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 02 AUGUST 2014

SAT 19:00 Human Planet (b00rrd85)
Deserts - Life in the Furnace

We can survive for weeks without food, but only days without water: it is the essential element of life. Yet many millions of us live in parched deserts around the world. In the second episode of Human Planet, we discover how the eternal quest for water brings huge challenges - and ingenious solutions - in the driest places on Earth.

Battling through a sand storm in Mali, Mamadou must get his cows to a remote lake but desert elephants have arrived first. Can he find a safe way through the elephant blockade? Alone for weeks on end, Tubu women and children navigate the endless dunes of the Sahara. How does young Shede know where to find the last oasis, three days walk across the sea of sand? At the height of the drought we witness a spectacular frenzy: two thousand men rushing into Antogo Lake to catch the fish trapped by the evaporating water. When the rain finally arrives in the desert it's a time for flowering and jubilation - and love. The Wodaabe men of Niger put on make-up for an intoxicating courtship dance and beauty contest and the women pick the winners.


SAT 20:00 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv1kj)
A New Dawn

Alastair Sooke concludes the epic story of Egyptian art by looking at how, despite political decline, the final era of the Egyptian Empire saw its art enjoy revival and rebirth. From the colossal statues of Rameses II that proclaimed the pharaoh's power to the final flourishes under Queen Cleopatra, Sooke discovers that the subsequent invasions by foreign rulers, from the Nubians and Alexander the Great to the Romans, produced a new hybrid art full of surprise. He also unearths a seam of astonishing satirical work, produced by ordinary men, that continues to inspire Egypt's graffiti artists today.


SAT 21:00 Inspector Montalbano (b01dpm3k)
The Artist's Touch

Goldsmith Alberto Larussa appears to have committed suicide by turning his wheelchair into an electric chair. But Inspector Montalbano discovers that the dead man's will, which leaves everything to his brother Giacomo, was forged. Giacomo is arrested, but he maintains that he did not kill Alberto. Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector Mimi' Augello is working on the case of a mysteriously-murdered electrician.

In Italian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:35 Glastonbury (b04d8xv8)
Lorde

Dolly Parton

From the Glastonbury Festival, the complete set by the undisputed queen of country music Dolly Parton from the Pyramid Stage in the now-traditional legends spot on Sunday afternoon. As the Somerset sunshine shone, and in front of one of the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds that the Pyramid Stage has ever seen, Dolly performed a rousing and crowd-pleasing set including self-penned classics such as Jolene, Coat of Many Colours, 9 to 5, Islands in the Stream and I Will Always Love You. A legendary moment that the Glastonbury crowd and hopefully Dolly Parton will never forget.


SAT 23:45 Dolly Parton: Platinum Blonde (b0074pt7)
Dolly Parton is one of the world's great superstars, feted for her figure as much as for her music. Platinum Blonde goes inside her world to discover the woman under the wigs as she returned to the concert stage in the UK in 2002 after an absence of 20 years. Born into grinding poverty in rural Tennessee, Dolly has risen to the top of her tree in music, films and as a businesswoman who owns her own theme park.

Friends, family and colleagues - including Lily Tomlin, Kenny Rogers, Billy Connolly, Dabney Coleman and Alison Krauss - help tell her story, along with the full and frank views of Dolly herself. With cameo appearances from Sinead O'Connor, Norah Jones, Jonathan Ross and Terry Wogan.


SAT 00:45 Queens of Country (b007cbjb)
The story of six women with big hair and bigger voices who came out of the South and changed America and its music for good. The 60s and 70s were the golden age for this music from the battlefield of marriage - songs about the hurt and pride of raising a family, about standing by your man (or standing up to him), about going crazy with love.

The six are: Patsy Cline, whose weeping ballads made country music modern; Tammy Wynette, her life a chaos of divorce, violence and pills; Bobbie Gentry, who quit recording 35 years ago; Loretta Lynn, the coalminer's daughter who went on to rock with the White Stripes; Tanya Tucker, a teen queen who made country music sexy; and Dolly Parton, who made millions singing of the world she left behind.

