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 25 SEPTEMBER 2010

SAT 19:00 Nature's Great Events (b00j4c6b)
The Great Flood

The great flood in the Okavango turns 4,000 square miles of arid plains into a beautiful wetland. Elephant mothers guide their families on an epic trek across the harsh Kalahari Desert towards it, siphoning fresh water from stagnant pools and facing hungry lions. Hippos battle for territory, as the magical water draws in thousands of buffalo and birds, and vast clouds of dragonflies. Will the young elephant calves survive to reach this grassland paradise?

The experienced mother elephants time their arrival at the delta to coincide with the lush grass produced by the great flood. In a TV first, the programme shows the way they use their trunks to siphon clean water from the surface layers of a stagnant pool, while avoiding stirring up the muddy sediment on the bottom with their feet.

Bull hippos also converge on prime territories formed by the rising floodwater. Two big bulls do bloody battle, at times being lifted out of the water by their rival.

Lechwe swamp deer, zebras, giraffes, crocodiles and numerous fish and thousands of birds arrive in the delta. And, in a phenomenon never before filmed in the Okavango, thousands of dragonflies appear - seemingly from nowhere - within minutes of the flood arrival, mating and laying eggs.

As the flood finally reaches its peak, elephants and buffalo, near the end of their epic trek across the desert, face the final gauntlet of a hungry pride of lions.

In a heartrending sequence, a baby elephant is brought down by a lion in broad daylight.

The diary section - Mission Impassible - shows how the versatility and persistence of cameraman Mike Holding results is some amazing sequences of the flood advancing.


SAT 20:00 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00tw231)
Romans to Normans

Groundbreaking series in which Michael Wood tells the story of one place throughout the whole of English history. The village is Kibworth in Leicestershire in the heart of England - a place that lived through the Black Death, the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution and was even bombed in World War Two.

With the help of the local people and using archaeology, landscape, language and DNA, Michael uncovers the lost history of the first 1,000 years of the village, featuring a Roman villa, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and graphic evidence of life on the eve of the Norman Conquest.


SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00mfbr4)
Series 1

The Container Lorry

The police launch a murder investigation after finding an abandoned lorry with a container full of dead refugees.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:25 Mad Men (b00twwc6)
Series 4

The Good News

It's late December 1964, and Joan is trying to start a family with Greg, but her work schedule and his impending army commitments make things difficult. Don takes a trip to California to see Anna and meets her niece, who delivers some unsettling news. Upon returning to New York, he finds Lane in the office, who has been experiencing family difficulties of his own. They spend a night on the town to get their minds off their troubles.


SAT 23:15 The Royal Ballet Celebrates Kenneth MacMillan (b00tw6d7)
Concerto and Elite Syncopations

The first of a two-part programme celebrating the genius of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan in the year in which he would have turned 80. The three contrasting works featured in these programmes are danced by the Royal Ballet and they showcase the beauty and dramatic power of MacMillan's choreography.

Concerto is an early work danced to the music of Shostakovich and is followed by Elite Syncopations, in which brightly-coloured dancers burst into life to the music of ragtime.

The programme also features interviews with the lead dancers in rehearsal including Carlos Acosta, Sarah Lamb and Ed Watson, as well as the director of the Royal Ballet, Monica Mason.


SAT 00:25 The Royal Ballet Celebrates Kenneth MacMillan (b00tytm3)
The Judas Tree

The second of a two-part programme celebrating the genius of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan in the year in which he would have turned 80.

The Royal Ballet perform the Judas Tree, the Laurence Olivier Award-winning ballet which was MacMillan's last work before his untimely death of a heart attack at the age of 62. Set on a building site in Canary Wharf it is a highly charged ballet of brutal betrayal and tense sexual violence.

The programme also features interviews with the lead dancers in rehearsal including Carlos Acosta, Leanne Benjamin and Ed Watson, as well as the director of the Royal Ballet, Monica Mason.


SAT 01:05 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.


SAT 04:00 Churches: How to Read Them (b00twwc4)
Reformation: Chaos and Creation

The late middle ages was a time of destruction that still leaves its mark on our churches today. With the help of art historian Sister Wendy Beckett and a spectacular stained glass window, Richard Taylor tries to understand the intense medieval devotion to the Virgin Mary and how this fuelled the anger of the Reformation that followed.

