SATURDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2014

SAT 19:00 Wild China (b00bybp3)
Tides of Change

Documentary series featuring pioneering images that capture the dazzling array of mysterious and wonderful creatures populating China's most beautiful landscapes.

Ancient tea-growing cultures, traditional seaweed-thatched villages, bird-filled wetlands, rare white dolphins, snake-infested islands and futuristic cities jostle along China's fertile eastern seaboard, which marks the front line in the scramble for resources and space between 700 million people and a surprising wealth of wildlife.


SAT 20:00 Lost Kingdoms of South America (b01q6pzt)
The Stone at the Centre

Deep in the Bolivian Andes at the height of 13,000ft stands Tiwanaku, the awe-inspiring ruins of a monolithic temple city. Built by a civilisation who dominated a vast swathe of South America, it was abandoned 1,000 years ago. For centuries it has been a mystery - how did a civilisation flourish at such an altitude and why did it vanish?

Jago Cooper journeys through Bolivia's spectacular landscape to investigate the origins of Tiwanaku and finds evidence of an ancient people with amazing understanding of their environment, whose religion was based on collective effort and ritual beer drinking.


SAT 21:00 Salamander (b01q82b9)
Series 1

Episode 5

Gerardi is finally persuaded by Persigal to join the elite P9 agency with instructions to discover who is behind the break in at the Jonkhere bank. The Salamander organisation suffers a minor blow with the suicide of the Minister of the Interior, but are soon lining up their forces behind Senator Guy Rasenberg to stand as his successor. Neither the group nor Rasenberg are aware that his wife is feeding Gerardi information.

In Flemish and French with English subtitles.


SAT 21:50 Salamander (b01q97rh)
Series 1

Episode 6

Gerardi discovers that a member of the Royal family has been involved in a scandal which has been hushed up by Guy Rasenberg and the Salamander organisation. Persigal orders him to seduce Karin Rasenberg to extract more information.

In Flemish and French with English subtitles.


SAT 22:40 Ultimate Number Ones (b01nwfxv)
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UK chart, from the vaults of the BBC archive comes a selection of hits that attained the toppermost of the poppermost prize and made it to number one in the hit parade. From across the decades, we applaud the most coveted of all chart positions with smash hits and classics from The Bee Gees, T. Rex, Donna Summer, John Lennon, Culture Club, The Spice Girls, James Blunt, Rihanna, Adele and many more.


SAT 23:40 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
Documentary which looks at how rock 'n' roll has had to deal with the unthinkable - namely growing up and growing old, from its roots in the 50s as music made by young people for young people to the 21st-century phenomena of the revival and the comeback.

Despite the mantra of 'live fast, die young', Britain's first rock 'n' roll generations are now enjoying old age. What was once about youth and taking risks is now about longevity, survival, nostalgia and refusing to grow up, give up or shut up. But what happens when the music refuses to die and its performers refuse to leave the stage? What happens when rock's youthful rebelliousness is delivered wrapped in wrinkles?

Featuring Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Peter Noone, Rick Wakeman, Paul Jones, Richard Thompson, Suggs, Eric Burdon, Bruce Welch, Robert Wyatt, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, Alison Moyet, Robyn Hitchcock, writers Rosie Boycott and Nick Kent and producer Joe Boyd.


SAT 00:40 Top of the Pops (b03w0gl0)
Peter Powell presents another edition of the weekly pop chart show, including performances from the Dooleys, Generation X, Alan Price, the Pretenders, Lene Lovich, the Skids and Blondie. With dance sequences by Legs & Co.


SAT 01:15 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01hz75h)
Guilty Pleasures - Love Will Keep Us Together

An unashamed celebration of the instantly recognisable classics from the decade of love. A half hour of 'Our Tune' anthems and the soundtrack to many a love affair and wedding party, including performances from The Carpenters, Bread, Charles Aznavour, John Denver, 10cc, Bellamy Brothers, Exile, Captain and Tennille, and Dr Hook.


