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 09 FEBRUARY 2013

SAT 19:00 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mwcqx)
Episode 3

Steve Backshall heads a team descending into the crater of a giant extinct volcano covered in thick jungle. Deep in the heart of the remote island of New Guinea, this lost land is protected on all sides by fortress walls half a mile high. They are the first outsiders ever to penetrate this hidden world, which biologists have long believed could be home to spectacular new creatures.

George McGavin travels east to an erupting volcano and discovers a rare bird that depends on the hot ash for its survival. Sudden explosions bring the trip to a quick halt as giant boulders crash into camp.

The series culminates in the lost world of the crater as Steve and wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan discover two large mammals that have no fear of people and are totally new to science - a giant rat that is as big as a cat, and a cuscus, which is a tree-climbing marsupial.


SAT 20:00 Treasures of Ancient Rome (b01msf6r)
The Empire Strikes Back

In the third and final part of the series, Alastair Sooke charts the decline and fall of the Roman Empire through some of its hidden and most magical artistic treasures. He travels to Leptis Magna in Libya shortly after the overthrow of Gaddafi and finds one of the best preserved Roman cities in the world and the cradle of later Roman art. Sooke discovers glorious mosaics which have never been filmed before, but also finds evidence of shocking neglect of Libya's Roman heritage by the Gaddafi regime.

His artistic tour takes him to Egypt and the northern frontiers of the empire where he encounters stunning mummy paintings and exquisite silver and glassware. As Rome careered from one crisis to another, official art became more hard boiled and militaristic and an obscure cult called Christianity rose up to seize the mantle of Western art for centuries to come.


SAT 21:00 Spiral (b01qq4wj)
Series 4: State of Terror

Episode 1

A young couple has been spotted carrying the body of a mutilated man into the woods. Captain Laure Berthaud and her team soon discover that the unidentified man has been killed by a home-made bomb. The team is distracted by from their investigation by internal conflict and the appointment of a new commissioner who wants quick results. Josephine Karlsson is being pressured by a dangerous Russian mobster with links to the Kremlin.

In French with English subtitles.


SAT 21:55 Spiral (b01qrtlr)
Series 4: State of Terror

Episode 2

Laure and her team are on the trail of Sophie Mazerat, a student whose car has been traced to the dumping of the bomb-damaged body, and arrest her at the university. Karlsson's attempts to have Moussa Kone freed from detention are hindered when Thomas's cell arranges a vicious reprisal attack against the bank which reported him. New boss Herville is making his presence felt in the squad room and nobody is liking his business methods, especially when this leads directly to the squad losing touch with their best lead in this most complicated of cases.

In French with English subtitles.


SAT 22:45 When Albums Ruled the World (b01qhn70)
Between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s, the long-playing record and the albums that graced its grooves changed popular music for ever. For the first time, musicians could escape the confines of the three-minute pop single and express themselves as never before across the expanded artistic canvas of the album. The LP allowed popular music become an art form - from the glorious artwork adorning gatefold sleeves, to the ideas and concepts that bound the songs together, to the unforgettable music itself.

Built on stratospheric sales of albums, these were the years when the music industry exploded to become bigger than Hollywood. From pop to rock, from country to soul, from jazz to punk, all of music embraced what 'the album' could offer. But with the collapse of vinyl sales at the end of the 70s and the arrival of new technologies and formats, the golden era of the album couldn't last forever.

With contributions from Roger Taylor, Ray Manzarek, Noel Gallagher, Guy Garvey, Nile Rodgers, Grace Slick, Mike Oldfield, Slash and a host of others, this is the story of When Albums Ruled the World.


SAT 00:15 Chas & Dave: Last Orders (b01nkdsv)
Documentary which highlights cockney duo Chas & Dave's rich, unsung pedigree in the music world and a career spanning 50 years, almost the entire history of UK pop. They played with everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis to Gene Vincent, toured with The Beatles, opened for Led Zeppelin at Knebworth - and yet are known mainly just for their cheery singalongs and novelty records about snooker and Spurs.

The film also looks at the pair's place among the great musical commentators on London life - and in particular the influence of music hall on their songs and lyrics.

