The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on BBC 4 Contact

RADIO-LISTS: BBC FOUR
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/



SATURDAY 04 SEPTEMBER 2010

SAT 19:00 Nature's Great Events (b00hvw59)
The Great Migration

Each year more than one million wildebeest and zebra invade the Serengeti grasslands, making it a paradise for the predators that live there. But what happens when the herds move off again? This programme follows the moving story of one lion family's struggle to survive until the return of the great migration.

Nature's Great Events tells the story of the epic trek of herds that follow the rains to fresh pastures, and the tale of the predators they leave behind.

The crew captures the desperate plight of a single pride of lions, revealing a different side to the Serengeti. Rather than being a predators' paradise, it is a land in constant change, with wildebeest following the rains and leaving the lions to tough it out.

The Ntudu pride has seven cubs, and is already suffering as the wildebeest leave to find fresh pastures. The four pride females struggle to find enough food for their hungry offspring.

As weeks turn to months, the pride members become more emaciated and frailer, and the number of cubs dwindles to just two.

As the herds begin to return, the plains reveal one final secret. For the first time since 1967, the Serengeti's only active volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai, begins to billow ash and smoke. Filmed from the air, the team captures the exciting action. Fertilised by the volcanic ash over millions of years, these short grass plains are among the most productive grasslands in the world.

After months of hardship, the pride's tragic story, through sickness, drought and fire, is over as the herds return, providing plentiful food.

The final ten-minute diary, Pride and Peril, tells the harrowing story captured by film-maker Owen Newman of the Ndutu pride which he followed for more than a year.


SAT 20:00 Lonesome George and the Battle for Galapagos (b0074sy3)
Documentary about Lonesome George, officially the loneliest animal on the planet until his death in June 2012. He was the last remaining Pinta Island giant tortoise in existence and now his race is extinct. He was an icon of his native Galapagos Islands and symbol of the battle to preserve their unique wildlife. The islands are at a critical point in their history - threatened by illegal fishing, the demands of a booming population and an ever-expanding tourism industry - yet the will within the islanders to protect Galapagos is strong. This is both the personal story of Lonesome George and of the local characters intent on turning around the fortunes of their unique tropical paradise.


SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00m4q5x)
Series 1

The Tricksters

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

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 Roger and Val Have Just Got In (b00tn7hk)
Series 1

Reply All

Real-time sitcom following the lives of a middle-aged couple during their first half-hour home from work. Roger is a botanist at the Winter Gardens and Val is a food technology teacher at a local school. With no children, the couple rely only on each other for distraction.

Roger lies almost mute in bed in the spare room. Val tries hard to reach him, but there's more to this crisis than the recent news about his father. Roger reveals that, alone in the house, he has followed grief counselling advice and written out an idealised self-image; however he has mistakenly emailed it to his management team at work.

Hideously embarrassed, he and Val try to salvage the situation, but it leads to a terrible and definite schism between them. For the first time in the series, someone leaves the house.


SAT 23:00 Hancock and Joan (b009lv9j)
Drama which tells the story of comedian Tony Hancock's love affair with his friend's wife, and her fight to save the man and his career. Only months into her marriage to John Le Mesurier, Joan fell in love with Tony, who, despite his struggles with drink, remained charismatic and funny. They embarked on a passionate affair, but Tony's demons were never far away, and after months of turmoil Joan gave him an ultimatum: If he made a go of a new series in Australia and stayed sober, she would leave John for good. Tony left, determined to succeed.


SAT 00:25 The Eiger: Wall of Death (b00tlwj3)
A history of one of the world's most challenging mountains, the Eiger, and its infamous north face. The film gets to the heart of one of Europe's most notorious peaks, exploring its character and its impact on the people who climb it and live in its awesome shadow.


SAT 01:25 Munro: Mountain Man (b00mwgyq)
Little more than 100 years ago, Scottish mountains standing at more than 3,000 feet were virtually unknown. Today they are familiar terrain to many thousands of climbers, thanks to Victorian adventurer Hugh Munro's determination to list the high peaks which now define the highlands and islands of Scotland.

