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 26 DECEMBER 2009

SAT 19:00 The Orson Welles Sketchbook (b00plbtd)
Episode 4

Series of talks by Orson Welles, illustrated by his own sketches.


SAT 19:15 The Third Man (b0074qmr)
Classic film noir about an American writer who visits postwar Vienna to see an old friend, but is told that his friend is dead. Incredulous at the suggestion his friend was a criminal, the writer attempts to clear the dead man's name, but soon finds events taking a strange turn - his friend is very much alive, dealing drugs on the black market.


SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00pjk2l)
Series 1

The Secret

Original Swedish TV adaptation of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander detective series.

Wallander and the Ystad police investigate the death of an eleven-year-old boy. Stefan wants to help with the case as he was friends with the boy's father but he's facing suspension pending a disciplinary procedure.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (b00pjj4s)
Review of the Year

Caustic comic and writer Charlie Brooker returns in a doomed bid to summarise 2009's TV output without vomiting. From the unpleasant spectacle of Britain's Got Talent to the downright worrying The Execution of Gary Glitter, and everything in-between, this is the only television programme you need watch this year, or indeed ever again. Contains weeping and screaming and words.


SAT 23:10 We Need Answers (b00pht5v)
Series 2

Christmas

Anarchic comedy game show in which celebrity guests answer questions set by the public.

Mark Watson hosts, Tim Key is in the questionmaster's chair and Alex Horne provides expert analysis from a booth as two celebrities battle it out to be crowned the winner and avoid the shame of donning 'The Clogs of Defeat'.

In a Christmas-themed episode, writer, comic and performer Neil Innes competes against TV presenter Kirsten O'Brien, with question master Alex dressed as Father Christmas.

The rules are simple - contestants must match their answer to the one given by a text answering service. Questions can range from 'How many gerbils would have to be stacked on top of each other to reach the moon?' to 'Is gravy a condiment?'.

In the cunning physical challenge which pits the contestants against each other, Neil takes on Kirsten in a Christmas present-wrapping contest.


SAT 23:40 Cowards (b00gvhjn)
Episode 1

Cowards is a new 4-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 the unique Cowards brand of joyful deadpan absurdity.

The team of Tom Basden, Stefan Golaszewski, Tim Key and Lloyd Woolf have honed their voice over two acclaimed Edinburgh Festival shows, a returning series on Radio 4 and the first online sketch show for BBC3. Their highly-accomplished TV debut is a thrilling new arrival in the comedy landscape.

With top comedy director Steve Bendelack (League of Gentlemen, Little Britain, The Royle Family, Mighty Boosh) at the helm, Cowards is a funny, visually-arresting show performed with skill and subtlety by four of the best young writer-performers around.


SAT 00:10 The Secret Life of the Motorway (b007x58q)
Falling in Love

Documentary series which celebrates the birth of motorways and hails the achievements of those behind the 'road revolution'. The first episode takes us from the excitement of the building of the first motorway in Britain, the M6 Preston By-pass, to the celebration of the most complex, Spaghetti Junction.

With amazing archive and often hilarious public information films, we take a trip back to a time when not only were motorways exciting and new, but there was also no speed limit. Interviews with the engineers who designed them, the navvies who built them and the people who drove on them bring to life and celebrate an achievement that we now take so much for granted.


SAT 01:10 The Secret Life of the Motorway (b007xmbm)
The Honeymoon Period

The second episode in this evocative series about Britain's motorways explores how they have transformed where we live, work and play in Britain over the last 50 years. From unbelievably glamorous early service stations to contemporary shopping centres with the infrastructure of a small town, this enthralling film is a journey through the wonderful, and the weird, places motorways have taken us. Contributors include seminal planner Sir Peter Hall, author Will Self, caravanners, hitchhikers and commuters, all on our eagerness to accelerate down the slip road, and the social changes that have followed.


SAT 02:10 The Secret Life of the Motorway (b007xmdn)
The End of the Affair

When the first motorways opened they did so to national celebration. But after the first 1,000 miles had been built, their impact on both town and country was becoming apparent and people started to protest.

