SATURDAY 13 OCTOBER 2012

SAT 19:00 Human Planet (b00rrd7t)
Mountains - Life in Thin Air

From lush cloud forests to bare summits that take your breath away, the higher you climb the tougher life gets on a mountain. Human Planet explores the extraordinary ways in which people survive at extreme altitudes where nature becomes utterly unforgiving.

In the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia, the vast open spaces make hunting for animals almost impossible, so the locals have forged an astonishing partnership with golden eagles which can do the hunting for them.

On the precipitous cliffs of the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia we join a young boy locked in a dramatic battle with fearsome gelada monkeys which are hellbent on raiding his family's meagre grain harvest.

In the Himalayan state of Nepal we witness a rarely seen ceremony - a sky burial. In a land where there is little wood to burn for cremation and where burying the dead is virtually impossible, the dead are fed to vultures in the ultimate reverence of nature.


SAT 20:00 Horizon (b00vdkmj)
2010-2011

What Happened Before the Big Bang?

They are the biggest questions that science can possibly ask: where did everything in our universe come from? How did it all begin? For nearly a hundred years, we thought we had the answer - a big bang some 14 billion years ago.

But now some scientists believe that was not really the beginning. Our universe may have had a life before this violent moment of creation.

Horizon takes the ultimate trip into the unknown to explore a dizzying world of cosmic bounces, rips and multiple universes, and finds out what happened before the big bang.


SAT 21:00 Inspector Montalbano (b01ndgjb)
Paper Moon

A distressed woman arrives at Vigata police station to report the disappearance of her brother. Soon enough, the man is found murdered in what appears to have been a crime of passion. But Montalbano is reluctant to give too much credit to appearances and digs into the victim's past, talking to anyone who might have had an involvement in the case. Meanwhile, a number of high-profile businessmen and politicians die as a result of cocaine overdoses.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:50 Story of Light Entertainment (b00792kf)
The Comics

In the 21st century comedy is firmly at the very heart of light entertainment and, far from struggling for their art, comedians stand to make a fortune if they hit the nation's funny bone. Laughter is now a very big business, but it wasn't always like this - back in the early days of music hall, the comic was the lowest of the low in the showbiz world.

This episode charts the comedian's meteoric rise to the top, examining the careers and lives of comedy legends past and present. From the music hall antics of Edwardian surrealist comic Little Titch to the modern-day surrealism of Little Britain, it presents a unique insight into the lives and minds of the finest comedians the UK has ever seen.

It traces the enormous influence the northern working men's clubs had on British comedy, examines the alternative comedy movement which fought against sexism and racism, and uncovers the private sadness and inner torment of many of the greatest laughter-makers from Frankie Howerd to Tony Hancock.

Stars appearing include Victoria Wood, Bruce Forsyth, Stanley Baxter, Jo Brand, Bernard Manning, Freddie Starr, Roy Chubby Brown and many more.


SAT 00:20 Let's Have a Party! The Piano Genius of Mrs Mills (b01n21d2)
Rick Wakeman, Rowland Rivron and Pete Murray are among those telling the extraordinary story of the secretary-turned-pianist who shared a manager with the Rolling Stones and studio space with the Beatles at Abbey Road.


SAT 01:20 The Sky at Night (b08slxhf)
Moore Winter Marathon

Sir Patrick Moore selects celestial objects to observe in the winter night sky and challenges viewers to spot as many as possible. In the second part of the year's Moore Marathon, Sir Patrick has selected two lists to suit astronomers of all abilities - objects that can be seen with the naked eye or binoculars, and more remote ones observable only by telescope.


SAT 01:50 Horizon (b00vdkmj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:50 Human Planet (b00rrd7t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 14 OCTOBER 2012

SUN 19:00 Fiddler on the Roof (b018kwnv)
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish peasant must contend with marrying off his three daughters while antisemitic sentiment threatens his home.


