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 04 MAY 2019

SAT 19:00 Darcey Bussell's Looking for Audrey (b04w7mfk)
Behind Audrey Hepburn's dazzling image, Darcey Bussell unravels an epic tale of betrayal, courage, heartache and broken dreams.

For as long as she can remember, Darcey has been fascinated by Audrey Hepburn - style icon, star of Breakfast at Tiffany's and an Oscar winner at 24. Now, Darcey follows in Audrey's footsteps through Holland, London, Rome, Switzerland and Hollywood to find out more. She discovers that Audrey started out as a dancer, risked her life in the Second World War and, although adored the world over, was always looking for love.


SAT 20:00 Alaska: Earth's Frozen Kingdom (b052h442)
Summer

Alaska is one of the most iconic wildernesses on the planet - America's last frontier.

In this three-part series, we follow a year in Alaska and reveal the stories of pioneering Alaskans, both animal and human, as they battle the elements and reap the benefits of nature's seasonal gold rush.

Alaska is huge - by far the biggest US state - and still one of the wildest places on earth. It has deep forests and vast mountain ranges, and a third of it sits above the Arctic Circle.

The whole state goes through some of the most extreme seasonal changes: temperatures can reach into the 90s F in summer and can plummet to -80F in the winter.

Yet plenty survives here, and it is home to some of the hardiest animals on the planet. Each one has its own quirky way of getting through the challenges of the seasons. Above all, this is a land of great characters.

We meet black bear cubs faced with a daunting climb down from their tree-den and a mother sea otter nursing her baby through the chilly days of early spring. Stealthy 50-tonne sperm whales steal fish from the end of fishermen's lines in an extraordinary marine 'heist', grizzly bears grow big on a sudden wealth of salmon and a huge male moose finds unlikely ways to impress a female. Thousands of bald eagles gather for a winter feast, and arctic foxes risk everything to find food in the alien world of an oil boomtown. People, too, must go with the flow of the extreme seasons, facing winter storms at sea to catch snow crabs, rushing across ice rivers with teams of huskies and taking advantage of Alaska's endless summer daylight to grow world-class giant vegetables.

No season brings more surprises than an Alaskan summer. It lures hummingbirds up from the tropics, exposes deserts in the Arctic and relies on parachuting firefighters to tackle forest fires in its vast wilderness. Summer is a narrow window of plenty, when the land is bathed in 24-hour sunlight - but in this land of extremes, you can have too much of a good thing.


SAT 21:00 Follow the Money (m0004vy6)
Series 3

Episode 9

Danish crime drama series. Sahar saves Nicky’s life after Lala’s attack. Alf and Stine hunt the wounded Nicky, but find that he is one step ahead of them. Anna realises that Nicky can no longer help her when her family is sought out by Lala and his criminal partners. Nicky seeks a way out. The chief police inspector interferes with Alf’s investigation. In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 22:00 Follow the Money (m0004vy8)
Series 3

Episode 10

Danish crime drama series. The season finale has Alf on a vicious hunt for Nicky before he escapes the country. Nicky must say goodbye to what is most precious to him and Anna receives an offer she cannot refuse. Alf and Nicky both realise that there are tragic consequences to their actions. In Danish with English subtitles.


SAT 23:00 Bowie at the BBC (b0888f7r)
A chronology of clips from the BBC archive giving an overview of David Bowie's extraordinary career from 1964 to 2016. Blending interviews and performances from music programmes, documentaries, news outlets and chat shows, this portrait of Bowie both at his most thoughtful and his most opportunistically promotional is a series of snapshots into a rapidly evolving career across music, films and the theatre.

From a 17-year-old David Jones interviewed by Cliff Michelmore in 1964, on to 1973 when in Ziggy mode Bowie, Ronson and co gave their seminal Top of the Pops performance of Starman, and then to 2000 when Bowie reimagined himself as the cover of Hunky Dory to storm Glastonbury, this is a journey through many Bowies.

The programme includes other classic Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Later... with Jools' performances and looks at Bowie the actor with interviews about his roles in The Elephant Man, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and Labyrinth.

Bowie at the BBC gives an insight into the many ways Bowie chose to present himself at different moments in time, revealing how innovative, funny, surprising and influential he always was.


SAT 00:00 Top of the Pops (m0004nrq)
Gary Davies and Peter Powell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 15 October 1987 and featuring UB40, Five Star, The Alarm, Terence Trent D'Arby, Los Lobos, Bananarama, Fleetwood Mac, Was (Not Was), The Fatback Band, the Bee Gees and Billy Idol.


SAT 00:30 Eric Clapton at the BBC: The Rock 'n' Roll Years (b0074r9l)
A journey through Eric Clapton's performing life at the BBC and elsewhere, from his 60s blues days to his noughties blues days. Clapton has been described as the best guitarist in the world and has a life story and career that would make anyone's hair curl.

By way of extensive BBC archive footage, the programme charts his varied and ever-changing career - from the beginnings with The Yardbirds until he left to join the purist blues of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, to the dynamism and musical synchronisation with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, which produced the turbulent Cream, to Clapton's collaboration with Stevie Winwood that would spawn Blind Faith, to his brief sojourn in the Plastic Ono Band and his unforgettable contribution to Lennon's heroin hell tribute Cold Turkey, to his low-profile spell with rootsy US act Delaney and Bonnie, to the band he formed with Bobby Whitlock, Derek and the Dominoes, that produced one of the most famous unrequited love songs in Layla, and on to his successful solo career since then.

Along the way Clapton has successfully survived heroin and alcohol abuse, been accused of being a racist, stolen his best friend's wife, changed bands as often as his shirt, and lost a son in the most tragic of accidents. Through it all, he has produced some of the best music of the 20th century.


