Documentary series about the weather. This episode looks at wind - a phenomenon caused by the interaction of temperature, pressure and the earth's rotation, which took scientists over a thousand years to fully explain.
We witness some remarkable wind-related stories, such as the tornado that flung Dorothy Allwright and her caravan into the air, and how Scottish engineer James Blyth invented the first electricity-producing wind turbine in 1887.
Once we looked to the gods to explain the wind, until science unlocked its mysteries. Today, we may have come to understand the wind, but we have also realised that we will never master it, and that this elemental force cannot be ignored.
In a television first, the BBC goes behind the scenes of John Lewis - one of Britain's biggest and best known department stores - as it tackles changing tastes, tougher competition and the worst recession for 80 years.
Programme three looks to the future. John Lewis is expanding its fashion offering online and we learn what their customers are expecting from a brave new world of 21st-century shopping. The big question facing John Lewis is whether they can embrace this online world without compromising on what it considers to be the business's Holy Grail - personal and specialist service.
Spectacular three-part series, exploring the Baroque tradition in many of its key locations. Starting in Italy and following the spread of the wildfire across Europe and beyond, art critic Waldemar Januszczak takes a tour of the best examples of Baroque to be found, and tells the best stories behind those works.
Episode Three brings the Baroque home with an exploration of the English Baroque tradition that finds its climax through a tour of London's Hawksmoor churches, and Christopher Wren's iconic St Paul's Cathedral.
German drama inspired by true events. A high school teacher forms a mini-dictatorship in his class, to demonstrate the mechanisms behind autocratic rule. Things get out of control when the students start taking the experiment seriously.
Chinese Director Weijun Chen's charming film takes us into the world of Chinese schoolchildren, learning about democracy for the first time as they try to vote for their class monitor.
Elections are pretty uncommon in China, so when the children in a school in Wuhan, Central China are presented with the chance to choose their own class monitor they don't quite know what to make of it. It doesn't take them long to get into the swing of it, though, and soon all sorts of dirty tricks are going on. Urged on by their parents, the candidates launch elaborate campaigns of bribery and coercion. After tantrums and tears, it's finally time for the vote, and who will win - the sweet girl who woos her voters with her flute playing, the bully who beats his classmates, or the boy who has the best sweets.
History and travel documentary series in which three Australian brothers - Danny, Ben and Sam Wood - set out cycling on the trail of Hannibal, the ancient warrior who marched from Spain to Rome at the head of an invading army accompanied by elephants.
The brothers hit the road, cycling up the east coast of Spain, passing through the palms of Elche, the beaches of Benidorm and Valencia's zoo before arriving at Sagunto, where Hannibal's war against the Romans truly began. On the way, they meet Australian cycling champion Matthew Lloyd and they talk to the elephants - and their keepers.
Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to re-discover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle.
In a six-part series, Clare follows the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guide books of the late 1940s lovingly describe by-passed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads.
Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own bicycle, Clare embarks on six iconic cycle rides to try and find the world he described - if it is still there.
Her first journey takes Clare to the rugged and beautiful Atlantic coast of north Devon - from Lynmouth, scene of Britain's worst flood disaster in the early 1950s, to Ilfracombe via Little Switzerland, and a hidden silver mine whose riches probably helped England win the Battle of Agincourt.
MONDAY 26 JULY 2010
MON 19:00 World News Today (b00t6ybw)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Science and Islam (b00gq6h7)
The Empire of Reason
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.
Al-Khalili travels to northern Syria to discover how, a thousand years ago, the great astronomer and mathematician Al-Biruni estimated the size of the earth to within a few hundred miles of the correct figure.
He discovers how medieval Islamic scholars helped turn the magical and occult practice of alchemy into modern chemistry.
In Cairo, he tells the story of the extraordinary physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who helped establish the modern science of optics and proved one of the most fundamental principles in physics - that light travels in straight lines.
Prof Al-Khalili argues that these scholars are among the first people to insist that all scientific theories are backed up by careful experimental observation, bringing a rigour to science that didn't really exist before.
MON 20:30 On Hannibal's Trail (b00t6yby)
Barca! Barca! Barca!
History and travel documentary series in which three Australian brothers - Danny, Ben and Sam Wood - set out cycling on the trail of Hannibal, the Carthaginian warrior who marched from Spain to Rome at the head of an invading army accompanied by elephants.
