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 JUNE 2010

SAT 19:00 Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions (b00gq43y)
One Million Heads, One Beautiful Mind

Extraordinary photography reveals the incredible swarm intelligence that lies behind animal invasions.

Millions of free-tailed bats form a living tornado in which complex information is exchanged. Huge shape-shifting shoals of herring use swarm intelligence to detect predators. Billions of alkali flies form a rolling wave to evade the gaping mouths of gulls. Vast numbers of shore birds synchronise their migration with swarming horseshoe crabs, a feat of timing unparalleled in the animal world.

Fire ants invade and destroy computer equipment and, when their nest is flooded, create living rafts with their bodies. Inside a driver ants' nest we discover the inner workings of a brain made from thousands of individuals. One swarm is even helping to save the planet from the greenhouse effect.

Incredible images show the true complexity of the swarm and how their intelligence impacts on our world.


SAT 20:00 A Century of Fatherhood (b00sv2ry)
The Good Father

Series which tells the story of the revolution in modern fatherhood in Britain during the last hundred years. Using intimate testimony, rare archive footage and the latest historical research it reveals the important, and often misunderstood, role played by fathers.

The opening part explodes the popular myth of the tyrannical Victorian-style father, whose children were seen and not heard. The majority of men did not harshly punish their children: they were good and devoted dads who took their job as provider and protector of their family seriously.

Those who tragically lost their lives in the First World War are still fondly remembered by sons and daughters today. Some dads even took part in the fathercraft movement that began in 1920 and which encouraged dads to change nappies and to form close relationships with their children from the beginning.


SAT 21:00 Glastonbury (b00syzqt)
2010

Jackson Browne

Mark Radcliffe introduces the Pyramid Stage performance by LA singer-songwriter Jackson Browne.


SAT 22:00 Glastonbury (b00syzqw)
2010

The National

Mark Radcliffe introduces Brooklyn band The National's performance on the Other Stage.


SAT 23:00 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.


SAT 00:20 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.


SAT 01:20 Legends (b0074svr)
Joyce Grenfell - Comedy with Breeding

In many ways Joyce Grenfell was the pioneer of British female comedy. Through her radio broadcasts, her St Trinian's films, and her regular appearances on BBC TV's Face the Music, Joyce was one of the most popular and enduring performers of her generation. But who was Joyce Grenfell and what was she really like?

Clive James, Maureen Lipman and Dillie Keane join a host of Joyce's friends and colleagues to paint a candid and affectionate portrait of this great British star.

Narrated by Cass Allen.


SAT 02:20 A Century of Fatherhood (b00sv2ry)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 03:20 Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions (b00gq43y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 27 JUNE 2010

SUN 19:00 Glastonbury (b00syzj9)
2010

Jack Johnson and Norah Jones

Mark Radcliffe introduces highlights from the king and queen of easy laid-back listening, Jack Johnson and Norah Jones, direct from the Pyramid Stage.


SUN 20:00 Glastonbury (b00syzjc)
2010

Toots and the Maytals

Mark Radcliffe introduces a set from Jamaica's Toots and the Maytals on the West Holts Stage, recorded at Glastonbury 2010.


SUN 21:00 Lennon Naked (b00sv451)
Christopher Eccleston is John Lennon in a drama which charts his transition from Beatle John to enduring and enigmatic icon.

Writer Robert Jones articulates the burden of genius, as well as issues of fatherhood and fame, covering a period of wildly fluctuating fortunes for Lennon from 1967-71. When the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein died unexpectedly in 1967 it was a turning point in Lennon's life and the film focuses on the turbulent and intense period of change that followed, and how John was haunted by his troubled childhood.

It also reveals the impact of re-establishing contact with his long-lost father and the events that led Lennon to shed everything both personally and creatively, including calling time on the Beatles. Meeting Yoko Ono was the catalyst for this new era and the film explores the development of their extraordinary relationship, their growing disillusionment with Britain and what caused Lennon to abandon the UK to start a new life in America - a process which ultimately led Lennon to record arguably the most powerful solo work of his career.