Contributors include Billy Connolly, Jack White, LeAnn Rimes, Lauren Laverne, Crystal Gayle, George Jones and Elvis Costello. Featuring rare archive performances.


SAT 01:45 Human Planet (b00rrd85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:45 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv1kj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 03 AUGUST 2014

SUN 19:00 BBC Proms (b04crs49)
2014

The Sunday Prom: Richard Strauss Celebration

From the Royal Albert Hall, Katie Derham presents a 150th anniversary celebration of the birth of Richard Strauss. The acclaimed Danish soprano Inger Dam-Jensen sings the composer's exquisite Four Last Songs in a prom which also showcases two of Strauss's rarely heard works - his majestic Festival Prelude and his Deutsche Motette for choir and four solo voices.

The mood of late-romantic nostalgia continues with a performance of Elgar's Second Symphony. Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Singers.


SUN 21:05 Genghis Khan (b007930p)
He was a man who combined the savagery of a real-life Conan the Barbarian with the sheer tactical genius of Napoleon, a man from the outermost reaches of Asia whose armies ultimately stood poised to conquer Europe. His name was Genghis Khan.

Today the name of Genghis Khan is synonymous with dark evil yet in his lifetime he was a heroic figure, a supreme strategist capable of eliciting total devotion from his warriors.

He grew up in poverty on the harsh unforgiving steppe of Mongolia. From the murder of his father, the kidnap of his wife and the execution of his closest friend, he learned the lessons of life the hard way.

So how did this outcast come to conquer an empire larger than the Roman Empire? And was Genghis Khan the brutal monster who ruthlessly slaughtered millions in his quest for power, or was he a brilliant visionary who transformed a rabble of warring tribes into a nation capable of world domination?

Filmed entirely on location in Mongolia, the film tells the truth behind the legend that is Genghis Khan.


SUN 22:05 Storyville (b03tj0n0)
Mad Dog: Gaddafi's Secret World

Colonel Gaddafi was called 'mad dog' by Ronald Reagan. His income from oil was a billion dollars a week. He washed his hands in deer's blood. No other dictator had such sex appeal and no other so cannily combined oil and the implied threat of terror to turn western powers into cowed appeasers.

When he went abroad - bedecked in fake medals from unfought wars - a bulletproof tent was flown ahead, along with camels that would be tethered outside. His sons lived a Dolce & Gabbana lifestyle - one kept white tigers, while another commissioned a $500 million cruise liner with a shark pool.

Like other tyrants, Gaddafi used torture and murder to silence opposition, but what made his rule especially terrifying was that death came so casually. A man who complained that Gaddafi had an affair with his wife was allegedly tied between two cars and torn in half. On visits to schools and orphanages Gaddafi would tap underage girls on the head to show his henchmen which ones he wanted. They would be taken to his palace and abused. Young boys were held in tunnels under the palace.

Yet because of his vast oil lake there seemed no limit to western generosity. British intelligence trapped one of his enemies overseas and sent him to Libya as a gift. The same week, Tony Blair arrived in Libya and a huge energy deal was announced.

Filmed in Cuba, the Pacific, Brazil, the US, South Africa, Libya and Australia, the cast of this documentary consists of palace insiders and those who gave shape to Gaddafi's dark dreams. They include a fugitive from the FBI who helped kill his enemies worldwide; the widow of the Libyan foreign minister whose body Gaddafi kept in a freezer; and a female bodyguard who adored him until she saw teenagers executed.

Gaddafi was a dictator like no other; their stories are stranger than fiction.


SUN 23:30 Boycotts and Broken Dreams: The Story of the 1986 Commonwealth Games (b049fn89)
In 1986, Edinburgh hosted the Commonwealth Games for a second time. There were sporting triumphs from athletes who were to become household names such as Steve Cram, Daley Thompson, Tessa Sanderson and Scotland's own, Liz McColgan, winner of the 10,000m gold medal. But these were Games when sport locked horns with politics over the issue of sanctions against the brutal apartheid regime in South Africa. The boycott of more than half the Commonwealth nations brought the Games to its knees. The drama which unfolded placed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Queen and flamboyant newspaper mogul Robert Maxwell centre stage in a story that attracted worldwide attention.


