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 11 APRIL 2020

SAT 19:00 The Private Life of... (b00t3tl1)
Chickens

Jimmy Doherty embarks on a quest to reveal the hidden lives of farmyard animals. He finds out about chickens: often taken for granted, what really goes on inside their brains? On a farm in Devon he finds out how chickens decide the pecking order. He also tries to find answers to questions such as how do chickens communicate with their chicks? How can chickens look in two directions at once? And can hens really change sex?


SAT 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.


SAT 21:00 Twin (m000hb4h)
Series 1

Episode 3

Day three. Ingrid tries to keep Erik hidden in the basement, but when Alfred needs help to retrieve his wrecked boat, Erik is forced to play the role of his twin brother Adam.

Ingrid has to give a presentation to investors, which her husband was supposed to do, while Karin travels to Unstad to find out who her father's deceased twin brother really was.

In Norwegian with English subtitles.


SAT 21:45 Twin (m000hb4k)
Series 1

Episode 4

Day four. Erik returns to Unstad in an attempt to say goodbye to his old life. But when Karin almost drowns, he reacts completely differently to how Adam would. Karin gets drunk and starts spilling to the police that she thinks her family is lying about the accident.

In Norwegian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:30 What a Performance! Pioneers of Popular Entertainment (b06r7xz4)
Music Hall

Comedian Frank Skinner and music presenter Suzy Klein step out in the first part of this highly entertaining and thought-provoking three-part series which explores a century of popular entertainment from the Victorian age of the music hall, through the golden age of 20th-century variety to the working men's clubs of the 1950s.

The first episode looks at the birth of 19th-century music hall, the colourful and sometimes dangerous world of its entertainers and the audiences whose lives were changed by what was Britain's first mass entertainment industry. Together, Suzy and Frank get under the skin of some of its greatest stars - some of whom, like Marie Lloyd and Champagne Charlie, are household names to this day, while the eccentric Victorian comic Dan Leno, later copied by Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, have fallen into obscurity.

Not only do Frank and Suzy dig into the history of these stars and the world from which they emerged, but they also study their acts and try their hand at performing them at the end of the show.


SAT 23:30 Top of the Pops (m000h3d6)
Anthea Turner presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 29 June 1989 and featuring Holly Johnson, London Boys and Double Trouble with Rebel MC.


SAT 00:00 Top of the Pops (m000h3d8)
Nicky Campbell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 6 July 1989 and featuring Sonia, Monie Love and The Beautiful South.


SAT 00:30 Indie & Beyond with Shaun Ryder and Alan McGee (b0bn6xl4)
Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder and Creation Records boss Alan McGee reveal a selection of their all-time favourite tracks.

From first jobs to private jets, longtime friends Ryder and McGee unpack the songs that formed the soundtrack to their lives.

In an hour of eclectic tunes, Shaun Ryder also discovers his lost Top of the Pops appearance and Alan McGee declares an alternative Scottish national anthem.

Theirs is a blistering playlist of indie, punk and ska classics from Buzzcocks to The Specials, Junior Murvin to Marc Bolan, Orange Juice to Underworld and many more.


SAT 01:30 Coast (b0816ykw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


SAT 02:30 The Private Life of... (b00t3tl1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



SUNDAY 12 APRIL 2020

SUN 19:00 Sacred Songs - The Secrets of Our Hearts (m000hb4m)
Award-winning British choir Tenebrae, under the direction of Nigel Short, is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its passion and precision. Normally before Easter, Tenebrae would be preparing for one of its busiest periods in the musical calendar. But as the world finds itself engulfed in one of the biggest health emergencies of modern history, Tenebrae, like many other artistic groups, has been forced to cancel its busy Easter season. Around the world, audiences are unable to attend and hear live music.

In this performance, filmed exclusively for BBC Music, Tenebrae once again breaks new ground in a programme of music for Easter, with all 20 of its singers filmed and recorded separately as they isolate themselves in their own homes. Under the direction of Nigel Short conducting via video link, Tenebrae sings a concert for Easter, including Gregorio Allegri's stunning Miserere, at a time when the world has never needed the medicine of music more.

Tenebrae's repertoire for this specially filmed performance includes the following:

JS Bach – Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden
Lobo – Versa est in luctum
Allegri – Miserere
Purcell/Croft – Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts
Parry – My soul, there is a country
JS Bach – Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein


SUN 19:30 Canal Boat Diaries (m000bk6x)
Series 1

Shardlow to Stoke-on-Trent

Life on board a narrowboat with Robbie Cumming. Robbie tackles a propeller problem and tricky locks on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Derbyshire.


SUN 20:00 The British Garden: Life and Death on Your Lawn (b08xyqcs)
The British back garden is a familiar setting, but underneath the peonies and petunias is a much wilder hidden world, a miniature Serengeti, with beauty and brutality in equal measure. In this documentary, Chris Packham and a team of wildlife experts spend an entire year exploring every inch of a series of interlinked back gardens in Welwyn Garden City. They want to answer a fundamental question: how much wildlife lives beyond our back doors? How good for wildlife is the great British garden?

Through all four seasons, Chris reveals a stranger side to some of our more familiar garden residents. In summer he meets a very modern family of foxes - with a single dad in charge - and finds that a single fox litter can have up to five different fathers. In winter he shows that a robin's red breast is actually war paint. And finally, in spring he finds a boiling ball of frisky frogs in a once-in-a-year mating frenzy.

The secret lives of the gardens' smallest residents are even weirder. The team finds male crickets that bribe females with food during sex, spiders that change colour to help catch prey, and life-and-death battles going on under our noses in the compost heap.

So how many different species call our gardens home? How well do our gardens support wildlife? By the end of the year, with the help of a crack team from London's Natural History Museum and some of the country's top naturalists, Chris will find out. He'll also discover which type of garden attracts the most wildlife. The results are not what you might expect... You'll never look at your garden in quite the same way again.


