SATURDAY 06 APRIL 2024

SAT 19:00 Rick Stein's Long Weekends (b082wf36)
Lisbon

Rick Stein visits Lisbon on the banks of the River Tagus, a city in love with its seafood and possibly the best custard tarts in the world. The culinary effects of Portugal's historic explorations are still seen in its dishes with hints of cinnamon and freshly chopped coriander from the east, and tomatoes and chillies from the Americas.

Rick is inspired to cook the city's favourite snack - salt cod fritters, delicious almond tart and pork with clams, a favourite dish throughout Portugal. With seafood at the forefront of his mind, he makes sure he arrives just in time for Lisbon's famous St Anthony's Day parade and sardine festival.


SAT 20:00 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00dtdvl)
Episode 3

Bruce Parry travels to a remote part of the Brazilian Amazon to explore what happens when the outside world makes contact with isolated tribes. He visits old friends the Matis tribe and works with a logging crew cutting timber deep in the forest.


SAT 21:00 Everything Went Fine (m001y4xf)
A daughter is forced to reconcile her past with her father when he contacts her with a devastating final wish, in François Ozon’s powerful family drama.

André has never been the easiest of fathers, but when he suffers a debilitating stroke and calls on his daughter Emmanuèle to help him die with some dignity, she finds herself faced with a painful decision.

An adaptation of Emmanuèle Bernheim’s memoir, Everything Went Fine is both a detailed portrait of family relationships and a frank account of the process involved in assisted dying.

In French with English subtitles.


SAT 22:50 Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy (m000j4c1)
Peter Sellers was one of the 20th century's most astonishing actors. His meteoric rise to fame - from his beginnings with Spike Milligan on BBC Radio's The Goon Show in the 1950s to his multiple Oscar nominations and status as Stanley Kubrick's favourite actor - is equalled only by the endless complexities of his personal life - the multiple marriages, the chronic health problems, the petulant fits of rage, the deep insecurity, the unwise career choices and the long decline in his later years.

This film explores the life of this peerless actor and comedian, featuring interviews with family, friends, colleagues and critics, many of whom have never spoken out before. The film charts Sellers's formative years backstage as part of his parents' itinerant music hall revue group, his wartime service in India and Burma and his journey to global superstardom, where tales of his life backstage with the likes of Sophia Loren, Orson Welles and Alec Guinness were often more unbelievable than the roles they were playing out before the cameras. This is the story of the man who could play any role, apart from one - himself.

With contributions from family members, including second wife Britt Ekland and his daughters Sarah and Victoria, as well as former friends and girlfriends such as Sinead Cusack, Nanette Newman and Janette Scott, the film explores the life of Sellers with candour and affection. Colleagues like director Joe McGrath and actor Simon Williams recall tales of Sellers's extravagant behaviour onset, and famous fans like Michael Palin, Steve Coogan and Hanif Kureishi reveal why they hold Sellers in such high esteem.

This is a film about family and how Sellers's mercurial temperament has affected the generation that followed. His two surviving children Sarah and Victoria recall the challenges of growing up alongside his tempestuous mood swings, while his grandson Will explores the troubled legacy his grandfather left behind.


SAT 00:05 Welsh Greats (b00j092z)
Series 2

Harry Secombe

Aled Jones presents the funny, warm and moving life story of comedian and singer Harry Secombe, a down-to-earth Swansea lad who became one of the nation's best-loved entertainers.

From The Goons to Highway, from Pickwick to Songs of Praise, he 'ruled the world' with a giggle and a song. But Harry's good humour gave no hint of the serious challenges he had faced, from the brutality of war to life-threatening illness.

Featuring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, the programme reminds us of Harry's natural warmth, his faith, and his infectious humour.


SAT 00:35 To the Manor Born (b007bl9n)
Series 3

Horse vs Cars

Stately sitcom. A repair bill for Audrey's Rolls-Royce finally convinces her to revert to four-legged horsepower.


