SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018
SAT 19:00 Earth's Greatest Spectacles (b0717vkv)
Okavango
Set in three of the most seasonally changeable landscapes on earth - Svalbard, Okavango and New England - this series showcases the stunning transformations that occur each year, revealing the unique processes behind them and showing how wildlife has adapted to cope with the changes. Narrated by Domhnall Gleeson.
The Okavango Delta is one of the world's largest inland deltas, and it supports a variety of life as rich as any you will see in Africa. Yet this lush wetland of islands and lagoons lies in the middle of the vast, featureless Kalahari Desert. This is the story of how it happens. Following groups of wildlife, including hippos, baboons, catfish, kingfishers, leopards, warthogs and elephants, the film reveals how the yearly flood transforms the landscape and impacts their lives. But more surprisingly, it reveals how, with the help of termites and hippos, the flood actually creates this extraordinary delta in the first place.
SAT 20:00 Wonders of the Monsoon (p026glmp)
Waiting for the Rains
From India to Australia, all life awaits the transforming power of the monsoon rains.
Our story begins in the southern extreme of the monsoon region, northern Australia. It is the end of the dry season and 300,000 little red flying foxes gather to drink. They skim the river, collecting water on their bodies, but they run the gauntlet of Australian freshwater crocodiles that launch out of the water to catch them.
The sun-baked continent causes hot air to rise, sucking moist monsoon winds in from the coast and dramatic electrical storms herald the first rains.
A frilled lizard wakes from his torpor to hunt insects, displaying his startling frills to defend his territory.
On Christmas Island, the rains trigger an amazing spectacle - millions of red crabs migrate from the forest to the coast in order to spawn. Whilst they wait for rain, a mother Sumatran orangutan guides her youngster to where she knows a fig tree fruits at this time of year.
Across the region, the dependability of the monsoon has been the foundation for great civilisations. But the vast ruins of Angkor in Cambodia bear testament to what can happen when monsoons fail.
The Indian monsoon approaches. In the Delhi stock exchange, the price of rice escalates every day the rains fail to materialise. In an ancient ceremony, priests submerge themselves in water and beseech Varuna, god of water, to come.
At a shrinking waterhole, chital deer gather nervously. This is the most dangerous time of year. A tiger is bearing down on them, and not all will live to see the revitalising rains.
Peacocks begin to display as they sense the monsoon coming. On the horizon, bubbling clouds are approaching. The first drops of the monsoon appear on the parched ground - at last the monsoon is here.
SAT 21:00 Hidden (b0b98wf6)
Series 1
Episode 6
The investigation leads DI Cadi John to Gladwell Prison where Endaf Elwy has spent over a decade locked away for the murder of his young niece, Anna Williams. On seeing Endaf, Cadi's suspicion that an innocent man has been wrongly accused is confirmed. DS Owen Vaughan comes to realise that Megan Ruddock has become the serial kidnapper's latest victim, and Megan comes to see that she may have an unlikely ally in Dylan's young daughter, Nia.
SAT 22:00 A Life on Screen (b06t3vfw)
Stephen Fry
In this documentary, Stephen Fry tells the story behind his success, after presenting the Baftas for more than ten years.
With an outstanding career in film and television which began with a chance meeting with comedy partner Hugh Laurie at Cambridge, he went on to create the outrageous Melchett in Blackadder and has become a firm favourite on BBC2 with the quite interesting quiz QI.
Featuring a supporting cast of friends, including interviews with Michael Sheen, Hugh Laurie and Alan Davies.
SAT 23:00 Roy Orbison: Love Hurts (b09j0r8s)
Roy Orbison died 29 years ago but he's hardly forgotten. As one of rock 'n' roll's pioneers he achieved superstar status in the 60s, writing and releasing a series of smash singles such as Oh, Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely, In Dreams and Crying. But while his professional life was full of triumph, Roy suffered terrible misfortune in his personal life, losing his wife and two of his children in successive tragedies, rebuilding his life by relying on his music to distract him from desolation.
Roy's legacy as a beloved rock legend and a devoted father is revealed through intimate interviews with Roy's three surviving sons, featuring previously unseen home videos as Alex, Roy Jnr and Wesley Orbison discuss the immense talent and fierce determination that provided the driving force behind their father's incredible success and the dedication to Roy's family that helped create a strong spiritual base to escape the pressures of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.
This is the personal story of the relationship between three children and their father; a father who died when they were young, and who they have reconnected with and come to understand through embracing his life's work. It is not often that one gets to understand the person who is the music phenomenon, but in this film about relationships, family, love, loss and affirmation, we get to see the man behind the ever-present dark sunglasses and brooding loner persona, witnessing his struggle with personal demons, and ultimately redemption and acknowledgement from his peers.
SAT 00:00 Top of the Pops (b0bb2ttg)
John Peel and Janice Long present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 2 January 1986. Featuring A-Ha, Paul McCartney, Level 42, Bronski Beat, Sophia George, Shakin' Stevens, Elton John, Jennifer Rush and Sting.
SAT 00:30 Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland (b0bb2pyf)
Series 1
Episode 2
Two 80s icons explore the distinct sounds that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in one of pop's golden decades.
Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox and one of the men behind Band Aid, and Kim Appleby, who had a string of hits with her sister Mel in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced band Mel and Kim, go on a journey back in time to the 80s to figure out why certain cities produced their own diverse tunes.
It's a fascinating tale. Emerging from the ashes of punk, British and Irish music ripped up the pop rule book in the 80s and topped the charts worldwide. But there was no definitive 'British' pop sound. Innovative chart-toppers were being produced by artists hailing from all over the UK and Ireland.
In this second episode, Midge and Kim explore the sounds that came from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. They start in Glasgow with the American influences that shaped a substantial part of Scottish music, look at the punk and folk backdrop to Irish music and, finally, delve into the Welsh merger of folk and punk.
