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 14 OCTOBER 2017

SAT 19:00 The Incredible Human Journey (b00kwdgp)
Australia

There are seven billion humans on Earth, spread across the whole planet. Scientific evidence suggests that most of us can trace our origins to one tiny group of people who left Africa around 70,000 years ago. In this five-part series, Dr Alice Roberts follows the archaeological and genetic footprints of our ancient ancestors to find out how their journeys transformed our species into the humans we are today, and how Homo sapiens came to dominate the planet.

Alice looks at our ancestors' seemingly impossible journey to Australia. Miraculously preserved footprints and very old human fossils buried in the outback suggest a mystery: that humans reached Australia almost before anywhere else. How could they have travelled so far from Africa, crossing the open sea on the way, and do it thousands of years before they made it to Europe?

The evidence trail is faint and difficult to pick up, but Alice takes on the challenge. In India, new discoveries among the debris of a super volcano hint that our species started the journey much earlier than previously thought, while in Malaysia, genetics points to an ancient trail still detectable in the DNA of tribes today.

Alice travels deep into the Asian rainforests in search of the first cavemen of Borneo and tests out a Stone Age raft to see whether sea travel would have been possible thousands of years ago, before coming to a powerful conclusion.


SAT 20:00 Wild China (b00bz1cf)
Beyond the Great Wall

A look at the dazzling array of mysterious and wonderful creatures that live in China's most beautiful landscapes.

The extreme landscapes north of the Great Wall have shaped some of China's most colourful people and wildlife. From nomadic tribes hunting with eagles to camel trains crossing the Silk Road, from frozen Siberian wastes to baking deserts of central Asia, life in northern China is always on the edge.


SAT 21:00 Beck (b06chkmk)
Buried Alive

When the body of a leading district attorney is found in a shallow grave in a children's playground, the chief suspect is the leader of a notorious motorcycle gang.

However, when his body is found in similar circumstances, Inspector Martin Beck and his team of detectives realise that they are dealing with a serial killer and that Beck himself is amongst the prime targets.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:25 Beck (b06dl009)
Room 302

The body of a young woman is found in a Stockholm hotel room. It appears that she has been strangled after a night partying with two young men, but the room was paid for using the credit card of a mugging victim whose alibi doesn't add up. Martin and Gunvald investigate under the supervision of their new boss Klas Freden.

In Swedish with English subtitles.


SAT 23:55 Top of the Pops (b097xsnw)
Steve Wright and Andy Peebles present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 20 September 1984. Featuring Bronski Beat, David Bowie, Sister Sledge, Queen, Nik Kershaw, Adam Ant, Level 42 and Stevie Wonder.


SAT 00:35 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.


SAT 02:00 Wild China (b00bz1cf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 15 OCTOBER 2017

SUN 19:00 Only Connect (b0991757)
Series 13

Detectives v Theatricals

Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the series where knowledge will only take you so far. Patience and lateral thinking are also vital.

A team of Sherlock Holmes fans take on three theatre workers in the last of the opening heats. They compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria Coren Mitchell if you want to know what connects Improbable, Watchmaker, Gene and Delusion.


SUN 19:30 University Challenge (b098v499)
2017/18

Episode 12

It is a contest tonight between the University of St Andrews and St John's College, Cambridge, for a place in the second round of the student quiz.

Jeremy Paxman asks the questions.


SUN 20:00 The French Revolution: Tearing up History (b042ttxl)
A journey through the dramatic and destructive years of the French Revolution, telling its history in a way not seen before - through the extraordinary story of its art. Our guide through this turbulent decade is the constantly surprising Dr Richard Clay, an art historian who has spent his life decoding the symbols of power and authority.

Dr Clay has always been fascinated by vandalism and iconoclasm, and believes much of the untold story of the French Revolution can be discovered through the stories of great moments of destruction. Who were the stone masons in the crowd outside Notre Dame that pulled down the statues of kings? Why do the churches of Paris still carry all the coded signs of anti-Christian state legislation? What does it mean, and who was carrying this out?

Telling the story of the French Revolution - from the Storming of the Bastille to the rise of Napoleon - as the significant modern outbreak of iconoclasm, Clay argues that it reveals the destructive and constructive roles of iconoclasts and how this led directly to the birth of the modern Europe.


SUN 21:00 Jonas Kaufmann: Tenor for the Ages (b099tpby)
The German tenor Jonas Kaufmann is one of the hottest properties in the opera world. He captivates audiences with the power, emotion and beauty of his singing, the intelligence of his acting, his matinee-idol delivery, and his extraordinary range - from the heroic stage roles in Wagner to the intimate songs of Schubert on the concert platform.

