SATURDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2024
SAT 19:00 James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain (m00037sz)
Episode 2
The concluding episode of the series, introduced and narrated by model train enthusiast James May, follows Hornby’s new management team in a desperate attempt to save the company.
In this episode Ken, head of audio development, is sent on a top-secret mission to capture the sound of a steam locomotive for its potential use in a brand new model.
Simon Kohler, Hornby’s number two, tries to rejuvenate the tired Scalextric brand name with a flashy new advert, but there is a problem: with the company strapped for cash, the budget is miniscule and it will have to be made entirely with in-house staff.
Meanwhile, the company takes on its first female product designer, Caitlin Williams. Fresh out of university, Caitlin is put on the Scalextric design team and we go behind the scenes to see what it takes to produce her first car.
In the climactic finale, we see Simon take on two of his biggest rivals as Hornby’s 2019 range includes two products that have the competitors fuming, leading to a dramatic showdown.
SAT 20:00 Arctic with Bruce Parry (b00ylx9f)
Northern Europe
The final stage of Bruce Parry's six-month journey is through Arctic Europe. He travels to a remote Russian village, deep within the vast Boreal forest that stretches for thousands of miles across the top of the world. Life here has changed little for hundreds of years, and people still depend on the food they gather from the woods that surround them.
Bruce then travels north into Norway, where he lives with the Saami, reindeer herders who use snow machines, boats and even helicopters to move their animals.
Bruce's last stop is a remote scientific community in the Svalbard archipelago, where he learns about the fragility of Arctic ecosystem. As the long winter night draws in, Bruce is treated to an iconic Arctic spectacle as the aurora borealis light up the night sky.
SAT 21:00 Señorita 89 (m001tklw)
Series 2
Episode 5
Isabel marries Raul, but Mirko threatens to ruin their party. Jocelyn goes to a party where she discovers information about her missing sister.
SAT 21:50 Señorita 89 (m001tklz)
Series 2
Episode 6
Jocelyn appears on television and launches a social message about the disappearance of women, which leads her to terrible news about her sister. Isabel realises she is pregnant - but is it her husband's? Concepcion records a testimony with everything she knows about Raul, putting herself at risk.
SAT 22:35 Parkinson (m001w2jp)
Joanna Lumley, Sir Ian McKellen, Neil Morrissey and Marion Montgomery
Michael Parkinson is joined by Joanna Lumley, Sir Ian McKellen, Neil Morrissey and Marion Montgomery.
SAT 23:30 To the Manor Born (b007862s)
Series 1
The Summer Hunt Ball
The summer ball for the local hunt is coming up, but with the change in ownership at Grantleigh, there's some confusion over who should arrange the event of the season.
SAT 00:00 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074rtb)
Series 1
A Real Partnership
Classic political sitcom. The government runs into a financial crisis just as MPs are due for a pay rise.
SAT 00:35 James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain (m00037sz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SAT 01:35 Arctic with Bruce Parry (b00ylx9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SAT 02:35 Señorita 89 (p0d6rtqv)
Series 1
Dolores
Raúl López Morton threatens Elena. Dolores returns to the house and tells the girls what the authorities know. Meanwhile, Elena is not allowed to see visitors or leave.
SAT 03:15 Señorita 89 (p0d6rw9p)
Series 1
The Final
The contestants compete in the final to win the title of Miss Mexico, but will they make it out of the competition alive?
SUNDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2024
SUN 19:00 Life of a Mountain (b08f1cc0)
A Year on Blencathra
The sequel to Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike sees award-winning film-maker Terry Abraham return to the Lake District to showcase 'the people's mountain' - Blencathra.
This spectacular documentary looks at the lives of local residents, schoolchildren and visitors to the mountain with contributions from comedian Ed Byrne, broadcaster Stuart Maconie, mountaineer Alan Hinkes OBE and record-breaking fell runner Steve Birkinshaw.
