SATURDAY 15 MARCH 2025
SAT 19:00 The Flying Gardener (b00828wk)
Series 1 Shorts
Cotswold Gardener
Chris Beardshaw visits inspirational gardens by helicopter. This time he looks at the flowers and shrubs that grow best in the Cotswolds.
SAT 19:15 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2ts)
Series 3
Every Dog His Day
Mrs Pumphrey calls James out urgently to treat Cedric, a boxer she has bought to keep Tricki Woo company. Unfortunately, Cedric is ruining her social life.
SAT 20:05 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2tx)
Series 3
Hair of the Dog
Roddy Travers, an itinerant workman, comes to Skeldale with his dog for an emergency operation and deeply impresses James with his way of life.
SAT 21:00 The One That Got Away (m00283ym)
Series 1
Episode 5
Ffion and Rick’s relationship intensifies as the past continues to haunt the present. Ffion discovers a devastating secret that changes everything. And a new suspect emerges. Does Abbi’s killer remain at large? With Day seven approaching, are the Nurses safe?
SAT 21:50 The One That Got Away (m00283yp)
Series 1
Episode 6
Rick arrives home and panics when Helen is nowhere to be found. The search for Helen begins, with the clock ticking and fear gripping the team. Ffion follows her gut, back to the bunkers near Cleddau woods, where she’s shocked to discover a man she knows, but there's still no sign of Helen. Rick is convinced his wife has been killed until he follows his own intuition, with devastating consequences.
SAT 22:45 Parkinson (m00293fg)
Dave Allen, Toyah Willcox, Peter Skellern
Michael Parkinson in conversation with comedian Dave Allen, actress and singer Toyah Willcox and singer-songwriter Peter Skellern.
SAT 23:45 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.
SAT 00:20 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'.
SAT 00:50 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.
SAT 01:40 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 today]
SAT 02:30 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2tx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:05 today]
SUNDAY 16 MARCH 2025
SUN 19:00 Life of a Mountain (b04y4gd7)
A Year on Scafell Pike
A beautifully cinematic documentary following a year in the life of England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike, through the eyes of the farmers who work the valleys and fells, those who climb the mountain for pleasure and those who try to protect its slopes.
Filmed over a twelve-month period, it follows the seasons on the mountain from spring lambs through to winter snows. The contributions of the British Mountaineering Council and National Trust volunteers make clear the crucial importance of maintaining the landscape quality of England's highest peak for future generations.
SUN 20:00 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00f4zhy)
Episode 6
Bruce Parry reaches the end of his Amazon adventure in Brazil's Para state, where huge areas of forest are being cut down for cattle farming. Here the battle for the Amazon is at its most fierce, and Bruce sees both sides living with the cowboys and the Kayapo Indians.
SUN 21:00 Remembering... (m00293h4)
David Herman Remembers... Face to Face
From Tony Hancock to Martin Luther King, Yoko Ono to Salman Rushdie, Face to Face interrogated some of the key figures in 20th-century culture. From its start in 1959, to its return 30 years later, it pushed contributors into revealing places and gave insights into their characters. It reduced What’s My Line star Gilbert Harding to tears, and Evelyn Waugh into a sweating heap. It also saw Paul Eddington discussing the cancer that eventually killed him, and Edith Sitwell describing her connection to Dylan Thomas.
David Herman, who produced Face to Face on its TV return in 1989, takes us through his memories, including an emotional screening of Spielberg’s Schindler’s List with Jeremy Isaacs and meeting Yoko Ono at the Dakota hotel. David also recalls John Freeman’s groundbreaking original and explains why it was right to resurrect the show. He brings to life a programme that has firmly established itself in British TV history.
SUN 21:15 Face to Face (m00293h6)
Paul Eddington
Jeremy Isaacs talks to actor Paul Eddington about his eminent career in both television and the theatre, and his battle against skin cancer.
