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 18 MARCH 2017

SAT 19:00 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06qskdx)
Pirates

Few figures in British history have captured the popular imagination as much as the outlaw. From gentleman highwaymen, via swashbuckling pirates to elusive urban thieves and rogues, the brazen escapades and the flamboyance of the outlaw made them the antihero of their time - feared by the rich, admired by the poor and celebrated by writers and artists.

In this three-part series, historian Dr Sam Willis travels the open roads, the high seas and urban alleyways to explore Britain's 17th- and 18th-century underworld of highwaymen, pirates and rogues, bringing the great age of the British outlaw vividly to life.

Sam shows that, far from being 'outsiders', outlaws were very much a product of their time, shaped by powerful national events. In each episode, he focuses not just on a particular type of outlaw, but a particular era - the series as a whole offers a chronological portrait of the changing face of crime in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Sam takes to the high seas in search of the swashbuckling pirates of the golden age of piracy during the early 18th century. Following in the wake of the infamous Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Calico Jack and others, Sam charts the devastating impact these pirates had during an era of colonial expansion and how, by plundering the vast network of seaborne trade, they became the most-wanted outlaws in the world.


SAT 20:00 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?


SAT 21:00 Follow the Money (b08ds1t1)
Series 2

Episode 5

Mads and Alf, so far unable to pin any fraud on the chairman of Nova Bank, find a new lead and are able to bring him in for questioning. Nicky has an unexpected visit at the garage, straining his relationship with Bimse even further, but Nicky will soon have much bigger things to worry about. Amanda and Claudia realise that the only way to avoid Absalon Bank being taken over by Nova is to find another bank that is willing to buy them.

In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:00 Follow the Money (b08fjbwz)
Series 2

Episode 6

Nicky's assignment from Christiansen, to kidnap the granddaughter of his ex-colleague, proves troublesome and he desperately tries to cover his tracks. Alf and Mads get another lead in their case against Christiansen and think they can finally nail him. Amanda resorts to blackmail to keep control of her bank.

In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 23:00 Top of the Pops (b08hzrdx)
Simon Bates and Gary Davies present another edition of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 19 May 1983. Featuring D Train, New Edition, David Grant, Blancmange, The Beat and Wham.


SAT 23:35 Top of the Pops (b08hzs4m)
Peter Powell and Pat Sharp present another edition of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 26 May 1983. Featuring Big Country, Hot Chocolate, The Police, New Edition and Forrest.


SAT 00:00 Neil Sedaka: King of Song (b03v2yxt)
Neil Sedaka is one of the most successful American singer-songwriters of the last century. A classically trained musician, he won a scholarship to the Juilliard School at the age of nine and four years later he embarked on a writing career that would see him create some of the most perfect pop songs of all time. Throughout his career he wrote, recorded and sang a number of instantly recognisable and memorable tunes, as well as delivering a string of hits as a songwriter for other artists.

This documentary portrait film tells the story of Neil Sedaka's life and career, in which he had two distinct periods of success. Between 1958 and 1963 he sold over 25 million records, but then his career nose-dived after the Beatles and the British Invasion hit the USA. Leaving his homeland, he found success in the UK in the early 1970s and relaunched his career before returning to the US and achieving new stardom with songs like Solitaire and Laughter in the Rain.

Neil gives great insight into how he created catchy classics like Calendar Girl, (Is This the Way to) Amarillo, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen and Stupid Cupid, amongst many others.


SAT 01:00 Neil Sedaka Says: All You Need Is the Music (b00pwstt)
During a career which was originally designed to make him a classical pianist, the musical achievements and statistics of singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka have made him a compelling figure in contemporary music, with 600 songs written and 20 million records sold. The hits from his early rock 'n' roll days to his later, more lyrical age are all included in this special one-man show from the 1980s.


SAT 01:45 Kings of 70s Romance (b007cjtw)
While teenage girls in the 1970s were screaming for Donny Osmond and David Cassidy, the more mature woman had fantasy figures of her own setting her heart a-flutter. Kings of 70s Romance tells the story of these - some might say unlikely - pin-ups. Whether it was Gilbert O'Sullivan or Barry White, Leo Sayer or David Soul - or for those with more exotic tastes, Demis Roussos - these were men whose lyrics conjured up images of candle-lit dinners, red roses, and cosy nights in with the man of your dreams. For millions of female fans their romantic music was the perfect soundtrack for dreams of escape from the day-to-day drudgery of life in 70s Britain. As well as our main contributors we feature comments form Gloria Hunniford and Martha Kearney.


SAT 02:45 ... Sings Bacharach and David! (b01gxl5w)
The BBC have raided their remarkable archive once more to reveal evocative performances from Burt Bacharach and Hal David's astonishing songbook. Love songs from the famous songwriting duo were a familiar feature of 60s and 70s BBC entertainment programmes such as Dusty, Cilla and The Cliff Richard Show, but there are some surprises unearthed here too.

