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 08 AUGUST 2009

SAT 19:00 Only Connect (b00lzzz3)
Series 2

Chessmen v Charity Puzzlers

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

Three dedicated chess players pit their strategic prowess against a team who have honed their lateral thinking skills writing puzzles to raise money for their local hospice. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random.


SAT 19:30 The Story of Maths (b00f3n43)
The Frontiers of Space

Four-part series about the history of mathematics, presented by Oxford professor Marcus du Sautoy.

By the 17th century, Europe had taken over from the Middle East as the world's powerhouse of mathematical ideas. Great strides had been made in understanding the geometry of objects fixed in time and space. The race was now on to discover the mathematics to describe objects in motion.

Marcus explores the work of Rene Descartes and Pierre Fermat, whose famous Last Theorem would puzzle mathematicians for more than 350 years. He also examines Isaac Newton's development of the calculus, and goes in search of Leonard Euler, the father of topology or 'bendy geometry', and Carl Friedrich Gauss who, at the age of 24, was responsible for inventing a new way of handling equations - modular arithmetic.


SAT 20:30 All Our Working Lives (b00j4cwb)
Series 1

Cutting Coal

Coal had powered Britain's industrial rise, with her mills and furnaces, railways and steamships depending on it. In the peak years a million men laboured in the mines, many in poor and dangerous working conditions like those contributor Dick Martin found when he began as pit boy aged 14.

Miners and managers tell of the poor conditions, insecurity and technical backwardness that helped the case for nationalisation in 1947. But the new NCB over-estimated the future need for coal. After massive post-war modernistaion programme, too much coal was being brought up by too many miners, and with the cutbacks came more conflict.


SAT 21:30 The Miners' Strike (b0078ntp)
Documentary which captures the extraordinary passions unleashed by the 1984 miners' strike and examines how it changed Britain forever. Mining villages were consumed by violence and hatred as pickets fought running battles with police and striking and working miners were locked in confrontation.

With powerful interviews, evocative archive and dramatic reconstructions, the film follows the lives of five young miners from one village through a torrid but exciting year.


SAT 23:00 Dounreay: the Atomic Dream (b0074sjs)
The story of the rise and fall of a daring experiment into atomic energy. At a time when nuclear is firmly back on the agenda, this documentary meets the original Dounreay pioneers and charts the high and lows in the history of one of Britain's most ambitious scientific projects.


SAT 00:00 BBC Scotland Investigates (b00byhfh)
2008

Truth, Lies, Oil and Scotland

On 3rd of November 1975 the first barrel of oil was pumped from the North Sea on to Scotland's shores. It was an event that would change the course of history. This landmark film shows how the modern history of Scotland is intrinsically linked to the black gold being pumped out of the North Sea.

BBC Scotland News business reporter Hayley Millar puts forward the theory that you cannot understand the last 40 years of Scotland's past, its present and its future without understanding oil. And vital to understanding oil is separating the myths from the facts and the truth from the lies that surround possibly the most important natural resource in the world.

Drawing on the personal testimony of the key players in the story of North Sea oil in the last four decades, from the politicians to the oil men, the film will celebrate some of Scotland's great unsung achievements surrounding oil and examine some of the mistakes that have been made along the way. It reveals the role oil has played in every aspect of Scottish life from its economic development, political struggles and independence.


SAT 01:00 Blues at the BBC (b00k36m5)
Collection of performances by British and American blues artists on BBC programmes such as The Beat Room, A Whole Scene Going, The Old Grey Whistle Test and The Late Show.

Includes the seminal slide guitar of Son House, the British R&B of The Kinks, the unmistakeable electric sound of BB King and Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker, as well as less familiar material from the likes of Delaney and Bonnie, Freddie King and Long John Baldry.


SAT 02:00 Blues Britannia: Can Blue Men Sing the Whites? (b00kc752)
Documentary telling the story of what happened to blues music on its journey from the southern states of America to the heart of British pop and rock culture, providing an in-depth look at what this music really meant to a generation of kids desperate for an antidote to their experiences of living in post-war suburban Britain.

Narrated by Nigel Planer and structured in three parts, the first, Born Under a Bad Sign, focuses on the arrival of American blues in Britain in the late 50s and the first performances here by such legends as Muddy Waters, Sonnie Terry and Brownie McGhee.

