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 12 APRIL 2014

SAT 19:00 Wild Wales (b00sj3sn)
The Heart of Wales

Iolo Williams shares his passion for Welsh wildlife. Filmed over a year, the series features stunning aerial and wildlife photography.

Iolo journeys through the heart of Wales to witness extraordinary displays from hen harriers and black grouse. He then heads west to Cardigan Bay to see some colourful lizards and ends in Aberystwyth with 20,000 starlings.


SAT 20:00 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qck1t)
The Order of the Elements

The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. From fiery phosphorus 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.

In part two, Professor Al-Khalili looks at the 19th-century chemists who struggled to impose an order on the apparently random world of the elements. From working out how many there were to discovering their unique relationships with each other, the early scientists' bid to decode the hidden order of the elements was driven by false starts and bitter disputes. But ultimately the quest would lead to one of chemistry's most beautiful intellectual creations - the periodic table.


SAT 21:00 Inspector De Luca (b01jg7jl)
Via Delle Oche

April 1948, and demoted to the role of deputy inspector and assigned to the vice squad, De Luca returns to Bologna. As the first elections of the newly-formed Italian Republic are about to take place, a man is found hanged in a brothel. Although the authorities are quick to pronounce the incident death by suicide, De Luca suspects foul play. His dogged determination provokes a stand-off with his superiors, and the investigation takes a further turn for the personal when the inspector runs into the madam of a brothel located in Via Delle Oche.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:40 Icebound: The Greatest Dog Story Ever Told (b03pzv9m)
Documentary about an adventure that has become known as the greatest dog story ever told and captured the imagination of children and adults throughout the world for almost a century.

On January 28 1925, newspapers and radio stations broke a terrifying story - diphtheria had broken out in Nome, Alaska, a city separated from the rest of the world for seven months by a frozen ocean. With aviation still in its infancy and amidst one of the harshest winters on record, there was only one way to reach the town - dogsled. In minus 60 degrees, over 20 men and at least 150 dogs, among them the famous Balto, set out to relay the antitoxin across 674 miles of Alaskan wilderness to save the town.


SAT 23:40 Natural World (b01d8nbk)
2011-2012

Grizzlies of Alaska

A mother grizzly bear brings up her two cubs in the wilds of Alaska. She must keep them safe from prowling males, teach them to hunt and prepare them to survive the savage winter. Alaska has the highest density of grizzlies in the world, so fights and face-offs are common. Biologist Chris Morgan spends the summer in this land of bears, often getting far too close for comfort.


SAT 00:40 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.


SAT 01:15 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01kcq0k)
New Wave - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

By the end of the 70s the world had changed and so had music. In America, it was all about memorable melodies, great guitar rhythms, a little bit of post-punk angst and looking really cool. In the UK it was about Brit style cheekiness, social commentary, a melody and a hook, a lot of attitude - and looking really cool. This episode goes beyond punk and looks into the dawning of a new decade and the phenomenon of New Wave, including performances from Elvis Costello, the Police, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Squeeze, Blondie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Cars, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop.


SAT 01:45 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qck1t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:45 Wild Wales (b00sj3sn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 13 APRIL 2014

SUN 19:00 Danny Boy - The Ballad That Bewitched the World (b03hdsbk)
How did an obscure Irish melody become one of the greatest songs of all time, recorded by music's biggest names? One hundred years after 'Danny Boy' was first published, the true story of its astonishing past is uncovered, while contributors including Gabriel Byrne, Rosanne Cash, Brian Kennedy and Barry McGuigan explain its enduring appeal and what it has come to symbolise.


SUN 20:00 Ultimate Irish Music at the Royal Hall: A Presidential Celebration (b0418w10)
Dermot O'Leary hosts highlights from a celebration of the Irish music tradition and its dialogue with Britain in the presence of the president of Ireland and the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent at the Royal Albert Hall. Artists performing include Imelda May, Paul Brady and Glen Hansard, the singer-songwriter behind the hit musical Once. With readings from the likes of Fiona Shaw and Joseph O'Connor.


SUN 21:00 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t2w)
Circumnavigation

Explorer Paul Rose reveals the real story behind the first ever circumnavigation of the world.