SUN 21:30 The Sky at Night (m000hb4p)
Here Comes the Sun

Esa’s solar orbiter was launched from Cape Canaveral earlier this year on a decade long mission to discover the secrets of our sun. And the Sky at Night was there to capture all the action. Two aspects of this mission make it unique. First, the spacecraft is designed to capture the highest resolution images of the sun ever taken. And then it will orbit the sun to give us a glimpse of what’s happening at the its poles, areas we have never seen before.

In this programme, we discover just how this spacecraft was built, how it will protect itself against the sun’s searing heat and how it will investigate the mysteries of the sun with a suite of ten instruments designed and built across 17 European countries.


SUN 22:00 Wolf Hall (p02gfy74)
Three Card Trick

Thomas Cromwell's patron Cardinal Wolsey is dismissed as lord chancellor and forced to flee his palace at York Place. The old noble families of England, jealous of their own right to advise the king, have long waited for this moment. His hopes of returning to the king's favour lie with the ever-loyal Thomas Cromwell.

Eight years ago, when Cromwell started working for Wolsey, the cardinal made an enemy of Thomas Boleyn by chastising him for his daughter Anne's far-from-virtuous reputation. As rumours circulated in court that Anne was secretly betrothed to Harry Percy, the cardinal insisted that no such match would be allowed.

Still lacking a male heir, the king is desperate for an annulment from his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, claiming she was not a virgin on their wedding day. To Cromwell's dismay, the cardinal's efforts to persuade the pope to grant the annulment are fruitless. An alliance between the pope and Katherine's nephew, the holy Roman emperor, diminishes the cardinal's position even further.

As Henry grows impatient, the pressure increases on the cardinal. To add to this, rumours reach the cardinal that the king's new mistress is Anne Boleyn, who has sworn vengeance on him over Harry Percy.

Cromwell visits Anne, urging her that only the cardinal can secure what she wants, but Anne is unmoved. The duke of Norfolk, nervous of the cardinal's continuing proximity to the king, insists that Cromwell tell Wolsey to travel north to his archdiocese in York. A desperate Cromwell finally meets directly with Henry, but the king is nothing if not ambiguous. Will he recall the cardinal or turn on him?


SUN 23:05 Wolf Hall (b05172x8)
Entirely Beloved

Cardinal Wolsey has been forced out of court to travel north to his archdiocese in York. For Thomas Cromwell, this is only a tactical retreat; in time the cardinal will regain the King's favour. Wolsey urges Cromwell to find a way to get close to Anne Boleyn for she is the key to persuading the King to restore him.

Cromwell visits Thomas More and his family at their home in Chelsea. More is amiable but the atmosphere is tense. He is determined to clamp down on heresy and is convinced that Cromwell has Protestant leanings.

Anne Boleyn summons Cromwell, wanting to know if she has an ally in him. She is aware of letters sent between Queen Katherine and the cardinal which are tantamount to treason and is becoming impatient waiting for Henry. Cromwell observes her taking her frustration out on her ladies-in-waiting, including young Jane Seymour who Cromwell takes pity on.

The King starts to take notice of Cromwell. Henry admires his loyalty to the cardinal and appreciates the honest and open way Cromwell talks to him. An intimacy develops and Henry comes to rely on Cromwell's advice.

There is then news from the north. The cardinal is arrested for treason by Harry Percy, a vengeful act for denying his betrothal to Anne Boleyn eight years earlier. The cardinal's health deteriorates rapidly and he dies on the journey south to the Tower of London.

At court, a party is held to mark the demise of the Cardinal. Cromwell closely watches those that celebrate Wolsey's death and as Cromwell is sworn in to the King's Council, he swears vengeance on those that brought the cardinal down.


SUN 00:05 Handmade in Bolton (m00095jc)
Series 1

Palissy Plate

In episode three, ex-forger Shaun Greenhalgh is set the task of making a Renaissance animal plate of the type invented by the great French potter Bernard Palissy. Palissy’s plates are alive with writhing reptiles, but for Shaun, killing grass snakes in Lancashire is not an option. So how can he source some examples for his moulds? And will it mean journeying back to his dark past as a forger?


SUN 00:35 Holst and Vaughan Williams: Making Music English (b0bshhss)
Historian Amanda Vickery and broadcaster Tom Service unearth the fascinating story of the life-long friendship between composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst, whose music gave birth to the 'English sound' in the first half of the 20th century. They retrace the walking trips the two composers took together across the country to discover how influences ranging from the Renaissance masters to folk music imbued their music with the 'Englishness' we recognise today. Illustrating the story, the BBC Concert Orchestra perform excerpts of both composers' music.


SUN 01:35 Holst: The Planets with Professor Brian Cox (m0005prm)
The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ben Gernon, performs Gustav Holst’s masterpiece, The Planets, at the Barbican, 100 years after its composition. Professor Brian Cox introduces each movement against a backdrop of the very latest in planetary imagery.


SUN 03:05 Sacred Songs - The Secrets of Our Hearts (m000hb4m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



MONDAY 13 APRIL 2020

MON 19:00 The Great Mountain Sheep Gather (m000hb4r)
Scafell Pike is England’s tallest mountain and home to a flock of native Herdwick sheep. Every summer, their shepherd must gather these notoriously hardy sheep and bring them down to the farm for shearing.

The Great Mountain Sheep Gather charts this journey across the fells with epic bird’s-eye view photography descending into the valley below. This timeless event has taken place in the Lake District for over a thousand years. Opening at dawn with the shepherd blindly navigating the foggy peaks and crags, this film reveals the skill, knowledge and bravery needed to care for a flock in this rugged land.

