The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four 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. His first journey is from Liverpool to Scarborough.
Michael searches for the last liquorice grower in Pontefract, discovers how the railways turned Hull into one of the largest white fish ports in the world and goes fishing for sea bass in Bridlington.
Nymans, one of the most fashionable and romantic gardens of the Edwardian and interwar years, was the creation of a family of German emigres of Jewish descent. The Messels arrived in Britain in 1870 at a time when both anti-semitism and anti-German sentiment were rife. Nevertheless, Ludwig Messel succeeded in establishing a successful stockbroking firm and creating at Nymans the quintessential English garden with rare plants and a theatrical herbaceous border inspired by William Robinson.
His children and grandchildren would continue to develop the garden and the family's spectacular social trajectory reached its apogee with Ludwig's great-grandson Antony Armstrong-Jones's marriage to Princess Margaret. However, Nymans was to repeatedly face disaster as a fire devastated the house leaving just a romantic ruin to dominate the garden, while the garden itself came close to total destruction in the Great Storm of 1987.
Dr Jago Cooper explores the rise and fall of the forgotten civilisations of central America.
His quest takes him from the crystal blue seas of the Caribbean to the new world's most impressive pyramids, flying over the smoking volcanoes of Costa Rica and travelling deep underground in the caves of central Mexico.
He travels in the footsteps of these peoples to reveal their secrets and unearth the astonishing cultures that flourished amongst some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.
In the final episode, Jago explores the ancient civilisation of Teotihuacan that exploded into a position of dominance in the ancient Americas almost 2,000 years ago. For hundreds of years this great city state was the biggest in the New World. Its rulers built monumental pyramids and temples and then went on to build a vast empire that was maintained through force. Yet the identity of the people who led this civilisation remains a mystery.
An investigation into a radical theory that Stonehenge, far from being a place of burial as is commonly assumed, was in fact a place of healing - a Bronze Age Lourdes. The investigation takes in forensic testing of bones excavated over the past decades and hard-won permission for the first dig in 50 years at the Henge, watched live online by millions of viewers around the world. Does the theory of the healing stones bear up to modern-day forensic science?
A new comedy about two friends - Andy and Lance - who go searching for their hearts' desire with a couple of metal detectors.
Following a chance encounter with a young history student, Lance and Andy embark on a journey towards the discovery of a lifetime. All they need to do is get permission from the local landowner, the mad one who is rumoured to have done away with his wife.
Professor Fekri Hassan attempts to determine why the Egyptian Old Kingdom, the civilisation of the great pyramids, collapsed around 2200 BC. Can science show that terrible forces of nature were to blame - even driving people to cannibalism? Clues come from the remote deserts of southern Egypt, the glaciers of Iceland and a dramatic and unique archaeological find in the Nile delta.
Chris Packham explores what lies beneath a crocodile's hard exterior to discover the secret to its 250-million-year history. It may look like a relic from a prehistoric world, but the crocodile boasts one of the most sophisticated physiologies on the planet. By following all stages of a crocodile hunt, from the warm-up to the ambush and the kill, Chris reveals how their extraordinary circulatory system enables them to hold their breath underwater for over an hour, how exceptionally sensitive skin detects their prey through water from over 20m away and how antibacterial blood means they can feast on anthrax-ridden meat.
TUESDAY 07 OCTOBER 2014
TUE 19:00 World News Today (b04kp9w0)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00pszd7)
Series 1
Filey to Scarborough
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four 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. This leg of the journey takes him from Liverpool to Scarborough.
Michael goes birdwatching on the wild cliffs of Flamborough Head, learns to decipher traditional knitting patterns in Filey and meets one of the oldest residents of the Victorian seaside resort of Scarborough - a 4,000-year-old skeleton called Gristhorpe Man.
