SATURDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2019

SAT 19:00 James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain (m00030wh)
Episode 1

Two-part documentary, introduced and narrated by model train enthusiast James May, that follows a year inside Hornby Hobbies - an iconic British toymaker on the brink of collapse. But this is no ordinary business series - this is a series about model train and plane obsessives, both inside and outside the company, all of whom desperately need the company to survive.

In episode one, we join Hornby as they face their biggest crisis in a generation. The company has lost £30M in the past five years and sales across all three of their major brands - Scalextric, Airfix and Hornby Railways - are down.

A new boss, Lyndon Davies, has been appointed to turn the company’s dismal fortunes around and he has brought back some company veterans to help in the fight for survival.

Simon Kohler, known affectionately as ‘Mr Hornby’ has been brought back after a four-year absence. He assesses the decline of his beloved company and attempts to reconnect with Hornby’s dissatisfied customer base and retailers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to revitalise Airfix, Lyndon tasks a master amateur model builder, Jim Bren, with the biggest build of his model-making life – the largest reconstruction of the Hellcat plane ever attempted by the company.

We get the opportunity to delve into the highly secretive world of the company’s design and development process. We meet Ken, head of the audio research laboratory, as he struggles to find the perfect cat sound, as well as other veterans like head of archives Peter, who has some very strong words on how he feels the company has been managed.

We also meet the people whose pastimes are at stake, such as the members of the Double O Gauge Association. We follow them as they prepare for one of the biggest events in the model railway enthusiast’s diary – The Great Electric Train Show in Milton Keynes – where their fictitious village of Batcombe is ready for its unveiling to the public.


SAT 20:00 Earth's Natural Wonders (p02m63cs)
Series 1

Extreme Wonders

Across our planet, there are a handful of places that truly astonish, like Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon and Victoria Falls. These wonders seem to have little in common other than - literally - taking your breath away. But they share one other thing: they pose extraordinary challenges for their inhabitants.

This landmark series combines stunning photography and compelling human drama as it reveals twelve remarkable places. And it uncovers the stories of people fighting to survive - and even triumph - in earth's natural wonders.


SAT 21:00 Spiral (m000bh1w)
Series 7

Episode 11

When Laure and Gilou, under investigation by Internal Affairs, are taken into custody, Tintin is torn between his loyalties to his former colleagues and his new job. Josephine also faces a moral decision about how best to fight Lola's case.

In French with English subtitles.


SAT 21:55 Spiral (m000bh1y)
Series 7

Episode 12

As police close in, Cann plans to make a run for it. But first, he reaches out to Edelman, asking for his help. Josephine intervenes in the investigation but is not immediately trusted. Meanwhile, Laure and Gilou still have not been cleared of wrongdoing by Internal Affairs.

In French with English subtitles


SAT 22:55 Top of the Pops (m000b8p8)
Steve Wright and Caron Keating present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 20 October 1988 and featuring D Mob ft Gary Haisman, The Christians, Enya, Deacon Blue, Milli Vanilli, Erasure, Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston and The Wee Papa Girl Rappers.


SAT 23:25 Top of the Pops (m000b8pb)
Simon Mayo and Anthea Turner present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 27 October 1988 and featuring Milli Vanilli, The Art of Noise and Tom Jones, Royal House, Tanita Tikaram, Robert Palmer, Yazz, Deacon Blue, Enya, and The Beatmasters with PP Arnold.


SAT 23:55 Proclaimers: This Is the Story (b08w51r4)
In 1987, two brothers from Auctermuchty in Fife released an album called This Is the Story. Featuring songs such as Letter from America, the album propelled The Proclaimers and the Scottish accent into the charts.

Superfan David Tennant talks to Craig and Charlie Reid about 30 years in the business which has taken them from playing small pubs and clubs across Scotland to become one of the nation's most iconic bands.


SAT 00:55 Peaky Blinders (b03c58wp)
Series 1

Episode 4

Thomas Shelby's war with the Lee family of gypsies escalates and Campbell puts further pressure on him to deliver the stolen guns. Meanwhile, Thomas's brother John plans to marry a former prostitute, but Thomas suspects that she's still on the game.


SAT 01:55 Peaky Blinders (b03cntw3)
Series 1

Episode 5

Thomas Shelby has to deal with an IRA chief who has come to Small Heath to avenge his cousin's death. Meanwhile, Campbell gets closer to the stolen guns, and Grace has to decide whether her loyalties lie with him or with Thomas.


SAT 02:55 Peaky Blinders (b03dwq3x)
Series 1

Episode 6

As Thomas Shelby prepares to oust Billy Kimber, hidden secrets are revealed and the family have to face up to the problems that have divided them. Meanwhile, Campbell, obsessed with taking down the Peaky Blinders, unleashes one last plan to destroy them.



SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2019

SUN 19:00 The Women's Football Show (m000bh0s)
2019/20

17/11/2019

Eilidh Barbour presents highlights of the Women’s Super League from Chelsea as they face Manchester United.

