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 25 MARCH 2017

SAT 19:00 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06rfl46)
Rogues Gallery

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 anti-hero 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.

In the final episode, Sam looks at urban crime, fraud and corruption in the 18th century, uncovering a fascinating rogues’ gallery of charmers, fraudsters and villains. Charmers like thief and serial escaper Jack Sheppard, so notorious that almost a quarter of a million people turned up to witness his hanging. Almost as controversial in her lifetime was Mary Toft, a fraudster who managed to convince no less than King George I and his surgeon that she had given birth to rabbits, making her, perhaps, the original 'con' artist.


SAT 20:00 Timewatch (b00fg9hw)
2008-2009

The Last Day of World War One

Michael Palin tells the story of how the First World War ended on 11th November 1918 and reveals the shocking truth that soldiers continued to be killed in battle for many hours after the armistice had been signed. Recounting the events of the days and hours leading up to that last morning, Palin tells the personal stories of the last soldiers to die as the minutes and seconds ticked away to the 11 o'clock ceasefire.


SAT 21:00 Follow the Money (b08g8953)
Series 2

Episode 7

After his failed assignment, Nicky has fallen out of favour with the Swede and is tipped over the edge when he can't get answers from him. At the Fraud Squad, Mads is more impatient than ever to get evidence against Christensen. Against his boss's advice, he heads over to Absalon Bank and sees something that will be important for the investigation - Claudia.

In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:00 Follow the Money (b08h49ly)
Series 2

Episode 8

Claudia is feeding the police information about Christensen, but fails to give them any concrete evidence. Mads and Alf press her to lure him into a trap. Their co-operation brings up the Energreen scandal again, and Claudia tells them what she knows about Sanders' escape route, information which puts them on the trail of the Swede. Meanwhile, the Swede meant what he said to Nicky who now reports directly to Christensen, while the Swede himself prepares his exit from the dirty games.

In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 23:00 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.


SAT 23:40 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.


SAT 00:15 Blondie: One Way or Another (b0074thn)
The story of New York's finest - the most successful and enduring band fronted by a woman - Debbie Harry and Blondie. From their Bowery beginnings at CBGB's in 1974 to their controversial induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in New York. The band crossed pop with punk, reggae and rap and had no 1s in all styles. With exclusive backstage and performance footage from their UK tour plus in-depth interviews with current and ex-band members and friends Iggy Pop, Shirley Manson, Tommy Ramone, and Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads.


SAT 02:30 Blondie's New York... and the Making of Parallel Lines (b04fmgkb)
Blondie's album Parallel Lines captured the spirit of 1970s New York at a time of poverty, crime and an exploding artistic life, selling 16 million copies. This is the story of that album, that time and that city, told primarily by the seven individuals who wrote, produced and performed it. It was a calculated and painstaking endeavour to produce sure-fire hits - whatever it took.

The film follows Debbie Harry and the rest of the Blondie crew as they head into the studio to record their game-changing album with producer Mike Chapman. It also features commentary from Harry herself about writing music, the media's focus on her appearance and lyrically inspirational ex-boyfriends.

In 1978 the New York band Blondie had two punk albums behind them and were establishing a name for themselves at the club CBGBs on New York's Lower East Side. Then Chrysalis Records exec Terry Ellis saw them and spent a massive $1m buying out their recording contract. He had to ensure that their next album was a hit - there was no room for error. To do this he brought in maverick Australian record producer Mike Chapman, who already had a string of hits under his belt. Mike's job was to turn this crew of New York punks into world stars - but did they have the popular songs which would appeal to a wider non-punk audience?

At a time when rich creativity, grinding poverty and drug abuse were hand in hand on the sidewalks of the Lower East Side, the music and lyrics of Parallel Lines celebrated and captured this vibrant and edgy chemistry, shooting the band to international stardom.


SAT 03:20 Big in America: British Hits in the USA (b01bywsr)
Compilation of British rock 'n' roll acts in performance with tracks that crossed over to the US charts. From The Dave Clark Five to Coldplay, the Brits have rocked America and sometimes even done better across the pond than here - take a bow A Flock of Seagulls, Supertramp and Bush - who are also included here alongside darker British global exports like Black Sabbath and The Cure.


