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 AUGUST 2016

SAT 19:00 David Attenborough's Zoo Quest in Colour (p03qxfsg)
Thanks to a remarkable discovery in the BBC's film vaults, the best of David Attenborough's early Zoo Quest adventures can now be seen as never before, in colour, and with it the remarkable story of how this pioneering television series was made.

First broadcast in December 1954, Zoo Quest was one of the most popular television series of its time and launched the career of the young David Attenborough as a wildlife presenter. It completely changed how viewers saw the world, revealing wildlife and tribal communities that had never been filmed or even seen before.

Broadcast ten years before colour television was seen in the UK, Zoo Quest was thought to have been filmed in black and white, until now. Using this extraordinary new-found colour film, together with new behind-the-scenes stories from David Attenborough and cameraman Charles Lagus, this special showcases the very best of Zoo Quest to West Africa, Zoo Quest to Guiana and Zoo Quest for a Dragon in stunning HD colour for the very first time.


SAT 20:30 The Return of the Flying Scotsman (b073c7r0)
After a ten-year restoration, we follow the Flying Scotsman, the world's most famous steam engine, as it returns to the tracks.

It's a locomotive legend. Whether people are interested in steam engines or not, everybody seems to love the Scotsman; it's simply a national treasure. A steel celebrity, a media darling... and after a painstaking restoration that has cost over four million pounds, the Scotsman is finally coming home to York.

There is going to be a real welcome back for the 93-year-old engine with its inaugural run from King's Cross Station in London, pulling a trainload of enthusiasts and supporters 200 miles north on the mainline. It is a triumphant return to the museum - and to a city synonymous with steam.

We are on board the train for its final test runs on the East Lancashire Railway and the scenic Settle-Carlisle railway, across Ribblehead Viaduct, before climbing on board for the inaugural trip. With cameras on the footplate, we capture the exhilaration, the excitement and the sheer hard work required to keep Scotsman on the line.

We join the celebrations - talking to historians, fans and enthusiasts about the engine... and marvel at how the Flying Scotsman has captured the imagination of so many people across the world since it first came to life in Doncaster in 1923.

The programme is narrated by John Shrapnel.


SAT 21:00 Beck (b07r2py9)
In the Name of God

A paparazzi photographer is found dead, his apartment ransacked. When Beck's superior Margareta Oberg goes through the evidence, she reacts very strongly to two of the images left behind, going so far as to hide them from the team. Who was in the photographs, and was the motive for the murder revenge, blackmail or something even more sinister?

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
Documentary which looks at how rock 'n' roll has had to deal with the unthinkable - namely growing up and growing old, from its roots in the 50s as music made by young people for young people to the 21st-century phenomena of the revival and the comeback.

Despite the mantra of 'live fast, die young', Britain's first rock 'n' roll generations are now enjoying old age. What was once about youth and taking risks is now about longevity, survival, nostalgia and refusing to grow up, give up or shut up. But what happens when the music refuses to die and its performers refuse to leave the stage? What happens when rock's youthful rebelliousness is delivered wrapped in wrinkles?

Featuring Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Peter Noone, Rick Wakeman, Paul Jones, Richard Thompson, Suggs, Eric Burdon, Bruce Welch, Robert Wyatt, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, Alison Moyet, Robyn Hitchcock, writers Rosie Boycott and Nick Kent and producer Joe Boyd.


SAT 23:30 Reading and Leeds Festival (b07r2pyc)
2016

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Huw Stephens introduces Los Angeles rock funk legends Red Hot Chili Peppers as they return to headline the legendary Reading Festival. This is the fourth time the band have headlined the festival since their debut top slot back in 1994 and comes after the release of their first studio album in five years, The Getaway, which recently topped the charts around the world.

Hailing as one of the biggest American bands of the 80s, the roots of the group lie in a friendship forged by school friends singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist Hillel Slovak, bassist Flea and drummer Jack Irons. They quickly rose to fame in 1983 and went on to gain huge success right from the release of their self-titled debut in 1984. After various line-ups with musicians joining, leaving and rejoining, over the course of 33 years the Red Hot Chili Peppers have released 11 studio albums, three live albums and 43 singles.

Tonight the current line-up, who have now been together since 2010 and consisting of Anthony and Flea, along with drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, will no doubt entertain the Reading crowd with some of the new songs along with classic tracks such as Give It Away, Under the Bridge and Californication, all with the usual energy and swagger that we've come to expect from arguably one of the best live acts around.