Richard 'reads' a ruined church and explains how it was not Henry VIII but his boy-king successor, Edward VI, who was responsible for the greatest changes in the Reformation. He also traces how the Book of Common Prayer and the translation of the Bible into English transformed the way that the English worshipped and the appearance of their churches.

Richard travels to Burntisland in Fife, whose square-built church was a radical attempt by the Scots to break with their Catholic past.



SUNDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2010

SUN 19:00 Time to Remember (b00tww3x)
Pioneers of Aviation

In the 1950s, the newsreel company Pathe mined their archive to produce a series of programmes for television called Time to Remember. Made by the producer Peter Baylis, they chronicled the political, social and cultural changes that occurred during the first half of the 20th century.

Each episode was narrated by a prominent actor such as Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, Anthony Quayle, Edith Evans, Basil Rathbone and Joyce Grenfell, all reading scripts recalling historic, evocative or significant moments from an intriguing past.

In 2010, the material from the original Time to Remember has been collected together thematically to create a new 12-part series under the same title that offers a rewarding perspective on the events, people and innovations from history that continue to shape and influence the world around us.

This episode tells the story of the groundbreaking men, women and machines who took to the skies in the first half of the 20th century and includes footage of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk; President Theodore Roosevelt becoming the first head of state to fly in an aeroplane; the German Zeppelins; the R101 disaster; Imperial Airways at Croydon Aerodrome; and Charles Lindbergh's first solo transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St Louis in 1927.


SUN 19:30 Morning in the Streets (b00d30nz)
Denis Mitchell's 1959 documentary is full of evocative images of a Liverpool still recovering from the post-war gloom.

This BBC film won the award for the best television documentary film in the Italia Prize Contest, 1959.


SUN 20:05 All Our Working Lives (b00tz49g)
Revisited

Cotton and Textiles

The story of the British textiles industry, using rare archive and interviews with the people who worked in it. This programme features the original 1980s documentary on cotton, followed by a new film which brings the story of textiles right up to date.


SUN 21:35 Boys from the Blackstuff (b00v2xkq)
Jobs for the Boys

Alan Bleasdale's acclaimed drama series - following on from his play The Black Stuff - is an astute social commentary about life in recession-hit Britain in the Thatcher era.

Chrissie, Dixie, Yosser, Loggo and George sign on at the benefit office before heading off for some short-term work for the builder Malloy. The conversion job turns out to be the future new offices of the DHSS. Unfortunately, DHSS officials Moss and Lawton suspect their scam and are determined to catch them in the act. Ineptitude on several sides, however, leads to tragedy.


SUN 22:30 Of Time and the City (b00tz49l)
Acclaimed British director Terence Davies' love song to his native city of Liverpool, looking at the city's transformation over the years through archival footage, personal memory and a powerful soundtrack.


SUN 23:40 Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child (b00tw2db)
40 years after Jimi Hendrix's death on September 18th 1970, this film tells Jimi Hendrix's life story in his own words and is narrated by funk legend Bootsy Collins in the soft, authoritative voice of Hendrix himself.

Blending archive footage, artefacts, news archive and rare performance footage, director Bob Smeaton's film takes us from Hendrix's childhood in Seattle, through his spell in the army and on to his time on the chitlin circuit backing the likes of the Isley Brothers and Little Richard, his 'discovery' by ex-Animal Chas Chandler in New York, the formation of the Experience in the UK and his launch and instant popstardom in London in 1966, his stellar festival appearances at Monterey and Woodstock, his artistic progression, his last British concert at the end of August 1970 at the Isle of Wight Festival and his tragic death in Notting Hill, choked on his own vomit and red wine.


SUN 00:55 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00dzzv2)
Part I

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


SUN 01:55 All Our Working Lives (b00tz49g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:05 today]


SUN 03:25 Time to Remember (b00tww3x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2010

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00tzkh8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 The Cell (b00m425d)
The Hidden Kingdom

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

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


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b00tzkhb)
Series 4

Brit Poppers vs Geocachers

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

Three stalwarts of the Camden music scene (including the man who discovered Blur) pit their wit and wisdom against a husband, wife and pal who share a love of geocaching, the craze for treasure-hunting using GPS.

They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random, from Mao to David Hume to Casanova to Philip Larkin.


MON 21:00 Gauguin: The Full Story (b0074p98)
In 1903, on the island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, a syphilitic and alcoholic Frenchman called Paul Gauguin died of a heart attack. At that point nobody realised the incredible impact Gauguin's work was to have on modern art.