The film crew followed Chas & Dave on their final tour, having called it a day after the death of Dave's wife, and blends live concert footage with archive backstory, including some astonishing early performances and duets with the likes of Eric Clapton. Among the experts and zealous fans talking about their love of the duo are Pete Doherty, Jools Holland and Phill Jupitus. Narrated by Arthur Smith.


SAT 01:15 London Songs at the BBC (b01jxzfs)
A collection of performances from the BBC archives, celebrating the sights and sounds and the ups and downs of London through the words and songs through the years - from Petula Clark singing A Foggy Day in London Town in 1965 to Adele performing her love letter to the city in Hometown Glory, filmed in October 2007 on the roof of the BBC car park in Shepherd's Bush. Also featured are the likes of The Jam, Eddy Grant, Tom Paxton and Lily Allen plus many more.


SAT 02:15 The Sky at Night (b08gk543)
The Sun King

The sun is the monarch of the Solar System, but where does its kingdom end? At the furthest outposts, the two Voyager spacecraft are having a surprisingly turbulent time as they leave the sun's realm.

The team are at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, to see how the sun affects our planet. Solar physicist Dr Lucie Green joins them to enjoy the observatory's historic telescopes, which are still being used to gaze at the night sky.


SAT 02:45 Treasures of Ancient Rome (b01msf6r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2013

SUN 19:00 Natural World (b013nhmg)
2011-2012

Heligan: Secrets of the Lost Garden

Looking at the secret lives of the wildlife in one of Britain's favourite gardens. Shot by Charlie Hamilton-James, this film follows various animals, from the family of foxes that play after hours in the pleasure gardens to the toads in the Italian garden and the badgers that clear up the tea rooms at night. Set against the background of the gardening year, these stories reveal life behind the scenes at Heligan.


SUN 20:00 Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls (b01jcc8b)
Act Two: At Home

Dr Lucy Worsley, historian and Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, explores the ordinary as well as the extraordinary lives of women in the home. This was an age when respectable women were defined by their marital status as maids, wives or widows. If they fell outside these categories they were in danger of being labelled whores or, at worst, witches.

While history has left many women voiceless over the centuries, Lucy discovers that in the Restoration a surprising number of women were beginning to question their roles in relationship to their husbands, their position in the home, their attitudes to sex and, most importantly, the expectation to produce children.

Meeting a host of experts and experiencing what life was like behind closed doors, Lucy explores whether their lives changed for better or worse during the second half of the 17th century.


SUN 21:00 Queen - Days of Our Lives (b011pwd9)
Episode 1

In 1971, four university students got together to form a band. Since then, that certain band called Queen has released 26 albums and sold over 300 million records worldwide. The popularity of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon is stronger than ever. Their story is a remarkable one, a narrative that covers early struggles, huge obstacles, success, arguments, breakups, triumph, tragedy and an enduring legacy - all against a backdrop of brilliant music and stunning live performances from every corner of the globe.

In this film, for the first time, it is the band that tells their story. Guiding us through an extensive archive full of hitherto unseen footage, the documentary reveals how four strong-minded individuals, all capable of writing massive hit songs, worked together so successfully for four decades. Queen never did anything by halves - meaning their highs were massive, but their lows catastrophic. It is a compelling story told with intelligence, wit, plenty of humour and painful honesty.


SUN 22:00 Queen - Days of Our Lives (b011r4gs)
Episode 2

The story of British rock band Queen, formed in 1971. The second half of this documentary sees Queen at the peak of their powers. With the ultimate showman in Freddie Mercury and a string of rock anthems to their name, Queen smashed attendance records with a series of stadium shows across South America.

But the band quickly learned that if reaching the top is tough, staying there is the biggest challenge of all. With a loss of focus in the studio, the decline in popularity in North America, increasing internal tension and a desire to pursue solo projects, it seemed as if the band had had its day. Then came the performance from Mercury at Live Aid and their record breaking Magic tour in 1986. Queen were back amongst the very best. They were rejuvenated and once again had the world at their feet, but then tragedy struck and threatened to tear the band apart.

Featuring musical performances, previously unseen and rare footage, and intimate interviews.