SAT 01:05 No Place Like Home (m001xyr9)
Series 1

Episode 1

Arthur is planning a brand new, peaceful life with wife Beryl now that all their four children have flown the nest, but it's not long before trouble comes knocking.


SAT 01:35 Rick Stein's Long Weekends (b082wf36)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:35 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00dtdvl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

SUNDAY 07 APRIL 2024

SUN 19:00 Flat Pack Pop: Sweden's Music Miracle (m0002k6k)
Flat Pack Pop: Sweden’s Music Miracle charts the remarkable rise of Sweden as a global music superpower. Journalist James Ballardie explores the uniquely Swedish songwriting formula created by record producer Denniz Pop, discovering how the biggest chart hits of the last 30 years have been inspired by the myths and legends of this Land of the Midnight Sun.

In the 1990s, an elite band of unlikely entrepreneur songwriters and producers became responsible for the most dramatic revolution in music since Elvis first shook his hips. What started out as an experiment on the Stockholm underground club scene soon blossomed into an entire genre of its own. These unlikely heroes of bubblegum pop surfed the wave of the dotcom boom, launching the careers of Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Westlife and many, many more. Hundreds of millions of record sales later, today they have a combined net worth of many billions.

Featuring interviews with key Swedish songwriters, plus producers and artists including Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Ace of Base and Robyn, James’s search for the real lever-pullers behind today’s top tunes takes him from the icy streets of Stockholm to the barren plains of Kronoberg.

But why should Sweden – of all places – have become such a hotbed for hot tracks? Some say it’s the terrible weather and long months of darkness that created the perfect environment for Swedes to refine their craft. Others praise the stellar state-funded musical education programmes promoted by the socialist governments of the 60s and 70s. A Swedish love for simplistic melodies – harking back to the medieval cattle-herding calls that form the basis of Swedish folk music – is also a key weapon in the Swedish musical juggernaut’s arsenal.

Perhaps most impressive of all about Sweden’s musical miracle is the sheer duration of its success - with a streak of hits that has lasted longer than any of the classic songwriting factories that have defined pop history - from Motown and Tin Pan Alley to the Brill Building, Leiber and Stoller, and the Wall of Sound.

At its heart – Swedish pop sounds effortless and uncomplicated. In reality, it is the most intricate and precise songwriting method of any genre. These are industrial-strength melodies handcrafted to pierce the 21st century’s hubbub - in malls, stadiums, airports, casinos, gyms and the Super Bowl half-time shows.

It is the same ethos that drove IKEA and H&M to become such world-beating brands. Swedes are so successful at exporting their culture because ingrained in the Swedish mindset is a curious knack for appealing to the residents of other countries. Pulling apart the very best ideas from British and American music, and then rearranging them in a more effective and efficient way is the cornerstone of Swedish musical thinking.

As the 1990s drew to a close, the songwriting formula created by Denniz Pop made him and his followers filthy rich, a potential source of embarrassment in equality-obsessed Sweden. In accordance with Swedish ‘Jante Law’ – a social code that promotes the good of the community over the individual – Denniz and his team shunned the limelight, preferring to leave the pressures of fame to the unabashed Brits and Americans who sang their hits. But the dream could not last forever. In 1997 Denniz was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died a year later at the age of just 35, less than two months before his greatest creation yet – Britney Spears’s Baby One More Time - hit record store shelves.

Today, the most successful of Denniz Pop’s motley band of followers is his protégé Max Martin. Max is famously modest about his mixing desk wizardry – but he is responsible for some of the most potent melodies of our time, standing third only to John Lennon and Paul McCartney when it comes to racking up US No 1 hits.

Mysterious Max has turbocharged Denniz’s songwriting formula into a theory he calls ‘Melodic Math’. It is a complex musical algorithm perfect for the digital age. Decoding the secrets of Melodic Math, James will uncover centuries-old Swedish customs and folklore hidden in the unlikely music of One Direction, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber.

