SATURDAY 18 MAY 2013

SAT 19:00 Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions (b00gkrm2)
When Worlds Collide

This two-part documentary reveals the awe-inspiring world of animal swarms, discovering what happens when superswarms invade people's lives and, using the latest camera techniques, going to the heart of the swarm to reveal how the creatures therein view our world.

Real-life footage from camcorders and mobile phones captures the amazing impact they can have. Killer bees mount an attack on an international football match in Costa Rica. In the US, the Illinois River boils with leaping silver carp, an alien species that has hijacked the river, smashing into boats and injuring people.

In South Australia, a sea of mice raids farms, consuming and destroying in their millions on a scale that defies belief. The largest swarm on Earth erupts from Lake Victoria - trillions of flies blanket villages, but the locals have learnt to turn the swarm into a highly nutritious fly burger. In Rome, cameras fly alongside ten million starlings, the largest swarm in Europe. Their mesmeric waves stop many residents in their tracks, but as they roost they smother the city in tons of excrement.

One man has learnt to control the ultimate swarm. He has become their 'queen bee' with startling results, learning to control what most people fear and to understand one of the most incredible forces of nature.


SAT 20:00 British Masters (b012hrcn)
We Are Making a New World

In a major re-calibration of 20th-century British paintings, art historian James Fox argues that British painting from 1910 to 1975 was an extraordinary flowering of genius. He predicts that art historians of the future will rank the period alongside the Golden Ages of Renaissance Italy and Impressionist France.

Drawing upon the work of Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland, Francis Bacon, Stanley Spencer and David Hockney, among others, Fox explores why, during the 20th century, British painters were often dismissed for being old-fashioned. He reveals how these artists carefully reconciled tradition and modernity, providing a unique creative tension that now makes the period seem so exciting.

Over the course of the three-part series, Fox presents his theory that this period of artistic excellence was closely linked to a dramatic shift in Britain's fortunes. He suggests that the demise of the British Empire, as much as the two world wars, defines Britain's unique take on modern art: a determination to rediscover and cling on to 'Britishness' while the country's territorial assets and global influence fell away.

In the years immediately before and during the First World War, a radical generation of painters determined to eject Victorian sentimentality and nostalgia from their art pioneered a new style of painting that would capture and make sense of the modern experience. Walter Sickert shocked the public by making the low-lives of Camden Town and a brutal murder the subject of his gaze. Wyndham Lewis and David Bomberg broke with centuries of realist tradition, reducing humanity to cold geometric forms. But as the country descended into war, three painters - Christopher Nevinson, Paul Nash and Stanley Spencer - reconciled what was best of the avant-garde with Britain's rich painterly tradition to create powerful images of war that would speak to us all.


SAT 21:00 Arne Dahl (b01sktsg)
Series 1

Many Waters - Part 1

When an illegal African immigrant is shot and killed by police, Kerstin Holm is assigned the task of interviewing the police officer. He happens to be her ex-boyfriend Dag Lundmark, who then disappears without a trace during the investigation. A burglar breaks into an apartment where he finds a body with a suicide note next to it. The letter leads to the discovery of two more bodies in a marsh in Varmland.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 ... Sings Bond (b01p97hr)
The BBC archive uncovers performances of some of the finest Bond theme tunes from its top secret vaults and pays a TV tribute to a classic British icon.

Prepare to be shaken and stirred by Tina Turner and her GoldenEye, Dame Shirley Bassey with her Diamonds, Tom Jones rampaging with Thunderball, Matt Monro romancing in Russia, The Fun Lovin' Criminals taking all the time in the world, Adele's sky-high contribution to 007 and much more from Sheena Easton, Garbage, A-ha and others, from all manner of BBC shows.

Sit back and marvel at our selection of the greatest Bond songs in history - a tuxedo and a dry vodka martini is optional.


SAT 23:30 Omnibus (b007brkx)
John Barry: Licence to Thrill

John Barry is the most successful film score composer of the 20th century. From his work on the Bond movies, Born Free, Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves and many more he has produced cinema's most memorable music, winning five Oscars in the process.