SAT 01:45 Wild China (b00bybp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:45 Lost Kingdoms of South America (b01q6pzt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2014

SUN 19:00 Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe (b0079238)
The Land of My Mother

Francesco da Mosto visits the south and Sicily, home of his mother's family for more than 500 years. Easter celebrations in the south involve the streets running red with celebrants' blood and the locals indulging in frantic dances to ward off the threat of the tarantula.

On Sicily, the brooding majesty of Etna terrifies Francesco as he stares into the volcano, but there's beauty and art at the Villa Bagheria and an explosion of baroque decadence at Noto. Finally for Francesco, there's an emotional reunion with his family, who have come down from Venice.


SUN 20:00 The Review Show (b03wcsdg)
Kirsty Wark and her guests review Nymphomanic Volumes 1 and 2, the latest films from provocative director Lars von Trier, and auteur Wes Anderson's new all-star film Grand Budapest Hotel. They also give their verdicts on Sky Atlantic's police procedural True Detective, which stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as a pair of mismatched cops, and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, the latest novel from Karen Joy Fowler, author of the bestselling Jane Austen Book Club.


SUN 21:00 Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry with Jonathan Meades (b03wcsdj)
Episode 2

Second of a two-part documentary in which Jonathan Meades makes the case for 20th-century concrete Brutalist architecture, which is once again being appreciated by a younger generation. Focusing initially on the massive influence of Le Corbusier's post-war work, he reclaims the reputation of buildings that, once much maligned, he argues stood for optimism and grandeur. Delivered in his signature provocative and confrontational manner, Meades's film draws on extraordinary buildings from all over Europe in a lavish, sometimes surreal, visual collage.


SUN 22:00 In a Better World (b01c6klr)
A doctor commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark and his work at a Sudanese refugee camp. In these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness.

In Danish with English subtitles.


SUN 23:50 BB King: The Life of Riley (b03vsp7r)
BB King opens his heart and tells the story of how an oppressed and orphaned young man came to influence and earn the unmitigated praise of the music industry and its following to carry the title of king of the blues.

Filmed on location all over America, as well as in the UK, this picture brings to life the heat- and gin-soaked plantations where it all began, with full cooperation of the BB King museum, owners of vaults and archives so precious and immense that several trips had to be made to revisit the collection and partake of its many gems. Prejudice and segregation has stained the lives of countless black persons and BB 'Riley' King made sure that through his music, he never allowed it to mar his spirit.

This is the essence of the story that makes a beautiful film, both informative and visually captivating.


SUN 01:30 Blues at the BBC (b00k36m5)
Collection of performances by British and American blues artists on BBC programmes such as The Beat Room, A Whole Scene Going, The Old Grey Whistle Test and The Late Show.

Includes the seminal slide guitar of Son House, the British R&B of The Kinks, the unmistakeable electric sound of BB King and Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker, as well as less familiar material from the likes of Delaney and Bonnie, Freddie King and Long John Baldry.


SUN 02:30 Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe (b0079238)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2014

MON 19:00 World News Today (b03wchzl)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jv72t)
Britain's Black Diamonds

Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country, to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, to tell the history of modern Britain.

At the Big Pit Mining Museum in south Wales, Melvyn looks back to the 1930s and salutes Britain's 'black diamonds', brave miners who risked their lives digging for the coal that powered an empire. Vicky Stradling tells the shocking truth about one of the worst disasters in coal mining history. Melvyn goes underground to learn about the limited safety equipment used by coalminers in the 1930s. And David Bogg reveals the occupational hazards of working with pit ponies.


MON 20:00 Amazon Abyss (b00hhf63)
Episode 7

Mike de Gruy and Kate Humble lead an international team of scientists and divers as they search for species new to science in the Amazon River.

It is the climax of the diving expedition as the team explores a 90-metre chasm at the very bottom of the Amazon River. Scientists have no idea what lurks within. The team also explores overgrown jungle streams in search of giant caiman and electric eels - a fish that can stun you with a 600-volt shock.

As the expedition draws to a close, the divers prepare to jump into the depths of the river to confront and film the extraordinary fish that lie in the abyss.


