SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2023
SAT 19:00 Ireland's Treasures Uncovered (b070w5kh)
The story of the iconic Irish artefacts that have helped to shape and create modern Ireland, both north and south.
The programme reveals the surprising tales behind treasures such as the Tara Brooch, the Broighter Hoard, the Waterford Charter Roll and others, revealing new stories behind the artefacts that we thought we knew. It also reveals the most recent astounding finds that are adding to the list of Ireland's Treasures.
Using key access to Ireland's two largest museums, in Belfast and Dublin, the programme brings together archaeologists and curators who have spent their lives working to understand the true context for these emblematic treasures.
SAT 20:00 Simon King's Shetland Adventure (b00qykcf)
Episode 3
Simon King, wildlife cameraman and Springwatch presenter, is fulfilling a boyhood dream and experiencing the Shetland Islands with his family through the changing seasons.
Simon is enjoying the islands at their best, with 19 hours of glorious sunlight, the remarkable 'simmer dim' - the Shetland term for the midnight gloaming - and a plethora of wildlife.
His expensive high-speed camera breaks, but with a little help from the locals, he manages to get it repaired and uses it to capture some wonderful footage of powerful gannets diving for fish.
He also follows an otter family's poignant separation as the one-year-old cub is pushed away by his mother to lead an independent life.
Shetland has more than lived up to Simon's expectations for wilderness and given his family an experience they will never forget. The visit ends with a sighting of a pod of killer whales, just metres away from where he is standing. A suitable end to a great trip.
SAT 21:00 North Sea Connection (p0dyryn9)
Series 1
Bowline
Moira is concerned that Tuva's investigations are having an impact on Bjorn and others in the village. Adamma confronts Aidan and learns a terrible truth.
SAT 21:45 North Sea Connection (p0dyrzk1)
Series 1
Gale Force
Quinn tries to negotiate with Adamma, with far-reaching consequences. Shane's feelings for Ciara are put to the test.
SAT 22:30 A Bit of Fry and Laurie (p00bzctx)
Pilot
Pilot episode of the comedy sketch show with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. The duo imagine what life would be like with a privatised police force, take arts criticism to its natural conclusion, and offer their take on Australian soap operas.
SAT 23:05 A Bit of Fry and Laurie (p00bzctk)
Series 1
Episode 1
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie kick off their eccentric sketch series. Hugh reads a poem and meets an obsequious barber, while Stephen interviews a man who claims to be able to bend spoons.
SAT 23:35 As Time Goes By (p045tlcg)
Series 1
You Must Remember This
Jean is baffled when her daughter goes out with one of her clients. When the two meet, they realise they were once lovers, separated during the Korean War.
SAT 00:05 Storyville (m001j638)
The Spy in Your Mobile
A Storyville documentary that investigates a powerful and terrifying spyware called Pegasus, sold to governments around the world by Israeli company NSO Group and used on journalists, activists and others, including both the wife and fiancée of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
SAT 01:35 Ancient Worlds (b00wsqk6)
City of Man, City of God
In the last of the series, archaeologist and historian Richard Miles examines the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
At the height of its power, the Roman Empire extended the benefits of its civilization to a 60 million citizens and subjects in a swathe of territory that extended from Hadrian's Wall to the banks of the Euphrates. Even under the rule of mad, bad and dangerous emperors, the imperial system proved to be robust, buttressed by the support of elite families in the far-flung corners of the empire whose loyalty was ensured by a system of cultural aspiration, economic opportunity and military coercion.
But the material benefits of the 'good order' delivered by Roman rule provided its citizens and subjects with the security to ask profound questions about the meaning of life, questions that the pragmatic, polytheistic Roman belief system was ill-equipped to answer. Christianity grew to fill the spiritual vacuum at the heart of Roman civilization, eventually claiming an Emperor, Constantine, as its greatest prize. The City of Man would be eclipsed the City of God.