TUE 20:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b00q2p2l)
Series 1
Preston to Morecambe
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, he travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
Michael's second epic journey takes him north, from Preston to Scotland, on one of the first railways to cross the border. On this first leg, he explores the origins of the temperance movement in Preston, samples the attractions of Blackpool, a resort made by the railways, and takes a walk across Morecambe Bay with the official keeper of the sands.
TUE 20:30 World War I at Home (b045ghfb)
The Zeppelin Terror
Historian and aerial specialist Ben Robinson takes to the skies to trace the first air attacks on Britain by the Zeppelin. For the first time civilians were the targets. From Norfolk to London, Ben investigates how the Germany's aim, to intimidate the population and bring swift victory, failed. The story is brought to life by Ben's aerial perspective, archive film, expert analysis, specially-commissioned 3D graphics, and first person accounts, including that of a 102-year-old lady who still remembers the attacks. In his helicopter, Ben flies the route the Zeppelin took for one of its most devastating raids, giving a fresh view of the events of 100 years ago.
TUE 21:00 Omnibus (b0074kgk)
Elizabeth Taylor - England's Other Elizabeth
Profile drawn from Elizabeth Taylor's visit to Britain in 2000, during which she received her damehood from the Queen. Hollywood's last great star talks for the first time in years about her career, her life and the challenges of the future.
From her early days as a child star in Lassie Come Home and National Velvet to becoming the century's biggest star of all - in Cleopatra - her life, her loves and her work have all been lived to an intensity no other star can match.
Joined by Shirley MacLaine, Rod Steiger and Angela Lansbury, Taylor remembers the glory days of working with Richard Burton, Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, James Dean and Paul Newman, how filming never stopped regardless of what life threw at her, the pain and pleasure of two Oscars - one for a film she can hardly bear to remember - and, not least, the feelings she has for Britain, where she was born and how it was her English accent that launched her on the way to stardom at the very beginning.
TUE 21:55 The Richard Burton Diaries (b01nw4wn)
Richard Burton's talent, presence and unforgettable voice made him a superstar of stage and screen. The Welsh actor was equally famous for his hellraising, womanising private life and his two marriages to Elizabeth Taylor. Private diaries he wrote at the height of his fame have been published in their entirety for the first time and present a unique opportunity to reassess the man behind the myth.
Narrated by Mali Harries, with extract readings by Josh Richards.
TUE 22:25 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 23:25 Yellowstone (b00jmqk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
TUE 00:25 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
Do you remember buying your first single? Where you bought it? What it was? The thrill of playing it for the first time? What it sounded like? How it maybe changed your life? Lots of us do. Lots of us still have that single somewhere in a dusty box in the attic, along with other treasured memorabilia of an adolescence lost in music and romance. The attic of our youth.
The Joy of the Single is a documentary packed with startling memories, vivid images and penetrating insights into the power of pop and rock's first and most abiding artefact - the seven-inch, vinyl 45-rpm record, a small, perfectly formed object that seems to miraculously contain the hopes, fears, sounds and experiences of our different generations - all within the spiralling groove etched on its shiny black surface, labelled and gift-wrapped by an industry also in its thrall.
In the confident hands of a star-studded cast, the film spins a tale of obsession, addiction, dedication and desire. The viewer is invited on a journey of celebration from the 1950s rock 'n' roll generation to the download kids of today, taking in classic singles from all manner of artists in each decade - from the smell of vinyl to the delights of the record label, from the importance of the record shop to the bittersweet brevity of the song itself, from stacking singles on a Dansette spindle to dropping the needle and thrilling to the intro.
Featuring contributions from Noddy Holder, Jack White, Richard Hawley, Suzi Quatro, Holly Johnson, Jimmy Webb, Pete Waterman, Norah Jones, Mike Batt, Graham Gouldman, Miranda Sawyer, Norman Cook, Trevor Horn, Neil Sedaka, Paul Morley, Rob Davies, Lavinia Greenlaw, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.
