The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Timothy Spall and his wife Shane are back on board their beloved barge the Princess Matilda as they conclude their trip around the British coast.
Tim takes on Rattray Head in the face of a huge storm. This is the equivalent of Land's End for Scotland and the point where they head south for the first time. The North Sea soon becomes the new enemy as he and Shane struggle to cope with this unrelenting force of nature.
On land they find wonderful Scottish towns - Peterhead, Eyemouth and Stonehaven - but it is the town of Banff that resonates most. They fall in love with it and are sad to leave it behind as they pursue their odyssey of circumnavigating Britain. At the end of the episode, they eventually reach the English sea border, where they launch a message in a bottle.
In this final part of the series about how the British obsession with our homes began 300 years ago, historian Amanda Vickery uses sources, from intimate diaries to Old Bailey records, to reveal how the 18th-century home was constantly under threat from theft, fire, divorce, poverty, illness, old age and death.
Georgian houses may seem like sanctuaries of calm elegance to us today, but at the time they were noisy chaotic places bursting with extended families, servants and lodgers and threatened by the lawlessness of Georgian streets. How did the Georgians make their houses havens of safety and security? How did the Englishman fight to make his home his castle?
We live in a world ablaze with colour. Rainbows and rainforests, oceans and humanity, earth is the most colourful place we know of. But the colours we see are far more complex and fascinating than they appear. In this series, Dr Helen Czerski uncovers what colour is, how it works, and how it has written the story of our planet.
The colours that we see are only a fraction of what's out there. Beyond the rainbow there are colours invisible to our eyes. In this episode, Helen tells the story of scientific discovery. To see the universe in a whole new light, she takes to the skies in a NASA jumbo jet equipped with a 17-tonne infrared telescope.
We can't see in ultraviolet, but many animals can. Helen explores what the world looks like to the birds and the bees. With the discovery of x-rays we could look inside ourselves in ways that previously had only been possible after death. Today those same x-rays allow us to examine life at the atomic level, helping to develop new drugs and better materials. Ultimately, by harnessing all the colours there are, researchers are beginning to image the human body as never before, revealing new ways to treat disease.
Richard Hammond investigates the crucial role temperature plays in all weather. Without heat, there would be no weather - no clouds, no rain, no snow, no dust storms, no thunder and lightning.
Richard sets off to find out about hot air and with the help of a quarry and a massive hot plate discovers just why it is so hard to pull a sword out of snow. He discovers, by building his own massive dust storm with the help of a few friends and dust specialist Dr Nigel Tapper, just how sand from the Sahara bounces its way to the UK.
In Canada he creates his own ice storm. He also drops in on Dan Morgan, who creates lightning bolts in his lab, where Richard is able to see thunder and hear lightning with the aid of some special cameras, light bulbs and a few candles.
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.
The first episode looks at the difficulty of identifying the body in a murder case. The question of identity is a crucial start to the investigation. From charred bones to bodies completely dissolved in acid, with each horrific new case science has had to adapt to identify both the victim and the murderer. Investigating four breakthrough cases, Gabriel reveals the scientific innovations that tipped the scales of justice in favour of the detective - and caught the killers.
Firstly, Gabriel investigates the use of teeth and bite marks to identify a victim or murderer, starting with a problematic case at Harvard Medical School in 1849. Next, she traces the use of entomology (the study of insects) to pinpoint the time of death - a crucial piece of evidence that helped identify both the killer and his victims when a gruesome collection of unidentifiable body parts was discovered in a river in Moffat in 1935.
Gabriel meets Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, the geneticist who pioneered the technique of DNA profiling. Initially used to establish paternity in an immigration dispute, the application of this revolutionary discovery to the field of criminal investigation was soon established. In 1986 it led to a world first - a person caught and convicted solely on the basis of DNA evidence.
Taking us right to the cutting edge of forensics, Gabriel then experiments with a new technique in development - molecular face fitting, which uses only a person's DNA to create an image of their face.
Documentary which tells the story of the golden age of British aviation and of how the original 'jet set' shaped air travel for generations to come. In Britain in the 1920s and '30s a revolution took place that would change forever our perspective on the world. While the country was in the grip of recession, dashing pilots and daring socialites took to the air, pushed back boundaries and forged new links across the globe. The era of commercial air travel was born.
THURSDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2015
THU 19:00 World News Today (b06pjjnb)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b06pm83p)
Tommy Vance presents the pop show. Includes performances from Showaddywaddy, Robert Palmer, Stray Cats, UB40, ABBA, Madness and Spandau Ballet, plus a dance routine from Legs and Co.
THU 20:00 Unnatural Histories (b0122njp)
Amazon
The Amazon rainforest is the epitome of a last great wilderness under threat from modern man. It has become an international cause celebre for environmentalists as powerful agricultural and industrial interests bent on felling trees encroach ever deeper into virgin forest. But the latest evidence suggests that the Amazon is not what it seems.
As more trees are felled, the story of a far less natural Amazon is revealed - enormous man-made structures, even cities, hidden for centuries under what was believed to be untouched forest. All the time archaeologists are discovering ancient, highly fertile soils that can only have been produced by sophisticated agriculture far and wide across the Amazon basin. This startling evidence sheds new light on long-dismissed accounts from the very first conquistadors of an Amazon teeming with people and threatens to turn our whole notion of wilderness on its head. And if even the Amazon turns out to be unnatural, what then for the future of wilderness?
THU 21:00 Tankies: Tank Heroes of World War II (b01pvbds)
Episode 1
The Second World War was the ultimate conflict of the machine age, and the tank was its iconic symbol. The 'tankies' who fought inside had experience of much of the conflict from the fall of France to the deserts of Africa, from the invasion of Italy to D-Day, and on to the final victory in Germany.
In this two-part series, historian, BBC diplomatic editor and former officer in the Royal Tank Regiment, Mark Urban tells the story of six remarkable men from one armoured unit - the Fifth Royal Tank Regiment, also known as the Filthy Fifth.
Using first-hand testimony from the last surviving veterans alongside previously unseen letters and diaries, Mark brings the story of an extraordinary 'band of brothers' to life, in visceral detail. At the same time he analyses the evolution of tank production in Britain and illustrates how we fell far behind our German enemies in both technology and tactics, relying instead on dogged determination and a relentless drive to victory, whatever the costs.
In part one, Mark begins his journey in northern France, introducing our band of brothers in the midst of the fall of France and the retreat to Dunkirk. Characters such as 'rookie' tank driver Gerry Solomon join veterans, themselves still only in their twenties, such as and Jake Wardrop and Harry Finlayson.
Mark then follows in the tankies' footsteps across the deserts of North Africa. Here he looks at the game-changing tank battles of Sidi Rezegh, Alam Halfa and, of course, the battle that changed the course of the Second World War - Alamein. He then takes us back to England where the tankies expect a well-earned rest, instead they are confronted with the news that as battle-hardened troops they must fight again, this time on the beaches of Normandy.
With spectacular archive footage, including rarely seen colour footage, it brings to life the Second World War from a unique point of view.
THU 22:00 Detectorists (b06pm901)
Series 2
Episode 4
Andy suddenly has a job interview to go to, while Lance has a lot of catching up to do. The mystery of the buried bomber is the least of their problems, but a disturbing possibility emerges from an unlikely source that throws everything into doubt.
THU 22:30 Brian Pern (b03v0svc)
The Life of Rock with Brian Pern
Birth of Rock
Prog-rock legend and inventor of world music Brian Pern takes us on an imagined journey through the last half-century of rock music. In part one, Pern investigates rock's prehistoric origins, asks who was the smartest band and reminisces about dressing up as a crab.
THU 23:00 Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns (b03zqgk1)
Our dashing hero Alexander Armstrong explores the literature that inspired Michael Palin and Terry Jones's classic TV comedy Ripping Yarns, a loving parody of the Boys' Own books and magazines of their childhood. Featuring clips from Ripping Yarns, archive and interviews with experts, modern-day adventurers and Palin and Jones's own memories. In this affectionate and entertaining film Armstrong celebrates a long-lost slice of Britishness.