Highlights include Sandie Shaw singing Always Something There to Remind Me, Aretha Franklin performing I Say a Little Prayer, Dusty Springfield's Wishin' and Hopin', The Stranglers' rendition of Walk on By on Top of the Pops, The Carpenters in concert performing (They Long to Be) Close to You and Burt Bacharach revisiting his classic Kentucky Bluebird with Rufus Wainwright on Later...with Jools Holland.



SUNDAY 19 MARCH 2017

SUN 19:00 Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century (b07f2blk)
Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution

In the 19th century, as Suzy Klein shows in the second episode of the series, music wasn't just a backdrop to life, easing pain and enhancing pleasure. It became a revolutionary force that could - and did - change the world.

As the impact of the violence and turmoil unleashed in the French Revolution reverberated around Europe, it was music that most viscerally carried the message that the people could stand up to kings and emperors. In France during the revolution, La Marseillaise emerged as a rallying cry - sung by the mob as they stormed the royal palace. When Napoleon imposed his grip on the nation it became an anthem of subversion, along with countless songs that pilloried the return to autocracy and the crushing of freedom.

But it was not just on the streets, as Suzy shows, that revolutionary fervour was stoked up. Even opera, intended by the authorities to reinforce the status quo, became politically potent, fanning the flames of nationalism and revolution throughout Europe. One French opera actually helped trigger a revolution when it was performed in Belgium in 1830.

Suzy shows how music came to express not only revolutionary fervour, but also the growing force of nationalism that was sweeping Europe. She discovers how Chopin's music, beneath its lyrical surface, expressed more powerfully than words the defiant spirit of the Polish people suffering under the oppression of a foreign power. And she explores how Carl Weber's lovely work Der Freischutz articulated the longings for nationhood of the Germans and inspired Richard Wagner to attempt the transformation of the human spirit through his work.

But it was Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi whose music had the most profound political impact in the 19th century. Suzy travels to Parma, Verdi's home town, to meet the disciples who keep his flame alive to this day, venerating the man whose music embodied the fight for freedom and whose very name came to symbolise Italy's fight for nationhood.


SUN 20:00 Classic Quartets at the BBC (b08jq8ll)
Clemency Burton-Hill celebrates the rich and ravishing world of the string quartet in a journey through 50 years of BBC archive. Some of the world's greatest ensembles including the Amadeus, Chilingirian, Borodin and Kronos quartets perform in myriad styles and settings, from stately homes to helicopters. Music ranges from Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert to Steve Reich, Elvis Costello and Pete Townshend, in a tradition which stretches back to Haydn in the 18th century.


SUN 21:00 Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision (b08k9b8y)
Part 1

Jakob Simon fervently dreams of emigrating from his poverty-stricken life as the son of a blacksmith in Schabbach, a small village in rural Rhineland. As he studies the languages of tribal South America, the return from military service of his more worldly brother Gustav fails to break him from his daydream, but day-to-day living in Prussian feudal society means that his dreams have to be put on hold.

In German with English subtitles.

Black and white with colour sequences.


SUN 22:40 Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision (b08kbrdk)
Part 2

Jakob Simon fervently dreams of emigrating from his poverty-stricken life as the son of a blacksmith in Schabbach, a small village in rural Rhineland. As he studies the languages of tribal South America, the return from military service of his more worldly brother Gustav fails to break him from his daydream, but day-to-day living in Prussian feudal society means that his dreams have to be put on hold.

In German with English subtitles.

Black and white with colour sequences.


SUN 00:40 The Century That Wrote Itself (b01rvzts)
The Written Self

Adam Nicolson traces our modern sense of self back to the time when ordinary people first took up the quill. At a time of great upheaval, writing was both a means of escape and of fighting for what you believed. Account books became confessionals, and letters weapons against the authorities. From an ambitious shepherd to a Quaker woman imprisoned for her conscience, rising literacy allowed people to re-write both the country's future and their own.


SUN 01:40 How to Get Ahead (b03xsgwk)
At Medieval Court

Writer, broadcaster and Newsnight arts correspondent Stephen Smith looks back at the Medieval Age to find out what it took to get ahead at the court of Richard II. Richard presided over the first truly sophisticated and artistic court in England. Painters, sculptors, poets, tailors, weavers and builders flocked to court to make their fortunes. But these were dangerous times. Being close to Richard brought many a courtier to a sticky end. Featuring David Tennant and Clarissa Dickson Wright.


SUN 02:40 Classic Quartets at the BBC (b08jq8ll)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 20 MARCH 2017

MON 19:00 100 Days (b08jq1jq)
Series 1

20/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.