Part two, Sittin' on Top of the World, charts the birth of the first British blues boom in the early 60s, spearheaded by the Rolling Stones and groups such as the Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, the Animals and the Pretty Things.

The final section, Crossroads, looks at the next, more hardcore British blues boom of the mid-to-late 60s, with guitarists Eric Clapton and Peter Green and the international dominance of their respective bands, Cream and Fleetwood Mac.

Featuring archive performances and interviews with Keith Richards, Paul Jones, Chris Dreja, Bill Wyman, Phil May, John Mayall, Jack Bruce, Mick Fleetwood, Ian Anderson, Tony McPhee, Mike Vernon, Tom McGuinness, Mick Abrahams, Dick Taylor, Val Wilmer, Chris Barber, Pete Brown, Bob Brunning, Dave Kelly and Phil Ryan.


SAT 03:30 Only Connect (b00lzzz3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 09 AUGUST 2009

SUN 19:00 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (b00jj02f)
Series 1

Poison

Mma Ramotswe gets caught between a dangerous case of ivory smuggling and a feuding family when she is asked to investigate the unusual behaviour of Rra Lisindi, owner of Lisindi's curio shop, and the case of a possible poisoner.

Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi is entrusted with the task of solving Tlokweng Hospital's spate of mysteriously regular deaths.


SUN 20:00 Wainwright Walks (b007x53d)
Series 2

Helm Crag

Series in which Julia Bradbury explores the Lake District landscape that inspired the great British fell walker and author Alfred Wainwright to produce his beautifully crafted guidebooks.

Julia is in the village of Grasmere for a climb up Helm Crag, defined by the collection of rock formations at its summit - a feature that has lent it the nickname of the Lion and the Lamb. The rocks make for a summit scramble for Julia as she finds out why this was the only summit Wainwright never reached.


SUN 20:30 Fossil Detectives (b00dn9ml)
East of England

Series in which Open University associate lecturer 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 the east of England, the team go on a fossil hunting challenge on Hunstanton beach and find out how fossils can be discovered right on your doorstep.

They discover the story behind the world's most complete and largest mammoth skeleton, uncovered at West Runton; the scientific answers revealed by the biggest fish that ever lived, discovered on the outskirts of Peterborough; and how fossils can reveal past climates.


SUN 21:00 Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (b00lz31y)
Drama illuminating one doctor's pioneering efforts to protect the people of Manchester from the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic.

Set against the background of the Armistice in November 1918 as millions of exhausted soldiers return home from the Great War, the film tells the little-known story of Dr James Niven, Manchester's medical health officer for thirty years, and his heroic efforts to combat a second wave of fatal influenza as it spreads across the city and the UK.


SUN 22:00 The Horizon Guide to Pandemic (b00m3z7w)
In the wake of the swine flu outbreak, virologist Dr Mike Leahy uses over 50 years of BBC archive to explore the history of pandemics - infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites.

Inspired by the Horizon back catalogue, he tells the extraordinary story of smallpox, one of the most violent killers in history, as well as the success of mass vaccination and the global politics of malaria. Through the lens of television the programme charts our scientific progress from the early steps in understanding AIDS to the code-cracking of SARS and deadly predictions of bird flu.

Each pandemic episode tells us something about the world and our place within it. In his journey through the ages Dr Leahy charts science's ongoing battle with nature and questions which one is winning.


SUN 23:00 Walkabout (b007c5jl)
Drama about a teenage girl who is left stranded in the Australian outback with her little brother when their father commits suicide. The pair are left to fend for themselves in the hostile environment with little hope of making their way back to civilisation, until unexpected help arrives in the form of an adolescent Aborigine boy who is in the middle of the rite of passage known as walkabout.


SUN 00:35 Wilderness Explored (b00dzyz5)
Australia's Red Heart

Australia's stark and beautiful red centre is now seen as part of the country's national identity, with Uluru, or Ayres Rock, a national symbol. But this vast desert centre was originally seen as a place of death and silence by the first white explorers. It has taken 200 years for a new perception to emerge, one that recognises it as a place of life and creation - the way it has always been seen by the continent's original inhabitants, the Aborigines.