As the fog lifts to expose the breathtaking landscape, and the small pockets of sheep merge into one big group, the voice of Lakeland shepherd Andrew Harrison allows us to see this unique world through his eyes – the knowledge of the dogs, farmers and sheep passed down from generation to generation for centuries, the challenges of life in the fells, and the conflict posed by visitors and the 21st century.

Specially commissioned poetry written by Mark Pajak and read by Maxine Peake provides a counterpoint to the shepherd’s insights throughout this film. The programme’s unique visual perspective includes riding along on a dog, a sheep and with the shepherd himself. The bleats, barks and birdsong echoing down the valley create an evocative natural soundtrack.

Once the flock has assembled as one, this immersive chronicle follows the group as they descend and are greeted by sunshine and a sense of relief once they arrive at the farm. Five hundred sheep must now be sheared - the tale of a shepherd’s life.


MON 20:40 Coast (b01jmj6z)
Series 5 Reversions

Denmark

Coast explores the strong bonds we have with our neighbours across the North Sea in Denmark.

The Danes top the polls as the happiest people on earth, and Neil Oliver wants to know what they have to smile about. He discovers how their coast keeps them happy.

Miranda Krestovnikoff meets some unflappable red deer, who manage to make themselves at home on a windswept shoreline despite the fact that they share the sand dunes with tanks from the Danish army. And Dick Strawbridge gets access to the construction of one of the world's largest offshore wind farms.


MON 21:00 The World's Most Beautiful Eggs: The Genius of Carl Faberge (b0336tf3)
Stephen Smith explores the extraordinary life and work of the virtuoso jeweller Carl Faberge. He talks to HRH Prince Michael of Kent about Faberge items in the Royal Collection and to Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who spent $100 million acquiring nine exquisite Faberge eggs. The bejewelled trinkets Faberge made for the last tsars of Russia in the twilight of their rule have become some of the most sought-after treasures in the world, sometimes worth millions.

Smith follows in Faberge's footsteps, from the legendary Green Vaults in Dresden to the palaces of the tsars and the corridors of the Kremlin museum, as he discovers how this fin-de-siecle genius transformed his father's modest business into the world's most famous supplier of luxury items.


MON 22:00 Wolf Hall (b0520v9d)
Anna Regina

Although he has no official title, Cromwell is relied on more and more in the running of the king's affairs. Cromwell manoeuvres a bill through Parliament acknowledging Henry rather than the pope as head of the Church of England. This is the first step in Cromwell's plan for Henry to grant his own divorce from Katherine of Aragon.

A major obstacle to Henry's marriage plan arises when Harry Percy's wife claims her own marriage is unlawful on the grounds her husband had previously made a binding contract of marriage with Anne Boleyn. With the cardinal now dead, the Boleyn family looks to Cromwell to fix Harry Percy, a task Cromwell approaches with relish, remembering how Percy helped bring the cardinal down. As Anne and Cromwell become allies, Anne secures him a formal position in the king's household. The king and his court, including Cromwell, head to Calais to meet with the French king, expecting that he will pledge his support of the Bill and Henry's marriage suit.

At a dance, Anne flirts with the French nobility to Henry's evident fury. She and Henry argue violently, but when they are reconciled Henry finally pledges himself to Anne before witnesses. Henry marries Anne upon their return to England and she is crowned queen. Even in her moment of triumph, and as Cromwell congratulates her, Anne knows the old noble families hate her and will never accept her. Anne is pregnant and leaves court to begin her confinement. She has achieved what she wanted, but it has come at a cost. As Cromwell is all too aware, Anne must now produce a male heir or risk suffering Katherine's fate.


MON 23:00 Wolf Hall (b052sfnf)
The Devil's Spit

Anne gives birth to a baby girl, Elizabeth, and Henry does little to hide his disappointment. Anne is aware that her power in court rests on producing a male heir and in her paranoia cracks appear in her relationship with Cromwell.

The 'Holy Maid of Kent', Elizabeth Barton, has been prophesising that if Henry marries Anne Boleyn he will die within the year. Cromwell's spies know that she is touting new candidates for the throne - the old Plantagenet families whom the Tudors displaced and supporters of Katherine who are loyal to Rome. Cromwell interviews the Holy Maid but counsels the king to show mercy to her supporters. However, until Henry has a male heir, the Tudor line remains vulnerable. Cromwell decrees that everyone in public life must take an oath to recognise Henry's supremacy as head of the church and the legality of his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Thomas More advises his family to take the oath but, despite pressure from Cromwell, will not take it himself and is committed to the tower. More is tried, found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Cromwell did not want him dead - he wanted to bend More's will and make him take the oath, but More's stubbornness left him with no choice. Recovering from serious illness, Cromwell plans the king's royal progress to include a trip to Wolf Hall, the home of Sir John Seymour and his daughter Jane.


MON 00:00 Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall (m000g6q4)
Made across six months in the run-up to publication of The Mirror and the Light, the final book in Hilary Mantel’s Booker-winning Tudor trilogy on the life of Thomas Cromwell, this film enjoys exclusive and extensive access to one of the world’s greatest living writers, delving into Mantel's past and present as she describes a vivid imagination active from an early age and recounts with candour a tale of growing up with a dark family secret.

Who could have imagined that Mantel’s working-class anti-hero Thomas Cromwell would come to be so loved across the globe? Five hundred years after his death, the story of Cromwell’s extraordinary rise and sudden fall has been brought back into the light, drawing a vast readership, two Booker wins, a Bafta-winning television adaptation, a West End show and the interpretative gifts of some of the greatest actors.

Intertwining the themes of the Wolf Hall trilogy - power, faith, kingship and Englishness - with stories from her own life, the film also explores how the world of Thomas Cromwell reverberates in our world today. The film follows Mantel as she talks about how and why she embarked on the trilogy and how the writing of it has changed her life. This is an artist’s biography in the characteristic style and voice of one of the most singular and brilliant minds of our age. Showing Hilary Mantel in her own world, both real and imaginative, led by the curiosity that has driven her from the beginning, this film shows a writer at the peak of her powers.


