B4

RADIO-LISTS: BBC FOUR
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/

SATURDAY 05 APRIL 2014

SAT 19:00 Wild Wales (b00sfwty)
The Beautiful South

Iolo Williams shares his passion for Welsh wildlife. Filmed over a year, with stunning aerial and wildlife photography, the first episode features the beautiful south of Wales.

Iolo starts in Pembrokeshire with red deer, seals and a rare sighting of red squirrels. In the Brecon Beacons, he discovers spectacular waterfalls, amazing cave structures and bats hiding in dungeons, and also nesting hobbies, goshawks and some stunning birds in Glamorgan and Gwent.

SAT 20:00 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00q2mk5)
Discovering the Elements

The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. From fiery phosphorous to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements - the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood.

In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.

Just 92 elements made up the world, but the belief that there were only four - earth, fire, air and water - persisted until the 19th century. Professor Al-Khalili retraces the footsteps of the alchemists who first began to question the notion of the elements in their search for the secret of everlasting life.

He reveals the red herrings and rivalries which dogged scientific progress, and explores how new approaches to splitting matter brought us both remarkable elements and the new science of chemistry.

SAT 21:00 Inspector De Luca (b01j6x1x)
The Damned Season

June 1945, and WWII has been over for a few months. As a police officer under the former fascist regime, De Luca now reluctantly finds himself on the wrong side of the law. After being involved in a violent incident at a roadblock he goes on the run, but when he tries to re-enter civilian society under a false identity he is recognised by an officer of the partisan police and roped into investigating the murder of a local peasant. Fearing that his cover may be blown at any moment, De Luca pursues the case with the junior officer and investigates the local community, the disappearance of an aristocrat and the possible involvement of British Army officers stationed in the area.

In Italian with English subtitles.

SAT 22:50 Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (b01m81f5)
Military Marvels

In the heady postwar years of the 1950s and 60s, British flying was at its zenith and its aircraft industry flourished in a dazzling display of ingenuity and design brilliance. Having invented the jet engine, Britain was now set to lead the world into the jet age with a new generation of fighters and bombers. The daring test pilots who flew them were as well known as the football stars of today, while their futuristic-looking aircraft, including the Meteor, Canberra, Valiant, Vulcan and the English Electric Lightning, were the military marvels of the age.

SAT 23:50 Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (b01m9vjl)
The Shape of Things to Come

In the heady years following World War II, Britain was a nation in love with aviation. Having developed the jet engine in wartime, British engineers were now harnessing its power to propel the world's first passenger jets. By 1960 the UK's passenger airline industry was the largest in the world, with routes stretching to the furthest-flung remnants of Empire.

And the aircraft carrying these New Elizabethans around the globe were also British - the Vickers Viscount, the Bristol Britannia and the world's first pure jet-liner, the sleek, silver De Havilland Comet, which could fly twice as high and twice as fast as its American competitors. It seemed the entire nation was reaching for the skies to create the shape of things to come for air travel worldwide. But would their reach exceed their grasp?

SAT 00:50 Top of the Pops (b03zztxw)
Tony Blackburn presents another edition of the weekly pop chart show, including performances from M, Squeeze, the Members, the Jacksons, Milk and Honey & Gali Atari and the Jam. With dance sequences by Legs & Co.

SAT 01:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01k68gc)
Punk - Anarchy on the BBC

The late 70s had parents from all over the UK fearing one particular four letter word... punk. With anarchy spreading across the nation, the BBC managed to capture and sometimes contain some of the chaotic energy of these iconic moments in its studios. This episode provides another chance to jump up and down on the couch and pogo to performances from the Stranglers, the Damned, the Sex Pistols, the Jam, Undertones, the Rezillos, Buzzcocks, the Clash, X-Ray Spex and Joy Division.

SAT 02:00 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00q2mk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

SAT 03:00 Wild Wales (b00sfwty)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 06 APRIL 2014

SUN 19:00 The Man Who Knew Too Much (b02xdl4w)
On holiday in Morrocco, the American Dr McKenna and his wife Jo, a famous singer, meet a man who tells them that there will be an assassination in London soon. Their new acquaintance is mysteriously murdered in the market square the next day and their young son is kidnapped. They fly to London to follow up on the lead from their friend and find their son.

