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 03 JANUARY 2009

SAT 19:00 Little Dorrit Omnibus (b00fg8q7)
Episodes 1 and 2

This gripping new adaptation by Andrew Davies brings to life Dickens' powerful story of love, honour, debt and hope in 1820s London.

Arthur Clennam returns from China, determined to uncover the mystery at the heart of the House of Clennam. His quest begins at the Marshalsea Debtors' Prison, home to his mother's young seamstress, Amy Dorrit.


SAT 20:30 Little Dorrit (b00fd1s1)
Episode 3

Flintwinch taunts Arthur's mother about the mystery at the heart of the House of Clennam, while Amy discovers that 'a gentleman' has paid off her brother's debts, and Arthur is invited to Twickenham to renew his acquaintance with the lovely Pet Meagles.


SAT 21:00 Timeshift (b0074px1)
Series 3

Prog Rock

A look back to the years when progressive rock ruled the universe, with bands such as Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and King Crimson filling stadia with their grandiose stage shows. Contributors include Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Yes drummer Bill Bruford, Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris, DJ John Peel and rock critic Charles Shaar-Murray.


SAT 21:40 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b00gm7ry)
ELP on Tour

Bob Harris introduces film of Emerson Lake and Palmer's 1973 Euro concert tour. Behind the scenes antics include Greg Lake falling prey to laryngitis in Vienna, Keith Emerson destroying a keyboard and Carl Palmer rehearsing the 1812 overture.


SAT 22:35 Still Crazy (b007ckzx)
In 1998, disbanded 1970s rockers Strange Fruit have the chance to reunite and return from obscurity.
However, the surviving members' old rivalries are also revived, making rehearsals and a European try-out tour a trial for hopeful keyboard player Tony and the band's number one fan Karen, both determined to prove the 'Fruits' are not past their sell-by date.


SAT 00:05 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00g87gx)
Series 4

Review of the Year

Charlie Brooker celebrates Christmas by taking a look back at all that has happened in TV land over the past year, including reviews of the very best and worst shows to grace British screens in 2008, and reflections on all the big issues. He considers the trends that emerged and explores what can be expected in 2009.

There are also a couple of special contributor pieces from Harry Enfield and Jimmy Carr, while poet Tim Key supplies a festive verse.


SAT 00:35 Timeshift (b0074px1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SAT 01:15 Little Dorrit Omnibus (b00fg8q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:45 Little Dorrit (b00fd1s1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


SAT 03:10 Timeshift (b0074px1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



SUNDAY 04 JANUARY 2009

SUN 19:00 Stephen Fry in America (b00f2dfv)
New World

Stephen Fry was very nearly an American. Just before Stephen was born, his father was offered a job at Princeton University, but chose to turn it down.

And so, Stephen was born in NW3 rather than in NJ, New Jersey.

In this six-part series he travels, mostly in a London cab, through all 50 states of the country that he could have nearly called home and which has always fascinated him.

In this first episode, he explores the states that make up New England, before heading south to the nation's capital and ending up at the civil war battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

Presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire, witches in Salem, nuclear submariners in Connecticut, deer hunters, small time mobsters in NYC, socialites in Rhode Island, lobster fishermen in Maine, ice cream blenders in Vermont and card washers in New Jersey - Stephen meets them all as he takes the road through the autumn colours to uncover what really makes America tick.


SUN 20:00 The Perfect House: The Life and Work of Palladio (b00g34st)
Documentary to mark the 500th anniversary of arguably the world's most influential architect, Andrea Palladio.

The villas, palaces and public buildings he designed for the aristocrats of Vicenza and Venice, as well as his seminal Four Books of Architecture, defined an architectural style that became known as Palladianism. Its influence can be seen everywhere, from the stately homes of England to the White House. The Palladian villa has been described as the 'perfect house', combining austere grandeur with an inspiring, intimate human scale.

The film takes us on a ravishing journey through the plains of the Veneto, visiting the surviving villas and exploring in detail what makes them work, with contributions from leading experts as well as the owners who know and love them.