SUN 21:55 Face to Face (b0074m34)
Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock was the vulnerable clown who became a household name with Hancock's Half Hour. John Freeman cross-examined leading personalities of the day. At the time Freeman's interview was heavily criticised. He was considered too brusque, almost ruthless in his technique. But the two became close friends, and it is an interview many remember. (1960)
SUN 22:25 Face to Face (m00293h8)
Joan Baez
Jeremy Isaacs talks to singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez about her musical career and her dedication to campaigning for human rights.
SUN 23:00 Face to Face (m00293hb)
Jeremy Isaacs
In a special edition of the one-to-one interview programme, the tables are turned as James Naughtie takes the inquisitor's seat to fire questions at regular presenter Jeremy Isaacs.
They discuss Isaacs's 40-year career in TV, during which time he has been controller of Thames Television and the first chief executive of Channel 4.
SUN 23:40 Face to Face (p00lgzyl)
Martin Luther King
First transmitted in 1961, Martin Luther King talks to John Freeman about his childhood experiences and the incidents that led to the Montgomery bus boycott. These events shaped King's life and led to him becoming a national figurehead and civil rights leader.
SUN 00:10 Face to Face (p00lfshf)
Maya Angelou
Jeremy Isaacs asks American writer Maya Angelou about her life, writing and hopes for the future. What unfolds is a frank and sometimes shocking account of her journey to becoming an established author.
SUN 00:50 Face to Face (p04qh1gk)
Dame Edith Sitwell
John Freeman talks to poet and critic Dame Edith Sitwell about her life and work. The unconventional dame was true to form, answering questions in a way only she could. And she dressed for the occasion - in a headdress she called her 'bird king's hat', an ermine jacket and huge rings on her fingers. First broadcast in 1959.
SUN 01:20 Face to Face (p04qhvyj)
Carl Jung
John Freeman talks to Professor Carl Gustav Jung at his lakeside home near Zurich in Switzerland. At the time of the interview, in 1959, Jung was considered the greatest living psychologist.
Freeman found Jung, although an old man, as sharp and clear-thinking as ever. It proved to be a timely meeting, as Jung died 18 months later.
SUN 01:50 Life of a Mountain (b04y4gd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUN 02:50 Amazon with Bruce Parry (b00f4zhy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MONDAY 17 MARCH 2025
MON 19:00 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty5r3)
Coventry Cathedral
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 have developed over 1,000 years.
The next step of Jonathan Foyle's journey takes him to Coventry Cathedral. Built in 1955 after the original cathedral was bombed in the war, this modernist masterpiece came to symbolise the hope and rebirth of a nation.
Jonathan, aided by top climber Lucy Creamer, abseils 295 feet between the ruins of the old and new cathedrals to explore how Basil Spence's experiences fighting on the beaches of Normandy shaped his design for the cathedral. On his climbs throughout the building, Jonathan scales the cathedral's immense etched window that utilised the most cutting-edge techniques in its creation and reveals why it's called the west window when it sits in the south of the building. He discovers a world-record-breaking 74-foot-high tapestry that weighs nearly three quarters of a ton and incorporates 1,000 different shades of wool, and reveals how a trip to the dentist defined one of Coventry's most striking features.
MON 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (b00txmhw)
Lisa Kudrow
Since childhood, Lisa has known that her grandmother Gertrude had a tough life; two of her three children died in childhood, her husband died young, and her mother, Meri, perished in the Holocaust. Lisa's father Lee recalled hearing about Meri's death when a cousin from Europe, Yuri Barudin, visited him and Gertrude in New York in the late 1940s. The family never heard from Yuri again. 60 years on, Lisa is determined to find out what became of Yuri, and uncover the truth of what actually happened to her great-grandmother.
In New York, Lisa meets with her father's cousin, who provides her with crucial information about Yuri. In Belarus, Lisa travels to IIya, the village where her great-grandmother lived. Here she uncovers the awful truth of how Meri died. Although the Nazis destroyed much of the evidence, Lisa unearths documents and eyewitness testimonies describing what happened to her great-grandmother and the other Jews of Ilya in March, 1942. Later, while visiting the memorial to those who died, Lisa pays her respects and finds it hard to hold back the tears.
