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 20 SEPTEMBER 2008

SAT 19:00 Alistair Cooke: Postcards from America (b0074nn6)
Alistair Cooke broadcast his Letter from America on Radio Four for more than 50 years. Using film archive and excerpts from his broadcasts, the film covers such events as Kennedy's assassination, the Civil Rights movement and the terrorist atrocities of September 11th.


SAT 20:00 The Unseen Alistair Cooke (b00cl5v2)
Marking the 2008 centenary of Alistair Cooke's birth, this documentary is a revealing portrait of one of the most celebrated broadcasters of the 20th Century, whose Radio 4 programme Letter from America spanned 58 years.

Seen for the first time are extraordinary 8mm home movies shot by Cooke from 1933 onwards, charting his discovery of America, his passions and his friendships. This is a chance to see America as Cooke first saw it - the raw material for a lifetime of journalism. Some of the most fascinating of these films were made during his close friendship with Charlie Chaplin. Thought lost for years, they show Chaplin at leisure on his yacht with Paulette Goddard and Cooke, and are among the most candid footage ever shot of the star.

Cooke's story is told in his own voice and in interviews with family and close friends. Both first wife Ruth Emerson Cooke and Jane Cooke - his wife from 1946 - share their memories, and actress Lauren Bacall also recalls their friendship.


SAT 21:00 Storyville (b00dn76v)
The Day after Peace

Documentary which charts the remarkable 10-year worldwide journey taken by filmmaker Jeremy Gilley to establish a Day of Peace on September 21st.

During the course of his mission the camera follows Gilley as he galvanizes the countries of the world to recognise this as an official day of ceasefire and non-violence.

After the official motion is unanimously adopted in the UN, Gilley turns his efforts to implementing the ideals of Peace Day around the world. Celebrity support from the likes of Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller and corporate support from Puma, Coca-Cola and Ecover enhances the momentum.

Gilley's persistence is rewarded when UNICEF, the World Health Organisation and local affected communities decide to try and use the Day to carry out a mass vaccination against polio in one of the toughest conflict areas in the world, Afghanistan.

Gilley asks Jude Law to accompany him to Afghanistan to help persuade parties to ratify Peace Day. The task seems impossible, but pure human spirit in a country exhausted with conflict may just win through.


SAT 22:20 The Name of the Rose (b00dwn6b)
Gripping, atmospheric adaptation of Umberto Eco's classic novel set in the Middle Ages. In a secluded Benedictine monastery, where a council of Dominicans and Franciscans is assembling, a murder is committed. One of the Franciscan delegates, William of Baskerville, turns sleuth to unravel the sinister events.

As he and his apprentice, Adso von Melk, delve deeper and deeper into the case, more dead bodies turn up, and there is an ever-growing sense of corruption. But who or what is The Rose?


SAT 00:25 The Roxy Music Story (b00djn0s)
Profile of the 1970s glam band Roxy Music, who reformed after 25 years to make a new album. The film traces the musical development of the group from 1972 up to the present day, as we discover how they influenced a generation of musicians such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Duran Duran and U2 and why they are still a musical force to be reckoned with today.

Featuring interviews with band members Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay, Paul Thomson, Eddie Jobson and Gary Tibbs, plus fans including Bono, Siouxsie Sioux, Nile Rodgers of Chic, John Taylor of Duran Duran and Alison Goldfrapp.


SAT 01:15 Storyville (b00dn76v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SAT 02:35 The Unseen Alistair Cooke (b00cl5v2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 03:35 Alistair Cooke: Postcards from America (b0074nn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2008

SUN 19:00 Fossil Detectives (b00djmrx)
South West England

Series in which Open University associate lecturer Hermione Cockburn leads a team of fossil experts and geologists around different regions of Britain to search for its fossil treasures and mysteries.

In the south-west of England, the team see Britain's best-preserved dinosaur, complete with crocodile teeth in its mouth and fossilised vomit in its throat, and discover why the Jurassic Coast is one of the most dynamic shorelines in the world.

They meet a relative of the dinosaurs which is alive and well today and, at Lulworth Cove, former Blur bassist Alex James explains his childhood love of fossils.


SUN 19:30 Arena (b00dn7hc)
The Whale in the Museum

Documentary telling the story of the construction of the much-loved blue whale at the Natural History Museum. As the world marched towards war in 1938, a determined group of men at the museum undertook the unprecedented task of building a life-sized model of the largest creature that has ever lived.