SUN 01:35 Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (b00lz31y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 02:35 The Horizon Guide to Pandemic (b00m3z7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



MONDAY 10 AUGUST 2009

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00m3zhm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Legends (b008fmyt)
Val Doonican Rocks

Pauline McLynn narrates an affectionate portrait of popular Irish entertainer Val Doonican, as famous for his props such as cardigans and rocking chair as for his easy-listening style. From 1964-1986 he led the BBC1 ratings, his particular brand of laid-back entertainment surviving the revolutionary 60s, IRA campaigns and a variety of changing musical styles. His hits included Walk Tall and The Special Years as well as a number of comic 'Oirish' songs. At the age of 80, Val still performs but the sweaters and his faithful rocking chair are nowhere to be seen. Includes interviews with Rolf Harris, John Williams, Gerry Anderson and Gloria Hunniford.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00m3zhp)
Series 2

Mathematicians v Cambridge Quiz Society - Semi-Final

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

In the first semi-final, three mathematicians pit their logical skills against the wits of the Cambridge Quiz Society. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly bereft of associations. How does Lord Kelvin of Largs link to George Orwell via the Ebola virus and India?


MON 21:00 Wallander (b00m4q5x)
Series 1

The Tricksters

When a riding pupil finds the stable owner dead in his barn, Wallander is initially at a loss for suspects - he had no friends, no social life and seemingly no enemies. But a little digging reveals a much more complicated and sinister story, and soon the suspect list is too large.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


MON 22:30 Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil (b00l7r9j)
Episode 1

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.

Forty years ago, Britain was poised on the brink of an extraordinary discovery - oil, billions of gallons of it, deep beneath the harsh waters of the North Sea. This opening edition gives a voice to some of the men who made that discovery and who risked their lives in the North Sea to get the oil ashore.

Theirs is a tale of dramatic risk-taking and high politics as the government and the oil companies raced to get their hands on the bonanza. The promise of enormous riches inspired technical innovation on a scale never seen before, but did the haste of the North Sea project put at risk the lives of men who were working in some of the most extreme conditions in the world?


MON 23:30 Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil (b00lc7nr)
Episode 2

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.

As the oil industry boomed in the early 1980s, workers up and down the country vied for jobs offshore. Under Margaret Thatcher, dozens of new platforms were built in the North Sea, bringing in millions of barrels of oil and billions of pounds of taxes to the Treasury. The economy was transformed as the fortunes of oil and banking soared, while Britain's traditional manufacturing industries declined.

But before the decade was out the boom would turn to bust with the collapse of the global price of oil, and the industry would be rocked a succession of tragedies, culminating in the destruction of the Piper Alpha platform by fire and the deaths of 167 men.


MON 00:30 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.


MON 01:30 Only Connect (b00m3zhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 02:00 Style on Trial (b00gkqxl)
1940s

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


MON 03:00 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.



TUESDAY 11 AUGUST 2009

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00m3zxs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Only Connect (b00m3zhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


TUE 20:00 South Pacific (b00l7q55)
Fragile Paradise

The South Pacific is still relatively healthy and teeming with fish, but it is a fragile paradise. International fishing fleets are taking a serious toll on the sharks, albatross and tuna, and there are other insidious threats to these bountiful seas. This episode looks at what is being done to preserve the ocean and its wildlife.


TUE 21:00 We Need Answers (b00hq4fj)
Series 1

Motoring

Mark Watson, Tim Key and Alex Horne lead a comic quiz show with a difference, adapted from their award-winning Edinburgh show.

Celebrity guests Julia Bradbury and Robert Llewellyn take part in a knock-about quiz to find out which one of them is the smartest, the funniest and the best at surreal physical challenges.

All the questions come from the audience members and text-messaging services.


TUE 21:30 Cowards (b00h6syx)
Episode 2

Four-man sketch show packed with surprise and invention. Scenarios include disaffected judges, office bullying via Skype, Russian roulette at the dinner table, a jobseeker aiming to become Mick Hucknall's PA and a dog with a secret - all delivered with a unique brand of joyful deadpan absurdity.


TUE 22:00 The Pre-Raphaelites (b00lc6x8)
Episode 2

Three-part series examining the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, who brought notoriety to British art in the 19th century, bursting into the spotlight in 1848 and shocking their peers with a new kind of radical art.

