B4

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

SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2012

SAT 19:00 Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures (b01bs7jq)
Frozen in Time

It is estimated that 99 per cent of species have become extinct and there have been times when life's hold on Earth has been so precarious it seems it hangs on by a thread.

This series focuses on the survivors - the old-timers - whose biographies stretch back millions of years and who show how it is possible to survive a mass extinction event which wipes out nearly all of its neighbours. The Natural History Museum's Professor Richard Fortey discovers what allows the very few to carry on going - perhaps not forever, but certainly far beyond the life expectancy of normal species. What makes a survivor when all around drop like flies? Professor Fortey travels across the globe to find the survivors of the most dramatic of these obstacles - the mass extinction events.

In episode three, Fortey looks at the ice age. 2.8 million years ago - triggered by slight changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun and shifts in its ocean currents - the world began to cool. Within a few thousand years much of the planet was shrouded in a dense cloak of ice that would come and go until only 10,000 years ago. We call this age of ice - the Pleistocene Age - and it transformed the hierarchy of nature. This is the story of how a few specialist species that evolved to live in the biting cold survived into the present day.

SAT 20:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
2010-2011

The Himalayas

Documentary looking at the wildlife of the most stunning mountain range in the world, home to snow leopards, Himalayan wolves and Tibetan bears.

Snow leopards stalk their prey among the highest peaks. Concealed by snowfall, the chase is watched by golden eagles circling above. On the harsh plains of the Tibetan plateau live extraordinary bears and square-faced foxes hunting small rodents to survive. In the alpine forests, dancing pheasants have even influenced rival border guards in their ritualistic displays. Valleys carved by glacial waters lead to hillsides covered by paddy fields containing the lifeline to the east, rice. In this world of extremes, the Himalayas reveal not only snow-capped mountains and fascinating animals but also a vital lifeline for humanity.

SAT 21:00 Inspector Montalbano (b01c6dsd)
The Snack Thief

Detective Montalbano investigates the murder of a local businessman called Lapecora. Lapecora's widow suspects that he was killed by his lover Karima, a young Tunisian woman who mysteriously disappeared on the day of the murder. After succeeding in tracking down Karima's five-year-old son Francois, Montalbano realises that the case might be linked to that of a Tunisian man, also killed in mysterious circumstances on the same day that Lapecora died. Meanwhile, Montalbano's partner Livia, who has been entrusted with looking after Francois, becomes very attached to the young orphaned boy.

In Italian with English subtitles.

SAT 22:45 Top of the Pops (b01bs9g8)
03/02/77

Kid Jensen introduces Gary Glitter, the Real Thing, the Rubettes, Leo Sayer, Boney M, Thin Lizzy and Silver Convention. Dance sequence from Legs and Co.

SAT 23:25 San Francisco's Year Zero: We Were Here (b01b65lr)
2011 marks 30 years since AIDS descended. In 1981, the flourishing gay community in San Franscisco was hit with an unimaginable disaster. Through the eyes of those whose lives changed in unimaginable ways, this film tells how their beloved city was changed from a hotbed of sexual freedom and social experimentation into the epicentre of a terrible sexually transmitted 'gay plague'. From their different vantage points as caregivers, activists, researchers, friends and lovers of the afflicted and as people with AIDS themselves, it shares stories which are intensely personal. Speaking to our capacity as individuals to rise to the occasion, this is the story of the incredible power of a community coming together with love, compassion and determination.

SAT 00:55 Horizon (b014kj65)
2011-2012

Are You Good or Evil?

What makes us good or evil? It's a simple but deeply unsettling question. One that scientists are now starting to answer.

Horizon meets the researchers who have studied some of the most terrifying people behind bars - psychopathic killers.

But there was a shock in store for one of these scientists, Professor Jim Fallon, when he discovered that he had the profile of a psychopath. And the reason he didn't turn out to be a killer holds important lessons for all of us.