Art critic and broadcaster Waldemar Januszczak wrote and directed this examination of a man who was not only a great painter but sculptor, wood carver, musician, print maker, journalist and ceramicist. As well as telling the remarkable story of Gauguin's life, Januszczak also celebrates Gauguin's achievements and examines the various accusations of sexual misconduct, familial neglect and racism that are frequently made against him.

The film contains many of Gauguin's masterpieces and includes paintings put on show at the Hermitage in St Petersburg which haven't been seen in public since their disappearance during World War II.


MON 23:00 Omnibus (b00v2yz8)
The Savage: Paul Gauguin and the Construction of Paradise

Documentary which looks at the image of himself that Gauguin hoped to promote in his book Noa Noa, about his stay in Tahiti.


MON 00:05 All Our Working Lives (b00tz49g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:05 on Sunday]


MON 01:35 Waiting for Work (b00tw1jx)
Waiting for Work was a documentary written and directed by Jack Ashley. Politically passionate and one of the first working class reporters at the BBC, he wanted to show the suffering caused by high unemployment in Hartlepool. With no work, no prospects, and little money, Ashley asked how the unemployed reacted to their situation in an affluent society.

The documentary caused a storm when it was first shown in 1963. The original film is followed by a report by Ashley's daughter Jackie on how it changed politics in the north of England.


MON 02:35 Morning in the Streets (b00d30nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 on Sunday]


MON 03:10 The Cell (b00m425d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2010

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00tzlzx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 It's Only a Theory (b00n9105)
Episode 2

Comedians Andy Hamilton and Reginald D Hunter host a series in which qualified professionals and experts submit their theories about life, the universe and everything for examination by a panel of Hamilton, Hunter and a guest celebrity, who then make a final decision on whether the theory is worth keeping.

The guest celebrity is broadcaster and journalist Martha Kearney and the experts are Professor David Crystal, John Man and Dr Kathleen Richardson.


TUE 20:00 Britain's Best Drives (b00hq4fb)
North Yorkshire Moors

Actor Richard Wilson takes a journey into the past, following routes raved about in motoring guides of mid-20th century.

In a classic Morris Minor Traveller, he drives from Scarborough to Whitby via the Yorkshire moors. On the way, he learns about the rise and fall of the British seaside resorts, takes a toll road through the Dalby Forest and checks out the mythical roadside wonder that is the Hole of Horecum.

He finds out how the village of Goathland now lives a double life, and ends up with a carload of goths on their way to visit Whitby Abbey.


TUE 20:30 Time to Remember (b00tzlzz)
Stage and Screen

In the 1950s, the newsreel company Pathe mined their archive to produce a series of programmes for television called Time to Remember. Made by the producer Peter Baylis, they chronicled the political, social and cultural changes that occurred during the first half of the 20th century.

Each episode was narrated by a prominent actor such as Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, Anthony Quayle, Edith Evans, Basil Rathbone and Joyce Grenfell, all reading scripts recalling historic, evocative or significant moments from an intriguing past.

In 2010, the material from the original Time to Remember has been collected together thematically to create a new 12-part series under the same title that offers a rewarding perspective on the events, people and innovations from history that continue to shape and influence the world around us.

Archive footage from the theatres, music halls and cinemas of the 1920s and 30s combines with characterful voiceover to give a glimpse of the entertainment industries in their early 20th century golden age. It includes footage of Charles Laughton applying his own stage make-up, chorus line auditions and rehearsals in the West End, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks visiting Europe, and Alfred Hitchcock's first talkie, 1929's Blackmail.


TUE 21:00 The Born Free Legacy (b00tzm01)
Born Free caused a sensation when it was first published in 1960. As well as topping the New York Times bestseller list, the book, and the Hollywood film that followed, made a massive impact on conservation and science and our fundamental attitudes to wild animals and the environment.

This documentary marks the 50th anniversary of Born Free's publication by revisiting the inspirational story of Austrian artist and author Joy and her husband George Adamson, a warden turned wildlife conservationist. The account of the couple's experiences and adventures in East Africa as they raised an orphaned lioness cub, and their success in training her to survive in the wild, won the hearts and minds of people around the world and challenged the conventional view of wild animals as being without personalities, emotions or individual rights.