The show features evocative archive, superb music and interviews with significant figures, like Bob Geldof, Clare Grogan from Altered Images, Pat Kane from Hue and Cry, Moya Brennan of Clannad and Mike Peters from legendary Welsh band The Alarm.
SAT 01:30 The Girl from Ipanema: Brazil, Bossa Nova and the Beach (b07mlkzl)
Documentary in which Katie Derham travels to Rio de Janeiro (where her father was born) to explore the story behind Brazil's most famous and enduring song. Written in 1962 by Antonio Carlos Jobim with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes, and a later English translation by Norman Gimbel, The Girl from Ipanema defines the moment Brazil charmed the world with a laid-back song about a haunting woman.
It's a vibrant musical journey to the stunning beaches, majestic mountains and buzzy clubs of Rio, where Katie meets key musicians and architects of bossa nova, including Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Joyce, Daniel Jobim and Marcos Valle, witnesses intimate musical performances, and uncovers the genesis and story behind Brazil's most successful musical export.
The Girl from Ipanema is quintessential bossa nova and tracing its roots reveals the fascinating story of this unique musical style. Invented by a gang of young bohemians in Rio in the late 50s, bossa grew into a 60s phenomenon, especially in the US where it became a youth craze and later a significant part of the modern jazz repertoire. The Girl from Ipanema, as sung by Astrud Gilberto with sax from Stan Getz, went top five in the US and became a major international hit in 1964.
Nothing sums up Rio as well as the simple and seductive lyrics to The Girl from Ipanema. What better way to get to understand the city, its people and its mid-60s zeitgeist than through its most famous song?
SAT 02:30 Wonders of the Monsoon (p026glmp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SAT 03:30 Top of the Pops (b0bb2ttg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
00:00 today]
SUNDAY 15 JULY 2018
SUN 19:00 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.
SUN 19:30 BBC Proms (b0bbmh5s)
2018
BBC Young Musician at 40
A star-studded line-up of BBC Young Musician winners and finalists, including Nicola Benedetti, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Emma Johnson, come together to celebrate the competition's fortieth anniversary.
BBC Young Musician has been a launch pad for the careers of young artists since it began in 1978, and the list of performers that have taken part reads like a who's who of British musicians. Over 20 of the competition's leading names join forces for an evening celebrating the competition's rich history, including Michael Collins, Nicholas Daniel, Natalie Clein as well as some of the rising stars of recent years: Laura van der Heijden, Martin James Bartlett and the current title-holder Lauren Zhang.
Presented by Clemency Burton-Hill and Josie d'Arby, the evening includes music by Saint-Saens, Ravel and Sir James MacMillan. There are also world premieres by David Bruce, Ben Foster and Iain Farrington, all with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Andrew Gourlay.
SUN 22:00 Frank Lloyd Wright: The Man Who Built America (b08ywgvm)
Frank Lloyd Wright is probably America's greatest ever architect. But few people know about the Welsh roots that shaped his life and world-famous buildings. Now, leading Welsh architect Jonathan Adams sets off across America to explore Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces for himself. Along the way, he uncovers the tempestuous life story of the man behind them and the secrets of his radical Welsh background.
In a career spanning seven decades, Frank Lloyd Wright built over 500 buildings and changed the face of modern architecture. Fallingwater, the house over the waterfall, has been called the greatest house of the 20th century. The spiralling Guggenheim Museum in New York reinvented the art museum.
Wright's Welsh mother was born and raised near Llandysul in west Wales, and emigrated to America with her family in 1844. Her son Frank was raised in a Unitarian community in Wisconsin. The values he absorbed there were based on a love of nature, the importance of hard work and the need to question convention and defy it where necessary. Wright's architecture was shaped by these beliefs. He built his lifelong home in the valley he was raised in, and he named it after an ancient Welsh bard - Taliesin. It was the scene of many adventures and of a horrific crime. In 1914, a servant at Taliesin ran amok and killed seven people. They included Wright's partner Mamah Cheney and her two young children.
150 years after his birth, Adams argues that Frank Lloyd Wright is now a vitally important figure who can teach us how to build for a better world. Wright's belief in what he called organic architecture - buildings that grace the landscape and respond to people's individual needs - is more relevant than ever, in Wales and around the world.
SUN 23:00 Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (b0853mvq)
Episode 1
Documentary series featuring dramatic reconstruction in which Lucy Worsley revisits key events in the lives of Henry VIII's six wives, revealing how each attempted to exert influence on the king and the Tudor court. Lucy delves into records of private moments and personal feelings in the women's lives that ended up shaping the course of history.
This episode follows the emotional and physical struggles of Catherine of Aragon as she strove to give Henry the male heir he so desired. As Henry's eye wandered over the women at court, Anne Boleyn, not wishing to be cast aside as her sister Mary had been, repeatedly rejected the king's advances and insisted on marriage.
Henry set about trying to arrange an annulment, but Catherine was defiant and passionately defended her position.
SUN 00:00 The Art That Made Mexico: Paradise, Power and Prayers (b09jj0k0)
Series 1
Prayer
In this final episode, Alinka explores how faith has always driven life in Mexico, and how the need for a visual image created a unique blend of Mesoamerican and Catholic faith.
Artists were kept close to the elites in Mexico's ancient civilisations to depict the deities that were the foundations of the society's structures and beliefs. Gods and goddesses were created in the mind's eye of millions, who in turn worshipped the imagery that the artists provided.
When the Spanish imposed Catholicism, the notion of venerating the divine using iconography already existed. And in some of Mexico's most spectacular art, iconography incorporating both Mesoamerican and Catholic belief can be found. This unique hybridity could only exist in Mexico, where art has long been crucial to the personal relationship between believer and the divine. Ex-votos paintings are offerings of thanks to saints and expressions of devotion. They have long been the preserve of poor and rural Mexicans, and depict very personal situations.