We meet the scientist who believes he has found the 'moral molecule' and the man who is using this new understanding to rewrite our ideas of crime and punishment.

SAT 01:55 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

SAT 02:55 Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures (b01bs7jq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2012

SUN 19:00 Treasures of Heaven (b012248j)
Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the ancient Christian practice of preserving holy relics and the largely forgotten art form that went with it, the reliquary. Fragments of bone or fabric placed inside a bejewelled shrine, a sculpted golden head or even a life-sized silver hand were, and still are, objects of religious devotion believed to have the power to work miracles. Most precious of all, though, are relics of Jesus Christ, and the programme also features three reliquaries containing the holiest of all relics - those associated with the Crucifixion.

The story of relics and reliquaries is a 2,000-year history of faith, persecution and hope, reflected in some of the most beautiful and little-known works of art ever made. Featuring interviews with art historian Sister Wendy Beckett and Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum.

SUN 20:00 Shooting the Hollywood Stars (b00xhdwc)
Rankin, the UK's leading fashion photographer, reveals the rich history of Hollywood photography and how its most influential and enduring images were created. From Hollywood's golden age, epitomised by gorgeous images of screen goddesses Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich to brooding shots of Marlon Brando; from the unparalleled allure of pictures of Marilyn Monroe to iconic black and white stills of Charlie Chaplin, Rankin immerses himself in the art of the Hollywood portrait and explores the vital role it has played in both the movie business and our continuing love affair with movie stars.

To understand how the image makers of Hollywood created these iconic photographs, Rankin recruits a cast of leading Hollywood actors to help him recreate some of the most important - including Leslie Mann (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin); Selma Blair (Legally Blonde, Cruel Intentions), British actor Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters, Dylan Thomas's biopic The Edge of Love); actor extraordinaire Michael Sheen (The Damned United, Frost/Nixon), and Hollywood legend Jane Russell.

SUN 21:00 We'll Take Manhattan (b01b674s)
Winter 1962, and cockney photographer David Bailey and unknown model Jean Shrimpton are sent to New York for a prestigious Vogue photo shoot. This drama tells the story of a wild week, their love affair, terrible fights with their fashion editor - and how two young people with no such intention happened to change the world of fashion forever.

SUN 22:30 Treeless Mountain (b01c89tb)
In Seoul, young sisters Jin and Bin try to make sense of the world around them when their mother disappears to look for their estranged father and leaves them in the care of an unkindly aunt.

SUN 23:55 How the Brits Rocked America: Go West (b01bsc3y)
We're the Kids in America

The Sex Pistols' American tour of 1978 might not have been a commercial success but it would set the tone and attitude for a new wave of British rock in the USA, while Duran Duran would lead a new pop invasion in the 80s.

With contributions from John Lydon and Robert Smith.

SUN 00:55 Big in America: British Hits in the USA (b01bywsr)
Compilation of British rock 'n' roll acts in performance with tracks that crossed over to the US charts. From The Dave Clark Five to Coldplay, the Brits have rocked America and sometimes even done better across the pond than here - take a bow A Flock of Seagulls, Supertramp and Bush - who are also included here alongside darker British global exports like Black Sabbath and The Cure.

SUN 01:55 Depeche Mode: 101 (b01bywst)
DA Pennebaker's classic verite documentary as alternative/modern rock outfit Depeche Mode break America in 1989. The film follows Depeche Mode preparing for the final concert of their Music for the Masses tour at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, while also following a group of young fans who have won tickets to the concert as they travel to the show by bus across America.

'I'm not sure about this. Let's go home', lead singer Dave Gahan tells the rest of the band before they take the stage in Pasadena. Pennebaker tracks Depeche Mode as their 1987 Music for the Masses album and tour prepares the way for 1990's Violator hit album and tour, which saw the boys from Basildon turn into monsters of rock.

MONDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2012

MON 19:00 World News Today (b01c2wnq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psyq3)
Series 1

Manchester to Bury

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

While travelling coast to coast from Liverpool to Scarborough, Michael visits Manchester to find out more about George Bradshaw himself. He also gets fitted for a trilby in Denton and learns how the railways helped to create a national institution - fish and chips.

MON 20:00 Timeshift (b012zmy7)
Series 11

All the Fun of the Fair

Timeshift explores rarely seen images from the University of Sheffield's National Fairground Archive to ride back to the origins of the fairground. From the sideshows, the freak shows and early hand-powered rides to the arrival of steam and electricity, the story of fairs is the tale of one of our first forms of popular entertainment.

The film shows how fairgrounds often provided the only entertainment to rapidly expanding industrial towns. It looks at how, from the 50s, the fairground was the site of youth rebellion, and why we are still entranced by these travelling carnivals that arrive overnight and then vanish just as mysteriously.

MON 21:00 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b01c2wns)
Series 2

The Berber Kingdom of Morocco

We know less about Africa's distant past than almost anywhere else on Earth. But the scarcity of written records doesn't mean Africa lacks history. It is found instead in the culture, artefacts, and traditions of the people. Art historian Dr Gus Casely-Hayford explores some of the richest and most vibrant histories in the world, revealing fascinating stories of complex and sophisticated civilisations: The Kingdom of Asante; The Zulu Kingdom; The Berber Kingdom of Morocco; The Kingdoms of Bunyoro & Buganda.

It's easy to think of Islamic North Africa as Arab, rather than African. But the land that is now Morocco once lay at the centre of a vast African Kingdom that stretched from northern Spain to the heart of West Africa. It was created by African Berbers, and ruled for centuries by two dynasties that created tremendous wealth, commissioned fabulous architecture, and promoted sophisticated ideas. But art historian Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford reveals how the very forces that forged the kingdom ultimately helped to destroy its indigenous African identity.

MON 22:00 Storyville (b01c2wnv)
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Nominated for a 2011 Academy Award, this documentary tells the remarkable story of a young American environmentalist involved with the Earth Liberation Front - a group the FBI came to describe as America's 'number one domestic terrorism threat'.

For years, the ELF - operating in separate anonymous cells without any central leadership - had launched spectacular attacks against dozens of logging companies they accused of destroying the environment. In December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the ELF.

Part coming-of-age tale, part thriller, the film interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group.

MON 23:20 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b01bs9gb)
Stealing a March

Historian Saul David explores how wars are really fought - in the backroom of military planning. He shows how generals have met the challenge of moving armies.

MON 00:20 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b01c2wns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

MON 01:20 Storyville (b01c2wnv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

MON 02:40 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psyq3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

MON 03:10 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b01c2wns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2012

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01c2xwr)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psz43)
Series 1

Todmorden to York

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains. His first journey is from Liverpool to Scarborough.

Michael travels back in time on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, finds out about the latest Roman discoveries in York and takes to the air in the Network Rail helicopter.

TUE 20:00 Duets at the BBC (b01c2xwt)
The BBC delves into its archive for the best romantic duets performed at the BBC over the last 50 years. Whether it is Robbie and Kylie dancing together on Top of the Pops or Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge singing into each other's eyes on the Whistle Test, there is plenty of chemistry. Highlights include Nina and Frederik's Baby It's Cold Outside, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, Sonny and Cher, Shirley Bassey and Neil Diamond, Peaches and Herb, and a rare performance from Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.

TUE 21:00 Jo Brand on Kissing (b01c2xww)
Following on from her popular exploration of crying, Jo Brand is back - and this time she has got a bee in her bonnet about kissing. Jo is convinced that the kiss has lost its value - we are either air kissing people we have never even met before or snogging each other's faces off in public. Either way Jo has had enough of it and decides it is time to find out whether the kiss really is 'kisstory'. Along the way she meets some voracious kissers in our closest animal relatives, the bonobo monkeys, learns a bit about the history and science of 'locking lips' and discovers the beauty of the kiss in some rather extraordinary oral sculptures.