For this documentary for the BBC's Opera Season, the film-maker John Bridcut has been given unique and often surprising access to Kaufmann across the last two years, observing him in rehearsal, backstage during performances, and in his off-duty moments. It is by far the most intimate and extensive portrait yet made of Kaufmann, now at the peak of his career. He was filmed behind the scenes at the Last Night of the Proms, when he was the first German to sing Rule, Britannia. His schedule was later interrupted for five months because of a vocal injury, but recently he made a triumphant return, notably in the production of Verdi's late opera, Otello, at Covent Garden.

Kaufmann is filmed working with the Royal Opera's music director, Sir Antonio Pappano, and the stage director, Keith Warner - and is involved in every aspect of the preparations. He talks freely about his earlier cancellations, about what keeps him going during a run of performances, and about the problems of being a star.

John Bridcut has previously made documentary portraits of Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Nureyev, Mstislav Rostropovich and Sir Colin Davis (which was named Best Arts Documentary at the Grierson Awards). His clutch of composer-portraits began with the award-winning Britten's Children and continued with films on Elgar, Delius, Parry and Vaughan Williams. Last year he made the BBC One documentary for the Queen's 90th birthday, Elizabeth at 90 - A Family Tribute.


SUN 22:30 Kaufmann's Otello at the Royal Opera House (b099tpcb)
Jonas Kaufmann makes his role debut in a new production of Otello. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi's masterpiece, based on Shakespeare's tragedy.


SUN 01:00 Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance (b04smrrc)
Revolution on the Dance Floor

Len Goodman and Lucy Worsley reveal how Britain's dance floors were revolutionised in the 19th century, as the slow and stately dances of an earlier era were replaced with new dances that were faster, freer and a lot more fun.

The Industrial Revolution changed the way ordinary people danced, and at Queen Street Mill in Burnley, Len uncovers the fascinating story of how factory workers developed clog dancing to imitate the sounds and rhythms of the machinery they used. Lucy discovers how upper-class dancing tastes were transformed by the introduction of the waltz at the beginning of the 19th century, which allowed couples to dance scandalously close.

In the 19th century, a greater proportion of the population than ever before lived in cities, and Len visits one of London's most beautiful Victorian gin palaces to find out about the drinking and the dancing that went on at a typical working-class knees-up. Whilst the working classes were letting their hair down, the middle classes were enjoying the latest dance music in the comfort of their own homes thanks to the invention of the upright piano. Lucy tries her hand at the 19th century's favourite tune - the Blue Danube waltz - on the piano once played by the Brontë sisters.

At the Czech and Slovak Club in London, Len discovers the rustic roots of the 19th century's biggest dance craze - the polka. Together Len and Lucy take a series of polka classes with Darren Royston, historical dance teacher at RADA, as they prepare to dance it at a grand finale ball dressed in their full Victorian finery.


SUN 02:00 The Story of Scottish Art (b06h7xsm)
Episode 1

The story of Scottish art and its impact on the international art world is celebrated in this four-part series presented by acclaimed artist Lachlan Goudie. The series spans 5,000 years of Scotland's history, from the earliest Neolithic art to the present day.

In the first programme, Lachlan explores Scotland's earliest art. He visits the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, where standing stones have watched the seasons pass for thousands of years. On the island of Westray he encounters an ancient figurine - the Westray Wife - the oldest sculpted human figure in the British Isles. He explores the sophisticated art of the Picts and the Gaels, the exuberant Renaissance period of the early Stewart kings, and the destructive heights of the Reformation, when religious artworks were all but wiped out in Scotland.



MONDAY 16 OCTOBER 2017

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0991wd1)
Series 1

16/10/2017

The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


MON 19:30 Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places (b01rd37d)
Trees and Mountains

Presenter and Welsh poet Ifor ap Glyn explores the wealth of Britain's extraordinary holy places on a pilgrimage that spans almost 2,000 years of history. Travelling across the breadth of the UK, Ifor uncovers the stories and rich history behind many of our most famous sites, explaining the myths and legends of some of Britain's most sacred places.

Ifor visits trees and mountains as a way of understanding the journey Britain undertook from the old Pagan religion to Christianity. His journey starts in Glastonbury, site of the famous tor and the Thorns, the most holy trees in the country. He discovers how even now these symbols are causing friction and discord.

His journey continues at Knowlton in Dorset, a place where a Norman church has been built right in the centre of an earthen henge. There he meets a druid who explains how Pagan sites were often overwritten in this way by the new Christian religion before they both discover that, at least here, earth magic seems to be making a comeback.

Ifor visits a bleeding yew tree that has divided opinion for 600 years and, in Snowdonia, a mountain where the devil is said to have gone toe to toe with an early Christian missionary. He travels to a rocky Cornish crag where St Michael himself is said to reside before finishing his journey at Pendle Hill, inspiration behind the most stripped down and anti-Pagan religious denomination of all time. But even here, did Christianity really manage to break free of Paganism?