SUN 23:00 Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me (b009s7gv)
Candid and poignant drama about the comedian Frankie Howerd and the relationship with his long-term, long-suffering manager, and gay partner, Dennis Heymer. Despite his overtly camp persona, Howerd kept his companionship with Heymer under wraps for 35 years, until his death in 1992. Yet through career disaster, social stigma, illegality, numerous infidelities and Howerd's own deep-seated issues about his homosexuality, their love endured.


SUN 00:00 Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (b01j0yyv)
John Edginton's documentary explores the making of Pink Floyd's ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here, which was released in September 1975 and went on to top the album charts both in the UK and the US.

Featuring new interviews with band members Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason alongside contributions from the likes of sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson and photographer Jill Furmanovsky, the film is a forensic study of the making of the follow-up to 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, which was another conceptual piece driven by Roger Waters.

The album wrestles with the legacy of the band's first leader, Syd Barrett, who had dropped out of the band in 1968 and is eulogised in the album's centrepiece, Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Pink Floyd had become one of the biggest bands in the world, but the 60s were over and the band were struggling both to find their purpose and the old camaraderie.


SUN 01:00 The Doors - The Story of LA Woman (b01f7y7c)
By 1969, the Doors had found themselves at the forefront of a movement that consisted of a generation of discontents. Operating against a backdrop of the Vietnam War and of social unrest and change in the USA, the Doors were hip, they were dangerous, they were anti-establishment, anti-war and they were hated by middle-America.

Featuring exclusive interviews with surviving band members Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Kreiger and their closest colleagues and collaborators, along with exclusive performances, archive footage and examination of the original multi-track recording tapes with producer Bruce Botnick, this film tells the amazing story of landmark album LA Woman by one of the most influential bands on the planet.


SUN 02:00 Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 (b01nwfxs)
Documentary chronicling our ever-changing love affair with the British singles chart on the occasion of its sixtieth anniversary. From the first NME chart in 1952, via Pick and Top of the Pops to home-taping the Radio One chart show and beyond, we have measured out our lives to a wonderful churn of pop driven, unbeknownst to us, by a clandestine world of music biz hustle. Featuring contributions by 60 years of BBC chart custodians from David Jacobs to Reggie Yates, chart fans Grace Dent and Pete Paphides and music biz veterans Jon Webster and Rob Dickins.


SUN 03:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01j8h0b)
Rock - The Boys Are Back in Town

Sounds of the 70s 2 series continues, and this programme features the boys with their guitars turned all the way up to eleven! It is time to don your double denim, let your hair down and headbang your way through half an hour of rock anthems including performances from Alice Cooper, The Faces, Nazareth, Bad Company, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and Black Sabbath.



MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2013

MON 19:00 World News Today (b01qmxyt)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00xhxxf)
Series 2

Telford to Wrexham

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain, as his journey follows the route of the Irish Mail from Ledbury to Holyhead.

Michael visits the world's first iron bridge at Coalbrookdale, explores the historic Chirk Castle and has a go at making traditional Cheshire cheese.


MON 20:00 Decisive Weapons (b0077gm0)
Series 1

The Bayonet - Cold Steel

Series chronicling the impact of technology on war focuses on the bayonet, which remained an enduring symbol of British military grit for over 300 years - on home soil, across the Empire and in two world wars. Used by the English against the Scots at Culloden in 1746 with dramatic results, and as recently as the Falklands conflict in 1982, the bayonet has remained a mainstay in the British military arsenal. This bloodiest of weapons is still wielded as part of infantry training and serves as a reminder of the extent to which war boils down to hand-to-hand fighting.


MON 20:30 Britain on Film (b01qnnqp)
Series 1

Country Living

The series looking at the culture, economics and society of 1960s Britain turns its attention to one of our great national treasures - the countryside. Drawing on the archive of high-quality colour films produced by the country's biggest cinema company, the Rank Organisation, this film shows how new technologies and production methods were changing the face of agriculture and records how country life was adapting to the new economic and moral realities of a fast-changing nation.


MON 21:00 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War (p00yjy5r)
Trouble in the Family: 1337-1360

Dr Janina Ramirez explores the fallout of the longest and bloodiest divorce in history, when little England dared to take on the superpower France.

