SATURDAY 20 JULY 2024

SAT 19:00 Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise (b06fnkr7)
Heat and Dust

Patagonia invites you into a rarely seen South American wilderness, home to surprising creatures who survive in environments that range from the mighty Andes Mountains to Cape Horn.

From the Andes peaks, we follow the path of the relentless wind, sweeping east through Patagonia's dry desert. We discover a weird world of maras - giant guinea pigs - and desert-dwelling penguins, and witness the first faltering steps of baby guanacos - Patagonia's very own camels. People live here too - brave souls who have taken on this arid world and carved out a home.


SAT 20:00 Francesco's Venice (b0078ssj)
Sex

Francesco da Mosto continues his story of Venice with its most outrageous period of partying and licentiousness. This is the age of Casanova, the age of the courtesan - when Venice was the red-light district of Europe, attracting rich and hopeful dandies from across the continent.

Ostensibly the young men would come in search of art - and there was plenty for them, with Vivaldi, Canaletto and Canova at work in the city creating art on a scale never before seen. These were artists who responded directly to their public - Vivaldi churning out score after score as tourist-patrons demanded them, Canaletto painting the most upmarket postcards of the age for the growing number of rich visitors to the city, and Canova taking the human figure in marble to a level of perfection not seen since the time of Michelangelo.

Yet storm clouds were gathering and for the Venetians who saw them coming it could only seem as though the wrath of God was about to descend upon the city. The city had grown decadent and careless of its security. Guaranteed a safe haven for a thousand years by the hidden sandbanks of the lagoon, now new technology gave the enemies of Venice long-distance guns that could hit the city from beyond the shallows.

A new monster was rising in Europe - Napoleon Bonaparte, who saw Venice as rich pickings with which to fund his revolution. He would bring disaster to the city beyond any other it had known in its thousand-year history.


SAT 21:00 End of Summer (m001zp24)
Series 1

Episode 5

Isak is helped by Vera to remember his childhood, and Vera finds an alternative explanation for what may have happened to Billy. Mattias decides to help Harald trace Isak's identity.


SAT 21:50 End of Summer (m001zp26)
Series 1

Episode 6

Vera realises that she never understood what was really going on when she was a child. Together, she and Mattias try to solve the mystery surrounding Billy's disappearance, and an old photograph of Billy turns out to be about something completely different from what Vera thought.


SAT 22:50 Parkinson: The Interviews (b007448x)
Series 1

Kenneth Williams

In this compilation of clips from five of his eight appearances on Parkinson, Kenneth Williams gives vent to his dislike of theatre critics as well as Michael Parkinson, and gives his rendition of My Crepes Suzette.

Contributors: John Betjeman, Patrick Campbell, Tom Lehrer, Annie Lewis, Tony Moss, Frank Muir, Robin Ray and Maggie Smith.


SAT 23:30 Comic Roots (p02rtqvm)
Series 2

Kenneth Williams

Kenneth Williams explores his roots in and around London's St Pancras, where he grew up.

Architecture, poetry, art and music were the formative influences on Kenneth Williams: the slum architecture of St Pancras where he grew up, the liquid poetry of his Gran's fruity anecdotes, the art of the Marcel wave practised by his hairdresser father and the musical knees-up at The Boot pub.


SAT 00:00 One Foot in the Grave (b007cg9p)
Series 1

I'll Retire to Bedlam

Victor and Margaret are trapped in their garden shed by a swarm of bees. Later, a trip to the eye clinic gives Victor a chance to moan about the NHS. While he's out, Margaret agrees to look after her niece's two children for a day.


SAT 00:30 Butterflies (p00hm2jt)
Series 2

Leaving

Adam's girlfriend leaves him because he is boring. Ria meets Leonard, who is out jogging in the park.


SAT 01:00 Cilla at the BBC (b067543w)
Much-mourned national treasure Cilla Black commenced her eminent career as a TV host in 1968 on the BBC. Her career as perhaps the nation's favourite female pop singer of the decade had already been established after landing her first Number 1 with Anyone Who Had a Heart, the biggest-selling hit by a female singer in the 1960s.

