The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on BBC 4 Contact

RADIO-LISTS: BBC FOUR
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/



SATURDAY 14 MAY 2022

SAT 19:00 An Art Lovers' Guide (b08nz05n)
Series 1

Amsterdam

With sumptuous palaces, exquisite artworks and stunning architecture, every great city offers a dizzying multitude of artistic highlights. In this series, art historians Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke take viewers on three cultural city breaks, hunting for off-the-beaten-track artistic treats and finding new ways of enjoying some very famous sights.

In this opening episode, they head to Amsterdam, a city that pioneered so much of modern life, from multinational trade to the way we design our homes. To find out how, Alastair and Janina take us on a fast-paced tour of the city's cultural hotspots. Picking their way through the crowds queuing to see Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum, they also introduce us to the paintings of Jan Steen, a Dutch legend whose paintings capture the city's freewheeling lifestyle.

They take us on an entertaining tour of the canals that helped build Amsterdam and explore the city's reputation for tolerance in the oldest surviving Jewish library in the world. Along the way, Alastair and Janina discover how art and culture reflect the liberal attitudes, appetite for global trade and love of home comforts that helped shape the character of this trailblazing city.


SAT 20:00 Rick Stein's Long Weekends (b083bzx2)
Copenhagen

This week, Rick Stein visits the home of new Nordic cuisine - Copenhagen - where groundbreaking chefs create artful dishes and religiously stick to seasonal Danish ingredients.

Rick goes foraging for rosehip, learns about the art of pickling buds, bark and flowers and how to create razor clam shells from dough. But he is cheered to also find plenty of traditional favourites, like the city's famous Smorrebrod open sandwiches on rye bread, delicious poached turbot with cabbage and lemon butter sauce and of course the ubiquitous Danish pastry or two!

At home, he cooks fried pork belly with lovage potatoes and parsley sauce - voted Denmark's favourite dish.


SAT 21:00 Beck (p0c3yncs)
Rage Room

A murder in a wooded area and a man who died suddenly in a heart attack after being awakened in the middle of the night by a masked burglar. Can the events have any connection? In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 Vikings (b01ms4xm)
Episode 1

Neil Oliver heads for Scandinavia to reveal the truth behind the legend of the Vikings. In the first programme, Neil begins by discovering the mysterious world of the Vikings' prehistoric ancestors. The remains of weapons-filled war boats, long-haired Bronze Age farmers and a Swedish site of a royal palace and gruesome pagan rituals conjure up an ancient past from which the Viking Age was to suddenly erupt.


SAT 23:30 Wogan: The Best Of (b05pzqvm)
Action Heroes

Sir Terry Wogan remembers some memorable moments from the Wogan show. In this episode, the guests have all starred in some of cinema's biggest action adventures and the roll call includes Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Liam Neeson and Denzel Washington.


SAT 00:15 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074s2b)
Series 2

Power to the People

Classic political sitcom. Jim Hacker meets a local councillor who has radical ideas about local government. The PM likes what he hears, unlike Sir Humphrey.


SAT 00:45 Keeping Up Appearances (b007b6j7)
Series 3

Violet's Country Cottage

When Hyacinth and Richard go to stay in a country cottage for a couple of days, events take several unexpected turns. Richard goes in search of a dog, and finds himself caught up with more than he bargained for.


SAT 01:15 Rick Stein's Long Weekends (b083bzx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:15 An Art Lovers' Guide (b08nz05n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 15 MAY 2022

SUN 19:00 Unsung Heroines: Danielle de Niese on the Lost World of Female Composers (b0b6znwz)
Danielle de Niese explores the lives and works of five female composers - from the Middle Ages to the late 20th century - who were famous in their lifetimes, but whose work was then forgotten.

Western classical music has traditionally been seen as a procession of male geniuses, but the truth is that women have always composed. Hildegard of Bingen, Francesca Caccini, Clara Schumann, Florence Price and Elizabeth Maconchy - all these women battled to fulfil their ambitions and overcome the obstacles that society placed in their way. They then disappeared into obscurity, and only some have found recognition again.


SUN 20:00 The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe (b044yrgg)
From the Globe theatre in London, Andrew Marr presents a unique television premiere - a new production of John Webster's bloody revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (1614) performed in a perfect recreation of an early Jacobean theatre. Lit entirely by candlelight, the production evokes a murky world of plotting and intrigue, where even the most pure in heart are caught in a web of murder and revenge.


