SATURDAY 25 JULY 2009

SAT 19:00 Only Connect (b00lsz67)
Series 2

Mathematicians v Wordsmiths

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

Three maths graduates take on a team featuring a linguistics graduate, an English graduate and an IT developer who is also a proofreader. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random, from 'drip dry' to 'equal by definition' to 'MPs' obligation to vote' to 'exit 300yds ahead'.


SAT 19:30 The Story of Maths (b00dwf4f)
The Language of the Universe

After showing how fundamental mathematics is to our lives, Marcus du Sautoy explores the mathematics of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece.

In Egypt, he uncovers use of a decimal system based on ten fingers of the hand, while in former Mesopotamia he discovers that the way we tell the time today is based on the Babylonian Base 60 number system.

In Greece, he looks at the contributions of some of the giants of mathematics including Plato, Euclid, Archimedes and Pythagoras, who is credited with beginning the transformation of mathematics from a tool for counting into the analytical subject we know today.


SAT 20:30 Poetry Please: Thirty Years of the People's Poetry (b00kk499)
A behind the scenes look at the world's longest running poetry request programme, following the programme-makers, presenter Roger McGough and ordinary listeners of the Radio 4 show. Poets, actors and famous fans including Rick Stein, Kenneth Cranham, Andrew Sachs, Andrew Motion, Tim Pigott-Smith and David Blunkett also share their insights on the secret of its success.


SAT 21:00 Unnatural Pursuits (b00lw3bm)
I'm the Author

An intriguing drama in two parts by Simon Gray about the up-and-down fortunes of fictional play Unnatural Pursuits. Its author, Hamish Partt, is a heavy-drinking chain-smoker. At the beginning, the play opens in a London fringe theatre. American producer Larry Leitz offers to put the play on in Los Angeles, where the play is a hit. There follows an invitation to take the play to Dallas.


SAT 22:30 imagine... (b00lw3bp)
Summer 2009

The Smoking Diaries Update

Arts series. As part of an evening of programmes celebrating the life and work of the playwright and diarist, Simon Gray, who died in 2008.

This updated Imagine is a rare insight into one of Britain's foremost playwrights, author of many West End hits, but best known for his work with Harold Pinter, and as the writer of the notorious Cell Mates.

This intimate film gives a darkly entertaining account of his childhood experiences and very personal views on addictions to smoking, alcohol and the traumas of modern day life for a writer. By way of tribute, the conclusion to the film is provided by a number of friends, well known actors and writers, reading from Simon Gray's last volume of diaries, CODA.


SAT 23:30 Unnatural Pursuits (b00lw3br)
I Don't Do Cuddles

Concluding part of Simon Gray's comic fantasy.

Not satisfied with a 'Monster Hit' in Los Angeles, Hamish Partt wants his play to do even better in Texas. But America, together with abundant quantities of alcohol, starts to drive him crazy and by the time he and the play reach New York, Hamish's personal demons are threatening to take over his life.


SAT 00:30 The Grandparent Diaries (b00lszpy)
Avril Pengilly

When a widowed elderly grandmother moves in with one of her children and grandchildren, it is usually assumed it is because she is too old and frail to continue to look after herself. But three years ago, when 78-year-old Avril Pengilly sold her bungalow to live with her youngest daughter Liz, her son-in-law Dave and her grandsons Jake and Mike, it was because they needed her help, both financially and practically, as much as she needed them.

Through interview and observation, the film explores both the advantages and challenges for all three generations living under one roof. Using personal photographs and Avril's memories of the her life in a small north Devon farming community, Avril looks back at her own history and how it has informed her role as a grandmother and mother today.


SAT 01:30 Madeleine Peyroux: Somethin' Grand (b00lt0rs)
Documentary tracing the childhood and career of Madeleine Peyroux, whose solo albums have steadily established her as a compelling if elusive chanteuse. Peyroux is an American of French descent whose subtle phrasing harks back to classic queens of heartache like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Patsy Cline, all of whom she has been known to cover.