Ferdinand Magellan set out 500 years ago to find the westward route to the riches of the Spice Islands. But, contrary to popular perception, he never reached them. Rose explains the dramatic sequence of events that led his scurvy-riddled crew to continue around the world without him. The incredible expedition was laced with bloody mutiny and murder, but its achievement was to fundamentally change the lives of the generations that followed, influencing life even today.


SUN 22:00 The Sky at Night (b040yyh2)
Mysterious Mars

Mars captures the imagination like no other planet and currently our nearest neighbour is at its brightest for several years, so it's a perfect opportunity to explore a planet that is tantalisingly similar to our own. And in the past it may have been even more like Earth, an inviting and habitable place, a perfect environment for life to flourish.

Geologist Iain Stewart investigates how we can read the story of Mars's extraordinary past from its rocks, Maggie Aderin-Pocock comes face to face with the latest Mars rover and Chris Lintott meets the man behind the discovery which the whole history of the universe now rests upon.


SUN 22:30 Definitely Dusty (b00780bt)
Documentary looking at the life and work of soul and pop diva Dusty Springfield, singer of such classics as You Don't Have to Say You Love Me and Son of a Preacher Man, who was equally famous for her trademark panda eyes and blonde beehive.

Using archive footage and interviews shot in the UK and the US, it charts her progress from plain Catholic schoolgirl to glamorous star and ventures behind the extravagant image to reveal a complex and vulnerable character.

Featuring interviews with fellow musicians from a career spanning four decades, including Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Neil Tennant, Lulu and Martha Reeves.

Dusty's protective inner circle of friends have never spoken about her on camera before. Pat Rhodes, Dusty's personal secretary for her entire solo career, her manager Vicky Wickham, ardent fan-turned-backing singer Simon Bell and others talk about the highs and lows of the woman they knew and loved.


SUN 23:30 Danny Boy - The Ballad That Bewitched the World (b03hdsbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 00:30 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.


SUN 01:30 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.


SUN 02:30 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


SUN 03:30 The Sky at Night (b040yyh2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



MONDAY 14 APRIL 2014

MON 19:00 World News Today (b040vpcd)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01qgk3f)
Series 4

London Paddington to Warminster

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 following in the footsteps of the master engineer of the Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, beginning at the line's London gateway, Paddington Station and ending in Newton Abbot, Devon, the scene of one of Brunel's heroic failures. Today, Michael gets to grips with the old grey matter at a Victorian asylum, gives an historic horse a facelift and makes malt the 19th century way.


MON 20:00 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p8s)
Episode 1

Martha Kearney's year gets off to a bad start when unseasonal snow in spring threatens to kill the bee colonies she keeps in her garden in Suffolk. With help from a master beekeeper Martha feeds her bees and takes one of the hives to a wildflower meadow at a neighbour's house along with two brand new hives.

She discovers the intricate hierarchy within the bee colony and learns how the organisation of the hive has become a metaphor for human society. At a London school she learns the secrets of urban bees' success even while bees in the country as a whole are in decline. The episode ends with three new hives established on a wildflower meadow, ready to start producing classic British wildflower honey.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b040y72r)
Series 9

Heath Family v Exhibitionists

A family team take on three museum aficionados, 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: has been dumped, visits sex worker, witnessed miracles and American lavatory.


MON 21:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b040w7xx)
Episode 2

Broadcaster and writer Suzy Klein explores the remarkable music that became the soundtrack to the roaring 18th century.

As money poured in from a flourishing trade empire, the British rediscovered a taste for pleasure and fun, and music was at the very centre of it. Aspiring young girls played the keyboard to attract a good husband and nothing beat dancing a minuet if you wanted a place in the best society.

Europe's best composers and performers descended upon Britain, certain that the 'rage for music' would make them rich. Music had become a tool for social mobility, but it was also starting to shape the physical fabric of Britain - concert halls, assembly rooms and pleasure gardens sprang up across the country as the thirst for entertainment grew.


MON 22:00 Thatcher and the IRA: Dealing with Terror (b0401phs)
A documentary examining Margaret Thatcher's strategy of dealing with the IRA, revealing a complex picture of a woman, fiercely combative in public, yet behind the scenes, was secretly dealing with those who tried to kill her.