Then Jo starts to realise that she needs to figure out her own relationship with the kiss. Visiting her mother uncovers some clues as to Jo's phobia of public kissing. Maybe the key is to find someone she really wants to kiss - and perfect her technique a bit while she's at it. A drama workshop proves decidedly awkward, but a few tips from an American kissing guru and Jo is well on her way to tracking down her mystery man. But what then?

TUE 22:00 The World Against Apartheid: Have You Heard from Johannesburg? (b01c2xwy)
The Bottom Line

Ten years in the making, this series explores how a violent and racist government was destroyed by the concerted efforts of men and women working on multiple fronts inside and outside South Africa for more than three decades. Featuring archive of the struggle never seen before on television and interviews with the major players, it is one of the most fascinating stories of the last century. In the fourth episode, South Africa is brought to its knees as the world refuses to let business go on as usual.

Citizens all over the world, from employees of Polaroid to a General Motors director, from student account-holders in Barclays Bank to consumers who boycott Shell gas, mount the first-ever international grassroots campaign to successfully use economic pressure to help bring down a government. Faced with attacks at home and growing chaos in South Africa, international companies pull out in a mass exodus, causing a financial crisis in the now-isolated South Africa.

TUE 23:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]

TUE 00:00 Jo Brand on Kissing (b01c2xww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUE 01:00 Duets at the BBC (b01c2xwt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUE 02:00 The World Against Apartheid: Have You Heard from Johannesburg? (b01c2xwy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

TUE 03:00 Jo Brand on Kissing (b01c2xww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2012

WED 19:00 World News Today (b01c2y9w)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psz7n)
Series 1

Pontefract to Bridlington

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain. His first journey is from Liverpool to Scarborough.

Michael searches for the last liquorice grower in Pontefract, discovers how the railways turned Hull into one of the largest white fish ports in the world and goes fishing for sea bass in Bridlington.

WED 20:00 If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home (b010jslz)
The Bathroom

Lucy Worsley, chief curator of the historic royal palaces, focuses on the bathroom - a room that didn't even exist in many British homes until 50 years ago. From the medieval bath houses to London Bridge's communal loos to finding out how piped water got to our homes and finally getting to the bottom of the Crapper myth at Stoke's Toilet Museum, Lucy tracks how our attitude to washing has changed over the centuries and the development of what we think of now as the most essential room in the house.

WED 21:00 The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (b01c2y9y)
Series 1

The Rising of the Moon

Detective drama. When a travelling circus stops at a village, the knife thrower's partner is stabbed to death, prompting an investigation by Mrs Bradley.

WED 22:00 Britain's Best Drives (b00hw3yp)
North Wales

Actor Richard Wilson takes a journey into the past, following routes raved about in motoring guides of 50 years ago.

Richard takes the wheel of Ford Zodiac to drive the circular route from Caernarfon that loops through some of Snowdonia's most sensational scenery.

He gets a Welsh lesson at Caernarfon Castle, learns the significance of the Dinorwic slate quarry, drives the Llanberis Pass, meets 71-year-old human fly Eric Jones and takes a trip down memory lane at a former Butlins holiday camp.

WED 22:30 Lowdown (b01c6gyv)
Wasp in Translation

Alex gets an interview with superstar musician and environmentalist Wasp Warneke on one condition - that he doesn't ask about Wasp's love of tantric sex. But he's a tabloid journalist, so if he doesn't get the story on tantra he doesn't have a story.

WED 22:55 Old Jews Telling Jokes (b01777fr)
Episode 1

In the fine tradition of American Jewish humour, a group of pensioners from all walks of life gather together to tell their favourite jokes. Remember, laugh loud - they don't hear so good.

WED 23:25 Inspector Montalbano (b01c6dsd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Saturday]

WED 01:15 Timeshift (b00wwlll)
Series 10

Italian Noir: The Story of Italian Crime Fiction

Timeshift profiles a new wave of Italian crime fiction that has emerged to challenge the conventions of the detective novel. There are no happy endings in these noir tales, only revelations about Italy's dark heart - a world of corruption, unsolved murders and the mafia.

