SATURDAY 01 OCTOBER 2011

SAT 19:00 Life (p07gj8bp)
Birds

Birds owe their global success to feathers - something no other animal has. They allow birds to do extraordinary things.

For the first time, a slow-motion camera captures the unique flight of the marvellous spatuletail hummingbird as he flashes long, iridescent tail feathers in the gloomy undergrowth. Aerial photography takes us into the sky with an Ethiopian lammergeier dropping bones to smash them into edible-sized bits. Thousands of pink flamingoes promenade in one of nature's greatest spectacles. The sage grouse rubs his feathers against his chest in a comic display to make popping noises that attract females. The Vogelkop bowerbird makes up for his dull colour by building an intricate structure and decorating it with colourful beetles and snails.


SAT 20:00 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00vfgtg)
Henry VIII to the Industrial Revolution

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.

The tale reaches the dramatic events of Henry VIII's Reformation and the battles of the English Civil War. We track Kibworth's 17th century dissenters, travel on the Grand Union Canal and meet an 18th century feminist writer from Kibworth who was a pioneer of children's books.

The story of a young highwayman transported to Australia comes alive as his living descendents come back to the village to uncover their roots. Lastly, the Industrial Revolution comes to the village with framework knitting factories, changing the village and its people forever.


SAT 21:00 Inspector Montalbano (b00g6hqn)
Montalbano's Croquettes

As the small town of Vigata prepares for its New Year celebrations, local police inspector Salvo Montalbano is reluctantly making arrangements to travel to Paris with his girlfriend. What he would much rather do, however, is accept a dinner invitation by his cleaner Adelina, who has promised to cook rice croquettes.

A wealthy husband and wife are found dead in what appears to be a car accident, but which quickly turns into a murder investigation. As the circumstances surrounding the death of the couple grow more and more mysterious, clues point to the involvement of Adelina's son Pasquale.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:35 Sandhurst (b01558gx)
A Matter of Life and Death

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.

Risking their lives and having to kill the enemy has always been an inescapable reality for any soldier - but since the war in Afghanistan it's also almost inevitable for every officer to have to face this. In the past notions of patriotism and of a 'just war' provided a justification for the taking (and losing) of life. In a new era, how do the cadets face this fundamental challenge as Sandhurst presents the brutal realities of war to a new generation of officers - warts and all.


SAT 23:35 Top of the Pops (b0155fsq)
23/09/76

Tony Blackburn presents the weekly pop charts from which he introduces Smokie, Kiki Dee, The Drifters, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, The Wurzels, Bay City Rollers, Rod Stewart, ABBA, and dance sequences from Ruby Flipper.


SAT 00:05 Timeshift (b0155fss)
Series 11

Dear Censor

Lifting the lid on the world of cinema censorship, this programme has unique access to the files of the British Board of Film Classification. Featuring explicit and detailed exchanges between the censor and film-makers, 'Dear Censor' casts a wry eye over some of the most infamous cases in the history of the board.

From the now seemingly innocuous Rebel Without a Cause, the first 'naturist' films and the infamous works of Ken Russell, and up to Rambo III, this frank and surprisingly warm documentary demonstrates how a body created by the industry to safeguard standards and reflect shifts in public opinion has also worked unexpectedly closely with the film-makers themselves to ensure that their work was able reach an audience.


SAT 01:05 Rex Appeal (b0155bwq)
From the beginnings of film-making to the triumph of Jurassic Park - the dinosaur has always been a movie star. Over 60 minutes, BBC4's Rex Appeal takes a bite out of the Cretaceous cinema and reveals the truth about T-Rex.

It's a story that stretches from the charming cartoon apatosaurus Gertie (1914), to the vicious and cunning velociraptors of Spielbrerg's imagination.

But it's not all teeth and trashing city centres - as our critics explain, dinosaur movies are always about more than just dinosaurs. The 'nature finds a way' DNA argument in Jurassic Park directly mirrored the arguements about GM crops in the early 90s. Godzilla - the radioactive-breathed dinosaur emerged from the seas of Japan just nine years after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. King Kong and his dinosaur pals on Skull Island have sparked a million film school theories.

