Stephen Fry was very nearly an American. Just before Stephen was born, his father was offered a job at Princeton University but turned it down. As a result, 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.
Stephen explores what it is that makes the south so distinctive. He joins coal miners deep underground in West Virginia, meets a young man with the state of Kentucky tattooed on his butt, enjoys a delirious session of bluegrass music-making in Tennessee, has an encounter with a bear in the Smokey Mountains, ascends in a balloon above North Carolina, learns the language of slaves in South Carolina, is invited into a Georgian family's Old Plantation house to join their Thanksgiving celebrations (and has an unfortunate encounter with a horse), fails as a dancing escort in Florida and is moved by two very different events in Alabama: a parole board's deliberations and the extraordinary hoopla of a college ball game, complete with air-force jets.
Maureen Lipman recreates her acclaimed stage celebration of the work of the late Joyce Grenfell. The show is an affectionate look at one of the nation's best-loved entertainers, and Lipman pays a very personal homage to her childhood heroine through her inventive monologues and songs.
Actress and writer Maureen Lipman talks to Mark Lawson about life after the death of her screen-writer husband Jack Rosenthal, working with Roman Polanski, being the face of BT, and how she has been banned from Woking shopping centre.
Jack Rosenthal-penned comedy drama following three sets of parents as they chaperone their children through the selection process of Cambridge University.
A profile of actress, columnist, author, singer, comedian and raconteur Maureen Lipman, with the help of colleagues and friends including Jenny Agutter.
MONDAY 12 JANUARY 2009
MON 19:00 World News Today (b00gq6h3)
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 (b00f08h0)
American War
Shot against the backdrop of the presidential campaign, Simon Schama travels through America to dig deep into the conflicts of its history to understand what is at stake right now.
In American War, Simon reveals how different the American attitude to war is from what outsiders assume it to be. Two of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, disagreed about whether America should even have a professional army - a division still evident when Simon visits America's premier military academy at West Point. From the Civil War right through to Mark Twain's denunciation of President Teddy Roosevelt's imperial adventure in the Phillipines, American wars have inspired profound debate. And nowhere more so in the 2008 election than San Antonio, Texas, nicknamed Military City because of its high population of veterans and serving soldiers, where Simon finds feelings about the war are deeply divided. As with the great war elections of the past, it's a debate which forces America to dig deep and rediscover what it stands for.
MON 20:30 An Islamic History of Europe (b00gq6h5)
Episode 2
Rageh Omaar visits Sicily and France on a fascinating journey in search of the story of Islam in Europe. It's a journey of discovery for Rageh, who as a Moslem has a personal interest in the matter. From challenging ideas that changed the way people thought to major works of geography that quite literally altered the shape of the world, the seeds of modern Europe can be traced back to this Moslem invasion over a thousand years ago.
MON 21:00 Science and Islam (b00gq6h7)
The Empire of Reason
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.
Al-Khalili travels to northern Syria to discover how, a thousand years ago, the great astronomer and mathematician Al-Biruni estimated the size of the earth to within a few hundred miles of the correct figure.
He discovers how medieval Islamic scholars helped turn the magical and occult practice of alchemy into modern chemistry.
In Cairo, he tells the story of the extraordinary physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who helped establish the modern science of optics and proved one of the most fundamental principles in physics - that light travels in straight lines.
Prof Al-Khalili argues that these scholars are among the first people to insist that all scientific theories are backed up by careful experimental observation, bringing a rigour to science that didn't really exist before.
MON 22:00 Gerry Robinson and the Money Makers (b00gq6h9)
Sir Ronald Cohen
Businessman Gerry Robinson finds out what makes some of the country's top financial movers and shakers tick.
He meets Sir Ronald Cohen, a man who revolutionised British business and who personifies the relationship between money and political power, having donated almost two million pounds to the Labour party and bankrolled Gordon Brown's leadership campaign.
As Britain's first ever venture capitalist, he raised investment for risky new businesses the banks wouldn't touch and without him there would have been no Dolly the Sheep, Waterstones bookshops or Chris Evans's Virgin Radio.
It has given him a huge personal fortune, but critics of this new enterprise culture say it is to blame for asset-stripping, redundancies and saddling companies with huge levels of debt.
Gerry Robinson explores what kind of man thrives in this environment.
MON 22:30 The Department Store (b00fm5vx)
Milners
Filmmaker Richard Macer visits the independent high street department stores that are fighting back against the big brands.
He spends six months at a family-run store in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, where the owner is preparing to retire after forty years. David Milner is handing the business over to his daughter Leoni and her husband Keith, but will he go quietly?
MON 23:30 The Department Store (b00fqpn0)
Peters
Filmmaker Richard Macer visits the high street independent department stores that are fighting back against the big brands.