The Wood brothers continue to cycle north along the east coast of Spain, calling in at Barcelona's famous Camp Nou stadium to watch a football match before visiting the ancient Greek ruins of Ampurias.
Chef Adam Melonas cooks the brothers a Carthaginian banquet on the beaches of the Costa Brava. Fully fuelled, the Woods are ready to take on the mountains, cycling across the Pyrenees into southern France.
MON 21:00 The Games That Time Forgot (b00t6yc0)
Alex Horne tries to discover why some games survived, and examines the best of those that did not.
Whilst revisiting his own childhood haunts, he attempts to relaunch the ancient sport of the Quintain, horseless jousting, and tries his damnedest to understand the rules of the Jingling Match. Not forgetting his attempt to restage the forgotten spectacle of Cricket on Horseback.
This might just be a journey to the very heart of sport itself, but if not, it will be a lot of fun playing games that have not been seen for hundreds of years and even more fun discovering why.
MON 22:00 imagine... (b00lk119)
Summer 2009
David Hockney - A Bigger Picture
Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, this documentary captures the return from California of England's favourite living artist.
As Hockney approaches the age of 70, he re-invents his painting from scratch, working through the seasons and in all weathers out in the Yorkshire countryside, ending up with the largest picture ever made outdoors. It is at once the story of an unusual homecoming and also an intimate portrait of what inspires Hockney as his time runs out.
MON 22:55 Wainwright: The Man Who Loved the Lakes (b0074tfq)
Capturing the beauty of the English Lake District, a documentary which traces the life of writer and artist Alfred Wainwright, the eccentric Lancastrian who created a series of iconic fell-walking books which he hand-wrote, illustrated and published himself in the 1950s.
Celebrating the centenary of his birth, the film captures his passionate love affair with the Lakeland landscape and explores how his books have become guide-book classics for millions of fell-walkers.
MON 23:55 Great British Holiday (b007tr55)
Turkey
The British tourist is fickle, demanding and mean. But in Sunsail's Andy Hancock, it appears we may have met our match.
Twenty-six year-old Andy has four months to save a billion pound business. Bored with package holidays, fed up with bucket and spade, we Britons are going on activity holidays in record numbers from white water rafting to sailing and climbing. Sailing holiday specialist Sunsail have already got the world’s largest yacht fleet, now they are ploughing millions into their resorts.
The flagship of this investment programme is Club Phokaia. Its setting is idyllic; a rocky outcrop of Turkey's Aegean coast, but the hotel is rather less beauteous, run down, and in some places even dangerous. Sunsail have leased it- now they want development manager Andy to transform it into a five star resort in just five months.
As Matt West, Sunsail's CEO comments, 'Well he's got to do it…it's in the brochure...' But for all Matt's determination, events conspire to thwart them. Deadlines aren't so much missed, as completely ignored and the first customers have to be diverted to alternative resorts. Costs are climbing, and the market's collapsing. The certainties of mass tourism are fast vanishing, as the internet, affluence and increasing choice conspire to turn the British tourist into a changeable beast.
In a last throw of the dice Sunsail starts a million pound lawsuit against the builders. The courts rule against them, and at last there's a chink of hope for Andy.
MON 00:55 The Games That Time Forgot (b00t6yc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MON 01:55 On Hannibal's Trail (b00t6yby)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
MON 02:25 Britain Goes Camping (b00t5hcl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
MON 03:25 The Games That Time Forgot (b00t6yc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 27 JULY 2010
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00t6yh8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Last Chance to See (b00mzxkr)
Series 1
Aye-Aye
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine head to the ends of the earth in search of animals on the edge of extinction.
In Madagascar, the travellers encounter the biggest and the smallest lemurs on earth. But they are searching for the aye-aye, a peculiar lemur which, according to local legend, brings death to those who encounter it.
TUE 20:30 Britain by Bike (b00t6yhb)
The Welsh Borders
Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to rediscover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle. In a six-part series, she follows in the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guidebooks of the late 1940s lovingly describe bypassed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads.
Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own Dawes Super Galaxy bicycle, Clare goes in search of the world he described. Is it lost for ever? Or still there, waiting to be found?
Clare's journey into Wales is rich in literary connections to both Bruce Chatwin and AE Housman. She reveals how a cycle factory went to war and finds out about the Bride's Tree - a bizarre village ceremony with a dark secret.
TUE 21:00 Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle (b00t6ylx)
Author Rob Penn travels around the world collecting hand-built parts for his dream bicycle and charts the social history of one of mankind's greatest inventions.