SAT 02:35 Simon King's Shetland Adventure (b00qykcf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2023
SUN 19:00 Come Dancing (m001jdw3)
1974 Grand Final
Terry Wogan and Veronica Cross host the 1974 final of the classic interregional amateur dance contest. Ray McVay and his orchestra play the music. Barri Haynes provides the commentary.
SUN 19:45 La bohème from the Royal Opera House (m0012tyr)
Puccini’s operatic masterpiece, La Bohème, performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Ever since its premiere in Turin in 1896, La bohème has been a huge hit with audiences across the world. Within two years, it had been seen in Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Prague, Berlin, Manchester and beyond. With over 500 performances chalked up at Covent Garden alone, this opera is one of the most popular and enduring in the repertoire.
In this performance from 2020, Sonya Yoncheva stars as the doomed seamstress Mimì, with Charles Castronovo as Rodolfo, who falls in love with her at first sight. Simona Mihai and Andrzej Filonczyk perform the roles of the on-off lovers, Musetta and Marcello.
Richard Jones’s period production brings to life the garret flats and shopping arcades of 19th-century Paris, with designs by Stewart Laing, pitting the rags of the bohemians against the riches of the swanky shopping arcades and restaurants of the French capital.
Poverty and passion collide in a story of friendship and fellowship, love and loss. Featuring some of Puccini’s best-loved music, this performance is conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.
SUN 21:45 The Classical Collection (m001gc8t)
Series 1
Neglected Masterpieces
A celebration of the newly recognised glories of classical music, featuring a wealth of works written by largely forgotten or neglected composers, including Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence B Price, Grace Williams and Erich Korngold.
SUN 22:00 Front Row Late (b0bw5d0z)
Series 3
When Mary Beard Met Clive James
In this special edition of Front Row Late, Mary Beard is in conversation with author, critic and broadcaster Clive James.
After migrating to Britain from Australia in the 1960s, James established himself as a caustic and charismatic commentator on popular culture and a pioneer of television criticism. In his heyday, he was one of the most famous faces on British TV and secured access to some of the biggest stars of the day, including Mel Brooks, Jane Fonda and Frank Sinatra. He has gone on to prove himself a captivating memoirist, reflecting on a rich and eventful life, and also a major-league poet and translator.
A diagnosis of leukaemia in 2010 may have slowed down James's productivity in recent years but, with the help of pioneering treatment, he has gone on to chronicle his illness in insightful columns for the Guardian and to produce powerful poetry exploring mortality and the many joys of life.
Mary Beard interviews Clive James about his bookThe River in the Sky, which reflects on 'the fragile treasures of his life'. She explores his attitude towards his own mortality and his reflections on being a migrant.
SUN 22:30 Clive James (m000f8wt)
Postcard from Rome
Rome was once the focal point for the world's jet set. Now Clive James travels to the eternal city in search of the dolce vita and to acquire some Roman sophistication.
During his stay, he meets a socialite prince, Mussolini's son and learns a lesson from a sexologist.
SUN 23:20 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03lyyrc)
Episode 3
Simon discovers surprises in Istanbul as it rose to become the imperial capital and Islam's most powerful city. Visiting the great mosques and palaces built by the Ottoman emperors, he tells the stories behind them - of royal concubines, murderous bodyguards and sultans both the powerful and the depraved. He shows how the Christians, Muslims and Jews of the city once co-existed before the waves of nationalist rebellions brought the Ottoman empire to its knees. In the 20th century the ancient capital was once more transformed by the new secular vision of Ataturk.
SUN 00:20 Opera Italia (b00spgk8)
The Triumph of Puccini
Three-part series tracing the history of Italian opera presented by Antonio Pappano, conductor and music director at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The series features sumptuous music, stunning Italian locations and some of the biggest names in opera as contributors.
The final episode is devoted to Puccini, the worthy successor to Verdi. Puccini's operas are cinematic in their scale with ravishing, passionate and clever music, as he took Italian opera into the 20th century.
