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 01 OCTOBER 2016

SAT 19:00 Lost Kingdoms of South America (b01pwtqy)
People of the Clouds

Archaeologist Dr Jago Cooper embarks on an epic journey into the remote Peruvian Andes in search of the mysterious Chachapoya people. Once numbering half a million, they were known as the 'People of the Clouds'. Dr Cooper reveals how they developed sophisticated methods of recording stories, traded in exotic goods found hundreds of miles from their territory, and had funeral traditions that challenge assumptions about ancient human behaviour. His search for evidence takes him to astonishing cliff tombs untouched for 500 years and one of the most spectacular fortresses in South America, where the fate of the Chachapoya is revealed.


SAT 20:00 Clydebuilt: The Ships that Made the Commonwealth (p01n8dv0)
HMS Hood

In this episode, David Hayman meets some of the men who sailed on HMS Hood. He travels to Scapa Flow to experience what life was like for the hundreds of people working to protect the vital North Atlantic convoys.

In Australia, he uncovers the legacy of her flag-waving visits and he tries his hand at riveting to understand what it took to make this battlecruiser strong and watertight. David also investigates why this 'mighty' ship was flawed from the very day she was launched.


SAT 21:00 Beck (b07xt3jv)
End of the Road

An ex-policeman is found murdered in his house, along with his wife and child. Beck and his team take on the case and find that there is a hidden security room in the victims' house, containing stolen weapons. They find fingerprints from a criminal who was involved in a robbery, after which he shot his accomplices and disappeared with the money. The question is how the former police officer ended up with the weapons and how he is connected to the thieves. The case stirs strong feelings at police headquarters and takes highest priority.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 Do We Really Need the Moon? (b00yb5jp)
The moon is such a familiar presence in the sky that most of us take it for granted. But what if it wasn't where it is now? How would that affect life on Earth?

Space scientist and lunar fanatic Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock explores our intimate relationship with the moon. Besides orchestrating the tides, the moon dictates the length of a day, the rhythm of the seasons and the very stability of our planet.

Yet the moon is always on the move. In the past, it was closer to the Earth and in the future it will be farther away. That it is now perfectly placed to sustain life is pure luck, a cosmic coincidence. Using computer graphics to summon up great tides and set the Earth spinning on its side, Aderin-Pocock implores us to look at the Moon afresh: to see it not as an inert rock, but as a key player in the story of our planet, past, present and future.


SAT 23:30 Horizon (b06spxtc)
Beyond the Moon

A chance to look back at a classic Horizon special in which James Burke looks at space exploration and exploitation. Originally transmitted in 1984, James begins by looking at the Apollo XI moon landing, before moving on to future space plans for humankind.


SAT 00:30 Top of the Pops (b07wrm58)
Peter Powell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 22 April 1982. Includes appearances by Pigbag, Bananarama & the Fun Boy Three, Elton John, Kim Wilde, Haircut 100 and Shakin' Stevens. Also includes a dance performance from Zoo.


SAT 01:05 Top of the Pops (b07xjkyb)
Richard Skinner presents the weekly chart show, first broadcast on 29 April 1982. Includes appearances from Nicole, Hot Chocolate, Yazoo, Monsoon, Rocky Sharpe & the Replays, Simple Minds, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Spandau Ballet, and Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder.


SAT 01:40 Top of the Pops (b07xjl41)
Simon Bates presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast on 6 May 1982. Includes appearances from the Scottish and English World Cup Squads, BA Robertson, Chas & Dave, Junior, Patrice Rushen, Tight Fit, Bananarama & Fun Boy Three, and Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder. Also includes a dance performance from Zoo.


SAT 02:20 Do We Really Need the Moon? (b00yb5jp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]



SUNDAY 02 OCTOBER 2016

SUN 19:00 In Their Own Words: 20th Century Composers (b03xswbn)
Radical Movements (1912-1941)

Remarkable rare footage of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Copland, Walton, Elisabeth Lutyens, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Messiaen and Tippett gives a first-hand account of the revolution that classical music underwent in the first half of the century. As we see Schoenberg play tennis, Strauss and Shostakovich play with their grandchildren and hear Messiaen tell the story of how he wrote his most significant work in a German PoW camp, we get a vivid picture of what it took to be a composer during the most turbulent time in modern history.


