The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is a rich source of galaxies, double and variable stars and the Hubble Deep Field, through which we are able to look back 10 billion years in time. Sir Patrick Moore and his astronomical team give an intimate guide to one of the skies' most recognisable constellations.
Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion discovers an unseen and unpublished poem by Philip Larkin when he returns to Hull to meet one of the poet's former lovers. Speaking for the first time about her relationship with Larkin, Betty Mackereth reveals the man behind the famous poems.
Clips and narration from different episodes of the 1950s Time to Remember series offer insights into the hardships and privations of the 1920s and 30s on both sides of the Atlantic.
Includes footage of the bombing in Wall Street in 1920, preparations for the 1926 UK General Strike and images of the American dustbowl in the 1930s.
Documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power they have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend.
Rosling is a man who revels in the glorious nerdiness of statistics, and here he entertainingly explores their history, how they work mathematically and how they can be used in today's computer age to see the world as it really is, not just as we imagine it to be.
Rosling's lectures use huge quantities of public data to reveal the story of the world's past, present and future development. Now he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes.
The film also explores cutting-edge examples of statistics in action today. In San Francisco, a new app mashes up police department data with the city's street map to show what crime is being reported street by street, house by house, in near real-time. Every citizen can use it and the hidden patterns of their city are starkly revealed. Meanwhile, at Google HQ the machine translation project tries to translate between 57 languages, using lots of statistics and no linguists.
Despite its light and witty touch, the film nonetheless has a serious message - without statistics we are cast adrift on an ocean of confusion, but armed with stats we can take control of our lives, hold our rulers to account and see the world as it really is. What's more, Hans concludes, we can now collect and analyse such huge quantities of data and at such speeds that scientific method itself seems to be changing.
Series of dramas, created by Jimmy McGovern, about ordinary people as they face their day in court. Liam, a taxi driver, stands accused of a terrible crime. As he begins the long walk back to the courtroom to hear the jury's verdict we see the obsession that led him to this crime of passion.
WEDNESDAY 08 DECEMBER 2010
WED 19:00 World News Today (b00wgq7z)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 A History of the World (b00sj235)
Cumbria's Atomic Pioneers
Using everyday objects to tell the history of the world, Stuart Maconie goes in search of Britain's atomic past, revealing the story of Calder Hall in Cumbria, the world's first commercial nuclear power station. Back in the 1950s, this huge industrial site was seen as a shining beacon of the future during the dark days of the Cold War.
Stuart meets the workers who were there during the royal opening by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956, and through colour archive film taken during its building and launch we see a rare snapshot of Britain's pioneering industrial days.
On his journey back through time, Stuart examines the objects that unlock the past. He discovers an invitation to the royal ceremony, how the newspapers of the time reported the 'magnificent achievement', the old piece of machinery from the station that kept breaking down, and how this now distant world was fondly viewed through the pages of the Eagle Comic.
Going behind the closed doors of Calder Hall, he reveals a sci-fi version of the future and meets those who played their part in this turning point in history.
WED 20:00 Masterpieces of Vienna (b008m62t)
Freud's Couch
Series about Vienna's cultural artefacts looks at Sigmund Freud's couch - now an iconic piece of furniture and the emblem of psychoanalysis. The film tells the story of how its arrival in Freud's Viennese apartment triggered a revolution in 20th-century thinking.
WED 20:30 Julia Bradbury's German Wanderlust (b00wgq81)
The Bavarian Alps
Julia Bradbury takes her boots and backpack to the Continent to explore the landscape of Germany and the cultural movement that made it famous - Romanticism.
The Germans enjoy a relationship with walking that has lasted over 200 years. The exploration of their landscape has inspired music, literature and art, and Romanticism has even helped shape the modern German nation, as Julia discovers. By walking in four very different parts of Germany, she explores river valleys, coastlines, mountains and gorges, following in the footsteps of Richard Wagner, Caspar David Friedrich, Johannes Brahms as well as British Romantics like William Turner and Lord Byron. This is Julia's chance to discover her own sense of wanderlust.
