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 04 APRIL 2009

SAT 19:00 Legends (b00ddwcy)
Humphrey Lyttelton

A profile of the late jazz musician, band leader and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttelton's 60-year career.

As a jazzman, 'Humph' composed and performed Bad Penny Blues - the first jazz recording to enter the charts - and was feted by no less a figure than Louis Armstrong, who described him as Britain's top trumpeter.

For more than 40 years, he hosted some of the BBC's most successful radio shows, including Radio Two's Best of Jazz and the hugely popular antidote to panel game shows, Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, in which Humph propelled the art of the double entendre to new heights.

His family, friends and colleagues pay tribute to this enormously popular entertainer in a documentary featuring some unseen home movie footage, archive films of his finest performances, and interviews with regular guest panellists Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer, Jeremy Hardy, Rob Brydon and Sandi Toksvig, as well as Humph's son Stephen.


SAT 20:00 Legends (b0088zmg)
Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song

Profile of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, one of the most popular artists of the 20th century. The film looks at Fitzgerald's 50-year career from her winning turn at the Harlem Apollo's amateur night in 1934, through her rise as the definitive exponent of scat singing, her celebrated Songbook albums and triumphant stage career which continued almost up until her death in 1996. Features archive footage of Ella in full flight, alongside interviews with her closest friends and collaborators.


SAT 21:00 Arena (b00jks9j)
Cool

Documentary exploring the meaning and history of cool through the American music of the 1940s and 50s that became known as cool jazz. Those who wrote and played it cultivated an attitude, a style and a language that came to epitomise the meaning of a word that is now so liberally used.

The film tells the story of a movement that started in the bars and clubs of New York and Los Angeles and swept across the world, introducing the key players and setting them in the context of the post-war world.


SAT 22:00 Japan: A Story of Love and Hate (b00jkry6)
Documentary which tells an unusual love story of survival in the world's second richest economy.

Naoki, 56, had it all in Japan's bubble economy days - he ran a business with 70 staff, drove a brand new BMW and lived in a six-bedroom house. But when Japan's economy crashed in the early 1990s he lost everything, ending up divorced and penniless.

He was saved from homelessness by his new girlfriend, 29-year-old Yoshie, who took him in despite living in a tiny one-room apartment. At his age, the only job Naoki can find is part-time at the post office, which means working seven hours a day and earning just 4,000 pounds a year.

Yoshie now has to find extra jobs to support him, working 15 hours a day in three jobs. Each evening she leaves Naoki at home to do the housework and heads to a sleazy chat bar, where she is paid to drink, flatter and flirt with married men.

Naoki sees his relationship with Yoshie like father and daughter and admits that since losing his business he has lost his confidence in both his professional and social life.


SAT 23:00 40 Minutes (b00jq74j)
Three Big Men

Documentary following three British hopefuls at the first World Amateur Sumo Championship in Tokyo in December 1992.


SAT 23:40 The Twilight Samurai (b0074s2y)
Oscar-nominated drama set in 19th-century Japan. A widowed samurai, pursuing a mundane existence while caring for his senile mother and two young daughters, puts on his warrior's mantle again to defend a young woman from her brutal ex-husband.


SAT 01:50 Legends (b00ddwcy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:50 Legends (b0088zmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 05 APRIL 2009

SUN 19:00 Humph's Last Stand (b00ddwd0)
Jazz trumpeter and raconteur Humphrey Lyttelton in a performance at the 2007 HSBC Brecon Jazz Festival, which turned out to be his last ever television recording. With an all star line-up including guest saxophonist Scott Hamilton, it is a set full of sheer wit and superb music.


SUN 19:50 Omnibus (b008wdpq)
Oscar Peterson and Andre Previn

Oscar Peterson and conductor Andre Previn look at some of the styles and personalities involved in the development of piano jazz.


SUN 21:00 Andre Previn: All the Right Notes (b00jqgss)
To mark his 80th birthday, a profile of the celebrated pianist, conductor and composer Andre Previn, which follows his long journey from escaping Nazi Germany to the studios of Hollywood and international fame as one of the most multi-talented musicians of his generation.

Julie Andrews, John Williams, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Anne-Sophie Mutter are among the star cast list paying tribute.


SUN 22:00 Fish! A Japanese Obsession (b00jdw5k)
Charles Rangeley Wilson, author, journalist and BBC 2's Accidental Angler, travels to Japan to explore the Japanese people's passionate relationship to fish.