SUN 00:30 Elvis: That's Alright Mama 60 Years On (b04c3l7g)
Actor and musician Sam Palladio hosts a musical tribute to Elvis Presley, 60 years to the day from when he recorded his first single, That's All Right, at Sun Studio in Memphis on 5 July 1954. Sam traces Elvis's story from childhood poverty in Mississippi, where he had to make do with a broom for a guitar, to the moment when, by accident, he ended up recording the song that changed the history of popular music. There are performances of the finest Elvis tracks from the likes of soul legend Candi Staton, LA duo The Pierces and country star Laura Bell Bundy.


SUN 01:30 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?


SUN 02:30 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.


SUN 03:30 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.



MONDAY 04 AUGUST 2014

MON 19:00 World News Today (b04cp55n)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 A Garden in Snowdonia (b00l1npm)
Bodnant at Risk

A year in the life of Bodnant Garden in north Wales. Head gardener Troy Scott Smith struggles to preserve one of the largest collection of rhododendrons in the country. With many rare and ageing plants, and a growing threat from 'sudden oak disease', Bodnant faces some tough challenges.


MON 20:00 Wild Weather (b007c0k0)
Heat

Donal MacIntyre follows heat's journey from the jungles of the equator to the snows of the arctic. In the steaming jungles of Belize the British Army show him what life is like in the world's biggest sauna. In the blinding heart of the Sahara desert he runs the infamous Marathon of the Sands. Fooled by mirages and blasted by sandstorms, he witnesses the very worst that desert weather can throw at him. He gets as close to lightning as he dares and meets a woman who has been struck three times, before finding out that a warming world may mean yet wilder weather for us all.


MON 21:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03knrvm)
Home Waters to High Seas

Shipwrecks are the nightmare we have forgotten - the price Britain paid for ruling the waves from an island surrounded by treacherous rocks. The result is a coastline that is home to the world's highest concentration of sunken ships. But shipwrecks also changed the course of British history, helped shape our national character and drove innovations in seafaring technology, as well as gripping our imagination.

In this three-part series, maritime historian Dr Sam Willis looks at how and why the shipwreck came to loom so large. He begins with the embarrassing story of the top-heavy Mary Rose, the freak wrecking of the Spanish Armada and the terrifying real-life disasters at sea that inspired two of the greatest of all castaway tales - Shakespeare's The Tempest and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.


MON 22:00 Art of China (b04c3cmw)
Episode 1

Andrew Graham-Dixon pieces together the spectacular recent discoveries of ancient art that are redefining China's understanding of its origins. He comes face to face with an extraordinary collection of sophisticated alien-like bronze masks created nearly four millennia ago and travels to the Yellow River to explore the tomb of a warrior empress where he discovers the origins of calligraphy.

Always seeking to understand art in its historical context, Andrew visits the tomb of the first emperor and comes face to face with the Terracotta Army. He ends his journey in western China, looking at the impact of the arrival of Buddhism from India on the wondrous paintings and sculptures of the Dunhuang caves.


MON 23:00 Edge of Darkness (p00v5gzw)
Fusion

After being exposed to fatal doses of radiation, Jedburgh heads for Scotland armed with the plutonium. Craven, possessed of the wisdom of GAIA, waits for the inevitable end.


MON 23:55 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv1kj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


MON 00:55 Timewatch (b00j3hz3)
2008-2009

QE2 - The Final Voyage

Timewatch joins the crew and passengers on board Britain's favourite ship as the QE2 leaves Southampton for the last time and glides gracefully into retirement.

The world's longest-serving and best-loved cruise ship has come a long way since her humble beginnings as piles of steel and
timber on the River Clyde. Overcoming technical problems, rogue waves and even bomb threats, she has enjoyed an eventful and colourful career that has won the hearts of millions.

