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 23 MAY 2020

SAT 19:00 Primates (m000j4x0)
Series 1

Protecting Primates

Today, more than half of the world’s primates are under threat of extinction. Now they need our help. Meet the scientists making groundbreaking discoveries about this remarkable animal family and the dedicated people going to extraordinary lengths to safeguard their future.

Only by truly understanding primates can we protect them. Researcher Dr Cat Hobaiter has spent 13 years studying chimpanzees in the jungles of Uganda. She is fascinated by their communication and, after recording thousands of hours of footage, has revealed that our closest cousins have a secret language.

On Thailand’s east coast, Dr Amanda Tan reveals something rare in the animal kingdom: tool use. A population of long-tailed macaques have, for generations, used tools to harvest shellfish. And in Brazil, researcher Vedrana Slipogor plays videos to some of the world’s tiniest monkeys - common marmosets – as she tries to understand the subtleties of primate personality. In Madagascar, drones mounted with thermal-imaging cameras might be the key to protecting some of the world’s most elusive lemurs. And in the rainforests of Tanzania, we witness the moment when primatologist Dr Russell Mittermeier becomes the first person to have seen every type of primate on the planet.


SAT 20:00 Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest (b07m772h)
Arrival

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

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

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


SAT 21:00 State of Happiness (m000jjgr)
Series 1

Party at the Esso Motor Hotel

Mayor Rettedal uses unorthodox methods to get Stavanger elected as the oil capital of Norway. Anna does something she regrets at a party at the Esso Motor Hotel, and Toril reaches out to Bengt Hamre.

In Norwegian with English subtitles.


SAT 21:45 State of Happiness (m000jjgt)
Series 1

The Oil Capital

It is time for the parliament to vote on which city is to become the oil capital of Norway, and everyone in town is eager to hear the result. Anna makes a decision with consequences for everyone around her.

In Norwegian with English subtitles.


SAT 22:35 Educating Rita (b007vyhh)
Moving comedy drama based on Willy Russell's hit stage play about a hairdresser who dreams of rising above her drab urban existence through the power of education. For better or worse, she chooses drunken lecturer Frank Bryant as her tutor. Julie Walters gained an Oscar nomination for her film debut.


SAT 00:30 Talking Pictures (b04y4dsw)
Michael Caine

A look at the life of acting legend Michael Caine, using rarely seen television interviews and classic archive clips to tell the story of one Britain's most successful actors. Narrated by Sylvia Syms.


SAT 01:20 Top of the Pops (m000jb8f)
Gary Davies presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 31 August 1989 and featuring Damian, Eurythmics and Big Fun.


SAT 01:50 Top of the Pops (m000jb8k)
Bruno Brookes presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 7 September 1989 and featuring Marillion, Alyson Williams and Jason Donovan.


SAT 02:20 Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest (b07m772h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



SUNDAY 24 MAY 2020

SUN 19:00 BBC Young Musician (m000jjjf)
2020

Percussion Final Highlights

It is the turn of five percussion soloists to dazzle with their exceptional technique and musicality as we reach the penultimate category final in the series. Organist and conductor Anna Lapwood is joined by former percussion winner Owen Gunnell to review the performances, recorded in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before the coronavirus lockdown.

The percussion finalists are 16-year-old Lewis Kentaro Isaacs, 18-year-old Isaac Harari, Toril Azzalini-Machecler, also aged 18, Fang Zhang, who is 16, and 17-year-old Alexander Pullen. Repertoire includes works by John Psathas, Sergei Golovko, Georges Aperghis, Astor Piazzolla and Jago Thornton.

On the jury are two of the UK’s most respected percussionists: Simone Rebello, director of percussion at the Royal Northern College of Music, an internationally acclaimed soloist and founding member of percussion quartet BackBeat, and Julian Warburton, professor of percussion at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, also a renowned soloist, collaborator and conductor. They join the chair of all the BBC Young Musician 2020 category final judging panels, Angela Dixon, chief executive of the award-winning performance venue Saffron Hall.

Also in the programme, Jess Gillam, saxophonist, broadcaster and former BBC Young Musician finalist, continues her series of conversations with leading UK musicians. She speaks to percussionist Lucy Landymore, who won the percussion final in 2010 and has gone on to enjoy a successful career, including performing in film composer Hans Zimmer’s orchestra on tour.

Each of the category final concerts is available to watch in full on the BBC iPlayer, presented by Josie d’Arby.


SUN 20:00 A Year in the Wild (b01lvh65)
Cairngorms

The harsh beauty and surprising wildlife of Scotland's Cairngorms National Park through the eyes of the people who know it best.

The Cairngorms is Britain's largest and wildest National Park. A land of Arctic extremes in the heart of the Scottish highlands. Its granite mountains and ancient pine forests are home to some of our rarest and most spectacular animals, including golden eagles, ptarmigan, capercaillie, red deer and crested tits. This lyrical and thought-provoking film reveals the inner secrets of this wild landscape over a year through the eyes of individuals who know and love the Cairngorms: a mountain guide, an artist, a salmon ghillie, a gamekeeper and a nature writer.


SUN 21:00 How Quizzing Got Cool: TV's Brains of Britain (b084fs6s)
We all love a good quiz. So here's a question - when did ordinary contestants turn into the pro-quizzers of today? Giving the answers are Victoria Coren Mitchell, Judith Keppel, Chris Tarrant, Mark Labbett, Nicholas Parsons and many more. Narrated by Ben Miller.


SUN 22:00 Revisor by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young (m000jjjj)
A performance capture of Revisor, the critically acclaimed dance-theatre production created by award-winning choreographer Crystal Pite and playwright Jonathon Young, based on Nikolai Gogol’s play The Government Inspector.