SUN 22:25 La Reine Margot (b0074n9l)
The intrigues, violence and sexual promiscuity of 16th-century France are uncompromisingly
portrayed in Patrice Chereau's adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's epic novel.

In 1572 Marguerite de Valois is forced into a political marriage with Henri de Navarre in an attempt to end the wars of religion. But Margot's vacillating brother, dominated by his unscrupulous mother, Catherine de'Medici, orders the killing of all protestants. The St Bartholomew's Day massacre forces Queen Margot to choose between her husband and her family - and gives her new a lover, the gallant La Mole.


SUN 00:40 France on a Plate (b00fvfmf)
Why does food mean so much more to the French than it does to us British? One reason is that from the time of Louis XIV to the present day, French kings, emperors, and presidents have used it as a tool of power and prestige.

In this unusual programme, cultural historian Andrew Hussey takes us on a gastronomic tour through French history - from Versailles, the spiritual centre of French power politics, and the birthplace of French cuisine, via the French Revolution and the creation of the Michelin guide, through to nouvelle cuisine and ethnic fusion food.

For Hussey, France emerges as 'the Republic of Food', a place where the health of both its democracy and its civilisation can at any one time be gauged by how well its people are being fed. Some of France's top chefs, including Paul Bocuse and Pierre Gagnaire are among those he meets on the way.


SUN 01:40 Lennon Naked (b00sv451)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 03:05 Glastonbury (b00syzj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 04:05 Glastonbury (b00syzjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 28 JUNE 2010

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00sxgsj)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Only Connect (b00lsz67)
Series 2

Mathematicians v Wordsmiths

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

Three maths graduates take on a team featuring a linguistics graduate, an English graduate and an IT developer who is also a proofreader. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random, from 'drip dry' to 'equal by definition' to 'MPs' obligation to vote' to 'exit 300yds ahead'.


MON 20:00 Medical Mavericks (b0074tfb)
Series 1

Diet and Disease

In the third episode of Medical Mavericks, Michael Mosley charts the extraordinary lengths doctors have gone to to uncover the connections between what we eat and what we die from.

It starts in the 18th century with 28 year-old Dr William Stark. Stark is a little-known hero of nutrition and the first doctor to systematically record the effect of different foods on his health. At the time food was seen simply as a form of fuel, it didn't really matter what you ate. To disprove this, Stark decided to live on nothing but bread and water, then slowly add new foods one at a time. He continued this punishing dietary experiment for nine long months. Tragically, just before adding fruit to his diet, he succumbed to scurvy. Stark died because he didn't know about vitamins and was unable to make the connection between his worsening health and the food he had been consuming. In fact, much of what we know today about which foods contain nutrients essential to our health is knowledge slowly and painfully acquired by self-experimenters.

Men like Dr Joseph Goldberger who, through eating a dying patient's excrement, found the true cause of a dreadful epidemic and changed forever what goes into our food, or like Dr Victor Herbert who proved the health benefits of folic acid by living on thrice-boiled hamburgers, marshmallows and jelly, a diet that almost killed him.

In the programme Michael Mosley also repeats the experiment of Dr Hugh Sinclair, who lived on nothing but seal meat and fish oil for six months to demonstrate its effect on his blood.

Finally, Michael meets Dave who practises Calorie Restriction, a lifelong self-experiment with the goal of extending his lifespan by 50 years. Could diet really hold the secret of a life without the diseases of aging?


MON 21:00 A Century of Fatherhood (b00sxgsl)
Fathers at War

Three-part series which tells the story of the revolution in modern fatherhood in Britain during the last hundred years. Using intimate testimony, rare archive and the latest historical research it reveals the very important, and often misunderstood, role played by fathers.

The Second World War took a generation of fathers away from home to serve in the war effort. They returned home strangers to their own families, some of them disabled and broken men. But in time many did adjust, and the deprivations of war made the simple pleasures of family life and fatherhood all the sweeter.