MON 21:00 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
Do you remember buying your first single? Where you bought it? What it was? The thrill of playing it for the first time? What it sounded like? How it maybe changed your life? Lots of us do. Lots of us still have that single somewhere in a dusty box in the attic, along with other treasured memorabilia of an adolescence lost in music and romance. The attic of our youth.

The Joy of the Single is a documentary packed with startling memories, vivid images and penetrating insights into the power of pop and rock's first and most abiding artefact - the seven-inch, vinyl 45-rpm record, a small, perfectly formed object that seems to miraculously contain the hopes, fears, sounds and experiences of our different generations - all within the spiralling groove etched on its shiny black surface, labelled and gift-wrapped by an industry also in its thrall.

In the confident hands of a star-studded cast, the film spins a tale of obsession, addiction, dedication and desire. The viewer is invited on a journey of celebration from the 1950s rock 'n' roll generation to the download kids of today, taking in classic singles from all manner of artists in each decade - from the smell of vinyl to the delights of the record label, from the importance of the record shop to the bittersweet brevity of the song itself, from stacking singles on a Dansette spindle to dropping the needle and thrilling to the intro.

Featuring contributions from Noddy Holder, Jack White, Richard Hawley, Suzi Quatro, Holly Johnson, Jimmy Webb, Pete Waterman, Norah Jones, Mike Batt, Graham Gouldman, Miranda Sawyer, Norman Cook, Trevor Horn, Neil Sedaka, Paul Morley, Rob Davies, Lavinia Greenlaw, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.


MON 22:00 Brian Pern (b03wcsfv)
The Life of Rock with Brian Pern

Death of Rock

Brian looks at what breaks up bands, from drink and drugs to creative tension. Plus rock stars who want to save the world and the state of music today as the series draws to a close. With cameos from John Humphrys and the one and only Peter Gabriel.


MON 22:30 Infested! Living with Parasites (b03vrwj8)
Dr Michael Mosley explores the bizarre and fascinating world of parasites by turning his body into a living laboratory and deliberately infesting himself with them. He travels to Kenya to give himself a tapeworm - a parasite that can grow to many metres inside the human gut. He also encounters lice, leeches and the deadly malaria parasite, before swallowing a pill-camera to reveal what is growing within him. By the end of his infestation Michael learns a new-found respect for these extraordinary creatures, which can live off and even take control of their hosts for their own survival.


MON 23:30 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.


MON 00:30 The Brits Who Built the Modern World (b03vgz8d)
The Power of the Past

How an exceptional generation of British architects, led by Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, conquered the globe with their high-tech vision.

This episode focuses on the 1980s, when modern architecture was deeply unpopular and under attack from the Prince of Wales. The architects reveal the dramatic stories behind some of their most famous creations, including Rogers's Lloyd's of London building and Foster's Stansted Airport.

Terry Farrell reveals how he was kept in the dark when he was designing the MI6 Headquarters, Michael Hopkins recalls the challenges of bringing ultra-modern architecture into the traditional world of Lord's Cricket Ground, and Nicholas Grimshaw follows in the footsteps of the great Victorian engineers with his Waterloo International station.


MON 01:30 Brian Pern (b03wcsfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 02:00 Amazon Abyss (b00hhf63)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 03:00 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2014

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b03wchzr)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jv7kl)
The Roaring Twenties

Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country, to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, to tell the history of modern Britain.

At Cliveden House in Berkshire, Melvyn looks back to the Roaring Twenties to discover how the other half lived, when a group of bright young people created Britain's first modern cult of celebrity.

The tragic story of Britain's original 'it girl', Elizabeth Ponsonby, is told by her niece Elizabeth. The current Lord Astor returns to his ancestral home to give a guided tour. And Martin Blaber explains what life was like below stairs for Cliveden's renowned head butler, his uncle, Edwin Lee.


TUE 20:00 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b03wxk2w)
Tom Wood

Profile of acclaimed photographer Tom Wood. Tom has taken photographs almost every day for the past 40 years, mainly around the streets, workplaces and nightspots of Merseyside. Hugely respected in the photography world, his work is a unique record of British working class life and in recent years he has gained increasing recognition. In summer 2013 Tom visited Mayo in the west of Ireland, where he was born, and the film documents his encounters whilst photographing the landscape and the people for a new book. Supported by the Arts Council of Wales, an exhibition of Tom's work is currently on at the Mostyn Gallery, North Wales until April 6th.