SUN 20:00 Natural World (b0147dw3)
2011-2012

The Woman Who Swims with Killer Whales

The killer whale is one of the most feared predators in the ocean and most would consider it madness to enter the water with one. But New Zealander Dr Ingrid Visser thinks differently - and by swimming with her beloved whales she has come to know almost all of them by sight. But there's been an unusual number of deaths recently and Ingrid is on a mission to find out what is going on. Her findings reveal disturbing new information about the health of our oceans.


SUN 21:00 Horizon (b01mmrc0)
2012-2013

How Small Is the Universe?

Horizon plunges down the biggest rabbit-hole in history in search of the smallest thing in the universe.

It is a journey where things don't just become smaller but also a whole lot weirder. Scientists hope to catch a glimpse of miniature black holes, multiple dimensions and even parallel universes. As they start to explore this wonderland, where nothing is quite what it seems, they may have to rewrite the fundamental laws of time and space.


SUN 22:00 The Sky at Night (b07yc902)
Goodbye Rosetta: A Sky at Night Special

This month the Sky at Night goes behind the scenes at the European Space Agency as the Rosetta mission reaches its dramatic conclusion and the spacecraft is crashed into the surface of comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

For nearly two years the Rosetta spacecraft has been in orbit around 67P - studying the comet at close range and returning the most extraordinary pictures. But now the the mission must come to an end and the project scientists have decided to have one final attempt at studying the comet at closer range than ever before.

On September 30th the spacecraft - with all its instruments running - will be crashed into the surface of the comet. Its aim is to get the best ever view of the mysterious pits on the comet's surface. Pits whose walls are thought to have been undisturbed for over 4 billion years, since the formation of the solar system.

Chris Lintott will be in mission control with the scientists as they watch the pictures come in from the spacecraft's dive towards the surface. And Maggie Aderin-Pocock will be investigating how the mission has transformed our understanding of comets and the birth of the solar system.


SUN 22:30 Britain's Star Men: Heroes of Astronomy (b07xjh6z)
Four British astronomers celebrate 50 years of work and friendship by going on a road trip to revisit some of the world's greatest observatories. In California, a world leader in observational astronomy at a time when America's space programme was at its height, the astronomers spent their formative years developing friendships that would last a lifetime, and making scientific discoveries that would change the course of history.

Together they represent the most productive period astronomy has ever had. Their journey through the southwestern United States allows them to see once again the places and landscape they explored as young men. Now in their seventies, they share their reflections on a life spent looking at the universe.

Star Men celebrates the history of stargazing - the inventions and discoveries that have enabled us to learn so much about the universe, but more importantly to understand how much more we have yet to discover.


SUN 23:30 Lulu: Something to Shout About (b0169l59)
Lulu arrived on Top Of The Pops in 1964 with her raucous, belting rendition of Shout when she was just 15 years old. She is the only female artist who has had a UK Top 20 hit in every one of the last five decades.

It's been over 50 years since her first public performance as a schoolgirl in Scotland, named Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie. Since then, she's notched up 66 singles and 21 albums. She's enjoyed No.1 hits on both sides of the Atlantic, and also won a Eurovision Song Contest.

Here, Lulu opens the doors to her life - looking back across five decades at her remarkable career. This is also very much the story of Lulu now - following her into the studio with Jools Holland; rehearsing for shows; choreographing new dance routines; and exclusive access as Lulu prepares and performs for a huge concert on the banks of the River Clyde in her old home town of Glasgow.

This fascinating story of an unparalleled life in show business features contributions from Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Cliff Richard, Robin Gibb, Barry Manilow, Bobby Womack and Jools Holland, along with family members, such as Lulu's brother and sister.


SUN 01:00 Top of the Pops (b00zwrn5)
1964 to 1975 - Big Hits

1964 saw the birth of a very British institution. Spanning over four decades, Top of the Pops has produced many classic moments in pop culture.

Digging deep within the darkest depths of the BBC's archive, this compilation offers some memorable performances from 1964 through to 1975 from the likes of The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Status Quo, Procol Harum, Stevie Wonder, Queen and The Kinks, and opens the vintage vaults to rare performances from Stealers Wheel, Julie Driscoll, Peter Sarstedt and The Seekers.