With its huge hooks, massive drops and unmistakable sense of melancholy, the sound of Swedish pop is in fact the sound of modern pop. In Flat Pack Pop: Sweden’s Music Miracle, BBC Four will uncover how this bizarre brew of influences came to dominate our charts, without us even knowing where it came from.


SUN 20:00 Hannah Waddingham's Eurovision 1974 Celebration (m001y52c)
Eurovision superfan and one of the hosts of the 2023 contest, Hannah Waddingham invites you to join her for a special celebration to mark 50 years since ABBA’s glorious victory with Waterloo at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

This was the night that set Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid on the journey that has included domination of the pop charts here and across the world, the Mamma Mia! stage and film phenomenon, and their acclaimed recent comeback with the technological triumph of the Voyage concerts.

Now, as we mark the 50th anniversary of that win in Brighton’s Dome, Hannah introduces a special screening of the entire 1974 Eurovision Song Contest final, which also features Olivia Newton John as the UK entry and The Wombles as the interval act. She also gives us the benefit of her unique Eurovision insight to share some advice on how to enhance your own evening’s entertainment by keeping an eye out for some particularly marvellous musical moments in this show originally presented by Katie Boyle.


SUN 20:10 Eurovision Song Contest (p007x8b2)
Grand Final: 1974

The 19th annual Eurovision Song Contest broadcast from The Dome in Brighton.

Once again the UK stepped into the breach, hosting the event for the fifth time after 1973 winners Luxembourg declined to hold it for a second year running due to expense. Swedish group ABBA won the day with Waterloo and went on to become one of the only Eurovision acts (along with 1988 winner Celine Dion) to achieve international superstardom, selling more than 375 million records worldwide. The song was voted best Eurovision song of all time at a 50th anniversary show of the contest in 2005, although interestingly, it also received the lowest percentage of votes ever recorded for a winning entry in a final. The UK's entry was Long Live Love by Olivia Newton-John.

France had planned to enter the contest and had chosen both singer and song, but ended up withdrawing after the death of their president, Georges Pompidou, whose funeral was scheduled on the same day as the competition. Meanwhile Italy made headlines for refusing to broadcast the contest on their state TV channel because lyrics in their song, Si (which translates as 'yes' in English), were judged to possibly have a subliminal effect on voters in a referendum on divorce taking place in Italy the following month. It is reported that Portugal's entry, E depois do adeus, was used as a signal by rebel revolutionary soldiers to begin a coup against the Estado Novo regime.


SUN 22:00 Eurovision at 60 (b05vsm0d)
Hosts and competitors tell the behind-the-scenes story of 60 years of Eurovision, the greatest and maddest song contest on earth.


SUN 23:30 Hemingway (p09lp4tj)
Series 1

Episode 5

Reeling from his split with Martha, Hemingway attaches himself to the US Army as it moves through Normandy and liberates Paris.

After the war, he tries to start a new life with Mary Welsh, but is beset by personal tragedies and professional mishaps. He publishes The Old Man and the Sea.


SUN 00:20 Hemingway (p09lp564)
Series 1

Episode 6

Ernest Hemingway wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, but eventually is overcome by addiction, physical trauma and depression.


SUN 01:10 Flat Pack Pop: Sweden's Music Miracle (m0002k6k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 02:10 Tish (m001xyrg)
Mother, fighter and visionary photographer - Tish Murtha emerged from the north east in Thatcher's Britain to expose the struggles and triumphs of her local community.

Tish's daughter, Ella, uncovers her poignant story in this heartfelt documentary, piecing together a portrait of a woman who wielded her camera as a tool to celebrate overlooked working-class lives and to strive for social change.

Tragically, Tish died aged 56, her work relatively unknown, but now, Ella unlocks the doors to her mother's long-hidden archive. Inside, a treasure trove of unseen images, personal artefacts, letters and diaries awaits, revealing the true essence of this enigmatic artist.

