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 11 JUNE 2011

SAT 19:00 Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (b00hd5mf)
David Attenborough is a passionate Darwinian, and sees evolution as the cornerstone of all the programmes and series he has ever made. Here, he shares his personal view on Darwin's controversial idea. Taking us on a journey through the last 200 years, he tracks the changes in our understanding of the natural world. Ever since Darwin, major scientific discoveries have helped to underpin and strengthen Darwin's revolutionary idea so that today, the pieces of the puzzle fit together so neatly that there can be little doubt that Darwin was right. As David says: 'Now we can trace the ancestry of all animals in the tree of life and demonstrate the truth of Darwin's basic proposition. All life is related.'

David asks three key questions: how and why did Darwin come up with his theory of evolution? Why do we think he was right? And why is it more important now than ever before?

David starts his journey in Darwin's home at Down House in Kent, where Darwin worried and puzzled over the origins of life. He goes back to his roots in Leicestershire, where he hunted for fossils as a child and where another schoolboy unearthed a significant find in the 1950s, and he revisits Cambridge University, where both he and Darwin studied and where many years later the DNA double helix was discovered, providing the foundations for genetics.

At the end of his journey in the Natural History Museum in London, David concludes that Darwin's great insight revolutionised the way in which we see the world. We now understand why there are so many different species, and why they are distributed in the way they are. But above all, Darwin has shown us that we are not set apart from the natural world and do not have dominion over it. We are subject to its laws and processes, as are all other animals on earth to which, indeed, we are related.


SAT 20:00 Latin Music USA (b00qvm3y)
The Latin Explosion

The last in a four-part series revealing the deep musical and social impact of Latin music in the USA looks at how Latin pop was born in Miami, created by Cuban immigrants fleeing Fidel Castro, and how it has impacted on the worlds of music, business, fashion and media across the Americas and the world.

In the 1980s, Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio moulded a crossover pop sound which exploded out of Miami into every city in the States. From TV shows like Miami Vice to the movie Scarface and the corporate influences that embrace Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez, Latin pop reflects a new-found power and confidence for a community that has found its place in mainstream USA.

Featuring Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Gloria Estefan and the stars of Reggaeton.


SAT 21:00 Wallander (b00s2y3h)
Series 2

The Thief

Original Swedish TV adaptation of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander detective series.

When Ystad is hit by a wave of burglaries, a group of neighbours take matters into their own hands by guarding the streets at night. At the same time, a Polish builder is reported missing by his distraught wife. Neither case are deemed high priority, but Wallander and the Ystad police investigate and uncover more than they expected.


SAT 22:25 Botany: A Blooming History (b011s3dg)
A Confusion of Names

What makes plants grow is a simple enough question. The answer turns out to be one of the most complicated and fascinating stories in science and took over 300 years to unravel.

Timothy Walker, director of Oxford University Botanic Garden, reveals how the breakthroughs of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chelsea gardener Phillip Miller and English naturalist John Ray created the science of botany. Between them, these quirky, temperamental characters unlocked the mysteries of the plant kingdom, and they began to glimpse a world where bigger, better and stronger plants could be created. Nurseryman Thomas Fairchild created the world's first artificial hybrid flower - an entirely new plant that didn't exist in nature.

Today, botanists continue the search for new flowers, better crops and improved medicines to treat life-threatening diseases.


SAT 23:25 Welly Telly: The Countryside on Television (b011m8wt)
Kate Humble, Bill Oddie, Bill Bryson, John Craven and Clarissa Dickson Wright discuss television's changing relationship - and recent obsession - with the countryside. What explains the huge appeal of shows like Countryfile and Lambing Live to an urban audience? Is television helping to bring town and country together, or is the gap getting larger?

The programme remembers the pioneers of Welly Telly, like Phil Drabble, Jack Hargreaves and Hannah Hauxwell, and features archive from The Good Life, All Creatures Great and Small and Last of the Summer Wine.