The extraordinary relationship between Elsa the lioness and her adopted 'parents' caused a seismic shift in popular attitudes towards animals and left a legacy that is as controversial today as it is fondly celebrated.

The documentary was filmed on location in Kenya and draws on extraordinary archive, including home video footage filmed by Joy and George, shot over the course of 50 years. Featuring contributions from their many friends, associates and contemporaries, it gives a remarkable insight into the personal lives and work of a couple who contributed to a sea change in our view of our relationship with wild animals and our place on the planet.


TUE 22:00 Elsa the Lioness (b00v1xk5)
First transmitted in 1961, David Attenborough travels to Meru National Park in Kenya to visit Joy and George Adamson and meet Elsa the lioness and her cubs shortly before Elsa's death.

In the late 1950s, game warden George and his wife Joy became the carers of three orphaned cubs - Elsa, Big One and Lustica - after George had been forced to kill their mother. Big One and Lustica were eventually sent to Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands, but Elsa remained with the Adamsons. Joy's quest to train Elsa to survive in the wild and Elsa's subsequent independence became the basis for the book and film Born Free.

Now living in the wild with her own three cubs in Meru National Park, David joins the Adamsons as they try and track down Elsa to check up on her wellbeing.


TUE 22:30 Reputations (b00v1xk7)
Joy Adamson - Born Wild?

The series re-evaluating high-profile reputations gets its claws into Joy Adamson of 'Born Free' fame. Her book - and the equally celebrated film - about Elsa the lion cub, portrayed Adamson as a saintly animal lover leading an idyllic life.

This film paints a different picture - that of a tough, ambitious and promiscuous woman, whose relationship with husband George included sexual and professional jealousy - and violence.


TUE 23:25 Time to Remember (b00tzlzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 23:55 The Born Free Legacy (b00tzm01)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 00:55 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.


TUE 02:25 Time to Remember (b00tzlzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 02:55 The Born Free Legacy (b00tzm01)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2010

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00tzmld)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 War Walks (b0074l5y)
Series 2

Bosworth

Professor Richard Holmes journeys to historic British sites. He visits a battlefield on which the course of British history was changed, as Henry Tudor's dynasty toppled that of King Richard III.

Holmes encounters members of the Wars of the Roses Federation, who gather to re-enact the battle, and meets present-day supporters of Richard, convinced that he was not the soulless villain portrayed by Shakespeare.


WED 20:00 We Need Answers (b00pq948)
Series 2

The Sun

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

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

Former editor of The Sun turned broadcaster Kelvin MacKenzie competes with cooking writer and celebrity chef Sophie Grigson.

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?'.

In the cunning physical challenge which pits the contestants against each other, Kelvin and Sophie play a tickling game.


WED 20:30 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tx33j)
Restoration and Reason

Church life in the 18th century is often thought to have been genteel and rather dull, but Richard Taylor finds that churches in this Age of Enlightenment reflect the intellectual excitement, the vigour and the potential for conflict of a turbulent time.

Richard shows how the symbols in even the most everyday parish church reveal the ever-closer identification between church and state and he tries out the extraordinary triple-decker pulpit at St Mary's in Whitby. In a lightning tour of the London churches of Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor, he discovers how they reflect the latest scientific insights and archaeological discoveries of the age. And in the startling simplicity of Baptist and Methodist chapels and meeting houses, he taps into the burgeoning spirit of dissent that brought the monopoly of the parish church to an end.


WED 21:00 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00tzmsd)
Domesday to Magna Carta

Groundbreaking series in which Michael Wood tells the story of one place throughout the whole of English history. The village is Kibworth in Leicestershire in the heart of England - a place that lived through the Black Death, the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution and was even bombed in World War Two.

Wood's unique portrait moves on to 1066 when the Normans build a castle in Kibworth. He reveals how occupation affected the villagers from the gallows to the alehouse, and shows the medieval open fields in action in the only place where they still survive today.

With the help of the residents, he charts events in the village leading to the people's involvement in the Civil War of Simon de Montfort. Intertwining the local and national narratives, this is a moving and informative picture of one local community through time.


WED 22:00 Mad Men (b00tzmsg)
Series 4

The Rejected

Drama series set in 1960s New York. Pete gets some bad news and some good news, which affects Peggy more than she can say. Allison can't keep her feelings under wraps.