So sit back and witness once again where music met television.


SUN 02:30 Natural World (b0147dw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 03 OCTOBER 2016

MON 19:00 World News Today (b07xss4z)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Brushing up on... (b03z09n7)
Series 2

Street Furniture

Danny Baker strolls into the world of bollards, benches, bins and lavatories as he explores Britain's street furniture. Expect hymns to the phone box and pillar box by way of a terrifying Belisha beacon.


MON 20:00 British Gardens in Time (b040y79r)
Stowe

Stowe, one of the most remarkable creations of Georgian England, is the birthplace of the landscape garden. Created on a vast scale with 36 temples, eight lakes and a dozen avenues, Stowe launched the career of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and fostered a rebellion that overthrew the first British prime minister, Robert Walpole.

Rather than being a garden of flowers and shrubs, Stowe is a garden of ideas and its grottos and classical monuments spell out a furious, coded political manifesto. Stowe's creator, Viscount Cobham, dreamt of climbing to the pinnacle of political power and establishing a long-lived dynasty, but less than a century after his death, his family was to become the most scandalous bankrupts in English history.


MON 21:00 Capability Brown's Unfinished Garden (b07xt6t9)
Capability Brown is known as the founder of landscape design. In the 1700s, he created some of the most magnificent landscapes in England. He travelled the length and breadth of the country, improving more than 200 of the greatest estates in the land for some of the most influential people of the 18th century.

But there is one plan that never got off the drawing board. The only land he ever owned was in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, but he died before he could carry out any plans for his own garden. Today it is a piece of flat land bisected by the A14 dual carriageway.

Landscape designer and Gardeners' Question Time regular Bunny Guinness travels across England to some of Capability's finest landscapes - Blenheim, Burghley, Milton Abbey and Castle Ashby - to understand what he might have created. Rediscovering plans and letters, and using the latest technology, Capability Brown's unfinished garden is brought to life.


MON 22:00 The Victorians (b00hsr7s)
Series 1

Painting the Town

Jeremy Paxman takes his love of Victorian paintings as the starting point for a journey into Victorian Britain. Such pictures may not be fashionable today, but they are a goldmine of information about the most dynamic age in British history.

He investigates the most dramatic event of Victorian Britain - the explosion of great cities. At first the Victorians feared these new monsters in their midst, but then grew to love and transform them.

Jeremy explores the canals and sewers, suburbs and back streets, workhouses and magnificent buildings of the great Victorian city, while also experiencing the fun-filled chaos of Derby Day.


MON 23:00 The First World War (b01rp9sn)
To Arms

The First World War shaped the twentieth century. It sparked the Russian Revolution and launched America as a world power. The fault-line from its failed peace settlement led to a second terrible world war barely twenty years later. We live with its unresolved consequences; in the Middle East, the Balkans and Ireland. It began as a clash in the Balkans which grew to engulf Europe and the world. Britain joined in, more to protect her great empire than for the defence of small nations. The merciless pattern of the war was set early on, by Austro-Hungarian atrocities against Serbian civilians.


MON 23:50 Timeshift (b01nj3xx)
Series 12

The British Army of the Rhine

The affectionate story of British servicemen and their families who had to make Germany a home from home in the decades after the Second World War. For nearly 70 years, generations would grow up on bases with special schools, shops, housing and even their own radio station, as parts of the Rhineland became little bubbles of Britishness.

Featuring a nostalgic soundtrack of German language versions of period pop hits and contributions from military historians such as Max Hastings and former BBC sports commentator Barry Davies - himself a former British Army of the Rhine soldier - as well as those of military wives and children.

Once the front line in the Cold War, the BAOR is now being called home as the Ministry of Defence begins preparations to finally pull British forces out.


MON 00:50 Horizon (b01mmrc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Sunday]


MON 01:50 The Victorians (b00hsr7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


MON 02:50 Capability Brown's Unfinished Garden (b07xt6t9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 04 OCTOBER 2016

TUE 19:00 World News Today (b07xss55)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Brushing up on... (b03zqgjz)
Series 2

British Schools

Danny Baker dons the mortar board in a whistle-stop archival romp through our education system.