SAT 00:25 The Sky at Night (b07mhps3)
Cygnus the Swan

The summer constellation of Cygnus will soon be flying overhead in our night sky. With its rich array of nebulae and star clusters, it is a delight for astronomers to look at in the warm summer evenings. Sir Patrick Moore looks at the yellow star Albireo with its superb azure blue companion, whilst Chris North goes in search of the Milky Way.


SAT 00:55 The Horizon Guide to Mars (b00p1crx)
The intriguing possibility of life on Mars has fuelled man's quest to visit the Red Planet. Drawing on 45 years of Horizon archive, space expert Dr Kevin Fong presents a documentary on Earth's near neighbour.

Man's extraordinary attempts to reach Mars have pushed technological boundaries past their limit and raised the tantalising prospect of establishing human colonies beyond our own planet.

While the moon lies 240,000 miles away, Mars is at a distance of 50 million miles. Reaching the moon takes three days, but to land on Mars would take nearly eight months, and only two thirds of the missions to Mars have made it. The BBC has been analysing the highs and lows throughout - including the ill-fated British attempt, the Beagle.

Horizon has explored how scientists believe the only way to truly understand Mars is to send people there. If and when we do, it will be the most challenging trip humanity has ever undertaken.


SAT 01:55 Latin Music USA (b00qvm3y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:55 Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (b00hd5mf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2011

SUN 19:00 Hidcote: A Garden for All Seasons (b011s3pw)
Documentary telling the story of Hidcote - the most influential English garden of the 20th century - and Lawrence Johnston, the enigmatic genius behind it. Hidcote was the first garden ever taken on by the National Trust, who spent 3.5 million pounds in a major programme of restoration. This included researching Johnston's original vision, which in turn uncovered the compelling story of how Johnston created such an iconic garden.

Until recently, little was known about the secretive and self-taught Johnston. He kept few, if any, records on Hidcote's construction, but current head gardener Glyn Jones made it a personal mission to discover as much about the man as possible to reveal how, in the early 20th century, Johnston set about creating a garden that has inspired designers all over the world.


SUN 20:00 Jane Goodall: Beauty and the Beasts (b00v9j22)
In 1960, a young secretary from Bournemouth, with no scientific qualifiactions, entered a remote forest in Africa and achieved something nobody else had ever done before. Jane Goodall became accepted by a group of wild chimpanzees, making discoveries that transformed our understanding of them, and challenged the way we define ourselves as human beings by showing just how close we are as a species to our nearest living relatives.

Since then, both she and the chimps of Gombe in Tanzania have become world famous - Jane as the beauty of many wildlife films, they as the beasts with something profound to tell us. As one of the programme's contributors, David Attenborough, suggests, Jane Goodall's story could be a fable if it wasn't true.

In this revealing programme filmed with Jane Goodall in Africa, we discover the person behind the myth, what motivates her and the personal cost her life's work has exacted from her - and why she still thinks we have a lot to learn from the chimps she has devoted her life to understanding.


SUN 21:00 A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss (b00vffvs)
Home Counties Horror

Three-part series in which actor and writer Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who, Sherlock) celebrates the greatest achievements of horror cinema.

Mark uncovers stories behind the films of his favourite period - the 1950s and 60s - which fired his lifelong enthusiasm for horror. These mainly British pictures were dominated by the legendary Hammer Films, who rewrote the horror rulebook with a revolutionary infusion of sex and full-colour gore - all shot in the English Home Counties.

Mark meets key Hammer figures to find out why their Frankenstein and Dracula films conquered the world, making international stars of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. He looks at the new boom of horror that followed in Hammer's wake, including the ravishing Italian movie Black Sunday, and talks to the influential American producer Roger Corman about his disturbing and dreamlike Edgar Allan Poe films. He also explores the intriguing cycle of British 'folk horror' films, such as The Wicker Man and Mark's personal favourite, Blood on Satan's Claw.

Mark also speaks to leading horror ladies Barbara Steele and Barbara Shelley about their most famous roles, makes a pilgrimage to Whitstable, home of Peter Cushing, and finds out why Dracula's bedroom activities got the British censor steamed up.


