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 10 MAY 2014

SAT 19:00 Natural World (b00p9210)
2009-2010

A Highland Haven

This stunningly beautiful film reveals the unique wildlife of the Scottish Highlands, seen through the eyes of film-maker Fergus Beeley.

Based for a year at Loch Maree and the surrounding hills in Scotland's far north west, Beeley presents his personal view of the shy animals whose lives are ruled by the rains. He follows the fortunes of rare black-throated divers and white-tailed sea eagles, which both breed there, while capturing the red deer and salmon whose lives also revolve around the loch.

With an evocative score provided by local musician Phil Cunningham, this enchanting film captures the magic of a very special place.


SAT 20:00 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03lyyrc)
Episode 3

Simon discovers surprises in Istanbul as it rose to become the imperial capital and Islam's most powerful city. Visiting the great mosques and palaces built by the Ottoman emperors, he tells the stories behind them - of royal concubines, murderous bodyguards and sultans both the powerful and the depraved. He shows how the Christians, Muslims and Jews of the city once co-existed before the waves of nationalist rebellions brought the Ottoman empire to its knees. In the 20th century the ancient capital was once more transformed by the new secular vision of Ataturk.


SAT 21:00 Alan Bennett at 80: Bennett Meets Hytner (b043kx7y)
Sir Nicholas Hytner interviews living legend and playwright Alan Bennett on the eve of his 80th birthday. Ranging across 40 years of his work for stage, television and cinema, it is the first time these long term collaborators (The Madness of King George, The History Boys and more) have engaged in a full-length debate on television about the art of what they do. Includes clips of eight of Bennett's productions from Forty Years On (1968) to The Habit of Art (2009).


SAT 22:00 Talking Heads (b00pcbyq)
Series 1

A Chip in the Sugar

Drama monologue written by and starring Alan Bennett. Graham, a middle-aged man who lives with his mother, finds her taking up with old flame Mr Turnbull.


SAT 22:40 Talking Heads (b00p8lht)
Series 1

Bed Among the Lentils

Alan Bennett-penned monologue in which Maggie Smith plays the vicar's wife who finds a vision of God at the local off-licence.


SAT 23:30 The Many Faces of... (b018nvwc)
Series 1

Les Dawson

Les Dawson was one of Britain's all time great comedy talents, best known as a comedian but also a talented musician, writer and actor. This programme traces his career, with familiar favourite TV clips and some rare gems from the archives. Together with interviews from friends, relatives and colleagues, the programme unpicks the secrets of his enduring legacy nearly 20 years after his untimely death.

After 'discovery' on the Opportunity Knocks talent show in the 60s, he quickly became a regular face on TV, hosting comedy-led variety shows like Sez Les and The Les Dawson Show. His trademarks were short, pithy jokes, usually targeting his wife or mother in law, long verbose monologues and, perhaps most famously, piano recitals that went hilariously off key.

His reputation attracted guest appearances from some unexpected fans like John Cleese and Shirley Bassey, and he created an overweight dance troupe, The Roly Polys.

The programme shows how his career unfolded and illustrates the different facets of his comedy genius. John Cleese remembers their unlikely friendship, modern comedy stars Robert Webb and Russell Kane talk about his inspiration and Dawson's widow Tracy recalls their marriage and his joy at being a father late in life.


SAT 00:30 Top of the Pops (b042twvn)
Peter Powell presents another edition of the weekly pop chart show, including performances from the Tubes, Earth Wind & Fire, the Emotions, the Police, Abba, Linda Clifford, Donna Summer, Blondie, Peaches & Herb, XTC, the Undertones, Judas Priest, Max Webster and Roxy Music. With dance sequences by Legs & Co.


SAT 01:10 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01jk1b8)
Soul: Keep On Keeping On

Imported American soul was big news in the UK in the 1970s. Before the Brits developed their own brand of soul, American performers were here demonstrating how it was done and being appreciated by all and sundry. The series continues with classic performances from the kings and queens of soul, including Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston, The Tams, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, The Stylistics, Gil Scott-Heron and The Jacksons.


SAT 01:40 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03lyyrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:40 Natural World (b00p9210)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 11 MAY 2014

SUN 19:00 The Wooden Horse (b0078n5m)
Dramatisation of one of the most ingenious escape bids of World War II.