SUN 21:50 Timeshift (b01n8hdj)
Series 12

Klezmer

Michael Grade narrates the story of klezmer, the 'original party music'. From its origins in Jewish folk music performed at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, klezmer has now gone global, played from Amsterdam to Australia to audiences who find its spirit and energy hard to resist. Timeshift explores the sounds, influences and shifting fortunes of this infectious music and shows that beneath its joyful strains lies an emotional appeal that you don't need to be Jewish to respond to.


SUN 22:50 An Evening with Andy Williams (b01ngwjc)
Part One

From 1978, Andy Williams in concert at the Royal Albert Hall and in conversation with Benny Green.


SUN 23:40 An Evening with Andy Williams (b01nhr90)
Part Two

From 1978, Andy Williams in concert at the Royal Albert Hall and in conversation with Benny Green.


SUN 00:30 Squeeze: Take Me I'm Yours (b01n8kmq)
Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the men behind Squeeze, have been called everything from the new Lennon and McCartney to the godfathers of Britpop. Now, 35 years after their first record, this documentary reappraises the songwriting genius of Difford and Tilbrook and shows why Squeeze hold a special place in British pop music.

Difford and Tilbrook, two working class kids from south east London, formed Squeeze in 1974 with the dream of one day appearing on Top of the Pops. In 1978, they achieved that dream when the single Take Me I'm Yours gave the band the first of a string of top 20 hits. The period from 1978 to 1982 saw the group release a run of classic singles, timeless gems such as Cool for Cats, Up the Junction, Labelled with Love, Tempted and Pulling Mussels (From the Shell) to name but a few.

Although the line-up of Squeeze would go through various changes of personnel (another founder member Jools Holland left in 1980 and then rejoined the group in 1985) it is Difford and Tilbrook's songs that have remained the constant throughout the lifetime of the band.

The duo explain how they came to write and record many of their greatest songs. Although their relationship at times has often been tenuous at best, the mutual admiration for each other's talent has produced some of the best songs of the past 40 years.

With contributions from former band members Jools Holland and Paul Carrack, together with testament from Elvis Costello, Mark Knopfler and Aimee Mann to Difford and Tilbrook's songwriting talent and why they deserve to be placed alongside such renowned songwriting partnerships as Lennon and McCartney, Jagger and Richards and Elton John and Bernie Taupin.


SUN 01:30 Paul Carrack: The Man with the Golden Voice (b01n8kms)
Sheffield's Paul Carrack has slowly and subtly become a national institution who can spend nearly three months touring around the UK as he will this winter around his latest album, Good Feeling. The golden voice of Ace's 1974 blue-eyed soul hit How Long, Squeeze's Tempted and Mike and the Mechanics' The Living Years, Carrack is a journeyman of British rock, soul and pop whose career has unfolded slowly and steadily until he has become something of a national treasure.

This affectionate documentary traces Carrack's musical journey from Warm Dust and Ace through Squeeze, Roxy Music and Mike and the Mechanics to his successful latter-day solo career, with intimate access to the likeable, somewhat diffident yet determined Carrack and thoughtful contributions from friends, family and peers including Nick Lowe, Chris Difford and others.


SUN 02:30 In Concert (b00v7xjd)
Squeeze

David Hepworth introduces part of a live concert by Squeeze from 1982 at the Regal Theatre in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.



MONDAY 15 OCTOBER 2012

MON 19:00 World News Today (b01ndd4c)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00yd1pb)
Series 2

Dumbarton to Tyndrum

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains, as he journeys up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye.

Michael explores the historic Dumbarton shipyards that built the Cutty Sark, visits one of Queen Victoria's favourite haunts, Loch Lomond, and goes hunting for gold in Scotland's mountains.


