafts expert and dealer Patch Rogers set the 21st-century crafters their toughest set of challenges so far. Concentrating on the communal areas of the house they are have to craft from scratch a heavy metal weather vane, a decorative mirror, write, publish and print their own magazine and create a decorative pergola for the front of the house. All within a week.

Working together as a group they will see if the arts and crafts philosophies of John Ruskin and William Morris have sunk in, and if living the 1890's communal has helped them to better understand the depth and scale of the arts and crafts movement both as a power for artistic and social change. But will they get it all done in time to celebrate with a ball and fireworks display at the end of their month in the house and will they have learnt anything about what it means to be a creative crafter from their time as a Victorian?


TUE 00:35 Mysteries of the Bayeux Tapestry (m0015nnc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 01:35 Dynasties (m00164d9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 02:35 Wild Weather with Richard Hammond (b04vr2p4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2024

WED 19:00 Dynasties (m0016ckz)
Series 2

Hyena

With the emergence of a young rival, a spotted hyena queen struggles to keep her grip on power – while also trying to raise a family – on Zambia’s vast and unforgiving Liuwa Plain grasslands.


WED 20:00 Invasion! with Sam Willis (b09jj0md)
Series 1

Episode 3

In this final programme, Sam Willis continues to tell the story of the invasions that have shaped Britain. He finds evidence of the rich legacy of the Huguenots who came to Britain bringing fine silks and the latest technological developments. He also discovers the ingenious French plans to invade Britain by balloon and the subterranean fortress built for troops in the 19th century when invasion paranoia was at fever pitch.


WED 21:00 Rise of the Nazis (m0008lf9)
Origins

Night of the Long Knives

Adolf Hitler has been chancellor of Germany for just under a year. It is a challenging balancing act. On the one hand, the Nazis must be mindful of President Paul von Hindenburg and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen, who are members of Germany’s traditional aristocratic ruling elite. On the other, there is the Nazis’ own power base – the stormtroopers - millions of angry, disenfranchised men who wreak havoc on German streets.

The stormtroopers are led by Ernst Röhm, one of Hitler’s oldest and closest friends. Röhm wants Hitler to fulfil his promise to sweep away the traditional ruling class. Hitler owes Röhm: he has paved the way for Hitler’s political career, and his stormtroopers have helped to eradicate left-wing opposition to the Nazi Party. Now, though, they’re a potential threat - stormtrooper violence is undermining Hitler’s credibility as chancellor.

In a bid to placate Röhm, Hitler makes him a minister, but Röhm tries to wrestle control of the existing army that reports to President Hindenburg, putting Hitler is in a difficult position, stuck between his president and his old friend.

Röhm’s actions present Hermann Göring with an opportunity to persuade Hitler that his old comrade is no longer a friend, but a threat. But Göring will also need the help of his own rival, Heinrich Himmler. Himmler agrees to help destroy Röhm and his stormtroopers and make the SS Germany’s only paramilitary force.


WED 22:00 Small Island (b00pdyh3)
Episode 1

Lives and loves entwine in Andrea Levy's award-winning story of Jamaicans and Londoners involved in the Second World War.

London 1948: Hortense joins Gilbert, her new husband, in England, where he is lodging with Queenie Bligh. The women have both married in unpromising circumstances as love is a luxury neither can afford. As Hortense remembers her life in Jamaica and the profound love she had for Michael and his betrayal of her, Queenie also remembers her night of passion with the same Michael when her husband was away at war. Initially suspicious of each other, will they uncover the secret they share?


WED 23:25 Small Island (b00ph9l4)
Episode 2

The emotional and moving climax to the stories of Hortense, Queenie and Gilbert whose lives entwine in post Second World War London.

Hortense begins her new life in England and soon learns it is not the golden land she hoped it would be. She and Gilbert suffer racism and ignorance, but in adversity they discover new qualities in each other and begin to fall in love. Queenie is shocked when her husband Bernard returns to her after years away. When she goes into labour and has a baby by a mysterious father, the lives of all four are changed forever.


WED 00:55 Dynasties (m0016ckz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 01:55 Invasion! with Sam Willis (b09jj0md)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:55 Rise of the Nazis (m0008lf9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THURSDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2024

THU 19:00 Dynasties (m001gp02)
Macaque: Monkeys in the Mountains – A Dynasties Special

High in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco lives a group of Barbary macaque monkeys. The alpha male, known as Mac, has just battled to win the leadership of the troop. He must now lead and protect them while fending off rivals who still want his crown.