In camp Stalag Luft III, the Nazis have built the prisoners' huts so far from the fence that underground escape is virtually impossible.

One British officer, inspired by the tale of the Trojan Horse, proposes a daring plan to start a tunnel close to the boundary using a wooden vaulting horse as cover.


SUN 20:45 Wild (b00jd9yx)
Scotland

Otters, Puffins and Seals

Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan explores his native Mull and some of the nearby islands, filming otters, deer, puffins, seals and a minke whale.


SUN 21:00 An Englishman Abroad (b0074pqk)
Alan Bennett's award-winning film drama based on a meeting between Australian actress Coral Browne and British spy Guy Burgess.

When a mysterious Englishman appears in her dressing room, Coral Browne assumes he is attached to the Embassy, but if so, why are his trousers out at the knees? What does he want with her face powder? An invitation to lunch will perhaps explain, though the lunch consists of one tomato.


SUN 22:00 The Sky at Night (b043wcjp)
How Gravity Shapes the Universe

The universe is filled with spectacular objects, from gloriously-coloured nebulae to the swirling motion of a billion stars formed into a single galaxy. One force has created it all - gravity. The Sky at Night team steps away from the bright lights and travels to the Brecon Beacons AstroCamp to see how gravity shapes the universe, in all its spectacular glory.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock asks why so much of the night sky is filled with spheres and why not all these spheres are what they seem. Chris Lintott finds out about the newest moon in the solar system that has just formed in Saturn's rings, and how it could shed light on how the planets formed billions of years ago.

Plus, how to get great images of the night sky without using a telescope and what the shape of a galaxy tells you about its past.


SUN 22:30 Dinner at Noon (b00pcbqf)
In the setting of the Crown Hotel in Harrogate, with its leisure breaks and conference facilities, Alan Bennett reflects on the subject of class.


SUN 23:10 Krakatoa Revealed (b00791fm)
In 1883, the volcanic island of Krakatoa erupted without warning. Within a day the island had virtually disappeared in the loudest explosion ever recorded. The eruption generated a succession of massive tsunamis that wiped out the Indonesian coastline and killed over 30,000 people. These waves were three times higher than those seen on Boxing Day in 2004. And over 30 miles from the volcano, across open ocean, thousands more were killed by hot ash.

For over a century geologists have been unable to explain how so many people died. But today, through field studies, experiments and analysis of historical records, they think they have finally found the answers. And these answers are hugely important because the volcano is back.

Since 1927, the volcano Anak Krakatoa, the child of Krakatoa, has been growing. It is now over half the size of the original volcano. And geologists are certain that it will erupt again. The only questions that remain are how and when.


SUN 00:00 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6pjf)
Episode 4

Martha enjoys the English countryside at its best, offers her honey to the public at a village fair and finally succeeds in harvesting the true wildflower honey she set out to achieve.

At the height of summer the owners of the meadow have invited the public to an open day to celebrate this unique bit of countryside. The pressure is on Martha to get the honey ready in time. With such a late spring the meadow flowers are late opening and the bees are still foraging on a neighbouring farmer's crops when the day arrives.

Martha visits Cornwall's Tregothnan Estate to discover the secret of the highly-prized manuka honey and returns to Suffolk with plans for a final harvest of wildflower honey. By now the meadow is in its prime. When Martha sends her honey to be tested it is proved to be true wildflower honey. It only remains to prepare the bees for the winter and reflect on a rewarding and fascinating season of beekeeping.


SUN 00:30 When Rock Goes Acoustic (b0141myx)
The cliche of classic rock guitar is one of riffs, solos and noise. But write a list of great guitarists and their finest moments and a quieter, more intense playing comes to the fore. The acoustic guitar is the secret weapon in the armoury of the guitar hero, when paradoxically they get more attention by playing quietly than being loud.

This documentary takes an insightful and occasionally irreverent look at the love affair between rock and the humble acoustic guitar. Exploring a much less celebrated, yet crucial part of the rock musician's arsenal, contributors including Johnny Marr, Keith Richards, Ray Davies, James Dean Bradfield, Biffy Clyro, Joan Armatrading, Donovan and Roger McGuinn discuss why an instrument favoured by medieval minstrels and singing nuns is as important to rock 'n' roll as the drums, bass and its noisy sister, the electric guitar.