SAT 01:00 Line of Duty (b07503dg)
Series 3

Episode 1

Police anti-corruption unit AC12 return for another investigation. Sergeant Danny Waldron and his armed response team shoot dead a hardened criminal, but cracks soon appear in their story. Are they hiding a cold-blooded murder?


SAT 02:00 Line of Duty (b07508q3)
Series 3

Episode 2

After the shooting at the drugs house, DC Kate Fleming uses her undercover role to increase the pressure on Danny Waldron's armed response unit. Meanwhile, a previous AC12 investigation comes under legal scrutiny.


SAT 03:00 Line of Duty (b076vfv7)
Series 3

Episode 3

DS Steve Arnott believes there is a dark secret in Danny Waldron's past. But while DI Cottan is commended for cracking the Waldron case, the spotlight falls on Arnott's questionable conduct in a previous enquiry.



SUNDAY 05 MAY 2019

SUN 19:00 Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery (b09cbcfm)
Series 1

Belmont Abbey

Belmont Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Herefordshire on the Welsh border. The monastery itself has a warm and inviting feel which is amplified by the colourful, 19th-century decor inside the building. The monks that we follow at Belmont are true craftsmen - one is a renowned iconographer and one of the best in the western world, while the other creates manuscripts and rosaries.

We follow renowned iconographer Father Alex who travels to Belmont from his native Peru every year to teach his skills. He is the superior of Belmont Abbey's sister monastery in Peru. He uses centuries-old techniques - mixing his own egg tempera paints, using pigments made from semi-precious stones and burnishing gold leaf - to create a striking icon of Archangel Michael, the patron saint of Belmont Abbey.

We also meet Brother Bernard who makes rosaries - a devotional string of beads used in prayer. He uses pliers to link the beads, intricately threading them together to form the set of rosary beads which he then uses in private prayer.

Belmont Abbey's abbot, Father Paul, is responsible for the day-to-day running of the monastery. The majority of his duties are pastoral and religious, including running the services which take place throughout the day, leading the silent meals and creating an environment in which the monks can live and work in peace. He's also a dog lover and can often be seen walking his dog Toby through the monastery grounds. 'A wise man is known by the fewness of his words.' (Rule of St Benedict)

Filmed with an eye to the beauty and peace of the ancient surroundings, the film has a painterly quality that creates a feeling of restfulness and quiet contemplation. And by focusing on the natural sounds of nature and the peace of the abbey we have created a meditative soundtrack that adds to this unique experience.


SUN 20:00 Secret Agent Selection: WW2 (b0b060kj)
Series 1

Episode 2

In episode two, training proper begins as the students are schooled in guns, explosives and silent killing techniques - skills which came together and helped SOE to pull off one of the most audacious assassinations of World War Two. The students need to show a calm head and a killer instinct when handling real weapons, but not everyone makes the grade.


SUN 21:00 The Lancaster: Britain's Flying Past (b04bwhk8)
Passionate flying enthusiast and broadcaster John Sergeant celebrates the plane that some believe won the war - the Lancaster. The film tells the story of this mighty aircraft and the ordinary people whose lives were made extraordinary through their association with it.


SUN 22:00 imagine... (b061y4qk)
Summer 2015

Beware of Mr Baker

imagine... presents Beware of Mr Baker. In this award-winning documentary, Cream drummer Ginger Baker reflects on his sixty-year career. It began in the jazz clubs of Soho and led to sellout stadium concerts, via the back streets of Lagos. The film's director Jay Bulger catches up with the irascible instrumentalist at his ranch in South Africa to talk drums, drugs and everything in-between. Has the young director bitten off more than he can chew?


SUN 23:30 Leonard Bernstein at the BBC (b06j7wjh)
It is a quarter of a century since the death of Leonard Bernstein, composer, conductor and icon of 20th-century music. This programme features 50 years of great archive performances and interviews, some unseen since their original broadcast, including music from West Side Story, Elgar's Enigma and Beethoven.


SUN 00:30 Line of Duty (b077p6fk)
Series 3

Episode 4

Fresh testimony launches AC-12 back on the trail of the Caddy, a corrupt officer with links to organised crime. But new disturbing evidence suggests the Caddy may reside within AC-12.


SUN 01:30 Line of Duty (b078ctww)
Series 3

Episode 5

AC-12's loyalties are divided when DS Steve Arnott comes under scrutiny from his colleagues. With his career in jeopardy, Arnott turns to an unlikely source for help.


SUN 02:30 Line of Duty (b0794rsm)
Series 3

Episode 6

DS Steve Arnott is arrested on suspicion of murder but continues to protest his innocence. Does DC Kate Fleming's undercover operation hold the key to Steve's guilt and the identity of the Caddy?



MONDAY 06 MAY 2019

MON 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0004vy2)
Series 1

06/05/2019

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


MON 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b04ynp6g)
Series 6

Deptford to West Silvertown

Michael Portillo is invited aboard the construction locomotive for Crossrail to travel under the Thames and to meet Mary, on whom the project depends.

He travels on the capital's first railway and admires the remarkable brick viaduct on which it was built. He takes a tour underneath its arches with a Victorian map showing the poverty of those who once lived there. The Docklands Light Railway takes him to Greenwich, home to Britain's most famous tea clipper. And in Woolwich, he discovers the firepower of the British Empire before coming to a sticky end at West Silvertown.


MON 20:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03l7kj8)
A World Turned Upside Down

Shipwrecks are the nightmare we have forgotten - the price Britain paid for ruling the waves from an island surrounded by treacherous rocks. The result is a coastline that is home to the world's highest concentration of sunken ships. But shipwrecks also changed the course of British history, helped shape our national character and drove innovations in seafaring technology, as well as gripping our imagination.