Julia moves to the far south of Germany for her second adventure. The Alps are a famous walking environment and, 140 years ago, were the playground of the famously eccentric Bavarian king Ludwig II. Julia's stunning mountain walk explores the fairytale story of Ludwig's life, his obsession with landscape, Romantic art and literature, and his close friendship with composer Richard Wagner. The walk's highlight is Ludwig's greatest Romantic legacy, the incredible castle of Neuschwanstein.
WED 21:00 Al Murray's German Adventure (b00wgq83)
Episode 2
Making fun of the Germans has had 'Pub Landlord' comedian Al Murray's audiences laughing in the aisles, but behind the scenes Murray is a serious historian with a fascination for the real Germany.
In the second of a two-part documentary, Al sets out to discover the truth behind the wartime jokes and banter that still plague all things German. In a breathtaking journey through one of Germany's coldest winters, he discovers a country of warm and welcoming people and two centuries of stunning arts and culture.
From Bach to Bauhaus and the Brothers Grimm, Al falls in love with the true historical, natural and cultural beauty of this much-maligned land.
WED 22:00 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.
WED 23:25 TOTP2 (b00747qb)
John Lennon Special
Steve Wright presents a mixture of pop nostalgia and music, celebrating the late John Lennon.
WED 23:55 Al Murray's German Adventure (b00wgq83)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WED 00:55 Julia Bradbury's German Wanderlust (b00wgq81)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
WED 01:25 Masterpieces of Vienna (b008m62t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 01:55 A History of the World (b00sj235)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:25 Lennon Naked (b00sv451)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
WED 03:50 Al Murray's German Adventure (b00wgq83)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 09 DECEMBER 2010
THU 19:00 World News Today (b00wgqln)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 The Secret Life of Chaos (b00pv1c3)
Chaos theory has a bad name, conjuring up images of unpredictable weather, economic crashes and science gone wrong. But there is a fascinating and hidden side to Chaos, one that scientists are only now beginning to understand.
It turns out that chaos theory answers a question that mankind has asked for millennia - how did we get here?
In this documentary, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to uncover one of the great mysteries of science - how does a universe that starts off as dust end up with intelligent life? How does order emerge from disorder?
It's a mindbending, counterintuitive and for many people a deeply troubling idea. But Professor Al-Khalili reveals the science behind much of beauty and structure in the natural world and discovers that far from it being magic or an act of God, it is in fact an intrinsic part of the laws of physics. Amazingly, it turns out that the mathematics of chaos can explain how and why the universe creates exquisite order and pattern.
And the best thing is that one doesn't need to be a scientist to understand it. The natural world is full of awe-inspiring examples of the way nature transforms simplicity into complexity. From trees to clouds to humans - after watching this film you'll never be able to look at the world in the same way again.
THU 20:30 The Beauty of Diagrams (b00wgqlq)
Florence Nightingale
Series in which mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explores the stories behind some of the world's most familiar scientific diagrams.
Can a diagram save lives? Florence Nightingale is best known as the Lady of the Lamp, who cared for thousands of soldiers in appalling conditions during the Crimean War of 1854-6. What is less well-known is that she was a superb statistician, and the first to use a statistical graphic as a call to action.
After the war, Nightingale wrote a passionate report on why the soldiers had died in such large numbers and it revealed the astonishing fact that out of 18,000 deaths, 16,000 had been due to infectious diseases in hospital rather than battle wounds. The report included her revolutionary and controversial 'Rose Diagram', whose message was potent and direct - hospitals can kill. The diagram was designed to persuade the British government that, if sanitation in hospitals was improved, many deaths could be avoided. Nightingale's pioneering diagram was a catalyst in the creation of better and cleaner hospitals that would go on to save thousands of lives.
THU 21:00 My Father, the Bomb and Me (b00wkps1)
Academic and broadcaster Lisa Jardine turns detective on her famous father, Jacob Bronowski. Through his personal and professional dilemmas she reveals the story of science in the 20th century, from Einstein to the atom bomb.
THU 22:00 The Ascent of Man (b0074sdz)
The Harvest of the Seasons
Dr Jacob Bronowski's classic account of the social and intellectual evolution of the human race looks at the move mankind made from nomadic pasturage to settled agriculture, with the domestication of the horse and the cultivation of wheat.