Young and Pite revise an archetypal comic plot to serve as the basis for a production that blends contemporary theatre and dance. Revisor explores conflict, comedy and corruption in the potent relationship between language and the body.

Revisor reunites the creators of the international theatre hit Betroffenheit (winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production 2017 and named Best Dance Show of the 21st century by The Guardian) with director Jeff Tudor, who won the Rose d’Or (Arts), Golden Prague Czech Crystal, and the Dance Screen and San Francisco Dance Film Festival awards for his capture of Betroffenheit for the BBC.

Revisor was recorded during its run at Sadler’s Wells, London, in March 2020, just days before the production’s world tour was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.


SUN 23:30 A Timewatch Guide (b083dd1g)
Series 3

Russia: A Century of Suspicion

At the outbreak of war in 1939, wondering whether Russia would join the fight with the Allies, Sir Winston Churchill famously described this nation as 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. These words have almost come to define Britain's view of Russia ever since: an inscrutable power that always plays by its own rules.

Military historian Saul David draws on classic Timewatch documentaries and a wide range of BBC archive to examine how television has portrayed Russia through the years. From our trusted World War II ally to the red oppressor of the Cold War, from a potential free-market friend when Communism crumbled to a new 21st-century foe under Putin, Russia has swung from friend to foe and back again - either way, we find it incredibly hard to understand her.

This programme explores how arguably Britain's most complex international relationship has played out on television.


SUN 00:30 Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific with James Fox (b0blhn4t)
Series 1

New Zealand

Concluding the series on the clash between the West and Pacific peoples and cultures, James Fox explores how New Zealand's indigenous Maori people resisted colonisation and marginalisation and maintained their distinctive culture, so much so that it is now an integral part of modern New Zealand.

He encounters some of the greatest works of Maori carving, from the exquisitely painted paddles given to Captain Cook, to works by one of the great masters of Maori art, Tene Waitere, and shows how, from the beginning of their encounters with Europeans, the Maori adapted outside influences, whether it was modern firearms or the new religion of Christianity and produced fascinating hybrid work that ranges from elaborately carved rifle butts to a Madonna and child statue adorned with the Ta Moko, the sacred Maori facial tattoo.

Today, James Fox finds Maori culture in the midst of a full-scale Renaissance, embraced not only by the Maori themselves but all New Zealanders.


SUN 01:30 BBC Young Musician (m000jjjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 02:30 A Year in the Wild (b01lvh65)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



MONDAY 25 MAY 2020

MON 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000jjh5)
Series 1

Bright Autumn Trees

American painter Bob Ross offers soothing words of encouragement to viewers and painting hobbyists in an enormously popular series that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1982. Ross is a cult figure, with nearly two million Facebook followers and 3,000 instructors globally. His soothing, nurturing personality is therapy for the weary, and his respect for nature and wildlife helps heighten environmental awareness.

Across the series, Ross demonstrates his unique painting technique, which eliminates the need for each layer of paint to dry. In real time, he creates tranquil scenes taken from nature, including his trademark ‘happy’ clouds, cascading waterfalls, snow-covered forests, serene lakes and distant mountain summits.

In this episode - one of his audience's favourites - Bob Ross shows how you can capture the exciting colours of autumn in a painting, with trees galore!

Many of Bob’s faithful viewers are not painters at all. They are relaxing and unwinding with Bob’s gentle manner and encouraging words, captivated by the magic taking place on the canvas.


MON 19:30 Danceworks (m000jjh7)
Series 2

Firedance: Latin Fever

Supercharged by BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing, the exuberant Latin styles of salsa, Argentine tango and paso doble are taking off in ballroom dancing classes around Britain. This film follows two of Strictly’s most popular stars, Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez, as they put together a spectacular Latin showcase called Firedance for their fans.

The sell-out show started touring regional theatres in the UK in March 2020 and joyously celebrates dance as pure entertainment. Tracking the rehearsal process and the early days of the tour, the film explores how Karen and Gorka express their emotion and physicality through every movement of their fiery routine.


MON 20:00 Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain (b007n1dx)
Paradise Lost

Andrew Marr examines the age of Harold Wilson's classless society; a country excited by new technology, modern architecture and the scary futurism of Doctor Who. Wilson attempted to connect with the 60s spirit of progress by conjuring up the image of a future driven by science and the white heat of technology. But while the swinging sixties unleashed dreams of a fairer, liberated future, the Wilson governments presided over years of industrial conflict, stagnation and decline.

By the 1970s, as the sixties dream turned sour, industrial malaise, class and generational conflict, Vietnam, racial unrest, government paranoia and the shadow of the Soviet threat all added up to a sense of national crisis, and there were serious fears for the future of democracy in Britain. Under Edward Heath, British industry was reduced to working a three-day week, and homes were lit by candlelight during an enforced rationing of electricity. As Heath raised the question 'Who governs Britain?', the people's response came: 'Not you, mate!'.


MON 21:00 The Cult of... (b008x368)
Sunday Night

All Creatures Great and Small

The Cult of..., a series that unearths the history and anecdotes behind our cult Sunday night dramas, looks at All Creatures Great and Small. With its mix of stunning countryside, eccentric characters and romance, the show formed a template for Sunday night television. Interviewees including Christopher Timothy, Peter Davison, Robert Hardy, Carol Drinkwater, Lynda Bellingham, John McGlynn, producer Bill Sellars and writer Johnny Byrne reveal the struggles behind the success.


MON 21:30 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2mg)
Series 1

Horse Sense

Newly qualified, James Herriot arrives in the Yorkshire town of Darrowby to be interviewed for his first job. It's 1936, and work is hard enough to find, but his prospective employer Siegfried Farnon seems to have completely forgotten the appointment.


