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 05 OCTOBER 2013

SAT 19:00 Africa (b01q0t2r)
Congo

The very heart of Africa is covered in dense tropical rainforest. The animals that live here find the most ingenious ways to carve out their space in a claustrophobic landscape. Danger lurks in every shadow, but some animals thrive here, from honey-stealing chimps to birds with a lineage as old as the dinosaurs, thundering elephants and kick-boxing frogs. Here in the Congo, no matter how tough the competition, you must stand up and fight for yourself and your patch.


SAT 20:00 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b01bs7f7)
Series 2

The Zulu Kingdom

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

In this episode, Dr Casely-Hayford travels to South Africa to explore the history of one of Africa's most famous kingdoms. Visiting some of the most evocative sites in Zulu history, he examines the origins of the Zulu in the 17th century, their expansion under controversial military leader King Shaka and their brutal encounters with the Boers and the British. He also searches for the secrets behind the Zulu's cultural power and legendary military strength, and why Zulu identity continues to endure.


SAT 21:00 The Young Montalbano (b03cc891)
Series 1

The Third Secret

Montalbano receives an anonymous note predicting the death of a local construction worker, only to realise that the note has been delivered too late. Meanwhile, the public notice board announcing the town's forthcoming weddings is stolen. What at first appears to be an innocent prank gradually turns out to have more sinister overtones. Carmine Fazio's young son Giuseppe joins the investigating team following his father's retirement, but there are minor clashes between the enthusiastic new recruit and his boss.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:40 Classic Albums (b01rlwpd)
Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley

A look at the creation of Elvis Presley's eponymous debut album, which brought about his meteoric rise to superstardom in 1956. The film is filled with performances from 1955 and 56, interviews with Elvis and rare home movie footage of him at play and work, offering fresh insights into his life and his recordings. Featured songs include Blue Suede Shoes, Shake Rattle and Roll, Tutti Frutti and Elvis's first million-seller, Heartbreak Hotel.


SAT 23:30 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
Documentary which looks at how rock 'n' roll has had to deal with the unthinkable - namely growing up and growing old, from its roots in the 50s as music made by young people for young people to the 21st-century phenomena of the revival and the comeback.

Despite the mantra of 'live fast, die young', Britain's first rock 'n' roll generations are now enjoying old age. What was once about youth and taking risks is now about longevity, survival, nostalgia and refusing to grow up, give up or shut up. But what happens when the music refuses to die and its performers refuse to leave the stage? What happens when rock's youthful rebelliousness is delivered wrapped in wrinkles?

Featuring Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Peter Noone, Rick Wakeman, Paul Jones, Richard Thompson, Suggs, Eric Burdon, Bruce Welch, Robert Wyatt, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, Alison Moyet, Robyn Hitchcock, writers Rosie Boycott and Nick Kent and producer Joe Boyd.


SAT 00:30 Top of the Pops (b03c68lk)
Tony Blackburn introduces the weekly pop chart show featuring Elvis Costello, Public Image, Jonathan King, Boomtown Rats, Dollar, the Jacksons, the Undertones and a Legs & Co dance sequence.


SAT 01:10 Africa (b01q0t2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:10 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b01bs7f7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 06 OCTOBER 2013

SUN 19:00 Miss Marple (b01lc9s4)
The Body in the Library

Part Two

While the investigation centres on the Jefferson family and their entourage, Miss Marple's hunch about a second killing proves all too tragically justified.


SUN 19:50 Wild (b0078yps)
2005-06 Shorts

West Coast Otters

A charming portrait of two otters, a mother and daughter who are inseparable, living on the idyllic west coast of Scotland. With the young cub never more than a few feet from her mum, a very special relationship is intimately observed as the cub grows up, learning how to fish and fend for herself. As the cub faces the dangers of her first Scottish winter, Mum has to work hard to make sure that both survive.


SUN 20:00 Fabric of Britain (b03c2766)
The Wonder of Embroidery

The Reformation in England witnessed the destruction of the most brilliant art of the medieval age. Church paintings and stained glass - even sculpture - were destroyed throughout England in the name of religion. And yet one art survived against the odds - the art of medieval embroidery.

Portable and easily squirrelled away, English embroidery was spirited out of the country in the 16th century and many brilliant examples survive today - if slightly unappreciated and forgotten in Italian churches and museums, even the Vatican. And yet it is an art form that rivalled the very finest in medieval painting or stained glass and for 200 years was the finest embroidery in the western world. Known simply as Opus Anglicanum (English work), the work of English embroiders was desired by kings and popes throughout Christendom.