SAT 01:05 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00pjl55)
Part V

Series featuring legendary guitarists treading the boards and trading licks at the BBC studios. Expect riffs, solos and histrionics from the likes of Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls, Brian May from Queen, Duane Eddy, BB King and Joan Jett, filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Complete line-up:
Alice Cooper - School's Out
New York Dolls - Jet Boy
Peter Green - Heavy Heart
Queen - Killer Queen
Robin Trower - Alethea
Duane Eddy and the Rebelettes - Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar
John Martyn - Discover the Lover
Budgie - Who Do You Want For Your Love
Peter Frampton - Show Me the Way
BB King - When It All Comes Down
Whitesnake - Trouble
Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
The Skids - Into the Valley
Joan Jett - I Love Rock 'n' Roll.


SAT 02:05 Top of the Pops (b07pqttq)
Peter Powell presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast on 25 March 1982. Includes appearances from Bucks Fizz, Goombay Dance Band, Pluto Shervington, Killing Joke, Altered Images, Julio Iglesias, and Chas and Dave.


SAT 02:45 Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up (b00sxjls)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]



SUNDAY 28 AUGUST 2016

SUN 19:00 BBC Proms (b07rkvp4)
2016

Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Katie Derham introduces another chance to see one of the most memorable Proms from the BBC archive. This week, she is joined by special guest Stephen Fry for one of his favourite concerts of all time, from the 2016 season.

Daniel Barenboim conducts the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in Liszt’s First Piano Concerto, performed by his childhood friend, legendary pianist Martha Argerich, along with epic orchestral extracts from three different operas by Richard Wagner.


SUN 21:05 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.


SUN 21:35 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sm9)
Episode 5

Flouncy-haired pop merchants and indie stalwarts on The Old Grey Whistle Test and its younger, more colourful sibling, The Whistle Test dominate this trawl through the 80s. Featuring The Teardrop Explodes, Orange Juice, Robert Wyatt, Aztec Camera, Billy Bragg, The Fall, The Pogues, Robyn Hitchcock and the ever-smiling Style Council.


SUN 22:00 Eisteddfod (b07p4ydw)
2016: with Will Gompertz

Will Gompertz explores one of the largest and oldest cultural festivals in Europe, the National Eisteddfod of Wales, held this year in the town of Abergavenny. The BBC arts editor explores this festival of druidic pageantry, poetry, music and visual art to discover how some age-old traditions are evolving to appeal to a modern-day audience.


SUN 22:30 Reading and Leeds Festival (b07r2qt9)
2016

Biffy Clyro

Huw Stephens introduces Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro as they take to the Main Stage to headline the Reading Festival. This will be their second Main Stage headline slot and their ninth appearance at the festival over the last 15 years, and comes a month after the release of their latest album Ellipsis, which went straight to No 1.

The Scottish trio came together in 1995 at school in Kilmarnock, when frontman Simon Neil and twin brothers, bassist James Johnston and drummer Ben Johnston, became friends and started playing music together. United by a love of underground and experimental rock, they quickly honed their unique sound and released their debut album in 2002. Fourteen years and seven albums later, Biffy Clyro have a reputation for explosive, invigorating live shows that they will undoubtedly bring once more to the Reading Festival tonight.


SUN 00:05 Guitar Heroes at the BBC (b00plj0l)
Part VI

In this sixth and final show to round out the Guitar Heroes series, axe fans get classic riffs from Pete Townshend as The Who play Won't Get Fooled Again, Rod and Ronnie with The Faces doing Miss Judy's Farm at the old BBC TV Theatre, some weird yodel-rock from Dutch prog rockers Focus, folky acoustic numbers from Davey Graham and Ralph McTell, and some flamboyant fretwork from Americans Nils Lofgren and Ted Nugent.

Filmed in the 1970s for shows including Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test, these tracks pay tribute to a golden era in rock and to the last of the 70s Guitar Heroes.

Complete line-up:

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
The Faces - Miss Judy's Farm
Focus - Hocus Pocus
Man - Day and Night
Chris Spedding - Motor Bikin'
Nils Lofgren - Back It Up
The Cate Brothers - In One Eye and Out the Other
Ralph McTell - Dry Bone Rag
The Runaways - Wasted
The Motors - Dancing the Night Away
Ted Nugent - Free For All
The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love
Gary Moore - Back on the Streets
Judas Priest - Take on the World
Davey Graham - City and Suburban Blues
ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses.


SUN 01:05 Horizon (b01b45zh)
2011-2012

Playing God

Adam Rutherford meets a new creature created by American scientists - the spider-goat. It is part goat, part spider, and its milk can be used to create an artificial spider's web.

It is part of a new field of research, synthetic biology, with a radical aim - to break down nature into spare parts so that we can rebuild it however we please.