Edward III rips up the medieval rule book and crushes the flower of French knighthood at the Battle of Crecy with his low-born archers. His son, the Black Prince, conducts a campaign of terror, helping to bring France to her knees.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b01qnnqt)
Expedition to the End of the World

Storyville: Documentary which follows the journey of a group of scientists and artists as they venture by ship into one of the last uncharted territories on Earth.

Now global warming is melting the ice, an unexplored fjord system in north-east Greenland has opened for a few weeks each year. The explorers set sail on an Arctic journey where they encounter a polar bear, Stone Age playgrounds and an entirely new species. Awe, curiosity and humour bond the scientists and artists as they contemplate a landscape untouched by humanity. As the boat slips further away civilisation, the crew have a disturbing encounter which underlines the destructive impact of mankind.

Epic, breath-taking and awe-inspiring, this documentary depicts both the wild beauty of the Earth and man's own transitory role in evolution.


MON 23:00 Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War (b019jsls)
Staying Alive

Military historian Saul David explores how wars are really fought - in the backroom of military planning. He begins by looking at how to keep an army fed and housed.


MON 00:00 Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown (b01qkvxr)
File under: Rock

Exploring the essential elements of a great rock album, Danny Baker celebrates the golden age of the analogue, vinyl LP with rock fan Jeremy Clarkson, the Smiths' producer Stephen Street and writer Kate Mossman. With a passionate, fan's-eye view, Baker and his guests select their favourite rock albums and discuss how the LPs of the 60s and 70s were produced - and enjoyed - in quite a different way to their modern equivalents.


MON 01:00 Ego: The Strange and Wonderful World of Self-Portraits (b00vngl0)
Art critic Laura Cumming takes a journey through more than five centuries of self-portraits and finds out how the greatest names in western art transformed themselves into their own masterpieces.

The film argues that self-portraits are a unique form of art, one that always reveals the truth of how artists saw themselves and how they wanted to be known to the world. Examining the works of key self-portraitists including Durer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Warhol, Laura traces the development of the genre, uncovering the strange and various ways artists have managed to get their inner and outer selves to match up.

Laura investigates the stories behind key self-portraits, interviews artists as they attempt a self-portrait, and shows how the history of the self-portrait is about more than how art and artists have changed, it also charts the evolution of the way we see ourselves and what it means to be human.

She also discusses Courbet with Julian Barnes, Rembrandt's theatricality with Simon Callow, and meets the contemporary artists Mark Wallinger and Patrick Hughes, observing the latter making his first ever self-portrait.


MON 02:30 Britain on Film (b01qnnqp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 03:00 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War (p00yjy5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2013

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01qmxz5)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00xhxys)
Series 2

Chester to Conwy

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain, as his journey follows the route of the Irish Mail from Ledbury to Holyhead.

Michael takes a tour of Chester's Roman remains and discovers a secret World War II chemical weapons plant at Rhydmwyn. After spending the night in Llandudno, he goes mussel fishing on the beautiful Conwy estuary.


TUE 20:00 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.


TUE 21:00 The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music (b01qnp5f)
Wrecking Ball

The first episode looks at the shift in the language and sound of music from the beautiful melodies and harmonies of the giants of classical music such as Mozart, Haydn and Brahms into the fragmented, abstract, discordant sound of the most radical composers of the new century - Schoenberg, Webern, Stravinsky and beyond.

It examines how this new music, which can perplex and upset even the most contemporary of audiences, was a response to the huge upheaval in the world at the start of the 20th century - with its developments in technology, science, modern art and the tumult of the First World War.

Featuring specially-shot performances of some of the key works of the period, performed by the London Sinfonietta, members of the Aurora Orchestra and the American composer and pianist Timothy Andres, the story of this radical episode in music history is brought to life through the contributions of some of the biggest names in modern classical music, among them Steve Reich, John Adams, Michael Tilson Thomas, Pierre Boulez, George Benjamin and Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker.

From the atonal experiments of Vienna to the jazz-infused sounds coming from New York in the 1920s, the film travels the world to place this music in context and to uncover the incredible personalities and lives of the composers whose single-minded visions changed the course of classical music for ever.