She spent her early years in Brooklyn before moving to Paris with her mother when her parents divorced. As a teenager she found herself busking. Now, at 35, she has recorded four solo albums including 2004's million-selling Careless Love. This film traces her life and her slow but steady emergence as a songwriter with her latest album, Bare Bones.


SAT 02:25 Madeleine Peyroux: Live in Los Angeles (b00lt0rv)
Concert filmed in Los Angeles in a club setting in January 2009 which captures jazz chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux and a small band debuting songs from her first self-penned collection and fourth solo album, Bare Bones. The set also features covers she has performed throughout her career, including classic songs by Leonard Cohen, Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg and Bob Dylan.


SAT 03:45 imagine... (b00lw3bp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]



SUNDAY 26 JULY 2009

SUN 19:00 Dawn to Dusk Safari (b00ly82h)
Jonathan Scott's African safari takes him on elephant-back into Botswana's Okavango swamps to observe the local wildlife at close quarters. His guide is Randall Jay Moore, who has achieved the seemingly impossible by taming an African elephant.

By venturing into the wilderness atop this giant creature, they are effectively protected from the other creatures that inhabit the marshes at the end of the Okavango River in north east Botswana.


SUN 19:15 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (b009nm0k)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Adapted from the Alexander McCall Smith novel, this is a poignant and amusing story chronicling the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the traditionally built, eminently sensible and wise proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana.

As a child, her father teaches Precious a great love for Botswana and the skills necessary to make a fine detective. After his death, Precious sets up her agency. It is a risky endeavour, but with the help of her quirky secretary, Mma Makutsi, she soon finds her services much in demand.

Precious investigates cases, helps people solve problems in their lives and soon finds a special friendship blossoming with JLB Matekoni, the highly respectable and slightly shy owner of Speedy Motors.


SUN 21:00 Pinter at the BBC: The Birthday Party (b0074njj)
One of Harold Pinter's most popular dramas.

Stanley's birthday party turns into a nightmare when strangers McCann and Goldberg arrive.


SUN 22:50 Krapp's Last Tape (b007qzdk)
An extraordinary study of mortality, creativity and memory. A 69-year-old man sits alone on his birthday and listens to recordings of his past. A rare chance to see the sell out performance of Samuel Beckett's critically acclaimed play, starring Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter.


SUN 23:40 Arena (b0074rmw)
Harold Pinter - Part One: The Room

Nigel Williams's two-part film biography explores Pinter's life, work, and political passions - from his East End childhood to his work as an actor, his experience of both early critical rejection and adulation, his screenwriting, and his love of poetry and passion for cricket.

Part One explores Pinter's key theme - the room - through the very rooms in which he wrote his first great series of plays. Arena reveals the links between the plays and places, and meets the people who live there now. We visit the East London terraced house room where Pinter grew up and first wrote poetry; the theatre dressing room where he began to formulate his ideas about playwriting and language; the sitting room in the London cold-water flat where he wrote his first hit, The Caretaker, and his study in the bow-fronted house in Worthing, where he lived in the sixties with his first wife Vivien Merchant, and wrote The Homecoming.

Harold Pinter has given Arena exclusive access to personal recordings in which he talks frankly to his biographer Michael Billington. Presented for the first time on television, they tell Pinter's story in his own words, as he remembers it.


SUN 00:40 Arena (b0078g1z)
One for the Road

A stage play by Harold Pinter in which Pinter himself gives a powerful performance in the central role.

Nicolas, who works as a torturer in an unnamed police state, interrogates three members of the same family.


SUN 01:10 Arena (b0078g1y)
Harold Pinter - Part Two: Celebration

In part two of this film biography, Arena explores the relationship between the public and private dimensions of the famous playwright and actor's life and work; the intimacy of his plays since the seventies; his work in films and television drama; his passion for poetry; and his fervent 'political engagement'.

Arena accompanied Pinter for two years to film plays and events in America and all over Europe. The wildly funny Celebration features a group of friends celebrating in a restaurant and, over the course of the evening, revealing details of their private lives in this very public space.

Arena reunites members of the cast, including Lindsay Duncan, Andy de la Tour, Susan Wooldridge and Indira Varma, who discuss their working relationship with Harold Pinter.