SAT 04:20 Sounds of the Eighties (b0074sll)
Episode 4

Another in the series of 1980s pop archive shows highlights those bands that swayed on the spot, compulsory for the synthesiser bands that dominated the decade. Doing the standing still are Depeche Mode (featuring Vince Clarke), The Human League, Yazoo (featuring Vince Clarke), Soft Cell, New Order, Bronski Beat, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure (featuring Vince Clarke).



SUNDAY 26 MARCH 2017

SUN 19:00 Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century (b07g9q4w)
Party Like It's 1899

Music was both transformed and transformative in the 19th century. It burst out of court, church and tavern into the world and became a universal soundscape, transcending language and borders. This revolution was made possible by economic and social change, and by a technological revolution.

The 19th century witnessed advances in communication that made the world a smaller place. People could travel by train and steamship with ease across the globe. At the close of the century hundreds of thousands came to the great Paris Exposition of 1889 - the centenary of the French Revolution - to witness the latest inventions and marvel at the strange cultures that came to make music in the temporary halls and theatres on the Champ de Mars.

They heard the music of the Orient, they listened to recording devices, they saw the future. Composers such as Claude Debussy were profoundly influenced by the sounds of the east, in particular the Balinese gamelan. With its non-European harmony and rhythm, such music offered western composers new musical horizons and a way to innovate and escape from the high romanticism of Richard Wagner.

But it was not only the music of the east that inspired the new composers. Developments in manufacturing were changing instruments and creating new ones - exemplified by the saxophone. Suzy witnesses a 'battle of the bands' in which the new and versatile instrument demonstrates its capabilities and - for the luddites - its threatening versatility. And in the spirit of the new age she makes her first recording on a vintage phonograph, one of the earliest recording machines. To our ears they may lack quality, but they were mind-blowing to those who first heard them - and they presaged a new future of recorded music that is still with us today.


SUN 20:00 Stunning Soloists at the BBC (b08kgqy0)
Solo show-stoppers from the world's greatest musicians in a journey through fifty years of BBC Music. From guitarist John Williams and cellist Jacqueline du Pre to trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and violinist Nigel Kennedy, this is a treasure trove of musical treats and dazzling virtuosity.

Whether it's James Galway's Flight of the Bumblebee performed at superhuman speed, Ravi Shankar's mesmerising Raag Bihag or Dudley Moore's brilliant Colonel Bogey March, every performance has its own star quality and unique appeal. Parkinson, Later with Jools Holland, The Les Dawson Show, Music at Night and Wogan are among the programmes featuring instruments ranging from marimba and kora to harp and flamenco guitar.

Sit back and enjoy.


SUN 21:00 6 Music Festival (b08kvtrw)
2017

Highlights

Highlights from the first two nights of BBC Radio 6 Music held in Glasgow this year. Tonight's show includes key music moments from the 02 Academy and the iconic Barrowlands and includes performances from Goldfrapp, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sparks, The Shins, Grandaddy, Loyle Carner and Bonobo.


SUN 22:30 The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse (b00x9b7w)
The extraordinary story of comedian Bob Monkhouse's life and career, told through the vast private archive of films, TV shows, letters and memorabilia that he left behind.


SUN 00:00 Timewatch (b00fg9hw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


SUN 01:00 Tank Men (b07tbzgx)
To mark the 100th anniversary of the first time tanks were used in battle, Rob Bell tells the story of the First World War tank men.


SUN 01:30 The Century That Wrote Itself (b01rxpdn)
The Rewritten Universe

Adam Nicolson explores the 17th century's contradictory attitudes towards the nature of reality. While a puritan struggled to accept God's will, an early naturalist accepted nothing without testing it first. How did God work? How did the world work? What was our place within it? These questions overflow from the era's diaries and notebooks, famous and unknown alike. Curiouser and curiouser, spreading literacy allowed explosive ideas not just to be recorded but shared, as Adam reveals the texts that rewrote our world.


SUN 02:30 How to Get Ahead (b03yfwk1)
At Renaissance Court

Writer, broadcaster and Newsnight arts correspondent Stephen Smith explores Renaissance Florence under the reign of Grand Duke Cosimo Medici. Cosimo's fledgling court prized the finer things in life and some of the greatest painters, sculptors and craftsmen in world history came to serve the Grand Duke. But successful courtiers had to have brains as well as brawn. The canniest of them looked to theorists like Niccolo Machiavelli for underhand ways to get ahead, whilst enlightened polymaths turned their minds to the heavens, and to ice cream.



