SATURDAY 03 MAY 2025
SAT 19:00 Wild (b0078zwm)
2005-06 Shorts
Eider Duck Island
Each year the eider ducklings of Inner Farne undertake a great trek across the island. On their way they pass puffins being mugged by black-headed gulls and terns brooding their fluffy chicks. The eider families gather together in crèches for safety as the predatory gulls wheel overhead. But will they reach their ultimate and rather unlikely destination? Narrated by Simon King.
SAT 19:10 All Creatures Great and Small (m002bww4)
Series 4
One of Nature's Little Miracles
The Herriots lead a busy family life, and Tristan is aware that he may have entered the terminal stages of his bachelor status. Siegfried engages another assistant, who brings his badger.
SAT 20:05 All Creatures Great and Small (m002bww7)
Series 4
Barks and Bites
James and Tristan examine a consignment of sheep for export to Russia, and for Tristan, the Russian woman vet is perfect confirmation of his prejudice.
SAT 21:00 Families Like Ours (m002brfg)
Series 1
The Hour Draws Near
Sea levels are rising, and Denmark will soon be evacuated, but the public doesn’t know it yet.
Nineteen-year-old Laura lives half the time with her mother, Fanny, and half with her father, Jacob, and his new wife, Amalie. Amalie’s brother Nikolaj works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is among the first to learn of the evacuation. He cautions his husband, Henrik, and Jacob to sell everything and start planning for a life abroad – in secret. Henrik also feels compelled to warn his estranged brother, Peter, who refuses to listen.
Laura is at school when news of the evacuation breaks. The question on everyone’s mind is: where will they go?
Danish drama from acclaimed Academy Award and BAFTA-winning director Thomas Vinterberg.
In Danish with English subtitles
SAT 21:50 Families Like Ours (m002brfj)
Series 1
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff
Everything is in chaos. Everyone is relying on Jacob to find the money needed to relocate his extended family to Paris - except Fanny, who refuses to be a burden to anyone.
In Danish with English subtitles
SAT 22:40 Wogan (m002bww9)
Wogan with Felicity Kendal
Felicity Kendal steps in as guest host, and her guests include former Good Life colleague Paul Eddington, who talks about Yes, Prime Minister and his dream of being an artist.
SAT 23:25 Parkinson (m001ytzq)
Paul Daniels, William Rushton and Engelbert Humperdinck
Michael Parkinson in conversation with Paul Daniels, William Rushton and Engelbert Humperdinck.
SAT 00:25 All Creatures Great and Small (m002bww4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:10 today]
SAT 01:20 All Creatures Great and Small (m002bww7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:05 today]
SAT 02:15 Wogan (m002bww9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:40 today]
SUNDAY 04 MAY 2025
SUN 19:00 Remembers... (m002bwvt)
Gary Wilmot Remembers... Showstoppers
Gary Wilmot looks back fondly on his time presenting Showstoppers, a 1995 series jam-packed with well-known hits from musical theatre.
The series started life as a one-off special and was then extended to include a further six episodes after huge audience demand.
Gary reminisces on what made the show so popular, working with the incredible BBC Concert Orchestra and learning more show tunes than he thought possible!
Gary also shares his memories of the special guests on the show, from Luther Vandross and Sir Cliff Richard to stage greats Anthony Newley, Tom Conti and Elaine Paige and television favourites Bob Monkhouse and Dennis Waterman.
SUN 19:15 Showstoppers (m002bwvw)
Episode 1
Gary Wilmot presents songs from stage and screen musicals. Featuring Tom Conti, Barbara Dickson and Michael Feinstein.
SUN 20:05 Showstoppers (m002bwvz)
Episode 2
Gary Wilmot presents songs from stage and screen musicals. Featuring performances by Sarah Brightman, Brian Conley and Dennis Waterman.
