The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Untrained mariner Timothy Spall has spent a fortune on technology for his new challenge - the unpredictable Irish Sea - as he and his wife continue their mini-odyssey around Britain.
Entering Liverpool means navigating their first big city since leaving London, but reaching dry land can be daunting in a small boat when dodging tankers and ferries. It's even more difficult when the coastguard sends him round in circles because he's on the wrong side of the marker buoys.
On his way to Glasson Dock in Lancashire, Tim is tricked again by another buoy. Misunderstanding his sea chart results in an unplanned dropped anchor in the middle of the Irish Sea, where they have to wait all night before he can enter the port.
Their next destination finds them in the company of royalty - Piel Island near Barrow-in-Furness has the unusual honour of having its own king and queen, a tradition which goes back centuries.
Actor Richard Wilson takes a journey into the past, following routes raved about in motoring guides of 50 years ago.
Richard struggles to get to grips with a retro VW camper van as he drives the coast road from St Ives to Land's End.
He learns of St Ives's 1950s abstract art heyday and meets a 95-year-old painter still at work in Porthmeor Studios. He discovers why DH Lawrence was expelled from the county, hears legends of Cornish mermaids and gets to know his van on a blustery clifftop campsite.
In the middle of winter, Rob Penn needs to make some money. He visits one of Britain's largest clear-felling conifer plantations, before making an ambitious attempt to fell one of the largest trees in Strawberry Cottage Wood. Tangled branches cause everything to go wrong. Can he extract the timber without destroying himself or the neighbouring trees?
What's really going on inside your stomach? In this one-off special, Michael Mosley offers up his own guts to find out. Spending the day as an exhibit at the Science Museum in London, he swallows a tiny camera and uses the latest in imaging technology to get a unique view of his innards digesting his food. He discovers pools of concentrated acid and metres of writhing tubing which is home to its own ecosystem. Michael Mosley lays bare the mysteries of the digestive system and reveals a complexity and intelligence in the human gut that science is only just beginning to uncover.
Hypochondriacal Mrs Dethick is re-admitted, adding to Den's problems. Kim finds help from an unexpected quarter, while Hilary is a man on a mission as the different designations of waste offer him a way back onto the ward. Megan is having trouble drumming up support for the forthcoming strike, while Pippa benefits from previously unseen talents hidden away on K2. The lights go down on another shift at K2 leaving Mrs Dethick in the dark and Den in a dark place. With Megan moody and Pippa scornful, Kim reluctantly turns to Damaris for help with her studies and sparks off an unexpected alliance.
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?
What's really going on inside your stomach? In this documentary, Michael Mosley offers up his own guts to find out. Spending the day as an exhibit at the Science Museum in London, he swallows a tiny camera and uses the latest in imaging technology to get a unique view of his innards digesting his food. He discovers pools of concentrated acid and metres of writhing tubing which is home to its own ecosystem.
Michael lays bare the mysteries of the digestive system - and reveals a complexity and intelligence in the human gut that science is only just beginning to uncover.
THURSDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2012
THU 19:00 World News Today (b01nmsb4)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01nmt90)
06/10/77
Noel Edmonds looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces Smokie, Danny Mirror, Deniece Williams, Steve Gibbons Band, the Emotions, the Stranglers, Baccara, Yes, David Soul and a Legs & Co dance sequence.
THU 20:00 Horizon (b0148vph)
2011-2012
The Core
For centuries we have dreamt of reaching the centre of the Earth. Now scientists are uncovering a bizarre and alien world that lies 4,000 miles beneath our feet, unlike anything we know on the surface. It is a planet buried within the planet we know, where storms rage within a sea of white-hot metal and a giant forest of crystals make up a metal core the size of the moon.
Horizon follows scientists who are conducting experiments to recreate this core within their own laboratories, with surprising results.
THU 21:00 The Year the Town Hall Shrank (b01nqc0g)
Winners and Losers
Documentary series telling the story of how the city of Stoke-on-Trent struggles to cope with the impact of the largest funding cuts to local government ever imposed by central government.
The depth of the cuts forces not just the council to reconsider what they do and how they do it, but the people of Stoke to ask themselves what they expect their local authority to do for them. This is not just the story of Stoke, it is the story of us all as it goes behind the rhetoric of whether we are all in it together in this age of austerity, or whether it is right to take tough choices because we have become over-dependent on services that we can simply no longer afford.
With in-depth access to the council and its decision makers and following the human consequences of decisions taken in the town hall and Whitehall, this is a gripping and moving tale of power, competing priorities and the intimate human costs of cuts recorded over the course of a year.
The first episode begins in December 2010 as the city council discovers it faces a £36m shortfall to its £210m annual budget. No service is safe from the axe in Stoke.
The leader of the council, Mohammed Pervez, who is leading his own local coalition, is left with the unenviable task of deciding what to chop.