SUN 22:00 The Witchfinder General (b0078tnd)
A disturbing tale of evil set during the English Civil War. When Matthew Hopkins is appointed witchfinder general by the Puritans under Cromwell, he is empowered to travel the countryside with his henchmen and collect a fee for each witch from whom he extracts a confession - a policy which is exploited to the full.


SUN 23:25 The Santana Story: Angels and Demons (b011s5k1)
Carlos Santana, the legendary Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter, reveals his turbulent life story with astonishing intimacy, accompanied by previously unseen archive performances of many of his best-known tunes. These range from Evil Ways and Black Magic Woman to the massive hits from his later Supernatural album. Santana recounts to director Jeremy Marre the abuse and struggle of his early years, the invention of Latin rock in San Francisco, his triumph at Woodstock, his involvement with jealous guru Sri Chinmoy and guitarist John McLaughlin, and the rollercoaster years that followed.

This frank and very personal depiction of a remarkable forty-year career, fuelled by his 'angels and demons', is illustrated with behind-the-scenes footage uncovered for the first time, interviews with former members of the band, producers and musicians, and many performances from the early 70s that depict his unmistakable guitar style.

Contributors include members of the Santana band, music industry executive Clive Davis, producer David Rubinson, guitarist John McLaughlin, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, Santana family members and other musical collaborators.


SUN 00:40 Sight and Sound in Concert (b00lnbj9)
Santana

Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana leads his band in highlights from a concert recorded in 1976, featuring the classics Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va and Soul Sacrifice.


SUN 01:10 Santana in Concert: Supernatural Live (b007bpfg)
Carlos Santana's A Supernatural Evening with Santana concert, recorded at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Featuring guests Lauryn Hill, Rob Thomas, Dave Matthews, Product G & B and Everlast, and music from his multi-platinum album Supernatural.


SUN 02:00 Jane Goodall: Beauty and the Beasts (b00v9j22)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SUN 03:00 A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss (b00vffvs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



MONDAY 13 JUNE 2011

MON 19:00 World News Today (b011wh1b)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Top of the Pops (b011wh1d)
From the year that sculpted pop, Tony Blackburn introduces the Glitter Band, New Edition, JJ Barrie, Our Kid, Cliff Richard, Mud, Thin Lizzy, Dolly Parton and the Rolling Stones.


MON 20:00 Wootton Bassett: The Town That Remembers (b0113fjt)
The behind-the-scenes story of the town of Wootton Bassett, whose tributes to fallen soldiers have earned the community the first royal title awarded in over 100 years.


MON 21:00 World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel (b011wh1g)
Marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, historian Professor David Reynolds reassesses Stalin's role in the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two, which, he argues, was ultimately more critical for British survival than 'Our Finest Hour' in the Battle of Britain itself.

The name Stalin means 'man of steel', but Reynolds's penetrating account reveals how the reality of Stalin's war in 1941 did not live up to that name. Travelling to Russian battlefield locations, he charts how Russia was almost annihilated within a few months as Stalin lurched from crisis to crisis, coming close to a nervous breakdown.

Reynolds shows how Stalin learnt to compromise in order to win, listening to his generals and downplaying communist ideology to appeal instead to the Russian people's nationalist fighting spirit. He also squares up to the terrible moral dilemma at the heart of World War Two. Using original telegrams and official documents, he looks afresh at Winston Churchill's controversial visit to Moscow in 1942 and re-examines how Britain and America were drawn into alliance with Stalin, a dictator almost as murderous as the Nazi enemy.


MON 22:30 Clydebank Blitz (b00zhzlw)
The Blitz on the industrial town of Clydebank, seven miles from the centre of Glasgow, was one of the most intense, deadly and remarkably unknown of the war. Well over 1,200 people were killed in the Clydeside area and at least the same again were seriously injured by the bombing on the nights of 13 and 14 March 1941. The destruction in Clydebank was so severe that only seven properties were left undamaged by the bombing and the population was reduced from almost 60,000 to little more than 2,000.