Middle England rose up and disrupted public inquiries to voice their frustration at motorway building, but it continued and over time the frustration gave way to concerns about saving the planet. In the early 1990s that meant young people willing to risk everything to stop the motorways being built. The programme shows how people began to question the promises made by the motorway, and along the way found their voice of protest.


SAT 03:10 Caravans: A British Love Affair (b00hw3s0)
Documentary about the love affair between the British and their caravans, which saw the country establish the world's largest caravan manufacturer and transformed the holiday habits of generations of families.

In telling the intriguing story of caravanning in Britain from the 1950s through to the present day, the film reveals how caravans were once the plaything of a privileged minority, but after World War II became a firm favourite with almost a quarter of British holidaymakers.

It explores how changes in caravanning across the years reflect wider changes in British society, in particular the increased availability of cars during the 1950s and 60s, but also the improved roads network and changing attitudes towards holidaymaking and leisure time.

Enthusiasts and contributors include Dorrie van Lachterop from the West Midlands and Christine Fagg from Hertfordshire, remarkable and adventurous women who started touring alone in their caravans during the 1950s.



SUNDAY 27 DECEMBER 2009

SUN 19:00 The Art of Russia (b00phtcz)
Smashing the Mould

Series in which art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon tells the incredible story of Russian art - its mystery and magnificence - until now untold on British television.

The final part examines political revolution and how art was at the forefront of throwing out 1,000 years of royal rule, from its earliest revolutionary days of enthusiasm and optimism when painting died, the poster was king and the machine-made triumphed over the handmade to the dead hand of Socialist Realism.

Andrew roots out great portraits of Stalin now hidden in museum storerooms and never on public view, looks at the transformation of the Moscow metro into a great public art gallery and visits the most stunning creation of post-war Communist rule, the Space Monument.

Finally, he comes to the confusion and chaos of Russia today and how it is producing some of the world's strangest art - from heroic sculptures of Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the insides of a giant erotic apple; from the recreation of the Imperial royal family facing the firing squad to sculpture in liquid oil; from Russia's embrace of the commercial art market to a return to Socialist Realism. Russia seems to stand on another brink of revolution.


SUN 20:00 The Magnificent Ambersons (b0078b9s)
Orson Welles's period drama telling the story of a wilful son of the proud Amberson family who destroys his mother's hopes of marrying her first love - a recent widower. Refusing to move with the times, he not only causes his mother to suffer but also brings about his own financial ruin.

Based on the novel by Booth Tarkington.


SUN 21:30 Orson Welles over Europe (b00phtpq)
When Orson Welles went into self-imposed exile in Europe, he first found stardom with The Third Man and then immersed himself in challenging films, television, theatre and bullfighting. Simon Callow trails the complex actor-director.


SUN 22:30 Cranford: Under the Bonnet (b00pk5nz)
Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell's tale of a 19th-century town and its female residents, has gripped the imagination of generations of readers and now television viewers. Actor Simon Woods, who played Dr Harrison in the first series, is the guide for an exclusive journey behind the scenes of the BBC One series to explore the amazing success of Gaskell's work.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.


SUN 23:00 Arena (b00plc6x)
The Orson Welles Story

The Orson Welles Story - Part 2

Second of a two-part profile of Orson Welles, looking at films including The Trial, Chimes at Midnight, The Immortal Story and F for Fake and discussing his many unfinished projects, including The Other Side of the Wind and Don Quixote.


SUN 23:55 The Stranger (b0079704)
Drama in which a federal agent is assigned to track down an escaped Nazi war criminal, and eventually finds him in a small Connecticut village.


SUN 01:30 The Orson Welles Sketchbook (b00plhsq)
Episode 5

Series of talks by Orson Welles, illustrated by his own sketches.