THU 22:00 Nazis: A Warning from History (b0074kqm)
The Road to Treblinka
"We used to shoot them, give them up as lost and that was it." - Petras Zelionka, former member of the Nazi killing squad.
How could it happen? How was it possible that the Nazis created killing factories in order to exterminate the Jews and others they thought 'undesirable'?
Filmed in Poland, Germany and Lithuania, this documentary demonstrates how the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in the fulfilment of Hitler's ideological vision, was a crucial catalyst to the radicalisation of the Nazi policy against the Jews.
With the help of archive discoveries and frank interviews with victims, bystanders and a former member of a Nazi killing squad, The Road to Treblinka traces the decision-making process that led to one of the greatest crimes the world has ever seen - the Holocaust.
THU 22:50 A Renaissance Education: The Schooling of Thomas More's Daughter (b0135mv0)
The intellectual forces at work in the Tudor era ensured it was a pivotal period for children's education. Historian Dr Helen Castor reveals how the life and education of Margaret More, daughter of Thomas More, tell a story of the transforming power of knowledge. As a child in Tudor England, and educated to an exceptionally high level, Margaret embodies the intellectual spirit of the age - an era which embraced humanism, the birth of the Church of England and the English Renaissance. This film reveals what a revolutionary intellectual spirit Margaret More was and how the ideas that shaped her education helped change the cultural life of England forever.
THU 23:50 Tales from the Wild Wood (b01nmt7g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Wednesday]
THU 00:20 Lilyhammer (b01nmt3s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 on Tuesday]
THU 01:05 Top of the Pops (b01nmt90)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:35 Horizon (b0148vph)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 02:35 The Year the Town Hall Shrank (b01nqc0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2012
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01nmsb9)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Lang Lang Live at the Roundhouse (b01nmx7q)
Chinese pianist Lang Lang's live concert from London's Roundhouse, recorded at the iTunes festival in July 2011. He performs a remarkable Franz Liszt recital as the only classical music artist in a true rock-star surrounding, next to international pop stars like Coldplay, Adele or Linkin Park.
Filmed and directed by Thomas Grube, using dolly, crane and fourteen HD cameras as well as specially-created video projections on large LED screens supplemented by an amazing light show, this concert offers a spectacular and unique audiovisual experience, featuring nine of Liszt's finest solo piano pieces.
Including: Liszt's La Campanella, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 'Rakoczy March, Un sospiro, Standchen, Consolation No 2, Hungarian Rhapsody No 6, Widmung, Ave Maria (Schubert) and more.
FRI 20:20 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 21:20 Weller at the BBC (b01nj61v)
Compilation of performances from the BBC archive spanning 35 years of Paul Weller, from the Jam to the Style Council to his solo career.
From the heady days of mod-punk trio the Jam there's In The City on TOTP, The Eton Rifles on teen pop culture show Something Else and more, up to their final single Beat Surrender.
Jazz-funk-soul collective the Style Council take over with first single Speak Like a Child on Sight & Sound and a storming Walls Come Tumbling Down on the Whistle Test.
Weller's persistently successful solo career is chronicled on Later with Jools Holland - where he's the most frequently featured artist in the show's history - with Sunflower to the Attic (from 2012's Sonik Kicks album), plus an acoustic rendition of the Jam classic That's Entertainment with Noel Gallagher.
Amongst other treats are a rarely-seen performance from the Electric Proms of Etta James's Don't Go to Strangers, where the changingman is joined onstage at the Roundhouse by Amy Winehouse.
FRI 22:20 BBC Four Sessions (b00fh55j)
Paul Weller
In an exclusive BBC4 session filmed at BBC Television Centre, Paul Weller performs numbers from his album 22 Dreams, solo hits including From the Floorboards Up and Peacock Suit, and a couple of classics from The Jam's back catalogue.
Weller performs with his regular five-piece band and is joined on some numbers by the Wired Strings and a brass section. He also has special guests, including Oasis guitarist Gem Archer on Echoes Round the Sun, fiddle player Eliza Carthy on Wild Wood and Where'er You Go and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon on Black River.
FRI 23:20 Bee Gees: In Our Own Time (b08ktv7w)
Documentary following the fascinating, and at times turbulent, story of the Bee Gees, one of the most successful bands of all time. This is the story of three very close brothers, tied together by familial love and a natural aptitude and obsession for all things musical.
Born on the Isle of Man but raised in Manchester the Brothers Gibb, eldest brother Barry and twins Robin and Maurice were whisked to Australia by their parents at an impressionable age in search of a better life. Australia, for the Gibb family, was the start of a new adventure and a new career.
From childhood stardom to the first flashes of fame on the coat tails of 1960s Beatlemania, the Bee Gees enjoyed number one successes with hits like Massachusetts and I've Got To Get A Message to You.
The early 1970s saw a spell in the musical wilderness, but eventually led to the Bee Gees discovering a whole new musical direction and, more importantly, the discovery of Barry's unique falsetto voice. The phenomenon of Saturday Night Fever in 1977 brought the band worldwide success, and identified them as the band that defined disco.
