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 23 APRIL 2016

SAT 19:00 A History of Ancient Britain (b00ysr2l)
Series 1

Age of Ancestors

Neil Oliver continues the story of how today's Britain and its people were forged over thousands of years of ancient history. It's 4,000 BC and the first farmers arrive from Europe, with seismic consequences for the local hunter-gatherers.


SAT 20:00 Natural World (b00q9y41)
2009-2010

The Secret Leopards

Jonathan Scott narrates the extraordinary story of the leopard, investigating what it is about the natural history of these cats that makes them born survivors.


SAT 21:00 Hinterland (b0791w11)
Series 2 (BBC Four)

Episode 1

The climax of the first series saw DCI Tom Mathias pushed to the edge. With a local woman's death on his conscience and blood on his hands, Mathias's future is hanging in the balance until Chief Superintendent Prosser persuades him to return and work on a case of an arson attack on a farm that leaves a mother and child fighting for thier lives.


SAT 22:30 New Power Generation: Black Music Legends of the 1980s (b0177bjb)
Prince: A Purple Reign

Film which explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionised the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as 1999, Kiss, Raspberry Beret and Alphabet Street. He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continued right up to his passing in April 2016, aged 57.

From the psychedelic Around the World in a Day to his masterpiece album Sign O' the Times and experiments with hip-hop and jazz, Prince was one of most ambitious and prolific songwriters of his generation. He tested the boundaries of taste and decency with explicit sexual lyrics and stage shows during his early career, and in the 1990s fought for ownership of his name and control of his music, played out in a public battle with his former label, Warner. Highly regarded as one of the most flamboyant live performers ever, Prince was a controversial and famously elusive creative force.

Contributors include Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson, Paisley Park label president Alan Leeds, hip-hop legend Chuck D and Prince 'Mastermind' and UK soul star Beverley Knight.


SAT 23:30 BBC: The Secret Files (b06455ch)
Episode 1

Penelope Keith uncovers the secrets behind some of the BBC's greatest artists and programmes as she delves into the corporation's written archives.


SAT 00:30 imagine... (b04pln3f)
Winter 2014

Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M

As she is about to begin a run on Broadway in Hello Dolly, imagine... revisits Miss M in New York in a programme first shown in 2014 when she was about to release her girl band-inspired album.

For five decades the woman they call the Divine Miss M has forged a path which has taken her from a pineapple-canning factory in Honolulu to becoming a Hollywood legend. Alan Yentob joins Bette Midler on a journey through the chorus lines of Broadway and the bathhouses and nightclubs of the 1970s to the very top of the film industry. Her combination of a soulful voice and the raucous wit of Mae West has made her name as an outrageous, but always captivating, all-round entertainer.


SAT 01:45 It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Rock 'n' Roll at the BBC (b063m6wy)
A celebration of rock 'n' roll in the shape of a compilation of classic artists and songs, featuring the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Dion and Dick Dale who all featured in the Rock 'n' Roll America series, alongside songs that celebrate rock 'n roll itself from artists such as Tom Petty (Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll), Joan Jett (I Love Rock 'n' Roll) and Oasis (Rock 'n' Roll Star).


SAT 02:45 BBC: The Secret Files (b076yvyv)
Episode 2

Penelope Keith looks into the BBC's secret dealings with some of the 20th century's most intriguing figures, including Winston Churchill, Tony Hancock and Alec Guinness.



SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2016

SUN 19:00 Virtuoso Violinists at the BBC (b072x1qh)
Violinist Nicola Benedetti explores 60 years of BBC archive to celebrate the world of the violin and its most outstanding performers. From Nathan Milstein, Mischa Elman and Isaac Stern to Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman and Nigel Kennedy, Nicola gives us a violinist's perspective on what makes a great performance in a tradition which stretches back to the 19th-century virtuoso Paganini. Filmed at the Royal Academy of Music Museum, London.


SUN 20:00 Yehudi Menuhin: Who Was Yehudi? (b078lrhz)
Yehudi Menuhin was the twentieth century's greatest violinist. As famous as any Hollywood star, he even had songs written about him.