With the growing affluence of the 50s and 60s, some dads felt they were in paradise. Yet fathers soon found themselves fighting a new war - with their teenage sons and daughters, who wanted more freedom from parental control. Now, 50 years on, some of those teenagers desperately wish they had enjoyed a closer relationship with their fathers, but for most it is too late.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b00sxgsn)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil

At 14, Toronto school friends Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. Their band Anvil went on to become the 'demi-gods of Canadian metal', releasing 1982's Metal on Metal, which influenced a musical generation including Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax.

All those bands went on to sell millions of records but Anvil's career would take a different path - straight into obscurity. But Lips and Robb never gave up on their childhood dream and kept rocking, always believing that one day Anvil would taste the success that had so long eluded them.

The film follows Lips and Robb, now in their 50s, as they gear up to record their thirteenth album, This is Thirteen. Coping with increasingly impatient families, crippling mortgages and the effects of old age, they know this is their last chance to really make it.


MON 23:20 Diary of a Nobody (b0074tpx)
Episode 1

Andrew Davies's adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's novel about the diary of archetypal 'little man' Charles Pooter - endearing, yet obsessed with his own importance.


MON 23:50 A Century of Fatherhood (b00sxgsl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 00:50 Biology of Dads (b00rvv6t)
'Every child needs a father' is a phrase heard often enough, but is there any evidence to support it? In this enlightening documentary, child psychologist Laverne Antrobus goes on a quest to discover why a dad's relationship with his offspring is so important. She uncovers fascinating new research which is shedding light onto the science of fatherhood.

Laverne meets a new dad who is experiencing Couvade Syndrome, a condition sometimes known as 'sympathetic pregnancy'. She is keen to explore if the symptoms - which are similar to those felt by pregnant women, such as nausea and sickness - might be physiological as well as psychological. The dad takes a blood test shortly after the birth of his third child and Antrobus discovers that hormones could be the cause of his symptoms: possibly nature's way of 'priming' him to become a more nurturing father.

Laverne then meets one of the UK's leading experts in the father's role within the family. While observing father and toddler play in his lab, she finds out how the rough-and-tumble play they witness is classic 'dad behaviour'. It is believed that this type of fatherly play is essential in teaching toddlers the boundaries of aggression and discipline.

In the final investigation, Antrobus looks into recent research which claims that men who have a good relationship with their daughters can influence the kind of husband the daughters choose. The study also found that girls whose fathers were absent during their formative years tend to reach puberty sooner and age quicker. Laverne recruits a team of married women to take part in one final, fascinating experiment.


MON 01:50 Storyville (b00sxgsn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 03:10 A Century of Fatherhood (b00sxgsl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 29 JUNE 2010

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00sxh89)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Only Connect (b00lw5ck)
Series 2

History Boys v Rugby Boys

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

A team of three lovers of history square up to a trio of Welshmen devoted to their national game. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random: Mao Zedong, Snow White, Tilda Swinton and Lindow Man.


TUE 20:00 Legends (b0074svr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:20 on Saturday]


TUE 21:00 Timeshift (b00sxh8c)
Series 9

Disappearing Dad

Novelist Andrew Martin investigates the curious case of absent fathers in fiction. Far from being a repository of fatherly role models, English literature has preferred to do away with dads. If literary fathers survive the first chapter of a novel - which they often don't - their idea of quality time seems to be going off to kill foreigners or sailing round the world. Alternatively, they absent themselves mentally, brooding in their studies, conducting mysterious experiments and generally being keen on activities that can't possibly involve their children.

Surveying fathers in fiction from Austen and Dickens, via E Nesbit and the Just William stories, to the novels of Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons, Andrew Martin finds that literature says a great deal about the peculiar history of fatherhood over the past 200 years.


TUE 22:00 What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy? (b008cxzt)
Documentary telling the tragic story of the greatest loss of fathers in British history. When the nation was called to arms in the patriotic fervour of 1914 it was difficult to imagine that, four years later, half a million children would have lost their fathers in battle. The impact of their deaths was devastating and never forgotten by their sons and daughters. Now in their 90s, they go on an emotional journey to remember their lost fathers, culminating in a visit to their graves in France.