SUN 21:00 Doris Day - Virgin Territory (b0074rwd)
Doris Day has often been dismissed as an actress and overlooked as a singer, despite career highs such as Calamity Jane and Pillow Talk. Covering her early years as a band singer, and her troubled private life, this documentary re-evaluates one of the screen's most enduring legends.

SUN 22:00 Hidcote: A Garden for All Seasons (b011s3pw)
Documentary telling the story of Hidcote - the most influential English garden of the 20th century - and Lawrence Johnston, the enigmatic genius behind it. Hidcote was the first garden ever taken on by the National Trust, who spent 3.5 million pounds in a major programme of restoration. This included researching Johnston's original vision, which in turn uncovered the compelling story of how Johnston created such an iconic garden.

Until recently, little was known about the secretive and self-taught Johnston. He kept few, if any, records on Hidcote's construction, but current head gardener Glyn Jones made it a personal mission to discover as much about the man as possible to reveal how, in the early 20th century, Johnston set about creating a garden that has inspired designers all over the world.

SUN 23:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
2010-2011

The Himalayas

Documentary looking at the wildlife of the most stunning mountain range in the world, home to snow leopards, Himalayan wolves and Tibetan bears.

Snow leopards stalk their prey among the highest peaks. Concealed by snowfall, the chase is watched by golden eagles circling above. On the harsh plains of the Tibetan plateau live extraordinary bears and square-faced foxes hunting small rodents to survive. In the alpine forests, dancing pheasants have even influenced rival border guards in their ritualistic displays. Valleys carved by glacial waters lead to hillsides covered by paddy fields containing the lifeline to the east, rice. In this world of extremes, the Himalayas reveal not only snow-capped mountains and fascinating animals but also a vital lifeline for humanity.

SUN 00:00 The Wonder of Weeds (b01224kv)
Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins celebrates the humble and sometimes hated plants we call weeds. He discovers that there is no such thing as a weed, botanically speaking, and that in fact what we call a weed has changed again and again over the last three hundred years. Chris uncovers the story of our changing relationship with weeds - in reality, the story of the battle between wilderness and civilisation. He finds out how weeds have been seen as beautiful and useful in the past, and sees how their secrets are being unlocked today in order to transform our crops.

Finally, Chris asks whether, in our quest to eliminate Japanese Knotweed or Rhododendron Ponticum, we are really engaged in an arms race we can never win. We remove weeds from our fields and gardens at our peril.

SUN 01:00 Doris Day - Virgin Territory (b0074rwd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

SUN 02:00 Hidcote: A Garden for All Seasons (b011s3pw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

SUN 03:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]

MONDAY 07 APRIL 2014

MON 19:00 World News Today (b040760w)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01q9yg0)
Series 4

Dufftown to Aviemore

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook, he travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's world remains. Michael is exploring the stunning scenery of rural and coastal Scotland, travelling from Stirling, through the industrial east coast and dramatic Highland landscapes, to the beauty of the western lochs, finally ending his journey in John O'Groats. Michael learns how Victorian whisky trains were raided by robbers, travels along one of Scotland's most impressive viaducts and discovers that life is not always sweet on a shortbread production line.

MON 20:00 Hidden Killers (b03lyv9x)
The Edwardian Home

The dawn of the 20th century and the reign of a new king ushered in an era of fresh inventions and innovations that transformed the way we lived. Electricity, refrigeration and a whole host of different materials promised to make life at home brighter, easier and more convenient. But a lack of understanding of the potential hazards meant that they frequently led to terrible accidents, horrendous injuries and even death.

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb takes us back to an age when asbestos socks and radioactive toothpaste were welcomed into British homes. She reveals how their lethal qualities were discovered and why some of us are still living with the consequences of our Edwardian forebears' enthusiasm for untried and untested products.