MON 22:20 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d2mm)
Series 1

Dog Days

The result of the post-mortem is known and James finds that while a vet's life is not altogether enviable, a dog's life might well be.


MON 23:10 Timeshift (b03p7jh9)
Series 13

Hurricanes and Heatwaves: The Highs and Lows of British Weather

A glorious national obsession is explored in this archive-rich look at the evolution of the weather forecast from print via radio to TV and beyond - and at the changing weather itself. It shows how the Met Office and the BBC have always used the latest technology to bring the holy grail of accurate forecasting that much closer - even if the odd messenger like TV weatherman Michael Fish has been shot along the way.

Yet as hand-drawn maps have been replaced by weather apps, the bigger drama of global warming has been playing itself out as if to prove that we were right all along to obsess about the weather. Featuring a very special rendition of the shipping forecast by a Cornish fishermen's choir.


MON 00:10 Arena (m000b8nj)
Everything Is Connected - George Eliot's Life

Contemporary artist Gillian Wearing celebrates the legacy of Victorian novelist George Eliot.

Just as Eliot’s novel Middlemarch explored the lives of ordinary men and women, this experimental film is made up of a diverse cast of people from different backgrounds and features Jason Isaacs and Sheila Atim as the narrators.


MON 01:10 The Joy of Painting (m000jjh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


MON 01:40 Danceworks (m000jjh7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


MON 02:10 Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain (b007n1dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]



TUESDAY 26 MAY 2020

TUE 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000jjgw)
Series 1

Black Seascape

American painter Bob Ross offers soothing words of encouragement to viewers and painting hobbyists in an enormously popular series that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1982. Ross is a cult figure, with nearly two million Facebook followers and 3,000 instructors globally. His soothing, nurturing personality is therapy for the weary, and his respect for nature and wildlife helps heighten environmental awareness.

Across the series, Ross demonstrates his unique painting technique, which eliminates the need for each layer of paint to dry. In real time, he creates tranquil scenes taken from nature, including his trademark ‘happy’ clouds, cascading waterfalls, snow-covered forests, serene lakes and distant mountain summits.

In this episode, see what can be achieved on a simple black canvas as Bob Ross paints a moonlit setting with crashing waves.

Many of Bob’s faithful viewers are not painters at all. They are relaxing and unwinding with Bob’s gentle manner and encouraging words, captivated by the magic taking place on the canvas.


TUE 19:30 Danceworks (m000jjgy)
Series 2

Sharon Eyal: A Basic Instinct

Sharon Eyal, a former star dancer and in-house choreographer at Tel Aviv’s pioneering Batsheva Dance Company, has become one of the most exciting and powerful choreographers in contemporary dance. Her recent collaborations with fashion house Christian Dior and American art-rockers The National have brought Eyal and her dark, sensual work into mainstream culture.

This film sees Sharon and her dance company L-E-V at their most raw, rehearsing and premiering new work against the brutalist backdrop of Bold Tendencies in Peckham, south London, a multi-storey car park turned hip arts venue. It is an aesthetic and an attitude that echoes Eyal’s origins in the underground techno rave scene in Tel Aviv, and the film documents how this common ground creates a uniquely intimate and visceral performance for the London crowd.

With contributions from the dancers, musicians and Sharon Eyal herself, and with backstage access to the company in London and Israel, this film is a rare opportunity to observe the creative process of one of the dance world’s most admired figures.


TUE 20:00 Chemistry: A Volatile History (b00qck1t)
The Order of the Elements

The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world - the elements. From fiery phosphorus to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements - the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood.

In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.

In part two, Professor Al-Khalili looks at the 19th-century chemists who struggled to impose an order on the apparently random world of the elements. From working out how many there were to discovering their unique relationships with each other, the early scientists' bid to decode the hidden order of the elements was driven by false starts and bitter disputes. But ultimately the quest would lead to one of chemistry's most beautiful intellectual creations - the periodic table.


TUE 21:00 The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (b042twvq)
Episode 2

Lucy Worsley's inside story of Britain's imported German dynasty, made with extensive access to the Royal Collection, reaches the reign of George II. She shows how he had to adapt to a growing 'middling rank' in society no longer content with being downtrodden subjects. Affairs of state were being openly discussed in coffee houses, while the king and his ministers were mocked in satirical prints and theatres.

George II was an easy target - grumpy, and frequently absent in Hanover. To his British subjects he became The King Who Wasn't There. But his wife, the enlightened Caroline, popularized a medical breakthrough against smallpox. However, it was their son, Frederick Prince of Wales, who really understood this new world - he had the popular touch monarchy would need to survive into the modern era.


TUE 22:00 Unprecedented (m000jjh1)
Series 1

Episode 1

Viral by James Graham
After schools shut and A Levels are postponed, three teenagers use lockdown to come up with the next big viral craze.

Penny by Charlene James
Ray has been moved into a hotel for the foreseeable future yet he knows that survival is a lot more complicated than having a roof over your head.

Going Forward by John Donnelly
When team meetings move online, an under-pressure team leader takes drastic measures to make sure targets are met.


TUE 22:30 A Year in an English Garden: Flicker and Pulse (b09bdyrh)
A striking and poignant portrayal of time passing in a beautiful Sussex walled garden. Using real-time and time-lapse footage, the film explores the relationship between the seasons and the plants and people who work within the walls of the garden. Locked into the clock of the solar system, the garden performs its annual display, guided by those passionately engaged with its soil.


TUE 23:30 Tomorrow's Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction (p026c7jt)
Invasion

Dominic Sandbrook continues his exploration of the most innovative and imaginative of all genres with a look at science fiction's fascination with aliens. But what if we don't meet aliens in space and instead they come to earth - to conquer us?