TUE 20:30 Secrets of Bones (b03wct07)
Down to Earth

Evolutionary biologist and master skeleton builder Ben Garrod discovers how the skeleton has adapted for vertebrates to move on land in a remarkable number of ways. They can swing through the trees, slide on the forest floor, dig through dark subterranean worlds and run at speed across the savannahs. Ben explores the role of the spine in both cheetahs and snakes, shows how adaptations to the pentadactyl limb have helped gibbons and horses thrive and how one unique bone in the animal kingdom has been puzzling scientists for years.


TUE 21:00 Dissected (p01mv2rj)
The Incredible Human Foot

In a purpose-built dissection lab, Dr George McGavin is joined by leading anatomy experts to dissect a real foot, taking it apart layer by layer to reveal what makes it unique in the animal kingdom. We discover the incredible natural engineering that is key to our greatest physical achievements, from a baby's first steps to a ballerina on pointe.


TUE 22:00 The First World War (b01rp9sn)
To Arms

The First World War shaped the twentieth century. It sparked the Russian Revolution and launched America as a world power. The fault-line from its failed peace settlement led to a second terrible world war barely twenty years later. We live with its unresolved consequences; in the Middle East, the Balkans and Ireland. It began as a clash in the Balkans which grew to engulf Europe and the world. Britain joined in, more to protect her great empire than for the defence of small nations. The merciless pattern of the war was set early on, by Austro-Hungarian atrocities against Serbian civilians.


TUE 22:50 The First World War (b01rp9t1)
Under the Eagle

The first months on the Western Front were mobile, fast and dangerous, casualty rates were higher than with later trench warfare. The Germans were halted by the Allies at the Battle of the Marne, fell back to high ground and dug in. The Allies followed suit. The resulting line of trenches stretched from the English Channel to Switzerland. Now 11 million French and Belgian civilians were under occupation. German brutality was no myth, resistance was ruthlessly supressed. Civilians, including women and children, were massacred, used as human shields and sent to concentration camps as hostages and forced labourers.


TUE 23:45 Decisive Weapons (b0077gm0)
Series 1

The Bayonet - Cold Steel

Series chronicling the impact of technology on war focuses on the bayonet, which remained an enduring symbol of British military grit for over 300 years - on home soil, across the Empire and in two world wars. Used by the English against the Scots at Culloden in 1746 with dramatic results, and as recently as the Falklands conflict in 1982, the bayonet has remained a mainstay in the British military arsenal. This bloodiest of weapons is still wielded as part of infantry training and serves as a reminder of the extent to which war boils down to hand-to-hand fighting.


TUE 00:15 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.


TUE 01:15 Nature's Microworlds (b01lc6w5)
Amazon

Steve Backshall lifts the lid on an incredible world of intricate relationships and unexpected hardship in the Amazon rainforest, explores the way that the jungle's inhabitants interact, and reveals a hidden secret that might just be what keeps the whole place alive.


TUE 01:45 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b03wxk2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:15 Secrets of Bones (b03wct07)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 02:45 Dissected (p01mv2rj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2014

WED 19:00 World News Today (b03wchzx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Reel History of Britain (b014r143)
Britain's Home Guard

Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country, to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, to tell the history of modern Britain.

This episode comes from Osterley Park in Middlesex, the site of the first Home Guard training school, and looks back to the Second World War and a time when millions of ordinary men were prepared to die for their country.

Home Guard recruit Robert Brown comes face to face with his father as a Home Guard company commander, Dad's Army creator Jimmy Perry explains why he signed up to the Home Guard, and Ken Chambers shares his own extraordinary stories from his time in the Home Guard, some of which could have been taken straight from Dad's Army.


WED 20:00 The Horizon Guide to Pandemic (b00m3z7w)
In the wake of the swine flu outbreak, virologist Dr Mike Leahy uses over 50 years of BBC archive to explore the history of pandemics - infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites.