The programme features exclusive interviews with the leading writers from this new wave of noir, including Andrea Camilleri (creator of the Inspector Montalbano Mysteries) and Giancarlo De Cataldo (Romanzo Criminale), who explains how his work as a real-life investigating judge inspired his work. From the other side of the law, Massimo Carlotto talks about how his novels were shaped by his wrongful conviction for murder and years spent on the run from the police.

The film also looks at the roots of this new wave. Carlo Emilio Gadda (That Awful Mess) used the detective novel to expose the corruption that existed during Mussolini's fascist regime and then, after the Second World War, Leonardo Sciascia's crime novels (The Day of The Owl) tackled the rise of the Sicilian mafia. These writers established the rules of a new kind of noir that drew on real events and offered no neat endings.

Also featuring Italian writers Carlo Lucarelli and Barbara Baraldi, the film uses rarely seen archive from Italian television.

WED 02:15 Lowdown (b01c6gyv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]

WED 02:40 Old Jews Telling Jokes (b01777fr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:55 today]

WED 03:10 Britain's Best Drives (b00hw3yp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2012

THU 19:00 World News Today (b01c3016)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b08sl9jj)
Age of the Infrared

Space telescopes such as Herschel and Spitzer are peering at the dusty, dark cosmos and with their infrared eyes they can see the cold parts of the sky where stars are being born. Sir Patrick Moore discusses why the infrared is full of hidden delights, whilst Dr Chris North talks to Dr Amy Mainzer about NASA's infrared WISE telescope.

THU 20:00 Horizon (b00nslc4)
2009-2010

Who Is Afraid of a Big Black Hole?

Black holes are one of the most destructive forces in the universe, capable of tearing a planet apart and swallowing an entire star. Yet scientists now believe they could hold the key to answering the ultimate question: what was there before the big bang?

The trouble is that researching black holes is next to impossible. They are by definition invisible and there is no scientific theory able to explain them. Horizon meets the astronomers and theoretical physicists who, despite these obvious obstacles, are attempting to image a black hole for the very first time and get ever closer to unlocking its mysteries. It is a story that goes into the heart of a black hole and to the very edge of what is thought to be known about the universe.

THU 21:00 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b01c301b)
Raising Arms

Military historian Saul David looks at how generals have struggled to kit out their armies for battle.

THU 22:00 The Singing Detective (b0074qy3)
Lovely Days

While in hospital with psoriasis, Marlow thinks back to the war when he was a little boy, and remembers seeing his mother having illicit sex in the Forest of Dean. His memories, his 30s style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.

THU 23:05 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b01c2wns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]

THU 00:05 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b01c301b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THU 01:05 The Sky at Night (b08sl9jj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

THU 01:35 Horizon (b00nslc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

THU 02:35 Great British Railway Journeys (b00psyq3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 on Monday]

THU 03:05 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b01c301b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2012

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01c30jt)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

FRI 19:30 The Birth of British Music (b00kfqgq)
Purcell - The Londoner

In this series, conductor Charles Hazlewood explores the development of British music through the lives, times and works of four great composers, each with a major anniversary in 2009.

The first programme celebrates the music of Henry Purcell, one of the most seminal but mysterious figures of British musical history. Charles investigates what life would have been like for a composer in 17th-century London through a wide range of Purcell's music, from the vast but often overlooked output of tavern songs to his glorious sacred music and pioneering stage works such as Dido and Aeneas. He discovers how Purcell's work is still central to British life today, visiting the Grenadier Guards at Wellington Barracks and attending the Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph.

Music is performed by Charles Hazlewood's own ensemble, Army of Generals, as well as renowned musicians including Sir John Tomlinson and the Choir of Westminster Abbey.

