SATURDAY 12 JULY 2014

SAT 19:00 Lost Land of the Tiger (b00ty6bd)
Episode 2

The second part of the BBC Natural History Unit's wildlife adventure series following an expedition to search for tigers in the Himalayas.

The team strikes out from base camp to track down tigers throughout Bhutan. Kayaker Steve Backshall heads to the eastern jungles and is pushed to the absolute limit when he takes on a mighty white-water river. Big cat cameraman Gordon Buchanan deploys remote cameras far and wide, and he uses a clever fingerprinting technique to identify individual tigers from their unique stripe patterns.

Meanwhile, biologist Dr George McGavin is on a mission to India, where he finally comes face to face with the king of the jungle.

We follow the expedition every emotional step of the way as they strive to find evidence that could help to bring wild tigers back from the brink of extinction and safeguard their future.


SAT 20:00 The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion (b00sn5yz)
Who Are We?

Michael Mosley takes an informative and ambitious journey exploring how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately interwoven with society's historical path.

We now know that the brain - the organ that more than any other makes us human - is one of the wonders of the universe, and yet until the 17th century it was barely studied.

The twin sciences of brain anatomy and psychology have offered different visions of who we are. Now these sciences are coming together and in the process have revealed some surprising and uncomfortable truths about what really shapes our thoughts, feelings and desires.

And the search to understand how our brains work has also revealed that we are all - whether we realise it or not - carrying out science from the moment we are born.


SAT 21:00 Inspector Montalbano (b01cqmm2)
The Shape of Water

Mr Luparello, a renowned local engineer and leading political figure, is found dead in a car at a notorious prostitution spot on the outskirts of Vigata. The coroner rules that he died of a heart attack following an amorous encounter. Fending off pressure from prominent ecclesiastical figures who wish to keep the case under wraps and navigating the intricacies of local party politics, Montalbano goes about making sense of the available evidence, including the incongruous discovery of an expensive necklace found at the site of the murder.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:55 imagine... (b03gln7r)
Winter 2013

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin'

In just four years, Jimi Hendrix revolutionised the music scene with his transcendent sound and explosive stage presence. A peacock, poet and perfectionist, he was a true original, who restlessly pushed his musical gifts to their extremes.

imagine... tells the story of how this shy, former private in the 101st Airborne became the greatest rock guitarist of all time, using never-before-seen performance footage, home movies and family letters.

With contributions from the Hendrix family, Sir Paul McCartney and former band mates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, imagine... presents an in-depth look at Hendrix's life and career that was tragically cut short at just 27-years-old in 1970.


SAT 00:25 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00lk48h)
Part II

A celebration of Seventies-era axe-men, acoustic virtuosos and thumping riff merchants, in a compilation of guitar-heavy performances from the BBC TV archives.

Guitar gods including Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Peter Green and Johnny Winter are joined by, among others, flamenco maestro Manitas De Plata, bottleneck bluesman Ry Cooder and straight-up rockers AC/DC and Thin Lizzy.

Everything from Fleetwood Mac's ambient masterpiece Albatross to hits like The Jam's In The City and Free's All Right Now feature along with lesser-known gems like Maid in Heaven by Be Bop Deluxe and Nils Lofgren's Keith Don't Go.

The tracks were recorded in the heyday of BBC shows such as The Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Rock Goes to College.


SAT 01:25 Top of the Pops (b0499f9b)
Weekly pop chart programme presented by Peter Powell, with performances from Sham 69, Olympic Runners, ABBA, the Korgis, BA Robertson, Sparks, the Specials, the Boomtown Rats and the Gibson Brothers and a dance sequence by Legs & Co.


SAT 01:55 Lost Land of the Tiger (b00ty6bd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:55 The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion (b00sn5yz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 13 JULY 2014

SUN 19:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
2010-2011

The Himalayas

Documentary looking at the wildlife of the most stunning mountain range in the world, home to snow leopards, Himalayan wolves and Tibetan bears.