MON 23:00 Great American Rock Anthems: Turn it up to 11 (b03n2w37)
It's the sound of the heartland, of the midwest and the industrial cities, born in the early 70s by kids who had grown up in the 60s and were now ready to make their own noise, to come of age in the bars, arenas and stadiums of the US of A. Out of blues and prog and glam and early metal, a distinct American rock hybrid started to emerge across the country courtesy of Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad et al, and at its very heart is The Great American Rock Anthem.

At the dawn of the 70s American rock stopped looking for a revolution and started looking for a good time; enter the classic American rock anthem - big drums, a soaring guitar, a huge chorus and screaming solos. This film celebrates the evolution of the American rock anthem during its glory years between 1970 and 1990 as it became a staple of the emerging stadium rock and AOR radio and then MTV.

From School's Out and Don't Fear the Reaper to Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit, these are the songs that were the soundtrack to teenage lives in the US and around the world, anthems that had people singing out loud with arms and lighters aloft.

Huey Morgan narrates the story of some of the greatest American rock anthems and tracks the emergence of this distinct American rock of the 70s and 80s. Anthems explored include School's Out, We're an American Band, Don't Fear the Reaper, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, Eye of the Tiger, I Want to Know What Love Is, Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Contributors include: Alice Cooper, Dave Grohl, Butch Vig, Meat Loaf, Todd Rundgren, Richie Sambora, Blue Oyster Cult, Survivor, Toto and Foreigner.


MON 00:00 Madness on Wheels: Rallying's Craziest Years (b01fcncc)
In the 1980s rallying was more popular than Formula 1. 'Group B' machines had taken the world by storm. Deregulation opened the way for the most exciting cars ever to hit the motorsport scene. Nothing like it has ever happened since. 'This is the fastest rallying there has ever been' - Peter Foubister.

For four wild and crazy years manufacturers scrambled to build ever more powerful cars to be driven by fearless mavericks who could handle the extreme power. The sport was heading out of control and the unregulated mayhem ended abruptly in 1986 after a series of horrific tragedies. This is the story of when fans, ambition, politics and cars collided.

'The fans were crazy. As the cars sped by the spectators ran into the road!' - Ari Vatanen. 'They were playing with their lives'.

'To go rallying is madness. This was refined madness' - John Davenport

Featuring world champaions Ari Vatanen, Walter Rohrl, Stig Blomqvist, plus Michel Mouton, Cesar Fiorio, Jean Todt and many many more.

From the producer of Grand Prix: The Killer Years and the Grierson-nominated Deadliest Crash: The 1955 Le Mans Disaster.


MON 01:00 Only Connect (b040y72r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 01:30 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:00 Who Killed the Honey Bee? (b00jzjys)
Bees are dying in their millions. It is an ecological crisis that threatens to bring global agriculture to a standstill. Introduced by Martha Kearney, this documentary explores the reasons behind the decline of bee colonies across the globe, investigating what might be at the root of this devastation.

Honey bees are the number one insect pollinator on the planet, responsible for the production of over 90 crops. Apples, berries, cucumbers, nuts, cabbages and even cotton will struggle to be produced if bee colonies continue to decline at the current rate. Empty hives have been reported from as far afield as Taipei and Tennessee. In England, the matter has caused beekeepers to march on Parliament to call on the government to fund research into what they say is potentially a bigger threat to humanity than the current financial crisis.

Investigating the problem from a global perspective, the programme makers travel from the farm belt of California to the flatlands of East Anglia to the outback of Australia. They talk to the beekeepers whose livelihoods are threatened by colony collapse disorder, the scientists entrusted with solving the problem, and the Australian beekeepers who are making a fortune replacing the planet's dying bees. They also look at some of the possible reasons for the declining numbers - is it down to a bee plague, pesticides, malnutrition? Or is the answer something even more frightening?