MONDAY 27 MARCH 2017

MON 19:00 100 Days (b08kgjdw)
Series 1

27/03/2017

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 Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney (b05n8tlg)
Episode 2

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 episode, Martha travels north, taking in the extraordinary beauty of Dunluce Castle, and onwards to Mussenden Temple - only a romantic would expect to find a house here and only a lunatic would build it. She marvels at how Belfast was shaped by the Victorians, and visits Kearney Point on the Ards Peninsula to find out what's in a name. And she journeys south to Dunmoe, overlooking the site of the Battle of the Boyne.


MON 20:00 Racing Legends (b04zr46v)
Series 2

John Surtees

Paul Hollywood meets one of his heroes, John Surtees - the only man to win world championships with both bike and car. To get an insight into the life and times of one of Britain's greatest living sportsmen, Hollywood takes to the track and the Isle of Man TT circuit to recreate some of Surtees's finest races. He learns how Surtees went from humble beginnings to working for the aristocrats of Italian racing, Ferrari and Agusta. Surtees looks back on a life filled with danger, glamour and intrigue - one that has seen both triumph and devastating personal tragedy.

With contributions from Surtees's wife and daughters as well as rivals and commentators, the programme gives an intimate and enthralling portrait of a complex man who survived and succeeded in an era when death and injury were an ever-present danger in racing.


MON 21:00 Crash and Burn (b08jqfqx)
For a fleeting moment in the early 80s, Tommy Byrne was the world's greatest driver, the motor racing equivalent of George Best and Muhammad Ali all rolled into one. His rise was meteoric and his fall spectacular.


MON 22:00 Storyville (b08kgtbv)
Last Days of Solitary

In 2011, Maine State Prison launched a pioneering reform programme to scale back its use of solitary confinement. Bafta and Emmy-winning film-maker Dan Edge and his co-director Lauren Mucciolo were given unprecedented access to the solitary unit - and filmed there for more than three years. The result is an extraordinary and harrowing portrait of life in solitary - and a unique document of a radical and risky experiment to reform a prison.

The US is the world leader in solitary confinement. More than 80,000 American prisoners live in isolation, some have been there for years, even decades. Solitary is proven to cause mental illness, it is expensive, and it is condemned by many as torture. And yet for decades, it has been one of the central planks of the American criminal justice system.


MON 23:20 Oceans (b00fzbf7)
Indian Ocean - Coastal

The team explores the coastal waters of the Indian Ocean to discover what happens when the powerful Indian Ocean collides with the edge of a continent. Expedition leader Paul Rose, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto search for one of the ocean's most mysterious creatures, the seahorse, to see how the population is fairing amid increasing demand from the eastern medicine market.

They dive in search of the sunken remains of a medieval village, dragged into the sea by a cyclone, and the team works with scientists on a pioneering experiment to see how these coastal waters could help to predict natural disasters.

Finally, they take part in a global experiment to help protect the largest fish in the sea - the whale shark.


MON 00:20 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.


MON 01:20 Horizon (b03wcchn)
2013-2014

The Power of the Placebo

They are the miracle pills that shouldn't really work at all. Placebos come in all shapes and sizes, but they contain no active ingredient. Now they are being shown to help treat pain, depression and even alleviate some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Horizon explores why they work, and how we could all benefit from the hidden power of the placebo.


MON 02:20 Storyville (b08kgtbv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



TUESDAY 28 MARCH 2017

TUE 19:00 100 Days (b08kgjf1)
Series 1

28/03/2017

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


TUE 19:30 Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney (b05nyhq4)
Episode 3

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 episode, Martha examines places of power in Ireland as seen through Du Noyer's eyes. She traces the movement of power from Newgrange, through the Rock of Cashel, sees the magnificent Waterford Charter Roll, and ends up at the sumptuous Castletown House.


TUE 20:00 1066: A Year to Conquer England (b08h7zsb)
Series 1

Episode 1

In this three-part drama documentary series, Dan Snow explores the political intrigues and family betrayals between Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans that led to war and the Battle of Hastings.