The show also features highlights of the derbies between Tottenham and Arsenal, and Liverpool and Everton, plus all the goals from the rest of the WSL, part of the first Women’s Football Weekend.


SUN 19:30 The River Taff with Will Millard (b06zyl2v)
Series 1

Episode 1

Writer and fisherman Will Millard tells the extraordinary story of how the River Taff came back from the dead. This river, once so polluted by heavy industry that no fish could live there, has now become one of the best salmon and trout rivers in Wales. Will travels from the source high in the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park to Merthyr Tydfil where he discovers that the town's ironworks were once vital to the British Empire. Along the way he trains with a mountain rescue team facing a unique set of challenges, meets a group of conservationists working to protect a magical, hidden valley and fishes for wild brown trout in the most unlikely location.


SUN 20:00 America's Greatest Opera House: The Story of the Met (m000bh0v)
Documentary that surveys a remarkable period in the Metropolitan Opera's rich history and a time of great change for New York. Featuring rarely seen archival footage, stills, recent interviews and a soundtrack of extraordinary Met performances, the documentary chronicles the creation of the Met's storeyed home in 1966, which replaced the original 1883 house on Broadway, against a backdrop of the artists, architects and politicians who shaped the cultural life of New York City in the 1950s and 1960s.

Among the notable figures in the documentary are famed soprano Leontyne Price, who opened the new Met in 1966 with Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, Rudolf Bing, the Met's imperious general manager who engineered the move from the old house to the new one, Robert Moses, the unstoppable city planner who bulldozed an entire neighbourhood to make room for the Lincoln Center, and Wallace Harrison, whose quest for architectural glory was never fully realised.


SUN 22:00 The Worlds of Ursula K Le Guin (m000bh0x)
Documentary that explores the remarkable life and legacy of the late feminist author Ursula K Le Guin. Best known for groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy works such as A Wizard of Earthsea, The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, Le Guin defiantly held her ground on the margin of so-called respectable literature until the sheer excellence of her work forced the mainstream to embrace fantastic literature. Her fascinating story has never before been captured before on film.

Produced with Le Guin’s participation over the course of a decade, and featuring stunning animation and reflections by other literary luminaries, the documentary is a journey through the writer’s career and her worlds, both real and fantastic. Ursula goes on an intimate journey of self-discovery as she comes into her own as a major feminist author, opening new doors for the imagination and inspiring generations of women and other marginalised writers along the way.


SUN 22:55 The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark (b03tdd6k)
Bob Dylan described Missouri-born country boy Gene Clark as one of the three best songwriters in the world. He was the original frontman for one of the most iconic and influential bands of the 60s. After his abrupt departure from the Byrds at the peak of their popularity, he made records that are still regarded as classics. And he was one of the great pioneers of both folk rock and country rock. Yet, as far as the public is concerned, Clark is largely unknown and his reputation lags far behind that of peers such as Gram Parsons.

Since his death in 1991 at the age of 46, his songs have been covered by artists ranging from Robert Plant to Yo La Tengo and he has been hailed as a key influence by successive generations of musicians such as Tom Petty, Primal Scream and Fleet Foxes, despite some of his albums having been unavailable for long periods, and only now all available again.

This documentary explores the mystery of why this richly talented but deeply enigmatic and often self-destructive man failed to enjoy the success his work deserved. Drawing on interviews with his family, friends and fellow musicians including fellow Byrds David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, a wealth of great music from the four-decade span of his career and previously unseen archive material, it is a story that is both compelling and moving, veering between moments of magic and moments of madness.

The film was made by a father and sons team - Paul, Jack and Dan Kendall - as a labour of love which took them right across America in search of the people and places that were part of Gene Clark's life.


SUN 00:25 The Sinner (m0001qr2)
Series 1

Episode 8

The identification of a woman's body provides Harry with the evidence he needs.


SUN 01:10 Peaky Blinders (b04kklnm)
Series 2

Episode 1

As the 1920s begin to roar, business is booming for the Peaky Blinders gang. Tommy Shelby starts to expand his legal and illegal operations, with an eye on the racetracks of the south. Meanwhile, an enemy from Tommy's past returns to Birmingham.


SUN 02:10 Peaky Blinders (b04l8zyp)
Series 2

Episode 2

Tommy offers to help Polly by searching for her children, who long ago were taken from her. In London, Tommy risks his life by meeting enigmatic leader Alfie Solomons. Meanwhile Arthur continues to feel the devastating effects of the Great War.



MONDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2019

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m000bh0g)
Series 1

18/11/2019

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.


MON 19:30 Clarissa and the King's Cookbook (b00b6vl6)
We Brits love our cookbooks - every year we buy millions of them and treat our celebrity chefs like royalty. But where did it all begin? Self-confessed medieval foodie Clarissa Dickson Wright tracks down Britain's oldest known cookbook, The Forme of Cury. This 700-year-old scroll was written during the reign of King Richard II from recipes created by the king's master chefs. How this ancient manuscript influenced the way people eat today? On her culinary journey through medieval history she reawakens recipes that have lain dormant for centuries and discovers dishes that are still prepared now.


