Saturday 21st April 2012
Archive on 4: Wall of Sound |
Radio 4, 8.00pm - 9.00pm
When Nelson Mandela was tried 1964 he famously said, "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve, but, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Without the British Library's sound conservation work we would never have heard this. The trial was recorded using a Dictabelt system. The recordings soon became unplayable. The Dictabelts were brought to the British Library where digital transfers were made, allowing us to hear what Mandela said, and how.
In 1924, in Paris, James Joyce was recorded reading from 'Ulysses' and the British Library's disc is as highly prized as its Blake, Hardy and Lawrence manuscripts. Alas, we'll never hear how they read their work.
These are just two of recordings of immense importance that without the work of the Sound Conservation Centre would be lost. And what a loss that would be. The British Library has invested millions in the Centre and appointed its first ever Curator of Radio. Audio is being accorded the conservation effort usually devoted manuscripts and old masters. All this, the radio historian Sean Street argues in this programme, reflects a fundamental change in attitude to sound itself.
In a massive undertaking our sound archives are being saved, restored, digitised, catalogued and opened to all. Street observes all this and talks to curators, technicians and users. Throughout we hear amazing recordings from the libraries walls of sound that, until this change in thinking about sound, few knew about, and fewer could listen to. We listen as these recordings find their rightful place in the documentary heritage of the nation.
| Unreliable Evidence (3/4) |
Radio 4, 10.15pm - 11.00pm
Clive Anderson and top judges and lawyers discuss controversial Government plans to relax the rules banning television cameras from our courts. While some legal experts are calling for justice to be seen to be done, others warn that the presence of cameras could 'pollute and corrupt' the process of justice.
Justice Minister Ken Clarke has announced his intention to initially allow judgments in the Court of Appeal to be broadcast, expanding this to the Crown Courts at a later stage. Despite pressure from broadcasters including the BBC, ITN and Sky, the Government has no immediate plans to allow filming of jurors, victims and witnesses.
Clive's guests include judges and lawyers with a wide range of views on the impact cameras would have on the trial process. Among them a Scottish Sheriff who has already allowed filming in his own court.
They discuss the arguments for and against allowing broadcasters unrestricted access to the courts 'from gavel to gavel'. What lessons can be learned from experience in other countries, such as in the OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson trials and the more recent Amanda Knox trial?
Would the presence of cameras dissuade people coming forward as witness, lower the esteem of the court or impede justice in any other way? Or is it time for justice to truly be seen to be done?
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Monday 23rd April 2012
Panorama - Undercover: Elderly Care
BBC 1, 8.30pm - 9.00pm
Panorama reveals the appalling treatment of an elderly care home resident with dementia, captured on film after a concerned relative hid a secret camera. The abuse - in a care home passed as "excellent" by the national regulator, the Care Quality Commission - has led to five care workers being sacked, with one pleading guilty to assault. It was recorded by a secret camera placed in the elderly woman's bedroom by her daughter, who speaks for the first time about what happened. Fiona Phillips, whose parents suffered from dementia and whose mother died in a care home, investigates whether the regulator and care home provider did enough to prevent such abuse and asks whether the system of elderly care itself can be trusted.
The 70s (2/4)
BBC 2, 9.00pm - 10.00pm
Historian Dominic Sandbrook takes viewers on an eye-opening and refreshing journey deep into the 1970s, a decade where the old Britain of the post-war years was transformed into the nation of today.
This episode looks at the impact of a fast changing world on British life and how Britain could no longer pretend to be a island nation that stood apart. Dominic explores the effects of the oil price hike of the 70s and of rampant inflation on Britain's living standards. He also looks at how many British people were choosing to live different kinds of lives embracing everything from environmentally aware lifestyles to the sexual revolution.
| Sound of the 70s: Reggae - Stir it Up |
BBC 2, 10.00pm - 10.30pm
By the start of the 70s the Windrush generation of immigrants who came to the UK from the Caribbean and West Indies were an established part of the British population and their influence and culture permeated UK society.
This second programme rejoices and revels in the Reggae music exported from Jamaica and the home-grown reggae-influenced sounds that sprouted from the cities of England. Reggae's dominance of the UK charts is celebrated with performances from Ken Boothe, Dave and Ansel Collins, Steel Pulse, Althea and Donna, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Janet Kay, Susan Cadogan and The Specials.
| Rough Guide to... Beaches |
Channel 5, 4.05am - 4.20am
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Tuesday 24th April 2012
Total Recall |
ITV 2, 10.00pm - 12.20am
Sci-fi actioner. Douglas Quaid begins to doubt his identity when he starts experiencing repressed memories about Mars, a planet he thinks he has never visited. As he delves deeper into the mystery he begins to question reality, and wonders which of his memories are true.
| The Unforgettable... Terry Scott |
ITV 1, 11.45pm - 12.10am
Programme paying tribute to actor Terry Scott, who was best-known as the bumbling suburban husband in Terry and June. A stalwart of British farce on stage and screen, Scott starred in some of the most memorable Carry On films. He also became renowned as one of the great pantomime dames. Featuring interviews with Terry's family and friends including Eric Sykes, Lynda Baron and his onscreen wife of nearly 20 years, June Whitfield.
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Wednesday 25th April 2012
Shallow Grave |
Film 4, 9.00pm - 10.50pm
(1994) Flatmates Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston and Kerry Fox face a dilemma - what to do when they find a body and a stash of cash in their flat. Bloody violence/strong language.
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Thursday 26th April 2012
Mark Lawson Talks To... Sean Langan
BBC 4, 10.00pm - 11.00pm
In this in-depth interview Mark Lawson meets the award-winning journalist and filmmaker Sean Langan, whose kidnap by the Taliban in 2008 inspired BBC Four's hostage drama The Kidnap Diaries. Langan's professional life began as a TV entertainment presenter, but his investigative nose led him to document some of the most volatile and war-torn regions in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Armed with a camera and irrepressible courage, he has produced a series of enlightening documentaries including Afghan Ladies Driving School, African Railway, Langan Behind the Lines, Mission Accomplished and Fighting the Taliban.
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Friday 27th April 2012
John Le Mesurier - It's All Been Rather Lovely |
BBC 2, 9.00pm - 10.00pm
Michael Palin, Clive Dunn and Ian Lavender are among those who contribute to this candid portrait of actor John Le Mesurier, from his turbulent marriage to Hattie Jacques to his life-changing role as Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army.
| Run Fatboy Run |
Film 4, 9.00pm - 10.55pm
(2007) Years after jilting his pregnant fiancée Thandie Newton, Simon Pegg decides to run a marathon to win her back. With Hank Azaria and Dylan Moran. Some strong language.
| ...Sings Bacharach and David! |
BBC 4, 10.00pm - 11.00pm
The BBC have raided their remarkable archive once more to reveal evocative performances from Burt Bacharach and Hal David's astonishing songbook. Love songs from the famous songwriting duo were a familiar feature of 1960s and '70s BBC entertainment programmes such as Dusty, Cilla and The Cliff Richard Show, but there are some surprises unearthed here too.
Highlights include Sandie Shaw singing Always Something There to Remind Me, Aretha Franklin performing I Say a Little Prayer, Dusty Springfield's Wishin' and Hopin', The Stranglers' rendition of Walk on By on Top of the Pops, The Carpenters in concert performing (They Long to Be) Close to You and Burt Bacharach revisiting his classic Kentucky Bluebird with Rufus Wainwright on Later...with Jools Holland.