TUE 23:00 Diary of a Nobody (b0079sf6)
Episode 2

Andrew Davies's adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's novel about the diary of archetypal 'little man' Charles Pooter - endearing, yet obsessed with his own importance.

Further social humiliation for poor old Pooter and his wife Carrie when their names are omitted from the Mansion House Ball's attendance list by the local newspaper. Not to mention the return of their son Willie, now calling himself Lupin and insisting on some rather unseemly behaviour.


TUE 23:30 South Africa in Pictures (b00s6bdh)
British fashion photographer Rankin explores South Africa's rich photographic tradition, discovering how its leading photographers have captured this complex, often turbulent, nation through remarkable images and charting the unique role photography has played in documenting the story and people of this fascinating country.

Through encounters with legendary conflict photographers the Bang Bang Club, documentary photographer David Goldblatt and photojournalist Alf Kumalo amongst others, Rankin goes on a compelling and moving photographic journey to see the nation through their gaze.


TUE 00:30 Timeshift (b00sxh8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 01:30 A Century of Fatherhood (b00sxgsl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 02:30 What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy? (b008cxzt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


TUE 03:30 Timeshift (b00sxh8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 30 JUNE 2010

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00sxhhd)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 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.


WED 20:00 Timeshift (b00nf0nl)
Series 9

The Golden Age of Liners

Paul Atterbury embarks on an alluring journey into the golden age of ocean liners, finding out how these great ships made such a mark on the popular imagination and why they continue to enchant to this day.

Paul's voyage takes him around Britain and reveals a story of design, politics, propaganda, Hollywood glamour and tragedy. Along the way, he uncovers some amazing survivals from the liners of the past - a cinema in Scotland built from the interiors of the SS Homeric, a house in Poole in which cabins from the Mauretania are lovingly preserved - as well as the design inspiration behind the first great liners.


WED 21:00 Men about the House (b00sxhl5)
Father may be the head of the family, a potent symbol of authority, but he has always been the butt of some of our biggest laughs in British sitcom. Over the last five decades some of our most iconic comedy dads have been bewildered by a changing world and struggled with the work/life balance. These dads have coped with every curveball their writers threw at them and in the process changed the course of British comedy. They remain our most enduring Men About The House.


WED 22:00 The Grandparent Diaries (b00llg5q)
Ian Batten

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

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

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


WED 23:00 Diary of a Nobody (b007gm38)
Episode 3

Andrew Davies' adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's novel about the diary of archetypal 'little man' Charles Pooter - endearing, yet obsessed with his own importance.

In the rollercoaster lead up to Christmas, Pooter suffers embarrassment in the card shop, receives an insulting Christmas card and a punch in the head at a rather raucous evening with the Holloway Comedians.

Lupin falls in and out of love with Daisy Mutler, and both father and son receive some very good news.


WED 23:30 African Railway (b00s6bgw)
In a moving and often funny documentary, award-winning film-maker Sean Langan is off to east Africa to ride the rails of the Tazara railroad, whose passenger and goods trains travel through spectacular scenery and a game park teeming with wild animals.

The railway was built by the Chinese just after independence to link Zambia's copper belt to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, and once carried the region's hopes and dreams. But now it is in crisis. Every day there are derailments, trains running out of fuel and mechanical breakdowns.

Langan meets the train crews, controllers and maintenance crews who battle to keep it going - and at Tazara HQ he is on the track of Tazara's elusive Chinese railway advisors to find out why it is in such a parlous state.


WED 00:30 Men about the House (b00sxhl5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 01:30 Timeshift (b00sxh8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 02:30 Timeshift (b00nf0nl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 03:30 Men about the House (b00sxhl5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 01 JULY 2010

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00sxj5s)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 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?


THU 20:00 Glamour's Golden Age (b00ndzw0)
The Luxe Experience

Hermione Norris narrates a three-part series on the 1920s and 30s, which creates a portrait of a golden age so daring, so influential, so exciting that it still shapes who we are today.

