SATURDAY 26 JULY 2025
SAT 19:00 Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen (p0d9ccjh)
Series 1
Destination Unknown
On the evening of 3 December 1926, Agatha Christie left her home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in her Morris Cowley. The next morning, the car was found abandoned, balanced precariously on the edge of a quarry. Ten days later, Agatha was discovered in a hotel in Harrogate, claiming to have lost her memory.
Lucy Worsley delves into this traumatic watershed moment in Agatha's life. She visits the key locations, from the chalk pit where Agatha crashed her car to Abney Hall, the grand house where she took refuge (and which would inspire several of her books). Lucy reveals connections between Agatha's real-life experiences and her novels, and uncovers new evidence about Agatha's mental health and the cutting-edge psychiatric treatment she went on to receive.
SAT 20:00 Miss Marple (p03rdrk0)
A Pocketful of Rye
Part 1
A City financier is found dead, having been poisoned, and when Miss Marple hears the news, she is sure she knows why.
SAT 20:50 Miss Marple (p03rdrk6)
A Pocketful of Rye
Part 2
Following another murder, Miss Marple is certain that she knows who the next victim will be. Can she get to them in time?
SAT 21:45 Fallen Leaves (m002gk7b)
Comedy romance set in modern-day Helsinki. A lonely metalworker and a single woman working as a supermarket shelf stacker meet by chance in a karaoke bar. Drawn to each other, they strike a quiet yet immediate connection. Along their uneven path to happiness lie lost phone numbers, mistaken addresses, alcoholism and a charming stray dog.
Aki Kaurismäki's Nordic comedy romance, winner of the Cannes Festival Jury Prize.
In Finnish with English subtitles.
SAT 23:00 Parkinson (m002gk7d)
Helen Mirren, Cilla Black, Jo Brand and Annie Lennox
Michael Parkinson hosts the genial chat show. Helen Mirren reveals how she dared to bare all for British comedy Calendar Girls, Cilla Black reflects on her career in entertainment, and comedian Jo Brand dissects her performances on Celebrity Fame Academy. With music from Annie Lennox.
SAT 00:00 The Good Life (p02qydvr)
Series 3
The Early Birds
After the Leadbetters reach the end of their tether with the Goods' crack-of-dawn activities, Tom and Barbara search for new ways to design their schedule.
SAT 00:30 Yes Minister (b00784dk)
Series 2
The Devil You Know
Jim Hacker is upset by rumours of a cabinet reshuffle and decides to take drastic action to keep his post.
SAT 01:00 Miss Marple (p03rdrk0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
SAT 01:55 Miss Marple (p03rdrk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:50 today]
SAT 02:45 Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen (p0d9ccjh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUNDAY 27 JULY 2025
SUN 19:00 London: A Tale of Two Cities with Dan Cruickshank (p00r36lv)
Dan Cruickshank follows in the footsteps of John Stow and John Strype, two of London's greatest chroniclers, to explore one of the most dramatic centuries in the history of London.
The 17th century saw London plunged into a series of devastating disasters. The Civil War, a murderous plague and the destruction that was the great fire should have seen the small medieval city all but destroyed. Yet somehow, London not only survived but emerged as one of the wealthiest and most influential cities in Europe.
Using two remarkable surveys written at either end of this momentous century, Dan discovers how a unique combination of innovation, ambition and sheer spirit of enterprise saw Londoners thrive. His journey reveals the twists and turns of a century that laid the foundations of one of the most important cities on the planet.
SUN 20:00 BBC Proms (m002gk7z)
2025
The Great American Songbook with Samara Joy
A No 1 album and multiple Grammy wins has put singing sensation Samara Joy on the map, establishing the young American artist as ‘a legend in the making’, regularly compared to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
This much-anticipated Proms debut introduces audiences to her electric combination of youthful energy and old-soul musical style with classic songs and unique twists on timeless tunes, from bossa nova to the Great American Songbook. She salutes figures including Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus and Oscar Peterson.
Andi Oliver is the guide for an evening of charisma and musical glamour.