Dan Jones, Plantagenet expert and medievalist, goes in search of these fragile yet stunning survivors from the great age of embroidery - encountering a world of finery, bejewelled luxury and sacred beauty on an undreamt-of scale.


SUN 21:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b03ctzdw)
Bob Geldof

Mark Lawson talks to Sir Bob Geldof about his life and career. From the formation of the Boomtown Rats in the mid 1970s to his work with Band Aid and Live Aid in the 1980s and his continuing influence on key figures on the world stage, Geldof has been a key figure in music and politics over several decades. In 2013, the Boomtown Rats reunited for the first time in over 25 years and Geldof talks candidly to Mark about his career in music, his activism, his family and his very public personal traumas.


SUN 22:00 Sight and Sound in Concert (b03czdtl)
The Boomtown Rats

Pete Drummond introduces a 1984 concert by the Boomtown Rats from Goldiggers in Chippenham.


SUN 23:00 Crossing England in a Punt: River of Dreams (p00y6r6q)
From the Staffordshire hills to the Humber estuary, spirited explorer Tom Fort embarks on a 170-mile journey down Britain's third-longest river, the Trent. Beginning on foot, he soon transfers to his own custom-built punt, the Trent Otter, and rows many miles downstream. Along the way he encounters the power stations that generate much of the nation's electricity, veterans of the catastrophic floods of 1947, the 19th-century brewers of Burton and a Bronze Age boatman who once made a life along the river.


SUN 00:00 Elton John in Concert 2013 (b03c5bpp)
As part of BBC Radio 2's In Concert series, Elton John performs in the beautiful art deco surroundings of the BBC's famous Radio Theatre situated in Old Broadcasting House.

Elton performs classic songs from his enviable and extensive back catalogue including: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Rocket Man, I'm Still Standing, Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting and Your Song plus The Diving Board from his latest album, which sees him join forces again with his career-long lyrical collaborator Bernie Taupin, and with producing credits going to country music man of the moment T-Bone Burnett, he'll be treating us to some brand new material.

A very special, exclusive and intimate performance from the legend that is Elton John.


SUN 01:00 The Making of Elton John: Madman Across the Water (b00vs4yv)
Documentary exploring Elton John's childhood, apprenticeship in the British music business, sudden stardom in the US at the dawn of the 70s and his musical heyday. Plus the backstory to the album reuniting him with Leon Russell, his American mentor. Features extensive exclusive interviews with Elton, plus colleagues and collaborators including Bernie Taupin, Leon Russell and others.


SUN 02:00 Elton John at the BBC (b00vs5c0)
Elton John's career tracked in archive from performances, interviews and news clips.


SUN 03:00 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b03ctzdw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



MONDAY 07 OCTOBER 2013

MON 19:00 World News Today (b03c9ftl)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 A Garden in Snowdonia (b00l5w3w)
Bodnant on Show

A year in the life of Bodnant Garden in north Wales. Ann Smith, the visitor services manager, implements an ambitious programme of summer events to attract more visitors. Troy Scott Smith is concerned that his beautiful grounds could be ruined by crowds.


MON 20:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077kr5)
Series 2

Absent Friends

Bob and Thelma are on a Norwegian honeymoon, far away from the influence of Terry - or so they think. Terry is striving to get to know Thelma's sister Susan a lot better.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b03cch42)
Series 8

Oenophiles v Science Editors

A trio of wine lovers take on three science editors, competing to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria Coren Mitchell if you want to know what connects unglazed pottery, an extra shot in croquet, light brown and shellfish soup.


MON 21:00 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01fv16l)
The Golden Age

Lucy Worsley explores the Edwardian era and the golden age of detective fiction between the wars - the time of Dr Crippen, Agatha Christie and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.


MON 22:00 Miss Marple (b03cch46)
The Body in the Library

Part Three

Miss Marple is convinced that the death of the schoolgirl Pamela Reeve holds the key to the mystery of the double murder. There are a number of suspects, but the police finally arrest Basil Blake. Miss Marple, however, draws an entirely different conclusion. After a train journey to London, she comes back with evidence that allows the police to stage a trap for the real killer.