This tribute compilation celebrates the BBC's coverage of Cilla's 60s pop star years on programmes like Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Not Only...But Also, The Ken Dodd Show, Top of the Pops and The Royal Variety Performance, before selecting just some of the golden moments from the long-running self-titled series she hosted for the BBC between 1968 and 1976 including the Paul McCartney-penned theme song Step Inside Love and that 1973 famous duet with Marc Bolan on Life's A Gas.


SAT 02:00 Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise (b06fnkr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 03:00 Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners (b062nqpd)
Profit and Loss

In 1834 Britain abolished slavery, a defining and celebrated moment in our national history. What has been largely forgotten is that abolition came at a price. The government of the day took the extraordinary step of compensating the slave owners for loss of their 'property', as Britain's slave owners were paid £17bn in today's money, whilst the slaves received nothing.

For nearly 200 years, the meticulous records that detail this story have lain in the archives virtually unexamined - until now. In an exclusive partnership with University College London, historian David Olusoga uncovers Britain's forgotten slave owners. Forensically examining the compensation records, he discovers the range of people who owned slaves and the scale of the slavery business.

What the records reveal is that the slave owners were not just the super-rich. They were widows, clergymen and shopkeepers - ordinary members of the middle-classes who exploited slave labour in distant lands. Yet many of them never looked a slave in the eye or experienced the brutal realities of plantation life.

In Barbados, David traces how Britain's slave economy emerged in the 17th century from just a few pioneering plantation owners. As David explores the systemic violence of slavery, in Jamaica he is introduced to some of the brutal tools used to terrorise the slaves and reads from the sadistic diaries of a notorious British slave owner. Elsewhere, on a visit to the spectacularly opulent Harewood House in Yorkshire, he glimpses how the slave owners' wealth seeped into every corner of Britain.

Finally, amongst the vast slave registers that record all 800,000 men, women and children in British hands at the point of abolition, David counts the tragic human cost of this chapter in our nation's history.

SUNDAY 21 JULY 2024

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 BBC Proms (m0021d9w)
2024

Sir Mark Elder’s Farewell to The Hallé at the Proms

History is made tonight at the Proms as Sir Mark Elder takes to the Royal Albert Hall stage for his final performance as music director of The Hallé after a quarter of a century in the role. This renowned partnership poignantly closes a chapter in its history with a performance of Mahler’s epic and life-affirming Fifth Symphony. Katie Derham presents, joined by a special guest.


SUN 21:55 BBC Proms (m0021d9y)
1992

Last Night of the Proms

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa makes a rare appearance at the Proms to sing two romantic arias by Massenet, and octogenarian Russian pianist Tatyana Nikolaeva, making her Proms debut, plays Shostakovich's sparkling Piano Concerto No 2.

The bicentenary of Rossini's birth is celebrated with the overture to his best-known opera, The Barber of Seville, and with Soirees musicales, a suite of some of his most beguiling music orchestrated by Benjamin Britten. Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra.


SUN 23:05 Michael Tippett: The Shadow and the Light (m001mpvt)
The latest in John Bridcut’s collection of award-winning films about British composers features the life and music of Sir Michael Tippett, who died in 1998.

For many years, Tippett dominated the contemporary classical music scene in the UK. His life spanned almost the whole of the 20th century, and embraced many of the social issues of his time, from pacifism to homosexuality. His most popular work, the oratorio A Child of Our Time, made his name in 1944. Provoked by Kristallnacht – the 1938 Nazi-led pogrom against German Jews – it continues to speak powerfully about refugees and persecution.

This performance-based documentary features extracts from the full range of Tippett’s music, specially filmed in Glasgow with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Bearsden Choir.


SUN 00:35 Art on the BBC (m000f1jy)
Series 1

The Many Faces of Picasso

Picasso is known as the godfather of modern art. In this programme, art historian David Dibosa explores six decades of BBC archive to discover how television has influenced our understanding of him.

David reveals how film-makers have portrayed two different Picassos - the child genius who drew like a master and the adult who rejected his conventional talent in a quest to reflect the world, in ways that shattered all the rules.

