B4

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

SATURDAY 19 APRIL 2014

SAT 19:00 Wild Wales (b00sjngg)
The Rugged North West

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

This episode, filmed in the rugged north of Wales, includes an amazing sequence of an osprey hunting over open water, while visitors at nearby Portmeirion sit unaware of the spectacle before them.

SAT 20:00 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qjnqc)
The Power 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 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.

In the final part, Professor Al-Khalili uncovers tales of success and heartache in the story of chemists' battle to control and combine the elements, and build our modern world. He reveals the dramatic breakthroughs which harnessed their might to release almost unimaginable power, and he journeys to the centre of modern day alchemy, where scientists are attempting to command the extreme forces of nature and create brand new elements.

SAT 21:00 Downfall (b019hd3w)
World War II drama. April, 1945 and it's the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. The Battle of Berlin rages and the Russians move unstoppably towards the centre of the city and the bunker from which Hitler and his inner circle are attempting to direct the German forces. As defeat looms, the increasingly unhinged Hitler readies himself for the end and makes his final declarations to a dwindling crowd of loyalists. His decline is seen through the eyes of Traudl Junge, his innocent and deluded young secretary.

SAT 23:25 Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves (b015yh6f)
Just off the southern coast of mainland Greece lies the oldest submerged city in the world. It thrived for 2,000 years during the time that saw the birth of western civilisation.

An international team of experts uses cutting-edge technology to prise age-old secrets from the complex of streets and stone buildings that lie less than five metres below the surface of the ocean. State-of-the-art CGI helps to raise the city from the seabed, revealing for the first time in 3,500 years how Pavlopetri would once have looked and operated.

Underwater archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson leads the project in collaboration with Nic Flemming, the man whose hunch led to the discovery of Pavlopetri in 1967, and a team from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Working alongside the archaeologists are a team from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics.

The teams scour the ocean floor, looking for artefacts. The site is littered with thousands of fragments, each providing valuable clues about the everyday lives of the people of Pavlopetri. From the buildings to the trade goods to the everyday tableware, each artefact provides a window into a forgotten world.

Together these precious relics provide us with a window to a time when Pavlopetri would have been at its height, showing us what life was like in this distant age and revealing how this city marks the start of western civilisation.

SAT 00:25 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.

SAT 00:55 Horizon (b01d99vb)
2011-2012

Solar Storms - The Threat to Planet Earth

There is a new kind of weather to worry about and it comes from our nearest star.

Scientists are expecting a fit of violent activity on the sun, which will propel billions of tonnes of superheated gas and pulses of energy towards our planet. They have the power to close down our modern technological civilisation - in 1989, a solar storm cut off the power to the Canadian city of Quebec.

Horizon meets the space weathermen who are trying to predict what is coming our way, and organisations like the National Grid, who are preparing for the impending solar storms.

SAT 01:55 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qjnqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

SAT 02:55 Wild Wales (b00sjngg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

SUNDAY 20 APRIL 2014

SUN 19:00 The Man in the White Suit (b01sjsx3)
Biting Ealing satire about an eccentric research scientist working in a menial job in a textile factory, who invents a fabric that never gets dirty and never wears out. When the tycoons of the clothes industry discover his secret, they ruthlessly set out to destroy the formula, and the scientist is forced to go on the run, wearing a suit made from the miracle yarn, with just about everyone in pursuit.

SUN 20:25 The Happiest Days of Your Life (b0074rqs)
Classic British comedy set in London during the Blitz. A girls' school is evacuated to the country, but due to a bureaucratic error they find themselves billeted with a boys' school. While the boys and girls soon hit it off, the headmaster clashes with the headmistress and chaos ensues.

SUN 21:45 The Art of Tommy Cooper (b007hzl2)
Tommy Cooper was a national comedy institution whose catchphrases still remain in the language today. This bumbling giant with outsized feet and hands, whose mere entrance on stage had audiences erupting with uncontrollable laughter, was born in Caerphilly in 1921, where a statue is now erected in his honour - unveiled by Sir Anthony Hopkins.

This programme looks at the life and art of the man in the fez, whose clumsy, fumbling stage magic tricks hid a real talent as a magician. His private life was complicated and often difficult, but as far as his audiences were concerned, he was first and foremost a clown whose confusion with the mechanisms of everyday life made for hilarious viewing.

