SATURDAY 24 MAY 2025
SAT 19:00 Wild (b0078yx9)
2005-06 Shorts
The Rabbits of Skomer
Documentary about the wild rabbits which live on sea cliffs on the Pembrokeshire coast alongside seabirds like puffins and seagulls. They come in many shades, owing to their intriguing history, and each spring the island of Skomer itself is transformed by wild flowers, creating one of Britain's most beautiful natural spectacles. The green and brown island turns blue and pink for a couple of spectacular weeks under a carpet of bluebells and red campion.
SAT 19:10 All Creatures Great and Small (m002ctnk)
Series 4
Ace, King, Queen, Jack
Calum tickles a few trout, Tricki Woo enters the dog show, and Bramble, the cow with a wink, is a success.
SAT 20:05 All Creatures Great and Small (m002ctnm)
Series 4
The Healing Touch
James visits Granville Bennett's lavishly impressive small-animal hospital. The fruits of this veterinary surgery are evidently much richer than the hard-grafting life of James's practice in the Dales.
SAT 21:00 Remembers... (m002ctnp)
Brian Cox Remembers... Bob Servant
Acting giant Brian Cox has enjoyed a stellar career and is known for the intensity of characters like Hannibal Lecter and Succession’s Logan Roy - but here we join him taking a fond look back at a character who, perhaps surprisingly, occupies a very special place in his heart – the would-be MP for Broughty Ferry, Bob Servant.
Brian relates how Dundee and the east coast of Scotland, with its distinct brand of humour, was always part of Bob’s appeal and how he partly based his performance on his own brother. He also reveals how, despite the wide acclaim he’s received over the years for his unforgettable dramatic roles, he’s always considered himself to be more of a comic performer, for whom Bob Servant and his eccentric ways ended up being a perfect fit.
SAT 21:15 Bob Servant (p00wwyrl)
Independent
Launch Day
Bob Servant launches his political campaign with controversial results. A radio appearance leads to a home visit from the police and protests from local dog owners. Bob's campaign lies in tatters, but will he make a humbling on-air apology?
SAT 21:45 Bob Servant (b01qchb2)
Independent
A Local Man
The by-election favourite, Nick Edwards, arrives in town, and Bob is determined to derail him. From the pubs of Broughty Ferry to a glittering high society dinner, Bob chaotically attempts to gather support for his 'Local Man' campaign.
SAT 22:15 Bob Servant (b01qhlfj)
Independent
Women and God
Looking for a campaign boost, Bob courts both the religious vote and the women of Broughty Ferry in a daring twin attack. Can he find himself a girlfriend and turn around his faltering campaign? A romantic date brings unexpected danger.
SAT 22:45 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00r3qf8)
Brian Cox
Mark Lawson talks to Brian Cox, ahead of his lead role in the BBC4 Westminster drama, On Expenses. In this candid interview, Cox talks about his passion for portraying complex and difficult characters, but also about his personal psychological battles and the low point in his career when he almost gave up acting.
SAT 23:45 Parkinson (m002414s)
Kim Novak, Julian Pettifer and AJP Taylor
Michael Parkinson in conversation with Kim Novak, Julian Pettifer and AJP Taylor.
SAT 00:45 The Good Life (b007818c)
Series 1
The Pagan Rite
As Tom and Barbara's savings dwindle, Tom sets about earning some extra money. But he doesn't want to use it to pay boring old bills. Jerry and Margo decide the time is ripe to bring the Goods to their senses, and invite them to dinner - with Tom's ex-boss.
SAT 01:15 Yes Minister (b00783yw)
Series 1
The Economy Drive
Sitcom about a British government minister and the advisers who surround him. Jim Hacker wants to implement some cost-cutting initiatives - but Sir Humphrey does not approve.