Abraham's breathtaking photography and stunning time-lapse sequences of this unique landscape will inspire newcomers and regular visitors alike.
SUN 20:00 Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers (m0016l0h)
One of the finest of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas in a sumptuous production by Scottish Opera. Sunny, funny and with more 'tra-la-las' per square inch than any other opera in the canon, The Gondoliers is a joy from start to finish. This witty satire is jam-packed with unforgettable star roles, musical highlights and dancing, including numbers such as Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes, Regular Royal Queen and the Cachucha.
The Gondoliers is a charming poke at the appeals and pitfalls of rulership, privilege and cronyism. Two happy-go-lucky Venetian gondoliers, Marco and Giuseppe, discover that one of them is, in fact, heir to the throne of a distant kingdom. True to their (adopted) republican roots, they set off together to rule in idealistic if somewhat chaotic style.
Marco and Giuseppe have just chosen their brides, Gianetta and Tessa, when their lives are thrown into turmoil by the arrival of the grand inquisitor, Don Alhambra, who informs them that one of them has acquired the throne of the distant Kingdom of Barataria. The Duke of Plaza-Toro brings his daughter to meet Don Alhambra because she has been betrothed to the new monarch - whichever he is. No-one can identify which of the gondoliers is to be the king, so they both agree to go and rule jointly and according to their strict republican instincts. It’s a fine but exhausting ideal, as they find that ‘equality’ means they end up doing all the work themselves.
The Duke of Plaza-Toro, bringing his daughter, arrives in the chaotic kingdom, and after vain attempts to teach the monarchs decorum and judgement, the confusion and incompetence is resolved, and the rightful monarch is in place.
In a co-production by D’Oyly Carte Opera and State Opera South Australia, Stuart Maunder directs the production with fun, verve and taste, with Scottish Opera’s music director, Derek Clark, conducting one of Arthur Sullivan’s most attractive and affecting scores.
The designs are by Dick Bird, drawing on views of Venice by Canaletto and creating colourful costumes full of style and wit. Isabel Baquero has devised an energetic and boisterous choreography that matches the joy of the production.
SUN 22:15 In Search of Dracula with Mark Gatiss (m000cs1t)
From Orava Castle in Slovakia, the location used in the classic vampire film Nosferatu, Mark Gatiss journeys to the London Library on the trail of Bram Stoker's newly discovered research literature. From the UK, Mark flies to Philadelphia in the United States, where he studies Stoker's hand-written notes and examines the abandoned ideas, story lines and characters which went on to become his world-famous story.
Mark meets with actors, including reuniting seven Hammer brides, film experts and historians as he explores the count's transition from page to screen, from Bela Lugosi's Hollywood to Christopher Lee's terrifying incarnation, then finally coming face to face with the new Dracula himself - Danish actor Claes Bang.
This documentary explores and celebrates the icon of popular culture, asking just why we keep coming back to the count.
SUN 23:15 M.R. James: Ghost Writer (b03n2rnc)
Mark Gatiss steps into the mind of M.R. James, the enigmatic English master of the supernatural story. How did this donnish Victorian bachelor, conservative by nature and a devout Anglican, come to create tales that continue to chill readers more than a century on?
Mark attempts to uncover the secrets of James's inspiration, taking an atmospheric journey from James's childhood home in Suffolk to Eton, Cambridge and France, venturing into ancient churches, dark cloisters and echoing libraries along the way.
SUN 00:15 Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories for Christmas (m0017nhn)
Series 1
The Ash Tree
A nobleman who will have no truck with superstition inherits a stately home overshadowed by a tree concealing an ancient curse.
SUN 00:45 Parkinson (m001w2jp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:35 on Saturday]
SUN 01:45 Life of a Mountain (b08f1cc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MONDAY 05 FEBRUARY 2024
MON 19:00 Planet Earth II (b084xk6m)
Grasslands
Grasslands cover one-quarter of all land and support the vast gatherings of wildlife, but to survive here animals must endure the most hostile seasonal changes on the planet. From Asia's bizarre-looking saiga antelope to the giant anteaters of Brazil, grassland animals have adapted in extraordinary ways to cope with these extremes. In the flooded Okavango, lions take on formidable buffalo in epic battles, on the savannah, bee-eaters take advantage of elephants to help catch insects and, on the freezing northern tundra, caribou embark on great migrations shadowed by hungry arctic wolves.