This documentary tells the story of the magnificent peaks that bear his name and the people who have been possessed by them.

The birth of this obsession - now known as Munrobagging - is a twisting tale of intrigue, which presenter Nicholas Crane unravels high on the ridges and pinnacles of some of Scotland's most spectacular mountains.


SAT 02:25 Lonesome George and the Battle for Galapagos (b0074sy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 03:25 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tlwfb)
Dark Beginnings

Richard Taylor explains how churches were originally simple buildings intended to protect the altar and the most important Christian rite of all, the Eucharist. He visits Britain's finest early medieval churches to untangle the mystery of why the Anglo-Saxons and Normans seem to have been unwilling to shake off their pre-Christian past and to have continued to fill their sacred buildings with mysterious pagan images. An ancient book in an Oxford library helps Richard find an answer.



SUNDAY 05 SEPTEMBER 2010

SUN 19:00 The Cult of... (b008x368)
Sunday Night

All Creatures Great and Small

The Cult of..., a series that unearths the history and anecdotes behind our cult Sunday night dramas, looks at All Creatures Great and Small. With its mix of stunning countryside, eccentric characters and romance, the show formed a template for Sunday night television. Interviewees including Christopher Timothy, Peter Davison, Robert Hardy, Carol Drinkwater, Lynda Bellingham, John McGlynn, producer Bill Sellars and writer Johnny Byrne reveal the struggles behind the success.


SUN 19:30 Life with Fred (b00tnvnl)
On the Road

Having knocked down most of the chimneys around his native Bolton, Fred Dibnah travels further to find something to work on - one week deep in the Yorkshire Dales, the other atop the spires of Cambridge. He pauses, however, to offer the reflections of a travel-broadened mind.


SUN 20:00 Last of the Summer Wine (b00tnvnn)
Series 15

Stop That Bath

Compo, Clegg and Foggy find that bath time can be a moving experience, as they help to take a cast iron bath to Marina as a present from Howard.


SUN 20:30 The Yorkshire Dales on Film (b00tnvnq)
Using moving images from across the decades, this documentary goes on a short trip to one of the most beautiful parts of the UK, the Yorkshire Dales. Encompassing newsreels, documentaries and home movies, these rarely-seen archive gems come together to reveal all aspects of life in the Dales, from sheep farming to cheese making, railway lines to dry stone walls and hill runners to potholing.


SUN 21:00 The Department Store (b00fm5vx)
Milners

Filmmaker Richard Macer visits the independent high street department stores that are fighting back against the big brands.

He spends six months at a family-run store in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, where the owner is preparing to retire after forty years. David Milner is handing the business over to his daughter Leoni and her husband Keith, but will he go quietly?


SUN 22:00 This Sporting Life (b007wv7r)
Powerful drama detailing the efforts of a Yorkshire coal miner to better himself by becoming a professional rugby player. He establishes a reputation as one of the sport's most aggressive players and in his private life enters into a tempestuous relationship with his widowed landlady.


SUN 00:10 The Yorkshire Dales on Film (b00tnvnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


SUN 00:40 The Cult of... (b008x368)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 01:10 The Great Outdoors (b00t6z51)
Episode 1

Comedy which follows the hikes, heartaches, friendships and rivalries of a misfit rambling club. Club organiser Bob begins a titanic battle of wills with the newest member, Christine, for the heart and soul of his treasured walking group.

Bob's teenage daughter Hazel is mortified at the arrival of geeky Victor from her school and married businesswoman Sophie is looking for a way out from her freeloading husband Joe.


SUN 01:40 The Great Outdoors (b00t9r89)
Episode 2

Christine is now deputy leader of the club and is soon winning the hearts and minds of the group, especially Bob's best friend Tom. Meanwhile, stressed businesswoman Sophie makes a desperate leap on Victor and the group must face down the rambler's worst enemy - a farmer who keeps blocking public rights of way.


SUN 02:10 The Great Outdoors (b00td53g)
Episode 3

On the annual trip to the south coast, Bob and Christine's rivalry finally comes to a head. Meanwhile, Victor is hoping he will finally get his promised kiss from Hazel and Tom plucks up courage for his own romance.