TUE 22:00 Death on the Mountain: The Story of Tom Simpson (b0074rgb)
Death on the Mountain is the story of Britain's greatest cyclist, Tom Simpson.
With eyewitness accounts from former British team mates and top stars of continental cycling, Death on the Mountain recounts the dramatic events of 13th July during the 13th stage of the 1967 Tour de France, when Tom Simpson died trying to climb the notorious Mont Ventoux in Southern France.
Interwoven into this story of Simpson's controversial death is the remarkable story of how the miner's son from Nottinghamshire conquered continental cycling during the 1960s.
With comment from leading cycling writers, Death on the Mountain tells how Tom Simpson became the first British rider to wear the coveted Yellow Jersey of the Tour de France, became road race World Champion and won Europe's top one-day races.
Death on the Mountain is the story of the charismatic showman who became one of the all-time greats of cycling. Revealing Simpson's genius and courage, the programme also shows his reliance on illegal drugs in the pursuit of sporting success. It highlights the peaks of his cycling career but also chronicles the frustrated ambition to win the ultimate challenge in cycling, the Tour de France.
Death on the Mountain shows how the desire for sporting immortality cost Tom Simpson his life.
TUE 23:00 Thoroughly Modern... (b007gmbt)
The Bicycle
Documentary series about objects the Edwardians either invented or advanced. One of the most important inventions of all time, the improvements made by the Edwardians meant the bicycle allowed the city dweller to escape to the country, provided a truly democratised means of transport and is even credited with widening the gene pool.
TUE 23:30 Great British Holiday (b007wv12)
Rock
Rock inhabits a parallel universe, insulated from the cares of modern Britain, by the soaring wealth of Britain's increasingly super rich. Perched on Cornwall's rocky North Coast, the four mile strip of the Rock Road is home to second, third and even fourth homes of playboys, princes and billionaires.
The lemming like rush for a slice of Rock amongst the newly wealthy has made its property the most keenly sought after in modern Britain. Last year an undistinguished, three bed mid-terrace semi not facing the beach was briefly the most expensive house in the world; at a keenly fought auction, it went for 2.3 million pounds, still needing extensive renovation inside.
Cramming six huge houses on to a two acre site, local property developers can't believe their luck.
Meanwhile local boat builder Brian can't get the planners to agree to the extension of his boatyard, threatening his business' future.
Local visitors at the Rock heliport range from Mohammed Al Fayed to a trio of 15 year old girls smuggling their alcopop ration to beat the increasingly censorious local police, while their older brothers fight it out at nearby Polzeath, accompanied on one night by Prince William.
Estate agent John Bray comments on the demand by the rich for property in Rock, 'For 40 years, I’ve been expecting it to stop, and it never has'.
TUE 00:30 Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle (b00t6ylx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUE 01:30 Britain by Bike (b00t6yhb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
TUE 02:00 Last Chance to See (b00mzxkr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 03:00 Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle (b00t6ylx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 28 JULY 2010
WED 19:00 World News Today (b00t6z4z)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Only Connect (b00r06j1)
Series 3
Booksellers v Bowlers
Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital.
Three senior managers from a national bookstore face off against a team drawn together by their love of London's retro bowling alleys.
Who will win the battle as they compete to draw together the connections between things, which, at first glance, seem utterly random?
WED 20:00 Paws, Claws and Videotape (b00r0rds)
Hugh Dennis reveals a host of artists from the animal kingdom who found fame on TV and in the cinema. While their human co-stars may have passed into obscurity, it is Flipper, Skippy, Lassie, Beauty, Hammy and Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion who live on. As the humans reveal the off screen gossip, this is the ultimate guide to being a thespian top dog, top dolphin or even top hamster.
WED 21:00 The Great Outdoors (b00t6z51)
Episode 1
Comedy which follows the hikes, heartaches, friendships and rivalries of a misfit rambling club. Club organiser Bob begins a titanic battle of wills with the newest member, Christine, for the heart and soul of his treasured walking group.
Bob's teenage daughter Hazel is mortified at the arrival of geeky Victor from her school and married businesswoman Sophie is looking for a way out from her freeloading husband Joe.
WED 21:30 100 Years of Girl Guides (b00m6n05)
In September 2009, the Girl Guides celebrated their centenary. With a membership of over 600,000, nearly half the female population of Britain has been involved with the Brownies and Girl Guides at some time during their lives.