MON 19:30 Reel History of Britain (p00jwrnj)
Beside the Seaside

Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by a vintage mobile cinema, travels across the country to show incredible footage preserved by the British Film Institute and other national and regional film archives, to tell the history of modern Britain.

Melvyn is in Blackpool looking back to the 1950s to celebrate the heyday of the British seaside holiday.

Elaine Greeley shares her memories of a honeymoon spent at the British seaside and shows the British knack for having a good time, whatever the weather. Les Dennis talks about his lifelong relationship with Blackpool and salutes seaside entertainment which inspired him to become an entertainer. And Dame Sandra Burslem is transported back to her youth, when she appeared in a 1957 film shot in her home town of Blackpool.


MON 20:00 The Big Painting Challenge (b08k0sr6)
Series 1

The Final

With the winning post in sight, the amateur artists have two nail-biting challenges remaining. With Mariella Frostrup and the Rev Richard Coles overseeing proceedings, it's the last chance for the finalists to impress the judges with everything they've learned throughout the series.

The starting point is Queen's House, Greenwich, where there's 400 years of history and art to soak up in the magnificent surroundings. There is a surprise in store for the artists as they are given their first test. They have to paint a portrait, but their sitters are only revealed to them at the start of the challenge. Will all of the artists be happy with who they come face to face with?

For the final challenge of the series, not only are the artists' skills put to the test but also their sea legs, with a trip on the Thames. They are faced with the magnificent view of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, practically unchanged since it inspired Italian master Canaletto over 250 years ago. If that wasn't enough to contend with, mentors Pascal Anson and Diana Ali take a step back to see who has absorbed their artistic advice and who will completely ignore it. Judges Daphne Todd, David Dibosa and Lachlan Goudie have the tricky task of deciding who will be the winner of the Big Painting Challenge 2017.


MON 21:00 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08k0srb)
Series 1

Episode 3

In the final episode, Eamonn McCabe traces the story of British photography from the explosion of colour images in the late 1950s to the ongoing impact of the digital revolution.

Eamonn enters the colourful Britain of postcard producer John Hinde, whose postwar experiments with colour photography captured a new mood of optimism and leisure in the country. He sees how colour snaps began to replace black-and-white prints in the family album as cheaper cameras and new processing techniques allowed ordinary people to record the world around them in colour. Eamonn meets John Bulmer, who broke new ground by using colour for documentary photography in his striking images of the north of England for the Sunday Times colour magazine. And he finds out why Jane Bown refused to follow the trend by sticking to black and white for her striking portraits of the era's most memorable faces.

Eamonn explores how a new, independent movement in photography emerged in the 1970s, fostering talents like Peter Mitchell, who used colour photography to comment on a changing urban Britain. Eamonn sees how this new movement encouraged Fay Godwin to infuse her poetic landscapes with political and environmental concerns, and meets Birmingham-based photographer Vanley Burke, whose work chronicled the growing African-Caribbean community in Handsworth. And Eamonn joins one of today's best-known British photographers, Martin Parr, to find out how he has trained a satirical eye on modern society.

Assessing the impact of the 'big bang' of digital photography, Eamonn goes back to his roots as a sports photographer - covering boxing in the East End of London. He reflects on how technology has developed from when he started in the 1970s, with manual cameras and rolls of film, to the digital cameras of today. Eamonn then sees how the digital revolution has shaped a new generation of practitioners - in whose hands a thoroughly 21st-century British photography is being created.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b08d7qls)
North Korean Kidnap: The Lovers and the Despot

The bizarre and sensational story of the despot who stole a film star. In 1978, North Korea's movie-loving dictator Kim Jong-il arranged for the Hong Kong kidnap of South Korea's leading lady, Choi Eun-hee. Choi had left South Korea in search of a new start. Her marriage to Shin Sang-ok, her long-term collaborator and one of the country's most successful filmmakers, had collapsed when Choi found out about his affair and second family with a younger actress.

After her disappearance Shin, retracing her last known steps, also fell into the hands of Kim's kidnappers. Kim Jong-il had his prize. The golden couple of Korean cinema made movies at his command for seven years until, on a trip to Vienna, they eluded their minders and made a break for the American Embassy.


MON 23:30 Immortal? A Horizon Guide to Ageing (b01kxxys)
Is there any way to slow or even prevent the ravages of time? Veteran presenter Johnny Ball looks back over the 45 years that Horizon, and he, have been on air to find out what science has learned about how and why we grow old. Charting developments from macabre early claims of rejuvenation to the latest cutting-edge breakthroughs, Johnny discovers the sense of a personal mission that drives many scientists and asks whether we are really any closer to achieving the dream of immortality.


MON 00:30 Oceans (b00fzb9c)
Indian Ocean

In the first of two episodes in the rich tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the team explores its remote and pristine underwater worlds.

