SATURDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2016

SAT 19:00 How Earth Made Us (b00qhqr8)
Water

Professor Iain Stewart continues his epic exploration of how the planet has shaped human history.

This time he explores our complex relationship with water. Visiting spectacular locations in Iceland, the Middle East and India, Iain shows how control over water has been central to human existence.

He takes a precarious flight in a motorised paraglider to experience the cycle of freshwater that we depend on, discovers how villagers in the foothills of the Himalayas have built a living bridge to cope with the monsoon, and visits Egypt to reveal the secret of the pharaohs' success.

Throughout history, success has depended on our ability to adapt to and control constantly shifting sources of water.


SAT 20:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03lytyp)
Civilising the Sea

Shipwrecks are the nightmare we have forgotten - the price Britain paid for ruling the waves from an island surrounded by treacherous rocks. The result is a coastline that is home to the world's highest concentration of sunken ships. But shipwrecks also changed the course of British history, helped shape our national character and drove innovations in seafaring technology, as well as gripping our imagination.

The terrible toll taken by shipwrecks was such that in the winter of 1820 some 20,000 seaman lost their lives in the North Sea alone. That's 20 jumbo jets. But in the final part of his series, maritime historian Sam Willis tells the stirring story of how the Victorians were finally driven into action, finding various ingenious solutions - from rockets that could fire rescue lines aboard stricken vessels to lifejackets, lifeboats and the Plimsoll Line, which outlawed overloading.

In Africa, he traces the legend of the Birkenhead Drill - the origin of 'women and children first'. Decorum even in disaster was the new Victorian way and it was conspicuously on hand to turn history's most iconic shipwreck - Titanic - into a tragic monument to British restraint.


SAT 21:00 The Young Montalbano (b0702vmm)
Series 2

An Apricot

Everything is ready for Salvo's move to Genova - except, it would seem, Salvo himself. As he contemplates a new life away from his beloved Sicily and prepares to hand his role over to his deputy, soon to be inspector, Mimi' Augello, Montalbano can't help but be drawn deep into one last investigation.

A young woman has been found dead in what appears to have been a tragic accident, her car discovered at the bottom of a cliff with her body in it. But the evidence doesn't add up and, despite Augello's readiness to accept the easy conclusion, Montalbano remains convinced that the inconsistencies of the case need unpicking further. With only a few days to go till his planned move, will our most Sicilian of inspectors manage to extricate himself from Vigata?

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:45 Annabel's Nightclub: A String of Naked Lightbulbs (b06zqb0d)
Annabel's has long been the playground for the rich and famous, and now its story comes to life in this 50-year history of the most celebrated nightclub in the world. Renowned for its discretion, and as a haunt of some of our greatest celebrities, the film offers a hitherto unseen glimpse into the rarefied worlds behind the doors of 44 Berkeley Square.

As London's very first members-only nightclub, Annabel's remains the only nightclub visited by the Queen, and once courted infamy for refusing entry to the Beatles. The documentary provides a cultural biopsy of London since the Second World War, and the club's history from inception through to the present day.


SAT 23:45 Je t'aime: The Story of French Song with Petula Clark (b05vnhz1)
'I want to make people cry even when they don't understand my words.' - Edith Piaf

This unique film explores the story of the lyric-driven French chanson and looks at some of the greatest artists and examples of the form. Award-winning singer and musician Petula Clark, who shot to stardom in France in the late 1950s for her nuanced singing and lyrical exploration, is our guide.

We meet singers and artists who propelled chanson into the limelight, including Charles Aznavour (a protege of Edith Piaf), Juliette Greco (whom Jean-Paul Sartre described as having 'a million poems in her voice'), Anna Karina (muse of Jean-Luc Godard and darling of the French cinema's new wave), actress and singer Jane Birkin, who had a global hit (along with Serge Gainsbourg) with the controversial Je t'aime (Moi non plus), and Marc Almond, who has received great acclaim with his recordings of Jacques Brel songs.

In exploring the famous chanson tradition and the prodigious singers who made the songs their own, we continue the story into contemporary French composition, looking at new lyrical forms exemplified by current artists such as Stromae, Zaz, Tetes Raides and Etienne Daho, who also give exclusive interviews.