MON 20:00 Ocean Giants (b01452jz)
Voices of the Sea

Whales and dolphins are nature's supreme vocalists, with a repertoire to put an opera singer to shame. The mighty sperm whale produces deafening clicks in its blowhole which it uses to locate giant squid two miles down in the ocean abyss, while migrating narwhals use similar sounds to pinpoint vital breathing holes in Arctic ice floes.

The pink boto dolphin creates bat-like ultrasonic clicks to 'see with sound' and to catch fish in the murky waters of the Amazon River, and also uses whistles and chirps for social conversations.

Killer whales in the North Sea use wolf-like howls to round up the herring shoals which they feed on, and they and other dolphins also use percussive tail slaps and splashing leaps to signal to each other. One group of bottlenose dolphins in Brazil has even learned to communicate with fishermen in a unique partnership.

But the most famous and mysterious voice of all surely belongs to male humpback whales, whose haunting operatic performances may last several hours and seem to be about singing purely for the sheer pleasure of making music.


MON 21:00 Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein (b099229f)
Series 1

World War

Suzy explores the use, abuse and manipulation of music in the Second World War - from swinging jazz to film soundtracks and from mushy ballads to madcap ballets. The war, she demonstrates, wasn't just a military fight but an ideological battle where both sides used music as a weapon to secure their vision for civilisation.

Suzy reveals how the forces' sweetheart Vera Lynn was taken off air by the BBC's 'Dance Music Policy Committee' for fear her sentimental songs undermined the British war effort. But in Nazi Germany, screen siren Zarah Leander had a hit with a song remarkably like Vera's We'll Meet Again. Meanwhile Nazi band Charlie and his Orchestra reworked Cole Porter classics by adding anti-British lyrics to weaken her morale. Though the Nazis banned jazz at home as 'degenerate', Suzy also explores Occupied Paris's incredible jazz scene. And the film revisits concerts given under extraordinary conditions - not least the performance of Wagner's Gotterdammerung' (Twilight of the Gods), which in April 1945 brought the curtain down on the Third Reich.

Despite Hitler's taunt that Britain was 'Das Land ohne Musik' ('The Land without Music'), Suzy reveals the war work of two great British composers. William Walton's Spitfire Prelude became the archetype for a particularly British form of patriotic music. By contrast Michael Tippett was sent to prison for being a conscientious objector, but his anti-war oratorio A Child of Our Time was showcased at the Royal Albert Hall. The right of people to freely express themselves was, after all, what we were fighting for.

For some, music was a way of transcending desperate circumstances. Suzy examines Olivier Messiaen's haunting Quartet for the End of Time, written amid the desolation of a POW camp. But at Auschwitz, Suzy reveals how music was co-opted to serve the Nazis' evil purposes. Cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch explains how musical ability saved her from the gas chambers. Drafted into the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra, she had to play marches to drive prisoners to and from work and to give a private performance of Schumann's exquisitely innocent Traumerei to the infamous Dr Mengele.

The events of the 20th century show, Suzy concludes, that though we should continue to love and celebrate music, we should also be wary of its seductive power.


MON 22:00 The Vietnam War (b0992pm2)
Series 1

Chasing Ghosts (June 1968-May 1969)

Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators on the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam, the war goes on and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage.


MON 22:55 The Vietnam War (b0992pm4)
Series 1

A Sea of Fire (April 1969-May 1970)

With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war, while an incursion into Cambodia reignites anti-war protests with tragic consequences.


MON 23:50 Lost Kingdoms of Central America (b04hkb5p)
Kingdom of the Jaguar

Dr Jago Cooper explores the rise and fall of the forgotten civilisations of Central America.

His quest takes him from the crystal-blue seas of the Caribbean to the New World's most impressive pyramids, flying over the smoking volcanoes of Costa Rica and travelling deep underground in the caves of central Mexico.

He travels in the footsteps of these peoples to reveal their secrets and unearth the astonishing cultures that flourished amongst some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.

Jago begins by journeying through southern Mexico to investigate the rise and fall of America's oldest civilisation, the Olmec, which thrived over 3,000 years ago. He encounters colossal stone heads and the oldest rubber balls in the world and descends deep inside an ancient cave network in search of a were-jaguar.


MON 00:50 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.


MON 01:50 Ocean Giants (b01452jz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 02:50 Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein (b099229f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2017

TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0991wd6)
Series 1

17/10/2017

The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


TUE 19:30 Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places (b01rk2fp)
Shrines

Presenter and Welsh poet Ifor ap Glyn explores the wealth of Britain's extraordinary holy places on a pilgrimage that spans almost 2,000 years of history. Travelling across the breadth of the UK, Ifor uncovers the stories and rich history behind many of our most famous sites, explaining the myths and legends of some of Britain's most sacred places.

Ifor sets out to understand the appeal of shrines. For those outside the Catholic and Orthodox church there is something vaguely unsettling about shrines. How can venerating the bones of a dead person bring you closer to God?