Expedition leader Paul Rose, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue, and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto investigate how schools of manta ray suffering from shark bites are treated by the inhabitants of a remarkable reef. They go in search of one of the Indian Ocean's most elusive creatures, the dugong.

The expedition visits the only 'coral nursery' in this ocean, where an extraordinary technique is being used to repair damaged reefs.

They investigate what is driving the increasing trade in shark fishing, and working with the British Met Office, they take part in a global experiment to collect vital information about the Indian Ocean.


MON 01:30 Angelic Voices: The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral (b01f6tb8)
Child choristers have been singing at Salisbury for 900 years. This film - an observational portrait, history and musical immersion in one of Britain's most distinctive and beloved cultural traditions - follows Salisbury Cathedral's choristers over Easter and through the summer term of 2011.

Salisbury Cathedral's separate boy and girl choirs each contain 16 of the most musically gifted eight- to 13-year-olds in the country. Their role, now as always, is to sing some of the most sublime music ever written in one of Britain's most beautiful buildings. Indeed there are many who believe the chorister's pure, clear, treble voice is the finest instrument in all music.

The film spends four months with the choristers as they go about their day-to-day lives, discovering their own history and singing some of the most loved music from a sacred canon spanning six centuries from medieval plainsong to the present day. Under the direction of indefatigable choir master David Halls, they rehearse and perform works by Sheppard, Byrd, Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Stanford, Parry, Alcock and Rutter.

Lining up in his black cloak, ten-year-old Alex says he feels like Harry Potter while Freddie, 12, admits, 'Other children think we are weird and actually we are not.' Yet few children perhaps have the poise or conviction of Susanna, 10, who explains, 'Singing for choristers is part of them. If you said to me "You're not allowed to sing anymore", it would be just like me telling you that you can't see your child anymore.' It is doubtful that Salisbury's early choristers, often so hungry they were forced to beg for bread, thought so fondly of their work. But when plainsong turned to polyphony the choristers' plight was transformed - with the top cathedrals in the late middle ages known to pay Premiership-style transfer fees for the most musically gifted boys, some of whom were even kidnapped by rival cathedrals.

Today's top trebles at Salisbury are seen competing for one of the most famed solos in a chorister's repertoire. Will Finnbar, Freddie or Noah be picked for Stanford's Mag in G?


MON 03:00 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08k0srb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 21 MARCH 2017

TUE 19:00 100 Days (b08jq1kl)
Series 1

21/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.


TUE 19:30 Weird Nature (b0078hny)
Peculiar Potions

Series exploring strange animal behaviour looks at how a surprising number of creatures take substances for pleasure or to cure ailments. Discover starlings that use aromatherapy, chimps that administer their own medicine, an odd amphibian that can heal itself, bee bouncers that stop drunk and disorderly bees returning to the hive, monkeys whose liking for happy hour tells us about our own drinking habits, lemurs that ingest mind-altering millipedes, hedgehogs that indulge in strange rituals, cats that get high on plants and reindeer whose fondness for magic mushrooms may have spawned the greatest legend of them all.


TUE 20:00 Horizon (b01mgllj)
2012-2013

How Big Is the Universe?

It is one of the most baffling questions that scientists can ask: how big is the universe that we live in?

Horizon follows the cosmologists who are creating the most ambitious map in history, a map of everything in existence. And it is stranger than anyone had imagined, a universe without end that stretches far beyond what the eye can ever see.

And, if the latest research proves true, our universe may just be the start of something even bigger. Much bigger.


TUE 21:00 Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility (b07hx40t)
Dr Michael Mosley investigates Britain's most secretive and controversial military research base, Porton Down, on its 100th anniversary. He comes face to face with chemical and biological weapons old and new, reveals the truth about shocking animal and human testing, and discovers how the latest science and technology are helping to defend us against terrorist attacks and rogue nations.


TUE 22:00 Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield (b065x080)
Lying on the remote north west coast of England is one of the most secret places in the country - Sellafield, the most controversial nuclear facility in Britain. Now, Sellafield are letting nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili and the television cameras in to discover the real story. Inside, Jim encounters some of the most dangerous substances on earth, reveals the nature of radiation and even attempts to split the atom. He sees inside a nuclear reactor, glimpses one of the rarest elements in the world - radioactive plutonium - and even subjects living tissue to deadly radiation. Ultimately, the film reveals Britain's attempts - past, present and future - to harness the almost limitless power of the atom.


TUE 23:00 Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (b00hd5mf)
David Attenborough is a passionate Darwinian, and sees evolution as the cornerstone of all the programmes and series he has ever made. Here, he shares his personal view on Darwin's controversial idea. Taking us on a journey through the last 200 years, he tracks the changes in our understanding of the natural world. Ever since Darwin, major scientific discoveries have helped to underpin and strengthen Darwin's revolutionary idea so that today, the pieces of the puzzle fit together so neatly that there can be little doubt that Darwin was right. As David says: 'Now we can trace the ancestry of all animals in the tree of life and demonstrate the truth of Darwin's basic proposition. All life is related.'