Intent on finding out what happened to Yuri, Lisa travels to the Polish city of Gdynia, his last known residence. Here, she discovers a heart-warming story that she cannot wait to tell her father.
MON 20:00 Vasa: The Ghost Ship (m001zyvm)
The Vasa, one of the most majestic galleons ever to put to sea, sank 18 minutes after leaving Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage in 1628.
The loss of the Vasa was a major setback for Sweden’s ambitions to become a power in the Baltic during a turbulent period of European history. Three centuries later, in 1961, the wreck of the Vasa was raised. Remarkably well-preserved by the mud and water in the Baltic Sea, she is a 17th-century time machine.
Following the work of archaeologists, divers and historians, Vasa: The Ghost Ship plunges into Stockholm harbour to make new discoveries and reveal more about the lives of those who built, sailed and died on one of the most powerfully armed warships of her time.
MON 21:00 Timeshift (b00p8lhp)
Series 9
How to Win at Chess
Many people know the basic rules of chess, but few can play really well. This programme offers some essential tips on how to raise our game.
British grandmasters Dan King and Ray Keene go through a special demonstration game from opening gambit to checkmate, revealing the key moves that can lead to victory. They explain the opening, middle and end games, and how to outwit an opponent with techniques such as forks, pins and skewers.
Along the way the colourful and diverse world of British chess playing is celebrated, including speed chess and chess boxing, and useful advice is offered on how not to be humiliated by a child prodigy.
Also taking part are novelist Martin Amis, writer Dominic Lawson, Britain's youngest grandmaster David Howell and under-16 champion Sheila Dines.
MON 22:00 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b01rr42c)
Jack Vettriano
Jack Vettriano is arguably Britain's most popular artist, with his nostalgic paintings of a lost age of glamour being instantly recognisable and his most famous work, The Singing Butler, the country's best-selling image, reproduced on everything from calendars to jigsaws. But despite his popularity, the self-taught miner's son from Fife has never been fully accepted by the art establishment.
This film offers an intimate and revealing portrait of Vettriano, as he creates a painting featuring actress Kara Tointon, and sees him talk with brutal honesty about his critics and how he deals with fame.
MON 22:30 Jack Vettriano: Heaven & Hell - Ex-S (m00293j4)
A profile from 2001 of painter Jack Vettriano, whose work was incredibly popular among the poster-buying public but often dismissed by the art world and likened to soft porn by some critics.
MON 23:00 Remembering... (m0026c55)
Timothy Spall Remembers Benjamin Zephaniah
Actor Timothy Spall shares his memories of working alongside Benjamin on the 1992 comedy drama Dread Poets Society. This one-off production was inspired by the real-life outrage that followed Benjamin’s nomination to become an Oxford don and featured a cast that included Alan Cumming, Alex Jennings, Dexter Fletcher and Emma Fielding as the ghosts of Byron, Keats and Percy and Mary Shelley – while Benjamin was given the easier task of playing himself.
MON 23:15 ScreenPlay (m0025xlc)
Dread Poets Society
Rastafarian poet Benjamin Zephaniah is on a train to Cambridge when he and fellow traveller Derek (Timothy Spall) are suddenly confounded by the appearance of Lord Byron, John Keats, Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley. A relentless farce of rap, Victorian poetry and Sun-speak ensues.
MON 23:45 Reputations (m001zj85)
John Betjeman: The Last Laugh
Intimate portrait of Sir John Betjeman, the UK's poet laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984 and one of the most popular English poets of the 20th century.
Betjeman's life was full of contrasts. He entertained the world with his warmth and enthusiasm, but, inwardly, he was haunted by fear, religious doubt, remorse and guilt.
Highlighting his achievements as a conservationist and broadcaster, the film features contributions from the Prince of Wales and Lord Snowdon.
