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 27 JUNE 2015

SAT 19:00 Glastonbury (b060zf2p)
2015

Burt Bacharach

Day two of the Glastonbury coverage sees the set by Burt Bacharach, the legendary singer and songwriter of countless classic songs from the late 1950s onwards, including 52 UK Top 40 hits. Back in 2000, Bacharach was unable to perform at the festival due to a shoulder injury, but now he finally makes his debut on the Pyramid stage to perform a selection of those classic tracks from his wonderful back catalogue.


SAT 20:00 Glastonbury (b060zhfd)
2015

Paloma Faith

Hailing from Hackney, Paloma Faith is now unquestionably one of the UK's biggest stars, and her set on the Pyramid Stage will no doubt be a lively and colourful affair.


SAT 21:00 Cordon (p02tc97z)
Episode 1

When doctors at the Antwerp National Institute for Contagious Diseases discover an alarming viral disease on a patient, the authorities take no chances. The city quarter where the characters live, work or do their shopping is sealed off for 48 hours in an attempt to contain the contagion. At first, those unlucky enough to be in the area submit themselves to the situation, but when the quarantine is prolonged the mood quickly changes.

In Flemish with English subtitles.


SAT 21:50 Cordon (b060zhfj)
Episode 2

Desperately looking for her missing son, Katja makes a grisly discovery in a restricted area of the National Institute for Infectious Diseases. Lex is asked to attend a press conference held by the Minister of Public Health, at which journalist Leo Gryspeerts asks why 5,000 people are being contained after the death of just one person with flu-like symptoms? Do the authorities have something to hide?

In Flemish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:40 Glastonbury (b061229w)
2015

Suede

Huw Stephens introduces the set by Britpop veterans Suede live from the John Peel stage. It's a keenly anticipated show from the band that debuted at the festival back 1993.


SAT 00:00 Top of the Pops (b060b6d8)
Peter Powell and guest presenter Elton John present chart hits of the week, with performances from the Piranhas, Diana Ross, Hot Chocolate, Kelly Marie, the Gap Band, the Gibson Brothers, Bad Manners, Abba, Odyssey, Olivia Newton John and Don McLean, and a dance routine from Legs & Co.


SAT 00:40 Brothers in Arms (b007cblj)
They say that blood is thicker than water and this documentary puts that to the test by examining the brothers who have formed and fronted rock bands. From the Everlys to the Gallaghers via the Kinks and Spandau Ballet, it tells the stories of the bands of brothers who went from their bedrooms to become household names - often with a price to pay.

With contributions from Martin Kemp, Matt Goss, Dave Davies, Phil Everly, David Knopfler and the Campbell brothers of UB40.


SAT 01:40 Definitely Dusty (b00780bt)
Documentary looking at the life and work of soul and pop diva Dusty Springfield, singer of such classics as You Don't Have to Say You Love Me and Son of a Preacher Man, who was equally famous for her trademark panda eyes and blonde beehive.

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

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

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


SAT 02:40 Play it Loud: The Story of the Marshall Amp (b04c3l7j)
One iconic black box has probably more than anything else come to define the sound of rock - the Marshall amplifier. It has been, quite literally, behind some of the greatest names in modern music.

It all started in 1962 when drum shop owner Jim Marshall discovered the distinctive growl that gave the electric guitar an exciting new voice. Music got a whole lot louder as young musicians like Clapton, Townshend and Hendrix adopted the revolutionary 'Marshall Sound'. The electric guitar now spoke for a new generation and the genre of rock was born.

Soon Marshall stacks and walls were an essential backdrop of rock 'n' roll. The excesses of rock machismo were gloriously lampooned in the 1984 movie This is Spinal Tap. In an extraordinary piece of reverse irony, it was this comic exposure that rescued the company from financial meltdown.

With contributions from rock legends like Pete Townshend, Lemmy and Slash, plus an interview with the 'Father of Loud' Jim Marshall, this documentary cruises down the rock ages with all the dials set to 'eleven'.



SUNDAY 28 JUNE 2015

SUN 19:00 Horizon (b03wcchn)
2013-2014

The Power of the Placebo

They are the miracle pills that shouldn't really work at all. Placebos come in all shapes and sizes, but they contain no active ingredient. Now they are being shown to help treat pain, depression and even alleviate some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Horizon explores why they work, and how we could all benefit from the hidden power of the placebo.