SAT 01:45 All Creatures Great and Small (m002ctnk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:10 today]
SAT 02:40 All Creatures Great and Small (m002ctnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:05 today]
SUNDAY 25 MAY 2025
SUN 19:00 Showstoppers (m002ctns)
Episode 6
Host Gary Wilmot is joined by guests Beverley Craven, John Nettles, Anthony Newley and Luther Vandross. With the BBC Concert Orchestra.
SUN 19:50 Showstoppers (m002ctnv)
Episode 7
Gary Wilmot presents songs from the musicals with special guests Cliff Richard, Cy Coleman, Eternal and Bonnie Langford. With music from the BBC Concert Orchestra.
SUN 20:40 An Evening with Ethel Merman (m002ctnx)
Broadway star Ethel Merman performs a selection of hit songs from her musicals and films in a 1964 concert from London.
SUN 21:30 Songs from My Fair Lady (m002ctnz)
Kiri Te Kanawa, Jeremy Irons and Warren Mitchell star in a gala concert from the Royal Albert Hall, singing songs from My Fair Lady, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra.
SUN 22:30 Song by Song: Ira Gershwin (m002ctp1)
The lyrics of Ira Gershwin set to music by George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Burton Lane and Kurt Weill. Presented by Millicent Martin, Julia McKenzie, David Kernan and Derek Griffiths.
SUN 23:30 Who Could Ask for Anything More? A Celebration of Ira Gershwin (m002ctp3)
The centenary of lyricist Ira Gershwin's birth is celebrated in a concert from London's Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Charles Dance and David Soul. The performers include Larry Adler, Paul Nicholas, Liz Robertson, Daniel Benzali, Ruthie Henshall and Lorna Luft.
SUN 01:05 Showstoppers (m002ctns)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUN 01:55 Showstoppers (m002ctnv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:50 today]
SUN 02:45 An Evening with Ethel Merman (m002ctnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:40 today]
MONDAY 26 MAY 2025
MON 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vsz2)
Series 12
Sawbridgeworth to Cambridge
Steered by his Bradshaw’s guide, Michael Portillo heads for the Hertfordshire village of Perry Green, where, in 1940, a young couple fleeing the bombing of London chose to make their home. Henry Moore became one of the defining artists of British modernism, and his sculptures were set in wonderful landscaped grounds and gardens created by his wife, Irina. Michael explores the monumental Reclining Figure and finds out about the artist’s life and work.
In Cambridge, Michael revisits his former university to hear about a treacherous time in its past. In Trinity Lane, he learns how during the 1920s and 30s, students of Trinity College were recruited to spy for the Soviet Union. Michael remembers his own reaction while he was working for Margaret Thatcher in 1979, when the fourth man was unmasked.
Across the city, at the Cavendish Laboratory, Michael meets a man with a job like no other. Lab director Andy Parker smashes particles with the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. He shows Michael the LHC’s forerunner, the accelerator with which John Cockroft and Ernest Walton made the first controlled splitting of the atom in 1932.
In Impington, to the north of Cambridge, Michael investigates the progressive architecture of the village school and finds it was built by the founder of the Bauhaus school, Walter Gropius, in the 1930s.
MON 19:30 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jqp0m)
Gateway to the Lakes
Julia Bradbury follows in the footsteps of legendary guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright by walking across the whole of northern England from the west to the east coast.
This was Wainwright's last great venture and has become his greatest legacy - a beautifully simple proposition, linking three national parks that lie between the Irish and the North Sea.
Thirty-six years after its creation, Julia is off through sunshine, wind and rain to cross the changing landscape, understand the history and meet the people that make up almost 200 miles of northern England.
Enthusiasm and expectation are high as Julia begins her grand adventure at the western extremity of northern England, St Bees Head. The coast of west Cumbria is an oft-forgotten industrial strip lying just outside the Lake District, but as Julia reaches the doorway to Wainwright's favourite playground, the weather deteriorates quickly, leaving her no choice but to tackle her first Lakeland valley in appalling conditions.