MON 21:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b04097wg)
Episode 1

Suzy Klein investigates music as a weapon in the fight for British identity; helping to cement the power of a new German royal family and used in Jacobite uprisings against them. She discovers why Italian opera was all the rage, thanks partly to a fascination with castrated male singers.

When Handel arrived in London, the city realised it has a genius on its hands, a man capable of creating music of such power, vigour and vitality that it can stir the hearts of the whole nation. Music stirred a 'bottom up' revolution, as the Beggar's Opera brought the satirical, subversive songs of the street onto the British stage, inventing modern musical theatre as we know it.

Featured music includes Rule Britannia, God Save the King, Handel's Water Music and Thomas Arne's guide to hating the French - Beer-Drinking Britons.

MON 22:00 Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain (b03z09n9)
The brutal use of British prisoners of war by the Japanese to build a railway linking Thailand to Burma in 1943 was one of the worst atrocities of the Second World War. For the first time in 70 years, British POWs and their Japanese captors, many now in their nineties, open their hearts to tell the story of what really happened on the 'Death Railway'. Alongside the extraordinary experiences and stories of survival told by the British, their Japanese guards tell of different horrors of war, some never disclosed before.

Exploring how they have survived the terrible memories, this is an often inspiring story that many of these men have waited a long time to tell. What emerges is a warm and emotional journey through the lives of men from different sides reflecting on a terrible event that still haunts them.

MON 23:00 imagine... (b00t15v1)
Summer 2010

Tom Jones - What Good Am I?

As he prepares to celebrate his 70th birthday, singing legend Sir Tom Jones is still recording, performing and collaborating with some of the biggest names in pop. In this episode of Imagine, Alan Yentob examines the extraordinary story of one of Britain's most recognisable pop icons.

In a frank and revealing interview, Sir Tom describes the dizzying ascent from his humble beginnings as a miner's son in south Wales to becoming a headline act in Las Vegas and recalls many of his most cherished moments from a career that enabled him to sing alongside Elvis, establish himself as a hairy-chested sex symbol and make one of the most successful comebacks in pop history.

MON 00:00 Versailles (b00lv83z)
The Dream of a King

Drama-documentary recreating the life and loves of France's most famous king, Louis XIV.

Dubbed the Sun King by his admiring court, Louis conquered half of Europe, conducted dozens of love affairs and dazzled his contemporaries with his lavish entertainments. But perhaps his greatest achievement - and certainly his longest lasting love - was the incredible palace he built at Versailles, one of the wonders of the world.

Filmed in the spectacular staterooms, bedrooms and gardens of Versailles itself, this beautifully photographed drama-documentary brings the reign of one of Europe's greatest and most flamboyant monarchs triumphantly to life, with the help of interviews with the world's leading experts on his reign.

MON 01:00 Brushing up on... (b03zqgjz)
Series 2

British Schools

Danny Baker dons the mortar board in a whistle-stop archival romp through our education system.

MON 01:30 Hidden Killers (b03lyv9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

MON 02:30 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b04097wg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 08 APRIL 2014

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b0407611)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01q9yk5)
Series 4

Inverness to Plockton

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook. He travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's world remains.

In this programme, Michael explores the scenery of rural and coastal Scotland, travelling from Stirling to the beauty of the western lochs, ending his journey in John O'Groats. Michael rides one of Scotland's most picturesque railways, visits Scotland's smallest station and learns what went into a Victorian-style spa break.

TUE 20:00 Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture (b00jwcb1)
Milk

Documentary series looking at the history of 20th-century farming in Britain opens by focusing on milk.

In the early years of the century, 150,000 dairy farmers milked by hand and sold milk door to door. By the end of the century, the 15,000 that were left were breeding cows that increased yields by 400 per cent and milk was sold through supermarkets.

This episode features the home movies and stories of two dairy farmers who survived to tell the story of how and why the revolution happened.