David asks three key questions: how and why did Darwin come up with his theory of evolution? Why do we think he was right? And why is it more important now than ever before?

David starts his journey in Darwin's home at Down House in Kent, where Darwin worried and puzzled over the origins of life. He goes back to his roots in Leicestershire, where he hunted for fossils as a child and where another schoolboy unearthed a significant find in the 1950s, and he revisits Cambridge University, where both he and Darwin studied and where many years later the DNA double helix was discovered, providing the foundations for genetics.

At the end of his journey in the Natural History Museum in London, David concludes that Darwin's great insight revolutionised the way in which we see the world. We now understand why there are so many different species, and why they are distributed in the way they are. But above all, Darwin has shown us that we are not set apart from the natural world and do not have dominion over it. We are subject to its laws and processes, as are all other animals on earth to which, indeed, we are related.


TUE 00:00 Timeshift (b044yw1d)
Series 14

Mods, Rockers and Bank Holiday Mayhem

A trip back to the days when 'style wars' were just that - violent confrontations about the clothes you wore. Spring 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the bank holiday 'battles of the beaches', when hundreds of mods and rockers flocked to seaside resorts on scooters and motorbikes in search of thrills and spills.

Timeshift tells the story of how this led to violence, arrests and widespread concern about the state of British youth. But mods and rockers had more in common than was first obvious - they were the first generation of baby boomers to reach their teenage years at a time when greater prosperity and wider freedoms were transforming what it meant to be young.


TUE 01:00 Al Murray's Great British War Movies (b04fmfrg)
Comedian and history buff Al Murray is joined by historian Dan Snow, writer Natalie Haynes and broadcaster and film expert Matthew Sweet for a fresh look at a subject very close to his heart - the great British war movie. This roundtable discussion looks at both the films themselves, from A Bridge too Far to Zulu, and uses them as a lens on British history, cultural attitudes and our changing views on conflict over the decades.

With dozens of clips from classic films such as Where Eagles Dare, The Dam Busters, In Which We Serve, Escape to Victory and The Eagle Has Landed, nostalgic memories of Bank Holiday afternoons in front of the telly and lashings of tea, rousing speeches and stiff upper lips, Al and his guests explore why the British are so obsessed with films about war - and what this says about us.


TUE 02:00 Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth (b039vj0v)
Romans

Classicist Dr Michael Scott examines the vital role played by the Romans in the preservation of Greek drama and in the history of theatre. He explores how the Romans absorbed Greek theatre and adapted it to their own, very Roman, ends and looks at how this famous empire provides one of the crucial connections between our modern drama and the great plays of the ancient Greeks.


TUE 03:00 Timeshift (b03fv7sl)
Series 13

Full Throttle: The Glory Days of British Motorbikes

Timeshift returns with an exploration of the British love of fast, daring and sometimes reckless motorbike riding during a period when home-grown machines were the envy of the world. From TE Lawrence in the 1920 to the 'ton-up boys' and rockers of the 1950s, motorbikes represented unparalleled style and excitement, as British riders indulged their passion for brands like Brough Superior, Norton and Triumph.

But it wasn't all thrills and spills - the motorbike played a key role during World War II and it was army surplus bikes that introduced many to the joy and freedom of motorcycling in the 50s, a period now regarded as a golden age. With its obsession with speed and the rocker lifestyle, it attracted more than its fair share of social disapproval and conflict.

Narrated by John Hannah.



WEDNESDAY 22 MARCH 2017

WED 19:00 BBC News Special (b08lqhxm)
Westminster Terror Attack: BBC News 7.00pm-8.00pm

A news special from the BBC.


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 Lost Land of the Volcano (b00mqjx2)
Episode 2

The second part of this exploration series combining stunning wildlife with high energy adventure.

A team of scientists and wildlife film-makers have made base camp on a remote extinct volcano at the heart of the tropical island of New Guinea. Their aim is to search the thick jungle for the weird and endangered animals that hide there. Now they are pushing deeper into the rainforest, and cameraman Gordon Buchanan enlists the help of a tribe to find and film the extraordinary birds of paradise as they perform their bizarre courtship displays.

George McGavin has to manhandle a giant crocodile, and Steve Backshall is living deep underground where he discovers a new cave system never seen by humans.


WED 21:00 Billy Elliot (b007wv29)
Coming-of-age drama about a young boy from a north east mining village who is sent for boxing lessons but joins ballet classes instead, for reasons he cannot explain to himself, let alone ones that his widower father would understand. He is encouraged by his dance teacher, but her ambition for him brings about a family crisis in the Elliot house.