SUN 22:15 The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse (b00x9b7w)
The extraordinary story of comedian Bob Monkhouse's life and career, told through the vast private archive of films, TV shows, letters and memorabilia that he left behind.

SUN 23:45 Arena (b0074prh)
Ken Dodd's Happiness

A tribute to Liverpudlian comic Ken Dodd, in which he discusses his career and the influences of his comedy style.

Features film clips of his early performances and footage of him on tour in more recent times.

SUN 00:45 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.

SUN 01:15 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.

SUN 02:45 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.

MONDAY 21 APRIL 2014

MON 19:00 Rosslyn Chapel: A Treasure in Stone (b00v3y5s)
The exquisite Rosslyn Chapel is a masterpiece in stone. It used to be one of Scotland's best-kept secrets, but it became world-famous when it was featured in Dan Brown's the Da Vinci Code.

Art historian Helen Rosslyn, whose husband's ancestor built the chapel over 550 years ago, is the guide on a journey of discovery around this perfect gem of a building. Extraordinary carvings of green men, inverted angels and mysterious masonic marks beg the questions of where these images come from and who the stonemasons that created them were. Helen's search leads her across Scotland and to Normandy in search of the creators of this medieval masterpiece.

MON 20:00 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p94)
Episode 2

Martha discovers a bee with deformed wing virus in one of the hives she has set up on a Suffolk wildflower meadow. With the help of a master beekeeper, she treats the hive for verroa mite. Britain's leading bee scientist explains the role of verroa in the decline of bees throughout the country.

As spring arrives, Martha witnesses the growth of the colony and watches as bee larvae hatch out. She investigates the science behind the decline of the honey bee and examines evidence that pesticides may be to blame. Back at her cottage, she tackles a colony of angry bees by replacing their queen with a more mild-mannered individual ordered online and delivered through the post, and she meets the Archbishop of Canterbury to talk about his family's love of beekeeping and why he told the bees about his girlfriends.

MON 20:30 Only Connect (b041m4r8)
Series 9

Europhiles v Relatives

Three fans of the continent take on a family team, 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: flattened note, polyommatus icarus, Hugh Laurie's sporting prize and rare steak.

MON 21:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b041m4rl)
Episode 3

As the century went on, the quest for pleasure began to be replaced by a tougher, noisier, harder-working attitude as Britain embarked on what was to become the Industrial Revolution.

Music also began to take on a different hue - more than just the sonic background to an age of roaring excess, it began to acquire a higher moral purpose. Communal singing, whether in amateur choirs or Handel oratorios, became a means of finding a kind of perfection amid the brutal reality of daily life. Romanticism began to blossom in the search for the sublime. The British folk music that travelled with emigrants to America, the songs of abolitionists that flew in the face of the British slave trade - all were an attempt to use music as a route to more perfect world.

Suzy concludes the series by looking at the crowning achievement of 18th-century music, Haydn's Creation.

MON 22:00 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.

MON 23:00 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.

MON 00:00 America on a Plate: The Story of the Diner (b017ss8x)
Writer and broadcaster Stephen Smith re-envisions the story of 20th-century American culture through its most iconic institution - the diner. Whether Edward Hopper's Nighthawks or the infamous encounter between Pacino and de Niro in Heat, these gleaming, gaudy shacks are at the absolute heart of the American vision.

Stephen embarks on a girth-busting road journey that takes him to some of America's most iconic diners. He meets the film-makers and singers who have immortalised them, and looks at the role diners have played not only in America's greatest paintings and movies, but also in the fight against racial oppression and the chain restaurants' global takeover.

For Stephen, it is because the diner is the last vestige of a vital part of the American psyche - the frontier. Like the Dodge City saloon it is a place where strangers are thrown together, where normal rules are suspended and anything can happen. And it is this crackle of potentially violent and sexual energy that have drawn so many artists to the diner, and made it not a convenient setting but an engine room of 20th-century American culture.

MON 01:00 Only Connect (b041m4r8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]

MON 01:30 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p94)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

MON 02:00 Rosslyn Chapel: A Treasure in Stone (b00v3y5s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]

MON 03:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b041m4rl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 22 APRIL 2014

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b041k81g)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01qglz4)
Series 4

Lynton and Lynmouth to Exeter

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 gets up close to a piece of natural history, visits a garden used as a viewing platform for public hangings and experiences a timepiece like no other.

