B4

RADIO-LISTS: BBC FOUR
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/

SATURDAY 07 APRIL 2018

SAT 19:00 Insect Worlds (b01r9097)
Them and Us

Steve Backshall explores the connections and relationship that we have with insects and other arthropods. In Kenya, huge armies of driver ants give houses a five-star clean-up, and in China, we discover how silkworm caterpillars have shaped our culture and distribution. While locusts devastate crops in Africa, bees and beetles across the world provide a key link in our food chains. Many of us perceive these animals merely as creepy crawlies and nothing more than a nuisance, but as Steve reveals, we couldn't live without them.

SAT 19:30 Commonwealth Games Extra (b09ytttt)
Gold Coast 2018

Day Three- 07/04/18

Further coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games from Gold Coast, with extended highlights of gymnastics.

SAT 21:00 Below the Surface (b095swd2)
Series 1

Episode 7

Philip refuses to reveal to Hans how he knows one of the hostage takers, forcing Hans to assume command of the team, until chief of staff Palle Wulff arrives to provide the confidential information which also reveals to Philip that he himself has been betrayed. As the hostage takers begin to show the strain Hans decides that the time has come for action.

In Danish and English with English subtitles.

SAT 21:45 Below the Surface (b095swdc)
Series 1

Episode 8

Philip complies with Mark's demand that he goes down in the lift to ensure the safety of the remaining hostages. Mark rings Louise to arrange for the transfer of the ransom money.

In Danish and English with Danish subtitles.

SAT 22:30 Top of the Pops (b09xzvbs)
Peter Powell and Dixie Peach present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 15 August 1985. Featuring UB40 with Chrissie Hynde, Madonna, The Cars, Kate Bush and Billy Idol.

SAT 23:00 Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity (b054v27d)
In the early 1980s, Culture Club was one of the biggest bands in the world, selling 150 million records worldwide. Formed in London, the band was comprised of Boy George on vocals, Mikey Craig on bass, Roy Hay on guitar and keyboards and Jon Moss on drums. As well as their UK success, the band was huge in the USA - notching up ten top 40 hits. Being part of Band Aid cemented them as stalwarts of the 80s, a band that broke down barriers and left a huge legacy for the stars that came later, before they disbanded in 1986.

However, they are a band with a past as colourful as their music. George had a secret affair with his drummer Jon Moss and when they acrimoniously split, the band fell apart and George descended into heroin addiction. Over the years there have been numerous failed attempts to reunite the band.

In 2014 Culture Club decided to come back together to record a new album and embark on a UK and US tour. Director Mike Nicholls has unique access, following the band as they first meet in George's London home to write new material. However, it's not long before creative differences and tensions from their past begin to emerge. Faultlines develop further when the band travel to Spain to record the new album, spending two weeks working and living together in a remote recording studio.

As the band return to London to prepare for the tour, they suffer a Twitter mauling after their first big public performance on Strictly Come Dancing. Relations are even more strained when George and the band sign to separate managers and a sudden illness threatens the whole reunion.

The film looks at the band's troubled past, examining the themes of success, fame and ego, and reveals the personalities behind one of the most iconic bands of all time.

SAT 00:00 Young Guns Go for It (b0077pc6)
Series 1

Bananarama

In the aftermath of the punk era, three girls decided on a career in pop music - they called themselves Bananarama and became one of the most successful British girl groups ever. Original members Siobhan Fahey, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, plus Pete Waterman, Malcolm McLaren and Terry Hall reflect on how the girls became stars and how they almost lost their friendships in the process.

SAT 00:30 The Man who Brought the Blues to Britain: Big Bill Broonzy (p01kc82z)
Big Bill Broonzy would inspire a generation of musicians, yet he was not the man they believed him to be. This first, very intimate, biography of the pioneering bluesman uncovers the mystery of who Broonzy really was and follows his remarkable and colourful journey from the racist Deep South to the clubs of Chicago and all across the world. With contributions from: Pete Seeger, Ray Davies, Keith Richards, Martin Carthy, John Renbourn and members of the Broonzy family. Broonzy's own words are read by Clarke Peters.

SAT 01:30 John Williams at the BBC (b073mrky)
Fifty years of spellbinding performances from one of the guitar's greatest players, John Williams. Gold from the BBC's archive that takes in classical masterworks, the prog rock of Sky and comedy with Eric Sykes, as well as duets with fellow guitar maestro Julian Bream.