TUE 01:30 Timewatch (b00j3hz3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
TUE 02:25 World War I at Home (b045ghfb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
TUE 02:55 The Richard Burton Diaries (b01nw4wn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:55 today]
WEDNESDAY 08 OCTOBER 2014
WED 19:00 World News Today (b04kp9w5)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b00q2pg7)
Series 1
Settle to Garsdale
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, he travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
Michael's second epic journey takes him north, from Preston to Scotland, on one of the first railways to cross the border. On this second leg, he returns to the historic Settle-Carlisle line to find out what has happened to it since he helped save it in the 1980s. Along the way, he explores the magnificent Ribblehead viaduct, finds out about the navvies who helped to build it and catches a steam train along the line.
WED 20:00 Great British Railway Journeys (b00q2pvm)
Series 1
Windermere to Kendal
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, he travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.
Michael's second epic journey takes him north, from Preston to Scotland, on one of the first railways to cross the border. On this third leg, he takes a steamboat tour of Lake Windermere, visits Wordsworth's home village of Grasmere and makes sausages with a local Herdwick sheep farmer.
WED 20:30 The Wonder of Animals (b04kzvxq)
Dolphins
Chris Packham explores the success of the most widespread of marine mammals, the dolphin. Contrary to their amiable reputation, they are in fact ruthless predators. They hunt using a combination of specialised anatomy and complex communication, requiring a big brain.
Chris explains the inner workings of dolphin echolocation, reveals how a pod uses body movements to communicate the location of food and explores the strategies used by orcas during a hunt.
WED 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.
WED 23:25 Timewatch (b00dtjy4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Monday]
WED 00:20 The Wonder of Animals (b04kzvxq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
WED 00:50 Explosions: How We Shook the World (b00v9kb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:30 on Sunday]
WED 01:55 The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse (b00x9b7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Sunday]
THURSDAY 09 OCTOBER 2014
THU 19:00 World News Today (b04kp9wb)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b04kzw1j)
Weekly pop chart programme presented by David Jensen with performances from XTC, Blondie, Matumbi, Buggles, Sad Cafe, Squeeze, the Jags and the Police and dance sequences by Legs & Co.
THU 20:00 Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces (b046w5c1)
Towards an Architecture of Majesty
Royal palaces are the most magnificent buildings in our history. Often built to extraordinary levels of luxury and excess, they express the personalities of our kings and queens since 1066.
From the Tower of London to Hampton Court Palace, Dan Cruickshank reveals an extraordinary story of buildings, often fortified, that cemented the monarch's claim to the throne. Palaces reveal our monarchs like no other buildings - their taste for luxury, their fear of the mob, even their relationship with God. Palaces have been caught up in some of the most dramatic events in history - some survive in all their magnificence like Hampton Court while others have vanished from the surface of the earth as completely as if they'd never existed.
THU 21:00 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044jl70)
Mountains
Ray Mears looks at how the landscapes of America's three great mountain ranges - the Appalachians, the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada - challenged the westward push of the early pioneers.
As Ray travels through each landscape he discovers how their awe-inspiring geography, extreme weather, wild animals and ecology presented both great opportunities and great challenges for the native Indians, mountain men, fur traders, wagon trains and gold miners of the Wild West.
Ray begins his westward journey in the Appalachians where he explores how their timbered slopes fuelled the lumber industry and provided the fuel and building material for the emerging nation. Native Appalachian Barbara Woodall and lumberjack Joe Currie share their family history with him, and he gets to grips with the rare 'hellbender' salamander.
Further west, in the high jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains, Ray goes mule trekking with modern-day mountain man Stu Sorenson and he has close encounters with beaver, elk and black bear.
Finally, in the desert mountains of the Sierra Nevada, he explores the tragic story of the Donner Party wagon train whose members allegedly turned to cannibalism to survive. His journey ends as he pans for gold with modern day gold prospector John Gurney, and explores the boom and bust story of ghost town, Bodie.