TUE 22:00 The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Computer (b01hlkcq)
In 1901, a group of divers excavating an ancient Roman shipwreck near the island of Antikythera, off the southern coast of Greece, found a mysterious object - a lump of calcified stone that contained within it several gearwheels welded together after years under the sea. The 2,000-year-old object, no bigger than a modern laptop, is now regarded as the world's oldest computer, devised to predict solar eclipses and, according to recent findings, calculate the timing of the ancient Olympics. Following the efforts of an international team of scientists, the mysteries of the Antikythera Mechanism are uncovered, revealing surprising and awe-inspiring details of the object that continues to mystify.


TUE 23:00 Bob Servant (b01qhlfj)
Independent

Women and God

Looking for a campaign boost, Bob courts both the religious vote and the women of Broughty Ferry in a daring twin attack. Can he find himself a girlfriend and turn around his faltering campaign? A romantic date brings unexpected danger.


TUE 23:30 Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown (b01ql9xk)
File under: Pop

What makes a great pop album? Danny Baker celebrates the golden age of the analogue, vinyl LP with pop star Boy George, writer Grace Dent and journalist David Hepworth. Opinionated and impassioned, Baker and his guests select their favourite pop albums and discuss how the LPs of the 60s and 70s were produced - and devoured - in quite a different way to their modern equivalents.


TUE 00:30 When Albums Ruled the World (b01qhn70)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:45 on Saturday]


TUE 02:00 Arena (b01pjlhv)
Screen Goddesses

Documentary about the early female movie stars: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe - immortal goddesses made by Hollywood to reign over the silver screen.

With the beginnings of Hollywood, the star system was born with an archetypal bad girl - the vampish Theda Bara - and the good girl - the blazingly sincere Lillian Gish. From the 1920s, vivacious Clara Bow and seductive siren Louise Brooks are most remembered, but none made the impact of Marlene Dietrich, an icon of mystery, or Greta Garbo, with her perfect features and gloomy introspection.

From the power of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis to the seductiveness of Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, Hollywood studios produced their own brand of beautiful, sassy and confident women. But it wasn't to last. The era drew to a close with the supreme fame of Elizabeth Taylor and the tragic death of Marilyn Monroe.

Narrated by Elizabeth McGovern.


TUE 03:00 The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music (b01qnp5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2013

WED 19:00 World News Today (b01qmxzb)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00xhy37)
Series 2

Llanwrst to Porthmadog

Michael Portillo explores the Conwy valley, stopping at Britain's first artists' colony at Betws-y-Coed, visiting the Victorian slate capital of Blaenau Ffestiniog and taking a steam train down to the harbour at Porthmadog.


WED 20:00 Sissinghurst (b00j2r7c)
Episode 4

Documentary series about the attempts of writer Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven to bring farming back into the heart of the estate and garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, their historic home which is owned by the National Trust and was moulded into its present form by Nicolson's grandmother Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson back in the 1930s.

It is April, and although work is now two months behind schedule there is progress on the farm project. Work has begun in earnest on what will be fruit and vegetable plot. Adam and Linda Clifford, lifelong residents of the estate, take drastic measures in an attempt to control the large rabbit population on the estate.

As the height of the garden-visiting season approaches, Sissinghurst's visitor numbers rapidly increase and car-park volunteers Brenda and Linda have their work cut out. The garden is looking beautiful in its spring glory, but nevertheless Adam feels Sissinghurst is losing more and more of its old authentic charm and takes the matter up with property manager Sally and head gardener Alexis.

Up in the tower, Vita's old workplace, Adam finds the Gladstone bag where she hid her confessional biography about her affair with Violet Trefusis, which culminated in her elopement to France, when she temporarily abandoned her two young sons.


WED 20:30 Nature's Microworlds (b01qnp5c)
Yellowstone

In the spectacular Yellowstone where wolves, bears, coyotes, bison and elk roam vast grasslands, wetlands and forests, Steve Backshall looks for the answer to a puzzle. Wolves and beavers have little to do with each other so why, when wolves were returned after an absence of 70 years, did the beaver population increase? The revelation is as magical as it is surprising.


WED 21:00 The Race that Shocked the World (b01ktf7y)
Daniel Gordon's documentary looks at the legacy of the men's 100-metre final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when gold medallist Ben Johnson tested positive for anabolic steroids and scandal reigned. For the first time ever, the eight athletes who ran in that infamous race tell their story.