MON 01:00 The Secret Life of Books (b06nxssd)
Series 2

Cider with Rosie

Best-selling chronicler of modern country life, Joanna Trollope traces the roots of her favourite book Cider with Rosie to uncover how Laurie Lee blended fact and fiction in his wistful elegy to a disappeared rural world - and reflect on why a book with such dark, hard-edged undercurrents continues to have such a popular appeal.


MON 01:30 The Great Mountain Sheep Gather (m000hb4r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]



TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2020

TUE 19:00 BBC News (m000hbdf)
The latest international news from the BBC.


TUE 19:30 Weird Nature (b0078h7z)
Devious Defences

Series exploring bizarre behaviour in the animal kingdom looks at creatures that employ camouflage, armour and other methods to ward off predators. Discover skunks that handstand, crabs that dress up and fish that are slime monsters. Meet an armadillo that can roll into an impregnable ball, owls and frogs that puff themselves up and a cobra that spits venom. There are fish that can copy a chequered board, octopus that shape-shift and creatures that can turn inside out. There are even birds that use projectile vomit or repulsive missiles and creatures that turn playing dead into a performance to die for. Using new filming techniques and some extraordinary special FX, this is nature as never seen before.


TUE 20:00 Egypt's Lost Queens (b04gnhv5)
Professor Joann Fletcher explores what it was like to be a woman of power in ancient Egypt. Through a wealth of spectacular buildings, personal artefacts and amazing tombs, Joann brings to life four of ancient Egypt's most powerful female rulers and discovers the remarkable influence wielded by women, whose power and freedom was unique in the ancient world.

Throughout Egypt's history, women held the title of pharaoh no fewer than 15 times, and many other women played key roles in running the state and shaping every aspect of life. Joann Fletcher puts these influential women back at the heart of our understanding, revealing the other half of ancient Egypt.


TUE 21:00 From Andy Pandy to Zebedee: The Golden Age of Children's Television (b06t3mhm)
Nigel Planer narrates the story of the struggle to make programmes for children in the days before everything went digital.


TUE 22:00 Wolf Hall (b053j5n1)
Crows

The Act of Supremacy has declared Henry supreme head of the church in England. But the Holy Roman Emperor, and his ambassador, Eustache Chapuys, have refused to recognise either his new title or his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Cromwell visits Katherine. She is growing frail and tired and she longs to see her daughter Mary. Cromwell pities Katherine and tries to persuade the King to allow Chapuys to visit her, but Henry refuses - until the Emperor acknowledges Anne as his lawful wife, Henry will not make any allowances on diplomacy.

With Anne pregnant again and away from court, Henry begins to take notice of Jane Seymour. The Seymours enlist Cromwell's help in their dealings with the King.

Anne is aware that Cromwell is conspiring with the Seymours and reminds him that she made Cromwell who he is today. When Katherine dies, Anne celebrates - Katherine had always been blamed for Anne's failure to produce a male heir and Anne is now certain her pregnancy will deliver a boy.

The King takes part in a jousting tournament and is nearly killed. Cromwell becomes acutely aware that he owes his position solely to Henry and that without the King's support his enemies would destroy him. Mercifully Henry makes a full recovery but, in the shock at the news of his fall, Anne miscarries.

Henry fears that he will never have a son with Anne, convinced that she is cursed and that he was tricked into marriage by her. He wants a new wife and, as ever, Cromwell is tasked with delivering this.


TUE 23:00 Wolf Hall (b0547rvc)
Masters of Phantoms

Anne accuses Cromwell of betrayal when she finds out he tried to protect Mary and not Elizabeth at a time of crisis. But Anne's power is dissolving rapidly and her enemies are gathering.

Anne argues with Jane Rochford but in her anger Anne divulges that the musician Mark Smeaton and the nobles Francis Weston and Harry Norris have all declared their love to her, a treasonable offence.

Jane Rochford takes great pleasure in reporting these events to Cromwell. She further insinuates that her husband George Boleyn's unhealthy sexual appetite extends to his sister. Cromwell is dumbfounded by such accusations, but brings Mark Smeaton in for questioning. Smeaton foolishly boasts of his own exploits with the Queen, and under duress starts to spill other names including Norris, Weston and William Brereton. Cromwell now has enough information to act and these men together with Anne and George Boleyn are brought to the Tower of London.

As Cromwell visits each gentleman in his cell, he thinks back to Cardinal Wolsey's demise and remembers how each of Norris, Weston, Brereton and George Boleyn had cruelly mocked his master. Cromwell has exacted the ultimate revenge.

Anne is also found guilty and sentenced to death. But with so many heads removed, who now stands between Cromwell and the King?


TUE 00:00 Basquiat - Rage to Riches (b098pd3q)
Nearly 30 years after his death from a drug overdose in 1988, the legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has managed to take the world by storm yet again when one of his Skull paintings from 1982 sold recently at Sotheby's for a recorded breaking sum of over one hundred million dollars. The monetary value and art historical importance of work by this former Downtown NYC street graffiti artist is now considered on a par with such luninaries as Picasso, Pollock, and Francis Bacon.

This film features exclusive interviews with Basquiat's two sisters - Lisane and Jeanine Basquiat - who have never before talked about their brother and his art for a TV documentary. Other contributors include some of the most powerful and legendary art dealers in the world such as Bruno Bischofberger, Larry Gagosian, and Mary Boone. They helped fuel Basquiat as he rocketed to art world fame but whose own careers and fortunes may have benefited just as much and possibly more. With striking candor, Basquiat's art dealers as well as his most intimate friends, lovers, and fellow artists spill the beans on the cash, the drugs, and the pernicious racism which Basquiat encountered and fought against on a daily basis. And the main weapon which Basquiat used to fight this racism was his art.