MON 20:00 Little Ships: The Miracle of Dunkirk (b00snjw1)
To mark the 70th anniversary of the 'miracle of Dunkirk', 50 of the surviving 'little ships' which made the original perilous cross-channel voyage are returning to France. Dan Snow tells their extraordinary story: their role in the evacuation and the people who struggled to keep them afloat during those fateful days in 1940, when the future of Europe hung in the balance.
MON 21:00 The Nazis: A Warning from History (b0074knp)
Chaos and Consent
A look at the extraordinary popularity of both Hitler and the Nazis, as well as the astonishing degree of voluntary support ordinary Germans gave the infamous Gestapo.
Despite the popular mythology of Nazi efficiency, Dr Gunter Lohse, a former German Foreign Office official and member of the Nazi party, recalls that behind the scenes 'it was total chaos'.
MON 21:50 Rise of the Nazis (m0008c79)
Series 1
The First Six Months in Power
At the start of 1933, Hitler is the chancellor of Germany, but he does not have absolute power - there is still a democratic parliament beneath him, a head of state above him and the rule of law hanging over him. Hitler sets his sights on dismantling the German state.
When Hitler calls a general election to increase Nazi representation in the Reichstag, Hermann Goring sees an opportunity to impress by taking out the left-wing opposition. Goring orders a raid on the Communist Party HQ in the hope of finding evidence of a planned uprising. He doesn’t find it, but when a fire breaks out in the Reichstag, it is an opportunity to pin the blame on the left. Goring then has the green light to use the stormtroopers to brutally round up communists and social democrats – terror reigns in German streets.
Thousands of arrests have been made, but to make them legal, Hitler calls on president von Hindenburg, and a decree is passed giving the Nazis emergency powers to ban free speech, the right to protest and to arrest without charge.
When the Reichstag burned, the Nazis persuaded the German people and their president that this was the first sign of a left-wing insurrection. The ensuing fear of left-wing violent lawlessness means that Hitler can push through another law that suspends democracy, allowing him to act without the approval of parliament. Soon, the first laws to restrict the freedom of the Jewish population are passed. One Jewish baker is found dead, with a swastika carved into his chest.
Goring has eradicated the Nazis’ parliamentary opposition. He is rewarded with more power and more prestige. Another Nazi wants this type of power and influence, but in early 1933, Henrich Himmler is based in Munich, not Berlin. He is the unassuming, uncharismatic head of an elite force of fanatical Nazis known as the SS. Himmler wants to make the SS the central institution in Germany in charge of political repression. Now that Himmler can arrest perceived Nazi opponents indiscriminately, he needs somewhere to put them.
He gives a press conference regarding the opening of a camp to re-educate political prisoners. It has a capacity of around 5,000. The camp is near the small town of Dachau.
In April 1933 a 39-year-old deputy state prosecutor called Josef Hartinger receives a telephone call. Four detainees have tried to escape from the camp at Dachau, three have been shot dead. Under German law, it is Hartinger’s job to investigate these unnatural deaths. When he visits Dachau and sees the bodies, he realises something is very wrong. The official story just doesn’t add up, and it is strange that all the dead happen to be Jewish. Hartinger is sure these deaths are murders, and that they are not an isolated case. He collates enough evidence to implicate the commandant of Dachau in the murders.
This means going up against Himmler, whose power is growing. Himmler is in the process of bringing every state in Germany under SS control. He does not want the wider world to know that Dachau is a place of savage brutality and murder.
Hartinger’s boss will not go against Himmler’s authority and shuts his deputy down, but Hartinger will not be silenced and files a report. Himmler is worried - the SS does not have the right under German law to kill political opponents. To placate his critics, Himmler fires the commandant and as far as the German public are concerned, the concentration camps are benign and humane.
Hartinger’s file goes all the way to Berlin, and the killings stop at Dachau – it seems like a victory for the law. But Himmler is starting to impress, and he manages to persuade Hitler to block the legal investigations into Dachau. Now Himmler and the SS feel emboldened, and the killings continue.
