SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2013
SAT 19:00 Britain on Film (b01p2pd4)
Series 1
Dedicated Followers of Fashion
Throughout the 1960s, the Rank Organisation produced hundreds of short, quirky documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. Shot on high-quality colour film stock, they were screened in cinemas, but until now very little of the footage has been shown on television. This series draws on this unique archive to offer illuminating and often surprising insights into a pivotal decade in modern British history.
This episode examines the films that recorded developments in one of 1960s Britain's most dynamic, innovative industries - the glamorous and fast-moving world of fashion.
SAT 19:30 Nureyev: From Russia with Love (b0080kjw)
Documentary telling the story of dancer Rudolf Nureyev's rise to fame in the years before he defected from communist Russia and began his long stage partnership with the British ballerina, Margot Fonteyn.
Through the vivid memories of those who knew him best, this psychological portrait tracks the origins of his rebellious character, his complex personal relationships and his artistic genius. It features previously unseen footage of his early triumphs in Leningrad, filmed by a German teenager with whom he fell in love, and who encouraged him to leave his homeland.
SAT 21:00 Spiral (b01rh4k2)
Series 4: State of Terror
Episode 11
Kolabi is taken into custody and confronted with the evidence against him for the murder of Cetin. His sim card reveals further clues linking him to Rodi Ozbek and arms dealing. Riffaut is warned of Kolabi's arrest but is determined to continue with his plan. Karlsson attends court to defend the illegal immigrants who have been victimised by a factory owner and Roban is invited to a mysterious meeting with Prosecutor Machard
In French with English subtitles.
SAT 22:00 Spiral (b01rh4k4)
Series 4: State of Terror
Episode 12
Events reach a dramatic conclusion as the net draws in around Thomas Riffaut and his gang, but departmental in-fighting within the police organisation means that very dangerous loose ends remain on the streets of Paris.
In French with English subtitles.
SAT 23:10 Glen Campbell: The Rhinestone Cowboy (b01pwxs8)
In 2011, Glen Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and that he would be bowing out with a final album and farewell tour across Britain and America. This documentary tells Campbell's remarkable life story, from impoverished childhood in Arkansas to huge success, first as a guitarist and then as a singer, with great records like Wichita Lineman and Rhinestone Cowboy. With comments from friends and colleagues, including songwriter Jimmy Webb and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees, it is a moving story of success, disgrace and redemption as rich as any of the storylines in Campbell's most famous songs.
The peak of Glen Campbell's career was in 1975, when he topped the charts around the world with Rhinestone Cowboy, but his musical journey to that point is fascinating. A self-taught teenage prodigy on the guitar, by his mid-twenties Campbell was one of the top session guitarists in LA, a key member of the band of session players now known as The Wrecking Crew. He played on hundreds of tracks while working for producers like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, including Daydream Believer by The Monkees, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by The Righteous Brothers, Strangers in the Night by Frank Sinatra and Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley.
But Campbell always wanted to make it under his own name. A string of records failed to chart until, in 1967, he finally found his distinctive country pop sound with hits like Gentle on My Mind and By the Time I Get to Phoenix. The latter was written by Jimmy Webb, and together the two created a string of great records like Wichita Lineman and Galveston. Campbell pioneered country crossover and opened the way for artists like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.
By the end of the 1960s, Campbell was the fastest rising star in American pop with his own television show and a starring role in the original version of True Grit. Over the following ten years, he had more success with Rhinestone Cowboy and Southern Nights, but his private life was in turmoil. Divorce, drink and drugs saw this clean-cut all-American hero fall from grace and a tempestuous relationship with country star Tanya Tucker was front-page news.
Despite a relapse in 2003, when he was arrested for drunk driving and his police mug shot was shown around the world, the last two decades have been more settled. He remarried, started a new family and renewed his Christian faith, and was musically rediscovered by a new generation. Like his friend Johnny Cash, he released acclaimed new albums with young musicians, covering songs by contemporary artists like U2 and The Foo Fighters. Therefore the diagnosis with Alzheimer's was all the more poignant, but his dignified farewell has made him the public face of the disease in the USA.
The film includes contributions by many of Campbell's friends and colleagues, including his family in Arkansas, fellow session musicians Carol Kaye and Leon Russell, long-time friend and collaborator Jimmy Webb, former Monkee Mickey Dolenz, broadcaster Bob Harris, lyricist Don Black and country music writer Robert Oermann.
SAT 00:10 An Evening with Glen Campbell (b01pyfht)
A special concert recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in 1977, where 80 musicians played new arrangements of Glen Campbell's hit songs.
SAT 01:30 Country at the BBC (b08qgkzv)
Grab your partner by the hand - the BBC have raided their archive and brought to light glittering performances by country artists over the last four decades.
Star appearances include Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and, of course, Dolly Parton. All the greats have performed for the BBC at some point - on entertainment shows, in concert and at the BBC studios. Some of the rhinestones revealed are Charley Pride's Crystal Chandeliers from The Lulu Show, Emmylou Harris singing Together Again on The Old Grey Whistle Test and Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy from The Val Doonican Music Show.