The awful truth about the scale of destruction and the number of casualties never hit the headlines as wartime censorship meant that the whole event was effectively 'hushed up'. But the stories still live on in the minds of some of the children that survived the raid and in The Clydebank Blitz, they tell their own harrowing stories of what was one of Britain's worst bombing raids and Scotland's biggest civilian disaster.


MON 23:30 Spitfire Women (b00tw1m1)
During World War II, a remarkable band of female pilots fought against all odds for the right to aid the war effort. Without these Spitfire Women, the war may never have been won.

These trailblazers were part of the Air Transport Auxiliary, a thousand-strong organisation that delivered aircraft to the frontline RAF during Britain's darkest hours. Every day, responsibility fell on their shoulders to get the planes to the fighters, which often pushed them into dangerous and even deadly situations.

Using interviews with the last few surviving veterans, archive footage and dramatic reconstruction, this documentary brings to life the forgotten story of the ATA. The resilience of these women in the face of open discrimination is one of the most inspiring and overlooked milestones in women's rights. Their story is one of courage, sexism and patriotism, but above all a story about women who want to break the confines of the world they live in and reach for the skies.


MON 00:30 Rubicon (b011s4k2)
In Whom We Trust

Will finally manages to confront Katherine Rhumor about her husband and his connection with Truxton Spangler and API, but Katherine is threatened by a mysterious and deadly stranger.


MON 01:15 World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel (b011wh1g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


MON 02:50 Wootton Bassett: The Town That Remembers (b0113fjt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



TUESDAY 14 JUNE 2011

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b011wz4l)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120tqf)
Concerts

Round 1

Twenty of the world's best young voices are in the Welsh capital to battle it out for the big prize. Petroc Trelawny presents extensive coverage of the first five competitors, with Josie D'Arby backstage and guests Jonathan Lemalu and Mary King.


TUE 21:00 Botany: A Blooming History (b011wz4q)
Photosynthesis

The air we breathe, and all the food we eat, is created from water, sunlight, carbon dioxide and a few minerals. That's it, nothing else. It sounds simple, but this process is one of the most fascinating and complicated in all of science. Without it there could be no life on earth. It's that important.

For centuries people believed that plants grew by eating soil. In the 17th century, pioneer botanists began to make the connection between the growth of a plant and the energy from the sun. They discovered how plants use water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce sugars - how, in fact, a plant grows.

The process of photosynthesis is still at the heart of scientific research today. Universities across the world are working hard to replicate in the lab what plants do with ruthless efficiency. Their goal is to produce a clean, limitless fuel and if they get it right it will change all our lives.


TUE 22:00 The Great Estate: The Rise & Fall of the Council House (b0109dvs)
Journalist and author Michael Collins presents a hard-hitting and heartwarming history of one of Britain's greatest social revolutions - council housing.

At its height in the mid-1970s, council housing provided homes for over a third of the British population. From the 'homes for heroes' cottages that were built in the wake of the First World War to the much-maligned, monolithic high rises of the 60s and 70s, Collins embarks on a grand tour of Britain's council estates.

He visits Britain's first council estate, built as an antidote to London's disease and crime-ridden Victorian slums, the groundbreaking flats that made inter-war Liverpool the envy of Europe, the high rise estate in Sheffield that has become the largest listed building in the world, and the estate built on the banks of the Thames that was billed as 'the town of the 21st century'.

Along the way he meets the people whose lives were shaped by an extraordinary social experiment that began with a bang at the start of the 20th century and ended with a whimper 80 years later.


TUE 23:00 Wellington Bomber (b00tr2p5)
One autumn weekend, early in WWII at an aircraft factory at Broughton in North Wales, a group of British workers, men and women, set out to smash a world record for building a bomber from scratch. They managed to build a Wellington Bomber in 23 hours and 50 minutes. They worked so quickly that the test pilot had to be turfed out of bed to take it into the air, 24 hours and 48 minutes after the first part of the airframe had been laid.

So who were the men and women who made this record-breaking Wellington? Britain's propaganda machine made a 12-minute film about the attempt and Peter Williams Television has traced six of them, one of whom, Bill Anderson, was only 14 years old. Their story of the excitement of the attempt is the heart of this documentary.