TUE 20:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
2010-2011

The Himalayas

Documentary looking at the wildlife of the most stunning mountain range in the world, home to snow leopards, Himalayan wolves and Tibetan bears.

Snow leopards stalk their prey among the highest peaks. Concealed by snowfall, the chase is watched by golden eagles circling above. On the harsh plains of the Tibetan plateau live extraordinary bears and square-faced foxes hunting small rodents to survive. In the alpine forests, dancing pheasants have even influenced rival border guards in their ritualistic displays. Valleys carved by glacial waters lead to hillsides covered by paddy fields containing the lifeline to the east, rice. In this world of extremes, the Himalayas reveal not only snow-capped mountains and fascinating animals but also a vital lifeline for humanity.


TUE 21:00 Natural World (b0377t15)
2013-2014

Giant Squid: Filming the Impossible - Natural World Special

The giant squid is a creature of legend and myth which, even in the 21st century, has never been seen alive. But now, an international team of scientists thinks it has finally found its lair, 1,000 metres down, off the coast of Japan. This is the culmination of decades of research. The team deploys underwater robots and state-of-the-art submersible vessels for a world first - to find and film the impossible.


TUE 21:45 Timeshift (b01p96ly)
Series 12

When Wrestling was Golden: Grapples, Grunts and Grannies

Timeshift turns back the clock to a time when villains wore silver capes, grannies swooned at the sight of bulky men in latex and the most masculine man in the country was called Shirley. In its heyday, British professional wrestling attracted huge TV audiences and made household names of generations of wrestlers from Mick McManus and Jackie 'Mr TV' Pallo to Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy. With contributions from inside the world of wrestling and surprising fans such as artist Peter Blake, this is an affectionate and lively portrait of a lost era of simpler pleasures, both in and out of the ring.


TUE 22:45 Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines (p01f53b9)
Poison

Dr Michael Mosley ends the series with a look at poisons, exploring the turning points when scientists went from finding antidotes to poisons to applying poisons as cures, and celebrating the eccentrics and mavericks whose breakthroughs were to pave the way for some of the most striking treatments of modern medicine. Of the medicines explored in this series, those that are derived from poisons are perhaps the most extraordinary. The story of turning poisons into medicines encompasses the planet's most deadly substances, in which we turned killers into cures.


TUE 23:45 Timeshift (b03p7jh9)
Series 13

Hurricanes and Heatwaves: The Highs and Lows of British Weather

A glorious national obsession is explored in this archive-rich look at the evolution of the weather forecast from print via radio to TV and beyond - and at the changing weather itself. It shows how the Met Office and the BBC have always used the latest technology to bring the holy grail of accurate forecasting that much closer - even if the odd messenger like TV weatherman Michael Fish has been shot along the way.

Yet as hand-drawn maps have been replaced by weather apps, the bigger drama of global warming has been playing itself out as if to prove that we were right all along to obsess about the weather. Featuring a very special rendition of the shipping forecast by a Cornish fishermen's choir.


TUE 00:45 Gods and Monsters: Homer's Odyssey (b00vtwnz)
Virginia Woolf said that Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was 'alive to every tremor and gleam of existence'. Following the magical and strange adventures of warrior king Odysseus, inventor of the idea of the Trojan horse, the poem can claim to be the greatest story ever told. Now British poet Simon Armitage goes on his own Greek adventure, following in the footsteps of one of his own personal heroes. Yet Simon ponders the question of whether he even likes the guy.


TUE 01:45 In Their Own Words: 20th Century Composers (b03xswbn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


TUE 02:45 Timeshift (b03p7jh9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 today]



WEDNESDAY 05 OCTOBER 2016

WED 19:00 World News Today (b07xss5b)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney (b054c5gv)
Episode 1

Martha Kearney walks in the footsteps of a 19th-century artist and geologist who spent his life charting the landscape, people and buildings of Ireland. She retraces the journey of George Victor Du Noyer, whose 35-year odyssey left a unique record of how Ireland looked during a period of great change.

In this first episode, Martha introduces us to Du Noyer's work. She enjoys his impressions of Glendalough - a place close to the hearts of her own parents. She gets wet at the Bog of Allen. And she marvels at the majesty of the Old Head of Kinsale.


WED 20:00 King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons (b038rkw9)
Aethelstan: The First King of England

In this third episode, Alfred's grandson Aethelstan fulfils the family plan and creates a kingdom of all England.