The decades between the world wars saw a cultural revolution in music, fashion, design and the arts. Mass media, mass production and the resulting mass exposure to an alluring, seductive glamour saw the world changing at a dizzying pace, amid which many of our modern obsessions were born.

The first part looks at how architecture and design both created and reflected the spirit of the time. The fun and frivolity of art deco sat alongside the pure functionality of modernism and helped democratise style. Streamlining followed, making sleek, sophisticated, elegant design part of ordinary people's everyday lives. At home, the radio became a beautiful object. In the urban environment a new aesthetic changed the way buildings looked, while planes, trains and automobiles started to shrink the world.

Featuring photographs of the Hoover Factory, Saltdean Lido, the Midland Hotel, the Savoy Theatre, the De La Warr Pavilion, the New Victoria Palace cinema, plus archive newsreel of the Mallard, the Queen Mary, the Schneider Trophy and Bluebird.


THU 21:00 Storyville (b007m47h)
Children of the Chinese Circus

Documentary looking at Shanghai Circus school, where the gruelling training regimes result in some of the best acrobats and circus performers in the world.

Children as young as eight have their unformed bodies stretched and tested to breaking point as they learn to master the most taxing feats of acrobatic grace and daring. Harsh demands are also made of teachers and parents as their proteges strive to be number one in the circus, the Chinese way.


THU 22:00 Storyville (b0082681)
Why Democracy?

Please Vote for Me

Chinese Director Weijun Chen's charming film takes us into the world of Chinese schoolchildren, learning about democracy for the first time as they try to vote for their class monitor.

Elections are pretty uncommon in China, so when the children in a school in Wuhan, Central China are presented with the chance to choose their own class monitor they don't quite know what to make of it. It doesn't take them long to get into the swing of it, though, and soon all sorts of dirty tricks are going on. Urged on by their parents, the candidates launch elaborate campaigns of bribery and coercion. After tantrums and tears, it's finally time for the vote, and who will win - the sweet girl who woos her voters with her flute playing, the bully who beats his classmates, or the boy who has the best sweets.


THU 22:55 Diary of a Nobody (b007hfz6)
Episode 4

Andrew Davies' adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's novel about the diary of archetypal 'little man'.

Pooter is a proud man when Lupin gains a position at the firm Perkupp and Co. But after he he loses them their most valued client and is sacked, he becomes engaged to an unsuitable young lady. However, Pooter acknowledges that the young must make their own way in life. He is then struck by the most wonderful good fortune and is rewarded beyond his wildest dreams.


THU 23:25 The History of Safari with Richard E Grant (b00s6b8q)
Episode 1

For almost 100 years, big game hunters - from Theodore Roosevelt to the British Royal Family - came to British East Africa to bag the 'big five'. Now, luxury 'eco safaris' continue to drive its economy. It has been both East Africa's damnation and its salvation that wildlife is the greatest natural resource it possesses.

Richard E Grant - who grew up in Swaziland - examines the controversial history of the safari. Exploring the world of the big game hunters and the luxury of today's safaris, he goes on a personal journey to experience how the beauty of the bush made Africa the white man's playground.

Plotting the major landmarks in the development of the safari, Grant uncovers a world of danger, glamour and gung-ho. He reveals how the safari was continually reinvented as explorers and ivory hunters were replaced by white settlers, guns gave way to cameras and direct British rule to independence.

He discovers how safari became one of the central constructs through which British rule over East Africa was imposed, provided the social touchstone for the white settlers and was eventually transformed by the glamour of Hollywood, the power of the dollar and the traveller's desire for an 'authentic African experience'.

As someone born and raised in the privileged world of the ex-pats, Grant takes an insider's perspective on the scandals and adventures of the elite class of Brits who ran the show. He meets their descendents and delves into the rich material archives of their family homes, discovering that for the remaining whites in the region this history is still very much alive.

As the trophy hunt became an icon of high society, everyone from Ernest Hemingway to British nobility and Hollywood stars were soon clamouring for a piece of the action. And as hunters decimated Africa's wildlife, they also surprisingly introduced the first conservation laws, if only to protect the supply of animals to shoot.