SUN 20:55 Anything Goes: The Musical (m0012y8y)
Filmed live at the Barbican in London, this major production of the classic musical comedy features an all-star cast led by renowned Broadway actress Sutton Foster, reprising her Tony-winning performance as Reno Sweeney, alongside the award-winning Robert Lindsay and Felicity Kendal, as well as beloved West End legend Gary Wilmot. A heart-warming romance, featuring spectacular dance routines and some of theatre’s most memorable songs.
When the SS American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out of the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love - proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, a comical disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. This hilarious musical romp across the Atlantic, directed by the multi-award-winning Broadway director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall, features Cole Porter’s joyful score, including I Get a Kick Out of You, You’re the Top and the show-stopping Anything Goes.
SUN 23:15 Big Night of Musicals by the National Lottery (m001vw23)
2024
Jason Manford hosts a glittering musical celebration, with spectacular performances and special guests, including Beverley Knight, Nicole Scherzinger and Alfie Boe.
Filmed in front of an audience of 12,000 fans of musicals at Manchester’s AO Arena, 12 of the UK’s West End and touring productions perform much-loved songs and exciting exclusives.
Daniel Mays takes to the stage with Guys & Dolls, Alfie Boe returns to Les Misérables for a special one-off performance, Beverley Knight performs with some of the next generation of musical theatre stars, and the cast of Broadway sensation Hadestown present a UK television exclusive ahead of its West End debut.
Also featured are show-stopping numbers from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Disney’s Aladdin, A Chorus Line, Grease The Musical, and Mrs Doubtfire. And incredible performances from The Wizard of Oz, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Phantom of the Opera and Hamilton complete the line-up.
The programme also shines a light on the world of musical theatre, including an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at hit British comedy musical Operation Mincemeat and a preview of the exciting shows coming to theatres this year.
SUN 00:45 Gershwin's Summertime: The Song That Conquered the World (b017nf05)
An intriguing investigation into the extraordinary life of Gershwin's classic composition, Summertime. One of the most covered songs in the world, it has been recorded in almost every style of music - from jazz to opera, rock to reggae, soul to samba. Its musical adaptability is breathtaking, but Summertime also resonates on a deep emotional level. This visually and sonically engaging film explores the composition's magical properties, examining how this song has, with stealth, captured the imagination of the world.
From its complex birth in 1935 as a lullaby in Gershwin's all-black opera Porgy and Bess, this film traces the hidden history of Summertime, focusing on key recordings, including those by Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Mahalia Jackson, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald. It reveals how musicians have projected their own dreams and desires onto the song, reimagining Summertime throughout the 20th century as a civil rights prayer, a hippie lullaby, an ode to seduction and a modern freedom song.
Back in the 1930s, Gershwin never dreamt of the global impact Summertime would have. But as this film shows, it has magically tapped into something deep inside us all - nostalgia and innocence, sadness and joy, and our intrinsic desire for freedom. Full of evocative archive footage as well as a myriad versions of Summertime - from the celebrated to the obscure - the film tells the surprising and illuminating tale behind this world-famous song.
SUN 01:45 Showstoppers (m002bwvw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 today]
SUN 02:35 Showstoppers (m002bwvz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:05 today]
MONDAY 05 MAY 2025
MON 19:00 Wainwright: The Man Who Loved the Lakes (b0074tfq)
Capturing the beauty of the English Lake District, a documentary which traces the life of writer and artist Alfred Wainwright, the eccentric Lancastrian who created a series of iconic fell-walking books which he hand-wrote, illustrated and published himself in the 1950s.
Celebrating the centenary of his birth, the film captures his passionate love affair with the Lakeland landscape and explores how his books have become guide-book classics for millions of fell-walkers.
MON 20:00 David Attenborough: A Life on Air (p031d2k6)
Michael Palin presents a profile of the television career of David Attenborough, from controller of BBC Two to his wildlife programmes such as Life on Earth and The Blue Planet.
