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 05 FEBRUARY 2011

SAT 19:00 South Pacific (b00kwdqr)
Ocean of Volcanoes

Witness the birth, growth and death of an island in the greatest ocean on Earth. Millions of years are condensed into an hour revealing unforgettable images of an erupting underwater volcano; rivers of lava exploding below the waves; roads and houses buried by molten rivers of rock. From these violent beginnings emerge coral reefs of unparalleled richness, supporting large groups of grey reef sharks and giant manta rays.

The rising lands of the South Pacific have also given life to some very strange creatures, from the vampire bug that thrives in tropical snow, and the megapode, a bird that uses volcanic springs to incubate its eggs, to vast swarms of jellyfish trapped forever by a coral mountain. This is the Pacific as you've never seen it before.


SAT 20:00 The Secret Life of Waves (b00y5jhx)
Documentary maker David Malone delves into the secrets of ocean waves. In an elegant and original film, he finds that waves are not made of water, that some waves travel sideways, and that the sound of the ocean comes not from water but from bubbles. Waves are not only beautiful but also profoundly important, and there is a surprising connection between the life cycle of waves and the life of human beings.


SAT 21:00 The Killing (b00ydg68)
Series 1

Episode 5

Sarah realises that Nanna's friend Lisa may know more than she has let on, and something indicates that investigators ought to focus their attention in a different direction. Things are looking up for Troels and his political campaign, which advisor Rie is trying to control with an iron fist. But his hardships may not be over just yet. Pernille deals with her grief in her own way, while Theis finds it hard to hold himself together.


SAT 21:55 The Killing (b00yl5yy)
Series 1

Episode 6

Copenhagen mayoral candidate Troels Hartmann is heading for trouble when it emerges that someone in his department has attempted to hide potentially crucial facts relating to the murder case. But who is behind the whitewash and why? Sarah and Jan pursue the lead, while chaos erupts in Sarah's personal life. As Pernille and Theis prepare to bury their daughter, Theis receives some shattering information.


SAT 22:55 How TV Ruined Your Life (b00ybzjr)
The Lifecycle

Comedy series in which Charlie Brooker uses a mix of sketches and jaw-dropping archive footage to explore the gulf between real life and television.

From kids shows to Countdown, TV has something to infuriate anyone of any age. Warning: this episode contains creepy dolls and the 1980s Oxo dad.


SAT 23:25 The First Men in the Moon (b00vfgcw)
Mark Gatiss's adaptation of HG Wells's science fiction classic. July 1969, and as the world waits with bated breath for the Apollo astronauts to land on the moon, a young boy meets 90-year-old Julius Bedford. He's a man with an extraordinary story of how, way back in 1909, he got to the moon first, and, together with the eccentric Professor Cavor, discovered a terrifying secret deep beneath its seemingly barren surface.


SAT 00:55 Britain's Park Story (b00t9qv8)
The British invented them for the world, and they have been described as 'the lungs of the city - historian Dan Cruickshank reveals the history of our public parks.

Cruickshank travels the country to discover the evolution of the nation's urban public parks, a story of class, civic pride, changing fashions in sport and recreation which helps re-evaluate the amazing assets they are.

From their civic heyday in the 19th century to the neglect of the 1980s and their resurgence today, the documentary is a fascinating and entertaining history of an often-overlooked great British invention.


SAT 01:55 Who Killed the Honey Bee? (b00jzjys)
Bees are dying in their millions. It is an ecological crisis that threatens to bring global agriculture to a standstill. Introduced by Martha Kearney, this documentary explores the reasons behind the decline of bee colonies across the globe, investigating what might be at the root of this devastation.

Honey bees are the number one insect pollinator on the planet, responsible for the production of over 90 crops. Apples, berries, cucumbers, nuts, cabbages and even cotton will struggle to be produced if bee colonies continue to decline at the current rate. Empty hives have been reported from as far afield as Taipei and Tennessee. In England, the matter has caused beekeepers to march on Parliament to call on the government to fund research into what they say is potentially a bigger threat to humanity than the current financial crisis.