WED 22:00 Bob Servant (b01qnpdb)
Independent

The Media

Bob tricks his way on to TV, but a news report makes him a laughing stock around Broughty Ferry. He recruits his mother Margo for some much-needed damage limitation.


WED 22:30 Arena (b0074prh)
Ken Dodd's Happiness

A tribute to Liverpudlian comic Ken Dodd, in which he discusses his career and the influences of his comedy style.

Features film clips of his early performances and footage of him on tour in more recent times.


WED 23:30 Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown (b01qlcss)
File under: R&B

What is the essence of a great R&B album? Danny Baker celebrates the golden age of the analogue, vinyl LP with soul singer Mica Paris, actor and soul aficionado Martin Freeman and DJ Trevor Nelson. Opinionated and impassioned, Baker and his guests select their favourite soul and funk albums and discuss how the great R&B LPs of the 60s and 70s were a product of their times - and often rapturously received by their audience.


WED 00:30 New Power Generation: Black Music Legends of the 1980s (b0177bjb)
Prince: A Purple Reign

Film which explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionised the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as 1999, Kiss, Raspberry Beret and Alphabet Street. He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continued right up to his passing in April 2016, aged 57.

From the psychedelic Around the World in a Day to his masterpiece album Sign O' the Times and experiments with hip-hop and jazz, Prince was one of most ambitious and prolific songwriters of his generation. He tested the boundaries of taste and decency with explicit sexual lyrics and stage shows during his early career, and in the 1990s fought for ownership of his name and control of his music, played out in a public battle with his former label, Warner. Highly regarded as one of the most flamboyant live performers ever, Prince was a controversial and famously elusive creative force.

Contributors include Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson, Paisley Park label president Alan Leeds, hip-hop legend Chuck D and Prince 'Mastermind' and UK soul star Beverley Knight.


WED 01:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01jk1b8)
Soul: Keep On Keeping On

Imported American soul was big news in the UK in the 1970s. Before the Brits developed their own brand of soul, American performers were here demonstrating how it was done and being appreciated by all and sundry. The series continues with classic performances from the kings and queens of soul, including Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston, The Tams, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, The Stylistics, Gil Scott-Heron and The Jacksons.


WED 02:00 Nature's Microworlds (b01qnp5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


WED 02:30 Bob Servant (b01qnpdb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 03:00 The Race that Shocked the World (b01ktf7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2013

THU 19:00 World News Today (b01qmxzh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01qnqp7)
09/02/78

Peter Powell introduces the weekly pop chart programme featuring performances from Tonight, Baccara, Brotherhood of Man, ELO, Lulu, Yellow Dog, Dusty Springfield, The Stranglers, David Castle and Legs & Co.


THU 20:00 Horizon (b01mgllj)
2012-2013

How Big Is the Universe?

It is one of the most baffling questions that scientists can ask: how big is the universe that we live in?

Horizon follows the cosmologists who are creating the most ambitious map in history, a map of everything in existence. And it is stranger than anyone had imagined, a universe without end that stretches far beyond what the eye can ever see.

And, if the latest research proves true, our universe may just be the start of something even bigger. Much bigger.


THU 21:00 The Kite Runner (b01f6c48)
Drama telling the story of two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, who grew up together in 1970s Kabul. Many years later, Amir, now a writer living in America, returns to his native Afghanistan.


THU 23:00 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War (p00yjy5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 00:00 Treasures of the Anglo Saxons (b00t6xzx)
Art historian Dr Nina Ramirez reveals the codes and messages hidden in Anglo-Saxon art. From the beautiful jewellery that adorned the first violent pagan invaders through to the stunning Christian manuscripts they would become famous for, she explores the beliefs and ideas that shaped Anglo-Saxon art.

Examining many of the greatest Anglo Saxon treasures - such as the Sutton Hoo Treasures, the Staffordshire Hoard, the Franks Casket and the Lindisfarne Gospels - Dr Ramirez charts 600 years of artistic development which was stopped dead in its tracks by the Norman Conquest.