Other contributors include his wife Lady Antonia Fraser, journalist John Pilger and Pinter's biographer Michael Billington.


SUN 02:10 Only Connect (b00lsz67)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 02:40 Krapp's Last Tape (b007qzdk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:50 today]



MONDAY 27 JULY 2009

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00lw5ch)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Who Killed the Honey Bee? (b00jzjys)
Bees are dying in their millions. It is an ecological crisis that threatens to bring global agriculture to a standstill. Introduced by Martha Kearney, this documentary explores the reasons behind the decline of bee colonies across the globe, investigating what might be at the root of this devastation.

Honey bees are the number one insect pollinator on the planet, responsible for the production of over 90 crops. Apples, berries, cucumbers, nuts, cabbages and even cotton will struggle to be produced if bee colonies continue to decline at the current rate. Empty hives have been reported from as far afield as Taipei and Tennessee. In England, the matter has caused beekeepers to march on Parliament to call on the government to fund research into what they say is potentially a bigger threat to humanity than the current financial crisis.

Investigating the problem from a global perspective, the programme makers travel from the farm belt of California to the flatlands of East Anglia to the outback of Australia. They talk to the beekeepers whose livelihoods are threatened by colony collapse disorder, the scientists entrusted with solving the problem, and the Australian beekeepers who are making a fortune replacing the planet's dying bees. They also look at some of the possible reasons for the declining numbers - is it down to a bee plague, pesticides, malnutrition? Or is the answer something even more frightening?


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00lw5ck)
Series 2

History Boys v Rugby Boys

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

A team of three lovers of history square up to a trio of Welshmen devoted to their national game. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random: Mao Zedong, Snow White, Tilda Swinton and Lindow Man.


MON 21:00 Wallander (b00lxx7x)
Series 1

The Overdose

Original Swedish TV adaptation of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander detective series.

When an abandoned baby is found in a car, Kurt Wallander oversees a large operation to find the missing father. Meanwhile, Linda is visiting a school all week to educate the pupils about the dangers of drugs. When a girl at the school has an overdose, the team begin to see connections between the two cases.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


MON 22:30 The Secret Life of the Airport (b00l7q57)
Preparing for Take Off

Travel in time from the heady glamour of Britain's first terminal at Croydon to the signs and squiggles that direct pilots, as well as passengers, in today's airports. This series reveals how rivalry, skulduggery and sheer passion for flight gave birth to our airports, turning muddy airfields into the 24-hour mini-cities we know today. In the process, they've transformed Britain - giving us the freedom to travel anywhere we want and inspiring fear about our borders.

Rare archive, access to airports' hidden corners and contributors ranging from philosopher and author Alain de Botton to the man charged with scaring birds off Manchester's runways, reveal all.


MON 23:30 The Secret Life of the Airport (b00lc6bn)
Joining the Jet Set

Three-part series charting the development of Britain's airports and how they have transformed the country, in the process creating both freedom and fear.

Relive the heyday of jet travel, when airports held beauty pageants for air hostesses and information films taught us how to pack for flight. This episode celebrates how 'money, tickets, passport' became the mantra of the moving masses. But while we giddily embarked on our foreign holidays, Britain itself was being shaped by the airport - tourism, business and immigration all felt the impact of these gateways to the globe.

Glorious colour archive captures the airport's golden age, while contributions from author Sarfraz Manzoor and airline staff to early immigrants explore how airports changed us.


MON 00:30 The Secret Life of the Airport (b00lglt6)
The Final Approach

Three-part series charting the development of Britain's airports and how they have transformed the country, in the process creating both freedom and fear.

Once upon a time you could roam freely across airports, but no longer. This final episode reveals how the easily accessible airport of late Sixties turned into one besieged by present-day security procedures and climate protesters. With rare archive and eyewitness accounts, it relates the events that have shaped our contemporary experience of airports - with their x-rays, pat downs and scanners. But although the airport's sheen may be tarnished, we're using them more than ever. Contributors including architect Lord Foster and author Will Self explore why.