MON 00:50 Climbing Great Buildings (b00ty5r3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MON 01:20 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (b00txmhw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 01:55 Vasa: The Ghost Ship (m001zyvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 02:55 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b01rr42c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
MON 03:25 Jack Vettriano: Heaven & Hell - Ex-S (m00293j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
TUESDAY 18 MARCH 2025
TUE 19:00 Climbing Great Buildings (b00v2rld)
Lloyd's 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 British architecture and construction's development over the last 1,000 years.
Jonathan's journey takes him to the Lloyd's Building in the heart of the City of London. Built between 1978 and 1986, it is one of the finest examples of high-tech architecture in Britain and one of the great icons of London.
Aided by top climber Lucy Creamer, Jonathan abseils over 300 feet to reveal how this ultra-modern building was inspired by a Gothic castle. He scales the iconic stainless steel exterior to reveal why it is known as the Inside-Out building, and zip-lines across a sheer drop to investigate the building's humble origins as a coffee shop. He also meets Lord Rogers, one of the greatest architects of his generation and the man behind the audacious building.
TUE 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m00292zd)
Smokey Robinson
Motown legend Smokey Robinson tracks down a grandfather tangled in a swirl of controversy and connects to a relative's familiar struggle with oppression, while coming face to face with the gruesome history he knew was inevitable
TUE 20:00 Hancock's Half Hour (p032khzk)
Lord Byron Lived Here
Hancock’s house is falling down. Hancock and Sid need to prove someone famous lived there for the National Trust to stump up the cash for renovations.
TUE 20:30 The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (p00x9qth)
Series 1
Episode 3
While Elizabeth is away, Reggie asks Joan, his secretary, to come over for a business meeting, but he actually intends to start an affair with her. A stream of visitors causes his plan to go awry.
TUE 21:00 Royal History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (m000fzsh)
Series 1
Queen Anne and the Union
Lucy Worsley explores how Queen Anne’s reputation and legacy have been marred by a sustained campaign of historical fibs. When Queen Anne came to the throne in 1702, England looked set to be dominated by France and Spain. But Anne fought bravely to help England become a leading European power. She also helped unite England and Scotland to create Great Britain.
Anne was shy and reclusive. At first, she was supported as queen by her childhood friend and ‘favourite’, Sarah Churchill. However, they increasingly clashed over personal tensions and politics.
When Sarah’s cousin Abigail Masham became a lady-in-waiting, she began to replace Sarah in the queen’s affections. In revenge, Sarah helped pen a bawdy ballad claiming Anne and Abigail performed ‘dark deeds at night’. This led to endless rumours about Anne’s sexuality that persist to this day.
In the end, Sarah was dismissed. Thirty years after Anne’s death, Sarah took further revenge by publishing a tell-all story of her time as the queen’s favourite. Her portrait of Anne, as a foolish and stubborn woman, has been taken on board by most historians. But Lucy finds it is full of fibs.
Hollywood used Sarah’s version of history to create 2019’s The Favourite, destroying Queen Anne’s reputation for a whole new generation. Lucy reveals Anne to have been a smarter, more successful queen than history has ever acknowledged.
TUE 22:00 11 Minutes: America’s Deadliest Mass Shooting (p0fjgsps)
Series 1
Episode 1
Twenty-two thousand fans are in Las Vegas for a celebration of country music. Headliner Jason Aldean launches into his first set - then the gunfire starts.
Amid the confusion, groups of friends and families try to flee but get separated. An off-duty firefighter rescues the wounded as instinct takes over. Running left or running right could mean life or death.
TUE 22:50 11 Minutes: America’s Deadliest Mass Shooting (p0fjgvsw)
Series 1
Episode 2
A deluge of 911 calls causes concern that multiple shooters are on the Las Vegas strip. A Las Vegas Metro police officer drags his bleeding partner to safety. Between bursts of automatic gunfire, concertgoers make a run for it if they can. SWAT officers converge on the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where they now know the shooter is on the 32nd floor.