SAT 02:30 50s Britannia (b01skxpp)
Trad Jazz Britannia

Documentary telling the story of Britain's postwar infatuation with old New Orleans jazz. With rare 78rpm imports as their only guide, a generation of amateur jazz enthusiasts including Humphrey Lyttelton and Chris Barber created a traditional jazz scene that strove to recreate the essence and freedom of 1920s New Orleans in 1950s Britain.

While British youth jived in smoky dives, the music itself was beset by arguments of authenticity. Begging to differ with the source material, Ken Colyer embarked on a pilgrimage to New Orleans in search of the real deal while a larger ideological war raged between mouldy figs and dirty boppers- traditional and modern jazz fans. As its popularity grew, commercial forces descended and a 'trad' boom sent the purists running for cover at the turn of the decade - the first and last time New Orleans jazz became British pop.

Featuring Acker Bilk, Chris Barber and previously unseen interviews with Humphrey Lyttelton and George Melly.

SUNDAY 08 APRIL 2018

SUN 19:00 Only Connect (b09ynh71)
Series 13

Detectives v Vikings

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

Two teams of round-three losers return for a last chance to make the semi-finals. They compete to find the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random. So join Victoria Coren Mitchell if you want to know what connects Railway, Lonely, Little wheel and Twenty-one.

SUN 19:30 University Challenge (b09yn6t6)
2017/18

Episode 34

It is the last of the quarter-finals and one more team make it through to the semi-final stage of the quiz for students. Jeremy Paxman asks the questions.

SUN 20:00 Commonwealth Games Extra (b09yndfl)
Gold Coast 2018

Day Four- 08/04/18

Further coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games from Gold Coast, with extended highlights of bowls and table tennis.

SUN 21:00 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (b09ynzy2)
2018

Highlights

Mark Radcliffe and Julie Fowlis present this year's prestigious awards ceremony from Belfast's Waterfront Hall. Live music is provided by Paul Brady, Eliza Carthy, Donal Lunny, Cara Dillon and more.

SUN 22:00 The Sky at Night (b09ynh9w)
Mars: Red and Dead?

Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Chris Lintott reveal the latest results from Nasa's Curiosity and Esa's ExoMars TGO missions that are attempting to find signs of life on Mars. Maggie visits the Airbus 'Mars Yard' to find out how the next lander heading to Mars is being built to survive the planet's incredibly hostile environment. And the team asks - if Mars is a dead planet, could the first life on Mars be humans? Chris talks to Andy Weir, author of The Martian, about whether a manned mission to Mars is just a fantasy.

SUN 22:30 Horizon (b077nl9f)
2016

The End of the Solar System

This is the story of how our solar system will be transformed by the ageing sun before coming to a spectacular end in about eight billion years. Astronomers can peer into the far future to predict how it will happen by analysing distant galaxies, stars and even planets in their final moments.

Horizon brings these predictions to life in a peaceful midwestern town that has a giant scale model of the solar system spread out all over the city. As it ages, the sun will bloat into a red giant star, swallowing planets... as well as half the town. The fate of the Earth itself hangs in the balance. How will the solar system end?

SUN 23:30 Conversations (p05rmlmn)
Michael Heseltine

Sean Curran talks to former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine about his life and political career.

SUN 00:30 How to Be Bohemian with Victoria Coren Mitchell (b05ywvtb)
Episode 1

In the opening episode, Victoria traces the story of the first bohemians. She begins in post-revolutionary Paris, where poverty-stricken, garret-dwelling artists and writers gained a reputation for loose living, colourful clothing and wild, naked parties. They revelled in the absurd - for example, one legendarily took his pet lobster for walks in the park. Here the archetype of the bohemian was born, immortalised later in Puccini's opera La Boheme. But were they trailblazing creatives or irritating posers? And is living outrageously a necessary step towards producing great art?

Victoria goes on to explore how bohemian subculture took root in Britain through the groundbreaking art, eccentricities and bad-boy behaviour of the Pre-Raphaelites. Dante Gabriel Rossetti cultivated his image as an oddball, keeping a menagerie including a much-loved wombat. He caused a scandal when he became obsessively entangled with Janey Morris, wife of his friend, the designer William Morris. Victoria learns how bohemianism evolved into the dandy pose of aesthetes such as playwright Oscar Wilde and artist Aubrey Beardsley, whose explicit drawings intrigued and shocked the public in equal measure.