A child prodigy, unmatched by his contemporaries, he achieved more by his teens than most artists do in a lifetime. But the man behind the violin was harder to know - his cocooned and curious childhood marked him emotionally for life.

Endlessly touring and crossing continents and cultures, the man whose contract with EMI was the longest in the history of the music industry took classical music out of the concert hall because he believed music was for everyone and had the power to change lives.

An impassioned idealist, Yehudi wanted to give more to the world than music - he became a tireless figure fighting for the humanitarian issues he believed in.

Presenter Clemency Burton-Hill was fifteen and a student at the Royal College of Music when Yehudi first heard her play and asked her to study with him. She says of that first lesson, 'We worked through pieces of Bach and Beethoven. And I walked out of there a better fiddle player. But I also came out with a sense that to be a truly great musician is about much more than just music...'

In this film, which commemorates the 100th year of Yehudi's birth, family members and close friends recall his extraordinary musical life, one in which he embraced jazz and Indian ragas as much as Bach, Beethoven and Bartok.

And incredible home movies, some dating back to 1927 and many never seen before, take us on an intimate behind-the-scenes journey from his childhood in California, to meeting gypsies in Romania and travelling to India and beyond.


SUN 21:00 Arena (b0791p2k)
All the World's a Screen - Shakespeare on Film

From the silent days of cinema, Shakespeare's plays have often been adapted to the big screen. Film-makers relished his vivid characters and dramatic plots as well as the magic and poetry of his work.

At first the results were patchy, then came Laurence Olivier. With Henry V, made to stir patriotic spirit during the Second World War, he perfectly translated Shakespeare from the stage to the screen. He followed Henry V with Hamlet, and both were smash hits. Olivier led the way for directors as diverse as Orson Welles, Kurosawa, Franco Zeffirelli, Roman Polanski, Baz Luhrmann and Kenneth Branagh.

The Bard's language has been no barrier, with bold versions of his dramas coming out of Russia, Japan, India and many other countries, not to mention Hollywood's free adaptations in genres as diverse as musicals and science fiction. Already over 30 films worldwide have been produced based on Romeo and Juliet alone.

For the first time in a single documentary, Arena explores the rich, global history of Shakespeare in the cinema, with a treasure trove of film extracts and archival interviews with their creators.


SUN 22:00 Forbidden Planet (b00kzxrd)
Cult sci-fi adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest. A spaceship is sent on a mission to re-establish contact with a human colony on a distant planet. When they arrive, they find only two survivors - a lone scientist and his daughter. The scientist displays little interest in the idea of being rescued, claiming that conditions on the planet are ideal. When the crew decide to stay on the planet to investigate the disappearance of the rest of the colony, their presence seems to trigger the onslaught of a deadly and mysterious force.


SUN 23:35 The Big Thinkers (b0788q6m)
Aliens

The hunt for aliens is on! After a distinguished career in cosmology Professor Martin Rees, the astronomer royal, has taken up the search for extra-terrestrials. Looking for aliens is no longer science fiction - it is a question that's engaging some of the greatest minds in science.

As our knowledge of the universe has increased, we're getting closer to answers. Many scientists now think we live in galaxy with a billion Earth-like planets, many of which may be teeming with life. But what kind of life? Has anything evolved into beings we could communicate with? This film gets inside the minds of the scientists considering one of the most exciting and profound questions we can ask - are we alone in the universe?

Professor Rees thinks we may have our idea of what an alien is like all wrong. If he's right, it's not organic extra-terrestrials we should look for, it's machines.


SUN 00:35 Horizon (b00vv0w8)
2010-2011

Asteroids - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Famed for their ability to inflict Armageddon from outer space, asteroids are now revealing the secrets of how they are responsible for both life and death on our planet.

Armed with an array of powerful telescopes, scientists are finding up to 3,000 new asteroids every night. And some are heading our way.

But astronomers have discovered that it's not the giant rocks that are the greatest danger - it's the small asteroids that pose a more immediate threat to Earth.

Researchers have explained the photon propulsion that send these rocks across space, and have discovered that some asteroids are carrying a mysterious cargo of frost and ice across the solar system that could have helped start life on Earth.