SUN 02:40 The Cult of... (b008x368)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 03:10 The Department Store (b00fm5vx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



MONDAY 06 SEPTEMBER 2010

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00tnw4k)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 The Story of Maths (b00dzy91)
The Genius of the East

When ancient Greece fell into decline, mathematical progress stagnated as Europe entered the Dark Ages, but in the east mathematics reached new heights.

Du Sautoy visits China and explores how maths helped build imperial China and was at the heart of such amazing feats of engineering as the Great Wall.

In India, he discovers how the symbol for the number zero was invented and Indian mathematicians' understanding of the new concepts of infinity and negative numbers.

In the Middle East, he looks at the invention of the new language of algebra and the spread of eastern knowledge to the west through mathematicians such as Leonardo Fibonacci, creator of the Fibonacci Sequence.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00tnw4m)
Series 4

Epicureans vs Courtiers

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 old university pals with a shared love of exotic foods and fine dining pit their wits against a trio of Ulstermen from the Northern Ireland Court Service.

They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random, from USS Constitution to Edmund II to Cromwell's cavalrymen to Raymond Burr.


MON 21:00 People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture (b00tnw4p)
Neo-Classical

Architectural historian Dr Jonathan Foyle explores some of the best Georgian and Victorian neo-classical civic buildings in the north of England. He visits town halls, concert halls, libraries, schools and galleries in Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford, Manchester and Todmorden in an unlikely story of rivalry, ambition and power in the service of social responsibility.

The north's public building boom was first funded by the profits of sugar, tobacco, cotton and slavery. Later, the Victorian municipalities in the increasingly powerful industrial and mercantile northern towns competed with one another to build bigger, better, more significant architectural monuments than the neighbouring city.

Neo-classicism harked back to Rome, democratic Athens and the Greek city-state. The regular proportion, geometry and symmetry of classical temple-style architecture suggested order in chaotically-expanding urban environments and served to associate towns regarded as squalid and unruly with the cultured ancient civilisations of antiquity. These were buildings constructed with the aim of elevating the towns in which they stood.

Featuring contributions from historians Lawrence Westgaph, Steve Binns, Joseph Sharples and Colin Cunningham, Jonathan Foyle visits Bluecoat School in Liverpool, John Woods's Liverpool Town Hall, Liverpool Athenaeum, Thomas Harrison's Liverpool Lyceum and Manchester Portico Library, Charles Barry's Royal Manchester Institution, Manchester Athenaeum, John Foster Jnr's Liverpool Oratory, Harvey Elmes's Liverpool St George's Hall, Lockwood and Mawson's Bradford St George's Hall, Cuthbert Brodrick's Leeds Town Hall, Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery, Cornelius Sherlock's Picton Reading Rooms and, to illustrate that smaller towns also aspired to neo-classical magnificence, Todmorden Town Hall.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b00tnw4r)
Marriage Chinese Style: When My Child Is Born

How much freedom can there be in a marriage? How much freedom can there be in a Chinese marriage? Long and Jun get married when the two find out that she is pregnant. She wants to have her child (only one is allowed under the Chinese policy) and Long agrees to become a parent, too. But the two of them still have to acquire doctorates in order to be able to teach in a Chinese university.

Jun is a beautiful English-speaking translator with a speciality in Virginia Woolf novels. As she tells a class of students, Virginia Woolf, in her quest for freedom, should be a model for all women. Meanwhile Long, who is bored of reading about Karl Marx, fretfully tries to satisfy the university authorities.

After the baby is born (a girl) Jun's mother arrives on the scene. All Chinese mothers expect to take care of their grandchildren. Pressures pile up on both Long and Jun. Will Jun leave her baby with her mother, in order to go to Australia where she can gain the further qualification that she needs?

This is a remarkable, intimate film about two people who want to have freedom and happiness at the same time. You may think this sounds like a western story, but it isn't - it's all deeply Chinese.


MON 23:15 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.


MON 00:15 People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture (b00tnw4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 01:15 Glastonbury (b00tmwsj)
2010

Hello Glastonbury!