Travelling from Devon to Cumbria, Scotland and Rome, Michael Wood tells the tale of Aethelstan's wars, his learning and his lawmaking, showing how he created a national coinage and tracing the origin of the English parliament to the king's new assembly politics. But there's also a dark side, with later legends that the king had his brother drowned at sea. In his last desperate struggle, Aethelstan defeated a huge invasion of Vikings and Scots in what became known as the Anglo-Saxon 'Great War'.

Wood argues that Aethelstan was one of the greatest English monarchs, and with his grandfather Alfred, his father Edward and his aunt Aethelflaed, a member of our most remarkable royal family and 'even more than the Tudors, the most gifted and influential rulers in British history'.


WED 21:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b07xt8ww)
Series 1

Aberdeenshire

Haddo House is one of Britain's most northerly stately homes. Tucked away in the wilds of Aberdeenshire, it has been home to prime ministers and earls - but is it also home to some of Scotland's greatest lost paintings?

Nearby, in the storerooms of the Montrose Museum lies a mystery painting with a giant hole in it. The portrait shows Richard Mead, the patron of one of Scotland's most celebrated painters, Allan Ramsay. According to the history books, the painting is a copy of a painting in the National Portrait Gallery in London. But has there been an unfortunate mix-up, and is the painting in London in fact the pretender?


WED 22:00 Rome: A History of the Eternal City (b01pdt0s)
The Rebirth of God's City

Simon Sebag Montefiore charts Rome's rise from the abandonment and neglect of the 14th century into the everlasting seat of the papacy recognised today. His story takes us through the debauchery and decadence of the Renaissance, the horrors of the Sack of Rome and the Catholic Reformation, through to the arrival of fascism and the creation of the Vatican State. By taking us inside Rome's most sensational palaces and churches and telling the stories behind some of the world's most beloved art, Sebag Montefiore's final instalment is a visual feast.


WED 23:00 Lost Kingdoms of South America (b01q6pzt)
The Stone at the Centre

Deep in the Bolivian Andes at the height of 13,000ft stands Tiwanaku, the awe-inspiring ruins of a monolithic temple city. Built by a civilisation who dominated a vast swathe of South America, it was abandoned 1,000 years ago. For centuries it has been a mystery - how did a civilisation flourish at such an altitude and why did it vanish?

Jago Cooper journeys through Bolivia's spectacular landscape to investigate the origins of Tiwanaku and finds evidence of an ancient people with amazing understanding of their environment, whose religion was based on collective effort and ritual beer drinking.


WED 00:00 Natural World (b0377t15)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 00:45 Clydebuilt: The Ships that Made the Commonwealth (p01n8dv0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


WED 01:45 Timeshift (b00ff170)
How to Write a Mills and Boon

What happens when a literary novelist tries to write popular romantic fiction? To mark 100 years of romance publishers Mills and Boon, literary novelist Stella Duffy takes on the challenge of writing for them.

Romantic fiction is a global phenomenon, and Mills and Boon are among the biggest names in the business. The company welcomes submissions from new authors, but as Duffy soon finds out, writing a Mills and Boon is harder than it looks.

Help is at hand from the publishers themselves, a prolific Mills and Boon author and some avid romance fans, as Duffy's quest to create the perfect romantic novel takes her from London to Italy on a journey that is both an insight into the art of romantic fiction and the joy and frustration of writing itself.


WED 02:45 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b07xt8ww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 06 OCTOBER 2016

THU 19:00 World News Today (b07xss5h)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b07yc902)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 20:00 Railways: The Making of a Nation (b07x4dyz)
Capitalism and Commerce

The railways stimulated great changes to the nation's economy. They also changed the way we do business, encouraging a new generation of mechanical engineers, skilled workers, managers and accountants. Originally, local railway entrepreneurs viewed trains as vehicles for shifting raw materials, stock and goods. But soon they discovered there was money to be made in transporting people.

Places such as Derby became 'railway towns'. Derby was central to the new network, and home to the engineers who made and maintained locomotives and carriages. But the railway 'boom' of the 1840s also came with a 'bust'. A new age of middle-class shareholders who invested in the railways soon discovered what goes up can also go down.