SUN 01:35 Natural World (b00q9y41)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


SUN 02:35 Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City (b0186b56)
Invasion, Invasion, Invasion

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world. For the Jewish faith, it is the site of the western wall, the last remnant of the second Jewish temple. For Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the site of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest sanctuary of Islam.

In episode two, Simon discovers the impact on the holy city of a new faith - Islam. He explores Muhammad's relationship with Jerusalem, the construction of one of Islam's holiest shrines - the Dome of the Rock - and the crusaders' attempts to win it back for Christianity.

He also brings to life lesser-known characters, whose impact still resonates - Al Hakim's destructive delusions of grandeur and Queen Melisende's embellishment of crusader Jerusalem, as well as the notorious stand-off between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.

The episode ends in the 13th century with King Frederick II, whose groundbreaking power-sharing deal prefigures the tortuous peace negotiations of our own times. Then, as now, peace did not last.



MONDAY 25 APRIL 2016

MON 19:00 World News Today (b078jbdc)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04pgc2y)
Series 1

Farms

The National Trust started in Wales. Griff Rhys Jones examines how it manages its farmland and tenanted farms across the country, beginning in Pembrokeshire with the Trust's latest bequest, Treleddyd Fawr - the most painted and photographed cottage in Wales. Griff discusses the daunting restoration work facing National Trust building surveyor Nathan Goss.

Through this derelict farm worker's cottage, as well as a working farm producing potatoes sold under National Trust branding and a farm which no longer farms but instead operates as a children's adventure camp, Griff explores the variety of ways in which the Trust approaches its guardianship of farms and farmland.


MON 20:00 Antiques Uncovered (b01hz7b9)
Ceremony

Historian Dr Lucy Worsley and antiques expert Mark Hill examine objects that are associated with ceremonies.

Lucy traces the history of the wedding dress, while Mark discovers how you put the sparkle into a diamond.

They also get their hands on an Olympic medal from 1948 and look at memorabilia from a ceremonial event that Queen Victoria called the 'greatest day in our history'.


MON 21:00 A History of Ancient Britain (b00z0k23)
Series 1

Age of Cosmology

Neil Oliver continues his journey through the world of Ancient Britain as he encounters an age of cosmological priests and some of the greatest monuments of the Stone Age, including Stonehenge itself. This is a time of elite travellers, who were inventing the very idea of Heaven itself.


MON 22:00 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dpqtx)
Jane, Mary and Elizabeth

In the medieval and Tudor world there was no question in people's minds about the order of God's creation - men ruled and women didn't. A king was a warrior who literally fought to win power then battled to keep it. Yet despite everything that stood in their way, a handful of extraordinary women did attempt to rule medieval and Tudor England. In this series, historian Dr Helen Castor explores seven queens who challenged male power, the fierce reactions they provoked and whether the term 'she wolves' was deserved.

Helen looks at what happened when England was faced not just with inadequate kings, but no kings at all. In 1553, for the first time in English history all the contenders for the crown were female. In the lives of these three Tudor queens - Jane, Mary and Elizabeth - she explores how each woman struggled in turn with wearing a crown that was made for a male head. Elizabeth I seemed to show that not only could a woman rule, but could do so gloriously. But at what cost?


MON 23:00 The Hollow Crown (p00s90j1)
Series 1

Richard II

The Hollow Crown brings together four filmed adaptations of Shakespeare's History Plays - Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. Starting in the year 1399, this continuous story of monarchy follows events during sixteen years of dynastic and political power play. Kings, with their families and followers, are threatened by rebellion and conflict.

The story takes us from the Royal Court at Westminster to battlefields in England and France. These rich films are woven with the finest of Shakespeare's poetry and are filmed in the architecture and landscape of the period.

King Richard is called upon to settle a dispute between his cousin Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. Richard calls for a duel but then halts it just before swords clash. Both men are banished from the realm. Richard visits John of Gaunt, Bolingbroke's father, who, in the throes of death, reprimands the king. After seizing Gaunt's money and land, Richard leaves for wars against the rebels in Ireland. Bolingbroke returns to claim back his inheritance. Supported by his allies, Northumberland and the Duke of York, Bolingbroke takes Richard prisoner and lays claim to the throne.