TUE 21:00 British Gardens in Time (b04092n6)
Great Dixter

Great Dixter lays claim to being the most innovative, spectacular and provocative garden of the 20th century. Made famous by the much-loved eccentric plantsman and writer Christopher Lloyd, who used the garden as a living laboratory and documented his experiments in a weekly column in Country Life, Great Dixter began life as a Gertrude Jekyll-inspired Arts and Crafts garden surrounding a house designed by Edwin Lutyens.

The Lloyd family created Dixter just before the outbreak of the First World War with the intention of establishing a rural idyll for Christo and his five siblings. Dixter was to be both Christo's horticultural nursery and the setting for his rebellion in late middle age as he finally threw off the shackles of his intense bond with his mother to make the garden and his life his own.

TUE 22:00 The First World War (b01rnq76)
Revolution

Increasingly, governments faced the risk of their men mutinying, morale cracking and civilians rising up in strikes and civil disobedience. As governments worried about containing unrest at home, they set agents working to foment revolution among the enemy. Britain sponsored the Arab revolt through Lawrence of Arabia, Germany backed Irish independence with arms for the Easter Rising and funded Lenin's Russian coup d'etat in 1917.

Revolution became a weapon of war, hitting the enemy from within. When Lenin pulled Russia out of the war, it vindicated all Germany's efforts to use subversion, releasing half a million German soldiers for the Western Front.

TUE 22:50 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.

TUE 00:20 Wild Wales (b00sfwty)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]

TUE 01:20 Britain by Bike (b00t6yhb)
The Welsh Borders

Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to rediscover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle. In a six-part series, she follows in the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guidebooks of the late 1940s lovingly describe bypassed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads.

Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own Dawes Super Galaxy bicycle, Clare goes in search of the world he described. Is it lost for ever? Or still there, waiting to be found?

Clare's journey into Wales is rich in literary connections to both Bruce Chatwin and AE Housman. She reveals how a cycle factory went to war and finds out about the Bride's Tree - a bizarre village ceremony with a dark secret.

TUE 01:50 Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture (b00jwcb1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUE 02:50 British Gardens in Time (b04092n6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 09 APRIL 2014

WED 19:00 World News Today (b0407616)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01q9z0k)
Series 4

Invergordon to John O'Groats

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook, he travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's World remains. Michael is exploring the stunning scenery of rural and coastal Scotland, travelling from Stirling, through the industrial east coast and dramatic Highland landscapes, to the beauty of the western lochs, finally ending his journey in John O'Groats. Michael learns how one man's vision helped bring train travel to the Highlands, discovers how farming has changed since Bradshaw's day and hears the remarkable tale of Scotland's Victorian gold rush.

WED 20:00 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t6g)
Hanging by a Thread

Explorer Paul Rose tells the story of the USS Squalus submarine which became stranded on the bottom of the Atlantic in 1937. No one had ever been saved from a stricken sub beneath the ocean before, but maverick designer Charles Momsen, who had been ignored by the navy top brass, was suddenly called into action to bring up the crew.

Rose meets the last living survivor from the sub and one of the men, now 103, who helped save him. The rescue kick-started a whole new era of technology, laying the foundation for modern deep-sea diving.

WED 21:00 Enigma (b007cb5v)
Second World War thriller in which a Bletchley Park codebreaker frantically races against time to crack the Germans' new code and solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the woman he loves.

WED 22:50 Fifties British War Films: Days of Glory (b01pkj2m)
In the 1950s, Britain looked back on its epic war effort in films such as The Dam Busters, The Cruel Sea and The Colditz Story. However, even at the time these productions were criticised for being class-bound and living in the past.

Journalist and historian Simon Heffer argues that these films have real cinematic merit and a genuine cultural importance, that they tell us something significant not only about the 1950s Britain from which they emerged but also about what it means to be British today.

His case is supported by interviews with stars including Virginia McKenna, Sylvia Syms and Sir Donald Sinden, with further contributions from directors Guy Hamilton (The Colditz Story) and Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters).