The Wellington was a special aircraft, as historian Sir Max Hastings says. It was held in great affection by those who flew it, mostly because its geodetic construction enabled it to survive enormous damage, as Flt Lt 'Tiny' Cooling remembers. He flew 67 missions in Wellingtons.

More Wellingtons were built during WWII than any other British aircraft, except the Spitfire and the Hurricane, the stars of the Battle of Britain. And, unwittingly, the Wellington, Britain's main strike bomber, played an important role in the Battle of Britain, as this documentary reveals.


TUE 00:00 Botany: A Blooming History (b011wz4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 01:00 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120tqf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:30 The Great Estate: The Rise & Fall of the Council House (b0109dvs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


TUE 03:30 Botany: A Blooming History (b011wz4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE 2011

WED 19:00 World News Today (b011wz51)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120vss)
Concerts

Round 2

The search for a winner continues as five more of the world's twenty best young singers take to the stage, including England's Meeta Raval. Petroc Trelawny presents extensive coverage, with Josie D'Arby backstage and guests David Pountney and Christine Rice.


WED 21:00 Apples: British to the Core (b011wz53)
Horticulturalist Chris Beardshaw uncovers the British contribution to the history of our most iconic fruit. He reveals the 'golden age', when the passion and dedication of Victorian gardeners gave us more varieties than anywhere else in the world. Chris also finds out how the remarkable ingenuity of a small group of 20th-century British scientists helped create the modern mass-market apple.


WED 22:00 Nurse Jackie (b00yc82r)
Series 2

Twitter

Drama series about Jackie Peyton, a no-nonsense emergency room nurse based in New York, who has to balance her frenzied job with a complicated home life.

Jackie cuts through red tape to speed up a boy's diagnosis, irritating Dr. Cooper, who has taken to Twitter as a way to vent his anger. Mourning her mother's death, O'Hara shows up after a night of clubbing so Jackie covers for her while she comes down from ecstasy. Eddie visits the bar and continues his friendship with Kevin.


WED 22:30 In Search of the Perfect Loaf (b00rm55q)
Documentary which follows award-winning artisan baker Tom Herbert in his search to bake a loaf that will win him first prize at the National Organic Food Awards.

Tom Herbert's family have been baking bread in the Cotswolds for five generations. Tom started baking with his father and grandfather and at 16 began his formal apprenticeship. Fresh out of college, he won Young Baker of the Year and now, at 32, Tom continues to win awards for the family firm, Hobbs House Bakery.

Tom is passionate about handmade bread and critical of what he describes as the 'plastic-wrapped pap' of the mass-produced bread market. However, given that sales of handmade bread only account for 2 per cent of the market, Tom has his work cut out if he is to convert more people to the joys of handmade bread.

Tom's quest to make the perfect loaf takes him to Cornwall to meet archaeologist Jacquie Wood, to learn how our ancestors might have baked bread. At the medieval water mill at Stanway House in Gloucestershire he meets Professor Brian Reuben, a leading authority on the history of bread, and he visits Brackman's Jewish bakery in Salford run by third generation baker, Andrew Adelman. Here, Tom learns how to make the specialist Jewish bread challah and meets the rabbi who, on his daily inspection of the baking methods and ingredients, ensures that they conform to Jewish religious law.

Tom's journey helps him to come up with what he hopes will be a competition-winning loaf for the National Organic Food Awards - a huge two-kilo, white, spelt, sourdough loaf made using his family's 40-year-old sourdough, organic spelt from Somerset, Cornish sea salt and Cotswold water from a local spring. Tom names it 'The Shepherd's Loaf'. But while it's his perfect loaf, will the judges agree?


WED 23:30 Wallander (b00s2y3h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]


WED 00:55 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120vss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:25 Apples: British to the Core (b011wz53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


WED 03:25 In Search of the Perfect Loaf (b00rm55q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]



THURSDAY 16 JUNE 2011

THU 19:00 World News Today (b011wzr9)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120y57)
Concerts

Round 3

Wales's John Pierce sings in front of a home crowd as five more competitors from around the world make their bid for a place in the final. Petroc Trelawny presents, with Josie D'Arby backstage and guests Mark Padmore and Elin Manahan Thomas.