Pappano looks at five of Puccini's most popular operas - La bohème, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot. He travels to Rome to meet stage director Franco Zeffirelli and talk about Puccini and Zeffirelli's famous production of Turandot.
Pappano also talks to one of the great Puccini interpreters, the soprano Renata Scotto, about the composer, Madame Butterfly and the role of Mimi in La bohème. Also featured are soprano Angela Gheorghiu, tenors Jonas Kaufmann and Roberto Alagna and baritone Sir Thomas Allen.
SUN 01:20 Stewart Copeland's Adventures in Music (m000dl2n)
Series 1
Episode 2
Stewart Copeland continues his mission to understand how music works by exploring its extraordinary power to tell stories.
His journey includes meetings with film director Francis Ford Coppola, who explains how simple musical devices transformed the most famous scenes in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, his old friend Sting, who describes the secrets of his songwriting process, rapper Talib Kweli, who looks at the power of music in protest, and the French-Cuban Ibeyi sisters, who show how music has kept the Yoruban tradition alive. Finally, he meets the man who composed one of the shortest but most effective musical stories ever written - the Intel bongs!
SUN 02:20 The Story of Welsh Art (m000st2g)
Series 1
Episode 1
Huw Stephens explores what has long been a missing piece in the cultural story of Britain and indeed Wales itself – the story of Welsh art.
Huw starts his journey on the island of Anglesey where he steps inside a prehistoric burial chamber to witness Welsh art in its earliest form. He sees an exquisite example of Bronze Age artistry in the form of a gold cape, found by chance in a field in North Wales and now one of the prize exhibits in the British Museum.
Religious art delivers some of the most powerful and physically impressive pieces, from towering Celtic crosses standing sentinel in churchyards, to the sleeping figure of Jesse, hewn out of a single piece of oak but also delicately depicted in a rare surviving example of Welsh medieval stained glass.
As artists moved their gaze beyond religion, the rise of portraiture began, with Hans Memling delivering the first known oil painting of a named Welsh person, John Donne, in the 15th century.
MONDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2023
MON 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b09m8hnk)
Series 9
Newport to Clevedon/Yatton/Bristol Channel
Steered by his early 20th-century Bradshaw's guide, Michael discovers the birthplace of British aviation in Bristol and prepares an Airbus 380 for a smooth landing at Filton. In Newport, he uncovers the heroism of a young boy who rescued a workman from a dock disaster in which many died. Michael admires the Albert Medal awarded to the brave Tom Lewis, now in the proud possession of his great grandson, the 385th Mayor of Newport.
Michael discovers the home of a forward-thinking Edwardian family at Eagle House in Batheaston. Frieda Roberts remembers the suffragettes who campaigned for votes for women in the early 20th century and found refuge at the house after their release from prison.
And in the Somerset town of Clevedon, Michael goes to the movies in a perfectly preserved cinema dating from 1912 and hears about the first film to be shown there, in aid of survivors of the Titanic disaster.
MON 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000jb9c)
Series 1
Secluded Mountain
Spend a relaxing half hour with Bob Ross as he paints a mountain scene with soft, sloping grass cover, a crystal lake and rocky banks.
MON 20:00 The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution (b013cqpz)
Final Flourish
This episode takes a closer look at the late years of Impressionism, using the last show these artists did together as a starting point.
Waldemar looks in considerable depth at the work of Georges Seurat, taking into consideration his academic training at the Beaux-Arts School in Paris and the artists that influenced him, such as Piero della Francesca and Puvis de Chavannes.
There is also an insight into the complex but fascinating world of optics and art, and the ways in which the Impressionists were using the new discoveries in light and eyesight to influence their work. A fascinating 'after-image' experiment brings to life the ways in which our own eyes see colour, both in its presence and its absence.
Van Gogh's time in Paris, a period very little is known about, is also covered, charting the incredible journey the artist made from his brown and dull canvases to the splendid colour and light that pervaded his work on the cusp of his departure for the South of France.