TUE 23:35 Storyville (m000sc9j)
Whirlybird: Live above LA
Flying high above Los Angeles in a whirling news helicopter, Marika Gerrard and Zoey Tur (then known as Bob) spent the 80s and 90s capturing the city’s most epic breaking news stories. Before the advent of the 24-hour news cycle, this daring husband-and-wife team invested in a helicopter and pilot’s licence, taking their cameras to the sky and changing broadcast news forever.
The cameras not only captured the adrenaline of live news culture, but also the subsequent strain on their relationship and an identity struggle that eventually culminated in a major life transition for Zoey.
A wholly unique take on the story of Los Angeles, told through stunning aerial footage and remarkable home videos, Whirlybird reframes many of the city’s pivotal moments of the 1990s, including the OJ Simpson pursuit and the 1992 riots.
TUE 01:05 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.
TUE 02:05 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m00292zd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 02:35 Royal History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley (m000fzsh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2025
WED 19:00 Climbing Great Buildings (b00v2rp7)
Imperial War Museum
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 British architecture and construction's development over the last 1,000 years.
The Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, built from 2000 and designed by Daniel Libeskind, is an example of a new wave of architectural design that is both dramatic and disturbing, a building that plays with the senses and provokes wonder.
In his final climb of the series, Jonathan, aided by top climber Lucy Creamer, scales over 50 metres up the building to reveal how the museum is designed to reflect war itself. He scales the huge air shard to investigate how the building deliberately disorientates visitors, he finds himself part of the exhibition when he abseils down inside the water shard, and he explores the technological advances that allowed the building, with its 80,000 square feet of aluminium, to be constructed in just two years.
WED 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m00292zh)
Reba McEntire
Country superstar Reba McEntire embarks on an exploration of her mother’s family. With little knowledge about her mother's family, Reba seeks to find which of her ancestors was first to step foot in America. Her search takes her to Raleigh, North Carolina, where she discovers an ancestor who was a prominent member in the community. This leads to a discovery connected to one of the darkest periods in American history. As Reba continues her search, she learns of her ancestor's heartbreaking journey to America.
WED 20:00 The Secret Life of Waves (b00y5jhx)
Documentary maker David Malone delves into the secrets of ocean waves. In an elegant and original film, he finds that waves are not made of water, that some waves travel sideways, and that the sound of the ocean comes not from water but from bubbles. Waves are not only beautiful but also profoundly important, and there is a surprising connection between the life cycle of waves and the life of human beings.
WED 21:00 The Hunt for Lady Olive and the German Submarine (m0023k9p)
A great maritime mystery lies deep beneath the waters of the Channel Islands. On the morning of 19 February 1917, German submarine UC-18 opened fire on Royal Navy Q-ship the Lady Olive. As the U-boat drew near to assess the damage it had inflicted, the Lady Olive counter-attacked. Both vessels were said to have sunk. For decades, divers and historians have searched to discover their fate and understand the fascinating story that led to this encounter, but no-one has come close to finding the wrecks.
The documentary follows film-maker Karl Taylor and his specialist team over four years as they search to discover what happened on that fateful February day in 1917.
Principal underwater photography: Karl Taylor and Peter Frankland
WED 22:00 The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story (b09w8jp0)
Series 1
Episode 3
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 three, Gillian turns her attention to Ruth's execution and the last-minute attempts to save her life, even though Ruth herself was determined to die. Despite this, Ruth decides to change her solicitor, and Gillian is intrigued as to the reasons why. When Ruth does finally admit that someone else was involved in the murder, her new solicitor races to the Home Office in a bid to stop the execution.
He isn't alone in not wanting to see Ruth hanged. Gillian looks at the hundreds of letters that were sent by the British public to the government asking for Ruth to be reprieved. It's a fascinating snapshot of British attitudes in the 1950s: the letters point to Ruth's mental state, the domestic violence she'd suffered and even the trauma experienced by those who'd lived through the Blitz.
The police are sent to track down Ruth's other lover, Desmond Cussen, who Ruth now claims gave her the gun and drove her to the scene of the murder. But they can't find him and won't take Ruth's word for it. The Home Office decides to press on with the execution; they worry that if they don't follow through on such a high-profile murder case, it will accelerate the abolition of capital punishment.