Investigating the problem from a global perspective, the programme makers travel from the farm belt of California to the flatlands of East Anglia to the outback of Australia. They talk to the beekeepers whose livelihoods are threatened by colony collapse disorder, the scientists entrusted with solving the problem, and the Australian beekeepers who are making a fortune replacing the planet's dying bees. They also look at some of the possible reasons for the declining numbers - is it down to a bee plague, pesticides, malnutrition? Or is the answer something even more frightening?


SAT 02:55 The Secret Life of Waves (b00y5jhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2011

SUN 19:00 Coast (b08blhtv)
Series 4 Reversions

Scotland's Western Isles

Neil Oliver searches for sea eagles, recently reintroduced to the island of Canna.

Kate Rew is hunting for the marvellously titled bone-eating snot flower, a mysterious creature that lives on whale skeletons.

Alice Roberts visits Skye to explore what remains of a remarkable industry which grew up 200 years ago to extract chemicals from seaweed for glass manufacture. Alice investigates the desperate living and working conditions for the locals who harvested the kelp.

Nick Crane stretches credibility to the limits as he sets out to discover the true length of Britain's coastline. He discovers that the answer is infinitely absorbing as he stumbles across a brain-expanding branch of mathematics that revels in the twists and turns of nature. It turns out it's because of this fractal maths that we are able to make our mobile phones so small.


SUN 19:30 Cattle Queen of Montana (b00786nd)
Frontier action adventure in which a feisty pioneer woman, Sierra Nevada Jones, struggles to hold on to the livestock and grazing land that belonged to her murdered father. With a little help from a trusted hand, Sierra Nevada resists the onslaughts of a land-grabbing neighbour and a passel of renegade Indians.


SUN 21:00 Storyville (b00ydg7t)
American Idol - Reagan

Documentary which examines the enigmatic career of screen star and two-term US president Ronald Reagan.

He has been heralded as one of the architects of the modern world and since his death many Americans have been working to cement his legacy. To some he has come to define contemporary conservatism and has increasingly become a standard-bearer for American statecraft. So phenomenal has his legacy become that both Republican and Democratic politicians today continue to invoke his name to win votes.

But some critics argue that the aftershocks of Reaganomics continue to crumble economies the world over and that the hubris of Reagan's foreign policy continues to propel America into a cycle of overseas ventures. To such critics Reagan is an ominous figure who did more harm than good.

But who was Ronald Reagan, and how did he come to shape world politics in the way he did? Featuring in-depth interviews with those who worked with him and knew him best, this film provides a definitive and penetrating look at Reaganism.


SUN 22:40 Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop (b00nq7q9)
Fleetwood Mac are one of the biggest-selling bands of all time and still on the road. Their story, told in their own words, is an epic tale of love and confrontation, of success and loss.

Few bands have undergone such radical musical and personal change. The band evolved from the 60s British blues boom to perfect a US West Coast sound that saw them sell 40 million copies of the album Rumours.

However, behind-the-scenes relationships were turbulent. The band went through multiple line-ups with six different lead guitarists. While working on Rumours, the two couples at the heart of the band separated, yet this heartache inspired the perfect pop record.


SUN 23:40 Peter Green: Man of the World (b00k92x1)
Legendary blues guitarist BB King named Peter Green as one of the greatest exponents of the blues, and the 'only guitar player to make me sweat'. If Green had only written Black Magic Woman, his name would still have a place in blues rock history forever.

His three short years leading Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac saw the band established as one of the biggest-selling groups of the 1960s. Yet at the height of their fame Green left the group, with his life spiralling into turmoil as drug-induced mental health issues took control. Rumours of his demise began to spread, and sightings of him became notorious.

After years battling his mental illness, Green wrote and recorded again. Featuring archive performances and interviews with Carlos Santana, Noel Gallagher, founding members of Fleetwood Mac and Green himself, this film tells the story of one of blues rock's living legends.


SUN 01:10 Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood Live at Madison Square Garden (b00k9cbz)
Reunion concert by Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at New York's Madison Square Garden in 2008. The rock legends took to the stage together for just three concerts in a highly anticipated collaboration, performing a string of hits that included Blind Faith's Presence of the Lord and Can't Find My Way Home, in addition to Clapton's classic After Midnight and Winwood's Dear Mr Fantasy.

Both Winwood and Clapton have long and prestigious musical careers, with countless honours and awards to their names. Their musical paths connected in 1969 with the formation of Blind Faith, a supergroup that pioneered the fusion of rock and blues to tremendous studio and stage success.

