Please email parkmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Saturday 24th December 2011
The John Craven Years
BBC 2, 7.00pm - 8.00pm
Celebrating 40 years of John Craven on the BBC.
Generations have grown up with John Craven, a television legend whose career has spanned 40 years. This one-off celebration of John's key moments is a nostalgic journey through the past four decades and includes interviews with Jon Culshaw, Noel Edmonds and Martin Bell. We also go behind the scenes of Countryfile to see John in action. From his psychedelic jumpers on Newsround to wellies on Countryfile, John's relaxed, informed and calm style has touched us all.
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Sunday 25th December 2011
Johnny Cash at Christmas
BBC 4, 9.50pm - 10.40pm
A classic archive country concert special from Nashville in 1970, as the Man in Black is joined by his nearest and dearest including his mum and dad, the Carter Family, old friends from the Sun Records days like Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers and the Everly Brothers. Country TV gold.
Britain's Favourite Christmas Songs
Channel 5, 10.00pm - 1.00am
Which songs really break the ice at Christmas? The Jackson 5’s Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Greg
Lake’s I Believe in Father Christmas or Jona Lewie’s Stop the Cavalry are on many lists. Do
They Know It’s Christmas? might still ring true, but has Mud’s Lonely this Christmas passed its sell-by
date? And where would we be without The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's Fairytale of New York or the Waitresses' Christmas Wrapping?
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Monday 26th December 2011
Wonders of the Universe (1/4)
BBC 4, 7.00pm - 8.00pm
Having explored the wonders of the solar system, Professor Brian Cox steps boldly on to an even bigger stage - the universe.
Who are we? Where do we come from? For thousands of years humanity has turned to religion and myth for answers to these enduring questions. But in this series, Brian presents a different set of answers - answers provided by science.
Transformers
Film 4, 9.00pm - 11.45pm
Those robots in disguise get a live action outing as the war between the evil Decepticons and the heroic Autobots erupts on Earth once again.
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Tuesday 27th December 2011
You Have Been Watching... David Croft
BBC 2, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
From Dad's Army to 'Allo 'Allo!, Are You Being Served? to It Ain't Half Hot, Mum, David Croft had a hand in them all. This programme pays tribute to his comedy genius through the friends, family and colleagues who knew him.
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (1/3)
BBC 4, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
Why does your brain look like a giant walnut, how does it fit in enough wiring to stretch four times around the equator and why can a magnet on your head stop you in mid-sentence? In the first of this year's Christmas Lectures, Professor Bruce Hood gets inside your head to explore how your brain works. He measures the brain's nerve cells in action, reads someone's mind from 100 miles away and reveals how the brain ultimately creates its own version of reality.
MASH
Film 4, 12.55am - 3.10am
Robert Altman's anti-establishment comedy set during the Korean War but satirising the US Vietnam war effort. Stars Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould and Robert Duvall.
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Wednesday 28th December 2011
Ad of the Year
ITV1, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
Programme celebrating the best TV ads from the last 12 months and revealing the fascinating stories behind them. People who wrote, directed or starred in the commercials talk about their involvement and say what, in their opinion, made their ad a hit. This year's top commercials have featured cats with thumbs, dancing clothes from Cadbury's, and a young Darth Vader using the Force. There have also been some great time-travelling ads from British Airways and John Lewis. Which will come out on top and win the coveted title of Ad of the Year?
The Untold Tommy Cooper
Channel 4, 9.00pm - 10.35pm
A unique portrait of Tommy Cooper, drawing on his manager's meticulous diaries, previously unseen archive footage, and the testimony of a variety of his celebrity fans.
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (2/3)
BBC 4, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
Your brain is constantly being bombarded with information, so how does it decide what to trust and what to ignore, without you even being aware? Professor Bruce Hood leads us through the second of this year's Christmas Lectures - testing the limits of our memory, finding out how we learn, how our brain takes shortcuts and why multi-tasking can be dangerous. Bruce will make you say the wrong thing and fail to see what's right in front of you. Can you really believe your eyes? Possibly not.