Filmmaker Rachel Davies's documentary follows three unsigned acts playing Glastonbury 2010. This is the Glastonbury experience through the first-time eyes of DME, Celt Islam and Lettie as they prepare for the big gig on the BBC Introducing stage. What does playing Glastonbury mean to them and how will they fare? With special guest appearances from Corinne Bailey Rae, Mumford & Sons, Plan B and Laura Marling, and featuring headline performances from Gorrillaz and Muse.


MON 02:05 The Story of Maths (b00dzy91)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 03:05 People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture (b00tnw4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 07 SEPTEMBER 2010

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00tnwkq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 The Sky at Night (b07bg661)
Events on Jupiter

In July 2009 a large object crashed into Jupiter, and in May 2010 one of the most prominent features of the planet, the southern equatorial belt, disappeared. But where did it go? Sir Patrick Moore is joined by Dr John Rogers and Dr Leigh Fletcher to discuss the latest events on Jupiter. Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel observe the planet and explain what features can be seen through a telescope.


TUE 20:00 Liz Smith's Summer Cruise (b00lpjw6)
Award-winning 87-year-old actress Liz Smith does the one thing she has never managed to achieve in her life - go on a proper holiday.

Liz, known and loved by millions as Nana in The Royle Family and Leticia in The Vicar of Dibley, finally fulfils her modest ambition to join a group of like-minded individuals on a summer cruise across the Adriatic to Venice.

The film gives an intimate and personal insight into Liz's life, both past and present, from the moment she plans her holiday, packs her bags and bids farewell to her friends in the security of her sheltered accommodation.

Was the holiday everything she dreamed of?


TUE 21:00 Eddie Waring: Mr Rugby League (b00tnwkv)
Eddie Waring introduced millions of TV viewers to rugby league, but within his own northern heartland he was both loved and loathed. For some he was loveable Uncle Eddie, to others an embarrassing northern caricature who appeared on light entertainment shows and failed to take the game seriously. Waring painted a picture of 'the north' that caused problems on his home patch. Were people laughing with him, or at him, at the game of rugby league and the wider north?

He was also more than a hired voice, he was an expert and an entrepreneur - a fixer and a visionary who entered dangerous territory as he attempted to take the game to new levels. This is the story of his controversial role in the history of rugby league.


TUE 22:00 The Game That Got Away (b00tnwkx)
Filmmaker Roger Mills authored this documentary in 1969 and managed to capture the spirit of rugby league in the north of England. Mills tells the story from his own perspective, as a middle-class rugby union-playing southerner who was taught nothing of the game at school and who never knew that far off in the 'cloth-capped' north men took money for a very different type of rugger.

The film is beautifully shot and shows the sport on and off the pitch. It deals with league's difficult relationship with rugby union and differences in attitude and culture. Among his interviewees is the late Brian Redhead, who describes league as an intellectual game.

The documentary ends with classic behind-the-scenes access to a game featuring Featherstone Rovers. About half the Featherstone Rovers side work in the mines - they live in a small community but their ground is regularly thronged by talent spotters and the national press.


TUE 22:30 Challenge Cup Classic: The 1978 Rugby League Final (b00tnwkz)
A chance to watch one of the greatest rugby league finals of all time, featuring legendary commentator Eddie Waring. The game features Leeds and St Helens as they battle for glory beneath Wembley's twin towers in the Challenge Cup final, one of the most exciting moments in the rugby league calendar. The game's heartland may be in the north of England, but traditionally the final has been staged in London.


TUE 00:00 This Sporting Life (b007wv7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


TUE 02:10 Eddie Waring: Mr Rugby League (b00tnwkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 03:10 Liz Smith's Summer Cruise (b00lpjw6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 08 SEPTEMBER 2010

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00tp1cq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 The Yorkshire Dales on Film (b00tnvnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Sunday]


WED 20:00 We Need Answers (b00p90db)
Series 2

Love

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. Two celebrities battle it out to be crowned the winner and avoid the shame of donning 'The Clogs of Defeat'.

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 'How heavy is the sky?' to 'Is gravy a condiment?'. Each show also features a cunning physical challenge which pits the contestants against each other.

