The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on BBC 4 Contact

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



SATURDAY 13 OCTOBER 2018

SAT 19:00 Monkey Planet (p01s0zg9)
Master Minds

There's one thing that sets us primates apart from most other families on the planet, and that's a flexible mind. Our primate cousins are much smarter than you might imagine. Just like us they use tools, solve problems and even have emotions. Monkey Planet discovers how these animals are individuals with a sense of self and why brainpower is essential to primate survival.

In Thailand, long-tailed macaques floss their teeth with human hair and use tools to open oysters on the beach. In Uganda, chimps pass on cultures and customs through generations. George McGavin goes to orangutan school in Sumatra and meets a bonobo in the States who can order his own picnic on a smart phone and toast marshmallows in a fire he makes himself.


SAT 20:00 Life Story (p026vhmr)
Series 1

Power

Animals must try to gain a position of
power in their worlds. The most powerful have best access to food and water,
and they are also the most attractive to the opposite sex. An orphaned,
friendless, young chimp leaves his playful youth behind as he attempts to
climb the social ladder. His troop is ruled by big, aggressive males. His
first attempt to join them ends in a beating, but making his first friend
changes his life. Together, they hunt for small mammals using spears, and
share the spoils. It's an act that changes them from friends to allies. In
meerkat society, knowledge is power, and knowing how to deal with a venomous
snake is essential for any youngster who wants to be a player in its world.
Few young male kangaroos will ever get to occupy the top spot in their
world. The only way is to fight and beat the eight-foot tall ruling male in
a brutal boxing match.


SAT 21:00 Goldstone (b08x19x1)
A tough new case for the indigenous Australian police detective from the Mystery Road film and TV series. Jay Swan's investigation of a young woman's disappearance causes friction in an outback township under a mining company's sway, where local cop Josh is growing used to looking the other way over everyday corruption, while Aboriginal elder Jimmy sees Jay has a deeper link to the territory.


SAT 22:45 Inside No. 9 (b03xhl2m)
Series 1

The Understudy

Tony Warner's performance as Macbeth is the toast of London's West End. It would be very bad luck indeed if he was suddenly indisposed in some way. Except for Jim, his ever-hopeful understudy, of course.


SAT 23:15 Inside No. 9 (b03y7n5p)
Series 1

The Harrowing

Ordinarily, Hector and Tabitha never go out as they have to look after their disabled elder brother. But tonight's event is so special that they are going to need a carer. And Katy's not going to turn down £88, is she?


SAT 23:45 Classic Albums (b07ljcxf)
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds

This edition of the series celebrates the 50th anniversary of the release of Brian Wilson's masterpiece, The Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds. Wilson and the surviving members of The Beach Boys - Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks - guide us through the writing and recording of the landmark album that is consistently voted one of the top three most influential albums of all time.

Featuring exclusive interviews, classic archive and rare studio outtakes from the recording sessions, the film tells the story of the creation of the record that cemented The Beach Boys' reputation as a leading force to rival The Beatles, and Brian Wilson as a songwriting genius.


SAT 00:45 Classic Albums (b007b6hv)
Paul Simon: Graceland

Since its release in 1986, Paul Simon's Graceland has had an enormous impact on rock music with its blend of rock and African rhythms. Simon and engineer Roy Halee demonstrate the multi-tracking and mixing of the album and reveal the inspiration behind the songs, and composer Philip Glass assesses the album's place in musical history. Featuring interviews with major artists involved in the album, including Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and guitarist Ray Phiri, who shatter the myth about their relationship with Simon.


SAT 01:45 Monkey Planet (p01s0zg9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SAT 02:45 Life Story (p026vhmr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 14 OCTOBER 2018

SUN 19:00 Engineering Giants (b01llr67)
Ferry Strip-Down

Engineer turned comedian Tom Wrigglesworth and rising star of mechanical engineering Rob Bell climb on board the Pride of Bruges, a massive 25,000-tonne North Sea ferry as it is brought into dry dock in Newcastle.

It has been ploughing the route from Hull to Zeebrugge for over a quarter of a century and is now in need of the biggest overhaul of its life in an attempt to prolong its seaworthiness for another decade. Tom and Rob also travel to Europe's largest ship-breaking yard in Belgium, to discover what happens to ships at the end of their lives. As they watch massive hulls being torn apart, they gain more insights into how a ship works and how their massive carcasses are recycled.


SUN 20:00 James May's Cars of the People (b06zn8z9)
Series 2

Episode 2

James May goes off-road to tell the story of how the 4x4 conquered the world. From the wartime jeep to the global struggle between Land Rover and Land Cruiser, the white-knuckle world of rallying and boy racers, plus James conquers Mount Fuji and races through the sun-scorched Mojave Desert to decide which is the ultimate people's 4x4.