MON 01:20 She-Wolves: England's Early Queens (b01dpqtx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 02:20 Antiques Uncovered (b01hz7b9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 03:20 Britain on Film (b01p65b7)
Series 1

The Joy of Tech

Throughout the 1960s, the Rank Organisation produced hundreds of short, quirky documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. Shot on high-quality colour film stock, they were screened in cinemas, but until now very little of the footage has been shown on television. This series draws on this unique archive to offer illuminating and often surprising insights into a pivotal decade in modern British history.

This episode looks at the extraordinary advances in technology during a period when automatic washing machines were transforming life in the home, computers were about to revolutionise the workplace and nuclear power was promising to change the world.



TUESDAY 26 APRIL 2016

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b078jbdj)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 National Treasures of Wales (b04q1h03)
Series 1

Tredegar House

Griff Rhys Jones visits one of the grandest Restoration houses in Britain to find out why they have taken on what was once known as 'the most expensive council house in Britain'.

Just off the M4 motorway in south Wales lies the jewel in the crown of Newport - Tredegar House - home to generations of the glittering Morgan dynasty and now a feather in the cap of National Trust Wales. But alongside the benefits of running this stunning visitor attraction comes the responsibility of maintenance - as well as a remit to work with the local community who live cheek by jowl with the big house.

Griff investigates how the Trust manages this while also carrying on the painstaking work of unearthing the hidden history of the house and its beautiful gardens.


TUE 20:00 Timeshift (b017zqw8)
Series 11

The Golden Age of Trams: A Streetcar Named Desire

Move along the car! Timeshift takes a nostalgic trip on the tram car and explores how it liberated overcrowded cities and launched the era of the commuter. The film maps the tram's journey from early horse-drawn carriages on rails, through steam, and to electric power.

Overhead wires hung over Britain's towns and cities for nearly 50 years from the beginning of the 20th century until they were phased out everywhere except Blackpool. Manchester, the last city to lose its trams was, however, among the first to reintroduce them as the solution to modern-day traffic problems.

The film includes a specially recorded reading by Alan Bennett of his short story Leeds Trams, and contributions from Ken Dodd and Roy Hattersley.


TUE 21:00 Britain's Treasure Islands (b078lw8y)
Outposts of Empire

The final part of Stewart McPherson's epic journey to visit all of the UK's Overseas Territories takes him to islands that could not be more different, yet are all united by being important military or trading bases, both historically and, in some cases, still today.

This journey begins in the Caribbean, where amongst sunbathing tourists, he finds some unexpected wildlife and an active volcano. In the centre of the Atlantic, the pinprick of Ascension Island, an extinct volcano, looks like somewhere on Mars rather than a part of Britain, yet it too has rich wildlife.

St Helena is so remote it was seen as a safe prison for Napoleon Bonaparte after his defeat at Waterloo. And finally, Stewart visits the newest of the Overseas Territories, the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus, along with Gibraltar, the last home of the Neanderthals and the present home of Barbary macaques, Europe's only wild colony of monkeys.


TUE 22:00 Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City (b018jlj0)
Judgement Day

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world. For the Jewish faith, it is the site of the western wall, the last remnant of the second Jewish temple. For Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the site of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest sanctuary of Islam.

In the final part of his series, Simon explores how this unique city rose from a crumbling ruin after the crusades to be rebuilt as a world centre of Islamic pilgrimage. He explains how Jerusalem became the object of rivalry between the Christian nations of Europe, the focus of the longing of Jews from all over the world and, ultimately, the site of one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

Starting in the Middle Ages, Simon goes on a chronological journey to trace the revival of the city under the Mamluks and its conquest by the biggest of all the Islamic empires - the Ottomans. He examines how the distinctive national identity of the Arab population evolved under centuries of Turkish Ottoman rule and how the city came to be prized by the great powers of 19th-century Europe. The programme explores the emergence of Zionism and the growing Jewish population of the city and traces the origins of today's nationalist struggle.