He also finds that film-makers have long been fascinated by Picasso’s private life. A notorious womaniser, Picasso used his lovers as muses and left behind a trail of broken relationships.


SUN 01:35 BBC Proms (m0021d9y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:55 today]


SUN 02:45 Life of a Mountain (b04y4gd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

MONDAY 22 JULY 2024

MON 19:00 Coastal Path (b07qb61p)
Episode 1

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


MON 19:30 Railway Walks with Julia Bradbury (b00f80z6)
Harbouring History

The backstreets of Weymouth seem an unlikely spot to explore railway history, but Julia discovers there was once a short railway that ran south from Weymouth and across the unique coastal features of Chesil Beach and Portland. The walk is the ideal platform for learning about the history of Portland Harbour and the tied isle's most famous export, Portland stone.


MON 20:00 Art of France (b08cgjv7)
Series 1

Plus Ça Change

Art historian and critic Andrew Graham-Dixon opens this series with the dramatic story of French art, a story of the most powerful kings ever to rule in Europe with their glittering palaces and astounding art to go in them. He also reveals how art emerged from a struggle between tradition and revolution, between rulers and a people who didn't always want to be ruled.

Starting with the first great revolution in art, the invention of Gothic architecture, he traces its development up until the arrival of classicism and the Age of Enlightenment - and the very eve of the revolution. Along the way some of the greatest art the world has ever seen was born, including the paintings of Poussin, Watteau and Chardin, the decadent rococo delights of Boucher and the great history paintings of Charles le Brun.


MON 21:00 Rebuilding Notre-Dame (m000hbdq)
Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue

Documentary that goes inside what remains of the world-famous Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. It is one year since the inferno devastated the vast timber and lead roof and the 850-year-old gothic masterpiece is still perilously close to collapse. Now, we follow the men and women fighting to secure the fire-ravaged structure. Lead dust from the vaporised roof contaminates the site, the stone ceiling is crumbling and a 500-tonne melted mass of scaffolding still hangs precariously over the cathedral, triggering alarms and evacuations.

Now that the cathedral walls are supported by giant timber frames, chief architect Philippe Villeneuve urgently needs a complete picture of the damage sustained during the fire. He initiates an unprecedented collaboration between architects and scientists. Their mission is to meticulously analyse the fallen timber, stone and fractured glass to develop a decontamination and restoration plan. This unique opportunity will give a new insight into the medieval materials, techniques and people who built Notre-Dame.

Inside the cathedral, glass scientist Claudine Loisel investigates the distribution of lead contamination on the stunning stained glass, comparing samples from around the building. In the lab she develops a decontamination plan using x-ray spectroscopy and identifies micro-cracks in the glass caused by ‘thermal shock’, sustained during the fire. At York Minster in northern England, conservationists are pioneering a glass preservation method that Claudine hopes will be adopted at Notre-Dame. They are installing ventilated protective glazing, which protects the medieval stained glass from harmful UV rays and the corrosive effects of moisture.

The stone vaulting has taken the brunt of the fire and will require new limestone with the same mechanical properties for the rebuild. Stone scientist Lise Leroux hunts for the origin of the vaulting stone, voyaging into the forgotten quarries beneath Paris, which are now filled with the bones of 18th-century Parisians. She finds a limestone micro-fossil signature in the lower level of the quarry that matches samples from the vaulting stones, confirming its origin. Lise discovers Notre-Dame is built from a variety of different limestone, chosen for the various structural properties needed for the cathedral.

The complex timber framework of the roof is completely destroyed. Amazingly, timber scientist Catherine Lavier still finds markings from the medieval carpenters on the burned beams and her tree-ring analysis of the timber tells the life story of the oak used. One team of carpenters still uses medieval tools and techniques to fell and carve beams for a chateau restoration, proving the skills and timber still exist in France to rebuild Notre-Dame’s lost roof framework. A 3D scan of the geometrically complex timbers of Notre-Dame offers the team a possibility to eventually rebuild the roof in the same way, down to the last millimetre.

The data from the scientists is combined into a groundbreaking ‘digital twin’ of Notre-Dame that will help them restore and rebuild the cathedral. This 3D dynamic map gives the team a complete view of every inch of the structure, before and after the fire, allowing them to click on an individual stone to see its chemical composition, its mechanical properties and its history within Notre-Dame over time.