SUN 21:00 Cold War, Hot Jets (b03j5cf8)
Episode 2

As an 'Iron Curtain' fell across Europe, the jet bomber came to define how the Cold War was fought. Able to fly faster, higher and further than ever before, and armed with a devastating new weapon, Britain's V Force became the platform for delivering nuclear Armageddon.


SUN 22:00 The Sky at Night (b0bntqjf)
Space Britannia

The Sky at Night investigates Britain's attempt to become a major player in the modern space race. From Scotland's wild northern shore, where Britain's first spaceport is planned, to the team planning Britain's new rocket system, the programme explores the technology behind a quiet revolution in Britain's space industry. Driving the resurgence of 'space Britannia' is a new breed of spacecraft - micro-satellites. As many as 12,000 of them will be built and launched worldwide over the next decade, and Britain is aiming for a slice of the action. Also, guest presenter Tim Peake celebrates Britain's past glories in space and finds out where it all went wrong.


SUN 22:30 Feud: Bette and Joan (p05ll2zr)
Series 1

And the Winner Is...

The relationship between Joan and Bette becomes even more strained when Bette is nominated for an Academy Award.

Meanwhile, Hedda Hopper hatches a plot.


SUN 23:15 Feud: Bette and Joan (p05ll41c)
Series 1

Hagsploitation

Swallowing her pride, Joan is touring with producer William Castle to publicise her latest project. Hedda Hopper calls on her with rumours that a 'stag' movie Joan made before her big break is about to surface. Jack Warner tells Robert Aldrich to get Joan and Bette together for another film.


SUN 00:00 Art of France (b08cgjv7)
Series 1

Plus Ça Change

Art historian and critic Andrew Graham-Dixon opens this series with the dramatic story of French art, a story of the most powerful kings ever to rule in Europe with their glittering palaces and astounding art to go in them. He also reveals how art emerged from a struggle between tradition and revolution, between rulers and a people who didn't always want to be ruled.

Starting with the first great revolution in art, the invention of Gothic architecture, he traces its development up until the arrival of classicism and the Age of Enlightenment - and the very eve of the revolution. Along the way some of the greatest art the world has ever seen was born, including the paintings of Poussin, Watteau and Chardin, the decadent rococo delights of Boucher and the great history paintings of Charles le Brun.


SUN 01:00 Duets at the BBC (b01c2xwt)
The BBC delves into its archive for the best romantic duets performed at the BBC over the last 50 years. Whether it is Robbie and Kylie dancing together on Top of the Pops or Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge singing into each other's eyes on the Whistle Test, there is plenty of chemistry. Highlights include Nina and Frederik's Baby It's Cold Outside, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, Sonny and Cher, Shirley Bassey and Neil Diamond, Peaches and Herb, and a rare performance from Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.


SUN 02:00 Robert Rauschenberg - Pop Art Pioneer (b085k35h)
Alastair Sooke celebrates the protean genius of one of America's most prolific and original artists, Robert Rauschenberg. Fearless and influential, he blazed a trail for artists in the second half of the 20th century, and yet his work is rarely seen here in the UK.

Rauschenberg was the first artist to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1964, creating a crucial bridge between the abstract expressionists of the 50s and the pop artists who emerged in the 60s.

Famous for his 'combines' that elevated the rich junk of life to the status of high art, he continued to work right up to his death in 2008, collaborating with dancers, scientists and social activists on a startlingly broad array of projects.

Alastair travels to the east coast of the USA to talk to those closest to Rauschenberg to reveal the boundless curiosity and restless experimentation that kept him engaged till the very end of his six-decade career.


SUN 03:00 James May's Cars of the People (b06zn8z9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 15 OCTOBER 2018

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bmq9k0)
Series 1

15/10/2018

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


MON 19:30 Venice 24/7 (b01f17z4)
The Biennale

With unprecedented access to Venice's emergency and public services, this series goes behind the 15th-century facades to experience the real, living city. From daily emergencies to street sweeping, bridge maintenance to flood defence systems and a death-defying descent across St Mark's Square, this is Venice as you've never seen it before. This is Venice 24/7.

The art world descends on Venice for the Biennale, a six-month long festival. Anish Kapoor attempts to stage his ethereal Ascension in a challenging Palladian church while another artist battles to transport a four-tonne sculpture along the canal. The Fenice theatre undergoes critical safety checks, following the devastating fire of 1996 and a 100,000-tonne cruise-liner must execute inch-perfect manoeuvres as it travels perilously close to the historic centre.


MON 20:00 South Pacific (b00l7q55)
Fragile Paradise

The South Pacific is still relatively healthy and teeming with fish, but it is a fragile paradise. International fishing fleets are taking a serious toll on the sharks, albatross and tuna, and there are other insidious threats to these bountiful seas. This episode looks at what is being done to preserve the ocean and its wildlife.


MON 21:00 Barneys, Books and Bust-Ups: 50 Years of the Booker Prize (b0bntjf6)
The Man Booker Prize is the world's most distinguished literary award for English fiction. Its winners instantly acquire a level of fame and wealth which most writers can only dream of. To commemorate its fiftieth birthday, this documentary looks back over six decades of the prize, exploring how, from humble beginnings, the Booker quickly went on to revolutionise the sleepy world of literary fiction and become a central part of British cultural life.