SUN 22:10 Remembers... (m002gk81)
Helen Mirren Remembers... The Little Minster
Dame Helen Mirren looks back on one of her earliest television roles in the BBC’s 1975 adaptation of JM Barrie’s The Little Minister, a tale of religion and romance in 19th-century Scotland.
Filmed at a time when Helen was gaining a reputation as Britain’s most exciting new theatre star, this was part of the BBC’s Play of the Month series, which brought classic texts to life for television audiences of the day.
SUN 22:20 Play of the Month (p0103r3x)
The Little Minister
Ian Ogilvy and Helen Mirren star in this adaptation of JM Barrie's play, set in rural 1840s Scotland. A local priest falls in love with a Gypsy girl who incites a Luddite riot.
SUN 00:05 The Remarkable Journey of Bernard Levin (p0gjkfw1)
A look at the life and career of Bernard Levin, who grew up in the poor backstreets of Camden Town and became one of the most famous journalists of the 20th century and a prolific broadcaster on the BBC. For over 50 years, Levin wrote countless influential articles and books on his great enthusiasms - music, theatre and literature - and changed journalism forever with his attacks on political corruption, injustice and the oppression of minorities.
With contributions from Sir Trevor McDonald, Arianna Huffington, Sir Simon Jenkins, Matthew Parris and Michael Billington.
SUN 01:00 BBC Proms (m002gk7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
MONDAY 28 JULY 2025
MON 19:00 A Summer Journey with Angela Rippon (m002gk63)
The Kennet and Avon Canal
Into the Avon Valley
Angela Rippon arrives at Bradford-on-Avon, where, once a year, canal boats take part in a colourful parade.
MON 19:30 Walk the Line (b069frfx)
Series 2
Episode 1
Barra Best sets off to walk the line once again. Criss-crossing some of Northern Ireland's most spectacular countryside, Barra explores County Antrim's lost railway routes.
MON 20:00 Singapore 1942: End of Empire (b01c99nm)
Episode 2
A 70th-anniversary television event telling the story of how the fall of Singapore in 1942 shattered myths, brought an empire to its knees, and changed the destiny of millions of people.
Part two shows how General Yamashita drove back Commonwealth forces and assembled his troops to take control of Singapore Island.
MON 21:00 Kamikaze: An Untold History (m002gk65)
On the Pacific front, towards the end of World War II, Japan's imperial armed forces launched 'kamikaze' attacks - suicide missions by aircraft laden with bombs. It was a mad operation with no hope of returning alive, but the nation went wild, and the attacks continued for ten months, literally until the very last day of the war.
Close to 4,000 Japanese airmen died, and nearly 7,000 Allied military personnel were killed, and thousands more were injured by the attacks. How could this happen?
Utilising 15 years' worth of extensive interviews with US and Japanese World War II veterans, Takayuki Oshima’s film delves into the mechanism of how a crazed madness swept through an entire nation.
MON 22:30 Colouring Light: Brian Clarke - An Artist Apart (b0162yc0)
Brian Clarke is one of Britain's hidden treasures. A painter of striking large canvases and the designer of some of the most exciting stained glass in the world, he is better known abroad - especially in Germany and Switzerland - than in his own country and more widely recognised among critics, collectors and gallery owners than he is by the general public.
In this visually striking documentary portrait made by award-winning film-maker Mark Kidel, Clarke returns to Lancashire, where he grew up as a prodigy in a working class family, and charts his meteoric rise during the punk years and eventual success as a stained glass artist working with some of the world's great architects, including Norman Foster and Arata Isozaki - and producing spectacular work in Japan, Brazil, the USA and Europe.
Contributors include his close friend and architect Zaha Hadid, architect Peter Cook and art historian Martin Harrison.
MON 23:30 Art on the BBC (m001348j)
Series 2
The Great Salvador Dali
Art historian David Dibosa examines six decades of BBC archive material to create a television history of Salvador Dali. Often called art's greatest showman and the world's first celebrity artist, Dali shamelessly used TV to promote his art and himself. Dali's striking, dreamlike images made his name synonymous with surrealism, and he shocked the world through film, fashion, sculpture and architecture.