This technology is already being used to make bio-diesel to power cars. Other researchers are looking at how we might, one day, control human emotions by sending 'biological machines' into our brains.


SUN 02:05 10 Things You Didn't Know About... (b008pr87)
Tsunamis

Iain Stewart journeys across the oceans to explore the most powerful giant waves in history, with ten remarkable stories about tsunamis.

These massive waves can be taller than the biggest skyscraper, travel at the speed of a jet plane and when they reach land, rear up and turn into a terrifying wall of water that destroys everything in its path. These unstoppable, uncontrollable forces of nature caused the ruin of an entire ancient civilization, may have played a small part in the demise of the dinosaurs, and in World War II were used as a weapon. Yet astonishingly, two men who surfed the tallest wave in history - half a kilometre high - survived.


SUN 03:05 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:35 today]



MONDAY 29 AUGUST 2016

MON 19:00 World News Today (b07r2chw)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Born to Be Wild (b00cskdd)
Butterflies

Series on amateur naturalists focuses on those immersed in the strange and colourful world of butterflies and moths. Changes in the numbers of these creatures reflect wider changes in the British countryside, so studying them is both a consuming passion and a conservation challenge.

One enthusiast has walked hundreds of miles to count butterflies; another has devoted his time and his greenhouse to growing one rare butterfly; a third is fanatical about moths and has learned to identify all 2,500 British species; and one has been getting his hands dirty to restore a chalk down and its butterfly star to their former glory.

The programme reveals the highs and lows of British butterflies and moths and gives a window onto the lives of four of the passionate people that are fighting to save them.


MON 20:00 All Aboard! The Country Bus (b07r2s1r)
Following the success of previous BBC Four 'slow TV' programmes, including All Aboard! The Sleigh Ride & Canal Trip, and Slow Week, BBC4 is inviting viewers aboard for a very special journey through one of the most spectacular and beautiful bus routes in Britain.

The 'Northern Dalesman', as the bus on the route is called, has been rigged with specialist cameras as it travels on its journey, snaking across the iconic landscape of the Yorkshire Dales. Filmed in real time, the cameras capture the road unfurling, the passing scenery and the occasional chatter of local passengers.

The bus route begins in Richmond in North Yorkshire and takes viewers on a lush and varied ride, along a river valley thronged by blossoming hawthorn trees, through ancient mining villages and wild flower-filled meadows.

The bus climbs high into the Dales, vast and peaceful. As it slows down to allow sheep and their lambs to cross the road, the only sounds are the wind and the cry of curlews. And then the final stretch across cotton-grass covered moorland. With the mountain range known as the Three Peaks in the distance, the bus descends towards the striking 24-arch Ribblehead viaduct, one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th century.

The programme features captions integrated into the landscape to provide details about the dramatic countryside through which the bus is passing - from aspects of the natural or geological environment to specific highlights of Britain's agricultural or industrial heritage, from the ancient stone hay barns that dot the landscape to the scars left behind by the lead mining of previous centuries.


MON 22:00 Life Story (b04n8xgq)
Series 1

Growing Up

In the journey towards adulthood, a moment comes for all animals when they must strike out on their own. With their parents absent they must learn to survive in a dangerous world. At this stage of life every small success may mean the difference between life and death.


MON 23:00 Patagonia with Huw Edwards (b05xd52f)
Huw Edwards fulfils a lifelong dream to explore Patagonia, and the unique attempt to preserve Welsh culture by isolating a Welsh community in one of the most remote and inhospitable places on earth. A hundred and fifty years after the pioneers arrived, Huw meets their descendants and asks what remains of the culture the forefathers wanted to safeguard.


MON 23:55 Sound of Cinema: The Music That Made the Movies (b03b45h4)
The Big Score

In a series celebrating the art of the cinema soundtrack, Neil Brand explores the work of the great movie composers and demonstrates their techniques. Neil begins by looking at how the classic orchestral film score emerged and why it's still going strong today.

Neil traces how in the 1930s, European-born composers such as Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold brought their Viennese training to play in stirring, romantic scores for Hollywood masterpieces like King Kong and The Adventures of Robin Hood. But it took a home-grown American talent, Bernard Herrmann, to bring a darker, more modern sound to some of cinema's finest films, with his scores for Citizen Kane, Psycho and Taxi Driver.

Among those Neil meets are leading film-makers and composers who discuss their work, including Martin Scorsese and Hans Zimmer, composer of blockbusters like Gladiator and Inception.