WED 23:50 Kings of 70s Romance (b007cjtw)
While teenage girls in the 1970s were screaming for Donny Osmond and David Cassidy, the more mature woman had fantasy figures of her own setting her heart a-flutter. Kings of 70s Romance tells the story of these - some might say unlikely - pin-ups. Whether it was Gilbert O'Sullivan or Barry White, Leo Sayer or David Soul - or for those with more exotic tastes, Demis Roussos - these were men whose lyrics conjured up images of candle-lit dinners, red roses, and cosy nights in with the man of your dreams. For millions of female fans their romantic music was the perfect soundtrack for dreams of escape from the day-to-day drudgery of life in 70s Britain. As well as our main contributors we feature comments form Gloria Hunniford and Martha Kearney.

WED 00:50 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00q2mk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]

WED 01:50 Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns (b03zqgk1)
Our dashing hero Alexander Armstrong explores the literature that inspired Michael Palin and Terry Jones's classic TV comedy Ripping Yarns, a loving parody of the Boys' Own books and magazines of their childhood. Featuring clips from Ripping Yarns, archive and interviews with experts, modern-day adventurers and Palin and Jones's own memories. In this affectionate and entertaining film Armstrong celebrates a long-lost slice of Britishness.

WED 02:50 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t6g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2014

THU 19:00 World News Today (b040761c)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b040lgwj)
Peter Powell presents another edition of the weekly pop chart show, including performances from Kate Bush, Neil Diamond, Racey, Supertramp, Sham 69, Kandidate, Sister Sledge and Light of the World. With dance sequences by Legs & Co.

THU 20:00 Botany: A Blooming History (b011s3dg)
A Confusion of Names

What makes plants grow is a simple enough question. The answer turns out to be one of the most complicated and fascinating stories in science and took over 300 years to unravel.

Timothy Walker, director of Oxford University Botanic Garden, reveals how the breakthroughs of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chelsea gardener Phillip Miller and English naturalist John Ray created the science of botany. Between them, these quirky, temperamental characters unlocked the mysteries of the plant kingdom, and they began to glimpse a world where bigger, better and stronger plants could be created. Nurseryman Thomas Fairchild created the world's first artificial hybrid flower - an entirely new plant that didn't exist in nature.

Today, botanists continue the search for new flowers, better crops and improved medicines to treat life-threatening diseases.

THU 21:00 Everyday Eden: A Potted History of the Suburban Garden (p01t8n4q)
Because it's not grand, the story of the suburban garden has barely been told - and yet eight out of ten people in England live in the suburbs. In this documentary, writer and historian Michael Collins delivers a riposte to the urban intelligentsia which has spent a century sneering at the suburbs. His south London pilgrimage takes him to Bexley and Bromley, Surbiton and the new promised land of Bluewater in Kent to explore what the suburban garden has meant to the UK and to celebrate what one contributor calls 'their little piece of heaven'.

George Orwell famously laid out the icons of English culture as 'solid breakfasts and gloomy Sundays, smoky towns and... red pillarboxes' and Collins shows that the suburban garden very much deserves a place in that canon. South Londoner Collins previously charted the history of the white working class in his controversial book The Likes of Us and explored the rise and fall of the council house in BBC Four's The Great Estate. He tends to admire what critics of suburbia have loathed - its lack of history, the mock and ersatz style of its homes and gardens, and the suggestion that it is a 'nowhere place', neither town nor country but stranded in between.

Collins's journey starts a century ago in Hampstead Garden Suburb, a planned utopia that transformed the lives of its residents fleeing urban squalor, but one that came with off-putting regulations - maximum hedge size, a designated wash-day, and no pub. Suburban sprawl between the wars, when three million new homes were built, couldn't have been more different. 'You could', recalls one contributor from Welling, 'buy a house for 12/6 down and pay 7/6 a week on the mortgage, and suddenly you had a two-up/two-down, front garden/back garden. Those were the days!'

In the 1930s, Wills cashed in on the suburban gardening craze with 50 cigarette cards offering handy tips. But this was also the era that identified a new condition - suburban neurosis. When war broke out, Rita Withers's dad, a veteran of the Somme, was so traumatised he dug a trench right across their lawn, thinking it the only way to protect his family. Wartime 'Dig for Victory', launched by the BBC's first horticultural expert, Mr Middleton, saw flowers sacrificed for vegetables and the war effort.