FRI 20:30 Transatlantic Sessions (b015frjm)
Series 5

Episode 1

The best of Nashville, Ireland and Scotland in a format that affords a unique insight into the sheer joy of making music. Recorded in an old hunting lodge at Glen Lyon near Aberfeldy in the Perthshire Highlands, top vocal and instrumental exponents of the country and Celtic traditions gather to rehearse and play together with no audience except themselves and a resident house band.

Music co-directors are Nashville's Jerry Douglas and Shetland's Aly Bain and artists include Phil Cunningham, Donal Lunny, Mike McGoldrick, Danny Thompson, Donald Shaw, John Doyle, John McCusker, James Mackintosh, Eric Bibb, Dirk Powell, Kathleen MacInnes, Sarah Jarosz, Russ Barenberg, Nollaig Casey, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush and Alison Krauss.

Leavening the intimacy of the music-making is a strong element of Highland scenic photography, while a greater emphasis on informal backstage conversations and stories serves to highlight the series' historic qualities of collaboration and performance.

FRI 21:00 Arena (b01c30jy)
Sonny Rollins: Beyond the Notes

2011 was the 82nd year in the extraordinary life of arguably the greatest saxophone player in the world, Sonny Rollins. Four decades ago, as a young filmmaker and aspiring musician, Dick Fontaine followed Rollins up onto the Williamsburg Bridge in Manhattan during one of his legendary escapes from the perils of 'the jazz life'. Today, still resisting stereotype and compromise, and revered by a new generation of young musicians, Rollins continues his single-minded search for meaning in his music and his life. Dick Fontaine's film is built around the explosive energy of Sonny's 80th Birthday Concert, where legendary figures Roy Haynes, Jim Hall and Ornette Coleman join him to celebrate his journey so far, his music and its future for a new generation.

FRI 22:00 Arena (b01c30k0)
Sonny Rollins '74: Rescued!

Featuring a specially-shot introduction with Jamie Cullum, Arena presents a lost treasure - Sonny Rollins performing at Ronnie Scott's in 1974. After nearly 40 years unseen, this unique film shows a spellbinding performance from arguably the greatest saxophone player in the world. Having played alongside Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, Rollins is one of the few surviving jazz greats. This gig captures him after his 1972 comeback when his bands started to sound funkier and to use electric guitar and bass. The band for this 1974 set features Japanese guitarist Yoshiaki Masuo and soprano saxophone player Rufus Harley, who doubles on the bagpipes.

FRI 23:00 Omnibus (b00nnmf8)
Ronnie Scott and All That Jazz

Documentary celebrating the founding of Ronnie Scott's Jazz club in 1959. Scott, a rising young saxophone player, opened a club where he and his friends could play the music they liked. Over the following years, the club had its ups and downs, reflecting the changes in attitudes to jazz and the social life of surrounding Soho.

Now Ronnie Scott's is known throughout the world as the hearbeat of British jazz. In this tribute, Omnibus talks to some of Ronnie's greatest admirers including Mel Brooks, the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP and writer Alan Plater, and features rare archive footage of some of the club's historic performances by Zoot Sims, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.

FRI 00:00 1959: The Year that Changed Jazz (b00jf64y)
1959 was the seismic year jazz broke away from complex bebop music to new forms, allowing soloists unprecedented freedom to explore and express. It was also a pivotal year for America: the nation was finding its groove, enjoying undreamt-of freedom and wealth; social, racial and upheavals were just around the corner; and jazz was ahead of the curve.

Four major jazz albums were made, each a high watermark for the artists and a powerful reflection of the times. Each opened up dramatic new possibilities for jazz which continue to be felt: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue; Dave Brubeck, Time Out; Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um; and Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come.

Rarely seen archive performances help vibrantly bring the era to life and explore what made these albums vital both in 1959 and the 50 years since. The programme contains interviews with Lou Reed, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Joe Morello (Brubeck's drummer) and Jimmy Cobb (the only surviving member of Miles' band), along with a host of jazz movers and shakers from the 50s and beyond.