SUN 22:30 The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe (b044z964)
The story of the son of a coach-maker with a highly developed sense of the macabre, who ended up rivalling Shakespeare. John Webster's life was shadowy, and his plays darkly imagined - it was once said that he 'saw the skull beneath the skin'. But his masterpiece The Duchess of Malfi is one of the jewels of the English Renaissance. This gothic tale of forbidden love, intrigue, betrayal and murder is the most frequently performed play of the period not written by Shakespeare.

In this documentary, Professor James Shapiro goes in search of the mysterious man behind the play. Piecing together the fragments of Webster's life, he explores how he came to write it just at the moment when the Jacobeans were inventing modern indoor theatre. On hand to help is Gemma Arterton, who plays the Duchess in The Globe candlelit production that can be seen on BBC Four.


SUN 23:30 Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC (b06nsxyn)
In the first of a two-part series, the BBC delves into its archives to discover British acting greats as they take their first tentative steps on the road to success. Long before they were knighted for their services to drama, we see early appearances from Michael Caine in a rare Shakespearean role, Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon.

Featuring unique behind-the-scenes footage alongside a wealth of classic British productions like War and Peace, the Mayor of Casterbridge and the Singing Detective, it reveals many career-defining moments from the first generation of acting talent to fully embrace television drama.


SUN 00:30 Creating a Scene: BBC Introducing Arts (m000s4q4)
Actor, writer and producer Chizzy Akudolu presents a collection of dramatic short films from the best of new British film-makers. Reflecting modern Britain, subjects range from speed dating, the climate emergency and school friendships to spotting UFOs.


SUN 01:30 Unsung Heroines: Danielle de Niese on the Lost World of Female Composers (b0b6znwz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 02:30 Vikings (b01ms4xm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Saturday]



MONDAY 16 MAY 2022

MON 19:00 Johnny Kingdom: A Year on Exmoor (b00794dr)
Series 1

Farewell Old Friend

Gravedigger and amateur cameraman Johnny Kingdom films the wildlife of the moors and woodlands of Exmoor. It's summer and Johnny has great news - he has managed to buy the land that his badger hide is on. But his excitement is overshadowed by worries about Bambi, his three-legged pet deer, whose leg is getting worse. As he tries to come to terms with this, the village ask him to open their biggest annual event, the Bishops Nympton Flower Show - a great honour, but also a daunting prospect.


MON 19:30 The Pennine Way (b05q1n6y)
Episode 1

Explorer Paul Rose swaps Antarctica and the world's deepest oceans for the Pennine Way - Britain's first national trail, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015.

At 268 miles long, the Pennine Way stretches from the Peak District in Derbyshire to the Scottish Borders. Paul discovers how much has changed along the route in the last half-century - and finds out how the Pennine Way owes its existence to the right-to-roam movement in the 1930s.

Paul hears about ghostly sightings along the trail and also meets actor and director Barrie Rutter to explore the literary roots of the south Pennines.


MON 20:00 Earth from Space (p072n7v7)
Series 1

Patterned Planet

Cameras in space tell stories of life on our planet from a brand new perspective. Earth’s surface is covered in weird and wonderful patterns. The Australian outback is covered in pale spots, the work of wombats; a clearing in the endless green canopy of the Congo rainforest has been created by an incredible elephant gathering; and the twists and turns of the Amazon make a home for rehabilitated manatees. This is our home, as we’ve never seen it before.


MON 21:00 Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies (m0017frm)
Series 1

Going Small

What would the universe look like if you were a billion times smaller or a billion times bigger? In this mind-bending series, Jim Al-Khalili will look at the universe across its vast range of size, ranging from the tiniest objects measuring just a few atoms, to vast structures consisting of hundreds of thousands of interconnected galaxies. Investigating these astonishing objects will reveal fundamental truths about our universe. At the end of each film, the audience will see the largest structures ever discovered in the universe and the smallest objects whose images scientists have managed to capture to date.

In the first episode, Jim will enter the Alice in Wonderland world of objects that are too tiny to glimpse with the naked eye. Starting with the smallest insects, he moves on to encounter living cells with amazing superpowers and confronts some of humanity's deadliest enemies in the form of viruses. Going smaller still, he encounters wondrous new nanomaterials such as graphene, discovered by physicist Andre Geim. These are revolutionising engineering, medicine, computing, electronics and environmental science.

Finally, Jim comes face to face with the fundamental building blocks of the world around us – atoms – and reveals why understanding the science of the 'small' is crucial to the future of humanity.