And she recounts how, most surprisingly, bohemian living found one of its greatest advocates in children's author Arthur Ransome who, long before Swallows and Amazons, wrote a whimsical traveller's guide to bohemian London.

Victoria's historical journey is given added resonance through her probing, highly entertaining encounters with a range of illuminating modern bohemians, including Stephen Fry, artists Grayson Perry and Maggi Hambling, pop star-turned-vicar and broadcaster Richard Coles, writer Will Self and drag artist Jonny Woo.

SUN 01:30 Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century (b07f2blk)
Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution

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

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

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

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

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

SUN 02:30 Horizon (b077nl9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:30 today]

MONDAY 09 APRIL 2018

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09yn67z)
Series 1

09/04/2018

Katty Kay in Washington and Christian Fraser in London return to report on the events that are shaping the world.

MON 19:30 Nature's Microworlds (b01lndd2)
Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay on California's coast is one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, its giant kelp forest bursting with life, from microscopic plankton to visiting ocean giants. The secret key to success in such a busy microworld is balance. Steve Backshall guides us through the unique geography of the bay and introduces some of its key characters in a quest to find the one species that keeps life in the kelp forest in check.

MON 20:00 Commonwealth Games Extra (b09yndw4)
Gold Coast 2018

Day Five- 09/04/18

Further coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games from Gold Coast, with extended highlights of squash and badminton.

MON 21:00 An Art Lovers' Guide (b09yndw6)
Series 2

Lisbon

In the first of a series of city adventures, Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke head to Lisbon, rapidly becoming one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations.

Winding through the city’s cobbled streets, from its steep hills to the picturesque shore line, the cultural riches they encounter reveal the city's fascinating history.

From a spectacular monument, to the maritime globetrotting of Portugal’s ‘golden age and the work of a photographer documenting the city's large African population, they discover a complex history of former glories and a darker, slave-trading past.

Their journey also uncovers the impact of twentieth century dictatorship on the city's artistic and cultural life, through the work of contemporary artists Paula Rego and Joana Vasconcelos.

And they discover how the city's location on the west coast of Europe, looking out to the Atlantic, has shaped the cosmopolitan spirit of the city: in one of the city's Fado clubs, Alastair and Nina enjoy the popular Portugese folk music, whose beautiful melodies celebrate a yearning for home, once sung by sailors dreaming of their return.

MON 22:00 David Hurn: A Life in Pictures (b0993mqr)
The world-renowned Magnum photographer David Hurn is Wales's most important living photographer. This year he is donating his archive to the National Museum Wales, alongside a unique collection of 700 photographs by other photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt and Dorothea Lange. It is a remarkable gift to the nation.

As Magnum Photos celebrates 70 years at the forefront of photojournalism, this film celebrates one of its longest-serving members and profiles David's extraordinary portfolio and bequest from a career spanning 60 years.

David has spent his whole career capturing moments in time. Now 83, the film shows him pursuing new goals in his photography, in Wales and abroad, and reunites him with actress Jane Fonda, 50 years after he photographed her on the film set of Barbarella. David's photographic career began when he photographed the Hungarian uprising against the Soviet state in 1956. His images were published in Picture Post. By the 60s he was one of London's leading young photographers. He took the iconic poster shot of Sean Connery as James Bond, was alongside The Beatles when they filmed A Hard Day's Night and was on set with Jane Fonda.

David was filmed for BBC's Monitor programme by his friend Ken Russell and was at the epicentre of a creative circle including fellow photographers Sir Don McCullin and Philip Jones Griffiths.

David reflects on this dynamic group, his younger self and that period in his life when he was at the heart of the Swinging Sixties.

MON 22:40 Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum Photos (b095vnk0)
From the day it was created in 1947, Magnum Photos has represented some of the most famous names in photography whose pictures have come to define their times. But Magnum's work also includes more surprising images - pictures of cinema. This film recounts this remarkable collaboration - from Robert Capa's photographs of Ingrid Bergman and Eve Arnold's intimate relationship with Marilyn Monroe through to Paolo Pellegrin's portraits of Kate Winslet, providing an essential history of both cinema and photography.