Alongside this were stories of railway rogues and dodgy dealing. However, railway companies recovered from the crash and continued to develop as complex national business organisations - capable of building great structures such as the Ribblehead Viaduct in Yorkshire and St Pancras Station in London.


THU 20:30 Hive Minds (b07xtbhp)
Series 2

Cruciverbalists v Methodologists

Fiona Bruce presents the quiz show where players not only have to know the answers, but have to find them hidden in a hive of letters. It tests players' general knowledge and mental agility, as they battle against one another and race against the clock to find the answers.

Cruciverbalists take on Methodologists in this edition.


THU 21:00 The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons (b07xtbhr)
Nicholas Parsons, Just a Minute host and stalwart of the entertainment world, explores his life-long enthusiasm for clocks when he goes in search of the most valuable and famous watch in the world.

The so-called Marie Antoinette, once the target of one of the biggest museum heists in history, was the masterpiece made by 18th-century genius Nicholas Breguet for that doomed queen.

Tracing the enthralling story of Breguet's rise to fame, Parsons visits Paris and Versailles, and the vaults of today's multimillion-pound Breguet business. Exploring the innovative and dazzling work of the master watchmaker, Parsons unravels the mystery behind the creation of his most precious and most brilliant work.

Parsons then heads to Israel to discover how, in the 1980s, the world's most expensive watch was stolen in a daring heist and went missing for over 20 years.

Revealing a little-known side of one of our favourite TV and radio hosts, the film offers a glimpse into Parsons's own private clock collection while also telling an enthralling tale of scientific invention, doomed decadence and daring robbery.


THU 22:00 China in Six Easy Pieces (b036r5cx)
For centuries the west has been enthralled by flamboyant blue-and-white ceramics from China but unaware that all the time the Chinese were making porcelains for themselves that were completely different - subtle monochromes for the Imperial court, beautiful objects for the scholar's table and delicate domestic wares.

Ceramics expert Lars Tharp, Antiques Roadshow resident and presenter of Treasures of Chinese Porcelain, has picked his six favourite pieces representing Chinese taste. He goes on a journey through a thousand years of Chinese history, travelling from the ancient capital of Huangzhou in the south to Beijing's Forbidden City in the north, to uncover what these six pieces tell us about Chinese emperors, scholars, workers, merchants and artists.

To him, they are China in ceramic form. But can they help us to understand China today?


THU 23:00 Dissected (p01mv2md)
The Incredible Human Hand

In a purpose-built dissection lab, Dr George McGavin is joined by leading anatomy experts to dissect a real hand, taking it apart layer by layer to reveal what makes it unique in the animal kingdom. We discover what gives our hands an unrivalled combination of power and precision, and meet people who use their hands in extraordinary ways - from magicians to rock climbers - to discover what gives them such astonishing abilities.


THU 00:00 Natural World (b00tj7j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


THU 01:00 Timeshift (b01p96ly)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:45 on Tuesday]


THU 02:00 Totally 60s Psychedelic Rock at the BBC (b06jp24d)
A compilation from the depths of the BBC archive of the creme de la creme of 1960s British psychedelic rock from programmes such as Colour Me Pop, How It Is, Top of the Pops and Once More with Felix.

Featuring pre-rocker era Status Quo, a rustic-looking Incredible String Band, a youthful Donovan, a suitably eccentric performance from The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, a trippy routine from Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity, a groovy tune from The Moody Blues, a raucous rendition by Joe Cocker of his version of With a Little Help From My Friends and some pre-Wizzard Roy Wood with The Move.

Plus classic performances from the likes of Procol Harum, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and The Who.


THU 03:00 The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons (b07xtbhr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 07 OCTOBER 2016

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b07xss5n)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b07xtbj7)
Peter Powell presents the weekly chart show, first broadcast on 20th May 1982. Includes appearances from Adam Ant, Rocky Sharpe & The Replays, Madness, ABC, Iron Maiden, Ph.D, Tight Fit, Nicole and Patrice Rushen. Also features a dance performance from Zoo.


FRI 20:00 The Good Old Days (b07xtbzj)
Leonard Sachs presents an edition of the old-time music hall programme, first broadcast on 8 January 1976. Guests include Arthur Askey, Georgia Brown, Eira Heath, Ray C Davis, Tudor Davies, Sheila Steafel and Arthur Worsley.