Snow leopards stalk their prey among the highest peaks. Concealed by snowfall, the chase is watched by golden eagles circling above. On the harsh plains of the Tibetan plateau live extraordinary bears and square-faced foxes hunting small rodents to survive. In the alpine forests, dancing pheasants have even influenced rival border guards in their ritualistic displays. Valleys carved by glacial waters lead to hillsides covered by paddy fields containing the lifeline to the east, rice. In this world of extremes, the Himalayas reveal not only snow-capped mountains and fascinating animals but also a vital lifeline for humanity.


SUN 20:00 Ford's Dagenham Dream (b00j0gnm)
Documentary which tells the story of a dream of happy families on wheels that the Ford Motor Company brought from Detroit to Dagenham, then sold to Britain.

From the 1950s onwards Ford revolutionised the cars we drove, producing dream cars for the average British family. In the 60s and 70s Ford sold dreams to boy racers too, but it came at a price. The mass production of motor cars required an army of assembly line workers who did jobs that were infamous for their soul-destroying monotony.

At its peak Dagenham was producing more than 3,000 cars every day and its most popular dream car, the Cortina, sold around five million in Britain alone. But the assembly line workers had a love-hate relationship with the cars they made and for some the dream became a nightmare.

Illustrated with powerful first person testimony and rare archive, this is the story of the rise and fall of Ford's Dagenham dream.


SUN 21:00 From Scotland with Love (b047lx52)
Made entirely of Scottish film archive, a journey into our collective past, the film explores universal themes of love, loss, resistance, migration, work and play. Ordinary people, some long since dead, their names and identities largely forgotten, appear shimmering from the depths of the vaults to take a starring role. These silent individuals become composite characters, who emerge to tell us their stories, given voice by King Creosote's poetic music and lyrics.


SUN 22:15 The Sky at Night (b049x4cq)
The Brightest Star

As we pass the longest day, The Sky at Night introduces astronomy with a difference - stargazing in the daytime. Lucie Green looks at how seasons change on other planets across the solar system, Maggie Aderin-Pocock explores what makes the sun special and Chris Lintott engages in some stellar archaeology to uncover the cosmic nursery our star and its siblings were born in.


SUN 22:45 Everlasting Moments (b04b2dwx)
Drama based on a true story and set in Sweden in the early 1900s, a time of social change and unrest, of war and poverty.

Maria is a young working-class woman who wins a camera in a lottery and decides to keep it, which changes her life. The camera lets her see the world anew, but becomes a threat to her alcoholic womaniser of a husband, when she meets charming photographer Sebastian 'Piff Paff Puff'.

By day, the life of Maria and her family is weighed down by the problem of acquiring food, but at night, while Sigfrid is sleeping off his drunkenness and the children are in bed, Maria develops her pictures in the kitchen. Her photography and her relationship with Piff Paff Puff disclose a possible path to freedom and independence.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SUN 00:30 Britain's Most Dangerous Songs: Listen to the Banned (b048wwlk)
From My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock to God Save the Queen, this is the story of ten records from the 1930s to the present day that have been banned by the BBC. The reasons why these songs were censored reveals the changing controversies around youth culture over the last 75 years, with Bing Crosby and the Munchkins among the unlikely names to have met the wrath of the BBC.

With contributions from Carrie Grant, Paul Morley, Stuart Maconie, Glen Matlock, Mike Read and John Robb.


SUN 01:30 More Dangerous Songs: And the Banned Played On (b048wwpz)
Compilation of songs previously banned by the BBC, including Lola by The Kinks, Jackie by Scott Walker and We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang by Heaven 17.


SUN 02:30 Ford's Dagenham Dream (b00j0gnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 03:30 Decisive Weapons (b0078dxf)
Series 1

The P-51 - Cadillac of the Skies

In 1943, the large and slow Flying Fortresses, used in the US Air Force's daylight bombing raids, were being shot out of the sky at a rate of up to 60 per day. Only one fighter plane could save them - the single-seat P51 Mustang. The P51 enabled American pilots to fly eight-hour missions - by the end of the war, it accounted for half of all German planes destroyed, either in the air or on the ground. American and German veterans recount the legend that was the Mustang.



