Saturday 19th May 2012
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Sunday 20th May 2012
| In Business |
CALLED TO ACCOUNT
The global Big Four accountancy groups are under sharp scrutiny from the authorities in Britain, Europe and the USA. Peter Day finds out why they are getting such close official attention..and why it matters to the rest of us.
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Monday 21st May 2012
| The Digital Human (4/7) |
In this weeks edition of The Digital Human Aleks looks at what we beleive and why. With a search for God throwing up nearly 2billion hits the claims that the internet would be death of religion seem a little hollow. So why does our web search for answers bring some people to god and turn others away? And why do we invest such faith in the answer we find online anyway? Aleks will look at technology as a force multiplier for religions and discover if we ever need to go to church again to practice a faith.
| Beating the Recession - Cash v Cards |
Dispatches examines whether ditching our credit cards and paying cash could make us better off, and if the 'cashless society' is all about banks' profits.
| Eurovision's Dirty Secret: Panorama |
With just days to go to the final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, Panorama has been undercover inside its hosts Azerbaijan, to discover the extraordinary truth about this secretive country and its approach to the world's most watched non-sporting event.
Reporter Paul Kenyon finds out how the contest has been used as a tool of intimidation: viewers have been interrogated for voting for the nation's long-term enemy, Armenia; a protest singer has been told to flee before Eurovision or he will be thrown in jail; and dozens have had their homes bulldozed to make way for the Eurovision event itself.
The US embassy in Baku has compared the ruling family to the Mafia. The regime has held onto power through a combination of rigged elections, jailing opponents, and by irregular control of the country's vast oil wealth. So, why did the organisers of the world's best well-loved music event agree to host it in Azerbaijan?
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Tuesday 22nd May 2012
| The End of Drug Discovery |
As bringing new and improved drugs to patients becomes more difficult and more expensive, Geoff Watts asks if the source of better pharmaceutical treatments is drying up.
| Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: a 17th Century History for Girls (1/3) |
The years after the Civil War and the Restoration of Charles II marked the end of the medieval and the beginning of the modern age. These were exciting times for women and some rose to prominence like never before. Some had remarkably modern attitudes and ambitions and achieved wealth, celebrity and power that still seems outstanding even by 21st century standards. But, at the same time, they faced a world that was still predominantly male, misogynistic and positively medieval in its outlook.
In the first episode, Dr Lucy Worsley investigates the lives of women at the top - the king's mistresses at the royal court. When Charles and his entourage returned from exile, they came back with a host of continental ideas. Some of the women at court gained unprecedented political influence and independence. Amongst a fascinating cast of female characters, the most astonishing were Charles II's own mistresses - the royalist Barbara Villiers, the French spy Louise de Keroualle and the infamous Cockney actress Nell Gwynn.
Lucy examines the lives of these women, discovering how their fortunes were shaped by the Restoration and how their stories reflect the atmosphere of these extraordinary years. Along her journey, Lucy gets the full mistress make-over, takes to the dance floor and treads the corridors of power. As she discovers, these women were key Restoration players, but, as mistresses, were they truly in charge of their own destinies or were they simply part of the world's oldest profession?
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Wednesday 23rd May 2012
| The Unforgettable… Dudley Moore |
A tribute to Dudley Moore, who is best known for being part of a double act with Peter Cook and as an unlikely Hollywood star. From humble beginnings, the multi-talented Moore became hugely successful. Close friends reflect on an extraordinary career from the early days of Beyond the Fringe to the worldwide fame and sex symbol status of Arthur. Moore's ex-wife Brogan Lane talks about his life in LA and how he coped with fame, and his close companion Rena Fruchter discusses helping him through the last few years of his life, which were overshadowed by a rare debilitating illness.
| The Story of Variety with Michael Grade (1/2) |
Fifty years ago every UK town had a variety theatre. Michael Grade tells the story of this lost world.
| The Disabled Century |
The final instalment looks at the problems disabled people faced as they moved out of institutions and into the community. The 1980s and 90s proved to be a turning point as more people were prepared to fight for wider recognition and rights.
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Thursday 24th May 2012
| Follow-up Albums (2/3) |
Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results.
How many bands have found themselves with a massive and often unexpected hit album, only to struggle with the creation of their next opus? Sometimes the follow-up exceeds the first album, but often nerves kick in and bands are removed from the very stimulus that created their magic in the first place, finding themselves in a world of creative confusion, sycophants and accountants.
Pete Paphides talks to musicians, producers, and critics to explore the stories of follow-up albums with the same expert knowledge he brought to Lost Albums.
| Tom Wrigglesworth's Open Letters |
Sony Award-winning comic Tom Wrigglesworth performs the last in his series of open letters. This week, he takes issue with his local curry house and their addiction to junk mail. Tom also tracks the development of advertising and marketing - a development trajectory which has now led us to the rather ridiculous stage where we can be "Facebook friends" with Jacob's Crackers.
| The Fish Market: Inside Billingsgate (1/3) |
London's oldest wholesale market is on the verge of its biggest change in over a thousand years. Fish merchants are facing tough times. The market is under pressure to modernise and its iconic and ancient traditions are under threat. The job of the licensed fish porter, once a job for life, could be thrown open to all comers. The market is divided: will ancient custom or modern commerce win out?
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Friday 25th May 2012
| Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here |
John Etherington's new documentary explores the making of Pink Floyd's ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here, which was released in September 1975 and went to top the album charts both in the UK and the US.
Featuring new interviews with band members Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason alongside contributions from the likes of guest vocalist Roy Harper, sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson and photographer Jill Furmanovsky, the film is a forensic study of the making of the follow-up to 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, which was another conceptual piece driven by Roger Waters.
The album wrestles with the legacy of the band's first leader Syd Barrett, who had dropped out of the band in 1968 and is eulogised in the album's centrepiece, Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Pink Floyd had become one of the biggest bands in the world, but the 60s were over and the band were struggling both to find their purpose and the old camaraderie.
