This episode looks at the legendary lost city of Piramesse. This magnificent ancient capital was built 3,000 years ago by the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great, but long ago the whole city disappeared. When it was rediscovered by early archaeologists, it opened up a bizarre puzzle - when Piramesse was finally found it was in the wrong place, somewhere Ramesses the Great could not possibly have built it.
Recreating the stories of both the early archaeologists and the ancient Egyptians, the film enters a lost world, recounting the strange tale of the quest for Piramesse and following the intriguing detective work of modern archaeologists Manfred Bietak and Edgar Pusch as they solve the baffling mystery of how this great lost city could vanish, only to reappear thousands of years later in the wrong place.
Monty Don takes a grand tour around Italy's magnificent gardens, from the luxurious retreats of the moneyed north to the lavish hideaways of the romantic south. Monty begins his journey in Rome, power base of emperors and popes, to explore gardens that are among some of the most extravagant and flamboyant ever created.
Goldsmith Alberto Larussa appears to have committed suicide by turning his wheelchair into an electric chair. But Inspector Montalbano discovers that the dead man's will, which leaves everything to his brother Giacomo, was forged. Giacomo is arrested, but he maintains that he did not kill Alberto. Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector Mimi' Augello is working on the case of a mysteriously-murdered electrician.
David 'Kid' Jensen introduces the Brotherhood of Man, Barbara Dickson, Brendon, Graham Parker and the Rumour, the Real Thing, Smokie, Lynsey De Paul and Mike Moran, the Rubettes, ELO and Manhattan Transfer. Dance sequence by Legs & Co.
Documentary which goes inside the secretive Traveller world - a world of long and bitter memories. Filmed over twelve years, the film chronicles a history of violent feuding between rival families, using remarkable access to document the bare-fist fights between the Quinn McDonaghs and the Joyce clans, who, though cousins, have clashed for generations. Vivid, violent and funny, the film explores the need for revenge and the pressure to fight for the honour of your family name.
Television interviews seem to have been around forever - but that's not the case. They evolved in confidence and diversity as television gradually came of age. So how did it all begin? With the help of some of its greatest exponents, Sir David Frost looks back over nearly 60 years of the television interview.
He looks at political interviews, from the earliest examples in the postwar period to the forensic questioning that we now take for granted, and celebrity interviews, from the birth of the chat show in the United States with Jack Paar and Johnny Carson to the emergence of our own peak-time British performers like Sir Michael Parkinson and Sir David himself.
Melvyn Bragg, Joan Bakewell, Tony Benn, Clive Anderson, Ruby Wax, Andrew Neil, Stephen Fry, AA Gill, Alastair Campbell and Michael Parkinson all help trace the development of the television interview. What is its enduring appeal and where does the balance of power actually lie - with the interviewer or the interviewee?
SUNDAY 18 MARCH 2012
SUN 19:00 Songwriters' Circle (b01dpnx1)
English Folk
Martin Simpson, Michael Chapman and Steve Tilston, three of the English acoustic scene's finest singer-songwriters and guitarists, get together at the intimate Bush Hall in a special concert for BBC Four. All hailing from the north of England, they are masters of their craft, long honed by touring clubs and recording throughout careers spanning some six decades.
Sharing a stage for the first time, they display their guitar wizardry, collaborate and tell the odd story, playing their folk blues songs like Chapman's famous Postcards of Scarborough, Tilston's R2 Folk Awards 2012 winner The Reckoning, and Simpson's moving Never Any Good.
SUN 20:00 Songs of Ireland (b01dpnx3)
Some of the finest Irish singers and musicians, recorded in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall at Celtic Connections 2012. Eleanor McEvoy, Finbar Furey, Cara Dillon, Luka Bloom, Brian Kennedy and many others sing the songs that Ireland is famous for. Love songs, songs of emigration, songs of loss, contemporary and traditional are all beautifully accompanied by the house band, top Irish American group Solas.
Ricky Ross presents an hour of great Irish music.