MONDAY 14 JULY 2014

MON 19:00 World News Today (b049jqn9)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 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 20:00 Wild Weather (b0074c7m)
Wind

Donal MacIntyre finds out what it's like to stand up to winds of 136mph and sees what a 4,000,000mph wind looks like. He meets those who have experienced the fury of tornados, hurricanes and jet streams, and journeys from the doldrums at the equator to both poles to find out how the winds work, how they drive our weather and why they can deliver such deadly blows. Using stunning 3D computer graphics the series takes ther viewer right into the heart of the weather, showing the world from the wind's perspective. For Donal the experience is the closest he has ever come to hell.


MON 21:00 Chocolate Perfection with Michel Roux Jr (b049k8c2)
Michel Roux Jr sets out to discover the secret of chocolate - not just why we're addicted to this sublime and complex foodstuff, but its rich and varied history, from a sacred drink of Aztec emperors to the aphrodisiac of choice at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles.

For Michel the best chocolate in the world is to be found in France, where the art of the chocolatier has been handed down from generation to generation. He wants to create his own unique chocolate flavour to use in his cooking, so he immerses himself in the world of chocolate, from the raw cocoa bean to some of the most refined and unusual chocolate creations the world has seen.


MON 22:00 Edge of Darkness (b0074p9r)
Burden of Proof

Police are closing in on their prime suspect for Emma's murder, but Craven's doubts about the motive for the killing become certainties. Emma's boyfriend is found murdered.


MON 22:50 The Magic of Mushrooms (b041m6fh)
Professor Richard Fortey delves into the fascinating and normally hidden kingdom of fungi. From their spectacular birth, through their secretive underground life to their final explosive death, Richard reveals a remarkable world that few of us understand or even realise exists - yet all life on earth depends on it.

In a specially built mushroom lab, with the help of mycologist Dr Patrick Hickey and some state-of-the-art technology, Richard brings to life the secret world of mushrooms as never seen before and reveals the spectacular abilities of fungi to break down waste and sustain new plant life, keeping our planet alive.

Beyond the lab, Richard travels across Britain and beyond to show us the biggest, fastest and most deadly organisms on the planet - all of them fungi. He reveals their almost magical powers that have world-changing potential - opening up new frontiers in science, medicine and technology.


MON 23:50 The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion (b00sn5yz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 00:50 Wild Weather (b0074c7m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 01:50 The Flying Archaeologist (b01s1hnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:20 Britain on Film (b033664h)
Series 2

Road, Rail and Runways

Throughout the 1960s, the Rank Organisation produced hundreds of short colour films on almost every aspect of British life. In a series reworking the best of this material to offer fascinating and often surprising insights into a transformative period of recent British history, this episode concentrates on the unprecedented upheavals in Britain's transport systems during a period when the popularity of air travel soared, rail networks were comprehensively dismantled and towns and cities were being reshaped to accommodate the unstoppable rise of the motor car.


MON 02:50 Chocolate Perfection with Michel Roux Jr (b049k8c2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 15 JULY 2014

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b049jqnh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places (b01r6zdv)
Ruins

Presenter and Welsh poet Ifor ap Glyn explores the wealth of Britain's extraordinary holy places on a pilgrimage that spans almost 2,000 years of history.

Travelling across the breadth of the UK, Ifor uncovers the stories and rich history behind many of our most famous sites, explaining the myths and legends of some of Britain's most sacred places. Over six episodes, Ifor visits crumbling ruins, tranquil healing pools, sacred caves, island refuges, towering mountain hideaways and ancient shrines to find out what these historical sites tell us about who we are today. From the divine to the unexpected, the series uncovers Britain's extraordinary variety of inspirational, surprising and half-forgotten holy places and brings to life our spiritual history.

In the first episode, Ifor explores why ruins are among the best-preserved and most-loved holy sites in Britain. He visits the famous ruins of St Andrews Cathedral, the mystical atmosphere of Wales's best-preserved Roman site, the battered remains of Coventry's iconic cathedral and the Gothic majesty of North Yorkshire's Whitby Abbey - the inspiration behind Bram Stoker's Dracula. Along the way, he asks why we're drawn to holy ruins long after their religious use is over. Is it just nostalgia or something much deeper that fuels our obsession and enduring fascination with the decaying grandeur of a ruin?