The film shines a spotlight onto a musical form about which the British are largely unfamiliar, illuminating a history that is tender, funny, revealing and absorbing.


SAT 00:45 Shirley Bassey at the BBC (b01psct4)
Forever sequinned, stylish and sassy, Dame Shirley Bassey, one of Britain's all-time great voices, turned 76 in January 2013.

She began her rise to fame as a 16-year-old singer in 1953 and 60 years on she is still going as strong as ever. Join us as we celebrate Dame Shirley's birthday and her remarkable career, taking a trip down memory lane to uncover some of her finest performances from the vaults of the BBC.

From early BBC appearances on Show of the Week, The Shirley Bassey Show, via the Royal Albert Hall, Glastonbury 2007 and right up to her recent jaw dropping show at the Electric Proms. This is a compilation of some of Dame Shirley's classic performances, taking in iconic songs such as The Performance of My Life, Goldfinger, Big Spender and Diamonds Are Forever.

Producer: Sam Bridger


SAT 01:45 Top of the Pops (b06zdnkk)
Mike Read introduces the pop programme, featuring Duran Duran, Shakin Stevens, Phil Collins, The Who, Adam and the Ants, Toyah, Motorhead & Girlschool, Joe Dolce, Talking Heads and The Teardrop Explodes, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.


SAT 02:25 Top of the Pops (b06zdpkm)
Tommy Vance introduces the pop programme, featuring The Teardrop Explodes, Kim Wilde, Linx, Status Quo, Kelly Marie, Freeez, Beggar & Co, Landscape, Talking Heads, Kiki Dee, Coast to Coast and Roxy Music, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.


SAT 03:10 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.



SUNDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2016

SUN 19:00 Montalbano and Me: Andrea Camilleri (b070jhq4)
Who is the man behind Inspector Montalbano? An intimate portrait of acclaimed Italian novelist Andrea Camilleri gives us access to the man himself, his work and personal history, including Camilleri's undying attachment to his native Sicily.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SUN 19:50 Wild (b0078zkd)
2005-06 Shorts

Red Stag Rut

Documentary about the annual autumn red deer rut in the New Forest, a wildlife spectacle that can end in epic battles between the largest males.

As the weather cools, herds of females are joined by the stags, pumped full of male hormones and ready to fight for mating rights. Their roars are meant to intimidate, but if this doesn't work, the sound of antlers clashing echoes through the forest as the rut reaches its peak.


SUN 20:00 Russia's Lost Princesses (b04g6rhb)
The World Turned Upside Down

The story of the final four years in the lives of Tsar Nicholas II's four daughters - Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia - concluding with their brutal murders in the bloody climax to the Russian revolution. Interviews with leading historians, archive footage and dramatic reconstruction reveal the real women behind the familiar images of beautiful girls in white dresses.

In 1914 Olga and Tatiana were 18 and 16 and old enough to be married off to eligible princes, but any prospect of escaping their strange and very isolated life in the Alexander Palace was thwarted by the outbreak of the First World War. The war destroyed all trace of the life the sisters had known, but when Olga and Tatiana volunteered as Red Cross nurses they did enjoy a brief taste of the real world beyond the palace gates. The sisters became very close to some of the dashing young officers they nursed and Olga's touching diary entries reveal how she fell passionately in love with one particular Georgian officer, Dmitri Shakh-Bagov.

March 1917 brought a dramatic end to over three centuries of Romanov rule and following their father's abdication the girls were forced to adjust to a world turned upside down. After five months under house arrest at the Alexander Palace the girls, along with the rest of their family, were sent into exile in Siberia. The sisters' letters from Siberia bring the boredom, frustration and uncertainty of their captivity powerfully to life. For much of their tragically short lives the girls had been as much prisoners as princesses and in their final weeks in exile in Siberia that imprisonment was absolute - the whitewashed windows of the house where they were held denied them even a glimpse of the outside world.