But behind all the Hollywood glitz and glamour, Yorkshire born Barry is a private and self-effacing man who talks emotionally about his early childhood, his relationship with his father and the impact of World War II.

This is the first film ever to profile Barry and joining him are Michael Caine, Kevin Costner, and Adam Faith.


SAT 00:20 British Masters (b012hrcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 01:20 ... Sings Bond (b01p97hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


SAT 02:20 Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions (b00gkrm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 19 MAY 2013

SUN 19:00 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dpqtx)
Jane, Mary and Elizabeth

In the medieval and Tudor world there was no question in people's minds about the order of God's creation - men ruled and women didn't. A king was a warrior who literally fought to win power then battled to keep it. Yet despite everything that stood in their way, a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule medieval and Tudor England. In this series, historian Dr Helen Castor explores seven queens who challenged male power, the fierce reactions they provoked and whether the term 'she wolves' was deserved.

Helen looks at what happened when England was faced not just with inadequate kings, but no kings at all. In 1553, for the first time in English history all the contenders for the crown were female. In the lives of these three Tudor queens - Jane, Mary and Elizabeth - she explores how each woman struggled in turn with wearing a crown that was made for a male head. Elizabeth I seemed to show that not only could a woman rule, but could do so gloriously. But at what cost?


SUN 20:00 The Review Show (b01skv6p)
Martha Kearney and guests review Baz Luhrmann's much anticipated film adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, new exhibitions by Rankin and Michael Landy, the hit supernatural series from France, The Returned, and new books by Khaled Hosseini and James Salter.


SUN 21:00 The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women (b01skv6r)
Documentary telling the gripping and shocking story of photographer Erwin Blumenfeld, who survived two world wars to become one of the world's most highly paid fashion photographers and a key influence on the development of photography as an art form. Yet after a mysterious death in Rome in 1969 his name is little known today, the reasons for which lie in his unconventional lifestyle.

The first ever film about his life and work uses exclusive access to Blumenfeld's extensive archive of stunning photographs, fashion films, home movies and self-portraits to tell of a man obsessed by the pursuit of beautiful women, but also by the endless possibilities of photography itself.

With contributions from leading photographers Rankin, Nick Knight and Solve Sundsbo and 82-year-old supermodel Carmen Dell'Orefice, it uncovers the richly complex story of one of the 20th century's most original photographic artists.


SUN 22:00 Frank Skinner on George Formby (b016fpz0)
George Formby was a huge star of stage and film. In his heyday he was as big as The Beatles, earning vast sums of money on stage and starring in films which broke box office records. Formby's trademark ukulele still inspires millions of dedicated fans, including comedian and performer Frank Skinner, who believes Formby was the greatest entertainer of his time.

Playing the ukulele and performing the songs that keep the Formby legend alive today, Skinner follows the music hall star's extraordinary rise to fame and fortune, explores his worldwide popularity and reveals the ruthless exploitation that surrounded his sudden and tragic death.


SUN 23:00 50s Britannia (b01sgbw2)
Rock 'n' Roll Britannia

Long before the Beatles there was British rock 'n' roll. Between 1956 and 1960 British youth created a unique copy of a distant and scarce American original whilst most parents, professional jazz men and even the BBC did their level best to snuff it out.

From its first faltering steps as a facsimile of Bill Haley's swing style to the sophistication of self-penned landmarks such as Shakin' All Over and The Sound of Fury, this is the story of how the likes of Lord Rockingham's XI, Vince Taylor and Cliff Richard and The Shadows laid the foundations for an enduring 50-year culture of rock 'n' roll.

Now well into their seventies, the flame still burns strong in the hearts of the original young ones. Featuring Sir Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Joe Brown, Bruce Welch, Cherry Wainer and The Quarrymen.


SUN 00:00 Kings of Rock and Roll (b007c95q)
A journey back to the 1950s for a look at the wildest pop music of all time in a film that tells the stories of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, giants from an era when pop music really was mad, bad and dangerous to know.

The programme features the artists themselves, alongside people like Bill Haley's original Comets, The Crickets, Buddy Holly's widow Maria Elena, Jerry Lee Lewis's former wife Myra Gail and his sister, Chuck Berry's son and many more, including June Juanico, Elvis's first serious girlfriend.