MON 21:00 Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur (p03dwy5z)
David Attenborough tells the story of the discovery and reconstruction in Argentina of the world's largest-known dinosaur, a brand new species of titanosaur. Measuring 37m long - close to four London buses put end to end - and weighing 70 metric tons, it now holds the record as the biggest animal ever to walk the earth.
In 2014, a shepherd spotted the tip of a gigantic fossil bone sticking out of a rock in La Flecha Farm in the Chubut Province in the Argentinian desert. Palaeontologists soon uncovered a massive 2.4m long thigh bone (femur), the largest ever found. By the end of the dig they had uncovered more than 220 bones. As the programme reveals, these all belong to a new species of the giant plant-eating titanosaur.
Filmed over the next two years, the documentary follows the twists and turns of this forensic investigation. Attenborough witnesses the uncovering and examination of these stupendous fossils and the dramatic construction of the complete skeleton. And using state-of-the-art graphics, the film also reveals the internal secrets of this dinosaur and what it means to be a giant.
MON 22:00 Jonathan Dimbleby: My Father and Belsen (m002bx6v)
It was in 1945 when the BBC’s first war correspondent, Richard Dimbleby, found himself with British troops in Germany and witnessed the discovery of the notorious Nazi death camp Belsen.
His now-famous radio reports first told the world of the crimes against humanity that had been uncovered – reports that changed our understanding of the Second World War and the nature of the enemy the Allies had been fighting.
In the following years, Richard returned to the site of Belsen twice – first in 1959 and then again in 1965 to mark the anniversary of the war’s end. Both visits were filmed for BBC programmes, and here Richard’s son Jonathan – a writer and broadcaster himself – tells the story of Richard’s return trips, explaining why they were significant for him and the impact Belsen had on him and the rest of his career.
MON 22:20 Richard Dimbleby at Belsen (m002bx6x)
In this film from 1965, broadcaster Richard Dimbleby returns to Belsen, 20 years after his first radio account of the liberation of the concentration camp.
MON 22:35 After the Battle (p00d1vxs)
Germany - Richard Dimbleby Reports
In the series following former war reporters as they return to past battlefields, Richard Dimbleby goes back to Germany.
MON 23:05 Belsen: What They Found (m0029tzn)
Directed by Sam Mendes, this is the story of two soldier-cameramen, Sgt Mike Lewis and Sgt Bill Lawrie, who witnessed the liberation of Belsen during the closing days of World War II.
By immersing audiences in their eyewitness accounts through the footage they shot, married with audio interviews (recorded by the Imperial War Museum in the 1980s) describing their experiences in detail, the film becomes an intimate and personal record of two ordinary men’s defining experience of the war and, through them, of the profound trauma and tragedy of the Holocaust.
MON 23:45 Quentin Blake: The Drawing of My Life (m0012xpw)
In this celebration of one of Britain’s best-loved artists, the illustrator and author Sir Quentin Blake tells the story of his 70-year-long career in his own words and with his own pictures. Specially for this documentary, he has been filmed creating an extraordinary new work: a canvas 30 feet long and seven feet high, on which self-portraits and classic characters emerge in the instantly recognisable, energetic and ebullient style that has taken root in the imaginations of successive generations of children and parents.
Quentin Blake turns 89 in December 2021. His first book was published 61 years ago, and over 500 volumes later, he is still hard at work, drawing every day and determined to break down the barriers between illustration and ‘fine arts’. As he looks back for the first documentary to be dedicated to his life, Blake shares his pleasure in the blank page, the scratch of a quill, and the enjoyable mischief and chaos of childhood.
Some of his closest collaborators and biggest admirers pay tribute – among them David Walliams, Michael Rosen, Lauren Child, Chris Riddell, Steven Appleby, Dapo Adeola, Josie Long and Emma Chichester Clark. There are also readings of works Blake has illustrated, performed by Joanna Lumley, Peter Capaldi and Ore Oduba.