THU 21:00 Unnatural Histories (b011wzrc)
Yellowstone

As the world's first national park, Yellowstone has long served as a model for the protection of wilderness around the world. For Americans it has become a source of great national pride, not least because it encapsulates all our popular notions of what a wilderness should be - vast, uninhabited, with spectacular scenery and teeming with wildlife. But Yellowstone has not always been so. At the time of its creation in 1872, it was renowned only for its extraordinary geysers, and far from being an uninhabited wilderness it was home to several American Indian tribes.

This film reveals how a remote Indian homeland became the world's first great wilderness. It was the ambitions of railroad barons, not conservationists, that paved the way for a brand new vision of the wild, a vision that took native peoples out of the picture. Iconic landscape paintings show how European Romanticism crossed the Atlantic and recast the American wilderness, not as a satanic place to be tamed and cultivated, but as a place to experience the raw power of God in nature. Forged in Yellowstone, this potent new version of wilderness as untouched and deserving of protection has since been exported to all corners of the globe.


THU 22:00 Rubicon (b011wzrf)
A Good Day's Work

Under pressure to identify Kateb, Will asks Kale to have Tanya reinstated to his team. While they are busy examining all the gathered evidence, Will visits Katherine in her apartment and explains that he has found more evidence about her late husband. Truxton Spangler searches Will's office and is horrified by what he discovers.


THU 22:45 World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel (b011wh1g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 00:15 Unnatural Histories (b011wzrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 01:15 Top of the Pops (b011wh1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 on Monday]


THU 01:55 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120y57)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 03:25 Unnatural Histories (b011wzrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 17 JUNE 2011

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b011wzxv)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120y62)
Concerts

Round 4

The last five competitors perform for the jury and this year's finalists are announced. Petroc Trelawny presents extensive coverage with Josie D'Arby backstage and guests Gerald Finley and Mary King.


FRI 21:00 Festivals Britannia (b00wmdqs)
Continuing the critically acclaimed Britannia music series for BBC Four, this documentary tells the story of the emergence and evolution of the British music festival through the mavericks, dreamers and dropouts who have produced, enjoyed and sometimes fought for them over the last 50 years.

The film traces the ebb and flow of British festival culture from jazz beginnings at Beaulieu in the late 50s through to the Isle of Wight festivals at the end of the 60s, early Glastonbury and one-off commercial festivals like 1972's Bickershaw, the free festivals of the 70s and 80s and on through the extended rave at Castlemorton in 1992 to the contemporary resurgence in festivals like Glastonbury, Isle of Wight and Reading in the last decade.

Sam Bridger's film explores the central tension between the people's desire to come together, dance to the music and build temporary communities and the desire of the state, the councils and the locals to police these often unruly gatherings.

At the heart of the documentary is an ongoing argument about British freedom and shifts in the political, musical and cultural landscape set to a wonderful soundtrack of 50 years of great popular music which takes in trad jazz, Traffic, Roy Harper, the Grateful Dead, Hawkwind, Orbital and much more.

Featuring rare archive and interviews with Michael Eavis, Richard Thompson, Acker Bilk, Terry Reid, the Levellers, Billy Bragg, John Giddings, Melvin Benn, Roy Harper, Nik Turner, Peter Jenner, Orbital, amongst others.


FRI 22:30 Glastonbury (b00wyn9g)
1997

Radiohead

Arguably one of the greatest sets at the Glastonbury Festival in its entire 40 years started when Oxford's Radiohead took to the Pyramid Stage on Saturday June 28th 1997. They had released their seminal album OK Computer two weeks earlier to huge acclaim and this performance features many of its tracks, including Paranoid Android, Karma Police and No Surprises, as well as earlier songs such as The Bends.


FRI 23:30 Glastonbury (b00wv3j8)
Pulp at Glastonbury 1995

Back in June 1995, the Stone Roses were booked to headline the main stage at Glastonbury but pulled out at the last minute. Pulp stepped in and their performance is widely regarded as one of the best in the festival's history. The set features many of the songs that made them one of the darlings of Britpop, including Do You Remember the First Time, Sorted for E's & Wizz, Babies and, of course, Common People.