Today, one artist is pushing the boundaries of belief, incorporating symbols of secular culture and consumerism with religious iconography. Even as the power of the church wains in Mexico, religious imagery can still be found everywhere.
SUN 01:00 David Starkey's Music and Monarchy (b038n7gd)
Reinventions
Dr David Starkey's exploration of how the monarchy shaped Britain's music concludes with the 19th and 20th centuries, when the crown rediscovered the power of pageantry and ceremony and when native music experienced a renaissance.
David discovers the royal origins of such classics as Edward Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory, Hubert Parry's I Was Glad and William Walton's Crown Imperial, as well as finding out how the 20th century's coronations - culminating in the crowning of Elizabeth II - cemented the repertory of royal classics in the hearts of the British people. He hears music written by Queen Victoria's beloved Albert, Prince Consort, played for him in Buckingham Palace on a lavish golden piano which was bought by Victoria and Albert themselves. There are also specially recorded performances from St Paul's Cathedral Choir and Westminster Abbey and of works by Felix Mendelssohn, Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford and Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as Hubert Parry's classic Jerusalem.
David uncovers a rarely seen, diamond-encrusted conductor's baton that was a gift from Queen Victoria to her private organist, Sir Walter Parratt. He also recounts the duets sung by Italian opera composer Gioacchino Rossini with George IV in his decadent pleasure palace, the Brighton Pavilion, and visits the Royal College of Music in London and St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, both of which played a crucial role in the revival of British music.
SUN 02:00 Peter York's Hipster Handbook (b081v950)
Eminent social commentator Peter York seeks to understand what he sees as the modern obsession with 'the authentic'. He speaks to craftspeople and expert commentators on his journey to understand the current cultural moment. He also examines where the label of the 'hipster' has its roots and whether it is too general a term for such a broad movement. He demonstrates through his years of marketing and advertising experience that subcultures have always been absorbed and repackaged by the mainstream.
Contributors include Times deputy fashion editor Harriet Walters, the Guardian architecture critic Oliver Wainwright, and Sir John Hegarty. Peter also travels to America to look at parallels between the UK and America.
SUN 03:00 Frank Lloyd Wright: The Man Who Built America (b08ywgvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 today]
MONDAY 16 JULY 2018
MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bb7s06)
Series 1
16/07/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
MON 19:30 The Pennine Way (b05sy1ym)
Episode 4
The wilderness of rural Northumberland awaits explorer Paul Rose on the last stage of his Pennine Way journey. Paul makes a remarkable discovery at the Roman archaeological dig at Vindolanda. He also finds out what lies beyond the red flags while on exercise with the Grenadier Guards and why Pennine Way walkers can have a magical experience in the dark skies capital of Europe.
MON 20:00 Nature's Miracle Orphans (b072fsml)
Series 2
Santino & Shelley
In Costa Rica, Patrick meets Santino, a baby howler monkey who was rescued after being kept by children as a pet. Carer Dexter helps him find his place in a wild monkey troop.
In South Africa, Lucy meets Shelley the cheetah, who was hand-reared after being rejected by her mum. Carer Christo must train her to hunt like a wild cheetah before he can set her free.
MON 21:00 The NHS: A People's History (b0bby26g)
Series 1
Episode 3
Alex Brooker continues to chart the history of the National Health Service via the treasured memories of patients and staff whose lives it has affected since its inception in 1948.
This episode covers 1997 to the present day and unveils a whole host of unique, highly personal artefacts. These include the homemade badges dedicated to the first surgeons to carry out gender reassignment surgery after it became available on the NHS, a nurse's uniform cherished since it was used in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics and teddy bears lovingly made from the clothes of Ellen Linstead, one of the victims of the notorious Mid-Staffordshire abuse scandal in 2006.
This is a period in which the ever-expanding and ever more diverse institution has grown unwieldy and almost impossibly expensive to manage. Budget cuts, privatisation and hospital closures have become commonplace - but the public aren't prepared to see it disappear without a fight.
Christine Wharrier and Peter Doyle wanted their NHS to keep pace with a society that no longer tolerated unequal conditions for men and women at work. They share the 'thank you' cards they were sent after they fought and won an extraordinary equal pay deal for female NHS employees, one of the biggest achieved in Europe at that time.
The programme meets Chidi Ejimofo, consultant in emergency medicine, as he unfurls the huge placard he has kept ever since he protested against closures at Lewisham Hospital. And Jonny Banger shares the prototype of the T-shirt he designed in support of the junior doctors' strike, inspired by the treatment his mum received on the NHS.
MON 22:00 Mackintosh: Glasgow’s Neglected Genius (b0b5ydcz)
Glasgow artist Lachlan Goudie examines the life, work and legacy of Scotland's most celebrated architect and designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh - the man Lachlan Goudie calls 'the greatest genius in the history of Scottish art'.
The film examines Mackintosh's iconic buildings, notably the Glasgow School of Art. Interwoven with his architecture, design and watercolours is the personal story of Mackintosh. Little known at home, his work found favour on the continent. In later years he struggled for work, and came to endure real poverty, but continued to create remarkable pieces of art.
MON 23:00 Rise of the Continents (p019bctl)
Africa
Geologist Prof Iain Stewart shows how the continent of Africa was formed from the wreckage of a long lost supercontinent.
MON 00:00 Rise of the Continents (p019bd2j)
Australia
Professor Iain Stewart uncovers the mysterious history of Australia, and shows how Australia's journey as a continent has affected everything from Aboriginal history to modern-day mining, and even the evolution of Australia's bizarre wildlife, like the koala.
Iain begins searching for the platypus - a strange creature that is half mammal and half reptile. 200 million years ago reptile-like mammals were found across much of the world because at this time Australia was just one part of a huge landmass called Gondwana, that dominated the southern hemisphere.
Piecing together evidence from fossils found in a sea cliff outside Sydney and rocks recovered from Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole, Professor Stewart shows that Gondwana was covered by a forest of now extinct trees called glossopteris. This was the habitat of the ancestors of today's platypus.