Other contributors include Tom Jones, Jamie Callum, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Green Day, Minnie Driver, Jack White of The White Stripes, The Mavericks, Jools Holland, Hank Marvin, Fontella Bass, John Waters and more.

Elvis's pelvis was just the start. Who had to change the lyrics to their biggest hit because the originals were too obscene? Who married their 13-year-old cousin? Who used lard to get their hair just right? And what happened on the day the music died?


SUN 01:00 The Richest Songs in the World (b01pjrt5)
Mark Radcliffe presents a countdown of the ten songs which have earned the most money of all time - ten classic songs each with an extraordinary story behind them. Radcliffe lifts the lid on how music royalties work and reveals the biggest winners and losers in the history of popular music.


SUN 02:30 The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women (b01skv6r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



MONDAY 20 MAY 2013

MON 19:00 World News Today (b01skg5h)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Britain's Best Drives (b00hw3yp)
North Wales

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

Richard takes the wheel of Ford Zodiac to drive the circular route from Caernarfon that loops through some of Snowdonia's most sensational scenery.

He gets a Welsh lesson at Caernarfon Castle, learns the significance of the Dinorwic slate quarry, drives the Llanberis Pass, meets 71-year-old human fly Eric Jones and takes a trip down memory lane at a former Butlins holiday camp.


MON 20:00 The Flying Archaeologist (b01s1hnr)
The Thames: Secret War

Archaeologist Ben Robinson flies over the Thames to uncover new discoveries about World War 1. A whole network of trenches has been discovered on The Hoo peninsula. Invisible from the ground, they were recently found from aerial images of the area next to the former Chattenden Barracks.

The trenches were used for experimentation and training of soldiers and can be directly linked to trenches used in Belgium in WW1.

The trenches are just one feature revealed by the first full aerial survey of the area by English Heritage. Much of the history of this area is being recorded from the air before it is destroyed by coastal erosion and development.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b01skvnf)
Series 7

Cartophiles v Celts

Three map lovers take on a team from Wales, competing to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria Coren Mitchell if you want to know what connects Civilization V, Chicken Wire, Graphite Crystal and Blockbusters board.


MON 21:00 The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars (b01skvnh)
Beneath the Somme battlefield lies one of the great secrets of the First World War, a recently-discovered network of deep tunnels thought to extend over several kilometres. This lost underground battlefield, centred on the small French village of La Boisselle in Picardy, was constructed largely by British troops between 1914 and 1916. Over 120 men died here in ongoing attempts to undermine the nearby German lines and these galleries still serve as a tomb for many of those men.

This documentary follows historian Peter Barton and a team of archaeologists as they become the first people in nearly a hundred years to enter this hidden, and still dangerous, labyrinth.

Military mines were the original weapons of shock and awe - with nowhere to hide from a mine explosion, these huge explosive charges could destroy a heavily-fortified trench in an instant. In order to get under the German lines to plant their mines, British tunnellers had to play a terrifying game of subterranean cat and mouse - constantly listening out for enemy digging and trying to intercept the German tunnels without being detected. To lose this game probably meant death.

As well uncovering the grim reality of this strange underground war, Peter discovers the story of the men who served here, including the tunnelling companies' special military units made up of ordinary civillian sewer workers and miners. He reveals their top secret mission that launched the Battle of the Somme's first day and discovers why British high command failed to capitalise on a crucial tactical advantage they had been given by the tunnellers.


MON 22:00 Timewatch (b00fg9hw)
2008-2009

The Last Day of World War One

Michael Palin tells the story of how the First World War ended on 11th November 1918 and reveals the shocking truth that soldiers continued to be killed in battle for many hours after the armistice had been signed. Recounting the events of the days and hours leading up to that last morning, Palin tells the personal stories of the last soldiers to die as the minutes and seconds ticked away to the 11 o'clock ceasefire.


MON 23:00 The First World War from Above (b00vyrzh)
Fergal Keane tells the story of the World War One from a unique new aerial perspective. Featuring two remarkable historical finds, including a piece of archive footage filmed from an airship in summer 1919, capturing the trenches and battlefields in a way that has rarely been seen before. It also features aerial photographs taken by First World War pilots - developed for the first time in over 90 years - that show not only the devastation inflicted during the fighting, but also quirks and human stories visible only from above.