SUN 20:00 Glastonbury (b0615rkc)
2015

Paul Weller

As the Glastonbury 2015 festival draws to a close, Jo Whiley brings us the set by the Modfather, Mr Paul Weller, who takes the penultimate slot on the Pyramid stage with a set of songs from across his extensive solo back catalogue on the final evening.


SUN 21:00 Pappano's Classical Voices (b06154q3)
Soprano

Series in which conductor Sir Antonio Pappano explores the great roles and the greatest singers of the last 100 years through the prism of the main classical voice types - soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, baritone and bass. Through discussion, demonstrations and workshops, Pappano explores every aspect of the art of great singing.

Behind every great voice is not just a rock-solid technique, but also a unique personality. As well as specially shot interviews and workshops with stars such as Jose Carreras, Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Joyce DiDonato, Bryn Terfel, Juan Diego Florez, Christa Ludwig, Thomas Allen, Felicity Palmer, John Tomlinson and Sarah Connolly, Pappano examines key performances from some of history's great operatic icons - Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland - as well as those of singers from the more recent past, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Jon Vickers, Peter Pears and Janet Baker.

Antonio explores such topics as what is going on in a singer's body to produce a great voice; how one 'projects' a Brünnhilde over large orchestral forces; whether great singers also need to be great actors; what is vibrato, legato, staccato; what are chest and head voices - how do they work and when does one use them? He examines passaggio, colorature and support, and shows why a tenor's high C hits can pin you to the back of your seat.

He begins with the soprano - at the heart of nearly every opera, although she isn't always alive come the final curtain. Tragic heroines, warriors, feisty servants, divas - the soprano sings some of the most fabulous roles in opera. But while the prima donna may suffer on stage, she doesn't suffer fools off it. The great sopranos have always been larger-than-life characters, adored by their public and, in the case of Maria Callas, famous far beyond the opera house, her private life of as much fascination to the press as her singing.

But how does the soprano carry off these vocally and dramatically demanding roles? How does the body work to produce the sound, and what techniques are at play? How do you make yourself heard up in the gods if you're competing with a huge orchestra? What is going on in a soprano's throat, indeed her whole body? How does she sing coloratura? What effect does vibrato have on us, the listeners?

To find out, Pappano looks in detail at performances from some of the legendary sopranos of the modern era - Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, and Renata Tebaldi. And sharing their secrets are some of the leading sopranos of today - Anna Netrebko, Barbara Hannigan, Carolyn Sampson, Diana Damrau, and Eva-Maria Westbroek.


SUN 22:00 Arena (b0613d0c)
Nicolas Roeg - It's About Time

The first major profile of the great British film director Nicolas Roeg, examining his very personal vision of cinema as in such films as Don't Look Now, Performance, Walkabout and The Man Who Fell to Earth. Roeg reflects on his career, which began as a leading cinematographer, and on the themes that have obsessed him, such as our perception of time and the difficulty of human relationships. With contributions from key collaborators, including Julie Christie, Jenny Agutter and Theresa Russell, and directors he has inspired such as Danny Boyle, Mike Figgis, Bernard Rose and Ben Wheatley.


SUN 23:00 Walkabout (b007c5jl)
Drama about a teenage girl who is left stranded in the Australian outback with her little brother when their father commits suicide. The pair are left to fend for themselves in the hostile environment with little hope of making their way back to civilisation, until unexpected help arrives in the form of an adolescent Aborigine boy who is in the middle of the rite of passage known as walkabout.


SUN 00:40 Irish Rock at the BBC (b0556qc9)
A whistle-stop tour of rock from over the water, taking in some of the finest Irish rock offerings from the early 70s to the present day, as captured on a variety of BBC shows from The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops to Later... with Jools Holland.

Kicking off with Thin Lizzy's 1973 debut hit Whiskey in the Jar, the programme traces Irish rock's unfolding lineage. Performances from guitar maestro Rory Gallagher, Celtic rock godfathers Horslips and John Peel favourites The Undertones feature alongside rivals Stiff Little Fingers, with their Top of the Pops performance of Nobody's Hero, followed by post-punk U2's 1981 debut UK performance of I Will Follow from The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Then there is Sinead O'Connor's debut single performance of Mandinka, and The Pogues play the Ewan MacColl classic Dirty Old Town from 1986. Into the 90s, there is The Frank and Walters and Therapy? on Top of the Pops, along with early performances on Later... with Jools Holland from Ash and The Divine Comedy.