MON 22:00 Paris (b007rj5y)
Series 1

City of Dreams

Art historian Sandrine Voillet tells the story of how Paris rose up from the blood-stained streets of the French revolution to become the world’s first great modern metropolis in just 100 years.

From restaurants to Rodin, from boulevards to bistros, and from photography to the impressionist painters, Paris led the way in transforming the way people lived, worked and played in cities. Voillet reveals why Parisians loved their sewers and courtesans but hated Sacré-Coeur and the Eiffel Tower.


MON 23:00 Private Life of a Masterpiece (m000xw49)
Series 3

The Kiss

Auguste Rodin's The Kiss has had a more colourful life than most sculptures. At the time of its conception 100 years ago, the intertwined lovers' erotically charged embrace was seen as dangerous. Now housed in London's Tate Modern, The Kiss's byzantine history is told in this documentary.


MON 23:50 Art on the BBC (m000fj9q)
Series 1

Michelangelo: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Michelangelo was not merely a giant of the Renaissance. He was also one of the era’s most controversial personalities. Art historian Sona Datta explores six decades of BBC archive to discover how TV has influenced our understanding of him.

Sona reveals how TV has tried to reconcile Michelangelo’s art with his difficult personality, bringing to life the story of a man who rose from humble beginnings to become the favoured artist of the rich and powerful. He left us with work that was both iconic and divine, but his bitter, jealous temperament earned him more than a few enemies.


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


MON 01:20 Railway Walks with Julia Bradbury (b00f80z6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 01:50 Rebuilding Notre-Dame (m000hbdq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 02:50 Art of France (b08cgjv7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUESDAY 23 JULY 2024

TUE 19:00 Coastal Path (b07tbxp6)
Episode 2

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


TUE 19:30 Railway Walks with Julia Bradbury (b00fd1dd)
Gateway to the Highlands

Julia Bradbury faces an epic walk in more ways than one. Not only is this the longest and arguably most dramatic walk yet, but it passes through the unruly territory of Scottish clans and Rob Roy. The Highlands were a place to be wary of, until the railway arrived.


TUE 20:00 Roy Clarke Remembers... Keeping Up Appearances (m0021ddc)
Acclaimed comedy writer Roy Clarke has an extraordinary legacy when it comes to popular British sitcoms - creating Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours and the classic comedy that he looks back on here, Keeping Up Appearances – the series that introduced the world to the extraordinary Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced, of course, ‘Bouquet’).

Roy speaks of the relief he felt when learning that the acting force of nature that is Patricia Routledge had agreed to play the part of Hyacinth, and how having her onboard fed into the character’s development over the series. He also celebrates the crucial role played by the supporting cast, explains why the series eventually had to come to an end and shares a personal view of his famous creation – Mrs Bucket may be a nightmare, but Roy really rather likes her.


TUE 20:15 Keeping Up Appearances (b007bk0z)
Series 1

Daddy's Accident

The first episode of the comedy series about fastidious housewife Hyacinth Bucket sees Hyacinth's father have a nasty accident with a milk bottle.


TUE 20:45 Butterflies (p00hm2ls)
Series 2

Fox Hunting

Ria is upset when she encounters a fox hunt when out in the country with Ben. She determines to mount a protest.


TUE 21:15 Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners (b063jzdw)
The Price of Freedom

Historian David Olusoga continues his examination of Britain's forgotten slave owners. In this episode, David explores how in 1834 the government arrived at the extraordinary decision to compensate the slave owners with the equivalent of £17 billion in today's money. Tracing the bitter propaganda war waged between the pro-slavery lobby and the abolitionists, he reveals that paying off the slave owners for the loss of their human property was, ultimately, the only way to bring the system to an end.

Meticulously kept records held at the National Archives detail the names of the 46,000 slave owners from across the British empire who had a slice of this vast handout. Combined with new research, shared exclusively with the BBC by University College London, it reveals more about Britain's slave owners than we've ever known before.