SUN 21:00 Storyville (b070jhq6)
The Toughest Horse Race in the World: Palio

The Palio is the oldest horse race in the world, and turns the Italian city of Siena into a high-stakes battleground of strategy, intrigue and simmering machismo. In the eye of the storm stand the jockeys - adored if they succeed, despised if they fail.

This film follows the legendary maestro Gigi Bruschelli, winner of 13 races and master of the intrigues that surround the Palio, and his former protégé Giovanni Atzeni, a handsome young contender driven by a fearless passion to become number one. It exposes the notoriously closed world of this ancient race and the larger-than-life personalities of those involved in an epic and cinematic tale of Italian life in microcosm.


SUN 22:30 In Concert (b0074sf0)
The Eagles

Footage of Californian country rockers The Eagles from 1973, performing classic US hits such as Peaceful Easy Feeling, Witchy Woman and Take it Easy.

At the time were they the epitome of the California sound, with a sweet blend of sophisticated country music that took them to the top of the charts in the US.


SUN 23:00 Dusty Springfield at the BBC (b01qyvw7)
A selection of Dusty Springfield's performances at the BBC from 1961 to 1995. Dusty was one of Britain's great pop divas, guaranteed to give us a big melody in songs soaring with drama and yearning.

The clips show Dusty's versatility as an artist and performer and include songs from her folk beginnings with The Springfields; the melodrama of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me; Dusty's homage to Motown with Heatwave and Nowhere to Run; the Jacques Brel song If You Go Away; the Bacharach and David tune The Look of Love; and Dusty's collaboration with Pet Shop Boys in the late 1980s.

There are also some great duets from Dusty's career with Tom Jones and Mel Torme.


SUN 00:00 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sk2)
Episode 3

Musical memories from the BBC archives. This edition concentrates on the soul and funk artists who found success in the British charts of the 1980s, with performances from Kool and the Gang, The Pointer Sisters, Grace Jones, Cameo, Bobby Womack, Sade, Alexander O'Neal and Whitney Houston.


SUN 00:30 Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered (b04n6scp)
What killed King Tutankhamun? Ever since his spectacular tomb was discovered, the boy king has been the most famous pharaoh of all ancient Egypt. But his mysterious death, at just 19 years old, has never been explained.

Dallas Campbell reports on new scientific research being carried out on his fragile remains in an attempt to get to the truth. Using CT scan data, the programme creates the first scientifically accurate image of the king's corpse. DNA analysis uncovers a secret about Tutankhamun's family background, and the genetic trail of clues leads to a new theory to explain his death.

This is an epic detective story that uncovers the extraordinary truth of the boy behind the golden mask.


SUN 01:30 Rock 'n' Roll America (b061fdr7)
Whole Lotta Shakin'

As rock 'n' roll took off with teens in 1955 it quickly increased record sales by 300 per cent in America. Big business and the burgeoning world of TV moved in. Elvis made a big-money move to major label RCA instigated by Colonel Tom Parker, an illegal immigrant from Holland who had made his name at country fairs with a set of dancing chickens. Elvis made his national TV debut with Heartbreak Hotel and followed it with a gyrating version of Hound Dog that shocked America. PTAs, church groups and local councils were outraged. Rock 'n' roll was banned by the mayor of Jersey City and removed from jukeboxes in Alabama. Now Ed Sullivan would only shoot Elvis from the waist up.

The conservative media needed a cleaned-up version and the young, married-with-kids Christian singer Pat Boone shot up the chart, rivalling Elvis for sales. Not that this stopped rock 'n' roll. Jerry Lee Lewis again scandalised the nation with his gyrating finger in Whole Lotta Shakin' and the Everlys shocked with Wake Up Little Susie, both 45s being banned in parts of America.

It took bespectacled geek Buddy Holly to calm things down as a suburban down-home boy who, with his school friends The Crickets, turned plain looks into chart success. But by the end of 1958 the music was in real trouble. Elvis was conscripted into the army, Jerry Lee was thrown out of Britain and into obscurity for marrying his 13-year-old cousin and Little Richard went into the church.

Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Don Everly, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, Pat Boone, DJ Fontana, Eric Burdon, James Burton, Jerry Allison (The Crickets' drummer), Mike Stoller, PF Sloan, Joe Boyd, Jerry Phillips, Marshall Chess and JM Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis's drummer).


SUN 02:30 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 03:10 on Saturday]


SUN 02:55 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r3pm9)
1970-1974

Trawled from the depths of the BBC Archive and classic BBC shows of the day - Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Full House - a collection of performance gems from a totally rock 'n' roll early 1970s.

This was a golden era for British rock 'n' roll as everyone moved on from the whimsical 60s and looked around for something with a bit more oomph! In a pre-heavy metal world bands were experimenting with influences that dated back to 50s rock 'n' roll, whilst taking their groove from old-school rhythm and blues. It was also a time when men grew their hair long!

In a celebration of this era, we kick off with an early 1970s Badfinger number direct from the BBC library and continue the groove from the BBC vaults with classic rock 'n' roll heroes like Free, Status Quo, the Faces, Humble Pie and Mott the Hoople. Plus from deep within the BBC archives we dig out some rarities from the likes of Babe Ruth, Stone the Crows, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Man, Heavy Metal Kids and original rockers Thin Lizzy... to name but a few.

Sit back and enjoy a 60-minute non-stop ride of unadulterated Totally British 70s Rock 'n' Roll!



MONDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2016

MON 19:00 World News Today (b0702p30)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Grand Tours of Scotland (b017pytk)
Series 2

The Charms of Nature

Paul Murton travels by vintage bike through the spectacular scenery of the central Highlands to better appreciate the charms of nature. He starts his adventure in Glen Lyon, then heads north via Pitlochry, and ends his trip in the Cairngorms National Park.


MON 20:00 Italy Unpacked (b01px7lp)
Series 1

The Art of the Feast

On their tour of Northern Italy, Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli begin in Emilia-Romagna, the real cornucopia of Italy, an area covered with grain fields during summer, one of richest and more fertile regions in Italy.

The pair start their trip from Bologna, the capital, to discover why the town is called la Dotta (the Learned), la Grassa (the Fat) and la Rossa (the Red). They find the answer to their quest visiting the oldest university in the world, the still-thriving traditional shops and the town art institutions.

Leaving Bologna, Andrew and Giorgio immerse themselves in this beautiful region. The people in Emilia have a strong feeling of friendship and belonging, they love to meet up and spend time together. Giorgio wants to introduce Andrew to 'il Padellone' (the big 'padella', the big frying pan), a shack on the Adriatic Sea at the mouth of the River Po, where the co-owners meet to spend time together while lazily fishing from very big nets.

From there a short journey brings them to Ferrara and the legacy left by the famous dynasty D'Este, and to Modena, home of the famous balsamic vinegar, and of one of the jewels of the Italian manufactory industry - Ferrari cars.

The end of this tour sees Giorgio going to the source of modern Italian cuisine as we know and love - at the Palatina library in Parma he has the chance to admire an original manuscript of Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well by Pellegrino Artusi, the first cookbook of the newly-united Italy, while Andrew has his own bliss with the innovative Correggio's fresco of the Madonna ascension in the cathedral dome.


MON 21:00 Addicted to Sheep (b070jj99)
Set in the North Pennines, an intimate portrait of a year in the life of tenant hill farmers Tom and Kay Hutchinson as they try to breed the perfect sheep.

Through the sun, rain, sleet and snow, we watch the Hutchinsons toil away against the stark, stunning landscapes of north east England and witness the hard work it takes just to survive. Their three young children are growing up close to the land, attending the local primary school entirely comprised of farmers' children, all thoroughly immersed in their remote rural world. While the odds often seem stacked against them, the film conveys the importance of a balanced family life and the good humour that binds this tight-knit community together.

An entertaining and subtle reminder of how important farming is to the economy and the social fabric of our communities. Following your passion does have its rewards, although not always financial.

Beautifully observed, this heartwarming film provides an insight into the past, present and future of a way of life far removed from the high-tech hustle and bustle of modern life.