THU 20:00 Jesus Christ Superstar (m001kk2j)
A novel take on the last seven days of Jesus Christ's life, based on Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous rock opera.

A group of young people arrive in the Holy Land by bus to act out events leading to the Crucifixion in a blend of biblical and contemporary themes. To Judas Iscariot, Christ is a badly managed superstar, bound to lose the support of a fickle public. To the priests, he is a menace, and to Mary Magdalene, he brings a love she has never known before.

Photographed against dramatic scenery in Israel, the film is performed without dialogue and includes the hit songs I Don't Know How to Love Him, Superstar and King Herod's Song.


THU 21:40 Norman Jewison: Hollywood Veteran (m001wkg2)
Tim Sebastian talks to director and producer Norman Jewison, whose acclaimed films include In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof and Moonstruck.


THU 22:05 Fiddler on the Roof (b018kwnv)
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish peasant must contend with marrying off his three daughters while anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his home.


THU 01:00 Parkinson (p00p13h1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:25 on Saturday]


THU 01:50 Brian Cox: Seven Days on Mars (m0018cd1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]

FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2024

FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m001wc34)
Jo Brand and Mark Lamarr present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 7 September 1995 and featuring Nightcrawlers featuring John Reid, Whigfield, Donna Summer, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Smokie featuring Roy Chubby Brown, Erasure, Michael Jackson and Simply Red.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m001wc3t)
Robbie Williams presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 14 September 1995 and featuring D:Ream, Cappella, Foo Fighters, Lloyd Cole, Mariah Carey, The Rembrandts, N-Trance featuring Ricardo Da Force, Simply Red, Michael Jackson and The Rolling Stones.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m0013mbs)
Tony Dortie and Mark Franklin present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 20 February 1992 and featuring The Brand New Heavies, The Temptations, Julia Fordham, Bryan Adams, Opus III, Simply Red, Shanice and Shakespears Sister.


FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (b06yrs1d)
Peter Powell introduces the pop programme, featuring Status Quo, Kim Wilde, Madness, Kiki Dee, Coast to Coast, The Passions, Roxy Music and Joe Dolce, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.


FRI 21:00 Prince and The Revolution: Live (m001mpgh)
James Brown had the Apollo. Jimi Hendrix had Monterey Pop. And Prince had Syracuse, New York’s Carrier Dome – the site of his 30 March 1985 Purple Rain Tour performance that was beamed to millions live via satellite and captured for posterity as a Grammy-nominated concert film.

For the first time, this powerful performance by Prince and The Revolution has been entirely remixed and remastered, and the picture quality has been improved significantly. The film features smash hits from the legendary Prince albums Purple Rain, Controversy and 1999, including a mind-bending 18-minute version of the song Purple Rain.


FRI 22:20 New Power Generation: Black Music Legends of the 1980s (b0177bjb)
Prince: A Purple Reign

Film which explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionised the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as 1999, Kiss, Raspberry Beret and Alphabet Street. He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continued right up to his passing in April 2016, aged 57.

From the psychedelic Around the World in a Day to his masterpiece album Sign O' the Times and experiments with hip-hop and jazz, Prince was one of most ambitious and prolific songwriters of his generation. He tested the boundaries of taste and decency with explicit sexual lyrics and stage shows during his early career, and in the 1990s fought for ownership of his name and control of his music, played out in a public battle with his former label, Warner. Highly regarded as one of the most flamboyant live performers ever, Prince was a controversial and famously elusive creative force.

Contributors include Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson, Paisley Park label president Alan Leeds, hip-hop legend Chuck D and Prince 'Mastermind' and UK soul star Beverley Knight.


FRI 23:20 Purple Rain (b00kx3c7)
Iconic musical drama which launched Prince's career. In Minneapolis, Prince plays 'The Kid', a talented but troubled young musician eager to make it big. But emotional problems are holding him back, threatening to wreck his relationship with singer Apollonia and his very sense of self.


FRI 01:05 Word Up! Black American Pop at the BBC (b017gss8)
A selection of some of the best performances by African-American artists of the 1980s from the BBC archives, featuring Cameo, Shalamar, Salt-n-Pepa, Chaka Khan, Kid Creole, Doug E Fresh, Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross.


FRI 02:05 Top of the Pops (b06yrs1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


FRI 02:35 Top of the Pops (m0013mbs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 03:05 Top of the Pops (m001wc34)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]