MON 00:55 Frost on Interviews (b01dc5ft)
Television interviews seem to have been around forever - but that's not the case. They evolved in confidence and diversity as television gradually came of age. So how did it all begin? With the help of some of its greatest exponents, Sir David Frost looks back over nearly 60 years of the television interview.

He looks at political interviews, from the earliest examples in the postwar period to the forensic questioning that we now take for granted, and celebrity interviews, from the birth of the chat show in the United States with Jack Paar and Johnny Carson to the emergence of our own peak-time British performers like Sir Michael Parkinson and Sir David himself.

Melvyn Bragg, Joan Bakewell, Tony Benn, Clive Anderson, Ruby Wax, Andrew Neil, Stephen Fry, AA Gill, Alastair Campbell and Michael Parkinson all help trace the development of the television interview. What is its enduring appeal and where does the balance of power actually lie - with the interviewer or the interviewee?


MON 02:00 David Attenborough's Zoo Quest in Colour (p03qxfsg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]



TUESDAY 30 AUGUST 2016

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b07r2cj1)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Born to Be Wild (b00cwh02)
Coastal Creatures

Series on amateur naturalists follows four intrepid people who study coastal creatures.

The coast is not the easiest place to watch wildlife, but perseverance pays off. One man has been studying sea birds for 30 years, another has galvanised his community into spending hours on the cliff tops, watching for dolphins, and another dives into the depths in search of sea urchins. Finally, one couple's passion for seals is revealing new things about this well-loved animal.


TUE 20:00 Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings (b019jsfg)
What a King Should Know

Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of medieval illuminated manuscripts and shows how they gave power to the king and united the kingdom in an age of plague, warfare and rebellion. She discovers that Edward III used the manuscripts he read as a boy to prepare him for his great victory at the battle of Crecy and reveals how a vigorous new national identity bloomed during the 100 Years War with France (1340-1453).

In the British Library's Royal Manuscripts collection she finds out that magnificent manuscripts like the Bedford Hours, taken as war booty from the French royal family, were adapted for the education of English princes. Dr Ramirez also explores how knowledge spread through a new form of book - the encyclopaedia.


TUE 21:00 All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge (b07rfnc2)
Episode 1

Four-part series looking for the orchestra that best captures the spirit of great British amateur music-making in the UK.

Presented by Proms host and former Strictly Come Dancing finalist Katie Derham, it attempts to get under the skin of the real musical and personal challenges that face five amateur orchestras as they try to truly come together and rise to new musical heights. Can the players master their sheet music while also getting on with their varied day jobs as farmers, supermarket workers, carers and undertakers? Who will rise to the challenge? And who will find themselves dismissed from the contest?

The series begins with five amateur orchestras from across the UK - The Slaithwaite Philharmonic from Yorkshire, The North Devon Symphonia, The London Gay Symphony Orchestra, The Stirling Orchestra and The People's Orchestra from Birmingham.

Each orchestra receives a masterclass from the series judge, world-renowned conductor Paul Daniel, while double-bass maestro Chi-chi Nwanoku mentors each orchestra as they strive to reach their full potential.

This week's challenge is to master that pinnacle of orchestral playing, the symphony. Each of the five orchestras tackle an allotted extract from the likes of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov which they then perform at the BBC's legendary Maida Vale Studios - after which one orchestra will be eliminated from the contest by Daniel.


TUE 22:00 Hidden Histories: Britain's Oldest Family Businesses (b03q0177)
Balson the Butcher

The first of three documentaries following the bosses of some Britain's oldest family businesses as they go on a journey into their remarkable pasts.

Richard Balson's family have been butchers for almost 500 years, since Henry VIII was on the throne. He goes back through centuries of butchery to the origin of the British high street. Along the way he discovers how the Balsons have stayed in the butchery business despite scandal and tragedy.


TUE 23:00 Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank (b0078yvw)
Secrets of the Tomb Builders

Dan visits the magnificent underground tombs in the Valley of the Kings, in search of clues about the unsung heroes of this ancient world - the mysterious community of craftsmen who spent their lives building lavish burial chambers for the pharaohs.

The tombs are wonderful feats of art and engineering and Dan finds a wealth of intriguing evidence about the lives of the supposedly anonymous people who built them. Given rare access to the most complex tomb of all - the 150-room necropolis built for the sons of Rameses II - Dan speculates on the skill of the men who designed and excavated this tomb thousands of years ago.

In the tomb of Thutmosis III, he discovers an unfinished burial chamber, where the intricate process of tomb building was stopped in its tracks, leaving detailed evidence of the techniques of artwork used by these ancient artisans. Across the dry desert hills beyond the Valley of the Kings, Dan visits the village where the tomb-builders lived, explores their homes and reveals their personal lives through unique written records that have survived for thousands of years.