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Thursday 29th December 2011
Dragons' Den: the Hilary Devey Story
BBC 2, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
The newest star of the most popular series of Dragons' Den is the larger than life, inimitable giant of the haulage industry - Hilary Devey. She brought a unique style and a whole new language into the Den, and this insightful documentary that charts her business career explains how and why she achieved the success that she has.
We see Hilary return to her Bolton roots, where she gained early experience of business success and failure as she lived through her father's bankruptcy and subsequent business rehabilitation running a variety of local pubs and clubs. We visit the aircraft hangar that (along with the rats and a single toilet shared with 50 blokes) housed the first incarnation of Hilary's continually expanding worldwide empire. Hilary also opens up her home and her heart to discuss the stroke that threatened her life and career only two years ago.
Her fellow Dragons give their take on how the new girl fitted in, and we're with Hilary as she takes her first steps with some of her Den investments to see how they're getting on.
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (3/3)
BBC 4, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
Have you ever seen a face in a piece of burnt toast, or given your car a name? Why do you feel pain when someone else is hurt? Why are people so obsessed with other people? In the last of this year's Christmas Lectures, Professor Bruce Hood investigates how our brains are built to read other people's minds. With a little help from a baby, a robot and a magician, Bruce uncovers what makes us truly human.
Dorian Gray
Channel 4, 9.00pm - 11.10pm
Oliver Parker's walk on the Wilde side is a crisp retelling of the tale of roister- doisterers undone by the ravages of time.
Comic Strip Presents... The Hunt for Tony Blair
Channel 4, 11.10pm - 12.15am
The Comic Strip team return for a special 50s-style 'fugitive' film noir spoof.
The 60-minute film, penned by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens, follows Prime Minister Tony Blair (Stephen Mangan), wanted for murder and on the run. Escaping from Number 10 and leaving behind his adoring wife Cherie (Catherine Shepherd), Tony vows to clear his name no matter what the consequences.
But on a foggy London night, Tony has few friends willing to harbour a wanted man. With front pages demanding his capture, Blair has no choice but to go on the run, with Inspector Hutton (Robbie Coltrane) and his sidekick (James Buckley) hot on his trail. The chase unfolds thanks to evidence gleaned from his 'allies' Mandelson (Nigel Planer) and Brown (Ford Kiernan), as well as an unlikely encounter with Margaret Thatcher (Jennifer Saunders, channelling Bette Davies in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?).
Surely Tony's an innocent man, pursued for a crime he didn't commit?
The cast also includes Harry Enfield as Alastair Campbell, Rik Mayall as Professor Predictor, Morgana Robinson as Carole Caplin, John Sessions as Thatcher's butler and Ross Noble as an 'old Labour' tramp.
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Friday 30th December 2011
The Many Faces of... Dame Judy Dench
BBC 2, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
Documentary tracing the career of Dame Judi Dench using excerpts from performances and interviews with friends and colleagues.
The programme shows very early recordings of Dame Judi performing Shakespeare and her first television appearance in Z Cars.
We see performances in classic 60s dramas, 'Talking to a Stranger' and 'Four in the Morning' then show how she became a television sitcom star in 'A Fine Romance' and 'As Time Goes By'. Her sense of humour is illustrated by rarely seen outtakes from the shows.
Dame Judi's career enjoyed a late flourish when three films propelled her into the international spotlight 'Goldeneye', 'Mrs Brown' and 'Shakespeare in Love' reinvented her as a film star and earned her an Oscar.
Among many colleagues, the programme features Sir Michael Parkinson, Geoffrey Palmer and Simon Callow.
BBC Proms 2011
BBC 4, 8.30pm - 10.30pm
A celebration of the Golden Age of Hollywood film musicals performed by John Wilson who, returning to the Proms for a third season, conducts his hand-picked, high-octane orchestra and a line-up of star soloists.
Hooray for Hollywood takes us from the dawn of the 'talkies' and the birth of the movie musical through to the 1960s. There are excerpts from 42nd Street, Top Hat, Strike Up the Band, Swing Time and Shall We Dance, with a special tribute to the RKO films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Lemmy: The Movie
BBC 4, 11.30pm - 1.25am
This two-hour film celebrates the life and rock 'n' roll philosophy of Motorhead frontman and bassist Lemmy. Lemmy became the bass player in Hawkwind and sang their biggest hit Silver Machine before forming his own hard rockin' metal trio Motorhead in the mid-70s, blending punk and primal rock into a foot to the floor, hard driving rock 'n' roll aesthetic which resulted in monster hits like Ace of Spades and the live album No Sleep Til Hammersmith in the early 80s and to which he has remained constantly steadfast.