SUN 21:00 When in Rome: Genesis in Concert (b00bbxxv)
Re-formed rock band Genesis recorded live at a free concert in front of 500,000 fans in Rome's ancient Circo Massimo. As darkness descends, it's a breathtaking spectacle, with a sweeping, curvaceous stage and huge graphics screens failing to dwarf the sound of a supergroup reborn. The band serve up plenty of old favourites like Land of Confusion, No Son of Mine, the post-Gabriel hit Follow You, Follow Me and Genesis's first-ever charting single, 1973's I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).


SUN 22:30 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00g8hfg)
Phil Collins

Phil Collins made his name as the drummer and then the lead singer of Genesis, before embarking on a successful solo career with hits including In the Air Tonight. In the 1980s he took on the role of one of the great train robbers in the film Buster and has recently had success with scoring for films such as Disney's Tarzan. Collins talks frankly to Mark Lawson about his three marriages and the various myths that surround him, including that he divorced his second wife by fax.


SUN 23:30 Genesis: Come Rain or Shine (b00bbxxs)
Behind-the-scenes documentary following the re-formed Genesis's 22-date 2007 European stadium tour. With the first show in Helsinki eight months away, Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford get together in a rehearsal studio with the rest of the band, to see if they can recapture the old magic. The stakes are high, and as time runs out the preparations are dogged by technical problems and creative challenges, but there's a lot of merriment too.


SUN 00:30 Stephen Fry in America (b00f2dfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 01:30 The Perfect House: The Life and Work of Palladio (b00g34st)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 02:30 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00g8hfg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]



MONDAY 05 JANUARY 2009

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00gkrtm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 The American Future: A History, by Simon Schama (b00dygkw)
American Plenty

Simon Schama travels through America to dig deep into the conflicts of its history as a way to understand the country's contemporary political situation.

He explores how American optimism about the infinite possibilities of its land and resources is in danger of coming to a grinding halt. Nowhere is it more evident than in the American West, which has always been a symbol of opportunity and freedom. Oil at four dollars a gallon may dominate the headlines, but here it is the lack of water that is an bigger threat to the American future. The West is in the grip of a years-long drought.

America's optimism about its natural resources has always been spiced with clashes over conservation, going back to the first man to navigate the Colorado river, John Wesley Powell. American ingenuity made farming on an industrial scale possible in the early years of the 20th century, but at the cost of making Oklahoma a dust bowl. The Hoover Dam, a modern American miracle which used to provide essential irrigation for farming and for the new city of Las Vegas, is not able to cope with the demand for water any more.


MON 20:30 An Islamic History of Europe (b00gkrtr)
Episode 1

Rageh Omaar visits Spain, Sicily and France in a fascinating journey in search of the story of Islam in Europe. He uncovers a tale of scientific advance and rich cultural influences that have had a profound impact on the way we are today, reveals how a flourishing Islamic culture was finally destroyed in Europe by ambition, betrayal and oppression and shows how the fall-out still resonates today. The journey begins in Spain.


MON 21:00 Science and Islam (b00gksx4)
The Language of Science

Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.

Its legacy is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali all being Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science - there would be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra, no computers without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis.

For Baghdad-born Al-Khalili, this is also a personal journey, and on his travels he uncovers a diverse and outward-looking culture, fascinated by learning and obsessed with science. From the great mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, who did much to establish the mathematical tradition we now know as algebra, to Ibn Sina, a pioneer of early medicine whose Canon of Medicine was still in use as recently as the 19th century, Al-Khalili pieces together a remarkable story of the often-overlooked achievements of the early medieval Islamic scientists.


MON 22:00 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.


MON 23:00 Science and Islam (b00gksx4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 00:00 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fpwb4)
Series 4

Episode 1

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen, including capsule reviews of the week's highs and lows.

He examines the state of television in the current economic climate and, with now-redundant home sale programmes clogging up the schedule, he explores what we can expect in their place.

Expensive dramas and the plethora of job-based shows are also in his sights, while there is light relief as he illustrates the penny-pinching tricks TV uses to meet budgets.


MON 00:30 Growing Babies (b00fvh1j)
War in the Womb

Laverne Antrobus investigates the theory of foetal-maternal conflict, an idea championed by Harvard evolutionary biologist Professor David Haig and controversially believed by some to be to blame for a wide range of behavioural and psychological disorders such as Tourettes, depression and autism.