Were the tomb-builders slaves, forced to use their skills to glorify the dead pharaohs? Dan pieces together the truth, and reveals an unexpectedly intimate picture of these ancient artists and craftsmen.


TUE 23:30 Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank (b0078yz1)
The Pharaoh Hunter

Dan traces the unexpected twists and mysteries in the life of Howard Carter, the great British archaeologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, and reveals the hidden legacy of Carter's work. Carter rose from humble origins to become the most famous archaeologist in the world, but despite his spectacular success in discovering Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, Carter was never honoured in this country, and received no official recognition from the British.

Dan travels through Egypt, looking for clues to this mystery as he follows the rollercoaster of Carter's career, from his first visit to Egypt as a teenager hired to copy Egyptian art, right up to the fame of his later years. On the way, Dan finds out that Carter played a crucial role in updating the science of archaeology and unearths his original artwork and his fascinating diary.


TUE 00:00 Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered the World (p02gzf9k)
Episode 1

From the moment we first drilled for oil, we opened a Pandora's box that changed the world forever. It transformed the way we lived our lives, spawned foreign wars and turned a simple natural resource into the most powerful political weapon the world has ever known. But when exactly did geology turn into such a high-stakes game?

In this series, Professor Iain Stewart visits the places that gave birth to the earth's oil riches, discovers the people who fought over its control and supply, and explores how our insatiable thirst for oil is changing the very planet on which we depend.

It's a journey that will help us answer a fundamental question - how did we become so addicted to oil in little more than one human lifetime?


TUE 01:00 After Life: The Strange Science of Decay (b012w66t)
Ever wondered what would happen in your own home if you were taken away, and everything inside was left to rot? The answer is revealed in this fascinating programme, which explores the strange and surprising science of decay.

For two months in summer 2011, a glass box containing a typical kitchen and garden was left to rot in full public view within Edinburgh Zoo. In this resulting documentary, presenter Dr George McGavin and his team use time-lapse cameras and specialist photography to capture the extraordinary way in which moulds, microbes and insects are able to break down our everyday things and allow new life to emerge from old.

Decay is something that many of us are repulsed by. But as the programme shows, it's a process that's vital in nature. And seen in close-up, it has an unexpected and sometimes mesmerising beauty.


TUE 02:30 Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings (b019jsfg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST 2016

WED 19:00 World News Today (b07r2cj6)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 The Boats That Built Britain (b00s96rt)
The Matthew

No ship has ever made a more important discovery than the Matthew. In 1497, explorer John Cabot left Bristol on this little boat and 3,000 miles later landed in what we now know is North America. His discovery would change Britain and the world forever.

Sailor and writer Tom Cunliffe sails the Matthew for himself and finds out just how this incredible little boat made a journey into the unknown and came back to tell the story.


WED 20:00 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b04097wg)
Episode 1

Suzy Klein investigates music as a weapon in the fight for British identity; helping to cement the power of a new German royal family and used in Jacobite uprisings against them. She discovers why Italian opera was all the rage, thanks partly to a fascination with castrated male singers.

When Handel arrived in London, the city realised it has a genius on its hands, a man capable of creating music of such power, vigour and vitality that it can stir the hearts of the whole nation. Music stirred a 'bottom up' revolution, as the Beggar's Opera brought the satirical, subversive songs of the street onto the British stage, inventing modern musical theatre as we know it.

Featured music includes Rule Britannia, God Save the King, Handel's Water Music and Thomas Arne's guide to hating the French - Beer-Drinking Britons.


WED 21:00 Timewatch (b016xjwh)
The Most Courageous Raid of World War II

Lord Ashdown, a former special forces commando, tells the story of the 'Cockleshell Heroes', who led one of the most daring and audacious commando raids of World War II.

In 1942, Britain was struggling to fight back against Nazi Germany. Lacking the resources for a second front, Churchill encouraged innovative and daring new methods of combat. Enter stage left, Blondie Hasler.

With a unit of 12 Royal Marine commandos, Major Blondie Hasler believed his 'cockleshell' canoe could be effectively used in clandestine attacks on the enemy. Their brief was to navigate the most heavily defended estuary in Europe, to dodge searchlights, machine-gun posts and armed river-patrol craft 70 miles downriver, and then to blow up enemy shipping in Bordeaux harbour.

Lord Ashdown recreates parts of the raid and explains how this experience was used in preparing for one of the greatest land invasions in history, D-day.


WED 22:00 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4pjs)
A Question of Identity

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.


