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 JULY 2009

SAT 19:00 Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil (b00lh03b)
Episode 3

Three-part series combining archive footage and eye-witness accounts to tell the dramatic narrative of North Sea oil and gas from the 1960s to the present. It charts the decades when the country made the most of its North Sea windfall, with scarcely a thought about where it came from or of the men and women who brought it to us. Through the story of oil, the series offers a fresh perspective on British politics and society and a timely insight into the state of our economy today.

The first Gulf War of 1991 brought home the fragility of global supplies of energy. Suddenly our North Sea oil and gas were more important than ever, but there were problems looming on the horizon. As oil reserves were used up, oil companies were about to face their biggest challenge yet.

Getting rid of redundant platforms brought them into a dramatic confrontation with an environmental movement that was growing in confidence and influence. As the flow of oil began to slow down, the oil men and women had to venture into ever deeper waters in the search for new supplies. Their quest would inspire a new generation of awe-inspiring underwater technology.

With North Sea oil and gas still supplying most of Britain's energy, it may be that the extraordinary national adventure, which began 40 years ago in the North Sea, is far from over.


SAT 20:00 Iran and Britain (b00hq1w7)
Documentary in which writer and journalist Christopher de Bellaigue explores the fraught but often surprisingly intimate history of Britain's relations with Iran, and asks why Iranians think that if something goes wrong in Iran then Britain must have something to do with it.

De Bellaigue has lived in Tehran, speaks fluent Persian and knows well the phenomenon of 'Uncle Napoleonism', the notion that the cunning British are 'out to get you' that has been a common attitude in Iranian society for 100 years.

He looks at some key events in the relationship, notably Britain's role in the overthrow of several Iranian governments, its control of Iran's oil and the on-off support for Iran's democrats.

Meeting prominent Iranians, including Uncle Napoleon's inventor and others with direct knowledge of these events, he examines the foundations and justification for these Iranian suspicions and asks if they are still there after 30 years of isolation.


SAT 21:00 Iran and the West (b00hmrvt)
The Man who Changed the World

Militant Islam enjoyed its first modern triumph with the arrival in power of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran in 1979. In this series of three programmes, key figures tell the inside story.

Former US president Jimmy Carter talks on television for the first time about the episode that, more than any other, led American voters to eject him from the presidency. Iran's seizure of the US embassy in Tehran and the holding of its staff for 444 days took more and more of Carter's time and energy. His final days in office were dominated by desperate attempts to secure the release of the embassy hostages. Those who sat in the White House with him, planning how to rescue the hostages, how to negotiate their release and, finally, wondering whether anything could be rescued from the disaster, all tell their part in the story.

Other contributors include former vice president Walter Mondale, ex-deputy secretary of state Warren Christopher and former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. The other side of the story is told by top Iranians: Ayatollah Khomeini's close adviser, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri; his first foreign minister, Ebrahim Yazdi; his negotiator with the US, Sadeq Tabatabai; and the founder of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mohsen Rafiqdoust.


SAT 22:00 Iran and the West (b00ht3p7)
The Pariah State

Second episode in the documentary series marking the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution.

Inside stories are told by two ex-presidents of Iran, Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, by two founders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and by leading westerners including Secretaries of State George Shultz, Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright.


SAT 23:00 Iran and the West (b00hydcg)
Nuclear Confrontation

In part three of this landmark series from Norma Percy and the team that made the multi-award winning documentaries The Death of Yugoslavia and Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, contributors including Iran's President Khatami tell the inside story of the West's continuing nuclear confrontation with Iran. The film also shows a rare moment when they worked together.

US State Department insiders tell how, after 9/11, Iran played a key role in helping America to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan - only for President Bush to put Iran into his 'axis of evil' immediately afterwards. Jack Straw, then foreign secretary, and President Khatami describe how Iran offered to help the US and its allies in their war against Saddam Hussein - help that, given Iran's powerful contacts in Iraq and the West's subsequent difficulties there, might have made a crucial difference.

Jack Straw, his successor Margaret Beckett, and Joschka Fischer of Germany describe how they struggled to find a compromise between Iran and President Bush's hardliners over Iran's nuclear programme. John Sawers at the UN reveals an extraordinary secret deal that Iran proposed a few years later.