TUE 20:00 At Home with the Georgians (b00wmxww)
A Woman's Touch

The British obsession with beautifying our homes is not a new phenomenon - it began with a vengeance in the Georgian era. In this second programme of the series historian Amanda Vickery - on a journey from stately home to pauper's attic - reveals how 'taste' became the buzzword of the age 300 years ago and gave women a new outlet for their creativity, raising their status in the home as a consequence. But with it came new anxieties about getting it right.

TUE 21:00 British Gardens in Time (b041m5bq)
Biddulph Grange

Biddulph Grange, the best-surviving Victorian garden in the country, takes the visitor on a whistlestop journey around the world from China to Egypt in a series of gardens connected by tunnels and subterranean passageways.

Biddulph was created at the height of the British Empire by James Bateman, the son of a wealthy industrialist. Bateman was fascinated by botany and the emerging technologies of the Victorian era, filling his garden with rare specimens tracked down by the Victorian plant hunters laid out to designs that purported to come from around the world but were actually inspired by the Great Exhibition and painted plates from the Potteries.

But Bateman's fascination for all things new would come into conflict with his deeply held religious beliefs, leading him into open conflict with Darwin, financial ruin and the eventual loss of his beloved garden.

TUE 22:00 The First World War (b01rp9y7)
War without End

The war's last months were more destructive than trench warfare had been. Germany remained on French soil, believing herself unbeatable. The armistice was the Allies' bid to obtain - on paper - Germany's unconditional surrender. At Versailles she was made to shoulder the blame for the war so she was forced to pay for it. The war, with losses of over 20 million, was later deemed as a senseless waste, but at the time it was seen in positive terms - for defence against aggression and for glory. It curbed militarism, for a while, but was not the war to end all wars. Its terrible message to the century it shaped was that war can fulfil ambitions and that war can work.

TUE 22:50 Operation Crossbow (b011cr8f)
The heroic tales of World War II are legendary, but Operation Crossbow is a little-known story that deserves to join the hall of fame: how the Allies used 3D photos to thwart the Nazis' weapons of mass destruction before they could obliterate Britain.

This film brings together the heroic Spitfire pilots who took the photographs and the brilliant minds of RAF Medmenham that made sense of the jigsaw of clues hidden in the photos. Hitler was pumping a fortune into his new-fangled V weapons in the hope they could win him the war. But Medmenham had a secret weapon of its own, a simple stereoscope which brought to life every contour of the enemy landscape in perfect 3D.

The devil was truly in the detail. Together with extraordinary personal testimonies, the film uses modern computer graphics on the original wartime photographs to show just how the photo interpreters were able to uncover Hitler's nastiest secrets.

TUE 23:50 Entertaining the Troops (b014v51p)
During World War Two an army of performers from ballerinas to magicians, contortionists to impressionists, set out to help win the war by entertaining the troops far and wide. Risking their lives they ventured into war zones, dodging explosions and performing close to enemy lines. Featuring the memories of this intrepid band of entertainers and with contributions from Dame Vera Lynn, Eric Sykes and Tony Benn, this documentary tells the remarkable story of the World War II performers and hears the memories of some of those troops who were entertained during the dark days of war.

TUE 00:50 Wild Wales (b00sjngg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]

TUE 01:50 At Home with the Georgians (b00wmxww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

TUE 02:50 British Gardens in Time (b041m5bq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014

WED 19:00 World News Today (b041k81m)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01qgm2b)
Series 4

Exmouth to Newton Abbot

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 takes to sea with the heroes of the RNLI, visits a stormy coastal railway and has a close personal encounter with his boyhood hero.

WED 20:00 Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture (b00k3685)
Wheat

Documentary series about the history of 20th-century farming in Britain looks at wheat and tells how the country became self-sufficient in producing bread-making wheat after the Second World War.

Told through the working lives and home movie archives of three wheat-farming families from the east of England, it reveals how farmers went from horse power to machine power and how they used science and genetics to transform the size and yield of wheat and the rural landscape, with controversial outcomes for the countryside.