The film finishes with a revisiting of Monet and his later waterlily paintings in the Orangerie in Paris. Waldemar investigates how a bad case of cataracts was responsible for a seismic shift in his colour palette and his brushstrokes. Spending time with an ophthalmologist, he finds out how old age and a fairly common ailment of the eyes caused Impressionism to shift and become radical again at the turn of the century and into the 20th century.
MON 21:00 Turner: The Man Who Painted Britain (m000xnyh)
While Joseph Mallord William Turner is considered by many to be Britain's greatest landscape painter, his private life reveals a man of extremes and contradictions. This docudrama explores the extraordinary story of a brilliant self-made man.
MON 22:00 Storyville (m001jdxk)
Inside Russia: Traitors and Heroes
Despite the huge risks, two Russian film-makers have been filming the impact of the invasion of Ukraine in their country. Many thousands have fled. Those that have stayed have had to make a choice – oppose the war, support it, or stay silent.
MON 23:15 Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA (b0b4fz5n)
Series 1
Episode 1
Series looking at American art. The first episode is set in the Wild West and begins with the sublime art of the Hudson River School, whose 19th-century evocations of the vastness of America did so much to fuel the myth of the promised land. Another huge influence was the mysterious rock art of Native Americans, which set a stirring precedent for non-naturalistic painting. The film culminates in a celebration of Jackson Pollock, born in Cody, Wyoming, who arrived in New York wearing a Stetson and cowboy boots, and whose famous drip paintings were influenced heavily by both the moods of the American west and the example of Native American artists.
MON 00:15 Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture (b00ydp2y)
Masons of God
Alastair Sooke reveals the astonishing range of our medieval sculpture, from the imposing masterpieces of our Gothic cathedrals to the playful misericords underneath church stalls.
He shows how the sculpture of the era casts a new light on medieval Britain, a far more sophisticated, fun-loving and maverick place than we in the modern world commonly believe. But despite the technical and emotional power of these works, the notion of a 'sculptor' did not even exist; most carving of the time was done by teams of itinerant masons and artisans working for the Church. The names of some, like William Berkeley, are known but most are lost to history.
This first golden age came to an end with Henry VIII's Reformation of the Church, unleashing a wave of destruction from which it would take centuries to recover.
MON 01:15 The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution (b013cqpz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 02:15 Turner: The Man Who Painted Britain (m000xnyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2023
TUE 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b09m8hw3)
Series 9
Taunton to Newton Abbot
With purple, green and yellow ribbons flying, and sporting ankle bells, Michael Portillo is led a merry dance in Stogumber - all in the name of fertility. He visits a celebrated Edwardian garden at Hestercombe to discover the fruits of an unusual partnership and learns how to deadhead the roses. There is a trip aboard the longest heritage line in England and the chance to ring in the new era at Exeter Cathedral before dining out in style on King Edward VII's coronation gala dinner at Bovey Castle.
TUE 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000jjh5)
Series 1
Bright Autumn Trees
In just 30 minutes, Bob Ross shows how you can capture the exciting colours of autumn in a painting, with trees galore!
TUE 20:00 As Time Goes By (p045tll7)
Series 1
Getting to Know You - Again
Jean sends Sandy to Lionel’s hotel to assist him with his book revisions. But when she arrives, she is told he has checked out, and a charade of confusion follows.
TUE 20:30 The Mistress (m001jdyh)
Series 2
Episode 1
Second series of Carla Lane's love triangle sitcom, starring Felicity Kendal.
TUE 21:00 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074l34)
Series 1
The Body of the Queen
Queen Elizabeth I was one of the country's most intelligent monarchs, ruling a Protestant rogue state in a Catholic world. But it was her long, tangled relationship with her cousin Mary Queen of Scots that would test her the most.
Elizabeth never married. Mary married twice but it ruined her. A magnet for conspiracy and intrigue, Mary tormented Elizabeth until finally executed for treason. But it was Mary not Elizabeth who gave birth to an heir. Simon Schama asks if it was the politican Elizabeth, or the mother Mary, who won in the end.
