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 09 MARCH 2019

SAT 19:00 Yellowstone: Wildest Winter to Blazing Summer (b087vjh4)
The Blazing Summer

The story of animals surviving one of the harshest seasonal changes on the planet continues.

It is summer and the Yellowstone beavers have a new challenge. Will the young survive as the river dries up and the colony is forced to move home? As food becomes scarce, wolves have a surprising strategy to keep their pups fed and grizzly bears are unexpected visitors on a cowboy ranch.

By midsummer, the hot dry conditions create a new danger - deadly wildfires burn out of control and threaten to engulf a family of great grey owls. 2016 was the hottest year on earth since records began, and across Yellowstone scientists reveal the effects of rising temperatures on the animals that live here.


SAT 20:00 Hunters of the South Seas (b05s8bhw)
The Bajau

Writer Will Millard explores the extraordinary people of the Coral Triangle in the Western Pacific. Boasting the richest waters on the planet, the Coral Triangle is home to people who have adapted to ocean life like nowhere else.

In this episode, Will Millard focuses on the lives of the formerly nomadic Bajau spear fishermen of Indonesia, who are now settling in stilted villages out at sea, and how their way of life is changing radically. How do people who have wandered the ocean adjust to life in a fixed place?


SAT 21:00 Trapped (m00037r8)
Series 2

Episode 7

Icelandic crime drama series. In the aftermath of another killing at the plant, Vikingur is found covered in blood, and with his fingerprints on the murder weapon. It is all Hjortur can do to keep the other workers from tearing him apart until the police arrive, and now he is in custody at the station for a murder he swears he did not commit.

The shock is felt by Vikingur's troubled family, and by Andri and Hinrika, who clearly must charge Vikingur. Ebo, alone and in danger without Vikingur to protect him, looks for sanctuary with Vikingur's friends. Meanwhile Asgeir has agreed to investigate the mystery of the dead animals Ketill has been finding up at the lake.

In Icelandic and English with English subtitles.


SAT 21:45 Trapped (m00037rb)
Series 2

Episode 8

The polluted lake has been discovered and the town's water supply has been turned off to prevent further cases of sickness. Now it is no longer a secret, people are starting to think the whole place is cursed. Under pressure to provide answers, Andri and Hinrika are chasing up leads all over town, but in their haste Hinrika worries they might be becoming slapdash. With a dubious suspect still in custody they need progress fast, so Andri decides it is time to put more pressure on the management of the aluminium plant. Meanwhile Thorhildur is still sitting on her secret discovery from Finnur’s bag.

In Icelandic and English, with English subtitles


SAT 22:40 Top of the Pops (m00030wm)
Gary Davies presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 5 June 1987 and featuring Erasure, U2, Pepsi & Shirlie, Jody Watley, Suzanne Vega, John Farnham, Beastie Boys, Wet Wet Wet, Whitney Houston and Samantha Fox.


SAT 23:10 Top of the Pops (m00030wr)
Peter Powell and Simon Bates present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 11 June 1987, and featuring John Farnham, Bruce Willis, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Tom Jones, Whitesnake, ABC, Johnny Logan, Whitney Houston and Jody Watley.


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

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

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

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

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


SAT 00:40 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.


SAT 01:40 The Joy of the Single (b01nzchs)
Do you remember buying your first single? Where you bought it? What it was? The thrill of playing it for the first time? What it sounded like? How it maybe changed your life? Lots of us do. Lots of us still have that single somewhere in a dusty box in the attic, along with other treasured memorabilia of an adolescence lost in music and romance. The attic of our youth.

The Joy of the Single is a documentary packed with startling memories, vivid images and penetrating insights into the power of pop and rock's first and most abiding artefact - the seven-inch, vinyl 45-rpm record, a small, perfectly formed object that seems to miraculously contain the hopes, fears, sounds and experiences of our different generations - all within the spiralling groove etched on its shiny black surface, labelled and gift-wrapped by an industry also in its thrall.

In the confident hands of a star-studded cast, the film spins a tale of obsession, addiction, dedication and desire. The viewer is invited on a journey of celebration from the 1950s rock 'n' roll generation to the download kids of today, taking in classic singles from all manner of artists in each decade - from the smell of vinyl to the delights of the record label, from the importance of the record shop to the bittersweet brevity of the song itself, from stacking singles on a Dansette spindle to dropping the needle and thrilling to the intro.

Featuring contributions from Noddy Holder, Jack White, Richard Hawley, Suzi Quatro, Holly Johnson, Jimmy Webb, Pete Waterman, Norah Jones, Mike Batt, Graham Gouldman, Miranda Sawyer, Norman Cook, Trevor Horn, Neil Sedaka, Paul Morley, Rob Davies, Lavinia Greenlaw, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.


SAT 02:40 James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain (m00030wh)
Episode 1

Two-part documentary, introduced and narrated by model train enthusiast James May, that follows a year inside Hornby Hobbies - an iconic British toymaker on the brink of collapse. But this is no ordinary business series - this is a series about model train and plane obsessives, both inside and outside the company, all of whom desperately need the company to survive.

In episode one, we join Hornby as they face their biggest crisis in a generation. The company has lost £30M in the past five years and sales across all three of their major brands - Scalextric, Airfix and Hornby Railways - are down.

A new boss, Lyndon Davies, has been appointed to turn the company’s dismal fortunes around and he has brought back some company veterans to help in the fight for survival.