Göring realises he has to take Himmler seriously and that his grip on power could be under threat, but he has his own secret weapon. He has created a surveillance organisation that listens in on anyone that could move against him. To act on the information gathered, Goring creates a new branch of the secret police, known as the Gestapo.
But Himmler wants Goring’s secret police – this is after all his territory. Goring will not relinquish control. These rivalries mean nothing to Hitler - books are being burned, Jewish people, gay people, intellectuals, anyone held to have anti-Nazi beliefs are disappearing.
Germany is well on its way to becoming a Nazi dictatorship, but there is a serious obstacle in Hitler’s way: the country’s elderly president.
MON 22:50 The War Lords (p00fcp16)
Franklin D Roosevelt
AJP Taylor examines Franklin Delano Roosevelt's role in the Second World War, explaining how personal decisions he made changed the course of the conflict, assessing his relationship with other Allied leaders and revealing the president's secret life.
MON 23:20 The War Lords (p00fcp21)
War Lords Anonymous
Unlike the subjects of AJP Taylor's other lectures, Japan had no single figure to direct the war effort. Taylor considers Japan's reasons for entering the Second World War and examines the causes of their eventual defeat.
MON 23:50 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044jl70)
Mountains
Ray Mears looks at how the landscapes of America's three great mountain ranges - the Appalachians, the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada - challenged the westward push of the early pioneers.
As Ray travels through each landscape he discovers how their awe-inspiring geography, extreme weather, wild animals and ecology presented both great opportunities and great challenges for the native Indians, mountain men, fur traders, wagon trains and gold miners of the Wild West.
Ray begins his westward journey in the Appalachians where he explores how their timbered slopes fuelled the lumber industry and provided the fuel and building material for the emerging nation. Native Appalachian Barbara Woodall and lumberjack Joe Currie share their family history with him, and he gets to grips with the rare 'hellbender' salamander.
Further west, in the high jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains, Ray goes mule trekking with modern-day mountain man Stu Sorenson and he has close encounters with beaver, elk and black bear.
Finally, in the desert mountains of the Sierra Nevada, he explores the tragic story of the Donner Party wagon train whose members allegedly turned to cannibalism to survive. His journey ends as he pans for gold with modern day gold prospector John Gurney, and explores the boom and bust story of ghost town, Bodie.
MON 00:50 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vsz2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MON 01:20 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jqp0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 01:50 The Nazis: A Warning from History (b0074knp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
MON 02:40 Rise of the Nazis (m0008c79)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:50 today]
TUESDAY 27 MAY 2025
TUE 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vsrn)
Series 12
Newmarket to Walsingham
Michael Portillo is in Suffolk on the last leg of his 1930s Bradshaw’s-inspired tour of East Anglia. He begins at the home of British horseracing, Newmarket, where he learns of the interwar success of a jockey turned trainer and helps to care for a famous ex-racehorse.
At Ickworth House near Bury St Edmonds, Michael gets a taste of life below stairs during the 1930s and is put to work preparing a 'plum betty'. With a taste for sweetness, Michael takes the train to Downham Market to explore how sugar began to be refined from sugar beet at Wissington in 1925.
Back on the Fen line, Michael is bound for King’s Lynn and Wells-next-the-Sea, where he boards the exceptionally narrow-gauge Wells and Walsingham light railway. Arriving in Walsingham, Michael discover that until Henry VIII’s Reformation, this small village was one of the great Roman Catholic shrines. During the 1920s and 30s, there was a revival in pilgrimage to Walsingham, and a new Anglican shrine to the Virgin Mary was built.
TUE 19:30 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jwck2)
The Heart of the Lakes
Over three mountain ranges and across three valleys, the second stage of Julia's journey is a grand traverse of Wainwright's much-loved Lake District. Having shrugged off the rain, Julia ends with the epic 17-mile final day in the Lakes, including the length of Haweswater and the highest peak on the entire walk.
