Saturday 2nd February 2013
| Howard Goodall's Story of Music (2/6) |
In the second programme, composer Howard Goodall looks at the extraordinarily fertile musical period between 1650 and 1750, in which many of the musical innovations we take for granted today were invented. The orchestra; the overture, which led, ultimately, to the symphony; satisfying chord sequences, which gave music a forward momentum; modern tuning, which, for the first time, allowed composers to move from one key to any other they chose, and for different instruments to easily play together; the concerto, the oratorio, and, not least, the piano.
In an age when Newton put in place the basic laws of science, musicians did the same thing in music. No wonder, in an age that also saw great advances in clock-making, that much of the music of this period sounds like the whirring, clicking and ticking of an intricate, magical machine.
This was the age of Corelli, Vivaldi, and the Four Seasons, Bach, and Handel. Vivaldi developed a form of concerto where a charismatic solo violin was pitted against the rest of the orchestra. Bach was the master of counterpoint, the interweaving and layering of tunes. All Bach's music was composed to glorify God. To do so, not least in his monumental St John and St Matthew Passions, he wrote some of the most subtly complex, heartfelt music of all time. Handel, most famously in Messiah, brought all the techniques of the preceding hundred years to a brilliant pitch, in a work that was as crowd-pleasing - and patriotic - as it was sacred. The paying public had arrived on the scene, and music was to change profoundly.
Every popular song written today still draws on the techniques developed in this extraordinary age of invention.
| Queens of British Pop (1/2) |
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.
_____________________________________
Sunday 3rd February 2013
| The Story of British Pathe (1/4) |
For more than half a century, the film and newsreel company British Pathé documented almost every aspect of everyday life in Britain and around the world. Covering everything from major world events and exotic foreign travelogues to the pageantry of state occasions and gritty social issues, the company amassed a unique documentary record of 20th-century life. This series delves into British Pathé's amazing treasure trove of images, beginning with the work of the buccaneering cameramen behind Pathé's newsreels - men who witnessed pivotal moments in history and created many of the conventions of news programming that we still use today.
| Frank Sinatra: the Voice of the Century - Arena Special |
Acknowledged as one of the greatest singers of the twentieth century, Arena explores the rise of the legendary crooner Frank Sinatra from his early family background to overwhelming showbusiness success. Interviews with friends, family and associates reveal a star-studded career in music and film alongside a fascinating private life of four marriages, liaison with the Kennedy family, Las Vegas business interests and an alleged association with the Mafia.
_________________________
Monday 4th February 2013
| The Great Abortion Divide: Panorama |
Abortion is more controversial than ever, with pro-life activists challenging pregnant women as they try to enter clinics. Doctors in most of the UK are signing off terminations on questionable mental health grounds, while in Northern Ireland women and doctors risk life in prison over abortion. So is our legislation hopelessly outdated? Victoria Derbyshire investigates the great abortion divide and asks if it is time to change the law.
| Britain on Film |
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.
This episode examines Britain's ambiguous relationships with animals. Look at Life's coverage - which ranges from the fur trade, fox hunting and animal-based entertainments in circuses to our passion for pets - shows just how far attitudes to other species have shifted since the 1960s
| Storyville: Death on the Staircase - the Last Chance |
Storyville: Documentary which follows the dramatic hearing of a notorious murder case which split a family.
In the middle of the night of December 9th, 2001, wealthy novelist Michael Peterson called the emergency services in Durham, North Carolina, to tell them that he had just found his wife Kathleen unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. But when the police discovered the pool of blood around her body and the lacerations on her skull, they arrested Michael Peterson for murder.
Following a dramatic trial with shocking revelations about the accused, the subject of the original Death on the Staircase series, Peterson was convicted. Eight years later he is back seeking a re-trial following startling revelations about the prosecution's blood splatter expert's crucial evidence. Oscar-winning director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade picks up the case as Peterson makes a final bid to clear his name.
____________________________________
Tuesday 5th February 2013
| The Mary Berry Story (2/2) |
Intimate two-part documentary telling the story of cookery writer and broadcaster Mary Berry.
Join Mary as she marries, starts a family and finds bigger audiences for her recipes in cookbooks, magazines and on television. In this episode Mary is reunited with people who helped her along the way and shares fond memories of her family. After decades at the forefront of British food, she takes a step back from the limelight until The Great British Bake Off comes knocking and her brand of traditional and no-nonsense home cooking finds a whole new audience.
| Out of Jail and on the Streets |
With unprecedented access, this film uncovers the hidden world of public protection. Through the personal stories of probation officers, it explores how offenders are monitored, controlled and rehabilitated in everyday life, and how the public are protected from them.
This is the story of our protectors; the extraordinary professionals in the probation service who work with some of society's most troubled, damaged and dangerous people. They keep tabs on murderers and paedophiles, robbers and rapists, burglars and domestic abusers. It is their responsibility to stop them from hurting us.
But these offenders aren't behind bars; they're out and about, living free among us. So how are they controlled, and how are we kept safe?
| Grimefighters |
Series following the everyday lives of clean-up teams around Britain. In this edition, extreme cleaners Jonnie, Peter and Kyle are called in to clear a vacant Aberystwyth flat which has some hidden dangers. In Dagenham, sewer experts Bill and Simon are on a mission while enforcement officers Rob and Jenny inspect a horrendous grime scene. Narrated by John Sergeant.
________________________
Wednesday 6th February 2013
| Holiday Hit Squad (1/4) |
This series secures unique access to the toughest hotel inspectors in the business and explores how best to make sure holidays across the globe live up to their promise.