Simon Kohler, known affectionately as ‘Mr Hornby’ has been brought back after a four-year absence. He assesses the decline of his beloved company and attempts to reconnect with Hornby’s dissatisfied customer base and retailers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to revitalise Airfix, Lyndon tasks a master amateur model builder, Jim Bren, with the biggest build of his model-making life – the largest reconstruction of the Hellcat plane ever attempted by the company.

We get the opportunity to delve into the highly secretive world of the company’s design and development process. We meet Ken, head of the audio research laboratory, as he struggles to find the perfect cat sound, as well as other veterans like head of archives Peter, who has some very strong words on how he feels the company has been managed.

We also meet the people whose pastimes are at stake, such as the members of the Double O Gauge Association. We follow them as they prepare for one of the biggest events in the model railway enthusiast’s diary – The Great Electric Train Show in Milton Keynes – where their fictitious village of Batcombe is ready for its unveiling to the public.



SUNDAY 10 MARCH 2019

SUN 19:00 Sold! Inside the World's Biggest Auction House (b083s5t6)
Episode 1

The programme goes behind the scenes in London, Dubai, New York and Hong Kong, as staff, experts, advisers and buyers set art trends, prices and records.

However, in 2016, the auction house's 250th anniversary year, there are fears that a downturn in the global economy could have a negative impact on the multibillion-pound industry.


SUN 20:00 James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain (m00030wh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 02:40 on Saturday]


SUN 21:00 Arcadia (m00038l1)
A provocative and poetic exploration of Britain’s relationship with the land, crafted from quirky, surprising, beautiful and revealing archive from the last hundred years.

Set to a score from Adrian Utley from Portishead and Will Gregory from Goldfrapp.


SUN 22:20 The New Girlfriend (m00038l3)
Claire and Laura have been best friends since primary school. Claire is determined to fulfil a promise she made before Laura's premature death, that she would help Laura's widowed husband David to bring up their infant daughter on his own. But when she walks into his home unannounced, Claire discovers that David has been keeping a secret.

Erotic drama in French with English subtitles.


SUN 00:05 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.


SUN 01:00 The Real Tom Thumb: History's Smallest Superstar (b04sms8d)
Michael Grade reveals the extraordinary and utterly unique story of General Tom Thumb, the world's first global show business celebrity. Just 31 inches tall, he went from humble beginnings in America to international superstardom, eventually performing on stage before over 50 million people, including President Lincoln and a devoted Queen Victoria. Yet Tom Thumb didn't choose his own career and his selling point was his disability. Is this story one of success or exploitation? And why do we remain just as fascinated by performers with unusual bodies?

As an impresario and lifelong entertainment devotee, Michael sets out to follow the remarkable life of Tom Thumb (real name Charles Stratton) from his discovery aged four by the legendary showman PT Barnum to his setting out on the first ever show business world tour. The journey takes him to New York and across snowy New England, then back to the UK to discover how adored Stratton was by the British public. It features exquisite handmade suits, tiny bespoke carriages and the first ever visit by a film crew to Stratton's specially designed home, complete with miniature staircase.

Looking to our own times, Michael meets contemporary entertainers to find out what it's like to be a little person or disabled actor today, and asks whether it's ever right for us to be entertained by people with unusual bodies. Expecting a tale of exploitation, in Stratton Michael eventually discovers the story of man who made the very most of his situation and had a truly unforgettable life. And in the process, there is a discovery that rewrites the history of Charles Stratton, suggesting he may have had a long-forgotten baby.


SUN 02:30 Sold! Inside the World's Biggest Auction House (b083s5t6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 11 MARCH 2019

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m00037ss)
Series 1

11/03/2019

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


MON 19:30 A Stitch in Time (b09l2rfv)
Series 1

Charles II

Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore. Here, she looks at Charles II.


MON 20:00 Coast (b0816ykw)
The Great Guide

Scotland's Western Isles

Neil Oliver and Tessa Dunlop present their insiders' guide to the Western Isles - a coastal cluster of a myriad sea-girt islets that include the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll and St Kilda.

Neil sets out on an island-hopping adventure that takes in three of the most stunning settings: Mull, Staffa and Gometra. Along his journey taking to the waves on a range of wonderfully restored vessels, he compiles our great guide from a wider canvas of Coast stories that stretch right across the Western Isles. He learns the secrets of crab fishing from a professional, samples a local delicacy from a surprising source, searches for stunning wildlife and meets the sole resident of one of Scotland's most remote islands.


MON 21:00 Oak Tree: Nature's Greatest Survivor (b06fq03t)
George McGavin investigates the highly varied and dramatic life of oak tree. Part science documentary, part historical investigation, this film is a celebration of one of the most iconic trees in the British countryside. It aims to give viewers a sense of what an extraordinary species the oak is and provide an insight into how this venerable tree experiences life.

Filmed over a year, George uncovers the extraordinary transformations the oak goes through to meet the challenges of four very different seasons.

In autumn, George goes underground, digging below an oak tree to see how its roots extract precious resources from the soil. And he sees why the oak's superstrong wood made it the perfect material for building some the most famous ships in naval history, including Nelson's flagship The Victory.

In winter, George discovers the sophisticated strategies the tree uses to survive gales and bitter frosts. He finds out about the oak's vital role in architecture, showing how some very familiar sights, such as the tower of Salisbury Cathedral, are in fact giant oak structures.

In spring, George investigates how the oak procreates, spreading its pollen through the countryside. He discovers the incredibly sophisticated strategies it uses to withstand savage onslaughts from predators hellbent on eating it alive.

In summer, George uses a high-powered microscope to see the hundreds of species that regard the oak as their home. Humans too rely on the oak for their own form of 'sustenance'. Whisky gets its unique flavours from the oak wood barrels in which it's matured.


