SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2011

SAT 19:00 Life (b00nkpcc)
Mammals

Mammals dominate the planet. They do it through having warm blood and by the care they lavish on their young. Weeks of filming in the bitter Antarctic winter reveal how a mother Weddell seal wears her teeth down keeping open a hole in the ice so she can catch fish for her pup.

A powered hot air balloon produces stunning images of millions of migrating bats as they converge on fruiting trees in Zambia, and slow-motion cameras reveal how a mother rufous sengi exhausts a chasing lizard. A gyroscopically stabilised camera moves alongside migrating caribou, and a diving team swim among the planet's biggest fight as male humpback whales battle for a female.


SAT 20:00 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00v3z4r)
The Great Famine and the Black Death

Groundbreaking series in which Michael Wood tells the story of one place throughout the whole of English history. The village is Kibworth in Leicestershire in the heart of England - a place that lived through the Black Death, the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution and was even bombed in World War Two.

Wood's fascinating tale reaches the catastrophic 14th century. Kibworth goes through the worst famine in European history, and then, as revealed in the astonishing village archive in Merton College Oxford, two thirds of the people die in the Black Death.

Helped by today's villagers - field walking and reading the historical texts - and by the local schoolchildren digging archaeological test pits, Wood follows stories of individual lives through these times, out of which the English idea of community and the English character begin to emerge.


SAT 21:00 Spiral (b0074snb)
Series 1

Episode 5

The inquiry into Elina Andrescu's murder takes yet another disturbing turn when the body of her missing sister Sophia is found in a freezer. Prosecutor Pierre Clement must recognise that the involvement of his friend Benoit Faye goes deeper than he'd been prepared to believe. A distraught and vulnerable Ghisele Anloux is brought to trial in connection with the murder of her baby - though judge Roban soon comes to regret his meddling in the affair.


SAT 21:50 Spiral (b0074tp2)
Series 1

Episode 6

Pierre Clemente initiates divorce proceedings when estranged wife Marianne and her family business become implicated in a drug trafficking scandal. Lawyer Josephine Karlsson is called in to defend a man who is charged with brutal acts of torture. Gilou loses control of his drug addiction, testing the loyalty of boss Captain Laure Berthaud.


SAT 22:40 Dinosaurs, Myths and Monsters (b014lsgb)
From dinosaurs to mammoths, when our ancient ancestors encountered the fossil bones of extinct prehistoric creatures, what did they think they were? Just like us, ancient peoples were fascinated by the giant bones they found in the ground.

In an epic story that takes us from Ancient Greece to the American Wild West, historian Tom Holland goes on a journey of discovery to explore the fascinating ways in which our ancestors sought to explain the remains of dinosaurs and other giant prehistoric creatures, and how bones and fossils have shaped and affected human culture.

In Classical Greece, petrified bones were exhibited in temples as the remains of a long-lost race of colossal heroes. Chinese tales of dragons may well have had their origins in the great fossil beds of the Gobi desert. In the Middle Ages, Christians believed that mysterious bones found in rock were the remains of giants drowned in Noah's Flood.

But far from always being wrong, Tom learns that ancient explanations and myths about large fossilsed bones often contained remarkable paleontological insights long before modern science explained the truth about dinosaurs. Tom encounters a medieval sculpture that is the first known reconstruction of a monster from a fossil, and learns about the Native Americans stories, told for generations, which contained clues that led bone hunters to some of the greatest dinosaur finds of the nineteenth century.

This documentary is an alternative history of dinosaurs - the neglected story of how mythic imagination and scientific inquiry have met over millennia to give meaning to the dry bones of prehistory. Today, as our interest in dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures continues unabated, it turns out we are not so far away from the awe and curiosity of our ancient ancestors.


SAT 23:40 Top of the Pops (b014b9nj)
26/08/76

Noel Edmonds looks at the weekly pop charts and introduces Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Robin Sarstedt, Acker Bilk, Cliff Richard and Gallagher and Lyle.