SUN 21:00 Round Ireland with a Fridge (b01dpnx5)
Tony Hawks wakes up one morning to find he has accepted a drunken bet to hitchhike around Ireland with a fridge within one calendar month. The document was signed. The bet was made. The adventure begins. A comedy road trip, based on Hawks's bestselling book. A true story... with a few fibs.
SUN 22:30 The Shore (b01cyqvy)
The Shore is the uplifting story of two boyhood best friends - Joe (Ciaran Hinds) and Paddy (Conleth Hill) - divided for 25 years by
the tumult of the Troubles. When Joe returns home to Northern Ireland, his daughter Patricia brings the two men together for a
reunion, with unexpected results. The film has been nominated in the Short Film (Live Action) category at this year's Academy
Awards.
SUN 23:00 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dc66v)
Isabella and Margaret
In the medieval and Tudor world there was no question in people's minds about the order of God's creation - men ruled and women didn't. A king was a warrior who literally fought to win power then battled to keep it. Yet despite everything that stood in their way, a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule medieval and Tudor England. In this series, historian Dr Helen Castor explores seven queens who challenged male power, the fierce reactions they provoked and whether the term 'she wolves' was deserved.
In 1308 a 12-year-old girl, Isabella of France, became queen of England when she married the English king. A century later another young French girl, Margaret of Anjou, followed in her footsteps. Both these women were thrust into a violent and dysfunctional England and both felt driven to take control of the kingdom themselves. Isabella would be accused of murder and Margaret of destructive ambition - it was Margaret who Shakespeare named the She Wolf. But as Helen reveals, their self-assertion that would have seemed natural in a man was deemed unnatural, even monstrous in a woman.
SUN 00:00 Terry Wogan's Ireland (b00y44j4)
Episode 1
It is over 40 years since Sir Terry Wogan decided to leave Ireland and seek his fortune across the water in England. In that time, Ireland has changed beyond all recognition - and so has Terry. Now, in the wake of his retirement from BBC Radio 2, Terry's going 'home'.
In the autobiographical journey of a lifetime he travels back to Dublin, the city he left behind as a teenager, and all the way back to Limerick, where he was born, taking in the length and breadth of the heart-stoppingly beautiful Irish coast en route.
For Sir Terry, this is an opportunity to cherish the old, and to seek out and celebrate the new face of Ireland. But this Ireland is a very different country to the one he left behind over 40 years ago - the nation now finds itself in the midst of an economic crisis. But as Terry reminds us, Ireland has survived 500 years of oppression, colonisation, religious discrimination, starvation and emigration. The Irish may be down, he concludes, but don't ever count them out.
Terry was born into an enterprising family of shopkeepers. They lived in Dublin and Limerick, the start and end points of the first leg of this journey. By retracing his story, Terry reveals the bigger picture of post-war Ireland - the result is a uniquely personal take on the history of this beautiful but divided land. Terry has rarely talked about his Irish Catholic origins and so, for many, this series will be a revelation.
In a land that invented the gift of the gab, Terry is in his element as he heads out west in the company of his lugubrious driver Dave. En route to the house he grew up in, he discovers a 'moving' statue of the Virgin Mary, suffers bad weather on the Ring of Kerry, and in Tralee he recalls Ireland's Loveliest Ladies competition, as he asks himself what it means to be Irish today.
SUN 01:00 Terry Wogan's Ireland (b00ycvqy)
Episode 2
Terry Wogan reaches the halfway mark in the odyssey around his homeland. He has travelled the southern half of the Republic, from Dublin round to Limerick, where he grew up. Now it's the turn of the north, much of which is quite literally a different country. After sharing memories of his buttoned-up childhood holidays in Galway and witnessing a seismic shift in Catholic prudery when 180 Irish ladies throw off all their clothes and take a 'Dip in the Nip' for charity, Terry heads for the border.
