The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)