MONDAY 08 APRIL 2024

MON 19:00 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age (b0074mbm)
Railways

Fred Dibnah visits the North East, which is rich in railway history.

At Bowes Railway he sees an early engineering project by George Stephenson, which was a stationary engine that pulled coal wagons uphill with a rope. At Darlington Railway Museum he admires Stephenson's original Locomotive No 1, the first to run from Darlington to Stockton. At the National Railway Museum, York, he rides on a replica of the Rocket, made by Stephenson's son Robert and at Ffestiniog Railway, he sees how a new locomotive is designed with computer aids and rides on the footplate and stokes the boiler of a Black Five at Llangollen Railway.


MON 19:30 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (m0009trk)
Series 4

Oxford

In the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Dr Bendor Grosvenor identifies a portrait of a fellow of Merton College from the 1750s, George Oakley Aldrich. It is not known who painted the picture, but Bendor believes it is by the most famous painter of British grand tourists that ever lived, Italian artist Pompeo Batoni.

Batoni arrived in Rome at the age of 19 and quickly made a name for himself as one of the most talented painters of both religious, and mythical history, subjects. He found himself in huge demand to paint altarpieces for churches and chapels throughout the city, but after a monumental work for an altar in St Peter’s was rejected by a committee of priests, a furious Batoni turned to portrait painting and was adopted by the British aristocracy.


MON 20:30 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08hznbb)
Series 1

Episode 2

Eamonn McCabe explores how British photographers responded to the most important events of the first half of the 20th century and traces the emergence of a new genre of photography - photojournalism. His journey begins at the Daily Mirror's press plant in Watford, which broke new ground with its dynamic coverage of the siege of Sidney Street in 1911, before tracing the footsteps of pioneering female photojournalist Christina Broom and discovering how cheaper cameras enabled British soldiers to become citizen journalists during the First World War.

Eamonn is joined by Mahtab Hussain to discuss the work of Bill Brandt, who in 1937 travelled to the north of England to record landscapes and portraits of working class communities during the Great Depression. Brandt would go on to work for Picture Post, Britain's most popular news magazine, which was launched in 1938. Armed with a period roll film Leica, Eamonn goes on assignment to the fairground to recreate a famous shoot by the magazine that documented almost every aspect of mid-century life in Britain.

He also sees how photographers captured the Second World War, from the Blitz to shocking images of concentration camps; celebrates photographers who pursued the medium as an art form in its own right; learns about the printing techniques of celebrity portrait photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn; and reflects on Cecil Beaton's glamorous work for Vogue magazine.


MON 21:30 The Sky at Night (m001y570)
Space Rock Return

The Sky at Night is back for a brand new series, and this month it is delving into Nasa’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which last year brought back a sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. The team are finding out what it takes to analyse the tiny pieces of space rock, what they can tell us about how Earth became the planet it is today and may even tell us about the origins of life!

We kick off the episode with a catch-up on some of the astronomical news highlights since we have been off air and a quick history of asteroids. Chris Lintott then meets Professor Sara Russell and Dr Ashley King from the Natural History Museum in London, who were both involved with the Osiris Rex mission to Bennu. Chris discovers the challenges it encountered, from unexpected landing surfaces to problems opening the sample jar once it had returned. Chris then goes on to hold a piece of the asteroid itself and finds out about Sara and Ashley’s work on the space rock and the complex picture it is giving of Bennu’s history. By understanding the journey the asteroid has been on, they can learn more about the conditions in which the Earth formed and how our planet became the water rich place it is today.

Meanwhile, Maggie Aderin-Pocock heads to Diamond Light Source to meet Dr Sharif Ahmed. He explains how the very large machine housed there produces light 10 billion times brighter than the sun, from which powerful X-rays are created, allowing scientists to analyse the very smallest of samples.

Finally, George Dransfield heads to Royal Holloway University to meet Dr Queenie Chan, who is looking for tiny bubbles of liquid in the space rock samples, in which she may discover the secrets of how the building blocks of life could have formed.