MON 22:00 The London Markets (b01jmvkw)
The Fruit and Veg Market: Inside New Spitalfields

The fruit and veg trade in England was once a closed world dominated by traditional British costermonger families. But then London changed. Successive waves of immigration have brought new people to New Spitalfields market in east London, people for whom food has a deeper meaning.


MON 23:00 The Great War (b0074p9j)
The Hell where Youth and Laughter Go

This episode looks at the experiences of soldiers on the Western Front and the effect this had upon the human spirit. At the time, the scale of the losses appeared as an unrivalled evil. The dehumanising manner in which the war was fought lent it a special horror which was has endured across the years.


MON 23:40 The Great War (p00gzz9y)
Only War, Nothing But War

Exploring how the war had evolved from an old-fashioned military conflict to a war engulfing whole nations, fought with passionate and irrational hatred. But out of 'total war' grew modern ideas of a state's responsibility for its citizens, and the concept of managing an economy as one vast business. Whatever the final outcome of the war, the pre-1914 world had come to an end, and a new era was dawning.


MON 00:20 Fifties British War Films: Days of Glory (b01pkj2m)
In the 1950s, Britain looked back on its epic war effort in films such as The Dam Busters, The Cruel Sea and The Colditz Story. However, even at the time these productions were criticised for being class-bound and living in the past.

Journalist and historian Simon Heffer argues that these films have real cinematic merit and a genuine cultural importance, that they tell us something significant not only about the 1950s Britain from which they emerged but also about what it means to be British today.

His case is supported by interviews with stars including Virginia McKenna, Sylvia Syms and Sir Donald Sinden, with further contributions from directors Guy Hamilton (The Colditz Story) and Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters).


MON 01:20 Italy Unpacked (b01px7lp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:20 Apples, Pears and Paint: How to Make a Still Life Painting (b03ny8wk)
A richly detailed journey through the epic history of still-life painting, featuring a range of delights from the earliest existing Xenia mural paintings discovered at Pompeii to the cubist masterpieces of Picasso.

Awash with rich imagery of fruit, flowers and humble domestic objects, this lively take on the story of still life encompasses the work of some of the genre's greatest artists from Caravaggio to Chardin and Cezanne. But it also captures the surprising contributions of the less well-known, including asparagus enthusiast Adriaen Coorte and female flower painter in the court of Louis XVI, Anne Vallayer-Coster.

With contributions from historians Bettany Hughes and Janina Ramirez, art historians Andrew Graham Dixon and Norman Bryson, and philosopher Alain de Botton amongst others, it opens up the huge social histories that lie behind the paintings and the fascinating lives of the people who made them.



TUESDAY 09 FEBRUARY 2016

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b0702p35)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Grand Tours of Scotland (b017zqmj)
Series 2

The True Spirit of Scotland

Following a network of now forgotten steamer routes, presenter Paul Murton goes in search of the true spirit of Scotland, travelling from loch to loch in Argyll and then out to Islay. As the steamers left the Scottish lochs years ago, Paul has to literally 'paddle his own canoe' - in this case, a beautiful replica of an original Rob Roy canoe from the 1890s - to follow the route.


TUE 20:00 Natural World (b01ntt8p)
2012-2013

Attenborough's Ark

David Attenborough chooses his ten favourite animals that he would most like to save from extinction. From the weird to the wonderful, he picks fabulous and unusual creatures that he would like to put in his 'ark', including unexpected and little-known animals such as the olm, the solenodon and the quoll. He shows why they are so important and shares the ingenious work of biologists across the world who are helping to keep them alive.


TUE 21:00 Russia's Lost Princesses (b04g6rhb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Sunday]


TUE 22:00 The Docklands Bomb: Executing Peace (b0704y7r)
Twenty years after the Docklands bomb exploded in London, this film tells the dramatic story of the IRA operation to end its ceasefire and how the security forces in London and Northern Ireland tracked down the bombers. When US President Bill Clinton visited Northern Ireland in November 1995, there was a celebration of peace on the streets. But, unknown to him, on the same day the IRA was already planning the attack that would end its 17-month ceasefire. Against the backdrop of an extraordinary political climate and knife-edge road to peace, The Docklands Bomb: Executing Peace unpacks the events that led to the bombing and follows the trail that led police to the South Armagh team behind it.