Ruth is hanged and Gillian explores the role of her case in the introduction of the defence of diminished responsibility in England and its place in the eventual abolition of capital punishment in Britain in 1965. But Ruth's personal legacy is much more tragic as Gillian explores the effects of the events of 1955 on Ruth's family. This takes Gillian to a taped conversation recorded by Ruth's son in the 1980s, where his despair at what happened when he was ten is movingly clear; Andre lost his mother and he lost David, whom he loved. He took his own life in the 1980s and today his ashes are close to his mother's in a cemetery in Hertfordshire not far from where David Blakely was buried. Three victims of a truly tragic set of circumstances.
WED 23:00 Remembering... (m001s79n)
Dame Siân Phillips Remembers Under Milk Wood
Dame Sian Phillips looks back on Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood and her own experiences with the various adaptions that have brought perhaps the world’s most celebrated ‘play for voices’ to cinema and television audiences.
She recalls the BBC’s 2014 version that brought together a huge range of Welsh talent, including Tom Jones, Matthew Rhys, Charlotte Church, Michael Sheen and Katherine Jenkins. She also looks further back, sharing the story of her encounters with Dylan Thomas and her part in the 1972 film, which saw her working alongside the great Richard Burton, his wife Elizabeth Taylor and her then-husband Peter O’Toole.
WED 23:10 Under Milk Wood (p01x5k4n)
A unique one-off television production of Dylan Thomas's famous 'play for voices' performed by a community of Welsh talent in New York, Los Angeles, London, Cardiff and Laugharne. Michael Sheen opens as First Voice with Sir Tom Jones as Captain Cat, and as each of Thomas's iconic characters joins in, the piece builds up into a collage of famous voices and faces (including Matthew Rhys, Ioan Gruffudd, Siân Phillips, Jonathan Pryce, Bryn Terfel and Katherine Jenkins) intercut with evocative imagery inspired by the play and created as part of a live event by National Theatre Wales.
WED 00:10 Arena (m0010jm3)
Dylan Thomas: From Grave to Cradle
Author and broadcaster Nigel Williams examines the work and the legend of one of the most famous poets of the 20th century, Dylan Thomas.
Born in 1914, Dylan Thomas was an unruly and undisciplined child who was interested only in English at school and was determined from childhood to become a poet. Little did he know that he would eventually become world-renowned.
Cited by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Van Morrison and other cultural icons as a profound influence, Thomas occupies the space more readily associated with the likes of James Dean and Jack Kerouac, both of whom he preceded.
But it was his death that truly made him a legend. Did Dylan Thomas really die after drinking 18 straight whiskies at The White Horse in New York? Was he a genius or a sponging, womanising drunk?
The film unravels the myth by tracing the poet's biography backwards, from his much-written-about, much-lied-about death, to the heart of the Dylan Thomas story and his beginnings in a quiet street in suburban Swansea.
WED 01:15 ScreenPlay (m0025xlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:15 on Monday]
WED 01:45 Climbing Great Buildings (b00v2rp7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 02:15 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (m00292zh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:45 The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story (b09w8jp0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THURSDAY 20 MARCH 2025
THU 19:00 Dangerous Earth (b084n7z1)
Tornado
Dr Helen Czerski peers into the heart of the storm to find out how advances in technology are giving new insight into tornadoes - the fastest winds on the planet. From the breathtaking footage that capture the extreme weather events that produce them, to the latest experiments investigating their incredible destructive power, Helen discovers how our increasing understanding of the subtle changes deep within a storm is improving our ability to predict when and where these devastating beasts will strike.
THU 19:30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (b03sfrxr)
Kelly Clarkson
Singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson discovers an ancestor with deep roots in America history. Exploring her mother's side of the family, Kelly investigates the life of her three times great-grandfather Isaiah Rose, who fought against slavery during the American Civil War.