Of all the island nations on Earth, there is, perhaps, none quite so obsessed by fish as Japan. Whether for food or entertainment, fish are at the very core of Japanese identity. From their reverential love of jewel-like koi to the seemingly barbaric world of scientific whaling via the submarine ballet of the drive hunt, there are few corners of Japanese culture that have not been shaped by reference to fish.

Trying to comprehend this 'alien' culture, Charles embarks on a six-week odyssey through Japan, determined to use his love of fish and fishing as the common point of interest between himself and those he meets along the way. Since he loves fish possibly even more than the Japanese, they must have plenty in common...


SUN 23:30 Newswipe (b00jks6r)
Series 1

Episode 2

Charlie Brooker sets his satirical sights on news and current affairs. In charting the rise of the public's role in making the news via vox pops and mobile phone footage, Brooker examines the good, the bad and the absurd in citizen journalism. Plus, reviews of two big stories making the news, controversial authored pieces, a poem and much more.


SUN 00:00 Andre Previn: All the Right Notes (b00jqgss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 01:00 Natural World (b0077vkx)
1999-2000

Hokkaido: Garden of the Gods

A look at the unique wildlife of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, and the island's few remaining members of the ancient Ainu race, who see all animals as sacred.

Swept by winds from the high Arctic, Hokkaido is an island of towering volcanos and fairytale forests, where cranes perform dances in the snow, brown bears plunge for salmon in rivers and eagles plunder the spoils from winter fishing fleets.

The unique wildlife of Hokkaido has long been worshipped by an ancient race of hunter-gatherers, called Ainu, a few of whom still survive among modern Japanese. Even today, they honour the natural world around them through ritualised dance and prayer.


SUN 01:50 Natural World (b0079736)
2006-2007

Buddha, Bees and the Giant Hornet Queen

The Giant Japanese Hornet is the fiercest looking insect on earth, and one of the deadliest. This film follows the remarkable life of one giant hornet queen, as she emerges from hibernation and starts to build up a colony in an old temple garden. Her army of warriors terrorise the beautiful mountain valley in their constant struggle to find food for their hungry grubs.

In a series of dramatic pitched battles, the giant hornets massacre thousands of bees, but victory isn't always assured - one local honeybee fights back thanks to a remarkable defensive strategy, and suddenly it is the hornets that are dying. A beekeeper monk bears witness to the rising power of the giant hornet colony, and despite the hornet's attacks on his own bees, he reveals a deep respect for these incredible predators.


SUN 02:40 Natural World (b00792dg)
2006-2007

Satoyama: Japan's Secret Watergarden

In the heart of rural Japan lies Satoyama, a landscape of lakes and rivers home to an incredible variety of fish, water birds, snakes and dragonflies. This poetic documentary follows 83-year-old fisherman Sangoro Tanaka, who lives according to an ancient way of life that has much to teach the world about sustainable living.


SUN 03:30 Andre Previn: All the Right Notes (b00jqgss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



MONDAY 06 APRIL 2009

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00jqj7k)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 The Sky at Night (b00jqj7q)
Herschel in the Red

Patrick Moore discusses what Herschel, Europe's biggest and most expensive space satellite, will do once it begins its infrared exploration of the universe.

Dr Chris Lintott gets a rare chance to see the Herschel mirror, which at 3.5 metres will be the biggest astronomical mirror ever to be sent into space.


MON 20:00 Once a Soldier (b00j8d0v)
Series 1

Girls Allowed

Documentary charting the arrival of the first female veterans to join the ranks of the Chelsea Pensioners, which has been an all-male institution for over three centuries. Eighty-five-year-old anti-aircraft gunner Dorothy Hughes and 82-year-old warrant officer Winifred Phillips are the newcomers, but are the 320 old boys ready for such a dramatic change?


MON 20:30 The Book Quiz (b00jqj7v)
Series 3

Episode 10

Kirsty Wark presents the literary panel game, as writers and broadcasters Will Self and Germaine Greer fight it out against novelist Stella Duffy and former leader of the Lib Dems Sir Menzies Campbell.


MON 21:00 Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight for Medical Freedom (b0074syr)
Benjamin Woolley presents the gripping story of Nicholas Culpeper, the 17th century radical pharmacist who took on the establishment in order to bring medicine to the masses.