SAT 00:20 Timeshift (b014r789)
Series 11

The Picture Postcard World of Nigel Walmsley

The surprising story behind the humble picture postcard, playfully told by comic creation Nigel Walmsley. With their own language and bespoke rules, postcards were the texts and emails of their era, at a time when households received up to four postal deliveries a day. Postcards became a holiday staple, but they were once an important means of communicating events - from election results to rail crashes. Entering the world of collectable cards, it's easy to understand the value of a card posted from the Titanic. It's harder to see why anyone would want to collect cards of holiday camps or motorway service stations, but they do. Some consider postcards an art form, others are fascinated by the messages on the back, poignantly stranded in time. Nigel Walmsley is mostly amused.


SAT 01:20 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00v3z4r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:20 Life (b00nkpcc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 03:20 Top of the Pops (b014b9nj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:40 today]



SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2011

SUN 19:00 Timeshift (b014r789)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:20 on Saturday]


SUN 20:00 In Search of Speed (b0074qym)
The Battle of Bonneville

The Battle of Bonneville focuses on six dramatic years in land speed history that saw Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons go head-to-head in a death-defying land speed duel. Two men locked in a near-lethal contest which saw the 400, 500 and 600 miles per hour barriers broken. The programme features interviews with Arfons and Breedlove, friends, family and members of their teams.

Farm-boy Art Arfons was affectionately known as the Junkyard Genius. Art famously built his record breaking car from pieces of junk and stock-parts, including the powerful J-79 aircraft surplus jet engine which he bought from a scrap dealer. When he first ignited his restored J-79, Art obliterated his chicken shed. In his car The Green Monster, an angry, over-powered beast, Art captured the world record three times only to have it snatched from him on each occasion by Breedlove. In 1966, Art became the first man to survive a crash at over 600 miles an hour.

Smooth-talking Californian hot-rodder Craig Breedlove, in his cars Spirit of America and Sonic 1, was the first man to break the 400, 500 and 600mph barriers on land. At the tender age of 24, Craig Breedlove was so moved by President Kennedy's plea to 'ask what you can do for your country', he decided that his goal was to recapture the world land speed record from the British. Breedlove persuaded Shell Oil to sponsor his vision and, backed by a team of hot-rod friends, he went on to build his car Spirit of America, arguably the most beautiful land speed car ever built.

This is a story of a dramatic showdown between two land speed legends who displayed extraordinary ingenuity, ambition and bravery.


SUN 21:00 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.


SUN 22:00 City of Men (b013h4c7)
Follow-up to Brazilian hit drama City of God, set in the slums of Morro da Sinuca in Rio de Janeiro. As best friends Acerola and Laranjinha are about to turn 18, a bitter and bloody war erupts between two rival gangs and sees them caught in the middle. While Ace is left to care for his young son as a single parent, Laranjinha trcks down his hitherto unknown father. But a discovery about the past threatens to shatter their friendship.


SUN 23:40 The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? (b008hs1m)
Over 40 years after Britain's foremost 'underground' band released their debut album Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Pink Floyd remain one of the biggest brand names and best-loved bands in the world.

This film features extended archive, some of it rarely or never seen before, alongside original interviews with four members of Pink Floyd - David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and the late Richard Wright - and traces the journey of a band that has only ever had five members, three of whom have led the band at different stages of its evolution.

Tracing the band's history from psychedelic 60s London to their reunion appearance at Live 8 in 2005, this is the story of a succession of musical and commercial peaks separated by a succession of struggles around the creative leadership of the band. Their story was given added poignancy by the 2006 death of their estranged frontman, Syd Barrett.

Pink Floyd spearheaded the concept album, never sold themselves as personalities and expanded rock way beyond its three minute pop song beginnings. Pink Floyd has made the four members very rich and has consumed their creative lives, but it hasn't always made them friends. When first meeting their American record company, one of the executives apocryphally asked, "Which one's Pink?". This film traces the reverberations of that question throughout the band's history.

First led by the innovative singer, songwriter and guitarist Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd were at the forefront of Britain's psychedelic era. After putting the band on the map with hits like Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, Barrett drifted out of the band after experimenting with LSD.