WED 23:00 Storyville (b05t2h9x)
Himmler: The Decent One

Through previously undiscovered private letters, photos and diaries that were found in the Himmler family house in 1945, this documentary exposes a unique and at times uncomfortable access to the life and mind of the merciless 'architect of the Final Solution', Heinrich Himmler. Himmler writes, 'In life one must always be decent, courageous and kind-hearted'. How can a man be a hero in his own eyes and a mass murderer in the eyes of the world?

The text of the film consists exclusively of original documents from Himmler's lifetime, combined with news and personal archive from sources ranging from the descendants of top Nazis to working-class individuals. It forms a unique portrait of one the most prominent figures of the Third Reich, the SS commander Heinrich Himmler.


WED 00:30 Voyages of Discovery (b0074t3q)
The Making of Captain Cook

Explorer Paul Rose tells the story of one of the greatest ever sea adventures, which transformed Captain James Cook into a national hero and dramatically changed the course of history. Two and a half centuries later, Captain Cook is still a household name, but his achievements are often misunderstood, contrary to popular perception, he did not discover New Zealand and Australia. Intrepid Rose follows his journey down under and uncovers the real story of Captain Cook.


WED 01:30 Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (b04097wg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:30 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4pjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



THURSDAY 01 SEPTEMBER 2016

THU 19:00 World News Today (b07r2cjf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b07sxd6v)
John Peel presents the weekly pop chart show. Includes appearances from Motorhead, Imagination, Roxy Music, Status Quo, Japan, Goombay Dance Band and Shakatak.


THU 20:00 Alan Johnson: The Post Office and Me (b06g5g5f)
Alan Johnson MP (and former postman) tells the story of 500 years of the Royal Mail, and discovers how the humble British postal system changed the course of British history. Alan started out as a postman in London when he was 18, in 1968. He would eventually rise to become general secretary of the Communication Workers Union before being elected as an MP. So the post office changed his life, and set him on the path to parliament.

In this film, he explores the rich history of this great institution, and reveals how it has been a force for progress in British society. The British post office led the world in creating a cheap, accessible mail system. This was the first true revolution in mass communication, and it changed society.

With the invention of the stamp - the famous Penny Black - in 1840, ordinary people could suddenly afford to write to each other. Businesses thrived thanks to mail order. And the volumes of mail skyrocketed - creating a postal system that would at its peak employ 250,000 people.

To tell this story - and to find out how the Royal Mail is adapting to the 21st century - Alan travels back in time to his old rounds, and into the future at a giant automated sorting office. He is given an exclusive tour of the Queen's private stamp collection to see the most precious Penny Blacks in the world. He takes a ride on a Travelling Post Office - one of the mail-sorting trains that used to criss-cross the nation through the night and that were immortalised in the film Night Mail.

He ventures beneath the streets of London to see the remains of the Royal Mail's secret underground railway, and he meets some 21st-century postmen and women to find out how the job has changed since he was doing it back in the 1960s.

Alan loved being a postman. But in the age of email, is there a future for the post?


THU 21:00 Lost Sitcoms (b07tczcn)
Till Death Us Do Part

Series which recreates three British classic lost sitcoms with a stellar new cast. In this episode of Till Death Us Do Part originally broadcast in 1967, Alf arrives home to find that a burnt supper is the least of his worries.


THU 21:25 Lost Sitcoms (b07tczcs)
Let's Talk about Alf

A look at the impact of Alf Garnett, with contributions from Graham Linehan, Lee Mack and Simon Day.


THU 21:30 James May: The Reassembler (b076np2b)
Series 1

Lawnmower

James is faced with the 331 pieces that make up a 1959 petrol lawnmower. The Suffolk Colt helped make mowing accessible to the masses by producing a smaller and affordable machine to keep our nation's lawns at regulation height. As this is a petrol lawnmower, James's first task is to put the engine back together before he gets to grips with the gearing, the clutch and the blades themselves. Armed only with his toolbox and an endless supply of tea, James experiences the highs and lows only possible when attempting to put history back together again, piece by piece.


THU 22:00 The Beginning and End of the Universe (b0754t74)
The Beginning

Professor Jim Al-Khalili takes us back in time to tackle the greatest question in science: how did the universe begin? Uncovering the origins of the universe is regarded as humankind's greatest intellectual achievement. By recreating key experiments Jim unravels the cosmic mystery of science's creation story before witnessing a moment, one millionth of a second, after the universe sprang into existence.