Mutiny, murder and mayhem on the high seas as Sam Willis takes the story of shipwrecks into the Georgian age when Britain first began to rule the waves. But with maritime trade driving the whole enterprise, disasters at sea imperilled all this. As key colonies were established and new territories conquered, the great sailing ships became symbols of the power of the Georgian state - and the shipwreck was to be its Achilles' heel. By literally turning this world upside down, mutinous sailors, rebellious slaves and murderous wreckers threatened to undermine Britain's ambitions and jeopardise its imperial venture.


MON 21:00 A Timewatch Guide (b052775d)
Series 1

Cleopatra

Using the BBC film archives, historian Vanessa Collinridge explores how our view of Cleopatra has changed and evolved over the years - from Roman propaganda, through Shakespeare's role in casting her as a doomed romantic heroine, to her portrayal in the golden age of Hollywood.

Along the way Vanessa investigates Cleopatra's relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, her role as a politician, whether she should be seen as a murderer, and her tragic end. Drawing on the views of academic experts, BBC documentaries and drama, Vanessa charts how, throughout history, Cleopatra's image has been subject to myth, cliche and propaganda.


MON 22:00 Cleopatra and Me: In Search of a Lost Queen (m0004vy4)
Was Cleopatra a seductress or a great politician?

Shakespeare scholar Dr Islam Issa grew up in Birmingham with his Egyptian-born parents. As a child he was taught Cleopatra was a great politician, who turned her capital, Alexandria, into a global seat of learning and made Egypt one of the most powerful countries on the planet. But as a teenager, he realised she had a very different reputation in Britain - either a tragic Shakespearian heroine or a seductress, portrayed by screen sirens like Elizabeth Taylor.

In this programme, Dr Issa sets out to discover the story behind these two, very different, Cleopatras.


MON 22:30 Swallowed by the Sea: Ancient Egypt's Greatest Lost City (b04lss20)
Documentary following a team of maritime archaeologists as they uncover the remarkable city of Heracleion, lost to the sea and forgotten for over two thousand years.

In the fading days of the pharaohs, the city of Heracleion was the gateway to Egypt and a port beyond compare. In the 4th century BC, this was an opulent and prosperous place adorned with statues and sphinxes. It was a city of religious significance and home to the temple of Amun. In the 2nd century BC it was wiped off the face of the earth. In a mysterious subsidence, the coastline dropped by over 20ft and Heracleion was consumed by the sea. The lost city slept for centuries beneath the waters of the Mediterranean.

In 2000, archaeologists made an incredible find. Using ancient texts, they discovered the city's remains six kilometres off the Egyptian coast and only 10 metres underwater. Pristinely preserved, it is an archaeological jewel - an ancient Egyptian city frozen in time. The glorious temples, statues, houses and boats of the cities lie perfectly preserved by the sea, providing a snapshot of ancient Egyptian life. But many mysteries remain. What caused this sacred city to plunge into the sea? And why did its inhabitants deliberately sink over 65 ancient warships?


MON 23:30 Tales from the Royal Wardrobe with Lucy Worsley (b048wss8)
Today, few people's clothes attract as much attention as the royal family, but this is not a modern-day Hello magazine-inspired obsession. As Dr Lucy Worsley reveals, it has always been this way. Exploring the royal wardrobes of our kings and queens over the last 400 years, Lucy shows this isn't just a public preoccupation but our monarchs' as well.

From Elizabeth I to our present Queen, Lucy believes that the royal wardrobe's significance goes way beyond the cut and colour of the clothing and that royal fashion is, and has always been, regarded as their personal statement to their people. So most monarchs have carefully choreographed every aspect of their wardrobe and, for those who have not, there have sometimes been calamitous consequences.


MON 00:30 Secret Knowledge (b036qfcy)
Walter Scott's Castle

Novelist, poet and all-round cultural impresario Sir Walter Scott is renowned for inventing many of the myths of Scotland that still dominate how the country is imagined. His home in the Scottish Borders, Abbotsford House, brilliantly brings to life his romantic views of Scotland.

In the run-up to the reopening of Abbotsford House Scott-fan Stuart Kelly gets exclusive behind-the-scenes access as over 13,000 treasures are moved back into the strange and wonderful building. Exploring some newly discovered secret corners Stuart finds out just how controversial the bizarre building and the man who built it remain.


MON 01:00 Line of Duty (b08l60l3)
Series 4

Episode 1

DCI Roz Huntley is under intense pressure from her superiors to apprehend a serial murderer after months of fruitless investigation. When another young woman is abducted, Roz is on the scene to track down and charge a 24-year-old man. But doubts around the young man's guilt lead the chief forensic investigator to ask AC-12 to investigate. Is Roz ignoring forensic evidence that might prove the young man's innocence? AC-12's Supt Hastings places DS Kate Fleming undercover inside Roz's team to dig deeper into the case. With DS Steve Arnott piling on pressure from the outside, Roz is forced to act decisively. A mother of two and wife to Nick, Roz will do anything to stop her life from unravelling.


MON 01:55 Line of Duty (b08lmz22)
Series 4

Episode 2

A dismembered body is discovered, and worries grow when DCI Roz Huntley fails to report for duty. AC-12 crank up their investigation into Operation Trapdoor, concerned that Michael Farmer will go to jail for crimes he didn't commit. With suspicions that Roz may have withheld crucial evidence, a new DCI is drafted in to run Operation Trapdoor.

Kate makes progress in her undercover role, but AC-12's investigation falters when they realise that their main informant, forensic investigator Tim Ifield, has also gone missing.


MON 02:55 Line of Duty (b08mflh4)
Series 4

Episode 3

As AC-12 wrestle with the new forensic evidence casting doubt over Tim Ifield, Kate is approached by another woman claiming to have been assaulted by Michael Farmer. While Steve fumes over this contradictory testimony, Kate uses her newfound respect to inveigle herself with the Trapdoor team.