From the unlikely starting point of Marc Bolan's roadside shrine in Barnes, Ifor embarks upon perhaps his most surprising journey. Along the way he learns that Scotland's largest city only exists because of a shrine and visits the newly-renovated shrine of St David in Wales.

At St Albans Cathedral, he learns that shrines are slowly but surely starting to creep back into the Anglican mainstream and that rather than meeting resistance, they are being actively embraced. After viewing a genuinely shocking relic in Westminster Cathedral, Ifor meets with the Catholic archbishop Vincent Nichols, who has a radical theory about how the return of shrines represents the final chapter of the Reformation, and that is all down to Princess Diana.

Finally, after seeing some of the finest cathedrals in the land, Ifor ends his journey at a tiny church on the fringe of Snowdonia, one which is home to a shrine that many people consider the holiest place in Britain.


TUE 20:00 The Real White Queen and Her Rivals (b037mw8c)
Episode 2

Author Philippa Gregory tells the interweaving stories of the women who were decisive figures in the Wars of the Roses. Gregory brings a rich story of intrigue, betrayal, love and bloodshed vividly to life. For Gregory, these women matter as much as the kings and nobles in this age of instability and dynastic feud.

She describes the lives of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen, a commoner whose beauty enchanted a king and who suffered shocking tragedy as she struggled to hold a grip on the throne for herself and for her children.

Gregory also brings to life the woman who would be queen to Richard III, the heiress Anne Neville. Gregory depicts a young woman born into power and privilege who survives traumatic losses to become queen. We see her grow from a political pawn of her noble father to a determined and canny player on the national stage.

Gregory also reveals the real character of Margaret Beaufort, mother of the Tudor dynasty. This extraordinary woman devotes her life to the cause of her son Henry Tudor and plays a cunning game of alliance and conspiracy to keep his claim to the throne of England alive. She is never queen, but ends the era more powerful than Queen Elizabeth or Queen Anne. Her brilliant strategic plotting steers her exiled son to the pinnacle of power.


TUE 21:00 Lucy Worsley: Elizabeth I's Battle for God's Music (b0992l4j)
Lucy Worsley investigates the story of the most remarkable creation from the tumultuous and violent era known as the Reformation - choral evensong.

Henry VIII loved religious music, but he loved power more - when he instigated his English Reformation he dramatically split from the ancient Catholic church that controlled much of his country. But in doing so set into motion changes that would fundamentally transform the religious music he loved.

Following Elizabeth I's personal story, Lucy recounts how she and her two siblings were shaped by the changes their father instigated. Elizabeth witnessed both her radically puritan brother Edward bring church music to the very brink of destruction and the terrifying reversals made by her sister Mary - which saw her thrown in the Tower of London forced to beg for her life.

When Elizabeth finally took power she was determined to find a religious compromise - she resurrected the Protestant religion of her brother, but kept the music of her beloved father - music that she too adored. And it was in the evocative service of choral evensong that her ideas about religious music found their ultimate expression.


TUE 22:00 Reformation (b09b50v0)
Part 1

Five hundred years ago a revolutionary priest changed the face of Christendom and the path of European civilization forever. Risking his life and academic reputation, facing damnation and purgatory in 1517, he pinned his inflammatory 95 Theses to the church door in the Catholic church and the western world would never be the same again. His name was Martin Luther. This is a story of a group of people alive 500 years ago whose internal convictions led them to forge a new path - one that ultimately changed the world.

In German with English subtitles.


TUE 23:30 The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England (p0185y5g)
Melvyn Bragg explores the dramatic story of William Tyndale and his mission to translate the Bible into English. Melvyn reveals the story of a man whose life and legacy have been hidden from history, but whose impact on Christianity in Britain and on the English language endures today. His radical translation of the Bible into English made him a profound threat to the authority of the church and state, and set him on a fateful collision course with Henry VIII's heretic hunters and those of the pope.


TUE 00:30 Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice (b01fkcdr)
Professor Alice Roberts reveals the natural history of the most famous of ice age animals - the woolly mammoth. Mammoths have transfixed humans since the depths of the last ice age, when their herds roamed across what is now Europe and Asia. Although these curious members of the elephant family have been extinct for thousands of years, scientists can now paint an incredibly detailed picture of their lives thanks to whole carcasses that have been beautifully preserved in the Siberian permafrost.

Alice meets the scientists who are using the latest genetic, chemical and molecular tests to reveal the adaptations that allowed mammoths to evolve from their origins in the tropics to surviving the extremes of Siberia. And in a dramatic end to the film, she helps unveil a brand new woolly mammoth carcass that may shed new light on our own ancestors' role in their extinction.


TUE 01:30 The Real White Queen and Her Rivals (b037mw8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:30 Lucy Worsley: Elizabeth I's Battle for God's Music (b0992l4j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 18 OCTOBER 2017

WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0991wdc)
Series 1

18/10/2017

The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


WED 19:30 Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places (b01rqbnm)
Islands

Presenter and Welsh poet Ifor ap Glyn explores the wealth of Britain's extraordinary holy places on a pilgrimage that spans almost 2,000 years of history. Travelling across the breadth of the UK, Ifor uncovers the stories and rich history behind many of our most famous sites, explaining the myths and legends of some of Britain's most sacred places.