MON 01:30 Goodbye London Aerodrome (b00l7q59)
Glyn Worsnip presents a history of RAF Hendon. Originally called London Aerodrome, this extraordinary airfield has been an RAF station since 1918. Pilots and former pilots talk about their memories of Hendon.


MON 02:05 Only Connect (b00lw5ck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 02:35 Who Killed the Honey Bee? (b00jzjys)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 28 JULY 2009

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00lw5p2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Only Connect (b00lw5ck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


TUE 20:00 South Pacific (b00kwdqr)
Ocean of Volcanoes

Witness the birth, growth and death of an island in the greatest ocean on Earth. Millions of years are condensed into an hour revealing unforgettable images of an erupting underwater volcano; rivers of lava exploding below the waves; roads and houses buried by molten rivers of rock. From these violent beginnings emerge coral reefs of unparalleled richness, supporting large groups of grey reef sharks and giant manta rays.

The rising lands of the South Pacific have also given life to some very strange creatures, from the vampire bug that thrives in tropical snow, and the megapode, a bird that uses volcanic springs to incubate its eggs, to vast swarms of jellyfish trapped forever by a coral mountain. This is the Pacific as you've never seen it before.


TUE 21:00 It's Time to Go Nationwide (b00hd2w7)
Documentary looking at Nationwide, Britain's first truly regional TV programme, which ran on BBC in the early evenings from 1969 to 1983. Featuring contributions from many of those involved, including Sue Lawley, Michael Barratt, Richard Stilgoe, Bob Wellings, Hugh Scully, Frank Bough, Esther Rantzen and John Stapleton.


TUE 22:00 The Chaser's War on Everything (b00lw5p4)
Episode 6

Australian comedy team The Chaser launch a real-life assault on everyone and everything.

A golden retriever is granted a degree from an Internet university. The Citizens' Infringement Officer fines parents whose babies have stupid names. And what date do Americans think the September 11th attacks occurred on?

The sketch-and-stunt series was nominated for the Rose d'Or, and, in its native Australia, the War on Everything won a swag of awards.


TUE 22:30 Early Doors (b0078k1y)
Series 1

Episode 1

Comedy series set in a small Manchester public house. Discarded cigarette ends in the urinals and temporary traffic lights cause chaos in The Grapes.


TUE 23:00 Getting On (b00lszq0)
Series 1

Episode 3

The legacy of the Ivy fight has left a problem, with Hilary accusing Kim of making an inappropriate remark during the fight and insisting on disciplinary action. Kim has called in her union rep to defend her, but the meeting does little to sort out the mess. In revenge, Hilary demands the ward be shut down for a deep cleaning, forcing extra work on the staff. Pippa leaves for a health conference abroad, with her stool sample research complete.


TUE 23:30 The NHS: A Difficult Beginning (b00cjn9y)
Britain's National Health Service celebrates its sixtieth birthday on 5 July this year. Serving over one and a half million patients and their families every day, the NHS is the biggest service of its kind in the world. It is universally regarded as a national treasure - the most remarkable achievement of post war Britain.

Yet, surprisingly, the National Health Service very nearly did not happen at all. In the months leading to its launch it was bitterly opposed - by the Tory Party and the national press. But its most vicious and vocal opponents were the very people its existence depended on - surgeons, nurses, dentists and Britain's 20,000 doctors. To get the NHS at all required the persistence and determination of one man - Nye Bevan, Labour's minister of health.

This film tells the extraordinary story of the six months leading up to its traumatic birth.


TUE 00:50 The Cinema Show (b0082h4c)
Trust Me I'm a Doctor - Medics in the Movies

A look at the history of doctors on celluloid, from being shown as dedicated professionals in pre-war films like The Citadel and Young Doctor Kildare to less reverent portrayals in the Carry Ons. Nowadays doctors are as likely to be the film villains as the heroes, while TV has claimed the high ground. So have the times changed the movie doctor or have the movies themselves contributed to this loss of faith?


TUE 01:50 Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan (b00dn9hl)
Greg Dyke takes a bus tour through the Welsh Valleys and the life of Labour politician Aneurin Bevan, pronouncing him 'one of the outstanding men of the 20th Century'.