Meanwhile, Steve challenges Roz's husband Nick to vouch for his wife's whereabouts on the night Tim Ifield went missing. With Nick proving evasive, Steve senses a whole new angle on the investigation.



TUESDAY 07 MAY 2019

TUE 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0004vz4)
Series 1

07/05/2019

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


TUE 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b04ynsfk)
Series 6

Stratford to London Victoria

Guided by his Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo takes the high-speed line to Stratford to explore the legacy of the Olympic Park. He hears how an Indian lawyer, who learnt his trade in Victorian London, went on to change the world and explores an area of the city which has been home to wave upon wave of immigrants, Spitalfields. He ends this journey at Victoria Underground Station, where he finds out about the massive makeover currently under way.


TUE 20:00 Blue Planet II (b09hs07h)
Series 1

Coasts

On the coast, two worlds collide. Coasts are the most dynamic and challenging habitats in the ocean - that brings great rewards but also great danger. The extraordinary animals that live here must find ingenious ways to cope with two very different worlds.

This episode is a rollercoaster ride of heart-stopping action and epic drama, peopled with characters from the beautiful to the bizarre. We meet fish that live on dry land and puffins that must travel 60 miles or more for a single meal, and witness a life-and-death struggle in a technicolour rock pool.

In a secluded cove in the Galapagos, sea lions feast on 60kg tuna. It should be impossible - tuna are usually far too fast for sea lions to catch. But here the sea lions club together to herd their prey inshore. Once trapped in the shallows, these huge fish are easy pickings.

As the tide recedes in Brazil, lightfoot crabs leap from rock to rock, desperately avoiding the water - their lives depend on it. Moray eels launch themselves from rock pools, jaw gaping. Then octopuses, too. Both crawl across dry rock to set their ambush. Elsewhere, the ever-changing tides create rock pools. But these temporary worlds are a battleground. Predatory starfish turn a magical garden into the stuff of nightmares.

All around the world, immense waves pound the shore, and this episode reveals some of the largest on the planet, over 30 metres high. Over millennia these forces carve exquisite coastal sculptures and cliffs that are home to huge colonies of seabirds. Puffins fly up to 30 miles out to sea to find food for their chicks. A father returns with one precious beakful of food... then pirates attack. Desperate dads must escape the faster and more aerobatic skuas before finally delivering a meal to their young puffling.

Meanwhile, in the remote Pacific islands lives the most terrestrial fish on the planet. It lives in miniature caves above the tide lines and uses its tail like a coiled spring to jump from rock to rock. A male tries to attract a mate, but waves are a constant hindrance. These are fish that seem to hate water!

Once a year, king penguins return to the cold Antarctic shores of South Georgia for a month-long moult. First they must cross the biggest wall of blubber on the planet - thousands of gigantic elephant seals. Then they face a month with no food, before they can return to their natural home, the chilly Antarctic seas.

The planet's coasts are changing fast as they are among the most built-up areas of the world. Just off the beaches of Miami, the largest gathering of coastal sharks on the planet can still be found. But today they must face the many challenges that come from our world too.


TUE 21:00 Little Ships - The Miracle of Dunkirk (b00snjw1)
To mark the 70th anniversary of the 'miracle of Dunkirk', 50 of the surviving 'little ships' which made the original perilous cross-channel voyage are returning to France. Dan Snow tells their extraordinary story: their role in the evacuation and the people who struggled to keep them afloat during those fateful days in 1940, when the future of Europe hung in the balance.


TUE 22:00 The Secret History of Our Streets (b04d9k8w)
Series 2

The Fittie Squares, Aberdeen

BBC Two's multi-award-winning Secret History of Our Streets told the story of six London streets, from Victorian times to the present day.

Now, as its people stand at a crossroads in their history, the series travels to Scotland to tell the stories of three archetypal streets in Scotland's three great cities: Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Endlessly surprising and not at all what you would expect, the stories of these streets are the story of a nation.

At the mouth of Aberdeen Harbour lie the Fittie Squares, a model housing scheme built for fishermen and their families in 1809.

Tethered to the sea and cut off from the city, the squares developed their own culture. They were a traditional fishing community, untroubled for 150 years, until the day that oil was discovered just a few miles out to sea.


TUE 23:00 Wellington: The Iron Duke Unmasked (b05vlz90)
The Duke of Wellington was the most famous Briton of the first half of the 19th century. His victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 altered the course of history. The hero of Waterloo became a towering figure in British history for both his achievements and for embodying our notions of Britishness - the stiff upper lip, unfussy straightforwardness and incorruptibility in office - he was the Iron Duke.

This drama documentary looks behind the iron mask to focus on the intriguing complexities of the Duke of Wellington - his character, personality and relationships, told through his own words and the words of those who knew him best. General, politician, lover, outsider - the programme discovers that the hero of Waterloo was far more complex than his public image.

Drawing on his own vast private correspondence, as well as the diaries and memoirs of those around him, the film uses dramatic reconstruction to create an intimate portrait of the Duke of Wellington.


TUE 00:00 Sex and Sensibility: The Allure of Art Nouveau (b01fd4z2)
Vienna

In a story that combines scandal and revolution, cultural correspondent Stephen Smith explores how Vienna's artists rebelled against the establishment in the late 19th century and brought their own highly sexed version of art nouveau to the banks of the Danube.

Looking at the eye-watering work of Gustav Klimt, Smith discovers that Viennese 'Jugenstil' was more than just a decorative delight but saw artists struggle to bring social meaning to the new style. Revealing the design genius of Josef Hoffman, the graphic work of Koloman Moser and the emergence of the enfant terrible Egon Schiele, Smith unpacks the stories behind a style that burned brightly but briefly at the fin de siecle.