The beating heart of this documentary is the actual art of Basquiat - and the substantive ways in which it embodied and reflected breakthroughs in music, poetry, and a new type of expressionism in modern art. But the story of his life is the raw material for countless legends!

The film reveals for the first time the truth of what actually happened at a swank NYC Soho restaurant - when Basquiat - still only a teenager - had his first legendary encounter with Andy Warhol while hawking his postcards for one dollar each. The film leaves a trail of surprise, joy, and laughter as Basquiat's sisters talk about the unforgettable night in Brooklyn when their brother brought an eccentric friend home for dinner - the eccentric friend was Andy Warhol.

In a 1983 campaign which long predates Black Lives Matter, Basquiat used his art as part of a protest movement following the beating to death by NYC transit cops of a friend of his - Michael Stewart. It was a protest movement joined by Basquiat's one time girlfriend - Madonna.

In this film, these are only some of the many stories that give shape and insight into a life which was constantly torn between public acclaim and personal pain, the bold confidence of has greatness as an artist and the secret fear he would be regarded a flash in the pan, between a deep desire for fame and money but an even deeper resentment that his work was being transformed into a commodity. Basquiat's relationship with drugs and the role they played in his life, work, stellar rise, and fatal crash - is sensitively and insigtfully explored.


TUE 01:30 From Andy Pandy to Zebedee: The Golden Age of Children's Television (b06t3mhm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


TUE 02:30 Egypt's Lost Queens (b04gnhv5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2020

WED 19:00 BBC News (m000hbdn)
The latest international news from the BBC.


WED 19:30 Handmade in Japan (p054mcvv)
Series 1

Mingei Pottery

The final episode features one of Japan's most famous family of potters - the Hamadas. Shoji Hamada was a major figure in the Mingei folk art movement of the 1920s and '30s and helped turn the town of Mashiko into a major centre of ceramics, famous for its thick and rustic pottery. He also spent time in Britain where he taught renowned St Ives potter Bernard Leach the art of Japanese pottery.

Today, his grandson Tomoo Hamada continues the family tradition and this film follows him at work, painstakingly shaping his pots and firing them in an old-style wood-fuelled kiln. We also hear how Tomoo played a vital role in saving Mashiko as a pottery centre after many of its kilns were destroyed in the 2011 earthquake.


WED 20:00 Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (b086zd44)
Episode 3

This episode follows Henry's marriage annulment to Anne of Cleves due to non-consummation. Middle-aged Henry then marries teenager Catherine Howard two weeks later, only for her to be convicted of treason and beheaded.

Henry's last wife, Katherine Parr, is a good stepmother to his children, but her religious views differ greatly from the king's. Her book, Prayers or Meditations, is the first book to be written in English by a woman, but its popularity threatens Henry's advisors. Lucy observes as Katherine narrowly escapes being arrested for treason.

Henry dies and his son Edward VI takes the throne. Katherine remarries and gets pregnant but tragically dies a week after the baby is born.


WED 21:00 Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue (m000hbdq)
Documentary that goes inside what remains of the world-famous Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. It is one year since the inferno devastated the vast timber and lead roof and the 850-year-old gothic masterpiece is still perilously close to collapse. Now, we follow the men and women fighting to secure the fire-ravaged structure. Lead dust from the vaporised roof contaminates the site, the stone ceiling is crumbling and a 500-tonne melted mass of scaffolding still hangs precariously over the cathedral, triggering alarms and evacuations.

Now that the cathedral walls are supported by giant timber frames, chief architect Philippe Villeneuve urgently needs a complete picture of the damage sustained during the fire. He initiates an unprecedented collaboration between architects and scientists. Their mission is to meticulously analyse the fallen timber, stone and fractured glass to develop a decontamination and restoration plan. This unique opportunity will give a new insight into the medieval materials, techniques and people who built Notre-Dame.

Inside the cathedral, glass scientist Claudine Loisel investigates the distribution of lead contamination on the stunning stained glass, comparing samples from around the building. In the lab she develops a decontamination plan using x-ray spectroscopy and identifies micro-cracks in the glass caused by ‘thermal shock’, sustained during the fire. At York Minster in northern England, conservationists are pioneering a glass preservation method that Claudine hopes will be adopted at Notre-Dame. They are installing ventilated protective glazing, which protects the medieval stained glass from harmful UV rays and the corrosive effects of moisture.

The stone vaulting has taken the brunt of the fire and will require new limestone with the same mechanical properties for the rebuild. Stone scientist Lise Leroux hunts for the origin of the vaulting stone, voyaging into the forgotten quarries beneath Paris, which are now filled with the bones of 18th-century Parisians. She finds a limestone micro-fossil signature in the lower level of the quarry that matches samples from the vaulting stones, confirming its origin. Lise discovers Notre-Dame is built from a variety of different limestone, chosen for the various structural properties needed for the cathedral.

The complex timber framework of the roof is completely destroyed. Amazingly, timber scientist Catherine Lavier still finds markings from the medieval carpenters on the burned beams and her tree-ring analysis of the timber tells the life story of the oak used. One team of carpenters still uses medieval tools and techniques to fell and carve beams for a chateau restoration, proving the skills and timber still exist in France to rebuild Notre-Dame’s lost roof framework. A 3D scan of the geometrically complex timbers of Notre-Dame offers the team a possibility to eventually rebuild the roof in the same way, down to the last millimetre.

The data from the scientists is combined into a groundbreaking ‘digital twin’ of Notre-Dame that will help them restore and rebuild the cathedral. This 3D dynamic map gives the team a complete view of every inch of the structure, before and after the fire, allowing them to click on an individual stone to see its chemical composition, its mechanical properties and its history within Notre-Dame over time.