WED 22:45 Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters (b00gmj5m)
For many, Savile Row menswear designer Ozwald Boateng embodies modern British style and in this documentary he unpicks and re-stitches his own relationship with style, looking to answer questions about what style is, where it comes from and why it is worth having.

Boateng pinpoints the places on his life-long journey through fashion where he added a new thought or influence to his look and reveals just how much being stylish has influenced his success. He talks about style with family, friends, colleagues and journalists and travels to Milan to meet one of his heroes, the master of modern menswear, Giorgio Armani.


WED 23:45 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tx33j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 00:15 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00tzmsd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 01:15 The Born Free Legacy (b00tzm01)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 02:15 Wildlife in a War Zone (b0074sft)
Sanjayan Muttulingam was forced to flee Sierra Leone when civil war erupted. Now a biologist in the United States, Sanjayan returns to his native land to find out what has happened to the animals which inspired him and the people he left behind.


WED 03:15 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tx33j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 03:45 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00tzmsd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2010

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00tzn94)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Seven Ages of Britain (b00qxyv0)
Age of Power

The story of Britain through its art and treasure.

This episode looks at the Tudors and spans from Henry VIII's accession in 1509 to the first performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII exactly 100 years later.

David Dimbleby shows how the Tudors used art as an instrument of power and propaganda. Featuring a look at Henry VIII and the lavish, gilded tomb in Westminster Abbey he commissioned for his father; the epic Field of Cloth of Gold painting in Hampton Court made to celebrate his diplomatic triumph over the French; and the extraordinary patron-artist relationship he cultivated with Hans Holbein. Henry favoured blunt statements of power, but his daughter Elizabeth was more subtle.

Dimbleby's journey also takes in the Reformation, the wreck of the Mary Rose, John White's extraordinary watercolours of the New World, the mouthwatering Cheapside Hoard, the Spanish Armada, Henry VIII's armour and Drake's Drum.


THU 20:30 In Search of Medieval Britain (b009wzw1)
Wales

Medieval art historian Dr Alixe Bovey uses the oldest surviving route map of Britain to make a series of journeys through Britain in the Middle Ages. She heads west from Gloucester to follow in the footsteps of the huge armies of Edward I into Wales and uncovers evidence of a lawless borderland, a Medieval arms race and clues to the origins of the map itself.


THU 21:00 The Saint and the Hanged Man (b009wzcs)
Rob Brydon narrates a dramatised/animated documentary which reveals the clash at the heart of the Medieval mind - between the reason and the supernatural - using rational process to dissect the divine.

In 1307 the full weight of medieval justice descended on the sleepy town of Hereford. But this court wasn't summoned to prove innocence or guilt. The man on trial wasn't a murderer, or a criminal. In fact he wasn't even alive. This was a holy inquiry, called by the Catholic Church to prove whether a dead English bishop was actually a miracle-worker - and whether he should be made into a saint.

His case comprised several alleged miracles, the most notorious being the spectacular resurrection of a hanged man. A Welsh terrorist executed by the state, hanged twice just to make sure, this wanted criminal somehow came back from the dead. And now a papal court would use all the instruments of legal process - witness statements, forensic evidence, cross examination - to prove whether it was truly a miracle.


THU 22:00 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00tzmsd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Wednesday]


THU 23:00 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tx33j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Wednesday]


THU 23:30 The Last Duel (b0074sh3)
Drama-documentary telling the story of one of the last trials by battle to be fought in Europe, a tale of sex, brutality and political machination set in 14th century medieval France.

A knight, Sir Jean de Carrouges, accuses his former best friend, Jacques Le Gris, of raping his wife Marguerite. Unable to obtain justice from his feudal overlord, Carrouges appeals to the king for the ancient right to fight a duel to the death to find out God's truth. There is much at stake. If Carrouges dies in the battle, Marguerite will also be burned to death as a liar.

This tense story, told from records of the day, is set against the backdrop of the 100 years war between England and France, 14th century attitudes towards women, crime and punishment and the political intrigues of the feudal system.


THU 00:30 Jimi Hendrix: Guitar Hero (b00tw2d8)
Documentary about Jimi Hendrix's four sensational years in London told by those who knew him, admired him and loved him. Driven by the testimony of Hendrix's fellow rock musicians, this is the story of Hendrix's journey in the UK and the enduring impression he made on those who witnessed his playing and got to know him well. Contributors include Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Ginger Baker, Eric Burdon, members of Crosby, Stills and Nash and Hendrix's girlfriend Kathy Etchingham.