MON 20:00 Art of Persia (m000kbnz)
Series 1
Episode 2
Broadcaster and journalist Samira Ahmed takes viewers on a remarkable journey to places rarely seen, as she travels through Iran, telling the story of a complex and fascinating people, their culture and their history.
Samira gives a remarkable account of the clash between two powerful civilisations and explains how Iran preserved its distinctive language and culture despite the Arab conquest of Persia in AD651. From Zoroastrian fire temples to the fabled bazaars of Aladdin and an ancient magical storybook that became Iran’s national myth, this second episode in the series reveals how the country has proudly held onto its Persian identity, art and literature to this day.
MON 21:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b097xrbq)
Series 2
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire County Museum is a slice of history in itself. The building that houses it has been in continuous use since the 13th century. Once a bishop's palace, it was where the Bible was first translated into Welsh. But could it also be home to some mysterious cases of mistaken identity and two lost paintings from the time of Charles II?
Dr Bendor Grosvenor and Emma Dabiri travel to Carmarthenshire to investigate two intriguing portraits of a local nobleman and his wife, the Earl and Countess of Carbery, possibly painted by the great Sir Peter Lely in the 17th century.
Yet all is not as it seems - Bendor has a hunch that one of the portraits is by another hand. Could the portrait of the countess be a lost work by Mary Beale, Britain's first commercially successful female artist?
While Bendor gets to grips with the badly damaged portrait of the earl, Emma traces the story of how he survived the Civil War, how Mary Beale was written out of the history books, and discovers how the cross-dressing men of the Rebecca Riots stormed Carmarthen.
MON 22:00 Shadow Commander: Iran’s Military Mastermind (m0003871)
For decades one Iranian commander has dominated the brutal struggle for power and influence across the Middle East. This film tells the extraordinary story of General Qassem Suleimani with first-hand accounts of his secret deals and shifting alliances across Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
During the Iraq War, Suleimani smuggled thousands of sophisticated bombs into the country, arming the Shia militias who killed hundreds of British and American troops. But just a few years later, the western coalition found themselves on the same side as Suleimani as they both fought to defeat the Islamic State.
'We saw Suleimani as a very capable charismatic, skilled, professionally competent, diabolically evil human being', says General David Petraeus, who was head of US forces in Iraq. With Suleimani now coming out of shadows and taking centre stage in Iran’s strategic ambitions, this film asks whether he is shaping up for a new conflict with the west in the region. 'We can see him as the Darth Vader of contemporary middle eastern politics', says US diplomat Ryan Crocker.
MON 22:55 Storyville (m000nr85)
The Mole: Infiltrating North Korea
Part 1
In 2010, Danish director Mads Brügger received an email from a stranger who had seen a documentary he had made about North Korea. He asked if Mads would be interested in making a new film about his quest to become a member of his local North Korean ‘friendship’ association in Denmark to enable him to travel to Pyongyang undercover. There are Korean Friendship Associations (KFA) in countries around the world, and their members, bizarrely, are devoted to the glorification of the world’s last totalitarian communist dictatorship.
In this first of two extraordinary episodes, the stranger becomes a mole and rises through the ranks of the KFA, tunnelling his way ‘undercover’ to North Korea. On this mission, he befriends and wins the trust of the president of the KFA, Alejandro Cao de Benos, a Spaniard with a North Korean passport, who eventually asks him to help source wealthy investors interested in business deals with North Korea. The Mole reports back to Mads Brügger and they begin secretly recording meetings, bringing in an actor and ex-criminal called ‘Mr James’ to play the role of a Scandinavian billionaire to see what business deals North Korea will bring them.