MON 00:00 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01sgx9m)
Sacred Women of the Iron Age

Archaeologist Julian Richards returns to some of his most important digs to discover how science, conservation, and brand new finds have changed our understanding of entire eras of ancient history. Julian goes back to the excavation of two very different Iron Age woman - the possible sacrifice of a teenage girl from the Cotswolds, and the extraordinary chariot queen whose well preserved possessions are leading to some astonishing new conclusions about Iron Age belief, all because of a mirror and its otter-fur bag.


MON 01:00 Great Artists in Their Own Words (b01sg9ls)
Out of the Darkness (1939-1966)

Second in a series unlocking the BBC archives to tell the story of modern art in the words of the artists themselves - from the tortured images of Francis Bacon born of the horror of the Second World War to the joyous, sometimes ironical celebration of consumer affluence in the pop art of Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol to the hedonistic freedom of the paintings of David Hockney.


MON 02:00 Only Connect (b01skvnf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 02:30 The Flying Archaeologist (b01s1hnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 03:00 The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars (b01skvnh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 21 MAY 2013

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01skg5n)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 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 20:00 The Golden Age of Steam Railways (b01p8w38)
Small Is Beautiful

Two-part documentary telling the remarkable story of a band of visionaries who rescued some of the little narrow gauge railways that once served Britain's industries. These small railways and the steam engines that ran on them were once the driving force of Britain's mines, quarries, factories and docks. Then, as they disappeared after 1945, volunteers set to work to bring the lines and the steam engines back to life and started a movement which spread throughout the world. Their home movies tell the story of how they helped millions reconnect with a past they thought had gone forever.


TUE 21:00 Love and Death in City Hall (b01rdbsm)
A heartwarming and heartbreaking tale about how Belfast people experience the biggest things in life - birth, marriage and death. Located largely within the majestic surrounds of the register office of Belfast City Hall.


TUE 22:00 I, Claudius (b0074ssj)
Fool's Luck

Claudius is happily married, while the mad Caligula has been assassinated. To his astonishment, Claudius has been proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard.


TUE 22:50 Glamour's Golden Age (b00ndzw0)
The Luxe Experience

Hermione Norris narrates a three-part series on the 1920s and 30s, which creates a portrait of a golden age so daring, so influential, so exciting that it still shapes who we are today.

The decades between the world wars saw a cultural revolution in music, fashion, design and the arts. Mass media, mass production and the resulting mass exposure to an alluring, seductive glamour saw the world changing at a dizzying pace, amid which many of our modern obsessions were born.

The first part looks at how architecture and design both created and reflected the spirit of the time. The fun and frivolity of art deco sat alongside the pure functionality of modernism and helped democratise style. Streamlining followed, making sleek, sophisticated, elegant design part of ordinary people's everyday lives. At home, the radio became a beautiful object. In the urban environment a new aesthetic changed the way buildings looked, while planes, trains and automobiles started to shrink the world.

Featuring photographs of the Hoover Factory, Saltdean Lido, the Midland Hotel, the Savoy Theatre, the De La Warr Pavilion, the New Victoria Palace cinema, plus archive newsreel of the Mallard, the Queen Mary, the Schneider Trophy and Bluebird.


TUE 23:50 The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women (b01skv6r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


TUE 00:50 Parks and Recreation (b01sg9sk)
Series 2

Leslie's House

Comedy series set in an Indiana town. After an amazing date with Justin in Indianapolis, Leslie tries to impress him further with a dinner party at her house.


TUE 01:15 Parks and Recreation (b01sg9sm)
Series 2

Galentine's Day

Comedy series set in the parks department of a fictional Indiana town. Leslie and Justin reunite her mom with an old flame on Valentine's Day.


TUE 01:35 Arne Dahl (b01sktsg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]



WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2013

WED 19:00 World News Today (b01skg6g)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Britain's Best Drives (b00j4dfr)
Lake District

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

Richard drives a sporty, convertible Triumph TR3A around some of the Lake District's most famous roads. He gets the lowdown on the area from author and resident Hunter Davies, takes on a notorious road, celebrates his birthday at one of Britain's highest pubs, and learns how climate change is affecting this delicate landscape.