A proud reminder of the dazzling golden era of ocean liners, she is a time capsule offering a tantalising peek into a distant age of discovery and decadence. Built at the end of the swinging sixties, she defied cultural trends and became a reassuring bastion of Britishness and tradition in an ever-changing world.

In this warm, celebratory film, we bid a fond farewell to the QE2 and - with exclusive access to the final voyage - look back over four glittering decades on the high seas.


MON 01:55 Wild Weather (b007c0k0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:50 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03knrvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 05 AUGUST 2014

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b04cp55t)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 A Garden in Snowdonia (b00l5w3w)
Bodnant on Show

A year in the life of Bodnant Garden in north Wales. Ann Smith, the visitor services manager, implements an ambitious programme of summer events to attract more visitors. Troy Scott Smith is concerned that his beautiful grounds could be ruined by crowds.


TUE 20:00 The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank (b01jv5nr)
Dan Cruickshank explores the mysteries and secrets of the bridges that have made London what it is. He uncovers stories of Bronze-Age relics emerging from the Vauxhall shore, of why London Bridge was falling down, of midnight corpses splashing beneath Waterloo Bridge, and above all, of the sublime ambition of London's bridge builders themselves.


TUE 21:00 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War (b01qyvbm)
Agents of God

Henry V has claimed the crown of France for his heirs, but to secure it the English must conquer all of France. Potent French resistance comes in the most unlikely form - an illiterate young peasant girl, Joan of Arc. Dr Janina Ramirez explores the longest and bloodiest divorce in history.


TUE 22:00 A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman (b03jjbm8)
Largely in his own words, Graham Chapman's wry and ribald recollections are brought to bizarre life with the help of a few friends and assorted animation teams.


TUE 23:20 Human Planet (b00rrd85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


TUE 00:20 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074lqp)
Series 2

The British Wars

Simon Schama looks beyond the romantic stories of Cavaliers and Roundheads to the real story of the English Civil War, in which hundreds of thousands died, countless families were torn apart and the nation was divided. Two events unique within British history resulted: the public execution of the monarch, Charles I, and the creation of a republic.


TUE 01:25 The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank (b01jv5nr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:25 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01gymg9)
Reggae - Stir it Up

By the start of the 70s, the Windrush generation of immigrants who came to the UK from the Caribbean and West Indies were an established part of the British population and their influence and culture permeated UK society.

This second programme rejoices and revels in the reggae music exported from Jamaica and the home-grown reggae-influenced sounds that sprouted from the cities of England. Reggae's dominance of the UK charts is celebrated with performances from Ken Boothe, Dave and Ansel Collins, Steel Pulse, Althea and Donna, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Janet Kay, Susan Cadogan and The Specials.


TUE 02:55 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War (b01qyvbm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 06 AUGUST 2014

WED 19:00 World News Today (b04cp55z)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 A Garden in Snowdonia (b00l965g)
Bodnant Risen

A year in the life of Bodnant Garden in North Wales. The garden is under a carpet of snow and closed to the public. Head gardener Troy Scott Smith plans a winter garden to attract more visitors. A 300-year-old oak tree is dying and a plague of moles wreak havoc as the team prepares to open for the new season.


WED 20:00 Boycotts and Broken Dreams: The Story of the 1986 Commonwealth Games (b049fn89)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:30 on Sunday]


WED 21:00 Art of China (b04cryjg)
Episode 2

Andrew Graham-Dixon travels to the Yellow mountains in southern China to understand the power of Chinese landscape painting. The period from the 10th to the 15th centuries - from the Song to the Ming dynasties - was the golden age of art in China. Andrew discovers an emperor so in love with art and beauty that he neglected to rule his country and scholar artists who fled the Mongol invasion to immerse themselves in nature, combining wondrous landscape painting and calligraphy. While Europe was still in the Dark Ages, Chinese art was being reborn.


WED 22:00 Wild China (b00brvjx)
Shangri-La

Documentary that showcases pioneering images capturing the dazzling array of mysterious creatures that live in China's most beautiful landscapes. Beneath billowing clouds, in China's far south west, rich jungles nestle below towering peaks. Jewel-coloured birds and ancient tribes share forested valleys where wild elephants still roam. How do these forests exist? Perhaps the rugged landscape holds the key.