SUN 01:30 Acoustic at the BBC (b0141mz1)
A journey through some of the finest moments of acoustic guitar performances from the BBC archives - from Jimmy Page's television debut in 1958 to Oasis and Biffy Clyro.

Highlights include:

Neil Young - Heart of Gold
David Bowie - Starman
Oasis - Wonderwall
Donovan - Mellow Yellow
Joan Armatrading - Woncha Come on Home
Bert Jansch, Johnny Marr and Bernard Butler - The River Bank
Joni Mitchell - Chelsea Morning
Biffy Clyro - Mountains.


SUN 02:30 The Rolling Stones at the BBC (b01p1pmf)
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Rolling Stones we delve into the BBC vaults to deliver some timeless Stones archive. From the early days of their career and some unforgettable performances on Top of the Pops with the Last Time, Let's Spend the Night Together and Get Off of My Cloud through the late 60s and early 70s era of prolific song writing when the band were knocking out a classic album every other year and offering up such classics as Honky Tonk Women and Gimme Shelter.

The late 70s brought a massively successful nod to disco with Miss You and the early 80s a stomping return to form with the rock 'n' roll groove of Start Me Up. Peppered amongst the performances are snippets of wisdom from the two main men - the Glimmer Twins, aka Mick and Keith. Plus as a special treat, some lost footage of the band performing 19th Nervous Breakdown on Top of the Pops in 1966 - recently discovered in a BBC documentary from the 1960s about women with depression.


SUN 03:15 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01jv6sd)
Disco - Ain't No Stopping Us Now

Disco was all pervasive in the mid and early 70s. And while towards the end of the decade punk stole the headlines, disco still had the high street. Everyone was into it and getting down on it at the local discotheque. Join us in a celebration of all things disco including performances by The Jacksons, Thelma Houston, Sylvester, Carl Douglas, George McCrae, Sister Sledge, McFadden and Whitehead, Eruption and Gloria Gaynor.



MONDAY 12 MAY 2014

MON 19:00 World News Today (b043l0tf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00xbkx0)
Series 2

Brighton to Crystal Palace

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of five epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.

In a journey taking him coast to coast from Brighton to Cromer, Michael finds out about Brighton's Victorian aquarium, the largest in the world at the time, explores the underground quarries of Godstone and discovers the wonders of the Crystal Palace in suburban south London.


MON 20:00 Groundbreakers (b03fqdt6)
Series 1

The Man Who Shrank The World

William Crawley follows the incredible story of Belfast-born scientist Lord Kelvin and a group of visionaries, who long before the first telephone call, embarked on a quest to join Europe and America, spanning the Atlantic with a single 2,500-mile telegraph cable.


MON 20:30 Only Connect (b043l0th)
Series 9

Relatives v Exhibitionists

Two teams who lost their first round return for another chance to make it to the semi-finals. A family team play a trio of art enthusiasts, 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:.


MON 21:00 Hinterland (b040jr7q)
Series 1 (full length)

Episode 3

In the isolated village of Penwyllt, the body of a young man is discovered in the murky depths of a quarry lake. But who is he, and was this an accident?


MON 22:35 The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (b042twvq)
Episode 2

Lucy Worsley's inside story of Britain's imported German dynasty, made with extensive access to the Royal Collection, reaches the reign of George II. She shows how he had to adapt to a growing 'middling rank' in society no longer content with being downtrodden subjects. Affairs of state were being openly discussed in coffee houses, while the king and his ministers were mocked in satirical prints and theatres.

George II was an easy target - grumpy, and frequently absent in Hanover. To his British subjects he became The King Who Wasn't There. But his wife, the enlightened Caroline, popularized a medical breakthrough against smallpox. However, it was their son, Frederick Prince of Wales, who really understood this new world - he had the popular touch monarchy would need to survive into the modern era.


MON 23:35 The Toilet: An Unspoken History (b01kxyhd)
We each spend three years of our lives on the toilet, but how happy are we talking about this essential part of our lives? This film challenges that mindset by uncovering its role in our culture and exploring the social history of the toilet in Britain and abroad - as well as exploring many of our cultural toilet taboos.

Starting in Merida, Spain, with some of the earliest surviving Roman toilets, we journey around the world - from the UK to China, Japan and Bangladesh - visiting toilets, ranging from the historically significant to the beautiful, from the functional and sometimes not-so-functional to the downright bizarre.