SUN 01:45 Orson Welles over Europe (b00phtpq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]


SUN 02:45 Cranford: Under the Bonnet (b00pk5nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


SUN 03:15 The Art of Russia (b00phtcz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 28 DECEMBER 2009

MON 19:00 Victorian Farm Christmas (b00pccnn)
Episode 1

Historical reality programme. The Victorian farmers - Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn - return to the Acton Scott estate in Shropshire to celebrate a traditional Victorian Christmas.

There's an enormous amount of farm work to be done on the estate in the lead-up to the festive season, including the hay harvest, to make food for the animals over winter. Having been thwarted last time by rain, the team anxiously monitor the weather.

Peter travels to the Royal Agricultural Society's annual show with sheep expert Richard Spencer to choose a new ram for the flock; back at the farm, Ruth makes mincemeat for the Christmas mince pies. She also prepares for the hoped-for hay harvest celebration with some essentials - bread and butter.


MON 20:00 Electric Dreams (b00n1j8n)
1970s

A family and their home are stripped of all their modern technology to live a life of decades past.

The family must live through the digital wilderness of the 1970s at a rate of a year per day, starting in 1970. They have their very own technical support team to source and supply them with the vintage technology that would have been available to British households during the decade.

By modern standards the 1970s are decidedly low-tech and the family face many challenges. They endure a spell without central heating and get to grips with the suburban favourite, the teasmade. They see the effects of 70s industrial unrest on their home when they experience a power cut and home entertainment becomes even more limited when their newly-arrived colour television breaks down.

But it's not all grim - the arrival of chopper bikes, the first video game and a mix-tape expert who shows them how to create the soundtrack for their very own slide show all help to prove that life in the 1970s had its upside too.


MON 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.


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 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 00:20 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00dzzv2)
Part I

Concentrating on the 1970s (1969 to 1981 to be exact) and ransacking a host of BBC shows from The Old Grey Whistle Test to Sight & Sound, this compilation is designed to release the air guitarist in everyone, combining great electric guitarists like Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler, The Edge and Peter Green with acoustic masters like John Martyn, Pentangle and Paco Pena.


MON 01:20 Electric Dreams (b00n1j8n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:20 Being Neil Armstrong (b00lkvln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 03:20 Apollo Wives (b00lkvtt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



TUESDAY 29 DECEMBER 2009

TUE 19:00 Victorian Farm Christmas (b00pgwn0)
Episode 2

The Victorian farm team tackle their biggest project yet: restoring the village blacksmith's forge. First they must make bricks to restore the chimney - a full five day and night process in which the farmer gets no sleep.

As winter marches on and Christmas nears, they must source a yule log: firewood to burn for the Twelve Days of Christmas. At the cottage, Ruth winter-proofs the house, making a paper blanket and remedies for chilblains, rheumatism, coughs and colds.

It is also a chance to begin preparations for the Christmas banquet in earnest - in particular, a very Victorian invention, Christmas crackers. Ruth enlists the help of Christmas cracker historian Peter Kimpton.


TUE 20:00 Electric Dreams (b00n59t4)
1980s

A family and their home are stripped of all their modern technology to live a life of decades past.

The family must live through the digital wilderness of the 1980s at a rate of a year per day, starting in 1980. They have their very own technical support team who source and supply them with the vintage technology that would have been available to British households during the decade, including iconic technology such as the Walkman, Game and Watch and the CD player.

For a modern family it is a decade of challenges. In 1980 they attempt to cook a roast dinner in a microwave oven, as consumers of the time were encouraged to do. They are faced with a bewildering choice of home computers in 1982 and the arduous task of finding a rental shop that still supplies films on video cassette for their newly-arrived VHS player.

Dad takes a spin in the most famous technological flop of the decade, the Sinclair C5, but the family do experience an 80s success story when New Wave icons Ultravox pay a surprise visit to demonstrate the synthesiser technology which soundtracked the era.


TUE 21:00 Enid (b00nxkm8)
Illuminating and surprising drama telling the story of arguably the most popular children's storyteller of all, Enid Blyton.