THU 23:00 Timeshift (b06pm5vf)
Series 15

How Britain Won the Space Race: The Story of Bernard Lovell and Jodrell Bank

The unlikely story of how one man with some ex-WWII army equipment eventually turned a muddy field in Cheshire into a key site in the space race. That man was Bernard Lovell, and his telescope at Jodrell Bank would be used at the height of the Cold War by both the Americans and the Russians to track their competing spacecraft. It also put Britain at the forefront of radio astronomy, a new science which transformed our knowledge of space and provided the key to understanding the most mind-bending theory of the beginnings of the universe - the Big Bang.


THU 00:00 Life Story (b04n8xgq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Monday]


THU 01:00 Natural World (b00vv0nm)
2010-2011

The Dolphins of Shark Bay

A dolphin is about to be born in the treacherous waters of Shark Bay in Western Australia. Puck, the wise mother, must use all her skills to keep her newborn safe from the sharks that sweep into the bay every year. With the help of her close-knit family of females, she must teach the vulnerable baby dolphin the secrets of survival. From whistling to her unborn calf to the first few hours of baby Samu's life and the struggles her eldest son faces leaving home, this film provides a rare insight into the lives of bottlenose dolphins.


THU 02:00 Top of the Pops (b07sxd6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:45 Timeshift (b06pm5vf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]



FRIDAY 02 SEPTEMBER 2016

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b07r2cjm)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b07sx0rp)
2016

Simon Rattle Conducts the Berlin Philharmonic

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in Mahler's mighty Symphony no 7.

Closely associated with both live performances and recordings of the Mahler symphonies throughout his career, Rattle steers the world-leading orchestra through the intense drama of this huge and complex but emotionally powerful orchestral work, marshalling unconventional instruments including cowbells, mandolin and guitar.

The Mahler is preceded by a short work by iconoclastic French composer Pierre Boulez, who died in January 2016 aged 90. Written to mark his 40th birthday in 1965, Eclat is a study of resonance written for 15 instruments. The title means 'burst' but also 'fragment, explosion, reflections of light', and it references Boulez's own dual roles as conductor and composer by giving the conductor control over when and how to cue elements of the ten-minute piece.

Rattle has been the Berlin Philharmonic's chief conductor and artistic director since 2002 and in autumn 2017 he returns to Britain to become music director of the London Symphony Orchestra.


FRI 21:10 Sounds of the Sixties (b075f8rg)
Reversions

First Steps

The Springfields, The Shadows and The Rolling Stones appear in this progressively more rebellious look at BBC early 1960s archive pop music.


FRI 21:20 Sounds of the Sixties (b07sx0qm)
Reversions

First Steps 2

Craig Douglas gets lonesome, Joe Brown & the Bruvvers only take a minute, and Peter & Gordon live in a world without love in this swinging sixties archive show.


FRI 21:30 Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line (b06l17fn)
All too often, every great female rock musician has to answer a predictable question - what is it like being a girl in a band?

For many, the sight of a girl shredding a guitar or laying into the drums is still a bit of a novelty. As soon as women started forming their own bands they were given labels - the rock chick, the girl band or one half of the rock 'n' roll couple.

Kate Mossman aims to look beyond the cliches of fallen angels, grunge babes and rock chicks as she gets the untold stories from rock's frontline to discover if it has always been different for the girl in a band.


FRI 22:30 Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue (b0755ms6)
This extraordinary documentary brings to life the paradox of Janis Joplin - both insecure and brazen - with interviews from old band members, unseen audio and video, plus readings from Janis's letters home to her parents. It offers new understanding of a bright, complex woman whose surprising rise and sudden demise changed music forever.

Janis Joplin is one of the most revered singers of all time. She thrilled millions of listeners with her powerful, soulful voice and blazed new creative trails before her death in 1971 at the age of 27. The film includes some of her most iconic performances which embodied the musical and cultural revolution of the 1960s.

Yet her onstage bravado and uninhibited sexual persona hid hurt and insecurity stemming from her childhood in conservative Texas. On relocating to San Francisco and discovering the blues, Janis found an outlet for her loneliness and fell into a community that would embrace and celebrate her talent.


FRI 00:00 Girls in Bands at the BBC (b06mxpjc)
Compilation celebrating some guitar band performances at the BBC that feature some of the best female musicians in rock. Beginning with the oft-forgotten American group Fanny performing You're the One, it's a journey along rock's spectrum from the 1970s to now.

The selection includes the powerful vocals of Elkie Brooks on Vinegar Joe's Proud to Be a Honky Woman, the mesmerising poetry of Patti Smith's Horses and the upbeat energy of The Go-Go's on We Got the Beat.

