The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Handbook, he travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's World remains. Michael is travelling port to port, from the centuries old naval hub of Portsmouth to the historic Grimsby docks. He learns how volunteer Victorian fire fighters liked a tipple, discovers how even 19th-century sewage pumps were a celebration of design and puts in a shift at the oldest fish market in Britain.
Sir Antony Gormley is one of the world's most popular artists. His iconic Angel of the North is a universally-admired work of public art and his sculptures have been seen by millions in cities all over the world.
In this film we follow Gormley and his team in their busy Kings Cross studio, preparing a work called Tanker Field - a group of 60 enormous steel figures that are to be shown together at the Paul Klee museum in Bern. Reflecting on the ideas behind his sculptures, the collaborative nature of his studio and the excitement he still feels as new projects come together, the film offers an intimate and fascinating insight into one of the great artists of our time.
To mark 250 years since William Hogarth's death, ceramics expert and self-confessed Hogarth fanatic Lars Tharp is determined to solve a mystery that has consumed his personal and professional life - the case of Hogarth's lost pug.
In this unique shaggy dog story, Tharp explains Hogarth's obsession with this most characterful of breeds and the pivotal role it played in his life and his work. A canine odyssey that only examines one of his most iconic works of art, but leads us into a world of satire, salaciousness and secrets. From harlots and rakes to the shadowy machinations of the freemasons, Tharp's ultimate goal is to lead an appeal to the nation to help him recover a rare piece of long-lost Hogarth memorabilia - a precious terracotta sculpture of his beloved pet pug.
For Tharp, this is the perfect moment in which to pay tribute to a man whom he regards as our greatest and most influential artist - and what better way to explore a man famed for his wit and humour than on the trail of his most iconic and idiosyncratic four-legged companion.
Starting off a kilometre high, travelling at the speed of a jet aircraft, and heading for us. It doesn't make for a good outcome. Hollywood-style graphics and real-life archive bring home an imagined near-future scenario, all based on cutting-edge science.
When Leslie tries to get Ann a job at city hall, her lukewarm reaction causes their first ever fight. Tom invites the entire department to the Snakehole Lounge to help him promote his new alcohol, Snake Juice.
When Chris sends Leslie and Ben on a trip to Indianapolis, Leslie is afraid she won't be able to deny her feelings for him. Ron teaches a young student about his views on government. Andy has his feelings hurt by April after playing Tom's new game.
THURSDAY 27 MARCH 2014
THU 19:00 World News Today (b03z019c)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b03z2bn2)
Mike Read presents another edition of the weekly pop chart show, including performances from the Three Degrees, Rocky Sharpe & the Replays, Dana, Showaddywaddy, Kandidate and Black Lace. With dance sequences by Legs & Co.
THU 20:00 Ever Decreasing Circles (b036d6mk)
Series 2
The Psychiatrist
Martin and Ann both come to the conclusion that the other needs professional help when they meet a psychiatrist at one of Paul's parties.
THU 20:30 Brushing up on... (b03z09n7)
Series 2
Street Furniture
Danny Baker strolls into the world of bollards, benches, bins and lavatories as he explores Britain's street furniture. Expect hymns to the phone box and pillar box by way of a terrifying Belisha beacon.
THU 21:00 How to Get Ahead (b03z08mx)
At Versailles
Stephen Smith explores the flamboyant Baroque court of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Louis created the Palace of Versailles so he could surround himself with aristocrats, artists, interior designers, gardeners, wigmakers, chefs and musicians. Hordes of ambitious courtiers scrambled to get close to the king, but unseemly goings-on in the royal bedchamber reflected the quickest path to power.
THU 22:00 The Walshes (b03yzknj)
Limbo
The Walshes are getting ready to leave the house for a night out together at their favourite restaurant, but mobilising five people at the same time can prove tricky. No sooner are four of them ready to step outside than something has distracted the fifth. Rory becomes obsessed by a strange photograph and starts to question everything he has ever believed. Ciara and Graham's perfect 'never had a fight' record is tested, while Tony wrestles with something troubling that's been on his mind. With the early bird half-price menu deadline looming, the clock is ticking.
THU 22:30 Horizon (b00jgtl2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
THU 23:30 Timewatch (b00dtjy4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:35 on Monday]
THU 00:25 The Other Pompeii: Life and Death in Herculaneum (b01rrld8)
Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill presents a documentary following the scientific investigation that shows what life was like in the small Roman town of Herculaneum, moments before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption.
Just 10 miles from Pompeii, 12 vaults tell a new story about what life was like before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They contain the skeletons of 340 people, 10 per cent of the local population, killed by the volcano. Amongst them are the first new skeletons to be found in the area for 30 years which are now the subject of a ground-breaking scientific investigation. The finds included a toddler holding his dog, a two-year-old girl with silver earrings and a boy embracing his mother.
Those found inside the vaults were nearly all women and children. Those found outside on the shoreline were nearly all men. Why?
