Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London return to report on the events that are shaping the world.
Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore. Here, she looks at Charles II.
Comedy drama charting the fight of female factory workers at the Ford Dagenham plant for equal pay. In 1968, one determined factory worker leads her colleagues out on strike in the hope of eradicating unfair working conditions and sexual discrimination.
Documentary which tells the story of a dream of happy families on wheels that the Ford Motor Company brought from Detroit to Dagenham, then sold to Britain.
From the 1950s onwards Ford revolutionised the cars we drove, producing dream cars for the average British family. In the 60s and 70s Ford sold dreams to boy racers too, but it came at a price. The mass production of motor cars required an army of assembly line workers who did jobs that were infamous for their soul-destroying monotony.
At its peak Dagenham was producing more than 3,000 cars every day and its most popular dream car, the Cortina, sold around five million in Britain alone. But the assembly line workers had a love-hate relationship with the cars they made and for some the dream became a nightmare.
Illustrated with powerful first person testimony and rare archive, this is the story of the rise and fall of Ford's Dagenham dream.
Documentary about the love affair between the British and their caravans, which saw the country establish the world's largest caravan manufacturer and transformed the holiday habits of generations of families.
In telling the intriguing story of caravanning in Britain from the 1950s through to the present day, the film reveals how caravans were once the plaything of a privileged minority, but after World War II became a firm favourite with almost a quarter of British holidaymakers.
It explores how changes in caravanning across the years reflect wider changes in British society, in particular the increased availability of cars during the 1950s and 60s, but also the improved roads network and changing attitudes towards holidaymaking and leisure time.
Enthusiasts and contributors include Dorrie van Lachterop from the West Midlands and Christine Fagg from Hertfordshire, remarkable and adventurous women who started touring alone in their caravans during the 1950s.
Three-part series exploring Australia's Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world and the largest living structure on our planet.
Monty Halls explores its full 2,000-kilometre length, from the wild outer reefs of the Coral Sea to the tangled mangrove and steaming rainforest on the shoreline; from large mountainous islands to tiny coral cays barely above sea level; from the dark depths of the abyss beyond the reef to colourful coral gardens of the shallows.
Along the way, he experiences the reef at its most dangerous and its most intriguing, and visits areas that have rarely been filmed, from the greatest wildlife shipwreck on earth to the mysterious seafloor of the lagoon, where freakish animals lurk under every rock.
The Great Barrier Reef as a whole covers an area larger than Great Britain, but amazingly only seven per cent of it is coral reef. The rest is a variety of interconnected habitats including the world's oldest jungle, hundreds of islands, mangrove swamps, mysterious deep-water gardens, vast sand flats and meadows of sea grass - all full of amazing wildlife. A giant deep-water lagoon connects all of these, and many of the creatures that live in it are almost impossibly weird - from giant hammerhead sharks to the bizarre 'pearl fish' that lives its life up a sea cucumber's bottom.
Marine life here also exists in spectacular profusion, as on the 100-year-old shipwreck of the SS Yongala, considered to be the greatest wildlife wreck on earth. The connections between all these environments mean that not only do they depend on each other, but without them the coral reef itself would not survive.
THURSDAY 04 JANUARY 2018
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09kkkdd)
Series 1
04/01/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8jf)
Series 2 - Reversions
Madrid to Gibraltar: Part 2
Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo returns to his native Spain to discover what the intrepid tourists of the Belle Epoque experienced on their travels through the fading Spanish empire. Hard on their heels in Madrid, he visits the scene of a grim assassination attempt at the royal wedding of a British princess and a Spanish king.
Striking south to historic Cordoba, Michael dances with an unusual partner and enjoys all the fun of the feria. Heading further into Andalusia, Michael arrives in Seville, the city he has made his Spanish home, and where, in the city's tobacco factory, he learns about a gypsy girl named Carmen.
After sipping sherry in Jerez, he traces Winston Churchill's tense diplomatic mission to Algeciras on Spain's Costa del Sol and finishes with tales of British espionage on the Rock of Gibraltar.
THU 20:00 Walt Disney (b08605f7)
Episode 1
Documentary about the life and legacy of Walt Disney, featuring archival footage only recently released from the Disney vaults, alongside scenes from some of his greatest films and the sketches from which they were created.
