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 30 JANUARY 2010

SAT 19:00 Hamlet (b00pk71s)
David Tennant stars in a film of the Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning production of Shakespeare's great play. Director Gregory Doran's modern-dress production was hailed by the critics as thrilling, fast-moving and, in parts, very funny.

Hamlet must decide whether to avenge his father's murder at the hands of his uncle Claudius (played by Patrick Stewart), who has married his brother's wife - Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. This visually sumptuous screen version was filmed on location with all of the original stage cast.

BBC Productions in association with Illuminations and the Royal Shakespeare Company.


SAT 22:05 The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra at the Barbican (b00qbzxv)
One of the greatest Latin bands, the Big 3 Palladium Orchestra, takes to the stage at London's Barbican for a unique concert. They embody the spirit of the original Mambo Kings and perform the music of the three legendary bandleaders and composers - Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente - who set light to the dance floor of New York's Palladium Ballroom throughout the 1950s.

The Orchestra contains members who played in the original Palladium Ballroom and is fronted by Machito Jr (son of the original bandleader, Machito AKA Frank Grillo) and Tito Rodriguez Jr (son of the legendary singer). Joining this scorching ensemble are guest soloists, legendary Fania pianist and producer Larry Harlow and trombonist Jimmy Bosch.

The Orchestra is the brainchild of Machito Jr, who approached the Puente and Rodriguez families to recreate the music of this golden era, and the band has quickly become recognised as probably the finest Latin Jazz ensemble in the USA. Much of the music is based on historic charts by the three original bandleaders, and the Barbican concert explores a repertoire from the beginnings of Mambo right through to the explosive and enduring sound created in the hot house of the Fania label - a sound which has been one of the defining styles of salsa.


SAT 23:05 Nurse Jackie (b00qhl15)
Series 1

Pupil

Drama series about Jackie Peyton, a no-nonsense emergency room nurse based in New York who has to balance her frenzied job with a complicated home life.

Jackie discovers that a new temp nurse is using drugs, but when she confronts him he calls her a hypocrite. Mrs Akalitus still has the foundling infant left at the hospital. Coop reveals to Eddie that Jackie has a child.


SAT 23:35 The Armstrong and Miller Show (b008bycn)
Series 1

Episode 4

Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller star in a sketch show in which scratching beneath the surface of po-faced British respectability reveals a wealth of great characters.


SAT 00:05 The Thick of It (b00ntrkp)
Series 3

Episode 3

Nicola Murray is stuck in an Eastbourne hotel bedroom with nothing but a laptop, a printer and a tiny kettle while she and Olly try to finish her speech for the annual party conference. It's not going well.

But Glenn has brought in his secret weapon - Julie Price, tragic widow, people's champion and regional photo opportunity. Is this the breakthrough they need, or the start of a tug-of-Julie with Malcolm Tucker?


SAT 00:35 BBC Proms (b00ml71k)
2009

Prom 73: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Charles Hazlewood presents as the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra bring two great symphonies to the Proms with Haydn's Symphony No 98 in B-flat and Schubert's 'Great' Symphony No 9 in C. Conducted by Franz Welser-Most.


SAT 02:25 The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra at the Barbican (b00qbzxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:05 today]



SUNDAY 31 JANUARY 2010

SUN 19:00 The Andy Williams Show (b00n5bt9)
Duets

Compilation of the best duets selected from crooner Andy Williams's private archive of his weekly 1960s variety show on NBC. The show attracted the cream of the crop from the world of showbiz, from Bing Crosby and Ray Charles to Johnny Mathis and Ella Fitzgerald, who were more than happy to share the microphone with the king of easy listening.

Including Over the Rainbow with Judy Garland, and Andy at the piano with Ray Charles for What'd I Say.


SUN 20:00 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b00qbytc)
Series 1

West Africa

Four-part series in which British art historian Dr Gus Casely-Hayford explores the pre-colonial history of some of Africa's most important kingdoms.

The African continent is home to nearly a billion people. It has an incredible diversity of communities and cultures, yet we know less of its history than almost anywhere else on earth.