There is rockabilly with Imelda May's debut hit Johnny Got a Boom Boom, and then more recently Cavan's The Strypes and Hozier, whose Take Me to Church completes this hit-driven tour through Irish rock.


SUN 01:35 Keys to the Castle (p01nnztr)
A touching and often funny observational documentary about a charming couple in their twilight years, who have lived in their beloved Scottish castle since rebuilding it from ruins 40 years ago.

Award-winning film-maker Darren Hercher follows Sandy and Alisoun Grant during their final few months in Inverquharity Castle as they come to terms with the emotional and practical difficulties of leaving a home they have loved.

As the challenges of age take their toll, Alisoun, for the first time in her long marriage to Sandy, has had to take control of their destiny and make increasingly difficult decisions about their day-to-day lives and future. The hardest truth for Alisoun to accept was that living in the castle had become impossible.

As the move approaches, and their lives are turned upside down, the film follows Alisoun as she faces the daunting task of downsizing from a castle to a bungalow. The distressing reasons behind the move gradually become clear and are gently explored.

Having handed over the keys to the castle, Sandy and Alisoun face the future with equal measures of trepidation and optimism, their unwavering commitment and love for each other always at the heart of the film as a new chapter approaches.


SUN 02:35 Horizon (b03wcchn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 29 JUNE 2015

MON 19:00 World News Today (b060lkg7)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


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

Lynton and Lynmouth to Exeter

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook. In a series of railway journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's world remains. Michael follows in the footsteps of the master engineer of the Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, beginning at the line's London gateway, Paddington Station and ending in Newton Abbot, Devon, the scene of one of Brunel's heroic failures. Michael gets up close to a piece of natural history, visits a garden used as a viewing platform for public hangings and experiences a timepiece like no other.


MON 20:00 Monkey Planet (p01s0zg9)
Master Minds

There's one thing that sets us primates apart from most other families on the planet, and that's a flexible mind. Our primate cousins are much smarter than you might imagine. Just like us they use tools, solve problems and even have emotions. Monkey Planet discovers how these animals are individuals with a sense of self and why brainpower is essential to primate survival.

In Thailand, long-tailed macaques floss their teeth with human hair and use tools to open oysters on the beach. In Uganda, chimps pass on cultures and customs through generations. George McGavin goes to orangutan school in Sumatra and meets a bonobo in the States who can order his own picnic on a smart phone and toast marshmallows in a fire he makes himself.


MON 21:00 War at Sea: Scotland's Story (b05qqhcn)
The Dreadnoughts of Scapa Flow

As the Great War began, the Royal Navy rushed to Orkney's great natural harbour, Scapa Flow.

David Hayman uncovers the compelling characters of the little-known naval war - cautious Admiral Jellicoe and Admiral Beatty, a playboy.

The story of great technologies and epic battles for control of the North Sea.


MON 22:00 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4px7)
Traces of Guilt

There will always be those who think they can commit the perfect murder. In reality it's virtually impossible to leave no evidence at the scene of a crime. Fingerprints, hair, fibres and blood can all lead to the killer. In this second episode, surgeon Gabriel Weston explores the cases that were solved by examining the smallest traces of forensic evidence, from the first murder case solved in the UK based on fingerprint evidence to the patterns of blood in a bedroom which helped overturn an infamous murder conviction.

As well as looking to the past, Gabriel investigates the cutting-edge techniques that are proving vital in catching the killers of today. Amazingly, forensic science can now detect with pinpoint accuracy where someone has walked across an area the size of Scotland, based on nothing more than the soil stuck to the sole of a suspect's shoe.


MON 23:00 Timewatch (b00785y5)
2008-2009

The Real Bonnie and Clyde

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

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


MON 00:00 Horizon (b0404861)
2013-2014

Living with Autism

When pioneering developmental psychologist Professor Uta Frith started her training back in the 1960s, she met a group of beautiful, bright-eyed young children who seemed completely detached from the rest of the world.

It turned out they had just been given the then-new diagnosis of autism. Uta passionately wanted to know more about these children, and they inspired her to dedicate the rest of her career to studying the autistic mind.