SUN 19:50 Arena (b00dn7hf)
Philip Hoare's Guide to Whales

Baleen

Acclaimed author and whale-watcher Philip Hoare takes us into the world of baleen whales, the largest animals ever to have lived.

With plates of bristly baleen instead of teeth with which they filter their food, blue whales, fin whales and humpback whales swim the Atlantic. Hoare shows us how to identify whales from their tails or flukes, and explores the strange shared history between humans and whales.


SUN 20:00 Natural World (b00dn7hh)
1996-1997

Sperm Whales: Back from the Abyss

Wildlife film about sperm whales, revealing the secret lives led by these often misunderstood ocean giants.

Although immortalised by Moby Dick as fearsome beasts of the sea, they are actually shy creatures, and cameraman Rick Rosenthal needed patience and persistence to film them at close quarters. They turn out to be efficient hunters with a close family network involving sophisticated and vocal social lives.


SUN 20:50 Arena (b00dqv1x)
Philip Hoare's Guide to Whales

Toothed

Acclaimed author and whale-watcher Philip Hoare takes us into the world of toothed whales, from the plight of the captive killer whale to the fate of the stranded London whale.

In the deep waters off the mysterious islands of the Azores, he encounters common dolphin swimming spectacularly in the clear ocean, and the world's greatest predator, the sperm whale, which once provided man with oil and light.


SUN 21:00 Wildlife Special (b00dn7hk)
Documentary following the killer whale, the most geographically widespread mammal on the planet. It analyses their behaviour to discover why they are so successful.


SUN 21:50 Arena (b00dqv1z)
Philip Hoare's Guide to Whales

Arctic

Acclaimed author and whale-watcher Philip Hoare takes us into the world of Arctic whales. From the whaling port of Whitby, we follow the historical trail of the whale hunters to the frozen seas of the North Pole and the worlds strangest whales - the bowhead, nearly hunted to extinction and now known to be the longest-lived mammal; the white beluga whale, so-called canary of the sea; and the tusked narwhal, whose existence gave rise to the legend of the unicorn.


SUN 22:00 Incredible Animal Journeys (b0079430)
The Whales' Tale

Steve Leonard follows grey whales as they make the longest migration on the planet - a staggering 12,000 miles. Although they travel slowly, the whales never stop and Steve finds it increasingly difficult to keep up. Harassed by killer whales, dodging fishing nets and great white sharks, can the mothers and calves survive this epic journey?


SUN 23:00 President Hollywood (b00djm6q)
Jonathan Freedland reveals how 2008's dramatic race for the White House was run before on 'The West Wing'. The TV series held an election between a charismatic, non-white Democrat called Matt Santos and an appealing, experienced Republican Arnold Vinick; two candidates remarkably similar to Barack Obama and John McCain.

Freedland argues that the relationship between on-screen art and political life is nothing new. Both Hollywood and Washington have been exerting their power and influence over the image of the presidency for nearly a century.

This programme was originally broadcast in September 2008, before the US election.


SUN 00:00 Timeshift (b00djlz9)
Series 8

How to Be a Good President

In a whistlestop tour through the history of the US presidency, journalist and author Jonathan Freedland asks what qualities make a great president and what we can learn from the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, JFK or even Richard Nixon about what it takes to make a mark in the White House.

Freedland is helped by distinguished contributors, including James Naughtie, Shirley Williams, Douglas Hurd, Simon Hoggart and Bonnie Greer, who give frank assessments of some of America's greatest presidents.


SUN 01:00 Fossil Detectives (b00djmrx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 01:30 Arena (b00dn7hc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


SUN 01:50 Arena (b00dn7hf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:50 today]


SUN 02:00 Arena (b00dqv1x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:50 today]


SUN 02:10 Arena (b00dqv1z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:50 today]


SUN 02:20 President Hollywood (b00djm6q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


SUN 03:20 Timeshift (b00djlz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:00 today]



MONDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2008

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00dn8cw)
The latest news from around the world.


MON 19:30 Dinner with Portillo (b00djm6s)
American Election Special 2008

In New York, Michael Portillo and seven guests explore the enduring conflict between America's liberal Hollywood dream factory and its conservative heartland values.

In the absence of a successful Democrat for the last decade, Hollywood invented virtual liberal Presidents, as in The West Wing and Air Force One. Over dinner, the guests discuss the impact on the voting public and politicians, why Hollywood is such a haven for liberal values and how the relationship between Hollywood glamour and gritty politics is playing out in the current presidential race.