A career as songwriters, and success with Barbra Streisand and number one hits like Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, meant a brief hiatus for the Bee Gees as a group. But, true to form, they returned with number one successes in the late 1980s with hits such as You Win Again.
The unexpected and sudden death of Maurice in 2003 meant the end of the Bee Gees as we know it, and the end of an era.
Bee Gees: In Our Own Time is the story of a consistently successful, talented and musically prolific band of brothers.
FRI 00:55 Weller at the BBC (b01nj61v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:20 today]
FRI 01:55 BBC Four Sessions (b00fh55j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:20 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 Renaissance Education: The Schooling of Thomas More's Daughter
22:50 THU (b0135mv0)
BBC Four Sessions
22:20 FRI (b00fh55j)
BBC Four Sessions
01:55 FRI (b00fh55j)
Bee Gees: In Our Own Time
23:20 FRI (b08ktv7w)
Britain's Best Drives
20:00 WED (b00j0gsq)
Britain's Best Drives
01:00 WED (b00j0gsq)
Chas & Dave: Last Orders
00:30 SUN (b01nkdsv)
Frost on Interviews
22:30 WED (b01dc5ft)
Frost on Interviews
02:00 WED (b01dc5ft)
Getting On
22:00 WED (b01nmt7j)
Getting On
01:30 WED (b01nmt7j)
Guts: The Strange and Mysterious World of the Human Stomach
03:00 WED (b01kpt6c)
Guts: The Strange and Wonderful World of the Human Stomach
21:00 WED (p07801ts)
Horizon
20:00 SAT (b00x7cb3)
Horizon
01:25 SAT (b00x7cb3)
Horizon
20:00 THU (b0148vph)
Horizon
01:35 THU (b0148vph)
Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss
21:00 TUE (b01nmsw7)
Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss
02:10 TUE (b01nmsw7)
How the Devil Got His Horns: A Diabolical Tale
21:00 MON (b01nmt3q)
How the Devil Got His Horns: A Diabolical Tale
02:10 MON (b01nmt3q)
Human Planet
19:00 SAT (b00rrd7w)
Human Planet
01:25 SAT (b00rrd7w)
Human Planet
23:30 WED (b00rrd7w)
Inspector Montalbano
21:00 SAT (b01nmslk)
Inspector Montalbano
00:15 TUE (b01nmslk)
Jools Holland: London Calling
01:30 SUN (b01jxzfq)
Lang Lang Live at the Roundhouse
19:30 FRI (b01nmx7q)
Lilyhammer
22:30 TUE (b01nmt3s)
Lilyhammer
00:20 THU (b01nmt3s)
London on Film
20:00 MON (b01kf64g)
London on Film
01:10 MON (b01kf64g)
Michael Wood: The Story of India
20:00 SUN (b007y1kx)
Michael Wood: The Story of India
23:30 SUN (b007y1kx)
Nazis: A Warning from History
22:00 THU (b0074kqm)
Only Connect
20:30 MON (b01nmsw5)
Only Connect
01:40 MON (b01nmsw5)
Order and Disorder
23:55 SAT (b01nj44h)
Painting the Queen: A Portrait of Her Majesty
00:30 MON (b01nj44m)
Rich Hall's Inventing the Indian
21:00 SUN (b01nqbqk)
Roundhead or Cavalier: Which One Are You?
22:00 MON (b01hr7k9)
Seven Ages of Starlight
23:00 MON (p00yb434)
Tales from the Wild Wood
20:30 WED (b01nmt7g)
Tales from the Wild Wood
00:30 WED (b01nmt7g)
Tales from the Wild Wood
23:50 THU (b01nmt7g)
The Birth of British Music
20:20 FRI (b00kfqgq)
The Grammar School: A Secret History
19:00 SUN (b019c88d)
The Grammar School: A Secret History
23:15 TUE (b019c88d)
The Year the Town Hall Shrank
21:00 THU (b01nqc0g)
The Year the Town Hall Shrank
02:35 THU (b01nqc0g)
Timeshift
22:30 SUN (b01nj3xx)
Timothy Spall: Back at Sea
19:30 TUE (b0135m57)
Timothy Spall: Back at Sea
19:30 WED (b013fj45)
Timothy Spall: Somewhere at Sea
19:30 MON (b00sfsqy)
Top of the Pops
00:55 SAT (b01nks7j)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b01nmt90)
Top of the Pops
01:05 THU (b01nmt90)
Unnatural Histories
20:00 TUE (b011wzrc)
Voyager: To the Final Frontier
22:55 SAT (b01nj48v)
Weller at the BBC
21:20 FRI (b01nj61v)
Weller at the BBC
00:55 FRI (b01nj61v)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b01nms9n)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b01nms9t)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b01nms9z)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b01nmsb4)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b01nmsb9)