Culpeper lived during one of the most tumultuous periods in British history. When the country was ravaged by famine and civil war, he took part in the revolution that culminated in the execution of King Charles I.

But it is Culpeper's achievements in health care that made him famous. By practicing (often illegally) as a herbalist and publishing the first English-language texts explaining how to treat common ailments, he helped to break the monopoly of a medical establishment that had abandoned the poor and needy. His book The English Physician became the most successful non-religious English book of all time, remaining in print continuously for more than 350 years.


MON 22:00 Spiral (b0074slq)
Series 1

Episode 3

French crime thriller series. When the body of a well-known businessman is found charred to death in his home, police must delve into the details of his personal life. Meanwhile, prosecutor Pierre Clement's friendship with a prominent suspect linked to the brutal Andrescu murder has become impossible to hide. Gilout's drug habit gets out of control. Ghisele, the mother of the murdered baby, finds herself the target of an inquiry about negligent parenting and takes counsel from lawyer Josephine Karlsson.


MON 22:50 Spiral (b0074smj)
Series 1

Episode 4

The web of names involved in the brutal murder of Elina Andrescu widens to include a prominent ministerial adviser, who has links to prosecutor Pierre Clement's close friend Benoit Faye. Lawyer Josephine Karlsson and police captain Laure Berthaud come face to face in court when Laure becomes the object of an enquiry into the fatal shooting of two police suspects.


MON 23:40 Read My Lips (b0074s8b)
French thriller about a deaf office worker who employs an ex-con and uses him to take revenge on her bullying colleagues.

When the shy secretary takes on the petty criminal in a lowly position, she finds herself becoming increasingly attracted to him, and after using him to execute a little theft, she finds that he wants the favour returned.


MON 01:35 Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight for Medical Freedom (b0074syr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 02:35 Spiral (b0074slq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 03:25 Spiral (b0074smj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:50 today]



TUESDAY 07 APRIL 2009

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00jqjjz)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Coal House (b00f7z77)
Coal House at War

Episode 10

Three Welsh families give up their 21st century creature comforts and travel back in time to 1944 to face the hardships of life during the Second World War.

With victory nearing, the pressure is on to fuel the frontline in the mining community of the Coal House. Will the men in the mine and the women at the munitions factory hit their deadlines?

The scholarship exam looms at school, and a testing day in the mud leads to promotion for one of the Home Guard.


TUE 20:00 1929: The Great Crash (b00h9xh8)
A documentary exploring the causes of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.

Over six terrifying, desperate days in October 1929, shares crashed by a third on the New York Stock Exchange. More than $25 billion in individual wealth was lost. Later, three thousand banks failed, taking people's savings with them. Surviving eyewitnesses describe the biggest financial catastrophe in history.

In 1919, the US had emerged victorious and dominant from World War One. Britain and its European allies were exhausted financially from the war. In contrast, the US economy was thriving and the world danced to the American tune.

Easy credit and mass production set the tone in the roaring twenties for an era of consumption like none that had ever been seen before. The stock market rose and investors piled in, borrowing money to cash in on the bubble. In 1928, the market went up by 50 per cent in just 12 months. The crash was followed by a devastating worldwide depression that lasted until the Second World War. Shares did not regain their pre-crash values until 1954.

This is the story of a financial disaster that we hoped could never happen again.


TUE 21:00 Early Doors (b0078shw)
Series 2

Episode 5

Ken smartens himself up to play the romantic lead whilst rumours of him throwing the towel in at the pub spread amongst the locals.

Duffy plays down his recent good fortune and his life gets back on track, but a heart to heart with Joe highlights a personal problem in Joe's private life.

Jean's sleepwalking appears to be getting worse and Joan looks doomed to fail her driving test.


TUE 21:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jks96)
Series 1

Emily Maitlis

Marcus Brigstocke hosts a chat show in which he invites someone to step out of their comfort zone and try five new cultural experiences. Broadcaster Emily Maitlis listens to Dolly Parton, watches the Godfather and rides a motorbike for the first time.


TUE 22:00 Mad Men (b00jqjk1)
Series 2

Six Month Leave

Drama series set in the 1960s New York advertising world. Freddy Rumsen embarrasses himself in the office and Pete sees an opportunity to exploit it.


TUE 22:50 Law and Order (b00jqjk3)
A Brief's Tale

Four-part drama series about the British judicial system, dealing with an investigation presented from the perspectives of the police force, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system.