FRI 00:30 Glastonbury (b00tmwsj)
2010

Hello Glastonbury!

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


FRI 01:20 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (b0120y62)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:50 Festivals Britannia (b00wmdqs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 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 Horror with Mark Gatiss 21:00 SUN (b00vffvs)

A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss 03:00 SUN (b00vffvs)

Apples: British to the Core 21:00 WED (b011wz53)

Apples: British to the Core 02:25 WED (b011wz53)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 19:30 TUE (b0120tqf)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 01:00 TUE (b0120tqf)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 19:30 WED (b0120vss)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 00:55 WED (b0120vss)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 19:30 THU (b0120y57)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 01:55 THU (b0120y57)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 19:30 FRI (b0120y62)

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 01:20 FRI (b0120y62)

Botany: A Blooming History 22:25 SAT (b011s3dg)

Botany: A Blooming History 21:00 TUE (b011wz4q)

Botany: A Blooming History 00:00 TUE (b011wz4q)

Botany: A Blooming History 03:30 TUE (b011wz4q)

Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life 19:00 SAT (b00hd5mf)

Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life 02:55 SAT (b00hd5mf)

Clydebank Blitz 22:30 MON (b00zhzlw)

Festivals Britannia 21:00 FRI (b00wmdqs)

Festivals Britannia 02:50 FRI (b00wmdqs)

Glastonbury 22:30 FRI (b00wyn9g)

Glastonbury 23:30 FRI (b00wv3j8)

Glastonbury 00:30 FRI (b00tmwsj)

Hidcote: A Garden for All Seasons 19:00 SUN (b011s3pw)

In Search of the Perfect Loaf 22:30 WED (b00rm55q)

In Search of the Perfect Loaf 03:25 WED (b00rm55q)

Jane Goodall: Beauty and the Beasts 20:00 SUN (b00v9j22)

Jane Goodall: Beauty and the Beasts 02:00 SUN (b00v9j22)

Latin Music USA 20:00 SAT (b00qvm3y)

Latin Music USA 01:55 SAT (b00qvm3y)

Nurse Jackie 22:00 WED (b00yc82r)

Rubicon 00:30 MON (b011s4k2)

Rubicon 22:00 THU (b011wzrf)

Santana in Concert: Supernatural Live 01:10 SUN (b007bpfg)

Sight and Sound in Concert 00:40 SUN (b00lnbj9)

Spitfire Women 23:30 MON (b00tw1m1)

The Great Estate: The Rise & Fall of the Council House 22:00 TUE (b0109dvs)

The Great Estate: The Rise & Fall of the Council House 02:30 TUE (b0109dvs)

The Horizon Guide to Mars 00:55 SAT (b00p1crx)

The Santana Story: Angels and Demons 23:25 SUN (b011s5k1)

The Sky at Night 00:25 SAT (b07mhps3)

The Witchfinder General 22:00 SUN (b0078tnd)

Top of the Pops 19:30 MON (b011wh1d)

Top of the Pops 01:15 THU (b011wh1d)

Unnatural Histories 21:00 THU (b011wzrc)

Unnatural Histories 00:15 THU (b011wzrc)

Unnatural Histories 03:25 THU (b011wzrc)

Wallander 21:00 SAT (b00s2y3h)

Wallander 23:30 WED (b00s2y3h)

Wellington Bomber 23:00 TUE (b00tr2p5)

Welly Telly: The Countryside on Television 23:25 SAT (b011m8wt)

Wootton Bassett: The Town That Remembers 20:00 MON (b0113fjt)

Wootton Bassett: The Town That Remembers 02:50 MON (b0113fjt)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b011wh1b)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b011wz4l)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b011wz51)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b011wzr9)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b011wzxv)

World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel 21:00 MON (b011wh1g)

World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel 01:15 MON (b011wh1g)

World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel 22:45 THU (b011wh1g)