Inspired by the Horizon back catalogue, he tells the extraordinary story of smallpox, one of the most violent killers in history, as well as the success of mass vaccination and the global politics of malaria. Through the lens of television the programme charts our scientific progress from the early steps in understanding AIDS to the code-cracking of SARS and deadly predictions of bird flu.

Each pandemic episode tells us something about the world and our place within it. In his journey through the ages Dr Leahy charts science's ongoing battle with nature and questions which one is winning.


WED 21:00 The Fantastical World of Hormones with Professor John Wass (b03wctdg)
Hormones shape each and every one of us, affecting almost every aspect of our lives - our height, our weight, our appetites, how we grow and reproduce, and even how we behave and feel.

This documentary tells the wonderful and often weird story of how hormones were discovered.

Presenter John Wass, one the country's leading experts on hormones, relates some amazing stories - how as recently as the 19th century boys were castrated to keep their pure soprano voice, how juices were extracted from testicles in the hope they would rejuvenate old men and how true medical heroes like Frederick Banting discovered a way to make insulin, thus saving the lives of countless diabetes sufferers.

And hormones remain at the cutting edge of medicine as we try and deal with modern scourges like obesity.


WED 22:00 Amazon Abyss (b00hhf63)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 23:00 Parks and Recreation (b03wnrzj)
Series 3

Media Blitz

Trying to get the word out about the Harvest Festival, Leslie, Ben and Tom do radio, TV and newspaper interviews. A media storm hits when Ben has to answer tricky questions about his past as a teen mayor. Andy struggles to win back April's heart and Ann summons the courage to discuss her relationship with Chris.


WED 23:20 Parks and Recreation (b03wnrzl)
Series 3

Indianapolis

Leslie and Ron drive to Indianapolis to receive commendation for the upcoming Pawnee Harvest Festival. Tom hosts a launch party for a local cologne maker in hopes of pitching him his fragrance 'Tommy Fresh'. Andy and April discover how to have fun without spending any money.


WED 23:40 Wild China (b00bybp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


WED 00:40 Lost Kingdoms of South America (b01q6pzt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


WED 01:40 Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry with Jonathan Meades (b03wcsdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


WED 02:40 The Fantastical World of Hormones with Professor John Wass (b03wctdg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2014

THU 19:00 World News Today (b03wcj02)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b03wryq4)
Mike Read presents another edition of the weekly pop chart show, including performances from the Skids, Thin Lizzy, Chic and David Essex. With dance sequences by Legs & Co.


THU 20:00 Ever Decreasing Circles (b036d6l1)
Series 2

A Married Man

Ann and Martin invite Paul and his girlfriend to dinner, but things don't go as smoothly as they'd planned.


THU 20:30 Brushing up on... (b03wsn6r)
Series 2

Miniature Britain

Danny Baker embarks on a Lilliputian odyssey through all things titchy - from model trains to pint-sized cows via the mecca of the miniature, the model village.


THU 21:00 The Brits Who Built the Modern World (b03wctxm)
The Politics of Power

Series looking at how an exceptional generation of British architects, led by Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, conquered the globe with their high-tech vision.

The final episode focuses on the period from the late 90s to the present day, when they were at the peak of their success - building iconic landmarks across Britain and the world - but also faced some of the biggest controversies of their careers. Rogers reveals what went wrong with the Millennium Dome, Foster recalls the wobbles of London's Millennium Bridge and Michael Hopkins explains how his new parliamentary building, Portcullis House, became the most expensive office block in Britain.

Also featured are the stories behind some of Britain's most popular modern architecture - Nicholas Grimshaw's Eden Project and Foster's 'Gherkin' - and a look at this generation's success overseas, including Terry Farrell's success in China.


THU 22:00 Storyville (b03wctxp)
Soccer Coach Zoran and his African Tigers

A gripping story of triumph and failure, set in the world's youngest country.