SAT 00:00 Wallander (b00g2j5f)
Series 1

Before the Frost

New policewoman Linda Wallander is waiting for her first big case at Ystad police station and her father, Inspector Kurt Wallander, is getting on her nerves. When her childhood friend Anna mysteriously disappears she is thrown in at the deep end and soon needs her father's help on a fascinating and very dangerous investigation.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 01:30 Iran and Britain (b00hq1w7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:30 Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil (b00lh03b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 05 JULY 2009

SUN 19:00 The Day of the Triffids (b0074t1j)
Episode 1

A six-part adaptation of John Wyndham's classic sci-fi tale of invasion by man-eating plants which blind their human prey. Bill Masen removes his eye bandages in hospital and gets a nasty shock.


SUN 19:30 The Day of the Triffids (b0074t2k)
Episode 2

A six-part adaptation of John Wyndham's classic sci-fi tale of invasion by man-eating plants which blind their human prey. Bill Masen leaves hospital to find the streets of London eerily deserted.


SUN 20:00 Wainwright Walks (b0074tjb)
Series 1

Castle Crag

Julia Bradbury is in Britain's wettest vale, the Borrowdale Valley, to climb to the summit of Castle Crag. Of all 214 fells in Wainwright's pictorial guides, Castle Crag is the only one under 1,000ft to be included. Bradbury's goal is to determine what makes it worthy of such an honour.


SUN 20:30 Fossil Detectives (b00d9f9g)
West and Wales

Series in which Open University associate lecturer Dr Hermione Cockburn leads a team of fossil experts and geologists around different regions of Britain to search for its best fossil treasures and mysteries, in an effort to uncover and make sense of our ancient past.

The team visits Wales to bring dinosaurs back to life using evolutionary robotics and we follow the intriguing story of the fossils at the Ford engine plant in Bridgend.

On the outskirts of Liverpool, Hermione follows in the footsteps of our ancestors to discover trace fossils of human beings which are still soft to the touch.

Plus, why fossils were thought to be food for the dead, and the team come face to face with a prehistoric skeleton with a dark secret

Fossil Detectives would like to thank:

Cadw
National Museum Wales
Ford Motor Company Limited
The Lapworth Museum, University of Birmingham
British Institute for Geological Conservation

Executive Producer for The Open University: Catherine McCarthy
Academic Consultant for The Open University: Dr Peter Sheldon
Learning Consultant for The Open University: Dr Janet Sumner
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Elloway
Production Manager: Sue Loder
Colourist: Tim Bolt
Post Production Sound: Neil Hipkiss & Matt Coster
Online: Fred Tay
Sound Recordist: Andy Hawley
Graphics: Jelly Television
Composer: David Lowe
Aerial Photography: Flying TV
Photography: Mark McCauley
Editing: Judith Robson
Executive Producer: Fiona Pitcher
Assistant Producers: Gavin Boyland & Amanda Kear
Series Producer: Kerensa Jennings.


SUN 21:00 Being Neil Armstrong (b00lkvln)
It has been said that 10,000 years from now only one name will still be remembered, that of Neil Armstrong. But in the four decades since he first set foot on the moon, Armstrong has become increasingly reclusive.

Andrew Smith, author of the best-selling book Moondust, journeys across America to try and discover the real Neil Armstrong. He tracks down the people who knew Armstrong, from his closest childhood friend to fellow astronauts and Houston technicians, and even the barber who sold his hair, in a wry and sideways look at the reluctant hero of the greatest event of the 20th century.


SUN 22:00 Man on the Moon (b00lkvlq)
Documentary telling the story of the US space programme, from the early days of the space race with the Soviet Union to the first moon landing in 1969. Includes interviews wth astronauts and ground staff, rare archive footage and an introduction by Neil Armstrong.