MON 22:50 Africa (b01q0t2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


MON 23:50 Lost Kingdoms of Africa (b01bs7f7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 00:50 Only Connect (b03cch42)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 01:20 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b0077kr5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 01:50 A Garden in Snowdonia (b00l5w3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:20 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01fv16l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 08 OCTOBER 2013

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b03c9ftr)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 A Garden in Snowdonia (b00l965g)
Bodnant Risen

A year in the life of Bodnant Garden in North Wales. The garden is under a carpet of snow and closed to the public. Head gardener Troy Scott Smith plans a winter garden to attract more visitors. A 300-year-old oak tree is dying and a plague of moles wreak havoc as the team prepares to open for the new season.


TUE 20:00 A Pembrokeshire Farm (b007hzj1)
Episode 5

Griff faces some big decisions and last-minute disasters. A celebratory party is planned and the first guests are due to arrive. But will the house be finished in time?


TUE 20:30 Britain on Film (b03ccmpr)
Series 2

The Spirit of the Sixties

Offering more fascinating depictions of the 1960s as witnessed by the cameras of the Rank Organisation, Britain on Film continues with an absorbing exploration of the prevailing attitudes and values that shaped our society. Rank's outstanding and rarely-seen high-quality colour footage captures the post-war emergence of dynamic youth cultures, and celebrates an age when creativity was flourishing in the music industry and an increasingly multicultural nation was embracing more cosmopolitan tastes.


TUE 21:00 The Art of Australia (b03ccmpt)
Strangers in a Strange Land

Edmund Capon tells the story of how art helped European settlers come to terms with such an unfamiliar land on the other side of the world and how, ignoring 60,000 years of indigenous culture, they saw the place through a distorted European lens, until a uniquely Australian impressionism reflected the emergence of a distinctive national identity and an independent nation.


TUE 22:00 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (p01f51z4)
Pain

Pain has a profound effect on our bodies - when we are experiencing it, millions of nerve cells deep within our brains are firing, telling us 'it hurts' - and for centuries the challenge has been to find something that will lessen or even switch off these sensations to bring us relief. Dr Michael Mosley discovers just what pain is, why we want to control it and how we ultimately did it when the discovery of morphine, the world's first pharmaceutical, at the beginning of the 19th century led to a 200-year journey of scientific breakthrough, discovery and self-experimentation.


TUE 23:00 Skippy: Australia's First Superstar (b00qvl9g)
Documentary telling the story of Australia's most cherished TV star, Skippy the bush kangaroo, the crime-busting marsupial who conquered the world in the late 60s and early 70s.

The 91 episodes of Skippy were sold in 128 countries and watched by hundreds of millions. It put Australia on the map and - for those of a certain generation - the heroic marsupial is synonymous with their childhood, often in more profound ways than they realise.

Includes interviews with every surviving member of the cast and some of the key crew - not least those responsible for getting the best performances out of the temperamental star.


TUE 00:00 The Great British Outdoors (b00t4kh5)
Mud, midges, barbed wire - just why do us Brits love the great outdoors?

In this nostalgic look at life for campers, twitchers, ramblers and metal detectors, Mark Benton examines the history of the British fresh air freak.


TUE 01:00 Britain on Film (b03ccmpr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


TUE 01:30 A Pembrokeshire Farm (b007hzj1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:00 A Garden in Snowdonia (b00l965g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:30 The Art of Australia (b03ccmpt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 09 OCTOBER 2013

WED 19:00 World News Today (b03c9ftx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Timothy Spall: All at Sea (b01cl52j)
Message in a Bottle

Timothy Spall and his wife Shane are back on board their beloved barge the Princess Matilda as they conclude their trip around the British coast.

Tim takes on Rattray Head in the face of a huge storm. This is the equivalent of Land's End for Scotland and the point where they head south for the first time. The North Sea soon becomes the new enemy as he and Shane struggle to cope with this unrelenting force of nature.

On land they find wonderful Scottish towns - Peterhead, Eyemouth and Stonehaven - but it is the town of Banff that resonates most. They fall in love with it and are sad to leave it behind as they pursue their odyssey of circumnavigating Britain. At the end of the episode, they eventually reach the English sea border, where they launch a message in a bottle.


WED 20:00 Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past (p014fycm)
From Old Bones to Precious Stones

Charting the birth of the heritage movement and the first arguments of radical thought, from figures including John Lubbock MP, Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers, Charles Darwin and John Ruskin. These remarkable individuals asked important questions and came up with the building blocks of a new world that valued the past. Their actions led to the first piece of legislation to safeguard prehistoric and ancient structures which until then had often fallen prey to the short-term interests of farmers and landowners.