This second part looks at how they continued by transforming landscape painting with a microscopic examination of the natural world, some ten years before the French Impressionists.


TUE 22:30 Getting On (b00lqbkb)
Series 1

Episode 2

Pippa prepares her research paper and Den and Kim deal with a male referral, but it is problem patient Ivy who dominates the day. Aggressive and deeply unpleasant, she sets a chain reaction in motion that sees Hilary in tears and Kim in trouble.

Elsewhere on the ward, life and death continues as normal, but with the MRSA statistics up it seems another crisis is just around the corner. Meanwhile, Den and Hilary are starting to bond.


TUE 23:00 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00fpwb4)
Series 4

Episode 1

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

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

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


TUE 23:30 Early Doors (b0078k7h)
Series 1

Episode 3

Comedy series set in a small Manchester public house. Policemen Phil and Nige have a near-death experience. Jean's hopes of going to Crete are dashed. The temporary traffic lights are still troubling Eddie. Duffy and Joe help Liam come clean, and there's a big surprise in store as Tommy and Eddie witness Liam's talent.


TUE 00:00 Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (b00lz31y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


TUE 01:00 Getting On (b00lqbkb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


TUE 01:30 We Need Answers (b00hq4fj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 02:00 Cowards (b00h6syx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]


TUE 02:30 The Pre-Raphaelites (b00lc6x8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


TUE 03:00 Only Connect (b00m3zhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


TUE 03:30 Cowards (b00h6syx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]



WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2009

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00m425b)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Once a Soldier (b007gml5)
Series 1

Ladies in Waiting

Documentary series about the Chelsea Pensioners, former British soldiers who live in the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. Women are coming to the hospital and it is a case of when, not if. But is this all-male bastion prepared for the first women in scarlet? Ex-Regimental Sergeant Major Agnes Doig, Second World War girl gunner Barbara Wetherall and Warrant Officer Winifred Phillips visit, and put the Hospital and the men through their paces to see if life there could be for them.


WED 20:00 Casualty 1909 (b00lb1vj)
Episode 1

Matron Eva Luckes returns in the powerful series from the London hospital, dramatised from original records.

Revolution grips the East End as an explosion brings fears of a bomb, and Ethel Bennett and Dr Millais Culpin struggle to control the angry victims. When detectives arrive, Matron Luckes and Chairman Sydney Holland fear the hospital is in danger of becoming an extension of Scotland Yard.

Meanwhile, Sister Ada Russell battles with irascible star surgeon Mr Henry Dean, whose addiction to cocaine is an open secret. And ambitious young Dr Ingrams faces catastrophe in the operating theatre.


WED 21:00 The Cell (b00m425d)
The Hidden Kingdom

In a three-part series, Dr Adam Rutherford tells the extraordinary story of the scientific quest to discover the secrets of the cell and of life itself. Every living thing is made of cells, microscopic building blocks of almost unimaginable power and complexity.

The first part explores how centuries of scientific and religious dogma were overturned by the earliest discoveries of the existence of cells, and how scientists came to realise that there was, literally, more to life than meets the eye.


WED 22:00 Robert Hooke: Victim of Genius (b0074ny9)
The untold story of how a giant of science was erased from history by the jealous rival who owed him more than most - Isaac Newton. A drama revealing the extraordinary, prolific, bizarre and conflict-riddled life of Robert Hooke, one of the greatest scientists in English history, on the tercentenary of his death.

In science, Hooke was a colossus. As Curator of Experiments at the Royal Society he wrote the laws of elasticity (Hooke's Law), built a radical reflecting telescope and found major new stars, made the first powerful microscope, coined the word cell, wrote the first science best-seller, Micrographia and co-discovered the diffraction of light with Newton, but got no credit.

As Chief Surveyor of London he laid the foundations of the new city on the ashes of the old, playing a vital role in designing the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. Scientists now refer to Hooke as the 'lost Leonardo, yet no one even knows what he looked like. How can such a giant have vanished into history?

New research confirms that Hooke stated an inverse square law of gravitation years before Newton's legendary Principia. However, he not only got no credit but also became the target of the most protracted, vitriolic campaign of character assassination in the history of science.