MON 22:30 James May: The Reassembler (b076np2b)
Series 1

Lawnmower

James is faced with the 331 pieces that make up a 1959 petrol lawnmower. The Suffolk Colt helped make mowing accessible to the masses by producing a smaller and affordable machine to keep our nation's lawns at regulation height. As this is a petrol lawnmower, James's first task is to put the engine back together before he gets to grips with the gearing, the clutch and the blades themselves. Armed only with his toolbox and an endless supply of tea, James experiences the highs and lows only possible when attempting to put history back together again, piece by piece.


MON 23:00 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv16n)
The Birth of Art

In a visual treat taking in Egypt's greatest historical sites, Alastair Sooke tells the story of ancient Egyptian art through 30 extraordinary masterpieces. Tracing the origins of Egypt's unique visual style, he treks across the Sahara and travels the Nile to find the rarely seen art of its earliest peoples. Exploring how this civilisation's art reflected its religion, he looks anew at the Great Pyramid, and the statuary and painting of the Old Kingdom. Sooke is amazed by the technical prowess of ancient artists whose skills confound contemporary craftsmen.


MON 00:00 Letters from Baghdad (b095vnm7)
The extraordinary and dramatic story of Gertrude Bell, the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day. She shaped the modern Middle East after World War I in ways that still reverberate today. More influential than her friend and colleague Lawrence of Arabia, Bell helped draw the borders of Iraq and established the Iraq Museum.

Using never-seen-before footage of the region, the film chronicles Bell's extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian desert and the inner sanctum of British male colonial power. With unique access to documents from the Iraq National Library and Archive and Gertrude Bell's own 1,600 letters, the story is told entirely in the words of the players of the day, excerpted verbatim from intimate letters, private diaries and secret communiques. It is a unique look at both a remarkable woman and the tangled history of Iraq.


MON 01:30 Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA (b0b4fz5n)
Series 1

Episode 1

Series looking at American art. The first episode is set in the Wild West and begins with the sublime art of the Hudson River School, whose 19th-century evocations of the vastness of America did so much to fuel the myth of the promised land. Another huge influence was the mysterious rock art of Native Americans, which set a stirring precedent for non-naturalistic painting. The film culminates in a celebration of Jackson Pollock, born in Cody, Wyoming, who arrived in New York wearing a Stetson and cowboy boots, and whose famous drip paintings were influenced heavily by both the moods of the American west and the example of Native American artists.


MON 02:30 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08h95jk)
Series 1

Episode 1

Series in which Eamonn McCabe celebrates Britain's greatest photographers, sees how science allowed their art to develop, and explores how they have captured our changing lives and country.

In the first of three programmes, Eamonn goes back to the 19th century to trace the astonishingly rapid rise of the photograph in British life. Eamonn explores the science behind early photography, and shows how innovative photographic techniques made possible the careers of pioneers like Roger Fenton and Julia Margaret Cameron. He sees how great figures of the age such as Queen Victoria and Isambard Kingdom Brunel were captured on camera, and revisits the Victorians' sense of wonder about the 'natural magic' of photography and the role it played in their lives.


MON 03:30 A Stitch in Time (b09l2rfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]



TUESDAY 12 MARCH 2019

TUE 19:00 The Flying Archaeologist (b01s1czf)
Norfolk Broads

Archaeologist Ben Robinson flies over the Broads where aerial photos have discovered a staggering 945 previously unknown ancient sites. Many are making historians rethink the history of the area.

The fate of the Roman town of Caistor St Edmund has puzzled archaeologists for decades. It's long been a mystery why the centre never became a modern town. Now archaeologists have discovered a key piece of evidence. And near Ormseby, the first proof of Bronze Age settlement in the east of England has been revealed.


TUE 19:30 A Stitch in Time (b09ll1fx)
Series 1

Arnolfini

Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore. Here, she looks at Dutch painter Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait.


TUE 20:00 The Art of Japanese Life (b08v8gxj)
Series 1

Nature

Dr James Fox journeys through Japan's mountainous forests, marvels at its zen gardens and admires centuries-old bonsai, to explore the connections between Japanese culture and the natural environment. Travelling around Japan's stunning island geography, he examines how the country's two great religions, Shinto and Buddhism, helped shape a creative response to nature often very different to the West. But he also considers modern Japan's changing relationship to the natural world and travels to Naoshima Art Island to see how contemporary artists are finding new ways to engage with nature.


TUE 21:00 Burma with Simon Reeve (b0b4dn84)
Series 1

Episode 2

The second of a two-part series, in which adventurer and broadcaster Simon Reeve travels deeper into beautiful and troubled Burma.

Simon journeys up the vast Irrawaddy River to the old royal capital of Mandalay, home to an exotic market for precious jade. In Burma's mountainous highlands, he experiences the country's vibrant ethnic heritage at an extraordinary and explosive fire-balloon festival, then visits an elephant sanctuary and finds out how a growing tourism industry is helping them survive after working for decades in the logging industry.

Burma is a melting pot of different ethnic groups, and having seen first-hand the suffering of the Rohingya people on the first leg of his journey, Simon now travels secretly into one of Burma's many other conflict zones to meet a huge rebel army who have been fighting the Burmese military for decades. Simon goes on combat patrol into the jungle with the rebels and learns why they have been fighting the longest-running civil war in the world.