THU 01:00 The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music (b01qnp5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


THU 02:00 Top of the Pops (b01qnqp7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01jv6sd)
Disco - Ain't No Stopping Us Now

Disco was all pervasive in the mid and early 70s. And while towards the end of the decade punk stole the headlines, disco still had the high street. Everyone was into it and getting down on it at the local discotheque. Join us in a celebration of all things disco including performances by The Jacksons, Thelma Houston, Sylvester, Carl Douglas, George McCrae, Sister Sledge, McFadden and Whitehead, Eruption and Gloria Gaynor.


THU 03:00 Timeshift (b018jp1v)
Series 11

Epic: A Cast of Thousands!

Timeshift reveals the ten commandments of big cinema as it goes behind the scenes of the biggest film genre of them all - the epic. See the biggest sets ever known! Hear the sound of Ancient Rome! Count the spiralling costs as budgets soared!

From Ben-Hur to The Ten Commandments, from El Cid to Cleopatra, these were films that set a new standard in BIG. In the days before computers they recreated ancient worlds on a vast scale, and they did it for real. Epic cinema hired armies, defied the seasons and changed cinema. Even the screen wasn't big enough for the epic, so Hollywood made it bigger - and some cinemagoers experienced vertigo watching these vast productions.

Today, the epic lives on in the Oscar-laden Gladiator and the spectacular sweep of Avatar. As this documentary reveals, the stories behind the films are as spectacular as the films themselves.



FRIDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2013

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01qmxzn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Riot at the Rite (b00790ph)
Drama based on the events in Paris in 1913, when the opening performance of Stravinsky's controversial ballet The Rite of Spring provoked a riot in the theatre that will be remembered as arguably the most scandalous premiere in the history of the arts.

Masterminded by the Russian impresario, Sergei Diaghilev and choreographed by his lover, the dancer Nijinsky, the ballet changed the course of musical and cultural history, as well as the lives of everyone involved.


FRI 21:00 The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic (b01qnrb8)
In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the famous 12-hour session at Abbey Road which resulted in the Beatles' iconic album Please Please Me, leading artists such as Stereophonics, Graham Coxon, Gabrielle Aplin, Joss Stone, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Paul Carrack, Mick Hucknall and I Am Kloot attempted to record the same songs, in the same timescale, in the same studio.

The results are captured in this programme, presented by Stuart Maconie.

Amongst those paying their own tribute to the album's success are Burt Bacharach and Guy Chambers, as well as people lucky enough to have been there 50 years ago telling the remarkable story of what happened that day, including engineer Richard Langham and the Beatles' press officer Tony Barrow.


FRI 22:00 Arena (b0077nxw)
The Brian Epstein Story: The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow

First in a two-part documentary examining the turbulent life and career of Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Gay when homosexuality was illegal, a gambler, shopkeeper and failed actor, he was also pop king with a Midas touch who, in the 60s, was as well known as the band he managed.


FRI 23:15 Arena (b0077nyc)
The Brian Epstein Story: Tomorrow Never Knows

Part two of the documentary on Beatles manager Brian Epstein. By the mid 60s, Epstein was lured into the world of gambling, sex and drugs and in 1967 he was found dead in his London mansion at the age of 32.


FRI 00:30 The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic (b01qnrb8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:30 ... Sings The Beatles (b00ml7p5)
Recorded for the 40th anniversary of Abbey Road, The Beatles' final album, a journey through the classic and curious covers in the BBC archives.

Featuring Sandie Shaw singing a sassy Day Tripper, Shirley Bassey belting out Something, a close-harmony Carpenters cover of Help!, Joe Cocker's chart-topping With a Little Help from My Friends, Oasis reinventing the Walrus and a little Lady Madonna from Macca himself.

Plus a few 'magical' moments from Candy Flip, The Korean Kittens and Su Pollard.


FRI 02:30 Electric Proms (b00850nd)
2007

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney performs a selection of old Beatles hits plus newer solo songs at the Roundhouse in London.


FRI 03:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01jzy37)
Rock 'n' Roll Revisited - Get It On

A love of 50s rock 'n' roll runs through the pop of the 70s like a stripe through a stick of rock. This episode celebrates the rock 'n' roll revivalism and 50s retro leanings that characterise the decade from glam to AOR and all points in between. Revisiting the theatrical performances and fashions you'd be talking about in the playground the next day, from the likes of E.L.O, T-Rex, 10cc, Alvin Stardust, Mott the Hoople and Meatloaf's epic 1978 performance of Paradise by the Dashboard Light.