On a biological level at least, the odyssey of pregnancy is dogged by conflict. It begins with the battle between 500 million sperm to reach the single egg, through the aggressive tactics employed by the cells of the placenta as they invade the wall of the uterus, to the escalation of hormones in later pregnancy that have been likened by some to a kind of hormonal cold war between mother and baby.

Antrobus discovers how the symptoms of pre-eclampsia in the mother are driven by the foetus lashing out for survival when the placenta begins to fail. She meets Dr Ananth Kuramanchi, the scientist who believes he has found the smoking gun of pre-eclampsia - a protein produced by foetal tissue that is capable of totally remodelling the maternal bloodstream to suit the foetus's goals.

Finally, Antrobus explores how conflict in the womb permeates the foetal genome as she investigates one of the most recent discoveries in genetics, genomic imprinting. She discovers how the genes of mother and father employ strategies of cunning and subterfuge to suit their own selfish ends.


MON 01:30 Growing Babies (b00fzty0)
Brainpower

Laverne Antrobus delves into the extraordinary world of foetal and infant neuropsychology as she tries to explain the curiosities of baby cognition. Babies just hours old can make complex inferences about people and objects, music and language, and even the principles of geometry and geography.

Antrobus asks how babies perceive the world around them, what they know and how they learn to process knowledge. She debates whether babies learn everything from experience or whether knowledge can be hardwired into their brilliant brains, an idea first postulated by psychologist Elisabeth Spelke when she unveiled theories about core knowledge.

Antrobus traces infant psychology back to some of the earliest theories and she meets researchers at Birkbeck College's Babylab who use hi-tech brain scanning equipment to delve deep inside the minds of babies. The theories here are slightly different. Denis Mareschal believes biased learning - babies' remarkable abilities to home in on key sources of information - is the key to intelligence.

The invention of the revolutionary 3D ultrasound has led to an unprecedented glut of revelations about foetal behaviour. Soon after the nervous system forms, the foetus begins ferociously practising for life after birth. Stimuli like sound and taste permeate the sanctity of the womb, shaping the character and personality of the growing foetus.

Dr Heidi Als's studies with premature babies reveal how vital the third trimester of pregnancy is for neurological development. While the brain is still learning to filter out unnecessary sensory stimulation, it relies on the womb to prevent it becoming overloaded. Premature babies don't have this luxury and their brains can often shut down when confronted by too many sensory stimuli.


MON 02:30 An Islamic History of Europe (b00gkrtr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 03:00 Science and Islam (b00gksx4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 06 JANUARY 2009

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00gkrxs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Science and Islam (b00gksx4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 20:30 Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells (b00g8h9q)
A live studio performance from 1974 of Mike Oldfield's composition Tubular Bells, which had been acclaimed in the press as a unique achievement in popular music.


TUE 20:55 Sounds of the Seventies (b00bxqrn)
Solos

Solos

Vintage rock, pop and soul performances from the BBC archives.


TUE 21:00 Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements (b00g8tfv)
Documentary about progressive music and the generation of bands that were involved, from the international success stories of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson and Jethro Tull to the trials and tribulations of lesser-known bands such as Caravan and Egg.

The film is structured in three parts, charting the birth, rise and decline of a movement famed for complex musical structures, weird time signatures, technical virtuosity and strange, and quintessentially English, literary influences.

It looks at the psychedelic pop scene that gave birth to progressive rock in the late 1960s, the golden age of progressive music in the early 1970s, complete with drum solos and gatefold record sleeves, and the over-ambition, commercialisation and eventual fall from grace of this rarefied musical experiment at the hands of punk in 1977.

Contributors include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Pete Sinfield, Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer and Ian Anderson.


TUE 22:30 Mad Men (b00b3zd3)
Series 1

Shoot

Drama series set in the world of advertising in 1960s New York. Betty is used by a rival ad agency to try to hire Don. Peggy is putting on weight. The agency tries to spruce up their Nixon presidential campaign to counteract a successful Kennedy ad by Jackie Kennedy.


TUE 23:15 Prog at the BBC (b00g8tfx)
Compilation of some of the greatest names and British bands in what they still dare to call prog rock, filmed live in the BBC studios in the early 1970s. Expect to see stadium names like Yes, Genesis and Emerson, Lake and Palmer alongside much-loved bands of the era including Caravan, Family, Atomic Rooster and more.