MON 20:00 Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal (b0bk8xcp)
Series 1

Pleasure vs Duty

This intimate two-part series profiles Princess Margaret, whose life and loves reflected the social and sexual revolution that transformed Britain during the 20th century. With sumptuous archive and revealing interviews, the series follows Margaret's life as she redefined our image of the modern princess.

This deeply personal account reveals how Princess Margaret's character combined the rebellious force of modernity and respect for tradition.


MON 21:00 Storyville (m000bh0j)
One Child Nation

Thirty-five years of relentless propaganda and harsh brutal punishments left the Chinese people living in fear of their country's one-child policy. That rule, which was abandoned in 2015, has left the country with an ageing population and tens of millions more men than women.

The documentary's directors, Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, unmask the tightly held, hidden secrets of how the Chinese government enforced its one-child policy and explores its devastating effect. Wang, a new mother now living in the US, travels back to the rural village she was born in and speaks to midwives, village leaders and journalists, revealing chilling stories of forced abortions, sterilisation, abandoned babies and state-sponsored kidnappings. Her own family share the grim choices they were forced to make in order to avoid harsh punishments from the state.

With new information on tens of thousands of abandoned and kidnapped children (nearly all of them infant girls), One Child Nation breaks open decades of silence on a vast, unprecedented social experiment that shaped - and destroyed - countless lives.


MON 22:25 The Sun (b0074s96)
A revealing portrait of our closest star - the sun. Responsible for all life on Earth, the sun has always been worshipped. In the Stone Age, monuments were built to its constancy and predictability. New ways of observing the sun are revealing another side to it - a dark and violent side of turbulent storms and huge explosions. As scientists learn to understand the forces that drive it, they are also trying to control its power. If we could harness the sun's power output for a single second it would supply the world's demands for the next million years.


MON 23:25 Into the Wind (b08lvxxs)
There is no walking without weather. It marks all experiences of being outdoors - for better or for worse.

For writer, birdwatcher and radio producer Tim Dee, the weather is never an innocent bystander - especially the wind. In any walk that he makes - to watch birds, to record sounds, to reflect on the landscape and the natural world - the wind is an active agent. It carries birds, it buffets microphones, it brings and takes away much of what moves and shapes his life.

In this poetic, mesmeric film, documentary film-maker Richard Alwyn follows Tim Dee on a walk along the vast open marshland of the Lincolnshire Wash, as he embarks on an idiosyncratic mission to capture the elusive sound of 'pure' wind. On the way, under extraordinary skies and dramatic light, Dee reflects on landscape and walking, on birds and writing, and on the 'wild track' of life - wind, bringer of birds into his world and with that, joy and inspiration about the business of being alive.

The problem, of course, is that recording the sound of wind is a quixotic quest because 'in some ways, it doesn't exist as a sound. What we think of as the wind is the sound that the wind is making as it rubs over the surface of the world,' says Dee. Undaunted, Dee walks to the lone high spot on the terminally flat Wash, there to raise his boom in an attempt to capture the wind as it arrives fresh out of the north, pure and untouched, new and exciting. 'I'm probably the first thing this wind has hit for about 1,000 miles or so - and it's telling me so.'


MON 23:55 Peaky Blinders (b04lssgp)
Series 2

Episode 3

Tommy hatches a plan to take control of the southern racecourses. He also meets the aristocratic May Carleton and sees an opportunity to move up in the world. Meanwhile both Major Campbell and London gangster Darby Sabini plan Tommy's downfall.


MON 00:55 Peaky Blinders (b04mlypg)
Series 2

Episode 4

Tommy finds out exactly what mission Major Campbell is forcing him to undertake. Arthur spearheads a ferocious takeover of London's Eden Club. Meanwhile, Polly's son Michael is welcomed into the business and quickly experiences the dark side of the Peaky Blinders.


MON 01:55 Peaky Blinders (b04n6zyy)
Series 2

Episode 5

Tommy is caught by surprise when his powerbase in London is obliterated. As Tommy struggles to save his family and regain the upper hand, May expresses her feelings for him, and he is paid a visit by an old friend.


MON 02:55 Peaky Blinders (b04nyw0f)
Series 2

Episode 6

As derby day arrives, Tommy is faced with impossible decisions as he plans to strike back at his enemies and take the family business to another level. Meanwhile, Major Campbell has one final card to play - one that he is certain will bring about Tommy's demise.



TUESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2019

TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m000bh0l)
Series 1

19/11/2019

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.


TUE 19:30 Canal Boat Diaries (m000bk6x)
Series 1

Shardlow to Stoke-on-Trent

Life on board a narrowboat with Robbie Cumming. Robbie tackles a propeller problem and tricky locks on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Derbyshire.


TUE 20:00 Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal (b0bkz5wv)
Series 1

Castaway

The second film in this intimate portrait finds Princess Margaret and her husband Anthony Armstrong-Jones at the start of their married life in the early 1960s. At home with celebrities and artists, they are riding the wave of a cultural and sexual revolution that is transforming Britain.