The solicitor takes centre stage in this edition.


TUE 00:10 Call the Cops (b00czj91)
Episode 1

Documentary which takes a forensic look at the history of the police procedural on British TV and investigates what it was about the police, society and television that saw the archetypal policeman change from the avuncular Dixon of Dock Green to the maverick thief-taker of The Sweeney to the scientific methodologists of Cracker, Silent Witness and Waking the Dead.

By interviewing writers, directors, producers and former officers, the film combs the land between police reality and police television. Brian Paddick states that the level of violence used in The Sweeney would have been justified by the law at the time under 'reasonable force', while Jane Tennison's real-life model Jackie Malton explains that collaborating in the creation of Prime Suspect made her feel she had betrayed the police. Tony Garnett reveals that the help he got from the Police Service in setting up The Cops disappeared when they saw how the police were portrayed in the programmes, and Nigel McCrery tells how the police lost a simple and effective interrogation technique because criminals saw it used so often on screen in the police drama.


TUE 01:10 1929: The Great Crash (b00h9xh8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:10 The Book Quiz (b00jqj7v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


TUE 02:40 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jks96)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]


TUE 03:10 Call the Cops (b00czj91)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:10 today]



WEDNESDAY 08 APRIL 2009

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00jqm9t)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 The Passion (b009pxvm)
Episodes 1-3

It is Passover in Jerusalem, and the city is bursting with pilgrims. While it is the greatest of the annual festivals, it is also a tense time for those charged with keeping order, like Pilate the Roman Prefect and Caiaphas the High Priest.

The arrival of a preacher from Galilee called Jesus causes great excitement when he enters through the East Gate on a donkey's colt, fulfilling prophecies of the coming of the Messiah. Once in the city, his message of hope to the dispossessed continues to stir up the crowd, to the dismay of Caiaphas who fears it will provoke Roman intervention and bloodshed.

For Jesus's band of disciples, hardened by several years on the road, this is the moment they have been waiting for, but none of them suspects how momentous this week will be. Not even Judas, whose torn loyalties are already making his life difficult.

Caiaphas is growing increasingly anxious that Jesus's preaching will provoke unrest and bring in the Romans, and when Jesus appears to threaten the Temple it is the final straw. As Jesus tries to explain his destiny to the disciples, Caiaphas calls a council and presents it with a stark choice. With Passover approaching, a fateful decision is taken, and Judas finds himself placed in an impossible position.

Jesus shares his Last Supper with the disciples, and teaches them their last and most important lesson. Whilst Judas slips away to fetch the Temple guards, Jesus leads the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane and tries to prepare himself for what is to come. The next few hours will bring him face to face with Caiaphas, with Pilate and with his own destiny.


WED 21:50 The Passion (b009nm0h)
Episode 4

Atmospheric re-telling of Jesus's final days. As Jesus is taken from the cross and buried, his disciples cower in hiding. Caiaphas, fearful that the body will be stolen, orders the tomb to be guarded. But when Mary Magdalene discovers it empty, a chain of events is triggered that will transform the lives of the disciples and reverberate throughout the world for the next two thousand years.


WED 22:20 Meetings with Remarkable Trees (b0074stk)
Series 1

The Boathouse Willow

Series looking at significant British trees.

This programme looks at a golden weeping willow on the riverbank at Kenneth Grahame's boathouse, which may be the very tree that inspired the title of The Wind in the Willows. With the help of landscape gardener Stephen Woodhams and Jill Butler of the Woodland Trust, the truth is revealed.


WED 22:30 Newswipe (b00jqm9x)
Series 1

Episode 3

Charlie Brooker sets his satirical sights on news and current affairs, looking at how news anchors and their styles have changed over the years and reflecting on how they do it over in America.

Plus, a short film by Power of Nightmares creator Adam Curtis, a look at what's happening with the war against terror and a poem by Tim Key.


WED 23:00 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jks96)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 on Tuesday]


WED 23:30 Pop Britannia (b008lz85)
Move It

Three-part documentary series telling the story of British popular music and its place in British culture since the 1950s. This edition charts Britain's journey from the austere post-war years, when popular music meant 'light entertainment' and was dominated by the conservative tastes of the establishment, to the early 1960s when British pop ruled the world. Contributors include Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Ray Gosling, Bruce Welch and Helen Shapiro.