Of the 46,000 names in the 1834 compensation records, 3,000 lived in Britain, yet they owned half of the slaves across the empire and pocketed half of the compensation money. These include members of the clergy and of the House of Lords. The records also show that at the point of abolition, more than 40 per cent of all the slave owners were women.

David goes on to investigate what happened to the wealth generated by the slave system and compensation pay out. He reveals aspects of Britain's spectacular industrialisation in the 19th century, the consolidation of the City of London as a world centre of finance, and a number of the country's most well-known institutions that all have links to slave-derived wealth.

Ultimately, David discovers that the country's debt to slavery is far greater than previously thought, shaping everything from the nation's property landscape to its ideas about race. A legacy that can still be felt today.


TUE 22:15 Storyville (m001llf2)
Attica: America’s Bloodiest Prison Uprising

A Storyville documentary about the violent five-day standoff between inmates and law enforcement which gripped America in 1971.


TUE 00:05 Art on the BBC (m000frc5)
Series 1

Constable: The Rural Rebel

Often dismissed as a chocolate box painter in his day, Constable is now acknowledged to have been a revolutionary. Art historian Rose Balston explores six decades of BBC archive to discover how TV has influenced our understanding of him.

Constable pushed the boundaries of landscape painting to such an extent that he was rejected by the establishment. Perhaps just as surprisingly, he poured his love for one woman onto the canvas as no painter of landscapes had done before. This programme goes beyond cliché to discover what the BBC archive has to say about a much misunderstood English master.


TUE 01:10 Paris (b007rj5y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


TUE 02:10 Railway Walks with Julia Bradbury (b00fd1dd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:40 Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners (b063jzdw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:15 today]

WEDNESDAY 24 JULY 2024

WED 19:00 Coastal Path (b07v8bhz)
Episode 3

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


WED 19:30 Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury (b010v7kx)
The Caledonian Canal

Seasoned stomper Julia Bradbury dons her walking boots once again and this time she is exploring her own British backyard, travelling along the country's network of canals and their accompanying towpath trails. This sees her navigating Highland glens, rolling countryside and river valleys, as well as our industrial heartlands, following these magical waterways as they cut a sedate path through some of the country's finest scenery.

Julia kicks off her tour with a visit to the Scottish Highlands. Against the stunning backdrop of Ben Nevis, her walk starts near Fort William where she embarks on her eight-mile trip along the Caledonian Canal, the majestic waterway that cuts through beautiful mountain country and is regarded as one of the most ambitious canals of its time. Julia's journey tells the story of one of the greatest canal engineers, Thomas Telford, whose ambition was to create not only an engineering marvel, but also badly needed jobs and wealth for the Highlands. Two hundred years on, it is now one of the most popular walking trails in the country.


WED 20:00 Pole to Pole (p02j8knz)
Russian Steps

Michael experiences life in the latter days of the Soviet Union as he travels from Leningrad to the port of Odessa, mere days before the 1991 coup in Moscow.


WED 20:50 Around the World in 80 Treasures (b00qg3b0)
Series 1 Shorts

Ethiopia - Ark of the Covenant

Dan Cruickshank visits Ethiopia in search of the Ark of the Covenant.


WED 21:00 Catching Britain's Killers: The Crimes That Changed Us (m00095q5)
Series 1

DNA

This episode begins in Leicestershire in the heart of England, in the 1980s.

In 1983 and then only three years later, in 1986, the villages of Narborough and Enderby were shaken by the murders of two local teenage girls who were attacked and killed in very similar circumstances.

Weaving together archive footage and interviews with police officers, local journalists and forensic scientists, as well as friends and close relatives of the victims, this programme tells the story of the investigation, and how the struggle to find the killer would lead to the very first use of a brand new forensic science – DNA fingerprinting.

Following the course of this incredible scientific breakthrough and its use in the Leicestershire murders investigation, the episode explores the creation of Britain’s DNA database, a world first, as well as the development and evolution of this investigative tool which would lead to convictions for crimes that had, until then, been impossible to solve.

Exploring the ripples of one single investigation and the coincidences, twists and turns that led to this historic breakthrough, the programme paints a portrait of the 1980s as well as revealing the unforeseen, unfolding consequences of this pivotal investigation that has changed crime detection around the world.