We hear the inside story of scandal, gossip and intrigue from a host of former winners, judges and prize administrators. Over the years, the prize has changed its rules, its sponsors and its name. But it has never lost sight of its core purpose: to stimulate debate and encourage the reading of literary fiction. This is a tale of bruised egos and bickering judges and, most importantly of all, of countless brilliant books.

Contributors include Booker-winning authors Peter Carey, Penelope Lively and John Banville.


MON 22:00 A Timewatch Guide (b08xxsw5)
Series 4

Decoding Disaster

From earthquakes to tsunamis to volcanic eruptions, natural disasters are both terrifying and fascinating - providing endless fresh material for documentary makers. But how well do disaster documentaries keep pace with the scientific theories that advance every day?

To try and answer that question, Professor Danielle George is plunging into five decades of BBC archive. What she uncovers provides an extraordinary insight into one of the fastest moving branches of knowledge. From the legendary loss of Atlantis to the eruption that destroyed Pompeii, Danielle reveals how film-makers have changed their approach again and again in the light of new scientific theories.

While we rarely associate Britain with major natural disaster, at the end of the programme Danielle brings us close to home, exploring programmes which suggest that 400 years ago Britain was hit by a tidal wave that killed hundreds of people, and that an even bigger tsunami could threaten us again.


MON 23:00 Dara & Ed's Road to Mandalay (b08rch9c)
Series 1

Myanmar

Dara and Ed arrive in Yangon in Myanmar at a time of great political change. After 50 years of brutal military rule, Myanmar recently held its first open elections, heralding a new era of democracy. Dara and Ed visit Aung San Suu Kyi's house and see first-hand how young people are finally able to freely express their support for her with tattoos. Then, before leaving Yangon, they take part in the Buddhist Festival of Light at the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Catching the train, Dara and Ed travel north into rural areas, first to the village of Pan Pet. This is the home of the Kayan tribe, where they meet the local shaman who reads their fortune from chicken bones. Then on Inle Lake, Dara and Ed try to master the ancient art of 'leg rowing', taking part in an epic contest between two fishing villages. Travelling on to meet the Pa Oh tribe, they join a spectacular village festival of homemade rockets. Continuing north, Dara and Ed reach the ruined temples of Bagan, one of the world's most atmospheric and important Buddhist sites. The last leg of their journey takes them up the historic road to Mandalay, not in a fact a road but the Ayarwaddy River. In Mandalay, Dara and Ed visit a comedy troupe called the Moustache Brothers, with whom Ed has a very personal connection. When the Moustache Brothers were imprisoned for criticising the military regime, Ed performed gigs for Amnesty International to help campaign for their release. That they are now performing freely is a fitting symbol of the far-reaching changes in Myanmar.


MON 00:00 Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story (b08j8mvl)
For the last 150 years, Britain has been a nation of bike lovers. And for much of that time, one make has been associated with quality, innovation and Britishness - Raleigh bikes.

Born in the back streets of Nottingham in 1888, Raleigh grew to become the biggest bicycle manufacturer in the world. For over a century, the company was known for its simple and practical bikes, built to last a lifetime. For generations, its designs were thought second to none, enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Now, with wonderful personal testimony and rare and previously unseen archive film, this documentary tells the extraordinary tale of the ups and downs of Raleigh bikes - a beautifully illustrated story full of remarkable characters, epic adventures and memorable bikes.

Meet the people who rode and raced them, the workers who built them and the dealers who sold them. Find out how cycling saved the life of Raleigh's founder, discover the technological advances behind the company's success and join Raleigh bike riders who recall epic adventures far and wide.

Along the way, the programme takes viewers on a journey back to cycling's golden age - rediscover the thrill of learning to ride your first bike and find out what went on inside the Raleigh factory, where the company's craftsmen produced some of Britain's most iconic bikes.

Finally, the documentary reveals what went wrong at Raleigh - the battles it had with its rivals, the controversy behind the design of the Chopper and the effect the closure of its factories had on its loyal workers. This is the extraordinary untold story of the rise and fall of Raleigh bikes.


MON 01:00 The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England (p0185y5g)
Melvyn Bragg explores the dramatic story of William Tyndale and his mission to translate the Bible into English. Melvyn reveals the story of a man whose life and legacy have been hidden from history, but whose impact on Christianity in Britain and on the English language endures today. His radical translation of the Bible into English made him a profound threat to the authority of the church and state, and set him on a fateful collision course with Henry VIII's heretic hunters and those of the pope.