MON 22:00 The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story (b09vpgr7)
Series 1

Episode 1

In April 1955 Ruth Ellis shot her lover David Blakely dead. It's a case that shocked the nation and it still fascinates today. It has its place in ushering in the defence of diminished responsibility and the eventual abolishment of capital punishment. We all think we know the story, but why, when it was seemingly such an open-and-shut case, does it still divide opinion on whether Ruth Ellis got the justice she deserved? Film-maker Gillian Pachter wants to find out. The result is a fresh investigation with fascinating true-crime twists and turns that also shines a unique light on attitudes to class, gender and sex in 1950s London.

In this first episode Gillian takes a forensic look at the police investigation launched just after Ruth's arrest. Gillian is all too aware of the femme fatale persona that has stuck with Ruth since 1955. She wants to build Ruth Ellis back up from the evidence, and this means looking carefully at the police documentation from the time. Gillian begins with Ruth's first statement where she confesses to the crime but intriguingly states that she's 'confused'.

As Gillian follows the course of the investigation, she uncovers some worrying assumptions, problematic omissions and missed opportunities. There's a key witness who was never questioned by the police - Ruth's 10-year old son Andre, who tragically took his own life in the 1980s. He left behind an audio cassette that features a recorded conversation where Andre shares his thoughts on his mother's case. Gillian uses this to piece together what the boy knew. Then there's the murder weapon - one of thousands of guns that flooded Britain during the war. Gillian traces its provenance and it leads her to a shocking conclusion.

Experts in policing shed new light on the involvement of a possible accomplice and Gillian tracks down those who met Ruth and David. A picture begins to build of their relationship and lifestyle and it's a unique snapshot of the complex world of post-war Britain that made and then broke Ruth Ellis.


MON 23:00 Storyville (m0003vj3)
The Trial of Ratko Mladic

The Trial of Ratko Mladic, the worst times in Europe since the Second World War and the man at the heart of them.

On the 22nd of November 2017, the Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia (the ICTY) in The Hague and sentenced to life in prison.

Mladic was one of the most infamous figures of the Bosnian war of the 1990s and became synonymous with the merciless siege of Sarajevo, in which 15,000 people were killed or wounded, and the murder of over 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995 - the worst crimes on European soil since the Second World War, Mladic was not a distant participant in these crimes – he was in Srebrenica when his Serb forces took control of the town and watched as the men and women were separated. He looked his victims in the eye and promised that no harm would come to them.

Filmed over five years, directors Henry Singer and Rob Miller were given unprecedented access to film behind-the-scenes with prosecution and defence lawyers in Mladic’s historic trial – one of the most important since Nuremberg - as well as with witnesses from both sides who were called to give evidence. The lawyers were working under immense pressure – the prosecution were charged with delivering justice to thousands of Mladic’s expectant victims, while Mladic’s lawyers saw the trial as indictment not just of their client but of the entire Bosnian Serb nation, a nation to which they also belonged.

Intercut with the narrative of the trial, the film follows contemporary stories in Bosnia, a country bitterly divided along ethnic lines where the land is steeped in the blood of historic conflicts. These included the discovery of the one of the largest mass graves from the war, which prosecutors felt might be instrumental in proving one of the two genocide charges against Mladic; and the story of a young Muslim woman still looking for her father twenty years after he was dragged away from their family home.

The film also spends time with Mladic’s supporters who congregate every year near Mladic’s birthplace in Bosnia to celebrate and mythologize the man they regard as the savior of the Serb people. These rallies are attended by Mladic’s wife and son who provided the film-makers with access to their inner circle. They reject the allegations made by the court and extol an alternative view of Mladic as man of truth and integrity.

The Mladic trial was the last to be held at the Tribunal, which was established by the United Nations in 1993. As a result, the film also asks important questions of the court itself - not least, while the court boasts an impressive record of holding all of its 161 indictees to account, can it really claim to have delivered peace and reconciliation to Bosnia?

Capturing the final, momentous act in the Bosnian war, The Trial of Ratko Mladic tells an epic story of justice, accountability and a country trying to escape from its bloody past.


MON 00:30 Johnny Kingdom: A Year on Exmoor (b00794dr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 01:00 The Pennine Way (b05q1n6y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 01:30 Earth from Space (p072n7v7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:30 Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies (m0017frm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 17 MAY 2022

TUE 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w74y)
Series 13

Biggin Hill to Ashdown Forest

Michael Portillo experiences a terrifying ‘victory roll’ in a World War II Spitfire, high above the most famous aerodrome of the Battle of Britain, Biggin Hill. The 80-year-old aircraft, in which so many young men risked their lives for the nation, is one of a fleet intensively maintained by a dedicated team of technicians, and Michael is privileged to be flown by an ex-Royal Navy pilot. Michael learns of the strategic importance of the sector airfield to the defence of the capital and the country.