But that is beginning to change. In the last few decades researchers and archaeologists have begun to uncover a range of histories as impressive and extraordinary as anywhere else in the world.

The series reveals that Africa's stories are preserved for us in its treasures, statues and ancient buildings - in the culture, art and legends of the people.

When magnificent 16th-century bronze casts were discovered in the kingdom of Benin in 1897, many could not believe they had been made by Africans. It was thought West Africa lacked the technical development required to make them. Dr Casely-Hayford travels to present-day Nigeria and Mali in search of the truth, exploring what the bronzes mean, how the technology to make them developed, and what it reveals about the lost kingdoms of West Africa.


SUN 20:50 Around the World in 80 Treasures (b00qg8jb)
Series 1

Mali: Dogon

Dan Cruickshank visits the Dogon people and sees some masks and wall paintings.


SUN 21:00 Watching the Dead (b00mwr1v)
Documentary which explores television's fascination with forensics, revisiting classic shows like Quincy and Marius Goring's The Expert and looking at the appeal of contemporary dramas such as Silent Witness, Waking the Dead and CSI.

The film examines how scientific advances like genetic fingerprinting have been reflected in the crime drama, finds out how pathology got so sexy, how accurate the science shown on screen actually is, and how TV cops solved crimes before DNA.

Contributors include Sue Johnston from Waking the Dead, Tom Ward and William Gaminara from Silent Witness, and old Quincy himself, Jack Klugman. Plus comment from crime writers, scientists and detectives.


SUN 22:00 Latin Music USA (b00qbzxs)
East Side Story

The first of a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA.

The massive success of Santana's innovative Latin-blues at the Woodstock Festival leads back in time to the first Cuban immigrants arriving, with their Afro-Cuban music, into the States. Using feature film clips, rare archive and location filming, the programme examines how Afro-Cuban music has impacted - since early last century - on jazz, pop rhythms and dance styles.

From Cuban rumba to New York mambo, Latin music enthralled 1950s America, challenging racial attitudes and changing the stereotypes projected in movies like West Side Story. It influenced Hollywood, TV sitcoms and 60s rock 'n' roll, as the Beatles and many American R&B bands absorbed Latin rhythms into the wider worlds of rock music, fashion and culture.

Featuring Carlos Santana, Cachao, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie and the greatest names in Afro-Cuban music.


SUN 23:00 Mad Men (b00qgtm9)
Series 3

Out of Town

Don and Sal take a trip to Baltimore, where Don discovers Sal's secret. Lane Pryce, the new British financial officer, makes a tough decision and it affects and bemuses Pete and Ken.


SUN 23:45 Mad Men (b00qgtmc)
Series 3

Love among the Ruins

Don's father-in-law pays a visit to his daughter's family. Peggy works hard on a campaign while the firm tries to decide if they will accommodate an unusual request from a client. Roger plans a wedding.


SUN 00:35 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b00qbytc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 01:25 Watching the Dead (b00mwr1v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 02:25 Latin Music USA (b00qbzxs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


SUN 03:25 Mad Men (b00qgtm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]


SUN 04:10 Mad Men (b00qgtmc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 today]



MONDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2010

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00qjnjj)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Shooting the War (b00qcn2f)
Children

Series looking at how the Second World War was documented by German and British home movie makers.

This programme is about the experience of children during the war, seen through the films of them shot by parents, friends and teachers. The films, and the recollections of the children in them, capture the initial novelty of war, but also the later reality of death and loss.

In Britain, filmmakers were on hand to witness the first event of war, evacuation. Eric Powell, a young cine enthusiast from Wiltshire, filmed the arrival of Marion, a girl from London, as she became part of his family. The recollections bring the reality of the transformation of children's lives to the viewer.

Film shot by the head of Elworth School in Cheshire is recalled by teacher Veronica Kirk and pupil John Owen. The film shows the way the school adapted to war - the school garden turned over to vegetables, children conducting first aid, air raid shelter practice and reality of air attack.