MON 03:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b040w7xx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 15 APRIL 2014

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b040vpck)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01qgkzl)
Series 4

Salisbury to Castle Cary

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook. In a series of railway journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's World remains. Michael follows in the footsteps of the master engineer of the Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, beginning at the line's London gateway, Paddington Station and ending in Newton Abbot, Devon, the scene of one of Brunel's heroic failures. Michael visits a world-famous tourist hotspot that's been captivating visitors since the Victorian era, takes to the air in Yeovil and tries his hand at cloth making, the 19th-century way.


TUE 20:00 At Home with the Georgians (b00wh6lz)
A Man's Place

In this three-part series, historian Amanda Vickery explores how the great British obsession with our homes began 300 years ago. Using the intimate diaries and letters of Georgian men and women, previously lost to history, she explores how the desire for a home revolutionised relationships between men and women.

She uncovers some surprising truths: about the lives of spinsters and bachelors, about how the home became crucial to the success - or otherwise - of a marriage and, perhaps the biggest surprise of all, that setting up home in the 18th century was not driven by women (as you might expect) but by men.


TUE 21:00 British Gardens in Time (b040y79r)
Stowe

Stowe, one of the most remarkable creations of Georgian England, is the birthplace of the landscape garden. Created on a vast scale with 36 temples, eight lakes and a dozen avenues, Stowe launched the career of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and fostered a rebellion that overthrew the first British prime minister, Robert Walpole.

Rather than being a garden of flowers and shrubs, Stowe is a garden of ideas and its grottos and classical monuments spell out a furious, coded political manifesto. Stowe's creator, Viscount Cobham, dreamt of climbing to the pinnacle of political power and establishing a long-lived dynasty, but less than a century after his death, his family was to become the most scandalous bankrupts in English history.


TUE 22:00 The First World War (b01rp9x0)
Germany's Last Gamble

In March 1918, Germany launched a massive offensive on the Western Front - her bid to win the war before the Americans arrived. The master was General Erich Ludendorff - a genius, but unstable. Within days the British Fifth Army was in retreat, Paris was under shell-fire and some Allies feared defeat. But Germany's allies, Ottoman Turkey and Austria-Hungary, were starving and demoralised and the war-weary German Home Front was infected with dangerous socialist ideas. Then Ludendorff's great offensive ran out of steam, having stormed ahead without strategic aims or supplies. German soldiers slowed, exhausted and hungry. And then the Americans started pouring in.


TUE 22:50 Operation Mincemeat (b00wllmb)
For more than 60 years, the real story behind Operation Mincemeat has been shrouded in secrecy. Now, Ben Macintyre reveals the extraordinary truth in a documentary based on his best-selling book.

In 1943, British intelligence hatched a daring plan. As the Allies prepared to invade Sicily, their purpose was to convince the Germans that Greece was the real target. The plot to fool the Fuhrer was the brainchild of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.

British agents procured the body of a tramp and reinvented his entire identity. He was given a new name, an officer rank and a briefcase containing plans for a fake invasion of Greece. The body was floated off the Spanish coast where Nazi spies would find it.

The deception was an astonishing success. Hitler fell for it totally, ordering his armies to Greece to await an invasion that never happened. Meanwhile, the Allies landed in Sicily with minimal resistance. The island fell in a month. The war turned in the Allies' favour.

Together with original witnesses, Macintyre recreates the remarkable story of how one brilliant team, and one dead tramp, pulled off a deception which changed the course of history.


TUE 23:50 A303: Highway to the Sun (b0116ly6)
The A303 is the road that passes Stonehenge on the way to the beaches of Devon and Cornwall. On the way, it whisks drivers through 5,000 years of remarkable moments in British history. And it is the star of this film made for armchair travellers and history lovers.

Writer Tom Fort drives its 92-mile length in a lovingly restored Morris Traveller. Along the way he has many adventures - he digs up the 1960s master plan for the A303's dreams of superhighway status, meets up with a Neolithic traveller who knew the road like the back of his hand, gets to know a section of the Roman 303, uncovers a medieval murder mystery and discovers what lies at the end of the Highway to the Sun.