FRI 20:45 Sounds of the Sixties (b075f7r4)
Reversions

Swinging Sixties 1

Forget Madchester, forget Factory, forget Oasis. Manchester never sounded better than Herman's Hermits and the Hollies, who feature in this archive extravaganza.


FRI 20:55 Pop Go the Sixties (b00cyyqt)
Series 2

Sandie Shaw

Pop moments from the BBC's 60s archive. From a rehearsal for a Top of the Pops performance, Sandie gives an accidentally aloof ice-queen rendering of Long Live Love so the cameras can practice their positions. An otherworldly performance of her number 1 hit from 1965.


FRI 21:00 The People's History of Pop (b07ycbr8)
1976-1985 Tribal Gatherings

Pauline Black, lead singer of Two Tone band The Selecter, looks at the years 1976-1985, when she first picked up a guitar and when music got involved in passionate protest and the high street filled with colourful factions of music lovers.

After a lot of big hair and big rock stars, punks brought pop back down to earth and, out of that, music lovers shattered into an array of pop tribes who posed with passion.

We hear from a man who loved listening to pop hits on Radio 1 and who recorded his own 'Record for the Day' in his incredible picture diary every day. And one former student at a college in Surrey tells how a ball at his graduation was saved by a favourite rock star when the headline act pulled out - neighbour Elton John popped over and played an intimate set on the college's grand piano.

We speak to fans whose lives were changed forever by punk, and the members of an Asian punk band who were inspired by the music to shout for what they believed in at Rock Against Racism gigs and marches. Mods, a Numanoid and a fan of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal explain why they chose their tribes, while Two Tone was the music that tried to unite the kids and just get them dancing. The reverend of Kerry parish shares her unstoppable love of Duran Duran, much to the regret of her punk fiancé. And pop fans were brought together by the experience of Live Aid, when music changed the world outside of us.

Unearthed pop treasures include a tambourine punched through by Sid Vicious, played by a Sex Pistols fan as he sang with the band on the Great Rock n Roll Swindle album. A former music promoter shares some rare items from the Sex Pistols' ill-fated Anarchy in the UK tour, and the son of artist Ray Lowry shows Pauline the drawings his dad did of The Clash's summer American tour in 1979, when Ray was taken as their 'war artist'. We feature some precious material that gives us an insight into the thinking of The Clash's lead singer, Joe Strummer.


FRI 22:00 Classic Albums (b07ycbrb)
The Wailers: Catch a Fire

This edition looks at the making of the 1973 Wailers album, Catch a Fire, the album that brought international recognition to Bob Marley.

Already big names in their native Jamaica, it took until this release for Marley and Co to finally go global. It features interviews with key musicians and engineers who helped make the album, as well as record label boss Chris Blackwell, who talks about how the band had song-writing and performing skills in abundance but needed to be put through the equivalent of a "rock blender" to make them palatable to a wider audience. Through first-hand accounts, this programme tells how they did just that.

The programme takes a track-by-track look at the making of the record. In London, the producer Chris Blackwell and original engineer Tony Platt lead viewers through the original multi-tracks of Slave Driver, Concrete Jungle, Stir it Up, Rock It Baby and others. Rabbit Brundrick (keyboards) and Wayne Perkins (electric guitar) tell how they were brought back in to add the rock and roll parts to the songs. It is illustrated with archive footage from the Wailers in concert, early interviews with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, plus television performances and rare home movies - all of which provide a unique insight into the process behind the recording of this landmark album.


FRI 23:00 Island at the BBC (b00kvd3b)
Compilation of performances from the BBC archives of top Island Records artists, including Cat Stevens's Father and Son, Roxy Music's Do the Strand and Stir It Up by Bob Marley and The Wailers, plus tracks from Steel Pulse, U2, PJ Harvey, Baaba Maal and Amy Winehouse.