Dominic and leading writers and film-makers look at science fiction's obsession with alien invasion, from all-out assault to sinister hidden threats, and how it has reflected real-life anxieties - whether they be the challenge to Victorian imperial power of HG Wells's War of the Worlds, the Cold War-era paranoia of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or more recent concerns about racism and immigration in District 9.

And we celebrate the most famous alien invaders of all - the Daleks.

Among the contributors are David Tennant and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Richard Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) and special effects maestros Phil Tippett (Jurassic Park) and Doug Trumbull (Close Encounters).


TUE 00:30 The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour (b04n1mrb)
The City and the Soul

As the Industrial Revolution promised more and more inexplicable wonders of the modern world, Gothic art and literature became both backward and forward looking. In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warned of the dangers of how science could get out of control, while Sir Giles Gilbert Scott used Gothic architecture to memorialise Prince Albert as a medieval hero. Meanwhile, poets indulged in hallucinatory drugs to reach new Gothic heights. Where would it all end?


TUE 01:30 The Joy of Painting (m000jjgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 02:00 Danceworks (m000jjgy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


TUE 02:30 The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (b042twvq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



WEDNESDAY 27 MAY 2020

WED 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000jjjl)
Series 1

Steep Mountains

American painter Bob Ross offers soothing words of encouragement to viewers and painting hobbyists in an enormously popular series that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1982. Ross is a cult figure, with nearly two million Facebook followers and 3,000 instructors globally. His soothing, nurturing personality is therapy for the weary, and his respect for nature and wildlife helps heighten environmental awareness.

Across the series, Ross demonstrates his unique painting technique, which eliminates the need for each layer of paint to dry. In real time, he creates tranquil scenes taken from nature, including his trademark ‘happy’ clouds, cascading waterfalls, snow-covered forests, serene lakes and distant mountain summits.

In this 30-minute masterclass, Bob Ross paints a statuesque ridge of peaks overlooking a little country home by the cove.

Many of Bob’s faithful viewers are not painters at all. They are relaxing and unwinding with Bob’s gentle manner and encouraging words, captivated by the magic taking place on the canvas.


WED 19:30 Danceworks (m000jjjn)
Series 2

Ballet Black: The Waiting Game

London’s Ballet Black is a professional dance company bringing ballet to a more diverse audience by promoting dancers of black and Asian descent. The company made headlines in 2019 when it performed during Stormzy’s bravura Glastonbury set.

This film explores the work of artistic director Cassa Pancho as she nurtures aspiring young dancers and gains recognition for her company’s collaborations with world-class choreographers. It also follows the creative process of South African dancer and choreographer Mthuthuzeli November as he creates a dynamic new ballet inspired in equal measure by Samuel Beckett’s seminal Waiting for Godot and African rhythms and language.


WED 20:00 Michael Wood's Story of England (b00vjmms)
Victoria to the Present Day

Groundbreaking series in which Michael Wood tells the story of one place throughout the whole of English history. The village is Kibworth in Leicestershire in the heart of England - a place that lived through the Black Death, the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution and was even bombed in World War Two.

In this final episode, helped by today's villagers Michael uncovers the secret history of a Victorian village more colourful than even Dickens could have imagined. Recreating their penny concerts of the 1880s, visiting World War I battlefields with the school and recalling the Home Guard, local land girls and the bombing of the village in 1940, the series finally moves into the brave new world of 'homes for heroes' and the villagers come together to leave a reminder of their world for future generations.


WED 21:00 Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet (m000jjjq)
What is it like to be a male ballet dancer in the modern world? Is there still a stigma for boys who enter what is commonly seen as a female domain? Award-winning film-maker Richard Macer hopes to find out as he gets invited to film with a golden generation of talented young male dancers at the Royal Ballet.

An American TV host got into hot water for ridiculing Prince George for taking ballet at school. But why is that men are still an easy target if they want to pull on a pair of tights instead of kicking a ball around a pitch?

Macer learns that, in the past, the man’s role was just to lift the ballerina into the air. But things have changed. Top male dancers have fan bases that rival those enjoyed by the best ballerinas. And choreography is starting to reflect masculinity in different ways. It is becoming more fluid, mirroring our changing perception of what it is to be man outside in the wider world.

Russian Vadim Muntagirov is considered by many to be the best dancer in the world today. He tends to open most classical ballets (Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake) at the Royal Opera house alongside his world-renowned dance partner, Marianela Nuñez. Matthew Ball, from Liverpool, is a younger principal who has a super fan attend his every performance and even give him notes on how many mistakes he made during the show!

Steven McRae has the biggest following on Instagram but tends to post more these days about his rehabilitation routine than his dancing, since he is coming back from two serious injuries. And then there is Ed Watson who has been at the top of his profession for many years but now, at the age of 42, is contemplating retirement.

We might assume ballet is a genteel, middle-class art form but some of the dancers at the Opera House dismantle this stereotype with personal stories that some viewers might finding surprising, such as that of Marcelino Sambé and Joseph Sissens, who both overcame considerable hardship before arriving in Covent Garden.

Nearly all the dancers Macer talks to share one main inspiration - Rudolf Nureyev. It was not just the Russian’s ability on the stage that struck such a chord with them, but also the aura he created, which transcended ballet and came to represent a new kind of machismo.

What we learn is that male ballet is incredibly competitive, just as it is for the women, with dancers pushing themselves towards a goal of perfection that, rather like utopia, remains always just out of reach. But for the men, there is often an added obstacle on their journey to success, the notion that society still sees ballet primarily as a female activity. So, for our golden generation, they have had to swim against the tide in a way their sisters have not. Perhaps, as Macer discovers, that is why these young men describe their occupation as a ‘calling’.