Despite critical and popular acclaim the band was short-lived, releasing only one album and embarking on a brief 1969 tour that debuted on July 12 at Madison Square Garden and ended on August 24 in Hawaii. Since that final show, Winwood and Clapton have remained friends but had only performed an occasional song together at charity events.


SUN 02:10 Storyville (b00ydg7t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



MONDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2011

MON 19:00 World News Today (b00ydj1k)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 The Children Who Built Victorian Britain (b00t6t3r)
The catalyst to Britain's Industrial Revolution was the slave labour of orphans and destitute children. In this shocking and moving account of their exploitation and eventual emancipation, Professor Jane Humphries uses the actual words of these child workers (recorded in diaries, interviews and letters) to let them tell their own story. She also uses groundbreaking animation to bring to life a world where 12-year-olds went to war at Trafalgar and six-year-olds worked the fields as human scarecrows.


MON 20:30 The Beauty of Books (b00ydj1m)
Ancient Bibles

The British Library in London is home to 14 million books, on shelves that stretch over 600km. Extraordinary vessels of ideas and knowledge, they testify to the love affair we have with books. This series explores the enduring appeal and importance of books from a 4th century bible to present day paperbacks.

The Codex Sinaiticus is the world's oldest surviving bible. Made around 350 AD, it is a unique insight into early Christians and their effort to find a single version of the biblical text that everyone could accept - a bible fit for the Roman Empire. 800 years later, an illuminated bible rich in gold and lapis lazuli and produced in Winchester, recalls a time when bibles were at the centre of the Church's struggle with the State for ultimate authority.

Both of these bibles are works of art and remarkable achievements in book technology. They are also annotations on the political era in which they were created, providing fascinating commentary on the life of Jesus and the murder of Thomas Becket.


MON 21:00 Birth of the British Novel (b00ydj1p)
Author Henry Hitchings explores the lives and works of Britain's radical and pioneering 18th-century novelists who, in just 80 years, established all the literary genres we recognise today. It was a golden age of creativity led by Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, Fanny Burney and William Godwin, amongst others. Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Tom Jones and Tristram Shandy are novels that still sparkle with audacity and innovation.

On his journey through 18th-century fiction, Hitchings reveals how the novel was more than mere entertainment, it was also a subversive hand grenade that would change British society for the better. He travels from the homes of Britain's great and good to its lowliest prisons, meeting contemporary writers like Martin Amis, Will Self, Tom McCarthy and Jenny Uglow on the way.

Although 18th-century novels are woefully neglected today compared to those of the following two centuries, Hitchings shows how the best of them can offer as much pleasure to the reader as any modern classic.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b00ydj1r)
Afghan Cricket Club - Out of the Ashes

Against a backdrop of war and poverty, this documentary traces the extraordinary journey of a team of young Afghan cricketers as they chase a seemingly impossible dream, shedding light on a nation beyond burqas, bombs, drugs and devastation.

The film follows the squad over two years as they go from playing in their shalwar-kameezes on rubble pitches to battling their way around the globe and up the international league tables. It travels from refugee camps in Pakistan - where many of the players learned the game as boys - to practice sessions in Kabul and on to qualifying tournaments overseas.

With unrestricted access, the film follows the ups and downs of their epic journey.


MON 23:30 Not Cricket (b00byf78)
The Captain and the Bookmaker

Documentary which lifts the lid on the new South Africa through the prism of sport, the international boycott of which had helped bring down the racist regime. It tells the story of Hansie Cronje, the iconic hero of South African cricket who, by taking bribes to fix international matches, betrayed the game supposed to embody the spirit of fair play.

Featuring interviews with Marlon Aronstam, one of the bookmakers who corrupted him, and with Cronje's boss and controversial coach, the late Bob Woolmer, filmed just weeks before his death, amid false rumours he was murdered by match fixers. Plus frank confessions from fellow test team-members, friends and mentors and most of the key opinion formers in South African cricket.


MON 00:25 The Beauty of Books (b00ydj1m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 00:55 In Their Own Words: British Novelists (b00tg2jk)
Among the Ruins (1919-1939)

Series looking at the story of the British novel in the 20th century, told by those who know it best - the authors themselves.