MON 02:00 South Pacific (b00l7q55)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


MON 03:00 Barneys, Books and Bust-Ups: 50 Years of the Booker Prize (b0bntjf6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



TUESDAY 16 OCTOBER 2018

TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bmq9k9)
Series 1

16/10/2018

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


TUE 19:30 Venice 24/7 (b01fd4tm)
When the Boats Come In

For one day the canals are closed and fleets of row boats take to the water. As temperatures soar, Venetians and visitors turn out in their thousands to celebrate the ancient tradition of rowing. At the same time, the police try to rein in speeding motor boats while, on the city's outskirts, an enormous anti-flood system is being built. As the team prepares to lower millions of pounds of technology weighing over 20 tons into the Venice lagoon, nerves are mounting. Without it, Venice is at risk of disappearing under the water.


TUE 20:00 Origins of Us (p00jjjw4)
Bones

In the first episode, Dr Alice Roberts looks at how our skeleton reveals our incredible evolutionary journey.

Trekking through the forests of our ancient ancestors, she goes to meet the apes who still live there today - chimpanzees. In six million years we have become very different, and what kick-started this can be found in an extraordinary fossil - Sahelanthropus. A single hole where the spine was attached suggests that our ancestors started the journey to being human by standing upright. We take it for granted, but standing up and walking is surprisingly complex - each step involves the co-ordination of over 200 muscles.

Charting the major advances from Australopithecus to Homo erectus and beyond, Alice tells the epic story of human evolution through our body today. New research has uncovered clues in our ankles, waists and necks that show how our ancestors were forced to survive on the open plain - by walking and running for their lives. From the neck down we have inherited the body of our ancestor Homo erectus, who lived on the plains of Africa nearly two million years ago.

Finally Alice looks at probably the most important advance in our evolutionary story. A fortuitous by-product of standing up was freeing up our hands. With pressure-sensitive gloves, she demonstrates how the tiniest of anatomical tweaks to our thumbs and little fingers transformed hands that evolved to grasp branches into ones that could use tools. And with our dexterous hands, our species, Homo sapiens, would change the world.

Erratum:
The fossil cast at 08:40 in the Bones show is in fact KNM-ER 1813 rather than TM266-01-60-1. However, the information stated about the fossil Sahelanthropus is correct.


TUE 21:00 New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands (b07lp34l)
Cast Adrift

Isolated since the time of the dinosaurs, New Zealand's wildlife has been left to its own devices, with surprising consequences. Its ancient forests are still stalked by predators from the Jurassic era. It's also one of the most geologically active countries on earth.

From Kiwis with their giant eggs, to forest-dwelling penguins and helicopter-riding sheep dogs, meet the astonishing creatures and resilient people who must rise to the challenges of their beautiful, dramatic and demanding home.


TUE 22:00 There She Goes (b0bnxpzn)
Series 1

One Day in the Life of Rosie Yates

Rosie Yates is a nine-year-old girl with a severe learning disability due to an undiagnosed chromosomal disorder, living with her dad Simon, mum Emily and brother Ben. It's a typical Saturday for the family, starting with an attempt to get Rosie to the park for some fresh air. She refuses to cooperate, and afterwards she's similarly uncooperative with her dinner. As Simon and Emily are later distracted, Rosie causes carnage in the kitchen.


TUE 22:30 BP Confidential (b09jcx7z)
For the first time in Blue Peter's history, this documentary reveals the true character of those working behind and in front of the camera on Britain's longest continuously running children's programme.

It charts Blue Peter's evolution from a hobbies show about dolls and trains to the BBC's flagship children's programme and discovers how Blue Peter was very nearly taken off air.

Presenters of every Blue Peter generation give candid accounts of what it was like to work on the programme, and the editors past and present fight back at critics who say the show was too middle class.

Narrated by Juliet Stevenson, Blue Peter Confidential questions whether Blue Peter still has a future in the multi-channel digital age and sets the record straight on the missing Blue Peter presenter who until now has been written out of the BBC archives.


TUE 23:20 Blue Peter: It's a Dog's Life (b0077m9w)
The story of Blue Peter's fondly remembered canines. The programme follows Bonnie through a normal studio day, uncovers the scandal of the dog who died and had to be replaced, and why John Noakes and the BBC fell out over Shep's future.


TUE 23:40 Blue Peter Flies the World: Morocco (b0bp6520)
A 1968 programme following Blue Peter presenters Valerie Singleton, John Noakes and Peter Purves as they set off from Television Centre in London and go on a safari through Morocco, ending up on the edge of the Sahara.


TUE 00:10 The Biddy Baxter Story (b0bp60w3)
Profile of the legendary Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter, with contributions from Sarah Greene, Valerie Singleton, Simon Groom and Peter Purves. Includes clips from previous Blue Peter programmes. Presented by Sarah Dunant.


TUE 00:20 Rococo: Travel, Pleasure, Madness (b03td84h)
Madness

Following the grandeur of Baroque, Rococo art is often dismissed as frivolous and unserious, but Waldemar Januszczak disagrees. In this three-part series he re-examines Rococo art and argues that the Rococo was actually the age in which the modern world was born. Picking three key territories of Rococo achievement - travel, pleasure and madness - Waldemar celebrates the finest cultural achievements of the period and examine the drives and underlying meanings that make them so prescient.