As he crosses into Northern Ireland he recalls the watchtowers and armed security. Now all that gives the border away is a subtle change in the texture of the road surface. More than a decade after the Peace Agreement, Terry finds reasons to be cheerful here, with football replacing fighting in the notorious Creggan housing estate, a Peace Bridge hoping to bring Protestants and Catholics together in Derry and a London Docklands-style transformation of the famous shipyards in Belfast where the Titanic was built.
Back in Dublin, Terry remembers the intermission act in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest - the now global Riverdance phenomenon. 1994 also marked the beginning of the Celtic Tiger, an unprecedented economic boom which the Irish thought would never end. Instead, the world-wide economic collapse has dealt Ireland a body blow.
SUN 02:00 The Shore (b01cyqvy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
SUN 02:30 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dc66v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]
MONDAY 19 MARCH 2012
MON 19:00 World News Today (b01dpp3y)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 The Story of Maths (b00dwf4f)
The Language of the Universe
After showing how fundamental mathematics is to our lives, Marcus du Sautoy explores the mathematics of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece.
In Egypt, he uncovers use of a decimal system based on ten fingers of the hand, while in former Mesopotamia he discovers that the way we tell the time today is based on the Babylonian Base 60 number system.
In Greece, he looks at the contributions of some of the giants of mathematics including Plato, Euclid, Archimedes and Pythagoras, who is credited with beginning the transformation of mathematics from a tool for counting into the analytical subject we know today.
MON 20:30 Only Connect (b01dpp40)
Specials
Sport Relief Special: Cutters vs Backhanders
Victoria Coren hosts a very special celebrity edition of the quiz where, as in life itself, knowledge will only take you so far, and patience and lateral thinking are also vital.
Two teams of clever celebrities prepare to lose their dignity in honour of Sport Relief, as the Cutters (Nick Hornby, Mark Gatiss and Samira Ahmed) take on the combined wits of the Backhanders (Ian Hislop, Stephen Mangan and Allison Pearson).
So join Victoria if you want to know what connects dead sheep, ginger rodent, semi house-trained polecat and sex-starved boa constrictor.
MON 21:00 Dirk Gently (b01dpp42)
Series 1
Episode 3
Dirk and MacDuff are alarmed to discover that Dirk's old clients are being randomly murdered, with Dirk as the only link. Rather than talk to the police Dirk elects to leave the country, but finds himself waylaid by a beautiful woman worried about her stalker, a dark shadow from Dirk's past and the ongoing cold war with his cleaner. MacDuff's patience is stretched to the limit.
MON 22:00 Storyville (b01dpp44)
The Reluctant Revolutionary
An intimate portrait of Yemen as the revolution unfolds, told through the eyes of warm-hearted local tour guide Kais. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Sean McAllister portrays Kais' transformation from sceptic of the revolutionary cause to participant with characteristic intimacy and frankness.
The film tracks Kais from his initial irritation with the demonstrations against President Saleh's 33-year reign to his witnessing the determination of the demonstrators, which culminates in a massacre of 52 protestors. This is a personal and at times deeply shocking documentary which takes the viewer to the heart of what is like as a normal civilian to live through a revolution.
MON 23:10 The Story of Maths (b00dwf4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 00:10 The Hidden Art of Islam (b01dczjj)
At the British Museum, a collection of artefacts from the Muslim world is on show, which tells the history of a journey to Mecca always forbidden to non-Muslims. It features a succession of examples of the rich visual language of Islamic culture past and present, artwork created to reflect the powerful experience for any Muslim making the Hajj pilgrimage to Islam's most sacred city and its most sacred building, the Ka'aba. However, an art form not usually associated with Islam is also on show, a form many believe is prohibited by Islam - portraits, depictions of human figures and whole tableaux showing pilgrims performing the most important pillar of the Muslim faith.
In this documentary, Rageh Omaar sets out to find out that if human depiction is the source of such controversy, how is it that the art displayed here shows a tradition of figurative art at the heart of Islam for century after century? He explores what forms of art are acceptable for a Muslim - and why this artistic tradition has thrived - in the hidden art of the Muslim world.