TUE 00:50 Wild Wales (b00sj3sn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


TUE 01:50 At Home with the Georgians (b00wh6lz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:50 British Gardens in Time (b040y79r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL 2014

WED 19:00 World News Today (b040vpcq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01qgl8h)
Series 4

Taunton to Minehead

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook. In a series of railway journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's World remains. Michael follows in the footsteps of the master engineer of the Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, beginning at the line's London gateway, Paddington Station and ending in Newton Abbot, Devon, the scene of one of Brunel's heroic failures. Michael explores a church that moves in mysterious ways, finds out just what it takes to run a 19th century signal box and summons all his strength, to move a one hundred and ten tonne steam locomotive.


WED 20:00 Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture (b00jzjs4)
Fruit and Veg

A look at the changes in the way fruit and veg was grown, picked and sold, told through three of the staples in the British landscape - apples, strawberries and tomatoes.

Home movies and archive footage reveal the extent of the revolution in how the fruit was picked and the impact supermarkets had on the fortunes of the small- and medium-sized growers.


WED 21:00 Timewatch (b00785y5)
2008-2009

The Real Bonnie and Clyde

Hollywood portrayed them as the most glamorous outlaws in American history, but the reality of life on the run for Bonnie and Clyde was one of violence, hardship and danger.

With unprecedented access to gang members' memoirs, family archives and recently released police records, Timewatch takes an epic road trip through the heart of Depression-era America, in search of the true story of Bonnie and Clyde.


WED 22:00 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


WED 23:00 Parks and Recreation (p015043t)
Series 1

Pilot

Indiana government worker Leslie Knope is given the assignment to convert an abandoned quarry pit into a community park. A documentary film crew follows Leslie through her mishaps and gaffs as she tries to make her assignment a reality.


WED 23:20 Parks and Recreation (b01r6x6z)
Series 1

The Reporter

Leslie arranges for a reporter to do a story about her park project, but she and her committee have the worst time staying on topic. She then calls Mark to help her save the story, but it ends up hurting more than helping.

Meanwhile, Tom does all he can to suck up to his boss.


WED 23:40 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.'.


WED 00:40 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qck1t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


WED 01:40 Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture (b00jzjs4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:40 Timewatch (b00785y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 17 APRIL 2014

THU 19:00 World News Today (b040vpcw)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b040yyh2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 20:00 Botany: A Blooming History (b011wz4q)
Photosynthesis

The air we breathe, and all the food we eat, is created from water, sunlight, carbon dioxide and a few minerals. That's it, nothing else. It sounds simple, but this process is one of the most fascinating and complicated in all of science. Without it there could be no life on earth. It's that important.

For centuries people believed that plants grew by eating soil. In the 17th century, pioneer botanists began to make the connection between the growth of a plant and the energy from the sun. They discovered how plants use water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce sugars - how, in fact, a plant grows.

The process of photosynthesis is still at the heart of scientific research today. Universities across the world are working hard to replicate in the lab what plants do with ruthless efficiency. Their goal is to produce a clean, limitless fuel and if they get it right it will change all our lives.


THU 21:00 Deep Down & Dirty: The Science of Soil (b040y925)
For billions of years our planet was devoid of life, but something transformed it into a vibrant, living planet. That something was soil.

It's a much-misunderstood substance, often dismissed as 'dirt', something to be avoided. Yet the crops we eat, the animals we rely on, the very oxygen we breathe, all depend on the existence of the plant life that bursts from the soil every year.

In this film, gardening expert Chris Beardshaw explores where soil comes from, what it's made of and what makes it so essential to life. Using specialist microphotography, he reveals it as we've never seen it before - an intricate microscopic landscape, teeming with strange and wonderful life forms.

It's a world where the chaos of life meets the permanence of rock, the two interacting with each other to make a living system of staggering complexity that sustains all life on Earth.

Chris explores how man is challenging this most precious resource on our planet and how new science is seeking to preserve it.


THU 22:00 Ripping Yarns (b0074s5g)
Series 1

Escape from Stalag Luft 112B

A tale of courage and fortitude behind the lines in the Kaiser's Germany. A British POW's constant escape attempts exasperate his German captors - and his fellow prisoners.


THU 22:30 Some People with Jokes (b040y927)
Series 2

Some Dog Owners with Jokes

Dog owners from around Britain tell their favourite jokes. We take the ruff with the smooth as these canine cackle merchants prove it's not just the dogs that are barking. It's the Crufts of comedy with these wags and there are plenty of shaggy dog stories.