When King Edward the Confessor dies without an heir, it triggers a bitter race to succeed him as King of England. Earl Harold is on the spot and takes the crown. But in Normandy, Duke William believes the throne has been promised to him and decides to invade. Meanwhile, in Norway, the Viking king Harald Hardrada also fancies himself as King of England, and he too puts together an invasion force. Very soon, England will be under attack.


TUE 21:00 Gravity and Me: The Force That Shapes Our Lives (b08kgv7f)
Physics professor Jim Al-Khalili investigates the amazing science of gravity. A fundamental force of nature, gravity shapes our entire universe, sculpting galaxies and warping space and time. But gravity's strange powers, discovered by Albert Einstein, also affect our daily lives in the most unexpected ways. As Jim tells the story of gravity, it challenges his own understanding of the nature of reality.

The science of gravity includes the greatest advances in physics, and Jim recreates groundbreaking experiments in gravity including when the Italian genius Galileo first worked out how to measure it.

Gravity science is still full of surprises and Jim investigates the latest breakthrough - 'gravity waves' - ripples in the vast emptiness of space. He also finds out from astronauts what it's like to live without gravity.

But gravity also directly affects all of us very personally - making a difference to our weight, height, posture and even the rate at which we age. With the help of volunteers and scientists, Jim sets out to find where in Britain gravity is weakest and so where we weigh the least. He also helps design a smartphone app that volunteers use to demonstrate how gravity affects time and makes us age at slightly different rates.

And finally, Jim discovers that despite incredible progress, gravity has many secrets.


TUE 22:30 Television's Opening Night: How the Box Was Born (b0817s4g)
In a unique experiment, Dallas Campbell, Professor Danielle George and Dr Hugh Hunt join forces in an attempt to restage the very first official broadcast on British television, exactly 80 years after it made history.

The very first official broadcast came from Alexandra Palace on 2 November 1936 - but there are no surviving recordings. To find out just what went on, this 21st-century team attempts to piece back together and recreate every aspect of the show from scratch - from the variety acts to the cameras - using the original technology and filming techniques to capture the excitement of the day.

It's not going to be easy. At the dawn of TV, two rival camera technologies competed live on air to take control of the fledgling industry. The system that went first on opening night was a seven-foot tall mechanical monster built by John Logie Baird's company. It was called the 'Flying Spot' and at its heart was a huge steel disc spinning almost at the speed of sound - meaning mechanical engineer Hugh had better be careful as he attempts to resurrect it. Meanwhile, Danielle finds out how the rival and highly experimental, all-electronic camera system had problems of its own.

The team uncovers the mixed influences of high-minded radio and bawdy variety shows on early TV, at a time when it was still a science experiment and not a mass medium. They seek advice from pre-war television pioneers, including Logie Baird's former assistant, now aged 104 but still full of handy tips about how to build a mechanical camera.

Dallas learns just how much harder his job would have been 80 years ago, when the very first television announcer Leslie Mitchell was plastered in bizarre make-up and given a cue for 'action' that bordered on physical assault! Dallas also meets one of the performers in front of the camera on the original night - now in her nineties - to find out what it was like to be part of television history.

As they prepare for broadcast, the team discovers a story of cogs and gears, electron beams and dancing girls - and one mad night that, for better or worse, helped invent television as we know it.


TUE 00:00 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?


TUE 01:00 POP! The Science of Bubbles (b01rtdy6)
Physicist Dr Helen Czerski takes us on an amazing journey into the science of bubbles. Bubbles may seem to be just fun toys, but they are also powerful tools that push back the boundaries of science.

The soap bubble with its delicate, fragile skin tells us about how nature works on scales as large as solar system and as small as a single wavelength of light. Then there are underwater bubbles, which matter because they are part of the how the planet works. Out at sea, breaking waves generate huge plumes of bubbles which help the oceans breathe.

From the way animals behave to the way drinks taste, Dr Czerski shows how bubbles affect our world in all sorts of unexpected ways. Whether it's the future of ship design or innovative new forms of medical treatment, bubbles play a vital role.


TUE 02:00 Gravity and Me: The Force That Shapes Our Lives (b08kgv7f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 29 MARCH 2017

WED 19:00 100 Days (b08kgjf6)
Series 1

29/03/2017

As President Trump takes office, Christian Fraser in Westminster and Michelle Fleury in Washington report on the events that are shaping our world.