MON 01:10 Dirk Gently (b01dpp42)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MON 02:05 Only Connect (b01dpp40)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
MON 02:35 Storyville (b01dpp44)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
MON 03:45 Dirk Gently (b01dpp42)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 20 MARCH 2012
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01dpph5)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00qbnbw)
Series 1
Swindon to Bristol
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, he travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
Michael's journey takes him along the Brunel's Great Western Railway from Swindon to Penzance. He finds out about free holiday trains for the GWR workers in Swindon, samples the spa in Bath and tries his hand at glass blowing in Bristol.
TUE 20:00 Bombay Railway (b007t30p)
Pressures
Documentary about Bombay's vast suburban rail network, which serves six-and-a-half million commuters every day. As Bombay's population swells by tens of thousands each week, the railway and the people whose lives revolve around it struggle to cope with the pressure and the peaktime 'super-dense crush load'. From the train driver to the illegal hawker and the homeless shoe-shine boy, each has a story to tell about this remarkable railway system, often described as the lifeline of India.
TUE 21:00 Talk at the BBC (b01dy7pr)
Episode 1
Funny, surreal and extraordinary - extracts from interviews broadcast on the BBC from the 1950s to the 1970s, arguably the golden age of conversation.
TUE 22:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b01dpph9)
Terry Wogan
Mark Lawson talks to legendary broadcaster Terry Wogan about his life and 50-year career. In this thoughtful interview Terry explores his early years growing up in Ireland, recalls how the shaky beginnings of Irish television provided him with a great training ground for a career in live broadcast and talks about how, because of his gentle demeanour, he has eluded the censors more than any of his peers.
Wogan made a name for himself as a DJ for Raidió Teilifís Éireann in Ireland in the 1960s. When Irish television started up in 1962, he began his career in front of the camera, transferring across the channel in 1967 as one of the first DJs for the BBC's new station Radio 1. Loved for his genial charm and cheeky optimism, he has seduced audiences and listeners for over half a century. His stamina and ambition to be a major player in live broadcast continues well into his 70s, as the face of BBC's Children in Need and the front of his ever-popular Radio 2 show.
TUE 23:00 The Russell Harty Show (b01dwgwn)
Russell Harty's chat show from the Greenwood Theatre with guests Grace Jones, photographer Patrick Lichfield, landscape photographer and cosmetician Walter Poucher and clothes designer Tom Gilbey.
TUE 23:30 Britain Through a Lens: The Documentary Film Mob (b012p53d)
The unlikely story of how, between 1929 and 1945, a group of tweed-wearing radicals and pin-striped bureaucrats created the most influential movement in the history of British film. They were the British Documentary Movement and they gave Britons a taste for watching films about real life.
They were an odd bunch, as one wit among them later admitted. "A documentary director must be a gentleman... and a socialist." They were inspired by a big idea - that films about real life would change the world. That, if people of all backgrounds saw each other on screen - as they really were - they would get to know and respect each other more. As John Grierson, the former street preacher who founded the Movement said: "Documentary outlines the patterns of interdependence".
The Documentary Film Mob assembles a collection of captivating film portraits of Britain, during the economic crisis of the 1930s and the Second World War. Featuring classic documentaries about slums and coal mines, about potters and posties, about the bombers and the Blitz, the programme reveals the fascinating story of what was also going on behind the camera. Of how the documentary was born and became part of British culture.
TUE 00:30 Bombay Railway (b007t30p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUE 01:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00qbnbw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 02:00 The Great British Outdoors (b00t4kh5)
Mud, midges, barbed wire - just why do us Brits love the great outdoors?
In this nostalgic look at life for campers, twitchers, ramblers and metal detectors, Mark Benton examines the history of the British fresh air freak.
TUE 03:00 Talk at the BBC (b01dy7pr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 21 MARCH 2012
WED 19:00 World News Today (b01dpqts)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe (b007920b)
The Heart of Italy
Francesco da Mosto discovers why Rome is the Eternal City and goes head to head with Mussolini. Travelling via the fantastic water gardens of Villa d'Este and the royal seat of the Bourbon dynasty, he arrives in Naples. After an encounter with Italy's most astonishing sculpture - Sanmartino's Veiled Christ - and a lesson in Neapolitan pizza making, Francesco descends deep into the caverns of underground Naples and discovers an eerie cult of the dead.