The Peace Rose ushered in the post-war garden, and contributors fondly remember the ubiquitous swing of the 1950s and 60s, the equally ubiquitous tortoise and the shock of the new as suburbia's new mecca, the garden centre, transformed the 70s garden. This was the era of The Good Life, but a Surbiton couple, the Howes, whose immaculate garden would have impressed Margot and Jerry, are keen to point out the series was actually shot in north London 'because Surbiton was not sufficiently like Surbiton to be worth filming... a kind of oblique compliment.'

Collins's suburban odyssey ends in the spanking new 21st-century purpose-built suburb of Ingress Park in Kent, a dormitory for Europe's biggest mall, Bluewater. Karen Roberts may have bought her astroturf lawn for £700 on the internet, but the appeal of the suburban garden is timeless. 'Ingress Park is dope', she explains. 'I live the dream. I haven't got a lot of money to spend, but I can go snip, snip, I'm doing my garden, I love it.'.

THU 22:00 Ripping Yarns (b0074rnw)
Series 1

The Testing of Eric Olthwaite

Michael Palin and Terry Jones's spoof comedy series tells the dark and tragic tale of the terminally boring Eric, whose mind-boggling tediousness forces his parents to leave home. Undaunted, Eric joins forces with a hardened criminal and proceeds to write his name in the history books.

THU 22:30 Some People with Jokes (b0409lgl)
Series 2

Some Funeral Directors with Jokes

Funeral directors from around the UK resurrect their favourite jokes. This lot are usually deadly serious, but this show sees them preparing a special eulogy to laughter in a veritable casketful of corkers with no corpsing guaranteed.

THU 23:00 British Gardens in Time (b04092n6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]

THU 00:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b04097wg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]

THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b040lgwj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

THU 01:35 Some People with Jokes (b0409lgl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]

THU 02:05 Britain by Bike (b00t9r0n)
The Isle of Wight

Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to re-discover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle.

In a six-part series, Clare follows the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guide books of the late 1940s lovingly describe by-passed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads.

Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own Dawes Super Galaxy bicycle, Clare goes in search of the world he described with such affection.

Her journey to the Isle of Wight explores its unique sense of otherness - a strange power which could cure Dickens's writer's block, repel the deadly attentions of the Luftwaffe and give Victorian poet laureate Tennyson a comforting sense of his own death.

THU 02:35 Everyday Eden: A Potted History of the Suburban Garden (p01t8n4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

FRIDAY 11 APRIL 2014

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b040761j)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

FRI 19:30 Concerto at the BBC Proms (b01k031g)
Mendelssohn Violin

Another chance to hear a live performance from the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall of one of the most popular and frequently performed violin concertos of all time, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, recorded at the first night of the BBC Proms in 2005. Exciting and versatile violin soloist Janine Jansen performs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor, Sir Roger Norrington.

FRI 20:00 Colin Davis in His Own Words (b01s945t)
Portrait of the conductor Sir Colin Davis, who died in April 2013. Shortly before his final illness, he spoke at length to John Bridcut about his early life; his family; his career as a conductor; his love of music and the art and skills of conducting; his relationships with orchestras. other conductors and with the Royal Opera House; his religion and beliefs; and finally his thoughts on death and dying.

During the interview Sir Colin is asked what music he would like to hear before dying and if he ever sang in a large choir or had singing lessons. At school he played the clarinet and joined a university orchestra. He met veteran conductor Sir Adrian Boult and learned the Alexander Technique which helped him acquire his own style of conducting. He admits that at times his relationships with orchestras were not ideal - his period as Music Director at the Royal Opera House, and in particular with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) whom he conducted for many years - they did not like him at the beginning and he made enemies leading to a conscious decision that he would rather be a decent human being rather then an 'idiot' conductor.