South Sudan became an independent state in 2011, following almost 50 years of civil war. This documentary follows veteran Serbian coach Zoran Djordjevic as he seeks to forge South Sudan's first national football team. What follows is a fascinating and original portrait of the birth of a nation.

Although still steeped in traumatic memories, the new nation is seeking to make a mark on the international soccer stage under the dynamic and hugely ambitious new coach. The film follows the team over its first year, from the hunt for new players to buying a sheep to be its mascot and the side's first international games. Zoran's aggressive style soon leads to conflict with the chair of the soccer federation. As the euphoria of independence subsides, the team finds itself hit by bitter infighting, malaria and a financial crisis that threatens the state itself.


THU 23:15 Dissected (p01mv2rj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


THU 00:15 Brian Pern (b03wcsfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


THU 00:45 Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain (b0394j6q)
A Revolution in the City

Using her skills to uncover long-forgotten and abandoned plans, architectural investigator Dr Olivia Horsfall Turner explores the fascinating and dramatic stories behind some of the grandest designs that were never built.

Destruction, whether intentional or circumstantial, often creates a clean slate and demands a fresh outlook in which we come to think the unthinkable. This programme looks at bold, and in some cases shocking, plans to make revolutionary changes to Britain's biggest cities.

In the mid 17th century, the capital was reeling from the devastation caused by the Great Fire of London. But amid the destruction, a huge opportunity arose to completely remodel and modernise London and make it into a very different city than the one we know today.

London was effectively a blank sheet of paper and, within a week of the city being razed to the ground, architect Sir Christopher Wren presented King Charles II with a vision to create a completely new city. Wren wanted the winding streets and old courtyards that had existed almost unchanged since medieval times to be replaced by monumental Parisian-style avenues in a formal grid pattern with large piazzas. This was a unique opportunity to improve on the past but, while Wren's design for St Paul's Cathedral did become a reality, London was reconstructed on essentially the same street plan as before the fire.

Three centuries later, Glasgow was the second city of the empire and the industrial powerhouse of the nation, but was struggling to cope with overcrowding and slum housing. Many believed the only solution was to start again. The city's leading planner, Robert Bruce, proposed demolishing the entire city centre - the celebrated buildings of Mackintosh and Greek Thompson would all have been bulldozed - to create a 1940s vision of the future. The new Glasgow would have been built as a system of regular tower blocks, ringed by a motorway, built in districts according to function. Bruce's justification for these drastic proposals was the creation of a new 'healthy and beautiful city'. Although his plan was not realised in its entirety, many of his ideas were carried out, and the M8 motorway which cuts right through the city centre is probably the most visible legacy of the 'Bruce Report'.

In both plans, destruction was the driving force behind creating a new city on a fresh slate. Separated in time by 300 years, these two radical thinkers, Christopher Wren and Robert Bruce, devised colossal, transformative schemes for their respective cities in a bid to create their very personal vision of the 'perfect city'.


THU 01:45 Top of the Pops (b03wryq4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:25 Ever Decreasing Circles (b036d6l1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 02:55 The Brits Who Built the Modern World (b03wctxm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2014

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b03wcj07)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Elgar: The Man Behind the Mask (b00vv0zx)
The composer of Land of Hope and Glory is often regarded as the quintessential English gentleman, but Edward Elgar's image of hearty nobility was deliberately contrived. In reality, he was the son of a shopkeeper, who was awkward, nervous, self-pitying and often rude, while his marriage to his devoted wife Alice was complicated by romantic entanglements which fired his creative energy.

In this revelatory portrait of a musical genius, John Bridcut explores the secret conflicts in Elgar's nature which produced some of Britain's greatest music.


FRI 21:00 Hello Quo (b03hy6vp)
You don't sell 128 million albums worldwide without putting in the graft and Status Quo are, quite possibly, the hardest-working band in Britain. Alan G Parker's documentary Hello Quo, specially re-edited for the BBC, recounts the band's epic story from the beginning - when south London schoolmates Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster formed their first band with big ambitions of rock 'n' roll domination, quickly adding drummer John Coghlan and guitarist Rick Parfitt.