THU 00:00 Nigel Slater's Icing on the Cake (b04pl14k)
Nigel Slater takes us on a nostalgic, funny and heartwarming journey back in time exploring the earliest origins of cake in Britain, charting the ways in which Neolithic man used to munch on flat compacted handfuls of grain, through to the ways in which Elizabethan cooks discovered the magical raising agent that is the egg white and the impact of developments in kitchen technology on our cake consumption.
Cake has come a long way from its earliest manifestations and Nigel brings this tastiest of culinary histories to life. He finds out about the ancient rituals surrounding the baking and eating of cake and the ways in which buns were once considered too risque for us common folk and so were banned.
He goes back to school to learn about the science behind a successful bake, explores whether our desire to eat cake really is just a question of mind over matter, examines the rise and popularity of the cupcake and comes face to face with some grisly cakes created by bakers hoping to revolutionise what we mean when we refer to a cake.
Reflecting on the cakes of his youth and childhood, Nigel examines the mass appeal of a culinary creation that can be defined by that most appropriate of phrases 'naughty but nice'. Whether it be homemade cakes courtesy of Auntie Marjorie or a battenberg bought from the corner shop, for Nigel a cake is all about sharing and so here he shares the story of British cake.
THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b06pm83p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:35 Detectorists (b06pm901)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
THU 02:05 Brian Pern (b03v0svc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:30 today]
THU 02:35 Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns (b03zqgk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 today]
FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2015
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b06pjjnh)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Pappano's Classical Voices (b062hmz6)
Mezzo-Soprano
Series in which conductor Sir Antonio Pappano (music director of the Royal Opera House since 2002) explores the great roles and the greatest singers of the last hundred 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.
The lowest female voice type, and the one closest to a woman's natural speaking voice, the mezzo-soprano only rarely plays the name part. But when she does - in Carmen, Samson et Dalila, and La Cenerentola - the fireworks begin. More often, she is the rival, and the villainess.
Antonio explores the particular effect the mezzo voice has on the audience. Her low, sultry tones make her voice perfect for the earth goddess, but also the enchantress, the siren. But she has to sing nearly as high as the soprano. So how does she do it? What is the 'chest voice' and what effect does it have? How do you sing ugly to convey the evil of a character without destroying your voice, and at the same time unearth some redeeming qualities?
Antonio finds out what makes the mezzo tick by looking at great performances from Giulietta Simionato, Kathleen Ferrier, Marian Anderson, Shirley Verrett, Cecilia Bartoli and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and taking soundings from Janet Baker, Christa Ludwig, Joyce DiDonato, Felicity Palmer and Sarah Connolly.
FRI 20:30 Pappano's Classical Voices (b0638jby)
Baritone and Bass
Series in which conductor Sir Antonio Pappano explores the great roles and the greatest singers of the last hundred 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.
Gods, demons, drunks, lechers, silly old codgers, double-dyed villains - life on stage for the bass is rarely dull. The baritone, meanwhile, is the most common male voice type, and yet the parts he sings - especially in the operas of Verdi - are anything but.
Pappano explores the lowest male voice types, and the roles they play, in comedy as well as tragedy. How do basses sing so low? What different qualities does a baritone bring to a Schubert song? He meets the Russian 'oktavists', who sing a whole octave lower than the standard bass. With the help of leading practitioners - Bryn Terfel, John Tomlinson, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Christian Gerhaher, Alessandro Corbelli and Willard White - Pappano uncovers the tricks of the trade. He examines in detail some key performances from the legendary basses and baritones of the past - Feodor Chaliapin, Tito Gobbi, Paul Robeson, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Boris Christoff , Nicolai Ghiaurov and Ezio Pinza.
FRI 21:30 Mercury Prize (p034s7k0)
2015
Mercury Prize Live 2015
The Mercury Prize in association with BBC Music is presented live from the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House by Lauren Laverne to celebrate the 12 albums that have been selected and announce this year's winner.
This programme showcases a number of performances from the shortlisted artists live from the Radio Theatre and shows highlights of sessions with more of the shortlisted artists filmed for 6 Music and Radio 1 at Maida Vale and the Live Lounge earlier in the day.