The three remaining members added Barrett's old Cambridge friend David Gilmour to the band on guitar and functioned as a communal unit while creating extended sonic explorations on albums like Atom Heart Mother and Echoes. While creating ever larger and more visually ambitious stage shows, the band personally shunned the limelight, taking the stage as four shadowy figures and never appearing on their album covers.

Gradually Roger Waters emerged as the band's key songwriter, creating those massive selling concept albums of the mid-70s, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, two of the biggest-selling and boldest albums of all time. But Waters's desire to control the band and the increasing passivity of the others eventually left to him leaving the band and the name after 1983's The Final Cut album.

David Gilmour eventually assumed control of the band, producing two globally-successful Pink Floyd albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), with the help of Nick Mason and Rick Wright. Meanwhile, Waters conducted a less commercially-successful solo career.

As a result of Bob Geldof's pleading, David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason reunited with Roger Waters for one time only for 2005's Live 8, playing together for the first time in approximately 25 years.

Whether Pink Floyd will ever record or perform again with or without Roger Waters remains unclear.


SUN 00:40 A Pink Floyd Miscellany 1967-2005 (b014grts)
A compilation of rarely screened Pink Floyd videos and performances, beginning with the Arnold Layne promo from 1967 and culminating with the reunited band's performance at Live 8 in 2005. Also including a newly restored Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) and performances of Grantchester Meadows, Cymbeline and others.


SUN 01:40 Pink Floyd: Live in Pompeii (b014skwg)
Concert film shot in the ruins of Pompeii in 1972 which captures the young, long-haired post-Syd Barrett Pink Floyd in all their spacey but melancholy glory.


SUN 02:40 In Search of Speed (b0074qym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 03:40 Timeshift (b014r789)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:20 on Saturday]



MONDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2011

MON 19:00 World News Today (b014v3qn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Birds Britannia (b00vv6vm)
Waterbirds

The British have always had a passion for waterbirds and the wild and lonely places where they live, but by destroying these vast wetlands we drove them to the brink of extinction. At the eleventh hour the tide turned, and instead of exploiting these birds we chose to protect them.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b014v3qq)
Series 5

Listeners vs Steel City Singers

Three friends with a mutual love of the Listener crossword puzzle pit their wits against a trio of choristers from Sheffield University. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random, from Ken Kesey to Juliet Capulet to John Stonehouse to Dennis Watts.


MON 21:00 Sandhurst (b014v3qs)
First Encounter

With extraordinary and privileged access, Sandhurst is a three-part observational documentary shot at the Royal Military Academy over the course of a year. The series follows the journey of one intake of cadets, both male and female, through the 200-year-old institution - three gruelling terms that turn them from civilians into officers, from followers into the leaders needed for the ongoing war in Afghanistan and beyond.

The first programme follows the fresh-faced cadets as they struggle with the relentless routines of the first term. Strict discipline and severe physical demands will prove too much for some, as Britain's future military elite acclimatises to a different world.


MON 22:00 When TV Goes to War (b014v43c)
Documentary looking at how war has been dramatised on British television from the Second World War through the Falklands campaign to contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, examining the challenges - both financial and dramatic - in bringing war to the small screen.

Why have so many of our greatest TV writers been drawn to the subject, and why has so much of their work been controversial? Should writers always respect the historical facts, or can dramatic licence reveal the greater truth about war? And in a world of 24-hour news, can drama tell us anything about war we canʼt now see for ourselves?

It also looks at the lighter side of war, and why it has inspired some of our most successful sitcoms. Is there something about army life that lends itself to comedy? Soldiers who have had their exploits dramatised for television - Colonel Tim Collins, played by Kenneth Branagh in Ten Days to War, and Robert Lawrence, played by Colin Firth in Tumbledown - talk about the experience.

Other contributors include historians Antony Beevor and Max Hastings, and playwrights Alan Bleasdale (The Monocled Mutineer) and Ian Curteis (The Falklands Play). Ex-MI5 chief Stella Rimington considers television's coverage of the Cold War, and comedy writers Jimmy Perry (Dad's Army) and Greg McHugh (Gary Tank Commander) discuss the rules of the war-based sitcom.


