SATURDAY 08 MARCH 2025

SAT 19:00 The Flying Gardener (b007vv6b)
Series 1 Shorts

Norfolk

Chris Beardshaw heads to Norfolk to help a couple create and preserve a garden strong enough to stand up to the toughest elements.


SAT 19:15 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2t3)
Series 3

Plenty to Grouse About

An outbreak of louping ill on the grouse moors is traced, but Murray's help in clearing the land cannot be counted upon.


SAT 20:10 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2tc)
Series 3

Charity Begins at Home

The practise begins to use new tablets, but their cost leads Siegfried to decide to limit their use. James and Helen adopt a cat.


SAT 21:00 The One That Got Away (m00283yj)
Series 1

Episode 3

The team start building the case against their main suspect, but in a shocking development, an armed man enters the frame. Ffion tries to stop him, and Rick is powerless as the man trains his gun on them. Then a new link to the past and a devastating secret is discovered that threatens to throw everything into disarray.


SAT 21:50 The One That Got Away (m00283yl)
Series 1

Episode 4

In the wake of the school shooting, the gunman is charged with murder. Ffion is convinced Mel could have been involved in the historic murders and clashes with Rick as he tries to keep the past under wraps. Then a shocking personal confession takes them back to the time when they were lovers.


SAT 22:45 Parkinson (m0028wy5)
Michael Caine

Michael Parkinson talks to actor Michael Caine about his life and career, in a programme that first aired in 2002.


SAT 23:45 Going Straight (p00xb690)
Going off the Rails

Fletch feels frustrated that his ex-wife's partner is paying for his daughter's wedding. So he is tempted when someone offers to pay him to be a lookout for a burglary.


SAT 00:15 As Time Goes By (p0479wdb)
Series 2

The Book Signing

It’s the day of Lionel’s book launch, and Alistair has a new publicity stunt prepared in case sales start flagging.


SAT 00:45 Play of the Week (m0028nzh)
Fairies

Touching period drama by Geoffrey Case from 1978.

'I'd stake my reputation on it. These photographs are not faked.' But how could photographs, taken on a simple camera by two Yorkshire village girls, have momentous implications for man's understanding of the world?


SAT 01:50 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2t3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 today]


SAT 02:45 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2tc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:10 today]

SUNDAY 09 MARCH 2025

SUN 19:00 Natural World (m0007snt)
2019-2020

The Octopus in My House

A professor develops an extraordinary relationship with an octopus when he invites it to live in his home. The octopus, called Heidi, unravels puzzles, recognises individual humans and even watches TV with the family.

The episode also shows remarkable behaviour from around the world - from the day octopus, which can change colour and texture in a split second, to the coconut octopus, which carries around its own coconut shell to hide in. But most fascinating of all is seeing how Professor David Scheel and his daughter Laurel bond with an animal that has nine brains, three hearts and blue blood running through its veins.


SUN 20:00 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00f2rm2)
Episode 5

Bruce Parry explores the wealth of the Amazon rainforest. He parties with the millionaires of Manaus, the Amazon's biggest city, he lives and works with the illegal gold miners seeking their fortune, and he sleeps in the forest canopy with the scientists trying to value the forest in a revolutionary new way.


SUN 21:00 Inside Classical (m0028x0h)
Series 3

BBC Singers Centenary Concert

Presenters Clive Myrie and Georgia Mann help the BBC Singers celebrate their one hundredth birthday with a spectacular choral party at London’s Barbican Hall.

Formed in October 1924, and known then as the BBC Wireless Chorus, they were the world’s first full-time radio choir. Since then, the BBC Singers have become trailblazers in choral music. They regularly champion new music and can seamlessly move from traditional choral repertoire to the most experimental of sounds.

The BBC Singers' birthday bash features something for everyone - music from Bach to Bernstein and Eric Whitacre to Hans Zimmer. Joining this much-loved and pioneering group of singers are their closest musical friends, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and some very special guests. Organist Anna Lapwood brings her arrangement of a Hans Zimmer soundtrack, there’s a whistlestop tour of musicals created for them by arranger-extraordinaire Iain Farrington, and there’s a stunning performance by South African cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe.

Be on the guest list for this very special centenary celebration.


SUN 22:15 Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Yeomen of the Guard (m001mj1s)
English National Opera’s sparkling production of the much-loved Gilbert and Sullivan classic, set in the Tower of London.