Leading our journey is Everyman figure, Welsh poet and presenter Ifor ap Glyn, who has a passionate interest in the toilet, its history and how it has evolved over the centuries, right up to the development of the current design. Finally, there's a glimpse of the future and a possible solution to the global sanitation issues we now face.


MON 00:35 Only Connect (b043l0th)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 today]


MON 01:05 Timeshift (b00x7c3z)
Series 10

The Golden Age of Coach Travel

Documentary which takes a glorious journey back to the 1950s, when the coach was king. From its early origins in the charabanc, the coach had always been the people's form of transport. Cheaper and more flexible than the train, it allowed those who had travelled little further than their own villages and towns a first heady taste of exploration and freedom. It was a safe capsule on wheels from which to venture out into a wider world.

The distinctive livery of the different coach companies was part of a now-lost world, when whole communities crammed into coach after coach en route to pleasure spots like Blackpool, Margate and Torquay. With singsongs, toilet stops and the obligatory pub halt, it didn't matter how long it took to get there because the journey was all part of the adventure.


MON 02:05 Hinterland (b040jr7q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 13 MAY 2014

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b043k9k3)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00xblg3)
Series 2

Waterloo to Canary Wharf

In a journey taking him coast to coast from Brighton to Cromer, Michael finds out about the Stiffs' Express, a funeral service running coffins from Waterloo to Brookwood Cemetery. He discovers how London's West End became a great 19th-century shopping destination and explores the changing fortunes of London's docks.


TUE 20:00 Horizon (b0148vph)
2011-2012

The Core

For centuries we have dreamt of reaching the centre of the Earth. Now scientists are uncovering a bizarre and alien world that lies 4,000 miles beneath our feet, unlike anything we know on the surface. It is a planet buried within the planet we know, where storms rage within a sea of white-hot metal and a giant forest of crystals make up a metal core the size of the moon.

Horizon follows scientists who are conducting experiments to recreate this core within their own laboratories, with surprising results.


TUE 21:00 Talking Heads (b00pcbyv)
Series 1

A Lady of Letters

Irene Ruddock's mother died some years ago and she lives alone. A one-woman Neighbourhood Watch scheme, her habit of writing letters to the appropriate authorities gets ridiculously out of hand.


TUE 21:30 102 Boulevard Haussmann (b0440rbq)
Alan Bennett recounts a bittersweet episode in the life of the writer Marcel Proust. In 1916, while the war rages on the battlefields of France, Proust lives a nocturnal, closeted life in his Paris apartment, obsessively working on his writing. After venturing outside to visit a concert, he becomes fascinated by a string quartet's viola player, who is a wounded serviceman home from the front.


TUE 22:45 4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog (b03js0gf)
A 4,000-year-old body is found preserved in an Irish peat bog, in Cashel, in Ireland's midlands. To scientists and historians, it could offer brand new clues to solve an ancient mystery - the hundreds of bodies found mummified in the boglands of northern Europe.

An international team of experts assemble to investigate this new find, led by Ned Kelly of the National Museum of Ireland. Ned is a veteran archaeologist, and has previously investigated some of Ireland's most famous bog bodies.

Will 'Cashel Man' help prove his theory these Irish victims were ancient kings? And what clues can the bog bodies of Europe offer to explain our ancestors' most macabre tradition, ritual murder?

Meanwhile, that question could be answered by the bog itself. New science has found clues to suggest these deaths may be explained by prehistoric climate change.


TUE 23:45 Natural World (b00p9210)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


TUE 00:45 Krakatoa Revealed (b00791fm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:10 on Sunday]


TUE 01:35 Horizon (b0148vph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:35 4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog (b03js0gf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:45 today]



WEDNESDAY 14 MAY 2014

WED 19:00 World News Today (b043k9k8)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00xbll7)
Series 2

Enfield to Cambridge

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of five epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.

On a journey taking him coast to coast from Brighton to Cromer, Michael visits the government arms factory at Enfield (the largest machine shop in Europe in Bradshaw's day), discovers how the trains transformed Newmarket's races and finds out why Cambridge could be considered the birthplace of modern football.