WED 23:00 Wild Weather (b007c0k0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 00:00 Madness in the Desert: Paris to Dakar (b01r1cnw)
Documentary telling the story of the world's craziest race.

In 1977, French motorcyclist Thierry Sabine was in serious trouble, lost in the Libyan desert and dying from thirst. Whilst most men would weep and think back over their lives, Thierry thought about coming back - to do a rally across the Sahara Desert. The 9,000km Paris-Dakar rally was born.

The rally became a beacon for eccentric adventurers battling the terrain in customised vehicles, seduced by the romance of the desert and the extreme challenge. It soon became a victim of its own rapid success. Caught up in controversy and with over 60 deaths, in 2008 this incredible event was brought to an end in Africa by terrorism.

Featuring winners Cyril Neveu, Hubert Auriol, Jean-Louis Schlesser, Ari Vatanen, Stephane Peterhansel, Martine de Cortanze, former participant Sir Mark Thatcher and many more, this is the story of the biggest motorsport event the world has ever seen and one of the greatest challenges of human endeavour ever conceived, told by those who took part.

How the west took on a landscape of incredible beauty and scale. And lost.


WED 01:00 Boycotts and Broken Dreams: The Story of the 1986 Commonwealth Games (b049fn89)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:30 on Sunday]


WED 02:00 Wild China (b00brvjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 03:00 Art of China (b04cryjg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 07 AUGUST 2014

THU 19:00 World News Today (b04cp564)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 BBC Proms (b04cs1q1)
2014

BBC Proms Masterworks: Mozart and Beethoven

Tom Service invites us to listen to well-known, definitive masterworks from two of the greatest composers of all time with a fresh ear. Donald Runnicles takes on Beethoven's Fourth Symphony with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and joins forces with the National Youth Choir of Scotland and four top British soloists for Mozart's Requiem - a work of tragic beauty both musically and historically, left unfinished by Mozart just before his death in 1791.

Soloists are the soprano Carolyn Sampson, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, tenor Jeremy Ovenden and bass Neal Davies.


THU 21:05 Wild (b0078zwm)
2005-06 Shorts

Eider Duck Island

Each year the eider ducklings of Inner Farne undertake a great trek across the island. On their way they pass puffins being mugged by black-headed gulls and terns brooding their fluffy chicks. The eider families gather together in crèches for safety as the predatory gulls wheel overhead. But will they reach their ultimate and rather unlikely destination? Narrated by Simon King.


THU 21:15 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074lrd)
Series 2

Revolutions

Simon Schama examines the turbulent years in Britain from 1649 to 1689, from Oliver Cromwell's republic to Charles II's restoration and James II's subsequent pro-Catholic rule from which he was quickly deposed. This is the dramatic story of the revolutionary period after the execution of Charles I, when Cromwell ruled with an iron hand and Charles II attempted to restore the lustre of the monarchy.


THU 22:15 Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe (b00791vw)
The Romantic North

Francesco da Mosto gets romantic in Juliet's home town of Verona, witnesses the birth of western art, has a fashion makeover from Giorgio Armani, is invited into a closed convent to see the tomb of the most notorious woman in European history, and goes deep-sea diving in pursuit of a childhood dream.


THU 23:15 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War (b01qyvbm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


THU 00:15 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03knrvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 01:15 Timeshift (b01q9vhy)
Series 12

The Joy of (Train) Sets

The Model Railway Story: From Hornby to Triang and beyond, this documentary explores how the British have been in love with model railways for more than a century. What began as an adult obsession with building fully engineered replicas became the iconic toy of 50s and 60s childhood. With unique archive and contributions from modellers such as Pete Waterman, this is a celebration of the joys of miniaturisation. Just don't call them toy trains!


THU 02:15 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01h7pzm)
Troubadours – Peaceful Easy Feeling

In the early 70s as the UK got to grips with the new coinage and decimalisation and braced itself for strike after strike, a group of young troubadours were hanging out in Laurel Canyon and the environs of California USA having a ball and creating music that would define a generation. It's time to kick back and relax and enjoy performances from Crosby and Nash, Neil Young, America, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King, The Eagles, and Seals and Crofts.