In 1965, they set off on an official royal tour of the United States. From California to small-town Arizona, the royal couple promote Britain by day and party by night. They attend a dinner with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in a world where Hollywood royalty increasingly competes with the real thing. In Britain, the press starts to ask if the extravagant royal tour is a good way to spend public money. The mystique of monarchy is being increasingly undermined by the emergence of a more open and egalitarian society.

In the years that follow, Anthony Armstrong-Jones begins to withdraw from royal duties and the couple lead increasingly separate lives. Press speculation about the state of their marriage intensifies. In the 1970s Margaret retreats more and more to the Caribbean island of Mustique in an attempt to secure a private life. In an era of celebrity gossip and the telephoto lens, her relationship with a younger man and beach parties with rock stars like Mick Jagger lead to ever more press interest. As Britain lurches from one economic crisis to the next, Margaret's Caribbean lifestyle becomes the lightning rod for republican attacks on the monarchy.

In 1978, Margaret reflects changing attitudes sweeping the country and gets a divorce. The rebel royal is now increasingly eclipsed by a new generation of princesses. But in her own way, Princess Margaret helped pave the way for them and for the monarchy of the 21st century.

Contributors include Lady Anne Glenconner, a childhood friend who became her lady-in-waiting, Jane Stevens, one of her closest friends, Basil Charles, the owner of a bar on the Caribbean island of Mustique, David Griffin, Princess Margaret's chauffeur, and Craig Brown, her unofficial biographer.


TUE 21:00 Greg Davies: Looking for Kes (m000bh0n)
Comedian, actor and ex-English teacher Greg Davies is a lifelong fan of Barry Hines's classic novel A Kestrel for a Knave, the story of Billy Casper training a kestrel as an escape from his troubled home and school life. In this documentary, Greg goes in search of the book's enduring appeal, travelling to Barnsley, where the book was set and where Ken Loach's famous adaptation, Kes, was filmed.

In a series of encounters with Barry Hines's friends and family, collaborators and admirers, Greg offers a warm, funny and poignant tribute to a book that gave a unique voice to the working-class experience and, in Billy Casper, created a young rebel whose story continues to connect with readers more than 50 years after it was first published in 1968.

In the fish and chip shop young Billy visits in Kes, now renamed Caspers, Greg meets Dai Bradley who played Billy Casper. Together they wonder what might have become of him. 'I think he would have kept that fighting spirit,' says Dai. 'There’s a lot of kids like him out there and the message of the book is that we need to find ways to harness that energy.'

Greg also meets members of the local community in the working men's club, where Barry was a regular, and discovers how many characters in the book were inspired by the people he met there, including the notorious PE teacher.

Ken Loach explains why the book provided such perfect source material for the film. 'The truth of the book shone through: the comedy, the use of language and dialect and, of course, the central image of a boy who is trapped, training a bird that flies free.'

Greg visits the site where Barry Hines's brother, Richard, found his own kestrel, the encounter that inspired the character of Billy and the location used in the film. For the first time in 50 years, Richard flies a kestrel again.

In the Sheffield University archives, Greg is thrilled to discover the original handwritten manuscript of A Kestrel for a Knave. There he meets Jarvis Cocker, another fan of the book, who discusses why the book meant so much to him 'That symbolism of escape was powerful for me growing up,' says Jarvis. 'The desire for escape has been a massive engine for creativity for people from working-class backgrounds. You want to make, write or sing something to help you escape.'


TUE 22:00 Kes - Reimagined (m000bh0q)
A retelling of the heartrending coming-of-age story of the relationship between a boy and a wild bird of prey, created by Barnsley-born choreographer Jonathan Watkins using dance, music and puppetry. Coinciding with the 50th-anniversary release of Ken Loach's quintessentially British film, Kes - Reimagined is adapted from the novel A Kestrel for a Knave, written by English author Barry Hines.

Set in a Yorkshire mining community, this new interpretation of the much-loved classic takes audiences on a journey with Billy Casper. The young working-class boy is troubled at home and at school but finds solace when he encounters, and then trains, a kestrel. As the beloved Kes swoops and spins in the expansive freedom of the Yorkshire countryside, Billy's self-confidence begins to soar, and boy and bird become one.

It's a straightforward story but one with complex themes, a tale that resonates as much with contemporary audiences as those of the 1970s. It's about the politics of education and what and how we learn. The bird offers freedom from the brutality of pit life that for Billy, like so many other British men of the period, felt inevitable. The grace and beauty of the dancers contrasts with the bleak circumstances in which the characters they represent find themselves.

This unique production brings together a compelling new musical score, ravishing projected imagery from Yorkshire, graceful movement, puppetry and top-notch performances to create a very special and fast-moving experience.

As Watkins says, 'There's a simple story at its core... someone being opened up to another world. It's a universal message about breaking out of your box. I believe dance is great at painting that picture, where someone goes from being restricted by their environment to opening up through an emotional, physical journey. New horizons are set.'