And as ever, our resident astronomer, Pete Lawrence, is back to tell us what can be seen in this month’s night sky.


MON 22:00 Caligula with Mary Beard (b037w0qh)
Two thousand years ago, one of history's most notorious individuals was born. Professor Mary Beard embarks on an investigative journey to explore the life and times of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus - better known to us as Caligula.

Caligula has now become known as Rome's most capricious tyrant, and the stories told about him are some of the most extraordinary of any Roman emperor. He was said to have made his horse a consul, proclaimed himself a living God and indulged in scandalous orgies, and that's before you mention building vast bridges across land and sea, prostituting senators' wives and killing half the Roman elite seemingly on a whim. All that in just four short years in power before a violent and speedy assassination in a back alley of his own palace at just 29 years old.

Piecing together the evidence, Mary puts Caligula back into the context of his times to reveal an astonishing story of murder, intrigue and dynastic family power. Above all, she explains why Caligula has ended up with such a seemingly unredeemable reputation. In the process, she reveals a more intriguing portrait of not just the monster, but the man.


MON 23:00 A Timewatch Guide (b052vcbg)
Series 1

Roman Britain

Using years of BBC history archive film, Dr Alice Roberts explores how our views and understanding of Roman Britain have changed and evolved over the decades.

Along the way she investigates a diverse range of subjects from the Roman invasion, through Hadrian's Wall, the Vindolanda tablets and the eventual collapse of Roman rule. Drawing on the work of archaeologists and historians throughout the decades, Alice uncovers how and why our views of this much-loved period of our history have forever been in flux.


MON 00:00 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age (b0074mbm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 00:30 Welsh Greats (b00j092z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:05 on Saturday]


MON 01:00 Caligula with Mary Beard (b037w0qh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 02:00 A Timewatch Guide (b052vcbg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


MON 03:00 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08hznbb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]

TUESDAY 09 APRIL 2024

TUE 19:00 India's Frontier Railways (b0555xgw)
The Maitree Express

Filmed during the holy month of Ramadan, this is a journey from India into Bangladesh on a train that reunites the region of Bengal. Partitioned in 1947, Bengal was divided in half, creating East Pakistan - a satellite state ruled by Pakistan. It was an unwelcome occupation. In 1971, they fought a war of independence and East Pakistan became the People's Republic of Bangladesh. 37 years later, the first train ran between India and Bangladesh - the Maitree Express. Maitree means friendship.

It takes 12 hours to make the 392km journey from Kolkata to Dhaka, and staffing on the train is almost the same on both sides of the border. They speak the same language, share a history and all love fish.

Amirul, once a freedom fighter in the war of independence, now plays announcements and religious tapes on the Maitree. Aalo supports his family by selling chocolates on the train, but has a problem with the 30-degree heat. Sixteen-year-old Abdullah ran away from home and a madrasa. Now he sells papers on Dhaka's trains and platforms, hoping for a brighter future. Gautam Bannerjee is a guard on the Maitree and a respected astrologer. Can his calculations foretell the future? Urmi Rahman, a writer, was born in Bangladesh, married an Indian and lives in Kolkata, but she is very clear about her identity. Krishendu Basu is happy with his life. Not only a guard, he is also a tabla player, photographer and self-confessed foodie. But music is his passion.

These stories of people who work, travel or depend on the Maitree Express take us on a journey through history, sharing their hopes, needs and desires - on India's frontier railways.


TUE 20:00 To the Manor Born (b007881n)
Series 3

Birds vs Bees

Audrey starts a business selling honey. A rare bee-eating bird spotted by Marjorie brings lots of people to the village. Audrey sees this as an ideal opportunity to sell her honey.


TUE 20:30 No Place Like Home (p0hl2zb9)
Series 1

Episode 2

Arthur is perturbed when his eldest daughter discards her inept husband to return home to join all the others.


TUE 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.