TUE 20:00 Jigs and Wigs: The Extreme World of Irish Dancing (b040v4x0)
Series 1

Episode 6

Feisonista - the high-fashion world of Irish dance. Leading dress designers Shauna Sheils and Gavin Doherty work together to create a game-changing costume.


TUE 20:30 Commonwealth on Film (b049k8qd)
Home

From Ghana to Australia, Malta to Bangladesh, Canada, India and beyond, over the decades film-makers have captured the rich diversity of the Commonwealth. This edition looks at the home.


TUE 21:00 Made in Dagenham (b01rcc33)
Comedy drama charting the fight of female factory workers at the Ford Dagenham plant for equal pay. In 1968, one determined factory worker leads her colleagues out on strike in the hope of eradicating unfair working conditions and sexual discrimination.


TUE 22:45 Ford's Dagenham Dream (b00j0gnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Sunday]


TUE 23:45 Lost Land of the Tiger (b00ty6bd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


TUE 00:45 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074l0y)
Series 1

King Death

Simon Schama continues his look at British history with the Black Death, the horror of medieval Britain. Those it did not kill were condemned to suffer decades of anarchy and unrest, not least King Richard II. But it created an unlikely breed of survivor - the country gent.


TUE 01:45 Jigs and Wigs: The Extreme World of Irish Dancing (b040v4x0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:15 Commonwealth on Film (b049k8qd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 02:45 Timeshift (b03p7jh9)
Series 13

Hurricanes and Heatwaves: The Highs and Lows of British Weather

A glorious national obsession is explored in this archive-rich look at the evolution of the weather forecast from print via radio to TV and beyond - and at the changing weather itself. It shows how the Met Office and the BBC have always used the latest technology to bring the holy grail of accurate forecasting that much closer - even if the odd messenger like TV weatherman Michael Fish has been shot along the way.

Yet as hand-drawn maps have been replaced by weather apps, the bigger drama of global warming has been playing itself out as if to prove that we were right all along to obsess about the weather. Featuring a very special rendition of the shipping forecast by a Cornish fishermen's choir.



WEDNESDAY 16 JULY 2014

WED 19:00 World News Today (b049jqnr)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places (b01r9s6j)
Water

Presenter and Welsh poet Ifor ap Glyn explores the wealth of Britain's extraordinary holy places on a pilgrimage that spans almost 2,000 years of history. Travelling across the breadth of the UK, Ifor uncovers the stories and rich history behind many of our most famous sites, explaining the myths and legends of some of Britain's most sacred places.

In the second episode, Ifor explores why water crops up again and again as the essential element in many of our most holy places. Why has a yearning for pure natural water always been bound up with our spiritual beliefs?

His journey takes him to our oldest mass baptismal pool which marks the place that Scottish Picts first came into the Christian fold, the site on Loch Ness where Celtic missionaries battling the forces of paganism first encountered the legendary monster, a healing well where a young woman was reputedly brought back to life by having her severed head re-attached to her body, and a 2,000-year-old holy spring that has become a major international brand.


WED 20:00 Indian Hill Railways (b00qvk99)
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

From the Himalayas in the north to the Nilgiris in the south - for a hundred years these little trains have climbed through the clouds and into the wonderful world of Indian hill railways.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a line so close to the people that it flows like a river through their lives. The relationship between the train and the people is changing, however, as a new generation of Gurkhas populates these hills, demanding an independent state and fighting for a new identity as they journey into the modern Indian world.


WED 21:00 Edward VII: Prince of Pleasure (b00rq3y2)
King Edward VII has always been an enigma. Twentieth-century dynasty builder and sex addict, boorish philistine and civilised cosmopolitan - he was all of these. Using extensive new research, this documentary unravels the mystery of a thoroughly modern monarch and shows that his legacy is still relevant today.


WED 22:00 The Queen's Castle (b00792v0)
The Ranger

Prince Philip, as Ranger of the Great Park, gives a tour of the castle's grounds. Plus, a look at the new shop in the Royal Chapel.


WED 23:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


WED 00:00 Wild Weather (b0074c7m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 01:00 From Scotland with Love (b047lx52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


WED 02:10 Parks and Recreation (b022bbl4)
Series 2

94 Meetings

Ron is furious when April mistakenly schedules a ton of meetings for him. Meanwhile, Leslie fights to preserve a historical landmark.