It was much the same in Germany and those looking back on their childhood recall the impact of Hitler on them, the changes at school and at home, the terror of the Jewish school child and the sorrow of the children at the end of the war, living in destitution as their parents were forced to sell toys for bread.

Rainer and Wolfgang Fritz grew up in Stuttgart and remember how their father filmed the building of the community air raid shelter. He filmed his family through the war and was on hand, with the camera, when the family house was destroyed by bombing in 1944.

Life for Jewish child Inge Deutschkron was even worse. She grew up in Berlin and attended the Jewish school in the city. Most of her classmates died in concentration camps, but she stayed in Berlin, in hiding, and survived.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00qjnjl)
Series 3

Neuroscientists v Rugby Fans

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

Three neuroscientists hailing from Australia, South Africa and Canada scrum down against the intellectual brawn of three rugby fans, as they compete to draw together the connections between many disparate elements that, at first glance, seem utterly bereft of associations.

So what connects cream, quotation marks, tennis matches and yellow lines?


MON 21:00 Murder on the Lake (b00qjngb)
Joan Root, with her husband Alan, produced beautiful and famous natural history films, born of her deep love of Africa and its flora and fauna. This delicate but determined member of Kenya's Happy Valley was gunned down in January 2006 by intruders bearing AK-47s. Four men were charged with her murder, including David Chege, the leader of a private vigilante group Root herself had financed to stop the illegal fishing that was killing Lake Naivasha, the beautiful lake beside which she lived.

Chege was from Karagita, the largest of the slums that has sprung up beside the lake in the last twenty years. In that time, the population of Naivasha has rocketed from 30,000 to 350,000 as a desperate tide of impoverished migrant workers arrived in search of employment on Kenya's flourishing flower farms. This has created squalor, crime and, in the minds of Root and her fellow naturalists, ecological apocalypse.

This film tells the story of the extraordinary life and brutal death of Joan Root, and of her campaign to save the lake she loved. Who killed Joan Root? Was it the fish poachers, whom Root stopped from plying their illegal trade in a bid to save her beloved Lake Naivasha? Was it her loyal lieutenant Chege, whom Root ultimately cut off from her payroll? Or was it one of her white neighbours, with whom Root had feuded?

Through the telling of Root's story, the film opens a window onto contemporary Africa and the developed world's relationship to it. For it is the Kenyan rose, which is exported by the millions on a daily basis from Naivasha, that has brought not just jobs and foreign exchange earnings, but a population explosion that has caused the destruction of the environment Root worked so hard to stop. Her campaign may have ultimately cost her her life.


MON 22:30 White Mischief (b007bh7w)
Drama, set in Kenya in 1940 and based on a true story. Untouched by World War II, the British aristocrats in Happy Valley continue their life of decadence, drugs and sexual intrigue. Sir 'Jock' Delves Broughton enters this highly-charged atmosphere with his beautiful young wife, Diana, and the stage is set for tragedy. Within days of her arrival, Diana meets and falls passionately in love with Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll - an affair destined to rock society and lead to brutal murder.


MON 00:15 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qck1t)
The Order of the Elements

The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. From fiery phosphorus to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements - the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood.

In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.

In part two, Professor Al-Khalili looks at the 19th-century chemists who struggled to impose an order on the apparently random world of the elements. From working out how many there were to discovering their unique relationships with each other, the early scientists' bid to decode the hidden order of the elements was driven by false starts and bitter disputes. But ultimately the quest would lead to one of chemistry's most beautiful intellectual creations - the periodic table.


MON 01:15 Only Connect (b00qjnjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 01:45 Murder on the Lake (b00qjngb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 03:15 Shooting the War (b00qcn2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 02 FEBRUARY 2010

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00qjnky)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Hidden Histories (b00nyx2z)
Series 2

Episode 2

Huw Edwards narrates another series looking at the hidden histories of Wales through the work of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments.

This episode looks at how laser scanning has brought a totally new dimension to the history of a quarry in North Wales. Plus, the rediscovery of a medieval fish trap in Fishguard harbour and an architect who built his ideal village at Llanfairfechan.