TUE 22:00 Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo (m001y572)
Series 1

Episode 1

In the 1960s, preachers Susan and Tony Alamo recruit vulnerable young people to join their cult promoting personal salvation. Over time, the group faces allegations of abuse.


TUE 22:45 Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo (m001y576)
Series 1

Episode 2

Tony and Susan Alamo's grip on power is challenged as Susan becomes ill and law enforcement investigates allegations of labour violations and abuse.


TUE 23:30 Storyville (m000bpkm)
Murder in the Bush: Cold Case Hammarskjöld

Danish director Mads Brügger and Swedish private investigator Göran Björkdahl are trying to solve the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjöld. As their investigation closes in, they discover a crime far worse than the murder of the secretary-general of the United Nations.

In 1961, United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld’s plane mysteriously crashed, killing Hammarskjöld and most of the crew. With the case still unsolved over 50 years later, Danish journalist, film-maker and provocateur Mads Brügger leads us down an investigative rabbit hole to unearth the truth. Scores of false starts, dead ends and elusive interviews later, Brügger and his sidekick, Swedish Göran Björkdahl, begin to sniff out something more monumental than anything they had initially imagined.

In his signature provocateur style, Brügger becomes both film-maker and subject, challenging the very nature of truth by ‘performing’ the role of truth seeker. As Brügger uncovers a major secret that could send shockwaves around the world, we realise that sometimes absurdity and irony are the emboldening ingredients needed to confront what is truly sinister in the world.

Cold Case Hammarskjöld was premiered at Sundance in 2019 and won the Directing Award for World Cinema Documentary.


TUE 01:30 India's Frontier Railways (b0555xgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 02:30 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (m0009trk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 on Monday]

WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL 2024

WED 19:00 India's Frontier Railways (b05mp8mt)
The Last Train in Nepal

In 1927 a British civil servant drew a line on a map to define the border between their Indian empire and the kingdom of Nepal. Today, that border line is only marked by a chain of boundary stones and pillars - it's a border that is almost invisible.

This is the story of an international railway line. It runs for 20 miles from the little-known town of Janakpur in Nepal and crosses over the border to Jaynagar junction in India.

But now the last train in Nepal is under threat of closure. Starved of funds from central government, the train and the track are in a dilapidated state. Derailments are common and the engine often breaks down. Yet it's a lifeline both for the community and the railway workers - their little train is held together with determination, invention and love.

Regina is strong, independent Nepali woman, married at 12 and pregnant at 13. Deserted by her husband, she's now a single mother of two teenage boys. She makes a living as a smuggler of small household goods. But it's illegal, so even when the train is running there's always the chance of getting caught.

Aarman is a ticket collector in Janakpur station. Married with three small children, he's the sole breadwinner for an extended family and he hasn't been paid for three months. Already deeply in debt, he wanted to send his kids to school, but if the line closes he's out of job - and no job means no money.

This is the story of the last train in Nepal and the community and railway workers who struggle every day to keep their train and their hopes alive.


WED 20:00 Himalaya with Michael Palin (b0074qrs)
Leaping Tigers, Naked Nagas

Michael Palin continues his Himalayan trek.

Following the Yangtze along Tiger Leaping Gorge into Yunnan in China, Palin reaches the easternmost end of the Himalayas.

He gets a medical check-up before exploring medieval Lijiang with the director of the local orchestra. Heading across Myanmar to Nagaland in India he rides the steam train to Tipong Coalmine.

In Assam he rides an elephant and then stays in a strange monastery.


WED 21:00 Henry VIII's Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell (b01t03ky)
Thomas Cromwell has gone down in history as one of the most corrupt and manipulative ruffians ever to hold power in England. A chief minister who used his position to smash the Roman Catholic church in England and loot the monasteries for his own gain. A man who used torture to bring about the execution of the woman who had once been his friend and supporter - Anne Boleyn.

Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, reveals a very different image of Cromwell. The award-winning novels of Hilary Mantel began the revival of Cromwell's reputation, and now Professor MacCulloch presents Henry VIII's chief minister as a principled and pioneering statesman who was driven by radical evangelism.

Cromwell's extraordinary career blossomed after a childhood marked by poverty and violence. The unschooled son of a brewer, he travelled across Europe as a young man and mysteriously taught himself to speak several languages in addition to accounting and knowledge of the law. When Henry VIII failed to persuade the pope to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Cromwell engineered an incredible solution. Using his political skills he persuaded Parliament and the people to accept a mythological rewriting of the history of England in which the English monarch was as an emperor whose power superseded that of the pope.

Professor MacCulloch describes Cromwell as an evangelical reformer, determined to break the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church and introduce the people of England to a new type of Christianity in which each individual makes direct contact with God.


WED 22:00 Clocking Off (p00yry0f)
Series 1

Steve's Story

Steve and Sylvia's wedding anniversary celebrations are interrupted by a burglar, then they are victimised by the police. Steve and his family decide to take the law into their own hands, which proves to be a mistake.


WED 22:55 Clocking Off (p00yrybb)
Series 1

Trudy's Story

Trudy is sent into personal crisis by her father's death and makes a mistake that leads to Katherine's infidelities becoming public knowledge, life at Macintosh Textiles won't ever be the same.


WED 23:45 Clocking Off (p00yrzk0)
Series 1

Katharine and Mack's Story

Katherine decides that she can no longer live with her sham marriage and walks out. As well as losing his wife, Mack now risks losing the factory, as deeds to the building are in Katherine's name.


WED 00:40 Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy (m000j4c1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:50 on Saturday]


WED 01:55 India's Frontier Railways (b05mp8mt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 02:55 Himalaya with Michael Palin (b0074qrs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

THURSDAY 11 APRIL 2024

THU 19:00 The Sky at Night (m001y570)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 on Monday]


THU 19:30 India's Frontier Railways (b05nhjht)
The Samjhauta Express

Freedom came to the subcontinent in August 1947. The British hastily partitioned British India before they left. Independence was attended by a million deaths and 14 million people were displaced.

Yet despite three wars, Pakistan and Indian railways have established a cross-border train, known as the Samjhauta Express - Samjhauta meaning agreement.

Amongst the passengers on the Samjhauta Express from Lahore to Delhi are Bilal and his father Abiz. Seventeen-year-old Bilal was the victim of an accident which damaged his eye. Unable to source the right treatment in Pakistan, father and son trawled the internet and finally found a suitable clinic. But it was in India. They have never stepped outside Pakistan, so they are a little nervous. Will they be successful in getting Bilal's eye treated?

Also on the train is Rahat Khan, the hockey queen. She's a Pakistan international and a railway hockey champion. She is travelling with her Pakistan girls' hockey team to play a match in India. But not everything goes to plan.

For the Sikh community, the Punjab is home. The golden temple of Amritsar is the holy of holies. But each year, on Guru Nanak's birthday, the railway runs special trains across the border to the guru's birthplace in Pakistan, despite the security concerns.


THU 20:30 The Eagle Has Landed (b00glr88)
All-action World War II adventure. On the morning of 6 November 1943, the military authorities in Berlin receive a simple message - 'The Eagle Has Landed'. In a daring kidnap attempt, a small force of crack German paratroopers are poised to snatch Winston Churchill and return with him to Germany. If they succeed in their mission, it could alter the course of the war. Who can stop them?


THU 22:40 Julius Caesar (m001rrz0)
Rome, 44 BC. Caesar’s power has grown so great that even his allies in the senate plot his downfall. Classic Hollywood adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play.