Inspired by stories of his bravery and wartime sacrifice, Kelly traces his role in one of the pivotal battles of the conflict. She is shocked to discover he was taken prisoner by the Confederate army and interned in a brutal prison camp.
But Isaiah's story does not end there. Kelly follows his trail back to his home state of Ohio, where she discovers an inspiring legacy of political conviction and proud public service.
THU 20:00 Natural World (b05sz8q8)
2015-2016
Iceland: Land of Ice and Fire
In what turns out to be an explosive year, witness Iceland through the eyes of the animals and people that have made this wild island home.
An arctic fox family must eke out a cliff-top living, an eider farmer has his hands full playing duck dad to hundreds of new arrivals and Viking horsemen prepare to saddle up for the autumn round-up. But nature's clock is ticking, and the constant volcanic threat eventually boils over with one of Iceland's biggest eruptions in more than 200 years. This land of ice and fire will not be tamed.
THU 21:00 The French Connection (b00748sh)
A brutal maverick cop uses unconventional methods to smash a Franco-American drug ring operating in New York. This pacy, gritty thriller deservedly garnered five Oscars, including an award for film editor Jerry Greenberg's cutting of one of the most exciting car chases in cinema history.
THU 22:40 The Conversation (m000hjmn)
Acclaimed psychological thriller. Harry Caul is a surveillance expert - a wiretapper and industrial spy for hire. He is also a man who obsessively guards his own privacy, but when his latest job appears to involve a murder plot, his work and private life become terrifyingly entangled.
THU 00:30 The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing The French Connection (m0022g59)
Critic Mark Kermode examines the making of classic thriller The French Connection, beginning with the history behind the 1960s drug bust that inspired the film.
Interviewees include director William Friedkin, stars Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, and former New York cop Sonny Grosso, upon whose exploits the film was based. Mark also revisits the original New York locations which the movie made infamous, and retreads the course of the legendary car and train chase sequence.
THU 01:25 The Hunt for Lady Olive and the German Submarine (m0023k9p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:25 Timeshift (b00p8lhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 03:25 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (b03sfrxr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRIDAY 21 MARCH 2025
FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m00293qb)
Sarah Cawood presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 22 August 1997 and featuring Chumbawamba, OTT, Livin' Joy, Dannii Minogue, Stereophonics, Mark Owen, Suede and Will Smith.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m00293qd)
Jayne Middlemiss presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 29 August 1997 and featuring Jon Bon Jovi, Shola Ama, Conner Reeves, UB40, Tina Moore, Symposium, Chumbawamba and Will Smith.
FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b08f1d8k)
John Peel and David Jensen present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 23 March 1983 and featuring JoBoxers, David Bowie, Orange Juice, Altered Images, Duran Duran and David Joseph.
FRI 20:35 Top of the Pops (b070mypz)
Peter Powell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 19 March 1981 and featuring Sharon Redd, Bucks Fizz, Colin Blunstone & Dave Stewart, Toyah, The Who, Phil Collins, Shakin Stevens, Visage, Roxy Music and Duran Duran, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.
FRI 21:15 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b011qkh6)
Ian Dury and The Blockheads
Anne Nightingale presents a live concert special featuring Ian Dury and The Blockheads at the Dominion Theatre.
FRI 22:20 Ian Dury and The Blockheads: Live at Luton (m00293qg)
In one of his last gigs, Ian Dury performs live in concert with The Blockheads at Venue 27 in Luton. Hits include Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3.
FRI 22:45 Ian Dury: On My Life (b0074q3d)
Autobiographical documentary in which Ian Dury, fighting a battle with cancer to which he would later succumb, recalls his life and career. Including contributions from painter Peter Blake and members of Dury's band, the Blockheads.
FRI 23:45 Top of the Pops (m00293qb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 00:15 Top of the Pops (m00293qd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 00:45 Top of the Pops (b08f1d8k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRI 01:15 Top of the Pops (b070mypz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:35 today]
FRI 01:55 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b011qkh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:15 today]
FRI 03:00 Ian Dury: On My Life (b0074q3d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:45 today]