'We are among the ruins', wrote DH Lawrence describing the decade after the First World War. The interwar years generated self-doubt and ideological crisis as Britain contemplated the devastation of war and the demise of empire which would transform the British novel.

Some of the greatest, most innovative works of modern British fiction were written during this period and they have retained their power over the fate and fortune of the novel ever since.


MON 01:55 Birth of the British Novel (b00ydj1p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 02:55 The Children Who Built Victorian Britain (b00t6t3r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 03:55 The Beauty of Books (b00ydj1m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]



TUESDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2011

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b00ydj20)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 The Sky at Night (b07jlb1n)
Orion the Hunter

The great winter constellation of Orion is easily visible, with its ruby red star Betelgeuse and distinctive shape. It is also home to the Orion nebula, our nearest stellar nursery, where thousands of stars are being born. Sir Patrick Moore and the Sky at Night team take us on a tour of this magnificent constellation and its jewels.


TUE 20:00 Britain by Bike (b00t9r0n)
The Isle of Wight

Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to re-discover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle.

In a six-part series, Clare follows the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guide books of the late 1940s lovingly describe by-passed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads.

Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own Dawes Super Galaxy bicycle, Clare goes in search of the world he described with such affection.

Her journey to the Isle of Wight explores its unique sense of otherness - a strange power which could cure Dickens's writer's block, repel the deadly attentions of the Luftwaffe and give Victorian poet laureate Tennyson a comforting sense of his own death.


TUE 20:30 Justice (b00ydkfd)
How to Measure Pleasure

In the third in a series of lectures drawn from Harvard professor Michael Sandel's famous undergraduate course on the philosophy of justice, he introduces the British philosopher John Stuart Mill and compares the artistic merits of Shakespeare and The Simpsons.

Mill argued that seeking the greatest good for the greatest number is compatible with protecting individual rights, and that utilitarianism can make room for a distinction between higher and lower pleasures. Sandel tests Mill's theory that that the higher pleasure is that which is preferred by a well-informed majority by playing video clips from three very different forms of entertainment - Shakespeare's Hamlet, the reality show Fear Factor and The Simpsons. Students debate their own preferences and whether Mill's defense of utilitarianism is successful.


TUE 21:00 Canoe Man (b00rs2kc)
It was the story that gripped a nation.

John Darwin was a real life Reggie Perrin who faked his death to fund a better life, disappearing at sea in a canoe, while his wife, Anne, played the grieving widow. Even the couple's sons were fooled.

This compelling drama documentary has collaboration from the journalist who had exclusive access to Anne Darwin in the vital few days before her arrest and to whom she confessed all.

As the story unraveled in the glare of the media spotlight, Anne Darwin desperately tried to keep the lie intact.

This unique telling of this extraordinary tale uses as its basis the three very different versions of the story Anne Darwin told to try and fool the press and the police.


TUE 22:00 Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders (b00wmpc0)
Suffer the Little Children

Ian Hislop continues his celebration of the dynamic and eccentric Victorian reformers who brought about the most remarkable period of social change in British history. Here Ian looks at the do-gooders' dramatic struggle to give youngsters a proper childhood, sending them to school instead of up chimneys, helping rather than hanging juvenile delinquents and raising the age of consent.

Dr Barnardo founded one of the most famous charities of his era. But his methods were decidedly dodgy: he was guilty of misleading advertising, photo-fakery and even child abduction. Yet, we owe our own concept of child protection - that children have rights independently from their parents - to Thomas Barnardo.

Indefatigable Bristol spinster Mary Carpenter's radical approach to helping young offenders was years ahead of its time. But even her patience ran out with some of the errant teenage girls at her pioneering reformatory school. Maverick newspaper editor WT Stead shocked the nation with his lurid expose of child prostitution - an exclusive which involved him buying a 13-year-old virgin for five pounds. His style and methods make today's tabloid newspapers seem tame. Stead managed to get the age of consent raised to 16, where it remains to this day.

Thanks to the Earl of Shaftesbury, children as young as five stopped being sent down mines. His lifetime's work for children is celebrated in the famous monument at Piccadilly Circus - not actually Eros (sexual love) but Anteros (selfless love).Charles Kingsley's best-selling The Water Babies was crucial in banning the practice of sending small boys up chimneys. To him children were innocent, not tainted with original sin. Yet after him, Victorians sentimentalized children to a degree which we today find hard to stomach.