The main plot of the film presents a disturbing portrait of the dark side of Isaac Newton, revealing for the first time how heavily he borrowed from Hooke and how, after fermenting in neurotic isolation, he conspired to have his reputation destroyed and his memory erased from history.

The film ends in 2003 with a reconstruction of his features as we are finally able to look upon the face of the complex, restless, inspired man who was a true giant of science - the Lost Genius.


WED 23:00 Twelve Monkeys (b01fhfjy)
Sombre time-travel thriller in which a convict from 2035 is sent back in time to find the cause of a virus which has wiped out most of the planet's population and driven the survivors underground. However, he accidentally arrives in 1990 instead of 1996 and is locked in an asylum where he meets a fellow inmate who may have a part to play in the epidemic. Inspired by Chris Marker's seminal 1962 short film La Jetee.


WED 01:00 The Cell (b00m425d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 02:00 Robert Hooke: Victim of Genius (b0074ny9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 03:00 The Cell (b00m425d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 13 AUGUST 2009

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00m42k8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Hidden Histories (b00fvp8h)
Series 1

Episode 5

A series looking at the work of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales celebrating its centenary year. Huw Edwards and the history detectives investigate the case of the disappearing house near Holyhead and how it prepared itself for a German invasion during the war. They also search for a lost castle at Portmeirion.


THU 20:00 BBC Proms (b00m42kb)
2009

Prom 38: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring

Suzy Klein presents as Stravinsky's riotous Rite of Spring comes to the Proms, played by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with conductor Ilan Volkov.

Ravel's choreographic poem La Valse begins the programme, followed by the world premiere of Korean composer Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto, written especially for the solo cellist Alban Gerhardt.


THU 22:00 Wallander (b00m4q5x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 23:25 Later... with Jools Holland (b00dm7q3)
Series 33

Episode 1

Godfathers of rock Metallica visit the studio for the first time in 12 years with tracks from their new album Death Magnetic. Also in the studio are Tennessee foursome Kings of Leon, who showcase tracks from their fourth album Only by the Night.

Making her UK TV debut, Italian born, French-bred singer-songwriter and now First Lady of France, Carla Bruni performs a song or two from her recently released third album, Comme Si De Rien N'etait.

If that isn't enough, popstar in the making VV Brown makes an appearance, New Jersey-born Nicole Atkins makes her British television debut and Paul McCartney and Youth present a collaboration.


THU 00:30 The Cell (b00m425d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 01:30 The Horizon Guide to Pandemic (b00m3z7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 02:30 BBC Proms (b00m42kb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2009

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00m433s)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b00m433v)
2009

Prom 39: Birtwistle's Mask of Orpheus

Charles Hazlewood presents as the Proms mark the 75th birthday of one of Britain's greatest living composers, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, with a rare performance of the central act of his monumental opera The Mask of Orpheus. It is performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers and a cast that includes Alan Oke and Christine Rice, and conducted by Martyn Brabbins with Ryan Wigglesworth.

Brabbins opens the concert with Popcorn Superhet Receiver by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, a piece which won the Radio 3 Listeners' Award at the 2006 British Composer Awards.

Stravinsky's elegant ballet music Apollo contrasts these two contemporary works.


FRI 22:00 They Came From Manchester: Five Decades of Mancunian Pop (b00d9g2x)
A compilation of BBC studio performances of some of the great Manchester bands from the 1960s to the present, including Freddie and the Dreamers, The Hollies, 10CC, the Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division, James, M-People, Oasis and many more.


FRI 23:00 Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays (b007zmn3)
Documentary celebrating the triumph, tragedy and human comedy that was Manchester record company, Factory. Started by the late Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannett in the late 1970s, it became known as the home of Joy Divsion, New Order and Happy Mondays and for creating the Hacienda club. The label pioneered Britain's independent pop culture, creating a new Manchester and blowing a shed-load of money. Includes interviews with all the main players in the Factory story.


FRI 00:30 The Stone Roses Live (b00m433x)
Twenty years ago, four Manchester musicians stepped out onto the stage of the Blackpool Empress Ballroom for what would become a legendary gig. Three months earlier in May 1989 Ian Brown, John Squire, Gary 'Mani' Mounfield and Alan 'Reni' Wren released their eponymous debut album which has gone on to achieve countless accolades and awards and is regularly cited as one of the most important albums of all time.