WED 22:45 Digging for Britain (b0851gnz)
Series 5

North

Professor Alice Roberts with the very best in British archaeology 2016 - filmed by the archaeologists themselves, straight from the trenches, so you can see each exciting discovery as it happens. The teams then bring their best finds - from skeletons to treasure - back to the Digging for Britain lab, to examine them with Alice and reveal how they are changing the story of Britain.

This episode is from the north of Britain, where finds include: evidence for the first Roman siege in Britain, including the biggest cache of Roman bullets discovered anywhere; Britain's most famous monastery - Lindisfarne - rediscovered for the first time since it was violently sacked by the Vikings 1,000 years ago; and the incredible discovery of the ancient Scottish man-made islands that entirely rewrite our understanding of Stone Age tech.


WED 23:45 Wild China (b00bybp3)
Tides of Change

Documentary series featuring pioneering images that capture the dazzling array of mysterious and wonderful creatures populating China's most beautiful landscapes.

Ancient tea-growing cultures, traditional seaweed-thatched villages, bird-filled wetlands, rare white dolphins, snake-infested islands and futuristic cities jostle along China's fertile eastern seaboard, which marks the front line in the scramble for resources and space between 700 million people and a surprising wealth of wildlife.


WED 00:45 The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour (b04mgxxx)
Liberty, Diversity, Depravity

In the middle of the 18th century - in England - an entirely surprising thing happened. Out of the Age of Enlightenment and Reason a monster was born - a Gothic obsession with monsters, ghouls, ghosts and things that go bump in the night. From restrained aristocratic beginnings to pornographic excesses, the Gothic revival came to influence popular art, architecture and literature.


WED 01:45 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08k0srb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]


WED 02:45 Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake (p01s4wy9)
Tamara Rojo, world-famous ballerina and artistic director of English National Ballet, takes us backstage as she prepares for one of classical ballet's biggest challenges - the dual lead in Swan Lake. It is the ultimate role for any dancer, requiring her to play the completely contrasting characters - Odette the White Swan and Odile the Black Swan.

With unprecedented access, the disarmingly candid Rojo reveals her insights on the role's physical and psychological challenges. Through demonstration and masterclass, she reveals how to read the choreography of some of Swan Lake's most famous scenes.

Along the way Rojo gives us a glimpse of Swan Lake's history - its genesis through to 21st-century incarnations. She looks back at some of the greats that inspired her and leads the way forward, coaching the next generation of rising stars.

This film celebrates Swan Lake as an evolving and living work of art - the ultimate classic.



THURSDAY 23 MARCH 2017

THU 19:00 100 Days (b08jq1nl)
Series 1

23/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London report on the events that are shaping our world.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08k50f2)
John Peel and David Jensen present the pop chart show, first broadcast on 8 June 1983. Studio guests include Twisted Sister, The Imposter, Shakatak, Big Country and The Police.


THU 20:00 Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? (b00l7qdh)
Episode 1

King Henry VIII had a fascinating and enlightening relationship with art. He came to the throne as the Renaissance swept across Europe, yet England's new king never lost sight of the medieval chivalry of his forefathers. In the first of a two-part documentary, architectural historian Jonathan Foyle looks at the palaces, tapestries, music and paintings created in Henry's name and questions whether the art he commissioned compensates for the religious treasures he would come to destroy.


THU 21:00 The Golden Age of Steam Railways (b01p8w38)
Small Is Beautiful

Two-part documentary telling the remarkable story of a band of visionaries who rescued some of the little narrow gauge railways that once served Britain's industries. These small railways and the steam engines that ran on them were once the driving force of Britain's mines, quarries, factories and docks. Then, as they disappeared after 1945, volunteers set to work to bring the lines and the steam engines back to life and started a movement which spread throughout the world. Their home movies tell the story of how they helped millions reconnect with a past they thought had gone forever.


THU 22:00 Timeshift (b06csy8c)
Series 15

The Engine that Powers the World

The surprising story of the hidden powerhouse behind the globalised world, the diesel engine, a 19th-century invention that has become indispensable to the 21st century. It's a tortoise-versus-hare tale in which the diesel engine races the petrol engine in a competition to replace ageing steam technology, a race eventually won hands down by diesel.

Splendidly, car enthusiast presenter Mark Evans gets excitedly hands-on with some of the many applications of Mr Diesel's - yes, there was one - original creation, from vintage submarines and tractors to locomotive trains and container ships. You'll never feel the same about that humble old diesel family car again.


THU 23:00 Tales from the Royal Bedchamber (b0386lxs)
Lucy Worsley gets into bed with our past monarchs to uncover the tales from the royal bedchamber. She reveals that our obsession with royal bedrooms, births and succession is nothing new. In fact, the rise and fall of their magnificent beds reflects the changing fortunes of the monarchy itself.