Ian discovers how these Victorian do-gooders' ideas might have something to offer us today, with the help of Kids' Company founder Camila Batmanghelidjh, Barnardo's boss Martin Narey and the current Lord Shaftesbury, 30-year-old former DJ Nicholas Ashley Cooper.


TUE 23:00 Abraham Lincoln: Saint or Sinner? (b00y5kdx)
To most Americans Abraham Lincoln is the nation's greatest president - a political genius who won the Civil War and ended slavery. Today the cult of Lincoln has become a multi-million dollar industry, with millions of Americans visiting his memorials and thousands of books published that present him as a saint more than a politician.

But does Lincoln really deserve all this adulation? 150 years after the war his reputation is being re-assessed, as historians begin to uncover the dark side of his life and politics. They have revealed that the president who ended slavery secretly planned to deport the freed black people out of America. Others are asking if Lincoln should be remembered as a war hero who saved the nation or as a war criminal who launched attacks on innocent southern civilians.


TUE 00:00 Storyville (b00ydg7t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


TUE 01:40 Nixon in the Den (b00spjnp)
Leading historian David Reynolds takes a fresh look at the controversial career and embattled presidency of Richard Nixon.

Reynolds argues that Nixon was genuinely successful as an international statesman, with his historic visits to communist China and the Soviet Union helping to thaw the Cold War. Yet behind the scenes, Nixon's diplomacy was a story of intrigue and rivalry. The methods that won him acclaim on the international stage also doomed his presidency in the infamous Watergate scandal.

An intimate psychological profile, the film reveals how Nixon was driven by a deep inferiority complex and ruthless ambition to escape a loveless, impoverished background. Nixon clawed his way to the most powerful job in the world yet could never shake off this past.

With the help of Nixon's scribbled memos, audio recordings and rarely seen home movie footage and photos, the film throws new light on Nixon's obsessive secrecy, relentless deception and paranoid mistrust of key aides, especially his foreign policy adviser Henry Kissinger.

Shy and tortured, Nixon ran his presidency largely from a hideaway office across the road from the White House. The film recreates this, his 'den', the place where Nixon dreamed of greatness but was haunted by his demons.


TUE 02:40 Canoe Man (b00rs2kc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 03:40 The Sky at Night (b07jlb1n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 04:10 Justice (b00ydkfd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]



WEDNESDAY 09 FEBRUARY 2011

WED 19:00 World News Today (b00ydp2w)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 The Boats That Built Britain (b00sfsqw)
World War Two Landing Craft

Looking more like a skip than a boat, the LCVP, or Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel, won't win any prizes for beauty. Yet the craft did more to win World War II than any other piece of machinery. There were once over 20,000 of these little boats, but only a handful remain. Sailor and writer Tom Cunliffe puts one of them through its paces and finds out how the boat was developed for one momentous day in 1944.


WED 20:00 Trafalgar Square: Carry On Plinthing (b0074q3r)
The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square is the competition in the art world that everyone is talking about. How do you choose between a car covered in pigeon droppings, wooden cruise missiles and a disabled pregnant nude? Ben Lewis interviews the artists including Sarah Lucas and Marc Quinn, critic Brian Sewell and the art world mandarins who are running it to try and answer the questions that are troubling him. The programme was originally shown in 2004.


WED 20:30 Angel of the Valleys (b00szzhv)
Fifty years after the village of Six Bells in Abertillery was hit by a tragic coal mining disaster killing 45 local men, renowned artist Sebastien Boyesen has returned to the community. He wants to create an iconic 20-metre-high landmark sculpture for Wales to change the face of the area for generations to come. But it's a hugely complex piece of work and Sebastien and his team are working against the clock to complete this enormous modern masterpiece in time for the memorial ceremony on 28th June 2010.

Alongside the tensions surrounding the building and installation of this giant sculpture, the film follows the moving true stories of the families who lost loved ones in the disaster, and we hear the experiences of some of those who were actually there at the time of the accident.


WED 21:00 Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture (b00ydp2y)
Masons of God

Alastair Sooke reveals the astonishing range of our medieval sculpture, from the imposing masterpieces of our Gothic cathedrals to the playful misericords underneath church stalls.