THU 23:00 British Gardens in Time (b040y79r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


THU 00:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b040w7xx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 01:00 The Sky at Night (b040yyh2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 01:30 Some People with Jokes (b040y927)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


THU 02:00 Botany: A Blooming History (b011wz4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 03:00 Deep Down & Dirty: The Science of Soil (b040y925)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 18 APRIL 2014

FRI 19:00 Sacred Music: The Story of Allegri's Miserere (b00g81g7)
Simon Russell Beale tells the story behind Allegri's Miserere, one of the most popular pieces of sacred music ever written. The programme features a full performance of the piece by the award-winning choir the Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers.


FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (p01sgln2)
2014

Strings Final

BBC Young Musician 2014 begins with highlights from the strings category final. Presented by the 1998 finalist - trumpeter Alison Balsom - and classical guitarist Milos, four violinists and a harpist battle it out for a place in the semi-final of the UK's ultimate classical music contest.

The competition shines a spotlight on some of our most talented young instrumentalists. Filmed at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff the programme features behind-the-scenes access, profiles of the category finalists and extensive highlights from their performances.

But this isn't your average TV talent show and there is no fast track to success - these gifted musicians will have years of practice behind them and are all Grade 8 standard or above. Almost 500 entered the competition and after two gruelling audition rounds, only 25 remain.

The series kicks off with a dazzling display from five exceptional young string players: 18-year-old violinist Elizaveta Tyun, 17-year-old Roberto Ruisi also playing the violin, 16-year-old violinist Dogyung Anna Im, 17-year-old harpist Juliana Myslov and 19-year-old violinist William Dutton. Expect some remarkable performances, with music ranging from Bach and Brahms to Gershwin and Lutoslawski. Each of the finalists is determined to impress the judges and win the strings title.


FRI 21:00 imagine... (b03gln7r)
Winter 2013

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin'

In just four years, Jimi Hendrix revolutionised the music scene with his transcendent sound and explosive stage presence. A peacock, poet and perfectionist, he was a true original, who restlessly pushed his musical gifts to their extremes.

imagine... tells the story of how this shy, former private in the 101st Airborne became the greatest rock guitarist of all time, using never-before-seen performance footage, home movies and family letters.

With contributions from the Hendrix family, Sir Paul McCartney and former band mates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, imagine... presents an in-depth look at Hendrix's life and career that was tragically cut short at just 27-years-old in 1970.


FRI 22:30 Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock (b03p7p6v)
The definitive documentary record of one of Jimi Hendrix's most celebrated performances, now digitally remastered and featuring footage never seen on television before. It includes such signature songs as Purple Haze, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, as well as interviews with Woodstock promoter Michael Lang and Hendrix band members Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Larry Lee and Juma Sultan among others.


FRI 23:30 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00lk48h)
Part II

A celebration of Seventies-era axe-men, acoustic virtuosos and thumping riff merchants, in a compilation of guitar-heavy performances from the BBC TV archives.

Guitar gods including Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Peter Green and Johnny Winter are joined by, among others, flamenco maestro Manitas De Plata, bottleneck bluesman Ry Cooder and straight-up rockers AC/DC and Thin Lizzy.

Everything from Fleetwood Mac's ambient masterpiece Albatross to hits like The Jam's In The City and Free's All Right Now feature along with lesser-known gems like Maid in Heaven by Be Bop Deluxe and Nils Lofgren's Keith Don't Go.

The tracks were recorded in the heyday of BBC shows such as The Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Rock Goes to College.


FRI 00:30 Later... with Jools Holland (b00dwfyy)
Guitar Heroes

Guitar heroes from as far away as Mexico and as close to home as Chiswick have all come to rock the Later studio since 1995. This collection of performances brings together the best of them, from the legendary Buddy Guy to the homegrown guitar superstars he inspired, such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Pete Townshend. Joining them on the bill are Santana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The White Stripes, Radiohead and more.