TUE 20:00 Timeshift (b00p8lhp)
Series 9

How to Win at Chess

Many people know the basic rules of chess, but few can play really well. This programme offers some essential tips on how to raise our game.

British grandmasters Dan King and Ray Keene go through a special demonstration game from opening gambit to checkmate, revealing the key moves that can lead to victory. They explain the opening, middle and end games, and how to outwit an opponent with techniques such as forks, pins and skewers.

Along the way the colourful and diverse world of British chess playing is celebrated, including speed chess and chess boxing, and useful advice is offered on how not to be humiliated by a child prodigy.

Also taking part are novelist Martin Amis, writer Dominic Lawson, Britain's youngest grandmaster David Howell and under-16 champion Sheila Dines.


TUE 21:00 Storyville (b00qjnjn)
Last White Man Standing

Tom Cholmondeley, heir to one of the largest estates in Kenya and the Lord Delamere title, stands accused of murder in Nairobi, charged with killing black poacher Robert Njoya on his land. If convicted, Cholmondeley could hang. Serah Njoya, the widow with four children who lives on the edge of the Delamere estate, wants her husband's killer brought to justice.

The trial has gripped the nation, and is seen as a symptom of the contrast between the lives of a few wealthy Kenyan landowners and the many eking out an existence on the margins of society.

With access to all the key participants in the trial, this documentary follows the case till after the judgement and features contributions from Lord and Lady Delamere, Tom Cholmondeley's girlfriend Sally Dudmesh, Serah Njoya, defence lawyer Fred Ojiambo, Carl Tundo and his parents, Fred and Lynn Tundo, the prosecutor Tobiko and Cholmondeley's godmother Tobina Cole.


TUE 22:00 We Need Answers (b00qjnl0)
Series 2

Media and Eating

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'.

Broadcaster and campaigner Esther Rantzen takes on sports journalist and broadcaster John Inverdale.

The rules are simple - contestants must match their answer to the one given by a text answering service. Questions range from 'What's the bendiest road in Britain?' to 'Can a dog hold a microphone?'.

In the cunning physical challenge which pits the contestants against each other, Esther and John compete in a name-dropping contest - literally.


TUE 22:30 Newswipe (b00qjnl2)
Series 2

Episode 3

Charlie Brooker squeezes more fun out of the news with the usual mix of comedians, reports and gags, this time looking at celebrities in the news. Will simply mentioning the likes of Russell Brand, Jedward and Megan Fox in this billing make people more likely to tune in?


TUE 23:00 Timeshift (b00p8lhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 00:00 Storyville (b00qjnjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 01:00 Newswipe (b00qjnl2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


TUE 01:30 Hop, Skip and Jump: The Story of Children's Play (b00p8lhr)
The Great Outdoors

Two-part series which tells the story of children's outdoor games in 20th-century Britain begins by looking at British children at play between the 1900s and the mid-1950s.

It is a journey into a secret world of adventure and imagination that blossomed in the nation's streets, back alleys and playgrounds. The children's songs and games were passed down from one generation to the next and remain an abiding memory for most grown-ups. Playing on the streets was the defining feature of a working class childhood.

But the freedom they enjoyed meant they often got into trouble; none more so than the tribal gangs of boys who named themselves after the places where they lived. The programme highlights how children's play varied between city and country, between the different social classes and between boys and girls.


TUE 02:30 Hop, Skip and Jump: The Story of Children's Play (b00pf049)
Moving Indoors

Two-part series which tells the story of children's outdoor games in 20th-century Britain.

The mid to late 1950s are generally considered to be the highpoint of children's outdoor play. The benefits of the welfare state, better health care for children and an improving standard of living all helped create a final heyday of the singing street. All the traditional outdoor games - and new ones - were thriving in the cities and the countryside.

However, outdoor play was to dramatically change from the late 1950s onwards. Mass car ownership and the advent of 'stranger danger' made the streets more perilous, while the coming of mass television provided a rival attraction - one that was favoured by all parents, as it was safe.