MON 23:35 Dan Cruickshank: At Home with the British (b07c645b)
The Cottage

We would all love to live in a cottage. It is the national fantasy - thatch on the roof, roses over the door, fire in the grate. Dan is in Stoneleigh in the beautiful Warwickshire countryside. The village has barely changed in 500 years, its cottages perfectly preserved. But even better, there is a treasure trove of documents in the local abbey which reveal centuries of daily life in extraordinary detail. Whether it is the pub owner fined for serving poor beer, the widow told to pay for her new home with her best chicken, or the first glass windows in the village, this film charts the cottage's transformation from humble medieval hovel to modern dream home.

MON 00:35 Top of the Pops (b08d7y3l)
John Peel and David Jensen present the weekly look at the pop charts, from March 1983. Featuring OMD, Bananarama, Patti Austin and James Ingram, and Michael Jackson.

MON 01:10 Top of the Pops (b08d80f8)
Tony Blackburn and Gary Davies present the weekly chart show, first broadcast on 17 March 1983. Featuring Bananarama, The Style Council, Ultravox, Joan Armatrading, Bonnie Tyler and Bucks Fizz.

MON 01:40 Nature's Microworlds (b01lndd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]

MON 02:10 An Art Lovers' Guide (b09yndw6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

TUESDAY 10 APRIL 2018

TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09yn686)
Series 1

10/04/2018

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

TUE 19:30 Nature's Microworlds (b01lycdq)
Okavango

Steve Backshall tries to discover just what makes it possible for a river to stop in the middle of a desert. The Okavango is the world's largest inland delta and home to one of Africa's greatest congregations of wildlife, and in asking the difficult questions Steve reveals the astounding secret to its existence.

TUE 20:00 Commonwealth Games Extra (b09ynflr)
Gold Coast 2018

Day Six- 10/04/18

Another chance to catch up with today's action from the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, with highligts of road cycling.

TUE 21:00 The Story of the Jews (b03b4q95)
Among Believers

Simon Schama's epic series continues with the story of medieval Jews struggling to preserve their identity - and sometimes their lives - under the rule of Christianity and Islam.

Whether labelled 'Christ-killers' by the Christians or 'dhimmi' (non-Muslim citizens of an Islamic community) by the Muslims, diaspora Jews built new lives and invented new ways of being Jewish in exile in the face of discrimination, blood-libels and persecution interspersed with periods of tolerance, protection and peaceful co-existence.

Drawing on some of the extraordinary documents they left behind, this episode offers a vivid portrait of Jewish bankers, merchants, doctors, poets and artists flourishing in Lincoln, Cordoba, Venice and Cairo and tells the tragic story of their mass expulsion from Spain in 1492.

TUE 22:00 Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces (b046w5c1)
Towards an Architecture of Majesty

Royal palaces are the most magnificent buildings in our history. Often built to extraordinary levels of luxury and excess, they express the personalities of our kings and queens since 1066.

From the Tower of London to Hampton Court Palace, Dan Cruickshank reveals an extraordinary story of buildings, often fortified, that cemented the monarch's claim to the throne. Palaces reveal our monarchs like no other buildings - their taste for luxury, their fear of the mob, even their relationship with God. Palaces have been caught up in some of the most dramatic events in history - some survive in all their magnificence like Hampton Court while others have vanished from the surface of the earth as completely as if they'd never existed.

TUE 23:00 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War (p00yjy5r)
Trouble in the Family: 1337-1360

Dr Janina Ramirez explores the fallout of the longest and bloodiest divorce in history, when little England dared to take on the superpower France.

Edward III rips up the medieval rule book and crushes the flower of French knighthood at the Battle of Crecy with his low-born archers. His son, the Black Prince, conducts a campaign of terror, helping to bring France to her knees.

TUE 00:00 Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe (b00791y3)
A British Love Affair

Francesco da Mosto enters Tuscany and Umbria to look at the long love affair that Britain has had with the area. He learns how to be the perfect courtier in Urbino, goes grape harvesting in Chianti, discovers the romantic inspiration at the heart of Puccini's operas, travels to Assisi to find out why he was named after St Francis and takes Dame Maggie Smith on a sightseeing tour of Florence.

TUE 01:00 Top of the Pops (b08f1d8k)
John Peel and David Jensen present the weekly look at the pop charts, first broadcast on 23 March 1983. Featuring JoBoxers, David Bowie, Orange Juice, Altered Images, Duran Duran and David Joseph.