WED 22:00 Amanda Redman, Alun Armstrong and James Bolam Remember... New Tricks (m0021dgp)
Launched in April 2004 after a highly successful pilot, New Tricks captivated viewers with its in-depth character studies, witful dialogue and refreshing take on the British policing system. Each episode brought with it its own puzzling ‘cold case’, in what would become one of the most enduring and best-loved British crime series to date.

Here we are joined by Amanda Redman, James Bolam and Alun Armstrong, who formed the first incarnation of UCOS (Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad), which combined the talents of Redman’s Senior Police Detective Sandra Pullman alongside the experience and wisdom of a group of retired detectives. Together they served to carry out justice while coming up against the limitations of Metropolitan Police Service, barriers in their own personal lives and the array of challenges involved in re-opening old cases.

Reunited for this special introduction, the group sit down to give us an insight into the mechanics behind the show, reveal the impact their unique dynamic had in serving the story and share why New Tricks still holds its own in 2024.


WED 22:15 New Tricks (b007d0fb)
Pilot

Put in charge of a unit examining unsolved murders, highflying police chief Sandra Pullman is teamed with three veterans who bring a 1970s attitude to modern policing.


WED 23:40 Storyville (m000th7v)
Undercover OAP: The Mole Agent

A recently widowed 83-year-old goes undercover in a Chilean nursing home in a warm-hearted and surprising look at age, isolation and loneliness.

Sergio is a Chilean spy - sort of. At least, he is offered the role of one after a casting session organised by Detective Romulo, a private investigator who needs a credible mole to infiltrate a retirement home. Romulo’s client, the concerned daughter of a resident, suspects her mother is being abused and hires him to find out what is really happening.

However, Sergio is 83, not 007, and not an easy trainee when it comes to technology and spying techniques. But he is a keen student, looking for ways to distract himself after recently losing his wife. What could be a better distraction than some undercover spy action? While gathering intelligence, Sergio grows close to several residents and realises that the truth beneath the surface is not what anyone had suspected.

The film is a stylish combination of observational documentary and spy movie, resulting in a unique observation of compassion and loneliness.


WED 01:05 Coastal Path (b07v8bhz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 01:35 Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury (b010v7kx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:05 Pole to Pole (p02j8knz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:55 Catching Britain's Killers: The Crimes That Changed Us (m00095q5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THURSDAY 25 JULY 2024

THU 19:00 Coastal Path (b07w13bp)
Episode 4

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


THU 19:30 Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury (b0110ghh)
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal

Seasoned stomper Julia Bradbury dons her walking boots once again to explore her own British backyard, travelling along the country's network of canals and their accompanying towpath trails. Julia navigates Highland glens, rolling countryside and river valleys, as well as our industrial heartlands, and follows these magical waterways as they cut a sedate path through some of the country's finest scenery.

Julia starts this walk in Birmingham, which surprisingly boasts more miles of canal than Venice. But her mission isn't to seek out gondolas or ice cream - it's to discover how the city, through its canal network, became the centre of the Industrial Revolution. It's also the start of Julia's two-day walk along the historic and picturesque Worcester and Birmingham Canal, which cuts a 30-mile path through to the River Severn. The highlight of the canal is a dramatic two-mile flight of 30 locks which lower the canal by 220 feet. Negotiating this flight of locks is considered to be a rite of passage by boaters, and it's definitely one for the tick list for walkers.


THU 20:00 Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise (b06gqsqn)
Life on the Edge

Patagonia invites you into a rarely seen South American wilderness, home to surprising creatures who survive in environments that range from the mighty Andes Mountains to Cape Horn.

This is the story of an awe-inspiring coastline 4,000 miles long. From the cold, fearsome waters of Cape Horn, where brave rockhopper penguins overcome huge challenges to raise their young, to the far north, with huge elephant seals battling for position in the heat of the desert. Orcas ram-raid the beaches, grabbing seal pups to feed their young. People gather the sea's bounty too, but these shores are not for the faint-hearted.