WED 22:00 Unprecedented (m000jjjs)
Series 1

Episode 2

Romantic Distancing by Tim Price
Love in the time of coronavirus: can technology bridge the emotional gap as well as the geographical?

Safer at Home by Anna Maloney
As families and couples are forced into isolation, Mike takes pride in looking after his pregnant partner Ellie. Mike’s mother Betsy is delighted - she is extremely fond of Ellie - but she starts to see things about their relationship that unsettle her.

House Party by April De Angelis
A street in south London get together on Houseparty for a virtual drinking session in the first week of isolation, but not everyone is in the mood for a party.


WED 22:30 BalletBoyz (m000jjjv)
Deluxe

Bradley 4:18

Bradley 4:18, choreographed by Punchdrunk’s Maxine Doyle, is a dance performance inspired by the lyrics of spoken word artist Kate Tempest’s Pictures on a Screen, which tell the story of Bradley, a seemingly successful young man struggling to connect with the world around him.

Set to a score by Mercury Award-nominated and Ivors Academy Award-winning London-based composer, arranger and alto-saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi, and composed in parallel with the choreographic creation, it is a highly atmospheric, filmic score with a modern jazz flavour. Bradley 4:18 presents the six BalletBoyz dancers as different iterations of the Bradley character Bradley and how he might act at 4:18 in the morning.

Celebrating their 20th anniversary, Bradley 4:18 is part of BalletBoyz’ new dance show Deluxe, a co-production with Sadler’s Wells that fuses beautiful dance with original music in the company’s unique and unmistakable style, including collaborations from some of the world’s most inventive and thought-provoking choreographers and composers.

BalletBoyz has made 38 pieces of new work for the stage, won 13 international awards and collaborated with 25 choreographers, ranging from some of the world’s finest and most established to emerging and unknown choreographers, including Christopher Wheeldon, Akram Khan, Kristen McNally, Matthew Bourne and Liv Lorent to name a few. BalletBoyz continues to be celebrated across four continents by audiences and critics alike. the company has performed its work more than 400 times around the UK and in 13 countries across the world, with over 350,000 people having seen one of their productions over the last 20 years.

‘Deluxe is a night of entertaining and thought-provoking theatre that’s been 20 years in the making. The beauty of our job has always been about finding and pursuing extraordinary talent and sharing that with as many people as we can. It’s that simple.’ (BalletBoyz Artistic Directors Michael Nunn and William Trevitt.)


WED 23:00 BalletBoyz (m000jjjz)
Deluxe

Ripple

Ripple marks the UK debut of Chinese choreographer Xie Xin, which she has set to a highly detailed electronic score by composer, lauded tap dancer and long-time collaborator Jiang Shao-feng.

The piece explores movement inspired by the memory of a person and the flow of energy that such memories and feelings possess. Beautifully fluid and lyrical, it sees the BalletBoyz company express new styles in contrast to their familiar athletic and strength- oriented work.

Celebrating their 20th anniversary, Ripple is part of BalletBoyz’ new dance show Deluxe, a co-production with Sadler’s Wells that fuses beautiful dance with original music in the company’s unique and unmistakable style, including collaborations from some of the world’s most inventive and thought-provoking choreographers and composers.

BalletBoyz has made 38 pieces of new work for the stage, won 13 international awards and collaborated with 25 choreographers, ranging from some of the world’s finest and most established to emerging and unknown choreographers, including Christopher Wheeldon, Akram Khan, Kristen McNally, Matthew Bourne and Liv Lorent to name a few. BalletBoyz continues to be celebrated across four continents by audiences and critics alike. the company has performed its work more than 400 times around the UK and in 13 countries across the world, with over 350,000 people having seen one of their productions over the last 20 years.

‘Deluxe is a night of entertaining and thought-provoking theatre that’s been 20 years in the making. The beauty of our job has always been about finding and pursuing extraordinary talent and sharing that with as many people as we can. It’s that simple.’ (BalletBoyz Artistic Directors Michael Nunn and William Trevitt.)


WED 23:30 Dance on Film: BBC Introducing Arts (m000jjk1)
Acclaimed dancer Carlos Acosta introduces a new generation of film makers who use b-boying, ballet and contemporary dance to tell their stories. Subjects range from dancing in a bingo hall, acid attacks, body image and wellbeing and the mystical world of baby eels. Each is a remarkable fusion of dance and film.


WED 00:30 A Timewatch Guide (b052vcbg)
Series 1

Roman Britain

Using years of BBC history archive film, Dr Alice Roberts explores how our views and understanding of Roman Britain have changed and evolved over the decades.

Along the way she investigates a diverse range of subjects from the Roman invasion, through Hadrian's Wall, the Vindolanda tablets and the eventual collapse of Roman rule. Drawing on the work of archaeologists and historians throughout the decades, Alice uncovers how and why our views of this much-loved period of our history have forever been in flux.


WED 01:30 The Joy of Painting (m000jjjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 02:00 Danceworks (m000jjjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


WED 02:30 Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet (m000jjjq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



THURSDAY 28 MAY 2020

THU 19:00 The Joy of Painting (m000jjj0)
Series 1

Tropical Seascape

American painter Bob Ross offers soothing words of encouragement to viewers and painting hobbyists in an enormously popular series that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1982. Ross is a cult figure, with nearly two million Facebook followers and 3,000 instructors globally. His soothing, nurturing personality is therapy for the weary, and his respect for nature and wildlife helps heighten environmental awareness.

Across the series, Ross demonstrates his unique painting technique, which eliminates the need for each layer of paint to dry. In real time, he creates tranquil scenes taken from nature, including his trademark ‘happy’ clouds, cascading waterfalls, snow-covered forests, serene lakes and distant mountain summits.