MON 20:00 London on Film (b01jzq75)
The West End

From bright lights, showbusiness and shops to riots, sleaze and traffic jams, film-makers have long been drawn to London's West End. Using a rich mix of archive material, this film paints a colourful and surprising portrait of the city's beating heart.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b01ndj07)
Series 6

Accountants v Cinephiles

Three colleagues in an accountancy firm pit their wits against a team of cinema lovers, competing to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria Coren if you want to know what connects Touched by Death, electrocuted by hospital generator, squashed by cartload of underpants and shot by Mr Garrison.


MON 21:00 World War Two: 1942 and Hitler's Soft Underbelly (b01ndj09)
The British fought the Second World War to defeat Hitler. This film asks why, then, did they spend so much of the conflict battling through North Africa and Italy?

Historian David Reynolds reassesses Winston Churchill's conviction that the Mediterranean was the 'soft underbelly' of Hitler's Europe. Travelling to Egypt and Italian battlefields like Cassino, scene of some of the worst carnage in western Europe, he shows how, in reality, the 'soft underbelly' became a dark and dangerous obsession for Churchill.

Reynolds reveals a prime minister very different from the jaw-jutting bulldog of Britain's 'finest hour' in 1940 - a leader who was politically vulnerable at home, desperate to shore up a crumbling British empire abroad, losing faith in his army and even ready to deceive his American allies if it might delay fighting head to head against the Germans in northern France.


MON 22:30 The Children Who Fought Hitler (b00ntqq3)
Documentary telling the forgotten story of a heroic battle fought by the children of the British Memorial School to help liberate Europe from the Nazis.

The school served a unique horticultural community of ex-First World War soldiers and their families living in Ypres in Belgium who lovingly tended the war graves. Steeped in ideals of patriotic service and sacrifice, many pupils and ex-pupils refused to surrender to the invading Nazi forces.

Three surviving school pupils tell their extraordinary stories of resistance, illustrated with rare archive film. Elaine Madden dramatically escaped to England where she joined the Special Operations Executive and was dropped into Belgium to work as a spy and saboteur. Jerry Eaton joined the RAF taking on especially dangerous missions over Europe and would later become a wing commander. Stephen Grady joined the French resistance where, as a young teenager, he became adept in sabotage and secret attacks on German troops.

The film is a much deserved tribute to the courage, sacrifice and heroism of the Memorial School children.


MON 23:30 The Shock of the New (b0074qhk)
The Future That Was

Robert Hughes slips down the decline of modernism while visiting installations and watching art without substance. Once accepted as the dominant culture, the art of modernism found itself without an avant-garde and without the ability to shock or provoke other than as objects that cost absurd amounts of money. Hughes examines how artists have dealt with this commercialisation. Artists include Bridget Reilly, Joseph Beuys and David Hockney.


MON 00:30 Edna O'Brien: Life, Stories (b01ncp5s)
Now 81 and due to publish her memoirs in October 2012, renowned Irish novelist Edna O'Brien has opened her home and her heart to documentary filmmakers.

O'Brien's journey from Tuamgraney, County Clare to the centre of literary life in London has involved rebellion, censorship, elopement, motherhood, divorce, custody battles and the rearing of two sons as a single mother, as well as a glittering social life and a growing profile as a public personality and commentator.

Based on a series of frank, moving and entertaining interviews with O'Brien and her two sons Carlo and Sasha Gebler, the film offers a privileged glimpse of O'Brien's more private life, her writing process and rituals - a fascinating portrait of a woman whose infinite variety and ageless spirit make her an icon at home and abroad.

Edna O'Brien's was, and still is, a life lived in technicolour. She was a key figure in the social and literary whirl of sixties and seventies London and is probably the only Irish novelist who credits the taking of LSD with influencing her prose style in the early seventies.

The documentary touches on tales of the writer's social encounters with many of that period's biggest names, including Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Mitchum. But all the while, in her life and in her work O'Brien was dealing with a complex emotional life, including her tangled relationship with her parents and her ambivalence towards Ireland. The resulting film gives unprecedented insight, encompassing the sweep of a long career, into one of the great survivors in Irish literature.