TUE 22:00 Gettys: The World's Richest Art Dynasty (b0b02x6s)
There are few families in history who have accumulated more wealth, collected more art and given away more money than the Gettys. With unique access to the family's inner world, this programme unearths the lasting cultural impact of three generations.
The late patriarch J Paul Getty, founder of the Getty Oil Company and art collector, made the family incredibly wealthy and was once described as the richest living man in America. On his death, he left the largest endowment in history to an art museum, and the billion-dollar gift shook the international art market to its foundation. This endowment also gave birth to the Getty Centre in Los Angeles, which is now the wealthiest institution of its kind in the world.
Grandson Mark Getty, who himself became the founder of the multibillion-pound media empire Getty Images, tells the story of his family and their cultural legacy. With input from other Getty family members, the programme follows three generations of this art-hungry dynasty and hears stories of personal milestones, art scandals, philanthropy and the kidnapping of grandson Paul Getty III in 1973.
TUE 23:15 Africa with Ade Adepitan (m0002fcf)
Series 1
Episode 1
Ade Adepitan embarks on the first leg of his epic four-part journey around Africa. Starting in west Africa, this episode sees Ade travelling from Cape Verde to Senegal and the Ivory Coast, before finishing in Nigeria - the country of his birth.
In Cape Verde - a group of tiny volcanic islands in the Atlantic - Ade visits a community living in the shadow of an active volcano. He also witnesses how solar power is transforming lives by bringing electricity to isolated communities.
Ade's next stop is Senegal. Here he visits Goree Island - a former staging post in the transatlantic slave trade. He then travels down the coast to a fishing village, where he hears that much of Senegal’s catch is being taken by foreign companies and turned into fishmeal to feed western livestock. Making a last stop on his journey through Senegal, Ade visits Lake Retba where he joins the workers who wade through the lake gathering salt, which they sell for less than half a penny a kilogram. Ade’s host has tried to escape poverty by migrating to Europe, but - like so many others - he never got further than the horrors of the camps in Libya.
In the Ivory Coast, Ade meets more people who share the dream of getting to Europe. This time, however, they are footballers training to become professionals in Europe’s big leagues. But it does not always work out, as many are scammed into giving their cash to dodgy football agents.
The final stop is Nigeria. In Lagos he meets some old friends who play para soccer, and he also visits the largest church building on the planet. Travelling out of Lagos, he discovers a country in chaos. Under armed escort, he hears about a conflict that has created hundreds of thousands refugees, but barely been reported in the West. He finishes his journey at Nigeria’s equivalent to Silicon Valley – a company that believes tech can transform the continent.
TUE 00:15 Great British Railway Journeys (b09m8hw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
TUE 00:45 Front Row Late (b0bw5d0z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Sunday]
TUE 01:15 Gettys: The World's Richest Art Dynasty (b0b02x6s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
TUE 02:30 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074l34)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2023
WED 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b09m8kc2)
Series 9
Plymouth to the Lizard
Steered by his early 20th-century Bradshaw's railway guide, Michael Portillo boldly goes to the moon by way of the Cornish Riviera Express! On the trail of an historic achievement made at the dawn of the Edwardian era, he investigates the first radio signal to be sent across the Atlantic.
In Plymouth, Michael uncovers what happened to surviving crew members of the most famous ocean liner in history, the Titanic. And at Fowey, he rediscovers a lost literary figure known as Q, who immortalised the town in his novels.
WED 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000jjgw)
Series 1
Black Seascape
See what can be achieved on a simple black canvas as Bob Ross paints a moonlit setting with crashing waves.
WED 20:00 Michael Palin's New Europe (b0085b0s)
Journey's End
Michael Palin explores former Iron Curtain countries. High in the Tatra mountains of Slovakia, Michael learns how to make sausages before heading off to Turba's mime school in Brno. In the spa town of Karlovy Vary, he has a mud bath with Miss World, followed by a pedalo ride in Prague.