WED 19:30 Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney (b05q19lj)
Episode 4

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 her final journey, Martha hits the spiritual trail, starting with the Blasket Islands off the coast of Kerry. In the Dingle Peninsula, Du Noyer discovered clochans - stone beehive huts. Martha heads north on a spiritual trail, taking in the islands of the Fermanagh Lakelands - White Island, Boa Island and the renowned Station Island.


WED 20:00 How Quizzing Got Cool: TV's Brains of Britain (b084fs6s)
We all love a good quiz. So here's a question - when did ordinary contestants turn into the pro-quizzers of today? Giving the answers are Victoria Coren Mitchell, Judith Keppel, Chris Tarrant, Mark Labbett, Nicholas Parsons and many more. Narrated by Ben Miller.


WED 21:00 London: A Tale of Two Cities with Dan Cruickshank (p00r36lv)
Dan Cruickshank follows in the footsteps of John Stow and John Strype, two of London's greatest chroniclers, to explore one of the most dramatic centuries in the history of London.

The 17th century saw London plunged into a series of devastating disasters. The Civil War, a murderous plague and the destruction that was the great fire should have seen the small medieval city all but destroyed. Yet somehow, London not only survived but emerged as one of the wealthiest and most influential cities in Europe.

Using two remarkable surveys written at either end of this momentous century, Dan discovers how a unique combination of innovation, ambition and sheer spirit of enterprise saw Londoners thrive. His journey reveals the twists and turns of a century that laid the foundations of one of the most important cities on the planet.


WED 22:00 Brian Pern (b08kz93t)
A Tribute

Following the recent death of musician Brian Pern and in a change to the scheduled programme, award-winning film-maker Rhys Thomas OBE presents an exclusive, cobbled-together tribute to the star with whoever he could get hold of at short notice. Including friends, lovers, fans and his dentist.


WED 22:40 Brian Pern (b08l35nb)
At the BBC

As further tribute to Brian Pern who died last month, Brian Pern Night continues with Brian Pern at the BBC, featuring some of the musician's greatest Top of the Pops performances with some poorly written captions underneath.


WED 23:00 Digging for Britain (b0864zvq)
Series 5

East

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 looks at the east of Britain.

Finds include: new revelations from 'Britain's Pompeii' - the 3,000-year-old perfectly preserved village in Cambridgeshire - including how our Bronze Age ancestors designed their homes, and their kitchens packed with food and equipment; the theatre where Shakespeare premiered Romeo and Juliet and Henry V, complete with sound effect props and evidence that Shakespeare's original audience was much rowdier than you might expect; evidence that we may have finally found the location of the Battle of Barnet, the famous Wars of the Roses site where Edward IV defeated Warwick the Kingmaker in a bloody battle that would eventually bring the Tudor dynasty to England's throne.


WED 00:00 Who Were the Greeks? (b036b0yl)
Episode 1

Classicist Dr Michael Scott uncovers the strange, alien world of the ancient Greeks, exploring the lives of the people who gave us democracy, architecture, philosophy, language, literature and sport.

Travelling across Greece today, Michael visits ancient cities and battlefields, great ruins and wild countryside, all in his search to uncover how the ancient Greeks thought and lived. What he finds is that ancient Greece was a seething tornado of strange, unsettling and downright outrageous customs and beliefs, inhabited by a people who could be as brutal as they were brilliant.


WED 01:00 1066: A Year to Conquer England (b08h7zsb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 02:00 The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour (b04n1mrb)
The City and the Soul

As the Industrial Revolution promised more and more inexplicable wonders of the modern world, Gothic art and literature became both backward and forward looking. In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warned of the dangers of how science could get out of control, while Sir Giles Gilbert Scott used Gothic architecture to memorialise Prince Albert as a medieval hero. Meanwhile, poets indulged in hallucinatory drugs to reach new Gothic heights. Where would it all end?


WED 03:00 Crash and Burn (b08jqfqx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Monday]



THURSDAY 30 MARCH 2017

THU 19:00 100 Days (b08kgjfh)
Series 1

30/03/2017

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


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08kvpvx)
Richard Skinner and Tommy Vance present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 30 June 1983. Featuring Shalamar, Nick Heyward, Irene Cara, Paul Young, Tom Robinson, Bucks Fizz and Rod Stewart.