TUE 22:00 A Timewatch Guide (b071gx2c)
Series 2

World War Two

Professor Saul David uses the BBC archive to chart the history of the world's most destructive war, by chronicling how the story of the battle has changed. As new information has come to light, and forgotten stories are remembered, the history of World War Two evolves. The BBC has followed that evolution, and this programme examines the most important stories, and how our understanding of them has been re-defined since the war ended over 70 years ago.


TUE 23:00 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv1cv)
The Golden Age

On a journey through Ancient Egyptian art, Alastair Sooke picks treasures from its most opulent and glittering moment. Starting with troubling psychological portraits of tyrant king Senwosret III and ending with the golden mask of boy king Tutankhamun, Sooke also explores architectural wonders, exquisite tombs and a lost city - site of the greatest artistic revolution in Egypt's history where a new sinuous style was born under King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. Along the way Egyptologists and artists reveal that the golden veneer conceals a touching humanity.


TUE 00:00 How Quizzing Got Cool: TV's Brains of Britain (b084fs6s)
We all love a good quiz. So here's a question - when did ordinary contestants turn into the pro-quizzers of today? Giving the answers are Victoria Coren Mitchell, Judith Keppel, Chris Tarrant, Mark Labbett, Nicholas Parsons and many more. Narrated by Ben Miller.


TUE 01:00 Mark Gatiss on John Minton: The Lost Man of British Art (b0bfnlj2)
John Minton was for a time one of the most popular 20th-century British artists, more famous than his contemporaries Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. He has also been something of an obsession for actor and writer Mark Gatiss since he first saw one of his paintings as a teenager at the National Portrait Gallery. Mark Gatiss plunges back into Minton's world to celebrate his remarkable life and work, but also to find out why he remains all but forgotten.

As well as being a central figure in the postwar British neo-romantic movement, alongside the likes of Graham Sutherland and John Piper, John Minton was also one of the leading lights of Soho during the 1940s and 50s - a bohemian enclave where he felt at ease with fellow artists and models. In the only known footage of Minton, he is caught fleetingly, dancing wildly in a club, like a crazed marionette. It is a captivating, poignant glimpse of a man who was once at the very centre of this world.

He was a prolific painter of both landscapes and portraits, and as a gay man, Mark has always been particularly drawn to his sensitive depictions of striking young men. Minton too was gay but struggled with his sexuality during a highly repressive era when homosexuality was still illegal. However, as Mark discovers, it wasn't just his sexuality that plagued Minton, but his very standing as an artist and his desire to be considered first and foremost a painter rather than an illustrator, which is how he really found fame. On a balcony overlooking the same glorious view, Mark explains how Minton's vibrant jacket design for Elizabeth David's A Book of Mediterranean Food in 1950 was really what attracted people to buy it, as the author herself declared. But it was the 1948 publication of Time Was Away: A Notebook in Corsica that really established Minton, and it became something of a cult book for a new generation of illustrators. Following in his footsteps, Mark travels to Corsica and visits some of the original locations captured so vividly by Minton.

As well as discovering unseen photographs of the artist and previously unknown works by him, the film also gives Mark the chance to hear Minton's voice for the first time in a rare broadcast he made for the BBC Third Programme in 1947. The connections deepen further as Mark meets some of those who knew him well - former models such as actor Norman Bowler recall posing for Minton, and fellow artist David Tindle discusses the rivalries between Minton and his contemporaries, particularly Francis Bacon.

Drawing on all these remarkable first-hand reminiscences, Mark explores the reasons behind Minton's fall from grace and the tragic circumstances of his death at the age of just 39.


TUE 02:00 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08hznbb)
Series 1

Episode 2

Eamonn McCabe explores how British photographers responded to the most important events of the first half of the 20th century and traces the emergence of a new genre of photography - photojournalism. His journey begins at the Daily Mirror's press plant in Watford, which broke new ground with its dynamic coverage of the siege of Sidney Street in 1911, before tracing the footsteps of pioneering female photojournalist Christina Broom and discovering how cheaper cameras enabled British soldiers to become citizen journalists during the First World War.

Eamonn is joined by Mahtab Hussain to discuss the work of Bill Brandt, who in 1937 travelled to the north of England to record landscapes and portraits of working class communities during the Great Depression. Brandt would go on to work for Picture Post, Britain's most popular news magazine, which was launched in 1938. Armed with a period roll film Leica, Eamonn goes on assignment to the fairground to recreate a famous shoot by the magazine that documented almost every aspect of mid-century life in Britain.

He also sees how photographers captured the Second World War, from the Blitz to shocking images of concentration camps; celebrates photographers who pursued the medium as an art form in its own right; learns about the printing techniques of celebrity portrait photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn; and reflects on Cecil Beaton's glamorous work for Vogue magazine.


TUE 03:00 The Art of Japanese Life (b08v8gxj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2019

WED 19:00 The Flying Archaeologist (b01s1hnr)
The Thames: Secret War

Archaeologist Ben Robinson flies over the Thames to uncover new discoveries about World War 1. A whole network of trenches has been discovered on The Hoo peninsula. Invisible from the ground, they were recently found from aerial images of the area next to the former Chattenden Barracks.

The trenches were used for experimentation and training of soldiers and can be directly linked to trenches used in Belgium in WW1.

The trenches are just one feature revealed by the first full aerial survey of the area by English Heritage. Much of the history of this area is being recorded from the air before it is destroyed by coastal erosion and development.


WED 19:30 A Stitch in Time (b09mbb41)
Series 1

The Hedge Cutter

Fusing biography, art and the history of fashion, Amber Butchart explores the lives of historical figures through their clothes. A rare portrait of a working man.