THU 21:00 Richard Eyre Remembers… Country (m0021dgs)
Celebrated theatre, film and television director Richard Eyre has forged links with some of Britain’s finest writers - one of the most notable being Trevor Griffiths, whose landmark piece, Comedians, he directed, as well as this prescient and still relevant production, Country.

Set on the night of the Labour Party’s momentous election victory in 1945, Country contains the rage and compassion for which Griffiths was well known.

Richard takes us through the genesis of the project and recalls how persuading Leo McKern to play the part of Sir Frederick Carlion unlocked the door to the stellar cast that followed. He talks of Griffiths’ belief in the power of television to make arguments and tells us about the surprising links between Country and The Godfather!


THU 21:15 Play for Today (m000ngby)
Series 12

Country

A family gathering, a christening and a dance. But it's 1945 and there are plans to be made, family wealth to protect and peace to be won.


THU 22:35 Chariots of Fire (m001gn1j)
Oscar-winning drama. Two rival British runners push themselves to the limit in their quest to make the 1924 British Olympic team, but neither is prepared to compromise on his priniciples.


THU 00:35 Coastal Path (b07tbxp6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


THU 01:05 Coastal Path (b07w13bp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


THU 01:35 Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury (b0110ghh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:05 Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise (b06gqsqn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

FRIDAY 26 JULY 2024

FRI 19:00 Cricket: Today at the Test (m0021dg3)
England v West Indies 2024

Third Test: Day 1 Highlights

Day one highlights from the third Test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston, Birmingham.


FRI 20:00 BBC Proms (m0021dg5)
2024

Verdi’s Requiem at the Proms

First performed 150 years ago, Verdi’s masterpiece roars into the Royal Albert Hall for its anniversary celebrations. This emotional rollercoaster isn’t just a mournful ode to the departed, it’s a thunderous celebration of life and death. Verdi himself conducted the British premiere at the Royal Albert Hall, delighting the audience with its gigantic musical forces.

Tonight’s high-octane performance features four star soloists, soprano Latonia Moore, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, tenor SeokJong Baek and bass Soloman Howard with conductor Ryan Bancroft, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and not one but two choirs, BBC National Chorus of Wales and Crouch End Festival Chorus.


FRI 21:30 Top of the Pops (b08202lx)
Mike Read presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast on 29 July 1982. Includes appearances from Dexys Midnight Runners, Hot Chocolate, The Firm, David Essex, Yazoo, Paul McCartney, Irene Cara and Cliff Richard. Also includes a dance performance from Zoo.


FRI 22:00 Louis Armstrong in Concert (m000yhc4)
First broadcast on the centenary of his birth, legendary jazz trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong in performance.


FRI 22:55 Show of the Week (m0021khd)
Louis Armstrong

Humphrey Lyttelton introduces the story of Louis Armstrong and His All Stars: Eddie Shu, clarinet, Tyree Glenn, trombone, Billy Kyle, piano, Bud Catlett, bass and Danny Barcelona, drums.


FRI 00:00 Jazz Legends in Their Own Words (b044yqv1)
A journey into the BBC archives unearthing glorious performances and candid interviews from the golden age of jazz. Featuring some of the greatest names in American music, including the godfather of New Orleans jazz Louis Armstrong, the King of Swing Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.


FRI 01:00 Cleo Laine at the BBC (m001dhjg)
A special celebration of Dame Cleo Laine’s finest moments on the BBC to coincide with her ninety-fifth birthday. Britain’s ‘First Lady of Jazz’ became a star after joining The John Dankworth Seven in the 1950s and then marrying the bandleader. Internationally renowned for her mastery of the ‘scat’ singing style, and with a voice that has been described as ‘one of the richest contraltos in recording history’, Cleo has now enjoyed over six decades of success and acclaim here and across the world.

These are the highlights of her extraordinary career, with classic songs like Send in the Clowns and I Love You, Porgy, and duets with John Williams, Dudley Moore, Tony Bennett, and of course, her musical partner and fellow jazz legend Johnny Dankworth.


FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (b08202lx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]


FRI 02:35 Louis Armstrong in Concert (m000yhc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]