Back on terra firma, Michael takes the train to East Grinstead on the trail of a bear with very little brain. In Ashdown Forest, he meets a biographer of A.A. Milne to find out about the author’s much-loved character, Winnie the Pooh. Michael plays a game of Pooh Sticks, then treats himself to a ‘little something’ at Pooh Corner.

Deeper into the forest, Michael discovers Plaw Hatch Farm, 200 acres of community-owned farmland that operates biodynamically according to principles first laid out in the 1920s. Michael helps to pick cabbages in the field and lends a hand with cheese production in the dairy.


TUE 19:30 The Pennine Way (b05qt6vr)
Episode 2

Explorer Paul Rose's journey along the Pennine Way takes him to the Yorkshire Dales. In 1965, the Pennine Way was launched in the Dales village of Malham. Paul returns to hear from those who remember the opening ceremony. He also dons his climbing gear to have a crack at the limestone cliff face of Malham Cove, gets a front row seat at a sheep mart in Wensleydale and enjoys a well-earned pint in Britain's highest pub.


TUE 20:00 Keeping Up Appearances (b007b6my)
Series 3

How to Go on Holiday without Really Trying

Sitcom about Hyacinth Bucket, an obsessive snob, and her embarrassing family. Hyacinth makes some very expensive holiday plans before dashing off to fulfil her voluntary church cleaning duties with the Ladies' Guild.


TUE 20:30 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074s30)
Series 2

The Patron of the Arts

Jim is the guest of honour at the British Theatre Awards, but the Arts Council grant is going to be cut. Jim wants to avoid bad publicity and Sir Humphrey, National Theatre board member, wants to avoid cuts - who will win?


TUE 21:00 Expedition Volcano (b09hv9g1)
Series 1

Episode 2

In the heart of Africa, deep in the Congo, are some of the most spectacular volcanoes on Earth. They threaten the lives of more than a million people, in a region already left shattered by decades of violence.

Now, a team of international and local scientists are here to investigate these rarely visited volcanoes to try and predict when they will next erupt, and to examine how the volcanic forces at work here affect every aspect of life.

For the past week, the expedition has focused on Nyiragongo. Now Chris Jackson and his fellow geologists are heading to the nearby volcano Nyamulagira - one of the most active yet least explored volcanoes on the planet. Few have visited this volcano, for a good reason - the forests that blanket its slopes hide a number of armed groups. The team travel on a UN helicopter flight at treetop level to avoid being hit by groundfire, before landing as close to the active crater as they can. They then have only a few hours to gain as much data as possible to help predict future eruptions.

Beyond Nyamulagira lies a spectacular but dangerous volcanic landscape. The expedition will also explore the hidden dangers and natural wonders contained there - from deadly gases lurking under the vast Lake Kivu, to giant craters left over from sudden explosive eruptions.

Meanwhile, Dr Xand van Tulleken travels across the region to discover how the volcanoes influence every aspect of life here. He sees the legacy of violence created by the volcanic mineral riches. He also explores other natural resources that have the potential to break this cycle of violence, best represented by the mountain gorillas that live on the flanks of the volcanoes. And he meets the people most affected by the ongoing battle to wrest control of these natural resources away from criminal gangs and militias - the widows of park rangers killed in the struggle. Their commitment to protect their natural environment represents the best hope for the future of this troubled region.

Meanwhile, the work the scientists have done will enable local people to better manage the risks of living in such a dangerous part of the world.


TUE 22:00 A Year to Save My Life: George McGavin and Melanoma (m000696j)
After being diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of malignant melanoma - acral lentiginous melanoma - television presenter and biologist Dr George McGavin embarks on a highly emotional and deeply personal journey as he goes through treatment for his cancer. George’s treatment is targeted drug therapy, using drugs approved for use by the NHS only weeks before his diagnosis.

During this journey, he is given unprecedented access to the process and science behind his medical treatment and diagnosis. He also meets some of the most highly regarded scientists in the field of cancer research in his quest to understand not just his disease but what the future holds as a whole for cancer treatment. Amongst them are Professor Sir Michael Stratton, director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and chief executive officer of the Wellcome Genome Campus, whose work resulted in the discovery of the mutation in the B RAF gene responsible for his form of melanoma. George also travels to Houston, Texas to meet Professor James P Allison, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine, to find out about his pioneering work in the field of immunotherapy - the greatest breakthrough in cancer research in a century.