Throughout its history, the movement has given girls the opportunity to have fun and form life-long friendships. Narrated by Dominic West (The Wire), 100 Years of the Girl Guides delves into the movement's extraordinary archive and interviews a host of former Girl Guides from veterans to household names such as Kelly Holmes, Clare Short, Kate Silverton and Rhona Cameron.
In 1909, Robert Baden-Powell agreed to let girls have their equivalent of the Boy Scouts. It was a time when women couldn't vote, couldn't work once married, couldn't borrow money or seek contraception.
The Guides have always risen to the challenge in times of national crisis. During the First World War, they worked in munitions factories and in the Second World War, young women in the Guides International Service worked alongside British soldiers to help Jewish inmates liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
The Guides' progressive vision has pioneered the change in attitudes over disability. Their inclusive approach has produced many successful sportswomen including Kelly Holmes and paralympians Barbara Howie and Tanni Grey-Thompson.
The Girl Guides would not be the Girl Guides without their camping adventures. Baden Powell believed the great outdoors was the best way for the youth of the day to stay healthy and sane.
At the heart of the Girl Guides' ethos lies their commitment to helping others and being a good citizen.
WED 22:30 Belleville Rendez-Vous (b0074pxj)
An orphaned boy. Champion is raised by his grandmother, Madame Souza. Her gift of a tricycle starts a craze for cycle racing that becomes the cornerstone of their life together.
After years of relentless training, Champion makes it to the Tour de France, the toughest cycling event in the world.
Alas! Champion and a handful of other top competitors are mysteriously kidnapped by a pair of sinister crooks with hangdog expressions.
Supported by her faithful sidekick, fat and flatulent dog Bruno, Madame Souza sets off to rescue her beloved Champion. An epic adventure leads them across the Atlantic to a vast seaport metropolis named Belleville, headquarters of the notorious French Mafia.
Lost and confused in the threatening darkness of the great city, Madame Souza and Bruno encounter the Belleville Triplettes. In their youth, a glamorous close-harmony act, these three batty old ladies are now a bizarre jazz combo. Souza joins the band. At their very first gig, she discovers Champion is being held captive by the mafia Godfather himself!
All hell breaks loose, and the chase is on! Do Madame Souza, her dim dog, and the musical Triplettes have what it takes to outsmart the ruthless French Mafia and release poor Champion from its clutches?
WED 23:45 Great British Holiday (b0074tfs)
Blackpool
It was one of the most keenly fought battles in modern Britain- who could land the super casino. In the Blue corner, the Dome- backed by reclusive billionaire Philip Anschutz. In the red corner, Blackpool, the tatterdemalion home of the modern holiday.
With exclusive access to Blackpool's bare knuckle fight to take the casino North, and save the town in the process, award-winning director Patrick Forbes continues his voyage into the British national obsession with time off work.
It’s a fight in which billions are at stake, ministers are derided, partners fall out and transvestites have a key role.
Multi-millionaire Basil Newby is pretty much Blackpool's last hope - casino aside. He is the boss of transvestite revue, 'Funny Girls'- two years at the Command Performance- and he’s pulling the punters in their thousands to his clubs, bars and theatres. The other big businesses of Blackpool are failing- every year half a million fewer of us visit.
WED 00:45 The Great Outdoors (b00t6z51)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WED 01:15 Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle (b00t6ylx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Death on the Mountain: The Story of Tom Simpson (b0074rgb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Tuesday]
WED 03:15 100 Years of Girl Guides (b00m6n05)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
WED 04:15 The Great Outdoors (b00t6z51)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 29 JULY 2010
THU 19:00 World News Today (b00t70cs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 BBC Proms (b00t70cv)
2010
Dvorak's New World Symphony with the CBSO
At the Royal Albert Hall, Charles Hazlewood presents as soloist Paul Lewis plays Beethoven piano concerto No. 2 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under their music director, Andris Nelsons. The programme includes Dvorak's evocative 9th Symphony, From the New World.
THU 21:25 Last of the Blonde Bombshells (b0074r67)
Musical drama about a recently widowed woman who realises that the happiest days of her life were spent playing in a swing band during the Second World War.
A chance encounter with the band's drummer sets in motion the greatest adventure of her life, as the two attempt to reunite the band for one last performance.