WED 20:30 Venice 24/7 (b01dpqtv)
City Fit for a Pope
With unprecedented access to Venice's emergency and public services, this series goes behind the 15th-century facades to experience the real, living city. From daily emergencies to street sweeping, bridge maintenance to flood defence systems and a death-defying descent across St Mark's Square, this is Venice as you've never seen it before. This is Venice 24/7.
The city is on lockdown, with the pope visiting for the first time in a quarter of a century. There's a fractious relationship between Venice and the Vatican and it's a risky occasion for all involved, so security is tight and the emergency teams are on high alert. There are the specially selected papal gondoliers carrying on the family tradition, vital underwater security sweeps and tension as police attempt to shut down Grand Canal.
WED 21:00 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dpqtx)
Jane, Mary and Elizabeth
In the medieval and Tudor world there was no question in people's minds about the order of God's creation - men ruled and women didn't. A king was a warrior who literally fought to win power then battled to keep it. Yet despite everything that stood in their way, a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule medieval and Tudor England. In this series, historian Dr Helen Castor explores seven queens who challenged male power, the fierce reactions they provoked and whether the term 'she wolves' was deserved.
Helen looks at what happened when England was faced not just with inadequate kings, but no kings at all. In 1553, for the first time in English history all the contenders for the crown were female. In the lives of these three Tudor queens - Jane, Mary and Elizabeth - she explores how each woman struggled in turn with wearing a crown that was made for a male head. Elizabeth I seemed to show that not only could a woman rule, but could do so gloriously. But at what cost?
WED 22:00 Britain's Best Drives (b00j6sjc)
Richard Wilson Learns to Drive
In preparation for a motor journey around Britain, Richard Wilson is put through his paces as he learns how to use a gear stick again, having driven only automatics for the past 30 years.
He drives classic cars, goes off-road, experiences the thrills and spills of the skidpan and gets a lesson in driving high performance cars from five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell.
WED 22:30 Lowdown (b01dpqtz)
A Lavish Swinger
When the Sunday Sun gets hold of secret footage of top golfer Mike Lavish cheating during a tournament, Alex is sent to catch him out. But they get on quite well until Alex accidentally knocks him into a coma.
WED 23:00 Episodes (b00xc9tw)
Series 1
Episode 1
Sean and Beverly Lincoln are a happily married English couple, who are also the creators of a hit British TV show. Their life seems complete. That is until a hugely powerful and charismatic US network president persuades them to move to Los Angeles to recreate their show for American television.
Things begin to unravel as soon as Sean and Beverly arrive in LA. It soon becomes clear that the network president has never even seen their show. To make matters worse, he insists that they replace their brilliant lead actor, an erudite Royal Shakespeare veteran, with... Matt LeBlanc!
WED 23:30 Story of Light Entertainment (b00792sp)
Chat Shows
One of light entertainment's most successful and most enduring formats, the story of the chat show - and the chat show host - takes in everything from tearful celebs and transatlantic flights to fake guests and drunken brawls. From the Gestapo-like questioning on Face to Face to Jerry Springer's' 'prostitutes v pimps', this documentary shows just how the chat show format has entertained and influenced the emotional make-up of the British public.
It explores how the chat show often gives rise to some of the most controversial and stimulating TV ever and traces the evolution of the format from Steve Allen and Johnny Carson to Graham Norton and Paul O'Grady. Plus, a look at the explosion of 'confessional' TV and how, after the cynical celebrity plugging of the 80's, producers were forced to look to the revolutionary changes afoot in the US in a bid to save the format.
It shows how the chat show has evolved, why the public now look for something a little bit extra from their celebrity interviews, how the comedy chat shows like Mrs Merton became every bit as successful as the genre that provided their comedy, and asks what the next evolution of the chat show will bring.