In 1945, Bevan simultaneously launched the National Health Service and set about rebuilding a bomb-damaged Britain, in one of the most remarkable double acts a politician has ever been asked to achieve.

Dyke visits the coalmines where Bevan began to hew coal at the age of 13 and explores the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, which was the blueprint for the NHS.

He also reveals the close friendship between Bevan and the black American civil rights campaigner and world-renowned opera singer Paul Robeson.


TUE 02:50 It's Time to Go Nationwide (b00hd2w7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 29 JULY 2009

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00lw5vr)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Once a Soldier (b0074tq4)
Series 1

Comrades in Arms

Documentary series about the Chelsea Pensioners, former British soldiers who live in the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. Frank Chambers and Joe Britton first became mates as Royal Fusiliers in India in 1936, but lost touch. After nearly 70 years, they meet again as Chelsea Pensioners and rekindle their friendship. Dougie Huxley and Don Smith met on their first day as new recruits at the Hospital and became inseparable. Is their past as soldiers the reason their friendship bonds are so strong?


WED 20:00 Casualty 1907 (b009s6rx)
Episode 2

Historical Drama set in 1907 at the Royal London Hospital, based on the diaries of the Ethel Bennett. This episode takes place over a single night when all the lead characters are forced to confront their doubts and fears.

Probationer Ethel Bennett nurses injured docker Thomas Hooley, whose leg wounds are not healing. She clashes with ward sister Ada Russell, who is overwhelmed by the strain of running the ward, and her true feelings for fiance Dr Walton.

Leader of the Blind Beggar Gang, Nobby Clark, is hospitalised with cirrhosis of the liver, aged 15. Children are dying from an epidemic of diarrhoea and vomiting sweeping through the slums.

Chairman Sydney Holland calls an emergency meeting when the hospital runs out of funds and faces closure. Lord Rothschild arrives with news that plans for a Jewish hospital are going ahead, denying the Royal London vital funding.


WED 21:00 Breaking the Mould: The Story of Penicillin (b00ly0t1)
History books tell us that Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, but that's not the whole story. This drama uncovers the forgotten team involved in the development and manufacture of the drug that transformed medicine.


WED 22:20 The Guinea Pig Club (b0074q2f)
The Guinea Pig Club is an exclusive drinking club with gruesome initiation rights. You have to have been a WWII pilot, cheated death and have a disfigurement to prove it.

The president of the club was Archibald McIndoe, a plastic surgeon who pioneered experimental surgery in order to rebuild their faces and hands to give them a chance of a normal life.

The Guinea Pig Club's legacy could hold the key to trauma recovery today.


WED 23:20 Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery (b00dd18c)
Fixing Faces

Documentary series about the brutal, bloody and dangerous history of surgery continues with a look at the development of plastic surgery.

Thought of as a modern phenomenon, it actually started over 400 years ago with a spate of botched nose jobs. Since then, surgeons have been entranced with the idea that not only could they fix the body, but could even fix our sense of self-esteem.

Presenter Michael Mosley undergoes both 16th-century bondage and 21st-century botox in his journey of discovery.


WED 00:20 Breaking the Mould: The Story of Penicillin (b00ly0t1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 01:40 Batman (b007zld9)
Series 1

Fine Finny Fiends

Superhero action with the caped crusader. The pernicious Penguin brainwashes Alfred, then vacuums up the dynamic duo in an attempt to loot Bruce Wayne's multi-millionaires' dinner. Guest starring Burgess Meredith as the fishy fiend.


WED 02:05 Batman (b008zk4m)
Series 1

Batman Makes the Scenes

Fantasy adventure series. Batman realises that Alfred has been brainwashed, and decides to use him as bait to lure Penguin into a trap.


WED 02:30 The Guinea Pig Club (b0074q2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:20 today]


WED 03:30 Batman (b007zld9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:40 today]


WED 03:55 Batman (b008zk4m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 02:05 today]



THURSDAY 30 JULY 2009

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00lwdcw)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 BBC Proms (b00lwf5j)
2009

Prom 19: Berlioz and Mendelssohn

The works of two contrasting composers fill the Royal Albert Hall, played by the Halle Orchestra under the baton of their Music Director, Sir Mark Elder.