Initially premiered as a staged production at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, Kes – Reimagined is performed to a score by Alex Baranowski, with puppetry design by Rachael Canning, set and costume design by Ben Stones, lighting design by Olivier Award winner Mark Henderson and projections by Daniel Denton.

KES was filmed in 2019 at Production Park, Wakefield and directed by Emmy Award winner Ross MacGibbon.


TUE 23:10 Sleuths, Spies & Sorcerers: Andrew Marr's Paperback Heroes (p040pw15)
Fantasy

What is it about stories of magic, epic adventure, and imaginary worlds that has turned fantasy fiction into one of the world's most popular forms of storytelling, regularly filling the bestseller lists and entrancing adults and children alike?

In the second episode of his series that deconstructs the books we (really) read, Andrew Marr argues that these stories are filled with big ideas. Yes, there may be wizards with pointy hats as well as the odd dragon, but what fantasy novels are really good at is allowing us to see our own world in a surprising way, albeit through a twisted gothic filter.

The current leading exponent of fantasy fiction is a bearded Texan, George RR Martin, whose A Game of Thrones began a bookshelf-buckling series of novels, and spawned a vast TV empire. But Andrew reminds us that this is a genre whose origins are British, and at its heart is still a quest to reconnect readers with the ancient ideas and folk beliefs of the world before the Enlightenment.

Andrew breaks down fantasy books into a set of conventions that govern the modern genre - he looks at the intricacy with which imaginary worlds are built (as seen in George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series), the use of portals that are able to bridge this world and another (most famously, the wardrobe in CS Lewis's Narnia books), as well the concept of 'thinning' - these novels are typically set in a world in decline. In fantasy fiction, winter is always coming.

To help him understand these books, Andrew meets bestselling fantasy writers and the programme includes interviews with Neil Gaiman, Alan Garner and Frances Hardinge.

As well as profiling key figures such as CS Lewis and Sir Terry Pratchett, Andrew considers the spell that medieval Oxford has cast on generations of authors from Lewis Carroll to Philip Pullman. And he gets to grips with the legacy of JRR Tolkien, a figure so important that his influence pops up everywhere 'like Mount Fuji in Japanese prints', according to Pratchett. Tolkien's predominance would not go unchallenged, and Andrew shows how writers like Ursula K Le Guin confronted Tolkien's rather European notions of what an imaginary world should be.


TUE 00:10 MAKE! Craft Britain (b09x5z01)
Series 1

Episode 2

Rookie crafters discover the ancient arts of silver jewellery-making and cross-stitch, but with a distinctly 21st-century twist. Also demonstrating how making things with your hands can give you an enormous sense of pride, origami expert Sam Tsang shows how to make an origami snack box- perfect for popcorn.

In a converted biscuit factory in the Ouse Valley, home to Newcastle's thriving artistic community, silversmith Lisa Cain welcomes six amateur crafters to her two-day workshop in silverclay jewellery. Each of the students will make two pieces of jewellery to take home or give to a loved one.

Silverclay is a new material, discovered by Mitsubishi in the 1990s, and Lisa has been teaching students how to use it for longer than anyone else in the country. She likes it because it's so accessible for first-timers. Comprising the three parts of silverclay particles, water and binder, silverclay starts off looking like putty. It's malleable to work with and takes all kinds of texture - everything from leaves to lace to latticework - very well. As the water and binder are removed, all that's left is the silverclay and this can then be polished - in a process that seems quite magical - to a fine glossy finish.

Jimmy is a patissier and a perfectionist. He wants to mould a rose similar to the kind he makes out of sugar fondant, but this is an ambitious make for even the most experienced of silverclay artists. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Sara plunges straight in to her model of their whippet, Blue. Jimmy thinks she's being hasty but Sara puts him right - 'Oh Jimmy, I'm not a photocopier' - and goes on to surprise everyone with her creation.

Hampton Court Palace is home to the Royal School of Needlework and it is here that our second workshop is held, taught by visiting lecturer and self-proclaimed 'manbroiderer' Jamie Chalmers, aka Mr X Stitch. Jamie has a huge following and is introducing cross-stitch to a new generation of embroiderers through his workshops and lectures.

Across a single day, six cross-stitch novices learn how to embroider their initials onto a t-shirt, and how to convert their own designs into pixelated cross-stitch patterns. Lena, who has ADHD, claims she has no idea how much time has passed as the students fall into a mesmeric state of flow. Gareth the blacksmith, however, sets himself the near impossible task of recreating a white-hot furnace in cross-stitch as a reminder of his teacher Pete's favourite phrase - keep it hot! He needs time to finish it off at home, and in a touching postscript, travels to Shropshire to give his finished work to Pete who is quite overcome by the gift.


TUE 01:10 Peaky Blinders (b079vtpm)
Series 3

Episode 1

It is Thomas Shelby's long-awaited wedding day. In the middle of the celebrations, a mysterious visitor imperils the entire Shelby family, and Tommy finds himself pulled into a web of intrigue more lethal than anything he has yet encountered.