Television's influence inspired a new generation of children's games that were grafted onto the old. Popular songs, fashions, adventure programmes and news stories such as the conquest of space were all turned into a myriad of games and rhymes that reflected the modern world.

Even in the multilingual playgrounds of today, traditional games are still played, some of them with origins stretching back centuries. But they are complemented and enriched by Afro-Caribbean hip-hop raps, role plays that have been adapted from modern TV shows and dance steps from the latest music fashions.


TUE 03:30 We Need Answers (b00qjnl0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2010

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00qjnmw)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 A Taste of Iran (b00n59zt)
BBC journalist Sadeq Saba takes a personal journey around a country of which he is fiercely proud, and it soon becomes apparent that there is a lot more to Iran than nuclear standoffs and mullahs.

In a country suspicious of the outside media, this is a rare opportunity to meet ordinary Iranians going about their daily lives - shopping, cooking, working and having fun.

Saba banters with his feisty sister Fariba about women's rights, relaxes with tea pickers amid mountainous rolling plantations, braves leeches to joke with rice planters and receives tips on how to eat candy floss from the factory floor.

The recent political struggles are nowhere, partly because it was filmed before the contested election in June 2009 but also because what we are seeing is the essence of a deep sense of Persian identity, buffeted by struggles past and present yet still enduring.

Sadeq, who is the head of the BBC's Persian TV channel, relishes every encounter, be it gastronomic or historical. He visits the stunning ancient monument of Persepolis, hidden from the world until 70 years ago, wanders through ancient bazaars and takes a tour through the magnificent former capital of Isfahan.

Islam and its influence throughout society is apparent, but thriving communities of minority religions - Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews - are also in evidence.

Sadeq concludes that he comes from a rich and ancient culture which still lives on in the psyche of Iranians today. But it is the warmth, hospitality and sense of fun that shines through.


WED 21:00 Shooting the War (b00qjnmy)
Women

Series looking at how WW2 was documented by both German and British home movie makers.

Women who were drawn into the war were workers, mothers and combatants for the first time in history and those experiences were filmed, sometimes by women themselves.

In Germany, amateur filmmaker Elisabeth Wilms shot everyday life of women in her home city of Dortmund and as those lives changed she continued to record events, including the stunning films of the destitution experienced by women in the immediate aftermath of the blitz on her home town.

In Britain, Rosie Newman was doing very much the same, filming women as war changed their lives. She had remarkable access to the military and was able to capture the lives of woman at war in a way few others could match.

Jean Riesco's father filmed her life as she became a woman at the start of the war. Jean recalls how everyone felt that there was no point in being cautious, how she got married and had a child. Other women joined the war effort, some working for the first time. Anne Richmond joined the Land Army, Iris Watts made armaments and Betty Hockey danced for the troops.

It was the same in Germany. Renate Teller became a nurse, while Ilse Rohde, a member of the BDM, became a factory worker. The Jewish woman Esther Bejarano was a slave labourer in Auschwitz, her life saved by becoming a member of the Auschwitz orchestra.


WED 22:00 Mad Men (b00qjnnb)
Series 3

My Old Kentucky Home

A mandatory overtime session leaves the creatives trying to stave off late-night boredom. Roger throws a party, while Joan and Greg host one of their own; and Gene loses some money - he's sure it's been stolen.


WED 22:45 We Need Answers (b00qjnl0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Tuesday]


WED 23:20 Dinner with Portillo (b00mv9yb)
Why Should We Care About Scottish Independence?

By his own admission, Michael Portillo finds it difficult to get worked up either way about Scottish independence. But is he, and the English, too complacent? Would England suffer a crisis of identity without Scotland and could Scotland cope on its own? Should Scottish demands for independence be taken seriously? These are some of the questions that Michael Portillo and guests chew over in this edition of Dinner With Portillo.

At the table are columnist and broadcaster Rod Liddle; Scottish historian Michael Fry; former First Minister of Scotland, Henry McLeish; broadcaster and writer Hardeep Singh Kohli; Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at the University of Oxford; Tom Clougherty, Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute; and Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford.