This year's shortlisted artists are: Aphex Twin, Benjamin Clementine, C Duncan, ESKA, Florence + The Machine, Gaz Coombes, Ghostpoet, Jamie xx, Roisin Murphy, Slaves, SOAK and Wolf Alice.
As ever the Mercury Prize shortlist has thrown up an eclectic mix of music from emerging acts alongside more established artists. Expect music from all artists and views from a passionate judging panel whose enthusiasms will unquestionably have directed attention to a number of albums that might otherwise have stayed underground.
FRI 22:35 Mercury Prize (b06q693n)
2015
Mercury Prize Winners at the BBC
Selected archive performances from a variety of Mercury Prize winners on a mixture of BBC shows down the years.
Previous winners have included Primal Scream, M-People, Portishead, Roni Size, Dizzee Rascal, Elbow, Arctic Monkeys and James Blake, to name but a few.
The Mercury Music Prize launched in 1992 and 2015 will see its 24th winner.
FRI 23:35 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r3pm9)
1970-1974
Trawled from the depths of the BBC Archive and classic BBC shows of the day - Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Full House - a collection of performance gems from a totally rock 'n' roll early 1970s.
This was a golden era for British rock 'n' roll as everyone moved on from the whimsical 60s and looked around for something with a bit more oomph! In a pre-heavy metal world bands were experimenting with influences that dated back to 50s rock 'n' roll, whilst taking their groove from old-school rhythm and blues. It was also a time when men grew their hair long!
In a celebration of this era, we kick off with an early 1970s Badfinger number direct from the BBC library and continue the groove from the BBC vaults with classic rock 'n' roll heroes like Free, Status Quo, the Faces, Humble Pie and Mott the Hoople. Plus from deep within the BBC archives we dig out some rarities from the likes of Babe Ruth, Stone the Crows, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Man, Heavy Metal Kids and original rockers Thin Lizzy... to name but a few.
Sit back and enjoy a 60-minute non-stop ride of unadulterated Totally British 70s Rock 'n' Roll!
FRI 00:35 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r7hk5)
1975-79
A romp through the BBC archive library from 1975 to 1979 has unearthed some seldom-seen performances of the rarely explored genre of pub rock and other late 70s rock 'n' roll gems from classic music programmes like the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Before the DIY culture of punk took hold there was a whole breed of real musicians who honed their craft in the backrooms of pubs. And towards the end of the 70s men's hair was starting to get shorter too.
This compilation has uncovered rarely seen footage from the likes of Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood, original pub rockers Ducks DeLuxe, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Elvis Costello, Meal Ticket, Steve Gibbons Band, Dave Edmunds and chum Nick Lowe, a pre-Mike & the Mechanics' Paul Carrack in his first band Ace, a post-Faces Ronnie Lane, The Motors, the first TV performance from Dire Straits, Graham Parker and the Rumour and many more.
FRI 01:35 Storyville (b06pyw3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Monday]
FRI 03:00 Kings of Rock and Roll (b007c95q)
A journey back to the 1950s for a look at the wildest pop music of all time in a film that tells the stories of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, giants from an era when pop music really was mad, bad and dangerous to know.
The programme features the artists themselves, alongside people like Bill Haley's original Comets, The Crickets, Buddy Holly's widow Maria Elena, Jerry Lee Lewis's former wife Myra Gail and his sister, Chuck Berry's son and many more, including June Juanico, Elvis's first serious girlfriend.
Other contributors include Tom Jones, Jamie Callum, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Green Day, Minnie Driver, Jack White of The White Stripes, The Mavericks, Jools Holland, Hank Marvin, Fontella Bass, John Waters and more.
Elvis's pelvis was just the start. Who had to change the lyrics to their biggest hit because the originals were too obscene? Who married their 13-year-old cousin? Who used lard to get their hair just right? And what happened on the day the music died?