WED 21:00 Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death (b03cv0lm)
A Good Birth

For a medieval woman approaching the moment of labour and birth, there were no antiseptics to ward off infection or anaesthetics to deal with pain. Historian Helen Castor reveals how this was one of the most dangerous moments a medieval woman would ever encounter, with some aristocratic and royal women giving birth as young as 13. Birth took place in an all-female environment and the male world of medicine was little help to a woman in confinement. It was believed that the pains of labour were the penalty for the original sin of humankind - so, to get through them, a pregnant woman needed the help of the saints and the blessing of God himself.


WED 22:00 Nigel Slater: Life Is Sweets (p00y4hd1)
Chocolate limes, buttered brazils, sherbert dib-dabs and marshmallows. Food writer Nigel Slater charts the origins of British sweets and chocolates from medicinal, medieval boiled sweets to the chocolate bars that line the supermarket shelves today.

With adverts of the sweets everyone remembers and loves, this nostalgic, emotional and heartwarming journey transports Nigel back to his childhood by the powerful resonance of the sweets he used to buy with his pocket money. Nigel recalls the curiously small toffee that inspired him to write his memoir, the marshmallow, which he associates with his mother, and the travel sweet, which conjures up memories of his father. He marvels at the power of something as incidental as a sweet to reveal emotions, character and the past.


WED 23:00 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01fv16l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


WED 00:00 Timeshift (b00dwflh)
Series 8

Between the Lines - Railways in Fiction and Film

Novelist Andrew Martin presents a documentary examining how the train and the railways came to shape the work of writers and film-makers.

Lovers parting at the station, runaway carriages and secret assignations in confined compartments - railways have long been a staple of romance, mystery and period drama. But at the beginning of the railway age, locomotives were seen as frightening and unnatural. Wordsworth decried the destruction of the countryside, while Dickens wrote about locomotives as murderous brutes, bent on the destruction of mere humans. Hardly surprising, as he had been involved in a horrific railway accident himself.

Martin traces how trains gradually began to be accepted - Holmes and Watson were frequent passengers - until by the time of The Railway Children they were something to be loved, a symbol of innocence and Englishness. He shows how trains made for unforgettable cinema in The 39 Steps and Brief Encounter, and how when the railways fell out of favour after the 1950s, their plight was highlighted in the films of John Betjeman.

Finally, Martin asks whether, in the 21st century, Britain's railways can still stir and inspire artists.


WED 01:00 Timothy Spall: All at Sea (b01cl52j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 01:30 Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past (p014fycm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:30 Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death (b03cv0lm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 10 OCTOBER 2013

THU 19:00 World News Today (b03c9fv6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b08kbj5d)
Space Surgery Special

The team go camping at the Brecon Beacons star party and answer problems and queries about what to see in the night sky and how to use a telescope. Viewers have been sending in astronomy questions in the hundreds since the Space Surgery was launched six months ago.


THU 20:00 Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon (b00llgs8)
Professor Brian Cox takes a look through nearly 50 years of BBC archive at the story of man's relationship with the moon.

From the BBC's space fanatic James Burke testing out the latest Nasa equipment to 1960s interviews about the bacon-flavoured crystals that astronauts can survive on in space, to the iconic images of man's first steps on the moon and the dramatic story of Apollo 13, Horizon and the BBC have covered it all.

But since President Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s was reached, no-one has succeeded in reigniting the public's enthusiasm for space travel and lunar voyages. Why?

On his journey through the ages, Professor Cox explores the role that international competition played in getting man to the moon and asks if, with America no longer the world's only superpower, we are at the dawn of a bright new space age.


THU 21:00 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (b03ccs7k)
Pus

Infection can take over the entire human body, and if our immune systems aren't strong enough we will die - in fact, infectious disease has regularly wiped out millions of people across the planet. Dr Michael Mosley explores our earliest attempts to tackle infection and reveals the moment we began to harness the power of microbes to fight back. This is the story of how scientists, chemists and doctors helped us win the battle, from Louis Pasteur to Howard Florey, and how a small team of dedicated men and women wiped out one of mankind's deadliest diseases - smallpox.


THU 22:00 After Life: The Strange Science of Decay (b012w66t)
Ever wondered what would happen in your own home if you were taken away, and everything inside was left to rot? The answer is revealed in this fascinating programme, which explores the strange and surprising science of decay.

For two months in summer 2011, a glass box containing a typical kitchen and garden was left to rot in full public view within Edinburgh Zoo. In this resulting documentary, presenter Dr George McGavin and his team use time-lapse cameras and specialist photography to capture the extraordinary way in which moulds, microbes and insects are able to break down our everyday things and allow new life to emerge from old.