MON 23:55 Storyville (m000nr87)
The Mole: Infiltrating North Korea
Part 2
Seven years undercover, three to go… The Mole and Mr James have made it out of Pyongyang with a signed contract to build a secret underground factory where they can manufacture weapons and drugs. They are tasked with finding a location in a ‘friendly’ country where they can carry out their covert plans, and so fly to Uganda to inspect a private island for sale. The North Koreans join them and return to Pyongyang to draw up a blueprint.
President of the Korean Friendship Association, Alejandro Cao de Benos, comes up with a cunning plan to evade the tightening UN sanctions, involving the North Koreans, Mr James and a new player - a Jordanian businessman. As the mission progresses, numerous deals are offered to Mr James, taking him deeper into the dark side of the regime’s arms trade. With deals done and orders pending, can they keep up the deception?
MON 01:00 Planet Earth II (b084xk6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MON 02:00 Art of Persia (m000kbnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUESDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2024
TUE 19:00 Planet Earth II (b0861m8b)
Cities
Cities are growing at a faster rate than any other habitat on Earth. They may seem an unlikely place for animals to thrive, but they can be a world of surprising opportunity. Leopards prowl the streets of Mumbai, peregrine falcons hunt amongst New York's skyscrapers, and a million starlings perform spectacular aerial dances over Rome.
In Jodhpur, langurs are revered as religious deities and in Harar, locals live in harmony with wild hyenas. Many animals, however, struggle to cope in the urban jungle. As the architects of this environment, can humans choose to build cities that are homes for both them and wildlife?
TUE 20:00 To the Manor Born (b0078mc8)
Series 1
Grape Vine
Despite having come down in the world, Audrey feels appearances demand she take a holiday but dreads leaving her beloved Grantleigh Manor in DeVere's hands. So she picks the only safe week - when DeVere himself is on holiday.
TUE 20:30 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074rvl)
Series 1
The Bishop's Gambit
Classic political comedy. Jim must recommend the appointment of bishops to the Queen but is not keen on the two offered by the Church.
TUE 21:00 Wild Weather with Richard Hammond (b04tqghf)
Original Series
Wind: The Invisible Force
Richard Hammond investigates how wind actually starts. He visits one of the windiest places on the planet, walks into the centre of a man-made tornado and creates a 10-metre high whirlwind - made of fire!
Along the way he is part of a world first when he joins up with American meteorologist Reed Timmer and a bizarre vehicle known as the Dominator III. Their aim is to succeed in doing what no one has ever done before, fire a probe into a tornado to measure its speed where it is at its fastest - right next to the ground. As Reed explains, 'near the base of the tornado is one of the biggest mysteries of tornado science and it's also the most important to understand because those are the wind speeds... that cause all the destruction'. To put that right, Reed and his team take The Dominator into the middle of a real live tornado and attempt to fire a probe into the very heart of it.
Richard also visits one of the few places on the planet capable of duplicating a real-life tornado. The Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment Research Institute (or WindEEE for short) in Ontario in Canada hadn't even opened its doors when Richard asked them to take part in an experiment. The $23 million facility is one of the the world's first hexagonal wind tunnels. As Richard says, 'I've got goosebumps. And that's not just because it's cold in here!'
Richard braves the winds and temperatures of -50 degrees Fahrenheit to take a trip outside on top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. On April 12th 1934, that station measured one of the highest wind speeds ever measured on land - 231 mph.
TUE 22:00 Storyville (m001w2jr)
Another Body: My AI Porn Nightmare
When 22-year-old American engineering student Taylor discovers that her face has been digitally altered to appear in online hardcore porn videos, she is devastated and doesn't know who to trust or what to do.
The police tell Taylor that what this person did is not even a crime, but when she learns that a fellow student, Julia, has also been targeted, she and Julia take the investigation into their own hands, diving into the underground world of deepfake technology and discovering a society of men who terrorise women.