Guests include Primary Colours author, Joe Klein.


MON 20:00 The Rock 'n' Roll Years (b0074q9s)
1968

The news and music of 1968 as flower power fades and a new era of protest is ushered in. The Vietcong mounts the Tet Offensive, France teeters on the edge of civil war, the Russians invade Czechoslovakia, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy are assassinated and students take to the streets. Featuring music from Manfred Mann, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Cream and Julie Driscoll.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00dn8cy)
Series 1

Episode 2

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital. It is all about making connections between things which may appear, at first glance, not to be connected at all.


MON 21:00 Storyville (b00dn8d0)
1968

Documentary exploring what really happened throughout the world in the seminal year of 1968, a time of music and of revolution, asking why so many hopes were disappointed and what is the period's true legacy.

Drawing on archive footage from the US, Vietnam, Britain, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Mexico, the film dynamically reconstructs the hopes, the fears and the ultimate sense of despair that pervaded the events of 1968.


MON 22:30 Storyville (b007mwqm)
RFK

David Grubin's probing and perceptive biography reassesses the remarkable and tragic life of Bobby Kennedy, whose early life was spent in the shadow of his elder brother John. After JFK's assassination, he discovered his own identity in the forefront of American politics before his career was also tragically curtailed by an assassin's bullet.


MON 00:20 Storyville (b0074qzp)
Martin Luther King: Citizen King 1963-1968

Documentary about the final five, turbulent years in the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King. The story begins at the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963, when a 34-year-old preacher galvanized millions with his dream for an America free of racism and comes to a bloody end five years later on a motel balcony in Memphis.

King has since become a mythic figure, an activist whose works and image are more hotly contested, negotiated and sold than almost anyone else's in American history.


MON 02:15 Black Power Salute (b00cgxbc)
Film about one of the most iconic images of the 20th century, when the radical spirit of the Sixties upstaged the greatest sporting event in the world. Two men made a courageous gesture that reverberated around the world and changed their lives forever. There were a number of unforgettable performances at Mexico City Olympic Games and many world records were broken, but the enduring image from the 1968 Games was when African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved clenched fists in support of the Black Panther movement during the Star Spangled Banner, after receiving gold and bronze medals for the 200m sprint. They were subsequently banned from the Games for life. This documentary asks what inspired them to make their protest, why it carried such a powerful message and what happened to the unlikely revolutionaries following the Games.


MON 03:15 Only Connect (b00dn8cy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 03:45 Dinner with Portillo (b00djm6s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2008

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00dn8f1)
The latest news from around the world.


TUE 19:30 Born to Be Wild (b00ccfft)
Mammals

All over Britain, there is a secret army of dedicated people. They spend millions of hours watching over our wildlife. In the first of this six-part series, mammal watchers come under the spotlight. Mammal enthusiasts have to be truly dedicated, because most of our furry creatures are extremely difficult to see. Many are elusive and fast moving, so it takes real skill just to find them. We go into the rafters of a haunted mansion to spot bats, into the depths of a wood to discover a sleepy dormouse, stand out in the pouring rain to catch a glimpse of a brown hare - and for the elusive otter, our poor naturalist has to be content with its poo.

Britain has a long tradition of amateur naturalists taking to the wilds to pursue their passions. Due to them, we have the best-known wildlife of any country on Earth. Our mammal watchers are playing their part, each providing unique information about their beloved animal.


TUE 20:00 Wild China (b00c5n6g)
Land of the Panda

China's heartland is the centre of a 5,000-year-old civilization and is home to the giant panda, the golden snub-nosed monkey and the golden takin. China faces environmental problems, but the relationship the Chinese have with their environment is deep and extraordinary. We will understand what this means for the future of China.


TUE 21:00 That Mitchell and Webb Look (b0074fyh)
Series 1

Episode 3

Comedy sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Includes a new government initiative to simplify asking for a chair in a pub; a clip from the first TV broadcast in history; and a green clarinet that makes you reveal embarrassing truths. With Olivia Colman, James Bachman, Paterson Joseph and Abigail Burdess.


TUE 21:30 Flight of the Conchords (b0081m93)
Series 1

Mugged

Comedy series about Kiwi folk musicians Bret and Jemaine as they to try to make it big in their adopted home of New York. The boys are mugged down a backstreet, and after an unpleasant incident with a knife Bret runs off without helping Jemaine. After Jemaine spends a night in the same cell as one of the muggers, he finds it hard to forgive. Features the songs Hiphopapotamus vs Rhymenoceros and Think About it, Think Think About it.