Decay is something that many of us are repulsed by. But as the programme shows, it's a process that's vital in nature. And seen in close-up, it has an unexpected and sometimes mesmerising beauty.


THU 23:30 The Art of Australia (b03ccmpt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


THU 00:30 Skippy: Australia's First Superstar (b00qvl9g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Tuesday]


THU 01:30 The Sky at Night (b08kbj5d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:00 Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon (b00llgs8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 03:00 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (b03ccs7k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER 2013

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b03c9fvf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music (b01qyvd8)
Easy Listening?

The series concludes with the focus shifting to the United States in the post-war years of the 1950s and beyond. Beginning with arguably the most notorious work of 20th century classical music, John Cage's 'silent' composition 4'33", it looks at how a series of maverick Americans re-invented the sound of classical music into a more simple form, bringing back harmonies and rhythms that made it increasingly popular with audiences across the world. It also examines how this music found its way into a spiritual realm, with the strain of pared-down religious composition that came to be known as 'holy minimalism'.

From the Maverick concert hall in Woodstock, New York to an Orthodox cathedral in Estonia to a car park in Peckham, south London, the story is told by a stellar line-up of contributors including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, John Adams, Arvo Pärt and John Tavener.


FRI 20:30 Transatlantic Sessions (b03c7lcq)
Series 6

Episode 3

Music co-directors, Shetland fiddle virtuoso Aly Bain, dobro ace Jerry Douglas and their all-star house band, host a gathering of the cream of Nashville, Irish and Scottish talent in a spectacular new location overlooking the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.

In this episode look out for the deftly delicate guitar of Russ Barenberg, one of the Sessions' 'founding fathers', and John McCusker's rollicking fiddle.


FRI 21:00 Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story (b03cw8g0)
In 1973, an album was released that against all odds and expectations went to the top of the UK charts. The fact the album launched a record label that became one of the most recognisable brand names in the world (Virgin), formed the soundtrack to one of the biggest movies of the decade (The Exorcist), became the biggest selling instrumental album of all time, would eventually go on to sell over 16 million copies and was performed almost single-handedly by a 19-year-old makes the story all the more incredible. That album was Tubular Bells, and the young and painfully shy musician was Mike Oldfield.

This documentary features contributions from Sir Richard Branson, Danny Boyle, Mike's family and the original engineers of the Tubular Bells album among others. The spine of the film is an extended interview with Mike himself, where he takes us through the events that led to him writing Tubular Bells - growing up with a mother with severe mental health problems; the refuge he sought in music as a child, with talent that led to him playing in folk clubs aged 12 and signing with his sister's folk group at only 15; his frightening experience of taking LSD at 16; and finally arriving at the Manor Recording Studios as a young session musician where he gave a demo tape to a recording engineer who passed it along to young entrepreneur Richard Branson.

After the album's huge success, Mike retreated to a Hereford hilltop, shunned public life and became a recluse until he took part in a controversial therapy which changed his life.

In 2012 Mike captured the public's imagination once again when he was asked to perform at the London Olympic Opening Ceremony, where Tubular Bells was the soundtrack to 20 minutes of the one-hour ceremony.

Filmed on location at his home recording studio in Nassau, Mike also plays the multiple instruments of Tubular Bells and shows how the groundbreaking piece of music was put together.


FRI 22:00 Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells (b00g8h9q)
A live studio performance from 1974 of Mike Oldfield's composition Tubular Bells, which had been acclaimed in the press as a unique achievement in popular music.


FRI 22:25 Synth Britannia (b00n93c4)
Documentary following a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop stage.

In the late 1970s, small pockets of electronic artists including The Human League, Daniel Miller and Cabaret Voltaire were inspired by Kraftwerk and JG Ballard, and they dreamt of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain.

The crossover moment came in 1979 when Gary Numan's appearance on Top of the Pops with Tubeway Army's Are 'Friends' Electric? heralded the arrival of synthpop. Four lads from Basildon known as Depeche Mode would come to own the new sound, whilst post-punk bands like Ultravox, Soft Cell, OMD and Yazoo took the synth out of the pages of NME and onto the front page of Smash Hits.

By 1983, acts like Pet Shop Boys and New Order were showing that the future of electronic music would lie in dance music.

Contributors include Philip Oakey, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, Bernard Sumner, Gary Numan and Neil Tennant.