TUE 23:20 The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts (b0c06nv7)
Series 1
Episode 2
Anita Rani is joined by internationally renowned potter Keith Brymer Jones and Arts & Crafts expert and dealer Patch Rogers as the six 21st-century crafters are faced with a new challenge as they restore their home for the month, room by room.
This week the crafters are returning to nature as they not only restore the master bedroom to all its Arts & Crafts glory - but also take part in some fresh water swimming and an authentic Victorian picnic. Using original tools and techniques they are set to craft from scratch an Arts & Crafts double bed and bed spread, a bed side clock and plaster wall decoration and all in just a week - all the while eating, working and living within the philosophies first outlined by the likes of John Ruskin and William Morris. Will their 1890s communal life help them to better understand the depth and scale of the Arts & Crafts movement both as a power for artistic and social change?
But a week into the experience and the highs and lows of living and working together as a creative commune are beginning to take its toll and the some of the crafters are beginning to crack as creative tensions start to show.
TUE 00:20 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b097xrbq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:20 Planet Earth II (b0861m8b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
TUE 02:20 Wild Weather with Richard Hammond (b04tqghf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2024
WED 19:00 Dynasties (p06mvpsw)
Series 1
Chimpanzee
In Senegal, west Africa, live a group of chimpanzees led by an alpha male named David. He has already been alpha for three years - a time when leaders here are usually overthrown. To make matters worse, David has no allies - no-one to help him defend his leadership. As the dry season sets in, the group are forced closer together to survive. But David is now surrounded by rivals who all want his crown and are prepared to kill him for it.
David faces brutal battles, has his world engulfed in flames and has to pull off an extraordinary act of deception. In a story of power and politics, can David overcome the threats to his leadership and hold on to the alpha position long enough to sire a possible future heir to his throne?
WED 20:00 Invasion! with Sam Willis (b09hr5pc)
Series 1
Episode 1
Three-part series in which intrepid historian Dr Sam Willis reveals a remarkable story of invasion in Britain spanning thousands of years.
From the time continuous settlement began in Britain over 10,000 years ago to Iron Age hillforts and Viking ships, Sam explores the many invasions of Britain. He unearths hidden stories to build a vivid picture of both successful and unsuccessful invasions and examines how they have shaped our psyche, including fear of invasion.
In this first programme, Sam fells a tree with a flint axe in Kent, gets to grips with the technology of Viking boats and rides an Iron Age chariot. He also searches for clues of invasion at Silbury Hill and tracks down evidence of the Beaker people who brought ceramics, metalwork and beakers to Britain.
WED 21:00 Rise of the Nazis (m00084tb)
Origins
Politics
This episode takes us into the corridors of power where Germany’s top political mastermind sees an opportunity to use the sudden popularity of the Nazis for his own ends. This sets off a chain of miscalculations, backroom deals and power grabs that will propel Hitler from the fringes of political activism into the heart of government.
Hitler wants to become absolute leader of a single-party German state - standing in his way is democracy and the rule of law. After leading a failed coup in 1923, Hitler decides on a new strategy for taking power: instead of being revolutionaries, the Nazis will become a legitimate, mainstream political party operating under the veneer of legality. Hitler aims to win power democratically and then destroy democracy from within. To achieve his goal Hitler must overcome Germany’s political elite, including Paul von Hindenburg, the president who looks down on him, and, behind the scenes, political mastermind Kurt von Schleicher, who wants to use him.
Whilst this political intrigue plays out at the highest level of government, Hitler faces another obstacle at ground level – a Jewish lawyer called Hans Litten, who is out to prove that the Nazis are far from the legal, legitimate party they claim to be.
WED 22:00 Play For Today (m001w2k3)
Series 6
Clay, Smeddum and Greenden
A trilogy of loosely linked stories by Lewis Grassic Gibbon set in a Scottish east coast farming community in the interwar years. Dramatised for television by Bill Craig.