TUE 23:00 Addicted to Sheep (b070jj99)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 00:00 How Earth Made Us (b00qm6p0)
Wind

Professor Iain Stewart continues his epic exploration of how the planet has shaped human history.

Iain sets sail on one of the fastest racing boats ever built to explore the story of our turbulent relationship with the wind. Travelling to iconic locations including the Sahara desert, the coast of west Africa and the South Pacific, Iain discovers how people have exploited the power of the wind for thousands of years.

The wind is a force which at first sight appears chaotic. But the patterns that lie within the atmosphere have shaped the destiny of continents, and lie at the heart of some of the greatest turning points in human history.


TUE 01:00 How the Celts Saved Britain (b00ktrby)
Salvation

Provocative two-part documentary in which Dan Snow blows the lid on the traditional Anglo-centric view of history and reveals how the Irish saved Britain from cultural oblivion during the Dark Ages.

He follows in the footsteps of Ireland's earliest missionaries as they venture through treacherous barbarian territory to bring literacy and technology to the future nations of Scotland and England.


TUE 02:00 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (b00kvbny)
Simon Armitage goes on a journey to discover the language and landscape of our first great Arthurian romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. For JRR Tolkien, Gawain is 'a fairy tale for adults', but Armitage finds strong modern relevance in the trials of its stripling hero and a tale of do or die. A marvel of the imagination, Armitage argues that Gawain must take its place alongside Chaucer and Shakespeare at the head of the canon.


TUE 03:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03lytyp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]



WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2016

WED 19:00 World News Today (b0702p3b)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Grand Tours of Scotland (b01868hs)
Series 2

In Search of Sunshine

Long before the era of cheap flights and package holidays on the 'Costa del Sunburn', most Scots spent their summer holidays by the Scottish seaside. In the last episode of Grand Tours, presenter Paul Murton goes in search of Scottish sunshine. To capture the holiday spirit and to chase the sun, Paul's travelling by Morris Minor and is following a route up the east coast from Carnoustie to Aberdeen.


WED 20:00 Tales from the Royal Wardrobe with Lucy Worsley (b048wss8)
Today, few people's clothes attract as much attention as the royal family, but this is not a modern-day Hello magazine-inspired obsession. As Dr Lucy Worsley reveals, it has always been this way. Exploring the royal wardrobes of our kings and queens over the last 400 years, Lucy shows this isn't just a public preoccupation but our monarchs' as well.

From Elizabeth I to our present Queen, Lucy believes that the royal wardrobe's significance goes way beyond the cut and colour of the clothing and that royal fashion is, and has always been, regarded as their personal statement to their people. So most monarchs have carefully choreographed every aspect of their wardrobe and, for those who have not, there have sometimes been calamitous consequences.


WED 21:00 A Timewatch Guide (b06zdll0)
Series 2

Queen Elizabeth I

Vanessa Collingridge examines the life of Elizabeth Tudor, with particular interest in how documentary television and the BBC has examined her legacy and interrogated her reign. Using Timewatch and other BBC archive stretching back over 60 years, Vanessa looks at her upbringing, her conflicts with her enemies including Mary, Queen of Scots, and her greatest victory against the Spanish Armada. The programme seeks to understand how Elizabeth I created a legacy that we still live with today, and examines how that legacy has changed over the centuries.


WED 22:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03lytyp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


WED 23:00 Russia's Lost Princesses (b04g6rhb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Sunday]


WED 00:00 Tales from the Royal Wardrobe with Lucy Worsley (b048wss8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 01:00 Je t'aime: The Story of French Song with Petula Clark (b05vnhz1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 on Saturday]


WED 02:00 Timeshift (b03mp53s)
Series 13

The Ladybird Books Story: The Bugs that Got Britain Reading

To millions of people, Ladybird books were as much a part of childhood as battery-powered torches and warm school milk. These now iconic pocket-sized books once informed us on such diverse subjects as how magnets work, what to look for in winter and how to make decorations out of old eggshells. But they also helped to teach many of us to read via a unique literacy scheme known as 'key words'. Ladybird books were also a visual treat - some of the best-known contemporary illustrators were recruited to provide images which today provide a perfect snapshot of the lost world of Ladybirdland: a place that is forever the gloriously ordinary, orderly 1950s.