We're brought up to date with modern country hits from Top of the Pops and Later...with Jools Holland.
SAT 02:30 Top of the Pops (b01r3nw3)
09/03/78
Tony Blackburn introduces the weekly pop chart programme featuring performances from Generation X, Elkie Brooks, Hot Chocolate, Tina Charles, Brian & Michael, Blondie, Andy Cameron, the Jam, Kate Bush and Legs & Co.
SAT 03:00 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.
SUNDAY 17 MARCH 2013
SUN 19:00 The Many Faces of... (b018nvwc)
Series 1
Les Dawson
Les Dawson was one of Britain's all time great comedy talents, best known as a comedian but also a talented musician, writer and actor. This programme traces his career, with familiar favourite TV clips and some rare gems from the archives. Together with interviews from friends, relatives and colleagues, the programme unpicks the secrets of his enduring legacy nearly 20 years after his untimely death.
After 'discovery' on the Opportunity Knocks talent show in the 60s, he quickly became a regular face on TV, hosting comedy-led variety shows like Sez Les and The Les Dawson Show. His trademarks were short, pithy jokes, usually targeting his wife or mother in law, long verbose monologues and, perhaps most famously, piano recitals that went hilariously off key.
His reputation attracted guest appearances from some unexpected fans like John Cleese and Shirley Bassey, and he created an overweight dance troupe, The Roly Polys.
The programme shows how his career unfolded and illustrates the different facets of his comedy genius. John Cleese remembers their unlikely friendship, modern comedy stars Robert Webb and Russell Kane talk about his inspiration and Dawson's widow Tracy recalls their marriage and his joy at being a father late in life.
SUN 20:00 Parks and Recreation (p01504pg)
Series 1
Canvassing
Leslie decides that she and her committee need to gain support for the park project as well as support for an upcoming town hall meeting. However, their mission does not go as planned. Meanwhile, Tom wanders away from the canvassing group and uses his own creative recruitment tactics.
SUN 20:20 Parks and Recreation (p01504sq)
Series 1
Boys' Club
Leslie attempts to break into the political old boys' club, resulting in an ethical dilemma. Andy plans a surprise for Ann.
SUN 20:45 Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects (b01rh8nh)
Labyrinth
Using a seamless combination of animation and real life, the insect world comes to life in this award-winning series of French animated shorts exploring all things insects and bugs. Based on years of study of insect movement, our computer-modelled characterful heroes show off their skills in a charming and comic way.
A reckless spider starts chasing an elusive fly deep inside an inhospitable drain. After many twists and turns she loses her way. Will she successfully find the exit?
SUN 20:50 Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects (b01rh8nk)
Away All Boarders!
Using a seamless combination of animation and real life, the insect world comes to life in this award-winning series of French animated shorts exploring all things insects and bugs. Based on years of study of insect movement, our computer-modelled characterful heroes show off their skills in a charming and comic way. Inside a cosy countryside cottage in midwinter, two rival gangs of ants fight for a bunch of pistachio nuts. From their respective flower pots, they get ready for the final attack.
SUN 20:55 Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects (b01rb2j6)
Acrobatics
Using a seamless combination of animation and real life, the insect world comes to life in this award-winning series of French animated shorts exploring all things insects and bugs. Based on years of study of insect movement, our computer-modelled characterful heroes show off their skills in a charming and comic way. Wasps set a date for their annual flight demonstration competition, but the deafening racket annoys a ladybird, who, wanting to save a quiet place for herself, disturbs this acrobatics championship.
SUN 21:00 The Incredible Story of the Monarch Butterfly: Four Wings and a Prayer (b01rcydr)
Every autumn a miracle happens. A Monarch butterfly born in Canada will fly 5,000 km to the rainforests of Mexico, across land it has never seen. It is a journey filled with peril. Many never make it, and those that do will never return. It takes three more generations to make the journey back to Canada the following spring. No butterfly has ever made the journey before and none of them will ever make it again.
Based on the critically-acclaimed book by Sue Halpern and narrated by Kristin Scott Thomas, the migration of the Monarch butterfly from its birthplace in Canada to its wintering site in the rainforests of Mexico is an epic struggle for survival: an astonishing story of scientific marvel and awesome beauty.
SUN 22:00 Apocalypto (b00qmf1w)
Epic historical adventure tale set against the backdrop of a Mayan civilisation falling into a decline.
A young tribesman hides his pregnant wife and son in an underground cavern when his people are attacked by marauders from a Mayan city. Unable to withstand the assault, he and his fellow tribesmen are escorted to the city, where the ruler is intent on appeasing the sun god Kukulkan by sacrificing them in a bloody ritual.
SUN 00:05 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r7hk5)
1975-79
A romp through the BBC archive library from 1975 to 1979 has unearthed some seldom-seen performances of the rarely explored genre of pub rock and other late 70s rock 'n' roll gems from classic music programmes like the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Before the DIY culture of punk took hold there was a whole breed of real musicians who honed their craft in the backrooms of pubs. And towards the end of the 70s men's hair was starting to get shorter too.