WED 20:00 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01skwfd)
The First Anglo-Saxons

Julian Richards returns to the excavation of two early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries to explore the mystery of the Anglo-Saxon invasions that began after the fall of the Roman Empire. In particular, the rich burial of a warrior and his horse offers up fresh clues to some of the very first pioneers.


WED 21:00 Great Artists in Their Own Words (b01skwfg)
But Is it Art? (1966-1993)

Last of a three-part series which unlocks the BBC archives to tell the story of modern art in the words of the artists themselves looks at how radical late 20th-century artists took on centuries of art history and won - from the notorious 'bricks' of Carl Andre to the 'living sculptures' Gilbert and George, from the shockingly explicit photography of Robert Mapplethorpe to the powerful nudes of Lucian Freud and sensational pickled sharks of Damien Hirst.


WED 22:00 Parks and Recreation (b01skwfj)
Series 2

Woman of the Year

Leslie is outraged when Ron wins a Woman of the Year award for a project she started. Tom is desperate to find some money to invest in a local Pawnee club.


WED 22:20 Parks and Recreation (b01skwfm)
Series 2

The Possum

When a possum bites the mayor's dog on a golf course, Leslie is asked to form a task force to catch the pesky animal. Ron is upset when Mark refuses to bend the rules for him.


WED 22:45 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077jfw)
Series 1

I'll Never Forget Whatshername

Classic 70s sitcom. Terry tries to track down some of his old flames, but probing into the past produces embarrassing results.


WED 23:15 The Golden Age of Steam Railways (b01p8w38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 00:15 Frank Skinner on George Formby (b016fpz0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


WED 01:15 Britain's Best Drives (b00j4dfr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 01:45 Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited (b01skwfd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:45 Great Artists in Their Own Words (b01skwfg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 23 MAY 2013

THU 19:00 World News Today (b01skg7l)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01skwnt)
Tony Blackburn introduces the weekly pop charts featuring performances from Blondie, Heatwave, Tavares, Black Sabbath, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Sham 69, Boney M and Cilla Black and dance troupe Legs & Co.


THU 20:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077jl8)
Series 1

Birthday Boy

Terry feels depressed when everyone, even his mother, forgets his birthday. To make up for it, Bob throws a surprise party, but preparations for the bash don't go according to plan.


THU 20:30 The Best of Kenny Everett's Television Shows (b01n7mdr)
Episode 2

Classic moments brought to the screen by Kenny Everett's stable of wacky characters, including Sid Snot, Cupid Stunt and Marcel Wave. Guest appearances by Joanna Lumley, Billy Connolly and Janet Street-Porter.


THU 21:00 Brideshead Revisited (b014f32p)
Film adaptation of the novel by Evelyn Waugh. In the early spring of 1944 Charles Ryder, a disillusioned army Captain, arrives at Brideshead Castle, the new Brigade Headquarters. It is a place he knows well and he is transported back in time to 1922 and his first meeting with Sebastian Flyte, the younger son of Lord Marchmain. Charles Ryder proceeds to tell in flashback the story of his association with the castle and the doomed aristocratic Flyte family.


THU 23:05 The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars (b01skvnh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 00:05 Timewatch (b00fg9hw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


THU 01:05 Top of the Pops (b01skwnt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:45 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077jl8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 02:15 The First World War from Above (b00vyrzh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]



FRIDAY 24 MAY 2013

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01skg7r)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Concerto at the BBC Proms (b01k031g)
Mendelssohn Violin

Another chance to hear a live performance from the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall of one of the most popular and frequently performed violin concertos of all time, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, recorded at the first night of the BBC Proms in 2005. Exciting and versatile violin soloist Janine Jansen performs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor, Sir Roger Norrington.


FRI 20:00 Symphony (b016pwgy)
Genesis and Genius

Simon Russell Beale presents a radical reappraisal of the place of the symphony in the modern world and explores the surprising way in which it has shaped our history and identity.