WED 20:00 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792v2)
The Cursed Valley of the Pyramids

In the Lambeyeque valley in northern Peru lies a strange lost world - the forgotten ruins of 250 mysterious pyramids, including some of the biggest on the planet, colossal structures made out of mud bricks. Long ago, the Lambeyeque people were haunted by a terrible fear and believed that building pyramids was essential to their survival. Their obsession reached its height at a city called Tucume, an eerie place of 26 pyramids standing side by side, the last pyramids this civilisation created before they vanished forever.

What was the fear that drove these people to build so many pyramids, what were they for and why did the whole civilisation suddenly vanish? This film captures the moments when archaeologists at the site uncovered a mass of bodies of human sacrifice victims, following a trail of clues into the dark story of Tucume. It recreates the strange rituals of the people of the valley, revealing a civilisation whose obsession to build pyramids eventually turned to horror, until Tucume finally vanished in a bloody frenzy of human sacrifice.


WED 21:00 The Damned United (b00t61gx)
The story of Brian Clough's 44-day stint as manager of Leeds United FC in 1974. When Don Revie quit Leeds to become the England boss, the outspoken Clough took charge. Determined to impose his own style upon Revie's tough-tackling team, Clough soon alienated his players and the board.

Based on the book by David Peace.


WED 22:30 Alex Higgins: The People's Champion (b00tmzfb)
One man transfixed television viewers during snooker's golden age - Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins. This poignant documentary charts the remarkable rise and fall of the snooker genius, from his early days growing up in Belfast to his climb to the top of the sport as two-time world champion.

Higgins was pure showbiz, a mercurial talent at the table who played the game like nobody had done before. Boxing had Muhammad Ali, football was blessed by George Best - snooker had Alex Higgins. Yet like Best, Higgins's brilliance was flawed by his demons. We chart the depressing lows - the alcohol abuse, threatening to have fellow Ulsterman Dennis Taylor shot, headbutting a senior member of snooker's hierarchy and falling out of a top floor window and living to tell the tale after a row with his then-girlfriend.

The Higgins story is completed with the final chapter of his life spent battling throat cancer; desperate hours spent in pubs and working men's clubs trying to rekindle his halcyon days; finally unable to eat properly because he'd lost his teeth and in the end, ultimately found dead alone in sheltered accommodation.

At times uplifting, but at other moments very sad - this is a rollercoaster journey charting the life of snooker's 'rock and roll star'.

Contributors include Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Dennis Taylor, Barry Hearn, Steve Davis, Ray Reardon and members of the Higgins family.


WED 23:30 Parks and Recreation (b01rs2n1)
Series 2

Beauty Pageant

Leslie gets to judge a beauty contest, but ends up having conflicting opinions on 'the ideal woman' with the other judges. On a date with Mark, Ann learns that Andy has been living in the pit.


WED 23:55 Parks and Recreation (b01rsff3)
Series 2

Practice Date

Leslie, nervous about her first date with Dave, gets Ann to take her on a practice date in order to prepare. Tom, Ron, Mark and April try to see who can uncover the most dirt on each other.


WED 00:15 Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities (b03lyyrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


WED 01:15 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792v2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:15 Alex Higgins: The People's Champion (b00tmzfb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]


WED 03:15 Great British Railway Journeys (b00xbll7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



THURSDAY 15 MAY 2014

THU 19:00 World News Today (b043k9kf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b043wcjp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 20:00 Orbit: Earth's Extraordinary Journey (b01dq1h0)
Episode 3

Right now you're hurtling around the sun at 64,000 miles an hour (100,000 km an hour). In the next year you'll travel 584 million miles, to end up back where you started.

Presenters Kate Humble and Dr Helen Czerski follow the Earth's voyage around the sun for one complete orbit, to witness the astonishing consequences this journey has for us all.

In this final episode we complete our journey, travelling back from the March equinox to the end of June. Kate Humble is in the Arctic at a place where spring arrives with a bang, whilst Helen Czerski chases a tornado to show how the earth's angle of tilt creates the most extreme weather on the planet.


THU 21:00 The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (p01xtmv7)
Episode 3

Dr Lucy Worsley's story of the first Georgian kings reaches the final years of George II's reign. With extensive access to artworks in the Royal Collection, she shows how Britain's new ruling family fought the French, the Jacobites and each other, all at the same time. But while George very publicly bickered with his troublesome son Frederick, Prince of Wales, he also led from the front on the battlefield - the last British king to do so - and helped turn his adopted nation into a global superpower.