THU 22:45 Alan Plater - Hearing the Music (b0074r66)
Spanning four decades, writer Alan Plater's work has been described as a meeting of Coronation Street and Chekhov. With his spare dialogue and irreverent attitude, Plater helped introduce an entirely new voice to the world of television drama. He is perhaps best known for the Beiderbecke Trilogy but has written in all forms and is especially known for his radio, stage and television work and also for his passion for jazz. The principles of jazz are at the very heart of the man and his writing.
Born in 1935, the son of a Jarrow shipyard blacksmith, he grew up in Hull where he acquired his love of the north. One of his earliest memories is of hearing a piece of jazz music: Mood Indigo. After a brief career as an architect, he launched into full time writing at just the right time in the early sixties when northern voices and dialogue were allowed to be heard for the first time.
Alan Plater was one of the first writers to embrace the new medium of television and the success of his second television play 'A Smashing Day' led to an invitation to write for the groundbreaking series 'Z-cars'. His use of music in his plays has ranged from folk in 'The Land of Green Ginger' through to jazz in his more recent works such as 'Misterioso' and 'The Last of the Blonde Bombshells'. He was also widely acclaimed for his 1980s adaptations of 'The Barchester Chronicles' (starring Donald Pleasance) and 'Fortunes of War' (with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh).
In this Time Shift programme, television critic Chris Dunkley, director John Glenister, writers Alan Bleasdale and Lee Hall ('Billy Elliot') and jazz critic Dave Gelly tell us about Alan's individual style, life, work and love of music.
THU 23:25 Great British Holiday (b0074tfy)
Florida
Travel industry giant MyTravel has nearly gone bust, with British record losses of over a billion pounds. But MyTravel and their larger than life Texan CEO John Bloodworth say rumours of their death are exaggerated.
Can MyTravel pull off the most unlikely resurrection since Lazarus? In Florida- home of Mickey and mass tourism, it isn’t looking good. It’s
9.30 and MyTravel rep Michael hasn’t seen a single tourist. MyTravel too are turning east for salvation. In three months the first British package holidaymakers will touch down in China and remote Hainan Island. Marvel at the Buddhist theme park, wonder at the Chinese health and safety, worry about some of the menus- pigs ear anyone?
THU 00:25 On Hannibal's Trail (b00t6yby)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Monday]
THU 00:55 Britain by Bike (b00t6yhb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Tuesday]
THU 01:25 Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle (b00t6ylx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
THU 02:25 BBC Proms (b00t70cv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRIDAY 30 JULY 2010
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00t72kc)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b00t72kf)
2010
Mark Elder Conducts Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony
From the Royal Albert Hall and introduced by Suzy Klein, the Australian Youth Orchestra visit the Proms as part of a three-continent international summer tour. Under conductor Mark Elder, they perform an orchestral fantasy by Australian composer Brett Dean, a selection of Mahler songs and Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony.
FRI 21:45 Glastonbury (b00t72kh)
2010
The Pet Shop Boys
Highlights of the headlining performance at Worthy Farm by one of the UK's most successful and much loved pop acts, the Pet Shop Boys. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe run through many of their pop classics including West End Girls, What Have I Done to Deserve This, Go West, Suburbia and It's a Sin, plus a quartet of dancers and a whole host of costume changes.
FRI 22:45 Synth Britannia (b00n93c4)
Documentary following a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop stage.
In the late 1970s, small pockets of electronic artists including The Human League, Daniel Miller and Cabaret Voltaire were inspired by Kraftwerk and JG Ballard, and they dreamt of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain.
The crossover moment came in 1979 when Gary Numan's appearance on Top of the Pops with Tubeway Army's Are 'Friends' Electric? heralded the arrival of synthpop. Four lads from Basildon known as Depeche Mode would come to own the new sound, whilst post-punk bands like Ultravox, Soft Cell, OMD and Yazoo took the synth out of the pages of NME and onto the front page of Smash Hits.
By 1983, acts like Pet Shop Boys and New Order were showing that the future of electronic music would lie in dance music.
Contributors include Philip Oakey, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, Bernard Sumner, Gary Numan and Neil Tennant.
FRI 00:15 Synth Britannia at the BBC (b00n93c6)
A journey through the BBC's synthpop archives from Roxy Music and Tubeway Army to New Order and Sparks. Turn your Moogs up to 11 as we take a trip back into the 70s and 80s!
FRI 01:15 Glastonbury (b00t72kh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:45 today]
FRI 02:15 BBC Proms (b00t72kf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]