Still touring, still enjoying the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, still inspired by Little Richard and the Beatles, Lemmy remains the ultimate unredeemed and unrepentant rocker. Joining Lemmy and members of Motorhead to celebrate his life and times are Hawkwind's Dave Brock, Metallica's James Hetfield, Dave Grohl, Alice Cooper, Peter Hook and Jarvis Cocker.
Legends - Thin Lizzie: Bad Reputation
BBC 4, 1.25am - 2.25am
Affectionate but honest portrait of Thin Lizzy, arguably the best hard rock band to come out of Ireland.
Starting with the remix of the classic album Jailbreak by Scott Gorham and Brian Downie, the film takes us through the rollercoaster ride that is the story of Thin Lizzy. From early footage of singer Phil Lynott in Ireland in his pre-Lizzy bands the Black Eagles and Orphanage, it follows his progress as he, guitarist Eric Bell and drummer Brian Downie form the basic three-piece that was to become Thin Lizzy - a name taken from the Beano.
Using original interviews with Bell, Downie, the man who signed them and their first manager, it traces the early years leading to the recruitment of guitarists Brian 'Robbo' Robertson and Scott Gorham - the classic line-up. The film uses a number of stills, some seen on TV for the first time, archive from contemporary TV shows and a range of tracks both well known and not so famous.
There are hilarious self-deprecating anecdotes, from the stories behind the making of the Boys are Back in Town to the hiring of Midge Ure. We hear about the 'revolving door' as guitarist after guitarist was fired and hired, and the recording of Bad Reputation and Live and Dangerous - where producer Tony Visconti pulls no punches in talking about how he recorded the latter - putting the controversy to bed for the final time. Except that Downie and Robertson still disagree with him.
Finally we hear how drugs and alcohol impacted on the band and how the music suffered, how one member later substituted golf for heroin, and how addiction and the related lifestyle led to the death of Phil Lynott.
Contributors include Brian Downie, Scott Gorham, Eric Bell, Brian Robertson, Midge Ure, Bob Geldof, Tony Visconti, Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) and many others.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Off-Air Recordings for week 17th December to 23rd December 2011
Please email parkmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Saturday 17th December 2011
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
BBC 1, 2.55pm - 4.30pm
Comedy adventure, combining cartoon characters with live action. Hollywood 1947. Cartoon star Roger Rabbit can't focus on his acting because he thinks his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else. The studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stake-out becomes a crime investigation when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.
Defiance
BBC 2, 9.00pm - 11.05pm
Thriller based on a true story. In 1940s Eastern Europe, four Jewish brothers flee to the forest to escape persecution and death at the hands of Nazi forces after their parents are murdered. Once there, they find more refugees are using the forest as a hideout, so they band together to share resources and attempt to outwit the German forces, who are always on their tail.
ITV 2, 11.15pm - 12.15am
Tribute to the late singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse and her music. To mark the release of the much-anticipated posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures, the programme celebrates Amy's musical legacy and explores the influence that her turbulent life had on her songwriting. Featuring contributions from the people who knew her best and a look at the story behind the new album.
Film 4, 4.50pm - 6.25pm
(2002) Studio Ghibli Season: Hiroyuki Marita's fantasy animation follows a young girl who is rewarded with a trip to the Kingdom of Cats after saving a feline's life.
Radio 4, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
As the Eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis, John Tusa takes us back to the very start of the journey to the single currency: to the vision, and the realpolitik, that made European union happen in the first place.
In 1950, France and Germany, along with Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg, agreed to surrender national control over some of their most vital industries. Just six years after the Nazis had been driven out of Paris.
John traces how a highly unusual mix of vision and canny national self-interest drove a handful of leading statesmen to take this decisive step.
Robert Schuman was the French Foreign Minister - but had fought for the Germans in the First World War. Then, as a French politician and member of the Resistance, he narrowly avoided being sent by the Nazis to Dachau.