THU 20:00 Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? (b00lc71z)
Episode 2

In the 1530s, King Henry VIII was at a crossroads. In his desperation for a new wife and an heir he had broken with Rome, divorced Catherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. Isolated and vulnerable, he needed a powerful new image as head of church and state.

In the second of a two-part documentary, architectural historian Jonathan Foyle looks for clues in the king's art to glimpse what was going on inside his head as he faced his darkest days.


THU 21:00 The Golden Age of Steam Railways (b01pdsy6)
Branching Out

For more than 100 years steam trains ran Britain, but when steam started to disappear in the 1950s bands of volunteers got together to save some of the tracks and the steam engines that ran on them. Some of these enthusiasts filmed their exploits and the home movies they shot tell the story of how they did it, and how they helped people to reconnect to a world of steam most thought had been lost forever.


THU 22:00 Flying Scotsman: Sounds from the Footplate (b087k5rf)
Another chance to enjoy the view from the driving seat of the world's most famous steam locomotive as Flying Scotsman travels the length of the Severn Valley Railway.

Special 'cab cameras' and microphones capture all the action from the footplate - this time without commentary. Viewers can appreciate the evocative sound of steam transportation as this magnificent engine attracts crowds from far and wide.

Veteran driver Roger Norfolk and fireman Ryan Green guide Scotsman on the leisurely journey through the countryside of the English midlands, from Bridgnorth in Shropshire to Kidderminster in Worcestershire. Hundreds of enthusiasts also watch and wave from platforms, bridges and surrounding fields.


THU 23:00 Natural World (b00wwbm4)
2010-2011

Butterflies: A Very British Obsession

Wildlife documentary featuring the fascinating lives of Britain's beautiful butterflies filmed in exquisite detail, and also a celebration of their enduring appeal to the British people. Butterfly-costumed carnival-goers dance at Notting Hill, street artist Nick Walker uses their image to brighten bare city walls, burlesque dancer Vicky Butterfly recreates butterfly dances, and women reveal their butterfly tattoos at Britain's biggest tattoo convention.

Britain's butterflies have never been so threatened, three-quarters are in decline - but do they still have a message for us? A search for butterflies leads to some of the most beautiful parts of Britain. It opens up the intriguing possibility that a passion for butterflies could help us preserve the landscapes that we love.


THU 00:00 Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (b06rfl46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (b08kvpvx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:35 Storyville (b01nyz3p)
From the Sea to the Land Beyond: Britain's Coast on Film

Made from over 100 years of BFI archive footage, From the Sea to the Land Beyond offers a poetic meditation on Britain's unique coastline and the role it plays in our lives. With a soundtrack specially created by Brighton-based band British Sea Power, award-winning director Penny Woolcock's film offers moving testimony to our relationship to the coast - during wartime, on our holidays and as a hive of activity during the industrial age.


THU 02:50 Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? (b00lc71z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b08kgjfn)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b08kvpwj)
John Peel and David Jensen present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 7 July 1983. Featuring Roman Holliday, Freeez, The Cure, Funk Masters and Jimmy the Hoover.


FRI 20:00 BBC Young Dancer (b08kgywv)
2017

Ballet Final

The series continues with the ballet final as five more hopefuls compete for the category title at The Lowry in Salford. Presented by Anita Rani, the competition is open to dancers aged 16-21 across four categories - ballet, contemporary, street dance and South Asian dance.

Judging the final is a panel of leading dance experts - Deborah Bull, former principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, Matz Skoog, former artistic director of English National Ballet, and Shobana Jeyasingh, critically acclaimed choreographer and founder of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance company.

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.

The finalists are: Ryan Felix, Jade Wallace, Rhys Antoni Yeomans, Uyu Hiromoto and Oscar Ward.


FRI 21:00 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.


FRI 22:30 Top of the Pops (b018zv8d)
1977 - Big Hits

The celebration of Top of the Pops 1977 continues with a selection of outstanding complete archive performances from Britain's silver jubilee year. 1977 was dominated by funk and punk, with Heatwave's Boogie Nights and The Stranglers' No More Heroes in the top ten. Classic top of the charts hits included Baccara's Yes Sir, I Can Boogie and Angelo by Brotherhood of Man. Some of the enduring heroes to take to the stage that year were David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Queen and Elvis Costello, with rare studio performances from The Jacksons and Bob Marley & The Wailers.