TUE 02:05 Peaky Blinders (b07bksbb)
Series 3

Episode 2

Tommy discovers the extent of the mission given to him and the extreme lengths his new paymasters are willing to go to in their quest for power.

Meanwhile his own family's activities lead to escalating danger in Birmingham.



WEDNESDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2019

WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m000bh1q)
Series 1

20/11/2019

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.


WED 19:30 Canal Boat Diaries (m000bk5m)
Series 1

Froghall to Bugsworth Basin

Life on England's waterways with Robbie Cumming. A low canal tunnel in Staffordshire proves a problem, and Robbie helps out a stranded boater.


WED 20:00 Sacred Wonders of Britain (b03npt4m)
Episode 1

In the first of a three part series, Neil Oliver sets off on in search of the Sacred Wonders of Britain. What was it about Britain's rich and varied landscape that inspired our ancestors to express their beliefs by reshaping the world around them? What did they see in our countryside that led them to deem some places more sacred than others and why are we still drawn back to those places today?

From the heart of our cities to the furthest reaches of our islands, it's a journey to reveal the sacred face of Britain - an ancient landscape of belief and ritual that still lies hidden just below the surface of our modern world.

Neil goes in search of the very first stirrings of religion in Britain. In Nottinghamshire he discovers clues to a world of magic and ritual etched into the rock of Creswell Crags by Ice Age hunters. In the south of England and on the Scottish borders, great tombs are evidence of ancestor worship among the first farmers of the Neolithic era and an extraordinary discovery in Herefordshire reveals what really lies beneath their burial mounds.

In the flint mines of Grimes Graves in Norfolk, he discovers how Stone Age miners carried their religion deep underground. Finally, in the great stone circle and henge of Avebury and the extraordinary monuments of Orkney, he discovers how a new age of belief swept away the old religions and changed Britain for ever.


WED 21:00 Digging for Britain (m000bn2l)
Series 8

West

Professor Alice Roberts returns with the eighth series of BBC Four’s Digging for Britain. In the first episode, we explore this year’s finds in the west of Britain.

A secret location in the Cotswolds, with all the hallmarks of a high-status Anglo Saxon cemetery, gives up a very precious and fragile artefact. And at the site of Shaftesbury Abbey, Dr Naoise MacSweeney joins archaeologist Julian Richards in his hunt for the missing cloister.

We visit the bone cave of Wales once inhabited by Neanderthals and early humans, while on Salisbury Plain archaeologists have a puzzle. Have they found more remains of the mysterious Beaker People, even though there’s no beaker? The programme also follows an archaeological rescue as a team from Cardiff University is called in to investigate medieval bones protruding from cliff face on the Welsh coast.


WED 22:00 Hunt vs Lauda: F1's Greatest Racing Rivals (b0377tb1)
The victory duel for the 1976 Formula 1 Championship has become the stuff of legend. The spectacular battle for supremacy that raged all season between Austrian Niki Lauda and 'True Brit' James Hunt has never been equalled. Could swashbuckling Hunt catch the scientific Lauda? Could Niki overcome an appalling crash to come back from the dead and fight James all the way to the last race of the season?

This powerful story captures the heart of the 1970s - told through unseen footage and exclusive interviews with the people who were really there - the team managers, families, journalists and friends who were in the front row of the season that changed Formula 1 forever.


WED 22:50 Sir Chris Hoy: 200mph at Le Mans (b07z7yfh)
After London 2012, having become the first British Olympian to win six gold medals, track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy retired. But having spent 20 years at the top of his sport, Chris isn't about to settle for a quiet life. Instead, he swaps two wheels for four to pursue his boyhood dream of competing in the world's toughest endurance motor race, the Le Mans 24 Hours.

We follow Chris as he attempts to prove himself on the race track as he has in the velodrome. By early 2016, he is poised to join the highly successful Le Mans race team - Greaves Motorsport. But Chris's hopes of a podium finish are crushed when the team has to withdraw their car. With less than three months until race day, he finds a seat with a rookie team who have never raced at Le Mans before. Chris has to learn a new car, battle with its teething troubles and work with a team whose operation is a world away from British cycling's obsessive attention to detail.

As Le Mans 2016 begins in torrential rain, competitors are reminded of the danger - 22 drivers have died since it began in 1923 and cars crash out with frightening regularity. Can Chris's team even make it through the 24 hours? And when technical troubles flare less than an hour into the race, there is a good chance that he won't even get on the track. Will Chris and his team fail the ultimate test of man and machine?


WED 23:50 Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners (b04fd6s9)
Home

Professor Mark Miodownik shows us what is so great about stuff. All the things of modern life around us that we maybe take for granted are revealed to be little pieces of domestic magic - everyday miracles - from razor blades to tights, via plywood and foam rubber. On the road and in the lab with explosive experiments, Mark reveals why the everyday, and even the mundane, is anything but.