It is revealed that the local population went to their deaths not as in often portrayed in Pompeii's popular myth, but more like the passengers of the Titanic, where women and children were put first.
Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill takes us to meet the scientists leading the forensic project - Luca Bondioli and Luciano Fattore - and then on a tour of the town. He uncovers houses, wooden furniture (including their beds and the only surviving baby's cradle from the Roman world), and food and human waste, preserved by a layer of ash up to five times deeper than Pompeii, as well as perfectly preserved court transcripts scratched on wooden tablets telling of slaves challenging their status in the town's courts. New scientific analysis has enabled us to unearth not just what they ate, but how they ate it, it seems they had a penchant for eating fish whole including their heads, a tradition, that has survived in Herculaneum to this day.
THU 01:25 Top of the Pops (b03z2bn2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 02:00 Ever Decreasing Circles (b036d6mk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 02:30 The Walshes (b03yzknj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 03:00 How to Get Ahead (b03z08mx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 28 MARCH 2014
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b03z019j)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Darcey Bussell Dances Hollywood (b018nwbx)
Darcey Bussell steps into the shoes of her Hollywood heroes to celebrate the enduring legacy of classic dance musicals.
In the age of Strictly Come Dancing and Streetdance 3D, Darcey, one of Britain's greatest living dancers and Hollywood musical superfan, discovers that the key to understanding where this dance-mad culture comes from lies in classic movie musicals. She takes famous dance routines from her favourite Hollywood musicals and reveals how they cast their spell, paying tribute to the legends of the art form and discovering the legacy they left.
Darcey pays homage to Fred Astaire in an interpretation of Puttin' on the Ritz, plays Ginger Rogers in a rendition of Cheek to Cheek, pays tribute to the exuberant Good Morning from Singin' in the Rain, and stars in a new routine inspired by Girl Hunt Ballet from The Band Wagon.
Darcey works with leading choreographer Kim Gavin and expert conductor John Wilson, who has painstakingly reconstructed the original scores, as she discovers how dance in the movies reached a pinnacle of perfection and reveals how the legacy of the golden age lives on.
FRI 21:00 Robert Plant: By Myself (b00vy78w)
Documentary in which Robert Plant discusses his musical journey from Stourbridge, the British blues boom, superstardom with Led Zeppelin in the 70s to 2010's Band of Joy album. He also looks at his work with the Honeydrippers and North African musicians, his reunion with Jimmy Page and his pairing with Alison Krauss.
FRI 22:00 The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk, Blues and Beyond (b03tdd6m)
Interviews and rare archive footage weave together performances from a landmark multi-artist concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, celebrating the songs and artistry of the great folk-blues troubadour Bert Jansch.
Ralph McTell, Robert Plant, Donovan, members of Pentangle, Bernard Butler, Martin Carthy, Martin Simpson, Lisa Knapp and more pay tribute to Jansch, who died in 2011.
Robert Plant shows his vocal prowess with a powerful rendition of Go Your Way My Love, joined by Jansch collaborator Bernard Butler. Martin Simpson and Danny Thompson surprise with a version of Heartbreak Hotel, a track covered by Jansch. Ralph McTell tackles the seminal Angie and Lisa Knapp and Martin Carthy combine for Blackwaterside - Jansch's arrangement of which heavily influenced Led Zep's Black Mountain Side.
An effortlessly cool singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitarist, Bert Jansch came to prominence in the folk clubs of the mid-1960s: the concert's stage set recalls the legendary Les Cousins club in London's Soho, where he was a resident artist, and the Royal Festival Hall itself was the venue for Pentangle's first and final major gigs. Jansch galvanized a whole scene, through his solo work, as a duo with John Renbourn and with his folk-jazz supergroup Pentangle. Neil Young called him the Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar, Led Zeppelin and Paul Simon were weaned on him and younger generation musicians including Beth Orton and Johnny Marr beat a path to his door. Bert Jansch's influence reached far and wide.
FRI 23:30 Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop (b00nq7q9)
Fleetwood Mac are one of the biggest-selling bands of all time and still on the road. Their story, told in their own words, is an epic tale of love and confrontation, of success and loss.
Few bands have undergone such radical musical and personal change. The band evolved from the 60s British blues boom to perfect a US West Coast sound that saw them sell 40 million copies of the album Rumours.
However, behind-the-scenes relationships were turbulent. The band went through multiple line-ups with six different lead guitarists. While working on Rumours, the two couples at the heart of the band separated, yet this heartache inspired the perfect pop record.
FRI 00:30 BBC Four Sessions (b0074pq4)
Bert Jansch
Legendary Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist Bert Jansch performs a career retrospective concert at LSO St Luke's in East London to celebrate his 60th birthday. Guests include ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, Ralph McTell and fellow Pentangle member Jacqui McShee.