TUE 01:00 Line of Duty (b08ndwff)
Series 4

Episode 4

Roz's husband Nick is brought in for questioning by AC-12. But while Nick denies any involvement in Steve's attack, his suspicions about Roz mount. Meanwhile, AC-12 discover new anomalies in the forensic evidence and issue DCI Roz Huntley with a second Reg 15 notice. AC-12's case appears watertight until Roz starts dismantling their evidence with inside information of her own.


TUE 02:00 Line of Duty (b08nwx5r)
Series 4

Episode 5

Police drama series. DCI Roz Huntley struggles to allay her husband's suspicions. AC-12 find a new angle to pursue their case against her.


TUE 03:00 Line of Duty (b08plvy6)
Series 4

Episode 6

Police drama series. While Nick Huntley faces lengthy questioning, AC-12 remain convinced of Roz's involvement.



WEDNESDAY 08 MAY 2019

WED 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0004vyb)
Series 1

08/05/2019

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


WED 19:30 Great British Railway Journeys (b04ynyyh)
Series 6

London's West End

Guided by his Victorian Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo explores London's theatreland and discovers how 19th-century engineering made for spectacular theatricals. At Charing Cross, Michael learns about the ambitious building programme which saw Trafalgar Square replace streets of slums and comes face to face with George Bradshaw.

At one of the busiest stops on the tube, Piccadilly Circus, Michael indulges in some retail therapy at a perfumery patronised by kings, queens and prime ministers. The Bakerloo to Oxford Circus line brings Michael to Soho and a grimmer side of Victorian London, where disease was rife.


WED 20:00 Sword, Musket & Machine Gun: Britain's Armed History (b088sznj)
Rapid Fire

In the concluding episode, Dr Sam Willis charts the evolution of weaponry in Britain from 1800 to the First World War, looking at the drive to develop ever more precise weapons, from artillery shells to rifles to the Maxim machine gun.

The pace of technological change in the 19th century was phenomenal. Sam test-fires a 'Brown Bess' musket, the infantry weapon of choice at Waterloo in 1815 and discovers that a well-trained soldier could fire up to three shots a minute. He also looks at efforts to make artillery more effective on the battlefield with the invention of spherical case shot, a new type of shell that was named after its inventor - Henry Shrapnel.

Sam finds out how accessible firearms were to the public in the early 19th century and tells the little-known story of Spencer Percival, the only British prime minister ever to be assassinated, shot at point blank range in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812.

By the turn of the 20th century, several inventors believed that they could banish war if they invented the ultimate weapon, an instrument so horrific that no-one would dare use it. In the 1880s, Hiram Maxim, an American inventor, devised the first 'Maxim' machine guns in his workshop in Hatton Garden, London. The first rapid-fire weapon to harness the energy of its own recoil, the Maxim gun, and its successor the Vickers machine gun, could fire 600 rounds a minute and were used to devastating effect on the battlefields of the First World War.

Automatic weapons were also sought by criminal gangs, as Sam discovers when he looks back at one of the most infamous sieges of the 20th century - the Siege of Sidney Street in 1911.

The series culminates in a remarkable experiment to find out whether a bulletproof vest made of silk might have stopped a bullet fired at Archduke Franz Ferdinand. With the aid of the Royal Armouries, Sam conducts a unique experiment with assistant firearms curator Lisa Traynor to prove that a bulletproof vest owned by the archduke would have stopped a bullet fired by his assassin, Gavrilo Princip. The killing of the archduke on June 28 1914 set in motion a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the First World War.

World War I was the deadliest war of its age, with the most technologically advanced firearms and weapons of almost medieval brutality used to wage a devastating conflict. When the firing finally stopped on November 11, 1918, an estimated 17 million people had died and 20 million had been wounded. In the aftermath of World War I, we now put increasing faith in treaties, international conventions and diplomacy. Surely we could never allow such carnage to happen again?


WED 21:00 Storyville (m0004vyd)
Brexit: Behind Closed Doors

Part 1

The gripping untold story of the Brexit negotiations... from the other side. For two years, Belgian film-maker Lode Desmet has had exclusive access to the Brexit coordinator of the European parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, and his close knit team. This revelatory fly-on-the-wall film captures the off-the-record conversations and arguments of the European negotiators as they devise their strategy for dealing with the British.

Episode one watches as the Europeans’ respect for a formidable negotiating opponent turns into frustration and incredulity as the British fail to present a united front. At moments funny and tragic, it ends with the debacle in December 2017 when Theresa May flies in to Brussels to finalise details of a deal and is publically humiliated by her coalition partner, Arlene Foster of the DUP, who refuses to support the deal.


WED 22:00 Britain's Pompeii: A Village Lost in Time (b07myxws)
Professor Alice Roberts joins the team excavating a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age village in the Cambridgeshire Fens that has been called the British Pompeii.

The village earned its nickname because 3,000 years ago it burned to the ground, and as it burned it fell into the peat, preserving both the houses and their contents. Until its discovery, we had little real idea of what life was like in Bronze Age Britain.

Now we can peek inside our Bronze Age ancestors' homes as archaeologists discover perfectly preserved roundhouses, and the contents inside them - right down to the utensils in their kitchens. These roundhouses were built in a style never seen in the UK before - testimony not only to the villagers' technical skills, but also of their connections to Europe.

The team has made other incredible discoveries on the dig - from Britain's oldest-found wheel, to swords used in battle, and bowls still containing preserved remnants of food. One of the biggest revelations is the discovery of a complete set of the early technology used to produce cloth - a full industrial process we've never seen in Britain before.

This glimpse into domestic life 3,000 years ago is unprecedented, but it also transforms our impressions of Bronze Age Britain - far from being poor and isolated, it seems the villagers were successful large-scale farmers who used their farming surplus to trade with Europe, exchanging their crops for beautiful glass jewellery and multiple metal tools per household.