THU 22:50 The Road to Coronation Street (b00ttj2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 on Saturday]
THU 00:05 The Chaser (b00wgnx1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 on Sunday]
THU 02:05 My Father, the Bomb and Me (b00wkps1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THU 03:05 The Ascent of Man (b0074sdz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 03:55 The Beauty of Diagrams (b00wgqlq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
FRIDAY 10 DECEMBER 2010
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00wgrtp)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 What Makes a Great Tenor? (b00sm1js)
The great tenor Rolando Villazon takes us inside the world of the sexiest and most risky of all operatic voices. It's a journey which includes some of the great names of the past, such as Caruso and Lanza, and some of the brightest stars performing today, like Domingo, Alagna and Florez. We hear how they tackle their most famous roles and what the risks and rewards are.
FRI 20:30 The Highland Sessions (b0074rx7)
Episode 4
Six-part series celebrating the historical and contemporary links between Scottish and Irish Gaelic song by bringing together top exponents of both traditions to sing and play together with no audience except themselves, using a house band of their peers.
The episode opens with Da Mihi Manum (Give Me Your Hand), performed by Steve Cooney and Kathleen MacInnes. Rona Lightfoot performs canntaireachd, an oral music form traditionally used to teach and pass on pipe tunes that Rona has made her own, elevating it to a kind of Gaelic scat singing.
FRI 21:00 Still Folk Dancing... After All These Years (b00wgrtr)
Young Northumbrian folk-singing siblings Rachel and Becky Unthank take a journey around England from spring to autumn 2010 to experience its living folk dance traditions in action. They lead us through the back gardens and narrow streets of towns and villages from Newcastle to Penzance to discover the most surprising of dances, ceremonies, rituals and festivities that mark the turning of the seasons and the passing of the year.
On their journey the Unthanks learn about the evolving history of the dances, whether connected to the land and the cycles of fertility or to working customs and practices in industrial towns. The girls talk to local historians and visit Cecil Sharp House to explore the dances' 20th century revival and codification through archivist Sharp and others, and we get to enjoy extraordinary film archive of the dances through the decades which show that although the people have changed, the dances have often remained remarkably constant.
Rachel and Becky grew up clog dancing in their native Northumberland and now get to observe and try other English dances, including travellers' step dancing in Suffolk, horn dancing with huge antlers in Staffordshire and stick dancing in Oxfordshire. This curious but vibrant world of local dances flies in the face of modernisation, and sometimes of ridicule, to keep the traditions and the steps alive.
FRI 22:00 The Christmas Session (b00pcnsp)
BBC Four celebrates merry midwinter in unique style, with an exhilarating blend of folk tradition and burlesque fun. Energetic 11-piece Bellowhead and Mercury-nominated alternative folkies The Unthanks get together with the impressive young singers Thea Gilmore and Lisa Knapp, plus other special guests.
Steered by genial host Paul Sartin, the assembled artists perform seasonal songs of their own alongside yuletide favourites, ranging from folk ballads and carols to parlour songs and carousing dance numbers, with everyone coming together for a final knees-up.
Filmed at the atmospheric Shoreditch Town Hall, the setting evokes an old music hall combined with a festive Victorian family parlour, bedecked with garlands, period lamps and fireplace. Even the audience are dressed up in old-fashioned finery and prove themselves ready to kick up their heels.
FRI 23:00 Folk at the BBC (b0074s5l)
The 50s/60s
A compilation of folk performances from the 1950s and 60s, news items on the folk movement from the vaults and newly shot performances. Featured artists include Peggy Seeger, Ewan McColl, Lonnie Donegan, Martin Carthy, AL Lloyd, the Coppers and Bob Davenports.