To discover the fate of Gondwana, Iain visits an unusual mining town called Coober Pedy where many of the buildings are underground in dug-out caves. The opals that are mined here enable him to recreate the breakup of Gondwana, and also show how Australia's formation led to the creation of a vast underground aquifer. This source of hidden water sustained the Aboriginal people as they criss-crossed the otherwise arid Australian interior.
Iain travels to the cliffs of the Australian Bight to show how Australia was once joined to Antarctica, and how their split led to the evolution of the biggest group of mammals on earth - the filter feeding whales.
Australia's journey away from Antarctica has also left its mark on the koala. Its big, round face and fluffy ears are a result of adaptations to the climate change that Australia has undergone on its northwards journey.
Finally Iain travels to Indonesia to meet the Bajau people of the Banda Sea - sea gypsies who glean almost all they need to live from the waters around them. Contained within these waters is evidence that shows Australia's eventual fate. Over the next 50 million years, Australia will collide with Asia, its isolation will be over, and it will become forested and lush once again.
MON 01:00 Scotland's Art Revolution: The Maverick Generation (b04bbfzt)
In summer 2014, Scotland was hosting one of the most ambitious celebrations of contemporary art ever staged. Featuring over 100 artists in 60 venues across the country, Generation shone a spotlight on one of the most phenomenal cultural stories of modern times - Scotland's transformation from a declining industrial powerhouse to an international centre of artistic creativity.
MON 02:00 Bricks! (b07w6hdm)
In 1976 Carl Andre's sculpture Equivalent VIII, better known as 'The Tate Bricks', caused a national outcry. 'What a Load of Rubbish' screamed the papers, 'it's not even art'. Worse still, in the midst of a severe economic depression, the Bricks were paid for with taxpayers' money. One man was so outraged he went to the Tate Gallery and threw blue food dye all over at them.
BBC Four marks the fortieth anniversary with award-winning director Clare Beavan's entertaining and revealing documentary looking back at the creation of the sculpture - which consists of 120 fire bricks - and the frenzied outcry that followed. With contributions from some of the key players involved at the time, as well as contemporary artists, historians and critics, Bricks! tells the tale of what happened when modern art and public opinion came up against a brick wall. Did Carl Andre's artwork pave the way for a greater appetite for conceptual art in Britain?
MON 03:00 The NHS: A People's History (b0bby26g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 17 JULY 2018
TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bb7s15)
Series 1
17/07/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
TUE 19:30 The Return of the Flying Scotsman (b073c7r0)
After a ten-year restoration, we follow the Flying Scotsman, the world's most famous steam engine, as it returns to the tracks.
It's a locomotive legend. Whether people are interested in steam engines or not, everybody seems to love the Scotsman; it's simply a national treasure. A steel celebrity, a media darling... and after a painstaking restoration that has cost over four million pounds, the Scotsman is finally coming home to York.
There is going to be a real welcome back for the 93-year-old engine with its inaugural run from King's Cross Station in London, pulling a trainload of enthusiasts and supporters 200 miles north on the mainline. It is a triumphant return to the museum - and to a city synonymous with steam.
We are on board the train for its final test runs on the East Lancashire Railway and the scenic Settle-Carlisle railway, across Ribblehead Viaduct, before climbing on board for the inaugural trip. With cameras on the footplate, we capture the exhilaration, the excitement and the sheer hard work required to keep Scotsman on the line.
We join the celebrations - talking to historians, fans and enthusiasts about the engine... and marvel at how the Flying Scotsman has captured the imagination of so many people across the world since it first came to life in Doncaster in 1923.
The programme is narrated by John Shrapnel.
TUE 20:00 Beach Live: Jurassic Coast Revealed (b0bbzk2y)
Series 1
Episode 1
This series comes live from the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, revealing the hidden treasures of British beaches. It hopes to inspire people to look beyond sandcastles and ice creams, and be motivated to discover more about Britain's fascinating and varied shoreline. Presented by historian Dan Snow, with wildlife experts Lucy Cooke and Niall Strawson.
From crabs and bats to owls and cormorants, this episode investigates how much wildlife is living on the beach. The strandline's hidden world of sandhoppers and seaweed is magnified, while specialist underwater cameras give a view of sharks and crabs lying deep in the ocean.
Dan Snow examines the royal origin of beach huts and sees how varied their use is in modern-day Britain. Lucy Cooke demonstrates how a humble mollusc helps to train racehorses in Devon. Niall Strawson is in charge of the Discovery Centre, where a panel of experts examine and assess the significance of beach finds from all over the country.
A crustacean experiment aims to work out whether mackerel or bacon is a crab's favourite meal, and Beach Live goes deep into the making of a rock pool. How do barnacles feed and how far does a limpet move? The 'how to' guide provides tips on how best to understand what makes a rock pool 'rock'.
Also, the creation of the unique geological make-up of the Jurassic Coast is seen through the medium of cake! Earth scientist Dr Anjana Khatwa talks Niall through the layers as seen from the sea.
Plus a retired couple who have become obsessed with the undulate rays that lurk on the seabed, and how their passion is changing scientific understanding.
The team hears from viewers all over the country: from the artefacts they have found to their weird wildlife photos, questions and comments.
TUE 21:00 Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema (b0bbn5x8)
Series 1
The Rom-Com
Five-part documentary series. Film critic Mark Kermode presents a fresh and very personal look at the art of cinema by examining the techniques and conventions behind some classic genres: romcoms, heist movies, coming-of-age stories, science fiction and horror. In each episode, Mark uncovers the ingredients needed to make a great genre film and keep audiences coming back for more. How do you stage, shoot and edit a gripping car chase or orchestrate the shock moment in a horror movie? What is the secret to sizzling on-screen chemistry?
Mark begins with one of the most popular genres of all. They are sometimes sneered at by critics, but from the 1930s to the present day, many of our most beloved movies have been romantic comedies.