TUE 00:15 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fqq3t)
Series 4

Episode 2

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen, including capsule reviews of the week's highs and lows.

In an advertising special, there are reports from a mysterious insider dishing the dirt on all that is bad in the industry, plus a potted history of advertising. Brooker reveals the changing psychology used to keep people buying, and how the portrayal of men and women in advertising has changed. Plus, poet Tim Key gives us an advert-related verse.


TUE 00:45 Science and Islam (b00gksx4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 01:45 Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements (b00g8tfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 03:15 Prog at the BBC (b00g8tfx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:15 today]



WEDNESDAY 07 JANUARY 2009

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00gkrym)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Ready to Wear (b0077rkg)
Suit You, Sir: Behind the Seams

Series exploring British history through changes and developments in fashion. This part examines the suit and how it relates to masculinity.


WED 20:00 The Sky at Night (b06zzd7n)
Light Fantastic

Sir Patrick Moore charts the development of the telescope over four centuries and fasts forward to meet the astronaut who repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr Chris Lintott visits some modern day astronomical leviathans.


WED 21:00 Hubble Telescope (b0074rkg)
Documentary about the work of the world's most famous space telescope. Hubble celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2005 and has been used to look into the furthest regions of the universe.


WED 22:00 Storyville (b00gn3zn)
Blast!

Documentary which follows the story of Mark Devlin and his team of scientists as they try to figure out how all the galaxies formed by launching a revolutionary new telescope under a NASA high-altitude balloon.

Their adventure takes them from Arctic Sweden to Inuit Canada, where failure forces the team to try again on the desolate ice of Antarctica. The obsessions, personal and family sacrifices, and philosophical and religious questioning of a professional scientist are all laid bare.


WED 23:20 Timeshift (b0074rkj)
Series 5

Star Men

Adam Hart-Davis explores the world of Britain's amateur astronomers. There are more than 40,000 of them, looking at everything from planets to variable stars and supernovae. But while the gentleman hobbyist once had the skies to himself and could make pioneering discoveries, the last century saw amateurs eclipsed by high-tech professionals. Now, increasingly sophisticated home equipment means that the amateur community has entered a new, collaborative relationship with the professionals.

Contributors include bestselling novelist Terry Pratchett, who shows off his prized TARDIS - his own private observatory in Wiltshire; Professor Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project; and the godfather of popular astronomy, Sir Patrick Moore, who reflects on his lifetime's work.


WED 00:00 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fvgj5)
Series 4

Episode 3

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen, including capsule reviews of the week's highs and lows.

In a writers' special, Brooker is joined by some of the best in the business to talk about how you make a TV programme actually happen. The people and pens behind Doctor Who, Father Ted, Peep Show, Life on Mars, Shameless and many more lead us through the joys and pitfalls of writing, with the added benefit of some of the best bits from the programmes.


WED 00:50 The Sky at Night (b06zzd7n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 01:50 Storyville (b00gn3zn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 03:10 Timeshift (b0074rkj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:20 today]



THURSDAY 08 JANUARY 2009

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00gks0y)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:40 The New Avengers (b00gn4mj)
Series 1

To Catch a Rat

After receiving a strange message alerting them to danger, Steed researches some old files while Purdey and Gambit investigate. A legendary agent has resurfaced after 17 years. Working in a German circus as an acrobat, he discovered the identity of a double agent known as White Rat and shot him in the leg. He then lost his memory, but now remembers who he is and tries to contact his spy masters. The race is on to find him before White Rat does.


THU 20:30 The House of Chanel (b0074s4l)
Anticipation

Series following the creation of Chanel's Haute Couture collection. Staff at Chanel's Rue Cambon HQ are eagerly awaiting Karl Lagerfeld's designs - what will he do this year? Time is at a premium if deadlines are to be met.


THU 21:00 Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters (b00gmj5m)
For many, Savile Row menswear designer Ozwald Boateng embodies modern British style and in this documentary he unpicks and re-stitches his own relationship with style, looking to answer questions about what style is, where it comes from and why it is worth having.

Boateng pinpoints the places on his life-long journey through fashion where he added a new thought or influence to his look and reveals just how much being stylish has influenced his success. He talks about style with family, friends, colleagues and journalists and travels to Milan to meet one of his heroes, the master of modern menswear, Giorgio Armani.