Konrad Adenauer, West Germany's first Chancellor, was proposing a form of European unity as early as 1923. Having survived the Nazi era, he was intent on sacrificing power to bind his pariah nation into the West - and keep it safe from Stalin.
More surprisingly, the idea of European union was also championed by Winston Churchill, in a rousing run of speeches across the Continent in the years after VE Day. The great patriot even advocated a European Army.
But John also explores why - once Churchill was back in power in 1951 - he chose not to join the emergent union.
Meanwhile, Churchill's wartime ally, America, was actively pushing the Europeans to unite - and was prepared to pay handsomely to ensure they wouldn't drag American troops into yet another war.
And John finds out how the whole project came to the brink of collapse within weeks of its birth. In June 1950, the Communists invaded South Korea. Western capitals panicked: was West Germany next? Was this the start of World War 3?
America demanded that West Germany be re-armed. But the French public were outraged, and took to the streets with large photos of Nazi atrocity victims held aloft.
John explores how the project was rescued, and how its strange fusion of realism and idealism presages the crises of today.
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Sunday 18th December 2011
BBC 1, 10.25pm - 11.45pm
One of the most-anticipated reunions in pop music history took place in the summer of 2011 when all five original members of Take That opened their spectacular Progress Live 2011 UK Tour at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Playing to massive sell-out audiences around Europe, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams took over 2.1 million people with them on their 'Progress' journey, with a monumental two and half hour set filled with all the biggest hits from their incredible 20 year history. Progress Live 2011 is the first time the band had toured as a five-piece since 1995.
The huge production wowed audiences with a non-stop, jaw-dropping spectacle, which included roller-skating bees, a giant purple caterpillar, Shaolin monks, a dancing chess set, a massive 30m wall of water scaled by acrobatic dancers, and a huge 20m robot named OM who moved ominously through the audience throughout the night. The show opened with Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark performing hits including Rule the World and Shine, before Robbie made his entrance for the start of a thumping solo set including Let Me Entertain You and Angels. All five members were then reunited for the song that marked their historic return, The Flood; and classic hits such as Never Forget, A Million Love Songs, and Pray.
Channel 5, 8.00pm - 10.00pm
(2008) A hard-living superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife of the public relations professional who's trying to repair his image.
BBC 4, 7.30pm - 9.00pm
The extraordinary story of comedian Bob Monkhouse's life and career, told for the first time through the vast private archive of films, TV shows, letters and memorabilia that he left behind.
BBC 4, 11.00pm - 12.05pm
Sir Alan Ayckbourn is often described as the world's most performed living playwright. Yet it is his popularity that has often led to him being overlooked as a serious dramatist in the UK. As he premieres his 75th play in his seaside theatre in Scarborough, Imagine sets out to discover why Ayckbourn is so popular, and a chorus of distinguished fans explain why he must be recognised as one of the great dramatists of our time.
Radio 4, 2.45pm - 3.00pm
Five programmes exploring the ways in which we reveal our true histories to the world.
5. Bankruptcy
Hannah, like many students, left university with a burden of debt in addition to her student loan. Unable to find a job in the field she had trained for, her debts escalated to the point where she had to consider bankruptcy. With her father and a friend who had also had to declare herself bankrupt she looks back over the depression and guilt which accompanied her financial disaster and is now able to draw some positive conclusions from it.
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Monday 19th December 2011
Radio 4, 1.45pm - 2.00pm
In 1870 the telegraph system came under the control of the post office, in the first ever instance of the government nationalising a commercial industry. The aim was to provide an extended and more efficient network, to serve the public and make a profit.
In the late nineteenth century the Post Office became a key instrument of the State.
Providing a national telegraph service, as censor and channel in the first world war, as a model employer in the 1930s and pioneer in communications technology for much of the twentieth century. The last four decades have seen the State pulling away from Royal Mail leaving it's future very much uncertain.
Radio 4, 8.00pm - 8.30pm
As the debate about wealth in British society continues, Professor Hugh Cunningham presents a timely history of philanthropic giving
2. Victorian Philanthropy and its Critics
The Victorian era is often seen as the high-point of philanthropic giving and Hugh Cunningham starts his journey by recalling his own great-grandfather, Andrew Usher, a brewer and distiller who donated £100,000 to the city of Edinburgh to build the Usher Hall.
