Saturday 3rd November 2012
| Horror Europa with Mark Gratiss |
Actor and writer Mark Gatiss embarks on a chilling voyage through European horror cinema. From the silent nightmares of German Expressionism in the wake of World War I to lesbian vampires in 1970s Belgium, from the black-gloved killers of Italy's bloody Giallo thrillers to the ghosts of the Spanish Civil War, Mark reveals how Europe's turbulent 20th century forged its ground-breaking horror tradition. On a journey that spans the continent from Ostend to Slovakia, Mark explores classic filming locations and talks to the genre's leading talents, including directors Dario Argento and Guillermo del Toro.
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Sunday 4th November 2012
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Monday 5th November 2012
| Nuclear War Games |
Dispatches: With exclusive access to an Israeli 'war game' Dispatches explores the possibility of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, in a country facing the permanent threat of war.
| Gambling Nation: Panorama |
Even in recession-hit Britain, the gambling industry is still making a profit - £5.6 billion last year. With casino-style gambling now available day or night at the touch of a button in our homes and on our phones, Panorama explores its popularity... and reveals a darker side.
Reporter Sophie Raworth hears from those who have found their lives spiralling out of control, and from industry insiders who say violence and frustration, linked to fast-paced high-stake gambling machines, are increasing in our high street betting shops. Panorama goes undercover in some of Britain's bookies to test those claims.
| The Mobo Awards |
Highlights from the MOBO Awards 2012, held in Liverpool on 3 November 2012. With performances from Emeli Sandé, Labrinth, Conor Maynard, JLS, Wiley, Stooshe, Angel, Trey Songz, Dionne Warwick, and many more. Awards are given out to the best UK talent, and hosts Adam Deacon and Miquita Oliver are on hand to chat to some very special guests.
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Tuesday 6th November 2012
| Britian on Film (1/10) |
In 1959 Britain's biggest cinema company, the Rank Organisation, decided to replace its newsreels with a series of short, quirky, topical documentaries that examined all aspects of life in Britain. For the next ten years, Look at Life chronicled - on high-grade 35mm colour film - the changing face of British society, industry and culture. Britain on Film draws upon the 500 films in this unique archive to offer illuminating and often surprising insights into what became a pivotal decade in modern British history. The series shows how Look at Life reflected the radical shifts in the position of women in British society, and shows how the country adapted to the new demands and expectations of women at home, in the workplace and at play.
| Timeshift: Klezmer |
Michael Grade narrates the story of klezmer, the 'original party music'. From its origins in Jewish folk music performed at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, klezmer has now gone global, played from Amsterdam to Australia to audiences who find its spirit and energy hard to resist. Timeshift explores the sounds, influences and shifting fortunes of this infectious music and shows that beneath its joyful strains lies an emotional appeal that you don't need to be Jewish to respond to.
Space Dive
BBC2, 11.20pm - 12.50am
In this one-off documentary, Space Dive tells the behind-the-scenes story of Felix Baumgartner's historic, record-breaking freefall from the edge of space to Earth.
The world watched with bated breath when Felix became the first person to freefall through the sound barrier on 15 October 2012, after jumping from 128,100ft (24 miles) from the edge of space.
Space Dive features footage, which until now has been kept closely under wraps, from cameras attached to Felix, as he broke through the sound barrier. The documentary follows Felix as he underwent years of training under the watchful eye of 82-year-old colonel Joe Kittinger, the man who set the original record when he fell 19 miles to Earth (102,000 feet) 50 years ago, since which two men died in similar attempts.
During Felix's intense physical training, the cameras capture the basejumper as he struggles to overcome a severe claustrophic reaction to the movement-restricting pressure suit, and how the mission came close to aborting in the final stages of the ascent, and saw just how close Felix came to spinning and tumbling to unconsciousness during the jump.
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Wednesday 7th November 2012
| Pound Shop Wars |
Pound shops are one of the fastest growing retail sectors, boosted by consumers keen to bag a bargain in economic hard times. This warm and witty documentary follows the extremely rapid expansion of two family-run retail businesses, as they both race to dominate the high street.