TUE 20:00 The Good Life (b00781sr)
Series 1
Backs to the Wall
Seventies sitcom about a couple who decide to become self-sufficient. Tom and Barbara receive help from an unexpected quarter when harvest time comes around and Tom sprains his back.
TUE 20:30 Yes Minister (b007832v)
Series 1
Big Brother
Sitcom about a British government minister and the advisers who surround him. Jim tries to implement a privacy safeguard for a new national computer database - but Sir Humphrey, as usual, does not approve.
TUE 21:00 Simon Schama's Power of Art (p00b6ccz)
Rembrandt
Why did one of the world's greatest artists end up cutting up his own masterpiece, The Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis? Simon Schama tells the story of the rise and fall of Rembrandt van Rijn in glittering 17th-century Amsterdam.
TUE 22:00 Storyville (m002ctps)
White Man Walking
A Storyville documentary that traces the 1,500-mile walk that film-maker Rob Bliss embarked on through America’s southern states while wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.
TUE 23:10 Subnormal: A British Scandal (m000w81h)
In the 1960s, while young black adults were getting to grips with the struggle for black power and a long fightback against police abuse was starting, the majority of West Indian migrants were keeping their heads down. They were working hard and counting on providing better opportunities and education for their children. However, in a white-dominated country, where the politics were becoming increasingly racialised, there was a question of how society, and its teachers, saw these young black children.
Before having a chance to develop intellectually, they were labelled as stupid, difficult and disruptive. The paradox is that many of the new migrants to Britain were in fact highly educated. One of them was Gus John, who arrived from Trinidad as a Dominican novitiate to become a priest. Almost immediately he was contacted by some black parents worried about the schooling of their children. Together with several other educators, John quickly realised that the system was not just inept, but actually rigged against black children.
At the same time, celebrity psychologists Hans Eysenck and Arthur Jensen were propounding theories that black people were genetically less intelligent than white people. These theories infiltrated teacher training and found their way into schools. IQ tests were then based on these theories with the odds horrendously stacked against children from the West Indies.
TUE 00:10 Mark Lawson Talks To... (b00r3qf8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:45 on Saturday]
TUE 01:10 Great British Railway Journeys (m000vsrn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
TUE 01:40 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jwck2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 02:10 Simon Schama's Power of Art (p00b6ccz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 28 MAY 2025
WED 19:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w16t)
Series 12
Crewe to Shotton
Michael Portillo is in Crewe, a town steeped in railway history and immortalised in Victorian music hall, to investigate the making of the iconic cinema classic The Night Mail during the 1930s.
Following his Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael takes the train to Chester to discover the interwar origins of Britain’s most popular zoo. Michael learns how the work of Chester Zoo’s enlightened founder continues, and he helps to feed a young greater one-horned rhino.
Across the border in north Wales, Michael reaches the village of Gresford, the scene of one of Britain’s worst mining disasters, where 266 men lost their lives in 1934. Michael hears how it happened and how it is remembered in the community today. The Ifton Colliery Band plays Gresford - The Miners’ Hymn.
Over the River Dee, at Tata Steel in Shotton, Michael discovers a wartime boost to steel production on the site, where John Summers & Sons manufactured up to 50,000 Andersen shelters a week. The steel shelters and others designed by the company for people’s back gardens protected families from aerial bombardment by German planes.
WED 19:30 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jzjyq)
Eden and the Pennines
Julia sets off across the Eden Valley, a sparse land today but full of signs of ancient and uncertain human habitation. Kirkby Stephen is the one bustling modern outpost on this section, the launchpad for Julia's climb up and over the Pennines. The spine of England is a landmark on the walk, but during the wettest autumn in memory it is a major, boggy challenge.