TUE 22:00 Only Connect (b00dn8cy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


TUE 22:30 Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (b0074r3v)
Drama documentary on the life of critic, impresario and dandy at the vanguard of the 1960s sexual revolution, Kenneth Tynan.

During a period of social and cultural change he was a man at the top of his game, with his theatre criticism celebrated both for the incisive wit with which he records the chief actors of the day and for its meditations on the very nature of theatre itself.

The film dramatises how a brilliant yet awkward idealist becomes drawn into the machinations of the nascent National Theatre and how his professional and personal relationships are put under intolerable strain. Struck by a mid-life insecurity, his creative energies are engaged in devising Oh! Calcutta!, a controversial erotic stage revue that proposes to bring the sexual revolution to the middles classes.


TUE 23:45 Storyville (b00dn8d0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 01:10 Only Connect (b00dn8cy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


TUE 01:40 Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (b0074r3v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


TUE 02:55 Only Connect (b00dn8cy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


TUE 03:25 Flight of the Conchords (b0081m93)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]



WEDNESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2008

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00dn9hj)
The latest news from around the world.


WED 19:30 Arena (b00dn7hf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:50 on Sunday]


WED 19:40 The NHS: A Difficult Beginning (b00cjn9y)
Britain's National Health Service celebrates its sixtieth birthday on 5 July this year. Serving over one and a half million patients and their families every day, the NHS is the biggest service of its kind in the world. It is universally regarded as a national treasure - the most remarkable achievement of post war Britain.

Yet, surprisingly, the National Health Service very nearly did not happen at all. In the months leading to its launch it was bitterly opposed - by the Tory Party and the national press. But its most vicious and vocal opponents were the very people its existence depended on - surgeons, nurses, dentists and Britain's 20,000 doctors. To get the NHS at all required the persistence and determination of one man - Nye Bevan, Labour's minister of health.

This film tells the extraordinary story of the six months leading up to its traumatic birth.


WED 21:00 Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan (b00dn9hl)
Greg Dyke takes a bus tour through the Welsh Valleys and the life of Labour politician Aneurin Bevan, pronouncing him 'one of the outstanding men of the 20th Century'.

In 1945, Bevan simultaneously launched the National Health Service and set about rebuilding a bomb-damaged Britain, in one of the most remarkable double acts a politician has ever been asked to achieve.

Dyke visits the coalmines where Bevan began to hew coal at the age of 13 and explores the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, which was the blueprint for the NHS.

He also reveals the close friendship between Bevan and the black American civil rights campaigner and world-renowned opera singer Paul Robeson.


WED 22:00 Close to Home (b00dqjpx)
Drama in which two 18-year-old Israeli girls, Smadar and Mirit, are thrown together as part of their compulsory military service in Jerusalem. Against the backdrop of political and religious turmoil and violence they try to do what comes naturally to them - have fun, meet boys and squabble with each other. But when they're out on patrol in Jerusalem, the harsher realities of life inevitably intrude.


WED 23:35 The Cinema Show (b0082h4c)
Trust Me I'm a Doctor - Medics in the Movies

A look at the history of doctors on celluloid, from being shown as dedicated professionals in pre-war films like The Citadel and Young Doctor Kildare to less reverent portrayals in the Carry Ons. Nowadays doctors are as likely to be the film villains as the heroes, while TV has claimed the high ground. So have the times changed the movie doctor or have the movies themselves contributed to this loss of faith?


WED 00:35 Timeshift (b0074pqt)
Series 3

Raj to Rhondda: How Indian Doctors saved the NHS

The story of the generation of doctors who came from the Indian subcontinent to become the hidden heroes who have provided the backbone of the NHS for the last 40 years. Despite enduring years of discrimination, they fulfilled Britain's health needs and carved successful careers that took them to the heart of the British medical establishment. Now, as they collectively reach retirement age, Britain faces a crisis in healthcare.


WED 01:15 Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan (b00dn9hl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 02:15 The NHS: A Difficult Beginning (b00cjn9y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:40 today]



THURSDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2008

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00dn9mj)
The latest news from around the world.


THU 19:30 Fossil Detectives (b00dn9ml)
East of England

Series in which Open University associate lecturer Hermione Cockburn leads a team of fossil experts and geologists around different regions of Britain to search for its best fossil treasures and mysteries.