WED 00:50 Peaky Blinders (b07cgpy2)
Series 3

Episode 3

Responding to the Italians' actions, Tommy is set on a path of deadly vengeance. Meanwhile, as he makes plans for his mission on behalf of the Russians, he realises there is a traitor in his midst.


WED 01:50 Peaky Blinders (b07czw04)
Series 3

Episode 4

Tommy and Tatiana play a personal and dangerous game to acquire information from one another, and Tommy finally comprehends the magnitude of Tatiana's warped ideals.

Meanwhile, Polly reveals a dark secret, with terrible consequences for Tommy.


WED 02:45 Peaky Blinders (b07dwngq)
Series 3

Episode 5

As the Russians test the Peaky Blinders, Tommy realises that he is being seriously outmanoeuvred. But he has an ace up his sleeve in the form of an enemy turned ally - if only he can control him.



THURSDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2019

THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m000bh0z)
Series 1

21/11/2019

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping the world.


THU 19:30 Canal Boat Diaries (m000bjyw)
Series 1

Marple to Huddersfield

The reality of life afloat with Robbie Cumming. A fallen tree and a leaking lock pound hamper Robbie's journey across the Pennines.


THU 20:00 Wonders of the Solar System (b00rkksg)
Original Series

Order Out of Chaos

Professor Brian Cox visits some of the most stunning locations on earth to describe how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the solar system.

Brian reveals how beauty and order in earth's cosmic backyard was formed from nothing more than a chaotic cloud of gas. Chasing tornados in Oklahoma, he explains how the same physics that creates these spinning storms shaped the young solar system. Out of this celestial maelstrom emerged the jewel in the crown, Brian's second wonder - the magnificent rings of Saturn.

On an ice-choked lagoon in Iceland, he sees the nearest thing on earth to Saturn's rings. Using the latest scientific imagery and breathtaking graphics, he explains how the intricate patterns round Saturn are shaped by the cluster of more than 60 moons surrounding the planet.

One of those moons makes a spectacular contribution to the rings and is the third wonder of the solar system. Brian describes the astonishing discovery of giant fountains of ice erupting from the surface of Enceladus, which soar thousands of kilometres into space.


THU 21:00 Bob Monkhouse: The Last Stand (b086tw3q)
Summer 2003: Bob Monkhouse entertains a room full of comedians with stand-up, chat and a comedy masterclass. The night became the stuff of legend among comedians but was not transmitted until much later.


THU 22:00 Talking Comedy (b05qt2b7)
Bob Monkhouse

A laughter-filled look back at gag-master Bob Monkhouse's appearances over the years on a selection of the BBC's best-loved talk shows.


THU 22:30 Secret Life of Sue Townsend (Aged 68 ¾) (b080391j)
Sue Townsend left school at 14 with no qualifications and in her early twenties was a single mother struggling to feed her three children. A decade later, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 was a critical and commercial smash and she had become the best-selling author of her era.

Julie Walters narrates this extraordinary story of a working-class woman who achieved literary stardom through sheer talent and an irrepressible will to write. From Adrian Mole to The Queen & I, Sue Townsend's books combine a brilliantly funny writing style with often biting satire, captivating not just a nation's readers but influencing a generation of writers and performers.

A warm and witty celebration of Sue Townsend's life and writing, the story is told with the help of children from Sue's old school, her friends and family, as well as the comedy and literary stars she inspired - including Stephen Mangan, Ian Hislop, David Nicholls, Isy Suttie and Adrian Scarborough. Drawing on Sue Townsend's own archive of letters and notebooks, the film also features unseen photographs, footage and even her appointment diary, which includes poignant entries about her struggles with ill health, written in a humorous style instantly recognisable from her books.


THU 23:30 Peaky Blinders (b07fg86c)
Series 3

Episode 6

As Tommy prepares to commit the most audacious crime of his career, a blow is struck against him that could change everything. As he faces his worst fears, he needs his family more than ever - but who can he trust?


THU 00:30 Peaky Blinders (b09g85kh)
Series 4

The Noose

December 1925. Tommy Shelby OBE (Cillian Murphy) has acquired unprecedented legitimacy. The former gangster is also a man alone, estranged from his family and focused only on business. But when he receives a mysterious letter on Christmas Eve, Tommy realises that the Shelbys are in danger of annihilation.

As the enemy closes in, Tommy flees his country house and returns to the only safe place he knows: Small Heath, Birmingham, the slum where he grew up. Facing a more determined and sophisticated threat than ever before, the Shelby family must find a way to put differences aside, work together, take up arms and fight for survival...


THU 01:30 Peaky Blinders (b09gvn5j)
Series 4

Heathens

As the Shelbys come to terms with the shocking events of Christmas Day, Tommy endeavours to unite his family. Until the current threat is dealt with, their only safe place is together in Small Heath. Johnny Dogs and Charlie set about arming the locals - everyone is now a Peaky bodyguard. Tommy enlists the help of tough Romany Gypsy Aberama Gold, who wants something unusual in return.

