Bach's Christmas Oratorio, performed by the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque soloists Calron McFadden, Bernarda Fink, Christopher Genz and Dietrich Henschel.
Bach's Christmas Oratorio, performed by the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque soloists Calron McFadden, Bernarda Fink, Christopher Genz and Dietrich Henschel.
From the Barbican in London, Handel's choral masterpiece for four soloists, choir and orchestra is performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
A celebration of the satirical comedy sketch series The Frost Report, which won the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreux in the 1960s.
Hosted by Sir David Frost, it was highly influential and proved to be the launch pad for the likes of Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman and Sheila Steafel.
Featuring rare archive skits, interviews with many of the old team and a complete showing of the award-winning show Frost Over England.
FRIDAY 26 DECEMBER 2008
FRI 19:00 Sacred Music (b009s86s)
Series 1
Bach and the Lutheran Legacy
Four-part documentary series in which Simon Russell Beale explores the flowering of Western sacred music. With music performed by The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers, Beale explores how Martin Luther, himself a composer, had a profound effect on the development of sacred music, re-defining the role of congregational singing and the use of the organ in services. Ultimately, these reforms would shape the world of JS Bach and inspire him to write some of the greatest sacred music.
FRI 20:00 Walter Tull: Forgotten Hero (b00fh1vz)
Walter Tull was a pioneering black British footballer and the first black officer in the British army, who died heroically fighting in the First World War and yet is virtually unheard of today.
Former Eastenders star Nick Bailey relates the story of this forgotten hero, investigating war records to establish whether there was a colour bar in the British Army and asking how Tull managed to become an officer despite army regulations requiring only men of 'pure European descent'. Bailey also tries to discover why Lieutenant Tull was denied a Military Cross for heroism even though his commanding officer recommended him for one.
Tull's parents died before he was seven years old and he was sent to an orphanage in London's East End, but despite that he won a place in the first team of one of Britain's most famous clubs, Tottenham Hotspur. However, after just seven games and great match reports, he received such racial abuse he never played for the first team again. Far from giving up, Tull rebuilt his football career and then signed up for military service at the first opportunity.
FRI 21:00 Walter's War (b00fh1w1)
Drama inspired by the life of Walter Tull who, after years in an orphanage, went on to become a professional footballer and then the first black commissioned officer to lead British troops during the First World War.
The action concerns Tull's turbulent passage from ordinary soldier to extraordinary officer at officer training camp, where he had to face his own demons as well as fight the prejudice that surrounded him.
FRI 22:00 Quincy Jones: The Many Lives of Q (b00c18jl)
From the Jazz Age to Hollywood - 1933-1974
In a career spanning six decades, American jazz musician, composer, arranger, record producer and entrepreneur Quincy Jones has won more Grammy awards than any other artist. His list of other honours includes an Emmy for his work on the seminal American television series Roots and an Oscar for his humanitarian work.
This two-part documentary celebrates the life and career of the man who helped make Michael Jackson the king of pop, arranged Frank Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon, wrote the score for The Italian Job, produced the world's top selling album and single and helped launch the careers of Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith.
At the heart of both films is a wide-ranging interview with Quincy himself, in which he talks candidly about his work and personal life, covering the highs and lows, the triumphs and the tragedies. Family, friends and stars from the music and film industries provide an insight into the man and his unique genius. Both programmes feature archive illustrating the key stages in Quincy's life, including previously unseen home movies and studio footage from his personal archive.
This first part, From the Jazz Age to Hollywood: 1933-1974, spans Quincy's childhood in Chicago, reveals how he discovered music almost by chance and features his first professional engagement at the age of 18, playing trumpet in the Lionel Hampton band. It also charts his Hollywood career writing music for some of the most iconic films of the 1970s and concludes with his life-threatening brain aneurysm.
Contributors include Quincy himself, brother Richard, Harry Belafonte, Michel Legrand, Herbie Hancock, Michael Caine, jazz photographer Herman Leonard, children Martina and Quincy Jones III and former wife Peggy Lipton, and there is footage of Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Ray Charles.
FRI 23:00 Quincy Jones: The Many Lives of Q (b00c517s)
From the King of Pop to Hip Hop: 1975-2008
Second of a two-part documentary which celebrates the life and career of top American jazz musician, composer, arranger, record producer and entrepreneur, Quincy Jones.
It charts Quincy's recovery from a brain anyeurism and looks at how he went on to produce the biggest selling album of all time, Michael Jackson's Thriller. He also produced and conducted 1985's We Are the World - the American music industry's response to the Ethiopian famine - which is still the biggest selling single of all time. That same year he ventured into new territory, turning Hollywood producer for The Color Purple.
Quincy returned to music with the iconic 1989 album Back on the Block, cross-fertilising the talents of 66 artists including Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Patti Austin and six young rappers. The programme also looks at the launch of his television company, his conducting of Phil Collins's Big Band, his remixing of the iconic British dance hit Blue Monday, his humanitarian work in Africa and his mentoring younger musicians.
Contributors include Quincy himself, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Bernard Sumner, Patti Austin, the major players on Thriller - Rod Temperton (British songwriter), Bruce Swedien (recording engineer), Steve Lukather (guitarist) and daughter Kidada. There's also footage of 1980s Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and ex-partner actress Nastassja Kinski.
FRI 00:00 Timeshift (b00g8t15)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Monday]
FRI 01:00 Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of the Music Hall (b007qcxg)
Costume drama inspired by the life and loves of London's East End music hall legend Marie Lloyd.
Spotted by Percy Courtney, her true love and first husband, Marie is soon topping the bill. However, fame takes its toll on the marriage and it ends bitterly. As Marie struggles to juggle her private and public life she falls out with lifelong friend/dresser Freddie and into the arms of fellow performer, the dependable Alec Hurley.
Marie leads a music hall strike and triumphs, but at home she tires of Alec's humdrum ways. Sticking to the principle, as sung, that A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good, Marie chases the champagne lifestyle, taking up with toyboy jockey Bernard Dillon. Respectable society is scandalised and Marie is dropped from the Royal Command Performance, but hits back with an alternative Command Performance.
Riding high professionally but battling failing health and with her personal life in tatters and splashed across the newspapers, she begins to buckle. A faithful but helpless Freddie stands by as Marie is determined that the show must go on.
FRI 02:20 Walter's War (b00fh1w1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 03:20 Timeshift (b00g8t15)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Monday]
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)