THU 02:00 Churches: How to Read Them (b00tx33j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Wednesday]


THU 02:30 In Search of Medieval Britain (b009wzw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


THU 03:00 The Saint and the Hanged Man (b009wzcs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 01 OCTOBER 2010

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00tzpbn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 The Passions of Vaughan Williams (b00bfmt4)
Fifty years after his death, this musical and psychological portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams explores the passions that drove a giant of 20th-century English music. It explores the enormous musical range of an energetic, red-blooded composer whose output extends well beyond the delicate pastoralism of his perhaps most famous piece, The Lark Ascending.

The film tells the story of his long marriage to his increasingly disabled wife Adeline and his long affair with the woman who eventually became his second wife, Ursula. The effect of these complicated relationships on his music is demonstrated in performances of orchestral and choral works, specially filmed at Cadogan Hall, London by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Richard Hickox and by the singers of Schola Cantorum of Oxford.

Among the contributors is the late Ursula Vaughan Williams, who was interviewed shortly before she died at the age of 96.


FRI 21:00 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b00tzpbq)
Series 1

Episode 1

Compilation which unlocks the BBC vaults to explore the burgeoning singer-songwriter genre that exploded at the dawn of the 1970s and became one of the defining styles of that decade.

Featuring Elton John's Your Song, whose line 'My gift is my song and this one's for you' helps define this new, more personal style of songwriting, alongside an eclectic selection of classic artists and songs. James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Harry Nilsson, Sandy Denny, Steve Goodman, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Judee Sill, Jackson Browne, Neil Diamond, Tim Hardin, Joan Armatrading, Tom Waits all feature next to more commercial hits from the likes of Terry Jacks and Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Programme sources include The Old Grey Whistle Test, In Concert, Top of the Pops, The Shirley Bassey Show and Twiggy's Show of the week.


FRI 22:00 Songwriters' Circle (b00tzpbs)
Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainwright

In this unique concert created by BBC Four, singer-songwriters Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega and Loudon Wainwright perform together for the first time, taking it in turns to perform their classic songs, chat about their work and collaborate musically.

Filmed at London's intimate Bush Hall before a small audience, this one-off event finds Meltdown curator Richard Thompson performing songs from his 40-year solo career like I Feel So Good and Vincent Black Lightning, and reaching back to his first band Fairport Convention for a revelatory version of Genesis Hall.

Suzanne Vega reprises many of the songs that made her name - Marlene on the Wall, Luka and Tom's Diner - and finds time for a unique country-style duet with Loudon Wainwright on a song about property prices, failing marriages and the recession.

Wainwright also reaches into his catalogue for signature songs like Be Careful There's a Baby in the House, One Man Guy and The Swimming Song. There are improvised harmonies, guitar fills a plenty from Mr Thompson and a shared delight in songwriting, performance and the occasion.


FRI 23:05 Carole King and James Taylor: Live at the Troubadour (b00sftvw)
Carole King and James Taylor reunited at the intimate Hollywood venue in concert in 2007 to play their era-defining hits, nearly four decades after they first performed at the Troubadour in November 1970, a year before their Tapestry and Sweet Baby James' albums stormed the American charts. King and Taylor are backed by the Section, the same band that propelled those albums into homes around the world.

James Taylor had released his first album on the Beatles' Apple label, Carole King was struggling to forge a new solo career after being one half of Goffin-King, one of the great Brill Building songwriting partnerships of the early 60s. Their musical friendship blossomed with Taylor's support for King and his cover of her song You've Got a Friend. The Troubadour became the centre of a new singer-songwriter culture that also featured the likes of Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and many more.


FRI 00:05 BBC Four Sessions (b0074rp4)
Loudon Wainwright III

Series of unique concerts featuring musicians from around the world. Loudon Wainwright III plays tracks from his latest album Here Come The Choppers alongside such classics as One Man Guy and Hard Day on the Planet to an enthusiastic audience.

Footage shot during his recent British tour is at once hilarious and moving, revealing a complex and talented character who has spent decades turning everyday personal matters into public art.