He spends six months at a family-run shop which has just come out of administration. David and Caroline Whittle lost control of Peters when it couldn't compete with a new shopping centre, but now a private backer has given them one last chance to turn the store around. Things are going well until problems arise with the staff in the shop's cafe.
MON 00:30 The Department Store (b00fvgdq)
JT Morgan
Series in which filmmaker Richard Macer visits the high street independent department stores that are fighting back against the big brands.
The oldest department store in Wales is battling to survive or nearly 80 people will lose their jobs. Macer spent six months at JT Morgan's in Swansea as the shop fought to stay open. They just needed a good Christmas to secure the shop's future, but would they get it?
MON 01:30 An Islamic History of Europe (b00gq6h5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
MON 02:00 Gerry Robinson and the Money Makers (b00gq6h9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
MON 02:30 Science and Islam (b00gq6h7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 13 JANUARY 2009
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00gq714)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Science and Islam (b00gq6h7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
TUE 20:30 The House of Chanel (b0074s58)
Doubts
Series following the creation of Chanel's Haute Couture collection. Some of the designs are posing real headaches and the staff battle to keep up with Karl Lagerfeld's constant changes. Laurence's dress is particularly prone to the vagaries of the creative process.
TUE 21:00 The High Life (b00gsj9b)
Feart
It's Steve's 30th birthday and he feels stuck in a rut. Sebastian suggests they apply to be stewards on Air Scotia's glamours long-haul flights. But first they have to contend with Capitain Duff, who thinks he is Leonard Nimoy, and a plane full of Gaga Tours OAPs, including an incognito Air Scotia Inspector. Meanwhile, Shona meets someone from her past.
TUE 21:30 Early Doors (b0078k1y)
Series 1
Episode 1
Comedy series set in a small Manchester public house. Discarded cigarette ends in the urinals and temporary traffic lights cause chaos in The Grapes.
TUE 22:00 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.
TUE 22:30 Mad Men (b00b6km7)
Series 1
Long Weekend
Drama series set in the world of advertising in 1960s New York. Don loses an important account so Roger attempts to cheer him up with the aid of twin models. But things end badly and Don, in shock, finds comfort in the arms of Rachel. Joan's roommate makes an unnerving confession.
TUE 23:20 Judy, Frank and Dean (b00gd3c3)
Legendary TV concert film featuring Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Believed lost for years, it features performances of San Francisco, The Man That Got Away, Trolley Song and many more.
TUE 00:10 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00gq60t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:40 on Sunday]
TUE 01:10 Science and Islam (b00gq6h7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:10 The House of Chanel (b0074s58)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
TUE 02:40 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00gq60t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:40 on Sunday]
WEDNESDAY 14 JANUARY 2009
WED 19:00 World News Today (b00gq759)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Ready to Wear (b0077rnz)
You're Not Going Out Like That
Documentary series which explores the history of Britain through changes and developments in fashion. This programme looks at the chequered history of teenage fashion and charts the rise of Teddy Boys, mods, rockers and hippies.
WED 20:00 Savile Row (b008x3qn)
Love Thy Neighbour
Three-part documentary series about Savile Row, the London street famous for its bespoke tailoring establishments. The tailors fear for their future and identity when giant jeanswear company Abercrombie and Fitch arrives on the street, but in the past this resilient bunch have seen off the Kaiser, the Luftwaffe and Giorgio Armani. They fight back with an ancient-yet-modern business plan, the model of eco-friendliness, hitting the road to take the service overseas and winning new clients.
WED 21:00 Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion (b00gq75c)
Fashion photographer Rankin recreates seven of his favourite images as he takes a journey through a brief history of the fashion photograph. By re-staging iconic images by Cecil Beaton, Erwin Blumenfeld, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, David Bailey and Guy Bourdin, Rankin exposes the ways in which fashion photography uses fantasy and beauty to communicate something about reality.
Heidi Klum, Erin O'Connor, Jade Parfitt, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Tuuli Shipster, Mollie Gondhi, Daphne Guinness and David Gandy are the models for Rankin's shoots, while other contributors include David Bailey and Lillian Bassman.
WED 22:00 Style on Trial (b00gq75f)
1950s
Stuart Maconie and Lauren Laverne put British style and fashion between the 1940s and the 1990s into the dock. To discuss the 1950s they are joined in the studio by Kerry Taylor, the woman who has auctioned the clothes of the rich and famous, including Edward and Mrs Simpson. Fashion designer to royalty David Sassoon and hip boutique-owner and former pop star Brix Smith-Start also help decide whether the legacy of 50s style is society glamour or the innovation of teenage rebellion.
WED 23:00 Blow Up (b00gq75h)
Director Michelangelo Antonioni's stylish but cynical view of swinging London in the 60s. Disillusioned with his vacuous lifestyle, a wealthy celebrity photographer wanders the city shooting random scenes from everyday life. But when he blows up a series of suspicious-looking stills, he realises that he may inadvertently have photographed a murder as it happened.