The dashing Colonel Fairfax is under sentence of death. Can his old friend, the Beefeater Sergeant Merryl, save him? And what of Merryl’s daughter Phoebe, who has fallen hopelessly in love with the colonel?

A fast-paced caper with forbidden romances, fantastical plots and unrequited love unfolds, with some surprising twists at the end. Widely regarded as one of Sullivan’s finest scores, the opera is full of delightful tunes, including I Have a Song to Sing, O!, When a Wooer Goes a-Wooing and Free From His Fetters Grim.

The action has been shifted to the 1950s, the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, and the stellar cast includes Tony and Olivier Award-winning stage and screen actor Richard McCabe, who makes his operatic debut in the role of the travelling jester Jack Point, the opera’s comic baritone.


SUN 00:40 The Royal Ballet: Mayerling (m000gg21)
Darcey Bussell and Ore Oduba introduce Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling from the Royal Ballet. Based on the true story of the death of Crown Prince Rudolf and his young mistress Mary Vetsera in 1889, Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb take on these challenging roles in a dark and intense ballet.

The emotionally unstable Crown Prince Rudolf is haunted by an obsession with death. Pressured to marry Princess Stephanie, his former lover, Marie Larisch, introduces him to Mary Vetsera, who shares his morbid fascination.

At his hunting lodge in the village of Mayerling, Rudolf and Mary form a suicide pact. They make love before Rudolf shoots Mary and then himself. In their despair, the royal family covers up the tragedy.

Premiered in 1978, Mayerling is considered one of the most difficult ballets, both technically and emotionally, for male dancers in the repertoire, with choreography that pushes the boundaries of the classical genre.


SUN 02:55 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00f2rm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

MONDAY 10 MARCH 2025

MON 19:00 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty47v)
Clifton Suspension Bridge

Dr Jonathan Foyle, architectural historian and novice climber, scales Britain's most iconic structures to reveal the buildings' secrets and tell the story of how our architecture and construction have developed over 1,000 years.

The next step of Jonathan's journey takes him to the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. Begun in 1835 by the great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel when he was only 24 years old, it is one of the greatest feats of Victorian engineering in the world.

With unprecedented access to the bridge, aided by champion climber Lucy Creamer, Jonathan scales all over to the bridge to investigate the innovations and techniques used to build this incredible structure inspired by £1000 from a wine importer.

Jonathan climbs over 300 feet to investigate the revolutionary design and perches atop the massive chains that make it all possible. He descends 35 feet to discover Brunel's secret chambers in the towers that remained undiscovered until 2002, and he hangs exposed 245 feet above the river Avon to reveal the Victorian engineering which prevents disaster by expanding and contracting, just as Brunel devised.


MON 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m0028wzz)
Courteney Cox

Courteney Cox traces her maternal line back to ruthless and ambitious relatives who plotted and murdered their way to power in medieval times, and she's shocked to discover an ancestor who is one of European history's most famous characters.


MON 20:00 The Romantics and Us with Simon Schama (m000mv1h)
Series 1

Tribes

Simon Schama explores the genesis of modern nationalism - its romantic roots in a new idea of nature and homeland, the 'discovery' of native folklore and above all the part played by music – especially Frederic Chopin’s mazurkas – in generating the emotion of national belonging.

But where did this feverish passion for homeland begin? For many romantics, it began in 17th-century Switzerland with the diagnosis of a familiar, all-too-human emotion by the Swiss doctor Johannes Hofer - nostalgia. Hofer believed that it was a lethal malady that was triggered by anything that reminded Swiss soldiers serving abroad of home.

In Scotland, Simon looks at the work of Robert Burns, who grew up in Ayrshire in the 1770s. Speaking to singer-songwriter Eddi Reader, who performs A Red, Red Rose, Simon explores how Burns created authentically Scottish poetry and music that could hold its own against the oncoming tide of English culture.

Simon then travels to Germany to explore how Napoleon’s invasion of the German lands in the early 1800s also kickstarted a group of German romantics to begin their own ‘campaign of national belonging’ – with dark consequences.

In the last section of the film, Simon travels to Poland and Paris to look at how Polish romantic artists and musicians, in particular Frederic Chopin, created a ‘Poland of the imagination’ in their art after Poland had not just been defeated but been completely wiped off the map.