WED 22:00 From Ice to Fire: The Incredible Science of Temperature (b09rzqp3)
Series 1

Frozen Solid

Everything around us - from the tiniest insect on Earth to the most distant stars of the cosmos - exists somewhere on a vast scale from cold to hot. In this series, physicist Dr Helen Czerski explores the extraordinary science of temperature. She unlocks the extremes of the temperature scale, from absolute zero to searing heat of stars - and reveals how temperature works, how deep its influence on our lives is, and why it's the hidden force that has shaped our planet and the entire universe.

In episode one, Helen ventures to the bottom of the temperature scale, revealing how cold has shaped the world around us and why frozen doesn't mean what you might think. She meets the scientists pushing temperature to the very limits of cold, where the normal laws of physics break down and a new world of scientific possibility begins. The extraordinary behaviour of matter at temperatures close to absolute zero is driving the advance of technology, from superconductors to quantum computing.


WED 23:00 From Ice to Fire: The Incredible Science of Temperature (b09sc7yj)
Series 1

A Temperature for Life

Physicist Dr Helen Czerski explores the narrow band of temperature that has led to life on Earth. She reveals how life began in a dramatic place where hot meets cold, and how every single living creature on Earth depends on temperature for its survival. She uncovers the extraordinary natural engineering that animals have evolved to keep their bodies at the right temperature. And she witnesses the remarkable surgery that's using temperature to push the human body to the very brink of life.


WED 00:00 Antony Gormley: How Art Began (b0c1ngds)
Why do humans make art? When did we begin to make our mark on the world? And where? In this film, Britain's most celebrated sculptor Antony Gormley is setting out on a journey to see for himself the very beginnings of art.

Once we believed that art began with the cave paintings of Ice Age Europe, tens of thousands of years ago. But now, extraordinary new
discoveries around the world are overturning that idea. Antony is going to travel across the globe, and thousands of years back in time, to piece together a new story of how art began. He discovers beautiful, haunting and surprising works of art, deep inside caves across France, Spain and Indonesia, and in Australian rock shelters. He finds images created by hunter-gatherers that surprise him with their tenderness, and affinity with the natural world. He discovers the secrets behind the techniques used by our ancestors to create these paintings. And he meets experts making discoveries that are turning the clock back on when art first began.

Finally Antony asks what these images from millennia ago can tell us - about who we are. As he says, 'If we can look closely at the art of our ancestors, perhaps we will be able to reconnect with something vital that we have lost."'.


WED 01:15 Leningrad and the Orchestra that Defied Hitler (b06vkbcs)
In August 1942, a concert took place in Leningrad that defies belief. A year earlier, the Germans had begun the deadliest siege in history which would kill three quarters of a million civilians. In the midst of the terror, a group of starving musicians assembled to perform Shostakovich's 7th Symphony in what would become a defiant moment in the city's ultimate survival. Historian Amanda Vickery and BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom Service reveal the extraordinary story of triumph of the human spirit over unspeakable terror.

Amanda shows how Leningrad was simultaneously persecuted by Stalin and Hitler, the 'twin monsters' of the 20th century. Meeting with siege survivors and uncovering diaries and photographs, she reveals the reality of life in Leningrad as it literally starved to death.

Meanwhile, Tom explores the thin line walked by Dmitri Shostakovich as the composer came perilously close to becoming a victim of Stalin's paranoia, and reveals how, as Leningrad starved, his 7th Symphony was performed around the world, uniting audiences against a common enemy before finally returning to the city.

Shot entirely on location in St Petersburg, the story is interwoven with excerpts of the symphony performed specially by the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich, the composer's son.


WED 02:45 Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue (m000hbdq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 16 APRIL 2020

THU 19:00 BBC News (m000hbdh)
The latest international news from the BBC.


THU 19:30 The Sky at Night (m000hb4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 on Sunday]


THU 20:00 How to Make (m000hbdk)
Series 1

Headphones

Zoe Laughlin, designer, maker and materials engineer, is fascinated by the science and technology hidden within the everyday objects we take for granted. In this series she dismantles and dissects three classic items to understand the wonders of form, function and material that go into making them, before building her own truly bespoke versions step by step.

In this episode, Zoe explores an item that is extraordinarily intimate and transports us to other worlds – headphones. With 12 pairs sold globally every second, Zoe is on a mission to build her own unique pair. In search of inspiration, she heads to Hull University to discover an exciting new substance that can turn any surface into a speaker, from a wall to a table and even the bone of your skull. In the depths of an anechoic chamber, she experiences the wonder behind directional sound and ear-tracking technology, which creates a personal sound bubble without the need to wear headphones at all.

A trip back through headphone history reveals the stethoscope-style home contraptions of the 19th century and the game-changing 80s Sony Walkman. Zoe also heads to high-end manufacturers Bowers & Wilkins, climbs into a mock aircraft cabin to explore the principles of noise cancellation, and goes on a trip down one of London’s busiest streets with a billboard-style contraption slung across her body, all in the name of material research. Her final headphones raise the bar high, with a distinctive headband to avoid big hair issues, alongside characterful Plasti Dip connections.


THU 21:00 Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema (b0bc6f86)
Series 1

The Heist

Mark Kermode continues his fresh and very personal look at the art of cinema by examining the techniques and conventions behind classic film genres, uncovering the ingredients that keep audiences coming back for more.
Tonight it’s the turn of the Heist movie, with its unique combination of suspense and action. Whether it’s the big bank job or netting a fortune in diamonds, why, asks Mark, do otherwise law-abiding audiences find themselves rooting for robbers and even killers? More than any other genre, the Heist movie plays with our sympathies, encouraging us to identify with characters we’d run a mile from in real life.