Of course, not all dino dramas are so high minded - in the Hammer film One Million Years BC, the audience were just as fascinated with Racquel Welsh's fur tops as they were with the Triceratops. Despite Hammer's claim that 'This is the way it was', the science was a little dubious- the last dinosaur died 64 million years before the first modern human appeared.

Whatever cultural anxieties dinosaurs represent, they've always been a cinematic spectacle that has thrilled audiences on a instinctual level - with each new breakthrough in special effects giving us ever more real Rex's.

Willis O'Brien gave us the legendary Kong v Rex fight that taught us to love Kong, Ray Harryhausen invented 'dinomation' and put dinosaurs and cowboys together in The Valley of Gwangi. And since the 90s - CGI has banished the man in the dino suit, and made prehistoric protagonists are more real than ever.

Contributors include film critics James King and Kim Newman, science broadcaster Adam Rutherford, comedian Susan Calman and broadcaster and film historian Matthew Sweet.


SAT 02:05 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00vfgtg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 03:05 Life (p07gj8bp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 04:05 Top of the Pops (b0155fsq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:35 today]



SUNDAY 02 OCTOBER 2011

SUN 19:00 The Department Store (b00fm5vx)
Milners

Filmmaker Richard Macer visits the independent high street department stores that are fighting back against the big brands.

He spends six months at a family-run store in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, where the owner is preparing to retire after forty years. David Milner is handing the business over to his daughter Leoni and her husband Keith, but will he go quietly?


SUN 20:00 The Maharajas' Motor Car: The Story of Rolls-Royce in India (b00j4c2s)
Documentary telling the story of Rolls-Royce in India through the fortunes of India's princes.

Combining newly shot high-definition sequences, archive film and photographs, this film follows the princes from the zenith of British imperial power in the early 1900s through to their decline in the aftermath of independence in 1947.

Contributors include: HH Shriji Arvind Singh, the Maharana of Udaipur; Manvendra Barwani, Rana of Barwani; Pranlal Bhogilal, India's foremost Rolls-Royce collector, and Sharada Dwivedi, writer and cultural commentator.


SUN 21:00 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.


SUN 22:00 Eyes Wide Open (b0153rnv)
The righteous life of an Orthodox Jewish butcher and father-of-four living in Jerusalem is quietly torn apart when he falls in love with his young male apprentice.


SUN 23:30 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b015f5c8)
Series 2

Episode 1

The celebration of the singing songwriting troubadours of the 1960s and 70s continues with a further trawl through the BBC archives for timeless and classic performances.

Don McLean performs his huge hit American Pie from 1972 and Tim Buckley provides some sublime sounds with a rendition of his song Happy Time. Also making an appearance is the long-lamented John Martyn, folk queen Sandy Denny and, in a duet with Joe Egan as Stealers Wheel, the late Gerry Rafferty. Stealers Wheel chum and one-time collaborator Rab Noakes also makes a contribution to this compilation.

Leonard Cohen and Julie Felix present a unique collaboration and performance of Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye, and there's an unforgettable performance of Case of You by Joni Mitchell. No celebration of this genre would be complete without contributions from songwriting heavyweights such as Elton John, Paul Simon, Loudon Wainwright III and Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens.


SUN 00:30 Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter (b012cr37)
Morgan Neville's full-length documentary is James Taylor and Carole King's first-hand account of the genesis and blossoming of the 1970s singer-songwriter culture in LA, focusing on the backgrounds and emerging collaboration between Taylor, King and the Troubadour, the famed West Hollywood club that nurtured a community of gifted young artists and singer-songwriters.

Taylor and King first performed together at the Troubadour in November 1970, and the film explores their coming together and the growth of a new, personal voice in songwriting pioneered by a small group of fledgling artists around the club. Contributors include Taylor, King, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, JD Souther, Peter Asher, Cheech & Chong, Steve Martin and Elton John.