Horizon reveals how Uta's lifetime study of people with autism has transformed our understanding of this mysterious condition.

Uta shows how people with autism perceive the world and interact with their surroundings and how, for them, another kind of reality exists. She meets people with autism who have extraordinary talents, and explains why they often fail to understand jokes. She also explores whether many of us could be just a little bit autistic.


MON 01:00 Keys to the Castle (p01nnztr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:35 on Sunday]


MON 02:00 The High Art of the Low Countries (b01rsfgd)
Dream of Plenty

Andrew Graham-Dixon shows how the art of Renaissance Flanders evolved from the craft of precious tapestries within the Duchy of Burgundy into a leading painting school in its own right. Starting his journey at the magnificent altarpiece of Ghent Cathedral created by the Van Eyck brothers, Andrew explains their groundbreaking innovation in oil painting and marvels at how the colours they obtained can still remain so vibrant today.

Andrew describes how, in the early Renaissance, the most urgent preoccupation was not the advancement of learning, humanist or otherwise, but the Last Judgment. People believed they were living in the end of days; a subject popular with preachers and artists and intensely realised in swarming microscopic detail by Hieronymus Bosch.


MON 03:00 War at Sea: Scotland's Story (b05qqhcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 30 JUNE 2015

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b060lkgd)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


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

Exmouth to Newton Abbot

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook. In a series of railway journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the British Isles to see what of Bradshaw's World remains. Michael follows in the footsteps of the master engineer of the Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, beginning at the line's London gateway, Paddington Station and ending in Newton Abbot, Devon, the scene of one of Brunel's heroic failures. Michael takes to sea with the heroes of the RNLI, visits a stormy coastal railway and has a close personal encounter with his boyhood hero.


TUE 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.


TUE 21:00 Dan Cruickshank's Civilisation Under Attack (b0615mxc)
Islamic State has declared war on the most important and romantic ancient architectural sites in the world. Jihadi fighters seek the total destruction of the wonders of the ancient world that gave us writing, the wheel and the first cities. Dan Cruickshank charts the likely course of Islamic State's destructive advance and asks how this can be happening and what we can do to stop them.


TUE 22:00 The Lady Who Flew Africa: The Aviatrix (b05n29m7)
In 1928, Lady Heath became the first person to fly solo from Cape Town to London. Eighty-five years later, Tracey Curtis-Taylor sets out in a vintage biplane to retrace her flight.

Her extraordinary eight-and-a-half-week journey from Cape Town to Goodwood is nearly 10,000 miles long and takes her through 15 African countries. From the beauty of the wilderness to the challenge of flying through war-torn nations, Tracey faces many of the same challenges as her aviatrix predecessor.

With aviation fuel scarce and with a top speed of only 95 miles per hour, her progress is slow and at times frightening. Tracey will need the same courage and single-minded determination of Lady Heath if she is to make her lifelong dream come true.


TUE 23:00 Timewatch (b00jj523)
2008-2009

WWI Aces Falling

Edward Mannock VC and James McCudden VC rose from modest backgrounds to become two of Britain's greatest fighter aces in World War One.

As the number of their victories grew, so did their chances of dying in flames. Timewatch tells the story of their battle to survive against the odds, and of the 90-year-old mystery surrounding the death of one of them.


TUE 00:00 The Fantastical World of Hormones with Professor John Wass (b03wctdg)
Hormones shape each and every one of us, affecting almost every aspect of our lives - our height, our weight, our appetites, how we grow and reproduce, and even how we behave and feel.

This documentary tells the wonderful and often weird story of how hormones were discovered.

Presenter John Wass, one the country's leading experts on hormones, relates some amazing stories - how as recently as the 19th century boys were castrated to keep their pure soprano voice, how juices were extracted from testicles in the hope they would rejuvenate old men and how true medical heroes like Frederick Banting discovered a way to make insulin, thus saving the lives of countless diabetes sufferers.

And hormones remain at the cutting edge of medicine as we try and deal with modern scourges like obesity.


TUE 00:55 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792v2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 01:55 The Lady Who Flew Africa: The Aviatrix (b05n29m7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


TUE 02:55 Timewatch (b00785y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]



WEDNESDAY 01 JULY 2015

WED 19:00 World News Today (b060lkgm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b01qmc2x)
Series 4

Goes to Ireland - Killarney to Cobh

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks once again using his Bradshaw's 'Handbook for Tourists in Great Britain and Ireland' from the Victorian era. Portillo is on a railway journey through the Republic of Ireland, travelling from the rugged beauty of County Kerry, across the rural Irish Midlands, to end in the city of Galway on the Atlantic coast.