THU 22:00 Detectorists (b04kzw1l)
Series 1
Episode 2
Lance and Andy haven't told anyone that they are hot on the trail of the holy grail of metal detecting - the final resting place of King Sexred of the East Saxons. But members of the rival detecting club already seem to know all about it. Who is the mole?
THU 22:30 Lost Kingdoms of Central America (b04kzrg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Monday]
THU 23:30 British Gardens in Time (b042638j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
THU 00:30 Top of the Pops (b04kzw1j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:05 Detectorists (b04kzw1l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 01:35 World War I at Home (b045ghfb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Tuesday]
THU 02:05 The Wonder of Animals (b04kzvxq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:35 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044jl70)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER 2014
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b04kp9wh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b03qw0jf)
Chamber Music
Britten and Dowland
Two great British tenors perform music by two great British composers. Ian Bostridge joins lutenist Elizabeth Kenny and the viol ensemble Fretwork for galliards and laments by John Dowland and a lute song from Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana. James Gilchrist sings Britten's rarely heard Songs from the Chinese, accompanied by guitarist Christoph Denoth. To complete the programme, soprano Ruby Hughes joins James and Christoph for one of Britten's folk song arrangements, Master Kilby.
FRI 20:00 Sound of Cinema: The Music That Made the Movies (b03bm2fy)
New Frontiers
In the last of three programmes in which composer Neil Brand celebrates the art of cinema music, Neil explores how changing technology has taken soundtracks in bold new directions and even altered our very idea of how a film should sound.
Neil tells the story of how the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet ended up with a groundbreaking electronic score that blurred the line between music and sound effects, and explains why Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds has one of the most effective soundtracks of any of his films - despite having no music. He shows how electronic music crossed over from pop into cinema with Midnight Express and Chariots of Fire, while films like Apocalypse Now pioneered the concept of sound design - that sound effects could be used for storytelling and emotional impact.
Neil tracks down some of the key composers behind these innovations to talk about their work, such as Vangelis (Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner), Carter Burwell (Twilight, No Country for Old Men) and Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream, Moon).
FRI 21:00 imagine... (b03gln7r)
Winter 2013
Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin'
In just four years, Jimi Hendrix revolutionised the music scene with his transcendent sound and explosive stage presence. A peacock, poet and perfectionist, he was a true original, who restlessly pushed his musical gifts to their extremes.
imagine... tells the story of how this shy, former private in the 101st Airborne became the greatest rock guitarist of all time, using never-before-seen performance footage, home movies and family letters.
With contributions from the Hendrix family, Sir Paul McCartney and former band mates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, imagine... presents an in-depth look at Hendrix's life and career that was tragically cut short at just 27-years-old in 1970.
FRI 22:30 Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock (b03p7p6v)
The definitive documentary record of one of Jimi Hendrix's most celebrated performances, now digitally remastered and featuring footage never seen on television before. It includes such signature songs as Purple Haze, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, as well as interviews with Woodstock promoter Michael Lang and Hendrix band members Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Larry Lee and Juma Sultan among others.
FRI 23:30 Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC (b049mtxy)
Compilation of BBC performances featuring some of the best axe men and women in rock 'n' roll, from Hendrix to The Kinks, Cream to AC/DC, The Smiths to Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead to Foo Fighters. Whether it is The Shadows playing FBI on Crackerjack, Jeff Beck with The Yardbirds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream's Sunshine of Your Love from their final gig, Pixies on the Late Show, AC/DC on Top of the Pops or Fools Gold from The Stone Roses, this compilation is a celebration of rock 'n' roll guitar complete with riffs, fingerstylin', wah-wah pedals and Marshall amps.