He talks briefly about his first failed marriage and subsequent happy second marriage and his children with whom he was able to make music. He spent time in his career conducting amateur choirs and student orchestras. Eventually he was asked to conduct the Last Night of the Proms in 1967 in place of an ailing Sir Malcolm Sargent. He talks about his own special style and technique of conducting - his way of holding the baton and how a conductor should connect with his orchestral musicians - who must listen as well as play. He has helped and coached young conductors in masterclasses, but his time as musical director at the Royal Opera House was not always a happy one. He was even booed by the audience on occasions and his interpretation of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes did not altogether please the composer himself. Davis describes it as a very violent piece with some wonderful music.

He admits to his love of such composers as Mozart and Berlioz. In particular, he championed Berlioz, performing such works as Les Troyens, L'Enfance du Christ and the Grande Messe des Morts. He conducted many Mozart operas and believed that Mozart's music makes us all feel we are acceptable human beings.

At the close of the interview, Sir Colin is asked if he is a religious man. He replies that he is always deeply moved by great religious music - much of which he has conducted. Does death and dying frighten him? Will there be music after death - or will there just be silence? He cannot truly answer this.

Sir Colin died just over one year later on 14th April 2013, aged 85. This portrait reveals in many ways a reluctant maestro who was to become the pre-eminent British conductor of his generation.

FRI 21:00 Arena (b01l4929)
Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came to Dingle

Back in 2006 on a stormy December night, Amy Winehouse flew to the remote, south western corner of Ireland to perform for Other Voices, an acclaimed Irish TV music series filmed in Dingle every winter. Amy took to the stage of Saint James's church, capacity 85, and wowed the small, packed crowd with a searing, acoustic set of songs from Back to Black.

After leaving the stage, a relaxed and happy Amy spoke about her music and influences - Mahalia Jackson, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles and the Shangri-Las to name a few. Arena joined forces with Other Voices and went to Dingle to catch up with some of the people that Amy met on that day, including taxi driver Paddy Kennedy, her bass player Dale Davis and Rev Mairt Hanley of the Other Voices church.

This film showcases not only Amy herself, but the musical geniuses that inspired her to forge her own jazz pop style.

FRI 22:00 Britpop at the BBC (b0409s91)
In the mid-90s, Britpop stamped its presence onto the British music scene and made boys wearing eyeliner cool again. What better reason to raid the BBC archives for a rich treasure trove of the joy and the time that was Britpop?

Featuring the girls (Elastica, Sleeper) and the boys (Suede, Menswear) and many of the other bright young things that contributed to five years of Cool Britannia, Blur v Oasis and Camden being the centre of the universe. Britpop at the BBC reminds us all why we were all so proud to be British again in the 1990s.

FRI 23:00 Glastonbury (b00rl1v0)
2009

Blur

Highlights of Blur's triumphant gig on the Pyramid Stage in June 2009 at Worthy Farm. Having only played a handful of small shows beforehand, their reunion on arguably the biggest musical stage in the world made for one of the most memorable finales in the history of the festival. It didn't disappoint, as a nervous but excitable band and a show full of crowd-pleasing hits made it a 'you had to be there' night.

FRI 00:00 It's Slade (b01pf7kr)
They definitely know "IT'S CHRISTMAAAASSSS!"

Top pop documentary, narrated by Radio One's Mark Radcliffe, about one of Britain's greatest and best-loved bands. Slade scored six number ones in the 70s, a feat rivalled only by Abba. Formed in Wolverhampton and led by Noddy Holder, Slade sold over 50 million records worldwide during a 20-year career which saw them re-invent themselves as skinhead yobs, then mirror-hatted platform-shoe-pioneering glam gods, before finally re-emerging as hard rock heroes.

Their poorly-spelled, self-written selection of terrace anthems included Cum on Feel the Noize, Coz I Luv You, Take Me Bak Ome, Mama Weer All Crazee Now and, unforgettably, Merry Xmas Everybody. Apart from Noddy and his bandmates - Dave Hill, Jim Lea and Don Powell - the cast here also includes Noel Gallagher of Oasis (who covered Cum On Feel the Noize), Status Quo, Toyah Wilcox, Suzi Quatro and Ozzy Osbourne.