However, he has questions about such major capital projects, which might have enhanced the lives of the poor but did little to relieve their poverty.
Hugh also chases a less familiar story: that of the critics who believed that philanthropy would create what is sometimes today called a 'dependency culture'.
He travels to Stoke and to Manchester, exploring the lives of the 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor; looking into how women increasingly participated in philanthropic activity and how this, in turn, helped their struggle for equality.
He hears about the Victorian trend towards the poor helping the poor.
He talks to historian and Labour MP Tristram Hunt, and to Nick Hurd, Conservative MP and Minister for Civil Society in the Coalition Government, about the obstacles which can stand in the way of philanthropists combating poverty today.
And he interviews Dame Susie Sainsbury, who speaks both of the major capital projects to which she has donated and about her willingness to give to the "less sexy items on the philanthropic shopping list".
Hugh Cunningham is Emeritus Professor of History in the University of Kent, and was academic consultant and co-writer of Radio Four's major narrative history series 'The Invention of Childhood'.
Channel 4, 9.00pm - 10.00pm
Throwing a spotlight on what Christmas means in contemporary Britain, King of Christmas Lights finds out what motivates people to cover their houses in Christmas every year.
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Tuesday 20th December 2011
Radio 4, 1.45pm - 2.00pm
In 1914 the post office was called upon to play a vital role in the country's war effort. Every week twelve and half million letters left Britain for Flanders, and it took 2 days for a letter to reach the front. The post office also supported the army's censorship activities, preventing sensitive information reaching enemy hands and helping to capture spies.
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines it's impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
It's called Royal Mail but it should be known as the People's Post
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Wednesday 21st December 2011
Radio 4, 1.45pm - 2.00pm
In the 1930s the GPO was a model employer, pioneering equal opportunities and offering staff a secure career path. Employees were encouraged to attend academic classes and leisure pursuits, but lateness and inefficiency weren't tolerated.
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines its impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
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Thursday 22nd December 2011
Radio 4, 1.45pm - 2.00pm
When a national post-code system was introduced in the 1970s it met with fierce resistance: from postal workers, concerned about the pace of change, and a general public incensed by "useless symbols". Intended to aid sorting mechanisation, today postcodes are used by geodemographic databases to classify households for the benefit of commerce, government services and political canvassing.
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines its impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
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Friday 23rd December 2011
Radio 4, 1.45pm - 2.00pm
In 1969 the post office ceased being a government industry to become a nationalised industry. It avoided being sold off in the 1980s, only to face even bigger challenges in the 2000s: sustaining the costs of a huge labour force, and rivalry from digital communications. As it sits on the brink of privatisation, what does the Royal Mail mean today?
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines its impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
Ocean Waves
Film 4, 5.30pm - 7.00pm
Studio Ghibli Season: Animated romantic drama about a man remembering his school days while he's on a flight back to reunite with his old classmates. In Japanese/subs.
Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee
More4, 2.50am - 4.30am
(2009) Shane Meadows' hilarious mockumentary about ageing roadie Paddy Considine, who's vicariously seeking fame via his protégé, Nottingham rapper Scor-zay-zee (Dean Palinczuk).
Dolly Parton: Platinum Blonde
BBC 4. 11.35pm - 12.35am
Dolly Parton is one of the world's great superstars, feted for her figure as much as for her music. Platinum Blonde goes inside her world to discover the woman under the wigs as she returned to the concert stage in the UK in 2002 after an absence of 20 years. Born into grinding poverty in rural Tennessee, Dolly has risen to the top of her tree in music, films and as a businesswoman who owns her own theme park.
Friends, family and colleagues - including Lily Tomlin, Kenny Rogers, Billy Connolly, Dabney Coleman and Alison Krauss - help tell her story, along with the full and frank views of Dolly herself. With cameo appearances from Sinead O'Connor, Norah Jones, Jonathan Ross and Terry Wogan.
Country at the BBC
BBC 4, 10.05pm - 11.35pm
Grab your partner by the hand - the BBC have raided their archive and brought to light glittering performances by country artists over the last four decades.