In the east of England, the team go on a fossil hunting challenge on Hunstanton beach and find out how fossils can be discovered right on your doorstep.

They discover the story behind the world's most complete and largest mammoth skeleton, uncovered at West Runton; the scientific answers revealed by the biggest fish that ever lived, discovered on the outskirts of Peterborough; and how fossils can reveal past climates.


THU 20:00 Arena (b00dqv1x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:50 on Sunday]


THU 20:10 The Avengers (b0074s65)
Series 5

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station

Steed goes off the rails and Mrs Peel discovers her station in life as they confront a plot to kill the prime minister by detonating a bomb on his private train.


THU 21:00 Casualty 1907 (b009x109)
Episode 3

Drama that uses case notes, ward reports, autopsy records and diaries from 1907 to bring doctors, nurses and patients at the Royal London Hospital back to life. With the hospital facing imminent financial collapse, chairman Sydney Holland launches an inspired campaign to raise money. The cost of building the modern city is revealed when workers on the new Rotherhithe Tunnel are admitted with agonising diver's bends. Ethel, working in the receiving room, contracts scarlet fever from a patient.


THU 22:00 Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan (b00dn9hl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 23:00 BBC Four Sessions (b0074mx5)
Martin Carthy and Friends

Recorded at Islington's Union Chapel, this concert brings together English folk legend Martin Carthy and some of his most important collaborators - including wife Norma and daughter Eliza, known collectively as Waterson-Carthy. Fiddling partner Dave Swarbrick, who joined Fairport Convention in the late 1960s, also features, as does extraordinary brass band Brass Monkey.


THU 00:00 BBC Four Sessions (b0074nzn)
Eliza Carthy

Folk star Eliza Carthy in concert at the Union Chapel in London. The set includes songs from her album Angelicana, nominated for Album of the Year at the Radio 3 Awards for World Music.

Carthy often takes liberties with people's preconceptions about folk music, pushing the boundaries with style, dynamism and flair. Daughter of British folk golden couple, Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, she has almost single-handledly invigorated, revitalised and made folk music revelant to younger audiences.


THU 01:00 Fossil Detectives (b00dn9ml)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:30 Journeys from the Centre of the Earth (b0074qqp)
Salt

Geologist Dr Iain Stewart presents a series showing how the rocks beneath our feet have shaped human history.

He takes us on a tour of the Mediterranean to show how salt is central to its history, playing a crucial role in everything from the existence of ice ages to the preservation of food and dead bodies in ancient Egypt.

His whistle-stop tour takes in many tourist destinations in Egypt, Venice and Sicily, but he provides a unique geologist's insight which can't be found in the guide books.


THU 02:30 Fossil Detectives (b00dn9ml)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 03:00 Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan (b00dn9hl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]



FRIDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2008

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00dnbcq)
The latest news from around the world.


FRI 19:30 Jacqueline du Pre and the Elgar Cello Concerto (b00dqcrd)
Director Christopher Nupen's intimate portrait of cellist Jacqueline du Pre and her legendary performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto.

One of the finest musicians that Britain has ever produced, her career was cut tragically short by multiple sclerosis when she was 28 and she died in 1987 at the age of 41. The film begins with an account of her activities after the onset of her illness and includes, at her request, a re-edited version of the film which Nupen made with her in 1967. It outlines her childhood, her first steps in music, her studies with William Pleeth, her meteoric career and her meeting with and marriage to Daniel Barenboim.

It ends with the performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim, one that has already passed into legend.


FRI 20:40 Cambridge Folk Festival (b00d6mqw)
2008

The Imagined Village

Mark Radcliffe presents coverage of the Cambridge Folk Festival, featuring the top artists from the world of folk, roots and acoustic music, either live in concert from the main stage or in exclusive backstage performances.

The Imagined Village is a multicultural project spearheaded by Simon Emmerson and including Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Billy Bragg, Sheila Chandra, Johnny Kalsi, Chris Wood, Francis Hylton, Andy Gangageen, Sheema Mukherjee, Barney Morse Brown and the Young Coppers.

Taking the English tradition and interweaving contemporary sounds and voices, it explores Simon's assertion that 'Englishness is the final frontier of world music'.

The programme features electric performances from the Imagined Village's headline set at the festival, including their signature song Cold Haily Rainy Night and Hard Times Of Old England Retold.