Embarking on safari himself, Grant experiences the beauty and the danger of being up close to the big game animals and accompanies modern hunters on safaris, where animals are still killed and the patrons still argue that hunting equals conservation.

The film is full of frontier colonial characters whose lives, exploits and attitudes describe a very particular time in Britain's relationship to Africa and its wildlife, when the continent was part Wild West, part idyll and part colonial experiment - where life could be lived between the crack of rifles at dawn and the setting of the sun at cocktail hour, largely oblivious to the indigenous Africans themselves.

Through creative use of film and photographic archive, as well as actuality with those involved in big game hunting and luxury safaris today, the documentary evokes the spirit of decadence, exploration and adventure of the safari. Ultimately, it reveals how safari has been and continues to be a barometer of our attitudes to travel, our colonial inheritance and Africa itself.


THU 00:55 Storyville (b007m47h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 01:55 Men about the House (b00sxhl5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 02:55 Glamour's Golden Age (b00ndzw0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 03:55 Storyville (b007m47h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 02 JULY 2010

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00sxjc3)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Only Connect (b00m6n2p)
Series 2

Chessmen v Rugby Boys - 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 second semi-final, three quietly strategic chess players pit their wits against the brawn of the Rugby Boys. Who will win the battle, as they compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random? How does Carmilla link to Neo via Lord Voldemort and Sir Leigh Teabing?


FRI 20:00 The Birth of British Music (b00kntl1)
Handel - The Conquering Hero

In the second of four programmes, conductor Charles Hazlewood explores the glorious music of Handel, who made his home in Britain and became a celebrity and national icon in the process.

Millions across the world heard Handel's 'Zadok the Priest' when Elizabeth II was crowned Queen at Westminster Abbey in 1953, but he was immensely popular in his own lifetime too, as his memorial in Westminster Abbey shows. World-renowed soloists Danielle de Niese and Ian Bostridge join Charles Hazlewood's ensemble, Army of Generals, in some of the best-loved music in our history.

Also included in this programme is an unusual take on John Gay's 'The Beggar's Opera', the 18th-century smash hit that poked fun at Handel's world. Charles invites comedian Phill Jupitus to take a new approach to the music along with acclaimed folk singers Rachel and Becky Unthank, guitarist Adrian Utley from Portishead, and distinguished jazz drummer Martin France.

The Foundling Hospital Museum and Handel's birthplace in Halle are two of the many places Charles visits to explore the stories behind this fascinating composer who has had such a profound influence on our cultural heritage.


FRI 21:00 TOTP2 (b0078fth)
Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood introduce their greatest hits during an exclusive interview for TOTP2 whilst on tour in New York.


FRI 21:30 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
Documentary which looks at how rock 'n' roll has had to deal with the unthinkable - namely growing up and growing old, from its roots in the 50s as music made by young people for young people to the 21st-century phenomena of the revival and the comeback.

Despite the mantra of 'live fast, die young', Britain's first rock 'n' roll generations are now enjoying old age. What was once about youth and taking risks is now about longevity, survival, nostalgia and refusing to grow up, give up or shut up. But what happens when the music refuses to die and its performers refuse to leave the stage? What happens when rock's youthful rebelliousness is delivered wrapped in wrinkles?

Featuring Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Peter Noone, Rick Wakeman, Paul Jones, Richard Thompson, Suggs, Eric Burdon, Bruce Welch, Robert Wyatt, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, Alison Moyet, Robyn Hitchcock, writers Rosie Boycott and Nick Kent and producer Joe Boyd.


FRI 22:30 Storyville (b00sxgsn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


FRI 23:50 Still Crazy (b007ckzx)
In 1998, disbanded 1970s rockers Strange Fruit have the chance to reunite and return from obscurity.
However, the surviving members' old rivalries are also revived, making rehearsals and a European try-out tour a trial for hopeful keyboard player Tony and the band's number one fan Karen, both determined to prove the 'Fruits' are not past their sell-by date.