He shows how the sculpture of the era casts a new light on medieval Britain, a far more sophisticated, fun-loving and maverick place than we in the modern world commonly believe. But despite the technical and emotional power of these works, the notion of a 'sculptor' did not even exist; most carving of the time was done by teams of itinerant masons and artisans working for the Church. The names of some, like William Berkeley, are known but most are lost to history.

This first golden age came to an end with Henry VIII's Reformation of the Church, unleashing a wave of destruction from which it would take centuries to recover.


WED 22:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00ydp30)
Sir Anthony Caro

Mark Lawson talks to the influential sculptor Sir Anthony Caro about his life and career in art. In this thoughtful interview Caro reflects on his time as Henry Moore's assistant, his groundbreaking shift from figurative to abstract sculpture, his position on public art and his dream of working 'until I drop'.

Since his pioneering show at the Whitechapel London Gallery in 1963, Anthony Caro became recognised as one of the most important and prolific sculptors in the world. His innovative approach to scale, form and materials to 'expand the language of sculpture' has not only won him international plaudits but has revolutionised the field of three-dimensional art.


WED 23:00 The Killing (b00ydg68)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


WED 23:55 The Killing (b00yl5yy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:55 on Saturday]


WED 00:55 Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture (b00ydp2y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 01:55 Angel of the Valleys (b00szzhv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 02:25 Storyville (b00ydj1r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]



THURSDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2011

THU 19:00 World News Today (b00ydp36)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 South Africa Walks (b00s8fxz)
The Drakensberg

Having tackled treks across the UK, Julia Bradbury embarks on a grand adventure in South Africa, setting out on four different walks that explore its claim to be 'a world in one country'.

Julia is a regular visitor to the Rainbow Nation, but this is her chance to go far beyond the normal tourist destinations to a series of increasingly remote locations. However, these are walks that any reasonably adventurous walker could embark on and they offer a fresh and personal perspective on a friendly and fascinating country that is often misunderstood.

Julia moves to the interior for her second walk and the grandest mountain range in southern Africa, the Drakensberg. The 3,000m Cathedral Peak is the ambition for Julia and her Zulu guide Zee. As she quickly discovers, even the fittest and most experienced walkers need luck on their side when it comes to the dramatic weather of these mountains. With Zulus, Brits and Boers to provide the history, this is an outing filled with drama and fascination, set against a backdrop sometimes described as the most beautiful on Earth.


THU 20:00 Timeshift (b00nnm7k)
Series 9

The Men Who Built the Liners

Many of the most famous passenger liners in history were built in the British Isles, several in the shipyards along the banks of the Clyde. Timeshift combines personal accounts and archive footage to evoke a vivid picture of the unique culture that grew up in the Clyde shipyards. Despite some of the harshest working conditions in industrial history and dire industrial relations, it was here that the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth and the QE2 were built. Such was the Clyde shipbuilders' pride in their work, and the strength of public support, that in 1971 they were able to defy a government attempt to close them down and win the right to carry on shipbuilding.


THU 21:00 Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History (b00ydp38)
Writer and broadcaster Stephen Smith uncovers the secret history of the humble fig leaf, opening a window onto 2,000 years of western art and ethics.

He tells how the work of Michelangelo, known to his contemporaries as 'the maker of pork things', fuelled the infamous 'fig leaf campaign', the greatest cover-up in art history, how Bernini turned censorship into a new form of erotica by replacing the fig leaf with the slipping gauze, and how the ingenious machinations of Rodin brought nudity back to the public eye.

In telling this story, Smith turns many of our deepest prejudices upside down, showing how the Victorians had a far more sophisticated and mature attitude to sexuality than we do today. He ends with an impassioned plea for the widespread return of the fig leaf to redeem modern art from cheap sensation and innuendo.


THU 22:00 Balmoral (b00mqg2c)
Documentary telling the story of Balmoral, the royal family's most private residence. For over 150 years this Scottish castle has been home to royal traditions of picnics, stag hunting and kilts. From prime ministers to Princess Diana, life at this tartan-bound holiday home has not appealed to everyone.

But there is another story of Balmoral, of how the royal family has played a role in shaping modern Scotland and how Scotland has shaped the royal family. Queen Victoria's adoption of Highland symbols, from tartan to bagpipes, helped create a new image for Scotland. Her values, too, helped strengthen the union between Scotland and England. Ever since, Balmoral has been a place that reflects the very essence of the royal family.