The final episode focuses on the Rococo's descent into madness. When you spend as much time as the Rococo did having fun and escaping reality, madness soon sets in. The 18th century is seen as the era of frivolity and enjoyment, but in an age of such decadence there was also the brutish satire of Hogarth, the mysterious masked figures of Longhi, the anguish of Messerschmidt and the depths of Goya's macabre genius.


TUE 01:20 Origins of Us (p00jjjw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


TUE 02:20 New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands (b07lp34l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2018

WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bmq9kp)
Series 1

17/10/2018

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


WED 19:30 Venice 24/7 (b01fq2l6)
The Grand Finale

The city comes together to celebrate a 500-year-old religious festival... with a rave. The waterways and canal banks are packed as Venetians eat, drink and get merry. There are drunken party-goers at risk of falling in the water, an unconscious patient that paramedics struggle to reach, argumentative revellers, and a giant firework display to end the series with a bang.


WED 20:00 Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance (b04smrrc)
Revolution on the Dance Floor

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

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

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

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


WED 21:00 Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths (b0bntkp1)
Series 1

Expanded Horizons

In this new series, mathematician Dr Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. It underpins so much of our modern world that its hard to imagine life without its technological advances, but where exactly does maths come from? Is it invented like a language or is it something discovered, part of the fabric of the universe? As we increasingly come to rely on maths, this question becomes more important to answer.

In this episode, Hannah travels down the fastest zip wire in the world to learn more about Newton's ideas on gravity. His discoveries revealed the movement of the planets was regular and predictable. James Clerk Maxwell unified the ideas of electricity and magnetism, and explained what light was. As if that wasn't enough, he also predicted the existence of radio waves. His tools of the trade were nothing more than pure mathematics. All strong evidence for maths being discovered.

But in the 19th century, maths is turned on its head when new types of geometry are invented. No longer is the kind of geometry we learned in school the final say on the subject. If maths is more like a game, albeit a complicated one, where we can change the rules, surely this points to maths being something we invent - a product of the human mind. To try and answer this question, Hannah travels to Halle in Germany on the trail of perhaps one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, Georg Cantor. He showed that infinity, far from being infinitely big, actually comes in different sizes, some bigger than others. This increasingly weird world is feeling more and more like something we've invented. But if that's the case, why is maths so uncannily good at predicting the world around us? Invented or discovered, this question just got a lot harder to answer.


WED 22:00 Empire (b01dtk57)
Making a Fortune

Jeremy Paxman continues his personal account of Britain's empire, looking at how the empire began as a pirates' treasure hunt, grew into an informal empire based on trade and developed into a global financial network. He travels from Jamaica, where sugar made plantation owners rich on the backs of African slaves, to Calcutta, where British traders became the new princes of India.

Jeremy then heads to Hong Kong, where British-supplied opium threatened to turn the Chinese into a nation of drug addicts - leading to the brutal opium wars, in which Britain triumphed and took the island of Hong Kong as booty.

Unfair trading helped spark the independence movement in India, led by Mahatma Gandhi; in a former cotton spinning town in Lancashire, Jeremy meets two women who remember Gandhi's extraordinary visit in 1931.


WED 23:00 Building the Ancient City: Athens and Rome (b0680lw2)
Rome

Rome was the world's first ancient megacity. At a time when few towns could number more than 10,000 inhabitants, more than a million lived in Rome. But in a world without modern technology, how on earth did the Romans do it? How did they feed their burgeoning population, how did they house them, and how did they get them into town without buses or trains? How on earth did the Romans make their great city work?

In the final episode of the series, Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill takes us up ancient tower blocks, down ancient sewers, and above 2,000-year-old harbour basins still filled with water, to find out. He reveals how this city surpassed all those from the ancient world that had gone before.

From the pedestrianisation of the forum to a global transport hub built right next to modern Italy's transport epicentre, Fiumicino Airport, we see how this visionary approach to public projects was not matched for nearly 2,000 years. We discover how Nero - the emperor blamed for fiddling whilst Rome burned - was in fact responsible for the transformation of the finest fire brigade in the ancient world and the creation of the first fire regulations. We uncover made-over Roman apartment blocks complete with piped water, and modern libraries that are in fact ancient Roman buildings constructed two millennia ago.

Last but not least, Professor Wallace-Hadrill uncovers the secret of Rome's success - the planning still captured on pieces of an 1,800-year-old marble map of the city, a map which shows that astonishingly, in many places, the street plan of Ancient Rome mirrors that of the city today in exact detail.


WED 00:00 Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest (b07m772h)
Arrival

Two-part documentary in which archaeologist Dr Jago Cooper explores the extraordinary and resilient culture of the American north west, revealing one the most inspiring stories in human history.