What would have seemed an unlikely outcome when the Georges first arrived from Hanover was achieved on the back of a strong navy, a dubious slave trade and a powerful new entrepreneurial spirit that owed much to the influence of the Scottish Enlightenment.


THU 22:00 Ripping Yarns (b0074s8t)
Series 2

Whinfrey's Last Case

A knockabout tale of international intrigue. Dashing, debonair Gerald Whinfrey saves his country twice a week. But in 1913 a German plot - to start the First World War without telling anyone - coincides with his Cornish fishing holiday. Where will Whinfrey's loyalties lie?


THU 22:30 Some People with Jokes (b037nhbc)
Series 1

Some Scousers with Jokes Part 1

The people of Liverpool tell their favourite jokes. The city has a tradition of comedy and joke telling, but does that mean the man and woman on the street can crack corkers? Good news - yes it does.


THU 23:00 Horizon (b0148vph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


THU 00:00 Hinterland (b040jr7q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 01:35 The Sky at Night (b043wcjp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 02:05 Britain on Film (b01qbz9f)
Series 1

This Sceptered Isle

In 1959, Britain's biggest cinema company, the Rank Organisation, decided to replace its newsreels with a series of short, quirky, topical documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. For the next ten years, Look at Life chronicled - on high-grade 35mm colour film - the changing face of British society, industry and culture. Britain on Film draws upon the 500 films in this unique archive to offer illuminating and often surprising insights into what became a pivotal decade.

This episode examines Look at Life's quirky films that documented unusual or eccentric British customs, rituals and traditions. In an era where many Britons embraced change as never before, these revealing and highly entertaining films show that people were determined to preserve the idiosyncratic aspects of our national life.


THU 02:35 The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (p01xtmv7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 16 MAY 2014

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b043k9kl)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (b043njld)
2014

Brass Final

After having been treated to some outstanding music-making in the strings, percussion, woodwind and keyboard finals of BBC Young Musician 2014, brass takes centre stage as five talented young performers compete for the last remaining place in the semi-final.

With repertoire from Schumann to Enescu and Kurt Weill, classical guitarist Milos and trumpet player Alison Balsom - herself a BBC Young Musician finalist in 1998 - introduce extensive highlights and behind-the-scenes access from the competition. Hoping to impress the jury are two trumpet players, 13-year-old Will Thomas and 18-year-old Matilda Lloyd, and three trombonists, 18-year-old Lewis Bettles, 14-year-old Isobel Daws and 14-year-old Ellena Newton.

Whoever wins will be one step closer to reaching the grand final at Edinburgh's Usher Hall, where only one will be crowned BBC Young Musician 2014.


FRI 21:00 The Doors - The Story of LA Woman (b01f7y7c)
By 1969, the Doors had found themselves at the forefront of a movement that consisted of a generation of discontents. Operating against a backdrop of the Vietnam War and of social unrest and change in the USA, the Doors were hip, they were dangerous, they were anti-establishment, anti-war and they were hated by middle-America.

Featuring exclusive interviews with surviving band members Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Kreiger and their closest colleagues and collaborators, along with exclusive performances, archive footage and examination of the original multi-track recording tapes with producer Bruce Botnick, this film tells the amazing story of landmark album LA Woman by one of the most influential bands on the planet.


FRI 22:00 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?


FRI 23:00 50s Britannia (b01sgbw2)
Rock 'n' Roll Britannia

Long before the Beatles there was British rock 'n' roll. Between 1956 and 1960 British youth created a unique copy of a distant and scarce American original whilst most parents, professional jazz men and even the BBC did their level best to snuff it out.

From its first faltering steps as a facsimile of Bill Haley's swing style to the sophistication of self-penned landmarks such as Shakin' All Over and The Sound of Fury, this is the story of how the likes of Lord Rockingham's XI, Vince Taylor and Cliff Richard and The Shadows laid the foundations for an enduring 50-year culture of rock 'n' roll.

Now well into their seventies, the flame still burns strong in the hearts of the original young ones. Featuring Sir Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Joe Brown, Bruce Welch, Cherry Wainer and The Quarrymen.