Journalist and presenter Vanessa Feltz competes with actor and star of the The Inbetweeners, Simon Bird, and their challenge is called Sleeping Lions.


WED 20:30 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tp1cs)
Medieval Life

Richard Taylor uncovers evidence that shows how and why our parish churches came to play such a crucial role in the everyday life of the Middle Ages. He looks at how humorous wall paintings and intricate carvings were used to teach moral lessons and how carved angels in such spectacular churches as Blythburgh, Suffolk, were used to create a heaven on earth.

Taylor finds out how rites such as baptism and the largely forgotten ritual known as the 'churching of women' offered people protection from the cradle to the grave. And he discovers how - even today - the local pub may have an unexpected bond with the parish church.


WED 21:00 Timeshift (b00tp1cv)
Series 10

The North on a Plate

Paris-based cultural historian Andrew Hussey follows his success with France on a Plate by travelling back to his homeland, the north west of England, in search of its lost food culture.

He brings with him the French idea of terroir, a term used by their wine growers and foodies - a belief that a food from a particular area is rendered unique though a particular set of local circumstances including culture and landscape.

As he wanders around the north west, Andrew asks if this rather highbrow foodie term can be applied to common northern grub such as a Blackpool chip or a Wigan pie. As he isn't a foodie he relies on local people to help him out, including three generations of a Wigan biker club and a woman who knows far too much about rhubarb.

In doing so, he uncovers some fascinating cultural history and the role of the Industrial Revolution in defining modern eating habits. And, most importantly, he redefines the concept of terroir by giving it a northern accent.


WED 22:00 Mad Men (b00tp91q)
Series 4

Public Relations

Don's secretive demeanour results in an unfavourable interview by an Advertising Age reporter, leading an important client to fire his ad agency. Don struggles with a bathing suit account for which the client wants to project a wholesome image.

Pete and Peggy work together to secure increased budget from a client with an ill-advised publicity stunt involving two women fighting over a baked ham. Roger attempts to find a girlfriend for Don, setting him up with a friend of his wife. Betty and the kids spend Thanksgiving with her new husband's family. Betty gets into a fight with Don over her delay in moving out of the house.

This episode takes place the week of Thanksgiving, 1964.


WED 22:45 Selling the Sixties (b009364s)
Documentary about Madison Avenue, home of the American advertising business, a semi-mythical place where the dreams of a new, affluent society were spun in the early 1960s. These were the 'days of heaven', when the country felt to many like a land of plenty and a land of hope - politics was reinvigorated thanks to a product known as new, improved JFK, consumerism was on the up and the challenges of Vietnam, feminism and the counter-culture still lay in the future.

Includes contributions from advertising legend George Lois and writer Gay Talese.


WED 23:45 Timeshift (b00tp1cv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 00:45 People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture (b00tnw4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


WED 01:45 We Need Answers (b00p90db)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:15 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tp1cs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 02:45 Timeshift (b00tp1cv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 09 SEPTEMBER 2010

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00tp1wl)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 BBC Proms (b00tp1wn)
2010

Last Night of the Proms 1910 Style

In a tribute to Proms founder-conductor Henry Wood, the BBC Concert Orchestra perform Wood's own Last Night programme from a century ago, conducted by Paul Daniel. A dazzling marathon of short popular classics includes appearances from Russian baritone Sergei Leiferkus, British cellist Steven Isserlis and American mezzo Jennifer Larmore.


THU 22:30 The Edwardian Family Album (b007l4jq)
Peter Snow celebrates the Edwardian age by examining pictures from the period, a time that saw an explosion in photography for the masses.

From formal studio portraits to lively snapshots and from glittering postcard collections to colourful scrapbooks, our Edwardian ancestors kept fascinating social documents of their lives, which have been passed down through the generations to the descendants who appear on the show.

Recorded at the glorious Edwardian mansion of Manderston in the Scottish Borders, the programme uncovers the historical backdrop to treasured family heirlooms, from the advent of the motorcar to the sufragette movement, and from extremes of wealth and poverty it has all been captured in what has proved to be the golden age of popular photography.