WED 20:00 The Mekong River with Sue Perkins (b04q07wj)
Episode 2

Sue Perkins continues her epic journey up the Mekong, south east Asia's greatest river. In this second episode, Sue embarks on the most emotional leg of her journey along the Mekong. Having learnt how people are struggling to recover from the legacy of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, animal lover Sue continues through Cambodia to witness how deforestation and wildlife crime are stripping the country of it last wild places. She goes on a raid with the Wildlife Rapid Response Rescue team, in search of trafficked wild animals and bush meat. It's a disturbing experience, and Sue is thrust into the complicated and conflicting world of animal welfare and conservation versus the poverty and greed that drives the trade. She also takes part in the more positive aspect of the team's work, as they release macaques and a slow loris back into the wild. And further upstream she sees the efforts to protect the Mekong's endangered river dolphins.

But Cambodia also brings some of her happiest encounters, as Sue's ability to make friends is epitomised in her meetings with a mobile-touting hermit and the women of the Krung people. The Krung live in the remote highlands of Ratanakiri and are one of the tribes most affected by rapid deforestation. Having witnessed the devastation of the forest from the air, Sue makes a deep bond with these women, as she sees how they live from the bounty of the remaining forest and learns of their struggle to protect it.


WED 21:00 James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain (m00037sz)
Episode 2

The concluding episode of the series, introduced and narrated by model train enthusiast James May, follows Hornby’s new management team in a desperate attempt to save the company.

In this episode Ken, head of audio development, is sent on a top-secret mission to capture the sound of a steam locomotive for its potential use in a brand new model.

Simon Kohler, Hornby’s number two, tries to rejuvenate the tired Scalextric brand name with a flashy new advert, but there is a problem: with the company strapped for cash, the budget is miniscule and it will have to be made entirely with in-house staff.

Meanwhile, the company takes on its first female product designer, Caitlin Williams. Fresh out of university, Caitlin is put on the Scalextric design team and we go behind the scenes to see what it takes to produce her first car.

In the climactic finale, we see Simon take on two of his biggest rivals as Hornby’s 2019 range includes two products that have the competitors fuming, leading to a dramatic showdown.


WED 22:00 Secrets of British Animation (b0btynjg)
Documentary exploring more than a century of animation in Britain, including the creative and technical inventiveness of the UK's greatest animation pioneers.

The defining characteristic of British animation has always been ingenuity. Unable to compete with the big American studios, animators in Britain were forced to experiment, developing their own signature styles. The documentary uncovers the trade secrets of animation legends like Bob Godfrey, John Halas and Joy Batchelor, Len Lye and Bristol's world-renowned Aardman Animations.

Tracing the development of British animation from the end of the Victorian era to contemporary blockbusters, Secrets of British Animation shows the perseverance and determination that are part of the animator's mindset. Focusing on the handmade tradition of animation in the UK, the programme includes newly-remastered early films from the archive of the British Film Institute.


WED 23:00 Treasures of Ancient Egypt (p01mv1kj)
A New Dawn

Alastair Sooke concludes the epic story of Egyptian art by looking at how, despite political decline, the final era of the Egyptian Empire saw its art enjoy revival and rebirth. From the colossal statues of Rameses II that proclaimed the pharaoh's power to the final flourishes under Queen Cleopatra, Sooke discovers that the subsequent invasions by foreign rulers, from the Nubians and Alexander the Great to the Romans, produced a new hybrid art full of surprise. He also unearths a seam of astonishing satirical work, produced by ordinary men, that continues to inspire Egypt's graffiti artists today.


WED 00:00 Two Types: The Faces of Britain (b0903ppd)
We are surrounded by types, the words on signs, buses, shops and documents which guide us through our lives. Two types in particular are regarded as the faces of Britain - Johnston and Gill Sans. Their story is told by typeface expert Mark Ovenden.


WED 01:00 MAKE! Craft Britain (b09whc5t)
Series 1

Episode 1

The first episode follows two groups of novice crafters as they master the art of hooky rugmaking and traditional letterpress. Meanwhile, origami artist Sam Tsang teaches how to make something beautiful from a single sheet of paper, folding an origami lily which can then be made into LED fairy lights.

On the north east coast in Bamburgh village, world-renowned rugmaker Heather Ritchie welcomes six amateur crafters to her two-day workshop in the local cricket pavilion. She teaches them how to 'hook' their own personalised seat cushions, inspired by their favourite places.

Heather has been hooking rugs for over 30 years. She discovered rugmaking in the early 70s after moving into a cold, flagstoned cottage in the Yorkshire Dales. The hooking technique allowed her to use recycled fabrics to produce rugs that insulated her home. After getting 'hooked' on the basic technique, her functional household rugs soon developed into intricate works of art, each one capturing a memory from her past.

The workshop is attended by married couple Adam and Tracy, dentist Indra, A&E doctor Lucy and local farmers Mary and John, who bring some sheep fleece along to use in their work.

Meanwhile, in south London, wordsmith and typographer Kelvyn Smith invites five students into his print studio for a one-day masterclass in letterpress printmaking. The 350-year-old printing process is new to all of Kelvyn's students, so over the course of the day they learn how to use a composing stick, how to set type and build a form, before proofing and printing their own pieces of work.

The workshop is attended by engaged couple Ant and Bianca, gravestone engraver Neil and his carpenter son Otis, and textiles student Lorna.

Lorna initially struggles with the concept of writing 'upside down and left to right', but has a breakthrough when she's given a mirror to hold up against her work. In the end her poster - a written tribute to her dad, a poet - exceeds all hopes. 'It's come out better than I could have expected.'