FRI 23:30 Top of the Pops (b01pkjy6)
The Story of 1978

In 1978, Top of the Pops began to turn the credibility corner. As the only major pop show on television, Top of the Pops had enjoyed a unique position in the nation's hearts since the 1960s - the nation's teenagers who were now fed up with the show's predominantly light entertainment blend still tuned in every week in the hope of seeing one of the new young outfits thrown up by punk, new wave and disco. In 1978 it seemed the kids' time had come again for the first time since glam rock. Yet the biggest-selling singles of 1978 were by the likes of Boney M, John Travolta & Olivia Newton John, Rod Stewart, The Bee Gees and Abba.

Punk never quite fitted in with the mainstream - it had been treated with disdain by Top of the Pops and largely ignored by the show. Britain's teenagers had to endure the all-round family entertainment on offer when all they wanted was teenage kicks. Along came a generation of young post-punk and new wave bands armed with guitar and bass, ready to storm the Top of the Pops stage - from The Undertones, The Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Skids and Ian Dury and the Blockheads to The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, The Jam and Squeeze - some weeks teenagers would get to see one of their bands, very rarely they got two, but there they were on primetime TV.

With contributions from The Boomtown Rats, Squeeze, Boney M, Sham 69, Brian & Michael, The Barron Knights, Mike Read, Kid Jensen, Kathryn Flett, Richard Jobson, Ian Gittins and Legs & Co.


FRI 00:20 Top of the Pops (b01pmbdy)
1978 - Big Hits

A pick 'n' mix of Top of the Pops classics from 1978, when in-yer-face punk and new wave rebellion co-existed with MOR suburban pop, disco fever, soul balladry, reggae and prog rock, and when two mega-successful movie soundtracks in the shape of Grease and Saturday Night Fever squared up on the dancefloor. Featuring shouty Sham 69, the cool rebellion of Ian Dury, Elvis Costello and Blondie, the media-savvy clowning of The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush's debut with Wuthering Heights, alongside Brotherhood of Man's perky Figaro, Dan Hill's sentimental Sometimes When We Touch and the high camp of Boney M's Rasputin. Bob Marley shares chart space with 10cc's Dreadlock Holiday, and ELO and Manfred Mann's Earth Band keep on rockin'.


FRI 01:20 Top of the Pops (b08kvpwj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (b03mpphw)
The Story of 1979

1979 was a unique year for Top of the Pops, which saw the show record its highest audience of 19 million viewers and in which physical format singles sales hit an all-time high of 79 million. 1979 is maybe the most diverse year ever for acts on Top of the Pops with disco at its peak, new wave, 2 Tone, reggae, rock, folk and electro records all making the top five.

Original interviews with Gary Numan, Nile Rodgers, Woody from Madness, Jah Wobble, Chas and Dave, Janet Kay, Linda Nolan, Jim Dooley, Secret Affair, the Ruts, Legs and Co and many others tell the story of an exceptional year.

In the year that the 'winter of discontent' saw continuing strikes black out ITV and TOTP reduced during a technicians strike to a narrator introducing videos, the show also found itself the site of conflict backstage. TOTP's old guard of 70s MOR acts had their feathers continually ruffled by new wave bands, as the Skids spat at the Nolan Sisters backstage and Generation X urinated off the roof onto the Dooleys.

Elsewhere in the corridors of TV Centre, in preparation for playing their single Death Disco, Public Image Ltd demanded their teeth were blacked out in make-up to appear ugly, while Gary Numan remembers the overbearing union presence which prevented TOTP artists moving their own microphones without a union technician and the Musicians Union trying to ban him from the show for his use of synthesizers.

The most popular musical styles of 1979 were 2 Tone, reggae and disco. The latter saw Nile Rodgers, the man of the year, score four hits with Chic as well as writing and producing a further four hits with Sister Sledge, Sheila B Devotion and Sugarhill Gang, who appeared with what would prove to be the first ever rap hit.