THU 02:45 A History of Britain by Simon Schama (b0074lrd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:15 today]



FRIDAY 08 AUGUST 2014

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b04cp56c)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b04cs7c6)
2014

Friday Night at the Proms: Ravel's Left Hand Piano Concerto

In his proms concerto debut, French pianist Alexandre Tharaud performs one of Ravel's last great works, the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Conductor Juanjo Mena also leads the BBC Philharmonic in a Mahler masterpiece, the Fifth Symphony, which includes one of greatest love letters ever written - the famous Adagietto. Presented by Suzy Klein and Nicholas McCarthy.


FRI 21:20 DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal (b04fmc3t)
Martin Freeman presents a Gaza Crisis Appeal on behalf of DEC, the Disasters Emergency Committee.

You can give by calling 0370 60 60 900 (standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply) or send a cheque payable to DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal to PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.


FRI 21:25 imagine... (b036yl2v)
Summer 2013

Rod Stewart: Can't Stop Me Now

From beatnik to mod, from folkie to disco tart, from glam rocker to, most recently, crooner of American standards, Rod Stewart has had a remarkable musical journey. Alan Yentob visits Rod at his homes in Beverly Hills and Essex and talks to his friends and family, including all eight children aged from two years old to 50.

Featuring rare archival footage of Rod when he was barely out of his teens and living above his parents' north London sweetshop, Imagine examines an entertaining career across five musical decades.


FRI 22:50 Rod Stewart at the BBC (b03m81n5)
Compilation of Rod Stewart's finest performances at the BBC. We revisit the early 70s with The Faces performing Stay with Me and Three Button Hand Me Down on Sounds for Saturday. The BBC charted Rod's solo success over the years and there are classic performances and interviews that will make you dance, sing and pull on your heartstrings. Songs include Sailing, You're in My Heart, I Don't Want to Talk about It and Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

We also have Rod's performance from Glastonbury 2002 of the classic Handbags and Gladrags, and we dip into the Great American Songbook with his version of the Dorothy Fields classic I'm in the Mood for Love. Finally, rounding off over five decades in music is a performance from Rod's Radio 2 concert from May 2013.


FRI 23:50 ... Sings the Great American Songbook (b00rs3w4)
Presenting the best and most eclectic performances on the BBC from the world's best-known artists performing their interpretations of classic tracks from The Great American Songbook.

In chronological order, this programme takes us through a myriad of BBC studio performances, from Dame Shirley Bassey in 1966 performing The Lady is A Tramp, to Bryan Ferry in 1974 on Twiggy's BBC primetime show performing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, to Captain Sensible on Top of the Pops in 1982 with his number one hit version of Happy Talk, through to Kirsty MacColl singing Miss Otis Regrets in 1994 to Jamie Cullum with his version of I Get a Kick Out Of You on Parkinson in 2004 and bang up to date with Brit winner Florence from Florence and the Machine performing My Baby Just Cares for Me with Jools Holland on his Annual Hootenanny at the end of 2009.

The Great American Songbook can best be described as the music and popular songs of the famous and prolific American composers of the 1920s and onwards. Composers such as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Hoagy Carmichael to name but a few... songwriters who wrote the tunes of Broadway theatre and Hollywood musicals that earned enduring popularity before the dawning of rock 'n' roll.

These famous songwriters have penned songs which have entered the general consciousness and which are now best described as standards - tunes which every musician and singer aspires to include in their repertoire.


FRI 00:50 imagine... (b036yl2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:25 today]


FRI 02:15 Rod Stewart at the BBC (b03m81n5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:50 today]


FRI 03:15 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01hz75h)
Guilty Pleasures - Love Will Keep Us Together

An unashamed celebration of the instantly recognisable classics from the decade of love. A half hour of 'Our Tune' anthems and the soundtrack to many a love affair and wedding party, including performances from The Carpenters, Bread, Charles Aznavour, John Denver, 10cc, Bellamy Brothers, Exile, Captain and Tennille, and Dr Hook.