From Bringing Up Baby and The Lady Eve by way of Annie Hall, When Harry Met Sally and Pretty Woman to Love, Actually (a particular Kermode favourite) - as well as recent hits such as The Big Sick and La La Land - Mark examines the cinematic tricks and techniques involved in creating a classic romcom.
Mark celebrates old favourites, reveals hidden treasures and springs plenty of surprises. Examining films from Hollywood to Bollywood via other gems of world cinema, he reminds us how, much like love itself, the art of the romantic comedy is international.
TUE 22:00 Move Over, Darling (b00ky4xq)
Having gone missing in a plane crash five years ago and presumed long dead, a woman returns home to her husband and two children to find the husband has just remarried...
TUE 23:45 Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream (b0851kfd)
Episode 2
Simon Sebag Montefiore tells the story of Vienna, triumphant after the Ottoman threat receded at the end of the 17th century. No longer an outpost defending the west from Islamic invaders, the imperial capital was to become the most glittering in the world. The Habsburg emperors transformed the city from a fortress into a great cultural capital. Vienna became a city that would define the arts; a magnet for musicians, including Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
TUE 00:45 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01ftzs2)
The New Taste for Blood
Lucy Worsley investigates the dark and revealing history of our curious relationship with killing. She explores notorious real-life crimes from the first half of the 19th century, finding out how these murders were transformed into popular entertainments.
TUE 01:45 A History of Art in Three Colours (b01lng0m)
White
In the Age of Reason, it was the rediscovery of the white columns and marbles of antiquity that made white the most virtuous of colours. For flamboyant JJ Wickelmann and British genius Josiah Wedgwood, white embodied all the Enlightenment's values of justice, equality and reason.
TUE 02:45 Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema (b0bbn5x8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 18 JULY 2018
WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bb7s1m)
Series 1
18/07/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
WED 19:30 Secret Knowledge (b01r3n6p)
The Art of the Vikings
Through interpretations of some of the archaeological treasures of the Swedish National Museum, now on display in Edinburgh, Dr Janina Ramirez of Oxford University explores the fascinating wealth of Viking culture and its long-lasting influence on the British Isles.
WED 20:00 Beach Live: Jurassic Coast Revealed (b0bbzl5x)
Series 1
Episode 2
What do smugglers, rope makers and sunken tanks have in common? They're all part of the industrial heritage of the Jurassic Coast, and Dan Snow and the team investigate the rich history of Britain's beaches and what people visiting should look out for.
There are over 300 shipwrecks in Lyme Bay alone, from old galleons to submarines. Dan dives 15 metres deep in the Channel to discover the story behind some of the more unusual vessels, a number of top secret WWII tanks that sank in a D-Day landings rehearsal known as Exercise Smash. Dan joins divers who are carrying out an underwater survey to map these tanks in time for the 75th anniversary and whilst down there, they could come across the conger eels and cuttlefish that now call these tanks home. Dan also travels to the Midlands for an exclusive interview with Albert Price, who is thought to be the last remaining survivor of the operation. He tells his side of that extraordinary story.
Beach Live also has privileged access to a huge coastal quarry to find out why Portland stone has been used for historic buildings all over the world. Beyond the importance of the stone, the programme follows families of peregrines and little owls that live in these rock faces. How have they fared in this scorching summer?
The Dorset coast was rife with smugglers for centuries, and Lucy Cooke looks into how the smuggling trade worked and asks if these bandits were baddies or local heroes.
At the Discovery Centre, Niall Strawson and a panel of experts examine and assess the significance of historical beach finds from all over the country.
A 'how to' guide shows viewers how to beachcomb, and people all over the country share their finds and photos.
WED 21:00 Paul O'Grady's Working Britain (b038l6r6)
Work
Whatever happened to the working class? In episode one of a two-part series for BBC One, Paul O'Grady goes on a very personal journey through the history of the British working class to find out how work shaped our communities and what happened when those iconic jobs disappeared.
WED 22:00 Sword, Musket & Machine Gun: Britain's Armed History (b087llsj)
Cut & Thrust
In the first of this three-part series, Dr Sam Willis charts the evolution of weaponry in Britain throughout the Middle Ages.
Beginning with the Battle of Ethandun in 878, when the future of Anglo-Saxon England lay in the balance, Sam examines the weapons and tactics used by King Alfred to keep the Viking raiders at bay, and gets hands-on experience as he joins re-enactors behind a shield-wall, used by the Anglo-Saxons en masse as an attacking weapon to drive back and defeat the Vikings.
Sam travels to France to examine the famous Bayeux Tapestry, with its depiction of the huge arsenal massed by William the Conqueror for his invasion of England in 1066. With the Norman mounted knight came innovations in weapon technology, chiefly stronger and lighter swords, and Sam is given a lesson in swordsmanship using the earliest known combat manual.
Sam also visits the Chateaux de Tancarville in Normandy to tell the story of William Marshal, said to be the greatest knight who ever lived, and how he forged his reputation using a new weapon - the lance - in the extreme sport of its day, the tourney. To get a real sense of the tourney, Sam watches a display of its later incarnation - the joust.
The increasing number of castles and sieges brought with it a new age of projectile missile weaponry, principally the crossbow. Holed up in a castle tower, Sam gets to test-fire different crossbows and discovers why they became outlawed by the pope as instruments of the devil. Visiting the battlefield sites of Halidon Hill in Northumberland and Crecy in northern France, and again getting hands-on with the weapon in question, Sam examines how King Edward III strategically deployed the traditional longbow in vast numbers to devastating effect against the Scots and the French, and as such how it came to be regarded as the chief weapon of the Middle Ages.
WED 23:00 Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein (b097ts08)
Series 1
Dictatorship
Suzy Klein reaches the 1930s, when the totalitarian dictators sought to use and abuse music for ideological ends. She looks at the lives of Richard Strauss, Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, who produced some of the 20th-century's best-loved music whilst navigating the precarious tightrope of working for perhaps the most terrifying music lovers ever - Hitler and Stalin.