MON 00:45 Wainwright: The Man Who Loved the Lakes (b0074tfq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MON 01:45 David Attenborough: A Life on Air (p031d2k6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MON 02:45 Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur (p03dwy5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 06 MAY 2025
TUE 19:00 Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village (b0bsrqky)
Series 1
Cromford
The story of Cromford. A picturesque Derbyshire village at the heart of famous industrialist Sir Richard Arkwright's mechanised cotton mills and a textile revolution. Presenter and archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers it wasn't just an industrial revolution. Cromford became a new kind of village, built to service the enterprise of this powerful man.
TUE 19:30 Wainwright Walks (b0079y0d)
Series 1
Haystacks
Julia Bradbury is in the Western Lakes to walk to the summit of Wainwright's favourite fell, Haystacks. With a little help and advice from local broadcaster and friend of Wainwright's, Eric Robson, Bradbury sets out to discover what makes this fell so special and why Wainwright chose it as his final resting place.
TUE 20:00 Hidden History: The Lost Portraits of Bradford (m0009h27)
Thirty years ago, thousands of portraits from a small studio in Bradford were saved from a skip. They form a unique collection of photographs that records the changing face of a British industrial city in the middle of the 20th century. Many of the people in the portraits were new arrivals from the Asian subcontinent, eastern Europe and the Caribbean, attracted by the offer of work in wool mills. The names of these people are a mystery – only their faces survive.
A small studio, Belle Vue, in the middle of Bradford, built a business on taking portraits of the newly-arrived migrants. Photographer Tony Walker used a battered Victorian camera to take images of his customers, which were often sent back to relatives in the countries they’d left behind.
Working alongside staff from museums in Bradford, presenter Shanaz Gulzar identifies and tracks down the people in the portraits, and uncovers dramatic social change and the hidden stories behind the portraits.
TUE 21:00 The Good Life (b00784vj)
Series 1
Pig's Lib
The Goods' garden is now well under way and Tom is managing to barter reasonably successfully. Margo is horrified when she hears of Tom and Barbara's decision to keep pigs in the garden and enlists the help of the local residents' association in an effort to scupper the plan.
TUE 21:30 Yes Minister (b007830r)
Series 1
Open Government
First episode of the acclaimed sitcom about an apparently clueless British government minister and the advisers who surround him.
When Jim Hacker's party wins the general election, he is summoned to the prime minister's office to discover that he is to be the new minister for administrative affairs.
TUE 22:00 The Interview (m002b6gp)
Celebrities
David Hockney: A Life in Art
David Hockney is one of the world's most successful and influential artists of our time. At 11, he wanted to be an artist. At 87, he's still creating new works. Happiest when making 'joyful' art, and always innovating with his iPad, his art has sold for millions.
Ahead of his biggest show ever opening in Paris, the Bradford-born star talks to Katie Razzall about growing old, a recent visit from the King, and his two big loves - smoking and painting.
TUE 22:25 imagine... (b00lk119)
Summer 2009
David Hockney - A Bigger Picture
Filmed over three years with unprecedented access, this documentary captures the return from California of England's favourite living artist.
As Hockney approaches the age of 70, he re-invents his painting from scratch, working through the seasons and in all weathers out in the Yorkshire countryside, ending up with the largest picture ever made outdoors. It is at once the story of an unusual homecoming and also an intimate portrait of what inspires Hockney as his time runs out.
TUE 23:20 Hockney: Double Portrait (m002bx6s)
An intimate documentary profile of artist David Hockney as he returns to the theme of double portraits, three decades after some of his most iconic works, like Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy. From 2003.
TUE 00:10 Face to Face (m000xh4r)
Revival
David Hockney
In an interview first broadcast in 1996, artist David Hockney talks to Jeremy Isaacs about painting, designing for the opera and his growing deafness.
