SATURDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2025

SAT 19:00 Ulster in Focus (m0024y3g)
Trains

A young Liam Neeson guides viewers on a journey through the history of Northern Ireland's railways in this 1978 episode of the educational series Ulster in Focus. Beginning in the 19th century, we explore how the Ulster Railway network went on to revolutionise travel, transform daily life and shape the future of the region, before its eventual collapse due to the rise of the car.


SAT 19:20 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2s1)
Series 2

The Name of the Game

Nellie Dimmock's dog provides James with another opportunity to glimpse the generosity of Bennett. But at the local cricket match, James must face the demon bowler.


SAT 20:10 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2s5)
Series 2

Puppy Love

James discovers a couple whose marriage is being held together by the most slender of threats, a dying dog, while Tristan is visited by a girl from his past.


SAT 21:00 Wisting (m001xx22)
Series 3

Episode 7

Wisting's hunt for a killer in his cold case means he needs to question a second man in prison for murder. This leads him all the way to Lithuania and a collaboration with Interpol.


SAT 21:45 Wisting (m001xx27)
Series 3

Episode 8

New evidence appears to have led Wisting and the team to the killer they've been chasing, but will they be in time to stop the devastating series of events that have already been set in motion?


SAT 22:30 Parkinson (m0027x29)
Jack Lemmon

In a programme from 1972, Michael Parkinson talks to American actor Jack Lemmon, who also performs Love Walked In on the piano.


SAT 23:40 Going Straight (p00xb5z0)
Going to Be Alright

Fletch's probation officer is disappointed that he hasn't found a job. Fletch plans to dig up some loot he buried in Essex before he went to prison, but there's a problem.


SAT 00:10 As Time Goes By (p0479tfw)
Series 2

Why?

As the book launch draws near, Lionel gets more and more pessimistic about its success and begins to question Alistair’s constant enthusiasm.


SAT 00:40 Sunset Song (m001bm9g)
Series 1

The Unfurrowed Field

Another opportunity to see the BBC's 1971 dramatisation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's novel about a young girl's intellectual and sexual development within a repressive peasant community in Scotland just before the First World War.

'But for all my reading and schooling, two Chris Guthries there were that fought for my heart and tormented me.'


SAT 01:25 Sunset Song (m001bm9q)
Series 1

Ploughing

'You knew you'd never be the same again, but the world went on, and you went with it. So you folded up your dreams and laid them away with the dark quiet corpse that was your childhood.'


SAT 02:05 Sunset Song (m001bm9w)
Series 1

Drilling

'But a worse thing came as slow September dragged to its end. A thing I would never tell a soul. Festering away in the closet of my mind, the memory would lie until it died.'


SAT 02:55 Scotland's Favourite Book (p03zc415)
Following a public vote Kirsty Wark reveals the top ten countdown leading to the nation's favourite book. Along the way, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Susan Calman, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Sanjeev Kohli are among the celebrities championing their personal favourite.


SAT 03:25 Ulster in Focus (m0024y3g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 09 FEBRUARY 2025

SUN 19:00 Timewatch (m0027x2j)
2000-2001

The Empire State Story

First transmitted in 2001, this programme chronicles the construction of the Empire State Building in New York, which was the world's tallest skyscraper when opened in 1931. The programme investigates the building's history through interviews with the people who contributed to the construction of this iconic building.


SUN 19:50 The Flying Gardener (m0027x2l)
Series 4

Dungeness

Chris Beardshaw helps a couple from the shingle headland at Dungeness, Kent, where the salt winds, poor soil and scorching sunlight are causing them difficulties. They visit Derek Jarman's garden nearby and Hyde Hall in Essex.


SUN 20:00 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00dqy8l)
Episode 2

Bruce Parry continues his Amazon adventure, travelling through the jungles of Peru to visit the Achuar people, a remote tribe who are fighting to keep oil companies off their land. He undergoes a profound Shamanic ritual in an effort to find his vision.


SUN 21:00 An Evening with Nat King Cole (m0014j5r)
A 1961 TV special in which Nat King Cole sings a host of both popular and lesser-known jazz classics, with Ted Heath, the Cliff Adams Singers, Renaud Jones, John Collins, Charles Harris and Leon Petties.


SUN 21:45 Johnny Mathis: Tribute to Nat King Cole (m0027x2n)
A musical tribute to Nat King Cole with special guest Natalie Cole. Johnny Mathis recalls and sings the music of one of the greatest and most endearing musician-singers of the 20th century. From 1983.