Ifor sets out to understand the appeal of islands as holy retreats. It may seem obvious that we would feel closer to the divine when surrounded by the stunning natural beauty of an island, but Ifor soon discovers there is a far deeper reason they became such a major aspect of religion.

His journey takes him from the Lake District to the Mappa Mundi in Hereford Cathedral, from our most famous holy island at Lindisfarne to the Western Isles in Scotland where an ancient Christian holy island has been reborn as a Buddhist monastery. He visits the island where the Welsh version of St Valentine lived and finally heads out west to the barren island of Bardsey, at the very furthest tip of Wales. This is known as the Island of 20,000 Saints, a place that exists halfway between this world and the next.


WED 20:00 Treasures of Chinese Porcelain (b015sttj)
In November 2010, a Chinese vase unearthed in a suburban semi in Pinner sold at auction for £43 million - a new record for a Chinese work of art. Why are Chinese vases so famous and so expensive? The answer lies in the European obsession with Chinese porcelain that began in the 16th century.

Lars Tharp, the Antiques Roadshow expert and Chinese ceramics specialist, sets out to explore why Chinese porcelain was so valuable then - and still is now. He goes on a journey to parts of China closed to western eyes until relatively recently. Lars travels to the mountainside from which virtually every single Chinese export vase, plate and cup began life in the 18th century - a mountain known as Mount Gaolin, from whose name we get the word kaolin, or china clay. He sees how the china clay was fused with another substance, mica, that would turn it into porcelain.

Carrying his own newly acquired vase, Lars uncovers the secrets of China's porcelain capital, Jingdezhen. He sees how the trade between China and Europe not only changed our idea of what was beautiful - by introducing us to the idea of works of art we could eat off - but also began to affect the whole tradition of Chinese aesthetics too, as the ceramicists of Jingdezhen sought to meet the European demand for porcelain decorated with family coats of arms, battle scenes or even erotica.

The porcelain fever that gripped Britain drove conspicuous consumption and fuelled the Georgian craze for tea parties. Today the new emperors - China's rising millionaire class - are buying back the export wares once shipped to Europe. The vase sold in Pinner shows that the lure of Chinese porcelain is as compelling as ever.


WED 21:00 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b0992k4v)
Series 2

Arbroath

Hospitalfield House in the fishing town of Arbroath on Scotland's east coast is a Victorian treasure trove. The couple who owned this great house back in the 19th century were obsessed with the decorative arts and Hospitalfield is full of ornate carved ceilings, sculpted fireplaces, exquisite plasterwork and stonework carved by master masons. It's still a place where artists work today and it has a fine picture collection.

Amongst the many Victorian paintings, could a mysterious 16th-century portrait by one of the great Old Master artists lie waiting to be discovered? Dr Bendor Grosvenor and Emma Dabiri travel to Arbroath to investigate what could be a true Old Master painting, obscured by 400 years of dirt and old varnish. Bendor suspects the painting is a lost masterpiece by giant of Dutch art Antonis Mor, court painter to Philip II of Spain. But with no documentary evidence, it's a hard case to prove.

While Bendor travels to Madrid to track down other examples of Mor's work, Emma digs deeper into the double standards of Victorian morals, finds the true story of the couple who made Hospitalfield a haven for artists, and meets the contemporary artists working at Hospitalfield today.


WED 22:00 Reformation (b09b5154)
Part 2

Five hundred years ago a revolutionary priest changed the face of Christendom and the path of European civilization forever. Risking his life and academic reputation, facing damnation and purgatory in 1517, he pinned his inflammatory 95 Theses to the church door in the Catholic church and the western world would never be the same again. His name was Martin Luther. This is a story of a group of people alive 500 years ago whose internal convictions led them to forge a new path - one that ultimately changed the world.

Part 2: 1521 - The Catholic church has excommunicated Luther and condemned him as a heretic, but the Reformation can no longer be stopped. Whilst in hiding, and widely believed to be dead, Luther translates the Bible into German for the first time so that the ordinary people can read it.

In German with English subtitles.


WED 23:30 The Renaissance Unchained (b072wvy9)
Hell, Snakes and Giants

In the final episode Waldemar Januszczak looks at the surprising climax of the Renaissance as it spiralled into madness and distortion. This was a period full of war, confusion and darkness, which was captured perfectly in the art of Leonardo, Bosch, Arcimboldo, Palissy, the Italian Mannerists and El Greco.