The political message of the classic musical fairytale Peter and the Wolf is revealed as well as the secret code hidden in Shostakovich's quartets and Strauss's deeply personal reasons for trying to please the Nazis.
Suzy also uncovers why Hitler adored Wagner but banned Mendelssohn's Wedding March, how Stalin used music to subtly infiltrate minds and why Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, a Nazi favourite, appeals to our most primitive senses.
Suzy also raises some intriguing questions: can we pin meaning onto music? What are the moral responsibilities of artists? And did the violence and tyranny of those regimes leave an indelible stain on the music they produced?
The stories are brought to life by performances from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and its chorus - demonstrating Suzy's argument that music's incredible power to bypass our brains and reach for our hearts makes it a potent and dangerous force.
WED 00:00 Utopia: In Search of the Dream (b092sb6f)
Series 1
A Good Place Within
Art historian Richard Clay asks whether utopia is, ultimately, a state of mind. Can we find utopia within? He explores the many ways we have created to immerse ourselves in a perfect moment, of epiphany or transcendence, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and pleasure.
Seeking answers in a broad range of arts, Richard meets digital games pioneer Sid Meier, Rada improvisation teacher Chris Heimann and opera impresario Martin Graham. He tries to compose a haiku and uncovers traces of the hedonistic medieval carnival tradition in the churches and pubs of his native Lancashire.
Richard also compares and contrasts different musical escapes, interviewing Acid House legend A Guy Called Gerald and the celebrated minimalist composer Steve Reich. This is not about the utopia of the future but about the utopia of the immediate world that we can experience now.
WED 01:00 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01fv0kh)
Detection Most Ingenious
Lucy Worsley explores how real-life crime, science and the emerging art of detection had an influence on the popular culture of homicide during the Victorian Age.
WED 02:00 Guts: The Strange and Wonderful World of the Human Stomach (p07801ts)
What's really going on inside your stomach? In this one-off special, Michael Mosley offers up his own guts to find out. Spending the day as an exhibit at the Science Museum in London, he swallows a tiny camera and uses the latest in imaging technology to get a unique view of his innards digesting his food. He discovers pools of concentrated acid and metres of writhing tubing which is home to its own ecosystem. Michael Mosley lays bare the mysteries of the digestive system and reveals a complexity and intelligence in the human gut that science is only just beginning to uncover.
WED 03:00 Paul O'Grady's Working Britain (b038l6r6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
THURSDAY 19 JULY 2018
THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bb7s21)
Series 1
19/07/2018
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0bbzsv3)
Mike Read and Dixie Peach present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 16 January 1986. Featuring Fine Young Cannibals, Dire Straits, A-Ha, Mr Mister, Pet Shop Boys and Cherelle with Alexander O'Neal.
THU 20:00 Beach Live: Jurassic Coast Revealed (b0bbzlvk)
Series 1
Episode 3
In the final show live from Charmouth in Dorset, Dan Snow and the team go deep into the subject that has made this stretch of coastline world famous: its fossils.
There are live rock-smashing missions during the programme to find out how many different ammonites can be found on the beach during the hour, and experts are on hand to translate what they tell us about life on a prehistoric beach. There is also a 'how to' fossil guide to help people get motivated and find their own fossil treasure.
Lucy Cooke travels to London to understand how one plucky entrepreneurial woman, Mary Anning, rocked 19th-century Britain with her fossil finds. And the work of Mary continues to inspire scientists today as Lucy finds out when she travels to Oxford to help reconstruct a plesiosaur. Found only in Charmouth, the best-preserved dinosaur in the UK still has many mysteries. What did the scelidosaur look like? How did it live and who would have hunted it? Scientist David Norman explains how crocodiles have helped unlock the mystery of what the scelidosaur looked like.
CT scans are some of the latest technology being used to understand how a dinosaur functioned. Niall Strawson joins Bristol scientists to help piece the jigsaw of an ichthyosaur together.
The rocks and cliffs along the British coastline don't just hide dinosaur remains. Dan and Lucy Cooke carry out a live demonstration of burning rock and unpack the history of oil production at nearby Kimmeridge.
In this episode, the team are also on the trail of living fossils. Dragonflies are prominent at this time of year on the coast in Dorset, but how have these majestic insects survived two mass extinctions? And why are the flying 'dinosaurs' - gulls - evolving to be such a nuisance to people visiting British beaches?
Niall Strawson and his team deal with a paleontologically packed Discovery Centre, show the best finds of the week and demonstrate how a fossil is cleaned up and revealed in its full glory after being extracted.
THU 21:00 Size Matters (b0bbyjv0)
Series 1
Big Trouble
This two-part special presented by Hannah Fry shows that when it comes to the universe, size really does matter. Hannah takes the audience into a thought experiment where the size of everything can be changed to reveal why things are the size they are.
Hannah starts her journey by asking whether everything could be bigger, finding out what life would be like on a bigger planet. As the Earth grows to outlandish proportions, gravity is the biggest challenge, and lying down becomes the new standing up. Flying in a Typhoon fighter jet with RAF flight lieutenant Mark Long, the programme discovers how higher G-force affects the human body, and how people could adapt to a high G-force world. But by the time Earth gets to the size of Jupiter, it's all over, as the moon would impact the planet and end life as we know it.
Next, Hannah tries to make living things bigger. The programme examines the gigantopithecus, the biggest ape to ever exist, creates a dog the size of a dinosaur and meets Sultan Kosen, the world's tallest man. Humans are then super-sized with the help of Professor Dean Falk to see what a human body would look like if we were 15m tall.
The sun gets expanded, and Professor Volker Bromm looks back in time to find the largest stars that ever existed, before the sun explodes in perhaps the biggest explosion since the big bang.