When the Nazis invaded Poland once again during the Second World War, Chopin’s music was banned, his statues (and scores) across the country were destroyed, and an extraordinary battle was waged over the relic of his actual heart, and so, visiting the Last Night of the Proms in London to hear our own national anthems, Simon asks some profound questions about the resurgence of populist, nationalist movements across the world.


MON 21:00 Dave Allen (m0026chf)
Dave Allen looks at the English, the Irish and many other illogical aspects of life - with his own unique wit and satirical observations.


MON 21:55 Arena (m0028x01)
Andrea Dunbar and Victoria Wood

In a programme first broadcast in 1980, Arena looks at writer and performer Victoria Wood and explores her talent to amuse through her witty and engaging songs.

The film also profiles (then) teenage playwright Andrea Dunbar, whose first play, The Arbor, written when she was only 15, was running at the Royal Court.


MON 22:30 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.


MON 00:00 Being Bridget Jones (m000qrx4)
Marking 25 years since the creation of the Bridget Jones character for a column in The Independent newspaper, author Helen Fielding opens up her personal archive for the very first time to tell the story of how Bridget Jones’s Diary came to be.

We meet Helen’s friends and family who inspired many of the characters and interview the stars of the hugely successful film adaptations, Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.

Other contributors include Andrew Marr, Candice Carty-Williams, Jess Phillips, Richard Curtis, Cherie Blair and Germaine Greer.


MON 01:00 Dressing Up for the Carnival: A Portrait of Carol Shields (m001lmjs)
Programme following the late Canadian novelist Carol Shields at home in Canada, on tour in the UK and undergoing treatment for breast cancer, of which she died in 2003.


MON 01:50 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty47v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 02:20 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m0028wzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:50 The Romantics and Us with Simon Schama (m000mv1h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUESDAY 11 MARCH 2025

TUE 19:00 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty4v1)
St Pancras

Dr Jonathan Foyle, architectural historian and novice climber, scales Britain's most iconic structures dating from the Normans to the present day, to reveal the buildings' secrets and tell the story of how our architecture and construction has developed over 1,000 years.

The next step Jonathan's journey takes him to King's Cross St Pancras, a masterpiece of Victorian design, widely regarded as London's most stunning and romantic station.

With unprecedented access to St Pancras, aided by champion climber Lucy Creamer, Jonathan scales all over the buildings to investigate the innovations and techniques used to construct both the train terminal and the elegant Midland Hotel. On the Midland Hotel, Jonathan climbs over 240 feet up the immense clock tower to explain how Britain had different time zones until the advent of stations like St Pancras. He discovers water-powered elevators, why penthouses used to be on the ground floor, and how the hotel was almost doomed to failure by only providing nine bathrooms for 400 bedrooms.

And in the station he scales the incredible glass span roof that crosses the main terminal - the largest of its kind in the world - to reveal the brilliance of its construction, how St Pancras was built on beer and why it took a poet to save one of London's greatest landmarks from being torn down.


TUE 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m0028x5h)
Laverne Cox

Actress and activist Laverne Cox pieces together the inspiring life of her African American ancestor who challenged societal norms and bravely pushed the boundaries, just years after emancipation.


TUE 20:00 The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (b0077xfg)
Series 1

Episode 1

When Reginald Perrin set out for work on Tuesday morning, he had no intention of calling his mother-in-law a hippopotamus. But he did, and from then on everything began to change.


TUE 20:30 The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (p00x9qnr)
Series 1

Episode 2

Reggie Perrin needs a month's holiday, but all he gets is an afternoon in a safari park with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and their two 'tiny adults'.


TUE 21:00 Royal History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (m000frf0)
Series 1

The Spanish Armada

Lucy Worsley discovers how the history of the Spanish Armada has been manipulated and mythologised by politicians and artists for generations.

This is an inspiring tale of an underdog English navy defeating an ‘invincible’ Spanish fleet, the moment that set England on the path to imperial glory. Tales of Sir Francis Drake calmly finishing his game of bowls and Elizabeth I rousing her troops at Tilbury with the ‘heart and stomach of a king’ have become iconic. This, however, is a story full of fibs.

Lucy explores how Elizabethan propaganda spun this as a victory for the Protestant Virgin Queen. She then finds out how the Victorians celebrated it as the start of the British Empire, the point in time when Britain truly began to rule the waves.

Right up to the present day, the defeat of the Spanish Armada has been told and retold to show Britain as an island nation destined for greatness. But what if the story of that victory is built on sand?