WED 00:50 Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion (b00gq75c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WED 01:50 Savile Row (b008x3qn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 02:50 Style on Trial (b00gq75f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THURSDAY 15 JANUARY 2009
THU 19:00 World News Today (b00gq7dv)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:40 The New Avengers (b00grzg9)
Series 1
The Tale of the Big Y
The team are too late to save Bert Brandon, a recently released convict who claims to have evidence naming a master spy. However, the chase for the missing evidence resumes when two foreign henchmen reveal that they are still searching, despite having murdered Brandon.
THU 20:30 The House of Chanel (b0074s61)
Rituals
Series following the creation of Chanel's Haute Couture collection. Stress levels and chocolate consumption are both rising. Mme Pouzieux, Chanel's celebrated braid maker, works on her farm. However, the hay harvest is not yet in, so haute couture will just have to wait.
THU 21:00 All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion (b00gq7dx)
Writer Paul Morley takes a journey back through time to revisit his own adventures and misadventures in fashion and meets the pop stars who he feels are responsible for the way he looks now.
Morley uses pop music as a kind of time machine and his encounters with pop stars in this documentary act as portals into other worlds where people wear bovver boots and braces or sparkly capes and flower shaped hats.
He seeks out the men who have influenced him and shaped fashion over the decades and finds a touch of himself in the glamour of Slade, the prog-rock playfulness of Jethro Tull, the androgyny of The Human League, the soberness and intellect of Joy Division, the darkness of Tricky and the geography teacher attire of Jarvis Cocker.
THU 22:00 Style on Trial (b00gqxrr)
1960s
Stuart Maconie and Lauren Laverne put British style and fashion between the 1940s and the 1990s into the dock. To discuss the 1960s they are joined in the studio by designer John Bates, the man who created Diana Rigg's catsuits for The Avengers, top 1960s model Jill Kennington and veteran fashion journalist Eve Pollard.
THU 23:00 Men, Women and Clothes (b00gq7f1)
Formal Clothes
1950s fashion history series. Doris Langley Moore explores how outfits for formal events are planned to call attention to our joy, grief or glory. She also looks at how ceremonial robes are merely once-fashionable formal attire that has become 'petrified' and how this is particularly true in Britain, where we like to maintain the distinctions that reveal one's place in society.
THU 23:15 The Look (b00gq7f3)
Scenting Money
Series that explores the serious side of the fashion industry examines how designers can expand into a multi-million-pound business, not by selling the clothes they design, but by using sophisticated marketing techniques to lend the kudos of their name to a range of other products, from handbags to perfume.
THU 00:05 All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion (b00gq7dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THU 01:05 The House of Chanel (b0074s61)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
THU 01:30 Style on Trial (b00gqxrr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 02:30 All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion (b00gq7dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 16 JANUARY 2009
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00gq7hs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Transatlantic Sessions (b00gq7hv)
Series 1
Episode 1
Folk musicians come together in what have been called 'the greatest backporch shows ever', introduced by Aly Bain and Jay Ungar. This edition features Emmylou Harris, Iris DeMent, Mary Black, Kathy Mattea, Dougie MacLean, John Martyn, Russ Barenberg, Guy Clarke, Michelle Wright and Karen Matheson.
FRI 20:00 Karajan or Beauty as I See it (b00gq7hx)
Profile of Herbert von Karajan, one of the most renowned conductors of the 20th century and leader of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years. One of the most powerful figures in classical music, he was the last of the great conductor dictators and the first successful large-scale music entrepreneur, a man in many ways ahead of his time.
The documentary goes behind Karajan's regal facade by using personal recollections and interviews, together with filmed rehearsals and concerts of the maestro at work. The result is a multi-faceted, multilayered portrait of a charismatic and enigmatic man.
FRI 21:00 Timeshift (b00g8t15)
Series 8
The Comic Songbook
Documentary which celebrates Britain's rich and much-loved tradition of comic songs, from Noel Coward's Mad Dogs and Englishmen to Benny Hill's Ernie, and reveals the skill involved in creating them.
Contributors include Monty Python's Michael Palin and Terry Jones, Neil Innes, Bill Oddie, the Now Show's Mitch Benn, producer Cameron Mackintosh, Nicholas Parsons, Ed Stewart and Kit and the Widow.
FRI 22:00 Flight of the Conchords Special: One Night Stand (b00801jb)
The duo of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement perform several of their best and silliest songs, including Business Time, Jenny and Albi the Racist Dragon.
FRI 22:30 Comedy Songs: The Pop Years (b00g8t17)
Documentary tracing the modern history of the comedy pop song from the birth of the charts in 1952 to its reinvention in the new millennium.