WED 20:00 Digging for Britain (b09gfxbj)
Series 6
West
Professor Alice Roberts explores some of this year's most exciting archaeological finds from the west of Britain. Each discovery comes straight from the trenches/site, filmed by the archaeologists themselves. We discover the camp from which Vikings invaded Britain, and find groundbreaking new evidence that the world-famous Avebury stone circle isn't just a sacred site but a place where our ancestors lived and worked - a discovery that's also changing our understanding of neighbouring Stonehenge. In Staffordshire, the oldest Iron Age gold in Britain is unearthed - a set of beautiful gold torcs, mysteriously abandoned 2,500 years ago.
WED 21:00 Cumbria's Red Squirrels (m001zqv6)
Cumbria is one of the last major strongholds for one of the British Isles’ iconic native mammals - red squirrels. An endangered species as well as a national favourite, affectionately known as 'red scamps', these beautiful creatures have lived here for thousands of years. Award-winning Cumbrian film-maker Terry Abraham reveals how Lakeland charities, volunteers, businesses and scientists are pulling together to protect these rare animals.
WED 22:00 Sense and Sensibility (1971) (m002ctn8)
Series 1
Farewell to Norland
Mrs Dashwood and her two daughters, Elinor and Marianne, are faced with the prospect of Mrs Dashwood's stepson and his wife moving into their home at Norland.
WED 22:45 Sense and Sensibility (1971) (m002ctnc)
Series 1
A Parting and a Journey
Colonel Brandon organises a picnic for all at Barton but is called to London at the last moment and cancels it. Undeterred, Willoughby takes Marianne for a drive by herself.
WED 23:30 Sense and Sensibility (1971) (m002ctnf)
Series 1
Sisters in Misfortune
Mrs Jennings takes Elinor and Marianne to a ball in London. There, Marianne at last sees Willoughby but is dismayed when he ignores her.
WED 00:15 Sense and Sensibility (1971) (m002ctnh)
Series 1
Resolution
Colonel Brandon hears that Mrs Ferrars has cut Edward off because of his engagement. He asks Elinor to take a message to Edward, little knowing the effect this might have on her.
WED 01:00 Great British Railway Journeys (m000w16t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 01:30 Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast (b00jzjyq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:00 Digging for Britain (b09gfxbj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
WED 03:00 Little Ships: The Miracle of Dunkirk (b00snjw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
THURSDAY 29 MAY 2025
THU 19:00 Where Eagles Dare (m0026pqz)
Seven paratroopers, led by a British intelligence officer, are sent on a seemingly impossible mission. They must enter an almost impregnable Nazi stronghold, the Castle of the Eagles, to rescue a high-ranking American officer. But the men's dangerous task is threatened by a traitor in the group.
THU 21:30 Arena (m002ctpv)
Clint Eastwood
Part One: Out of the West
Clint Eastwood recalls his tough childhood and looks back at his early career, from Rawhide to Dirty Harry and the spaghetti westerns. With contributions from Don Siegel, Sergio Leone, Eli Wallach and Martin Scorsese, plus an exclusive interview with his mother, Ruth.
THU 22:30 Kelly's Heroes (m0026pqx)
WWII France. When a German officer carrying some gold bars falls into the hands of a US platoon, Kelly and his sergeant Big Joe gather a team of men to 'liberate' the remaining ingots, worth millions, from a bank behind enemy lines.
THU 00:50 Arena (m002ctpy)
Clint Eastwood
Part Two: American Film-maker
Arena's profile of Clint Eastwood continues with his directorial debut, Play Misty for Me, which he completed in five weeks before going on to huge success in Dirty Harry. Featuring actors Gene Hackman and Meryl Streep, director Martin Scorsese, plus Eastwood's mother Ruth and wife Dina.
THU 02:05 How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears (b044jl70)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:50 on Monday]
FRIDAY 30 MAY 2025
FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (b0074tk7)
Christmas Show 1997
The 1997 Christmas edition, with Eternal, Hanson, Chumbawamba, Gala, Brightman and Bocelli, Natalie Imbruglia, Sash, Shola Ama, Ultra Nate, All Saints, Texas, Aqua, Spice Girls and Elton John.
FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m000856v)
Peter Powell and Nicky Campbell present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 2 June 1988 and featuring Aswad, Desireless, Tiffany, the Timelords, Voice of the Beehive, Five Star, Aztec Camera, Rod Stewart, Wet Wet Wet and Belinda Carlisle.
FRI 20:30 Top of the Pops (b01k6gkp)
Noel Edmonds looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces Elkie Brooks, the Muppets, Twiggy, Jesse Green, Hot Chocolate, The Strawbs, Genesis, The Four Seasons, Heatwave, Carol Bayer Sager and Rod Stewart, with a dance sequence from Legs & Co.
FRI 21:10 Top of the Pops (b09q3ccs)
Mike Read and Bruno Brookes present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 21 February 1985. Featuring Howard Jones, Sharpe and Numan, Don Henley, Bryan Adams and Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson.
FRI 21:40 Top of the Pops (b09x5z3q)
Gary Davies and Dixie Peach present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 25 July 1985. Featuring Madonna, Feargal Sharkey, The Cure, Dire Straits and Eurythmics.
FRI 22:10 Eurythmics at the BBC (m0026cwl)
Eurythmics were one of Britain’s biggest and best bands of the 1980s, comprising two of the music scene’s most creative double acts of the decade – Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox.
Bold, innovative, stylish and always highly unpredictable, the pair first tasted chart success with The Tourists before breaking away and achieving international stardom with songs like Love Is a Stranger and Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves.
Over the following years, Dave and Annie always stayed ahead of changing tastes and fashions, and their evolving looks and sounds are captured here in a collection of their best moments from the BBC’s music archives.
FRI 23:45 TOTP2 (b04lclfn)
Genesis
Top of the Pops 2 dips into the archives to explore both classic collective hits and smash solo singles spanning 20 early years of Genesis history. From the art-rock Gabriel era of flamboyant theatrics and quirky costumes to their eighties evolution into pop superstars, Genesis are both influential experimentalists and a chart-smashing behemoth.
With solo numbers from Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Mike + The Mechanics, this is an eclectic two-sided playlist featuring everything from I Can't Dance to I Know What I Like, No Self Control to In the Air Tonight, and Many Too Many to The Living Years. So Turn It On Again and tune in, from prog to pop, Genesis to Revelation, the hits are here on TOTP2.
FRI 00:30 Young Guns Go for It (b00shyg4)
Series 1
The Human League
Members past and present talk about the three distinct groups that have existed under the banner of the Human League, the Sheffield synthesiser band that enjoyed huge commercial success.
FRI 01:00 Young Guns Go for It (b0077pj1)
Series 1
The Smiths
The story of Manchester's the Smiths, formed around the formidable songwriting talents of guitarist Johnny Marr and lyricist and singer Morrissey, who nurtured an often obsessive fanbase with their sensitive and introspective reaction to Thatcher's Britain. Featuring contributions from Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke.
FRI 01:30 The 80s - Music’s Greatest Decade? (m0011gkh)
Series 1
Hip-Hop to House
The 1980s was an era in which a fusillade of new genres emerged, and many are still with us today, such as hip-hop and house. Dylan Jones has mined the archives to select some of the most crucial tracks in the rise of these two genres.
From a young Kurtis Blow making his Top of the Pops debut to the sonic bombardment of Public Enemy and the sampling skills of Bomb the Bass, this episode showcases the evolution in rap and house music across the decade. There are rare archival interviews and stellar performances from Run-DMC, Salt ‘N’ Pepa, S’Express, Cookie Crew and Neneh Cherry, as well as iconic videos from Herbie Hancock, The Beastie Boys, M/A/R/R/S, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and many more.
FRI 02:30 Top of the Pops (b0074tk7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 03:30 Top of the Pops (m000856v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]