WED 00:30 Pop on Trial (b008nkpx)
1950s

Stuart Maconie puts pop in the dock to decide which has been the most influential musical decade. Judgement is made on the 1950s as rock and roll begins with Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Bill Haley and Lonnie Donegan.


WED 01:30 Batman (b007z9ph)
Series 1

Hi Diddle Riddle

60s fantasy adventure series. The Dynamic Duo are tricked by the Riddler and sued for false arrest. They must uncover his plan before the case goes to court or Batman will be forced to reveal his true identity, ending his crime-fighting career for ever.


WED 01:55 Batman (b007z9rz)
Series 1

Smack in the Middle

60s fantasy adventure series. The Riddler kidnaps Robin and uses an ingenious device to transform one of his own men into a Boy Wonder look-alike. Batman has only a short time to rescue the real Robin and stop the Riddler from stealing a valuable museum piece.


WED 02:20 Mad Men (b009hf6l)
Series 1

Marriage of Figaro

Drama series which takes an unflinching look at the world of advertising in 1960s New York. When Pete returns from honeymoon how will Peggy react? Don gets closer to Rachel and is troubled by a chance encounter on a train. There's a party for Don's daughter, and the wives are feeling threatened by the new, divorced, girl on the block.


WED 03:05 Mad Men (b009lt2d)
Series 1

New Amsterdam

Drama series which takes an unflinching look at the world of advertising in 1960s New York. Don teaches Pete a lesson when he oversteps his authority while dealing with a valuable client. At home, Pete is pressured by his new bride to buy their own apartment unit. Betty has a strange babysitting experience.



THURSDAY 09 APRIL 2009

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00jqp0k)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:40 The New Avengers (b00jbgc3)
Series 2

The Lion and the Unicorn

1970s secret agent series. Steed is in Paris, where he captures his nemesis, a man called the Unicorn. Then the Unicorn is accidentally killed by his own side and Steed tries to avoid total gang war breaking out.


THU 20:30 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jqp0m)
Gateway to the Lakes

Julia Bradbury follows in the footsteps of legendary guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright by walking across the whole of northern England from the west to the east coast.

This was Wainwright's last great venture and has become his greatest legacy - a beautifully simple proposition, linking three national parks that lie between the Irish and the North Sea.

36 years after its creation, Julia is off, through sunshine, wind and rain to cross the changing landscape, understand the history and meet the people that make up almost 200 miles of northern England.

Enthusiasm and expectation are high as Julia begins her grand adventure at the western extremity of northern England, St Bees Head. The coast of west Cumbria is an oft-forgotten industrial strip lying just outside the Lake District, but as Julia reaches the doorway to Wainwright's favourite playground, the weather deteriorates quickly, leaving her no choice but to tackle her first Lakeland valley in appalling conditions.


THU 21:00 Timeshift (b00jqp0p)
Series 8

The North-South Divide

Journalist John Harris travels around England to find out why the north-south divide is still an economic reality and if anything can be done to close it.

Oasis v Blur, Manchester United v Chelsea, Old Labour v New Labour and pies v polenta - Harris wonders whether it is a light-hearted rivalry about accents, music, sport, food and politics or something deeper. Our high streets look the same, we drive the same cars, we eat at the same chains, but beneath the surface lies a more troubling story of economic inequalities that define a divide that won't go away.

The decline of industry and manufacturing still blights the north, while a house costs on average a third more in the south and southerners live longer and healthier lives. But can the north-south divide really be as stark as the gap between East and West Germany during the dark days of the Berlin Wall, as one contributor claims?


THU 22:00 Crooked House (b00vgfmw)
When schoolteacher Ben unearths an old door knocker in the garden of his new home, the curator suggests it may come from the now-demolished house, reputed to be haunted. Ben prompts the curator to tell him stories about the house's past.

It's 1786, and Joseph Bloxham is a self-made man and something of a star in fashionable coffee-house society. Some though, like the sceptical Noakes, take a dim view of his shady business ethics. Bloxham has used his ill-gotten gains to buy the old Geap Manor, paying no heed to the warnings of Noakes and his friend Duncalfe, but when Bloxham starts to hear ghastly sounds in the newly-installed panelling of his drawing room it seems he might have more than just a mouse hiding in his wainscoting.


THU 22:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jqp0r)
Series 1

Hugh Dennis

Marcus Brigstocke hosts a chat show in which he invites someone to step out of their comfort zone and try five new cultural experiences. Comedian Hugh Dennis's tasks include eating road kill and visiting a mine.