SUN 23:40 Wallander (b00g2j7h)
Series 1

Mastermind

Investigating a grisly local murder and the disappearance of a policeman's daughter, Kurt Wallander and his colleagues at the Ystad station begin to suspect the two are connected. As the investigation proceeds it seems that the criminal knows every move they will make and is practically controlling them. So begins a struggle to outwit a master criminal.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SUN 01:20 The Martians and Us (b0074t1k)
From Apes to Aliens

Series about the history of British science fiction. This edition looks at our relationship with aliens, from Wells's invading Martians to the Daleks, via 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Midwich Cuckoos, and the Mekon.

It also explores the genre's preoccupation with the big questions of evolution, and includes interviews with Arthur C Clarke, Brian Aldiss, Doris Lessing and Steve Jones.


SUN 02:20 Fossil Detectives (b00d9f9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


SUN 02:50 Being Neil Armstrong (b00lkvln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



MONDAY 06 JULY 2009

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00lkvtm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 The Sky at Night (b00llpvf)
The Apollo Miracle

29th July 1969 witnessed the culmination of one of the greatest achievements in human exploration when man stepped on the moon. 40 years on, Sir Patrick Moore and his guests reminisce and celebrate the enormous achievements of the whole Apollo program.


MON 20:00 Space Dogs (b00lkvtp)
In the years after the second world war, in preparation for sending the first man into orbit, the Soviets began sending dogs into space.

Featuring unique archival footage, including that of the first 'dog flight' into space taken inside the capsule, this documentary tells the secret history of dog cosmonautics in Russia. Alongside famous dog cosmonauts Belka and Strelka were a large team of other test dogs. All the characteristics of weightlessness on a living organism were tested on these defenceless creatures given up for the conquest of space.

The programme cost more than 20 dogs' lives and each loss was a personal blow to the trainer. As the relationship between the men and dogs developed, scientists began to treat them as colleagues and true companions and to this day, Russian scientists keep photographs of their departed four-legged friends.


MON 20:45 For All Mankind (b00lkvtr)
In July 1969, the space race ended when Apollo 11 fulfilled President Kennedy's challenge of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to earth. No-one who witnessed the lunar landing will ever forget it. Breathtaking both in the scope of its vision and the exhilaration of the human emotions it captures, Al Reinert's classic 1989 documentary is the story of 24 men who travelled to the moon, told in their words, in their voices and using the images of their experiences.


MON 22:00 Apollo Wives (b00lkvtt)
Ten extraordinary women, all in their seventies, come to Arizona for a special reunion. They are each different but have one thing in common - each was married to an Apollo astronaut. These women were right at the heart of the most ambitious journey ever made, as America shot for the moon.

In exclusive interviews, they tell how it felt to watch their husband blast off into space and about the death, danger and divorce as many of their men struggled to come back to Earth.


MON 23:00 The Moon (b0074s8j)
1972 was the year a great affair ended, as the human race fell out of love with the moon. Just three years after the world was gripped by Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind, the last man left the moon and we have never been back.

This film tells the epic story of our love affair with the moon - what inspired it, how it faded away and how we are now falling in love all over again.


MON 00:00 Being Neil Armstrong (b00lkvln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


MON 01:00 The Martians and Us (b0074t2l)
Trouble in Paradise (Dystopias)

Series about the history of British science fiction. A look at the utopian dreams and dystopian nightmares of books such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and 1984 by George Orwell.

One is a vision of the future full of sex and shopping, the other is a story of oppression and violence. But why have the British been better than anyone at imagining these future heavens and hells? Contributors include Margaret Atwood and Iain M Banks.


MON 02:00 Space Dogs (b00lkvtp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:45 Apollo Wives (b00lkvtt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 03:45 The Sky at Night (b00llpvf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 07 JULY 2009

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00llfy7)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 The Sky at Night (b07416l4)
Last Man on the Moon

On 14th December 1972, Captain Eugene Cernan left the Moon to return to Earth. He had no idea that, 25 years later, he would still be the last man to have left his footprints on the lunar surface. Dr Chris Lintott travels to the Johnson Space Centre to talk to the Commander of Apollo 17 about his memories of being on the Moon. Sir Patrick Moore looks at lunar samples brought back by the astronauts and talks to NASA scientists about what they discovered.