TUE 00:50 Wainwright Walks (b0079y0d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 01:20 Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village (b0bsrqky)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
TUE 01:50 Hockney: Double Portrait (m002bx6s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:20 today]
TUE 02:40 Hidden History: The Lost Portraits of Bradford (m0009h27)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 07 MAY 2025
WED 19:00 Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village (b0bsrqm9)
Series 1
Lavenham
Archaeologist Ben Robinson explores Lavenham in Suffolk, the best-preserved medieval village in the country. In the 16th century, Lavenham was one of the wealthiest places in England, becoming rich on its woollen cloth industry, but the industry declined and the wealthy abandoned Lavenham. By the 19th century it was a place of poverty, but today it is once more a jewel of a village.
WED 19:30 Wainwright Walks (b0079y0f)
Series 1
Blencathra
Julia Bradbury sets off to climb her first mountain, Blencathra. Her route to the summit sees her tackle Sharp Edge, the Lake District's most technical and vertigo-inducing ridge climb. In the process, she discovers why the obsessive Wainwright chose to cover this fell in more detail than any other.
WED 20:00 Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth (p02wnh9k)
Life Stream
In the wild North Atlantic, massive whale pods, giant turtles and monstrous jellyfish ride the Gulf Stream, a huge ocean current that becomes a migration superhighway and helps warm northern Europe. Meanwhile, fishermen battle for survival in mountainous seas as they try to reap the current's natural fertility.
WED 21:00 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03knrvm)
Home Waters to High Seas
Shipwrecks are the nightmare we have forgotten - the price Britain paid for ruling the waves from an island surrounded by treacherous rocks. The result is a coastline that is home to the world's highest concentration of sunken ships. But shipwrecks also changed the course of British history, helped shape our national character and drove innovations in seafaring technology, as well as gripping our imagination.
In this three-part series, maritime historian Dr Sam Willis looks at how and why the shipwreck came to loom so large. He begins with the embarrassing story of the top-heavy Mary Rose, the freak wrecking of the Spanish Armada and the terrifying real-life disasters at sea that inspired two of the greatest of all castaway tales - Shakespeare's The Tempest and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.
WED 22:00 Remembers... (m002bx75)
Jimmy McGovern Remembers… Common
Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern remembers his 2014 drama Common, which explores the concept and consequences of the law of joint association through the story of a fictional murder involving a group of Liverpool teenagers. Jimmy explains how he came to be persuaded to write Common, his approach and what he was trying to achieve, and whether he considers the endeavour to be a success.
WED 22:15 Common (p021gb62)
Multi-award-winning writer Jimmy McGovern's film based on the UK's controversial joint enterprise law.
Seventeen-year-old Johnjo gives his cousin Tony and his mates Colin and Kieran a last-minute lift in his brother Patrick's car. They tell him they're going for pizza; Johnjo doesn't know that they're going to 'have a word' with a local loudmouth who needs putting in his place. As Johnjo waits in the car, Kieran takes offence with an innocent bystander, Thomas Ward, who is fatally stabbed.
The murder victim is the eldest child of Margaret and Tommy Ward, who has become estranged from his family after a bitter divorce. Struggling to make ends meet on her own, Margaret is nevertheless determined to fight through bureaucracy and the cool indifference of the banks to give Thomas the send-off he deserves.
Johnjo makes his own way to the police station and asks for DI Hastings. A career copper used to doing battle with 'no comment', Hastings can't believe his luck as Johnjo lays the blame squarely with Kieran. But Hastings wants everyone possible to be tried for murder, and with the joint enterprise doctrine at his disposal, that includes Johnjo.
WED 23:45 Africa Turns the Page: The Novels That Shaped a Continent (m000mf8x)
Africa has become a superpower in the world of the novel. Shortlists for the world’s major literary prizes are packed with African authors, while novelists like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have become international celebrities. But how did Africa become such a hotbed of literary talent? In this fascinating and insightful film, Nigerian-born presenter and historian David Olusoga explores the incredible story of the African novel.
From the 1950s, as African nations fought for independence, writers such as Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Wole Soyinka became the conscience of a continent – often paying a personal price for speaking out against both colonialism and corruption. In their wake, the African novel was to spread around the world - writers of the African diaspora such as Buchi Emecheta and Ben Okri created masterpieces from their adopted home of the United Kingdom. These novelists wrote books that are funny, witty and often tragic. They achieved something that stretched beyond the world of literature – transforming the image of Africa itself.