Those who helped turn his dreams into reality - his friends, family, animators and designers - reveal the real man behind the legend. They disclose the previously unknown processes, single-mindedness and sometimes sheer unpleasantness and discrimination that lay behind his seemingly effortless masterpieces.
Through bankruptcy, strikes, great risk and more, Disney's refusal to accept failure and his determined pursuit of his creative vision produced cartoons and movies that would define an entire industry. Both an inspiring story and a cautionary tale about the price of ambition, this film offers an unprecedented look at the man who created a world and built an empire.
Part one explores Disney's early days, when he created Mickey Mouse, through to the triumph of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film.
THU 21:00 Walt Disney (b0872yqs)
Episode 2
The life and legacy of Walt Disney, featuring archival footage only recently released from the Disney vaults, alongside scenes from some of his greatest films and the sketches which created them. Those who helped turn his dreams into reality - his friends, family and his animators and designers - reveal the real man behind the legend. They disclose the previously unknown processes, single-mindedness and sometimes sheer unpleasantness and discrimination that lay behind his seemingly effortless masterpieces. Through bankruptcy, strikes, great risk and more, Disney's refusal to accept failure and his single-minded pursuit of his creative vision produced cartoons and movies that would define an entire industry. Both and inspiring story and a cautionary tale about the price of ambition, Walt Disney offers an unprecedented look at the man who created a world and built an empire.
Part two explores Disney's later years as he makes films such as Cinderella and Mary Poppins, and realises his dream project, Disneyland.
THU 22:00 Secret Life of Sue Townsend (Aged 68 ¾) (b080391j)
Sue Townsend left school at 14 with no qualifications and in her early twenties was a single mother struggling to feed her three children. A decade later, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 was a critical and commercial smash and she had become the best-selling author of her era.
Julie Walters narrates this extraordinary story of a working-class woman who achieved literary stardom through sheer talent and an irrepressible will to write. From Adrian Mole to The Queen & I, Sue Townsend's books combine a brilliantly funny writing style with often biting satire, captivating not just a nation's readers but influencing a generation of writers and performers.
A warm and witty celebration of Sue Townsend's life and writing, the story is told with the help of children from Sue's old school, her friends and family, as well as the comedy and literary stars she inspired - including Stephen Mangan, Ian Hislop, David Nicholls, Isy Suttie and Adrian Scarborough. Drawing on Sue Townsend's own archive of letters and notebooks, the film also features unseen photographs, footage and even her appointment diary, which includes poignant entries about her struggles with ill health, written in a humorous style instantly recognisable from her books.
THU 23:00 Natural World (b05sz8q8)
2015-2016
Iceland: Land of Ice and Fire
In what turns out to be an explosive year, witness Iceland through the eyes of the animals and people that have made this wild island home.
An arctic fox family must eke out a cliff-top living, an eider farmer has his hands full playing duck dad to hundreds of new arrivals and Viking horsemen prepare to saddle up for the autumn round-up. But nature's clock is ticking, and the constant volcanic threat eventually boils over with one of Iceland's biggest eruptions in more than 200 years. This land of ice and fire will not be tamed.
THU 00:00 Great Barrier Reef (b019xxhh)
Reef and Beyond
The Great Barrier Reef is vitally linked to the rest of the planet in many ways. Creatures travel for thousands of miles to visit in spectacular numbers, including tiger sharks, great whales, sea birds and the largest green turtle gathering on earth.
Alien creatures that are rarely seen, like nautilus, also rise out of the deep to visit the reef's warm waters. Weather systems travelling from across the Pacific also affect the whole reef, including mighty cyclones that bring destruction and chaos to the coral and the creatures that live on it. And it is weather patterns and climate change on a global scale that are likely to shape the future of the Great Barrier Reef and all its wildlife.
THU 01:00 Walt Disney (b08605f7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THU 02:00 Walt Disney (b0872yqs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THU 03:00 Peaky Blinders (b09j0hxs)
Series 4
Dangerous
The Peaky Blinders are lured by the Italians into a cat-and-mouse chase on the streets of Birmingham, where it becomes clear that Tommy has met his match. Trapped in Small Heath, Tommy tries to console himself with a visit from an old flame but it soon becomes clear that he can't always get what he wants.