TUE 01:30 Top of the Pops (b08fsfy0)
Steve Wright and Richard Skinner present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 31 March 1983. Featuring New Order, The Style Council, Mari Wilson, U2, Kajagoogoo, Tracey Ullman and Duran Duran.

TUE 02:00 Secret Knowledge (b0376h9w)
Stradivarius and Me

The name of 17th-century violin maker Antonio Stradivari - or Stradivarius as he is usually known - is one that sends shivers down the spine of music lovers the world over. During his lifetime Stradivari made over 1,000 instruments, about 650 of which still survive. Their sound is legendary and for any violinist the opportunity to play one is a great privilege.

Clemency Burton-Hill indulges in her lifelong passion for the instrument as she explores the mysterious life and lasting influence of Stradivari - through four special violins on display at this summer's Stradivarius exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. She is joined by 2002 Young Musician of the Year winner Jennifer Pike to put some of the violins in the exhibition through their paces.

TUE 02:35 The Story of the Jews (b03b4q95)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

WEDNESDAY 11 APRIL 2018

WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09yn68c)
Series 1

11/04/2018

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

WED 19:30 Nature's Microworlds (b01m42rx)
Svalbard

In a revelatory look at Svalbard, the most northerly region in the series, Steve Backshall leaves no stone unturned as he unravels the secrets that lie covered in ice for most of each year. Svalbard is cold, dark and foreboding, yet it is home to the world's largest land predator and the most northerly population of large herbivore. But Steve discovers that the real secret to this place comes from a very different world.

WED 20:00 Commonwealth Games Extra (b09ynfyq)
Gold Coast 2018

Day Seven- 11/04/18

Another chance to catch up with today's action from the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, with highlights of netball and shooting.

WED 21:00 Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of Ecstasy (b09z8d01)
Professor Bettany Hughes investigates the story of Bacchus, god of wine, revelry, theatre and excess, travelling to Georgia, Jordan, Greece and Britain to discover his origins and his presence in the modern world, and explore how 'losing oneself' plays a vital role in the development of civilisation.

In this fascinating journey, Bettany begins in Georgia where she discovers evidence of the world's oldest wine production, and the role it may have played in building communities. In Athens, she reveals Bacchus's pivotal role in a society where his ecstatic worship was embraced by all classes, and most importantly women. On Cyprus, she uncovers startling parallels between Bacchus and Christ. Finally, Bettany follows the god's modern embrace in Nietzsche's philosophy, experimental theatre and the hedonistic hippie movement to conclude that, while this god of ecstasy is worthy of contemporary reconsideration, it is vital to heed the warning of the ancients - 'MEDEN AGAN' - nothing in excess.

WED 22:00 The Plantagenets (b03yr973)
Series 1

The Devil's Brood

Professor Robert Bartlett tells the extraordinary story of England's most dysfunctional, yet longest-ruling, royal dynasty. Henry II forges a mighty empire encompassing England and much of France. His sons, Richard the Lionheart and John, then turn on their father and each other, bringing the dynasty to the edge of annihilation.

WED 23:00 The Mayflower Pilgrims: Behind the Myth (b084fmgq)
Documentary exploring the Pilgrims' journey west across the Atlantic in the early 17th century. The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 has come to define the founding moment of America, celebrated each year at Thanksgiving. This drama documentary, based on governor William Bradford's extraordinary eye-witness account, reveals the grim truth behind their voyage across the Atlantic.

The Pilgrims' story has come to define the founding moment of America and all it stands for. It is remembered as a pious crusade aimed at founding a Puritan paradise. However, their journey from a harsh, often violent part of England to a colony assured of survival less than ten years later is also one of wealth, cruelty and entrepreneurial genius.

WED 00:00 Chef v Science: The Ultimate Kitchen Challenge (b0752bbd)
Materialist scientist Professor Mark Miodownik challenges two-Michelin-star chef Marcus Wareing to the ultimate cookery competition. Over the course of 90 minutes they cook up some of the nation's best-loved dishes, from starter to dessert, in a head-to-head contest to see who can create the most flavoursome food. Marcus has flair, passion, and experience, while Mark an understanding of cooking at the molecular level and access to state-of-the-art technology. Ultimately the question they will try to answer is this: is cooking a science or an art?