THU 00:40 Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo (m001y572)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


THU 01:25 Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo (m001y576)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:45 on Tuesday]


THU 02:10 India's Frontier Railways (b05nhjht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

FRIDAY 12 APRIL 2024

FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m001y56w)
Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 21 December 1995 and featuring Corona, Mary Kiani, Queen, The Levellers, Madonna, Jimmy Nail, Oasis, Dog Eat Dog and Michael Jackson.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m00142cn)
Femi Oke and Tony Dortie present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 9 April 1992 and featuring Praga Khan, Curtis Stigers, Altern 8, Vanessa Williams, Right Said Fred, Cher, Genesis and Shakespears Sister.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b09rmt82)
John Peel and Janice Long present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 11 April 1985. Featuring Tears for Fears, The Rah Band, Dream Academy, King and Philip Bailey & Phil Collins.


FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (m001y56y)
Noel Edmonds presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 11 April 1974 and featuring Limmie & The Family Cookin', Mud, Slade, Mungo Jerry, Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye, The Wombles, The Chi-lites, Bill Haley & His Comets, ABBA (five days after their Eurovision Song Contest win), Terry Jacks and The Glitter Band.


FRI 21:05 Later... with Jools Holland (m001qgj7)
Amy Winehouse

Jools takes a look back at one of the world’s most iconic artists of the 21st century, celebrating her short yet remarkable career. Having first made her debut on the show in 2003 with her first single Stronger Than Me, taken from her debut album Frank, Amy returned to Later… in 2006, following her seminal No 1 Back to Black album, to perform Top 10 hit Rehab and the Motown-influenced Tears Dry on Their Own.

She also performed twice at Jools’ Annual Hootenanny in 2004 and 2006, where she added her own unique style and inimitable voice to renditions of classic songs like Teach Me Tonight and Monkey Man, and teamed up with Paul Weller to perform a couple of numbers, notably Etta Jones’s Don’t Go to Strangers.


FRI 21:40 Arena (b01l4929)
Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came to Dingle

Back in 2006 on a stormy December night, Amy Winehouse flew to the remote, south western corner of Ireland to perform for Other Voices, an acclaimed Irish TV music series filmed in Dingle every winter. Amy took to the stage of Saint James's church, capacity 85, and wowed the small, packed crowd with a searing, acoustic set of songs from Back to Black.

After leaving the stage, a relaxed and happy Amy spoke about her music and influences - Mahalia Jackson, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles and the Shangri-Las to name a few. Arena joined forces with Other Voices and went to Dingle to catch up with some of the people that Amy met on that day, including taxi driver Paddy Kennedy, her bass player Dale Davis and Rev Mairt Hanley of the Other Voices church.

This film showcases not only Amy herself, but the musical geniuses that inspired her to forge her own jazz pop style.


FRI 22:40 Glastonbury (m000kjjw)
2007

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse performs twice in one day at the festival in 2007, taking to the Pyramid Stage in the afternoon followed by an evening set on the then Jazz World Stage. Her seminal and big-selling Back to Black album had been released the autumn before and by the time of this festival had become a huge success.

She and her band perform many of her classic tracks, including Tears Dry on Their Own, Back to Black and, of course, Rehab.


FRI 23:40 A Life in Ten Pictures (m000zqr9)
Series 1

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse’s image is known around the world. She was the north London girl with a unique voice and look, who became hugely successful seemingly overnight, and whose private life the press became obsessed by. She died in 2011, aged just 27.

This documentary throws a unique lens onto an extraordinary life, focusing on ten defining photographs - from iconic shots to private snaps – with the stories behind them revealed by those who were there and those who knew her best, including her parents and close friends.


FRI 00:40 BBC One Sessions (b007cl28)
Amy Winehouse

Another chance to see a 23-year-old Amy Winehouse at Porchester Hall where, hot from her triumph at the 2007 Brits, she gave a special one-off concert. Crowned 2007's Best British Female, Amy performed songs from her Back to Black album and her 2003 Mercury Music Prize nominated album, Frank.


FRI 01:35 Top of the Pops (m001y56w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


FRI 02:05 Top of the Pops (m00142cn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:35 Top of the Pops (b09rmt82)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 03:05 Top of the Pops (m001y56y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]