TUE 20:00 South Pacific (b00kjjnx)
Ocean of Islands

The South Pacific islands are the most remote in the world. Their extraordinary isolation has created some of the most curious, surprising and precarious examples of life found anywhere on Earth; from giant crabs that tear open coconuts, to flesh-eating caterpillars that impale their prey on dagger-like claws.

Human culture is different too. The men of Pentecost Island celebrate their annual harvest by leaping from 20-metre high scaffolds, with only forest vines to break their fall. And on the tiny island of Anuta, possibly the most remote community of people on the planet, the locals survive entirely on what they can grow and catch.

The South Pacific's innumerable islands look like pieces of paradise, but the reality of life here is sometimes very different, with waves the size of buildings, brutal tropical storms, and, in the far south, even blizzards. This is the real South Pacific.


TUE 21:00 Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis (b0091tws)
Comedian Rob Brydon explores Welsh identity and tries to discover what makes his patriotic countrymen so defensive.

Along the way, he talks to a host of Welsh celebrities, including Griff Rhys Jones, Goldie Lookin' Chain and actress Ruth Jones, as he examines the national psyche, in particular questioning his own belief that the Welsh have a natural leaning toward pessimism.

Rob also constructs a stand-up routine of Welsh-based material which he tries out in surprise appearances at comedy clubs around Wales.


TUE 22:00 The Chaser's War on Everything (b00llfy9)
Episode 3

Australian comedy team The Chaser launch a real-life assault on everyone and everything.

The team breaches the security zone at the APEC conference with a fake Canadian motorcade, Bob Dylan plays Elizabeth I in a Hollywood blockbuster, and the world's shortest possible taxi ride.


TUE 22:30 Flight of the Conchords (b00llfyc)
Series 2

Wingmen

Bret is in love with the girl from the pet store but is too shy to ask her out, so Jemaine and Dave lend a hand. Jemaine enlists their old friend John the mugger to make Bret look tough, with predictable results.


TUE 23:00 The Martians and Us (b0074t3b)
The End of the World as We Know It

Series about the history of British science fiction. A look at the genre of destruction, where the writers abandon time travel and alien invasion and declare the end of the world as we know it.

Including floods, plagues, poisonous clouds and walking plants, from late Victorian disasters like The Purple Cloud, through Day of the Triffids and TV series like Survivors.


TUE 00:00 Apollo Wives (b00lkvtt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


TUE 01:00 Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis (b0091tws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 02:00 The Martians and Us (b0074t3b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


TUE 03:00 Apollo Wives (b00lkvtt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]



WEDNESDAY 08 JULY 2009

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00llg5n)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Once a Soldier (b0074tn4)
Series 1

Always a Soldier

Documentary series about the Chelsea Pensioners. Each new pensioner has to find their own way of fitting back into an army way of life at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. After 58 years of marriage, recently widowed 79-year-old Len Tough is brought to the hospital by his two daughters for a four-day trial to see if he is to be accepted into the ranks of the men in scarlet. 101-year-old Bill Swingler reveals the secret of his long life.


WED 20:00 Legends (b00j0h7l)
The Andrews Sisters - Queens of the Music Machines

Profile of American close harmony singing trio the Andrews Sisters, one of best-selling female vocal groups in the history of popular music.

Collaborating with some of the great names of the swing era such as Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey, they also enjoyed a long and successful recording partnership with Bing Crosby.

The film traces Patty, Maxene and LaVerne's journey from a poor Minneapolis background to international fame and includes archive footage of hits including Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Mary Wilson of the Supremes and British burlesque group the Puppini Sisters are also featured.


WED 21:00 The Grandparent Diaries (b00llg5q)
Ian Batten

Documentary series about grandparents in Britain today introduces Londoner Ian Batten - fashion designer, father of four and grandfather of seven.

Ian takes all seven of his grandchildren, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, for a weekend by the sea for the first time. As a 1960s dad who brought his own children up in the liberal spirit of the time, his approach seems to be a hit with the children. Bedtimes are relaxed and the kids happily chip in, but do his own children recall their upbringings as similarly idyllic, and how has the free, liberal approach influenced their own views on parenting?

Through interviews spanning three generations, the family's archive footage and observation, the film looks at how the philosophies of the 1960s influence Ian as a grandfather whilst celebrating the enduring traditions of grandparenting through the 20th century.