WED 23:50 Shooting the War (b00qjnmy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 00:50 Timeshift (b00fh2bh)
Series 8

How to Solve a Cryptic Crossword

A look at the world of cryptic crosswords, offering up the secrets of these seemingly impenetrable puzzles.

Crossword setter Don Manley, AKA Quixote, reveals the tricks that compilers use to bamboozle and entertain solvers using a crossword he created especially for the programme.

We also find out why Britain became home to the cryptic crossword, how a crossword nearly put paid to the D-Day invasion and why London Underground is elevating the crossword to an art form.

Author Colin Dexter explains why Inspector Morse loved his crossword, Martin Bell reveals how his father became the first crossword setter of the Times without ever having solved one and the crossword editor of the Daily Telegraph opens up her postbag.

Also sharing their enthusiasm for cryptic crosswords are actors Prunella Scales and Simon Russell Beale, Val Gilbert of the Daily Telegraph and Jonathan Crowther, AKA Azed of the Times.


WED 01:50 A Taste of Iran (b00n59zt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 03:20 Shooting the War (b00qjnmy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2010

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00qjnq9)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Only Connect (b00qjnjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Monday]


THU 20:00 Light Fantastic (b0074qv9)
Let There Be Light

Series in which Professor Simon Schaffer explores man's fascination with light begins by revealing the unwitting role religion played in forging our scientific understanding of the properties of light.

He reveals the extraordinary lengths to which the early light pioneers went to unlock the mysteries of light. The Greek philosopher Empedocles marked his theory that light travels like laser beams from our eyes by throwing himself into the volcano Mount Etna.

The Roman Church's obsession with Easter forced it to turn a blind eye to its own doctrines, as the religious authorities sanctioned the conversion of cathedrals into massive sun clocks, a move that would eventually drive the rabidly anti-Catholic Isaac Newton to unravel the true essence of light.


THU 21:00 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qjnqc)
The Power of the Elements

The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. From fiery phosphorous to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements - the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood.

In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.

In the final part, Professor Al-Khalili uncovers tales of success and heartache in the story of chemists' battle to control and combine the elements, and build our modern world. He reveals the dramatic breakthroughs which harnessed their might to release almost unimaginable power, and he journeys to the centre of modern day alchemy, where scientists are attempting to command the extreme forces of nature and create brand new elements.


THU 22:00 Newswipe (b00qjnl2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]


THU 22:30 Watching the Dead (b00mwr1v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


THU 23:30 Dinner with Portillo (b00qbzxl)
Can Scientists Be Morally Neutral?

Over dinner, Michael Portillo and seven guests discuss whether scientists can be morally neutral in their pursuit of scientific knowledge. Should scientists take an ethical stand on how science is used? Should there be limits on what scientists are allowed to discover? What ethical dilemmas will be thrown up by the science of the future? Guests include Baroness Susan Greenfield, Mark Henderson and Bryan Appleyard.


THU 00:00 Newswipe (b00qjnl2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Tuesday]


THU 00:30 Games Britannia (b00p90d8)
Dicing with Destiny

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 part one, Woolley investigates how the instinct to play games is both as universal and elemental as language itself and takes us from 1st-century Britain to the Victorian era.

Ancient and medieval games were not just fun, they were fundamental, and often imbued with prophetic significance. By the late Middle Ages this spiritual element in games began to be lost as gaming became increasingly associated with gambling. Dice and card games abounded, but a moral backlash in Victorian times transformed games into moral educational tools.

This was also the era in which Britain established the world's first commercial games industry, with such classics as the Staunton Chess Set, Ludo and Snakes and Ladders leading the way, all adaptations of original games from other countries.

In the case of Snakes and Ladders, what once represented a Hindu journey to enlightenment was transformed into a popular but banal family favourite, and Woolley sees this as the perfect analogy for how the sacred energy which once imbued games had become gradually drained away by commercialisation.


THU 01:30 Games Britannia (b00pf0rr)
Monopolies and Mergers

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 part two, Woolley traces the surprising political and social impact that board games have had in Britain over the last 200 years. It was the British who developed the idea of the board game as an instrument of moral instruction and exported it to America. There, it was adapted to promote the American Dream of free enterprise and economic success.