Star appearances include Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and, of course, Dolly Parton. All the greats have performed for the BBC at some point - on entertainment shows, in concert and at the BBC studios. Some of the rhinestones revealed are Charley Pride's Crystal Chandeliers from the Lulu Show, Emmylou Harris singing Together Again on the Old Grey Whistle Test and Billie Jo Spears's Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad from the Val Doonican Music Show.
We're brought up to date with modern country hits by kd lang, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss and Taylor Swift, plus a special un-broadcast performance from Later...with Jools Holland by Willie Nelson.
The Joy of Country
BBC 4, 9.00pm - 10.05pm
This celebration of the history and aesthetic of country music tracks the evolution of the genre from the 1920s to the present, exploring country as both folk and pop music - a 20th century soundtrack to the lives of working-class Americans in the South, forever torn between their rural roots and a mostly urban future, between authenticity and showbiz.
Exploring many of the great stars of country from Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams to Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton, director Andy Humphries's meditation on the power and pull of country blends brilliant archive and contributions from a broad cast that includes Dolly Parton, the Handsome Family, Laura Cantrell, Hank Williams III, kd lang and many more.
If you have ever wondered about the sound of a train in the distance, the keening of a pedal steel guitar, the lure of rhinestone or the blue Kentucky hills, and if you want to know why twang matters, this is the documentary for you.
Saturday 17th December 2011
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
BBC 1, 2.55pm - 4.30pm
Comedy adventure, combining cartoon characters with live action. Hollywood 1947. Cartoon star Roger Rabbit can't focus on his acting because he thinks his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else. The studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stake-out becomes a crime investigation when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.
Defiance
BBC 2, 9.00pm - 11.05pm
Thriller based on a true story. In 1940s Eastern Europe, four Jewish brothers flee to the forest to escape persecution and death at the hands of Nazi forces after their parents are murdered. Once there, they find more refugees are using the forest as a hideout, so they band together to share resources and attempt to outwit the German forces, who are always on their tail.
| The Amy Winehouse Story |
Tribute to the late singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse and her music. To mark the release of the much-anticipated posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures, the programme celebrates Amy's musical legacy and explores the influence that her turbulent life had on her songwriting. Featuring contributions from the people who knew her best and a look at the story behind the new album.
| The Cat Returns |
(2002) Studio Ghibli Season: Hiroyuki Marita's fantasy animation follows a young girl who is rewarded with a trip to the Kingdom of Cats after saving a feline's life.
| Archive on 4: The European Dream |
As the Eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis, John Tusa takes us back to the very start of the journey to the single currency: to the vision, and the realpolitik, that made European union happen in the first place.
In 1950, France and Germany, along with Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg, agreed to surrender national control over some of their most vital industries. Just six years after the Nazis had been driven out of Paris.
John traces how a highly unusual mix of vision and canny national self-interest drove a handful of leading statesmen to take this decisive step.
Robert Schuman was the French Foreign Minister - but had fought for the Germans in the First World War. Then, as a French politician and member of the Resistance, he narrowly avoided being sent by the Nazis to Dachau.
Konrad Adenauer, West Germany's first Chancellor, was proposing a form of European unity as early as 1923. Having survived the Nazi era, he was intent on sacrificing power to bind his pariah nation into the West - and keep it safe from Stalin.
More surprisingly, the idea of European union was also championed by Winston Churchill, in a rousing run of speeches across the Continent in the years after VE Day. The great patriot even advocated a European Army.
But John also explores why - once Churchill was back in power in 1951 - he chose not to join the emergent union.
Meanwhile, Churchill's wartime ally, America, was actively pushing the Europeans to unite - and was prepared to pay handsomely to ensure they wouldn't drag American troops into yet another war.
And John finds out how the whole project came to the brink of collapse within weeks of its birth. In June 1950, the Communists invaded South Korea. Western capitals panicked: was West Germany next? Was this the start of World War 3?
America demanded that West Germany be re-armed. But the French public were outraged, and took to the streets with large photos of Nazi atrocity victims held aloft.
John explores how the project was rescued, and how its strange fusion of realism and idealism presages the crises of today.