As part of the dig, the archaeologists also investigate the cause of the fire - was it just a terrible accident, or did the villagers' wealth provoke an attack?


WED 23:00 Horizon (b01mmrc0)
2012-2013

How Small Is the Universe?

Horizon plunges down the biggest rabbit-hole in history in search of the smallest thing in the universe.

It is a journey where things don't just become smaller but also a whole lot weirder. Scientists hope to catch a glimpse of miniature black holes, multiple dimensions and even parallel universes. As they start to explore this wonderland, where nothing is quite what it seems, they may have to rewrite the fundamental laws of time and space.


WED 00:00 Horizon (b0656dbj)
2014-2015

The Trouble with Space Junk

In 2014, the International Space Station had to move three times to avoid lethal chunks of space debris and there is an increasing problem of satellites mysteriously breaking down.

With first-hand accounts from astronauts and experts, Horizon reveals the scale of the problem of space junk. Our planet is surrounded by hundreds of millions of pieces of junk moving at 17,000 miles per hour. Now the US government is investing a billion dollars to track them, and companies around the world are developing ways to clear up their mess - from robot arms to nets and harpoons. Horizon investigates the science behind the hit film Gravity and discovers the reality is far more worrying than the Hollywood fiction.


WED 01:00 Blue Planet II (b09hs07h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 02:00 Horizon (b00pdjmk)
2009-2010

How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth?

In a Horizon special, naturalist Sir David Attenborough investigates whether the world is heading for a population crisis.

In his lengthy career, Sir David has watched the human population more than double from 2.5 billion in 1950 to nearly seven billion. He reflects on the profound effects of this rapid growth, both on humans and the environment.

While much of the projected growth in human population is likely to come from the developing world, it is the lifestyle enjoyed by many in the West that has the most impact on the planet. Some experts claim that in the UK consumers use as much as two and a half times their fair share of Earth's resources.

Sir David examines whether it is the duty of individuals to commit not only to smaller families, but to change the way they live for the sake of humanity and planet Earth.


WED 03:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03l7kj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]



THURSDAY 09 MAY 2019

THU 19:00 Beyond 100 Days (m0004vz6)
Series 1

09/05/2019

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


THU 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0004vz8)
Gary Davies and Steve Wright present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 29 October 1987 and featuring The Style Council, George Michael, Rick Astley, Ray Parker Jr, Eurythmics, George Harrison, T'Pau, Scarlet Fantastic, the Bee Gees and Fleetwood Mac.


THU 20:00 Supersized Earth (b01p58r8)
The Way We Move

Supersized Earth traces the spectacular story of how humans have transformed our world in a generation. In this awe-inspiring three-part series, Dallas Campbell travels the globe, visiting the world's largest and most ambitious engineering projects, exploring the power of human ingenuity and the making of the modern world.

In this episode, Dallas explores how we can travel further and faster than ever before - and how our desire to shrink the world is inspiring some of the most extraordinary engineering projects on the planet. He takes a treacherous walk along what will be one of the longest suspension bridges in the world and reveals how to move an object the size of Buckingham Palace half way around the globe. He examines how we have created a permanent home beyond the atmosphere in space and here on earth, he takes part in a modern day love affair - a drive-through wedding.


THU 21:00 Storyville (m0004vzb)
Brexit: Behind Closed Doors

Part 2

The gripping untold story of the Brexit negotiations... from the other side. For two years, Belgian film-maker Lode Desmet has had exclusive access to the Brexit coordinator of the European parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, and his close knit team. This revelatory fly-on-the-wall film captures the off-the-record conversations and arguments of the European negotiators as they devise their strategy for dealing with the British.

Episode two follows the rollercoaster events from December 2017 to the present day. Europe watches on incredulously as divisions in the British parliament and cabinet become more bitter and leave the talks paralysed. Eighteen months after the referendum, Britain still does not know what it wants and spends more time discussing internally than negotiating with Europe. Respect for Britain turns to irritation and finally ridicule.


THU 22:00 Titanic's Tragic Twin: The Britannic Disaster (b083dp3s)
The Titanic sank in April 1912, and her sister ship, the Britannic, ultimately suffered the fate, sinking in 1916 due to an explosion caused by an underwater mine.

In the wake of the Titanic disaster, Britannic was re-engineered to be even stronger. And yet she sank in just 55 minutes - three times faster than Titanic. It's one of Britain's greatest untold disaster stories. Now on the 100th anniversary, presenters Kate Humble and Andy Torbet piece together exactly what happened in those 55 minutes.

While Andy makes a dangerous dive to the wreck, Kate speaks to descendants of the survivors. The characters she uncovers include Violet 'Miss Unsinkable' Jessops, who survived both Titanic and Britannic, Captain 'Iceberg Charlie' Bartlett and lookout Archie Jewell, who miraculously survived while those around him died.


THU 23:00 Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story (p02l4q38)
Instruments of Murder

Sherlock has his mind palace, Morse his music - every detective has an edge. For most, it's forensic science. This three-part series provides a rare and fascinating insight into the secret history of catching murderers, charting two centuries of the breakthroughs that have changed the course of justice. Surgeon and writer Gabriel Weston explores this rich history through some of the most absorbing, and often gruesome, stories in the forensic casebook - and looks ahead to how forensics will continue to solve the murders of the future.

Where there's a murder there's usually a weapon. It's a key piece of evidence that can hold all the clues needed to catch the killer and shine a light into the mind of the murderer. In this final episode, Gabriel investigates the forensic advances that have elevated the murder weapon from its role of mere evidence to that of key witness.

Arsenic, the undetectable weapon of choice in the 19th century, was exposed as the murder weapon with one simple chemical test, and distinctive marks left on a victim's skull led detectives to the murder weapon and the killer.