Entering the former East Germany in Dresden, he learns from a student that despite Germany's unification there is still a wall inside people's heads, before ending his trip on the Baltic island of Rugen.
WED 21:00 The 1951 Festival of Britain: A Brave New World (b015d486)
Set against the post war period of debt, austerity and rationing, the 1951 Festival of Britain showed how to carve out a bright new future through design and ingenuity, while still having fun. Told by the people who made it happen and making use of some previously unseen colour footage, this is the story of how an extraordinary event changed Britain forever.
WED 22:00 Edge of Darkness (b0074p9r)
Series 1
Burden of Proof
Classic 1980s thriller series. Police close in on their prime suspect for Emma's murder, as Craven's doubts about the motive for the killing become certainties.
WED 22:50 Edge of Darkness (p00v5gt7)
Series 1
Breakthrough
Craven comes face to face with Emma's killer, but he is stopped from revealing why they committed the murder. Craven becomes determined to enter Northmoor with the help of Jedburgh and hack into MI5's computer.
WED 23:45 The Story of Welsh Art (p097c1qm)
Series 1
Episode 2
Scrambling up the side of one of Wales's highest and most rugged mountains, Huw Stephens retraces the steps of Richard Wilson, an 18th-century artist who changed the course of art history. Bringing harmony and beauty to a terrain previously dismissed as 'God’s rubbish tip', he transformed the way Wales was seen by the world. As Huw discovers, he was not the last to do so – JMW Turner first visited Wales aged 17 and would return many times, painting untamed landscapes filled with romance and emotion.
As the 19th century progressed, a very different Wales became the focus of art. In Merthyr Tydfil, once the iron capital of the world, Huw discovers the work of Penry Williams, a local artist who was commissioned to paint the vast Cyfarthfa Ironworks in all their cathedral-like grandeur and glory. As art and industry collided, the people who did the back-breaking work were depicted for the first time.
WED 00:45 Michael Palin's New Europe (b0085b0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 01:45 Great British Railway Journeys (b09m8kc2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 02:15 The Joy of Painting (m000jjgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:45 The 1951 Festival of Britain: A Brave New World (b015d486)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2023
THU 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b09p33qy)
Series 9
Hull to Malton
Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through Britain steered by his Edwardian railway handbook. He begins in the East Yorkshire port of Hull, where he heads for the docks through which millions of migrants passed at the turn of the 20th century and which are today getting a second wind.
At Cottingham, Michael picks up the trail of the future King Edward VII, when he was Prince of Wales. Bertie, as he was known in the family, became embroiled in scandal after a high-stakes game of cards in the grand house of Tranby Croft.
Next stop is the beautiful seaside town of Scarborough, which Michael discovers was reeling in 1914 from bombardment by German warships and still carries the scars. Rose gardens, follies and Baroque architecture belonging to a radical countess entice Michael to the market town of Malton, where he finds Howards still inhabit their castle.
THU 19:30 The Joy of Painting (m000jjjl)
Series 1
Steep Mountains
Watch Bob Ross paint a statuesque ridge of peaks overlooking a little country home by the cove.
THU 20:00 Queen Victoria's Letters: A Monarch Unveiled (b04pl2mn)
Episode 2
AN Wilson discovers the real story behind the woman who supposedly spent the last half of her life in hiding, mourning the loss of her beloved Prince Albert. Alongside this well-known image of Victoria as the weeping widow, Wilson reveals that the years after Albert's death were actually a process of liberation and her most productive and exciting.
By examining her closest relationships in the four decades after Albert's death, Wilson tells the story of the Queen's gradual freedom from a life spent under the shadow of domineering men. Victoria's marriage had been a source of constraint as well as love, as Albert had used her pregnancies as a way to gain power and punished her for resenting it. But in her widowhood Queen Victoria, although bereft and deranged, was free to move in the world of politics and make deep friendships without concern.