THU 23:00 Behind the Scenes at the Museum (b00sftd3)
Freud Museum

The Freud Museum in Hampstead, London is where the father of psychoanalysis lived his final year after escaping the Nazis in Austria. Sigmund Freud managed to smuggle out all his possessions, including the famous couch where his patients lay. This iconic piece of furniture is now a shrine to therapists and Freud fans from all over the world.

But despite its gravitas this small museum is struggling to stay relevant. In recent years Freud's thinking has fallen out of fashion and theories like Penis Envy and the Oedipus Complex have been discredited by many in the psychology world. Now the museum is appointing a new director with the mission to make Freud less elitist and more appealing to ordinary people.

One of the first things the museum does is to hold a dating evening. A number of games are created for the night, based on Freud's obsession with human sexuality. Another activity seizes on Freud's groundbreaking theory of dream interpretation, with scholar Ivan Ward getting partygoers together to discuss their dreams with one another.

But the process of making change is slow because no one can agree. Everyone has an opinion on how best to serve Freud, including the caretaker Alex who has lived at the museum since its beginning.


THU 00:00 Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History (b00ydp38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 01:00 Omnibus (b007bnlv)
Antony Gormley - The Iron Man

Profile of the sculptor Antony Gormley, well known for his monumental public sculpture outside Gateshead, The Angel of the North, as he prepares to unveil an even more gargantuan work. Quantum Cloud is one-and-a-half times the size of the Angel, and overlooks the Thames at Greenwich in London.


THU 01:45 Timeshift (b00nnm7k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 02:45 Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History (b00ydp38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2011

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b00ydp3g)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Sergei Rachmaninoff: The Harvest of Sorrow (b00ydp3j)
Tony Palmer's documentary, shot in Russia, Switzerland and America, which profiles the great composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, features music conducted by Valery Gergiev and was made with the full participation of the composer's grandson, Alexander Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff's romantic, passionate music has been used in films such as Brief Encounter and Shine and includes some of the most famous melodies of the 20th century. The film features Rachmaninoff's letters and other reminiscences spoken by Sir John Gielgud.


FRI 21:00 Reggae Britannia (b00ydp83)
The acclaimed BBC Four Britannia series moves into the world of British reggae. Showing how it came from Jamaica in the 1960s to influence, over the next 20 years, both British music and society, the programme includes major artists and performances from that era, including Big Youth, Max Romeo, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jerry Dammers and The Specials, The Police, UB40, Dennis Bovell, lovers rock performers Carroll Thompson and Janet Kay, bands like Aswad and Steel Pulse and reggae admirers such as Boy George and Paul Weller.

The programme celebrates the impact of reggae, the changes it brought about and its lasting musical legacy.


FRI 22:30 BBC Four Sessions (b00ydp85)
Reggae Britannia

An all-star cast celebrates the influence of reggae on the UK's music and culture in a live concert coinciding with BBC Four's Reggae Britannia documentary season.

Expect to hear hits from the 1960s to the present day telling the story of the musical evolution from ska, through rocksteady, roots, dub, lovers rock and beyond. Music director Dennis Bovell assembles a big band featuring some of the most important reggae musicians in the British scene to back up a star cast of singers and toasters including Big Youth, Ken Boothe, Neville Staple, Ali Campbell, Dave Barker, Brinsley Forde, Dennis Alcapone and Winston Reedy, Pauline Black, Janet Kay, Carroll Thompson and Rico Rodriguez.

The concert celebrates the journey that captured the turmoil and channelled the dreams of Jamaicans who came to Britain, those who were born here and the white kids who grew up alongside them and embraced their culture and their roots.


FRI 00:00 The Old Grey Whistle Test (b00yl487)
Reggae Concert from the Edinburgh Festival

Live performance specially recorded for Whistle Test from the Reggae Concert at the Edinburgh Festival in 1973, featuring The Cimarons, Winston Groovy, Dennis Alcapone, The Marvels, Nicky Thomas and The Pioneers.