TUE 22:00 Storyville (m0028x5k)
Eternal Spring: The Heist of China’s Airwaves

In 2002, a daring raid by outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong hacks into state TV stations in China in an attempt to counter the government narrative about their practice. Celebrated comic book artist Daxiong revisits the audacious plot he took part in.

In the aftermath of the hack, police raids sweep Changchun City, and Daxiong is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening a violent repression. But his views are
challenged in the film when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea.


TUE 23:20 imagine... (m000tqn0)
2021

Kazuo Ishiguro: Remembering and Forgetting

Filmed during lockdown, Alan Yentob invites us into the intriguing world of award-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro. The only living British author to hold the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ishiguro’s novels and short stories have been translated into more than fifty languages. Two of his most popular novels, The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, have also enjoyed success as star-studded film adaptations.

In this revealing profile, Ishiguro explores the significance of his early life in Nagasaki and the experience of growing up in the aftermath of the atomic bomb. He shares memories of feeling like the only Japanese boy in the home counties of England in the early 1960s, and how this helped to shape his viewpoint as a writer. As a young man, he harboured ambitions to be a singer-songwriter, and he shares his lifelong emotional connection to music and lyrics, and the impact that particular songs have had on his writing.

Alongside contributions from writers Hanya Yanagihara and Bernardine Evaristo, as well as Ai-Da, an AI robot artist, Ishiguro charts the development of his work across the four decades of his writing career. He discusses the recurring themes of memory, history and the redemptive power of love, and reveals how he has turned his gaze to the future for his much-anticipated new book, Klara and the Sun.


TUE 00:40 Natural World (m0007snt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


TUE 01:40 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty4v1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 02:10 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m0028x5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:40 Royal History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (m000frf0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2025

WED 19:00 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty4wj)
Glasgow School of Art

Dr Jonathan Foyle, architectural historian and novice climber, scales Britain's most iconic structures to reveal their secrets and tell the story of how our architecture and construction have developed over the last 1,000 years.

The next step of Jonathan's journey takes him to the Glasgow School of Art, built from 1897 by artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The school is considered to be one of Britain's most controversial, challenging and celebrated buildings.

With unprecedented access, Jonathan, aided by top climber Lucy Creamer, scales the school to reveal the myriad of influences, from medieval castles to Japanese heraldry, that Mackintosh used to create his modernist masterpiece. On his architectural treasure hunt, Jonathan scales over 90 feet to reveal how the building is modelled on a baronial castle, and how Mackintosh pokes fun at traditional architecture. He also investigates how nature and the Industrial Revolution combine when he explores one of the greatest rooms in Europe - the Mackintosh Library.


WED 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (b00sts36)
Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker has always assumed that her ancestors were recent immigrants and doubted that her family had any significant lineage in the United States. On her father's side, she knew that she had Jewish roots, but her mother's side was more of a mystery. She knew that her mother was born and raised in Cincinnati's German community, like her parents and grandparents before her, but didn't know much more than that. But a visit to her mother reveals a distinctly non-German sounding name, Lillian Hodge, Sarah Jessica's great-grandmother.

Intrigued by the Hodge name, Sarah Jessica heads to Cincinnati, where she discovers an obituary for her three-times grandfather that reveals that his father, John Hodge, died on a journey to California in 1849. Wanting to know more, Sarah Jessica embarks on a journey which takes her to the gold fields of northern California, where she uncovers a tragic story surrounding another of her ancestors who, like thousands of other young men, travelled west in search of gold.

Digging further back, her journey takes her to Colonial New England, where she uncovers a collection of 17th-century trial papers, revealing that another ancestor was involved in one of the most terrifying events in American history.

Sarah Jessica, it seems, is much more 'classically American' than she thinks.


WED 20:00 Easter Island Origins (m0020545)
They are some of the most famous and mysterious monuments on the planet. Nearly 900 giant stone heads scattered across a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. Now, brand new evidence is challenging everything we thought we knew about Easter Island’s awe-inspiring statues – and those who made them. Drawing on the latest science, this authoritative documentary radically rewrites the story of Easter Island.


WED 21:00 Birdsong (m0028x6c)
Film following Irish ornithologist Seán Ronayne’s mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland – that's nearly 200 birds.

Often joined by his partner Alba, Seán travels to some of the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands.