The programme features interviews with some of the most pre-eminent novelists working today. We hear from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Aminatta Forna and 2019 Booker winner Bernardine Evaristo. The documentary features extraordinary archive of the key novelists and insightful contributions from leading figures whose lives were touched by their writing, including dramatist Kwame Kwei-Armah and MPs Diane Abbott and Kwasi Kwarteng.
WED 00:45 Quentin Blake: The Drawing of My Life (m0012xpw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:45 on Monday]
WED 01:45 Wainwright Walks (b0079y0f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:15 Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village (b0bsrqm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 02:45 Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth (p02wnh9k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THURSDAY 08 MAY 2025
THU 19:00 Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village (b0bsrqch)
Series 1
Milton Abbas
The village of Milton Abbas in Dorset perfectly captures our romantic notion of what the idyllic English village should look like. But as archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals, behind it lurks a history of one man's wealth and power. With help from local historians, Ben learns how the local landowner in the 18th century destroyed a nearby town, uprooting its residents, because it ruined the view from his house. The landscape was transformed and a new village was built as part of his showpiece estate.
THU 19:30 Wainwright Walks (b0074tjb)
Series 1
Castle Crag
Julia Bradbury is in Britain's wettest vale, the Borrowdale Valley, to climb to the summit of Castle Crag. Of all 214 fells in Wainwright's pictorial guides, Castle Crag is the only one under 1,000ft to be included. Bradbury's goal is to determine what makes it worthy of such an honour.
THU 20:00 Jesus Christ Superstar (m001kk2j)
A novel take on the last seven days of Jesus Christ's life, based on Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous rock opera.
A group of young people arrive in the Holy Land by bus to act out events leading to the Crucifixion in a blend of biblical and contemporary themes. To Judas Iscariot, Christ is a badly managed superstar, bound to lose the support of a fickle public. To the priests, he is a menace, and to Mary Magdalene, he brings a love she has never known before.
Photographed against dramatic scenery in Israel, the film is performed without dialogue and includes the hit songs I Don't Know How to Love Him, Superstar and King Herod's Song.
THU 21:40 This Cultural Life (m002bx12)
Abi Morgan
Screenwriter and playwright Abi Morgan has worked across a diverse array of themes and genres for more than 25 years. She wrote the television series The Split, a domestic drama involving divorce lawyers, and created the psychological Netflix series Eric. Her other television credits include Sex Traffic, for which she won a BAFTA for Best Drama Serial in 2005, and The Hour, the television news drama which earned her an Emmy Award in 2012. Her film credits include The Iron Lady, which starred Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher; historical drama Suffragette; and Shame, co-written with the director Steve McQueen. Her recent book This Is Not a Pity Memoir recounts her husband’s recovery after serious illness, and her own treatment for cancer.
Abi Morgan tells John Wilson about her childhood in a theatrical family; her father was the director Gareth Morgan, and her mother is the actor Pat England. She chooses the author, screenwriter and director Nora Ephron as an important influence, and particularly the film Heartburn, which Ephron adapted from her semi-autobiographical divorce novel. Abi also recalls the work of television screenwriter Kay Mellor, whose series Band of Gold and Playing the Field also influenced her own writing. She describes how seeing an exhibition of the work of artist Cornelia Parker, including her installation Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View, inspired some of Abi’s early theatre work, including her plays Splendour and The Mistress Contract.
THU 22:10 The Invisible Woman (b052qqrm)
British biographical drama from BBC Films, adapted from Claire Tomalin's book. At the peak of his career, Charles Dickens meets a young actress who soon becomes his muse and mistress.