TUE 23:00 The Hollow Crown (p00s91pm)
Series 1

Henry IV - Part 1

The heir to the throne Prince Hal defies his father King Henry by spending his time at Mistress Quickly's tavern in the company of the dissolute Falstaff and his companions. The king is threatened by a rebellion led by Hal's rival Hotspur, his father Northumberland and his uncle Worcester. In the face of this danger to the state, Prince Hal joins his father to defeat the rebels at the Battle of Shrewsbury and kill Hotspur in single combat.


TUE 00:55 A History of Ancient Britain (b00z0k23)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


TUE 01:55 Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood (b011vmsd)
Episode 3

Paul Merton traces the rise of the studios through the story of MGM - the biggest dream factory of them all, which boasted of 'more stars than the heavens'. Metro Goldwyn Mayer's studio system was perfected by its young producer Irving Thalberg, the boy genius of Hollywood's silent era. The programme shows how he challenged the power previously wielded by the director of a film, taking on a much more creative role as the producer. This involved dealing with some of the most notorious egos in movie-making, such as that of flamboyant director Erich Von Stroheim. It was famously said of Thalberg that he didn't just make movies - he 're-made' them. He may have turned MGM into what Paul Merton calls 're-take valley' but Thalberg never put his name on any of his films, even the original Ben Hur or Mutiny on the Bounty - which may explain why you might never have heard of this remarkable man who did more than anyone to steer 1930s Hollywood from the silent to the sound era.


TUE 02:55 Britain's Treasure Islands (b078lw8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 27 APRIL 2016

WED 19:00 World News Today (b078jbdx)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney (p01t6p8s)
Episode 1

Martha Kearney's year gets off to a bad start when unseasonal snow in spring threatens to kill the bee colonies she keeps in her garden in Suffolk. With help from a master beekeeper Martha feeds her bees and takes one of the hives to a wildflower meadow at a neighbour's house along with two brand new hives.

She discovers the intricate hierarchy within the bee colony and learns how the organisation of the hive has become a metaphor for human society. At a London school she learns the secrets of urban bees' success even while bees in the country as a whole are in decline. The episode ends with three new hives established on a wildflower meadow, ready to start producing classic British wildflower honey.


WED 20:00 Britain's Treasure Islands (b078lw8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:00 The History Boys (b01shmjd)
Alan Bennett's adaptation of his acclaimed, long-running play set in 1980s Yorkshire.

A class of likely lads, caught in a clash of educational styles as they prepare to apply to Oxford or Cambridge, find their loyalties as well as their intellects tested.


WED 22:50 The Hollow Crown (p00s91qj)
Series 1

Henry IV - Part 2

In the aftermath of the Battle of Shrewsbury, Northumberland learns of the death of his son. The Lord Chief Justice attempts on behalf of the increasingly frail king to separate Falstaff from Prince Hal. The rebels continue to plot insurrection. Falstaff is sent to recruit soldiers and takes his leave of his mistress, Doll Tearsheet. The rebel forces are overcome. This brings comfort to the dying king, who is finally reconciled to his son. Falstaff rushes to Hal's coronation with expectations of high office.


WED 00:45 Dan Cruickshank and the Family that Built Gothic Britain (b04m3ljr)
As good as any Dickens novel, this is the triumphant and tragic story of the greatest architectural dynasty of the 19th century. Dan Cruickshank charts the rise of Sir George Gilbert Scott to the very heights of success, the fall of his son George Junior and the rise again of his grandson Giles. It is a story of architects bent on a mission to rebuild Britain. From the Romantic heights of the Midland Hotel at St Pancras station to the modern image of Bankside power station (now Tate Modern), this is the story of a family that shaped the Victorian age and left a giant legacy.


WED 01:45 Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry with Jonathan Meades (b03wcsdj)
Episode 2

Second of a two-part documentary in which Jonathan Meades makes the case for 20th-century concrete Brutalist architecture, which is once again being appreciated by a younger generation. Focusing initially on the massive influence of Le Corbusier's post-war work, he reclaims the reputation of buildings that, once much maligned, he argues stood for optimism and grandeur. Delivered in his signature provocative and confrontational manner, Meades's film draws on extraordinary buildings from all over Europe in a lavish, sometimes surreal, visual collage.