A year in the making, Birdsong offers a fascinating portrait of Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.


WED 22:00 The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story (b09w3m05)
Series 1

Episode 2

In April 1955 Ruth Ellis shot her lover David Blakely dead. It's a case that shocked the nation and it still fascinates today. It has its place in ushering in the defence of diminished responsibility and the eventual abolishment of capital punishment. We all think we know the story, but why, when it was seemingly such an open and shut case, does it still divide opinion on whether Ruth Ellis got the justice she deserved?

Film-maker Gillian Pachter wants to find out. The result is a fresh investigation with fascinating true-crime twists and turns that also shines a unique light on attitudes to class, gender and sex in 1950s London.

In episode two Gillian turns her attention to Ruth's trial which took just a day and a half. She starts with a tape-recorded conversation from the 1980s between Ruth's son Andre and the barrister who led the prosecution. Andre expresses doubts about his mother's trial, calling into question her state of mind and whether she was a cold-blooded killer.

Gillian is interested to know whether the defence shared these concerns and she turns her attention to Ruth's solicitor. There are immediate and compelling questions about how he was hired, by whom and why. Ultimately it seems he was determined that the jury should look beyond the tabloid stereotype of Ruth to understand her troubled background - that way, they'd be inclined to recommend mercy and save Ruth from execution. But Ruth and her barrister had other ideas - while she refused to play ball he pursued a defence strategy so risky that the judge was forced to put his foot down.

There's the ongoing question of Ruth's alleged accomplice and how much Ruth's defence team knew of his involvement and continuing revelations from the forgotten witness, Ruth's son Andre. Gillian draws on expert opinion from top legal minds who know the case intimately, and they paint a portrait of a woman trapped not only by the constraints of 1950s society but by the narrow parameters of English law.


WED 23:00 An Inspector Calls (m0028x6f)
In JB Priestley's classic thriller, a family dinner party is interrupted by the arrival of a police inspector. A young girl has died and there are questions to be answered.


WED 00:20 Storyville (m0028x5k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


WED 01:40 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty4wj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 02:10 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (b00sts36)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:40 The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story (b09w3m05)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

THURSDAY 13 MARCH 2025

THU 19:00 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty5jl)
The Liver Building

Dr Jonathan Foyle, architectural historian and novice climber, scales Britain's most iconic structures, from the Normans to the present day, to reveal the buildings' secrets and tell the story of how our architecture and construction has developed over 1,000 years.

The next step of Jonathan Foyle's journey takes him to the Liver Building in Liverpool. Built from 1908, this behemoth in concrete was Britain's first skyscraper that influenced buildings all over the world.

On his climbs Jonathan, aided by top climber Lucy Creamer, scales over 250 feet to reveal how this granite building isn't quite what it seems and investigates how a concrete boat paved the way for this immense skyscraper. He climbs up a disused lift shaft to literally get under the skin of this groundbreaking construction, comes face-to-face with the biggest clock in Britain and tests the limits of his courage to traverse over a sheer drop of over 200 feet to get up close and personal with a couple of beautiful birds.


THU 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m0028x6j)
Kelsey Grammer

Award-winning actor Kelsey Grammer takes a trip into the past to explore his beloved grandmother’s family tree. He uncovers the story of a woman haunted by demons, and finds a connection to a family that risked everything in one of the greatest migrations in American history.


THU 20:00 The Ipcress File (b0074sv0)
Spy thriller in which intelligence agent Harry Palmer is plunged into the shabby and treacherous world of counter-espionage as he uncovers a bizarre brain drain among scientists. Based on the novel by Len Deighton.


THU 21:45 The Truth about Len Deighton (b0074s2q)
Profile of best-selling author Len Deighton, whose output ranges from the Harry Palmer espionage thrillers to books on military history and cookery. Contributors include Michael Caine and Max Hastings. First shown in 2006.


THU 22:45 Get Carter (m0022n9d)
Slick criminal Jack Carter returns to northern England to investigate his brother’s death, causing friction with local villains and some 'respectable' citizens while uncovering a conspiracy.


THU 00:30 Talking Pictures (b04y4dsw)
Michael Caine

A look at the life of acting legend Michael Caine, using rarely seen television interviews and classic archive clips to tell the story of one of Britain's most successful actors. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.