This crusading element in board games is perhaps best exemplified by the best-selling game in history - Monopoly - which celebrated wealth and avarice in the wake of the Great Depression. Ironically, this most capitalist of games was derived from a radical socialist game first published in Britain in 1913.

Woolley goes on to trace the development of board games through their post-war heyday, when together with Cluedo and Scrabble, Monopoly formed a holy trinity of British family favourites that endures to this day.

Now in the information age, board games have evolved to include fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons - an American invention. The British continue to produce niche political games like War on Terror which plays on satire, but mainstream British games designers have joined the computer games revolution.


THU 02:30 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.


THU 03:30 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qjnqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 05 FEBRUARY 2010

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00qjnx9)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Ottorino Respighi: A Dream of Italy (b00qjnxc)
Set against the backdrop of the Italy that inspired him, Christopher Nupen's documentary explores composer Ottorini Respighi's least familiar but most characteristic works.

Though best-known for his three Roman tone poems The Fountains of Rome, The Pines of Rome and The Feste Romane, the film presents the more obscure music that illustrates Respighi's exceptional gifts. It also pays tribute to his wife Elsa Sangiacomo, who remained devoted to her husband and his music even years after his death.

Featured performers include Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Allegri String Quartet, Raphael Sommer, Zehava Gal and Christina Falk.


FRI 20:45 A Little Later (b00qn27h)
Latin

An eclectic sampling of just some of the Latin artists from North and South America and Cuba who have appeared on Jools Holland's show, with performances from Gloria Estefan, Ibrahim Ferrer of Buena Vista Social Club, Shakira and Larry Harlow's Latin Legends.


FRI 21:00 Latin Music USA (b00qjnxf)
Salsa

The second in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA.

Filmed in Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York City, it reveals the untold story of salsa music, which burst onto the New York scene in the late 1960s. It first evolved in the clubs of Havana, Cuba and soon became the vibrant sound of the New York barrios, where Puerto Ricans and Cubans settled amid poverty and discrimination.

Yet out of adversity came a thrilling and innovative dance music that became the voice and spirit of the Latin people in the 70s. From rebellious Latin Boogaloo to the shadowy empire of Fania Records, the story unfolds through the intimate memories of the 'Fania Family' - the greatest salsa musicians of their generation and the purveyors of a music that lives on today.

Featuring Ruben Blades, Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars.


FRI 22:00 La Excelencia at the Barbican (b00qjnxh)
Filmed live at the Barbican, La Excelencia are a vibrant 12-piece salsa orchestra from New York City who venerate and celebrate the vibe and sounds of the legendary Fania All Stars.

The band was founded by Julian Silva and Jose Vazquez-Cofresi in 2005 and created with the intention of bringing a new outlook to salsa music by being hip, young and writing about social issues, yet without losing the true roots of salsa. The hard life of the barrio is reflected in La Excelencia's music through their hardcore sounds known as 'salsa dura'.


FRI 23:00 Arena (b00qmxcl)
My Name Is Celia Cruz

The queen of salsa, Celia Cruz has been the most adored and dynamic singer in Latin America for more than four decades. Since she left Cuba at the time of the 1959 revolution with her band Sonora Matancera, she lived in New York and rose to international fame with the legendary Latin bands of Tito Puente and Johnny Pacheco, the creators of salsa.

This profile includes testimony from friends, fans, fellow professionals and a stunning performance at New York's world-famous Apollo Theatre.


FRI 00:05 Rhythms of the World (b00qmxdt)
Celia Cruz

Concert footage of Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz with Tito Puente and his orchestra and special guest Johnny Pacheco, filmed at the Apollo Theatre in New York.