MON 01:25 London on Film (b01jzq75)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 01:55 Only Connect (b01ndj07)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 02:25 World War Two: 1942 and Hitler's Soft Underbelly (b01ndj09)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 16 OCTOBER 2012

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01ndd4j)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00yd1x4)
Series 2

Oban to Corrour

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains, as he journeys up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye.

Michael discovers how trains spread the word about Oban whisky, hears about the heroic struggle to build a railway across the desolate Rannoch Moor and visits Corrour, one of the favourite shooting estates of the Victorian political elite.


TUE 20:00 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792vj)
The Dark Lords of Hattusha

It was one of the greatest vanishing acts in history. More than 3,000 years ago a mysterious and ruthless civilisation rose from nothing, created a brutal and unstoppable army and built an empire that rivalled Egypt and Babylon. Yet, just as it was at the height of its powers, the great empire suddenly vanished from history.

This is the story of the formidable Hittites, a civilisation bent on world domination. Their long-lost capital, Hattusha, which disappeared thousands of years ago, was recently rediscovered, and archaeologists have unearthed one of the most astonishing and ingenious cities of the ancient world, featuring rings of impenetrable walls, secret tunnels, temples, palaces and a vast pyramid-like structure facing Egypt.

Buried in this lost city is one of the greatest libraries of the ancient world. All the secrets of the mysterious Hittite empire were written in two codes - one a unique form of hieroglyphs. Using these deciphered texts, the film recreates the ancient world of the Hittites, telling the story of what happened to them, and what caused an empire built to last forever to vanish so completely from history.


TUE 21:00 Order and Disorder (p00ynyl9)
Energy

Professor Jim Al-Khalili discovers the intriguing story of how we discovered the rules that drive the universe. Energy is vital to us all, but what exactly is energy? In attempting to answer this question Jim investigates a strange set of laws that link together everything from engines to humans to stars. It turns out that energy, so critical to daily existence, actually helps us make sense of the entire universe.


TUE 22:00 Lilyhammer (b01ndj79)
Pack Your Lederhosen

Frank is settling in well in his fancy new penthouse apartment in Lillehammer, until it is brought to his attention that he has to fulfil certain communal obligations. A couple of his New York associates have trailed him to Norway and are keen to settle a few scores.


TUE 22:45 The Goddess of Art: Marina Abramovic (b01ndj7d)
Seductive, fearless, and outrageous, Marina Abramovic has been redefining what art is for nearly 40 years. Using her own body as a vehicle, pushing herself beyond her limits and at times risking her life in the process, she creates performances that challenge, shock and move people. In this documentary, Marina prepares for what may be the most important moment of her life - a major new retrospective of her work, taking place at the Museum of Modern Art. To be given a retrospective at one of the world's premier museums is the most exhilarating sort of milestone. For Marina, it is far more - it is the chance to finally silence the question she has been hearing over and over again for four decades: 'But why is this art?'.


TUE 00:30 Arena (b00dn7hc)
The Whale in the Museum

Documentary telling the story of the construction of the much-loved blue whale at the Natural History Museum. As the world marched towards war in 1938, a determined group of men at the museum undertook the unprecedented task of building a life-sized model of the largest creature that has ever lived.


TUE 00:50 Inspector Montalbano (b01ndgjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


TUE 02:40 Order and Disorder (p00ynyl9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2012

WED 19:00 World News Today (b01ndd4p)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00yd2q7)
Series 2

Roybridge to Glenfinnan

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. He travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed the people of Britain, and what remains of Bradshaw's experiences today, as he journeys up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye.

Michael investigates one of the great geological mysteries of the 19th century - the parallel roads of Glenroy. Plus, he finds out how the Victorians put a weather observatory on the top of Ben Nevis and takes a steam train across one of the most spectacular viaducts in Britain at Glenfinnan.