This compilation has uncovered rarely seen footage from the likes of Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood, original pub rockers Ducks DeLuxe, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Elvis Costello, Meal Ticket, Steve Gibbons Band, Dave Edmunds and chum Nick Lowe, a pre-Mike & the Mechanics' Paul Carrack in his first band Ace, a post-Faces Ronnie Lane, The Motors, the first TV performance from Dire Straits, Graham Parker and the Rumour and many more.
SUN 01:05 Graham Parker: Don't Ask Me Questions (b01r7hsh)
Before there was punk, before there was new wave and before there was Elvis Costello, there was Graham Parker and his incendiary band the Rumour, rooted in traditional r 'n' b and rock 'n' roll forms but with a vitriolic lyrical edge that demanded to be heard.
Forming the Rumour in 1975, Parker came from Camberley where, amongst many other things, he'd been a petrol pump attendant. The Rumour included many of the cream of the pub rock scene including guitarists Brinsley Schwarz and Martin Belmont, formerly of Ducks DeLuxe. Deemed too edgy for the mid 1970s music scene and too traditional for the ensuing punk wave that they helped spark, they were a band born out of time. After five years of international critical acclaim but moderate sales, the band broke up.
In the intervening years Parker transformed as an artist into a kind of troubadour based in upstate New York, playing to his base of cult fans and having the occasional brush with success. The other members lived their lives in quiet contentment, but always wondering how their lives may have unfolded if they had shared the success of artists who were inspired by them and eventually eclipsed them.
In the summer of 2011, on a whim, they reunited to record an album of new Graham Parker songs. In the same summer, as fate would have it, long-time Graham Parker and the Rumour fan, director Judd Apatow cast the band to play themselves in his film This is Forty. The reunion and high level of exposure caused the band, now all in their sixties, to assess their lives, the notion of success and the meaning of true happiness.
This film, ten years in the making, documents these events and offers a heartfelt look at the lives of all the members focusing on the elusive recluse lead singer and songwriter Graham Parker. Contributions come from the Rumour, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Lowe and, of course, Parker himself.
SUN 02:40 Sight and Sound in Concert (b01rbs93)
Graham Parker and the Rumour
70s rockers Graham Parker and the Rumour in concert at the Hippodrome in Golders Green, introduced by David 'Kid' Jensen.
MONDAY 18 MARCH 2013
MON 19:00 World News Today (b01rcxdh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00yd1pb)
Series 2
Dumbarton to Tyndrum
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 of Bradshaw's Britain remains, as he journeys up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye.
Michael explores the historic Dumbarton shipyards that built the Cutty Sark, visits one of Queen Victoria's favourite haunts, Loch Lomond, and goes hunting for gold in Scotland's mountains.
MON 20:00 Motor Racing at the BBC: That Petrol Emotion (b01rd365)
Episode 1
The glory days of British motor racing are celebrated in this sleek archive series, which buffs up some of the BBC's most memorable coverage from the sport's earliest days. The opening programme concentrates on the 1950s, when British drivers Stirling Moss and Mike Hawthorn took on the dominance of the great Argentinian driver, Fangio - all presided over by the chummy commentating presence of Raymond Baxter, fresh from a fight of his own as a Spitfire pilot in World War II. From track to paddock to a changing Britain beyond, and driven by a powerful period soundtrack, this is Formula One's 'Rock 'n' Roll Years'.
MON 20:30 The Best of Kenny Everett's Television Shows (b01n7m2m)
Episode 1
Classic moments from the five series which Kenny Everett made for the BBC. Stand by for laughs from unforgettable characters Cupid Stunt, Sid Snot, Gizzard Puke and others.
MON 21:00 Can Eating Insects Save the World? (p01599yk)
How would you feel about eating deep fried locusts, ant egg salad or barbequed tarantulas? This documentary sees presenter and food writer Stefan Gates immerse himself in the extraordinary world of hardcore insect-eating in a bid to conquer his lingering revulsion of bugs and discover if they really could save the planet.
With 40 tonnes of insects to every human, perhaps insects could offer a real solution to the global food crisis - where billions go hungry every day whilst the meat consumption of the rich draws vast amounts of grain out of the global food chain.
Stefan's on a mission to meet the people in Thailand and Cambodia that hunt, eat and sell edible insects for a living. But nothing quite prepares him for bug farming on this terrifying scale, from stalking grasshoppers at night to catching fiercely biting ants. And it's not just insects on the menu. Stefan also goes hunting for the hairiest, scariest spider on the planet - the tarantula. Stefan asks if the solution is for everyone - the British included - to start eating insects too.
MON 22:00 Storyville (b01r7bpt)
Surviving the Tsunami: My Atomic Aunt
Storyville: Marking the second anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, this documentary tells an insightful and surprisingly funny story of a family adjusting to life after the tsunami.
Director Kyoko Miyake revisits her Aunt Kuniko, who was forced to abandon her businesses and home following the disaster. Now living aimlessly in temporary accommodation on the edge of the contaminated zone, Aunt Kuniko is determined to return home as soon as possible. Miyake is puzzled as to why she and the family are not angry. As the first year after the disaster unfolds, she unearths the uncomfortable past that prevents things being so clear cut.