From the controversial friendship with her highland servant John Brown to her most unconventional behaviour with her young Indian servant Abdul Karim, Wilson uncovers Victoria as a woman who was anything but 'Victorian'. Far from being prim and proper, she loved life in all its richness - she was blind to class and colour and, contrary to what we think, had a great sense of humour.
Queen Victoria's journals and letters are read by Anna Chancellor throughout.
THU 21:00 Journey's End (m000pjfj)
France, March 1918. Raleigh, a naive and idealistic young officer, arrives at the Western Front and asks to be posted to the company of his old schoolfriend Captain Stanhope. He joins a trench full of fear as the men await their grim fate while trying to cope with the daily pressures of the war.
An adaptation of the play by RC Sherriff.
THU 22:40 Edie (m000scgc)
Seeking to fulfil a decades-old dream, Edith Moore, an 83-year-old widow, escapes to Scotland. She grudgingly accepts the help of Jonny, the manager of a struggling shop that sells outdoor gear. He, however, has mixed motives, and fuelling her self-belief proves perilous.
Emotional drama about conquering fears, demons... and a mountain.
THU 00:15 Sheila Hancock Brushes Up: The Art of Watercolours (b00yzgtn)
Watercolours have always been the poor relation of oil painting. And yet the immediacy and freedom of painting in watercolours have made them the art of adventure and action - even war. It has been an art form the British have pioneered, at first celebrating the greatest landscapes of Europe and then recording the exotic beauty of the British Empire.
Sheila Hancock, an ardent fan of watercolours since her childhood and whose father was an amateur watercolourist, sets out on a journey to trace the art form. It takes in the glories of the Alps, the city of Venice and deepest India as she tracks the extraordinary story of professional and amateur watercolourists, and reveals some of the most beautiful and yet little-known pictures.
THU 01:15 Around the World in 80 Treasures (b0078w84)
Series 1
Turkey to Germany
In the penultimate stage of Dan Cruickshank’s gargantuan journey around the world, we find the intrepid explorer floating above Turkey in a hot air balloon! Below lie miles of a subterranean city where across the centuries peoples hid from warring factions from the east and west. Once in the caves - dark and sinister as they are - Dan uncovers an ingenious means of defence before stumbling on the weirdest treasure of his trip - a cavern full of golden locks - of hair! It reminds him he needs a haircut - possibly the least wise decision of his trip. Recovered from his singeing experience over supper in downtown Istanbul, the mother of all domes at Hagia Sophia raises his spirits as he climbs to the very top.
In Russia's St Petersburg, Dan casts himself in the guise of Peter the Great, who planned an imperial city from a simple shack before heading north toward the Arctic Circle and the remote Monastery of Solovki, where Russia's epic and often violent history has left its mark. Even now it is one of the bleakest places he has encountered so far.
Poland is a destination with personal echoes - as he reveals, he grew up there - a visit to the local salt mine with its miraculous salt carvings - beautifully detailed figures carved by the miners as altar pieces to petition God for their safety - transports him back to his lost childhood. Shadows of 20th-century history crowd in as Dan lands in Berlin where he determines he must salvage something from the wreckage of Nazi Germany. His choice: a chair and a beetle.
THU 02:15 Great British Railway Journeys (b09p33qy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
THU 02:45 Queen Victoria's Letters: A Monarch Unveiled (b04pl2mn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2023
FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m001jf1w)
Bruno Brookes presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 31 March 1994 and featuring Madonna, James, Haddaway, Culture Beat, Frances Ruffelle, Bruce Springsteen, Smash, Bee Gees and Doop.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m001jf1y)
Andi Peters presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 7 April1994 and featuring Pet Shop Boys, Black Machine, Erasure, Prince, Tony Di Bart, Bitty McLean, Little Angels, Roachford and Take That.
FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b08wzynw)
Mike Read and Janice Long present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 23 February 1984 and featuring Hot Chocolate, Rockwell, Marilyn, Nik Kershaw, Carmel and Howard Jones.
FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (m0006rh6)
Peter Powell and Mark Goodier present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 25 February 1988 and featuring The Primitives, Morrissey, Vanessa Paradis, Rick Astley, The Sisters of Mercy, Eddie Cochran, George Harrison, The Mission, Eddy Grant, Kylie Minogue and The Bangles.
FRI 21:00 Queen at the BBC (m00123q7)
A trip through the archives that serves up an hour of killer Queen material, featuring some of the band's greatest musical moments ever delivered to our screens.
The legendary band’s huge international status and punishing touring schedules meant that over the years they made surprisingly few appearances on programmes like Top of the Pops, and tragically for their fans, several of those performances were either lost or never recorded.
This collection brings together the very best of what’s survived from one of the most enduring and best-loved acts in British rock, featuring perhaps the most charismatic and best-loved frontman of all time. Amongst the gems are moments from the band’s celebrated 1975 concert at London’s Hammersmith Odeon and highlights from their trips to the prestigious Montreux Pop Festival in the 1980s – an event that would attract the cream of the world’s music acts every year.
Songs featured take us from the band’s first ever UK hit, Seven Seas of Rhye, through to These Are The Days of Our Lives, Queen’s last hit before Freddie’s untimely death, as well as all the biggest hits, including the iconic Bohemian Rhapsody, frequently voted the nation’s favourite ever song.
FRI 22:00 Freddie Mercury: The Final Act (m00123q9)
The story of the extraordinary final chapter of Freddie Mercury’s life and how, after his death from Aids, Queen staged one of the biggest concerts in history, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, to celebrate his life and challenge the prejudices around HIV/Aids.
The film hears from those who performed at the epic gig, including Gary Cherone (Extreme), Roger Daltrey (The Who), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Lisa Stansfield and Paul Young, as well as the concert’s promoter, Harvey Goldsmith.
For the first time, Freddie's story is told alongside the experiences of those who tested positive for HIV and lost loved ones during the same period. Medical practitioners, survivors and human rights campaigners, including Peter Tatchell, recount the intensity of living through the Aids pandemic and the moral panic it brought about.
FRI 23:30 Queen: The Legendary 1975 Concert (b00p4hgm)
On Christmas Eve 1975, Queen crowned a glorious year with a special concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon. The show on the final night of their triumphant UK tour was broadcast live on BBC TV and radio, and has become a legendary event in Queen's history.
Featuring stunning renditions of early hits Keep Yourself Alive, Liar and Now I'm Here alongside Brian May's epic guitar showcase Brighton Rock, a rip-roaring version of the then new Bohemian Rhapsody and the crowd-pleasing Rock 'n' Roll Medley, this hour-long concert shows Queen at an early peak and poised to conquer the world.
FRI 00:35 Stewart Copeland's Adventures in Music (m000dt78)
Series 1
Episode 3
Stewart Copeland explores the transcendental powers of music and how certain sounds have the ability to move us, transport the mind and even help us escape this world - if only briefly.
As a child, Stewart’s path was determined when, despite being raised by strict atheists, he was deeply moved by the massed voices of the Wells Cathedral choir singing Jerusalem. Ever since, he has been fascinated by the ability of music to leave us feeling uplifted.
In this episode, Stewart travels to Morocco to discover the polyrhythms of Gnawa and back to Wells Cathedral to understand the mechanics of choral polyphony. He meets Kanye West collaborator Caroline Shaw to examine melody and the effect of the human voice, CeCe Winans to discuss the roots of gospel, takes a gong bath in New York, and visits minimalist master Steve Reich to unpack the trance-inducing powers of repetition.
FRI 01:35 Top of the Pops (m001jf1w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 02:05 Top of the Pops (m001jf1y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 02:35 Top of the Pops (b08wzynw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRI 03:05 Top of the Pops (m0006rh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]