Back in Bamburgh, the hooky seat cushions are ready to go on chairs, and the students take a stroll to the beach for a celebratory slice of cake and cup of tea to try them out for size.

Sheep farmer John's work really impresses teacher Heather - 'now who'd have thought a sheep farmer could make something as beautiful and artistic as that?'.


WED 02:00 Britain in Focus: A Photographic History (b08k0srb)
Series 1

Episode 3

In the final episode, Eamonn McCabe traces the story of British photography from the explosion of colour images in the late 1950s to the ongoing impact of the digital revolution.

Eamonn enters the colourful Britain of postcard producer John Hinde, whose postwar experiments with colour photography captured a new mood of optimism and leisure in the country. He sees how colour snaps began to replace black-and-white prints in the family album as cheaper cameras and new processing techniques allowed ordinary people to record the world around them in colour. Eamonn meets John Bulmer, who broke new ground by using colour for documentary photography in his striking images of the north of England for the Sunday Times colour magazine. And he finds out why Jane Bown refused to follow the trend by sticking to black and white for her striking portraits of the era's most memorable faces.

Eamonn explores how a new, independent movement in photography emerged in the 1970s, fostering talents like Peter Mitchell, who used colour photography to comment on a changing urban Britain. Eamonn sees how this new movement encouraged Fay Godwin to infuse her poetic landscapes with political and environmental concerns, and meets Birmingham-based photographer Vanley Burke, whose work chronicled the growing African-Caribbean community in Handsworth. And Eamonn joins one of today's best-known British photographers, Martin Parr, to find out how he has trained a satirical eye on modern society.

Assessing the impact of the 'big bang' of digital photography, Eamonn goes back to his roots as a sports photographer - covering boxing in the East End of London. He reflects on how technology has developed from when he started in the 1970s, with manual cameras and rolls of film, to the digital cameras of today. Eamonn then sees how the digital revolution has shaped a new generation of practitioners - in whose hands a thoroughly 21st-century British photography is being created.


WED 03:00 Secrets of British Animation (b0btynjg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]



THURSDAY 14 MARCH 2019

THU 19:00 Railways: The Making of a Nation (b07x4f7s)
The New Commuters

Historian Liz McIvor explores how Britain's expanding rail network was the spark to a social revolution, starting in the 1800s and continuing through to modern times. A fast system of transportation shaped so many areas of our industrial nation - from what we eat to where we live, work and play. The railways generated economic activity but they also changed the nature of business itself. They even changed attitudes to time and how we set our clocks! Our railways may have reflected deep class divisions, but they also brought people together as never before, and helped forge a new sense of national identity.

This episode looks at the railways enabled us to live further and further from the places where we worked. Before the age of steam you would need a horse to travel long distances on land. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries our railways encouraged the development of suburbia inhabited by a new type of resident and worker - the commuter. In some cases, new places emerged on the map simply because of the railways - places like Surbiton. Liz visits London and the south east of England, our nation's largest commuter zone. The Victorian rail network was never part of a single grand plan, but emerged and evolved, line by line, over decades. For today's commuters, work is still going on to create a system that serves their needs!


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (m00037t8)
Janice Long and Simon Mayo present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 18 June 1987, and featuring Samantha Fox, Whitesnake, Tom Jones, ABC, Chris Rea, Janet Jackson, Curiosity Killed the Cat, The Firm and Broken English.


THU 20:00 The Crusades (b01b3ftw)
Holy War

Dr Thomas Asbridge presents a revelatory account of the Crusades, the 200-year war between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land.

The story of the Crusades is remembered as a tale of religious fanaticism and unspeakable violence, but now fresh research, eyewitness testimony and contemporary evidence from both the Christian and Islamic worlds shed new light on how these two great religions waged war in the name of God.

Episode one traces the epic journey of the first crusaders as they marched 3,000 miles from Europe to recapture the city of Jerusalem from Islam, enduring starvation, disease and bloodthirsty battle to reach their sacred goal, and then unleashed an appalling tide of barbaric violence upon their Muslim enemies. Yet far from being the invincible holy warriors of legend, Dr Asbridge reveals that these crusaders actually considered surrender in the midst of their titanic expedition.


THU 21:00 Britain's Tudor Treasure: A Night at Hampton Court (b04yg2hr)
Lucy Worsley and David Starkey celebrate the 500th anniversary of Britain's finest surviving Tudor building, Hampton Court. As Henry VIII's pleasure palace, Hampton Court was a showcase for royal magnificence and ceremony - and the most important event of all was the christening of Henry's long-awaited son, Prince Edward, on October 15th, 1537.

Lucy and David explore how Tudor art, architecture and ritual came together for this momentous occasion. Drawing on historical records and with the help of a team of experts, they recreate key elements of the christening ceremony - including a magnificent set-piece procession through Hampton Court involving nearly 100 people in full Tudor costume.


THU 22:00 Blackadder (b0078vmr)
Blackadder II

Bells

Classic historical comedy. The Blackadder genes resurface in Elizabethan England in the guise of Edmund, great-great-grandson of the repulsive original. Blackadder is struck by Cupid's arrow when he takes on a new servant - a girl named Bob.


THU 22:30 Blackadder (b015msyb)
Blackadder II

Head

When Edmund is appointed lord high executioner, he moves a beheading forward from Wednesday to Monday, so he and his staff can enjoy some time off. But he didn't take into account the queen's tendency to change her mind.