FRI 01:05 The Passions of Vaughan Williams (b00bfmt4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:35 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b00tzpbq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:35 Songwriters' Circle (b00tzpbs)
[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)

All Our Working Lives 20:05 SUN (b00tz49g)

All Our Working Lives 01:55 SUN (b00tz49g)

All Our Working Lives 00:05 MON (b00tz49g)

BBC Four Sessions 00:05 FRI (b0074rp4)

BBC Proms 01:05 SAT (b00tp1wn)

Boys from the Blackstuff 21:35 SUN (b00v2xkq)

Britain's Best Drives 20:00 TUE (b00hq4fb)

Carole King and James Taylor: Live at the Troubadour 23:05 FRI (b00sftvw)

Churches: How to Read Them 04:00 SAT (b00twwc4)

Churches: How to Read Them 20:30 WED (b00tx33j)

Churches: How to Read Them 23:45 WED (b00tx33j)

Churches: How to Read Them 03:15 WED (b00tx33j)

Churches: How to Read Them 23:00 THU (b00tx33j)

Churches: How to Read Them 02:00 THU (b00tx33j)

Elsa the Lioness 22:00 TUE (b00v1xk5)

Gauguin: The Full Story 21:00 MON (b0074p98)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 00:55 SUN (b00dzzv2)

In Search of Medieval Britain 20:30 THU (b009wzw1)

In Search of Medieval Britain 02:30 THU (b009wzw1)

It's Only a Theory 19:30 TUE (b00n9105)

Jimi Hendrix: Guitar Hero 00:30 THU (b00tw2d8)

Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child 23:40 SUN (b00tw2db)

Mad Men 22:25 SAT (b00twwc6)

Mad Men 22:00 WED (b00tzmsg)

Michael Wood's Story of England 20:00 SAT (b00tw231)

Michael Wood's Story of England 21:00 WED (b00tzmsd)

Michael Wood's Story of England 00:15 WED (b00tzmsd)

Michael Wood's Story of England 03:45 WED (b00tzmsd)

Michael Wood's Story of England 22:00 THU (b00tzmsd)

Morning in the Streets 19:30 SUN (b00d30nz)

Morning in the Streets 02:35 MON (b00d30nz)

Murder on the Lake 00:55 TUE (b00qjngb)

Nature's Great Events 19:00 SAT (b00j4c6b)

Of Time and the City 22:30 SUN (b00tz49l)

Omnibus 23:00 MON (b00v2yz8)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b00tzkhb)

Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters 22:45 WED (b00gmj5m)

Reputations 22:30 TUE (b00v1xk7)

Seven Ages of Britain 19:30 THU (b00qxyv0)

Singer-Songwriters at the BBC 21:00 FRI (b00tzpbq)

Singer-Songwriters at the BBC 02:35 FRI (b00tzpbq)

Songwriters' Circle 22:00 FRI (b00tzpbs)

Songwriters' Circle 03:35 FRI (b00tzpbs)

The Born Free Legacy 21:00 TUE (b00tzm01)

The Born Free Legacy 23:55 TUE (b00tzm01)

The Born Free Legacy 02:55 TUE (b00tzm01)

The Born Free Legacy 01:15 WED (b00tzm01)

The Cell 19:30 MON (b00m425d)

The Cell 03:10 MON (b00m425d)

The Last Duel 23:30 THU (b0074sh3)

The Passions of Vaughan Williams 19:30 FRI (b00bfmt4)

The Passions of Vaughan Williams 01:05 FRI (b00bfmt4)

The Royal Ballet Celebrates Kenneth MacMillan 23:15 SAT (b00tw6d7)

The Royal Ballet Celebrates Kenneth MacMillan 00:25 SAT (b00tytm3)

The Saint and the Hanged Man 21:00 THU (b009wzcs)

The Saint and the Hanged Man 03:00 THU (b009wzcs)

Time to Remember 19:00 SUN (b00tww3x)

Time to Remember 03:25 SUN (b00tww3x)

Time to Remember 20:30 TUE (b00tzlzz)

Time to Remember 23:25 TUE (b00tzlzz)

Time to Remember 02:25 TUE (b00tzlzz)

Waiting for Work 01:35 MON (b00tw1jx)

Wallander 21:00 SAT (b00mfbr4)

War Walks 19:30 WED (b0074l5y)

We Need Answers 20:00 WED (b00pq948)

Wildlife in a War Zone 02:15 WED (b0074sft)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00tzkh8)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00tzlzx)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00tzmld)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00tzn94)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00tzpbn)