WED 03:00 A Timewatch Guide (b06zdll0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2016

THU 19:00 World News Today (b0702p3h)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b070mypz)
Peter Powell introduces the pop programme, featuring Sharon Redd, Bucks Fizz, Colin Blunstone & Dave Stewart, Toyah, The Who, Phil Collins, Shakin Stevens, Visage, Roxy Music and Duran Duran, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.


THU 20:00 A Timewatch Guide (b06zdll0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Horizon (b00hr6bk)
2008-2009

Can We Make a Star on Earth?

Professor Brian Cox takes a global journey in search of the energy source of the future. Called nuclear fusion, it is the process that fuels the sun and every other star in the universe. Yet despite over five decades of effort, scientists have been unable to get even a single watt of fusion electricity onto the grid.

Brian returns to Horizon to find out why. Granted extraordinary access to the biggest and most ambitious fusion experiments on the planet, Brian travels to the USA to see a high-security fusion bomb-testing facility in action and is given a tour of the world's most powerful laser. In South Korea, he clambers inside the reaction chamber of K-Star, the world's first supercooled, superconducting fusion reactor, where the fate of future fusion research will be decided.


THU 22:00 The Brain with David Eagleman (b07030n9)
How Do I Decide?

Series in which Dr David Eagleman takes viewers on an extraordinary journey that explores how the brain, locked in silence and darkness without direct access to the world, conjures up the rich and beautiful world we all take for granted.

The human brain is the most complex object we've discovered in the universe, and every day much of its neural circuitry is taken up with the tens of thousands of decisions we need to make. This episode takes a journey through the unseen world of decisions, and how they get made. We start with a simple one - choosing a flavour of frozen yoghurt - and learn that every decision we make is born of a 'winner takes all' competition between rival neural networks.

We meet a woman who is unable to make decisions because of damage to her orbito-frontal cortex - an area that is key to integrating the signals streaming in from the body - and discover that feedback from the body is vital to the decision-making process. Dr Eagleman reveals that something as simple as when you ate your last meal can even influence life-changing decisions, as a study of judges showed they were less likely to give parole when they were hungry.

So many of our conscious life-defining decisions are actually steered by unconscious influences, whether it's deciding whom we find attractive or how to vote in the next election. Professor Read Montague reveals that he can be 95 per cent certain about which political party we will vote for based on our brain's response to disgusting imagery. The more disgusted a brain response is, the more likely that person is to vote Conservative.

Finally, Dr Eagleman takes a look at how we can take better control of the decisions we make, and uses an exciting new technique called fMRI neurofeedback to retrain the brains of drug addicts who want to make better decisions, to say 'no'.


THU 23:00 Top of the Pops (b070mypz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 23:40 The London Markets (b01jmvkw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


THU 00:40 Horizon (b00hr6bk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 01:40 Fifties British War Films: Days of Glory (b01pkj2m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:20 on Monday]


THU 02:40 The Brain with David Eagleman (b07030n9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2016

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b0702p3t)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b070n0l9)
Richard Skinner introduces the pop programme, featuring Graham Bonnet, Hazel O'Connor, Tony Capstick, Gillan, Lene Lovich, Bad Manners, Shakin' Stevens, Linx, Landscape, the Polecats and Kim Wilde, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.


FRI 20:00 The Good Old Days (b070319r)
Leonard Sachs presents an edition of the old-time music hall programme, from the stage of the City Varieties Theatre, Leeds. With Ken Dodd, Lyn Kennington, the Jan Hunt Panto, and performers from the Players Theatre.


FRI 20:45 Sounds of the Sixties (b009x6kv)
Reversions

The Folk Revival

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen feature in this folk tinged episode of 60s archive.