SUN 22:45 Natalie Cole in Concert (m0027x2q)
In a television special from 1990, American singer-songwriter Natalie Cole performs her greatest hits, including Pink Cadillac, I Live for Your Love and This Will Be.


SUN 23:35 Wynton Marsalis Plays Blue Note: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (b05wps6p)
Acclaimed trumpeter/bandleader Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra play a selection of classic tunes from the legendary American jazz label Blue Note composed by the likes of Horace Silver, Bud Powell and McCoy Tyner on the label's 75th anniversary, recorded live at Royal Hall, Harrogate as part of Harrogate International Festivals in June 2014.


SUN 00:35 An Evening with Nat King Cole (m0014j5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 01:25 Johnny Mathis: Tribute to Nat King Cole (m0027x2n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:45 today]


SUN 02:20 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00dqy8l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2025

MON 19:00 The Architecture the Railways Built (m0027pzj)
Series 1

Episode 4

Tim Dunn visits the Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales and tours the breathtaking stations of the Hungerbergbahn in Innsbruck.


MON 19:45 The Flying Gardener (b007x1np)
Series 4

Norfolk Broads

Series in which Chris Beardshaw visits inspirational gardens by helicopter. Featuring a trip to Britain's largest protected wetland to see some of Britain's rarest plants, and a look at some ponds filled with exotics.


MON 20:00 Tutankhamun in Colour (m000k48q)
A century after the world’s most exciting archaeological find - the tomb of Tutankhamun - we can witness the dramatic scenes of its discovery and marvel at its extraordinary treasures exactly as they were first seen - in colour.

Oxford University Egyptologist, Elizabeth Frood, is our guide to the discovery of the tomb on 4 November 1922 by British Egyptologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. It provided much-needed good news, following the Great War and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1919, and we have been transfixed ever since.

Colourisation provides a fantastic insight into the artefacts themselves and the context that they were found in. Many photos were taken using glass plate negatives, which have fantastic resolution and which, with colourisation, reveal detail not seen for a century.

Liz’s story begins in 1891, with an old black and white family photo of the young Carter. Colourisation brings him to life as he arrived in Egypt as a 17-year-old artist. Carter met two people who would change his life: British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, who inspired him to be an archaeologist, and Lord Carnarvon, a keen amateur Egyptologist who hired Carter to help him.

Liz travels to Highclere Castle to meet the current Countess of Carnarvon. Carnarvon and Carter both yearned to find what nobody had ever discovered before, a pharaoh’s tomb with its treasures still intact. Carter became convinced that Tutankhamun’s tomb lay undiscovered in an ancient royal burial ground known as The Valley of the Kings, and in 1914 Carnarvon was granted a concession to start excavating there.

But the First World War intervened. Colourisation reveals a changing Egypt. Egyptians were soon pushing for independence from Britain, which claimed Egypt as a protectorate. The politics of the time were to have a profound effect on Carter and Carnarvon.

In December 1917, the meticulous Carter divided the valley up into a grid and began excavating each sector, right down to the bedrock. Colourisation reveals the astonishing scale of the operation that was required.

On 4 November 1922, a water-boy in Carter’s team, Hussein Abdul Rasoul, discovered a flight of steps descending into the bedrock. Carter broke into the tomb to discover first a rubble-filled passageway, then another sealed entrance. As Carter peered in, he declared, ‘It is wonderful.’ The extraordinary collection of objects he saw, including gilded couches, chariots, jewels, statues, and even ancient lunchboxes containing food for the afterlife, were captured in black and white by expert photographer Harry Burton. Using colourisation, we are now able to experience the scene that met their eyes, in incredible detail, almost as though it’s right in front of us.

On 16 February 1923, Carter and Carnarvon broke through into Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. A large blue and gilt shrine filled the room. Opening its doors, Carter discovered sealed doors to another three shrines, one within the next. Within these was a sarcophagus made from yellow quartzite and, within this, a nest of three coffins, also one within the next. For the first time in a century, we reveal each stage in amazing coloured detail. The outermost coffin was gilt, adorned with a garland of flowers. The middle one was inlaid with gold and coloured glass and the innermost was - incredibly - crafted from solid gold.

Finally, within this, was Tutankhamun’s mummy wearing the famous solid gold mask. Colourisation of the rather messy-looking black and white photograph reveals that his wrapped body was actually festooned with colourful jewellery.
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s body also revealed that he died very young, aged 19. This changed the way Tutankhamun was seen around the world. In Europe, the death of a young man hit a chord with so many who had lost their sons in the First World War. In his own country, Tutankhamun became a young and vibrant symbol of a powerful and independent Egypt.