THU 22:00 Style on Trial (b00gkqxl)
1940s

Stuart Maconie and Lauren Laverne put British style and fashion between the 1940s and the 1990s into the dock. To examine 1940s fashion, they are joined by interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, international showgirl and author Immodesty Blaize and Guardian columnist Annalisa Barbieri. They discuss whether the era is defined by corsets and Christian Dior or make-do-and-mend wartime uniforms and utility.


THU 23:00 Men, Women and Clothes (b00gmg6y)
Fashions in Faces and Figures

1950s fashion history series. Doris Langley Moore explores the odd correlation between the amount of facial hair on men and trends in covering up in women's fashion. Plus, Benny Hill in various states of hirsuteness and a young Vanessa Redgrave demonstrates early 20th-century use of face powder.


THU 23:15 The Look (b00gmgl1)
Runway

Series about the serious side of the fashion industry. This part goes behind the scenes at 'runway' shows in Paris, Milan, London and New York, examines who sits where on the political map of fashion and looks at the evolution of the superstar model.


THU 00:05 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fztgk)
Series 4

Episode 4

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen, including capsule reviews of the week's highs and lows.

Brooker takes a scalpel to 'mission' documentaries, the shows that begin with the presenter uttering 'I am on a mission to...' only to finish with a daft gimmick. After reviewing the current crop of mission documentaries, he goes on to make his own rather unusual version of the genre, highlighting the formats and tricks of the trade along the way.


THU 00:35 Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters (b00gmj5m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 01:35 The House of Chanel (b0074s4l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


THU 02:05 Style on Trial (b00gkqxl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


THU 03:05 Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters (b00gmj5m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 09 JANUARY 2009

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00gks3s)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Anne Frank Remembered (b00gkv53)
Jon Blair's Oscar-winning documentary is the first ever eye-witness account of the life and legacy of the iconic child diarist, Anne Frank.

Combining personal testimony, never-before-seen photos, previously undiscovered family letters, rare archive footage (including the only known moving footage of Anne herself) with evocative contemporary film, this haunting film was hailed as a masterpiece in the British and American press when it was released.

By peeling away the onion skin layers of mythology and concentrating closely on the details of Anne's brief life, rather than her famous diary, the film makes real the story of this one child and her family, and those who lived and died with her.


FRI 21:30 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00dzzv2)
Part I

Concentrating on the 1970s (1969 to 1981 to be exact) and ransacking a host of BBC shows from The Old Grey Whistle Test to Sight & Sound, this compilation is designed to release the air guitarist in everyone, combining great electric guitarists like Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler, The Edge and Peter Green with acoustic masters like John Martyn, Pentangle and Paco Pena.


FRI 22:30 Les Paul: Chasing Sound (b00dzzv0)
Documentary profiling the late Les Paul, creator of the solid-body electric guitar, inventor of overdubbing and multi-track recording, king of the 50s pop charts and rock 'n' roll icon.

Les Paul tells his own classic rags-to-riches story, featuring vintage archive and original performance footage of him and his Trio, original interviews with the likes of BB King, Jeff Beck, Jose Feliciano, Tony Bennett and Bonnie Raitt and copious contributions from the genius from Waukesha, Wisconsin, who died in 2009.

Paul was the last of that self-educated, brilliantly innovative generation of musicians and media pioneers who revolutionised popular music in the last century.


FRI 23:55 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00g34fg)
Series 4

Episode 5

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen.

He turns his gaze to the state of kids' TV, giving a potted history of the genre and taking a look at psychedelic kids' shows both old and new. Brooker moves on to look at the newer trend for programmes to be made with the help of child psychologists and asks if it is a sinister development.

Plus, the reflections of a TV presenter, a poem from Tim Key and the revelation of dark TV tales from behind the scenes.


FRI 00:25 The New Avengers (b00gn4mj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:40 on Thursday]


FRI 01:20 Later... with Jools Holland (b00dwfyy)
Guitar Heroes

Guitar heroes from as far away as Mexico and as close to home as Chiswick have all come to rock the Later studio since 1995. This collection of performances brings together the best of them, from the legendary Buddy Guy to the homegrown guitar superstars he inspired, such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Pete Townshend. Joining them on the bill are Santana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The White Stripes, Radiohead and more.