FRI 00:50 White Mischief (b007bh7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 on Monday]


FRI 02:30 Latin Music USA (b00qjnxf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:30 La Excelencia at the Barbican (b00qjnxh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]




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

A Little Later 20:45 FRI (b00qn27h)

A Taste of Iran 19:30 WED (b00n59zt)

A Taste of Iran 01:50 WED (b00n59zt)

Arena 23:00 FRI (b00qmxcl)

Around the World in 80 Treasures 20:50 SUN (b00qg8jb)

BBC Proms 00:35 SAT (b00ml71k)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 00:15 MON (b00qck1t)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 21:00 THU (b00qjnqc)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 03:30 THU (b00qjnqc)

Dinner with Portillo 23:20 WED (b00mv9yb)

Dinner with Portillo 23:30 THU (b00qbzxl)

Games Britannia 00:30 THU (b00p90d8)

Games Britannia 01:30 THU (b00pf0rr)

Games Britannia 02:30 THU (b00phmrs)

Hamlet 19:00 SAT (b00pk71s)

Hidden Histories 19:30 TUE (b00nyx2z)

Hop, Skip and Jump: The Story of Children's Play 01:30 TUE (b00p8lhr)

Hop, Skip and Jump: The Story of Children's Play 02:30 TUE (b00pf049)

La Excelencia at the Barbican 22:00 FRI (b00qjnxh)

La Excelencia at the Barbican 03:30 FRI (b00qjnxh)

Latin Music USA 22:00 SUN (b00qbzxs)

Latin Music USA 02:25 SUN (b00qbzxs)

Latin Music USA 21:00 FRI (b00qjnxf)

Latin Music USA 02:30 FRI (b00qjnxf)

Light Fantastic 20:00 THU (b0074qv9)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 20:00 SUN (b00qbytc)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 00:35 SUN (b00qbytc)

Mad Men 23:00 SUN (b00qgtm9)

Mad Men 23:45 SUN (b00qgtmc)

Mad Men 03:25 SUN (b00qgtm9)

Mad Men 04:10 SUN (b00qgtmc)

Mad Men 22:00 WED (b00qjnnb)

Murder on the Lake 21:00 MON (b00qjngb)

Murder on the Lake 01:45 MON (b00qjngb)

Newswipe 22:30 TUE (b00qjnl2)

Newswipe 01:00 TUE (b00qjnl2)

Newswipe 22:00 THU (b00qjnl2)

Newswipe 00:00 THU (b00qjnl2)

Nurse Jackie 23:05 SAT (b00qhl15)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00qjnjl)

Only Connect 01:15 MON (b00qjnjl)

Only Connect 19:30 THU (b00qjnjl)

Ottorino Respighi: A Dream of Italy 19:30 FRI (b00qjnxc)

Rhythms of the World 00:05 FRI (b00qmxdt)

Shooting the War 19:30 MON (b00qcn2f)

Shooting the War 03:15 MON (b00qcn2f)

Shooting the War 21:00 WED (b00qjnmy)

Shooting the War 23:50 WED (b00qjnmy)

Shooting the War 03:20 WED (b00qjnmy)

Storyville 21:00 TUE (b00qjnjn)

Storyville 00:00 TUE (b00qjnjn)

The Andy Williams Show 19:00 SUN (b00n5bt9)

The Armstrong and Miller Show 23:35 SAT (b008bycn)

The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra at the Barbican 22:05 SAT (b00qbzxv)

The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra at the Barbican 02:25 SAT (b00qbzxv)

The Thick of It 00:05 SAT (b00ntrkp)

Timeshift 20:00 TUE (b00p8lhp)

Timeshift 23:00 TUE (b00p8lhp)

Timeshift 00:50 WED (b00fh2bh)

Watching the Dead 21:00 SUN (b00mwr1v)

Watching the Dead 01:25 SUN (b00mwr1v)

Watching the Dead 22:30 THU (b00mwr1v)

We Need Answers 22:00 TUE (b00qjnl0)

We Need Answers 03:30 TUE (b00qjnl0)

We Need Answers 22:45 WED (b00qjnl0)

White Mischief 22:30 MON (b007bh7w)

White Mischief 00:50 FRI (b007bh7w)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00qjnjj)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00qjnky)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00qjnmw)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00qjnq9)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00qjnx9)