WED 01:30 Top of the Pops (b08fsgyp)
Simon Bates and Peter Powell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 7 April 1983. Featuring Dexys Midnight Runners, Culture Club, Joboxers, Twisted Sister, Michael Jackson, FR David, Nick Heyward, Big Country and David Bowie.

WED 02:00 Top of the Pops (b08gk6z6)
Gary Davies and Andy Peebles present another edition of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 14 April 1983. Featuring Sweet Dreams, Eurythmics, Bauhaus, Kissing the Pink, Sunfire, Kajagoogoo and David Bowie.

WED 02:30 Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of Ecstasy (b09z8d01)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THURSDAY 12 APRIL 2018

THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b09yn68y)
Series 1

12/04/2018

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

THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b09ynh9w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]

THU 20:00 Commonwealth Games Extra (b09yng6s)
Gold Coast 2018

Day Eight- 12/04/18

Another chance to catch up with today's action from the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, with highlights of beach volleyball.

THU 21:00 Putin, Russia and the West (b01bfwf1)
Democracy Threatens

Vladimir Putin, after eight years as president of Russia and four more as prime minister, is stubbornly holding on to power. He has announced his intention to return as president and declared his party the winner in parliamentary elections that are widely seen as fraudulent. In Moscow 100,000 protesters have taken to the streets in the largest demonstrations since Putin took office.

Putin began his career as a KGB spy but when he became president, he made himself a valued ally of the West. How did he do it? And what made Washington and London turn against him?

The second episode includes an extraordinary interview with former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, who was widely thought to be responsible for murder, corruption and sanctions-busting. He tells how, in the 2004 election, he set about getting his chosen successor elected president - with the help of Putin and his Kremlin advisers.

The opposition candidate, Victor Yushchenko, tells what it was like to be poisoned during the election campaign. It won him many voters and exit polls gave him a clear lead, but the Putin/Kuchma-backed candidate was still declared the winner. This result sparked the Orange Revolution.

Kremlin officials tell how they made sure that Putin would not face a similar revolution at home. It is claimed critics of Putin, including the British ambassador, were intimidated and some were even murdered. Tens of thousands of young Russians were mobilised to fight the threat of democracy.

THU 22:00 Law and Order (b00jf36j)
A Detective's Tale

A play about the law: those who keep it, those who break it and those who live off it. A Detective's Tale tells the detective's view of a crime.

THU 23:20 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r7hk5)
1975-79

A romp through the BBC archive library from 1975 to 1979 has unearthed some seldom-seen performances of the rarely explored genre of pub rock and other late 70s rock 'n' roll gems from classic music programmes like the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Before the DIY culture of punk took hold there was a whole breed of real musicians who honed their craft in the backrooms of pubs. And towards the end of the 70s men's hair was starting to get shorter too.

This compilation has uncovered rarely seen footage from the likes of Canvey Island's Dr Feelgood, original pub rockers Ducks DeLuxe, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Elvis Costello, Meal Ticket, Steve Gibbons Band, Dave Edmunds and chum Nick Lowe, a pre-Mike & the Mechanics' Paul Carrack in his first band Ace, a post-Faces Ronnie Lane, The Motors, the first TV performance from Dire Straits, Graham Parker and the Rumour and many more.

THU 00:20 Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown (b01qkvxr)
File under: Rock

Exploring the essential elements of a great rock album, Danny Baker celebrates the golden age of the analogue, vinyl LP with rock fan Jeremy Clarkson, the Smiths' producer Stephen Street and writer Kate Mossman. With a passionate, fan's-eye view, Baker and his guests select their favourite rock albums and discuss how the LPs of the 60s and 70s were produced - and enjoyed - in quite a different way to their modern equivalents.

THU 01:20 Putin, Russia and the West (b01bfwf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

THU 02:20 The Brontes at the BBC (b075dwrd)
An exploration of the BBC's long love affair with the lives and works of the Bronte sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne. For over half a century, the ill-fated literary dynasty has proved irresistible to drama and documentary makers alike, keen to reinvent their novels for new audiences. So we get Bronte heroines reimagined for each emerging generation, first as classic 1950s housewife material, then wild child '60s 'chicks', Gothic waifs and, finally, empowered modern women. The Bronte males, meanwhile, are restyled as assorted prigs, wife-beaters, even brooding prog rockers and, of course, wouldn't you know it, new men. Wonderful stuff.