99p Stores Ltd is run by the dynamic Hussein Lalani and is based in Northampton. The family-run firm has 160 shops at the start of filming in February 2012, predominantly situated in the south. Hussein is determined to expand north, bringing him into direct competition with Yorkshire-based pound shop chain Poundworld. Charismatic MD Chris Edwards began his family business with a single market stall in Wakefield, and his elderly mother Alice still pops into HQ each morning to make him toast. At the beginning of the documentary, Poundworld has 130 shops, mostly in the north, and Chris is keen to open more stores in the south. Meanwhile both companies have to compete with the UK's largest pound store chain, private equity-funded Poundland.
Whenever 99p Stores opens a new shop, they put on a show with entertainment, balloons and a 99-second trolley dash - but Hussein discovers that supermarket sweeps aren't going to attract the posh customers of Chester. In Salford it's a different story, with one new customer thrilled to be able to buy a handbag for her wedding for just 99p. Poundworld's customer service trainer Denise sees her company as 'the Harrods of pound shops', but will shoppers in the south feel the same way?
Can the 99p Stores expand quickly enough to retain their market position, or will Chris's Poundworld chain catch up? The two family businesses are in direct competition - even opening some stores right next door to each other - but who will come out on top?
| The Great British Property Scandal: Every Empty Counts |
Update: Every Empty Counts. Almost a year since launching a campaign to get Britain's empty homes back into use, George Clarke reports on the remarkable progress.
| The Ring |
US remake of the cult Japanese chiller. A journalist faces a race against time when she investigates the legend of a strange videotape which allegedly claims the life of the viewer one week after watching it.
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Thursday 8th November 2012
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Friday 9th November 2012
| Queens of British Pop |
Queens of British Pop and narrator Liza Tarbuck offer a celebration of six female pop stars, singers and icons that lit us up from the early 60s to the late 70s.
Programme one tells the story of Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, Suzi Quatro, Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush - some of the female artists that emerged alongside some of Britain's defining musical movements, from the swinging sixties through to glam rock and punk.
The programme gives an insight into the lives of these top female artists, offering first-hand or eyewitness accounts of the highs, the lows and the obstacles they had to overcome. The selected artists have pushed boundaries, played around with gender roles and had their private lives overshadow their success, but it is their experiences that have helped change the face of British pop as we know it today.
Includes new interviews with Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, Suzi Quatro, Siouxsie Sioux and contributions from Tom Jones, Lulu, Burt Bacharach, John Lydon, Martha Reeves, Nancy Sinatra, Mark Radcliffe, Henry Winkler, Marc Almond, Peter Gabriel, Claire Grogan, Jarvis Cocker, Kiki Dee, Nigel Havers, Lily Allen and Adele, to name but a few.
| Songs from Sandy Denny at the Barbican |
Filmed at the Barbican in London, this tribute concert to the singer-songwriter Sandy Denny spans her career with Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and as a solo artist. Her most famous song, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, has been covered by everyone from Judy Collins to Nina Simone, but when she died in 1978 aged 31, Sandy left behind a rich songbook and here an eclectic cast from the folk world and beyond set out to explore and reinterpret it.
English folk queen and Sandy contemporary Maddy Prior performs the menacing John the Gun and the courtly Fotheringay. Veteran Sandy cohorts are represented by Fotheringay and Fairport guitarist Jerry Donahue and fiddler extraordinaire Dave Swarbrick. Fine young troubadours Sam Carter and Blair Dunlop - son of Fairport's Ashley Hutchings - show the tradition is in safe hands.
With a house band featuring members of Bellowhead, the line-up also includes former Scritti Politti singer Green Gartside, Joan Wasser aka Joan as Policewoman (with a heartbreaking No More Sad Refrains), Trembling Bells singer Lavinia Blackwall and American soul singer PP Arnold (with a roof-raising Take Me Away), plus Thea Gilmore, who was asked by Sandy's estate to put some of her unset lyrics to music.
The performances on stage are interspersed with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage that shed light on how the concert came together, plus rare archive of Sandy herself. The show is evidence that, even without the magic of her singing voice, the songs still shine.
| Where's the Money, Ronnie? |
Shane Meadows' award-winning short that takes a comic look at a bungled heist. While Ronnie blames everyone else, everyone else blames Ronnie. Strong language.