It reveals how Blyton became the writer who would capture more youthful imaginations than anyone else, following her career from ambitious, driven and as yet unpublished young woman to household name and moral guardian, while glimpsing her own childhood - a dark time, far from the carefree, happy idyll portrayed in her books.

Through marriages and children, the roles of Enid the wife (to Hugh and then Kenneth) and mother are portrayed, ones she struggled to fulfil while balancing them with her extraordinary output.

The film also uncovers a strong and resourceful woman; a woman who never really grew up; a woman who rewrote the endings of many chapters of her real life, sometimes with cruel and hurtful results; and a woman whose legacy has often been criticised but whose success cannot be argued with, who gave children the stories they wanted.


TUE 22:25 A Child's Christmases in Wales (b00pgr8x)
One-off period comedy, peeping into the lives of a south Wales family's Christmases across the 1980s, written by comedian Mark Watson and inspired by a Dylan Thomas short story. Christmas in this household may be a less than poetic affair, but it is just as eventful. So much changes across a decade in any family, and yet so much manages to remain the same.


TUE 23:25 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 23:55 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00lk48h)
Part II

A celebration of Seventies-era axe-men, acoustic virtuosos and thumping riff merchants, in a compilation of guitar-heavy performances from the BBC TV archives.

Guitar gods including Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Peter Green and Johnny Winter are joined by, among others, flamenco maestro Manitas De Plata, bottleneck bluesman Ry Cooder and straight-up rockers AC/DC and Thin Lizzy.

Everything from Fleetwood Mac's ambient masterpiece Albatross to hits like The Jam's In The City and Free's All Right Now feature along with lesser-known gems like Maid in Heaven by Be Bop Deluxe and Nils Lofgren's Keith Don't Go.

The tracks were recorded in the heyday of BBC shows such as The Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Rock Goes to College.


TUE 00:55 Electric Dreams (b00n59t4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 01:55 Enid (b00nxkm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 03:20 A Child's Christmases in Wales (b00pgr8x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:25 today]



WEDNESDAY 30 DECEMBER 2009

WED 19:00 Victorian Farm Christmas (b00plmtx)
Episode 3

Christmas is coming to Acton Scott, but first there's a huge amount of preparation to do. Ruth Goodman and food historian Ivan Day try their hand at making a Christmas pudding using the same methods as Bob Cratchit's wife in A Christmas Carol.

Meanwhile, Alex and Peter light the forge for the first time to re-shoe the farm workhorse Clumper - the first time a horse has been shod at this forge in over five decades.

Alex goes in search of a Christmas tree for the banquet, while Ruth and Peter head for the Victorian town of Blists Hill for Christmas shopping. At the cottage, Ruth meets Debbie Bamford to dye an array of colourful Christmas ribbons to decorate the tree and the presents that sit beneath it.

Finally it's time for the Christmas meal in the estate's School Hall. With a rapturous toast to Queen Victoria and a quick trip to the cattle shed to wassail the animals, day turns into night and the drunken Victorian parlour games commence. The next morning it'll be time for the team to bid a fond farewell to Mr Acton as they depart Acton Scott for good.


WED 20:00 Electric Dreams (b00n90xc)
1990s

A family and their home are stripped of all their modern technology to live a life of decades past.

The family must live through the communication and home entertainment revolution of the 1990s, at a rate of a year per day, starting in 1990. They have their own Technical Support Team to source and supply them with the vintage technology that would have been available to British households during the decade.

They attempt to stay in touch using pagers and take a giant mobile phone and a rudimentary digital camera on a day trip to Paris in honour of the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994. Workplace technology becomes increasingly portable, but a home without access to the internet proves frustrating and the arrival of the 1990s world wide web is a far cry from what the kids are used to.

The 1990s see a whirlwind of technological progress and the family are inundated with gadgets and upgrades that infiltrate every area of their home. They are left reeling by the pace of change and surprised by the impact of 1990s tech on family life.


WED 21:00 Sounds of the 80s (b0074spn)
A nostalgic look back at some 1980s music.