FRIDAY 13 APRIL 2018

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b09yn699)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

FRI 19:30 BBC Young Musician (b09yngh8)
2018

Percussion Category Final

Percussionist Joby Burgess joins Josie d'Arby as the competition continues with the multi-instrumentalists in the percussion category final of BBC Young Musician 2018.

Since it was first held in 1978, BBC Young Musician has showcased the UK's brightest and best musical talent. The young musicians in the percussion category hoping to earn a place in the overall semi-final are: 18-year-old Tom Hall; Toril Azzalini-Machecler from Horsham who is 16; from Devon, 17-year-old Meadow Brooks; 15-year-old Alexander Pullen; and 17-year-old Matthew Brett from Crewe, a category finalist from two years ago.

The five finalists need to impress the panel of judges: chair of the jury composer Kerry Andrew is joined by Bulgarian-born Daniella Ganeva, a pioneer of solo percussion and one of the finest marimba artists of our time, and Owen Gunnell, a BBC Young Musician finalist who has gone on to have a successful and varied career with performances all over the world.

With extensive performance highlights, the programme goes behind the scenes as the five finalists bring modern repertoire to life on stage at the brand new concert hall in the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. There's even a world premiere with a piece by British composer Jan Bradley especially for one of tonight's competitors.

The competition continues weekly on BBC Four, as 25 of the UK's most talented young musicians compete in the strings, percussion, woodwind, brass and keyboard finals. The winners will take their place in the semi-final and compete for a chance to perform in the grand final at Birmingham's Symphony Hall with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Wigglesworth. One will be named BBC Young Musician 2018.

FRI 21:00 Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark (b0446mwz)
Nat King Cole was the only black television star in Hollywood at a time when America groaned under the weight of racial segregation and prejudice. Yet he possessed a natural talent so great that these issues were seemingly swept to one side to allow him to become one of the greatest jazz icons of all time. However, behind closed doors those around him were trying to think of a way to package him as something he was not: bi-white.

This candid account of what really happened in and around his 'fairytale' life is taken from his private journals, interviews with his widow Maria and contributions from other family members, Tony Bennett, Buddy Greco, Harry Belafonte, Nancy Wilson, Sir Bruce Forsyth, George Benson, Aaron Neville, Johnny Mathis and many more.

Featuring archive never seen before, it reveals Nat King Cole's feelings behind his ultimate calling as a 'beacon of hope' to the legions of the oppressed.

FRI 22:30 The Joy of the Guitar Riff (b049mtxw)
The guitar riff is the DNA of rock 'n' roll, a double helix of repetitive simplicity and fiendish complexity on which its history has been built. From Chuck Berry through to The White Stripes, this documentary traces the ebb and flow of the guitar riff over the last 60 years of popular music. With riffs and stories from an all-star cast including Brian May, Dave Davies, Hank Marvin, Joan Jett, Nile Rodgers, Tony Iommi, Robert Fripp, Johnny Marr, Nancy Wilson, Kevin Shields, Ryan Jarman, Tom Morello and many more. Narrated by Lauren Laverne.

FRI 23:30 Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll (b01r7hk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:20 on Thursday]

FRI 00:30 Cilla at the BBC (b067543w)
Much-mourned national treasure Cilla Black commenced her eminent career as a TV host in 1968 on the BBC. Her career as perhaps the nation's favourite female pop singer of the decade had already been established after landing her first Number 1 with Anyone Who Had a Heart, the biggest-selling hit by a female singer in the 1960s.

This tribute compilation celebrates the BBC's coverage of Cilla's 60s pop star years on programmes like Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Not Only...But Also, The Ken Dodd Show, Top of the Pops and The Royal Variety Performance, before selecting just some of the golden moments from the long-running self-titled series she hosted for the BBC between 1968 and 1976 including the Paul McCartney-penned theme song Step Inside Love and that 1973 famous duet with Marc Bolan on Life's A Gas.

FRI 01:30 Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC (b049mtxy)
Compilation of BBC performances featuring some of the best axe men and women in rock 'n' roll, from Hendrix to The Kinks, Cream to AC/DC, The Smiths to Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead to Foo Fighters. Whether it is The Shadows playing FBI on Crackerjack, Jeff Beck with The Yardbirds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream's Sunshine of Your Love from their final gig, Pixies on the Late Show, AC/DC on Top of the Pops or Fools Gold from The Stone Roses, this compilation is a celebration of rock 'n' roll guitar complete with riffs, fingerstylin', wah-wah pedals and Marshall amps.