From The Asphalt Jungle to Ocean’s Eleven by way of The Italian Job and even The Wrong Trousers, Mark shows how recurring character types, such as the Mastermind, and sequences like the Planning scene and the Getaway, draw us in to the big score. And he demonstrates how recent hits like Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street and Baby Driver have pushed the conventions of the Heist in thrilling new directions. At the box office, at least, crime really does pay.


THU 22:00 Secrets of Silicon Valley (b0916ghz)
Series 1

The Disruptors

Jamie Bartlett uncovers the reality behind Silicon Valley's glittering promise to build a better world. The tech gods believe progress is powered by technology tearing up the world as it is - a process they call disruption. He visits Uber's lavish offices in San Francisco and hears how the company believes it is improving our cities. But in Hyderabad in India, Jamie sees for himself the human consequences of Uber's utopian vision - drivers driven to suicide over falling earnings. Riding shotgun in a truck as it drives itself for more than a hundred miles on a highway, Jamie asks what the next wave of Silicon Valley's global disruption - the automation of millions of jobs - will mean for all of us. In search of answers, he gets a warning from an artificial intelligence pioneer who is replacing doctors with software - an economic shock is coming, faster than any of us have realised. Jamie's journey ends in the remote island hideout of a former Facebook executive who has armed himself with a gun because he fears this new industrial revolution could lead to social breakdown and the collapse of capitalism.


THU 23:00 From Ice to Fire: The Incredible Science of Temperature (b09t9txy)
Series 1

Playing with Fire

Dr Helen Czerksi explores the extraordinary science of heat. She reveals how heat is the hidden energy contained within matter, with the power to transform it from one state to another. Our ability to harness this fundamental law of science has led to some of humanity's greatest achievements, from the molten metals that enabled us to make tools, to the great engines of the Industrial Revolution powered by steam, to the searing heat of plasmas that offer almost unlimited power.


THU 00:00 The No 5 War (b0bh5v16)
The story, both thrilling and dark, of the world's most famous perfume. In 1921, Coco Chanel's revolutionary perfume concept was as audacious as her outlandish designer clothing. At its launch, it was an instant hit. From the 1920s to the 1940s the Number 5 brand was at the centre of a war between the celebrated designer and her entrepreneurial business partners, the Wertheimer brothers. During WWII, with the help of her high-ranking Nazi lover, Coco Chanel attempted to oust her Jewish partners - who had fled German-occupied France and were operating the business from New Jersey - to take control of the highly lucrative business.


THU 00:55 England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation (b0992jdt)
To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Janina Ramirez tells the story of three books that defined this radical religious revolution in England.

Tyndale's New Testament, Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer and Foxe's Book of Martyrs are no longer commonly recognised titles, yet for nearly four hundred years these works formed the backbone of British life. Their words shaped the English language, fuelled religious division and sparked revolt.

Nina discovers how the trio of texts had a powerful cumulative effect. Tyndale's Bible made the word of God accessible to the common man for the first time; The Book of Common Prayer established a Protestant liturgy; and Foxe's Book of Martyrs enshrined an intolerance of Catholicism. Nina reveals how they formed the nation's Protestant identity, the impact of which can be seen even today.


THU 01:55 Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema (b0bc6f86)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]


THU 02:55 How to Make (m000hbdk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2020

FRI 19:00 BBC News (m000hbdt)
The latest international news from the BBC.


FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m000hbdw)
Bruno Brookes and Jackie Brambles present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 13 July 1989 and featuring Waterfront, Danny Wilson and Gloria Estefan.


FRI 20:00 How Pop Songs Work (b008nk4h)
Celebration of the magic of pop music and the skill and musical dexterity that goes into writing, performing and producing hit records. Conductor Charles Hazlewood explores the mechanics of pop songs such as Imagine, Tomorrow Never Knows and Back to Black by breaking them down into six key areas, aided by contributions from a cast of writers, producers and arrangers including Guy Chambers, Martin Fry, Steve Levine, Richard Niles, Nick Ingman, John Altman and Rob Davis.


FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000hbdz)
Gary Davies presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 20 July 1989 and featuring Sonia, London Boys and Monie Love.


FRI 21:30 Sounds of the 70s 2 (b01jzy37)
Rock 'n' Roll Revisited - Get It On

A love of 50s rock 'n' roll runs through the pop of the 70s like a stripe through a stick of rock. This episode celebrates the rock 'n' roll revivalism and 50s retro leanings that characterise the decade from glam to AOR and all points in between. Revisiting the theatrical performances and fashions you'd be talking about in the playground the next day, from the likes of E.L.O, T-Rex, 10cc, Alvin Stardust, Mott the Hoople and Meatloaf's epic 1978 performance of Paradise by the Dashboard Light.


FRI 22:00 Elvis: The Rebirth of the King (b09kkkbx)
The widely accepted Elvis narrative is that the Vegas period was the nadir of his career, but this film argues that Elvis reached his peak both as a singer and performer in the first few years of his Vegas period. He became, in those short years, the greatest performer on earth. The film tracks this five-year renaissance with some of his key musical and artistic collaborators of the period, including the creator of his most memorable jumpsuits, to celebrate the greatest pop reinvention of all time.


FRI 23:00 Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (b066d739)
Series 1

Episode 4

An up-close and personal examination of the life, music and career of the legendary entertainer. In 1971, Frank Sinatra sang his legendary 'retirement concert' in Los Angeles, featuring music which was said to reflect his own life. Told in his own words from hours of archived interviews, along with commentary from those closest to him, this definitive four-part series weaves the legendary songs he chose with comments from friends and family, as well as never-before-seen footage from home movies and concert performances.

An unprecedented tribute to the beloved showman, with the full participation of the Frank Sinatra Estate, the final episode recounts the kidnap of his son, Frank Jr, his marriage to Mia Farrow and his successful return from retirement.