WED 02:35 Parks and Recreation (b022bblb)
Series 2

Telethon

Leslie hosts a late-night shift for a local telethon, and lands former Indiana Pacer Detlef Schrempf as a celebrity guest. Meanwhile, Mark has big plans for his relationship with Ann.


WED 02:55 Edward VII: Prince of Pleasure (b00rq3y2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 17 JULY 2014

THU 19:00 World News Today (b049jqnx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b049x4cq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:15 on Sunday]


THU 20:00 Chocolate Perfection with Michel Roux Jr (b049k8c2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 21:00 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074l1q)
Series 1

Burning Convictions

Simon Schama sets out to explain how Britain stopped being a Catholic country in just three generations. Henry VIII's passion for Anne Boleyn set in motion a tidal wave of religious upheaval that would claim the lives of thousands. Although Henry himself remained a Catholic all his life, his son Edward VI, a Protestant by conviciton, made sure there would be no going back, despite Bloody Mary's last ditch attempt to hold back the Reformation.


THU 22:00 Rise of the Continents (b036ks6f)
Eurasia

Two hundred million years ago the continent we know as Eurasia - the vast swathe of land that extends from Europe in the west to Asia in the east - didn't exist.

To reveal Eurasia's origins, Professor Iain Stewart climbs up to the 'eternal flames' of Mount Chimera in southern Turkey, blazing natural gas that seeps out of the rock. Formed on the seafloor, it shows that where the south of Eurasia is today, there was once a 90-million-square-kilometre ocean known as the Tethys. It is the destruction of the Tethys Ocean that holds the key to Eurasia's formation.

In the backwaters of Kerala in southern India, he finds evidence of how that happened, in the most unlikely of places: the bones of the local fishermen's catch. The freshwater fish called karimeen shares anatomical features with another group of fish that live in Madagascar, evidence that India and Madagascar were joined. India was once 4,000 kilometres south of its current position on the other side of the Tethys.

As it moved north, the ocean in front of it closed. And as it collided with the rest of Eurasia the impact built the Himalayas, the greatest mountain range on Earth. Professor Stewart reveals how the mountains aren't simply pieces of the land pushed upwards. In fact the rock that forms them was once the floor of the Tethys Ocean.

As Eurasia assembled, Arabia, Greece and Italy too moved north, completing the continent we know today and creating a mountain chain that spans the continent. And it was in the shadow of these mountains that the continent's first civilisations rose.

But the formation of Eurasia is just the beginning, because the process that formed it is still active today. On the island of Stromboli, Italy's most continually active volcano, the spectacular eruptions show that the ocean floor is being pulled beneath Eurasia. It is this process that closed the Tethys, and today is closing the Mediterranean, revealing Eurasia's future. 250 million years in the future all of the continents will collide together once more, forming a new Pangea, with Eurasia at its heart.


THU 23:00 Genghis Khan (b007930p)
He was a man who combined the savagery of a real-life Conan the Barbarian with the sheer tactical genius of Napoleon, a man from the outermost reaches of Asia whose armies ultimately stood poised to conquer Europe. His name was Genghis Khan.

Today the name of Genghis Khan is synonymous with dark evil yet in his lifetime he was a heroic figure, a supreme strategist capable of eliciting total devotion from his warriors.

He grew up in poverty on the harsh unforgiving steppe of Mongolia. From the murder of his father, the kidnap of his wife and the execution of his closest friend, he learned the lessons of life the hard way.

So how did this outcast come to conquer an empire larger than the Roman Empire? And was Genghis Khan the brutal monster who ruthlessly slaughtered millions in his quest for power, or was he a brilliant visionary who transformed a rabble of warring tribes into a nation capable of world domination?

Filmed entirely on location in Mongolia, the film tells the truth behind the legend that is Genghis Khan.


THU 00:00 Chocolate Perfection with Michel Roux Jr (b049k8c2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 01:00 The Sky at Night (b049x4cq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:15 on Sunday]


THU 01:30 Rise of the Continents (b036ks6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


THU 02:30 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074l1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 18 JULY 2014

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b049jqp2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Symphony (b017j75d)
Revolution and Rebirth

Simon Russell Beale's journey takes him into the 20th century, a time when the certainties of empire were falling away, war was looming and the world was changing faster than ever before.