As his factory lies idle, Tommy confronts the possibility that the Communists might win and he will be deemed a traitor to his class. Meanwhile, Changretta prepares to spring another trap.
FRIDAY 05 JANUARY 2018
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b09kkkdk)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (b03ty8pl)
Series 2 - Reversions
Turin to Venice: Part 1
Steered by his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo takes the train from the former political capital of Italy, Turin, to Casanova's capital of romance, Venice.
Along the way, he recreates the famous Italian Job on an historic Fiat test track and follows fashion in Milan before investigating the early 20th-century British love affair with Lake Como in a seaplane. In Verona, Michael discovers the 'House of the Capulets', bought to attract Edwardian tourists to the scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He then heads over the rail bridge across the lagoon to Venice, where he finds a microcosm of pre-First World War Europe in the Venice Biennale art exhibition.
FRI 20:00 Only Yesterday: The Carpenters Story (b007cllb)
The Carpenters were one of the biggest selling pop artists of the 1970s, but what seemed on the surface as the perfect, wholesome brother and sister duo hid a destructive complex truth that was unknown to the world.
Featuring behind the scenes footage, interviews with brother Richard, family and friends, this documentary traces the story that ended in tragedy with sister Karen's untimely death aged just 32.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (b09kt44k)
The Story of 1985
1985 sees the 'Big Four' of 80's pop - Spandau, Wham, Culture Club and the Durans - have a relatively quiet year which ushers in a new generation of pop talent. The show becomes a barometer for the state of the nation as the ambitious King and A-ha, propelled by the most expensive video of the year for Take On Me, compete for attention with passionate politicos Billy Bragg and The Style Council who, fired up by the ongoing miners' strike and continuing threat of nuclear war, give the studio audience their all with Between The Wars and Walls Come Tumbling Down.
1985 also sees electro dance hit the mainstream as Dead or Alive top the charts with You Spin Me Round, the first number one for producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and Paul Hardcastle holds the top slot for five weeks with 19, a spoken word single made with new sampling technology and released on the 10th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war.
Meanwhile, movie tie-ins and record companies eyeing a 'housewives' market see a run of power ballads hit the charts from Jennifer Rush to Tina Turner to our very own Bonnie Tyler with Holding Out For a Hero. And back in the real world, the heroic Bob Geldof brings the pop generations together for Live Aid and Shakin' Stevens marks his 50th appearance on Top of the Pops and lands his first Christmas number one with a song he has waited a whole year to release.
Featuring original interviews with A-ha, Shakin' Stevens, The Style Council, Billy Bragg, Bonnie Tyler, Pete Waterman, Paul Hardcastle, King and Loose Ends.
FRI 22:00 Top of the Pops (b09kt44m)
1985 - Big Hits
Celebrating the big hits of 1985 with a selection of iconic Top of the Pops performances spanning the genres, from pure pop to power ballads, from Hi-NRG to hip-hop, to R&B and indie classics. Featuring Wham!, The Smiths, Kate Bush, a-ha, Eurythmics, The Cure, Dead or Alive, Bonnie Tyler, Tears for Fears, Sister Sledge, Jennifer Rush, Doug E Fresh and many more.
FRI 23:00 Radio 2 In Concert (b09kt4rp)
Tears for Fears
This show sees Tears for Fears take to the stage for another incredibly special and unique Radio 2 In Concert. After forming as synth pop duo in the early 80s, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith achieved huge success on both sides of the Atlantic and as a result of such a huge fanbase, over 30,000 people applied to be part of the audience for this intimate gig. However, only a few hundred were lucky enough to witness the boys from Bath perform their classic hits which included Mad World, Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World and Sowing the Seeds of Love at the BBC's iconic Radio Theatre in the heart of London.
FRI 00:00 TOTP2 (b00sfz04)
80s Special
Mark Radcliffe presents a look back at some of the most memorable Top of the Pops performances from the 80s including Adam Ant, Kylie and Jason, Culture Club, Bucks Fizz, Yazz, Duran Duran and Wham!