WED 00:30 British Gardens in Time (b042638j)
Nymans

Nymans, one of the most fashionable and romantic gardens of the Edwardian and interwar years, was the creation of a family of German emigres of Jewish descent. The Messels arrived in Britain in 1870 at a time when both anti-semitism and anti-German sentiment were rife. Nevertheless, Ludwig Messel succeeded in establishing a successful stockbroking firm and creating at Nymans the quintessential English garden with rare plants and a theatrical herbaceous border inspired by William Robinson.

His children and grandchildren would continue to develop the garden and the family's spectacular social trajectory reached its apogee with Ludwig's great-grandson Antony Armstrong-Jones's marriage to Princess Margaret. However, Nymans was to repeatedly face disaster as a fire devastated the house leaving just a romantic ruin to dominate the garden, while the garden itself came close to total destruction in the Great Storm of 1987.


WED 01:30 Treasures of Chinese Porcelain (b015sttj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:30 Britain's Lost Masterpieces (b0992k4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 19 OCTOBER 2017

THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0991wdk)
Series 1

19/10/2017

The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b099tcd1)
Simon Bates and Richard Skinner present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 4 October 1984. Featuring The Cars, Culture Club, The Stranglers, Adam Ant and Stevie Wonder.


THU 20:00 Hidden Killers (b050d700)
The Tudor Home

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb takes us back to Tudor times in search of the household killers of the era.

It was a great age of exploration and science where adventurers returned from the New World with exotic goods previously unknown in Europe. An era in which the newly emergent middle classes had, for the first time, money for luxuries and early consumer goods, many of which contained hidden dangers.

The period also saw a radical evolution in the very idea of 'home'. For the likes of Tudor merchants, their houses became multi-room structures instead of the single-room habitations that had been the norm (aristocracy excepted). This forced the homebuilders of the day to engineer radical new design solutions and technologies, some of which were lethal.

Suzannah discovers that in Tudor houses the threat of a grisly, unpleasant death was never far away in a world (and a home) still mired in the grime and filth of the medieval period - and she shows how we still live with the legacy of some of these killers today.


THU 21:00 England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation (b0992jdt)
To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Janina Ramirez tells the story of three books that defined this radical religious revolution in England.

Tyndale's New Testament, Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer and Foxe's Book of Martyrs are no longer commonly recognised titles, yet for nearly four hundred years these works formed the backbone of British life. Their words shaped the English language, fuelled religious division and sparked revolt.

Nina discovers how the trio of texts had a powerful cumulative effect. Tyndale's Bible made the word of God accessible to the common man for the first time; The Book of Common Prayer established a Protestant liturgy; and Foxe's Book of Martyrs enshrined an intolerance of Catholicism. Nina reveals how they formed the nation's Protestant identity, the impact of which can be seen even today.


THU 22:00 Reformation: Europe's Holy War (b097f5fj)
Historian David Starkey tells the story of the Protestant Reformation and how it transformed the face of modern Europe. A schism at the heart of Christendom, the Reformation unleashed centuries of holy war, inspiring the kind of fundamentalism, terror and religious violence we are all too familiar with today.

Timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the doors of All Saint's Church in Wittenberg, this programme charts the spread of Luther's ideas across Europe. Starkey explains how and why Luther's simple act of defiance would gain such momentum, and explores the consequences of his actions - both on the Christian faith, as well as on society as a whole.

Filmed in Rome, Germany and the UK, the programme concentrates on the early years of the Reformation and concludes by revealing the impact and legacy it had on England. There it prompted Henry VIII to split with the Catholic Church in Rome and declare himself supreme head of the Church of England.


THU 23:00 The Mystery of Rome's X Tomb (b037vywt)
Historian Dr Michael Scott unlocks the secrets of a mysterious tomb recently discovered in one of Rome's famous catacombs. Found by accident following a roof collapse, the tombs contained over 2,000 skeletons piled on top of each other. This was quite unlike any other underground tomb seen in Rome. They are located in an area of the catacombs marked as 'X' in the Vatican's underground mapping system - hence the name The X Tombs.

Scott joins Profs Dominique Castex and Philippe Blanchard, head of a team of French archaeologists with experience of investigating mass grave sites. Carbon dating the bodies suggest they died from the late 1st century AD to the early 3rd century AD, which would mean these people lived and died during Rome's golden age.

The remains of an early medieval fresco were found on the wall sealing the tomb suggesting this could be the last resting place of a group of unknown Christian martyrs. But the bones don't show the signs of physical trauma you would expect after a violent death.

The bodies were a mixture of men and women, most of them late teenagers and young adults. They were placed in the tombs with great care, packed in head to foot. Further clues suggest they were laid to rest after a series of mass death events. This raises the idea they may have died from disease.

The streets of ancient Rome were like an open sewer and the famous roman baths were also a breeding ground for infection. DNA expert and palaeogeneticist Johannes Krause is called in to try to identify what disease may have killed them.

Meanwhile, the French team uncover further clues to the identity of the people. They find cultural connections with northern Africa. Was this a wealthy immigrant community? Or a select group of ancient Rome's elite?