In this account, David hunts through dozens of BBC programmes to try to understand the real Salvador Dali, not just the more familiar eccentric show-off. Taking in films presented down the decades by Robert Hughes, Sister Wendy and Philippa Perry, David's rich dive into the archives, including Dali’s own films, reveals how our understanding of the artist has changed dramatically over the years.
Whatever the era, Dali has always been important to programme makers – so much so that on BBC Four’s launch night in 2002, one of the broadcasts was a star-studded and surreal comic exploration of Dali's early career, featuring Stephen Fry, Matt Lucas and Ewen Bremner. David also delves into Dali's fractured relationship with the surrealists and his own family, and his life-long passion for his wife Gala, who was the engine behind his later career and helped him take America by storm.
MON 00:30 A Summer Journey with Angela Rippon (m002gk63)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MON 01:00 Walk the Line (b069frfx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 01:30 The Remarkable Journey of Bernard Levin (p0gjkfw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
00:05 on Sunday]
MON 02:25 Singapore 1942: End of Empire (b01c99nm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUESDAY 29 JULY 2025
TUE 19:00 A Summer Journey with Angela Rippon (m002gk8q)
The Kennet and Avon Canal
The River Avon
Angela Rippon completes her journey along the Kennet and Avon Canal, travelling through Bath and on to Bristol.
TUE 19:30 Walk the Line (b06b8dl7)
Series 2
Episode 2
Barra Best continues to 'walk the line' and his journey today follows the lost railway routes through towns and villages around Lough Neagh.
TUE 20:00 The Good Life (p02qyh1h)
Series 3
The Happy Event
A 400 per cent increase in their livestock population is a source of great joy for the Goods, although their excitement is not shared by the Leadbetters.
TUE 20:30 Yes Minister (b0074rh7)
Series 2
The Quality of Life
Jim Hacker makes a rash promise to save a popular city farm from closure, but he needs Sir Humphrey's help.
TUE 21:00 Nelson's Caribbean Hellhole: An 18th-Century Navy Graveyard Uncovered (b01s6gjx)
Human bones found on an idyllic beach in Antigua trigger an investigation by naval historian Sam Willis into one of the darkest chapters of Britain's imperial past. As archaeologists excavate a mass grave of British sailors, Willis explores Antigua's ruins and discovers how the sugar islands of the Caribbean were a kind of hell in the age of Nelson.
Sun, sea, war, tropical diseases and poisoned rum.
TUE 22:00 DeLorean: Back from the Future (m000rqw8)
John Z DeLorean’s extraordinary and doomed attempt to build the sports car of the future in 1980s Northern Ireland is the stuff of legend. A buccaneering American entrepreneur, DeLorean had film star looks, a famous fashion model as a wife and an enormous ego that drove him to rival the giants of the US car industry.
Millions of pounds of British tax-payers money later, an unprecedented social experiment where Catholics and Protestants worked side by side in relative harmony in West Belfast ends in a trail of corporate waste, greed, fraud and, incredibly, an FBI cocaine-trafficking sting.
Using rare and unseen footage filmed by Oscar winning directors DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, and through colourful news archive documenting his life and career, this is the first in-depth psychological profile of DeLorean, a man who rose from the ghettos of Detroit to build his American dream in war-torn Belfast. A dream that quickly went up in smoke...
TUE 23:40 Tuesday Documentary (p05bxkyd)
24 Hours at Le Mans
Motor race, funfair, sponsors' bonanza, death trap. Whatever it is, the 24-hour race at Le Mans has become a legend. For the driver, just to finish is an achievement; for the fans, to be there is a unique experience; and for the race marshals and police, there is little chance to relax, because when tragedy strikes, it can be swift and terrible.
Reporter Jack Pizzey follows the fortunes of two British entrants. One is Guy Edwards, the former Grand Prix driver who made the headlines when he rescued Niki Lauda from a blazing wreck in 1976. The other is Alain de Cadenet, who, with little backing, has made 11 attempts and is dedicated to winning what many regard as the greatest road race in the world.