In this episode, palm trees sway in the warm breeze as Bob Ross shows how to paint a beautiful, sunny and exotic little ocean masterpiece.

Many of Bob’s faithful viewers are not painters at all. They are relaxing and unwinding with Bob’s gentle manner and encouraging words, captivated by the magic taking place on the canvas.


THU 19:30 Danceworks (m000jjj2)
Series 2

María Pagés: An Ode to Flamenco

A film that transports us to Spain and the mesmerising work of flamenco star María Pagés. María’s passion for flamenco is infectious. A child prodigy, she came of age in the golden era of professional flamenco and is now passing her inspiration and experience on to the next generation as she promotes modern flamenco at her new dance centre in a working-class suburb of Madrid.

The film explores the tension in María’s work between flamenco’s traditional roots in the streets of her birthplace of Seville and her theatrical shows, performances that push the boundaries of the dance style and tell bigger stories. The film culminates in a searing homecoming performance of a haunting new work for 2020 called Una Oda al Tiempo (An Ode to Time) back in flamenco’s heartland, Seville.


THU 20:00 Pride and Prejudice (b0074rny)
Episode 4

Rejected by Elizabeth, Darcy returns to Rosings Park and writes to her, revealing the truth about Wickham's character.


THU 21:00 Earth from Space (p072n8b8)
Series 1

Colourful Planet

We think of the Earth as a blue planet, but satellite cameras reveal it to be a kaleidoscope. The astonishing colours of the aurora are towering vertical streaks, hundreds of kilometres high, phytoplankton blooms turn the ocean into works of art, triggering a feeding frenzy, and for a few weeks a year China's Yunnan province is carpeted in yellow as millions of rapeseed flowers bloom.

This is our home, as we’ve never seen it before.


THU 22:00 Unprecedented (m000jjj4)
Series 1

Episode 3

Grounded by Duncan Macmillan
Liz is stressed by her parents’ cavalier attitude to the virus. Their age and health conditions put them heavily at risk. However, when overcome by the stress of her work, Liz is the one who needs looking after.

Fear Fatigue by Prasanna Puwanarajah
Based on conversations with NHS workers in March 2020, Fear Fatigue documents the feelings and fears of frontline staff in the days and weeks before the Coronavirus lockdown.


THU 22:30 Unprecedented (m000jqt0)
Series 1

Episode 4

Kat and Zaccy by Deborah Bruce
Zac is reluctant to come home from university during lockdown. How long can he ignore his mother’s emotional pleas for his return?

The Unexpected Expert by Matilda Ibini
This crisis will have a huge impact on Roxy’s social care package. The local authority thanks her for her understanding, yet she feels significantly misunderstood.

The Night After by Josh Azouz
A couple in their sixties try to make contact with the outside world. Is it a distress signal? Or a message to a specific loved one? Greek Gods, a noose and the past all threaten to overwhelm them. A touching tale of toast, taboos and toddlers.


THU 23:00 Chasing the Moon (m0006vr0)
Series 1

Earthrise (Part One)

What exactly was it going to take for America to beat the Soviets to the moon? Cold War tensions persisted, as rumours circulated that the Soviets were preparing to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon. Nasa quickly developed the Gemini program, sending astronauts into orbit around the Earth to practice critical manoeuvres for the eventual trip to the moon. Ed White became the first American to walk in space, an experience so exhilarating that, when Houston ordered him back in the space craft, he replied, ‘Not yet!’.

Nasa’s next-generation spacecraft, Apollo 1, was meant to dramatically launch the new era. Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were Apollo’s very first crew. On a cool January day in Florida, in 1967, the three men suited up for a pre-launch training run in the new command capsule. Two and a half hours through the training, somewhere in the closed capsule, a fire broke out. The hatch design opened inwards and all three men perished. Mission control was powerless. The disaster shook the nation and left the future of Apollo, Nasa and the entire race to the moon in doubt. The cost perhaps was too high.

A film By Robert Stone.

A Robert Stone Production for American Experience WGBH/PBS in association with Arte France.


THU 23:50 Invasion! with Sam Willis (b09jj0md)
Series 1

Episode 3

In this final programme, Sam Willis continues to tell the story of the invasions that have shaped Britain. He finds evidence of the rich legacy of the Huguenots who came to Britain bringing fine silks and the latest technological developments. He also discovers the ingenious French plans to invade Britain by balloon and the subterranean fortress built for troops in the 19th century when invasion paranoia was at fever pitch.


THU 00:50 Sleuths, Spies & Sorcerers: Andrew Marr's Paperback Heroes (p040pwl2)
Spies

What is the allure of the classic espionage story? As Andrew Marr argues in the conclusion to his series about the books we (really) read, the British spy novel is much more than a cloak-and-dagger affair. Rather, these books allow readers to engage with some pretty big questions about the human condition - principally, who are you? What or who would you be willing to betray? And for what cause would you lay your life on the line?

To help him decipher the rules of the classic espionage story, Andrew travels to Berlin in the footsteps of master spy novelist John le Carre, whose experience of witnessing the Berlin Wall being erected in 1961 inspired him to write the 20th century's greatest spy novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

Andrew uncovers the various conventions that have governed the genre since it began. He shows how early spy novelists created a climate of fear, how they introduced the debonair gentleman spy, and how through the works of former secret agents such as Somerset Maugham they translated the often mundane details of espionage into their stories. The tradecraft of spywriting is gleaned from writers Frederick Forsyth, William Boyd, Gerald Seymour, Charles Cumming as well as novelist (and former director general of MI5) Dame Stella Rimington. And Andrew considers the future of the fictional spy in an age when the agent on the ground is being superseded by electronic surveillance.