WED 21:05 Micro Men (b00n5b92)
Affectionately comic drama about the British home computer boom of the early 1980s.

Legendary inventor Clive Sinclair battles it out with ex-employee Chris Curry, founder of Acorn Computers, for dominance in the fledgling market.

The rivalry comes to a head when the BBC announce their Computer Literacy Project, with the stated aim of putting a micro in every school in Britain. When Acorn wins the contract, Sinclair is furious, and determines to outsell the BBC Micro with his ZX Spectrum computer.

Home computing arrives in Britain in a big way, but is the country big enough for both men?


WED 22:30 We Need Answers (b00pl05t)
Series 2

Language

Anarchic comedy game show in which celebrity guests answer questions set by the public.

Mark Watson hosts, Tim Key is in the questionmaster's chair and Alex Horne provides expert analysis from a booth as two celebrities battle it out to be crowned the winner and avoid the shame of donning 'The Clogs of Defeat'.

Former EastEnder and comic actress Tracy-Ann Oberman competes against best-selling author of The Long Firm and He Kills Coppers, Jake Arnott.

The rules are simple - contestants must match their answer to the one given by a text answering service. Questions range from 'How many pints of cider make up one portion of my fruit intake a day?' to 'How long would it take to drink Lake Windermere?'.

In the cunning physical challenge which pits the contestants against each other, Tracey-Ann takes on Jake in composing a sentence using alphabet spaghetti.


WED 23:00 Cowards (b00hd1tw)
Episode 3

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.

The team of Tom Basden, Stefan Golaszewski, Tim Key and Lloyd Woolf have honed their voice over two acclaimed Edinburgh Festival shows, a returning series on Radio 4 and the first online sketch show for BBC3. Their highly-accomplished TV debut is a thrilling new arrival in the comedy landscape.

With top comedy director Steve Bendelack (League of Gentlemen, Little Britain, The Royle Family, Mighty Boosh) at the helm, Cowards is a funny, visually-arresting show performed with skill and subtlety by four of the best young writer-performers around.


WED 23:30 Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe (b00n1j8q)
Charlie Brooker sets his caustic sights on video games. Expect acerbic comment as he looks at the various genres, how they have changed since their early conception and how the media represents games and gamers. Features interviews with Dara O Briain, sitcom scribe Graham Linehan and Rab and Ryan from Consolevania.


WED 00:20 Games Britannia (b00phmrs)
Joystick Generation

Three-part series presented by historian Benjamin Woolley about popular games in Britain from the Iron Age to the Information Age, in which he unravels how an apparently trivial pursuit is a rich and entertaining source of cultural and social history.

In the final part, Woolley explores the journey games have taken from the board to the screen, reflecting the rapidly changing history of modern Britain.

In the 1980s, the power of our imagination was harnessed in early video games like Elite, putting the audience at the heart of a space adventure they could influence. The British boom years of the 90s introduced characters like Lara Croft to a world beyond video games and players were propelled into the internet age.

Woolley's investigation leads to the present day, where he finds our morality tested in the world of Grand Theft Auto and our identity becoming transported to the digital domain with virtual realms like Runescape and World of Warcraft.


WED 01:20 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.


WED 02:20 Electric Dreams (b00n90xc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 03:20 Micro Men (b00n5b92)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:05 today]



THURSDAY 31 DECEMBER 2009

THU 19:00 Amazing Gracie: The Gracie Fields Story (b0074qlt)
A look at the legacy of actress, singer and comedienne Gracie Fields who, during her lifetime, was a national institution. Through interviews and some previously unseen archive footage, the programme explores the extraordinary singing voice, comic genius and unique talent that made her arguably the greatest female entertainer Britain has ever produced.

'Our Gracie' was one of the world's first megastars: not so much a person as an event. The secret of her popularity lay in her relationship with her audience, as she goaded them into enjoyment, fed them the kind of cheek that passes for affection and appealed to a shared contempt for pretension.