WED 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.


WED 20:30 Tales from the Wild Wood (b01ndkwq)
Episode 1

Writer and woodsman Rob Penn takes on a year-long project to bring part of an abandoned woodland, Strawberry Cottage Wood, back to life.

Rob starts work, introducing pigs to clear bracken and brambles and planning his tasks for the year. Felling a dead tree on his first day almost throws the whole project into jeopardy.


WED 21:00 The Final Frontier? A Horizon Guide to the Universe (p00yjn1x)
Dallas Campbell looks back through almost 50 years of the Horizon archives to chart the scientific breakthroughs that have transformed our understanding of the universe. From Einstein's concept of spacetime to alien planets and extra dimensions, science has revealed a cosmos that is more bizarre and more spectacular than could have ever been imagined. But with every breakthrough, even more intriguing mysteries that lie beyond are found. This great journey of discovery is only just beginning.


WED 22:00 Getting On (p00yjymx)
Series 3

Episode 1

It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new ward. King Edwards has shut, B4 is no more. Kim, Den and Pippa have moved to neighbouring St Jude's in anticipation of a now-stalled redevelopment. Their new home, twin-bayed K2, is modern and clean - all appears well. But behind the glossy facade lie the same old patients and problems, and beyond that comes a long list of new worries. Kim is barely keeping her head above water, home life for Pippa is no more settled, and Den is about to discover her own brand new challenge. With Hilary Loftus looking for efficiency savings and diversity cup cakes on the menu courtesy of modern matron Damaris, the staff once again get on with the daily task of getting on.


WED 22:30 The Cricklewood Greats (b01bs3ww)
Peter Capaldi embarks upon a personal journey to discover the shocking history of the stars of north London's famous film studios. Including clips from rarely seen films and interviews with Marcia Warren and Terry Gilliam.


WED 23:15 Human Planet (b00rrd7t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


WED 00:15 Tales from the Wild Wood (b01ndkwq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 00:45 Britain's Best Drives (b00hq4fb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 01:15 Getting On (p00yjymx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 01:45 Great British Railway Journeys (b00yd2q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:15 The Final Frontier? A Horizon Guide to the Universe (p00yjn1x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 18 OCTOBER 2012

THU 19:00 World News Today (b01ndd4v)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01nhb4k)
22/09/77

Dave Lee Travis looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces Hank the Knife & the Jets, the Stranglers, Baccara, Stardust, La Belle Epoque, Leo Sayer, the Boomtown Rats, Meri Wilson and a Legs & Co dance sequence.


THU 20:00 Horizon (b01f893x)
2011-2012

Global Weirding

Something weird seems to be happening to our weather - it appears to be getting more extreme.

In the past few years we have shivered through two record-breaking cold winters and parts of the country have experienced intense droughts and torrential floods. It is a pattern that appears to be playing out across the globe. Hurricane chasers are recording bigger storms and in Texas, record-breaking rain has been followed by record-breaking drought.

Horizon follows the scientists who are trying to understand what's been happening to our weather and investigates if these extremes are a taste of what is to come.


THU 21:00 Tails You Win: The Science of Chance (p00yh2rc)
Smart and witty, jam-packed with augmented-reality graphics and fascinating history, this film, presented by professor David Spiegelhalter, tries to pin down what chance is and how it works in the real world. For once this really is 'risky' television.

The film follows in the footsteps of The Joy of Stats, which won the prestigious Grierson Award for Best Science/Natural History programme of 2011. Now the same blend of wit and wisdom, animation, graphics and gleeful nerdery is applied to the joys of chance and the mysteries of probability, the vital branch of mathematics that gives us a handle on what might happen in the future. Professor Spiegelhalter is ideally suited to that task, being Winton professor for the public understanding of risk at Cambridge University, as well as being a recent Winter Wipeout contestant on BBC TV.