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns
23:00 THU (b03zqgk1)
Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns
02:35 THU (b03zqgk1)
Arne Dahl
21:00 SAT (b05pr225)
Arne Dahl
22:00 SAT (b05qkkf0)
At Home with the Georgians
20:00 WED (b00wtwkf)
Blood and Glitter: 70 Years of the Citizens Theatre
23:00 SUN (b06f2jgd)
Brian Pern
22:30 THU (b03v0svc)
Brian Pern
02:05 THU (b03v0svc)
Britain on Film
02:20 MON (b021270b)
Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story
23:00 WED (p02l4pjs)
Colour: The Spectrum of Science
21:00 WED (b06pm7t8)
Colour: The Spectrum of Science
03:00 WED (b06pm7t8)
Detectorists
23:25 MON (b06l11tj)
Detectorists
23:50 MON (b06n9q3h)
Detectorists
00:20 MON (b06nxyd8)
Detectorists
22:00 THU (b06pm901)
Detectorists
01:35 THU (b06pm901)
High Flyers: How Britain Took to the Air
00:00 WED (b00nnlz3)
Horizon
20:00 SAT (b0148vph)
How It Works
02:00 SUN (b01fq06h)
Kings of Rock and Roll
03:00 FRI (b007c95q)
Lost Land of the Tiger
19:00 SAT (b00ty6b0)
Lost Land of the Tiger
03:00 SAT (b00ty6b0)
Lost Land of the Tiger
00:00 SUN (b00ty6b0)
Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession
23:00 TUE (b00s96gn)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
20:00 SUN (b06pp9ht)
Mark Lawson Talks To...
03:00 SUN (b06pp9ht)
Mercury Prize
21:30 FRI (p034s7k0)
Mercury Prize
22:35 FRI (b06q693n)
Natural World
01:00 TUE (b01lb4vn)
Nigel Slater's Icing on the Cake
00:00 THU (b04pl14k)
On Stage: Live from Television Centre
21:00 SUN (b06pyvlh)
On Stage
19:30 MON (b06ns499)
On Stage
19:30 TUE (b06ns4fh)
Pappano's Classical Voices
19:30 FRI (b062hmz6)
Pappano's Classical Voices
20:30 FRI (b0638jby)
Power to the People
21:00 TUE (b06q4z6j)
Power to the People
03:00 TUE (b06q4z6j)
Radio 2 Live
00:00 SAT (b06pf5dw)
Rod Stewart at the BBC
23:00 SAT (b03m81n5)
Secrets of the Universe: Great Scientists in Their Own Words
00:00 TUE (b04ndw2j)
Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity
22:00 TUE (p00kjq6h)
Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity
02:00 WED (p00kjq6h)
Singer-Songwriters at the BBC
02:00 SAT (b015j8g7)
Storyville
22:00 MON (b06pyw3w)
Storyville
01:35 FRI (b06pyw3w)
Tankies: Tank Heroes of World War II
21:00 THU (b01pvbds)
The Fairytale Castles of King Ludwig II with Dan Cruickshank
19:00 SUN (b036f9vc)
The Fisherman's Apprentice with Monty Halls
20:00 TUE (b01d0x17)
The Fisherman's Apprentice with Monty Halls
01:00 WED (b01d0x17)
The Quizeum
20:30 MON (b06pm5vc)
The Quizeum
01:50 MON (b06pm5vc)
The Secret Life of Books
20:00 MON (b06pm5v9)
The Secret Life of Elephants
02:00 TUE (b00gvl9w)
Timeshift
01:00 SUN (b03fv7sl)
Timeshift
21:00 MON (b06pm5vf)
Timeshift
02:50 MON (b06pm5vf)
Timothy Spall: All at Sea
19:30 WED (b01cl52j)
Top of the Pops
01:00 SAT (b018zv8d)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b06pm83p)
Top of the Pops
01:00 THU (b06pm83p)
Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll
23:35 FRI (b01r3pm9)
Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll
00:35 FRI (b01r7hk5)
Unnatural Histories
20:00 THU (b0122njp)
Wild Weather with Richard Hammond
00:50 MON (b04v5lng)
Wild Weather with Richard Hammond
22:00 WED (b04vr2p4)
World News Today
19:00 MON (b06pjjms)
World News Today
19:00 TUE (b06pjjn0)
World News Today
19:00 WED (b06pjjn5)
World News Today
19:00 THU (b06pjjnb)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b06pjjnh)