SUN 01:55 Songwriters' Circle (b0155h78)
Series 2

Allen Toussaint, James Dean Bradfield, John Grant

The new series of the songwriters' showcase gets off to a flying start with an intriguingly diverse trio of artists.

Legendary American soul songwriter Allen Toussaint shares the stage at London's Bush Hall with Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield and the critically hailed ex-Czars frontman John Grant.

Allen Toussaint has written for and been covered by countless artists, from Glen Campbell to The Grateful Dead, Irma Thomas to The Yardbirds. Here, accompanying himself with his elegant New Orleans-style piano playing, he performs classic songs like 'Working In a Coalmine', 'Get Out of My Life, Woman' and for the first time ever, 'It's Raining'.

Mr Toussaint is clearly enthralled by the rich baritone and lovelorn confessional songs of John Grant on the piano opposite. Grant's solo debut 'Queen of Denmark" was Mojo's Album of the Year and this live performance shows why, with songs from the reference-laden 'Sigourney Weaver', to the sublime epic, 'Where Dreams Go to Die' .

Sandwiched between the two baby grands, James Dean Bradfield on guitar more than holds his own. The stripped back acoustic format reveals the unadorned strength of powerhouse band hits like 'If You Tolerate This' and 'Design for Life', as well as suiting gentler (musically, if not lyrically) songs like 'Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky'.

An inspiring musical journey of discovery for artists and audience alike.


SUN 02:55 The Maharajas' Motor Car: The Story of Rolls-Royce in India (b00j4c2s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 03 OCTOBER 2011

MON 19:00 World News Today (b015j54p)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Birds Britannia (b00w4k7j)
Countryside Birds

Countryside birds like the skylark, pheasant and nightingale are amongst the most iconic of all Britain's birds. For centuries, they have been celebrated in music and poetry, used to forecast the weather and hunted for food. They have not just shaped the British countryside, but also defined its nature.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b015j54r)
Series 5

Rock'n'rollers vs Trade Unionists

Three aficionados of the Scottish rock music scene pit their wits against three members of an executive council trade union group. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random, from Isabelle Dinoire to Tycho Brahe to the Maid in the Garden to the Sphinx.


MON 21:00 Sandhurst (b015j54t)
Officer Class

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 final episode sees tensions mount amongst the officer cadets. With the end in sight but the prospect of being 'back termed' ever present, the stakes go up each week. The academy's image as a bastion of old school tie and privilege comes under the spotlight as the unrelenting pace tests each individual's abilities - physical, mental and emotional - against the standards of becoming a British officer in the regiments and corps they have applied to join. For some, keeping up proves impossible - but for others the Sandhurst dream is about to become a reality.


MON 22:00 Rory Bremner and the Fighting Scots (b00ml4yx)
The Scots have a reputation as brave, ferocious warriors. Despite a troubled history with England, history shows that more of Scotland's young men sign up to fight for the crown than anywhere else in Britain.

Rory Bremner, whose own father and great grandfather were distinguished Scottish soldiers, sets out to discover why rebel clansmen became loyal servants of the military establishment.

His story takes him to Culloden, Crimea and northern France. As the sound of the pipes floats over Scottish military camps in Afghanistan he asks if, after 250 years, the Scottish soldier's loyalty to Queen and country is running out?


MON 23:00 Rex Appeal (b0155bwq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:05 on Saturday]


MON 00:00 Sandhurst (b015j54t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 01:00 Birds Britannia (b00w4k7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:00 Rory Bremner and the Fighting Scots (b00ml4yx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 03:00 Only Connect (b015j54r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 03:30 Sandhurst (b015j54t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 04 OCTOBER 2011

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b015j579)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Hidden Paintings (b012720w)
South East

Interior designer Kathryn Rayward uncovers the hidden art of the Bloomsbury Set in Sussex, where a long-hidden painting of a lady in a red dress sheds light on the tangled love lives of novelist Virginia Woolf, painter Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. She follows the trail of Bloomsbury's artistic legacy to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery to unearth more hidden art, and visits the stunning murals at Berwick church and goes behind-the-scenes at Towner in Eastbourne.