Featuring interviews with Michael Parkinson, Terry Wogan, David Frost, Sally Jessie Raphael, Clive James, Clive Anderson, Joan Rivers and Graham Norton.
WED 01:00 Inspector Montalbano (b01dpm3k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Saturday]
WED 02:35 Britain's Best Drives (b00j6sjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
WED 03:05 Lowdown (b01dpqtz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
WED 03:35 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dpqtx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 22 MARCH 2012
THU 19:00 World News Today (b01dprb2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01dprb4)
17/3/77
Tony Blackburn introduces Berni Flint, Billy Ocean, Suzi Quatro, Showaddywaddy, Barclay James Harvest, Cliff Richard, Maxine Nightingale and Manhattan Transfer. Dance sequence by Legs & Co.
THU 20:00 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792v2)
The Cursed Valley of the Pyramids
In the Lambeyeque valley in northern Peru lies a strange lost world - the forgotten ruins of 250 mysterious pyramids, including some of the biggest on the planet, colossal structures made out of mud bricks. Long ago, the Lambeyeque people were haunted by a terrible fear and believed that building pyramids was essential to their survival. Their obsession reached its height at a city called Tucume, an eerie place of 26 pyramids standing side by side, the last pyramids this civilisation created before they vanished forever.
What was the fear that drove these people to build so many pyramids, what were they for and why did the whole civilisation suddenly vanish? This film captures the moments when archaeologists at the site uncovered a mass of bodies of human sacrifice victims, following a trail of clues into the dark story of Tucume. It recreates the strange rituals of the people of the valley, revealing a civilisation whose obsession to build pyramids eventually turned to horror, until Tucume finally vanished in a bloody frenzy of human sacrifice.
THU 21:00 Sex and Sensibility: The Allure of Art Nouveau (b01dprb6)
Paris
The delicious objects of Parisian Art Nouveau are explored by cultural correspondent Stephen Smith. Uncovering how the luscious decorative style first erupted into the cityscape, Stephen delves into the city's bohemian past to learn how some of the 19th century's most glamorous and controversial figures inspired this extraordinary movement.
Revealing the story behind Alphonse Mucha's sensual posters of actress Sarah Bernhardt, looking at the exquisite jewellery designer Renee Lalique and visiting iconic art nouveau locations such the famous Maxim's restaurant, the programme builds a picture of fin-de-siecle Paris.
But Smith also reveals that the style is more than just veneer deep. Looking further into the work of glassmaker Emile Galle and architect Hector Guimard, he sees how some of art nouveau's stars risked their reputation to give meaning and purpose to work they thought could affect social change.
THU 22:00 Dirk Gently (b01dpp42)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 23:00 Talk at the BBC (b01dy7pr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
THU 00:00 Top of the Pops (b01dprb4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 00:30 Omnibus (b0074khb)
Eve Arnold - In Retrospect
Beeban Kidron's profile of the late photographer Eve Arnold, which examines her life and work as well as the changing role of photography during her career. Arnold also talks about some of her most famous subjects, such as Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Marilyn Monroe. Contributors include Anjelica Huston, Iman and Isabella Rossellini.
THU 01:25 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792v2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 02:25 Sex and Sensibility: The Allure of Art Nouveau (b01dprb6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 23 MARCH 2012
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01dprv8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Symphony (b017j75d)
Revolution and Rebirth
Simon Russell Beale's journey takes him into the 20th century, a time when the certainties of empire were falling away, war was looming and the world was changing faster than ever before.
Simon investigates the extraordinary symphonic world of Shostakovich, the star composer of the new Soviet Union, as well as the work of Ives and Copland who were both, in their different ways, creating a new American sound. He discovers how the development of the gramophone and broadcasting meant that more people could hear their music than ever before and how it became possible to immortalise the symphony in sound.
The symphonies are played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
FRI 20:30 Transatlantic Sessions (b016ypnr)
Series 5
Episode 6
The best of Nashville, Ireland and Scotland in an award-winning format that affords, in the words of one critic, a unique insight into the sheer joy of making music.