Altogether now "Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall..........?".

FRI 00:50 Arena (b01l4929)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

FRI 01:50 Britpop at the BBC (b0409s91)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]

FRI 02:50 Glastonbury (b00rl1v0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]

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

Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns 01:50 WED (b03zqgk1)

Arena 21:00 FRI (b01l4929)

Arena 00:50 FRI (b01l4929)

Botany: A Blooming History 20:00 THU (b011s3dg)

Britain by Bike 01:20 TUE (b00t6yhb)

Britain by Bike 02:05 THU (b00t9r0n)

British Gardens in Time 21:00 TUE (b04092n6)

British Gardens in Time 02:50 TUE (b04092n6)

British Gardens in Time 23:00 THU (b04092n6)

Britpop at the BBC 22:00 FRI (b0409s91)

Britpop at the BBC 01:50 FRI (b0409s91)

Brushing up on... 01:00 MON (b03zqgjz)

Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain 22:00 MON (b03z09n9)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 20:00 SAT (b00q2mk5)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 02:00 SAT (b00q2mk5)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 00:50 WED (b00q2mk5)

Colin Davis in His Own Words 20:00 FRI (b01s945t)

Concerto at the BBC Proms 19:30 FRI (b01k031g)

Doris Day - Virgin Territory 21:00 SUN (b0074rwd)

Doris Day - Virgin Territory 01:00 SUN (b0074rwd)

Enigma 21:00 WED (b007cb5v)

Everyday Eden: A Potted History of the Suburban Garden 21:00 THU (p01t8n4q)

Everyday Eden: A Potted History of the Suburban Garden 02:35 THU (p01t8n4q)

Fifties British War Films: Days of Glory 22:50 WED (b01pkj2m)

Glastonbury 23:00 FRI (b00rl1v0)

Glastonbury 02:50 FRI (b00rl1v0)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b01q9yg0)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b01q9yk5)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b01q9z0k)

Hidcote: A Garden for All Seasons 22:00 SUN (b011s3pw)

Hidcote: A Garden for All Seasons 02:00 SUN (b011s3pw)

Hidden Killers 20:00 MON (b03lyv9x)

Hidden Killers 01:30 MON (b03lyv9x)

Inspector De Luca 21:00 SAT (b01j6x1x)

It's Slade 00:00 FRI (b01pf7kr)

Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies 22:50 SAT (b01m81f5)

Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies 23:50 SAT (b01m9vjl)

Kings of 70s Romance 23:50 WED (b007cjtw)

Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture 20:00 TUE (b00jwcb1)

Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture 01:50 TUE (b00jwcb1)

Natural World 23:00 SUN (b00tj7j4)

Natural World 03:00 SUN (b00tj7j4)

Ripping Yarns 22:00 THU (b0074rnw)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 21:00 MON (b04097wg)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 02:30 MON (b04097wg)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 00:00 THU (b04097wg)

Some People with Jokes 22:30 THU (b0409lgl)

Some People with Jokes 01:35 THU (b0409lgl)

Sounds of the 70s 2 01:30 SAT (b01k68gc)

The First World War 22:00 TUE (b01rnq76)

The Man Who Knew Too Much 19:00 SUN (b02xdl4w)

The Richest Songs in the World 22:50 TUE (b01pjrt5)

The Wonder of Weeds 00:00 SUN (b01224kv)

Top of the Pops 00:50 SAT (b03zztxw)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b040lgwj)

Top of the Pops 01:00 THU (b040lgwj)

Versailles 00:00 MON (b00lv83z)

Voyages of Discovery 20:00 WED (b0074t6g)

Voyages of Discovery 02:50 WED (b0074t6g)

Wild Wales 19:00 SAT (b00sfwty)

Wild Wales 03:00 SAT (b00sfwty)

Wild Wales 00:20 TUE (b00sfwty)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b040760w)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b0407611)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b0407616)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b040761c)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b040761j)

imagine... 23:00 MON (b00t15v1)