FRI 02:20 Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scott's (b00dwfyw)
Filmed over five nights at the intimate Ronnie Scott's venue, Jeff Beck performs some his greatest music alongside guest artists Joss Stone, Imogen Heap and Eric Clapton.


FRI 03:20 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00g34fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:55 today]




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

An Islamic History of Europe 20:30 MON (b00gkrtr)

An Islamic History of Europe 02:30 MON (b00gkrtr)

Anne Frank Remembered 19:30 FRI (b00gkv53)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 00:05 SAT (b00g87gx)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 00:00 MON (b00fpwb4)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 00:15 TUE (b00fqq3t)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 00:00 WED (b00fvgj5)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 00:05 THU (b00fztgk)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 23:55 FRI (b00g34fg)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 03:20 FRI (b00g34fg)

Genesis: Come Rain or Shine 23:30 SUN (b00bbxxs)

Growing Babies 00:30 MON (b00fvh1j)

Growing Babies 01:30 MON (b00fzty0)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 21:30 FRI (b00dzzv2)

Hubble Telescope 21:00 WED (b0074rkg)

Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scott's 02:20 FRI (b00dwfyw)

Later... with Jools Holland 01:20 FRI (b00dwfyy)

Les Paul: Chasing Sound 22:30 FRI (b00dzzv0)

Little Dorrit Omnibus 19:00 SAT (b00fg8q7)

Little Dorrit Omnibus 01:15 SAT (b00fg8q7)

Little Dorrit 20:30 SAT (b00fd1s1)

Little Dorrit 02:45 SAT (b00fd1s1)

Mad Men 22:30 TUE (b00b3zd3)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 22:30 SUN (b00g8hfg)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 02:30 SUN (b00g8hfg)

Men, Women and Clothes 23:00 THU (b00gmg6y)

Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells 20:30 TUE (b00g8h9q)

Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters 21:00 THU (b00gmj5m)

Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters 00:35 THU (b00gmj5m)

Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters 03:05 THU (b00gmj5m)

Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements 21:00 TUE (b00g8tfv)

Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements 01:45 TUE (b00g8tfv)

Prog at the BBC 23:15 TUE (b00g8tfx)

Prog at the BBC 03:15 TUE (b00g8tfx)

Ready to Wear 19:30 WED (b0077rkg)

Science and Islam 21:00 MON (b00gksx4)

Science and Islam 23:00 MON (b00gksx4)

Science and Islam 03:00 MON (b00gksx4)

Science and Islam 19:30 TUE (b00gksx4)

Science and Islam 00:45 TUE (b00gksx4)

Sounds of the Seventies 20:55 TUE (b00bxqrn)

Stephen Fry in America 19:00 SUN (b00f2dfv)

Stephen Fry in America 00:30 SUN (b00f2dfv)

Still Crazy 22:35 SAT (b007ckzx)

Storyville 22:00 WED (b00gn3zn)

Storyville 01:50 WED (b00gn3zn)

Style on Trial 22:00 THU (b00gkqxl)

Style on Trial 02:05 THU (b00gkqxl)

The American Future: A History, by Simon Schama 19:30 MON (b00dygkw)

The House of Chanel 20:30 THU (b0074s4l)

The House of Chanel 01:35 THU (b0074s4l)

The Look 23:15 THU (b00gmgl1)

The New Avengers 19:40 THU (b00gn4mj)

The New Avengers 00:25 FRI (b00gn4mj)

The Old Grey Whistle Test 21:40 SAT (b00gm7ry)

The Perfect House: The Life and Work of Palladio 20:00 SUN (b00g34st)

The Perfect House: The Life and Work of Palladio 01:30 SUN (b00g34st)

The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? 22:00 MON (b008hs1m)

The Sky at Night 20:00 WED (b06zzd7n)

The Sky at Night 00:50 WED (b06zzd7n)

Timeshift 21:00 SAT (b0074px1)

Timeshift 00:35 SAT (b0074px1)

Timeshift 03:10 SAT (b0074px1)

Timeshift 23:20 WED (b0074rkj)

Timeshift 03:10 WED (b0074rkj)

When in Rome: Genesis in Concert 21:00 SUN (b00bbxxv)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00gkrtm)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00gkrxs)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00gkrym)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00gks0y)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00gks3s)