Through the attempts of the warm and indefatigable Aunt Kuniko to adapt at her ripe age, this deeply personal film explores notions of homeland, nuclear power and family love.
MON 23:15 Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood (b011k4vx)
Episode 1
To mark Hollywood's 100th anniversary, Paul Merton travels to America in a series that explores how the early pioneers there laid down the blueprint for today's cinema industry.
In the first episode, Hollywood is still a sleepy California backwater of orange groves about to be transformed by film-makers from the East Coast in search of sunny locations and wide open spaces. The film concentrates on the career of DW Griffith, one of Hollywood's most influential and controversial directors during this explosive early period. Within the space of a few short years in the 1910s, he went from making short 'cliffhangers' to three-hour epics as Hollywood cinema became the world's dominant entertainment medium.
At its heart were the beginnings of the star system, which created screen idols like Mary Pickford, who starred in many of Griffith's films. Passionate, playful but above all knowledgeable, Paul Merton retrieves cinema's founding DNA to provide a fitting and unique tribute to Hollywood's movie-making history.
MON 00:15 Motor Racing at the BBC: That Petrol Emotion (b01rd365)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 00:45 This Green and Pleasant Land: The Story of British Landscape Painting (b01173pk)
400 years of art history in 90 minutes? This film takes an eclectic group of people from all walks of life, including artists, critics and academics, out into the countryside to take a look at how we have depicted our landscape in art, discovering how the genre carried British painting to its highest eminence and won a place in the nation's heart.
From Flemish beginnings in the court of Charles I to the digital thumbstrokes of David Hockney's iPad, the paintings reveal as much about the nation's past as they do the patrons and artists who created them. Famous names sit alongside lesser-known works, covering everything from the refined sensibilities of 18th-century Classicism to the abstract forms of the war-torn 20th century with a bit of love, loss, rivalry and rioting thrown in.
Contributions come from a cast as diverse as the works themselves, including filmmaker Nic Roeg, historian Dan Snow and novelist Will Self, who offer a refreshingly wide range of perspectives on a genre of art which we have made very much our own.
MON 02:15 Britain on Film (b01p2pd4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
MON 02:45 Can Eating Insects Save the World? (p01599yk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 19 MARCH 2013
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b01rcxdn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00yd1x4)
Series 2
Oban to Corrour
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 of Bradshaw's Britain remains, as he journeys up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye.
Michael discovers how trains spread the word about Oban whisky, hears about the heroic struggle to build a railway across the desolate Rannoch Moor and visits Corrour, one of the favourite shooting estates of the Victorian political elite.
TUE 20:00 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b01rd35q)
Norman Ackroyd
'I don't have any grand plan, I just go where instinct takes me.' - Norman Ackroyd.
Norman Ackroyd is one of the country's most celebrated landscape artists. Born in Leeds in 1938, he attended the Royal College of Art in the 1960s. After experimenting with pop art, he gradually turned to his first love, the landscape, and over the last thirty years he has documented some of the most remote corners of Britain.
Norman tells the story of his artistic journey and gives a unique glimpse into his working life. Filmed in the converted London warehouse where he lives and works, we follow Norman as he embarks on the final stages of one of his monochrome prints. From delicate work on the copper plate, through preparation of the aquatint resin that brings shade and texture to the image and the application of the acid which etches the final picture from the copper, the film captures each stage of the process behind his craft.
At the end of the day, without knowing how the piece will turn out, Norman passes it through the printing press, revealing for the first time his latest work, capturing the atmospheric craggy cliff of Muckle Flugga in the Shetland Islands.
TUE 20:30 The Best of Kenny Everett's Television Shows (b01n7mdr)
Episode 2
Classic moments brought to the screen by Kenny Everett's stable of wacky characters, including Sid Snot, Cupid Stunt and Marcel Wave. Guest appearances by Joanna Lumley, Billy Connolly and Janet Street-Porter.
TUE 21:00 Edwardian Insects on Film (b01rd376)
In 1908, amateur naturalist Percy Smith stunned cinema goers with his surreal film The Acrobatic Fly. Featuring a bluebottle juggling a series of objects, the film became front page news. Now wildlife cameraman Charlie Hamilton-James attempts to recreate this fascinating film.
Along the way, Hamilton-James (helped by Sir David Attenborough, who saw Smith's films as a boy) tells the story of Percy's remarkable career and reveals the genius behind this forgotten pioneer of British film.
TUE 22:00 I, Claudius (b0074srn)
A Touch of Murder
Acclaimed blackly comic 12-part historical drama series adapted from the novels by Robert Graves. Set amidst a web of power, corruption and lies, it chronicles the reigns of the Roman emperors - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and finally Claudius. Livia, the scheming wife of Augustus, seeks to disinherit her husband's grand-children in favour of her own son Tiberius.
TUE 23:40 Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood (b011pr2s)
Episode 2
Paul Merton's journey through early Hollywood reaches the 1920s when in prohibition America the cinema industry was on a collision course with its public because of a run of drink, drugs and sex scandals.
Having cynically used the popular press to promote its stars and keep their reputations spotless, it now faced a media obsessed with exposing the dark and decadent side of their glamour.