THU 22:00 Who Were the Greeks? (b036pxqk)
Episode 2
Classicist Dr Michael Scott explores the legacies of the ancient Greeks, what they have given us today, and asks why these legacies have lasted through time.
Democracy, art, architecture, philosophy, science, sport, theatre - all can be traced back to ancient Greece. Travelling across the ancient Greek world, from Athens to Olympia, Macedon, Turkey and Sicily, Michael discovers why the ancient Greeks were so successful, why their culture and way of life spread across continents and through time and why they still have such a powerful hold over our imaginations today.
THU 23:00 The Great British Year (p01db15t)
Original Series
Winter
Starting on New Year's Day, Britain is in the grip of winter. Time-lapses show a magical country shrouded in frost and mist swirling in hollows. Water becomes the enemy as it freezes, and the wildlife must cope. Red squirrels resort to subterfuge, and kites track a farmer ploughing to get at the worms beneath the frost. As winter fades, adders bask in the sun and the woodland floor erupts with snowdrops. On a lake in Wiltshire, new hope is captured in the evocative dance of the great crested grebe.
THU 00:00 Top of the Pops (b0bbzsv3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 00:30 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (p01fv16l)
The Golden Age
Lucy Worsley explores the Edwardian era and the golden age of detective fiction between the wars - the time of Dr Crippen, Agatha Christie and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
THU 01:30 Danielle de Niese: The Birth of an Opera (b0864ygz)
2016 sees the 200th anniversary of the premiere of Rossini's masterpiece The Barber of Seville, one of the greatest comic operas ever written. In this documentary, internationally acclaimed soprano Danielle de Niese provides a unique backstage pass to her preparations for the role of Rosina in Glyndebourne's 2016 production.
With extraordinary access, this documentary gives an unparalleled insight into how a top opera professional shapes a performance, both musically and dramatically. As well as actuality filming of all stages - from singing to warm-ups to costume fittings, lighting and set building on stage, through to hair and make-up - there are masterclass sessions with director Annabel Arden, conductor Enrique Mazzola and other key cast members to explore key scenes in depth. Danni also visits the Rome theatre where the disastrous premiere took place in 1816.
The film also features interviews with Arden, Mazzola, designer Joanna Parker and other key figures in the production, and footage from the staged version of the opera throughout.
THU 02:30 Size Matters (b0bbyjv0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
FRIDAY 20 JULY 2018
FRI 19:00 World News Today (b0bb7s2f)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (b0bb8d8v)
2018
Jacob Collier and Friends
Jacob Collier's musical career has been meteoric. Still only 23, the multi-instrumentalist has been hailed as a musical genius and jazz prodigy, picking up two Grammy awards for his debut album last year. And now he has his own Prom.
Jacob's solo talents first came to light when he became an internet sensation with his unique covers of songs such as Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing and Fascinating Rhythm. He's since been mentored by some of his heroes, including Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock, and in 2016 Jacob made a guest appearance at the Quincy Jones Prom.
Jacob Collier and Friends sees him team up once again with Jules Buckley and the Metropole Orkest, joined by special guests, including Take 6, Sam Amidon, Becca Stevens and Hamid El Kasri, for a Prom that features songs from Jacob's debut album, new tracks and their unique reimagining of well-known classics.
FRI 21:30 Top of the Pops (b0bbzsyc)
Gary Davies and Janice Long present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 30 January 1986. Featuring Billy Ocean, Madonna, Talk Talk, Grace Jones, Fine Young Cannibals and A-Ha.
FRI 22:00 Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland (b0bbyy1w)
Series 1
Episode 3
Two 80s icons explore the distinct sounds that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in one of pop's golden decades.
Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox and one of the men behind Band Aid, and Kim Appleby, who had a string of hits with her sister Mel in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced band Mel and Kim, go on a journey back in time to the 80s to figure out why certain cities produced their own diverse tunes.
It's a fascinating tale. Emerging from the ashes of punk, British and Irish music ripped up the pop rule book in the 80s and topped the charts worldwide. But there was no definitive 'British' pop sound. Innovative chart-toppers were being produced by artists hailing from all over the UK and Ireland.
In this third and final episode, Midge and Kim visit London and Manchester, the two cities that did battle with each other for musical pre-eminence as 80s music turned towards the new sounds of dance.
Star interviewees include Denise Pearson from Five Star, Soul II Soul's Jazzie B, Mark Moore of S'Express, Shaun Ryder from The Happy Mondays and Peter Hook of New Order.
It's a tale of how studio technology changed music, with British bands putting their own unique spin on dance to produce contrasting northern and southern sounds.
FRI 23:00 The Joy of ABBA (b03lyzpp)
Between 1974 and 1982 ABBA plundered the Anglo-Saxon charts but divided critical opinion. This documentary explores how they raised the bar for pop music as a form and made us fall in love with the sound of Swedish melancholy. A saga about the soul of pop.
FRI 00:00 ABBA at the BBC (b03lyzpr)
If you fancy an hour's worth of irresistible guilty pleasures from Anni-Frid, Benny, Bjorn and Agnetha, this is the programme for you. ABBA stormed the 1974 Eurovision song contest with their winning entry Waterloo, and this programme charts the meteoric rise of the band with some of their greatest performances at the BBC.
It begins in 1974 with their first Top of the Pops appearance, and we even get to see the band entertaining holidaymakers in Torbay in a 1975 Seaside Special. There are many classic ABBA tunes from the 1979 BBC special ABBA in Switzerland, plus their final BBC appearance on the Late Late Breakfast show in 1982.
This compilation is a must for all fans and includes great archive interviews, promos and performances of some of ABBA's classics including Waterloo, Dancing Queen, Does Your Mother Know, Thank You for the Music, SOS, Fernando, Chiquitita and many more.