In conversation with Mark Radcliffe key protaganists of the project Simon Emmerson, Martin Carthy, Billy Bragg and contributor poet Benjamin Zephaniah explain and explore the genesis, power and aspiration of this impressive project.


FRI 21:10 David Gilmour Live at Gdansk (b00dnbcx)
David Gilmour, the guitar and voice of Pink Floyd, plays live to 50,000 people against the historical backdrop of the Gdansk shipyards in Poland, to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the Solidarity movement.

Gilmour and his band, featuring Floyd's Rick Wright and Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera, perform a mixture from Gilmour's On An Island album and Floyd songs including Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb. The band are backed by the string section of the Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.


FRI 22:10 David Gilmour: Gdansk Diary (b00dnbcv)
Documentary snapshot of the band and production crew preparing for and then and delivering David Gilmour's unique concert in the Gdansk shipyard in August, 2006. The film portrays the contextual drama of the urban landscape of the shipyard and shows Gilmour meeting Lech Walesa, the former Polish president and co-founder of Solidarity, as they lay a wreath at the Monument to the Fallen Workers at the shipyards.


FRI 22:40 The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? (b008hs1m)
Over 40 years after Britain's foremost 'underground' band released their debut album Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Pink Floyd remain one of the biggest brand names and best-loved bands in the world.

This film features extended archive, some of it rarely or never seen before, alongside original interviews with four members of Pink Floyd - David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and the late Richard Wright - and traces the journey of a band that has only ever had five members, three of whom have led the band at different stages of its evolution.

Tracing the band's history from psychedelic 60s London to their reunion appearance at Live 8 in 2005, this is the story of a succession of musical and commercial peaks separated by a succession of struggles around the creative leadership of the band. Their story was given added poignancy by the 2006 death of their estranged frontman, Syd Barrett.

Pink Floyd spearheaded the concept album, never sold themselves as personalities and expanded rock way beyond its three minute pop song beginnings. Pink Floyd has made the four members very rich and has consumed their creative lives, but it hasn't always made them friends. When first meeting their American record company, one of the executives apocryphally asked, "Which one's Pink?". This film traces the reverberations of that question throughout the band's history.

First led by the innovative singer, songwriter and guitarist Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd were at the forefront of Britain's psychedelic era. After putting the band on the map with hits like Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, Barrett drifted out of the band after experimenting with LSD.

The three remaining members added Barrett's old Cambridge friend David Gilmour to the band on guitar and functioned as a communal unit while creating extended sonic explorations on albums like Atom Heart Mother and Echoes. While creating ever larger and more visually ambitious stage shows, the band personally shunned the limelight, taking the stage as four shadowy figures and never appearing on their album covers.

Gradually Roger Waters emerged as the band's key songwriter, creating those massive selling concept albums of the mid-70s, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, two of the biggest-selling and boldest albums of all time. But Waters's desire to control the band and the increasing passivity of the others eventually left to him leaving the band and the name after 1983's The Final Cut album.

David Gilmour eventually assumed control of the band, producing two globally-successful Pink Floyd albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), with the help of Nick Mason and Rick Wright. Meanwhile, Waters conducted a less commercially-successful solo career.

As a result of Bob Geldof's pleading, David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason reunited with Roger Waters for one time only for 2005's Live 8, playing together for the first time in approximately 25 years.

Whether Pink Floyd will ever record or perform again with or without Roger Waters remains unclear.


FRI 23:40 Life on Mars (b0074sgm)
Series 1

Episode 8

Drama series about a Manchester detective who suffers a near-fatal car crash and wakes up in what seems to be 1973.

Sam is finally accepting of this world, until he comes face to face with his 29-year-old dad, Vic Tyler. Vic is a small time gambler who unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a murder enquiry. Gene is convinced that Vic is his link to nailing a new crime syndicate and is prepared to put Vic's life on the line to get to them.

As Sam moves to protect his own father he embarks upon an emotional journey as he pieces together a childhood memory and finally uncovers the truth about his father, a truth that will change him forever.