FRI 00:00 Classic Albums (b01rlwpd)
Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley

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


FRI 00:50 The Doors - The Story of LA Woman (b01f7y7c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:50 Kings of Rock and Roll (b007c95q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:55 50s Britannia (b01sgbw2)
[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)

102 Boulevard Haussmann 21:30 TUE (b0440rbq)

4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog 22:45 TUE (b03js0gf)

4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog 02:35 TUE (b03js0gf)

50s Britannia 23:00 FRI (b01sgbw2)

50s Britannia 02:55 FRI (b01sgbw2)

Acoustic at the BBC 01:30 SUN (b0141mz1)

Alan Bennett at 80: Bennett Meets Hytner 21:00 SAT (b043kx7y)

Alex Higgins: The People's Champion 22:30 WED (b00tmzfb)

Alex Higgins: The People's Champion 02:15 WED (b00tmzfb)

An Englishman Abroad 21:00 SUN (b0074pqk)

BBC Young Musician 19:30 FRI (b043njld)

Britain on Film 02:05 THU (b01qbz9f)

Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities 20:00 SAT (b03lyyrc)

Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities 01:40 SAT (b03lyyrc)

Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities 00:15 WED (b03lyyrc)

Classic Albums 00:00 FRI (b01rlwpd)

Dinner at Noon 22:30 SUN (b00pcbqf)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b00xbkx0)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b00xblg3)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b00xbll7)

Great British Railway Journeys 03:15 WED (b00xbll7)

Groundbreakers 20:00 MON (b03fqdt6)

Hinterland 21:00 MON (b040jr7q)

Hinterland 02:05 MON (b040jr7q)

Hinterland 00:00 THU (b040jr7q)

Horizon 20:00 TUE (b0148vph)

Horizon 01:35 TUE (b0148vph)

Horizon 23:00 THU (b0148vph)

Kings of Rock and Roll 22:00 FRI (b007c95q)

Kings of Rock and Roll 01:50 FRI (b007c95q)

Krakatoa Revealed 23:10 SUN (b00791fm)

Krakatoa Revealed 00:45 TUE (b00791fm)

Lost Cities of the Ancients 20:00 WED (b00792v2)

Lost Cities of the Ancients 01:15 WED (b00792v2)

Natural World 19:00 SAT (b00p9210)

Natural World 02:40 SAT (b00p9210)

Natural World 23:45 TUE (b00p9210)

Only Connect 20:30 MON (b043l0th)

Only Connect 00:35 MON (b043l0th)

Orbit: Earth's Extraordinary Journey 20:00 THU (b01dq1h0)

Parks and Recreation 23:30 WED (b01rs2n1)

Parks and Recreation 23:55 WED (b01rsff3)

Ripping Yarns 22:00 THU (b0074s8t)

Some People with Jokes 22:30 THU (b037nhbc)

Sounds of the 70s 2 01:10 SAT (b01jk1b8)

Sounds of the 70s 2 03:15 SUN (b01jv6sd)

Talking Heads 22:00 SAT (b00pcbyq)

Talking Heads 22:40 SAT (b00p8lht)

Talking Heads 21:00 TUE (b00pcbyv)

The Damned United 21:00 WED (b00t61gx)

The Doors - The Story of LA Woman 21:00 FRI (b01f7y7c)

The Doors - The Story of LA Woman 00:50 FRI (b01f7y7c)

The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain 22:35 MON (b042twvq)

The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain 21:00 THU (p01xtmv7)

The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain 02:35 THU (p01xtmv7)

The Many Faces of... 23:30 SAT (b018nvwc)

The Rolling Stones at the BBC 02:30 SUN (b01p1pmf)

The Sky at Night 22:00 SUN (b043wcjp)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (b043wcjp)

The Sky at Night 01:35 THU (b043wcjp)

The Toilet: An Unspoken History 23:35 MON (b01kxyhd)

The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney 00:00 SUN (p01t6pjf)

The Wooden Horse 19:00 SUN (b0078n5m)

Timeshift 01:05 MON (b00x7c3z)

Top of the Pops 00:30 SAT (b042twvn)

When Rock Goes Acoustic 00:30 SUN (b0141myx)

Wild 20:45 SUN (b00jd9yx)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b043l0tf)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b043k9k3)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b043k9k8)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b043k9kf)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b043k9kl)