WED 21:00 Girl with a Pearl Earring (b008m44c)
Screen adaptation of Tracy Chevalier's best-selling novel, inspired by the Johannes Vermeer painting of the same name. Set in mid-17th-century Delft, Holland, 17-year-old Griet is forced into servanthood when her father suffers an accident and becomes unable to work. She is taken on at the Vermeer household, where her presence immediately provokes hostility from members of the family - particularly the artist's wife and eldest daughter - when she starts to forge an understanding with her mysterious master.

WED 22:30 Secret Lives of the Artists (b0074pym)
The Madness of Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer is one of our favourite painters, with his Girl with a Pearl Earring now deemed the 'Mona Lisa of the North'. But little is known about his life and for almost two centuries he was lost to obscurity.

Andrew Graham-Dixon, travelling to Vermeer's hometown of Delft and a dramatic Dutch landscape of huge skies and windmills, embarks on a detective trail to uncover the life of a genius in hiding.

Renowned for painting calm and beautiful interiors, the real life of Vermeer was marred by crime and violence. His life was a bid to escape the privations of his family and yet even a glamorous marriage and artistic success failed to save him from the fate he dreaded more than any other.

WED 23:35 Parks and Recreation (p01504pg)
Series 1

Canvassing

Leslie decides that she and her committee need to gain support for the park project as well as support for an upcoming town hall meeting. However, their mission does not go as planned. Meanwhile, Tom wanders away from the canvassing group and uses his own creative recruitment tactics.

WED 23:55 Parks and Recreation (p01504sq)
Series 1

Boys' Club

Leslie attempts to break into the political old boys' club, resulting in an ethical dilemma. Andy plans a surprise for Ann.

WED 00:15 Kings of Rock and Roll (b007c95q)
A journey back to the 1950s for a look at the wildest pop music of all time in a film that tells the stories of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, giants from an era when pop music really was mad, bad and dangerous to know.

The programme features the artists themselves, alongside people like Bill Haley's original Comets, The Crickets, Buddy Holly's widow Maria Elena, Jerry Lee Lewis's former wife Myra Gail and his sister, Chuck Berry's son and many more, including June Juanico, Elvis's first serious girlfriend.

Other contributors include Tom Jones, Jamie Callum, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Green Day, Minnie Driver, Jack White of The White Stripes, The Mavericks, Jools Holland, Hank Marvin, Fontella Bass, John Waters and more.

Elvis's pelvis was just the start. Who had to change the lyrics to their biggest hit because the originals were too obscene? Who married their 13-year-old cousin? Who used lard to get their hair just right? And what happened on the day the music died?

WED 01:15 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qjnqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]

WED 02:15 Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture (b00k3685)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

WED 03:15 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01glwkz)
Arthouse Glam - Get in the Swing

Performances from The Kinks, Roxy Music, Elton John, New York Dolls, Queen, Sparks, Rod Stewart and the rediscovered David Bowie performance of The Jean Genie from January 1973.

Welcome to gender-bending, boys getting in the swing and girls who would be boys and boys who would be girls in this mixed-up, shook-up 70s world.

THURSDAY 24 APRIL 2014

THU 19:00 World News Today (b041k81s)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b041m6ff)
David 'Kid' Jensen presents another edition of the weekly pop chart show, including performances from Generation X, Supertramp, Eruption, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Racey, Amii Stewart, Boney M and the Monks. With dance sequences by Legs & Co.

THU 20:00 Botany: A Blooming History (b0122k8y)
Hidden World

For 10,000 years or more, humans created new plant varieties for food by trial and error and a touch of serendipity. Then 150 years ago, a new era began. Pioneer botanists unlocked the patterns found in different types of plants and opened the door to a new branch of science - plant genetics. They discovered what controlled the random colours of snapdragon petals and the strange colours found in wild maize.

This was vital information. Some botanists even gave their lives to protect their collection of seeds. American wheat farmer Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel peace prize after he bred a new strain of wheat that lifted millions of people around the world out of starvation. Today, botanists believe advances in plant genetics hold the key to feeding the world's growing population.

THU 21:00 The Magic of Mushrooms (b041m6fh)
Professor Richard Fortey delves into the fascinating and normally hidden kingdom of fungi. From their spectacular birth, through their secretive underground life to their final explosive death, Richard reveals a remarkable world that few of us understand or even realise exists - yet all life on earth depends on it.

In a specially built mushroom lab, with the help of mycologist Dr Patrick Hickey and some state-of-the-art technology, Richard brings to life the secret world of mushrooms as never seen before and reveals the spectacular abilities of fungi to break down waste and sustain new plant life, keeping our planet alive.