Angela Rippon spends the night on patrol with the Spanish police in the holiday resort of Magaluf, where she investigates the effects of holiday boozing and hears the real story from the professionals who have to deal with the consequences when things go too far.
Helen Skelton heads to Egypt to meet Linda, who had a hot air balloon accident on her trip of a lifetime. Left with 62 broken bones, can a tailor-made dream break breathe the magic back into Egypt for Linda, fearful of ever going on holiday again?
Meanwhile, Joe heads to the sunny Algarve, to check into a hotel that has been torn apart online, and calls in expert help to investigate the hidden horrors.
| Brain Doctors (1/3) |
The brain is the most complex and mysterious organ in the body and the neurosurgeons of Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital like Jay Jayamohan deal with brains which go badly wrong. Each year the hospital's Neurosurgery Department looks after 1,500 acutely ill patients, whose lives often hang in the balance for weeks or months.
This episode, we meet the families of two patients whose lives are hanging in that balance. Tracey, a midwife and mother of two, lies comatose with massive head injuries suffered in a car crash. Her husband John escaped the crash relatively unscathed and now sits constantly by her bed, willing her to open her eyes. Across the ward lies Martin, struck down by a mysterious virus which has rendered him unconscious and unable to breathe for himself. Every day, his wife of ten years, Lisa, checks for signs Martin is coming back to life. For doctors and patients, the neurosurgery department is a physically and mentally gruelling place to be.
| People Like Us (1/6) |
We meet for the first time the residents of Harpurhey in Manchester, which 10 years ago was named the most deprived place in Britain.
18-year-old Amber Wakefield’s family run the local launderette. Amber’s just finished college and was facing the prospect of a summer stuck in the ‘Wishy Washy’. Instead, she’s booked a fun-filled holiday to Magaluf with eight of her mates including best-friend Codie, who spends so much time at Amber’s house she’s practically one of the family. For Amber, it’ll be her first holiday without her parents, and for Codie, her very first time abroad. Amber’s mum Karen is worried by all the things she’s heard about Magaluf, but the girls are more concerned with getting some drinking practice in with a pre-holiday night on the town. How will they fare on their Spanish sunfest?
At the heart of the local area is Harpurhey Market, where we meet Jamie, 19, a discount DVD trader with a bit of a reputation as a ladies man. Two nights ago, Jamie unexpectedly proposed to his on/off girlfriend, Lucy. But Jamie’s mum is worried that her son doesn’t love really Lucy, and warns Jamie can’t be trusted to stay faithful. Can a leopard change its spots?
A mile down the road from the Wishy Washy launderette is a local newsagent owned by 26-year-old David and his boyfriend, also called David. By day, David works behind the shop counter, but by night, David transforms into his drag queen alter ego, Diana Dior. Diana’s a regular on the gay scene in Central Manchester, but David’s never dared to introduce her to the local community. Now he’s decided it's time for Diana to stop hiding above the newsagent. What will the locals make of Diana when she stages a drag show in a local pub?
_________________________________________
Thursday 7th February 2013
| How to Save a Life?: Tonight |
What would you do if someone collapsed in the street in front of you? Would you go to their aid? Would you know what to do? Each year in the UK, up to 140,000 people die in circumstances where basic first aid could have saved them. Fiona Foster meets Fabrice Muamba, the former Premier League footballer who survived a cardiac arrest - even though his heart stopped beating for over an hour. Fabrice now campaigns for first aid to be taught in all secondary schools. The first aid skills of three members of the public are put to the test, in an imaginary multiple-injury car crash.
| The Genius of Invention (3/4) |
Nothing has shrunk the globe more than our extraordinary ability to talk to one another across the oceans and continents. Episode three of The Genius of Invention reveals the fascinating chain of events that made such every-day miracles possible. It tells the story of the handful of extraordinary inventors and inventions who helped build the modern world by harnessing electricity and electromagnetism to enable us to send instant messages across vast distances.
Coming from the BT National Network Control Centre in Shropshire, Michael Mosley and academics, Prof Mark Miodownik and Dr Cassie Newland tell the amazing story of three more of the greatest and most transformative inventions of all time; the electric telegraph, the telephone and wireless communication.
Our experts explain how these inventions came about by sparks of inventive genius and steady incremental improvements. They separate myth from reality in the lives of the great inventors and celebrate some of the most remarkable stories in British history.
| This Week |
A political review of the week presented by Andrew Neil, with Michael Portillo and guests.
_____________________
Friday 8th February 2013
| First-Time Farmers (5/5) |
Henry has returned to work on the family farm after college, but he prioritises parties higher than his dad would like. Hayley is an award-winning pedigree pig breeder at just 18 years old.
When Albums Ruled the World
BBC4, 9.00pm - 10.30pm
Between the mid 1960s and the late 1970s, the long-playing record and the albums that graced its grooves changed popular music for ever. For the first time, musicians could escape the confines of the three-minute pop single and express themselves as never before across the expanded artistic canvas of the album. The LP allowed popular music become an art form - from the glorious artwork adorning gatefold sleeves, to the ideas and concepts that bound the songs together, to the unforgettable music itself.
Built on stratospheric sales of albums, these were the years when the music industry exploded to become bigger than Hollywood. From pop to rock, from country to soul, from jazz to punk, all of music embraced what 'the album' could offer. But with the collapse of vinyl sales at the end of the 70s and the arrival of new technologies and formats, the golden era of the album couldn't last forever.
With contributions from Roger Taylor, Ray Manzarek, Noel Gallagher, Guy Garvey, Nile Rodgers, Grace Slick, Mike Oldfield, Slash and a host of others, this is the story of When Albums Ruled the World.
| Newsnight |
In-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines with Mishal Husain.