TUE 00:30 A Summer Journey with Angela Rippon (m002gk8q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
TUE 01:00 Walk the Line (b06b8dl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
TUE 01:30 Art on the BBC (m001348j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 Nelson's Caribbean Hellhole: An 18th-Century Navy Graveyard Uncovered (b01s6gjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
WEDNESDAY 30 JULY 2025
WED 19:00 Timothy Spall: Back at Sea (b0135m57)
The Luck of the Irish Sea
Untrained mariner Timothy Spall has spent a fortune on technology for his new challenge - the unpredictable Irish Sea - as he and his wife continue their mini-odyssey around Britain. From Cardiff they head west to Milford Haven at the end of the River Severn and all seems well. However, Captain Spall bungles his departure to Fishguard and ends up going nowhere at full speed due to the turning tides.
Shattered and in the dark of night, they eventually find Fishguard. They also visit Aberystwyth, a return home for his wife Shane, and then the 'discovery' of the trip so far, Porthdinllaen. Here they find the most beautiful cove they have ever seen, a beach pub and a ride in a lifeboat to see the stunning Welsh coastline in its full glory.
'Mr and Mrs Vasco de Gama' are back on their travels in this seductive and heartwarming series.
WED 19:30 Walk the Line (b06bqb4b)
Series 2
Episode 3
Criss-crossing some of Northern Ireland's most spectacular countryside, Barra Best explores County Tyrone's lost railway routes.
WED 20:00 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.
WED 21:00 Japan’s Master of Restoration (m002gj1n)
Series 1
Dormant Treasures
A museum in Osaka asks the Mayuyamas for help with artefacts currently hidden away in their archive. An exquisite 800-year-old celadon vase from China and a 16th-century Totoya Chawan tea bowl both require their expert attention to be brought back to life.
WED 21:50 Around the World in 80 Treasures (m0013c7w)
Series 1 Shorts
Japan - Samurai Sword
Dan is captivated by the sword of a Samurai warrior and the artistry employed to make this beautiful instrument of death. By contrast, he finds solace and tranquillity in a Japanese temple and meditation garden.
WED 22:00 Remembers... (m002gk7v)
Michael Aspel Remembers... The War Game
TV presenter Michael Aspel looks back on one of the BBC’s most controversial programmes of the 1960s, The War Game. Directed by Peter Watkins, with Michael providing some of the film’s narration, this docu-drama explored what might happen if a nuclear bomb was dropped on Britain. It was pulled from transmission by the BBC’s then director general, who deemed it 'too horrifying' to be seen, leading Watkins to quit the BBC, claiming government interference was to blame. Despite winning an Oscar, the film was not shown on television until 20 years later, and here, Michael looks back on the programme, the controversy and his own small part in a key moment in TV history.
WED 22:10 The War Game (p02zy7nt)
Controversial drama that depicts the consequences of a nuclear attack on Britain. The terrible aftermath of a nuclear bomb in Kent is portrayed in the style of a news programme.
Written and directed by Peter Watkins, The War Game won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1966, even though the BBC decided not to show it when it was made as 'the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting'. The film was finally televised on 31 July 1985.
WED 22:55 Remembers... (m0023sxq)
Mick Jackson Remembers... Threads
Ahead of a rare rescreening of the BBC’s apocalyptic drama Threads, director and producer Mick Jackson looks back to 1984 and shares the story behind the creation of this acclaimed vision of Britain suffering the effects of nuclear war.
Taking Sheffield as the focal point for the aftermath, the film was highly praised for its examination of the social, economic and environmental damage that such a war would bring and has been described as one of the most haunting and unforgettable dramas of the 1980s.
WED 23:15 Threads (p02kgkkg)
Grim drama telling the story of a nuclear strike on Britain through the eyes of two families, tracing the events leading up to the war and the decade of devastation that follows.
WED 01:10 Timothy Spall: Back at Sea (b0135m57)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 01:40 Walk the Line (b06bqb4b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
WED 02:10 The War Game (p02zy7nt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:10 today]
WED 02:55 Timeshift (b03p7jh9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
THURSDAY 31 JULY 2025
THU 19:00 Back to the Future (m002fy60)
Marty McFly is always late - until the day he finds himself 30 years early! Stuck in 1955, Marty meets his parents and unwittingly changes their destiny. Can he put things right before it's too late?
THU 20:50 Funny Girl (b00l0301)
The Oscar-winning film debut of Barbra Streisand, portraying the bittersweet life of singer-comedienne Fanny Brice.