MON 21:00 Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez (m001drq1)
Tutankhamun’s Secrets

On the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's treasure-packed tomb, Dr Janina Ramirez turns detective and heads to Egypt to uncover the real story of how a Briton called Howard Carter unearthed a pharaoh’s tomb when everyone else believed there were no more great Egyptian finds to be made.

She discovers that some of Tutankhamun’s treasures are missing and reveals the name of the person responsible. She delves into the origins of the supposed pharaoh’s curse, finds the surprising truth about the young king’s brutal injuries and digs out fresh evidence that Tutankhamun wasn’t the delicate, powerless boy king of legend but was instead a powerful statesman.


MON 22:00 The Treasures of Tutankhamun (b0084xgd)
Magnus Magnusson's guide to the Egyptian king Tutankahmun's celebrated visit to a London museum in 1972.


MON 22:50 Tutankhamun's Egypt (m0027x5c)
Series 1

Art and Artisans

From the famous 1972 Tutankhamun Exhibition at the British Museum, Cyril Aldred introduces a programme on the role of artists in ancient Egypt.

Artists rarely signed their work and were considered primarily as craftsmen, often depicted alongside potters, metal workers, goldsmiths and other artisans. They appear to have worked an eight-hour day, with a rest on the tenth day, and were paid in kind. When the rations did not arrive, they downed tools. Were these the first recorded strikes in history?


MON 23:10 Tutankhamun's Egypt (m0027x5f)
Series 1

War and Trade

Cyril Aldred explores how important the army had become in New Kingdom times - Tutankhamun's two immediate successors on the throne of Egypt were both generals.

Egypt's military and economic influence stretched from Nubia in the south to Anatolia in the north. New devices like the chariot and trumpet backed up this new outward-looking attitude and, in the realms of diplomacy, treaties have survived that would not appear out of place in modern times.


MON 23:30 Tutankhamun's Egypt (m0027x5h)
Series 1

World of the Gods

Cyril Aldred explores the religion of the ancient Egyptians, which appears both strange and exotic. There are a great number of gods, and many of them take animal forms, like baboons and ibises. The stories the Egyptians created about them are even more fantastic.

In fact, the whole system is rooted in the everyday experience of the Egyptian people. From the daily cycle of the sun and the yearly cycle of the Nile, the Egyptians drew their imagery for the creation of the world and the continuance of its well-being.


MON 23:50 Archaeology: A Secret History (p0109k4g)
The Power of the Past

Archaeologist Richard Miles presents a series charting the history of the breakthroughs and watersheds in our long quest to understand our ancient past. He shows how 20th-century attention turned from civilisation and kings to the search for the common man against a background of science and competing political ideologies.


MON 00:45 The Flying Gardener (b007x1np)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:45 today]


MON 01:00 Tutankhamun in Colour (m000k48q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:00 The Treasures of Tutankhamun (b0084xgd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 02:50 Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez (m001drq1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2025

TUE 19:00 The Architecture the Railways Built (m0027pzk)
Series 1

Episode 5

Tim Dunn explores Metroland, the area around the Metropolitan Railway, and in Great Malvern learns about the woman behind the decorative 1860s station.


TUE 19:45 The Flying Gardener (b00795hp)
Series 3 Shorts

Sussex

Chris Beardshaw visits inspirational gardens by helicopter. In Sussex, the most wooded area of the UK, Chris visits two arboretums, Leonardslee Garden and Sheffield Park Garden, to see how big or small trees can be used to create stunning vistas.


TUE 20:00 Going Straight (p00xb637)
Going Sour

Fletch takes pity on a young runaway pickpocket named Penny and takes her home for a bath and a meal. She betrays his kindness and Fletch feels let down.


TUE 20:30 As Time Goes By (p0479v3l)
Series 2

Misunderstandings

Jean and Lionel bump into Jean’s sister-in-law and get asked to stay for the weekend. They decide to lie about how long they’ve known each other, but this catches up with them.


TUE 21:00 Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal (b0bk8xcp)
Series 1

Pleasure v Duty

This intimate two-part series profiles Princess Margaret, whose life and loves reflected the social and sexual revolution that transformed Britain during the 20th century. With sumptuous archive and revealing interviews, the series follows Margaret's life as she redefined our image of the modern princess.

This deeply personal account reveals how Princess Margaret's character combined the rebellious force of modernity and respect for tradition.


TUE 22:00 Storyville (m0027x67)
26.2 to Life: Inside the San Quentin Prison Marathon

Behind the walls of San Quentin State Prison in California, three men sentenced to life for murder undertake running a marathon. Training all year, their route is unconventional, a dizzying 105 laps around a crowded prison yard. The bonds they forge on the track create a community that transcends prison politics and extends beyond the prison walls as members are released.