WED 02:45 Britain Through a Lens: The Documentary Film Mob (b012p53d)
The unlikely story of how, between 1929 and 1945, a group of tweed-wearing radicals and pin-striped bureaucrats created the most influential movement in the history of British film. They were the British Documentary Movement and they gave Britons a taste for watching films about real life.

They were an odd bunch, as one wit among them later admitted. "A documentary director must be a gentleman... and a socialist." They were inspired by a big idea - that films about real life would change the world. That, if people of all backgrounds saw each other on screen - as they really were - they would get to know and respect each other more. As John Grierson, the former street preacher who founded the Movement said: "Documentary outlines the patterns of interdependence".

The Documentary Film Mob assembles a collection of captivating film portraits of Britain, during the economic crisis of the 1930s and the Second World War. Featuring classic documentaries about slums and coal mines, about potters and posties, about the bombers and the Blitz, the programme reveals the fascinating story of what was also going on behind the camera. Of how the documentary was born and became part of British culture.



THURSDAY 28 APRIL 2016

THU 19:00 World News Today (b078jbf2)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b078m2lw)
Peter Powell introduces the pop programme, featuring The Teardrop Explodes, OMD, Modern Romance, Dollar, Soft Cell, Gary Numan and Funkapolitan, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.


THU 20:00 Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners (b04fmg34)
Away

Professor Mark Miodownik concludes his odyssey of the stuff of modern life. This time he looks at how materials have enabled us to indulge our curiosity about the world around us. To go further and travel faster. He looks at how the bicycle suddenly stirred our national gene pool, why we should all be grateful for exploding glass and what levitation has to do with discovering your inner self. On the road and in the lab with dramatic experiments, Mark reveals why the everyday and even the mundane is anything but.


THU 21:00 The Sun (b0074s96)
A revealing portrait of our closest star - the sun. Responsible for all life on Earth, the sun has always been worshipped. In the Stone Age, monuments were built to its constancy and predictability. New ways of observing the sun are revealing another side to it - a dark and violent side of turbulent storms and huge explosions. As scientists learn to understand the forces that drive it, they are also trying to control its power. If we could harness the sun's power output for a single second it would supply the world's demands for the next million years.


THU 22:00 The Moon (b0074s8j)
1972 was the year a great affair ended, as the human race fell out of love with the moon. Just three years after the world was gripped by Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind, the last man left the moon and we have never been back.

This film tells the epic story of our love affair with the moon - what inspired it, how it faded away and how we are now falling in love all over again.


THU 23:00 The Hollow Crown (p00s91rf)
Series 1

Henry V

Henry V has settled onto the throne and has the makings of a fine king when the French ambassador brings a challenge from the Dauphin. Inspired by his courtiers Exeter and York, Henry swears that he will, with all force, answer this challenge. The chorus tells of England's preparations for war and Henry's army sails for France. After Exeter's diplomacy is rebuffed by the French king, Henry lays a heavy siege and captures Harfleur. The French now take Henry's claims seriously and challenge the English army to battle at Agincourt.


THU 01:15 Top of the Pops (b078m2lw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:55 Billy Fury: The Sound of Fury (b077x1fk)
Documentary which recounts the story of Billy Fury and the birth of British pop music. His first album, The Sound of Fury (released in 1960), has become a landmark record in British rock 'n' roll history.

Born in Liverpool during the Second World War, Ronnie Wycherley became an overnight sensation in 1958 when he was asked to go on stage and sing a couple of his self-penned songs by showbiz impresario Larry Parnes. Ronnie's knees shook with nerves, but over 2,000 screaming girls welcomed the new star of British rock 'n' roll and the headline in the local newspaper the following day was 'Dingle boy with a hot guitar'.

With more Top 40 hits than The Beatles during the 60s, Billy Fury's major hits included Halfway to Paradise, Wondrous Place, Jealousy, Last Night Was Made For Love and many more.