TUE 20:00 Britain's Best Drives (b00j0gsq)
North Cornish Coast

Actor Richard Wilson takes a journey into the past, following routes raved about in motoring guides of 50 years ago.

Richard struggles to get to grips with a retro VW camper van as he drives the coast road from St Ives to Land's End.

He learns of St Ives's 1950s abstract art heyday and meets a 95-year-old painter still at work in Porthmeor Studios. He discovers why DH Lawrence was expelled from the county, hears legends of Cornish mermaids and gets to know his van on a blustery clifftop campsite.


TUE 20:30 Regimental Stories (b015j5s6)
The Royal Tank Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment began as a top secret band of plumbers, electricians and mechanics brought together to break the stalemate of trench warfare in WWI. They revolutionised warfare and the regimental history of bravery and innovation inspires members of the regiment to this day.


TUE 21:00 Cruise of the Gods (b0074b9q)
Andy Van Allen, former hero of a cult 80s futuristic TV show Children of Castor, is now working as a hotel porter. In contrast, his ex co-star, Nick Lee, has shot to fame in the USA starring in a highly successful, internationally syndicated mini-series, Sherlock Holmes in Miami.

Things start to look up for Andy when an unusual offer comes along - the Children of Castor fan club has organised a cruise around the Greek islands from Istanbul to Athens and invite him to attend as the principal celebrity. Once aboard however, a combination of Andy's cynicism, his fans' adoration, a misguided sexual encounter and an unexpected death ensure the paradise cruise is far from plain sailing.

With his world spinning out of control it's time for Andy to pull off the ultimate act which justifies the adoration of his fans - it's time for Andy Van Allen to become a true hero.


TUE 22:30 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b015mt6b)
Rob Brydon

Mark Lawson talks to the versatile actor and comedian Rob Brydon about his life and career in entertainment. In this in-depth interview Rob discusses his long road to fame from Porthcawl to primetime via years of 'tiny roles that a labrador could have played'.

Brydon's astute vocal and comedic observations have earned him a diverse career writing and performing for radio, film, television, stand-up and theatre, culminating in his BAFTA-nominated The Rob Brydon Show. He has gained a devoted audience following stand-out roles in The Trip, A Cock and Bull Story, Gavin and Stacey, Marion and Geoff and Human Remains, as well as hosting the popular panel show Would I Lie to You?


TUE 23:30 Britain's Best Drives (b00j0gsq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 00:00 Regimental Stories (b015j5s6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 00:30 Eyes Wide Open (b0153rnv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


TUE 02:00 Cruise of the Gods (b0074b9q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 03:30 Hidden Paintings (b012720w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 04:00 Regimental Stories (b015j5s6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]



WEDNESDAY 05 OCTOBER 2011

WED 19:00 World News Today (b015j5v2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Frost on Satire (b00srhgn)
Sir David Frost presents an investigation into the power of political satire with the help of some of the funniest TV moments of the last 50 years.

Beginning with the 1960s and That Was the Week That Was, he charts the development of television satire in Britain and the United States and is joined by the leading satirists from both sides of the Atlantic. From the UK, Rory Bremner, Ian Hislop and John Lloyd discuss their individual contributions, while from the US, Jon Stewart analyses the appeal of The Daily Show, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell talk about their respective portrayals of Sarah Palin and George W Bush, and Chevy Chase remembers how Saturday Night Live turned them into huge stars.

All of them tackle the key question of whether satire really can alter the course of political events.


WED 20:30 Timothy Spall: Somewhere at Sea (b00s96y1)
The Call of the Sea

Three-part documentary series featuring one of Britain's best loved actors, Timothy Spall, as he and his wife sail from to Cornwall to south Wales in a Dutch barge.

The first programme sees Timothy and Shane set off in the Princess Matilda from Fowey in Cornwall, heading towards Land's End.

By his own admission, Timothy is an unqualified and slightly nervous mariner, but Shane has every confidence in his sea-faring abilities. The intrepid crew encounter a battleship on what could be a firing range, before getting holed up in the Helford river due to bad weather, which gives them an excuse to meet the locals and witness a lively festival.