The programme tells the story of the rise and fall of the lost comic genius of silent Hollywood - Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - who was charged with the murder of a young actress after an illegal drinks party went wrong. Paul Merton makes a powerful case that Arbuckle was an innocent man, an unfortunate victim of a new type of fame created by the Hollywood studios which had been turned against them. In their rush to clean up their act they were prepared to make the genial Arbuckle a sacrificial victim.
TUE 00:40 Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past (b01r7h3t)
The Men from the Ministry
The second episode reveals the unsung heroes of the heritage movement, the clever civil servants who saved the great ruins of Britain. It explores the determination of Charles Reed Peers from the Office of Works, who seized the chance in the interwar years to make history a popular cause, and looks at how the increasingly mobile British public began to embrace the idea of a day out at an historic site. As the country houses faced a crisis with owners demolishing or abandoning their homes, who would come to the rescue - the Ministry of Works or the National Trust?
TUE 01:40 The Lost Genius of British Art: William Dobson (b014vy94)
Has one of Britain's greatest artists been unfairly forgotten? Waldemar Januszczak thinks so. In this documentary, Januszczak argues that the little known 17th-century portrait painter William Dobson was the first English painter of genius.
Dobson's life and times are embedded in one of the most turbulent and significant epochs of British history - the English Civil War. As official court painter to Charles I, the tragic British king later beheaded by Parliament, Dobson had a ringside seat to an period of intense drama and conflict. Based in Oxford, where the court was transferred after Parliament took control of London, Dobson produced an astonishing number of high-quality portraits of royalist supporters, heroes and cavaliers which Januszczak believes are the first true examples of British art. As he puts it in the film: 'Dobson's face should be on our banknotes. His name should be on all our lips.'
The film investigates the few known facts about William Dobson and seeks out the personal stories he left behind as it follows him through his tragically short career. When he died in 1646 - penniless, unemployed and a drunk - Dobson was just 36.
Among the Dobson fans interviewed in the film is Earl Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, who agrees wholeheartedly that William Dobson was the first great British painter.
TUE 02:40 Edwardian Insects on Film (b01rd376)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 20 MARCH 2013
WED 19:00 World News Today (b01rcxdt)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00yd2q7)
Series 2
Roybridge to Glenfinnan
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. He travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed the people of Britain, and what remains of Bradshaw's experiences today, as he journeys up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye.
Michael investigates one of the great geological mysteries of the 19th century - the parallel roads of Glenroy. Plus, he finds out how the Victorians put a weather observatory on the top of Ben Nevis and takes a steam train across one of the most spectacular viaducts in Britain at Glenfinnan.
WED 20:00 The Good Life (b00784vj)
Series 1
Pig's Lib
The Goods' garden is now well under way and Tom is managing to barter reasonably successfully. Margo is horrified when she hears of Tom and Barbara's decision to keep pigs in the garden and enlists the help of the local residents' association in an effort to scupper the plan.
WED 20:30 Insect Worlds (b01rd374)
Making Worlds
Steve Backshall reveals the incredible influence that insects and their close relatives have on Earth's many ecosystems. In the grasslands of South America, the landscape has been created almost solely by one team of insects - grass-cutter ants. Across the world's oceans one tiny creature plays such a key role that, without it, the largest animal on our planet, the blue whale, could not exist. And in East Africa the savannah would quickly be swamped in dung were it not for the activities of a certain beetle. Yet the greatest influence of all comes from a group of insects that have ultimately changed the colour and diversity of our planet.
WED 21:00 Insect Dissection: How Insects Work (p00zst23)
Insects outnumber us by 200 million to one. They thrive in environments where humans wouldn't last minutes. We mostly perceive them as pests - yet without bugs, entire ecosystems would collapse, crops would disappear and waste would pile high.
The secret of their success? Their incredible alien anatomy.
To reveal this extraordinary hidden world, entomologists Dr James Logan and Brendan Dunphy carry out a complete insect dissection. Cutting-edge imaging technology shows us the beauty and precision of the natural engineering inside even the simplest insects.
Stripping back the layers, they uncover ingenious body systems and finely tuned senses - a bug body plan that is the hidden blueprint behind insects' 'global domination'. They also discover how science is now using the secrets of insect anatomy to inspire technology that could save human lives.
WED 22:00 Parks and Recreation (p01504x2)
Series 1
The Banquet
When Leslie's mother is given a banquet in her honour, she makes quite an impression. Mark and Tom try to meet some ladies.
WED 22:20 Parks and Recreation (b01rh4rw)
Series 1
Rock Show
Leslie's mum sets her up on a date but pretends it's a business meeting. Ann kicks Andy out of the house after she learns he kept his casts on longer than necessary. Leslie has the opportunity to hook up with Mark again but turns him down.
WED 22:45 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b01rd378)
Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais
Mark Lawson talks to prolific writing duo Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais about their careers, spanning the breakthrough comedy The Likely Lads and Porridge to their latest foray into drama, Spies of Warsaw. They also speak about their reputation for rescuing foundering Hollywood scripts and the day-to-day joys of their working 'marriage'.