The rousing overture to Berlioz's opera, Benvenuto Cellini, is followed by his dramatic cantata, La Mort de Cleopatra, sung by mezzo soprano Susan Graham. Then after the interval, anniversary composer Mendelssohn's 2nd Symphony, the Lobgesang or Hymn of Praise.

Presented by Petroc Trelawny.


THU 21:45 Mendelssohn, the Nazis and Me (b00l7rg2)
Felix Mendelssohn was a passionate Christian. He was also born a Jew. This film, marking the 200th anniversary of his birth, tells the extraordinary story of what happened, generations later, both to Mendelssohn's family and to his music, when the Nazis remembered the Jewish roots of Germany's most celebrated composer.

It also examines how the influences of both Judaism and Christianity affected Mendelssohn's music and was made by documentary-maker Sheila Hayman, Mendelssohn's great-great-great-great niece.


THU 22:45 Wallander (b00lxx7x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 00:15 Later... with Jools Holland (b00b2qxz)
Series 32

Episode 4

More music and chat from the likes of The Charlatans, Was Not Was, Eartha Kitt, Brandi Carlile and The Pigeon Detectives.


THU 01:15 Mendelssohn, the Nazis and Me (b00l7rg2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:45 today]


THU 02:15 BBC Proms (b00lwf5j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



FRIDAY 31 JULY 2009

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00lwm67)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b00lwm69)
2009

Prom 20: Stravinsky and Schumann

Stellar young conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin makes his Proms debut with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

The concert celebrates two anniversaries; the centenary year of Stravinsky's first collaboration with the Ballet Russes and the bicentenary of Mendelssohn's birth.

The music from Pulcinella, one of Stravinsky's eleven ballets, will open the programme, followed by the ever popular Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor played by Nicholas Angelich. Mendelssohn's Fifth Symphony provides the climax to the evening.

Presented by Petroc Trelawny.


FRI 21:45 Sounds of the Seventies (b00lydy0)
Shorts

The Moody Blues, The Faces and David Bowie

Three vintage rock performances from the BBC archives, featuring The Moody Blues, The Faces and David Bowie originally recorded for It's Lulu, Sounds for Saturday and The Old Grey Whistle Test.


FRI 22:00 Prog at the BBC (b00g8tfx)
Compilation of some of the greatest names and British bands in what they still dare to call prog rock, filmed live in the BBC studios in the early 1970s. Expect to see stadium names like Yes, Genesis and Emerson, Lake and Palmer alongside much-loved bands of the era including Caravan, Family, Atomic Rooster and more.


FRI 23:00 Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements (b00g8tfv)
Documentary about progressive music and the generation of bands that were involved, from the international success stories of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson and Jethro Tull to the trials and tribulations of lesser-known bands such as Caravan and Egg.

The film is structured in three parts, charting the birth, rise and decline of a movement famed for complex musical structures, weird time signatures, technical virtuosity and strange, and quintessentially English, literary influences.

It looks at the psychedelic pop scene that gave birth to progressive rock in the late 1960s, the golden age of progressive music in the early 1970s, complete with drum solos and gatefold record sleeves, and the over-ambition, commercialisation and eventual fall from grace of this rarefied musical experiment at the hands of punk in 1977.

Contributors include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Pete Sinfield, Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer and Ian Anderson.


FRI 00:30 The Chaser's War on Everything (b00lw5p4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


FRI 01:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00g8hfg)
Phil Collins

Phil Collins made his name as the drummer and then the lead singer of Genesis, before embarking on a successful solo career with hits including In the Air Tonight. In the 1980s he took on the role of one of the great train robbers in the film Buster and has recently had success with scoring for films such as Disney's Tarzan. Collins talks frankly to Mark Lawson about his three marriages and the various myths that surround him, including that he divorced his second wife by fax.


FRI 02:00 BBC Proms (b00lwm69)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]