WED 23:25 Alice in Wonderland (p032khvk)
Adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Starring Ann-Marie Mallik, Michael Redgrave and Peter Sellers. Directed by Jonathan Miller.
WED 00:40 Dynasties (p06mvpsw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 01:40 Invasion! with Sam Willis (b09hr5pc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 02:40 Rise of the Nazis (m00084tb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2024
THU 19:00 Dynasties (p06mvqjc)
Series 1
Emperor
A colony of emperor penguins gather in Atka Bay, on the coast of Antarctica, after three months of feeding at sea. They arrive as the water freezes over and all the other Antarctic animals have left the continent for the relative safety of the sea. The penguins have come here to raise the next generation in their emperor's dynasty. But to do so they will have to work together to keep themselves and their chicks alive through the coming winter - the coldest and cruellest on earth.
THU 20:00 Horizon (b04b763n)
2013-2014
What's Wrong with Our Weather?
Our weather in Britain has become more extreme.
The winter of 2013/14 was the wettest ever recorded, as deadly storms battered the country for weeks on end. But previous winters have seen bitter lows of minus 22, as Britain was plunged into a deep freeze.
Everyone wants to know why our weather is getting more extreme, whether we can expect to see more of it in the future, and if it has got anything to do with climate change.
Physicist Dr Helen Czerski and meteorologist John Hammond make sense of Britain's recent extreme weather and discover that there is one thing that connects all our recent extreme winters - the jet stream, an invisible river of air that powers along 10km above us. What's worrying is that recently it has been behaving rather strangely.
Scientists are now trying to understand what is behind these changes in the jet stream. Helen and John find out if extreme winters are something we may all have to get used to in the future.
THU 21:00 imagine... (b09srjgv)
Winter 2017/18
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical Young Frankenstein opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan Yentob visits Mel at home in Hollywood, at work and at play.
With the aid of BBC archive stretching back decades, together they embark on an unpredictable, irresistible journey through the city of stars, meeting the legendary Carl Reiner along the way. The driver is Mel Brooks - you have been warned!
THU 22:10 Blazing Saddles (m000x8pm)
When the citizens of Rock Ridge ask Governor Lepetomane to find a new sheriff to clean up their town, his nefarious assistant Hedley Lamarr picks Bart, a black convict, reasoning that the racist townsfolk will soon get rid of Bart and leave him free to get on with destroying Rock Ridge in secret. But Bart and his newfound friend, the Waco Kid, have other ideas and set about winning over the people of Rock Ridge and spoiling Lamarr's dastardly plans at every turn.
THU 23:40 How the West Was Won (b0077dtl)
Epic western about three generations of a pioneer family, showing how its fortunes fluctuated during the dynamic westward expansion of America during the 19th century. Three top directors each tackle separate episodes of the story, filmed in the short-lived three-camera Cinerama process, and with an all-star cast.
THU 02:10 Dynasties (p06mvqjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRIDAY 09 FEBRUARY 2024
FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m001w2m3)
Jarvis Cocker presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 24 August 1995 and featuring Clock, The Charlatans, Madonna, Xpansions '95, Oasis, Björk, Diana Ross, Michelle Gayle, Blur and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m001w2m5)
Dale Winton presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 31 August 1995 and featuring Berri, De'lacy, Michael Jackson, The Rembrandts, Boyzone, Montell Jordan, Echobelly, Michael Bolton, Blur and Scatman John.
FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m0006gzc)
Gary Davies and Bruno Brookes present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 11 February 1988 and featuring Eddy Grant, Debbie Gibson, The Mission, Taylor Dayne, Sinead O'Connor, Tiffany and Jermaine Stewart.
FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (b07jl1bb)
Tommy Vance presents the pop chart show, first broadcast on 11 February 1982. Includes appearances from Fun Boy Three & Bananarama, the Stranglers, Bow Wow Wow, Adrian Gurvitz, Hall & Oates, Depeche Mode, the J Geils Band, Modern Romance, Haircut 100 and the Jam.