FRI 23:55 Synth Britannia at the BBC (b00n93c6)
A journey through the BBC's synthpop archives from Roxy Music and Tubeway Army to New Order and Sparks. Turn your Moogs up to 11 as we take a trip back into the 70s and 80s!


FRI 00:55 Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story (b03cw8g0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:55 Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells (b00g8h9q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:20 Synth Britannia (b00n93c4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:25 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 Garden in Snowdonia 19:30 MON (b00l5w3w)

A Garden in Snowdonia 01:50 MON (b00l5w3w)

A Garden in Snowdonia 19:30 TUE (b00l965g)

A Garden in Snowdonia 02:00 TUE (b00l965g)

A Pembrokeshire Farm 20:00 TUE (b007hzj1)

A Pembrokeshire Farm 01:30 TUE (b007hzj1)

A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley 21:00 MON (p01fv16l)

A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley 02:20 MON (p01fv16l)

A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley 23:00 WED (p01fv16l)

Africa 19:00 SAT (b01q0t2r)

Africa 01:10 SAT (b01q0t2r)

Africa 22:50 MON (b01q0t2r)

After Life: The Strange Science of Decay 22:00 THU (b012w66t)

Britain on Film 20:30 TUE (b03ccmpr)

Britain on Film 01:00 TUE (b03ccmpr)

Classic Albums 22:40 SAT (b01rlwpd)

Crossing England in a Punt: River of Dreams 23:00 SUN (p00y6r6q)

Elton John at the BBC 02:00 SUN (b00vs5c0)

Elton John in Concert 2013 00:00 SUN (b03c5bpp)

Fabric of Britain 20:00 SUN (b03c2766)

Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up 23:30 SAT (b00sxjls)

Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past 20:00 WED (p014fycm)

Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past 01:30 WED (p014fycm)

Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon 20:00 THU (b00llgs8)

Horizon: 40 Years on the Moon 02:00 THU (b00llgs8)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 20:00 SAT (b01bs7f7)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 02:10 SAT (b01bs7f7)

Lost Kingdoms of Africa 23:50 MON (b01bs7f7)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 21:00 SUN (b03ctzdw)

Mark Lawson Talks To... 03:00 SUN (b03ctzdw)

Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death 21:00 WED (b03cv0lm)

Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death 02:30 WED (b03cv0lm)

Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells 22:00 FRI (b00g8h9q)

Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells 01:55 FRI (b00g8h9q)

Miss Marple 19:00 SUN (b01lc9s4)

Miss Marple 22:00 MON (b03cch46)

Nigel Slater: Life Is Sweets 22:00 WED (p00y4hd1)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b03cch42)

Only Connect 00:50 MON (b03cch42)

Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines 22:00 TUE (p01f51z4)

Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines 21:00 THU (b03ccs7k)

Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines 03:00 THU (b03ccs7k)

Sight and Sound in Concert 22:00 SUN (b03czdtl)

Skippy: Australia's First Superstar 23:00 TUE (b00qvl9g)

Skippy: Australia's First Superstar 00:30 THU (b00qvl9g)

Synth Britannia at the BBC 23:55 FRI (b00n93c6)

Synth Britannia 22:25 FRI (b00n93c4)

Synth Britannia 02:20 FRI (b00n93c4)

The Art of Australia 21:00 TUE (b03ccmpt)

The Art of Australia 02:30 TUE (b03ccmpt)

The Art of Australia 23:30 THU (b03ccmpt)

The Great British Outdoors 00:00 TUE (b00t4kh5)

The Making of Elton John: Madman Across the Water 01:00 SUN (b00vs4yv)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (b08kbj5d)

The Sky at Night 01:30 THU (b08kbj5d)

The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music 19:30 FRI (b01qyvd8)

The Young Montalbano 21:00 SAT (b03cc891)

Timeshift 00:00 WED (b00dwflh)

Timothy Spall: All at Sea 19:30 WED (b01cl52j)

Timothy Spall: All at Sea 01:00 WED (b01cl52j)

Top of the Pops 00:30 SAT (b03c68lk)

Transatlantic Sessions 20:30 FRI (b03c7lcq)

Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story 21:00 FRI (b03cw8g0)

Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story 00:55 FRI (b03cw8g0)

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 20:00 MON (b0077kr5)

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? 01:20 MON (b0077kr5)

Wild 19:50 SUN (b0078yps)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b03c9ftl)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b03c9ftr)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b03c9ftx)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b03c9fv6)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b03c9fvf)