Gabriel also looks to the future and the latest advances in forensics. Scientists have developed 3D laser scanning that can be used to reconstruct the exact sequence of events at the scene of a gun crime and decipher whether a shooting was murder or self-defence. Gabriel also investigates the pioneering chemistry that can now determine where in the world someone has spent time based on just a few strands of their hair.


THU 00:00 Horizon (b00pssgh)
2009-2010

The Secret Life of the Dog

We have an extraordinary relationship with dogs - closer than with any other animal on the planet. But what makes the bond between us so special?

Research into dogs is gaining momentum and scientists are investigating them like never before. From the latest fossil evidence, to the sequencing of the canine genome and cognitive experiments, dogs are fast turning into the new chimps as a window into understanding ourselves.

Where does this relationship come from? In Siberia, a unique breeding experiment reveals the astonishing secret of how dogs evolved from wolves. Swedish scientists demonstrate how the human/dog bond is controlled by a powerful hormone also responsible for bonding mothers to their babies.

Why are dogs so good at reading our emotions? Horizon meets Betsy, reputedly the world's most intelligent dog, and compares her incredible abilities to those of children. Man's best friend has recently gone one step further - helping us identify genes responsible for causing human diseases.


THU 01:00 Top of the Pops (m0004vz8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 01:30 Planet Ant: Life Inside the Colony (p00scslp)
Ant colonies are one of the wonders of nature - complex, organised and mysterious. This programme reveals the secret, underground world of the ant colony in a way that's never been seen before. At its heart is a massive, full-scale ant nest, specially designed and built to allow cameras to see its inner workings. The nest is a new home for a million-strong colony of leafcutter ants from Trinidad.

For a month, entomologist Dr George McGavin and leafcutter expert Professor Adam Hart capture every aspect of the life of the colony, using time-lapse cameras, microscopes, microphones and radio tracking technology. The ants instantly begin to forage, farm, mine and build. Within weeks, the colony has established everything from nurseries and gardens to graveyards.

The programme explores how these tiny insects can achieve such spectacular feats of collective organisation. This unique project reveals the workings of one of the most complex and mysterious societies in the natural world and shows the surprising ways in which ants are helping us solve global problems.


THU 03:00 Little Ships - The Miracle of Dunkirk (b00snjw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]



FRIDAY 10 MAY 2019

FRI 19:00 World News Today (m0004vzj)
The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m0004vzl)
Peter Powell and Gary Davies present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 12 November 1987 and featuring The Communards, Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, Mirage, Donna Summer, Marillion, Whitney Houston, Alexander O'Neal, T'Pau and Nina Simone.


FRI 20:00 BBC Young Dancer (m0004vzn)
2019

Street Dance Final

In the last of the category finals the focus is on Street Dance. At the end of the programme, the winner of the Street Dance category will be announced, together with the ‘wildcard’ contestant selected from across the four categories. They will join the winners from the South Asian, Contemporary and Ballet finals to complete the line-up for the Grand Final. Presented by Anita Rani and Ore Oduba, the Street Dance Final will feature Hip Hop, Popping, Freestyle and Contemporary Fusion styles.

We join five street dancers as they compete for the category title at The Lowry, in Salford. Judging them, a panel of leading dance experts: Botis Seva, Olivier nominee, artistic director of Far from the Norm and guest artistic director of the National Youth Dance Company; dancer and choreographer Rhimes Lecointe, founder and artistic director of all-female dance company Boadicea; and the adjudicator across all the categories, dancer, spoken word artist and associate artist at Sadler’s Wells, Jonzi D. For one of the dancers a place in the Grand Final awaits, with the opportunity to dance on stage at one of Britain’s leading dance venues, The Birmingham Hippodrome.

The street dance finalists are Thomas Carsley, Louie Juster, Christian Griffin, Kate Morris and Max Revell.

BBC Young Dancer showcases the UK’s very best young dance talent. The competition is for dancers aged 16 – 21 and follows 20 dancers across four categories – South Asian, Contemporary, Ballet and Street Dance.


FRI 21:00 Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 (b01nwfxs)
Documentary chronicling our ever-changing love affair with the British singles chart on the occasion of its sixtieth anniversary. From the first NME chart in 1952, via Pick and Top of the Pops to home-taping the Radio One chart show and beyond, we have measured out our lives to a wonderful churn of pop driven, unbeknownst to us, by a clandestine world of music biz hustle. Featuring contributions by 60 years of BBC chart custodians from David Jacobs to Reggie Yates, chart fans Grace Dent and Pete Paphides and music biz veterans Jon Webster and Rob Dickins.


FRI 22:30 Top of the Pops (b01pmbdy)
1978 - Big Hits

A pick 'n' mix of Top of the Pops classics from 1978, when in-yer-face punk and new wave rebellion co-existed with MOR suburban pop, disco fever, soul balladry, reggae and prog rock, and when two mega-successful movie soundtracks in the shape of Grease and Saturday Night Fever squared up on the dancefloor. Featuring shouty Sham 69, the cool rebellion of Ian Dury, Elvis Costello and Blondie, the media-savvy clowning of The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush's debut with Wuthering Heights, alongside Brotherhood of Man's perky Figaro, Dan Hill's sentimental Sometimes When We Touch and the high camp of Boney M's Rasputin. Bob Marley shares chart space with 10cc's Dreadlock Holiday, and ELO and Manfred Mann's Earth Band keep on rockin'.


FRI 23:30 Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line (b06l17fn)
All too often, every great female rock musician has to answer a predictable question - what is it like being a girl in a band?

For many, the sight of a girl shredding a guitar or laying into the drums is still a bit of a novelty. As soon as women started forming their own bands they were given labels - the rock chick, the girl band or one half of the rock 'n' roll couple.