FRI 01:00 Transatlantic Sessions (b015frjm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]

FRI 01:30 Arena (b01c30jy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

FRI 02:30 Arena (b01c30k0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

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

1959: The Year that Changed Jazz 00:00 FRI (b00jf64y)

Arena 21:00 FRI (b01c30jy)

Arena 22:00 FRI (b01c30k0)

Arena 01:30 FRI (b01c30jy)

Arena 02:30 FRI (b01c30k0)

Big in America: British Hits in the USA 00:55 SUN (b01bywsr)

Britain's Best Drives 22:00 WED (b00hw3yp)

Britain's Best Drives 03:10 WED (b00hw3yp)

Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War 23:20 MON (b01bs9gb)

Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War 21:00 THU (b01c301b)

Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War 00:05 THU (b01c301b)

Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War 03:05 THU (b01c301b)

Depeche Mode: 101 01:55 SUN (b01bywst)

Duets at the BBC 20:00 TUE (b01c2xwt)

Duets at the BBC 01:00 TUE (b01c2xwt)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b00psyq3)

Great British Railway Journeys 02:40 MON (b00psyq3)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b00psz43)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b00psz7n)

Great British Railway Journeys 02:35 THU (b00psyq3)

Horizon 00:55 SAT (b014kj65)

Horizon 20:00 THU (b00nslc4)

Horizon 01:35 THU (b00nslc4)

How the Brits Rocked America: Go West 23:55 SUN (b01bsc3y)

If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home 20:00 WED (b010jslz)

Inspector Montalbano 21:00 SAT (b01c6dsd)

Inspector Montalbano 23:25 WED (b01c6dsd)

Jo Brand on Kissing 21:00 TUE (b01c2xww)

Jo Brand on Kissing 00:00 TUE (b01c2xww)

Jo Brand on Kissing 03:00 TUE (b01c2xww)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 21:00 MON (b01c2wns)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 00:20 MON (b01c2wns)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 03:10 MON (b01c2wns)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 23:05 THU (b01c2wns)

Lowdown 22:30 WED (b01c6gyv)

Lowdown 02:15 WED (b01c6gyv)

Natural World 20:00 SAT (b00tj7j4)

Natural World 01:55 SAT (b00tj7j4)

Natural World 23:00 TUE (b00tj7j4)

Old Jews Telling Jokes 22:55 WED (b01777fr)

Old Jews Telling Jokes 02:40 WED (b01777fr)

Omnibus 23:00 FRI (b00nnmf8)

San Francisco's Year Zero: We Were Here 23:25 SAT (b01b65lr)

Shooting the Hollywood Stars 20:00 SUN (b00xhdwc)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b01c2wnv)

Storyville 01:20 MON (b01c2wnv)

Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures 19:00 SAT (b01bs7jq)

Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures 02:55 SAT (b01bs7jq)

The Birth of British Music 19:30 FRI (b00kfqgq)

The Mrs Bradley Mysteries 21:00 WED (b01c2y9y)

The Singing Detective 22:00 THU (b0074qy3)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (b08sl9jj)

The Sky at Night 01:05 THU (b08sl9jj)

The World Against Apartheid: Have You Heard from Johannesburg? 22:00 TUE (b01c2xwy)

The World Against Apartheid: Have You Heard from Johannesburg? 02:00 TUE (b01c2xwy)

Timeshift 20:00 MON (b012zmy7)

Timeshift 01:15 WED (b00wwlll)

Top of the Pops 22:45 SAT (b01bs9g8)

Transatlantic Sessions 20:30 FRI (b015frjm)

Transatlantic Sessions 01:00 FRI (b015frjm)

Treasures of Heaven 19:00 SUN (b012248j)

Treeless Mountain 22:30 SUN (b01c89tb)

We'll Take Manhattan 21:00 SUN (b01b674s)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b01c2wnq)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b01c2xwr)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b01c2y9w)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b01c3016)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b01c30jt)