FRI 20:55 Sounds of the Seventies (b00c1cx3)
Solos

The Faces

Vintage rock, pop and soul performances from the BBC archives. The Faces perform Stay with Me in 1972.


FRI 21:00 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r7hk5)
1975-79

A romp through the BBC archive library from 1975 to 1979 has unearthed some seldom-seen performances of the rarely explored genre of pub rock and other late 70s rock 'n' roll gems from classic music programmes like the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Before the DIY culture of punk took hold there was a whole breed of real musicians who honed their craft in the backrooms of pubs. And towards the end of the 70s men's hair was starting to get shorter too.

This compilation has uncovered rarely seen footage from the likes of Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood, original pub rockers Ducks DeLuxe, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Elvis Costello, Meal Ticket, Steve Gibbons Band, Dave Edmunds and chum Nick Lowe, a pre-Mike & the Mechanics' Paul Carrack in his first band Ace, a post-Faces Ronnie Lane, The Motors, the first TV performance from Dire Straits, Graham Parker and the Rumour and many more.


FRI 22:00 The Easybeats to AC/DC: The Story of Aussie Rock (b0705t5j)
A film about the sound of Australian rock and the emergence of one of the world's greatest rock bands - AC/DC, or Acca Dacca as they are known in Australia, and the legendary music company, Albert Music (Alberts) that helped launched them on to the global rock scene.

Through the 1960s, 70s and 80s, Alberts created a house of hits in Australia that literally changed the sound of Australian popular music.

It started with The Easybeats and their international hit Friday on My Mind back in the 60s. In the 1970s when Australia was in the midst of a deep recession, a rough and ready pub rock sound emerged, characterised by bands like Rose Tattoo who were promoted by family-run company Alberts. The raw power and fat guitar sound that characterised Aussie rock was pioneered by the Alberts and took Australia and the world by storm.

The sound of Aussie rock really exploded when the Alberts, a well-to-do family from the Sydney suburbs, joined forces with the Youngs, a Glasgow family who had emigrated to Australia. The result was AC/DC.

The documentary tells the story of how brothers Angus and Malcolm Young were produced by their older brother George and fellow Easybeats member Harry Vanda. Vanda and Young produced the band at Albert Studios and they were soon joined by the wild and charismatic lead singer Bon Scott.

Head of Alberts was Ted Albert - a quietly confident risk-taker. He backed AC/DC for many years with rock-solid conviction when their type of music and fashion seemed completely at odds with a UK and US music scene dominated by punk. Then, in 1980, AC/DC's Back in Black album was a massive success around the world and the rest is history. The film retraces the band's explosion in popularity, the relentless touring and the tragic death of Bon Scott.

Even after Bon's death, and with the addition of Brian Johnson, the band went from strength to strength and remain hugely popular and one of the world's most legendary bands. Today, the Albert family remains a potent force in Australian music.


FRI 23:00 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0623809)
Be My Baby

In the years bookended by Buddy Holly's death in early 1959 and The Beatles landing at JFK in spring 1964, rock 'n' roll calmed down, went uptown and got spun into teen pop in a number of America's biggest cities. Philadelphia produced 'teen idols' like Fabian who were beamed around the country by the daily TV show Bandstand. Young Jewish songwriters in New York's Brill Building drove girl groups on the east coast who gave a female voice to teenage romance. Rock 'n' roll even fuelled the Motown sound in Detroit and soundtracked the sunshiny west coast dream from guitar instrumental groups like The Ventures to LA's emerging Beach Boys.

In the early 60s, rock 'n' roll was birthing increasingly polished pop sounds across the States, but American teens seemed to have settled back into sensible young adulthood. Enter the long-haired boys from Liverpool, Newcastle and London.

Featuring exclusive interviews with Jerry Lee Lewis, Ben E King, Chubby Checker, Ronnie Spector, Barrett Strong, Eric Burdon and Pat Boone.


FRI 00:00 Top of the Pops (b070n0l9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 00:40 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.


FRI 01:40 The Easybeats to AC/DC: The Story of Aussie Rock (b0705t5j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:40 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r7hk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:40 Sounds of the Sixties (b009x6kv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:45 today]