In early 20th-century New York, young Fanny Brice is determined to get her name in lights. Spotted by a suave gambler who gets her a job with Ziegfeld's Follies, Brice steals the show with her comic genius and quickly becomes a star. But the road turns rocky after she marries her admirer.
THU 23:10 The Graduate (m000zpby)
Benjamin Braddock is a shy, aimless college graduate. His well-to-do parents and their friends welcome him home with great fanfare, but he feels listless, lacks ambition and can't share their enthusiasm. When his parents' friend Mrs Robinson takes an interest in him, it kick-starts an unusual summer.
THU 00:55 Talking Pictures (m001tvd3)
Dustin Hoffman
When Dustin Hoffman first told his family he wanted to act, the response was: 'You can’t, you’re not good-looking enough.' Despite that initial response, Hoffman went on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and here we look back on a career that started with the huge 1967 hit The Graduate and saw him winning Oscars for Kramer vs Kramer and Rain Man.
Moments from interviews conducted on a range of BBC shows over the years help to tell the story of Dustin Hoffman and his films and to build a picture of the man who a director once described as 'one of a kind and he's not one character. There is no Dustin Hoffman. He is many, many people'.
THU 01:35 DeLorean: Back from the Future (m000rqw8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Tuesday]
FRIDAY 01 AUGUST 2025
FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m002gk6l)
Jamie Theakston presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 6 March 1998 and featuring Cornershop, Finley Quaye, Celine Dion, Hinda Hicks, Robyn, Space feat Cerys Matthews, Spice Girls and Madonna.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m002gk6n)
Jayne Middlemiss presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 13 March 1998 and featuring Natalie Imbruglia, Simple Minds, Five, Ginuwine, Cast from Casualty, Shed Seven, Lionrock and Celine Dion.
FRI 20:00 BBC Proms (m002gk6q)
2025
Bach and Mendelssohn at the Proms
History is made with the first televised Prom from Gateshead’s musical centrepiece, the Glasshouse. Presented by Linton Stephens.
David Fray plays Bach's dark and dramatic Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, and some 200 singers perform in Mendelssohn's rousing 'Lobgesang' Symphony with soloists Hera Hyesang Park, Adele Charvet and Benjamin Hulett. Conducted by Dinis Sousa with the Royal Northern Sinfonia.
FRI 21:35 Top of the Pops (b0bpzd98)
Janice Long and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 31 July 1986. Featuring Spandau Ballet, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Five Star, Stan Ridgway and Chris de Burgh.
FRI 22:05 Top of the Pops (b095fnbp)
Simon Bates and Gary Davies present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 2 August 1984. Featuring Black Lace, Kane Gang, A Flock of Seagulls, Trevor Walters, George Michael and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
FRI 22:35 Cher at the BBC (m000wnmt)
Turn back time on a journey through the BBC archives to celebrate singing superstar Cher and her 75th birthday. This selection of songs and chat show moments features many of the hits that have made Cher the only artist to have US number ones in each of the past six decades.
Including favourites like Believe, Love and Understanding, Walking in Memphis and her first UK chart topper I Got You Babe, recorded with ex-husband and singing partner Sonny Bono.
FRI 23:35 Cher Meets Rylan (m001td40)
The goddess of pop sits down for a fun and in-depth chat with Rylan Clark about her new record, her biggest hits and her incredible life and career.
Featuring archive footage from across the decades of Cher's hit records and television appearances, illustrating her glittering music career, her success in film, her iconic fashion choices and the ways she has influenced so many people.
FRI 00:35 Viva La Diva: The Queens of Pop (m000ypjs)
The word 'diva' is used to describe otherworldly talent - a term bestowed upon the best of the best in the world of opera. But somewhere along the line, the meaning got polluted by the male-dominated world of showbiz. In this programme, Ana Matronic reclaims the word by presenting five legendary artists.
FRI 01:35 Top of the Pops (m002gk6l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 02:05 Top of the Pops (m002gk6n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 02:35 Top of the Pops (b0bpzd98)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:35 today]
FRI 03:05 Top of the Pops (b095fnbp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:05 today]