FRI 00:45 Rock Goes to College (b00yk22l)
The Specials

The student-taunting Specials perform at the Colchester Institute in 1979, playing hits such as Rat Race, Too Much Too Young and Gangsters, throwing tambourines at the bouncers and indulging in a little moon-stomping during a stage invasion.


FRI 01:30 Reggae Britannia (b00ydp83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:00 BBC Four Sessions (b00ydp85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]




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

Abraham Lincoln: Saint or Sinner? 23:00 TUE (b00y5kdx)

Angel of the Valleys 20:30 WED (b00szzhv)

Angel of the Valleys 01:55 WED (b00szzhv)

BBC Four Sessions 22:30 FRI (b00ydp85)

BBC Four Sessions 03:00 FRI (b00ydp85)

Balmoral 22:00 THU (b00mqg2c)

Behind the Scenes at the Museum 23:00 THU (b00sftd3)

Birth of the British Novel 21:00 MON (b00ydj1p)

Birth of the British Novel 01:55 MON (b00ydj1p)

Britain by Bike 20:00 TUE (b00t9r0n)

Britain's Park Story 00:55 SAT (b00t9qv8)

Canoe Man 21:00 TUE (b00rs2kc)

Canoe Man 02:40 TUE (b00rs2kc)

Cattle Queen of Montana 19:30 SUN (b00786nd)

Coast 19:00 SUN (b08blhtv)

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood Live at Madison Square Garden 01:10 SUN (b00k9cbz)

Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History 21:00 THU (b00ydp38)

Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History 00:00 THU (b00ydp38)

Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History 02:45 THU (b00ydp38)

Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop 22:40 SUN (b00nq7q9)

How TV Ruined Your Life 22:55 SAT (b00ybzjr)

Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders 22:00 TUE (b00wmpc0)

In Their Own Words: British Novelists 00:55 MON (b00tg2jk)

Justice 20:30 TUE (b00ydkfd)

Justice 04:10 TUE (b00ydkfd)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 22:00 WED (b00ydp30)

Nixon in the Den 01:40 TUE (b00spjnp)

Not Cricket 23:30 MON (b00byf78)

Omnibus 01:00 THU (b007bnlv)

Peter Green: Man of the World 23:40 SUN (b00k92x1)

Reggae Britannia 21:00 FRI (b00ydp83)

Reggae Britannia 01:30 FRI (b00ydp83)

Rock Goes to College 00:45 FRI (b00yk22l)

Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture 21:00 WED (b00ydp2y)

Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture 00:55 WED (b00ydp2y)

Sergei Rachmaninoff: The Harvest of Sorrow 19:30 FRI (b00ydp3j)

South Africa Walks 19:30 THU (b00s8fxz)

South Pacific 19:00 SAT (b00kwdqr)

Storyville 21:00 SUN (b00ydg7t)

Storyville 02:10 SUN (b00ydg7t)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b00ydj1r)

Storyville 00:00 TUE (b00ydg7t)

Storyville 02:25 WED (b00ydj1r)

The Beauty of Books 20:30 MON (b00ydj1m)

The Beauty of Books 00:25 MON (b00ydj1m)

The Beauty of Books 03:55 MON (b00ydj1m)

The Boats That Built Britain 19:30 WED (b00sfsqw)

The Children Who Built Victorian Britain 19:30 MON (b00t6t3r)

The Children Who Built Victorian Britain 02:55 MON (b00t6t3r)

The First Men in the Moon 23:25 SAT (b00vfgcw)

The Killing 21:00 SAT (b00ydg68)

The Killing 21:55 SAT (b00yl5yy)

The Killing 23:00 WED (b00ydg68)

The Killing 23:55 WED (b00yl5yy)

The Old Grey Whistle Test 00:00 FRI (b00yl487)

The Secret Life of Waves 20:00 SAT (b00y5jhx)

The Secret Life of Waves 02:55 SAT (b00y5jhx)

The Sky at Night 19:30 TUE (b07jlb1n)

The Sky at Night 03:40 TUE (b07jlb1n)

Timeshift 20:00 THU (b00nnm7k)

Timeshift 01:45 THU (b00nnm7k)

Trafalgar Square: Carry On Plinthing 20:00 WED (b0074q3r)

Who Killed the Honey Bee? 01:55 SAT (b00jzjys)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b00ydj1k)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b00ydj20)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b00ydp2w)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b00ydp36)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b00ydp3g)