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

... Sings The Beatles 01:30 FRI (b00ml7p5)

Arena 02:00 TUE (b01pjlhv)

Arena 22:30 WED (b0074prh)

Arena 22:00 FRI (b0077nxw)

Arena 23:15 FRI (b0077nyc)

Bob Servant 23:00 TUE (b01qhlfj)

Bob Servant 22:00 WED (b01qnpdb)

Bob Servant 02:30 WED (b01qnpdb)

Britain on Film 20:30 MON (b01qnnqp)

Britain on Film 02:30 MON (b01qnnqp)

Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War 23:00 MON (b019jsls)

Chas & Dave: Last Orders 00:15 SAT (b01nkdsv)

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War 21:00 MON (p00yjy5r)

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War 03:00 MON (p00yjy5r)

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War 23:00 THU (p00yjy5r)

Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown 00:00 MON (b01qkvxr)

Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown 23:30 TUE (b01ql9xk)

Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown 23:30 WED (b01qlcss)

Decisive Weapons 20:00 MON (b0077gm0)

Ego: The Strange and Wonderful World of Self-Portraits 01:00 MON (b00vngl0)

Electric Proms 02:30 FRI (b00850nd)

Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me 23:00 SUN (b009s7gv)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b00xhxxf)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b00xhxys)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b00xhy37)

Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls 20:00 SUN (b01jcc8b)

Horizon 20:00 THU (b01mgllj)

London Songs at the BBC 01:15 SAT (b01jxzfs)

Lost Land of the Volcano 19:00 SAT (b00mwcqx)

Natural World 19:00 SUN (b013nhmg)

Nature's Microworlds 20:30 WED (b01qnp5c)

Nature's Microworlds 02:00 WED (b01qnp5c)

New Power Generation: Black Music Legends of the 1980s 00:30 WED (b0177bjb)

Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here 00:00 SUN (b01j0yyv)

Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 02:00 SUN (b01nwfxs)

Queen - Days of Our Lives 21:00 SUN (b011pwd9)

Queen - Days of Our Lives 22:00 SUN (b011r4gs)

Riot at the Rite 19:30 FRI (b00790ph)

Sissinghurst 20:00 WED (b00j2r7c)

Sounds of the 70s 2 03:30 SUN (b01j8h0b)

Sounds of the 70s 2 01:30 WED (b01jk1b8)

Sounds of the 70s 2 02:30 THU (b01jv6sd)

Sounds of the 70s 2 03:30 FRI (b01jzy37)

Spiral 21:00 SAT (b01qq4wj)

Spiral 21:55 SAT (b01qrtlr)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b01qnnqt)

Survivors: Nature's Indestructible Creatures 20:00 TUE (b01bs7jq)

The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic 21:00 FRI (b01qnrb8)

The Beatles' Please Please Me: Remaking a Classic 00:30 FRI (b01qnrb8)

The Doors - The Story of LA Woman 01:00 SUN (b01f7y7c)

The Kite Runner 21:00 THU (b01f6c48)

The Race that Shocked the World 21:00 WED (b01ktf7y)

The Race that Shocked the World 03:00 WED (b01ktf7y)

The Sky at Night 02:15 SAT (b08gk543)

The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music 21:00 TUE (b01qnp5f)

The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music 03:00 TUE (b01qnp5f)

The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music 01:00 THU (b01qnp5f)

The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Computer 22:00 TUE (b01hlkcq)

Timeshift 03:00 THU (b018jp1v)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b01qnqp7)

Top of the Pops 02:00 THU (b01qnqp7)

Treasures of Ancient Rome 20:00 SAT (b01msf6r)

Treasures of Ancient Rome 02:45 SAT (b01msf6r)

Treasures of the Anglo Saxons 00:00 THU (b00t6xzx)

When Albums Ruled the World 22:45 SAT (b01qhn70)

When Albums Ruled the World 00:30 TUE (b01qhn70)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b01qmxyt)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b01qmxz5)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b01qmxzb)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b01qmxzh)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b01qmxzn)