Clement and La Frenais began writing together in a London pub in the 1960s. With their trademark combination of dramatic plot lines and sharp naturalistic dialogue, they have created classic British comedy, from The Likely Lads to Porridge and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Among the first scriptwriters to get regional dialects and working-class situation comedy onto the small screen, Clement and La Frenais had a passion for the movies. Now LA residents, their film work, including scripts for The Commitments (1991), Still Crazy (1998) and The Bank Job (2008) has ensured they are busier than ever, more than forty years after their first comedies aired on the BBC.
WED 23:45 Top of the Pops (b018zv8d)
1977 - Big Hits
The celebration of Top of the Pops 1977 continues with a selection of outstanding complete archive performances from Britain's silver jubilee year. 1977 was dominated by funk and punk, with Heatwave's Boogie Nights and The Stranglers' No More Heroes in the top ten. Classic top of the charts hits included Baccara's Yes Sir, I Can Boogie and Angelo by Brotherhood of Man. Some of the enduring heroes to take to the stage that year were David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Queen and Elvis Costello, with rare studio performances from The Jacksons and Bob Marley & The Wailers.
WED 00:45 Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood (b011vmsd)
Episode 3
Paul Merton traces the rise of the studios through the story of MGM - the biggest dream factory of them all, which boasted of 'more stars than the heavens'. Metro Goldwyn Mayer's studio system was perfected by its young producer Irving Thalberg, the boy genius of Hollywood's silent era. The programme shows how he challenged the power previously wielded by the director of a film, taking on a much more creative role as the producer. This involved dealing with some of the most notorious egos in movie-making, such as that of flamboyant director Erich Von Stroheim. It was famously said of Thalberg that he didn't just make movies - he 're-made' them. He may have turned MGM into what Paul Merton calls 're-take valley' but Thalberg never put his name on any of his films, even the original Ben Hur or Mutiny on the Bounty - which may explain why you might never have heard of this remarkable man who did more than anyone to steer 1930s Hollywood from the silent to the sound era.
WED 01:45 What Do Artists Do All Day? (b01rd35q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Motor Racing at the BBC: That Petrol Emotion (b01rd365)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 02:45 Insect Dissection: How Insects Work (p00zst23)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 21 MARCH 2013
THU 19:00 World News Today (b01rcxdz)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b01rfswf)
16/03/78
Peter Powell introduces the weekly pop chart programme featuring performances from Suzi Quatro, Dan Hill, Elvis Costello, the Vibrators, Kate Bush, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gerry Rafferty, Manhattan Transfer and Legs & Co.
THU 20:00 Porridge (b00787tv)
Series 3
Pardon Me
The betting stakes are high when the parole board sits and old Blanco is the odds-on favourite to be freed. But when freedom is offered to him Blanco, who has been in prison for 17 years for a crime he always claimed he didn't commit, refuses. Fletcher, seeing how adamant his old friend is, decides to help out.
THU 20:30 Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places (b01rd37d)
Trees and Mountains
Presenter and Welsh poet Ifor ap Glyn explores the wealth of Britain's extraordinary holy places on a pilgrimage that spans almost 2,000 years of history. Travelling across the breadth of the UK, Ifor uncovers the stories and rich history behind many of our most famous sites, explaining the myths and legends of some of Britain's most sacred places.
Ifor visits trees and mountains as a way of understanding the journey Britain undertook from the old Pagan religion to Christianity. His journey starts in Glastonbury, site of the famous tor and the Thorns, the most holy trees in the country. He discovers how even now these symbols are causing friction and discord.
His journey continues at Knowlton in Dorset, a place where a Norman church has been built right in the centre of an earthen henge. There he meets a druid who explains how Pagan sites were often overwritten in this way by the new Christian religion before they both discover that, at least here, earth magic seems to be making a comeback.
Ifor visits a bleeding yew tree that has divided opinion for 600 years and, in Snowdonia, a mountain where the devil is said to have gone toe to toe with an early Christian missionary. He travels to a rocky Cornish crag where St Michael himself is said to reside before finishing his journey at Pendle Hill, inspiration behind the most stripped down and anti-Pagan religious denomination of all time. But even here, did Christianity really manage to break free of Paganism?
THU 20:55 DEC Syria Crisis Appeal (b01rs2v8)
The DEC has launched an appeal to help Syrians inside and outside the country who are suffering because of the civil war. Presented by Michael Palin.
THU 21:00 Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past (b01rd37j)
Broken Propylaeums
The final episode follows the changing fortunes of a heritage movement floored by the after-effects of World War II and looks at how people like Sir John Betjeman and Dan Cruickshank gave families access to heritage and architecture on television from the comfort of their living rooms. It looks at the preservation of sometimes ugly, certainly unpleasant parts of our built past such as workhouses and underground mineshafts, and contemplates what the future may hold for heritage in Britain - a nation faced with economic uncertainty, depleting resources and increasing challenges of sustainability.