Recorded in a beautiful old hunting lodge at the entrance to Glen Lyon near Aberfeldy in the Perthshire Highlands, top vocal and instrumental exponents of the country and Celtic traditions gathered to rehearse and play together with no audience except themselves and a resident house band of their peers. As with previous series, music co-directors were Nashville's Jerry Douglas and Shetland's Aly Bain.
Leavening the intimacy of the music-making is a strong element of spectacular Highland scenic photography, while this time around a greater emphasis on informal backstage conversations and stories serves to highlight historic qualities of collaboration and performance.
The final programme in the series features fiddle-player John McCusker, piper Mike McGoldrick, American trio Alison Krauss, Sarah Jarosz and Amos Lee and, in a house-band sign-off to bring the house down, legendary bass player Danny Thompson and percussionist James MacKintosh.
FRI 21:00 Classic Albums (b01r22tl)
Peter Gabriel: So
With the release of So in 1986, Peter Gabriel achieved a level of success that had thus far eluded him. Gabriel famously started out leading Genesis, but his four albums of solo work had made him the definition of a cult artist, with flashes that broke through such as Solsbury Hill and Games Without Frontiers. His fifth album, the first not to be titled Peter Gabriel, changed everything and became a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
So includes the singles Don't Give Up, Big Time, Red Rain, In Your Eyes and Sledgehammer, the latter reaching number one in the USA, ironically knocking Genesis's Invisible Touch off the top spot.
The R&B/soul inspired Sledgehammer was propelled to the top by a much-celebrated stop-motion music video, which won numerous awards and set a new standard for art in the music video industry.
By returning to the original multi-tracks, along with musical demonstrations and rare archive footage, we discover how Gabriel's melodic ability to blend African music, jangly pop and soul created a classic.
So stands as one of the greatest records of the 1980s, helping define its time to become a true classic album. The film features interviews with Gabriel himself, co-producer Daniel Lanois, bass players Tony Levin and Larry Klein, performer Laurie Anderson, drummer Manu Katché and Rolling Stone editor David Fricke amongst others.
FRI 22:00 Prog at the BBC (b00g8tfx)
Compilation of some of the greatest names and British bands in what they still dare to call prog rock, filmed live in the BBC studios in the early 1970s. Expect to see stadium names like Yes, Genesis and Emerson, Lake and Palmer alongside much-loved bands of the era including Caravan, Family, Atomic Rooster and more.
FRI 23:00 Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements (b00g8tfv)
Documentary about progressive music and the generation of bands that were involved, from the international success stories of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson and Jethro Tull to the trials and tribulations of lesser-known bands such as Caravan and Egg.
The film is structured in three parts, charting the birth, rise and decline of a movement famed for complex musical structures, weird time signatures, technical virtuosity and strange, and quintessentially English, literary influences.
It looks at the psychedelic pop scene that gave birth to progressive rock in the late 1960s, the golden age of progressive music in the early 1970s, complete with drum solos and gatefold record sleeves, and the over-ambition, commercialisation and eventual fall from grace of this rarefied musical experiment at the hands of punk in 1977.
Contributors include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Pete Sinfield, Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer and Ian Anderson.
FRI 00:30 Classic Albums (b01r22tl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 01:30 Songwriters' Circle (b01dpnx1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
FRI 02:30 Folk at the BBC (b0074s5l)
The 50s/60s
A compilation of folk performances from the 1950s and 60s, news items on the folk movement from the vaults and newly shot performances. Featured artists include Peggy Seeger, Ewan McColl, Lonnie Donegan, Martin Carthy, AL Lloyd, the Coppers and Bob Davenports.