THU 01:25 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty5jl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


THU 01:55 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m0028x6j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:25 imagine... (m000tqn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:20 on Tuesday]

FRIDAY 14 MARCH 2025

FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m0028x66)
Jayne Middlemiss and Jo Whiley present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 18 July 1997 and featuring Gala, Dubstar, Coolio feat. 40 Thevz, U2, Shaggy feat. Marsha and Oasis.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0028x68)
Denise Van Outen presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 15 August and featuring Meredith Brooks, Wet Wet Wet, Olive, Mary J Blige, The Wildhearts, Robyn, Kym Mazelle and Will Smith.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m0006pbm)
Gary Davies and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 17 March 1988 and featuring Bros, Heart, Erasure, Sinitta, Simon Harris, Keith Sweat, David Lee Roth, Eighth Wonder, Aswad, Kylie Minogue and Eric B. & Rakim.


FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (b05nx9zh)
Steve Wright presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 13 March 1980 and featuring The Dooleys, The Police, The Detroit Spinners, Secret Affair, The Vapors, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Gibson Brothers, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Fern Kinney and Legs & Co.


FRI 21:10 Other Voices: Dingle, Ireland (m0028xlb)
For over two decades, Other Voices has brought artists and storytellers to the edge of the world, capturing powerful and intimate performances in the breathtaking setting of Dingle, County Kerry. Tucked away on the main street of this small town on Ireland’s west coast, a tiny church plays host to an extraordinary gathering of musicians - from the legendary to the musical stars of tomorrow.

Annie Macmanus, Huw Stephens and MayKay present performances from Laura Marling, Villagers, CMAT, Maverick Sabre, Wunderhorse, Rachael Lavelle, Bashy, Jacob Alon, Kae Tempest & Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Morgana, Fionn Regan and Gurriers, all coming together to create an unforgettable line-up of performances and songs for the head and heart.


FRI 22:10 Sinéad O'Connor at the BBC (m001xj43)
A look back through the BBC’s archives at the work of an artist with whom nothing compares – the acclaimed, unique and always controversial Sinéad O’Connor.

This collection highlights how, from the very start, Sinéad refused to be categorised in one single musical genre, and with tracks like Mandinka, Black Boys on Mopeds and Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home, she bared her soul in her songs, using them to challenge expectations of a popular artist with an international following.

This playlist also features Sinéad’s collaborations with Shane MacGowan and Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, and some iconic covers of much-loved songs, with that incredible voice tackling The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun and the song that made her a star, Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U.


FRI 22:40 Irish Rock at the BBC (b0556qc9)
A whistle-stop tour of rock from over the water, taking in some of the finest Irish rock offerings from the early 70s to the present day, as captured on a variety of BBC shows from The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops to Later... with Jools Holland.

Kicking off with Thin Lizzy's 1973 debut hit Whiskey in the Jar, the programme traces Irish rock's unfolding lineage. Performances from guitar maestro Rory Gallagher, Celtic rock godfathers Horslips and John Peel favourites The Undertones feature alongside rivals Stiff Little Fingers, with their Top of the Pops performance of Nobody's Hero, followed by post-punk U2's 1981 debut UK performance of I Will Follow from The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Then there is Sinead O'Connor's debut single performance of Mandinka, and The Pogues play the Ewan MacColl classic Dirty Old Town from 1986. Into the 90s, there is The Frank and Walters and Therapy? on Top of the Pops, along with early performances on Later... with Jools Holland from Ash and The Divine Comedy.

There is rockabilly with Imelda May's debut hit Johnny Got a Boom Boom, and then more recently Cavan's The Strypes and Hozier, whose Take Me to Church completes this hit-driven tour through Irish rock.


FRI 23:40 Sight and Sound in Concert (b0074szr)
Thin Lizzy

Classic, archive performance by Irish guitar rockers Thin Lizzy in concert at the Regal Theatre, Hitchin. The set includes Jailbreak, Cold Sweat and The Boys Are Back in Town.


FRI 00:10 Sight and Sound in Concert (m0023k9d)
The Undertones

The Undertones in a concert from 1983 at the Regal Theatre, Hitchin. Introduced by Mark Ellen.


FRI 01:00 Top of the Pops (m0028x66)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


FRI 01:30 Top of the Pops (m0028x68)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (m0006pbm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 02:30 Top of the Pops (b05nx9zh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


FRI 03:00 Other Voices: Dingle, Ireland (m0028xlb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:10 today]