In this episode, Michael samples 19th-century foodie delicacies, explores a stunning landscape shot to fame by rails and royals, and risks life and limb for the gift of the gab.


WED 20:00 Tales from the National Parks (b016dr0x)
The Lake District

The National Parks are Britain's most treasured landscapes, but they are increasingly becoming battlefields. They were designated 60 years ago as places for everyone, but is that still the case? In this series the award-winning film-maker Richard Macer spent a year amid conflicts in three different parks, on a journey to discover who they are really for.

In each park the stories are very different, but there is something that unites them all - fiercely divided communities who are prepared to fight in order to preserve their right to enjoy the countryside. In each film, Macer has secured access to the National Park Authority - an organisation which looks after the landscapes and decides upon planning matters. In all of these stories the Park Authorities have a key role to play in trying to find amicable solutions to the problems which confront them.

In the Lake District, entrepreneur Mark Weir wants to build a giant zip-wire ride from the top of a beautiful, remote mountain. But does it have any chance of getting permission when there are over 400 objectors to it? Unfortunately a tragic accident during filming means that Mark will never see if his zip-wire becomes a reality.


WED 21:00 The Grammar School: A Secret History (b0192q6y)
Episode 1

The British grammar schools provided five consecutive prime ministers as well as many high fliers in industry, science and the arts. Yet at the height of their success they were phased out.

Featuring David Attenborough and Joan Bakewell amongst many others, this two-part series uses personal stories and rare archive footage to reveal the secret history of some of Britain's most successful schools, whose aim was to give the very best education to talented children - whatever their background.


WED 22:00 Dirk Gently (b01dc582)
Series 1

Episode 2

With business far from booming, Dirk and Macduff style themselves as holistic security consultants and return to the university that expelled Dirk for cheating twenty years earlier. Charged with protecting a valuable state-of-the-art humanoid robot, things veer rapidly off course as, within hours of their arrival, the robot is stolen and Dirk and Macduff find themselves the prime suspects in a murder case.


WED 22:55 Lost Cities of the Ancients (b00792v2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 23:55 Tales from the National Parks (b016dr0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 00:55 War at Sea: Scotland's Story (b05qqhcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


WED 01:55 Dirk Gently (b01dc582)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


WED 02:55 The Grammar School: A Secret History (b0192q6y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 02 JULY 2015

THU 19:00 World News Today (b060lkgs)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b060p5d6)
Tommy Vance presents the hits of the week from August 1980. Guests include Ultravox, David Bowie, ELO, Mike Berry, Grace Jones, Village People, Sue Wilkinson and ABBA, plus a dance routine from Legs & Co.


THU 20:00 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044z1k0)
Great Plains

Ray Mears explores how 500,000 square miles of flat, treeless grassland was the setting for some of the Wild West's most dramatic stories of Plains Indians, wagon trains, homesteaders and cattle drives.

Ray joins the Blackfeet Indian Nation as they demonstrate bareback riding skills before a ritual buffalo hunt and sacrifice, and learns how their ancestors were dependent upon the buffalo for their survival. He follows in the wagon ruts of the early pioneers along the Oregon Trail and hitches a ride on a prairie schooner with wagon master Kim Merchant. He discovers the stories of the early homesteaders who lived in sod-houses and farmed the wild grassland around them.

At a cattle auction in Dodge City he explores the story of the railways, cow-towns and the buffalo massacre. His journey across the Great Plains ends at Moore Ranch where he joins a long-horn cattle drive and learns about the life and myth of one of the Wild West's most iconic figures, the cowboy.


THU 21:00 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4q38)
Instruments of Murder

Sherlock has his mind palace, Morse his music - every detective has an edge. For most, it's forensic science. This three-part series provides a rare and fascinating insight into the secret history of catching murderers, charting two centuries of the breakthroughs that have changed the course of justice. Surgeon and writer Gabriel Weston explores this rich history through some of the most absorbing, and often gruesome, stories in the forensic casebook - and looks ahead to how forensics will continue to solve the murders of the future.