_____________________________________
Sunday 18th December 2011
| Take That: Progress Live |
One of the most-anticipated reunions in pop music history took place in the summer of 2011 when all five original members of Take That opened their spectacular Progress Live 2011 UK Tour at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Playing to massive sell-out audiences around Europe, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams took over 2.1 million people with them on their 'Progress' journey, with a monumental two and half hour set filled with all the biggest hits from their incredible 20 year history. Progress Live 2011 is the first time the band had toured as a five-piece since 1995.
The huge production wowed audiences with a non-stop, jaw-dropping spectacle, which included roller-skating bees, a giant purple caterpillar, Shaolin monks, a dancing chess set, a massive 30m wall of water scaled by acrobatic dancers, and a huge 20m robot named OM who moved ominously through the audience throughout the night. The show opened with Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark performing hits including Rule the World and Shine, before Robbie made his entrance for the start of a thumping solo set including Let Me Entertain You and Angels. All five members were then reunited for the song that marked their historic return, The Flood; and classic hits such as Never Forget, A Million Love Songs, and Pray.
| Hancock |
(2008) A hard-living superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife of the public relations professional who's trying to repair his image.
| The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse |
The extraordinary story of comedian Bob Monkhouse's life and career, told for the first time through the vast private archive of films, TV shows, letters and memorabilia that he left behind.
| Imagine… Alan Ayckbourn: Greetings from Scarborough |
Sir Alan Ayckbourn is often described as the world's most performed living playwright. Yet it is his popularity that has often led to him being overlooked as a serious dramatist in the UK. As he premieres his 75th play in his seaside theatre in Scarborough, Imagine sets out to discover why Ayckbourn is so popular, and a chorus of distinguished fans explain why he must be recognised as one of the great dramatists of our time.
| Coming Out: Bankruptcy |
Five programmes exploring the ways in which we reveal our true histories to the world.
5. Bankruptcy
Hannah, like many students, left university with a burden of debt in addition to her student loan. Unable to find a job in the field she had trained for, her debts escalated to the point where she had to consider bankruptcy. With her father and a friend who had also had to declare herself bankrupt she looks back over the depression and guilt which accompanied her financial disaster and is now able to draw some positive conclusions from it.
_____________________________________
Monday 19th December 2011
|
In 1870 the telegraph system came under the control of the post office, in the first ever instance of the government nationalising a commercial industry. The aim was to provide an extended and more efficient network, to serve the public and make a profit.
In the late nineteenth century the Post Office became a key instrument of the State.
Providing a national telegraph service, as censor and channel in the first world war, as a model employer in the 1930s and pioneer in communications technology for much of the twentieth century. The last four decades have seen the State pulling away from Royal Mail leaving it's future very much uncertain.
| How New is the New Philanthropy (2/3) |
As the debate about wealth in British society continues, Professor Hugh Cunningham presents a timely history of philanthropic giving
2. Victorian Philanthropy and its Critics
The Victorian era is often seen as the high-point of philanthropic giving and Hugh Cunningham starts his journey by recalling his own great-grandfather, Andrew Usher, a brewer and distiller who donated £100,000 to the city of Edinburgh to build the Usher Hall.
However, he has questions about such major capital projects, which might have enhanced the lives of the poor but did little to relieve their poverty.
Hugh also chases a less familiar story: that of the critics who believed that philanthropy would create what is sometimes today called a 'dependency culture'.
He travels to Stoke and to Manchester, exploring the lives of the 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor; looking into how women increasingly participated in philanthropic activity and how this, in turn, helped their struggle for equality.
He hears about the Victorian trend towards the poor helping the poor.
He talks to historian and Labour MP Tristram Hunt, and to Nick Hurd, Conservative MP and Minister for Civil Society in the Coalition Government, about the obstacles which can stand in the way of philanthropists combating poverty today.
And he interviews Dame Susie Sainsbury, who speaks both of the major capital projects to which she has donated and about her willingness to give to the "less sexy items on the philanthropic shopping list".
Hugh Cunningham is Emeritus Professor of History in the University of Kent, and was academic consultant and co-writer of Radio Four's major narrative history series 'The Invention of Childhood'.
| King of Christmas Lights |
Throwing a spotlight on what Christmas means in contemporary Britain, King of Christmas Lights finds out what motivates people to cover their houses in Christmas every year.