But all the time Timothy is fretting over the next leg of his journey, which sees the Princess Matilda circumnavigate the infamous Lizard Point, known as the graveyard of ships with its dangerous rocks stretching four miles out to sea.


WED 21:00 Wide Sargasso Sea (b0074sy4)
Dramatisation of Jean Rhys's novel set in 19th-century Jamaica. The tragic story of the first Mrs Rochester from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre centres on an arranged marriage between a white Creole heiress and a brooding Englishman, who fall in love only to be torn apart by rumours, paranoia and a cultural divide.


WED 22:25 The Real Jane Austen (b0074p77)
Drama-documentary exploring the life of Jane Austen. Actor Anna Chancellor, a distant relative of Jane Austen, discovers the woman behind the acclaimed novels through readings and reconstructions. Location shots of her homes in Steventon and Chawton and extracts from adaptations of her work are also featured.


WED 23:20 Inspector Montalbano (b00g6hqn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


WED 00:55 Timothy Spall: Somewhere at Sea (b00s96y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 01:25 Wide Sargasso Sea (b0074sy4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 02:50 The Real Jane Austen (b0074p77)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:25 today]



THURSDAY 06 OCTOBER 2011

THU 19:00 World News Today (b015j7kq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b07pkfwm)
Pegasus and Andromeda

Two of the great autumn constellations of Andromeda and Pegasus will soon be gracing our night skies. The maiden Andromeda, chained to her rock, awaits her fate whilst the winged horse Pegasus gallops across the celestial skies. Full of interesting stars, nebulae and galaxies, these constellations are rich pickings for astronomers.


THU 20:00 Horizon (b00rgg31)
2009-2010

Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?

There's something very odd going on in space - something that shouldn't be possible. It is as though vast swathes of the universe are being hoovered up by a vast and unseen celestial vacuum cleaner.

Sasha Kaslinsky, the scientist who discovered the phenomenon, is understandably nervous: 'It left us quite unsettled and jittery' he says, 'because this is not something we planned to find'. The accidental discovery of what is ominously being called 'dark flow' not only has implications for the destinies of large numbers of galaxies - it also means that large numbers of scientists might have to find a new way of understanding the universe.

Dark flow is the latest in a long line of phenomena that have threatened to rewrite the textbooks. Does it herald a new era of understanding, or does it simply mean that everything we know about the universe is wrong?


THU 21:00 Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity (p00kjq6h)
Spark

Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the electrifying story of our quest to master nature's most mysterious force - electricity. Until fairly recently, electricity was seen as a magical power, but it is now the lifeblood of the modern world and underpins every aspect of our technological advancements.

Without electricity, we would be lost. This series tells of dazzling leaps of imagination and extraordinary experiments - a story of maverick geniuses who used electricity to light our cities, to communicate across the seas and through the air, to create modern industry and to give us the digital revolution.

Episode one tells the story of the very first 'natural philosophers' who started to unlock the mysteries of electricity. They studied its curious link to life, built strange and powerful instruments to create it and even tamed lightning itself. It was these men who truly laid the foundations of the modern world. Electricity was without doubt a fantastical wonder. This is the story about what happened when the first real concerted effort was made to understand electricity - how we learned to create and store it, before finally creating something that enabled us to make it at will - the battery.


THU 22:00 The Secret Life of the National Grid (b00vkjmy)
Wiring the Nation

At the heart of Britain sits something so all pervasive we don't even notice it's there - the national electricity grid. This three-part series charts how our lives got wired and the impact electrification has had.

The opening part takes us from the epic construction of the first grid in the 1920s and 30s to the challenge of making sure there is power at the flick of a switch today. Using rare archive and vivid personal accounts it reveals the heroic efforts, architectural masterpieces and engineering achievements behind the real power map of Britain.

Contributors include author Will Self, urban planner Sir Peter Hall and grid veterans on how Britain first banished darkness and turned on the electric light.