1,400 miles of rugged, windswept and rocky coastline in what is now the Alaskan panhandle, British Columbia and Washington state have been home to hundreds of distinct communities for over 10,000 years. Theirs is the longest continuing culture to be found anywhere in the Americas. They mastered a tough environment to create unique and complex communities that have redefined how human societies develop. They produced art infused with meaning that ranks alongside any other major civilisation on earth. And they were very nearly wiped out - by foreign disease, oppression and theft of their lands. But a deep connection to the environment lies at the heart of their endurance and, unlike many indigenous cultures annihilated following European contact, their culture sustains and has much to offer the rest of the world today.

Jago sees how a complex society developed without agriculture. The answer lies in the extraordinary way in which the people understood and mastered their environment, which in turn is reflected in their identity and social structures. He reveals the hidden significance in totem poles, canoes and intricate textiles, arguing that the peoples of the north west coast achieved the highest levels of cultural achievement.


WED 01:00 Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance (b04smrrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


WED 02:00 Carved with Love: The Genius of British Woodwork (b01psbwz)
The Extraordinary Thomas Chippendale

Thomas Chippendale is the most famous furniture designer the world has ever produced, but what about the man behind the chairs? This episode shows how Chippendale worked his way up from humble roots to working for the nobility, but also how he was ruined by the very aristocrats he created such wonders for.


WED 03:00 Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths (b0bntkp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 18 OCTOBER 2018

THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (b0bmq9l0)
Series 1

18/10/2018

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


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (b0bntqjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 on Sunday]


THU 20:00 Human Universe (p0276ppy)
Why Are We Here?

Brian Cox reveals how the wonderful complexity of nature and human life is simply the consequence of chance events constrained by the laws of physics that govern our universe. But this leads him to a deeper question - why does our universe seem to have been set up with just the right rules to create us? In a dizzying conclusion Brian unpicks this question, revealing the very latest understanding of how the universe came to be this way, and in doing so offers a radical new answer to why we are here.


THU 21:00 The Motorway: Life in the Fast Lane (b04jrt72)
The Need for Speed

Documentary series following the army of workers who keep the traffic flowing on one of the busiest stretches of road in Britain - where the country's longest motorway, the M6, meets four other major routes.

Meet the Highways Agency staff who scour 450 motorway CCTV cameras, on the lookout for anything that that can cause a problem in this high-speed environment. Whether it is a lost caravan wheel in the fast lane or a broken-down sewage lorry straddling the slow lane, their mission is to alert other drivers to the danger and to clear the lanes as quickly as possible.

Out on the road, pothole inspector Steve Taylor travels the motorway at a steady 50mph on the lookout for potentially dangerous potholes in need of urgent repair. Steve feels he's stuck right in the middle of a go-fast world, as his team of road workers have to close a carriageway of the M6 to fill a pothole - and face the wrath of frustrated drivers.

The Central Motorway Police Group is a specialist team working across the West Midlands motorways. PCs Mark Crozier and Karl Davies work for the Collision Investigation Unit. They respond to a fatal incident where a person has jumped from a motorway bridge on to a live carriageway in the early hours of a Saturday morning. The resulting investigation means two different motorways are closed for a number of hours but whilst the subsequent congestion is a problem, it is the emotional cost to those working in a high-speed environment that is all too evident. To help them cope with incidents like this, chaplain Viv Baldwin volunteers one day a week as an independent listening ear for police officers dealing with the more traumatic aspects of the motorway.


THU 22:00 Simon Schama's Rough Crossings (b00796gl)
Simon Schama presents a drama-documentary that charts the extraordinary journey of the American slaves who fought for the British side in the American War of Independence and were then led by a young Englishman to Africa. There, they struggled to establish a colony in Sierra Leone, where they could be free.


THU 23:25 Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners (b062nqpd)
Profit and Loss

In 1834 Britain abolished slavery, a defining and celebrated moment in our national history. What has been largely forgotten is that abolition came at a price. The government of the day took the extraordinary step of compensating the slave owners for loss of their 'property', as Britain's slave owners were paid £17bn in today's money, whilst the slaves received nothing.

For nearly 200 years, the meticulous records that detail this story have lain in the archives virtually unexamined - until now. In an exclusive partnership with University College London, historian David Olusoga uncovers Britain's forgotten slave owners. Forensically examining the compensation records, he discovers the range of people who owned slaves and the scale of the slavery business.

What the records reveal is that the slave owners were not just the super-rich. They were widows, clergymen and shopkeepers - ordinary members of the middle-classes who exploited slave labour in distant lands. Yet many of them never looked a slave in the eye or experienced the brutal realities of plantation life.

In Barbados, David traces how Britain's slave economy emerged in the 17th century from just a few pioneering plantation owners. As David explores the systemic violence of slavery, in Jamaica he is introduced to some of the brutal tools used to terrorise the slaves and reads from the sadistic diaries of a notorious British slave owner. Elsewhere, on a visit to the spectacularly opulent Harewood House in Yorkshire, he glimpses how the slave owners' wealth seeped into every corner of Britain.