Where there's a murder there's usually a weapon. It's a key piece of evidence that can hold all the clues needed to catch the killer and shine a light into the mind of the murderer. In this final episode, Gabriel investigates the forensic advances that have elevated the murder weapon from its role of mere evidence to that of key witness.

Arsenic, the undetectable weapon of choice in the 19th century, was exposed as the murder weapon with one simple chemical test, and distinctive marks left on a victim's skull led detectives to the murder weapon and the killer.

Gabriel also looks to the future and the latest advances in forensics. Scientists have developed 3D laser scanning that can be used to reconstruct the exact sequence of events at the scene of a gun crime and decipher whether a shooting was murder or self-defence. Gabriel also investigates the pioneering chemistry that can now determine where in the world someone has spent time based on just a few strands of their hair.


THU 22:00 The Jackal (b007q86z)
Violent action thriller. Russian mobster Terek Murad has declared open season on the Russian militia and the FBI over the shooting of his brother in a Moscow nightclub. He hires the Jackal, an anonymous highly-trained assassin, to kill the head of the FBI. With no other leads, FBI deputy director Carter Preston enlists the services of Declan Mulqueen, an imprisoned IRA sniper, to track the Jackal down.


THU 00:00 War at Sea: Scotland's Story (b05qqhcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b060p5d6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:30 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044z1k0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 02:30 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4q38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 03 JULY 2015

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b060lkh1)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Dame Kiri and Kate Adie: In Conversation (b060dsh0)
Kate Adie meets BBC Cardiff Singer of the World patron Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. In front of an audience at the Wales Millennium Centre they talk about her career and find they have some surprising similarities in their lives.


FRI 20:00 Pappano's Classical Voices (b06154q3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


FRI 21:00 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0615nmw)
Sweet Little Sixteen

In Cold War mid-1950s America, as the new suburbia was spreading fast in a country driven by racial segregation, rock 'n' roll took the country by surprise. Out of the Deep South came a rhythm-driven fusion of blues, boogie woogie and vocal harmony played by young black pioneers like Fats Domino and Little Richard that seduced young white teens and, pre-civil rights, got black and white kids reeling and rocking together.

This fledgling sound was nurtured by small independent labels and travelled up from the Mississippi corridor spawning new artists. In Memphis, Elvis began his career as a local singer with a country twang who rocked up a blues song and sounded so black he confused his white listeners. And in St Louis, black blues guitarist Chuck Berry took a country song and turned it into his first rock 'n' roll hit, Maybellene.

Movies had a big role to play thanks to 'social problem' films exploring the teenager as misfit and delinquent - The Wild One showed teens a rebellious image and a look, and Blackboard Jungle gave them a soundtrack, with the film's theme tune Rock Around the Clock becoming the first rock 'n' roll Number 1 in 1955.

Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Don Everly, Little Richard, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, Pat Boone, The Spaniels, PF Sloan, Joe Boyd, Jerry Phillips, Marshall Chess, JM Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis's drummer), Charles Connor (Little Richard's drummer) and Dick Richards (Bill Haley's drummer).


FRI 22:00 Rock Around the Clock (b04mhsmz)
Classic music-filled movie that introduced the world to some great recording artists. Chancing upon a small-town rock 'n' roll band and dancers, Steve Hollis believes he can manage them to the heights of success, unaware that his cynical former girlfriend and boss Corinne will seek to sabotage his plans.


FRI 23:15 ...Sings Elvis (b00pqcg3)
2011 marked the 75th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth and was celebrated by a host of performances by artists covering the King's classic songs culled from the BBC archives.

Some of Britain's biggest stars were introduced to rock n roll as teenagers via their idol Elvis, and Cliff Richard, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones and John Cale all pay their tribute. The original songwriters of some of Elvis's greatest hits perform their own versions of classic tracks, including Carl Perkins singing Blue Suede Shoes and Mac Davis doing In the Ghetto.

Other artists paying homage from across five decades include The Deep River Boys, the Stylistics, Boy George, Alison Moyet, Pet Shop Boys and Robbie Williams. There will be jumpsuits, pelvic thrusts, brilliant tunes ... and Glen Campbell's Elvis impersonation.


FRI 00:15 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0615nmw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:15 Sounds of the Sixties (b0074q9l)
Original Series

The First Steps

The rock and pop series kicks off with the very birth of the decade, when pop was consigned to Crackerjack and rebellious singers still wore cardigans. But then Beatlemania came along.