THU 00:00 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06qskdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b08k50f2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:40 Country at the BBC (b08qgkzv)
Grab your partner by the hand - the BBC have raided their archive and brought to light glittering performances by country artists over the last four decades.

Star appearances include Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and, of course, Dolly Parton. All the greats have performed for the BBC at some point - on entertainment shows, in concert and at the BBC studios. Some of the rhinestones revealed are Charley Pride's Crystal Chandeliers from The Lulu Show, Emmylou Harris singing Together Again on The Old Grey Whistle Test and Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy from The Val Doonican Music Show.

We're brought up to date with modern country hits from Top of the Pops and Later...with Jools Holland.


THU 02:40 Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? (b00l7qdh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 24 MARCH 2017

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b08jq1q4)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08k52y1)
Simon Bates and Peter Powell introduce the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 23 June 1983. Featuring Freeez, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Shakatak, Mike Oldfield, H20 and The Police.


FRI 20:00 BBC Young Dancer (p03wt4zn)
2017

Street Dance Final

BBC Young Dancer returns for a second series showcasing the UK's very best young dance talent. Presented by Anita Rani, the competition is for dancers aged 16 - 21 across four categories - Ballet, Contemporary, Street Dance and South Asian Dance. The series follows 20 dancers on their journey through the competition, each of them hoping to follow in the footsteps of Contemporary Dancer Connor Scott, the first ever winner of BBC Young Dancer back in 2015.

The series begins with the poppers and lockers of Street Dance as five hopefuls compete for the category title at The Lowry in Salford. Judging them are a panel of leading dance experts - Shobana Jeyasingh, critically acclaimed choreographer and founder of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance
company; Tony Adigun, founder and artistic director of Avant Garde Dance Company; and Clara Bajado a dancer, choreographer and lecturer, specialising in house dance and hip hop.

For one of the dancers a place in the Grand Final awaits with the opportunity to dance on the main stage at Sadler's Wells.

Street dance finalists are: Harry Barnes, Tom Hughes Lloyd, Jodelle Douglas, Kate Morris and Darren Hamilton.


FRI 21:00 Chuck Berry in Concert (b0074rbc)
Legendary rock 'n' roller Chuck Berry performs at the BBC Television Theatre in 1972. Johnny B Goode, Roll Over Beethoven and Nadine are just some of the highlights of this concert, shown in an extended cut. This version includes, for the first time, an epic rendition of My Ding-a-Ling that carries all before it and raises innuendo to an art form.


FRI 22:00 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0615nmw)
Sweet Little Sixteen

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

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

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

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


FRI 23:00 Rock 'n' Roll America (b061fdr7)
Whole Lotta Shakin'

As rock 'n' roll took off with teens in 1955 it quickly increased record sales by 300 per cent in America. Big business and the burgeoning world of TV moved in. Elvis made a big-money move to major label RCA instigated by Colonel Tom Parker, an illegal immigrant from Holland who had made his name at country fairs with a set of dancing chickens. Elvis made his national TV debut with Heartbreak Hotel and followed it with a gyrating version of Hound Dog that shocked America. PTAs, church groups and local councils were outraged. Rock 'n' roll was banned by the mayor of Jersey City and removed from jukeboxes in Alabama. Now Ed Sullivan would only shoot Elvis from the waist up.

The conservative media needed a cleaned-up version and the young, married-with-kids Christian singer Pat Boone shot up the chart, rivalling Elvis for sales. Not that this stopped rock 'n' roll. Jerry Lee Lewis again scandalised the nation with his gyrating finger in Whole Lotta Shakin' and the Everlys shocked with Wake Up Little Susie, both 45s being banned in parts of America.

It took bespectacled geek Buddy Holly to calm things down as a suburban down-home boy who, with his school friends The Crickets, turned plain looks into chart success. But by the end of 1958 the music was in real trouble. Elvis was conscripted into the army, Jerry Lee was thrown out of Britain and into obscurity for marrying his 13-year-old cousin and Little Richard went into the church.

Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Don Everly, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, Pat Boone, DJ Fontana, Eric Burdon, James Burton, Jerry Allison (The Crickets' drummer), Mike Stoller, PF Sloan, Joe Boyd, Jerry Phillips, Marshall Chess and JM Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis's drummer).


FRI 00:00 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0623809)
Be My Baby

In the years bookended by Buddy Holly's death in early 1959 and The Beatles landing at JFK in spring 1964, rock 'n' roll calmed down, went uptown and got spun into teen pop in a number of America's biggest cities. Philadelphia produced 'teen idols' like Fabian who were beamed around the country by the daily TV show Bandstand. Young Jewish songwriters in New York's Brill Building drove girl groups on the east coast who gave a female voice to teenage romance. Rock 'n' roll even fuelled the Motown sound in Detroit and soundtracked the sunshiny west coast dream from guitar instrumental groups like The Ventures to LA's emerging Beach Boys.