Beyond the lab, Richard travels across Britain and beyond to show us the biggest, fastest and most deadly organisms on the planet - all of them fungi. He reveals their almost magical powers that have world-changing potential - opening up new frontiers in science, medicine and technology.

THU 22:00 Ripping Yarns (b0074s66)
Series 1

Murder at Moorstones Manor

Hugo and Dora drive down to see Mumsie and Dadsie-pie for a long weekend in the country. But their tophole weekend turns out to be longer than they thought.

THU 22:30 Some People with Jokes (p00w07vc)
Series 1

Some Vicars with Jokes Part 1

Sing hosanna! Clergy folk from around the UK swap the good book for the joke book and share their favourite gags. Old, new, clean, not so clean, these vicars are hell bent on getting us laughing - and that's gospel!

THU 23:00 British Gardens in Time (b041m5bq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]

THU 00:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b041m4rl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]

THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b041m6ff)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

THU 01:35 Botany: A Blooming History (b0122k8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]

THU 02:35 The Magic of Mushrooms (b041m6fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

FRIDAY 25 APRIL 2014

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b041m7hk)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (b041m7hm)
2014

Percussion Final

The spotlight turns to five more young performers as the search continues for the UK's most talented classical musician. Rhythm takes centre stage as presenters Alison Balsom and Milos introduce extensive highlights and behind-the-scenes access from the percussion final.

From the marimba and vibraphone to gongs, bells and timpani, expect the unexpected. With repertoire ranging from Bach and Rachmaninov to the 21st century, five young percussionists put in performances full of energy and showmanship: 15-year-old Elliott Gaston-Ross, 18-year-old Matthew Farthing, 17-year-old Tom Highnam, 16-year-old Jess Wood and 18-year-old Stefan Beckett.

Each of them will be hoping they can convince the judges to put them through to the semi-final, taking them one step closer to the prestigious title of BBC Young Musician 2014.

FRI 21:00 ... Sings Bacharach and David! (b01gxl5w)
The BBC have raided their remarkable archive once more to reveal evocative performances from Burt Bacharach and Hal David's astonishing songbook. Love songs from the famous songwriting duo were a familiar feature of 60s and 70s BBC entertainment programmes such as Dusty, Cilla and The Cliff Richard Show, but there are some surprises unearthed here too.

Highlights include Sandie Shaw singing Always Something There to Remind Me, Aretha Franklin performing I Say a Little Prayer, Dusty Springfield's Wishin' and Hopin', The Stranglers' rendition of Walk on By on Top of the Pops, The Carpenters in concert performing (They Long to Be) Close to You and Burt Bacharach revisiting his classic Kentucky Bluebird with Rufus Wainwright on Later...with Jools Holland.

FRI 22:00 The Joy of Easy Listening (b011g614)
In-depth documentary investigation into the story of a popular music genre that is often said to be made to be heard but not listened to. The film looks at easy listening's architects and practitioners, its dangers and delights, and the mark it has left on modern life.

From its emergence in the 50s to its heyday in the 60s, through its survival in the 70s and 80s and its revival in the 90s and beyond, the film traces the hidden history of a music that has reflected society every bit as much as pop and rock - just in a more relaxed way.

Invented at the dawn of rock 'n' roll, easy listening has shadowed pop music and the emerging teenage market since the mid-50s. It is a genre that equally soundtracks our modern age, but perhaps for a rather more 'mature' generation and therefore with its own distinct purpose and aesthetic.

Contributors include Richard Carpenter, Herb Alpert, Richard Clayderman, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jimmy Webb, Mike Flowers, James Last and others.

FRI 23:30 Neil Diamond: Solitary Man (b00vzzst)
A 60-minute documentary including an interview and exclusive location filming with Neil Diamond in New York and Los Angeles. Robbie Robertson, Jeff Barry, Mickey Dolenz and other contributors track Neil from his childhood in Brooklyn to his early days in the Brill Building, his nascent solo career and superstardom in the early 70s, the lean years of the 80s, his career reboot via Rick Rubin in the noughties and his Glastonbury success.