26.2 to Life is a story of transformation and second chances. The film offers a rare glimpse into a world out of bounds, as the men navigating life sentences seek redemption and freedom... or something like it.


TUE 23:30 Into the Ice (m001d7j2)
An intrepid expedition onto and into the Greenland ice sheet with three of the world’s leading experts as they try to answer the urgent question, how fast is the ice melting? Greenland’s inland ice is hostile, wild and unpredictable, but making observations and taking detailed measurements on the ground is essential to fully understanding what is happening there.

Director Lars Henrik Ostenfeld travels to Greenland with the scientists as they brave storms and climb deeper into the constantly shifting glaciers than anyone before them to gather the precious data that will help predict the future.


TUE 00:55 The Flying Gardener (b00795hp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:45 today]


TUE 01:10 Archaeology: A Secret History (p0109k4g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:50 on Monday]


TUE 02:05 Timewatch (m0027x2j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


TUE 02:55 Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal (b0bk8xcp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2025

WED 19:00 The Architecture the Railways Built (m0027pzp)
Series 1

Episode 6

Tim Dunn explores St Pancras station in London and its sister hotel, built to show off the might of the Midlands, and learns about Castle Howard station in North Yorkshire.


WED 19:45 The Flying Gardener (b0078s0j)
Series 4

Teesdale

Chris Beardshaw visits inspirational gardens by helicopter. He investigates a couple's extraordinary lawn designs and the wild beauty of the unique North Pennine hay meadows.


WED 20:00 Himalaya with Michael Palin (b0074qpt)
Annapurna to Everest

Michael Palin continues his Himalayan trek. During a Gurkha recruitment Palin is disturbed by Maoist insurgents, but survives to suffer as he climbs to 15,000 feet and sees the majesty of Annapurna Sanctuary. In Kathmandu he is blessed by the Nepalese king before meeting some holy men. Crossing into Tibet he meets his first yaks at the highest monastery in the world before heading up the Rongbuk glacier towards the summit of Everest.


WED 21:00 Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies (m0017frm)
Series 1

Going Small

What would the universe look like if you were a billion times smaller or a billion times bigger? In this mind-bending series, Jim Al-Khalili looks at the various sizes in the universe, ranging from the tiniest objects measuring just a few atoms to vast structures consisting of hundreds of thousands of interconnected galaxies. Investigating these astonishing objects reveals fundamental truths about our universe. At the end of each film, the audience sees the largest structures ever discovered in the universe and the smallest objects whose images scientists have managed to capture to date.

In the first episode, Jim enters the Alice in Wonderland world of objects that are too tiny to glimpse with the naked eye. Starting with the smallest insects, he moves on to encounter living cells with amazing superpowers and confronts some of humanity's deadliest enemies in the form of viruses. Going smaller still, he encounters wondrous new nanomaterials such as graphene, discovered by physicist Andre Geim. These are revolutionising engineering, medicine, computing, electronics and environmental science.

Finally, Jim comes face to face with the fundamental building blocks of the world around us – atoms – and reveals why understanding the science of the small is crucial to the future of humanity.


WED 22:00 Sunset Song (m001btmh)
Series 1

Seed Time

'It wasn't like waking from a dream, marrying, but more like going into one. And I wasn't sure, not for days, what things we had dreamt and what we had actually done.'


WED 22:45 Sunset Song (m001btmk)
Series 1

Harvest

'Our best friends were out of Kinraddie now. But we had ourselves. And seeing your Ewan grow straight and strong, with that slim body like his father's, it made a strange dizziness go singing in my heart.'


WED 23:30 Sunset Song (m001btmm)
Series 1

The Song

'Everything I had ever loved and desired went out to the madness beyond the hills on that ill road that flung its evil white ribbon down into the dusk.'


WED 00:15 Hugh MacDiarmid: Rebel Poet (m0027x59)
A profile from 1972 of celebrated Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid
on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In this film he talks about his uncompromising life and the ideas and circumstances that have shaped its progress.


WED 00:50 Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies (m0017frm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 01:50 Tutankhamun's Egypt (m0027x5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:50 on Monday]


WED 02:10 Tutankhamun's Egypt (m0027x5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:10 on Monday]


WED 02:30 Tutankhamun's Egypt (m0027x5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:30 on Monday]


WED 02:50 Himalaya with Michael Palin (b0074qpt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2025

THU 19:00 The Architecture the Railways Built (m0027pzr)
Series 1

Episode 7

Tim Dunn rides up Yr Wyddfa's (Snowdon's) railway to visit the summit station and discovers how a glass structure envelopes Strasbourg's 19th-century station.