In the early 60s, rock 'n' roll was birthing increasingly polished pop sounds across the States, but American teens seemed to have settled back into sensible young adulthood. Enter the long-haired boys from Liverpool, Newcastle and London.

Featuring exclusive interviews with Jerry Lee Lewis, Ben E King, Chubby Checker, Ronnie Spector, Barrett Strong, Eric Burdon and Pat Boone.


FRI 01:00 Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night (b00g6349)
First broadcast in 1988 and filmed in black and white (hence the title!), this TV concert classic features Roy Orbison performing his classic songs with friends like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, kd lang, Jennifer Warnes and Bonnie Raitt.

The TCB Band which backs all featured artists was Elvis Presley's band till his death in 1977 and includes James Burton, Glen D Hardin, Jerry Scheff and Ronnie Tutt with musical drector T Bone Burnett.

Filmed at the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles, the show was first broadcast on HBO in 1988, the year of Roy Orbison's death.


FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (b08k52y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:40 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).




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

... Sings Bacharach and David! 02:45 SAT (b01gxl5w)

100 Days 19:00 MON (b08jq1jq)

100 Days 19:00 TUE (b08jq1kl)

100 Days 19:00 THU (b08jq1nl)

Al Murray's Great British War Movies 01:00 TUE (b04fmfrg)

Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth 02:00 TUE (b039vj0v)

Angelic Voices: The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral 01:30 MON (b01f6tb8)

BBC News Special 19:00 WED (b08lqhxm)

BBC Young Dancer 20:00 FRI (p03wt4zn)

Billy Elliot 21:00 WED (b007wv29)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 21:00 MON (b08k0srb)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 03:00 MON (b08k0srb)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 01:45 WED (b08k0srb)

Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield 22:00 TUE (b065x080)

Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues 19:00 SAT (b06qskdx)

Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues 00:00 THU (b06qskdx)

Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life 23:00 TUE (b00hd5mf)

Chuck Berry in Concert 21:00 FRI (b0074rbc)

Classic Quartets at the BBC 20:00 SUN (b08jq8ll)

Classic Quartets at the BBC 02:40 SUN (b08jq8ll)

Country at the BBC 01:40 THU (b08qgkzv)

Digging for Britain 22:45 WED (b0851gnz)

Follow the Money 21:00 SAT (b08ds1t1)

Follow the Money 22:00 SAT (b08fjbwz)

Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake 02:45 WED (p01s4wy9)

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

Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? 20:00 THU (b00l7qdh)

Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? 02:40 THU (b00l7qdh)

Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision 21:00 SUN (b08k9b8y)

Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision 22:40 SUN (b08kbrdk)

Horizon 20:00 TUE (b01mgllj)

How to Get Ahead 01:40 SUN (b03xsgwk)

Immortal? A Horizon Guide to Ageing 23:30 MON (b01kxxys)

Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility 21:00 TUE (b07hx40t)

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Rock 'n' Roll at the BBC 02:40 FRI (b063m6wy)

Kings of 70s Romance 01:45 SAT (b007cjtw)

Lost Land of the Volcano 20:00 WED (b00mqjx2)

Neil Sedaka Says: All You Need Is the Music 01:00 SAT (b00pwstt)

Neil Sedaka: King of Song 00:00 SAT (b03v2yxt)

Oceans 00:30 MON (b00fzb9c)

Reel History of Britain 19:30 MON (p00jwrnj)

Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century 19:00 SUN (b07f2blk)

Rock 'n' Roll America 22:00 FRI (b0615nmw)

Rock 'n' Roll America 23:00 FRI (b061fdr7)

Rock 'n' Roll America 00:00 FRI (b0623809)

Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night 01:00 FRI (b00g6349)

She-Wolves: England's Early Queens 20:00 SAT (b01dpqtx)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b08d7qls)

Tales from the Royal Bedchamber 23:00 THU (b0386lxs)

The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour 00:45 WED (b04mgxxx)

The Big Painting Challenge 20:00 MON (b08k0sr6)

The Century That Wrote Itself 00:40 SUN (b01rvzts)

The Golden Age of Steam Railways 21:00 THU (b01p8w38)

Timeshift 00:00 TUE (b044yw1d)

Timeshift 03:00 TUE (b03fv7sl)

Timeshift 22:00 THU (b06csy8c)

Top of the Pops 23:00 SAT (b08hzrdx)

Top of the Pops 23:35 SAT (b08hzs4m)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b08k50f2)

Top of the Pops 01:00 THU (b08k50f2)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (b08k52y1)

Top of the Pops 02:00 FRI (b08k52y1)

Weird Nature 19:30 TUE (b0078hny)

Wild China 23:45 WED (b00bybp3)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b08jq1q4)