Features the fabulous Freddie and the Dreamers on Blue Peter and Pinky & Perky doing the Twist.


FRI 01:45 Sounds of the Sixties (b0074qbw)
Original Series

1967-68: The Pop Boom

By now Top of the Pops was an established part of the pop scene, and a group's appearance on the show was essential to a single's success. With footage of the Bee Gees, the Rolling Stones and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich amongst others.


FRI 02:15 ...Sings Elvis (b00pqcg3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:15 today]




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

...Sings Elvis 23:15 FRI (b00pqcg3)

...Sings Elvis 02:15 FRI (b00pqcg3)

Arena 22:00 SUN (b0613d0c)

Brothers in Arms 00:40 SAT (b007cblj)

Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story 22:00 MON (p02l4px7)

Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story 21:00 THU (p02l4q38)

Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story 02:30 THU (p02l4q38)

Cordon 21:00 SAT (p02tc97z)

Cordon 21:50 SAT (b060zhfj)

Dame Kiri and Kate Adie: In Conversation 19:30 FRI (b060dsh0)

Dan Cruickshank's Civilisation Under Attack 21:00 TUE (b0615mxc)

Definitely Dusty 01:40 SAT (b00780bt)

Dirk Gently 22:00 WED (b01dc582)

Dirk Gently 01:55 WED (b01dc582)

Glastonbury 19:00 SAT (b060zf2p)

Glastonbury 20:00 SAT (b060zhfd)

Glastonbury 22:40 SAT (b061229w)

Glastonbury 20:00 SUN (b0615rkc)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b01qglz4)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b01qgm2b)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b01qmc2x)

Horizon 19:00 SUN (b03wcchn)

Horizon 02:35 SUN (b03wcchn)

Horizon 00:00 MON (b0404861)

How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears 20:00 THU (b044z1k0)

How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears 01:30 THU (b044z1k0)

Irish Rock at the BBC 00:40 SUN (b0556qc9)

Keys to the Castle 01:35 SUN (p01nnztr)

Keys to the Castle 01:00 MON (p01nnztr)

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

Lost Cities of the Ancients 00:55 TUE (b00792v2)

Lost Cities of the Ancients 22:55 WED (b00792v2)

Monkey Planet 20:00 MON (p01s0zg9)

Pappano's Classical Voices 21:00 SUN (b06154q3)

Pappano's Classical Voices 20:00 FRI (b06154q3)

Play it Loud: The Story of the Marshall Amp 02:40 SAT (b04c3l7j)

Rock 'n' Roll America 21:00 FRI (b0615nmw)

Rock 'n' Roll America 00:15 FRI (b0615nmw)

Rock Around the Clock 22:00 FRI (b04mhsmz)

Sounds of the Sixties 01:15 FRI (b0074q9l)

Sounds of the Sixties 01:45 FRI (b0074qbw)

Tales from the National Parks 20:00 WED (b016dr0x)

Tales from the National Parks 23:55 WED (b016dr0x)

The Fantastical World of Hormones with Professor John Wass 00:00 TUE (b03wctdg)

The Grammar School: A Secret History 21:00 WED (b0192q6y)

The Grammar School: A Secret History 02:55 WED (b0192q6y)

The High Art of the Low Countries 02:00 MON (b01rsfgd)

The Jackal 22:00 THU (b007q86z)

The Lady Who Flew Africa: The Aviatrix 22:00 TUE (b05n29m7)

The Lady Who Flew Africa: The Aviatrix 01:55 TUE (b05n29m7)

Timewatch 23:00 MON (b00785y5)

Timewatch 23:00 TUE (b00jj523)

Timewatch 02:55 TUE (b00785y5)

Top of the Pops 00:00 SAT (b060b6d8)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b060p5d6)

Top of the Pops 01:00 THU (b060p5d6)

Walkabout 23:00 SUN (b007c5jl)

War at Sea: Scotland's Story 21:00 MON (b05qqhcn)

War at Sea: Scotland's Story 03:00 MON (b05qqhcn)

War at Sea: Scotland's Story 00:55 WED (b05qqhcn)

War at Sea: Scotland's Story 00:00 THU (b05qqhcn)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b060lkg7)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b060lkgd)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b060lkgm)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b060lkgs)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b060lkh1)