How can you maximise your chances of living till you're 100? Why do many of us experience so many spooky coincidences? Should I take an umbrella? These are just some of the everyday questions the film tackles as it moves between Cambridge, Las Vegas, San Francisco and... Reading.

Yet the film isn't shy of some rather loftier questions. After all, our lives are pulled about and pushed around by the mysterious workings of chance, fate, luck, call it what you will. But what actually is chance? Is it something fundamental to the fabric of the universe? Or rather, as the French 18th century scientist Pierre Laplace put it, 'merely a measure of our ignorance'.

Along the way Spiegelhalter is thrilled to discover One Million Random Digits, probably the most boring book in the world, but one full of hidden patterns and shapes. He introduces us to the cheery little unit called the micromort (a one-in-a-million chance of dying), taking the rational decision to go sky-diving because doing so only increases his risk of dying this year from 7000 to 7007 micromorts. And in one sequence he uses the latest infographics to demonstrate how life expectancy has increased in his lifetime and how it is affected by our lifestyle choices - drinking, obesity, smoking and exercise.

Did you know that by running regularly for half an hour a day you can expect to extend your life by half an hour a day? So all very well... if you like running.

Ultimately, Tails You Win: The Science of Chance tells the story of how we discovered how chance works, and even to work out the odds for the future; how we tried - but so often failed - to conquer it; and how we may finally be learning to love it, increasingly setting uncertainty itself to work to help crack some of science's more intractable problems.

Other contributors include former England cricketer Ed Smith, whose career was cut down in its prime through a freak, unlucky accident; Las Vegas gambling legend Mike Shackleford, the self-styled 'Wizard of Odds'; and chief economist of the Bank of England, Spencer Dale.


THU 22:00 Nazis: A Warning from History (b01nhsyj)
The Wrong War

Adolf Hitler loved to watch feature films and he liked one film in particular, the Hollywood epic The Lives of a Bengal Lancer. 'It was certainly his favourite film,' says Herbert Dohring, a member of Hitler's SS bodyguard, 'and he would always talk about it - this huge English empire - how such a relatively small people could establish and manage something like that.' Hitler would later say, 'What India was for England, the territory of Russia will be for us.'

How was it possible then, that in 1939 Hitler found himself at war with a country whose achievements he admired, Great Britain, and allied to his ideological enemy, the Soviet Union? With the help of archive footage and interviews with eye-witnesses, including former diplomats and members of the Nazi party who had never appeared on television before, this film charts the course of Hitler's road to war.


THU 22:50 Tales from the Wild Wood (b01ndkwq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Wednesday]


THU 23:20 Lilyhammer (b01ndj79)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


THU 00:05 World War Two: 1942 and Hitler's Soft Underbelly (b01ndj09)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 01:35 Top of the Pops (b01nhb4k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:10 Tails You Win: The Science of Chance (p00yh2rc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 19 OCTOBER 2012

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01ndd50)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Leeds International Piano Competition (b01ndl9d)
2012 - The Finalists' Story

Episode 5

Suzy Klein presents the fifth of six programmes showcasing the best young pianists from around the world, as they reach the climactic final stages of 'The Leeds'. Two competitors opted to perform Beethoven's popular Piano Concerto No 5 ('The Emperor') at this year's concerto final.

Suzy introduces the second of these, given by 24-year-old Italian Federico Colli. Her regular guests, renowned pianists Noriko Ogawa and Tom Poster, give their opinions and expert analysis, while Suzy looks back over five decades of the competition's reputation for picking winners and propelling them onto the world stage as it approaches its golden jubilee.


FRI 20:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01j8h0b)
Rock - The Boys Are Back in Town

Sounds of the 70s 2 series continues, and this programme features the boys with their guitars turned all the way up to eleven! It is time to don your double denim, let your hair down and headbang your way through half an hour of rock anthems including performances from Alice Cooper, The Faces, Nazareth, Bad Company, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and Black Sabbath.