THU 01:50 The Joy of Painting (m000jjj0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


THU 02:20 Danceworks (m000jjj2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:30 today]


THU 02:50 Earth from Space (p072n8b8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]



FRIDAY 29 MAY 2020

FRI 19:00 Classic Quartets at the BBC (b08jq8ll)
Clemency Burton-Hill celebrates the rich and ravishing world of the string quartet in a journey through 50 years of BBC archive. Some of the world's greatest ensembles including the Amadeus, Chilingirian, Borodin and Kronos quartets perform in myriad styles and settings, from stately homes to helicopters. Music ranges from Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert to Steve Reich, Elvis Costello and Pete Townshend, in a tradition which stretches back to Haydn in the 18th century.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m000jjj7)
Andy Crane and Simon Mayo present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 14 September 1989 and featuring Tina Turner, Black Box and Damian.


FRI 20:30 Kermode and Mayo’s Home Entertainment Service (m000jjj9)
Series 1

Episode 3

Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo help viewers navigate the wonderful, yet confusing, world of 21st-century home entertainment.

Up for discussion is Netflix series Space Force, starring Steve Carrell and Lisa Kudrow, as well as the hotly anticipated sci-fi thriller The Vast of Night, an Amazon Studios release. They also hear about what the nation has been watching at home and round up the best (and worst) of the rest of streaming culture across movies and premium television.


FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000jjjc)
Nicky Campbell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 21 September 1989 and featuring S'Express, London Boys and The Wonder Stuff.


FRI 21:30 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0615nmw)
Sweet Little Sixteen

In Cold War mid-1950s America, as the new suburbia was spreading fast in a country driven by racial segregation, rock 'n' roll took the country by surprise. Out of the Deep South came a rhythm-driven fusion of blues, boogie woogie and vocal harmony played by young black pioneers like Fats Domino and Little Richard that seduced young white teens and, pre-civil rights, got black and white kids reeling and rocking together.

This fledgling sound was nurtured by small independent labels and travelled up from the Mississippi corridor spawning new artists. In Memphis, Elvis began his career as a local singer with a country twang who rocked up a blues song and sounded so black he confused his white listeners. And in St Louis, black blues guitarist Chuck Berry took a country song and turned it into his first rock 'n' roll hit, Maybellene.

Movies had a big role to play thanks to 'social problem' films exploring the teenager as misfit and delinquent - The Wild One showed teens a rebellious image and a look, and Blackboard Jungle gave them a soundtrack, with the film's theme tune Rock Around the Clock becoming the first rock 'n' roll Number 1 in 1955.

Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Don Everly, Little Richard, Tom Jones, Wanda Jackson, Pat Boone, The Spaniels, PF Sloan, Joe Boyd, Jerry Phillips, Marshall Chess, JM Van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis's drummer), Charles Connor (Little Richard's drummer) and Dick Richards (Bill Haley's drummer).


FRI 22:30 Classic Albums (m0006pbp)
The Crickets: The 'Chirping' Crickets

When lanky and bespectacled 20-year-old Texan singer Buddy Holly walked into the independent studio of producer Norman Petty in February 1957, he thought he’d come to make some demos to save his already failing music career as a two-flop wonder. By the time he had left the next morning, he had recorded not only his first million-selling smash - the immortal That’ll Be the Day - but the beginnings of one of the first, and greatest, rock ’n’ roll albums of all time – The 'Chirping' Crickets.

Among the first half-dozen debuts by rock ’n’ roll’s original founders (preceded only by those of Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Little Richard and Chuck Berry), more significantly it was the first rock album credited to a band rather than a solo artist, as well as a landmark in the history of independent recording methods. It was the album that inspired John Lennon to form his first band with Paul McCartney, The Quarrymen, and one of the first LPs bought by 15-year-old Dartford schoolboy Keith Richards: famously, both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones would later cover songs from The 'Chirping' Crickets.

Crowned by four of Holly and The Crickets’ best-loved and biggest-selling singles - That’ll Be the Day, Not Fade Away, Maybe Baby and Oh, Boy! - the album was one of only two Buddy Holly recorded in his tragically brief career. He died in a plane crash at the age of only 22, just one year and ten weeks after the album’s release. Yet it survives as the purest testament to his skill and diversity as a singer, a pioneering guitar player and, not least, as a songwriter in an age when few of his peers composed their own material. As such, The 'Chirping' Crickets stands as one of the most influential and important long-playing pieces of vinyl in the evolution of popular music. Without it, the last six decades of rock ’n’ roll would look, and sound, dramatically different.

The 'Chirping' Crickets finally landed in November 1957, its cover presenting a unified front of the four members side by side, with no special emphasis on Holly. Yet all too soon, their leader’s fame would eclipse what had always been a clever, legally convenient illusion of democracy. Within a year of its release, after just one more Crickets single, Think It Over, Sullivan left and Holly, though still recording with Allison and Mauldin, was starting to be seen as a solo artist.

The Crickets nevertheless left behind not just a classic but also rock’s first group debut; the twelve-track, twelve-inch vinyl blueprint of the archetypal vocals-guitars-bass-and-drum formula that has kept the genre alive for 60 years since its release, and counting.


FRI 23:30 It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Rock 'n' Roll at the BBC (b063m6wy)
A celebration of rock 'n' roll in the shape of a compilation of classic artists and songs, featuring the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Dion and Dick Dale who all featured in the Rock 'n' Roll America series, alongside songs that celebrate rock 'n roll itself from artists such as Tom Petty (Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll), Joan Jett (I Love Rock 'n' Roll) and Oasis (Rock 'n' Roll Star).


FRI 00:30 Singer-Songwriters at the BBC (b015f5c8)
Series 2

Episode 1

The celebration of the singing songwriting troubadours of the 1960s and 70s continues with a further trawl through the BBC archives for timeless and classic performances.