Kate Mossman aims to look beyond the cliches of fallen angels, grunge babes and rock chicks as she gets the untold stories from rock's frontline to discover if it has always been different for the girl in a band.


FRI 00:30 Top of the Pops (m0004vzl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


FRI 01:00 Roots, Reggae, Rebellion (b0824dd7)
In the 1970s, Jamaica came alive to the sounds of roots reggae. British rapper, poet and political commentator Akala tells the story of this golden period in the island's musical history, a time when a small group of musicians took songs of Rastafari, revolution and hope to the international stage.

Growing up in London, Akala's family immersed him in roots reggae from an early age so he has a very personal connection to the culture. It has informed his own songwriting, poetry and political worldview, but it's an upbringing that he now feels he's taken for granted.

In this documentary, Akala sets out to find out more about the music that has had such an impact on his life. He begins by exploring the music's origins in Jamaica, where it offered hope to ordinary people at a time when poverty, political violence and turmoil were ravaging the island. Artists like Bob Marley, Big Youth and Burning Spear began to write about suffering and salvation through Rastafari in their songs. Akala unpicks how all of this evolved.

Back in the UK, Akala reveals how the Jamaican artists and our own British roots reggae bands like Steel Pulse became a cultural lifeline for young black people who were experiencing racism and rejection in their own country. He shows how roots reggae also related to a wider audience, its revolutionary message connecting with an increasingly marginalised UK youth.


FRI 02:00 Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 (b01nwfxs)
[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 21:00 MON (b052775d)

Alaska: Earth's Frozen Kingdom 20:00 SAT (b052h442)

BBC Young Dancer 20:00 FRI (m0004vzn)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 MON (m0004vy2)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 TUE (m0004vz4)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 WED (m0004vyb)

Beyond 100 Days 19:00 THU (m0004vz6)

Blue Planet II 20:00 TUE (b09hs07h)

Blue Planet II 01:00 WED (b09hs07h)

Bowie at the BBC 23:00 SAT (b0888f7r)

Britain's Pompeii: A Village Lost in Time 22:00 WED (b07myxws)

Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story 23:00 THU (p02l4q38)

Cleopatra and Me: In Search of a Lost Queen 22:00 MON (m0004vy4)

Darcey Bussell's Looking for Audrey 19:00 SAT (b04w7mfk)

Eric Clapton at the BBC: The Rock 'n' Roll Years 00:30 SAT (b0074r9l)

Follow the Money 21:00 SAT (m0004vy6)

Follow the Money 22:00 SAT (m0004vy8)

Girl in a Band: Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Front Line 23:30 FRI (b06l17fn)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 MON (b04ynp6g)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 TUE (b04ynsfk)

Great British Railway Journeys 19:30 WED (b04ynyyh)

Horizon 23:00 WED (b01mmrc0)

Horizon 00:00 WED (b0656dbj)

Horizon 02:00 WED (b00pdjmk)

Horizon 00:00 THU (b00pssgh)

Leonard Bernstein at the BBC 23:30 SUN (b06j7wjh)

Line of Duty 01:00 SAT (b07503dg)

Line of Duty 02:00 SAT (b07508q3)

Line of Duty 03:00 SAT (b076vfv7)

Line of Duty 00:30 SUN (b077p6fk)

Line of Duty 01:30 SUN (b078ctww)

Line of Duty 02:30 SUN (b0794rsm)

Line of Duty 01:00 MON (b08l60l3)

Line of Duty 01:55 MON (b08lmz22)

Line of Duty 02:55 MON (b08mflh4)

Line of Duty 01:00 TUE (b08ndwff)

Line of Duty 02:00 TUE (b08nwx5r)

Line of Duty 03:00 TUE (b08plvy6)

Little Ships - The Miracle of Dunkirk 21:00 TUE (b00snjw1)

Little Ships - The Miracle of Dunkirk 03:00 THU (b00snjw1)

Planet Ant: Life Inside the Colony 01:30 THU (p00scslp)

Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 21:00 FRI (b01nwfxs)

Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 02:00 FRI (b01nwfxs)

Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery 19:00 SUN (b09cbcfm)

Roots, Reggae, Rebellion 01:00 FRI (b0824dd7)

Secret Agent Selection: WW2 20:00 SUN (b0b060kj)

Secret Knowledge 00:30 MON (b036qfcy)

Sex and Sensibility: The Allure of Art Nouveau 00:00 TUE (b01fd4z2)

Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 20:00 MON (b03l7kj8)

Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 03:00 WED (b03l7kj8)

Storyville 21:00 WED (m0004vyd)

Storyville 21:00 THU (m0004vzb)

Supersized Earth 20:00 THU (b01p58r8)

Swallowed by the Sea: Ancient Egypt's Greatest Lost City 22:30 MON (b04lss20)

Sword, Musket & Machine Gun: Britain's Armed History 20:00 WED (b088sznj)

Tales from the Royal Wardrobe with Lucy Worsley 23:30 MON (b048wss8)

The Lancaster: Britain's Flying Past 21:00 SUN (b04bwhk8)

The Secret History of Our Streets 22:00 TUE (b04d9k8w)

Titanic's Tragic Twin: The Britannic Disaster 22:00 THU (b083dp3s)

Top of the Pops 00:00 SAT (m0004nrq)

Top of the Pops 19:30 THU (m0004vz8)

Top of the Pops 01:00 THU (m0004vz8)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (m0004vzl)

Top of the Pops 22:30 FRI (b01pmbdy)

Top of the Pops 00:30 FRI (m0004vzl)

Wellington: The Iron Duke Unmasked 23:00 TUE (b05vlz90)

World News Today 19:00 FRI (m0004vzj)

imagine... 22:00 SUN (b061y4qk)