Mighty basslines come courtesy of Tina Weymouth on Psycho Killer and Kim Gordon on Sugar Kane, whilst we trace the line of indie rock from the Au Pairs through Lush, Elastica and Garbage to current band Savages.


FRI 01:00 Blues at the BBC (b00k36m5)
Collection of performances by British and American blues artists on BBC programmes such as The Beat Room, A Whole Scene Going, The Old Grey Whistle Test and The Late Show.

Includes the seminal slide guitar of Son House, the British R&B of The Kinks, the unmistakeable electric sound of BB King and Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker, as well as less familiar material from the likes of Delaney and Bonnie, Freddie King and Long John Baldry.


FRI 02:00 Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line (b06l17fn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]


FRI 03:00 Girls in Bands at the BBC (b06mxpjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:00 today]




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

10 Things You Didn't Know About... 02:05 SUN (b008pr87)

After Life: The Strange Science of Decay 01:00 TUE (b012w66t)

Alan Johnson: The Post Office and Me 20:00 THU (b06g5g5f)

All Aboard! The Country Bus 20:00 MON (b07r2s1r)

All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge 21:00 TUE (b07rfnc2)

BBC Proms 19:00 SUN (b07rkvp4)

BBC Proms 19:30 FRI (b07sx0rp)

Beck 21:00 SAT (b07r2py9)

Blues at the BBC 01:00 FRI (b00k36m5)

Born to Be Wild 19:30 MON (b00cskdd)

Born to Be Wild 19:30 TUE (b00cwh02)

Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story 22:00 WED (p02l4pjs)

Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story 02:30 WED (p02l4pjs)

David Attenborough's Zoo Quest in Colour 19:00 SAT (p03qxfsg)

David Attenborough's Zoo Quest in Colour 02:00 MON (p03qxfsg)

Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank 23:00 TUE (b0078yvw)

Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank 23:30 TUE (b0078yz1)

Eisteddfod 22:00 SUN (b07p4ydw)

Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up 22:30 SAT (b00sxjls)

Forever Young: How Rock 'n' Roll Grew Up 02:45 SAT (b00sxjls)

Frost on Interviews 00:55 MON (b01dc5ft)

Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line 21:30 FRI (b06l17fn)

Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line 02:00 FRI (b06l17fn)

Girls in Bands at the BBC 00:00 FRI (b06mxpjc)

Girls in Bands at the BBC 03:00 FRI (b06mxpjc)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 01:05 SAT (b00pjl55)

Guitar Heroes at the BBC 00:05 SUN (b00plj0l)

Hidden Histories: Britain's Oldest Family Businesses 22:00 TUE (b03q0177)

Horizon 01:05 SUN (b01b45zh)

Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings 20:00 TUE (b019jsfg)

Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings 02:30 TUE (b019jsfg)

James May: The Reassembler 21:30 THU (b076np2b)

Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue 22:30 FRI (b0755ms6)

Life Story 22:00 MON (b04n8xgq)

Life Story 00:00 THU (b04n8xgq)

Lost Sitcoms 21:00 THU (b07tczcn)

Lost Sitcoms 21:25 THU (b07tczcs)

Natural World 01:00 THU (b00vv0nm)

Patagonia with Huw Edwards 23:00 MON (b05xd52f)

Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered the World 00:00 TUE (p02gzf9k)

Reading and Leeds Festival 23:30 SAT (b07r2pyc)

Reading and Leeds Festival 22:30 SUN (b07r2qt9)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 20:00 WED (b04097wg)

Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century 01:30 WED (b04097wg)

Sound of Cinema: The Music That Made the Movies 23:55 MON (b03b45h4)

Sounds of the Eighties 21:35 SUN (b0074sm9)

Sounds of the Eighties 03:05 SUN (b0074sm9)

Sounds of the Sixties 21:05 SUN (b0074qbw)

Sounds of the Sixties 21:10 FRI (b075f8rg)

Sounds of the Sixties 21:20 FRI (b07sx0qm)

Storyville 23:00 WED (b05t2h9x)

The Beginning and End of the Universe 22:00 THU (b0754t74)

The Boats That Built Britain 19:30 WED (b00s96rt)

The Return of the Flying Scotsman 20:30 SAT (b073c7r0)

Timeshift 23:00 THU (b06pm5vf)

Timeshift 02:45 THU (b06pm5vf)

Timewatch 21:00 WED (b016xjwh)

Top of the Pops 02:05 SAT (b07pqttq)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b07sxd6v)

Top of the Pops 02:00 THU (b07sxd6v)

Voyages of Discovery 00:30 WED (b0074t3q)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b07r2chw)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b07r2cj1)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b07r2cj6)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b07r2cjf)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b07r2cjm)