Her films were sentimental and reassuring, but they also tapped into real social anxieties and reflected the spirit of a troubled pre-war decade. When the press began its lengthy campaign of vilification against her, after she moved to America during World War Two to prevent her Italian husband from being interned, the public, by and large, remained loyal. From her triumphant return to the London stage in the late 1940s until her death some 30 years later, she continued to maintain her place in the nation's heart.

Fields, although still a huge star in many people's living memory, encapsulates the spirit of a bygone age. It is too easy to say we don't make them like that anymore; the truth is, we no longer want to. Our national institutions are built on shakier foundations these days and the sheer uncomplicated pleasure that she delivered for the best part of a century seems a world away. This documentary reminds us of what we have lost.


THU 20:00 Gracie! (b00p1p41)
Singer and comedienne Gracie Fields from Rochdale was the nation's darling. Beginning on the cusp of World War II and at the phenomenal peak of her career, this heart-breaking love story tells of Gracie's relationship with Italian-born Hollywood director Monty Banks and its staggering repercussions.


THU 21:20 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00pjk73)
Part IV

Series featuring legendary guitarists treading the boards and trading licks at the BBC studios.

This edition kicks off with big hits from The Rolling Stones and David Bowie before taking things down a notch with the acoustic picking of Michael Chapman and the Irish mysticism of Horslips.

However, it's not long before the likes of Motorhead, Nazareth and straight-up blues rocker George Thorogood turn the volume right back up to 11. A spot of flamenco from Paco De Lucia and a classic track from Strat master Eric Clapton round off the show.

Filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops, Parkinson, Rock Goes to College and the Old Grey Whistle Test, these rocking tracks leave viewers wondering why pianos were ever invented.


THU 22:20 Wallander (b00pjk2l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


THU 23:50 We Need Answers (b00pl05t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Wednesday]


THU 00:20 Meet the British (b00kv0d0)
Semi-naked women, wurlitzers and prize goats are just a selection of items used by the British government to promote the country's image abroad.

For four decades, the government produced thousands of short films in order to sell an ideal Britain overseas and now, for the first time, they are shown to the country that inspired them.


THU 01:20 The Great British Foreign Holiday (b00k99g2)
Mark Benton has been abroad, he knows all about it: 'The British are an island race - abroad is really abroad, not just across the border but actually over the horizon. It's far away - outlandish, exotic and scary. Frankly, we're terrified of it.'

The Brits, foreign travel and all points in between - how we got there, what we did there and how we got back.


THU 02:20 The Great British Wedding (b00kk4qr)
Mark Benton narrates a step-by-step guide to how the Brits tie the knot. From the stag do to the table plan, from the rings to the first dance, this is a look at how the Brits just about manage to rise to the occasion on one of the most momentous days of our lives - the wedding day.


THU 03:20 The Great British Sunday (b008x370)
Comedian Sean Lock looks at what Sundays always meant to him - from hangovers to Jack Hargreaves, from Sunday school and stately homes to utter boredom.


THU 04:20 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00pjk73)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:20 today]



FRIDAY 01 JANUARY 2010

FRI 19:00 New Year's Day Concert (b00plhz1)
2010 - Highlights

Highlights from the Musikverein in Vienna, where the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform their annual celebratory concert of waltzes, polkas and marches, conducted for only the second time in his distinguished career by Georges Prêtre. To accompany some of the works by the Strauss family and other masters of popular Viennese music, there are performances by the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper Ballet. The concert is introduced by Brian Kay.


FRI 21:00 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00pjl55)
Part V

Series featuring legendary guitarists treading the boards and trading licks at the BBC studios. Expect riffs, solos and histrionics from the likes of Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls, Brian May from Queen, Duane Eddy, BB King and Joan Jett, filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Complete line-up:
Alice Cooper - School's Out
New York Dolls - Jet Boy
Peter Green - Heavy Heart
Queen - Killer Queen
Robin Trower - Alethea
Duane Eddy and the Rebelettes - Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar
John Martyn - Discover the Lover
Budgie - Who Do You Want For Your Love
Peter Frampton - Show Me the Way
BB King - When It All Comes Down
Whitesnake - Trouble
Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
The Skids - Into the Valley
Joan Jett - I Love Rock 'n' Roll.