FRI 00:30 Electric Proms (b00vzzsw)
2010

Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond in concert from London's Roundhouse with his six-piece band performing tracks from his 2010 album Dreams, which explores the 60s and 70s songs he loves, and reinventing his classics. This is Neil Diamond stripped down with strings in his most intimate performance for years.

FRI 01:35 Easy Listening Hits at the BBC (b011g943)
Compilation of easy listening tracks that offers the perfect soundtrack for your cocktail party. There's music to please every lounge lizard, with unique performances from the greatest easy listening artists of the 60s and 70s, including Burt Bacharach, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, The Carpenters and many more.

FRI 02:35 ... Sings Bacharach and David! (b01gxl5w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

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

... Sings Bacharach and David! 21:00 FRI (b01gxl5w)

... Sings Bacharach and David! 02:35 FRI (b01gxl5w)

America on a Plate: The Story of the Diner 00:00 MON (b017ss8x)

Arena 23:45 SUN (b0074prh)

At Home with the Georgians 20:00 TUE (b00wmxww)

At Home with the Georgians 01:50 TUE (b00wmxww)

BBC Young Musician 19:30 FRI (b041m7hm)

Botany: A Blooming History 20:00 THU (b0122k8y)

Botany: A Blooming History 01:35 THU (b0122k8y)

British Gardens in Time 21:00 TUE (b041m5bq)

British Gardens in Time 02:50 TUE (b041m5bq)

British Gardens in Time 23:00 THU (b041m5bq)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 20:00 SAT (b00qjnqc)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 01:55 SAT (b00qjnqc)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 01:15 WED (b00qjnqc)

Deep Down & Dirty: The Science of Soil 22:00 MON (b040y925)

Downfall 21:00 SAT (b019hd3w)

Easy Listening Hits at the BBC 01:35 FRI (b011g943)

Electric Proms 00:30 FRI (b00vzzsw)

Entertaining the Troops 23:50 TUE (b014v51p)

Girl with a Pearl Earring 21:00 WED (b008m44c)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b01qglz4)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b01qgm2b)

Horizon 00:55 SAT (b01d99vb)

Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock 02:45 SUN (b03p7p6v)

Kings of Rock and Roll 00:15 WED (b007c95q)

Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture 20:00 WED (b00k3685)

Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture 02:15 WED (b00k3685)

Neil Diamond: Solitary Man 23:30 FRI (b00vzzst)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b041m4r8)

Only Connect 01:00 MON (b041m4r8)

Operation Crossbow 22:50 TUE (b011cr8f)

Parks and Recreation 23:35 WED (p01504pg)

Parks and Recreation 23:55 WED (p01504sq)

Pavlopetri - The City Beneath the Waves 23:25 SAT (b015yh6f)

Ripping Yarns 22:00 THU (b0074s66)

Rosslyn Chapel: A Treasure in Stone 19:00 MON (b00v3y5s)

Rosslyn Chapel: A Treasure in Stone 02:00 MON (b00v3y5s)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 21:00 MON (b041m4rl)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 03:00 MON (b041m4rl)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 00:00 THU (b041m4rl)

Secret Lives of the Artists 22:30 WED (b0074pym)

Some People with Jokes 22:30 THU (p00w07vc)

Sounds of the 70s 2 03:15 WED (b01glwkz)

The Art of Tommy Cooper 21:45 SUN (b007hzl2)

The First World War 22:00 TUE (b01rp9y7)

The Happiest Days of Your Life 20:25 SUN (b0074rqs)

The Joy of Easy Listening 22:00 FRI (b011g614)

The Magic of Mushrooms 21:00 THU (b041m6fh)

The Magic of Mushrooms 02:35 THU (b041m6fh)

The Man in the White Suit 19:00 SUN (b01sjsx3)

The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse 22:15 SUN (b00x9b7w)

The Sky at Night 00:25 SAT (b040yyh2)

The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney 00:45 SUN (p01t6p8s)

The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney 20:00 MON (p01t6p94)

The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney 01:30 MON (p01t6p94)

Timewatch 23:00 MON (b00785y5)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b041m6ff)

Top of the Pops 01:00 THU (b041m6ff)

Wild Wales 19:00 SAT (b00sjngg)

Wild Wales 02:55 SAT (b00sjngg)

Wild Wales 00:50 TUE (b00sjngg)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b041k81g)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b041k81m)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b041k81s)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b041m7hk)

imagine... 01:15 SUN (b03gln7r)