THU 00:00 Top of the Pops (b099tcd1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 00:40 Shakespeare's Mother: The Secret Life of a Tudor Woman (b05279pq)
Michael Wood tells the extraordinary story of an ordinary woman in a time of revolution. Born during the reign of Henry VIII, Mary Arden is the daughter of a Warwickshire farmer, but she marries into a new life in the rising Tudor middle class in Stratford-upon-Avon. There she has eight children, three of whom die young. Her husband becomes mayor, but is bankrupted by his shady business dealings. Faced with financial ruin, religious persecution and power politics, the family is the glue that keeps them together until they are rescued by Mary's successful eldest son - William Shakespeare!


THU 01:40 Hidden Killers (b050d700)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


THU 02:40 England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation (b0992jdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 20 OCTOBER 2017

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b0991wdq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b09b0ksf)
Mike Read and Tommy Vance present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 11 October 1984. Featuring Kim Wilde, Sade, Paul Young, Alison Moyet, the Style Council and Stevie Wonder.


FRI 20:00 Easy Listening Hits at the BBC (b011g943)
Compilation of easy listening tracks that offers the perfect soundtrack for your cocktail party. There's music to please every lounge lizard, with unique performances from the greatest easy listening artists of the 60s and 70s, including Burt Bacharach, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, The Carpenters and many more.


FRI 21:00 Nile Rodgers: How to Make It in the Music Business (b0992lvw)
Series 1

Episode 3

The final part is almost entirely set in the landscape of the music world today - a world that is near unrecognisable from the one Nile started out in over 40 years ago.

Technology and digital media have revolutionised how we hear music. Digital platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and others make music instantly available to everyone. Computers and the internet have changed how music is written and composed and, via social media, artists can communicate directly with their fans - they can even release their music to them with a single tweet.

Nile shows us how he has adapted to this new world and why he wants to be a part of it. We discover how, in recent years, he has collaborated with a more diverse range of musicians on a greater variety of music than ever before.

The first collaboration we hear about is Get Lucky with Daft Punk, which became a Grammy-award-winning international hit. Later, we have contributions from singer-songwriter Laura Mvula, who won a Novello award this year for her album The Dreaming Room which Nile worked on. We hear from top country music star Keith Urban - they were both nominated last year at the Country Music Awards. And from Swedish DJ and composer Avicii, who plays to audiences of tens of thousands around the world, we discover the closeness of their musical relationship and learn about their working methods. We discover how Nile's contribution to singer John Newman's song Give Me Your Love came about.

In what is the 40th anniversary of Nile's band Chic, we see him on stage in Glasgow, and at the end of the film Nile reveals that he has just finished recording a new song. Called I Believe In Music, this at present unreleased song sums up Nile's personal philosophy toward the art form that has dominated his life. This film has exclusive access to that song.


FRI 22:00 BBC Music Introducing (b0992lvy)
BBC Introducing: 10 Years of Finding the Next Big Thing

Since 2007, BBC Introducing has shone a light on new musical talent throughout the UK, supporting unsigned and undiscovered musicians.

Huw Stephens presents highlights from a 10th birthday celebration concert at London's Brixton Academy, a dream venue for new bands. With performances by artists whose journeys have been part of BBC Introducing, including George Ezra, Blossoms, Slaves, and Jake Bugg.

Plus a look back at ten years of BBC Introducing and some of the acts they have helped along the way.


FRI 23:00 Great American Rock Anthems: Turn it up to 11 (b03n2w37)
It's the sound of the heartland, of the midwest and the industrial cities, born in the early 70s by kids who had grown up in the 60s and were now ready to make their own noise, to come of age in the bars, arenas and stadiums of the US of A. Out of blues and prog and glam and early metal, a distinct American rock hybrid started to emerge across the country courtesy of Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad et al, and at its very heart is The Great American Rock Anthem.

At the dawn of the 70s American rock stopped looking for a revolution and started looking for a good time; enter the classic American rock anthem - big drums, a soaring guitar, a huge chorus and screaming solos. This film celebrates the evolution of the American rock anthem during its glory years between 1970 and 1990 as it became a staple of the emerging stadium rock and AOR radio and then MTV.

From School's Out and Don't Fear the Reaper to Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit, these are the songs that were the soundtrack to teenage lives in the US and around the world, anthems that had people singing out loud with arms and lighters aloft.

Huey Morgan narrates the story of some of the greatest American rock anthems and tracks the emergence of this distinct American rock of the 70s and 80s. Anthems explored include School's Out, We're an American Band, Don't Fear the Reaper, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, Eye of the Tiger, I Want to Know What Love Is, Livin' on a Prayer and Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Contributors include: Alice Cooper, Dave Grohl, Butch Vig, Meat Loaf, Todd Rundgren, Richie Sambora, Blue Oyster Cult, Survivor, Toto and Foreigner.