MON 23:00 Walter's War (b00fh1w1)
Drama inspired by the life of Walter Tull who, after years in an orphanage, went on to become a professional footballer and then the first black commissioned officer to lead British troops during the First World War.

The action concerns Tull's turbulent passage from ordinary soldier to extraordinary officer at officer training camp, where he had to face his own demons as well as fight the prejudice that surrounded him.


MON 00:00 Sandhurst (b014v3qs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 01:00 When TV Goes to War (b014v43c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 02:00 Birds Britannia (b00vv6vm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 03:00 Only Connect (b014v3qq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 03:30 Sandhurst (b014v3qs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2011

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b014v4cc)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Hidden Paintings (b0126d90)
East Midlands

Dan Snow sets out to discover whether art can really sustain and inform our memories and knowledge of the past. He retraces the career of Nottingham-born artist Arthur Spooner (1873 - 1962) whose paintings are scattered across the region and faithfully record events and people as he saw them. But just how reliable is his work? In a specialist disability college situated in the middle of Sherwood Forest, Dan discovers a pair of virtually unknown Spooners that appear to tell a very specific story about a celebrated duchess, shed light on the role of the aristocracy during the First World War and hold a clue about the origins of the college. Dan sets out to solve the mystery and test the artist's historical accuracy.


TUE 20:00 Britain's Best Drives (b00hq4fb)
North Yorkshire Moors

Actor Richard Wilson takes a journey into the past, following routes raved about in motoring guides of mid-20th century.

In a classic Morris Minor Traveller, he drives from Scarborough to Whitby via the Yorkshire moors. On the way, he learns about the rise and fall of the British seaside resorts, takes a toll road through the Dalby Forest and checks out the mythical roadside wonder that is the Hole of Horecum.

He finds out how the village of Goathland now lives a double life, and ends up with a carload of goths on their way to visit Whitby Abbey.


TUE 20:30 Regimental Stories (b014v51m)
The Royal Welsh

Every year, the Royal Welsh celebrate the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift where 122 British soldiers survived an attack by 4,000 Zulu warriors. This documentary tells the real story behind the epic film Zulu and shows how regimental history continues to inspire and motivate new recruits to this day.


TUE 21:00 Entertaining the Troops (b014v51p)
During World War Two an army of performers from ballerinas to magicians, contortionists to impressionists, set out to help win the war by entertaining the troops far and wide. Risking their lives they ventured into war zones, dodging explosions and performing close to enemy lines. Featuring the memories of this intrepid band of entertainers and with contributions from Dame Vera Lynn, Eric Sykes and Tony Benn, this documentary tells the remarkable story of the World War II performers and hears the memories of some of those troops who were entertained during the dark days of war.


TUE 22:00 Gracie! (b00p1p41)
Singer and comedienne Gracie Fields from Rochdale was the nation's darling. Beginning on the cusp of World War II and at the phenomenal peak of her career, this heart-breaking love story tells of Gracie's relationship with Italian-born Hollywood director Monty Banks and its staggering repercussions.


TUE 23:20 Dinosaurs, Myths and Monsters (b014lsgb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:40 on Saturday]


TUE 00:20 Regimental Stories (b014v51m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 00:50 Entertaining the Troops (b014v51p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 01:50 Hidden Paintings (b0126d90)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:20 Britain's Best Drives (b00hq4fb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:50 Regimental Stories (b014v51m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 03:20 Entertaining the Troops (b014v51p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2011

WED 19:00 World News Today (b014v560)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qck1t)
The Order of the Elements

The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. From fiery phosphorus to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements - the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood.

In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.

In part two, Professor Al-Khalili looks at the 19th-century chemists who struggled to impose an order on the apparently random world of the elements. From working out how many there were to discovering their unique relationships with each other, the early scientists' bid to decode the hidden order of the elements was driven by false starts and bitter disputes. But ultimately the quest would lead to one of chemistry's most beautiful intellectual creations - the periodic table.