THU 23:00 Newswipe (b00jqm9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Wednesday]


THU 23:30 Timeshift (b00jqp0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 00:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00jqp0r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


THU 01:00 Newswipe (b00jqm9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Wednesday]


THU 01:30 Crooked House (b00vgfmw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


THU 02:00 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jqp0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


THU 02:30 The New Avengers (b00fl11v)
Series 1

The Eagle's Nest

Classic British secret agent fantasy adventure series.

Investigating the murder of agent Stannard, the team uncover a plot by Nazis to form a new Third Reich, complete with a resurrected Adolf Hitler.


THU 03:20 Crooked House (b00gf5cz)
The Wainscoting

When schoolteacher Ben unearths an old door knocker in the garden of his new home, the curator suggests it may come from the now-demolished house, reputed to be haunted. Ben prompts the curator to tell him stories about the house's past.

It's 1786, and Joseph Bloxham is a self-made man and something of a star in fashionable coffee-house society. Some though, like the sceptical Noakes, take a dim view of his shady business ethics. Bloxham has used his ill-gotten gains to buy the old Geap Manor, paying no heed to the warnings of Noakes and his friend Duncalfe, but when Bloxham starts to hear ghastly sounds in the newly-installed panelling of his drawing room it seems he might have more than just a mouse hiding in his wainscoting.



FRIDAY 10 APRIL 2009

FRI 19:00 The Creation by Haydn at the Barbican (b009xnyr)
Haydn's sacred oratorio The Creation (Die Schopfung) performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sir Colin Davis at the Barbican in London. Haydn is at his most ambitious, having been inspired by hearing Handel's Messiah during visits to London. The Creation is divided into three parts: 1 and 2 give an account of the six days of the Creation itself, while 3 introduces us to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Soloists are Sally Matthews, Ian Bostridge and Dietrich Hensche.


FRI 21:00 Sissinghurst (b00j8b9t)
Episode 7

Documentary series about the attempts of writer Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven to bring farming back into the heart of the estate and garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, their historic home which is owned by the National Trust and was moulded into its present form by Nicolson's grandmother Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson back in the 1930s.

It is July, and the monthly food group meeting is a heated one as Sarah believes the restaurant staff are still not adopting her recipe ideas, while head chef Steve and consultant chef Peter lock horns.

Adam makes some intriguing discoveries for his book about Elizabethan Sissinghurst and sets about dowsing to reconstruct the once-grand estate's outer courtyards. He can't wait for the final jigsaw of his puzzle to be complete - the arrival of the farmer - but suddenly learns that he has pulled out and the dream of bringing a proper working farm back to Sissinghurst is seemingly quashed overnight.


FRI 21:30 Sissinghurst (b00jclx2)
Episode 8

Documentary series about the attempts of writer Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven to bring farming back into the heart of the estate and garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, their historic home which is owned by the National Trust and was moulded into its present form by Nicolson's grandmother Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson back in the 1930s.

Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the National Trust, comes to Sissinghurst to respond to Adam's concerns about the future of the farm project.

Sarah's menu pleases the punters in the restaurant, but head chef Steve is still reluctant to give her credit.

Adam and his sister Juliet relive Vita's last days as she contracted cancer and died, leaving husband Harold devastated.

The garden closes for the winter and Adam surprises Sarah with a trip in a hot air balloon. They look down on Sissinghurst and wonder if the changes they envisaged have been achieved and whether they can continue to live at Sissinghurst.

Whatever the outcome and whatever the upheavals, the beauties of Sissinghurst will continue to delight visitors for years to come.


FRI 22:00 How Britain Got the Gardening Bug (b00jkrkp)
Documentary looking at the extraordinary changes and crazes that have happened to British gardening since the Second World War, from garden gnomes and crazy paving to Leylandii and decking.

As recently as the 1960s, garden centres did not exist and gardening was strictly for old boys in sheds, yet today it has become the height of cool.

Contributors include Penelope Keith, Laurence Llewellyn Bowen, Germaine Greer and Carol Klein.