THU 23:55 Big Night of Musicals by the National Lottery (m001vw23)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:15 on Sunday]
THU 01:25 Wainwright Walks (b0074tjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
THU 01:55 Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village (b0bsrqch)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
THU 02:25 Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History (b03knrvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Wednesday]
FRIDAY 09 MAY 2025
FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m002bx6b)
Jayne Middlemiss presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 14 November 1997 and featuring Natalie Imbruglia, Gary Barlow, Moby, Barbra Streisand & Celine Dion, PF Project featuring Ewan McGregor, Jon Bon Jovi, Texas and Aqua.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m002bx6d)
Jo Whiley presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 21 November 1997 and featuring Errol Brown, Ocean Colour Scene, Hanson, Pulp, Conner Reeves, Metallica, All Saints and Aqua.
FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b0blhsnc)
Janice Long and John Peel present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 8 May 1986 and featuring Patti La Belle and Michael McDonald, Spitting Image, Billy Ocean, Falco and Whitney Houston.
FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (b09p7cqn)
Richard Skinner and Gary Davies present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 7 February 1985. Featuring King, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, Kirsty MacColl, Howard Jones, Billy Ocean, and Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson.
FRI 21:10 Top of the Pops (b09kt44m)
1985 - Big Hits
Celebrating the big hits of 1985 with a selection of iconic Top of the Pops performances spanning the genres, from pure pop to power ballads, from Hi-NRG to hip-hop, to R&B and indie classics. Featuring Wham!, The Smiths, Kate Bush, a-ha, Eurythmics, The Cure, Dead or Alive, Bonnie Tyler, Tears for Fears, Sister Sledge, Jennifer Rush, Doug E Fresh and many more.
FRI 22:10 Top of the Pops (b09kt44k)
The Story of 1985
1985 sees the 'Big Four' of 80's pop - Spandau, Wham!, Culture Club and the Durans - have a relatively quiet year, which ushers in a new generation of pop talent. The show becomes a barometer for the state of the nation as the ambitious King and a-ha, propelled by the most expensive video of the year for Take on Me, compete for attention with passionate politicos Billy Bragg and The Style Council who, fired up by the ongoing miners' strike and continuing threat of nuclear war, give the studio audience their all with Between the Wars and Walls Come Tumbling Down.
1985 also sees electro dance hit the mainstream as Dead or Alive top the charts with You Spin Me Round, the first number one for producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and Paul Hardcastle holds the top slot for five weeks with 19, a spoken word single made with new sampling technology and released on the 10th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war.
Meanwhile, movie tie-ins and record companies eyeing a 'housewives' market see a run of power ballads hit the charts, from Jennifer Rush to Tina Turner and our very own Bonnie Tyler, with Holding out for a Hero. And back in the real world, the heroic Bob Geldof brings the pop generations together for Live Aid, and Shakin' Stevens marks his 50th appearance on Top of the Pops and lands his first Christmas number one with a song he has waited a whole year to release.
Featuring original interviews with a-ha, Shakin' Stevens, The Style Council, Billy Bragg, Bonnie Tyler, Pete Waterman, Paul Hardcastle, King and Loose Ends.
FRI 23:10 Stock Aitken Waterman at the BBC (m001qwwv)
Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman were the producers who came, SAW and conquered the UK charts in the 1980s, spinning the music scene right round like a record with their instantly recognisable brand of disco floor-filling pop hits. The trio divided the nation between those who loved their Hi-NRG sound and the singers they transformed into tabloid sensations, and a music press that loathed them for turning record producing into a production line.
Today, many of SAW’s most memorable hits are considered classics of their time, and the very best of them are celebrated in this new selection, featuring such artists as Rick Astley, Dead or Alive, Donna Summer, Bananarama, Mel & Kim and, of course, Kylie and Jason.
FRI 00:40 Top of the Pops (m002bx6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 01:10 Top of the Pops (m002bx6d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 01:40 Top of the Pops (b0blhsnc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
FRI 02:10 Top of the Pops (b09p7cqn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
FRI 02:50 Top of the Pops (b09kt44m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:10 today]