FRI 02:30 Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark (b0446mwz)
[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)

50s Britannia 02:30 SAT (b01skxpp)

An Art Lovers' Guide 21:00 MON (b09yndw6)

An Art Lovers' Guide 02:10 MON (b09yndw6)

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 21:00 SUN (b09ynzy2)

BBC Young Musician 19:30 FRI (b09yngh8)

Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of Ecstasy 21:00 WED (b09z8d01)

Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of Ecstasy 02:30 WED (b09z8d01)

Below the Surface 21:00 SAT (b095swd2)

Below the Surface 21:45 SAT (b095swdc)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 MON (b09yn67z)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 TUE (b09yn686)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 WED (b09yn68c)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 THU (b09yn68y)

Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity 23:00 SAT (b054v27d)

Chef v Science: The Ultimate Kitchen Challenge 00:00 WED (b0752bbd)

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War 23:00 TUE (p00yjy5r)

Cilla at the BBC 00:30 FRI (b067543w)

Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum Photos 22:40 MON (b095vnk0)

Commonwealth Games Extra 19:30 SAT (b09ytttt)

Commonwealth Games Extra 20:00 SUN (b09yndfl)

Commonwealth Games Extra 20:00 MON (b09yndw4)

Commonwealth Games Extra 20:00 TUE (b09ynflr)

Commonwealth Games Extra 20:00 WED (b09ynfyq)

Commonwealth Games Extra 20:00 THU (b09yng6s)

Conversations 23:30 SUN (p05rmlmn)

Dan Cruickshank: At Home with the British 23:35 MON (b07c645b)

Danny Baker's Great Album Showdown 00:20 THU (b01qkvxr)

David Hurn: A Life in Pictures 22:00 MON (b0993mqr)

Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe 00:00 TUE (b00791y3)

Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC 01:30 FRI (b049mtxy)

Horizon 22:30 SUN (b077nl9f)

Horizon 02:30 SUN (b077nl9f)

How to Be Bohemian with Victoria Coren Mitchell 00:30 SUN (b05ywvtb)

Insect Worlds 19:00 SAT (b01r9097)

John Williams at the BBC 01:30 SAT (b073mrky)

Law and Order 22:00 THU (b00jf36j)

Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces 22:00 TUE (b046w5c1)

Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark 21:00 FRI (b0446mwz)

Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark 02:30 FRI (b0446mwz)

Nature's Microworlds 19:30 MON (b01lndd2)

Nature's Microworlds 01:40 MON (b01lndd2)

Nature's Microworlds 19:30 TUE (b01lycdq)

Nature's Microworlds 19:30 WED (b01m42rx)

Only Connect 19:00 SUN (b09ynh71)

Putin, Russia and the West 21:00 THU (b01bfwf1)

Putin, Russia and the West 01:20 THU (b01bfwf1)

Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century 01:30 SUN (b07f2blk)

Secret Knowledge 02:00 TUE (b0376h9w)

The Brontes at the BBC 02:20 THU (b075dwrd)

The Joy of the Guitar Riff 22:30 FRI (b049mtxw)

The Man who Brought the Blues to Britain: Big Bill Broonzy 00:30 SAT (p01kc82z)

The Mayflower Pilgrims: Behind the Myth 23:00 WED (b084fmgq)

The Plantagenets 22:00 WED (b03yr973)

The Sky at Night 22:00 SUN (b09ynh9w)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (b09ynh9w)

The Story of the Jews 21:00 TUE (b03b4q95)

The Story of the Jews 02:35 TUE (b03b4q95)

Top of the Pops 22:30 SAT (b09xzvbs)

Top of the Pops 00:35 MON (b08d7y3l)

Top of the Pops 01:10 MON (b08d80f8)

Top of the Pops 01:00 TUE (b08f1d8k)

Top of the Pops 01:30 TUE (b08fsfy0)

Top of the Pops 01:30 WED (b08fsgyp)

Top of the Pops 02:00 WED (b08gk6z6)

Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll 23:20 THU (b01r7hk5)

Totally British: 70s Rock 'n' Roll 23:30 FRI (b01r7hk5)

University Challenge 19:30 SUN (b09yn6t6)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b09yn699)

Young Guns Go for It 00:00 SAT (b0077pc6)