THU 23:00 Blackadder (b01nllvy)
Blackadder II

Potato

Historical sitcom set in Tudor England. To keep up with Sir Walter Raleigh, Edmund announces he will navigate the treacherous waters of the Cape of Good Hope.


THU 23:30 Top of the Pops (m00037t8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 00:00 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.


THU 01:00 ... Sings Motown (b05nyyv5)
Archive compilation celebrating the incredible body of work by Detroit's finest songwriting teams and artists for perhaps America's greatest ever record label, Motown.

This compilation of Motown covers spans the 1960s to the present day and features: Paul Weller and Amy Winehouse with I Heard It Through the Grapevine on Jools's Hootenanny, Roberta Flack's version of Stevie Wonder's Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer from an early edition of the OGWT, early adopter Dusty Springfield with Nowhere to Run on her 60s BBC TV show and The Flying Lizards with Barrett Strong's Money (That's What I Want) from Top of the Pops in 1979.

Of course, there are quite a few 80s hit covers from the decade that rediscovered Motown as a hitmaking machine, many of them from Top of the Pops including Kim Wilde's You Keep Me Hangin' On and Paul Young's 1983 Number 1 with Marvin Gaye's 1962 B-side, Wherever I Lay My Hat.

Then it's on into the 90s with Mercy Mercy Me from the late lamented Robert Palmer and Mariah Carey's take on The Jackson Five's I'll Be There. Plus of course, Phil Collins but, rightly or wrongly, not with You Can't Hurry Love but with his 21st-century reading of Stevie Wonder's Blame It on the Sun from Later with Jools.


THU 02:00 BBC: The Secret Files (b06455ch)
Episode 1

Penelope Keith uncovers the secrets behind some of the BBC's greatest artists and programmes as she delves into the corporation's written archives.


THU 03:00 Britain's Tudor Treasure: A Night at Hampton Court (b04yg2hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 15 MARCH 2019

FRI 19:00 World News Today (m00038lq)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m00038ls)
Peter Powell and Simon Bates present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 25 June 1987 and featuring Chris Rea, Bruce Willis, Pet Shop Boys, Terence Trent D'Arby, Prince, Simple Minds, Cliff Richard, The Firm and John Farnham.


FRI 20:00 Irish Rock at the BBC (b0556qc9)
A whistle-stop tour of rock from over the water, taking in some of the finest Irish rock offerings from the early 70s to the present day, as captured on a variety of BBC shows from The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops to Later... with Jools Holland.

Kicking off with Thin Lizzy's 1973 debut hit Whiskey in the Jar, the programme traces Irish rock's unfolding lineage. Performances from guitar maestro Rory Gallagher, Celtic rock godfathers Horslips and John Peel favourites The Undertones feature alongside rivals Stiff Little Fingers, with their Top of the Pops performance of Nobody's Hero, followed by post-punk U2's 1981 debut UK performance of I Will Follow from The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Then there is Sinead O'Connor's debut single performance of Mandinka, and The Pogues play the Ewan MacColl classic Dirty Old Town from 1986. Into the 90s, there is The Frank and Walters and Therapy? on Top of the Pops, along with early performances on Later... with Jools Holland from Ash and The Divine Comedy.

There is rockabilly with Imelda May's debut hit Johnny Got a Boom Boom, and then more recently Cavan's The Strypes and Hozier, whose Take Me to Church completes this hit-driven tour through Irish rock.


FRI 21:00 Showbands: How Ireland Learned to Party (m00038lv)
Ardal O'Hanlon looks at what started the showband era in Ireland, the people involved, and how it came to an end in the 1980s.


FRI 22:00 Christy Moore Live: Come All You Dreamers (b00zj2m1)
One of Ireland's favourite sons and greatest live performers, folk singer and balladeer Christy Moore filmed live at Barrowland in Glasgow in 2008 with his veteran accompanist Declan Sinnott. Moore is in intimate communion with an attentive audience, playing a classic setlist that includes Missing You, Black Is The Colour, Pair of Brown Eyes, Ride On.


FRI 23:00 Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story (b01mhqnr)
In 1978 The Undertones released Teenage Kicks, one of the most perfect and enduring pop records of all time - an adolescent anthem that spoke to teenagers all over the globe. It was the first in a string of hits that created a timeless soundtrack to growing up, making the Undertones one of punk rock's most prolific and popular bands.

Unlike the anarchic ragings of The Sex Pistols or the overt politics of The Clash, The Undertones sang of mummy's boys, girls - or the lack of them - and their irritating cousin Kevin. But their gems of pop music were revolutionary nonetheless - startlingly positive protest songs that demanded a life more ordinary. Because The Undertones came from Derry, epicentre of the violent troubles that tore Northern Ireland apart during the 1970s.

Featuring interviews with band members, their friends, family, colleagues and contemporaries, alongside archive and music, this documentary is the remarkable, funny and moving story of one of Britain's favourite bands - the most improbable pop stars who emerged from one of the darkest, most violent places on the planet.


FRI 00:00 Stiff Little Fingers and U2 in Concert (m00038lx)
For Stiff Little Fingers, it was a 'home game'. Back to Belfast to play in front of the fans who had supported them from their start in punk 1978. U2, from Dublin, were already showing the polish and sophistication that has made them one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

This now historic gig, recorded in 1981 at Queen's University, Belfast, combines the sounds of SLF and U2 with the energy of an enthusiastic Irish crowd.


FRI 00:35 The Irish Rock Story: A Tale of Two Cities (b0555xv8)
Film telling the story of how rock music helped to change Ireland. The 40-year-old story of Irish rock and pop music is grounded in the very different musical traditions of the two main cities of the island, Belfast and Dublin.