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Tuesday 20th December 2011
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In 1914 the post office was called upon to play a vital role in the country's war effort. Every week twelve and half million letters left Britain for Flanders, and it took 2 days for a letter to reach the front. The post office also supported the army's censorship activities, preventing sensitive information reaching enemy hands and helping to capture spies.
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines it's impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
It's called Royal Mail but it should be known as the People's Post
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Wednesday 21st December 2011
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In the 1930s the GPO was a model employer, pioneering equal opportunities and offering staff a secure career path. Employees were encouraged to attend academic classes and leisure pursuits, but lateness and inefficiency weren't tolerated.
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines its impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
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Thursday 22nd December 2011
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When a national post-code system was introduced in the 1970s it met with fierce resistance: from postal workers, concerned about the pace of change, and a general public incensed by "useless symbols". Intended to aid sorting mechanisation, today postcodes are used by geodemographic databases to classify households for the benefit of commerce, government services and political canvassing.
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines its impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
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Friday 23rd December 2011
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In 1969 the post office ceased being a government industry to become a nationalised industry. It avoided being sold off in the 1980s, only to face even bigger challenges in the 2000s: sustaining the costs of a huge labour force, and rivalry from digital communications. As it sits on the brink of privatisation, what does the Royal Mail mean today?
As Royal Mail faces an uncertain future, Dominic Sandbrook charts the development of the post office and examines its impact on literacy, free speech, commerce and communication. The Post Office has become a cherished social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world.
Film 4, 5.30pm - 7.00pm
Studio Ghibli Season: Animated romantic drama about a man remembering his school days while he's on a flight back to reunite with his old classmates. In Japanese/subs.
Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee
More4, 2.50am - 4.30am
(2009) Shane Meadows' hilarious mockumentary about ageing roadie Paddy Considine, who's vicariously seeking fame via his protégé, Nottingham rapper Scor-zay-zee (Dean Palinczuk).
Dolly Parton: Platinum Blonde
BBC 4. 11.35pm - 12.35am
Dolly Parton is one of the world's great superstars, feted for her figure as much as for her music. Platinum Blonde goes inside her world to discover the woman under the wigs as she returned to the concert stage in the UK in 2002 after an absence of 20 years. Born into grinding poverty in rural Tennessee, Dolly has risen to the top of her tree in music, films and as a businesswoman who owns her own theme park.
Friends, family and colleagues - including Lily Tomlin, Kenny Rogers, Billy Connolly, Dabney Coleman and Alison Krauss - help tell her story, along with the full and frank views of Dolly herself. With cameo appearances from Sinead O'Connor, Norah Jones, Jonathan Ross and Terry Wogan.
Country at the BBC
BBC 4, 10.05pm - 11.35pm
Grab your partner by the hand - the BBC have raided their archive and brought to light glittering performances by country artists over the last four decades.
Star appearances include Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and, of course, Dolly Parton. All the greats have performed for the BBC at some point - on entertainment shows, in concert and at the BBC studios. Some of the rhinestones revealed are Charley Pride's Crystal Chandeliers from the Lulu Show, Emmylou Harris singing Together Again on the Old Grey Whistle Test and Billie Jo Spears's Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad from the Val Doonican Music Show.
We're brought up to date with modern country hits by kd lang, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss and Taylor Swift, plus a special un-broadcast performance from Later...with Jools Holland by Willie Nelson.
The Joy of Country
BBC 4, 9.00pm - 10.05pm
This celebration of the history and aesthetic of country music tracks the evolution of the genre from the 1920s to the present, exploring country as both folk and pop music - a 20th century soundtrack to the lives of working-class Americans in the South, forever torn between their rural roots and a mostly urban future, between authenticity and showbiz.
Exploring many of the great stars of country from Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams to Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton, director Andy Humphries's meditation on the power and pull of country blends brilliant archive and contributions from a broad cast that includes Dolly Parton, the Handsome Family, Laura Cantrell, Hank Williams III, kd lang and many more.
If you have ever wondered about the sound of a train in the distance, the keening of a pedal steel guitar, the lure of rhinestone or the blue Kentucky hills, and if you want to know why twang matters, this is the documentary for you.
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