FRI 01:30 imagine... (b03gln7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 03:00 Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock (b03p7p6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]




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

A303: Highway to the Sun 23:50 TUE (b0116ly6)

Arena 00:30 SUN (b01l4929)

At Home with the Georgians 20:00 TUE (b00wh6lz)

At Home with the Georgians 01:50 TUE (b00wh6lz)

BBC Young Musician 19:30 FRI (p01sgln2)

Botany: A Blooming History 20:00 THU (b011wz4q)

Botany: A Blooming History 02:00 THU (b011wz4q)

British Gardens in Time 21:00 TUE (b040y79r)

British Gardens in Time 02:50 TUE (b040y79r)

British Gardens in Time 23:00 THU (b040y79r)

Britpop at the BBC 01:30 SUN (b0409s91)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 20:00 SAT (b00qck1t)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 01:45 SAT (b00qck1t)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 00:40 WED (b00qck1t)

Danny Boy - The Ballad That Bewitched the World 19:00 SUN (b03hdsbk)

Danny Boy - The Ballad That Bewitched the World 23:30 SUN (b03hdsbk)

Deep Down & Dirty: The Science of Soil 21:00 THU (b040y925)

Deep Down & Dirty: The Science of Soil 03:00 THU (b040y925)

Definitely Dusty 22:30 SUN (b00780bt)

Everyday Eden: A Potted History of the Suburban Garden 23:40 WED (p01t8n4q)

Great American Rock Anthems: Turn it up to 11 23:00 MON (b03n2w37)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b01qgk3f)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b01qgkzl)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b01qgl8h)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 23:30 FRI (b00lk48h)

Icebound: The Greatest Dog Story Ever Told 22:40 SAT (b03pzv9m)

Inspector De Luca 21:00 SAT (b01jg7jl)

Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock 22:30 FRI (b03p7p6v)

Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock 03:00 FRI (b03p7p6v)

Later... with Jools Holland 00:30 FRI (b00dwfyy)

Madness on Wheels: Rallying's Craziest Years 00:00 MON (b01fcncc)

Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture 20:00 WED (b00jzjs4)

Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture 01:40 WED (b00jzjs4)

Natural World 23:40 SAT (b01d8nbk)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b040y72r)

Only Connect 01:00 MON (b040y72r)

Operation Mincemeat 22:50 TUE (b00wllmb)

Parks and Recreation 23:00 WED (p015043t)

Parks and Recreation 23:20 WED (b01r6x6z)

Ripping Yarns 22:00 THU (b0074s5g)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 21:00 MON (b040w7xx)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 03:00 MON (b040w7xx)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 00:00 THU (b040w7xx)

Sacred Music: The Story of Allegri's Miserere 19:00 FRI (b00g81g7)

Some People with Jokes 22:30 THU (b040y927)

Some People with Jokes 01:30 THU (b040y927)

Sounds of the 70s 2 01:15 SAT (b01kcq0k)

Thatcher and the IRA: Dealing with Terror 22:00 MON (b0401phs)

The First World War 22:00 TUE (b01rp9x0)

The Sky at Night 22:00 SUN (b040yyh2)

The Sky at Night 03:30 SUN (b040yyh2)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (b040yyh2)

The Sky at Night 01:00 THU (b040yyh2)

The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney 20:00 MON (p01t6p8s)

The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney 01:30 MON (p01t6p8s)

Timewatch 21:00 WED (b00785y5)

Timewatch 02:40 WED (b00785y5)

Top of the Pops 00:40 SAT (b040lgwj)

Ultimate Irish Music at the Royal Hall: A Presidential Celebration 20:00 SUN (b0418w10)

Voyages of Discovery 21:00 SUN (b0074t2w)

Voyages of Discovery 02:30 SUN (b0074t2w)

Voyages of Discovery 22:00 WED (b0074t2w)

Who Killed the Honey Bee? 02:00 MON (b00jzjys)

Wild Wales 19:00 SAT (b00sj3sn)

Wild Wales 02:45 SAT (b00sj3sn)

Wild Wales 00:50 TUE (b00sj3sn)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b040vpcd)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b040vpck)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b040vpcq)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b040vpcw)

imagine... 21:00 FRI (b03gln7r)

imagine... 01:30 FRI (b03gln7r)