WED 20:30 Storyville (b014v562)
Law of the Dragon

Death of an Only Child

Judge Chen and his travelling court journey across the Xuan'en region to ensure that justice is served, even in the remotest corners of China. The hearings take place wherever he hangs the national emblem, be it nailed up in a barn or a field. In this episode, Judge Chen hears the sad case of a family who are attempting to hold a school responsible for the suicide of their only son.


WED 21:00 How to Build a Dinosaur (b014vy5y)
Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago and we have hardly ever found a complete skeleton. So how do we turn a pile of broken bones into a dinosaur exhibit? Dr Alice Roberts finds out how the experts put skeletons back together, with muscles, accurate postures and even, in some cases, the correct skin colour.


WED 22:00 Extinct: A Horizon Guide to Dinosaurs (b014vy60)
Dallas Campbell delves into the Horizon archive to discover how our ideas about dinosaurs have changed over the past 40 years. From realising that lumbering swamp dwellers were really agile warm blooded killers, astonishing new finds, controversial theories and breakthrough technology have enabled scientists to rethink how they lived and solve the mystery of their disappearance. And they can even reveal whether dinosaurs might still be with us today.


WED 23:00 When TV Goes to War (b014v43c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


WED 00:00 City of Men (b013h4c7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


WED 01:40 How to Build a Dinosaur (b014vy5y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 02:40 Extinct: A Horizon Guide to Dinosaurs (b014vy60)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 03:40 Storyville (b014v562)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]



THURSDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2011

THU 19:00 World News Today (b014vy92)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b014x82j)
09/09/76

Jimmy Savile introduces Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Wurzels, the Bay City Rollers, Kiki Dee, Twiggy, Cliff Richard, Abba and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Dance sequence by Ruby Flipper.


THU 20:00 Extinct: A Horizon Guide to Dinosaurs (b014vy60)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 The Lost Genius of British Art: William Dobson (b014vy94)
Has one of Britain's greatest artists been unfairly forgotten? Waldemar Januszczak thinks so. In this documentary, Januszczak argues that the little known 17th-century portrait painter William Dobson was the first English painter of genius.

Dobson's life and times are embedded in one of the most turbulent and significant epochs of British history - the English Civil War. As official court painter to Charles I, the tragic British king later beheaded by Parliament, Dobson had a ringside seat to an period of intense drama and conflict. Based in Oxford, where the court was transferred after Parliament took control of London, Dobson produced an astonishing number of high-quality portraits of royalist supporters, heroes and cavaliers which Januszczak believes are the first true examples of British art. As he puts it in the film: 'Dobson's face should be on our banknotes. His name should be on all our lips.'

The film investigates the few known facts about William Dobson and seeks out the personal stories he left behind as it follows him through his tragically short career. When he died in 1646 - penniless, unemployed and a drunk - Dobson was just 36.

Among the Dobson fans interviewed in the film is Earl Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, who agrees wholeheartedly that William Dobson was the first great British painter.


THU 22:00 World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel (b011wh1g)
Marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, historian Professor David Reynolds reassesses Stalin's role in the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two, which, he argues, was ultimately more critical for British survival than 'Our Finest Hour' in the Battle of Britain itself.

The name Stalin means 'man of steel', but Reynolds's penetrating account reveals how the reality of Stalin's war in 1941 did not live up to that name. Travelling to Russian battlefield locations, he charts how Russia was almost annihilated within a few months as Stalin lurched from crisis to crisis, coming close to a nervous breakdown.

Reynolds shows how Stalin learnt to compromise in order to win, listening to his generals and downplaying communist ideology to appeal instead to the Russian people's nationalist fighting spirit. He also squares up to the terrible moral dilemma at the heart of World War Two. Using original telegrams and official documents, he looks afresh at Winston Churchill's controversial visit to Moscow in 1942 and re-examines how Britain and America were drawn into alliance with Stalin, a dictator almost as murderous as the Nazi enemy.