WED 22:00 Getting On (b00llg8k)
Series 1

Episode 1

Ward B4 is a world of slips, trips and hips, where healthcare is at its least glamorous. Sister Den Flixter, Nurse Kim Wilde and Dr Pippa Moore assemble for ward round. The daily grind of new admissions and discharges has begun. But Hilary Loftus, the new, male, modern matron has just started work and an unsavoury stool sample and a dead patient give him cause for concern.


WED 22:30 Wonderland (b008pzkh)
Series 1

The Secret Life of Norman Wisdom Aged 92 3/4

For the last 30 years, Norman Wisdom has lived independently of his family in a house he designed for himself on the Isle of Man. But his live-in carer has decided that she can't cope with looking after him any more. Norman's children, who live 300 miles away in Sussex, don't know what to do with him. He insists on daily trips around his beloved island, looking for opportunities to perform his songs and- despite having lost his driving licence several years before- trying to buy a car.


WED 23:10 Wonderland (b00922ct)
Series 1

The 92 Year Old Danger Junkie

Documentary series about extraordinary ordinary people. Ron Cunningham is the world's oldest working stuntman. He lives in Brighton with his exasperated son David. Battling cancer and strokes, Ron is often wheelchair-bound, but that doesn't stop him pouring petrol over his jacket and setting himself alight on Korean TV or for an audience in his local pub. Filmmaker Daniel Vernon has followed Ron for five years, and will be with him when he pulls his final stunt - dying on stage.


WED 23:50 Legends (b00j0h7l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 00:50 The Grandparent Diaries (b00llg5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 01:50 Getting On (b00llg8k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 02:20 Batman (b008l33b)
Series 1

The Curse of Tut

A student riot endows a Yale professor with a head wound and the delusion that he is King Tut, Great King of the Nile, setting up an Egyptian sphinx in Gotham's Central Park as ruler of the city. Captured by Tut, Batman finds himself subjected to the ancient Theban pebble torture which is supposed to render him a mindless slave.


WED 02:45 Batman (b008l3j1)
Series 1

The Pharaoh's in a Rut

Superhero action with the dynamic duo. Bruce Wayne manages to escape the clutches of King Tut, but is soon recaptured in the guise of Batman.


WED 03:10 The Grandparent Diaries (b00llg5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 09 JULY 2009

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00llgs6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 In Search of England's Green and Pleasant Land (b00jz671)
South

Extreme vicar Peter Owen-Jones tracks down the most peaceful locations in the South of England as he meets the people who claim to have found rural tranquility in one of the country's most congested regions, and discovers whether he too can achieve the dream.


THU 20:00 Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon (b00llgs8)
Professor Brian Cox takes a look through nearly 50 years of BBC archive at the story of man's relationship with the moon.

From the BBC's space fanatic James Burke testing out the latest Nasa equipment to 1960s interviews about the bacon-flavoured crystals that astronauts can survive on in space, to the iconic images of man's first steps on the moon and the dramatic story of Apollo 13, Horizon and the BBC have covered it all.

But since President Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s was reached, no-one has succeeded in reigniting the public's enthusiasm for space travel and lunar voyages. Why?

On his journey through the ages, Professor Cox explores the role that international competition played in getting man to the moon and asks if, with America no longer the world's only superpower, we are at the dawn of a bright new space age.


THU 21:00 Manet: the Man Who Invented Modern Art (b00l9csy)
Manet is one of the main candidates for the title of the most important artist there has been. As the reluctant father of Impressionism, and the painter of Dejeuner sur l'herbe, he can probably be accused of inventing modern art. But his story is fascinating on many other levels.

As a piece of compelling biography, Manet's is the unlikely tale of the stubborn son of the most highly placed judge in France who decides to become an artist and embarrass his father. The resulting family tensions are the stuff of legend. His mother, by the way, was from a family that still supplies Sweden with its royalty.

Then there was Manet's dramatic private life, including exotic romantic affairs and a particularly horrible death when, riddled with syphilis and gangrene, Manet had to have his leg amputated.