FRI 01:00 Top of the Pops (b0bbzsyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
FRI 01:30 The R&B Feeling (b07w6gkw)
1971, and the Los Angeles performance art scene is flourishing. Chris Burden has just ordered a studio assistant to shoot him in the left arm with a rifle, Barbara T Smith is staging provocative interventions at F-Space, and Paul McCarthy is painting his naked body with mustard and ketchup in the name of art. And among them all, Bob Parks: an energetic young artist from the UK, living with his beautiful and interesting San Franciscan wife, Myriam Morales.
Life is perfect, for a time. But when Bob's marriage fails and Myriam leaves for Santa Fe, things fall apart. He walks the streets of Los Angeles for a year in a string bikini and sees his burgeoning art career come to pieces. Having been rescued by the parishioners of a South Central gospel church, and having spent six years worshipping and singing alongside them, Bob finally moves back to the UK to live with his parents in the New Forest.
Despite planning to stay for only six months to finish a series of paintings and gather his thoughts, Bob stays for thirty years. We meet him as he continues to develop his art practice, continues to sing in a gospel church and continues to explore what he calls 'the R&B feeling'. Against this backdrop, Bob attempts to break free of a constraining and mutually dependent relationship with his mother, Miggie, whose health is failing. As time goes on Bob's obsession with his mother - and her impending death - deepens, before reaching a terrible and tragic conclusion.
FRI 02:30 The Joy of ABBA (b03lyzpp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 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 History of Art in Three Colours
01:45 TUE (b01lng0m)
A Life on Screen
22:00 SAT (b06t3vfw)
A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley
00:45 TUE (p01ftzs2)
A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley
01:00 WED (p01fv0kh)
A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley
00:30 THU (p01fv16l)
ABBA at the BBC
00:00 FRI (b03lyzpr)
BBC Proms
19:30 SUN (b0bbmh5s)
BBC Proms
19:30 FRI (b0bb8d8v)
Beach Live: Jurassic Coast Revealed
20:00 TUE (b0bbzk2y)
Beach Live: Jurassic Coast Revealed
20:00 WED (b0bbzl5x)
Beach Live: Jurassic Coast Revealed
20:00 THU (b0bbzlvk)
Beyond 100 Days
19:00 MON (b0bb7s06)
Beyond 100 Days
19:00 TUE (b0bb7s15)
Beyond 100 Days
19:00 WED (b0bb7s1m)
Beyond 100 Days
19:00 THU (b0bb7s21)
Bricks!
02:00 MON (b07w6hdm)
Danielle de Niese: The Birth of an Opera
01:30 THU (b0864ygz)
David Starkey's Music and Monarchy
01:00 SUN (b038n7gd)
Earth's Greatest Spectacles
19:00 SAT (b0717vkv)
Frank Lloyd Wright: The Man Who Built America
22:00 SUN (b08ywgvm)
Frank Lloyd Wright: The Man Who Built America
03:00 SUN (b08ywgvm)
Guts: The Strange and Wonderful World of the Human Stomach
02:00 WED (p07801ts)
Hidden
21:00 SAT (b0b98wf6)
Mackintosh: Glasgow’s Neglected Genius
22:00 MON (b0b5ydcz)
Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema
21:00 TUE (b0bbn5x8)
Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema
02:45 TUE (b0bbn5x8)
Move Over, Darling
22:00 TUE (b00ky4xq)
Nature's Miracle Orphans
20:00 MON (b072fsml)
Paul O'Grady's Working Britain
21:00 WED (b038l6r6)
Paul O'Grady's Working Britain
03:00 WED (b038l6r6)
Peter York's Hipster Handbook
02:00 SUN (b081v950)
Rise of the Continents
23:00 MON (p019bctl)
Rise of the Continents
00:00 MON (p019bd2j)
Roy Orbison: Love Hurts
23:00 SAT (b09j0r8s)
Scotland's Art Revolution: The Maverick Generation
01:00 MON (b04bbfzt)
Secret Knowledge
19:00 SUN (b0376h9w)
Secret Knowledge
19:30 WED (b01r3n6p)
Six Wives with Lucy Worsley
23:00 SUN (b0853mvq)
Size Matters
21:00 THU (b0bbyjv0)
Size Matters
02:30 THU (b0bbyjv0)
Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland
00:30 SAT (b0bb2pyf)
Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland
22:00 FRI (b0bbyy1w)
Sword, Musket & Machine Gun: Britain's Armed History
22:00 WED (b087llsj)
The Art That Made Mexico: Paradise, Power and Prayers
00:00 SUN (b09jj0k0)
The Girl from Ipanema: Brazil, Bossa Nova and the Beach
01:30 SAT (b07mlkzl)
The Great British Year
23:00 THU (p01db15t)
The Joy of ABBA
23:00 FRI (b03lyzpp)
The Joy of ABBA
02:30 FRI (b03lyzpp)
The NHS: A People's History
21:00 MON (b0bby26g)
The NHS: A People's History
03:00 MON (b0bby26g)
The Pennine Way
19:30 MON (b05sy1ym)
The R&B Feeling
01:30 FRI (b07w6gkw)
The Return of the Flying Scotsman
19:30 TUE (b073c7r0)
Top of the Pops
00:00 SAT (b0bb2ttg)
Top of the Pops
03:30 SAT (b0bb2ttg)
Top of the Pops
19:30 THU (b0bbzsv3)
Top of the Pops
00:00 THU (b0bbzsv3)
Top of the Pops
21:30 FRI (b0bbzsyc)
Top of the Pops
01:00 FRI (b0bbzsyc)
Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein
23:00 WED (b097ts08)
Utopia: In Search of the Dream
00:00 WED (b092sb6f)
Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream
23:45 TUE (b0851kfd)
Who Were the Greeks?
22:00 THU (b036pxqk)
Wonders of the Monsoon
20:00 SAT (p026glmp)
Wonders of the Monsoon
02:30 SAT (p026glmp)
World News Today
19:00 FRI (b0bb7s2f)