Finally, amongst the vast slave registers that record all 800,000 men, women and children in British hands at the point of abolition, David counts the tragic human cost of this chapter in our nation's history.


THU 00:25 Tom Jones at the BBC (b00vz5ml)
An archive celebration of Tom Jones's performances at the BBC from the start of his pop career in the mid-60s to Later...with Jools Holland in 2010 and all points in between, including Top of the Pops and The Dusty Springfield Show. A chronological celebration of Sir Tom through the years that is also a history of music TV at the BBC over most of the past 50 years.


THU 01:25 Classic Albums (b07ljcxf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 on Saturday]


THU 02:25 Human Universe (p0276ppy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 19 OCTOBER 2018

FRI 19:00 World News Today (b0bmq9lf)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (b0bntnh0)
Simon Bates and Bruno Brookes present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 10 July 1986. Featuring Midnight Star, The Real Roxanne, Owen Paul, Rod Stewart, Bananarama and Madonna.


FRI 20:00 Synth & Beyond with Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert (b0bnk6vc)
New Order's Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert unpack a playlist of electro, pop and new wave classics spanning four decades. Stephen and Gillian have been married for 24 years and have been in New Order together for even longer, but they still manage to surprise one another with their musical tastes. While Stephen declares Captain Beefheart an early influence, Gillian confesses her teenage love for a disco classic. During an hour of top tunes, Stephen also reveals the moment he was mistaken for Stevie Wonder, and Gillian recalls how her Dad was a fan of punk.

From Kraftwerk to Can, David Bowie to Kate Bush, Magazine to Grace Jones and many more, this stellar playlist by Stephen and Gillian is brimming with iconic performances.


FRI 21:00 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0623809)
Be My Baby

In the years bookended by Buddy Holly's death in early 1959 and The Beatles landing at JFK in spring 1964, rock 'n' roll calmed down, went uptown and got spun into teen pop in a number of America's biggest cities. Philadelphia produced 'teen idols' like Fabian who were beamed around the country by the daily TV show Bandstand. Young Jewish songwriters in New York's Brill Building drove girl groups on the east coast who gave a female voice to teenage romance. Rock 'n' roll even fuelled the Motown sound in Detroit and soundtracked the sunshiny west coast dream from guitar instrumental groups like The Ventures to LA's emerging Beach Boys.

In the early 60s, rock 'n' roll was birthing increasingly polished pop sounds across the States, but American teens seemed to have settled back into sensible young adulthood. Enter the long-haired boys from Liverpool, Newcastle and London.

Featuring exclusive interviews with Jerry Lee Lewis, Ben E King, Chubby Checker, Ronnie Spector, Barrett Strong, Eric Burdon and Pat Boone.


FRI 22:00 Synth Britannia at the BBC (b00n93c6)
A journey through the BBC's synthpop archives from Roxy Music and Tubeway Army to New Order and Sparks. Turn your Moogs up to 11 as we take a trip back into the 70s and 80s!


FRI 23:00 The People's History of Pop (b07ycbr8)
1976-1985 Tribal Gatherings

Pauline Black, lead singer of Two Tone band The Selecter, looks at the years 1976-1985, when she first picked up a guitar and when music got involved in passionate protest and the high street filled with colourful factions of music lovers.

After a lot of big hair and big rock stars, punks brought pop back down to earth and, out of that, music lovers shattered into an array of pop tribes who posed with passion.

We hear from a man who loved listening to pop hits on Radio 1 and who recorded his own 'Record for the Day' in his incredible picture diary every day. And one former student at a college in Surrey tells how a ball at his graduation was saved by a favourite rock star when the headline act pulled out - neighbour Elton John popped over and played an intimate set on the college's grand piano.

We speak to fans whose lives were changed forever by punk, and the members of an Asian punk band who were inspired by the music to shout for what they believed in at Rock Against Racism gigs and marches. Mods, a Numanoid and a fan of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal explain why they chose their tribes, while Two Tone was the music that tried to unite the kids and just get them dancing. The reverend of Kerry parish shares her unstoppable love of Duran Duran, much to the regret of her punk fiancé. And pop fans were brought together by the experience of Live Aid, when music changed the world outside of us.

Unearthed pop treasures include a tambourine punched through by Sid Vicious, played by a Sex Pistols fan as he sang with the band on the Great Rock n Roll Swindle album. A former music promoter shares some rare items from the Sex Pistols' ill-fated Anarchy in the UK tour, and the son of artist Ray Lowry shows Pauline the drawings his dad did of The Clash's summer American tour in 1979, when Ray was taken as their 'war artist'. We feature some precious material that gives us an insight into the thinking of The Clash's lead singer, Joe Strummer.