FRI 01:30 David Gilmour Live at Gdansk (b00dnbcx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:10 today]


FRI 02:30 David Gilmour: Gdansk Diary (b00dnbcv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:10 today]


FRI 03:00 The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? (b008hs1m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:40 today]




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

Alistair Cooke: Postcards from America 19:00 SAT (b0074nn6)

Alistair Cooke: Postcards from America 03:35 SAT (b0074nn6)

Arena 19:30 SUN (b00dn7hc)

Arena 19:50 SUN (b00dn7hf)

Arena 20:50 SUN (b00dqv1x)

Arena 21:50 SUN (b00dqv1z)

Arena 01:30 SUN (b00dn7hc)

Arena 01:50 SUN (b00dn7hf)

Arena 02:00 SUN (b00dqv1x)

Arena 02:10 SUN (b00dqv1z)

Arena 19:30 WED (b00dn7hf)

Arena 20:00 THU (b00dqv1x)

BBC Four Sessions 23:00 THU (b0074mx5)

BBC Four Sessions 00:00 THU (b0074nzn)

Black Power Salute 02:15 MON (b00cgxbc)

Born to Be Wild 19:30 TUE (b00ccfft)

Cambridge Folk Festival 20:40 FRI (b00d6mqw)

Casualty 1907 21:00 THU (b009x109)

Close to Home 22:00 WED (b00dqjpx)

David Gilmour Live at Gdansk 21:10 FRI (b00dnbcx)

David Gilmour Live at Gdansk 01:30 FRI (b00dnbcx)

David Gilmour: Gdansk Diary 22:10 FRI (b00dnbcv)

David Gilmour: Gdansk Diary 02:30 FRI (b00dnbcv)

Dinner with Portillo 19:30 MON (b00djm6s)

Dinner with Portillo 03:45 MON (b00djm6s)

Flight of the Conchords 21:30 TUE (b0081m93)

Flight of the Conchords 03:25 TUE (b0081m93)

Fossil Detectives 19:00 SUN (b00djmrx)

Fossil Detectives 01:00 SUN (b00djmrx)

Fossil Detectives 19:30 THU (b00dn9ml)

Fossil Detectives 01:00 THU (b00dn9ml)

Fossil Detectives 02:30 THU (b00dn9ml)

Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan 21:00 WED (b00dn9hl)

Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan 01:15 WED (b00dn9hl)

Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan 22:00 THU (b00dn9hl)

Greg Dyke on Nye Bevan 03:00 THU (b00dn9hl)

Incredible Animal Journeys 22:00 SUN (b0079430)

Jacqueline du Pre and the Elgar Cello Concerto 19:30 FRI (b00dqcrd)

Journeys from the Centre of the Earth 01:30 THU (b0074qqp)

Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore 22:30 TUE (b0074r3v)

Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore 01:40 TUE (b0074r3v)

Life on Mars 23:40 FRI (b0074sgm)

Natural World 20:00 SUN (b00dn7hh)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00dn8cy)

Only Connect 03:15 MON (b00dn8cy)

Only Connect 22:00 TUE (b00dn8cy)

Only Connect 01:10 TUE (b00dn8cy)

Only Connect 02:55 TUE (b00dn8cy)

President Hollywood 23:00 SUN (b00djm6q)

President Hollywood 02:20 SUN (b00djm6q)

Storyville 21:00 SAT (b00dn76v)

Storyville 01:15 SAT (b00dn76v)

Storyville 21:00 MON (b00dn8d0)

Storyville 22:30 MON (b007mwqm)

Storyville 00:20 MON (b0074qzp)

Storyville 23:45 TUE (b00dn8d0)

That Mitchell and Webb Look 21:00 TUE (b0074fyh)

The Avengers 20:10 THU (b0074s65)

The Cinema Show 23:35 WED (b0082h4c)

The NHS: A Difficult Beginning 19:40 WED (b00cjn9y)

The NHS: A Difficult Beginning 02:15 WED (b00cjn9y)

The Name of the Rose 22:20 SAT (b00dwn6b)

The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? 22:40 FRI (b008hs1m)

The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? 03:00 FRI (b008hs1m)

The Rock 'n' Roll Years 20:00 MON (b0074q9s)

The Roxy Music Story 00:25 SAT (b00djn0s)

The Unseen Alistair Cooke 20:00 SAT (b00cl5v2)

The Unseen Alistair Cooke 02:35 SAT (b00cl5v2)

Timeshift 00:00 SUN (b00djlz9)

Timeshift 03:20 SUN (b00djlz9)

Timeshift 00:35 WED (b0074pqt)

Wild China 20:00 TUE (b00c5n6g)

Wildlife Special 21:00 SUN (b00dn7hk)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00dn8cw)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00dn8f1)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00dn9hj)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00dn9mj)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00dnbcq)