FRI 22:00 Queen: The Legendary 1975 Concert (b00p4hgm)
On Christmas Eve 1975, Queen crowned a glorious year with a special concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon. The show on the final night of their triumphant UK tour was broadcast live on BBC TV and radio, and has become a legendary event in Queen's history.

Featuring stunning renditions of early hits Keep Yourself Alive, Liar and Now I'm Here alongside Brian May's epic guitar showcase Brighton Rock, a rip-roaring version of the then new Bohemian Rhapsody and the crowd-pleasing Rock 'n' Roll Medley, this hour-long concert shows Queen at an early peak and poised to conquer the world.


FRI 22:50 Sounds for Saturday: The Faces (b00phv9k)
Concert by the Faces, including the songs Maybe I'm Amazed, When Will I Be Loved and Miss Judy's Farm.


FRI 23:35 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00plj0l)
Part VI

In this sixth and final show to round out the Guitar Heroes series, axe fans get classic riffs from Pete Townshend as The Who play Won't Get Fooled Again, Rod and Ronnie with The Faces doing Miss Judy's Farm at the old BBC TV Theatre, some weird yodel-rock from Dutch prog rockers Focus, folky acoustic numbers from Davey Graham and Ralph McTell, and some flamboyant fretwork from Americans Nils Lofgren and Ted Nugent.

Filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test, these tracks pay tribute to a golden era in rock and to the last of the 70s Guitar Heroes.

Complete line-up:

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
The Faces - Miss Judy's Farm
Focus - Hocus Pocus
Man - Day and Night
Chris Spedding - Motor Bikin'
Nils Lofgren - Back It Up
The Cate Brothers - In One Eye and Out the Other
Ralph McTell - Dry Bone Rag
The Runaways - Wasted
The Motors - Dancing the Night Away
Ted Nugent - Free For All
The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love
Gary Moore - Back on the Streets
Judas Priest - Take on the World
Davey Graham - City and Suburban Blues
ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses.


FRI 00:35 Rock Goes to College (b00phv9m)
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Pete Drummond introduces Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in concert at Oxford Polytechnic in 1980.


FRI 01:20 Les Paul: Chasing Sound (b00dzzv0)
Documentary profiling the late Les Paul, creator of the solid-body electric guitar, inventor of overdubbing and multi-track recording, king of the 50s pop charts and rock 'n' roll icon.

Les Paul tells his own classic rags-to-riches story, featuring vintage archive and original performance footage of him and his Trio, original interviews with the likes of BB King, Jeff Beck, Jose Feliciano, Tony Bennett and Bonnie Raitt and copious contributions from the genius from Waukesha, Wisconsin, who died in 2009.

Paul was the last of that self-educated, brilliantly innovative generation of musicians and media pioneers who revolutionised popular music in the last century.


FRI 02:50 Peter Green: Man of the World (b00k92x1)
Legendary blues guitarist BB King named Peter Green as one of the greatest exponents of the blues, and the 'only guitar player to make me sweat'. If Green had only written Black Magic Woman, his name would still have a place in blues rock history forever.

His three short years leading Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac saw the band established as one of the biggest-selling groups of the 1960s. Yet at the height of their fame Green left the group, with his life spiralling into turmoil as drug-induced mental health issues took control. Rumours of his demise began to spread, and sightings of him became notorious.

After years battling his mental illness, Green wrote and recorded again. Featuring archive performances and interviews with Carlos Santana, Noel Gallagher, founding members of Fleetwood Mac and Green himself, this film tells the story of one of blues rock's living legends.