FRI 00:00 What Makes a Great Tenor? (b00sm1js)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 01:00 Still Folk Dancing... After All These Years (b00wgrtr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:00 The Christmas Session (b00pcnsp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 03:00 Folk at the BBC (b0074s5l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
A History of the World
19:30 WED (b00sj235)
A History of the World
01:55 WED (b00sj235)
Accused
22:00 TUE (b00wljgl)
Al Murray's German Adventure
00:00 SAT (b00wbl9x)
Al Murray's German Adventure
23:00 TUE (b00wbl9x)
Al Murray's German Adventure
02:30 TUE (b00wbl9x)
Al Murray's German Adventure
21:00 WED (b00wgq83)
Al Murray's German Adventure
23:55 WED (b00wgq83)
Al Murray's German Adventure
03:50 WED (b00wgq83)
Ancient Worlds
19:30 MON (b00wdpl1)
Art of Germany
01:30 SUN (b00wbwg2)
Art of Germany
21:00 MON (b00wgpnc)
Art of Germany
01:30 MON (b00wgpnc)
Art of Germany
04:00 MON (b00wgpnc)
Berlin
22:00 MON (b00p4fl4)
Berlin
02:30 MON (b00p4fl4)
Choir of the Year
20:00 SAT (b00wgn3h)
Choir of the Year
02:20 SAT (b00wgn3h)
Folk at the BBC
23:00 FRI (b0074s5l)
Folk at the BBC
03:00 FRI (b0074s5l)
Getting On
23:30 SAT (b00wbl9z)
How Earth Made Us
19:30 SUN (b00r390p)
How Earth Made Us
00:30 SUN (b00r390p)
Julia Bradbury's German Wanderlust
03:30 MON (b00wbmsq)
Julia Bradbury's German Wanderlust
20:30 WED (b00wgq81)
Julia Bradbury's German Wanderlust
00:55 WED (b00wgq81)
Lennon Naked
22:00 WED (b00sv451)
Lennon Naked
02:25 WED (b00sv451)
Life
19:00 SAT (b00p90d6)
Mad Men
22:45 SAT (b00wbmsv)
Masterpieces of Vienna
20:30 SUN (b008m61x)
Masterpieces of Vienna
20:00 WED (b008m62t)
Masterpieces of Vienna
01:25 WED (b008m62t)
My Father, the Bomb and Me
21:00 THU (b00wkps1)
My Father, the Bomb and Me
02:05 THU (b00wkps1)
Only Connect
20:30 MON (b00wgpn9)
Philip Larkin and the Third Woman
20:00 TUE (b00wcqvb)
Philip Larkin and the Third Woman
01:30 TUE (b00wcqvb)
Stephen Fry: Wagner and Me
21:00 SUN (b00wpvb2)
Stephen Fry: Wagner and Me
02:30 SUN (b00wpvb2)
Stephen Fry: Wagner and Me
00:00 MON (b00wpvb2)
Still Folk Dancing... After All These Years
21:00 FRI (b00wgrtr)
Still Folk Dancing... After All These Years
01:00 FRI (b00wgrtr)
Storyville
23:00 MON (b00tr1q3)
TOTP2
23:25 WED (b00747qb)
The Ascent of Man
22:00 THU (b0074sdz)
The Ascent of Man
03:05 THU (b0074sdz)
The Beauty of Diagrams
20:30 THU (b00wgqlq)
The Beauty of Diagrams
03:55 THU (b00wgqlq)
The Chaser
22:30 SUN (b00wgnx1)
The Chaser
00:05 THU (b00wgnx1)
The Christmas Session
22:00 FRI (b00pcnsp)
The Christmas Session
02:00 FRI (b00pcnsp)
The Highland Sessions
20:30 FRI (b0074rx7)
The Joy of Stats
21:00 TUE (b00wgq0l)
The Joy of Stats
00:00 TUE (b00wgq0l)
The Joy of Stats
03:30 TUE (b00wgq0l)
The Road to Coronation Street
21:30 SAT (b00ttj2r)
The Road to Coronation Street
01:00 SAT (b00ttj2r)
The Road to Coronation Street
22:50 THU (b00ttj2r)
The Secret Life of Chaos
19:30 THU (b00pv1c3)
The Sky at Night
19:30 TUE (b07hbzt8)
The Sky at Night
02:00 TUE (b07hbzt8)
Time to Remember
19:00 SUN (b00wbl9v)
Time to Remember
04:00 SUN (b00wbl9v)
Time to Remember
20:30 TUE (b00wgq0j)
Time to Remember
01:00 TUE (b00wgq0j)
What Makes a Great Tenor?
19:30 FRI (b00sm1js)
What Makes a Great Tenor?
00:00 FRI (b00sm1js)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b00wgpn7)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b00wgq0g)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b00wgq7z)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b00wgqln)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b00wgrtp)