THU 23:30 Entertaining the Troops (b014v51p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


THU 00:30 Regimental Stories (b014v51m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Tuesday]


THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b014x82j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:35 Extinct: A Horizon Guide to Dinosaurs (b014vy60)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Wednesday]


THU 02:35 Regimental Stories (b014v51m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Tuesday]


THU 03:05 The Lost Genius of British Art: William Dobson (b014vy94)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2011

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b014vyr0)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Europa Concert 2011 (b014vzy1)
Clemency Burton-Hill presents this year's Europa Concert by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle from the grand surroundings of the Teatro Real in Madrid.

This world-revered orchestra performs a programme with a distinctive Spanish flavour, including Chabrier's Espana and the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo, featuring the celebrated flamenco guitarist Juan Manuel Canizares. The programme concludes with one of the great Russian Romantic masterpieces - Rachmaninov's second symphony.

Burton-Hill also speaks with Sir Simon Rattle regarding the foundation of the Europa Concert together with the concert repertoire.


FRI 21:15 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b014vzy3)
70s Gold

The Old Grey Whistle Test was launched on 21 September 1971 from a tiny studio tucked behind a lift shaft on the fourth floor of BBC Television Centre. From humble beginnings, it has gone on to provide some of the best and most treasured music archive that the BBC has to offer.

This programme takes us on a journey and celebrates the musically mixed-up decade that was the 1970s, and which is reflected in the OGWT archive. There are classic performances from the glam era by Elton John and David Bowie, an early UK TV appearance from Curtis Mayfield, the beginnings of heavy metal with Steppenwolf's iconic Born to Be Wild anthem and the early punk machinations of the 'mock rock' New York Dolls. Archive from the pinnacle year, 1973, features Roxy Music, The Wailers and Vinegar Joe. The programme's finale celebrates the advent of punk and new wave with unforgettable performances from Patti Smith, Blondie, Iggy Pop and The Jam.

Artists featured are Elton John, Lindisfarne, David Bowie, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Steppenwolf, Vinegar Joe, Brinsley Schwarz, New York Dolls, Argent, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Captain Beefheart, Johnny Winter, Dr Feelgood, Gil Scott Heron, Patti Smith, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Cher & Gregg Allman, Talking Heads, The Jam, Blondie, Iggy Pop and The Specials.


FRI 22:45 The Old Grey Whistle Test Story (b0074t7r)
Jo Brand narrates a profile which celebrates the life and times of the BBC's first flagship live music programme, The Old Grey Whistle Test, which ran from 1971 to 1987. It looks at the music, the presenters, the TV rivals, the sparse studio and the legacy, finds out why Bob Harris whispered, what Sid Vicious tried to do to him and what Camel did with a woodwind quartet and why. All these questions are answered and many more, followed by loving compilations of those early 70s years, the era that time forgot.


FRI 23:25 The Whistle Test Years (b0074sdx)
1973

Bob Harris introduces clips from The Old Grey Whistle Test from 1973, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Who, John Martyn, the Average White Band, Ry Cooder, Clifford T Ward, Alex Harvey and Rory Gallagher.


FRI 00:05 Annie Nightingale: Bird on the Wireless (b011mb8d)
It's over 40 years since Annie Nightingale's very first show on Radio 1 - she was the station's first female DJ and is its longest-serving broadcaster. A lifelong champion of new music, first with punk, then new wave, acid house and dubstep, Annie is still at the cutting edge in her current incarnation as the 'Queen of the Breaks'.

In this film Annie takes us on a counter-cultural journey through the events, people and sounds that have inspired her career. Full of insightful anecdotes about her sonic adventures and the numerous pop-cultural shifts that have helped shape her idiosyncratic outlook and tastes, the film features exclusive contributions from some of the many artists Annie has worked with and admired, including Sir Paul McCartney and Mick Jones of The Clash. We also hear from the new generation of artists who confirm that she's an icon of the British music scene.


FRI 01:05 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b014vzy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:15 today]


FRI 02:35 Europa Concert 2011 (b014vzy1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]