Aged just 42, Billy died of heart failure after a recording session. But his fans have never forgotten him, and every year on the anniversary of his death they gather to pay their tributes at Mill Hill cemetery. Lord Puttnam sums up Fury's contribution to modern music in the programme by saying that, 'without Billy Fury, I honestly don't think The Beatles would have happened'.


THU 03:25 Britain on Film (b01qnnqp)
Series 1

Country Living

The series looking at the culture, economics and society of 1960s Britain turns its attention to one of our great national treasures - the countryside. Drawing on the archive of high-quality colour films produced by the country's biggest cinema company, the Rank Organisation, this film shows how new technologies and production methods were changing the face of agriculture and records how country life was adapting to the new economic and moral realities of a fast-changing nation.



FRIDAY 29 APRIL 2016

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b078jbff)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (b078m4kd)
2016

Brass Final

The search for the next BBC Young Musician continues. With the winners of the keyboard, woodwind and percussion categories already decided, we now to turn to brass.

Taking us behind the scenes for all the news, highlights and some inspiring music-making - featuring a wide range of repertoire from 17th-century Baroque to 21st century film scores - are Clemmie Burton-Hill and trumpeter Alison Balsom, herself a BBC Young Musician Finalist in 1998.

Hoping to impress the jury are two trombonists, 17-year-old Gemma Riley and 16-year-old Sam Dye, 18-year-old French horn player Ben Goldscheider and two trumpet players, 18-year-old Zak Eastop and 17-year-old Zoe Perkins. Only one will make it through to the semi-final and move a step closer to claiming the much sought after title of BBC Young Musician 2016.


FRI 21:00 The Dave Clark Five and Beyond: Glad All Over (b053d7jl)
Three British bands defined the British Invasion of 1964 which changed America. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Dave Clark Five.

Fifty years later this film tells the story of The Dave Clark Five, their emergence from working-class Tottenham, their unique sound, their close friendship, their self-managed business philosophy and the youthful exuberance with which they captured the USA.

Testifying to the lasting impact of the band and what made them unique in an era of brilliant, game-changing creativity, Dave Clark's two-hour documentary features newly-filmed interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Sir Ian McKellen, Stevie Wonder, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Bruce Springsteen, Steven van Zandt of The E Street Band, Gene Simmons of Kiss, Whoopi Goldberg, Dionne Warwick and Twiggy.

Interwoven throughout, boyhood fan Tom Hanks's inspirational and moving speech at the DC5's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2008 explains what five guys from north London and the Tottenham Sound meant to Hanks's generation. As well as barnstorming live and TV performances by the DC5, the film weaves archive interviews with band members alongside extraordinary footage of The DC5 on tour and in the studio and also features rare TV footage from the legendary Ready Steady Go! series, where The DC5's fellow pop pioneers The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Dusty Springfield, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding highlight a time of unparalleled excitement and innovation. This film captures the youth, innocence and zany zest of the swinging 60s and The Dave Clark Five's driving role in those years.

And beyond the 60s? Unseen archive interviews and performances with Sir Laurence Olivier and Freddie Mercury feature among the rare footage telling the story of TIME, the spectacular, innovative and visionary rock musical with which producer and entrepreneur Dave Clark reinvented London's live music theatre in the 80s, playing to over a million people and spinning off 12 million record sales.


FRI 22:55 Big in America: British Hits in the USA (b01bywsr)
Compilation of British rock 'n' roll acts in performance with tracks that crossed over to the US charts. From The Dave Clark Five to Coldplay, the Brits have rocked America and sometimes even done better across the pond than here - take a bow A Flock of Seagulls, Supertramp and Bush - who are also included here alongside darker British global exports like Black Sabbath and The Cure.


FRI 23:55 Cilla at the BBC (b067543w)
Much-mourned national treasure Cilla Black commenced her eminent career as a TV host in 1968 on the BBC. Her career as perhaps the nation's favourite female pop singer of the decade had already been established after landing her first Number 1 with Anyone Who Had a Heart, the biggest-selling hit by a female singer in the 1960s.