FRI 23:30 Mad Men (b00jqjk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


FRI 00:20 The New Avengers (b00jbgc3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:40 on Thursday]


FRI 01:10 How Britain Got the Gardening Bug (b00jkrkp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:40 Sissinghurst (b00j8b9t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:10 Sissinghurst (b00jclx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]




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

1929: The Great Crash 20:00 TUE (b00h9xh8)

1929: The Great Crash 01:10 TUE (b00h9xh8)

40 Minutes 23:00 SAT (b00jq74j)

Andre Previn: All the Right Notes 21:00 SUN (b00jqgss)

Andre Previn: All the Right Notes 00:00 SUN (b00jqgss)

Andre Previn: All the Right Notes 03:30 SUN (b00jqgss)

Arena 21:00 SAT (b00jks9j)

Batman 01:30 WED (b007z9ph)

Batman 01:55 WED (b007z9rz)

Call the Cops 00:10 TUE (b00czj91)

Call the Cops 03:10 TUE (b00czj91)

Coal House 19:30 TUE (b00f7z77)

Crooked House 22:00 THU (b00vgfmw)

Crooked House 01:30 THU (b00vgfmw)

Crooked House 03:20 THU (b00gf5cz)

Early Doors 21:00 TUE (b0078shw)

Fish! A Japanese Obsession 22:00 SUN (b00jdw5k)

How Britain Got the Gardening Bug 22:00 FRI (b00jkrkp)

How Britain Got the Gardening Bug 01:10 FRI (b00jkrkp)

Humph's Last Stand 19:00 SUN (b00ddwd0)

I've Never Seen Star Wars 21:30 TUE (b00jks96)

I've Never Seen Star Wars 02:40 TUE (b00jks96)

I've Never Seen Star Wars 23:00 WED (b00jks96)

I've Never Seen Star Wars 22:30 THU (b00jqp0r)

I've Never Seen Star Wars 00:30 THU (b00jqp0r)

Japan: A Story of Love and Hate 22:00 SAT (b00jkry6)

Law and Order 22:50 TUE (b00jqjk3)

Legends 19:00 SAT (b00ddwcy)

Legends 20:00 SAT (b0088zmg)

Legends 01:50 SAT (b00ddwcy)

Legends 02:50 SAT (b0088zmg)

Mad Men 22:00 TUE (b00jqjk1)

Mad Men 02:20 WED (b009hf6l)

Mad Men 03:05 WED (b009lt2d)

Mad Men 23:30 FRI (b00jqjk1)

Meetings with Remarkable Trees 22:20 WED (b0074stk)

Natural World 01:00 SUN (b0077vkx)

Natural World 01:50 SUN (b0079736)

Natural World 02:40 SUN (b00792dg)

Newswipe 23:30 SUN (b00jks6r)

Newswipe 22:30 WED (b00jqm9x)

Newswipe 23:00 THU (b00jqm9x)

Newswipe 01:00 THU (b00jqm9x)

Omnibus 19:50 SUN (b008wdpq)

Once a Soldier 20:00 MON (b00j8d0v)

Pop Britannia 23:30 WED (b008lz85)

Pop on Trial 00:30 WED (b008nkpx)

Read My Lips 23:40 MON (b0074s8b)

Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight for Medical Freedom 21:00 MON (b0074syr)

Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight for Medical Freedom 01:35 MON (b0074syr)

Sissinghurst 21:00 FRI (b00j8b9t)

Sissinghurst 21:30 FRI (b00jclx2)

Sissinghurst 02:40 FRI (b00j8b9t)

Sissinghurst 03:10 FRI (b00jclx2)

Spiral 22:00 MON (b0074slq)

Spiral 22:50 MON (b0074smj)

Spiral 02:35 MON (b0074slq)

Spiral 03:25 MON (b0074smj)

The Book Quiz 20:30 MON (b00jqj7v)

The Book Quiz 02:10 TUE (b00jqj7v)

The Creation by Haydn at the Barbican 19:00 FRI (b009xnyr)

The New Avengers 19:40 THU (b00jbgc3)

The New Avengers 02:30 THU (b00fl11v)

The New Avengers 00:20 FRI (b00jbgc3)

The Passion 19:30 WED (b009pxvm)

The Passion 21:50 WED (b009nm0h)

The Sky at Night 19:30 MON (b00jqj7q)

The Twilight Samurai 23:40 SAT (b0074s2y)

Timeshift 21:00 THU (b00jqp0p)

Timeshift 23:30 THU (b00jqp0p)

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast 20:30 THU (b00jqp0m)

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast 02:00 THU (b00jqp0m)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00jqj7k)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00jqjjz)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00jqm9t)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00jqp0k)