Bert Jansch was one of the key trailblazers of the British folk scene of the 1960s. As a soloist, and then with folk-jazz outfit Pentangle, Jansch blazed a trail for an iconoclastic blend of folk, blues, jazz and original songs that has made him a hero to the likes of Neil Young and Jimmy Page. His guitar and singing style remain unique.
This concert features many of the songs that Jansch has played throughout his career, including Davy Graham's Anji, Jackson C Frank's Blues Run The Game and traditional material like Blackwaterside, together with more recent songs like Riverbank and Crimson Moon.
FRI 01:30 Robert Plant: By Myself (b00vy78w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:30 The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk, Blues and Beyond (b03tdd6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
BBC Four Sessions
00:30 FRI (b0074pq4)
Brothers in Arms
00:05 SUN (b007cblj)
Brushing up on...
01:00 MON (b03yg3yl)
Brushing up on...
20:30 THU (b03z09n7)
Could We Survive a Mega-Tsunami?
21:00 WED (b01s0zqv)
Could We Survive a Mega-Tsunami?
02:45 WED (b01s0zqv)
Darcey Bussell Dances Hollywood
19:30 FRI (b018nwbx)
David Attenborough's First Life
19:00 SAT (b00vspkd)
David Attenborough's First Life
03:00 SAT (b00vspkd)
David Attenborough's First Life
22:00 WED (b00vspkd)
Ever Decreasing Circles
20:00 THU (b036d6mk)
Ever Decreasing Circles
02:00 THU (b036d6mk)
Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop
23:30 FRI (b00nq7q9)
Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures
23:30 MON (b03yfqj8)
Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures
21:00 TUE (b03z05zz)
Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures
02:50 TUE (b03z05zz)
Grand Prix: The Killer Years
22:50 TUE (b00z8v18)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 MON (b01q04ry)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 TUE (b01q05km)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 WED (b01q05lp)
Great British Railway Journeys
01:15 WED (b01q05lp)
Horizon
20:00 MON (b00jgtl2)
Horizon
01:30 MON (b00jgtl2)
Horizon
22:30 THU (b00jgtl2)
How to Get Ahead
21:00 THU (b03z08mx)
How to Get Ahead
03:00 THU (b03z08mx)
Inspector De Luca
21:00 SAT (b03z82zd)
Lou Reed Remembered
23:50 SAT (b03m81dj)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
20:00 SUN (b03zcxc7)
Martin Amis's England
21:00 SUN (b03z03rb)
Martin Amis's England
03:05 SUN (b03z03rb)
Parks and Recreation
23:00 WED (b03zh1c2)
Parks and Recreation
23:20 WED (b03zh1c4)
Robert Plant: By Myself
21:00 FRI (b00vy78w)
Robert Plant: By Myself
01:30 FRI (b00vy78w)
Secret Knowledge
20:30 WED (b03z08mv)
Secret Knowledge
01:45 WED (b03z08mv)
Secrets of Bones
20:30 TUE (b03z05zx)
Secrets of Bones
02:20 TUE (b03z05zx)
Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History
20:00 SAT (b03l7kj8)
Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History
02:00 SAT (b03l7kj8)
Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History
00:15 WED (b03l7kj8)
Some People with Jokes
22:00 SUN (b03yfqjb)
Sounds of the 70s 2
01:30 SAT (b01jv6sd)
Storyville
21:00 MON (b03z05nr)
Storyville
02:30 MON (b03z05nr)
The First World War
22:00 TUE (b01rp9w7)
The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk, Blues and Beyond
22:00 FRI (b03tdd6m)
The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk, Blues and Beyond
02:30 FRI (b03tdd6m)
The Genius of David Bowie
22:50 SAT (b01k0y0q)
The Other Pompeii: Life and Death in Herculaneum
00:25 THU (b01rrld8)
The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars
00:50 TUE (b01skvnh)
The Walshes
00:30 MON (b03ybpdb)
The Walshes
23:45 WED (b03ybpdb)
The Walshes
22:00 THU (b03yzknj)
The Walshes
02:30 THU (b03yzknj)
Timeshift
19:00 SUN (b01n8hl9)
Timeshift
02:05 SUN (b01n8hl9)
Timeshift
23:50 TUE (b01n8hl9)
Timewatch
22:35 MON (b00dtjy4)
Timewatch
23:30 THU (b00dtjy4)
Top of the Pops
00:50 SAT (b03ymf5y)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b03z2bn2)
Top of the Pops
01:25 THU (b03z2bn2)
Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story
01:05 SUN (b03cw8g0)
Weird Nature
20:00 TUE (b0078hk2)
Weird Nature
01:50 TUE (b0078hk2)
What Do Artists Do All Day?
20:00 WED (b03z08ms)
What Do Artists Do All Day?
02:15 WED (b03z08ms)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b03z018w)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b03z0191)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b03z0196)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b03z019c)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b03z019j)
You Will Be My Son
22:30 SUN (b03q087z)