Back home in his own hospital, he meets a unique group of stage four melanoma patients who owe their lives to Professor Allison’s work. Ultimately, his journey culminates when he receives his prognosis, after three months of treatment, which will determine his future. Will these groundbreaking drugs actually work?


TUE 23:00 Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves (b015yh6f)
Just off the southern coast of mainland Greece lies the oldest submerged city in the world. It thrived for 2,000 years during the time that saw the birth of western civilisation.

An international team of experts uses cutting-edge technology to prise age-old secrets from the complex of streets and stone buildings that lie less than five metres below the surface of the ocean. State-of-the-art CGI helps to raise the city from the seabed, revealing for the first time in 3,500 years how Pavlopetri would once have looked and operated.

Underwater archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson leads the project in collaboration with Nic Flemming, the man whose hunch led to the discovery of Pavlopetri in 1967, and a team from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Working alongside the archaeologists are a team from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics.

The teams scour the ocean floor, looking for artefacts. The site is littered with thousands of fragments, each providing valuable clues about the everyday lives of the people of Pavlopetri. From the buildings to the trade goods to the everyday tableware, each artefact provides a window into a forgotten world.

Together these precious relics provide us with a window to a time when Pavlopetri would have been at its height, showing us what life was like in this distant age and revealing how this city marks the start of western civilisation.


TUE 00:00 Handmade on the Silk Road (b079cgml)
The Weaver

The Uyghur community in north west China have been making atlas silk for thousands of years. Mattursun Islam and his family are continuing the tradition, using a combination of handmade techniques and mechanised looms. From designing the patterns to colouring, dyeing and weaving the thread, this film follows each stage in absorbing detail. We also get an engaging glimpse into how their family and working life are closely connected. With rival companies often copying his designs, Mattursan is proud of his reputation. But he and his wife also enjoy a good-natured rivalry over who really runs things.


TUE 00:30 Handmade on the Silk Road (b079zyb8)
The Wood Carver

Shavkat Jumanijozov has been working with wood for over 30 years. In his workshop in Khiva in Uzbekistan, he makes doors, chests and impressive wooden columns. Trained by the grandson of a famous 19th-century carver, Shavkat is a proud master of his craft and oversees a team of brothers, sons and nephews, passing on his expertise to the next generation.

In this beautifully filmed portrait of a traditional craftsman at work, we follow the painstaking carving of a wooden pillar, from the first cuts into the wood to its sanding, shaping and varnishing, each stage captured in absorbing detail.


TUE 01:00 Handmade on the Silk Road (b07blsjw)
The Potter

The desert city of Meybod in southern Iran is famous for its ceramics and Abdol Reza Aghaei's family have been potters there for generations. This beautifully observed film follows Abdol and his father making a simple decorated water jug. Competing with cheap Chinese imports, they sometimes struggle to make a living, but share a dedication to keeping their traditions alive. And with Abdol's father teasing his son about who makes the best pots, the film also offers a touching, intimate portrait of two master craftsmen at work.


TUE 01:30 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w74y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 02:00 The Pennine Way (b05qt6vr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:30 Expedition Volcano (b09hv9g1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 2022

WED 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w79v)
Series 13

Hassocks to Benenden

Starting in Hassocks, Michael makes his way to the beautiful Sussex village of Ditchling, where, between the wars, a Roman Catholic community of artists made their home. Michael finds out how they made their mark on the village, the capital and the nation’s railways.

In the seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, Michael hears of the work of the wartime air raid precautions wardens, immortalised in the BBC series Dad’s Army. He discovers Bexhill was heavily bombed from the air and became a target of the Nazi invasion plan, Operation Sealion.

Michael takes the train north to the village of Burwash, where he finds a magnificent Jacobean house called Bateman’s. Its occupant - until 1936, when Michael’s guidebook was published - was the most famous writer in the country, Rudyard Kipling, author of the Jungle Book. Michael learns about his life and work.

The delightful Kent and East Sussex heritage railway conveys Michael from Bodiam Castle through the scenic Rother Valley to Tenterden. After a tasty on-board snack of Kentish cobnuts, Michael heads for Benenden and the imposing home between the wars of the Reverend Collingwood ‘Cherry’ Ingram. In the beautiful gardens of the Grange, Michael discovers how Ingram is credited today with introducing and preserving rare varieties of Japanese cherry trees in Britain and rescuing them for Japan.


