BBC Four
The Race for the World's First Atomic Bomb, BBC FourTuesday, 11 August 2015
Haste was of the essence as the Allies hurried to create the ultimate weapon. They were fearful that Hitler’s Germany, which had been first to split the atom, would beat them to it – and they knew that the Nazis would have no compunction about using... Read more... |
10 Questions for Broadcaster Bettany HughesSunday, 26 July 2015
How do you live a good life? Is wealth a good thing? How do you create a just society? The United Kingdom's electorate recently pondered such questions in the polling booth, and made their decision. The Labour Party is agonising over them as it... Read more... |
Rock 'n' Roll America, BBC FourSaturday, 04 July 2015
One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock rock… For those who orchestrated the swing from blues to rock ‘n’ roll, it’s getting late. Like the Chelsea pensioners, their numbers are beginning to dwindle and, as time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping... Read more... |
Dan Cruickshank's Civilisation Under Attack, BBC FourWednesday, 01 July 2015
This was one of the most disturbing, terrifying and informative programmes imaginable, made more so by Dan Cruickshank’s calm demeanour as he interrogated everyone from scholars to fanatics about the actions and rationale of the Islamic State (IS)... Read more... |
Glastonbury Golden Greats, BBC FourSaturday, 20 June 2015
Sunday afternoon at Glastonbury is an odd time. For some it means carrying on carrying on, trying to wring the very last drops out of the weekend and putting off the inevitable, stomach-churning lurch that will signal a nosedive into a colossal... Read more... |
Thomas Chatterton: The Myth of the Doomed Poet, BBC FourTuesday, 16 June 2015
The young casualty of genius fires imaginations and fills coffers. Last year Dylan Thomas’s centenary was vastly celebrated. The Amy Winehouse industry is still shifting units. The spell cast by Sylvia Plath seems not to diminish. A Janis Joplin... Read more... |
When Pop Ruled My Life, BBC FourFriday, 29 May 2015
A long time ago I went out into the field to research a feature about the three ages of obsessive fandom. At the entry level was a bog-standard legion of young teenage girls who simply hung around outside the mansion block in Maida Vale where one or... Read more... |
1864, BBC FourSunday, 17 May 2015
They must have run out of contemporary Danes to bump off, or coalition governments to form. 1864 is something completely different from Danish national broadcaster DR, and it’s safe to presume it wouldn’t have made it onto British TV without a prior... Read more... |
Je t'aime: The Story of French Song, BBC FourSaturday, 16 May 2015
The problem with many music documentaries is that they suffer from over-familiarity. In a bid to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, they end up spreading themselves too thinly on an area already well covered. Viewers tune in and, largely... Read more... |
Tales From the Tour Bus: Rock 'n' Roll on the Road, BBC FourSaturday, 25 April 2015
This latest Friday night vehicle for archive footage and pop performances was the tour bus, as BBC4 invited us to hop into the back of the van for a quick spin through the "golden age" of touring rock bands (which the producers clearly felt ended... Read more... |
BBC Young Dancer 2015, BBC FourSaturday, 18 April 2015
Lest the BBC Four imprint prove not strong enough a signal, I'll say it loud and clear: don't go into this expecting Strictly, kids. On the evidence of last night's contemporary dance showdown, the first of four section finals, the brand new BBC... Read more... |
Written By Mrs Bach, BBC FourSaturday, 21 March 2015
The Australian musician and musicologist Martin Jarvis, connected with Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, has been obsessed for the past 25 years with proving that Anna Magdalena Wilcke, Johann Sebastian Bach’s second wife, was not... Read more... |