THU 23:00 Only Connect (b015j54r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


THU 23:30 Regimental Stories (b015j5s6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Tuesday]


THU 00:00 The Sky at Night (b07pkfwm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 00:30 Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity (p00kjq6h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 01:30 Only Connect (b015j54r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


THU 02:00 Horizon (b00rgg31)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 03:00 Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity (p00kjq6h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 07 OCTOBER 2011

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b015j8g3)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello (b015j8g5)
No-one has done more for the cello than Mstislav Rostropovich, or Slava as he was widely known. As well as being arguably the greatest cellist of the twentieth century, he expanded and enriched the cello repertoire by the sheer force of his artistry and his personality and composers lined up to write works for him.

In this film by John Bridcut, friends, family and former pupils explore the unique talents of this great Russian artist, and listen to and watch him making music. Contributors include his widow Galina Vishnevskaya and their daughters Olga and Elena; the eminent conductors Seiji Ozawa and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky; and cellists who attended his famous classes in Moscow, including Natalya Gutman, Mischa Maisky, Moray Welsh, Elizabeth Wilson and Karine Georgian.

The film traces the development of Rostropovich's international career amid the political tensions of the final years of the Soviet Union.


FRI 21:00 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b015j8g7)
Series 2

Episode 2

The celebration of the singing songwriting troubadours of the 1960s and 70s continues with a further trawl through the BBC archives for timeless and classic performances.

Tom Paxton starts proceedings with a rare black and white performance of his classic song The Last Thing on My Mind filmed in 1964. Also making an appearance is the 'fifth Beatle', Harry Nilsson, with a performance from his BBC concert in 1972. Other gems from this year include Canadian Gordon Lightfoot, songwriting duo Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan as Stealers Wheel and the most popular acoustic act of the 1970s, the gentle, bespectacled John Denver.

From the Basil Brush Show in 1973, Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance make a surprise appearance. Californian Beach Boy Bruce Johnston offers a sublime version of Disney Girls, and Joan Armatrading injects a bit of brio on the Old Grey Whistle Test. Rounding it all off is six-time Grammy winner Billy Joel.


FRI 22:00 Songwriters' Circle (b015j8g9)
Series 2

Leon Russell, Nick Lowe, Paul Brady

Three songwriters share the stage at west London's beautiful Porchester Hall and treat the audience to self-penned songs from their illustrious careers.

Perched at the piano like a benign ringmaster in shades and flowing white beard, Leon Russell is the great American songwriter responsible for such mega-classics as the Carpenters' Song for You and This Masquerade and Rita Coolidge's Delta Lady.

Punk and pub rock pioneer Nick Lowe is an affable presence as he croons his fabulous songs - ranging from the hit Cruel to Be Kind to (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (familiar to many via The Bodyguard film) and the darkly intense The Beast In Me, written for Johnny Cash and used in hit film Hangover 2.

Irish singer-songwriter Paul Brady exudes passion with his fiery voice and energetic finger-picking guitar. Admired by the likes of Bob Dylan and Tina Turner, his songs straddle folk and pop, from the rousing The World Is What You Make It to the tender Smile.


FRI 23:00 Harry Nilsson: The Missing Beatle (b015sqsz)
From the moment they heard him sing, the Beatles dubbed Harry Nilsson their favourite American musician. He was one of the most talented singer songwriters of his generation - the man with the bewitching voice, best remembered for his stunning recording of Everyone's Talking, the theme tune to Midnight Cowboy.

But Harry Nilsson was also his own worst enemy, a man whose drink and drugs lifestyle was as notorious as his three and a half octave vocal range was legendary. This film paints a vivid portrait of the man known to many as The Missing Beatle. With contributions from Dustin Hoffman, Yoko Ono, Robin Williams, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Brian Wilson, The Smothers Brothers and many others.

This is the first complete BBC TV airing for John Scheinfeld's full length feature first entitled 'Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) which appeared in an edited version introduced by Alan Yentob on Imagine during the summer.


FRI 00:55 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b015j8g7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:55 Songwriters' Circle (b015j8g9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:55 Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello (b015j8g5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]