Jamaican and UK reggae artists scored continual hits through the year and then watched as the Police notched up three hits with white reggae and the label 2 Tone revived the 60s reggae style known as ska. In November, in what is remembered as the 2 Tone edition, all three of the label's new acts - Madness, Specials and Selecter - appeared on one historic night and took the show by storm, with Madness capping off their performance of One Step Beyond by leading a 'nutty train' conga through the studio.


FRI 03:00 Top of the Pops (b018zv8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]




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

100 Days 19:00 MON (b08kgjdw)

100 Days 19:00 TUE (b08kgjf1)

100 Days 19:00 WED (b08kgjf6)

100 Days 19:00 THU (b08kgjfh)

1066: A Year to Conquer England 20:00 TUE (b08h7zsb)

1066: A Year to Conquer England 01:00 WED (b08h7zsb)

6 Music Festival 21:00 SUN (b08kvtrw)

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

BBC Young Dancer 20:00 FRI (b08kgywv)

Big in America: British Hits in the USA 03:20 SAT (b01bywsr)

Blondie's New York... and the Making of Parallel Lines 02:30 SAT (b04fmgkb)

Blondie: One Way or Another 00:15 SAT (b0074thn)

Brian Pern 22:00 WED (b08kz93t)

Brian Pern 22:40 WED (b08l35nb)

Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues 19:00 SAT (b06rfl46)

Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues 00:00 THU (b06rfl46)

Crash and Burn 21:00 MON (b08jqfqx)

Crash and Burn 03:00 WED (b08jqfqx)

Digging for Britain 23:00 WED (b0864zvq)

Flying Scotsman: Sounds from the Footplate 22:00 THU (b087k5rf)

Follow the Money 21:00 SAT (b08g8953)

Follow the Money 22:00 SAT (b08h49ly)

Gravity and Me: The Force That Shapes Our Lives 21:00 TUE (b08kgv7f)

Gravity and Me: The Force That Shapes Our Lives 02:00 TUE (b08kgv7f)

Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney 19:30 MON (b05n8tlg)

Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney 19:30 TUE (b05nyhq4)

Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney 19:30 WED (b05q19lj)

Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? 20:00 THU (b00lc71z)

Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? 02:50 THU (b00lc71z)

Horizon 01:20 MON (b03wcchn)

How Quizzing Got Cool: TV's Brains of Britain 20:00 WED (b084fs6s)

How to Get Ahead 02:30 SUN (b03yfwk1)

Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility 00:20 MON (b07hx40t)

London: A Tale of Two Cities with Dan Cruickshank 21:00 WED (p00r36lv)

Natural World 23:00 THU (b00wwbm4)

Oceans 23:20 MON (b00fzbf7)

POP! The Science of Bubbles 01:00 TUE (b01rtdy6)

Racing Legends 20:00 MON (b04zr46v)

Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century 19:00 SUN (b07g9q4w)

Sounds of the Eighties 04:20 SAT (b0074sll)

Storyville 22:00 MON (b08kgtbv)

Storyville 02:20 MON (b08kgtbv)

Storyville 01:35 THU (b01nyz3p)

Stunning Soloists at the BBC 20:00 SUN (b08kgqy0)

Tank Men 01:00 SUN (b07tbzgx)

Television's Opening Night: How the Box Was Born 22:30 TUE (b0817s4g)

The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour 02:00 WED (b04n1mrb)

The Century That Wrote Itself 01:30 SUN (b01rxpdn)

The Golden Age of Steam Railways 21:00 THU (b01pdsy6)

The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse 22:30 SUN (b00x9b7w)

Timewatch 20:00 SAT (b00fg9hw)

Timewatch 00:00 SUN (b00fg9hw)

Top of the Pops 23:00 SAT (b08k50f2)

Top of the Pops 23:40 SAT (b08k52y1)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b08kvpvx)

Top of the Pops 01:00 THU (b08kvpvx)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (b08kvpwj)

Top of the Pops 21:00 FRI (b00zwrn5)

Top of the Pops 22:30 FRI (b018zv8d)

Top of the Pops 23:30 FRI (b01pkjy6)

Top of the Pops 00:20 FRI (b01pmbdy)

Top of the Pops 01:20 FRI (b08kvpwj)

Top of the Pops 02:00 FRI (b03mpphw)

Top of the Pops 03:00 FRI (b018zv8d)

Who Were the Greeks? 00:00 WED (b036b0yl)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b08kgjfn)