FRI 21:00 Dave Davies: Kinkdom Come (b012ht1t)
Dave Davies, the legendary guitarist of the Kinks, relives his tumultuous life and times amidst the serenity of his Exmoor sanctuary. Walking across the moors that have fascinated him since childhood, Dave takes us back to life with Brother Ray in an extended working class family amidst the austerity of postwar London. Bringing to life its deprivations and triumphs, he reveals the profound sense of community and family bonds which underpins the extraordinary story of the Kinks. From their formation at a North London Secondary Modern, through time spent as backing band to an upper class crooner at debutante balls, Dave tells how the Kinks career as Searchers sound alikes was almost over before it began.

That all changed though when Dave attacked his amp with a rusty Gillette razor blade in the front room of their semi detached house in Muswell Hill. Slashing the speaker, he produced the distorted, barking dog guitar riffs which powered their first hit, You Really Got Me, catapulted the Kinks to worldwide fame and in the process rearranged the sonic architecture of the 1960s. Finding himself at the unlikely age of 15 enshrined along with Brian Jones and Keith Moon as one of the three undisputed Kings of Swinging London, Dave trailblazed the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. As he puts it, Dave did the partying and Ray wrote about it. In America Dave's shoulder length hair and subversive sexuality on stage drove teenage TV audiences wild whilst scandalising the Rat Pack generation.

Dave explains why The Kinks' refusal to compromise who they were resulted in them being banned from America at the height of their fame. For the next four years, while the Beatles, Stones and Who went onto global megastardom, the Kinks re-invented themselves as the quintessential English group with timeless hits such as Sunny Afternoon, Waterloo Sunset and Days. With disarming honesty, Dave reveals how the burning glass of fame caused the sibling rivalry between him and Ray to explode into violence on stage and mental cruelty off it. He tells how, by the end of 60s, the breakdown of the relationship between the warring brothers and his own surfeit of girls, drink and pills led to the mother of all rock 'n' roll meltdowns. Following the failure of his briefly successful solo career, Dave finds himself locked in a New York hotel room, listening to voices telling him to jump.


FRI 22:20 The Kinks at the BBC (b012ht1w)
The story of The Kinks, one of the UK's most important and influential bands, as told from the vaults of the BBC archive.

From their humble beginnings in north London, brothers Ray and Dave Davies, school friend Pete Quaife and local drummer Mick Avory exploded onto the music scene of early 1960s London.

From this series of unique archive performances, we learn that blues was their first love and Dave's signature guitar sound would go on to influence a generation of guitar players. As Ray's uniquely English songwriting style developed, the spectre of Ray and Dave's rocky fraternal relationship continually loomed in the background, through concerts for The Old Grey Whistle Test in the 1970s to appearances on Top of the Pops in the 1980s.

The inevitable band split came in 1996, and the BBC archive continues with Ray's reinvention as a solo artist with performances on the Electric Proms and up to the present day on Later... with Jools Holland. All the while the brothers continue to tease and goad the press - and one another - with talk of a Kinks reunion.


FRI 23:20 imagine... (b011rqt7)
Autumn 2010

Ray Davies - Imaginary Man

As the creative powerhouse behind hugely influential band The Kinks, Ray Davies was responsible for writing some of the best-loved songs of the 60s, including pop classics You Really Got Me, Tired of Waiting For You, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Sunny Afternoon and Waterloo Sunset. Alan Yentob meets Davies, a unique talent who describes with rare candour his troubled relationship with fame and the vicissitudes of his career. They also discuss a new album of Klassic Kinks Kollaborations which is near completion and features musical luminaries such as Bruce Springsteen, Mumford and Sons and Metallica.


FRI 00:40 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01j8h0b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


FRI 01:10 Dave Davies: Kinkdom Come (b012ht1t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 02:25 The Kinks at the BBC (b012ht1w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:20 today]