We discover that George Martin was the missing link between the Goons and the Beatles, that the Barron Knights invented the parody song and that the Two Ronnies were not big fans of Not the Nine O'Clock News.
Almost everyone appears in the comedy song's chequered history of peaks and troughs, from the 1960s satire boom to the 1970s golden period of Monty Python and Billy Connolly and on through the wilderness years of 1980s novelty naffness and the genre's redemption in alternative comedy and the likes of Victoria Wood and Alexei Sayle.
FRI 00:00 The New Avengers (b00grzg9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:40 on Thursday]
FRI 00:55 All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion (b00gq7dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:55 Comedy Songs: The Pop Years (b00g8t17)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
FRI 03:25 Transatlantic Sessions (b00gq7hv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion
21:00 THU (b00gq7dx)
All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion
00:05 THU (b00gq7dx)
All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion
02:30 THU (b00gq7dx)
All the Young Dudes: Pop and Fashion
00:55 FRI (b00gq7dx)
An Islamic History of Europe
20:30 MON (b00gq6h5)
An Islamic History of Europe
01:30 MON (b00gq6h5)
Blow Up
23:00 WED (b00gq75h)
Comedy Songs: The Pop Years
22:30 FRI (b00g8t17)
Comedy Songs: The Pop Years
01:55 FRI (b00g8t17)
Early Doors
21:30 TUE (b0078k1y)
Eskimo Day
22:40 SUN (b00gq60w)
Flight of the Conchords Special: One Night Stand
22:00 FRI (b00801jb)
Funny Women
00:05 SUN (b0077byp)
Gerry Robinson and the Money Makers
22:00 MON (b00gq6h9)
Gerry Robinson and the Money Makers
02:00 MON (b00gq6h9)
Judy, Frank and Dean
23:20 TUE (b00gd3c3)
Karajan or Beauty as I See it
20:00 FRI (b00gq7hx)
Legends
23:00 SAT (b00fzv3y)
Little Dorrit Omnibus
19:30 SAT (b00flx55)
Little Dorrit Omnibus
02:35 SAT (b00flx55)
Little Dorrit
19:00 SAT (b00fd1sf)
Little Dorrit
20:30 SAT (b00fm62y)
Little Dorrit
02:05 SAT (b00fd1sf)
Little Dorrit
03:35 SAT (b00fm62y)
Mad Men
22:30 TUE (b00b6km7)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
21:40 SUN (b00gq60t)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
01:35 SUN (b00gq60t)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
00:10 TUE (b00gq60t)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
02:40 TUE (b00gq60t)
Men, Women and Clothes
23:00 THU (b00gq7f1)
Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters
21:00 SAT (b00gmj5m)
Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters
01:05 SAT (b00gmj5m)
Re: Joyce!
20:00 SUN (b00gq60r)
Re: Joyce!
02:35 SUN (b00gq60r)
Ready to Wear
22:00 TUE (b0077rkg)
Ready to Wear
19:30 WED (b0077rnz)
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
00:00 SAT (b00g6349)
Savile Row
20:00 WED (b008x3qn)
Savile Row
01:50 WED (b008x3qn)
Science and Islam
21:00 MON (b00gq6h7)
Science and Islam
02:30 MON (b00gq6h7)
Science and Islam
19:30 TUE (b00gq6h7)
Science and Islam
01:10 TUE (b00gq6h7)
Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion
21:00 WED (b00gq75c)
Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion
00:50 WED (b00gq75c)
Stephen Fry in America
19:00 SUN (b00f5sy7)
Stephen Fry in America
00:35 SUN (b00f5sy7)
Style on Trial
22:00 SAT (b00gkqxl)
Style on Trial
22:00 WED (b00gq75f)
Style on Trial
02:50 WED (b00gq75f)
Style on Trial
22:00 THU (b00gqxrr)
Style on Trial
01:30 THU (b00gqxrr)
The American Future: A History, by Simon Schama
19:30 MON (b00f08h0)
The Department Store
22:30 MON (b00fm5vx)
The Department Store
23:30 MON (b00fqpn0)
The Department Store
00:30 MON (b00fvgdq)
The High Life
21:00 TUE (b00gsj9b)
The House of Chanel
20:30 TUE (b0074s58)
The House of Chanel
02:10 TUE (b0074s58)
The House of Chanel
20:30 THU (b0074s61)
The House of Chanel
01:05 THU (b0074s61)
The Look
23:15 THU (b00gq7f3)
The New Avengers
19:40 THU (b00grzg9)
The New Avengers
00:00 FRI (b00grzg9)
Timeshift
21:00 FRI (b00g8t15)
Transatlantic Sessions
19:30 FRI (b00gq7hv)
Transatlantic Sessions
03:25 FRI (b00gq7hv)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b00gq6h3)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b00gq714)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b00gq759)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b00gq7dv)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b00gq7hs)