FRI 21:00 Arena (b00hd2dn)
Buddy Holly
Documentary looking at the short but brilliant career of legendary rock'n'roll star Buddy Holly. Features interviews with contemporaries and fans including backing band The Crickets, The Everly Brothers, Keith Richards and Paul McCartney.
FRI 22:05 Arena (m001w2m8)
Peggy Sue: Tales of Rock and Roll
Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham, the inspiration behind Buddy Holly's famous song, is taken back by Arena to Lubbock, Texas, where she went to the same high school as Holly and where her marriage to his drummer Jerry Allison inspired a second tribute, Peggy Sue Got Married. She tells how both songs came to be written and provides some fresh insights into Buddy Holly's tragically short career.
Among the other people recalling this era is Peggy Sue's neighbour Donna Fox, who also inspired a 1950s classic, Ritchie Valens's Donna.
FRI 22:35 Classic Albums (m0006pbp)
The Crickets: The 'Chirping' Crickets
When lanky and bespectacled 20-year-old Texan singer Buddy Holly walked into the independent studio of producer Norman Petty in February 1957, he thought he’d come to make some demos to save his already failing music career as a two-flop wonder. By the time he had left the next morning, he had recorded not only his first million-selling smash - the immortal That’ll Be the Day - but the beginnings of one of the first, and greatest, rock ’n’ roll albums of all time – The 'Chirping' Crickets.
Among the first half-dozen debuts by rock ’n’ roll’s original founders (preceded only by those of Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Little Richard and Chuck Berry), more significantly it was the first rock album credited to a band rather than a solo artist, as well as a landmark in the history of independent recording methods. It was the album that inspired John Lennon to form his first band with Paul McCartney, The Quarrymen, and one of the first LPs bought by 15-year-old Dartford schoolboy Keith Richards: famously, both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones would later cover songs from The 'Chirping' Crickets.
Crowned by four of Holly and The Crickets’ best-loved and biggest-selling singles - That’ll Be the Day, Not Fade Away, Maybe Baby and Oh, Boy! - the album was one of only two Buddy Holly recorded in his tragically brief career. He died in a plane crash at the age of only 22, just one year and ten weeks after the album’s release. Yet it survives as the purest testament to his skill and diversity as a singer, a pioneering guitar player and, not least, as a songwriter in an age when few of his peers composed their own material. As such, The 'Chirping' Crickets stands as one of the most influential and important long-playing pieces of vinyl in the evolution of popular music. Without it, the last six decades of rock ’n’ roll would look, and sound, dramatically different.
The 'Chirping' Crickets finally landed in November 1957, its cover presenting a unified front of the four members side by side, with no special emphasis on Holly. Yet all too soon, their leader’s fame would eclipse what had always been a clever, legally convenient illusion of democracy. Within a year of its release, after just one more Crickets single, Think It Over, Sullivan left and Holly, though still recording with Allison and Mauldin, was starting to be seen as a solo artist.
The Crickets nevertheless left behind not just a classic but also rock’s first group debut; the twelve-track, twelve-inch vinyl blueprint of the archetypal vocals-guitars-bass-and-drum formula that has kept the genre alive for 60 years since its release, and counting.
FRI 23:35 It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Rock 'n' Roll at the BBC (b063m6wy)
A celebration of rock 'n' roll in the shape of a compilation of classic artists and songs, featuring the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Dion and Dick Dale who all featured in the Rock 'n' Roll America series, alongside songs that celebrate rock 'n roll itself from artists such as Tom Petty (Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll), Joan Jett (I Love Rock 'n' Roll) and Oasis (Rock 'n' Roll Star).
FRI 00:35 Arena (b00hd2dn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 01:40 Top of the Pops (m0006gzc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRI 02:10 Top of the Pops (b07jl1bb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
FRI 02:40 Top of the Pops (m001w2m3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 03:10 Top of the Pops (m001w2m5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]