THU 19:45 The Flying Gardener (b0078jjt)
Series 1 Shorts

Southern Ireland: Hot Exotics

Chris Beardshaw travels by helicopter on a mission to find Britain's most inspirational gardens. He travels to South West Ireland, where some exotic plants can grow outside due to the hot weather.


THU 20:00 The Bermuda Triangle: Beneath the Waves (b007c68n)
Professor Bruce Denardo attempts to prove whether there is any truth behind the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, where many ships and planes have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. New investigation techniques reveal the truth behind the infamous disappearance of Flight 19. Graham Hawkes is also able to reveal, by using a state-of-the-art submarine, how five wrecks mysteriously wound up 730 feet down in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle.


THU 21:00 Scene by Scene (m0027xkd)
David Lynch

Mark Cousins meets US director David Lynch, creator of such idiosyncratic and groundbreaking screen landmarks as Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks.


THU 21:50 Blue Velvet (m00283l0)
When the discovery of a severed ear in a field leads a small-town college student to a bewitching nightclub singer, he finds himself lost in a dark underworld of fear and depravity.

A disturbing, unique exploration of the dark side of American suburbia from director David Lynch.


THU 23:45 The Elephant Man (m000hrgj)
In 1884, an ambitious young surgeon is intrigued by a sideshow freak billed as the Elephant Man. He finds, behind the disfigured exhibit, an intelligent person whose rehabilitation he undertakes.


THU 01:45 Scene by Scene (m0027xkd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 02:35 The Bermuda Triangle: Beneath the Waves (b007c68n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

FRIDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2025

FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m0027xn0)
Cathy Dennis presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 2 May 1997 and featuring D:Ream, Robbie Williams, 911, The Cardigans, DJ Quicksilver, Shola Ama, Kenickie, Republica, Michael Jackson and Katrina & The Waves.


FRI 19:35 Top of the Pops (m0027xn2)
Jo Whiley presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 9 May 1997 and featuring Katrina & The Waves, The Seahorses, George Michael, Mansun, 911, Jamiroquai, Blackstreet, Gary Barlow and The Cardigans.


FRI 20:05 Top of the Pops (b01qsrh8)
David 'Kid' Jensen presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 16 February 1978 and featuring The Tom Robinson Band, Kate Bush, Elkie Brooks, Magazine, Darts, Billy Joel, Sweet, The Bee Gees, Abba and Legs & Co.


FRI 20:35 Top of the Pops (b09q38h2)
Simon Bates and Janice Long present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 14 February 1985. Featuring Dead Or Alive, The Colour Field, Killing Joke, The Smiths, and Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson.


FRI 21:10 EastEnders Sings at the BBC (m0027xn4)
Actor Shaun Williamson - aka Barry - invites you to enjoy some of EastEnders’ finest musical moments, on a journey through the BBC archives that celebrates 40 years of Walford warblers - from chart-topping Nick ‘Every Loser Wins’ Berry and Martine ‘Perfect Moment’ McCutcheon, to old favourites like Mike Reid, Barbara Windsor and Letitia Dean - who made 'Something Outta Nothing’ with a leap from the Queen Vic to Top of the Pops.

Plus there are some rarely-seen showstoppers and Albert Square dancing from the cast’s regular appearances on Children in Need over the years, and a selection of performances from those actors who had tasted chart success before making the move to E20 – including Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp, Blue’s Lee Ryan and even Eurovision contender Samantha Womack.


FRI 22:40 Wogan (m0027xn6)
Elton John, Tina Turner, Wendy Richard and Rory Bremner

Terry Wogan is joined by Elton John, Tina Turner, Wendy Richard and Rory Bremner.


FRI 23:20 Queens of Song at the BBC (m000ypjv)
A collection of the some of the finest female voices and performances ever broadcast, showcasing those special superstars who, thanks to a combination of tonsils, talent and temperament, are so much more than just singers.

Featuring the likes of Whitney, Beyonce, Mariah, Grace, Cher, Aretha, Tina, Diana and Adele: it’s a list of leading ladies all music fans are on first name terms with - and all crazy in love with too.


FRI 00:25 Top of the Pops (m0027xn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


FRI 01:00 Top of the Pops (m0027xn2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:35 today]


FRI 01:30 Top of the Pops (b01qsrh8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:05 today]


FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (b09q38h2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:35 today]


FRI 02:30 EastEnders Sings at the BBC (m0027xn4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:10 today]