FRI 03:30 Transatlantic Sessions (b016ypnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
Bombay Railway
20:00 TUE (b007t30p)
Bombay Railway
00:30 TUE (b007t30p)
Britain Through a Lens: The Documentary Film Mob
23:30 TUE (b012p53d)
Britain's Best Drives
22:00 WED (b00j6sjc)
Britain's Best Drives
02:35 WED (b00j6sjc)
Classic Albums
21:00 FRI (b01r22tl)
Classic Albums
00:30 FRI (b01r22tl)
Dirk Gently
21:00 MON (b01dpp42)
Dirk Gently
01:10 MON (b01dpp42)
Dirk Gently
03:45 MON (b01dpp42)
Dirk Gently
22:00 THU (b01dpp42)
Episodes
23:00 WED (b00xc9tw)
Folk at the BBC
02:30 FRI (b0074s5l)
Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe
19:30 WED (b007920b)
Frost on Interviews
02:40 SAT (b01dc5ft)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 TUE (b00qbnbw)
Great British Railway Journeys
01:30 TUE (b00qbnbw)
Inspector Montalbano
21:00 SAT (b01dpm3k)
Inspector Montalbano
01:00 WED (b01dpm3k)
Lost Cities of the Ancients
19:00 SAT (b00792tn)
Lost Cities of the Ancients
00:40 SAT (b00792tn)
Lost Cities of the Ancients
20:00 THU (b00792v2)
Lost Cities of the Ancients
01:25 THU (b00792v2)
Lowdown
22:30 WED (b01dpqtz)
Lowdown
03:05 WED (b01dpqtz)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
22:00 TUE (b01dpph9)
Monty Don's Italian Gardens
20:00 SAT (b010fqh0)
Monty Don's Italian Gardens
01:40 SAT (b010fqh0)
Omnibus
00:30 THU (b0074khb)
Only Connect
20:30 MON (b01dpp40)
Only Connect
02:05 MON (b01dpp40)
Prog Rock Britannia: An Observation in Three Movements
23:00 FRI (b00g8tfv)
Prog at the BBC
22:00 FRI (b00g8tfx)
Round Ireland with a Fridge
21:00 SUN (b01dpnx5)
Sex and Sensibility: The Allure of Art Nouveau
21:00 THU (b01dprb6)
Sex and Sensibility: The Allure of Art Nouveau
02:25 THU (b01dprb6)
She-Wolves: England's Early Queens
23:00 SUN (b01dc66v)
She-Wolves: England's Early Queens
02:30 SUN (b01dc66v)
She-Wolves: England's Early Queens
21:00 WED (b01dpqtx)
She-Wolves: England's Early Queens
03:35 WED (b01dpqtx)
Songs of Ireland
20:00 SUN (b01dpnx3)
Songwriters' Circle
19:00 SUN (b01dpnx1)
Songwriters' Circle
01:30 FRI (b01dpnx1)
Story of Light Entertainment
23:30 WED (b00792sp)
Storyville
23:10 SAT (b01d24dm)
Storyville
22:00 MON (b01dpp44)
Storyville
02:35 MON (b01dpp44)
Symphony
19:30 FRI (b017j75d)
Talk at the BBC
21:00 TUE (b01dy7pr)
Talk at the BBC
03:00 TUE (b01dy7pr)
Talk at the BBC
23:00 THU (b01dy7pr)
Terry Wogan's Ireland
00:00 SUN (b00y44j4)
Terry Wogan's Ireland
01:00 SUN (b00ycvqy)
The Great British Outdoors
02:00 TUE (b00t4kh5)
The Hidden Art of Islam
00:10 MON (b01dczjj)
The Russell Harty Show
23:00 TUE (b01dwgwn)
The Shore
22:30 SUN (b01cyqvy)
The Shore
02:00 SUN (b01cyqvy)
The Story of Maths
19:30 MON (b00dwf4f)
The Story of Maths
23:10 MON (b00dwf4f)
Top of the Pops
22:35 SAT (b01dc8rg)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b01dprb4)
Top of the Pops
00:00 THU (b01dprb4)
Transatlantic Sessions
20:30 FRI (b016ypnr)
Transatlantic Sessions
03:30 FRI (b016ypnr)
Venice 24/7
20:30 WED (b01dpqtv)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b01dpp3y)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b01dpph5)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b01dpqts)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b01dprb2)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b01dprv8)