THU 23:30 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tp1cs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Wednesday]


THU 00:00 John Sergeant on Tracks of Empire (b00t3tj6)
Power and Privilege

John Sergeant continues his 3,000-mile journey along India's rail tracks, travelling north to south to discover how the railways not only shaped its history but also its future.

Starting in New Delhi, John reveals how the railways' extraordinary construction story began with locomotives and track being shipped from British shipyards. He visits Gwalior to discover the extent of collusion between the privileged maharajahs and the British Empire, and at Victoria Terminus he reveals the politics and the power behind its grand design.

But it is at Bhore Ghat - just outside Mumbai - where John discovers the 19th-century British engineers' crowning construction achievement and the extraordinary human cost that made it all possible. He concludes that today it is India's railways that continue to change the lives of its one billion people in ways that would have delighted its colonial architects.


THU 01:00 BBC Proms (b00tp1wn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2010

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00tp21t)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b00tp21w)
2010

Monteverdi's Vespers

Charles Hazlewood introduces as the stage, arena and galleries of the Royal Albert Hall provide a thrilling setting for Monteverdi's masterpiece - the spectacular Vespers of 1610. Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Monteverdi Choir return to the music with which they made their Proms debut in 1968, now joined by the expert period instrumentalists of the English Baroque Soloists, and with the additional brass forces of His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts.


FRI 21:25 The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E Smith (b0074r00)
A profile of one of England's truly unique and underrated bands, The Fall. One of the most enigmatic, idiosyncratic and chaotic garage bands of the last 30 years, The Fall are led by the belligerent and poetic Mark E Smith and grew out of the fringe of the Manchester punk scene. By 2005, they had released in excess of three dozen albums, toured relentlessly, inspired two successful stage plays, recorded 24 Peel Sessions, and performed with contemporary ballet dancer Michael Clark along with various spoken word events.

All this has happened under the guidance of Smith with various line-ups totalling over 40 different members. They have never conformed to fashion or musical trends and when asked why they were his favourite band, John Peel replied 'they are always different, they are always the same'.

This is the first time that Mark E Smith has agreed to the story being told on television and he along with many of the major players take us through this unique English rock 'n' roll story. It is told alongside footage of their most recent and sadly now last Peel Session recorded in August 2004 at the BBC Maida Vale studios, and there is also film of John playing out the session at Peel Acres a week later.

Contributors include past and present band members such as Marc Riley, Una Baines, Steve Hanley, Ben Pritchard and Eleni Smith, plus thoughts from key fans/critics including Paul Morley, Tony Wilson, Stewart Lee, promoter Alan Wise, original Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon, and Franz Ferdinand.


FRI 22:25 I'm in a Rock 'n' Roll Band! (b00sl4mb)
The Other One

Series investigating what makes the perfect rock 'n' roll band.

Meet the band's secret weapon: 'the other one'. They might play bass; maybe keyboards; sometimes it's not clear what they do at all. Underestimate them with peril though, these guys are the glue holding the band together. Stepping out from the sidelines are bassists Peter Hook of New Order and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses, keyboard players Rick Wakeman and The Doors' Ray Manzarek, plus the Happy Mondays' lord of the dance, Bez.

Voting has now closed.


FRI 23:25 Oil City Confidential: Dr Feelgood (b00s2y91)
Director Julien Temple's film celebrates Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood, the Essex R 'n' B band that exploded out of the UK in the prog era of the early Seventies, delivering shows and albums that helped pave the way for pub rock and punk.

Temple examines Canvey Island culture as a 'Thames delta' for British rhythm and blues, with a central performance from the Feelgood's guitarist and songwriter Wilko Johnson. A British original, his dynamic stage presence and relationship with lead singer Lee Brilleaux drove the band through their early performances, characterising their three albums between 1975 and 1976, Down by the Jetty, Malpractice and the number one live album, Stupidity.

Wilko left the band in 1977, bassist John B Sparks and drummer The Big Figure both left in 1982, and Lee Brilleaux died in 1994. This is an imaginative, filmic and moving study of the place, times and characters that created the heyday of a seminal British band, and the personal forces that pulled them apart.