This tribute compilation celebrates the BBC's coverage of Cilla's 60s pop star years on programmes like Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Not Only...But Also, The Ken Dodd Show, Top of the Pops and The Royal Variety Performance, before selecting just some of the golden moments from the long-running self-titled series she hosted for the BBC between 1968 and 1976 including the Paul McCartney-penned theme song Step Inside Love and that 1973 famous duet with Marc Bolan on Life's A Gas.


FRI 00:55 The Dave Clark Five and Beyond: Glad All Over (b053d7jl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 02:50 Big in America: British Hits in the USA (b01bywsr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:55 today]




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

A History of Ancient Britain 19:00 SAT (b00ysr2l)

A History of Ancient Britain 21:00 MON (b00z0k23)

A History of Ancient Britain 00:55 TUE (b00z0k23)

Antiques Uncovered 20:00 MON (b01hz7b9)

Antiques Uncovered 02:20 MON (b01hz7b9)

Arena 21:00 SUN (b0791p2k)

BBC Young Musician 19:30 FRI (b078m4kd)

BBC: The Secret Files 23:30 SAT (b06455ch)

BBC: The Secret Files 02:45 SAT (b076yvyv)

Big in America: British Hits in the USA 22:55 FRI (b01bywsr)

Big in America: British Hits in the USA 02:50 FRI (b01bywsr)

Billy Fury: The Sound of Fury 01:55 THU (b077x1fk)

Britain Through a Lens: The Documentary Film Mob 02:45 WED (b012p53d)

Britain on Film 03:20 MON (b01p65b7)

Britain on Film 03:25 THU (b01qnnqp)

Britain's Treasure Islands 21:00 TUE (b078lw8y)

Britain's Treasure Islands 02:55 TUE (b078lw8y)

Britain's Treasure Islands 20:00 WED (b078lw8y)

Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry with Jonathan Meades 01:45 WED (b03wcsdj)

Cilla at the BBC 23:55 FRI (b067543w)

Dan Cruickshank and the Family that Built Gothic Britain 00:45 WED (b04m3ljr)

Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners 20:00 THU (b04fmg34)

Forbidden Planet 22:00 SUN (b00kzxrd)

Hinterland 21:00 SAT (b0791w11)

Horizon 00:35 SUN (b00vv0w8)

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Rock 'n' Roll at the BBC 01:45 SAT (b063m6wy)

Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City 02:35 SUN (b0186b56)

Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City 22:00 TUE (b018jlj0)

National Treasures of Wales 19:30 MON (b04pgc2y)

National Treasures of Wales 19:30 TUE (b04q1h03)

Natural World 20:00 SAT (b00q9y41)

Natural World 01:35 SUN (b00q9y41)

New Power Generation: Black Music Legends of the 1980s 22:30 SAT (b0177bjb)

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood 01:55 TUE (b011vmsd)

She-Wolves: England's Early Queens 22:00 MON (b01dpqtx)

She-Wolves: England's Early Queens 01:20 MON (b01dpqtx)

The Big Thinkers 23:35 SUN (b0788q6m)

The Dave Clark Five and Beyond: Glad All Over 21:00 FRI (b053d7jl)

The Dave Clark Five and Beyond: Glad All Over 00:55 FRI (b053d7jl)

The History Boys 21:00 WED (b01shmjd)

The Hollow Crown 23:00 MON (p00s90j1)

The Hollow Crown 23:00 TUE (p00s91pm)

The Hollow Crown 22:50 WED (p00s91qj)

The Hollow Crown 23:00 THU (p00s91rf)

The Moon 22:00 THU (b0074s8j)

The Sun 21:00 THU (b0074s96)

The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney 19:30 WED (p01t6p8s)

Timeshift 20:00 TUE (b017zqw8)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b078m2lw)

Top of the Pops 01:15 THU (b078m2lw)

Virtuoso Violinists at the BBC 19:00 SUN (b072x1qh)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b078jbdc)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b078jbdj)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b078jbdx)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b078jbf2)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b078jbff)

Yehudi Menuhin: Who Was Yehudi? 20:00 SUN (b078lrhz)

imagine... 00:30 SAT (b04pln3f)