This musical celebration charts the lives and careers of some of the biggest selling acts in Irish rock, punk and pop from Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy to The Undertones and U2. From the pioneers of the showbands touring in the late 50s through to the modern day, the film examines their lineage and connections and how the hardcore, rocking sound of Belfast merged with the more melodic, folky Dublin tradition to form what we now recognise as Irish rock and pop.

The film explores where these bands and musicians came from and the influence the political, social and cultural environments of the day had on them and how the music influenced those environments.

With contributions from many of the heavyweights of Irish rock and pop, including U2, Sinead O'Connor and Bob Geldof, it follows their careers as they forged an international presence and looks at how they helped change the island along the way.


FRI 01:35 Top of the Pops (m00038ls)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 02:05 Van Morrison at the BBC (m00038lz)
Spend an hour in the company of musical innovator Van Morrison in this vintage compilation of his most memorable BBC performances.


FRI 03:05 Showbands: How Ireland Learned to Party (m00038lv)
[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)

... Sings Motown 01:00 THU (b05nyyv5)

A Stitch in Time 19:30 MON (b09l2rfv)

A Stitch in Time 03:30 MON (b09l2rfv)

A Stitch in Time 19:30 TUE (b09ll1fx)

A Stitch in Time 19:30 WED (b09mbb41)

A Timewatch Guide 22:00 TUE (b071gx2c)

Arcadia 21:00 SUN (m00038l1)

BBC: The Secret Files 02:00 THU (b06455ch)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 MON (m00037ss)

Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA 01:30 MON (b0b4fz5n)

Blackadder 22:00 THU (b0078vmr)

Blackadder 22:30 THU (b015msyb)

Blackadder 23:00 THU (b01nllvy)

Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity 23:40 SAT (b054v27d)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 02:30 MON (b08h95jk)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 02:00 TUE (b08hznbb)

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History 02:00 WED (b08k0srb)

Britain's Tudor Treasure: A Night at Hampton Court 21:00 THU (b04yg2hr)

Britain's Tudor Treasure: A Night at Hampton Court 03:00 THU (b04yg2hr)

Burma with Simon Reeve 21:00 TUE (b0b4dn84)

Christy Moore Live: Come All You Dreamers 22:00 FRI (b00zj2m1)

Classic Albums 00:00 THU (b07ljcxf)

Coast 20:00 MON (b0816ykw)

Duets at the BBC 00:40 SAT (b01c2xwt)

Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story 23:00 FRI (b01mhqnr)

How Quizzing Got Cool: TV's Brains of Britain 00:00 TUE (b084fs6s)

Hunters of the South Seas 20:00 SAT (b05s8bhw)

Irish Rock at the BBC 20:00 FRI (b0556qc9)

James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain 02:40 SAT (m00030wh)

James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain 20:00 SUN (m00030wh)

James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain 21:00 WED (m00037sz)

James May: The Reassembler 22:30 MON (b076np2b)

Letters from Baghdad 00:00 MON (b095vnm7)

MAKE! Craft Britain 01:00 WED (b09whc5t)

Mark Gatiss on John Minton: The Lost Man of British Art 01:00 TUE (b0bfnlj2)

Oak Tree: Nature's Greatest Survivor 21:00 MON (b06fq03t)

Railways: The Making of a Nation 19:00 THU (b07x4f7s)

Secrets of British Animation 22:00 WED (b0btynjg)

Secrets of British Animation 03:00 WED (b0btynjg)

Showbands: How Ireland Learned to Party 21:00 FRI (m00038lv)

Showbands: How Ireland Learned to Party 03:05 FRI (m00038lv)

Sold! Inside the World's Biggest Auction House 19:00 SUN (b083s5t6)

Sold! Inside the World's Biggest Auction House 02:30 SUN (b083s5t6)

Stiff Little Fingers and U2 in Concert 00:00 FRI (m00038lx)

The Art of Japanese Life 20:00 TUE (b08v8gxj)

The Art of Japanese Life 03:00 TUE (b08v8gxj)

The Crusades 20:00 THU (b01b3ftw)

The Flying Archaeologist 19:00 TUE (b01s1czf)

The Flying Archaeologist 19:00 WED (b01s1hnr)

The Irish Rock Story: A Tale of Two Cities 00:35 FRI (b0555xv8)

The Joy of the Single 01:40 SAT (b01nzchs)

The Mekong River with Sue Perkins 20:00 WED (b04q07wj)

The New Girlfriend 22:20 SUN (m00038l3)

The Real Tom Thumb: History's Smallest Superstar 01:00 SUN (b04sms8d)

Tom Jones at the BBC 00:05 SUN (b00vz5ml)

Top of the Pops 22:40 SAT (m00030wm)

Top of the Pops 23:10 SAT (m00030wr)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (m00037t8)

Top of the Pops 23:30 THU (m00037t8)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (m00038ls)

Top of the Pops 01:35 FRI (m00038ls)

Trapped 21:00 SAT (m00037r8)

Trapped 21:45 SAT (m00037rb)

Treasures of Ancient Egypt 23:00 MON (p01mv16n)

Treasures of Ancient Egypt 23:00 TUE (p01mv1cv)

Treasures of Ancient Egypt 23:00 WED (p01mv1kj)

Two Types: The Faces of Britain 00:00 WED (b0903ppd)

Van Morrison at the BBC 02:05 FRI (m00038lz)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (m00038lq)

Yellowstone: Wildest Winter to Blazing Summer 19:00 SAT (b087vjh4)