FRI 00:30 imagine... (b03gln7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:00 Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock (b03p7p6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
FRI 03:00 Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC (b049mtxy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:30 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog
22:25 TUE (b03js0gf)
Ancient Apocalypse
23:25 MON (b0074m5l)
Arena
22:30 SUN (b03yg3yn)
Arena
02:50 SUN (b03yg3yn)
BBC Proms
19:30 FRI (b03qw0jf)
British Gardens in Time
20:00 MON (b042638j)
British Gardens in Time
01:45 MON (b042638j)
British Gardens in Time
23:30 THU (b042638j)
Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer
20:00 SUN (b00jhv9g)
Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer
00:15 MON (b00jhv9g)
Could We Survive a Mega-Tsunami?
22:35 SAT (b01s0zqv)
Crimes of Passion
21:00 SAT (b04kzm0t)
Detectorists
22:55 MON (b04jy45z)
Detectorists
22:00 THU (b04kzw1l)
Detectorists
01:05 THU (b04kzw1l)
Downfall
21:00 WED (b019hd3w)
Explosions: How We Shook the World
23:30 SUN (b00v9kb3)
Explosions: How We Shook the World
00:50 WED (b00v9kb3)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 MON (b00psz7n)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 TUE (b00pszd7)
Great British Railway Journeys
20:00 TUE (b00q2p2l)
Great British Railway Journeys
19:30 WED (b00q2pg7)
Great British Railway Journeys
20:00 WED (b00q2pvm)
Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC
23:30 FRI (b049mtxy)
Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC
03:00 FRI (b049mtxy)
Hidden Killers
20:00 SAT (b01rp5hh)
How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears
21:00 THU (b044jl70)
How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears
02:35 THU (b044jl70)
Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock
22:30 FRI (b03p7p6v)
Jimi Hendrix: The Road to Woodstock
02:00 FRI (b03p7p6v)
Lost Kingdoms of Central America
21:00 MON (b04kzrg0)
Lost Kingdoms of Central America
02:45 MON (b04kzrg0)
Lost Kingdoms of Central America
22:30 THU (b04kzrg0)
Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces
20:00 THU (b046w5c1)
Omnibus
21:00 TUE (b0074kgk)
Sound of Cinema: The Music That Made the Movies
20:00 FRI (b03bm2fy)
Sounds of the Eighties
00:10 SAT (b0074shx)
Sounds of the Eighties
00:35 SAT (b0074sjk)
TOTP2
01:20 SUN (b00slpb6)
The Joy of the Single
00:25 TUE (b01nzchs)
The Richard Burton Diaries
21:55 TUE (b01nw4wn)
The Richard Burton Diaries
02:55 TUE (b01nw4wn)
The Richest Songs in the World
01:05 SAT (b01pjrt5)
The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse
21:00 SUN (b00x9b7w)
The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse
01:55 WED (b00x9b7w)
The Wonder of Animals
01:15 MON (b04jy2rz)
The Wonder of Animals
20:30 WED (b04kzvxq)
The Wonder of Animals
00:20 WED (b04kzvxq)
The Wonder of Animals
02:05 THU (b04kzvxq)
Timewatch
19:00 SUN (b00j3hz3)
Timewatch
01:50 SUN (b00j3hz3)
Timewatch
22:00 MON (b00dtjy4)
Timewatch
01:30 TUE (b00j3hz3)
Timewatch
23:25 WED (b00dtjy4)
Top of the Pops
23:35 SAT (b04jy45x)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b04kzw1j)
Top of the Pops
00:30 THU (b04kzw1j)
Wild Boys: The Story of Duran Duran
00:30 SUN (b007bqdj)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b04kp9vs)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b04kp9w0)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b04kp9w5)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b04kp9wb)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b04kp9wh)
World War I at Home
20:30 TUE (b045ghfb)
World War I at Home
02:25 TUE (b045ghfb)
World War I at Home
01:35 THU (b045ghfb)
Yellowstone
19:00 SAT (b00jmqk1)
Yellowstone
02:35 SAT (b00jmqk1)
Yellowstone
23:25 TUE (b00jmqk1)
imagine...
21:00 FRI (b03gln7r)
imagine...
00:30 FRI (b03gln7r)