But none of this would matter a jot were it not for the revolutionary art it provoked and coloured. Always cited as the father of the Impressionists, Manet stubbornly refused to show with them, and was careful to maintain an aesthetic distance from Monet, Renoir and the others. While they worshipped him, he looked down on them, preferring to continue his own remarkable departure from the traditional ways of art. The scandalous paintings with which he made his reputation - the outrageously sexy Olympia, the relentlessly paraphrased Dejeuner sur l'herbe - are the most totemic images in French 19th-century art. And the story of how Manet was rejected from the official salon, and ended up instigating the Salon des Refuses, can be understood as the epoch's key cultural event.

Using the life of Manet as his narrative arch, Waldemar Januszczak tells the story of a complex and difficult man who started a revolution that continues to rumble on today.


THU 22:30 Legends (b0074rvq)
Josephine Baker - the First Black Superstar

A look at the life of the black entertainer Josephine Baker, who was a pioneer in every sense of the word and whose impact on the cultural history of the 20th century was profound.


THU 23:30 The High Life (b00hd1tt)
Choob

Sitcom set among cabin crew of a passenger jet. To the boys' displeasure, Shona lands the job of presenting the Air Scotia inflight video. The plane is hijacked by a Scottish nationalist and Shona lays her out with a poached salmon, all captured on video.


THU 00:00 Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon (b00llgs8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 01:00 Manet: the Man Who Invented Modern Art (b00l9csy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 02:30 Legends (b0074rvq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


THU 03:30 Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon (b00llgs8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 10 JULY 2009

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00llh27)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 In Search of England's Green and Pleasant Land (b00jz5t9)
London

Julia Bradbury goes in search of the tranquil and wild places that survive in London's concrete jungle. Her journey starts on the edges of the capital where she meets communities desperate to preserve their rural lifestyle. As she heads into the heart of the metropolis she discovers some very unusual projects turning the capital green.


FRI 20:00 Toscanini in His Own Words (b00llh29)
Dramatised documentary which presents the legendary maestro Arturo Toscanini as he has never before been seen, based on tapes that were secretly recorded by Toscanini's son Walter.

The conductor speaks his mind and heart about the music, the politics and the amorous exploits that made him one of the 20th century's most fascinating and important artists.


FRI 21:00 Glastonbury (b00llh2c)
2009

Spinal Tap and Status Quo

Two half-hour sets from these classic British rock and roll acts, both bathed in sunshine.

Spinal Tap play many of their classics on Saturday afternoon on the Pyramid Stage, make room for a guest appearance by Jarvis Cocker and some big-bottomed girls and explain in interview with Zane Lowe and Jo Whiley how they put Stonehenge on the map.

Status Quo reaffirm their status as one of Britain's greatest boogie and rock 'n' roll bands with an early set on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday lunchtime featuring hits like Caroline, Down Down and John Fogerty's Rockin' All Over The World, the song with which they opened Live Aid, while BBC cameras follow their journey to the site and witness some of the traditional backstage banter between the double act of Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt.


FRI 22:00 Sight and Sound in Concert (b00lnbj9)
Santana

Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana leads his band in highlights from a concert recorded in 1976, featuring the classics Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va and Soul Sacrifice.


FRI 22:30 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00llh2f)
Part III

Compilation of classic archive performances from the guitar gods of the late 60s and 70s. Status Quo appear playing Pictures of Matchstick Men on Top of the Pops in 1968, The Who perform Long Live Rock in the Old Grey Whistle Test studio, Dire Straits play Tunnel of Love and Lynyrd Skynyrd bring a taste of the Deep South with Sweet Home Alabama. The show also features rare performances from George Benson, Leo Kottke, Link Wray and Tom Petty.