FRI 01:15 The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E Smith (b0074r00)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:25 today]


FRI 02:15 BBC Proms (b00tp21w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]




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

BBC Proms 19:30 THU (b00tp1wn)

BBC Proms 01:00 THU (b00tp1wn)

BBC Proms 19:30 FRI (b00tp21w)

BBC Proms 02:15 FRI (b00tp21w)

Challenge Cup Classic: The 1978 Rugby League Final 22:30 TUE (b00tnwkz)

Churches: How to Read Them 03:25 SAT (b00tlwfb)

Churches: How to Read Them 20:30 WED (b00tp1cs)

Churches: How to Read Them 02:15 WED (b00tp1cs)

Churches: How to Read Them 23:30 THU (b00tp1cs)

Eddie Waring: Mr Rugby League 21:00 TUE (b00tnwkv)

Eddie Waring: Mr Rugby League 02:10 TUE (b00tnwkv)

Glastonbury 01:15 MON (b00tmwsj)

Hancock and Joan 23:00 SAT (b009lv9j)

I'm in a Rock 'n' Roll Band! 22:25 FRI (b00sl4mb)

John Sergeant on Tracks of Empire 00:00 THU (b00t3tj6)

Last of the Summer Wine 20:00 SUN (b00tnvnn)

Life with Fred 19:30 SUN (b00tnvnl)

Liz Smith's Summer Cruise 20:00 TUE (b00lpjw6)

Liz Smith's Summer Cruise 03:10 TUE (b00lpjw6)

Lonesome George and the Battle for Galapagos 20:00 SAT (b0074sy3)

Lonesome George and the Battle for Galapagos 02:25 SAT (b0074sy3)

Mad Men 22:00 WED (b00tp91q)

Munro: Mountain Man 01:25 SAT (b00mwgyq)

Nature's Great Events 19:00 SAT (b00hvw59)

Oil City Confidential: Dr Feelgood 23:25 FRI (b00s2y91)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00tnw4m)

People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture 21:00 MON (b00tnw4p)

People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture 00:15 MON (b00tnw4p)

People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture 03:05 MON (b00tnw4p)

People's Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture 00:45 WED (b00tnw4p)

Roger and Val Have Just Got In 22:30 SAT (b00tn7hk)

Selling the Sixties 22:45 WED (b009364s)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b00tnw4r)

Storyville 23:15 MON (b007m47h)

The Cult of... 19:00 SUN (b008x368)

The Cult of... 00:40 SUN (b008x368)

The Cult of... 02:40 SUN (b008x368)

The Department Store 21:00 SUN (b00fm5vx)

The Department Store 03:10 SUN (b00fm5vx)

The Edwardian Family Album 22:30 THU (b007l4jq)

The Eiger: Wall of Death 00:25 SAT (b00tlwj3)

The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E Smith 21:25 FRI (b0074r00)

The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E Smith 01:15 FRI (b0074r00)

The Game That Got Away 22:00 TUE (b00tnwkx)

The Great Outdoors 01:10 SUN (b00t6z51)

The Great Outdoors 01:40 SUN (b00t9r89)

The Great Outdoors 02:10 SUN (b00td53g)

The Sky at Night 19:30 TUE (b07bg661)

The Story of Maths 19:30 MON (b00dzy91)

The Story of Maths 02:05 MON (b00dzy91)

The Yorkshire Dales on Film 20:30 SUN (b00tnvnq)

The Yorkshire Dales on Film 00:10 SUN (b00tnvnq)

The Yorkshire Dales on Film 19:30 WED (b00tnvnq)

This Sporting Life 22:00 SUN (b007wv7r)

This Sporting Life 00:00 TUE (b007wv7r)

Timeshift 21:00 WED (b00tp1cv)

Timeshift 23:45 WED (b00tp1cv)

Timeshift 02:45 WED (b00tp1cv)

Wallander 21:00 SAT (b00m4q5x)

We Need Answers 20:00 WED (b00p90db)

We Need Answers 01:45 WED (b00p90db)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00tnw4k)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00tnwkq)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00tp1cq)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00tp1wl)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00tp21t)