WED 19:30 The Pennine Way (b05rcysn)
Episode 3

Explorer Paul Rose heads for the North Pennines in the latest stage of his journey along the Pennine Way. He goes white-water rafting down the River Tees and takes in one of Britain's best views at High Cup Nick. Paul also hears about a weather phenomenon unique to the Pennine Way and spends a night at a remote mountain refuge close to the highest point of the Pennine Way.


WED 20:00 The Story of Scottish Art (b06kq6nz)
Episode 3

Artist Lachlan Goudie explores how, at the turn of the 19th century, Scotland's artists challenged the traditions they had inherited and, embracing new ways of seeing and painting from the Continent, revolutionised Scottish art.

From the Glasgow Boys' intimate rural realism, to Arthur Melville's brilliantly experimental watercolours; from Hill House, Charles Rennie Mackintosh's 'total work of art', to JD Fergusson's pioneering Scottish modernism, this generation transformed the way we saw Scotland's landscape and identity.


WED 21:00 Prince of Muck (m0016nl1)
The Isle of Muck, in the Inner Hebrides, is home to the MacEwan family. Lawrence, the charismatic patriarch of the MacEwan family and laird of the tiny island, is struggling to accept he controls neither his life nor the isle he so loves.

It has been his mission to preserve the fragile society on the island and pass it onto future generations. However, he is also battling to accept the inevitability of change.

The Prince of Muck is a warm, observational portrayal of Lawrence and the beautiful Scottish landscape he belongs to.


WED 22:15 Natural World (b00p9210)
2009-2010

A Highland Haven

This stunningly beautiful film reveals the unique wildlife of the Scottish Highlands, seen through the eyes of film-maker Fergus Beeley.

Based for a year at Loch Maree and the surrounding hills in Scotland's far north west, Beeley presents his personal view of the shy animals whose lives are ruled by the rains. He follows the fortunes of rare black-throated divers and white-tailed sea eagles, which both breed there, while capturing the red deer and salmon whose lives also revolve around the loch.

With an evocative score provided by local musician Phil Cunningham, this enchanting film captures the magic of a very special place.


WED 23:15 Coast (b0816ykw)
The Great Guide

Scotland's Western Isles

Neil Oliver and Tessa Dunlop present their insiders' guide to the Western Isles - a coastal cluster of a myriad sea-girt islets that include the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll and St Kilda.

Neil sets out on an island-hopping adventure that takes in three of the most stunning settings: Mull, Staffa and Gometra. Along his journey taking to the waves on a range of wonderfully restored vessels, he compiles our great guide from a wider canvas of Coast stories that stretch right across the Western Isles. He learns the secrets of crab fishing from a professional, samples a local delicacy from a surprising source, searches for stunning wildlife and meets the sole resident of one of Scotland's most remote islands.


WED 00:15 Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies (m0017frm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


WED 01:15 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w79v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 01:45 The Pennine Way (b05rcysn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:15 The Story of Scottish Art (b06kq6nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



THURSDAY 19 MAY 2022

THU 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w7bd)
Series 13

Rye to Dungeness

Michael Portillo follows his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide to the unspoilt East Sussex Cinque Port of Rye. On the windswept harbour beach, he hears how, in 1928, a generation of lifeboatmen lost their lives in a tragic rescue attempt at sea. Michael visits the town’s modern day lifeboat station to see how the RNLI’s brave crews train today.

On the beaches at Rye, Michael explores one of 28,000 pillboxes constructed around the British coastline during World War II and hears from a military historian about how the nation prepared for an expected German invasion.

Train heaven beckons as Michael boards the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway to cross Romney Marsh en route to Dungeness. Along the way, he hears about the eccentric inventor of the railway, Count Louis Zborowski.

From Dungeness, Michael heads to the former RAF base of Denge, where he discovers a cluster of giant concrete structures with an intriguing name, Sound Mirrors. The RSPB warden in whose nature reserve they stand explains their history to Michael.


THU 19:30 The Pennine Way (b05sy1ym)
Episode 4

The wilderness of rural Northumberland awaits explorer Paul Rose on the last stage of his Pennine Way journey. Paul makes a remarkable discovery at the Roman archaeological dig at Vindolanda. He also finds out what lies beyond the red flags while on exercise with the Grenadier Guards and why Pennine Way walkers can have a magical experience in the dark skies capital of Europe.