Simon investigates the extraordinary symphonic world of Shostakovich, the star composer of the new Soviet Union, as well as the work of Ives and Copland who were both, in their different ways, creating a new American sound. He discovers how the development of the gramophone and broadcasting meant that more people could hear their music than ever before and how it became possible to immortalise the symphony in sound.

The symphonies are played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder.


FRI 20:30 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sm9)
Episode 5

Flouncy-haired pop merchants and indie stalwarts on The Old Grey Whistle Test and its younger, more colourful sibling, The Whistle Test dominate this trawl through the 80s. Featuring The Teardrop Explodes, Orange Juice, Robert Wyatt, Aztec Camera, Billy Bragg, The Fall, The Pogues, Robyn Hitchcock and the ever-smiling Style Council.


FRI 21:00 The Joy of the Guitar Riff (b049mtxw)
The guitar riff is the DNA of rock 'n' roll, a double helix of repetitive simplicity and fiendish complexity on which its history has been built. From Chuck Berry through to The White Stripes, this documentary traces the ebb and flow of the guitar riff over the last 60 years of popular music. With riffs and stories from an all-star cast including Brian May, Dave Davies, Hank Marvin, Joan Jett, Nile Rodgers, Tony Iommi, Robert Fripp, Johnny Marr, Nancy Wilson, Kevin Shields, Ryan Jarman, Tom Morello and many more. Narrated by Lauren Laverne.


FRI 22:00 Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC (b049mtxy)
Compilation of BBC performances featuring some of the best axe men and women in rock 'n' roll, from Hendrix to The Kinks, Cream to AC/DC, The Smiths to Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead to Foo Fighters. Whether it is The Shadows playing FBI on Crackerjack, Jeff Beck with The Yardbirds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream's Sunshine of Your Love from their final gig, Pixies on the Late Show, AC/DC on Top of the Pops or Fools Gold from The Stone Roses, this compilation is a celebration of rock 'n' roll guitar complete with riffs, fingerstylin', wah-wah pedals and Marshall amps.


FRI 23:00 Sound City (b03sltyb)
Documentary produced and directed by rock superstar Dave Grohl (who also appears in the film) in which he uncovers stories about the Los Angeles studio Sound City, where some of the greatest rock albums of all time were perfected and recorded.

Sound City was state of the art when it opened in 1969, featuring a legendary Neve recording console. Through interviews with the musicians and producers who have worked at the studio over the years, the film uncovers and defines the intangible magic within those wires and walls that was responsible for such an incredible history of contemporary music.

For over four decades, it was the birthplace of some of the world's most treasured music, including Nirvana's Nevermind, Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes, Fleetwood Mac's eponymous album and Johnny Cash's Unchained, to name just a few.

Grohl discovers the stories of the iconic bands that recorded there. We learn how Mick Fleetwood met Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham at Sound City, leading to them joining Fleetwood Mac, and discover why musicians and producers such as Butch Vig, Frank Black, Trent Reznor and Lars Ulrich all chose to work in its analogue environment over newer, more state-of-the-art studios. Grohl also tracks the growth of digital music and the inevitable death of analogue recording, which changed the industry and Sound City forever.

The story of Sound City is an integral part of the personal story of Dave Grohl, whose music was forever influenced by those who once recorded in Studio A and left their mark in the form of the many platinum records hanging on the walls within. He completes the film by bringing some of the great names together at his Studio 606 to record a new album on the original Sound City Neve console, culminating in new performances from Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks, Lee Ving, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor, Krist Novoselic and Sir Paul McCartney.

Featuring contributions from Neil Young, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, Trent Reznor, Rick Rubin, Mick Fleetwood, Lars Ulrich, John Fogerty, Jim Keltner, Rick Springfield, Josh Homme, Frank Black, Barry Manilow, Lindsey Buckingham, Lee Ving, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic.


FRI 00:50 The Joy of the Guitar Riff (b049mtxw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:50 Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC (b049mtxy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:50 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00lk48h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:25 on Saturday]