The Blackpool concert, shown on TV for the first time, includes many of the songs from the seminal album, including I Wanna Be Adored, She Bangs the Drums, Waterfall and the epic I Am the Resurrection.


FRI 01:15 They Came From Manchester: Five Decades of Mancunian Pop (b00d9g2x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:15 BBC Proms (b00m433v)
[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 Our Working Lives 20:30 SAT (b00j4cwb)

BBC Proms 20:00 THU (b00m42kb)

BBC Proms 02:30 THU (b00m42kb)

BBC Proms 19:30 FRI (b00m433v)

BBC Proms 02:15 FRI (b00m433v)

BBC Scotland Investigates 00:00 SAT (b00byhfh)

Blues Britannia: Can Blue Men Sing the Whites? 02:00 SAT (b00kc752)

Blues at the BBC 01:00 SAT (b00k36m5)

Casualty 1909 20:00 WED (b00lb1vj)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 23:00 TUE (b00fpwb4)

Cowards 21:30 TUE (b00h6syx)

Cowards 02:00 TUE (b00h6syx)

Cowards 03:30 TUE (b00h6syx)

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil 22:30 MON (b00l7r9j)

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil 23:30 MON (b00lc7nr)

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil 00:30 MON (b00lh03b)

Dounreay: the Atomic Dream 23:00 SAT (b0074sjs)

Early Doors 23:30 TUE (b0078k7h)

Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays 23:00 FRI (b007zmn3)

Fossil Detectives 20:30 SUN (b00dn9ml)

Getting On 22:30 TUE (b00lqbkb)

Getting On 01:00 TUE (b00lqbkb)

Hidden Histories 19:30 THU (b00fvp8h)

Later... with Jools Holland 23:25 THU (b00dm7q3)

Legends 19:30 MON (b008fmyt)

Once a Soldier 19:30 WED (b007gml5)

Only Connect 19:00 SAT (b00lzzz3)

Only Connect 03:30 SAT (b00lzzz3)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00m3zhp)

Only Connect 01:30 MON (b00m3zhp)

Only Connect 19:30 TUE (b00m3zhp)

Only Connect 03:00 TUE (b00m3zhp)

Robert Hooke: Victim of Genius 22:00 WED (b0074ny9)

Robert Hooke: Victim of Genius 02:00 WED (b0074ny9)

South Pacific 20:00 TUE (b00l7q55)

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen 21:00 SUN (b00lz31y)

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen 01:35 SUN (b00lz31y)

Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen 00:00 TUE (b00lz31y)

Style on Trial 02:00 MON (b00gkqxl)

Style on Trial 03:00 MON (b00gq75f)

The Cell 21:00 WED (b00m425d)

The Cell 01:00 WED (b00m425d)

The Cell 03:00 WED (b00m425d)

The Cell 00:30 THU (b00m425d)

The Horizon Guide to Pandemic 22:00 SUN (b00m3z7w)

The Horizon Guide to Pandemic 02:35 SUN (b00m3z7w)

The Horizon Guide to Pandemic 01:30 THU (b00m3z7w)

The Miners' Strike 21:30 SAT (b0078ntp)

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 19:00 SUN (b00jj02f)

The Pre-Raphaelites 22:00 TUE (b00lc6x8)

The Pre-Raphaelites 02:30 TUE (b00lc6x8)

The Stone Roses Live 00:30 FRI (b00m433x)

The Story of Maths 19:30 SAT (b00f3n43)

They Came From Manchester: Five Decades of Mancunian Pop 22:00 FRI (b00d9g2x)

They Came From Manchester: Five Decades of Mancunian Pop 01:15 FRI (b00d9g2x)

Twelve Monkeys 23:00 WED (b01fhfjy)

Wainwright Walks 20:00 SUN (b007x53d)

Walkabout 23:00 SUN (b007c5jl)

Wallander 21:00 MON (b00m4q5x)

Wallander 22:00 THU (b00m4q5x)

We Need Answers 21:00 TUE (b00hq4fj)

We Need Answers 01:30 TUE (b00hq4fj)

Wilderness Explored 00:35 SUN (b00dzyz5)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00m3zhm)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00m3zxs)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00m425b)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00m42k8)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00m433s)