FRI 00:00 Top of the Pops (b0bntnh0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 00:30 Sound of Song (b04y4qpt)
The Recording Revolution

Songs are the soundtrack of our lives and it takes a kind of genius to create a true pop masterpiece. But, as Neil Brand argues, there is more to consider in the story of what makes a great song. Neil looks at every moment in the life cycle of a song - how they are written, performed, recorded and the changing ways we have listened to them. He reveals how it is the wonderful alchemy of all of these elements that makes songs so special to us.

To open the series, Neil investigates how songs were recorded for the first time, the listening revolution in the home that followed and the birth of a new style of singing that came with the arrival of the microphone - crooning. He also looks at the songwriting genius of Irving Berlin and the interpretative power of singers Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby.


FRI 01:30 Synth & Beyond with Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert (b0bnk6vc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 02:30 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0623809)
[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)

A Timewatch Guide 22:00 MON (b08xxsw5)

Art of France 00:00 SUN (b08cgjv7)

BP Confidential 22:30 TUE (b09jcx7z)

Barneys, Books and Bust-Ups: 50 Years of the Booker Prize 21:00 MON (b0bntjf6)

Barneys, Books and Bust-Ups: 50 Years of the Booker Prize 03:00 MON (b0bntjf6)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 MON (b0bmq9k0)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 TUE (b0bmq9k9)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 WED (b0bmq9kp)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 THU (b0bmq9l0)

Blue Peter Flies the World: Morocco 23:40 TUE (b0bp6520)

Blue Peter: It's a Dog's Life 23:20 TUE (b0077m9w)

Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners 23:25 THU (b062nqpd)

Building the Ancient City: Athens and Rome 23:00 WED (b0680lw2)

Carved with Love: The Genius of British Woodwork 02:00 WED (b01psbwz)

Classic Albums 23:45 SAT (b07ljcxf)

Classic Albums 00:45 SAT (b007b6hv)

Classic Albums 01:25 THU (b07ljcxf)

Cold War, Hot Jets 21:00 SUN (b03j5cf8)

Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance 20:00 WED (b04smrrc)

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

Dara & Ed's Road to Mandalay 23:00 MON (b08rch9c)

Duets at the BBC 01:00 SUN (b01c2xwt)

Empire 22:00 WED (b01dtk57)

Engineering Giants 19:00 SUN (b01llr67)

Feud: Bette and Joan 22:30 SUN (p05ll2zr)

Feud: Bette and Joan 23:15 SUN (p05ll41c)

Goldstone 21:00 SAT (b08x19x1)

Human Universe 20:00 THU (p0276ppy)

Human Universe 02:25 THU (p0276ppy)

Inside No. 9 22:45 SAT (b03xhl2m)

Inside No. 9 23:15 SAT (b03y7n5p)

James May's Cars of the People 20:00 SUN (b06zn8z9)

James May's Cars of the People 03:00 SUN (b06zn8z9)

Life Story 20:00 SAT (p026vhmr)

Life Story 02:45 SAT (p026vhmr)

Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths 21:00 WED (b0bntkp1)

Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths 03:00 WED (b0bntkp1)

Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest 00:00 WED (b07m772h)

Monkey Planet 19:00 SAT (p01s0zg9)

Monkey Planet 01:45 SAT (p01s0zg9)

New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands 21:00 TUE (b07lp34l)

New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands 02:20 TUE (b07lp34l)

Origins of Us 20:00 TUE (p00jjjw4)

Origins of Us 01:20 TUE (p00jjjw4)

Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story 00:00 MON (b08j8mvl)

Robert Rauschenberg - Pop Art Pioneer 02:00 SUN (b085k35h)

Rock 'n' Roll America 21:00 FRI (b0623809)

Rock 'n' Roll America 02:30 FRI (b0623809)

Rococo: Travel, Pleasure, Madness 00:20 TUE (b03td84h)

Simon Schama's Rough Crossings 22:00 THU (b00796gl)

Sound of Song 00:30 FRI (b04y4qpt)

South Pacific 20:00 MON (b00l7q55)

South Pacific 02:00 MON (b00l7q55)

Synth & Beyond with Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert 20:00 FRI (b0bnk6vc)

Synth & Beyond with Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert 01:30 FRI (b0bnk6vc)

Synth Britannia at the BBC 22:00 FRI (b00n93c6)

The Biddy Baxter Story 00:10 TUE (b0bp60w3)

The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England 01:00 MON (p0185y5g)

The Motorway: Life in the Fast Lane 21:00 THU (b04jrt72)

The People's History of Pop 23:00 FRI (b07ycbr8)

The Sky at Night 22:00 SUN (b0bntqjf)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (b0bntqjf)

There She Goes 22:00 TUE (b0bnxpzn)

Tom Jones at the BBC 00:25 THU (b00vz5ml)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (b0bntnh0)

Top of the Pops 00:00 FRI (b0bntnh0)

Venice 24/7 19:30 MON (b01f17z4)

Venice 24/7 19:30 TUE (b01fd4tm)

Venice 24/7 19:30 WED (b01fq2l6)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (b0bmq9lf)