Saturday 18th August 2012
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Sunday 19th August 2012
Toughest Place to Be… a Miner
BBC2, 9.00pm - 10.00pm
Craig Notman, a mine worker from Staffordshire, is travelling to Mongolia to dig for gold in some of the toughest conditions on Earth. Mongolia is a country enjoying the world's biggest economic boom, entirely supported by mining. But while some people are getting rich, more than 40 percent of the population lives in poverty. Craig will be staying in a traditional Mongolian tent, or ger, and working with local miner Sukhbaatar.
Like tens of thousands of small-scale miners, Sukhbaatar digs tunnels into the Mongolian Steppe, searching for gold deep underground. It's a gruelling and dangerous way to earn just a few pounds a day. Thousands have died in the precarious networks of underground tunnels. Safety conscious Craig will brave the tunnels himself as he learns to dig and pan for gold. He'll have to endure extreme weather, back-breaking work and get to grips with unusual cuisine. Along the way he'll discover that a traditional nomadic people have been driven off their land by unprecedented extreme weather. With no other work in prospect, they must risk their lives every day in a desperate attempt to make money.
The Batman Shootings
BBC3, 9.00pm - 10.00pm
In London's Leicester Square, Amal Fashanu was one of the lucky ones with a ticket for the opening of the latest Batman film. Days later Amal was heading for Aurora, Colorado, after 12 people were shot dead by a lone gunman as they watched the same movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
In the first documentary on the latest gun massacre in the USA, Amal speaks to survivors, including Jansen Young, who lived because her boyfriend shielded her from bullets. Amal also discovers how the gunman tried to join a local rifle club in the weeks before the shootings.
Columbine, Virgina Tech and now Aurora and the Sikh temple in Milwaukee - the list of gun massacres in the USA grows ever longer. Amal speaks to young Americans about their attitude to gun ownership, which is protected by the US constitution. Amal finds out if young people think the state of Colorado should pass the death penalty on the gunman, James Holmes, who identified himself to police as The Joker.
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Monday 20th August 2012
Property Nightmare: the Truth about Leaseholds
Channel 4, 8.00pm - 8.30pm
Morland Sanders examines how leasehold properties can expose homeowners to unfair charging, and the government's reluctance to improve regulation.
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Tuesday 21st August 2012
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Wednesday 22nd August 2012
Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (1/2)
BBC4, 9.00pm - 10.00pm
In the heady post-war years of the 1950s and 60s, British flying was at its zenith and its aircraft industry flourished in a dazzling display of ingenuity and design brilliance. Having invented the jet engine, Britain was now set to lead the world into the jet age with a new generation of fighters and bombers. The daring test pilots who flew them were as well-known as the football stars of today, while their futuristic-looking aircraft, including the Meteor, Canberra, Valiant, Vulcan and the English Electric Lightning, were the military marvels of the age.
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Thursday 23rd August 2012
Rock 'n' Roll in Four Movements
Radio 4, 11.30am - 12.04pm
When Rock 'n' Roll began, it was music of rebellion, fighting against the strait-laced world of classical music. The two worlds seemed far apart until the late Jon Lord wrote his Concerto for Rock Group and Orchestra which combined the forces of his heavy rock group Deep Purple with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The work was premiered in the Royal Albert Hall in London under the baton of Malcolm Arnold in 1969. From then until the arrival of Punk in the late seventies rockers like the Nice, Emerson Lake and Palmer and Rick Wakeman embraced this hybrid genre with great energy and enthusiasm. Rick Wakeman in particular became known for stage shows which matched the ambition of his music.
Stuart Maconie talks to Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson about the genre's excesses. We hear from Roy Wood about the early days of the Electric Light Orchestra. And the late Jon Lord, in his last ever recorded interview, talks about his passion for writing classical music, inspired by his early experiment with his Concerto.
Stuart Maconie casts a fairly benevolent eye on the genre - in his view some of it was actually very good. But classical music critic Ivan Hewett is pleased that the genre was largely killed off by punk - although in his view there are more modern examples where classical and pop sensibilities are successfully combined, by the likes of Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Damon Albarn.
The Boss is Back
BBC2, 10.00pm - 10.30pm
Years before Dragons' Den, Theo Paphitis was chairman of Millwall Football Club, dragging them out of administration, into an FA Cup final, and on to television screens in the behind-the-scenes documentary series Back the Floor. Now the former boss is back at Millwall, reliving his time in front of the cameras and seeing how the experience changed both him and the club.
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Friday 24th August 2012
The Hives and Paramore @ Reading
BBC3, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
BBC Three again broadcasts live from the Reading Festival, the most rock and roll festival in the world.
Fearne Cotton and Greg James are the hosts for the weekend, bringing plenty of live music, interviews and special acoustic performances from their unique position in the BBC Three treehouse, where viewers get the best possible view of the festival site and many of the acts on the Main and Radio 1/NME stages.
The opening slot features performances by Swedish good-timers the Hives and also north London's Bombay Bicycle Club.
The Cure @ Reading
BBC3, 9.00pm - 10.00pm
Live coverage of the opening hour of the headlining set by iconic British band the Cure, led by their legendary frontman Robert Smith.
Idris Elba's How Clubbing Changed the World
Channel 4, 10.00pm - 12.00 midnight
Idris Elba explores how clubbing evolved from a counter-cultural movement to a multi-billion-pound business, and reveals how Britain still rules the underground.
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