FRI 00:00 Gregory Porter's Popular Voices (b09g67l9)
Series 1

Crooners & Co

Soul and jazz star Gregory Porter explores the soft, intimate art of crooning. Born with the arrival of the microphone in the 1930s, crooning was initially about men seducing women and thrived through signature stars like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.

But far from disappearing with the advent of rock 'n' roll, the art of crooning gained a new existential edge and was transformed by the likes of Roy Orbison, David Bowie and even Lana Del Rey into a haunting and abiding strain of contemporary pop.

With Iggy Pop, Joshua Homme, George Benson and Beck.


FRI 01:00 Music Moguls: Masters of Pop (p039x5f7)
Myth Makers

Part three of this illuminating series exploring the music business from behind the scenes takes a look at PR, the unseen force behind all the biggest musical acts in the world. With unique revelations, unseen footage and unrivalled access, it tells the story of the rise of PR within the music industry through the eyes of the people who lived it. Highlights include the PR campaigns behind superstars Jimi Hendrix, Taylor Swift and David Bowie.

Narrated by PR Alan Edwards.


FRI 02:00 Elvis: The Rebirth of the King (b09kkkbx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:00 today]


FRI 03:00 How Pop Songs Work (b008nk4h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]




LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)

Antony Gormley: How Art Began 00:00 WED (b0c1ngds)

BBC News 19:00 TUE (m000hbdf)

BBC News 19:00 WED (m000hbdn)

BBC News 19:00 THU (m000hbdh)

BBC News 19:00 FRI (m000hbdt)

Basquiat - Rage to Riches 00:00 TUE (b098pd3q)

Canal Boat Diaries 19:30 SUN (m000bk6x)

Coast 20:00 SAT (b0816ykw)

Coast 01:30 SAT (b0816ykw)

Coast 20:40 MON (b01jmj6z)

Egypt's Lost Queens 20:00 TUE (b04gnhv5)

Egypt's Lost Queens 02:30 TUE (b04gnhv5)

Elvis: The Rebirth of the King 22:00 FRI (b09kkkbx)

Elvis: The Rebirth of the King 02:00 FRI (b09kkkbx)

England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation 00:55 THU (b0992jdt)

From Andy Pandy to Zebedee: The Golden Age of Children's Television 21:00 TUE (b06t3mhm)

From Andy Pandy to Zebedee: The Golden Age of Children's Television 01:30 TUE (b06t3mhm)

From Ice to Fire: The Incredible Science of Temperature 22:00 WED (b09rzqp3)

From Ice to Fire: The Incredible Science of Temperature 23:00 WED (b09sc7yj)

From Ice to Fire: The Incredible Science of Temperature 23:00 THU (b09t9txy)

Gregory Porter's Popular Voices 00:00 FRI (b09g67l9)

Handmade in Bolton 00:05 SUN (m00095jc)

Handmade in Japan 19:30 WED (p054mcvv)

Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall 00:00 MON (m000g6q4)

Holst and Vaughan Williams: Making Music English 00:35 SUN (b0bshhss)

Holst: The Planets with Professor Brian Cox 01:35 SUN (m0005prm)

How Pop Songs Work 20:00 FRI (b008nk4h)

How Pop Songs Work 03:00 FRI (b008nk4h)

How to Make 20:00 THU (m000hbdk)

How to Make 02:55 THU (m000hbdk)

Indie & Beyond with Shaun Ryder and Alan McGee 00:30 SAT (b0bn6xl4)

Leningrad and the Orchestra that Defied Hitler 01:15 WED (b06vkbcs)

Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema 21:00 THU (b0bc6f86)

Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema 01:55 THU (b0bc6f86)

Music Moguls: Masters of Pop 01:00 FRI (p039x5f7)

Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue 21:00 WED (m000hbdq)

Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue 02:45 WED (m000hbdq)

Sacred Songs - The Secrets of Our Hearts 19:00 SUN (m000hb4m)

Sacred Songs - The Secrets of Our Hearts 03:05 SUN (m000hb4m)

Secrets of Silicon Valley 22:00 THU (b0916ghz)

Sinatra: All or Nothing at All 23:00 FRI (b066d739)

Six Wives with Lucy Worsley 20:00 WED (b086zd44)

Sounds of the 70s 2 21:30 FRI (b01jzy37)

The British Garden: Life and Death on Your Lawn 20:00 SUN (b08xyqcs)

The Great Mountain Sheep Gather 19:00 MON (m000hb4r)

The Great Mountain Sheep Gather 01:30 MON (m000hb4r)

The No 5 War 00:00 THU (b0bh5v16)

The Private Life of... 19:00 SAT (b00t3tl1)

The Private Life of... 02:30 SAT (b00t3tl1)

The Secret Life of Books 01:00 MON (b06nxssd)

The Sky at Night 21:30 SUN (m000hb4p)

The Sky at Night 19:30 THU (m000hb4p)

The World's Most Beautiful Eggs: The Genius of Carl Faberge 21:00 MON (b0336tf3)

Top of the Pops 23:30 SAT (m000h3d6)

Top of the Pops 00:00 SAT (m000h3d8)

Top of the Pops 19:30 FRI (m000hbdw)

Top of the Pops 21:00 FRI (m000hbdz)

Twin 21:00 SAT (m000hb4h)

Twin 21:45 SAT (m000hb4k)

Weird Nature 19:30 TUE (b0078h7z)

What a Performance! Pioneers of Popular Entertainment 22:30 SAT (b06r7xz4)

Wolf Hall 22:00 SUN (p02gfy74)

Wolf Hall 23:05 SUN (b05172x8)

Wolf Hall 22:00 MON (b0520v9d)

Wolf Hall 23:00 MON (b052sfnf)

Wolf Hall 22:00 TUE (b053j5n1)

Wolf Hall 23:00 TUE (b0547rvc)