THU 22:00 Play For Today (b0074n6r)
Series 8
Abigail's Party
Comedy of manners focusing on the bourgeois affectation and sexual frustration of a young married couple. Abigail's mother Sue is invited to take refuge from her teenage daughter's party with a neighbouring couple, Beverly and Laurence. They have also invited Angela and Tony, new arrivals in the street. Beverly plies her guests with alcohol as Sue becomes increasingly withdrawn and embarrassed by the pretentious goings-on. Slowly, marital tensions emerge and the evening is breaking up in disarray when Laurence collapses with a heart attack.
THU 23:45 Top of the Pops (b01pmbdy)
1978 - Big Hits
A pick 'n' mix of Top of the Pops classics from 1978, when in-yer-face punk and new wave rebellion co-existed with MOR suburban pop, disco fever, soul balladry, reggae and prog rock, and when two mega-successful movie soundtracks in the shape of Grease and Saturday Night Fever squared up on the dancefloor. Featuring shouty Sham 69, the cool rebellion of Ian Dury, Elvis Costello and Blondie, the media-savvy clowning of The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush's debut with Wuthering Heights, alongside Brotherhood of Man's perky Figaro, Dan Hill's sentimental Sometimes When We Touch and the high camp of Boney M's Rasputin. Bob Marley shares chart space with 10cc's Dreadlock Holiday, and ELO and Manfred Mann's Earth Band keep on rockin'.
THU 00:45 Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema (b00rs132)
Paul Merton goes in search of the origins of screen comedy in the forgotten world of silent cinema - not in Hollywood, but closer to home in pre-1914 Britain and France.
Revealing the unknown stars and lost masterpieces, he brings to life the pioneering techniques and optical inventiveness of the virtuosos who mastered a new art form. With a playful eye and comic sense of timing, Merton combines the role of presenter and director to recreate the weird and wonderful world that is early European cinema in a series of cinematic experiments of his own.
THU 01:45 Top of the Pops (b01rfswf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 02:20 Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places (b01rd37d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
THU 02:50 Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past (b01rd37j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 22 MARCH 2013
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b01rcxf4)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Madness Live: Goodbye Television Centre (b01rgr1j)
As the BBC makes its exit from the iconic west London site of Television Centre, BBC Four presents a special night of celebration of the building and its 53-year history. To kick start proceedings, the nation's favourite nutty boys and national treasures Madness take to the stage at the front of BBC Television Centre to perform an hour long concert in front of an assembled audience nine days before TV Centre closes its doors. To help launch this celebration of over 50 years of programme making at TVC Madness treat us to new material and classics alike, such as One Step Beyond, I Never Knew Your Name, Baggy Trousers and Our House.
FRI 20:30 Goodbye Television Centre (b01rgr1l)
It was the dream factory, the symbolic home of British television - iconic, eccentric, more than just a building. After 53 years Television Centre, the BBC's TV headquarters, is closing its doors. Host Michael Grade gathers together many of its best-loved faces as they stroll down memory lane for the very last time.
FRI 22:35 BBC Four Sessions (b01rgr1n)
Richard Thompson: Goodbye Television Centre
As part of the Goodbye TV Centre celebrations, guitarist, singer and songwriter Richard Thompson plays a one-off concert filmed in TC8.
Thompson has been performing in BBC TV studios since 1969, starting on Top of the Pops with Fairport Convention and then making frequent appearances on the Old Grey Whistle Test, The Late Show and Later with Jools Holland as a solo artist and bandleader.
Filmed before the opening night of the tour celebrating the Top 20 placing of his album Electric, Thompson leads his current power trio through songs from that album, including Salford Sunday and Stony Ground, alongside classics from his songbook like I Want to See the Bright Lights and Tear Stained Letter. Thompson is joined on a couple of acoustic songs by former Fairport bandmate and master fiddler Dave Swarbrick, frequent collaborator Pete Zorn adds sax to Al Bowlly's In Heaven and his daughter Kami Thompson harmonises on Waltzing for Dreamers.
Filmed before a small studio audience in the bare style of some of the previous BBC music shows on which Thompson has appeared, this concert celebrates Thompson and a tradition of popular music performance from TV Centre.
FRI 23:40 The Richest Songs in the World (b01pjrt5)
Mark Radcliffe presents a countdown of the ten songs which have earned the most money of all time - ten classic songs each with an extraordinary story behind them. Radcliffe lifts the lid on how music royalties work and reveals the biggest winners and losers in the history of popular music.
FRI 01:10 Top of the Pops (b018zv8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:45 on Wednesday]
FRI 02:10 Top of the Pops (b01pmbdy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:10 Top of the Pops (b01pkjy6)
The Story of 1978
In 1978, Top of the Pops began to turn the credibility corner. As the only major pop show on television, Top of the Pops had enjoyed a unique position in the nation's hearts since the 1960s - the nation's teenagers who were now fed up with the show's predominantly light entertainment blend still tuned in every week in the hope of seeing one of the new young outfits thrown up by punk, new wave and disco. In 1978 it seemed the kids' time had come again for the first time since glam rock. Yet the biggest-selling singles of 1978 were by the likes of Boney M, John Travolta & Olivia Newton John, Rod Stewart, The Bee Gees and Abba.