FRI 01:20 Timeshift (b00sxh8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


FRI 02:20 The Birth of British Music (b00kntl1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 03:20 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]




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

A Century of Fatherhood 20:00 SAT (b00sv2ry)

A Century of Fatherhood 02:20 SAT (b00sv2ry)

A Century of Fatherhood 21:00 MON (b00sxgsl)

A Century of Fatherhood 23:50 MON (b00sxgsl)

A Century of Fatherhood 03:10 MON (b00sxgsl)

A Century of Fatherhood 01:30 TUE (b00sxgsl)

African Railway 23:30 WED (b00s6bgw)

Amazing Gracie: The Gracie Fields Story 00:20 SAT (b0074qlt)

Biology of Dads 00:50 MON (b00rvv6t)

Diary of a Nobody 23:20 MON (b0074tpx)

Diary of a Nobody 23:00 TUE (b0079sf6)

Diary of a Nobody 23:00 WED (b007gm38)

Diary of a Nobody 22:55 THU (b007hfz6)

Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up 21:30 FRI (b00sxjls)

Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up 03:20 FRI (b00sxjls)

France on a Plate 00:40 SUN (b00fvfmf)

Glamour's Golden Age 20:00 THU (b00ndzw0)

Glamour's Golden Age 02:55 THU (b00ndzw0)

Glastonbury 21:00 SAT (b00syzqt)

Glastonbury 22:00 SAT (b00syzqw)

Glastonbury 19:00 SUN (b00syzj9)

Glastonbury 20:00 SUN (b00syzjc)

Glastonbury 03:05 SUN (b00syzj9)

Glastonbury 04:05 SUN (b00syzjc)

Gracie! 23:00 SAT (b00p1p41)

La Reine Margot 22:25 SUN (b0074n9l)

Legends 01:20 SAT (b0074svr)

Legends 20:00 TUE (b0074svr)

Lennon Naked 21:00 SUN (b00sv451)

Lennon Naked 01:40 SUN (b00sv451)

Medical Mavericks 20:00 MON (b0074tfb)

Men about the House 21:00 WED (b00sxhl5)

Men about the House 00:30 WED (b00sxhl5)

Men about the House 03:30 WED (b00sxhl5)

Men about the House 01:55 THU (b00sxhl5)

Only Connect 19:30 MON (b00lsz67)

Only Connect 19:30 TUE (b00lw5ck)

Only Connect 19:30 WED (b00lzzz3)

Only Connect 19:30 THU (b00m3zhp)

Only Connect 19:30 FRI (b00m6n2p)

South Africa in Pictures 23:30 TUE (b00s6bdh)

Still Crazy 23:50 FRI (b007ckzx)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b00sxgsn)

Storyville 01:50 MON (b00sxgsn)

Storyville 21:00 THU (b007m47h)

Storyville 22:00 THU (b0082681)

Storyville 00:55 THU (b007m47h)

Storyville 03:55 THU (b007m47h)

Storyville 22:30 FRI (b00sxgsn)

Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions 19:00 SAT (b00gq43y)

Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions 03:20 SAT (b00gq43y)

TOTP2 21:00 FRI (b0078fth)

The Birth of British Music 20:00 FRI (b00kntl1)

The Birth of British Music 02:20 FRI (b00kntl1)

The Grandparent Diaries 22:00 WED (b00llg5q)

The History of Safari with Richard E Grant 23:25 THU (b00s6b8q)

Timeshift 21:00 TUE (b00sxh8c)

Timeshift 00:30 TUE (b00sxh8c)

Timeshift 03:30 TUE (b00sxh8c)

Timeshift 20:00 WED (b00nf0nl)

Timeshift 01:30 WED (b00sxh8c)

Timeshift 02:30 WED (b00nf0nl)

Timeshift 01:20 FRI (b00sxh8c)

What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy? 22:00 TUE (b008cxzt)

What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy? 02:30 TUE (b008cxzt)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00sxgsj)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00sxh89)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00sxhhd)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00sxj5s)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00sxjc3)