THU 20:00 The RKO Story: Tales from Hollywood (b00gf6pf)
It's All True

Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures. Orson Welles spent a hectic few years at RKO, making Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons and the abandoned It's All True.


THU 21:00 Citizen Kane (b0074n82)
Frequently voted one of the best films ever made, Orson Welles's masterpiece tells the story of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane in a series of flashbacks. A reporter is intrigued by the dying Kane's last word - rosebud - and sets out to find a new angle on the life of one of the most powerful men in America. Nine Oscar nominations resulted in only one award for the outspoken Welles - Best Screenplay.


THU 23:00 The Magnificent Ambersons (b0078b9s)
Orson Welles's period drama telling the story of a wilful son of the proud Amberson family who destroys his mother's hopes of marrying her first love - a recent widower. Refusing to move with the times, he not only causes his mother to suffer but also brings about his own financial ruin.

Based on the novel by Booth Tarkington.


THU 00:25 Talking Pictures (b01rscc0)
Orson Welles

A retrospective look at television appearances made over the years by the legendary Hollywood actor and director Orson Welles, capturing the milestones and highlights of his life and career. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.


THU 01:10 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w7bd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


THU 01:40 The Pennine Way (b05sy1ym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:10 The RKO Story: Tales from Hollywood (b00gf6pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 20 MAY 2022

FRI 19:00 Perry Como Special (m0017ftk)
From 1971, Perry Como stars in his own television special, accompanied by The Mike Sammes Singers.


FRI 19:45 Top of the Pops (b08skpzg)
1984 - Big Hits

Celebrating the big hits from a big year in British pop. The big hitters in this compilation are performed by the likes of The Smiths, Duran Duran, Sade, The Weather Girls, Wham! and Bronski Beat, to name a few.

Further stellar appearances come from the TOTP debuts of iconic Americans Madonna, Miami Sound Machine and Cyndi Lauper, who runs riot in the studio.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood celebrate their 1984 chart dominance with one of their celebrated renditions of Two Tribes, while we couldn't let you forget a little ditty from Black Lace - you'll be singing this for days... you have been warned!


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m0017ftn)
Tony Dortie, together with his special guest Mr Blobby, presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 17 December 1992 and featuring Madonna, East Side Beat, Gloria Estefan, Nirvana and The Wedding Present.


FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (m0017ftq)
TOTP: 1992 Christmas Special

The Top of the Pops Christmas Day special from 1992. Mark Franklin and Tony Dortie, together with their special guests, Sid Owen and Danniella Westbrook, review the year's chart hits, including performances by Wet Wet Wet, Right Said Fred, Shut Up and Dance ft Peter Bouncer, KWS, Jimmy Nail, Mariah Carey, Undercover and Tasmin Archer.


FRI 21:30 Emmylou Harris: From a Deeper Well (m000vsg7)
Profile of veteran country singer Emmylou Harris, witnessing the heady success of her career while also discussing her late flowering of intensely personal and groundbreaking music, dealing with loss and the passing years.


FRI 22:30 Arena (b09x60g3)
Bob Dylan – Trouble No More

In 1979, Bob Dylan released Slow Train Coming, an album of strictly devotional songs. He declared he had found God in Christianity. For the following two years, accompanied by the finest musicians and gospel singers, he toured with a repertoire solely of songs expressing his new-found faith.

A film was made of one of those performances, but it was never released. After 37 years, it is broadcast for the first time - but with a twist. The performance is enhanced by a series of sermons between the songs, all specially written for the film and preached by Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon.

The result is Bob Dylan's gospel service combining the then of the gig with the now of the message of The Preacher.


FRI 23:30 The Old Grey Whistle Test (m00116fq)
Linda Ronstadt

Bob Harris introduces Linda Ronstadt in concert at the New Victoria Theatre, London, in 1976.


FRI 00:20 Southern Rock at the BBC (b01f1bwb)
Classic clips - from The Old Grey Whistle Test, In Concert and even Wogan - of southern rock boogie in excelsis from the bands who poured out of the deep south of the US in the 70s. Includes performances from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Delaney & Bonnie with Eric Clapton, Dickey Betts from The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, Black Oak Arkansas, The Charlie Daniels Band, Gregg Allman with then-wife Cher, Edgar Winter and, of course, Lynyrd Skynyrd.