FRI 01:00 Top of the Pops (b09kt44k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (b09kt44m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
FRI 03:00 Only Yesterday: The Carpenters Story (b007cllb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
A Stitch in Time
20:30 WED (b09l2rfv)
A Stitch in Time
01:45 WED (b09l2rfv)
A Year in the Life of a Year
23:05 SAT (b09l1cgd)
A Year in the Life of a Year
22:30 TUE (b09l1cgd)
Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain
20:00 TUE (b00np25k)
Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain
01:30 TUE (b00np25k)
Beyond 100 Days
19:00 TUE (b09kkkd2)
Beyond 100 Days
19:00 WED (b09kkkd7)
Beyond 100 Days
19:00 THU (b09kkkdd)
Caravans: A British Love Affair
23:45 WED (b00hw3s0)
Chuck Berry in Concert
00:35 SAT (b0074rbc)
Dancing the Nutcracker - Inside the Royal Ballet
19:00 SUN (b086kdzl)
David Attenborough's Zoo Quest in Colour
02:30 SUN (p03qxfsg)
Detectorists
22:00 SUN (b09f2ndg)
Detectorists
22:30 SUN (b09ffxyn)
Detectorists
23:00 SUN (b09g64vk)
Detectorists
23:30 SUN (b09gvm77)
Detectorists
00:00 SUN (b09hgdx2)
Detectorists
00:30 SUN (b09j0qcs)
Ford's Dagenham Dream
22:45 WED (b00j0gnm)
Ford's Dagenham Dream
02:15 WED (b00j0gnm)
Glen Campbell: The Rhinestone Cowboy
23:35 SAT (b01pwxs8)
Great Barrier Reef
00:30 TUE (b019851n)
Great Barrier Reef
00:45 WED (b019hd78)
Great Barrier Reef
00:00 THU (b019xxhh)
Great Continental Railway Journeys
19:30 TUE (b03ty8dk)
Great Continental Railway Journeys
19:30 THU (b03ty8jf)
Great Continental Railway Journeys
19:30 FRI (b03ty8pl)
Made in Dagenham
21:00 WED (b01rcc33)
Natural World
23:00 THU (b05sz8q8)
New Year's Day Concert
19:00 MON (b09kkm5l)
Only Yesterday: The Carpenters Story
20:00 FRI (b007cllb)
Only Yesterday: The Carpenters Story
03:00 FRI (b007cllb)
Peaky Blinders
03:00 THU (b09j0hxs)
Planet Earth II
20:00 SAT (b087y9wf)
Planet Earth II
02:35 SAT (b087y9wf)
Queen: Rock the World
22:00 MON (b09d5xpf)
Queen: Rock the World
02:20 MON (b09d5xpf)
Queen: The Legendary 1975 Concert
23:00 MON (b00p4hgm)
Radio 2 In Concert
23:00 FRI (b09kt4rp)
Secret Life of Sue Townsend (Aged 68 ¾)
22:00 THU (b080391j)
Spiral
21:00 SAT (b09kl71v)
Spiral
22:00 SAT (b09kl71x)
TOTP2
00:00 FRI (b00sfz04)
Tales from the Royal Wardrobe with Lucy Worsley
02:30 TUE (b048wss8)
Tales from the Royal Wardrobe with Lucy Worsley
19:30 WED (b048wss8)
Tales of Winter: The Art of Snow and Ice
23:00 TUE (b01q6qj6)
The Clash: New Year's Day '77
00:05 MON (b04w08p6)
The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody
21:00 MON (b0074d94)
The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody
01:20 MON (b0074d94)
The World's Most Photographed
22:00 TUE (b0078y3p)
Top of the Pops
21:00 FRI (b09kt44k)
Top of the Pops
22:00 FRI (b09kt44m)
Top of the Pops
01:00 FRI (b09kt44k)
Top of the Pops
02:00 FRI (b09kt44m)
Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered
19:00 SAT (b04n6scp)
Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered
01:35 SAT (b04n6scp)
Victoria Wood: Seen on TV
20:30 SUN (b00pl74d)
Victoria Wood: Seen on TV
01:00 SUN (b00pl74d)
Victoria: A Royal Love Story
21:00 TUE (b00rl81c)
Walt Disney
20:00 THU (b08605f7)
Walt Disney
21:00 THU (b0872yqs)
Walt Disney
01:00 THU (b08605f7)
Walt Disney
02:00 THU (b0872yqs)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b09kkkdk)