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

... Sings the Great American Songbook 23:50 FRI (b00rs3w4)

50s Britannia 02:30 SUN (b01sgbw2)

A Garden in Snowdonia 19:30 MON (b00l1npm)

A Garden in Snowdonia 19:30 TUE (b00l5w3w)

A Garden in Snowdonia 19:30 WED (b00l965g)

A History of Britain by Simon Schama 00:20 TUE (b0074lqp)

A History of Britain by Simon Schama 21:15 THU (b0074lrd)

A History of Britain by Simon Schama 02:45 THU (b0074lrd)

A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman 22:00 TUE (b03jjbm8)

Art of China 22:00 MON (b04c3cmw)

Art of China 21:00 WED (b04cryjg)

Art of China 03:00 WED (b04cryjg)

BBC Proms 19:00 SUN (b04crs49)

BBC Proms 19:30 THU (b04cs1q1)

BBC Proms 19:30 FRI (b04cs7c6)

Boycotts and Broken Dreams: The Story of the 1986 Commonwealth Games 23:30 SUN (b049fn89)

Boycotts and Broken Dreams: The Story of the 1986 Commonwealth Games 20:00 WED (b049fn89)

Boycotts and Broken Dreams: The Story of the 1986 Commonwealth Games 01:00 WED (b049fn89)

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War 21:00 TUE (b01qyvbm)

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War 02:55 TUE (b01qyvbm)

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War 23:15 THU (b01qyvbm)

DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal 21:20 FRI (b04fmc3t)

Dolly Parton: Platinum Blonde 23:45 SAT (b0074pt7)

Edge of Darkness 23:00 MON (p00v5gzw)

Elvis: That's Alright Mama 60 Years On 00:30 SUN (b04c3l7g)

Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe 22:15 THU (b00791vw)

Genghis Khan 21:05 SUN (b007930p)

Glastonbury 22:35 SAT (b04d8xv8)

Human Planet 19:00 SAT (b00rrd85)

Human Planet 01:45 SAT (b00rrd85)

Human Planet 23:20 TUE (b00rrd85)

Inspector Montalbano 21:00 SAT (b01dpm3k)

Kings of Rock and Roll 01:30 SUN (b007c95q)

Madness in the Desert: Paris to Dakar 00:00 WED (b01r1cnw)

Queens of Country 00:45 SAT (b007cbjb)

Rod Stewart at the BBC 22:50 FRI (b03m81n5)

Rod Stewart at the BBC 02:15 FRI (b03m81n5)

Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 21:00 MON (b03knrvm)

Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 02:50 MON (b03knrvm)

Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 00:15 THU (b03knrvm)

Sounds of the 70s 2 03:30 SUN (b01glwkz)

Sounds of the 70s 2 02:25 TUE (b01gymg9)

Sounds of the 70s 2 02:15 THU (b01h7pzm)

Sounds of the 70s 2 03:15 FRI (b01hz75h)

Storyville 22:05 SUN (b03tj0n0)

The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank 20:00 TUE (b01jv5nr)

The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank 01:25 TUE (b01jv5nr)

Timeshift 01:15 THU (b01q9vhy)

Timewatch 00:55 MON (b00j3hz3)

Treasures of Ancient Egypt 20:00 SAT (p01mv1kj)

Treasures of Ancient Egypt 02:45 SAT (p01mv1kj)

Treasures of Ancient Egypt 23:55 MON (p01mv1kj)

Wild China 22:00 WED (b00brvjx)

Wild China 02:00 WED (b00brvjx)

Wild Weather 20:00 MON (b007c0k0)

Wild Weather 01:55 MON (b007c0k0)

Wild Weather 23:00 WED (b007c0k0)

Wild 21:05 THU (b0078zwm)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b04cp55n)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b04cp55t)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b04cp55z)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b04cp564)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b04cp56c)

imagine... 21:25 FRI (b036yl2v)

imagine... 00:50 FRI (b036yl2v)