FRI 23:55 Top of the Pops (b09b0ksf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 00:35 Ultimate Cover Versions at the BBC (b06ns4gf)
Smash hits from 60 years of great cover versions in performance from the BBC TV archive. Reinterpretations, tributes and acts of subversion from the British invasion to noughties X Factor finalist Alexandra Burke. Artists as varied as The Moody Blues, Soft Cell, Mariah Carey and UB40 with their 'retake' on someone else's song - ultimate chart hits that are, in some cases, perhaps even better than the original.

Arguably The Beatles, alongside Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys, introduced the notion of 'originality' and self-generating artists writing their songs into the pop lexicon in the 60s. One of the most fascinating consequences of this has been the 'original' cover version, a reinterpretation of someone else's song that has transformed it into pop gold with a shift of rhythm, intent and context. The pop cover has proved a remarkably imaginative and durable form and this compilation tracks this pop alchemy at its finest and most intriguing.


FRI 01:35 Easy Listening Hits at the BBC (b011g943)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 02:35 Nile Rodgers: How to Make It in the Music Business (b0992lvw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]




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

BBC Music Introducing 22:00 FRI (b0992lvy)

Beck 21:00 SAT (b06chkmk)

Beck 22:25 SAT (b06dl009)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 MON (b0991wd1)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 TUE (b0991wd6)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 WED (b0991wdc)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 THU (b0991wdk)

Britain's Lost Masterpieces 21:00 WED (b0992k4v)

Britain's Lost Masterpieces 02:30 WED (b0992k4v)

British Gardens in Time 00:30 WED (b042638j)

Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance 01:00 SUN (b04smrrc)

Easy Listening Hits at the BBC 20:00 FRI (b011g943)

Easy Listening Hits at the BBC 01:35 FRI (b011g943)

England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation 21:00 THU (b0992jdt)

England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation 02:40 THU (b0992jdt)

Great American Rock Anthems: Turn it up to 11 23:00 FRI (b03n2w37)

Hidden Killers 20:00 THU (b050d700)

Hidden Killers 01:40 THU (b050d700)

Jonas Kaufmann: Tenor for the Ages 21:00 SUN (b099tpby)

Kaufmann's Otello at the Royal Opera House 22:30 SUN (b099tpcb)

Lost Kingdoms of Central America 23:50 MON (b04hkb5p)

Lucy Worsley: Elizabeth I's Battle for God's Music 21:00 TUE (b0992l4j)

Lucy Worsley: Elizabeth I's Battle for God's Music 02:30 TUE (b0992l4j)

Nile Rodgers: How to Make It in the Music Business 21:00 FRI (b0992lvw)

Nile Rodgers: How to Make It in the Music Business 02:35 FRI (b0992lvw)

Ocean Giants 20:00 MON (b01452jz)

Ocean Giants 01:50 MON (b01452jz)

Only Connect 19:00 SUN (b0991757)

Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places 19:30 MON (b01rd37d)

Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places 19:30 TUE (b01rk2fp)

Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places 19:30 WED (b01rqbnm)

Reformation: Europe's Holy War 22:00 THU (b097f5fj)

Reformation 22:00 TUE (b09b50v0)

Reformation 22:00 WED (b09b5154)

Shakespeare's Mother: The Secret Life of a Tudor Woman 00:40 THU (b05279pq)

The French Revolution: Tearing up History 20:00 SUN (b042ttxl)

The Incredible Human Journey 19:00 SAT (b00kwdgp)

The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England 23:30 TUE (p0185y5g)

The Mystery of Rome's X Tomb 23:00 THU (b037vywt)

The Real White Queen and Her Rivals 20:00 TUE (b037mw8c)

The Real White Queen and Her Rivals 01:30 TUE (b037mw8c)

The Renaissance Unchained 23:30 WED (b072wvy9)

The Story of Scottish Art 02:00 SUN (b06h7xsm)

The Vietnam War 22:00 MON (b0992pm2)

The Vietnam War 22:55 MON (b0992pm4)

Timeshift 00:50 MON (b03fv7sl)

Top of the Pops 23:55 SAT (b097xsnw)

Top of the Pops 00:35 SAT (b00zwrn5)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (b099tcd1)

Top of the Pops 00:00 THU (b099tcd1)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (b09b0ksf)

Top of the Pops 23:55 FRI (b09b0ksf)

Treasures of Chinese Porcelain 20:00 WED (b015sttj)

Treasures of Chinese Porcelain 01:30 WED (b015sttj)

Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein 21:00 MON (b099229f)

Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein 02:50 MON (b099229f)

Ultimate Cover Versions at the BBC 00:35 FRI (b06ns4gf)

University Challenge 19:30 SUN (b098v499)

Wild China 20:00 SAT (b00bz1cf)

Wild China 02:00 SAT (b00bz1cf)

Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice 00:30 TUE (b01fkcdr)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b0991wdq)