The film tells the story of Quo's hits from their unusually psychedelic early hit, Pictures of Matchstick Men, followed by a run through their classics from Down Down to Whatever You Want.

The band laughs off the constant ribbing about only using three chords and the film explores how Quo's heads-down boogie defined UK rock in the early 70s. Fender Stratocaster in hand, Quo have stood their ground and never shifted, but they have managed to adapt to scoring pop hits over five decades.

The original members of the 'frantic four' tell their story of a life in rock 'n' roll, alongside interviews from some prominent Quo fans, such as Paul Weller, whose first gig was the Quo at Guildford Civic Hall, to Brian May, who waxes lyrically about the opening riff to Pictures of Matchstick Men, while even Sir Cliff plays homage to the denim-clad rockers.


FRI 22:20 TOTP2 (b03j113z)
Status Quo

TOTP2 pays homage to eternal rockers Status Quo. From their first hit, the band has had 46 years of being perhaps the hardest working band in Britain with over 128 million record sales to boot. TOTP2 has gathered some of Quo's finest Top of the Pops performances - there's 106 of them, from their first TOTP appearance in 1968 with the psychedelic Pictures of Matchstick Men, to their last in 2005 with The Party Ain't Over Yet.

The Quo has gone on to outlive Top of the Pops and this compilation charts their success with many of their greatest hits including Rockin' All Over the World, Whatever You Want, Mystery Song and Living on an Island. Don your double denim and prepare to get Down Down!


FRI 23:05 Classic Albums (b00vlq0y)
Black Sabbath: Paranoid

The second album by Black Sabbath, released in 1970, has long attained classic status. Paranoid not only changed the face of rock music, but also defined the sound and style of heavy metal more than any other record in rock history. The result of a magic chemistry which had been discovered between four English musicians, it put Black Sabbath firmly on the road to world domination.

This programme tells the story behind the writing, recording and success of the album. Despite vilification from the Christian and moral right and all the harsh criticism that the music press could hurl at them, Paranoid catapulted Sabbath into the rock stratosphere.

Using exclusive interviews, musical demonstration, archive footage and a return to the multi-tracks with engineer Tom Allom, the film reveals how Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward created their frighteningly dark, heavy and ear-shatteringly loud sound.

Additional comments from Phil Alexander (MOJO & Kerrang! editor), Geoff Barton (Classic Rock editor), Henry Rollins (writer/musician) and Jim Simpson (original manager) add insight to the creation of this all-time classic.


FRI 00:00 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00plj0l)
Part VI

In this sixth and final show to round out the Guitar Heroes series, axe fans get classic riffs from Pete Townshend as The Who play Won't Get Fooled Again, Rod and Ronnie with The Faces doing Miss Judy's Farm at the old BBC TV Theatre, some weird yodel-rock from Dutch prog rockers Focus, folky acoustic numbers from Davey Graham and Ralph McTell, and some flamboyant fretwork from Americans Nils Lofgren and Ted Nugent.

Filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test, these tracks pay tribute to a golden era in rock and to the last of the 70s Guitar Heroes.

Complete line-up:

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
The Faces - Miss Judy's Farm
Focus - Hocus Pocus
Man - Day and Night
Chris Spedding - Motor Bikin'
Nils Lofgren - Back It Up
The Cate Brothers - In One Eye and Out the Other
Ralph McTell - Dry Bone Rag
The Runaways - Wasted
The Motors - Dancing the Night Away
Ted Nugent - Free For All
The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love
Gary Moore - Back on the Streets
Judas Priest - Take on the World
Davey Graham - City and Suburban Blues
ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses.


FRI 01:00 Hello Quo (b03hy6vp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 02:20 TOTP2 (b03j113z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:20 today]


FRI 03:05 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01h7pzm)
Troubadours – Peaceful Easy Feeling

In the early 70s as the UK got to grips with the new coinage and decimalisation and braced itself for strike after strike, a group of young troubadours were hanging out in Laurel Canyon and the environs of California USA having a ball and creating music that would define a generation. It's time to kick back and relax and enjoy performances from Crosby and Nash, Neil Young, America, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King, The Eagles, and Seals and Crofts.