FRI 01:20 Top of the Pops (m0017ftn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 01:50 Top of the Pops (m0017ftq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


FRI 02:50 Perry Como Special (m0017ftk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]




LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)

A Year to Save My Life: George McGavin and Melanoma 22:00 TUE (m000696j)

An Art Lovers' Guide 19:00 SAT (b08nz05n)

An Art Lovers' Guide 02:15 SAT (b08nz05n)

Arena 22:30 FRI (b09x60g3)

Beck 21:00 SAT (p0c3yncs)

Citizen Kane 21:00 THU (b0074n82)

Coast 23:15 WED (b0816ykw)

Creating a Scene: BBC Introducing Arts 00:30 SUN (m000s4q4)

Earth from Space 20:00 MON (p072n7v7)

Earth from Space 01:30 MON (p072n7v7)

Emmylou Harris: From a Deeper Well 21:30 FRI (m000vsg7)

Expedition Volcano 21:00 TUE (b09hv9g1)

Expedition Volcano 02:30 TUE (b09hv9g1)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:00 TUE (m000w74y)

Great British Railway Journeys 01:30 TUE (m000w74y)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:00 WED (m000w79v)

Great British Railway Journeys 01:15 WED (m000w79v)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:00 THU (m000w7bd)

Great British Railway Journeys 01:10 THU (m000w7bd)

Handmade on the Silk Road 00:00 TUE (b079cgml)

Handmade on the Silk Road 00:30 TUE (b079zyb8)

Handmade on the Silk Road 01:00 TUE (b07blsjw)

Johnny Kingdom: A Year on Exmoor 19:00 MON (b00794dr)

Johnny Kingdom: A Year on Exmoor 00:30 MON (b00794dr)

Keeping Up Appearances 00:45 SAT (b007b6j7)

Keeping Up Appearances 20:00 TUE (b007b6my)

Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC 23:30 SUN (b06nsxyn)

Natural World 22:15 WED (b00p9210)

Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves 23:00 TUE (b015yh6f)

Perry Como Special 19:00 FRI (m0017ftk)

Perry Como Special 02:50 FRI (m0017ftk)

Prince of Muck 21:00 WED (m0016nl1)

Rick Stein's Long Weekends 20:00 SAT (b083bzx2)

Rick Stein's Long Weekends 01:15 SAT (b083bzx2)

Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies 21:00 MON (m0017frm)

Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies 02:30 MON (m0017frm)

Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies 00:15 WED (m0017frm)

Southern Rock at the BBC 00:20 FRI (b01f1bwb)

Storyville 23:00 MON (m0003vj3)

Talking Pictures 00:25 THU (b01rscc0)

The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe 20:00 SUN (b044yrgg)

The Magnificent Ambersons 23:00 THU (b0078b9s)

The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe 22:30 SUN (b044z964)

The Old Grey Whistle Test 23:30 FRI (m00116fq)

The Pennine Way 19:30 MON (b05q1n6y)

The Pennine Way 01:00 MON (b05q1n6y)

The Pennine Way 19:30 TUE (b05qt6vr)

The Pennine Way 02:00 TUE (b05qt6vr)

The Pennine Way 19:30 WED (b05rcysn)

The Pennine Way 01:45 WED (b05rcysn)

The Pennine Way 19:30 THU (b05sy1ym)

The Pennine Way 01:40 THU (b05sy1ym)

The RKO Story: Tales from Hollywood 20:00 THU (b00gf6pf)

The RKO Story: Tales from Hollywood 02:10 THU (b00gf6pf)

The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story 22:00 MON (b09vpgr7)

The Story of Scottish Art 20:00 WED (b06kq6nz)

The Story of Scottish Art 02:15 WED (b06kq6nz)

Top of the Pops 19:45 FRI (b08skpzg)

Top of the Pops 20:00 FRI (m0017ftn)

Top of the Pops 20:30 FRI (m0017ftq)

Top of the Pops 01:20 FRI (m0017ftn)

Top of the Pops 01:50 FRI (m0017ftq)

Unsung Heroines: Danielle de Niese on the Lost World of Female Composers 19:00 SUN (b0b6znwz)

Unsung Heroines: Danielle de Niese on the Lost World of Female Composers 01:30 SUN (b0b6znwz)

Vikings 22:30 SAT (b01ms4xm)

Vikings 02:30 SUN (b01ms4xm)

Wogan: The Best Of 23:30 SAT (b05pzqvm)

Yes, Prime Minister 00:15 SAT (b0074s2b)

Yes, Prime Minister 20:30 TUE (b0074s30)