The first episode begins amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution with the arrival in England of Joseph Haydn, dubbed the 'Father of the Symphony'. It continues with Mozart, the genius who wrote his first symphony at the age of eight, and Beethoven, the revolutionary who created the idea of the artist as hero and whose Eroica Symphony changed music for ever.

The music is performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Sir Mark Elder.


FRI 21:00 50s Britannia (b01skxpp)
Trad Jazz Britannia

Documentary telling the story of Britain's postwar infatuation with old New Orleans jazz. With rare 78rpm imports as their only guide, a generation of amateur jazz enthusiasts including Humphrey Lyttelton and Chris Barber created a traditional jazz scene that strove to recreate the essence and freedom of 1920s New Orleans in 1950s Britain.

While British youth jived in smoky dives, the music itself was beset by arguments of authenticity. Begging to differ with the source material, Ken Colyer embarked on a pilgrimage to New Orleans in search of the real deal while a larger ideological war raged between mouldy figs and dirty boppers- traditional and modern jazz fans. As its popularity grew, commercial forces descended and a 'trad' boom sent the purists running for cover at the turn of the decade - the first and last time New Orleans jazz became British pop.

Featuring Acker Bilk, Chris Barber and previously unseen interviews with Humphrey Lyttelton and George Melly.


FRI 22:00 Jazz 625 (b01xqrk0)
From the New Marquee Club in 1965, Humphrey Lyttelton introduces veteran New Orleans clarinettist George Lewis with Acker Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band and Beryl Bryden.


FRI 22:40 Smokey Dives (b0074msy)
Documentary showing how drab post-war Britain was enlivened by the trad-jazz scene, which ballooned into our first mass youth culture, with thousands of young people dancing the night away in dimly light underground clubs, from Soho's infamous Cy Laurie Club to The Cavern Club in Liverpool.

George Melly relives his Rabelaisian youth on the road whilst revisiting some the pubs, clubs and concert halls he once played in. His hilarious stories of singing, drinking and sleeping his way around the country, staying in rotten B n B's and playing to University students are confirmed and embellished by interviews with fellow band members.

We learn how 50s Britain saw the emergence of two rival jazz groups - the modernist scene centred around professional bebop musicians Ronnie Scott and friends, and the more amateur raucous style of the trads. Trads wore oversized ex-army gear and duffel coats, drank beer and occasionally took speed to keep awake during their all night parties, whereas the modernists wore sharp suits and black dresses and some musicians dabbled with hard drugs.

The bouncer from Cy Laurie's club, Bill Palmer, and regular club goers describe how hundreds of strangely clad trad fans crammed into the club every weekend. Musician Laurie Morgan explains how Archer Street in Soho was the centre of activity for the emergent modernist scene.


FRI 23:40 Arena (b01c30k0)
Sonny Rollins '74: Rescued!

Featuring a specially-shot introduction with Jamie Cullum, Arena presents a lost treasure - Sonny Rollins performing at Ronnie Scott's in 1974. After nearly 40 years unseen, this unique film shows a spellbinding performance from arguably the greatest saxophone player in the world. Having played alongside Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, Rollins is one of the few surviving jazz greats. This gig captures him after his 1972 comeback when his bands started to sound funkier and to use electric guitar and bass. The band for this 1974 set features Japanese guitarist Yoshiaki Masuo and soprano saxophone player Rufus Harley, who doubles on the bagpipes.


FRI 00:40 Omnibus (b00nnmf8)
Ronnie Scott and All That Jazz

Documentary celebrating the founding of Ronnie Scott's Jazz club in 1959. Scott, a rising young saxophone player, opened a club where he and his friends could play the music they liked. Over the following years, the club had its ups and downs, reflecting the changes in attitudes to jazz and the social life of surrounding Soho.

Now Ronnie Scott's is known throughout the world as the hearbeat of British jazz. In this tribute, Omnibus talks to some of Ronnie's greatest admirers including Mel Brooks, the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP and writer Alan Plater, and features rare archive footage of some of the club's historic performances by Zoot Sims, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.


FRI 01:40 50s Britannia (b01skxpp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 02:40 Smokey Dives (b0074msy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:40 today]