FRI 00:00 Top of the Pops (b07xtbj7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 00:35 The People's History of Pop (b07ycbr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


FRI 01:35 Classic Albums (b07ycbrb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 02:35 Island at the BBC (b00kvd3b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 today]




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

Beck 21:00 SAT (b07xt3jv)

Britain's Lost Masterpieces 21:00 WED (b07xt8ww)

Britain's Lost Masterpieces 02:45 WED (b07xt8ww)

Britain's Star Men: Heroes of Astronomy 22:30 SUN (b07xjh6z)

British Gardens in Time 20:00 MON (b040y79r)

Brushing up on... 19:30 MON (b03z09n7)

Brushing up on... 19:30 TUE (b03zqgjz)

Capability Brown's Unfinished Garden 21:00 MON (b07xt6t9)

Capability Brown's Unfinished Garden 02:50 MON (b07xt6t9)

China in Six Easy Pieces 22:00 THU (b036r5cx)

Classic Albums 22:00 FRI (b07ycbrb)

Classic Albums 01:35 FRI (b07ycbrb)

Clydebuilt: The Ships that Made the Commonwealth 20:00 SAT (p01n8dv0)

Clydebuilt: The Ships that Made the Commonwealth 00:45 WED (p01n8dv0)

Dissected 23:00 THU (p01mv2md)

Do We Really Need the Moon? 22:30 SAT (b00yb5jp)

Do We Really Need the Moon? 02:20 SAT (b00yb5jp)

Gods and Monsters: Homer's Odyssey 00:45 TUE (b00vtwnz)

Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney 19:30 WED (b054c5gv)

Hive Minds 20:30 THU (b07xtbhp)

Horizon 23:30 SAT (b06spxtc)

Horizon 21:00 SUN (b01mmrc0)

Horizon 00:50 MON (b01mmrc0)

In Their Own Words: 20th Century Composers 19:00 SUN (b03xswbn)

In Their Own Words: 20th Century Composers 01:45 TUE (b03xswbn)

Island at the BBC 23:00 FRI (b00kvd3b)

Island at the BBC 02:35 FRI (b00kvd3b)

King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons 20:00 WED (b038rkw9)

Lost Kingdoms of South America 19:00 SAT (b01pwtqy)

Lost Kingdoms of South America 23:00 WED (b01q6pzt)

Lulu: Something to Shout About 23:30 SUN (b0169l59)

Natural World 20:00 SUN (b0147dw3)

Natural World 02:30 SUN (b0147dw3)

Natural World 20:00 TUE (b00tj7j4)

Natural World 21:00 TUE (b0377t15)

Natural World 00:00 WED (b0377t15)

Natural World 00:00 THU (b00tj7j4)

Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines 22:45 TUE (p01f53b9)

Pop Go the Sixties 20:55 FRI (b00cyyqt)

Railways: The Making of a Nation 20:00 THU (b07x4dyz)

Rome: A History of the Eternal City 22:00 WED (b01pdt0s)

Sounds of the Sixties 20:45 FRI (b075f7r4)

The First World War 23:00 MON (b01rp9sn)

The Good Old Days 20:00 FRI (b07xtbzj)

The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons 21:00 THU (b07xtbhr)

The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons 03:00 THU (b07xtbhr)

The People's History of Pop 21:00 FRI (b07ycbr8)

The People's History of Pop 00:35 FRI (b07ycbr8)

The Sky at Night 22:00 SUN (b07yc902)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (b07yc902)

The Victorians 22:00 MON (b00hsr7s)

The Victorians 01:50 MON (b00hsr7s)

Timeshift 23:50 MON (b01nj3xx)

Timeshift 21:45 TUE (b01p96ly)

Timeshift 23:45 TUE (b03p7jh9)

Timeshift 02:45 TUE (b03p7jh9)

Timeshift 01:45 WED (b00ff170)

Timeshift 01:00 THU (b01p96ly)

Top of the Pops 00:30 SAT (b07wrm58)

Top of the Pops 01:05 SAT (b07xjkyb)

Top of the Pops 01:40 SAT (b07xjl41)

Top of the Pops 01:00 SUN (b00zwrn5)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (b07xtbj7)

Top of the Pops 00:00 FRI (b07xtbj7)

Totally 60s Psychedelic Rock at the BBC 02:00 THU (b06jp24d)

World News Today 19:00 MON (b07xss4z)

World News Today 19:00 TUE (b07xss55)

World News Today 19:00 WED (b07xss5b)

World News Today 19:00 THU (b07xss5h)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b07xss5n)