Punk never quite fitted in with the mainstream - it had been treated with disdain by Top of the Pops and largely ignored by the show. Britain's teenagers had to endure the all-round family entertainment on offer when all they wanted was teenage kicks. Along came a generation of young post-punk and new wave bands armed with guitar and bass, ready to storm the Top of the Pops stage - from The Undertones, The Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Skids and Ian Dury and the Blockheads to The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, The Jam and Squeeze - some weeks teenagers would get to see one of their bands, very rarely they got two, but there they were on primetime TV.
With contributions from The Boomtown Rats, Squeeze, Boney M, Sham 69, Brian & Michael, The Barron Knights, Mike Read, Kid Jensen, Kathryn Flett, Richard Jobson, Ian Gittins and Legs & Co.
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
An Evening with Glen Campbell
00:10 SAT (b01pyfht)
Apocalypto
22:00 SUN (b00qmf1w)
BBC Four Sessions
22:35 FRI (b01rgr1n)
Britain on Film
19:00 SAT (b01p2pd4)
Britain on Film
02:15 MON (b01p2pd4)
Can Eating Insects Save the World?
21:00 MON (p01599yk)
Can Eating Insects Save the World?
02:45 MON (p01599yk)
Country at the BBC
01:30 SAT (b08qgkzv)
DEC Syria Crisis Appeal
20:55 THU (b01rs2v8)
Edwardian Insects on Film
21:00 TUE (b01rd376)
Edwardian Insects on Film
02:40 TUE (b01rd376)
Glen Campbell: The Rhinestone Cowboy
23:10 SAT (b01pwxs8)
Goodbye Television Centre
20:30 FRI (b01rgr1l)
Graham Parker: Don't Ask Me Questions
01:05 SUN (b01r7hsh)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 MON (b00yd1pb)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 TUE (b00yd1x4)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 WED (b00yd2q7)
Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past
00:40 TUE (b01r7h3t)
Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past
21:00 THU (b01rd37j)
Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past
02:50 THU (b01rd37j)
I, Claudius
22:00 TUE (b0074srn)
Insect Dissection: How Insects Work
21:00 WED (p00zst23)
Insect Dissection: How Insects Work
02:45 WED (p00zst23)
Insect Worlds
20:30 WED (b01rd374)
Madness Live: Goodbye Television Centre
19:30 FRI (b01rgr1j)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
22:45 WED (b01rd378)
Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects
20:45 SUN (b01rh8nh)
Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects
20:50 SUN (b01rh8nk)
Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects
20:55 SUN (b01rb2j6)
Motor Racing at the BBC: That Petrol Emotion
20:00 MON (b01rd365)
Motor Racing at the BBC: That Petrol Emotion
00:15 MON (b01rd365)
Motor Racing at the BBC: That Petrol Emotion
02:15 WED (b01rd365)
Nureyev: From Russia with Love
19:30 SAT (b0080kjw)
Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places
20:30 THU (b01rd37d)
Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places
02:20 THU (b01rd37d)
Parks and Recreation
20:00 SUN (p01504pg)
Parks and Recreation
20:20 SUN (p01504sq)
Parks and Recreation
22:00 WED (p01504x2)
Parks and Recreation
22:20 WED (b01rh4rw)
Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood
23:15 MON (b011k4vx)
Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood
23:40 TUE (b011pr2s)
Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood
00:45 WED (b011vmsd)
Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema
00:45 THU (b00rs132)
Play For Today
22:00 THU (b0074n6r)
Porridge
20:00 THU (b00787tv)
Prog at the BBC
03:00 SAT (b00g8tfx)
Sight and Sound in Concert
02:40 SUN (b01rbs93)
Spiral
21:00 SAT (b01rh4k2)
Spiral
22:00 SAT (b01rh4k4)
Storyville
22:00 MON (b01r7bpt)
The Best of Kenny Everett's Television Shows
20:30 MON (b01n7m2m)
The Best of Kenny Everett's Television Shows
20:30 TUE (b01n7mdr)
The Good Life
20:00 WED (b00784vj)
The Incredible Story of the Monarch Butterfly: Four Wings and a Prayer
21:00 SUN (b01rcydr)
The Lost Genius of British Art: William Dobson
01:40 TUE (b014vy94)
The Many Faces of...
19:00 SUN (b018nvwc)
The Richest Songs in the World
23:40 FRI (b01pjrt5)
This Green and Pleasant Land: The Story of British Landscape Painting
00:45 MON (b01173pk)
Top of the Pops
02:30 SAT (b01r3nw3)
Top of the Pops
23:45 WED (b018zv8d)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b01rfswf)
Top of the Pops
23:45 THU (b01pmbdy)
Top of the Pops
01:45 THU (b01rfswf)
Top of the Pops
01:10 FRI (b018zv8d)
Top of the Pops
02:10 FRI (b01pmbdy)
Top of the Pops
03:10 FRI (b01pkjy6)
Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll
00:05 SUN (b01r7hk5)
What Do Artists Do All Day?
20:00 TUE (b01rd35q)
What Do Artists Do All Day?
01:45 WED (b01rd35q)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b01rcxdh)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b01rcxdn)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b01rcxdt)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b01rcxdz)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b01rcxf4)