FRI 23:30 Flight of the Conchords (b00llfyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:55 The Chaser's War on Everything (b00llfy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


FRI 00:25 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00llh2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


FRI 01:25 Sight and Sound in Concert (b00lnbj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 01:55 Glastonbury (b00llh2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 02:55 Toscanini in His Own Words (b00llh29)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]




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

Apollo Wives 22:00 MON (b00lkvtt)

Apollo Wives 02:45 MON (b00lkvtt)

Apollo Wives 00:00 TUE (b00lkvtt)

Apollo Wives 03:00 TUE (b00lkvtt)

Batman 02:20 WED (b008l33b)

Batman 02:45 WED (b008l3j1)

Being Neil Armstrong 21:00 SUN (b00lkvln)

Being Neil Armstrong 02:50 SUN (b00lkvln)

Being Neil Armstrong 00:00 MON (b00lkvln)

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil 19:00 SAT (b00lh03b)

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil 02:30 SAT (b00lh03b)

Flight of the Conchords 22:30 TUE (b00llfyc)

Flight of the Conchords 23:30 FRI (b00llfyc)

For All Mankind 20:45 MON (b00lkvtr)

Fossil Detectives 20:30 SUN (b00d9f9g)

Fossil Detectives 02:20 SUN (b00d9f9g)

Getting On 22:00 WED (b00llg8k)

Getting On 01:50 WED (b00llg8k)

Glastonbury 21:00 FRI (b00llh2c)

Glastonbury 01:55 FRI (b00llh2c)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 22:30 FRI (b00llh2f)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 00:25 FRI (b00llh2f)

Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon 20:00 THU (b00llgs8)

Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon 00:00 THU (b00llgs8)

Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon 03:30 THU (b00llgs8)

In Search of England's Green and Pleasant Land 19:30 THU (b00jz671)

In Search of England's Green and Pleasant Land 19:30 FRI (b00jz5t9)

Iran and Britain 20:00 SAT (b00hq1w7)

Iran and Britain 01:30 SAT (b00hq1w7)

Iran and the West 21:00 SAT (b00hmrvt)

Iran and the West 22:00 SAT (b00ht3p7)

Iran and the West 23:00 SAT (b00hydcg)

Legends 20:00 WED (b00j0h7l)

Legends 23:50 WED (b00j0h7l)

Legends 22:30 THU (b0074rvq)

Legends 02:30 THU (b0074rvq)

Man on the Moon 22:00 SUN (b00lkvlq)

Manet: the Man Who Invented Modern Art 21:00 THU (b00l9csy)

Manet: the Man Who Invented Modern Art 01:00 THU (b00l9csy)

Once a Soldier 19:30 WED (b0074tn4)

Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis 21:00 TUE (b0091tws)

Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis 01:00 TUE (b0091tws)

Sight and Sound in Concert 22:00 FRI (b00lnbj9)

Sight and Sound in Concert 01:25 FRI (b00lnbj9)

South Pacific 20:00 TUE (b00kjjnx)

Space Dogs 20:00 MON (b00lkvtp)

Space Dogs 02:00 MON (b00lkvtp)

The Chaser's War on Everything 22:00 TUE (b00llfy9)

The Chaser's War on Everything 23:55 FRI (b00llfy9)

The Day of the Triffids 19:00 SUN (b0074t1j)

The Day of the Triffids 19:30 SUN (b0074t2k)

The Grandparent Diaries 21:00 WED (b00llg5q)

The Grandparent Diaries 00:50 WED (b00llg5q)

The Grandparent Diaries 03:10 WED (b00llg5q)

The High Life 23:30 THU (b00hd1tt)

The Martians and Us 01:20 SUN (b0074t1k)

The Martians and Us 01:00 MON (b0074t2l)

The Martians and Us 23:00 TUE (b0074t3b)

The Martians and Us 02:00 TUE (b0074t3b)

The Moon 23:00 MON (b0074s8j)

The Sky at Night 19:30 MON (b00llpvf)

The Sky at Night 03:45 MON (b00llpvf)

The Sky at Night 19:30 TUE (b07416l4)

Toscanini in His Own Words 20:00 FRI (b00llh29)

Toscanini in His Own Words 02:55 FRI (b00llh29)

Wainwright Walks 20:00 SUN (b0074tjb)

Wallander 00:00 SAT (b00g2j5f)

Wallander 23:40 SUN (b00g2j7h)

Wonderland 22:30 WED (b008pzkh)

Wonderland 23:10 WED (b00922ct)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00lkvtm)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00llfy7)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00llg5n)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00llgs6)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00llh27)