Don McLean performs his huge hit American Pie from 1972 and Tim Buckley provides some sublime sounds with a rendition of his song Happy Time. Also making an appearance is the long-lamented John Martyn, folk queen Sandy Denny and, in a duet with Joe Egan as Stealers Wheel, the late Gerry Rafferty. Stealers Wheel chum and one-time collaborator Rab Noakes also makes a contribution to this compilation.

Leonard Cohen and Julie Felix present a unique collaboration and performance of Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye, and there's an unforgettable performance of Case of You by Joni Mitchell. No celebration of this genre would be complete without contributions from songwriting heavyweights such as Elton John, Paul Simon, Loudon Wainwright III and Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens.


FRI 01:30 Country Music by Ken Burns (m000bpkc)
Series 1

The Hillbilly Shakespeare (1945-1953)

As country music adapted to the cultural changes of post-war society, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs transformed traditional string band music into something more syncopated - bluegrass.

Out of the bars and juke joints came a new sound - honky-tonk - with electric guitars and songs about drinking, cheating and heartbreak. Its biggest star was Hank Williams, a singer who wrote songs of surprising emotional depth, derived from his troubled and tragically short life.


FRI 02:20 Rock 'n' Roll America (b0615nmw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 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 23:30 SUN (b083dd1g)

A Timewatch Guide 00:30 WED (b052vcbg)

A Year in an English Garden: Flicker and Pulse 22:30 TUE (b09bdyrh)

A Year in the Wild 20:00 SUN (b01lvh65)

A Year in the Wild 02:30 SUN (b01lvh65)

All Creatures Great and Small 21:30 MON (p031d2mg)

All Creatures Great and Small 22:20 MON (p031d2mm)

Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain 20:00 MON (b007n1dx)

Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain 02:10 MON (b007n1dx)

Arena 00:10 MON (m000b8nj)

BBC Young Musician 19:00 SUN (m000jjjf)

BBC Young Musician 01:30 SUN (m000jjjf)

BalletBoyz 22:30 WED (m000jjjv)

BalletBoyz 23:00 WED (m000jjjz)

Chasing the Moon 23:00 THU (m0006vr0)

Chemistry: A Volatile History 20:00 TUE (b00qck1t)

Classic Albums 22:30 FRI (m0006pbp)

Classic Quartets at the BBC 19:00 FRI (b08jq8ll)

Country Music by Ken Burns 01:30 FRI (m000bpkc)

Dance on Film: BBC Introducing Arts 23:30 WED (m000jjk1)

Danceworks 19:30 MON (m000jjh7)

Danceworks 01:40 MON (m000jjh7)

Danceworks 19:30 TUE (m000jjgy)

Danceworks 02:00 TUE (m000jjgy)

Danceworks 19:30 WED (m000jjjn)

Danceworks 02:00 WED (m000jjjn)

Danceworks 19:30 THU (m000jjj2)

Danceworks 02:20 THU (m000jjj2)

Earth from Space 21:00 THU (p072n8b8)

Earth from Space 02:50 THU (p072n8b8)

Educating Rita 22:35 SAT (b007vyhh)

How Quizzing Got Cool: TV's Brains of Britain 21:00 SUN (b084fs6s)

Invasion! with Sam Willis 23:50 THU (b09jj0md)

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll: Rock 'n' Roll at the BBC 23:30 FRI (b063m6wy)

Kermode and Mayo’s Home Entertainment Service 20:30 FRI (m000jjj9)

Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest 20:00 SAT (b07m772h)

Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest 02:20 SAT (b07m772h)

Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet 21:00 WED (m000jjjq)

Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet 02:30 WED (m000jjjq)

Michael Wood's Story of England 20:00 WED (b00vjmms)

Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific with James Fox 00:30 SUN (b0blhn4t)

Pride and Prejudice 20:00 THU (b0074rny)

Primates 19:00 SAT (m000j4x0)

Revisor by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young 22:00 SUN (m000jjjj)

Rock 'n' Roll America 21:30 FRI (b0615nmw)

Rock 'n' Roll America 02:20 FRI (b0615nmw)

Singer-Songwriters at the BBC 00:30 FRI (b015f5c8)

Sleuths, Spies & Sorcerers: Andrew Marr's Paperback Heroes 00:50 THU (p040pwl2)

State of Happiness 21:00 SAT (m000jjgr)

State of Happiness 21:45 SAT (m000jjgt)

Talking Pictures 00:30 SAT (b04y4dsw)

The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour 00:30 TUE (b04n1mrb)

The Cult of... 21:00 MON (b008x368)

The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain 21:00 TUE (b042twvq)

The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain 02:30 TUE (b042twvq)

The Joy of Painting 19:00 MON (m000jjh5)

The Joy of Painting 01:10 MON (m000jjh5)

The Joy of Painting 19:00 TUE (m000jjgw)

The Joy of Painting 01:30 TUE (m000jjgw)

The Joy of Painting 19:00 WED (m000jjjl)

The Joy of Painting 01:30 WED (m000jjjl)

The Joy of Painting 19:00 THU (m000jjj0)

The Joy of Painting 01:50 THU (m000jjj0)

Timeshift 23:10 MON (b03p7jh9)

Tomorrow's Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction 23:30 TUE (p026c7jt)

Top of the Pops 01:20 SAT (m000jb8f)

Top of the Pops 01:50 SAT (m000jb8k)

Top of the Pops 20:00 FRI (m000jjj7)

Top of the Pops 21:00 FRI (m000jjjc)

Unprecedented 22:00 TUE (m000jjh1)

Unprecedented 22:00 WED (m000jjjs)

Unprecedented 22:00 THU (m000jjj4)

Unprecedented 22:30 THU (m000jqt0)