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

A Child's Christmases in Wales 22:25 TUE (b00pgr8x)

A Child's Christmases in Wales 03:20 TUE (b00pgr8x)

Amazing Gracie: The Gracie Fields Story 19:00 THU (b0074qlt)

Apollo Wives 22:00 MON (b00lkvtt)

Apollo Wives 03:20 MON (b00lkvtt)

Arena 23:00 SUN (b00plc6x)

Being Neil Armstrong 21:00 MON (b00lkvln)

Being Neil Armstrong 02:20 MON (b00lkvln)

Caravans: A British Love Affair 03:10 SAT (b00hw3s0)

Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe 23:30 WED (b00n1j8q)

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 22:30 SAT (b00pjj4s)

Cowards 23:40 SAT (b00gvhjn)

Cowards 23:25 TUE (b00h6syx)

Cowards 23:00 WED (b00hd1tw)

Cranford: Under the Bonnet 22:30 SUN (b00pk5nz)

Cranford: Under the Bonnet 02:45 SUN (b00pk5nz)

Electric Dreams 20:00 MON (b00n1j8n)

Electric Dreams 01:20 MON (b00n1j8n)

Electric Dreams 20:00 TUE (b00n59t4)

Electric Dreams 00:55 TUE (b00n59t4)

Electric Dreams 20:00 WED (b00n90xc)

Electric Dreams 02:20 WED (b00n90xc)

Enid 21:00 TUE (b00nxkm8)

Enid 01:55 TUE (b00nxkm8)

For All Mankind 23:00 MON (b00lkvtr)

Games Britannia 00:20 WED (b00phmrs)

Gracie! 20:00 THU (b00p1p41)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 00:20 MON (b00dzzv2)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 23:55 TUE (b00lk48h)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 01:20 WED (b00llh2f)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 21:20 THU (b00pjk73)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 04:20 THU (b00pjk73)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 21:00 FRI (b00pjl55)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 23:35 FRI (b00plj0l)

Les Paul: Chasing Sound 01:20 FRI (b00dzzv0)

Meet the British 00:20 THU (b00kv0d0)

Micro Men 21:05 WED (b00n5b92)

Micro Men 03:20 WED (b00n5b92)

New Year's Day Concert 19:00 FRI (b00plhz1)

Orson Welles over Europe 21:30 SUN (b00phtpq)

Orson Welles over Europe 01:45 SUN (b00phtpq)

Peter Green: Man of the World 02:50 FRI (b00k92x1)

Queen: The Legendary 1975 Concert 22:00 FRI (b00p4hgm)

Rock Goes to College 00:35 FRI (b00phv9m)

Sounds for Saturday: The Faces 22:50 FRI (b00phv9k)

Sounds of the 80s 21:00 WED (b0074spn)

The Art of Russia 19:00 SUN (b00phtcz)

The Art of Russia 03:15 SUN (b00phtcz)

The Great British Foreign Holiday 01:20 THU (b00k99g2)

The Great British Sunday 03:20 THU (b008x370)

The Great British Wedding 02:20 THU (b00kk4qr)

The Magnificent Ambersons 20:00 SUN (b0078b9s)

The Orson Welles Sketchbook 19:00 SAT (b00plbtd)

The Orson Welles Sketchbook 01:30 SUN (b00plhsq)

The Secret Life of the Motorway 00:10 SAT (b007x58q)

The Secret Life of the Motorway 01:10 SAT (b007xmbm)

The Secret Life of the Motorway 02:10 SAT (b007xmdn)

The Stranger 23:55 SUN (b0079704)

The Third Man 19:15 SAT (b0074qmr)

Victorian Farm Christmas 19:00 MON (b00pccnn)

Victorian Farm Christmas 19:00 TUE (b00pgwn0)

Victorian Farm Christmas 19:00 WED (b00plmtx)

Wallander 21:00 SAT (b00pjk2l)

Wallander 22:20 THU (b00pjk2l)

We Need Answers 23:10 SAT (b00pht5v)

We Need Answers 22:30 WED (b00pl05t)

We Need Answers 23:50 THU (b00pl05t)