Jessie Eden confronts Tommy about the workers' pay. She warns him that revolution is in the air, and when Tommy doesn't relent she calls his bluff. As the situation plays out, Tommy's factory manager tells him he has one more meeting - with a mysterious businessman from Paris. But what transpires is no ordinary meeting with no ordinary businessman...


THU 02:30 Peaky Blinders (b09hc65q)
Series 4

Blackbird

The Italians launch another attack on the Peaky Blinders. Tommy realises that the Shelbys need to evolve if they are to survive, but some of the family are reluctant to part with tradition.

As the strike takes hold at the Lanchester factory, Tommy pays a personal visit to Jessie Eden, but he is outmanoeuvred when she reveals something she knows about his past.

Changretta plots to continue the vendetta in the most devastating way possible. As well as identifying an enemy of the Shelby family who could help him, Luca makes direct contact with someone at the heart of the Peaky Blinders organisation.



FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2019

FRI 19:00 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01glwkz)
Arthouse Glam - Get in the Swing

Performances from The Kinks, Roxy Music, Elton John, New York Dolls, Queen, Sparks, Rod Stewart and the rediscovered David Bowie performance of The Jean Genie from January 1973.

Welcome to gender-bending, boys getting in the swing and girls who would be boys and boys who would be girls in this mixed-up, shook-up 70s world.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m000bhfp)
Mark Goodier and Nicky Campbell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 3 November 1988 and featuring Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine, Robert Palmer, Tanita Tikaram, Bryan Ferry, Robin Beck, Kylie Minogue, Yazz, Enya and Guns N' Roses.


FRI 20:00 Sound of Song (b04y4qpt)
The Recording Revolution

Songs are the soundtrack of our lives and it takes a kind of genius to create a true pop masterpiece. But, as Neil Brand argues, there is more to consider in the story of what makes a great song. Neil looks at every moment in the life cycle of a song - how they are written, performed, recorded and the changing ways we have listened to them. He reveals how it is the wonderful alchemy of all of these elements that makes songs so special to us.

To open the series, Neil investigates how songs were recorded for the first time, the listening revolution in the home that followed and the birth of a new style of singing that came with the arrival of the microphone - crooning. He also looks at the songwriting genius of Irving Berlin and the interpretative power of singers Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby.


FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000bhfr)
Bruno Brookes and Sybil Ruscoe present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 10 November 1988 and featuring Brother Beyond, Bryan Ferry, Robin Beck, Salt-N-Pepa, INXS, Chris de Burgh, Deacon Blue, Enya and Prince.


FRI 21:30 Country Music by Ken Burns (m000bhft)
Series 1

The Rub (Beginnings-1933)

After centuries of percolating in the American South, what was first called hillbilly music began to reach more people through the new technologies of phonographs and radio. The Carter Family, with their ballads and old hymns, and Jimmie Rodgers, with his combination of blues and yodelling, became its first big stars.


FRI 22:20 Country Music by Ken Burns (m000bhfy)
Series 1

Hard Times (1933-1945)

During the Great Depression and World War II, country music thrived and reached bigger audiences. Bob Wills adapted jazz's big band sound to create Texas swing, and Grand Ole Opry singer Roy Acuff became a national star. Despite a divorce between two of its members, the Carter Family carried on, turning out songs that went on to be classics. Nashville slowly became Music City and the centre of the growing country music industry.


FRI 23:10 Country Music Awards (m000bhg0)
2019

Bob Harris introduces the best bits from country music's biggest night of the year, the 53rd annual CMA Awards from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Returning host Carrie Underwood is joined by special guest hosts Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire as they announce the winners as well as performing alongside the biggest names in country music in the USA, including Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, Kacey Musgraves and many more.


FRI 00:40 Peaky Blinders (b09j0hxs)
Series 4

Dangerous

The Peaky Blinders are lured by the Italians into a cat-and-mouse chase on the streets of Birmingham, where it becomes clear that Tommy has met his match. Trapped in Small Heath, Tommy tries to console himself with a visit from an old flame but it soon becomes clear that he can't always get what he wants.

As his factory lies idle, Tommy confronts the possibility that the Communists might win and he will be deemed a traitor to his class. Meanwhile, Changretta prepares to spring another trap.


FRI 01:40 Peaky Blinders (b09jhn03)
Series 4

The Duel

Tommy finds himself engaged in bloody battle with Luca Changretta and his gang. The family gather to find out what happened, but Lizzie has even greater news to break.

Meanwhile, an army colonel has questions for Ada about her past as a communist, and Jessie Eden confirms just how far she is prepared to go in pursuit of her cause. And sensing an opportunity to capitalise on his situation, Luca Changretta makes his way to London to present a plan to Alfie Solomons.


FRI 02:40 Peaky Blinders (b09k8gjf)
Series 4

The Company

It is the night of the big fight - Bonnie Gold versus Goliath. But as the bell rings and the crowd goes wild, dangers lurk in the shadows for Tommy Shelby and his family.

When Changretta plays his final ace, he sets in motion a series of events that will change the Peaky Blinders forever.