Freeview 9 · Sky 116 · 85 programmes this week
BBC Four is the BBC's arts, culture and documentary channel. It broadcasts music performances, archive television, history documentaries and international drama. Available on Freeview and Sky. Much of its content is also available on BBC iPlayer.
Freeview 9 · Sky 116
15 programmes
Fred Dibnah examines the skill of Britain’s shipbuilders and machine engineers who helped turn the country into a manufacturing powerhouse. He leads viewers into shipyards and workshops, pointing out…
Archaeologist Ben Robinson walks you through London’s hidden, village‑like neighbourhoods—Crouch End, Walthamstow and others—and shows that the capital is really a patchwork of tiny villages. He also…
Dan Cruickshank guides you through the rise and fall of the 19th‑century Scott dynasty—Sir George Gilbert Scott, his son George Junior and grandson Giles. They left a huge imprint on Britain’s archit…
The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.
Top of the Pops returns on 10 September 1999, hosted by Gail Porter. The episode includes performances by Martine McCutcheon, Shania Twain, boy‑band A1, The Offspring, DJ Jean and Lou Bega. It gives …
Emma Ledden fronts this Top of the Pops episode from 17 September 1999, presenting the week’s chart hits. You’ll hear Supergrass, Thunderbugs, The All Seeing I featuring Phil Oakey, Suede and the Ven…
Back in ’83 Top of the Pops hit its 1,000th show, and this clip rolls out the chart hits with Richard Skinner and Janice Long at the helm. You’ll see Culture Club, The Human League, FR David, Heaven …
Mark Goodier hosts the Top of the Pops episode that aired on 21 April 1994. The show plays Crash Test Dummies, Bitty McLean, C.J. Lewis, The Pretenders, Crystal Waters, Deacon Blue and Prince. It off…
Prince and His Songs at the BBC is a 59‑minute mash‑up of the Purple One’s best BBC performances, woven together with covers by Beyoncé, Muse, Tom Jones, The Bangles, Pink, Alicia Keys, Michael Kiwan…
Prince and The Revolution: Live is the legendary 30 March 1985 Syracuse Carrier Dome concert from the Purple Rain tour, now fully remixed, remastered and visually upgraded. You'll hear Prince and his…
14 programmes
A concise roundup of 1980s African‑American pop acts, pulled from the BBC’s vaults. You’ll see Cameo, Shalamar, Salt‑n‑Pepa, Chaka Khan, Kid Creole, Doug E Fresh, Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross …
Top of the Pops returns on 10 September 1999, hosted by Gail Porter. The episode includes performances by Martine McCutcheon, Shania Twain, boy‑band A1, The Offspring, DJ Jean and Lou Bega. It gives …
Emma Ledden fronts this Top of the Pops episode from 17 September 1999, presenting the week’s chart hits. You’ll hear Supergrass, Thunderbugs, The All Seeing I featuring Phil Oakey, Suede and the Ven…
Back in ’83 Top of the Pops hit its 1,000th show, and this clip rolls out the chart hits with Richard Skinner and Janice Long at the helm. You’ll see Culture Club, The Human League, FR David, Heaven …
Mark Goodier hosts the Top of the Pops episode that aired on 21 April 1994. The show plays Crash Test Dummies, Bitty McLean, C.J. Lewis, The Pretenders, Crystal Waters, Deacon Blue and Prince. It off…
Catrin Heledd begins live coverage from the Crucible Theatre as defending champion Zhao Xintong wraps up his first‑round match. Snooker fans can watch every pot and see who moves on to the next round.
Legendary ex‑world champion Steve Davis returns to Sheffield’s Crucible for the 40th anniversary of the World Snooker Championship. He talks with snooker greats Dennis Taylor, Stephen Hendry and Jimm…
On Cue with Steve Davis revisits the 1985 World Snooker final, where Davis faced Dennis Taylor in the famous black‑ball finish. Davis breaks down the frames, the tension, and what it meant for the sp…
11 programmes
Keeping Up Appearances is a BBC sitcom that follows Patricia Routledge’s Hyacinth Bucket as she stages a candle‑light supper to impress her neighbour Emmet with a song, only for everything to go pear…
Timothy Lumsden (Ronnie Corbett) finally gets a night off when his parents head off on a second honeymoon, so he throws a party hoping to charm Veronica Straddles. With mum Phyllis (Barbara Lott) and…
Legendary ex‑world champion Steve Davis returns to Sheffield’s Crucible for the 40th anniversary of the World Snooker Championship. He talks with snooker greats Dennis Taylor, Stephen Hendry and Jimm…
The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.
Live coverage of day 2 of the World Snooker Championship from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The world's best cueists face off in the early rounds, delivering tense frames and possible upsets. Id…
Northern Soul at the Proms is a one‑off BBC Proms concert that brings the raw 60s‑70s American soul that sparked an all‑night dance craze in the North up to the Royal Albert Hall. Curated by radio gu…
11 programmes
Discovering the Music of Antiquity follows musical historians as they piece together a 2,400‑year‑old Greek score found in the Louvre, credited to Carcinus, a composer Aristotle once mentioned. Using…
Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India to trace the birth of the Buddha’s ideas and how his teachings reshaped thinking over the centuries. She connects the Buddha with thinkers such as Socrates a…
Richard E. Grant wanders the French Côte d’Azur, tracing the lives and loves of Cézanne, Monet, Renoir and Matisse as they turned the Riviera into a painter’s playground. The series has a visual tour…
Live coverage of day 3 of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The top players return to the green baize, each tries to gain an edge as the knockout stages heat up. Wa…
Archaeologist Dr Fraser Hunter takes you from the first Roman camps in Scotland to the siege at Burnswark, covering three centuries of conflict. He explains how the Romans, at the height of their pow…
12 programmes
Art That Made Us dives into the 16th‑century religious upheaval and the bold, sometimes shocking art it produced. The BBC Two documentary brings together the works and ideas that reshaped Britain, wi…
Art historians Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke zip around Amsterdam, pointing out Rembrandt’s masterpieces at the Rijksmuseum, the cheeky scenes of Jan Steen and the city’s oldest surviving Jewi…
Dallas Campbell investigates how the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun died. He uses CT scans and DNA analysis on the fragile remains. The film shows the first clear image of the king’s corpse and presents a t…
"Art That Made Us" looks at how the 16th‑century religious upheaval sparked radical art. It brings together the work of key artists and the social context, with plenty of images that some might find …
The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.
Live coverage of day 4 of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Watch the world’s best players face off in tense, high‑skill matches. All in crisp HD.
Speechless: The Pendulum Swings is the second half of a Storyville documentary about the freedom‑of‑speech battles on US university campuses. It follows students, faculty and activists as they deal w…
12 programmes
Horizon follows an international team of volcanologists in Iceland as they draw fascinating parallels between the volcanoes on Earth and those elsewhere in the solar system. [S] [HD]
Film exploring the extraordinary impact of escapologist Harry Houdini in the early 20th century. Featuring restored archive footage and interviews with historians and illusionists. [S]
Nuclear physicist Jim Al-Khalili uncovers the story of the Sellafield nuclear facility. [S,SL] [HD]
The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.
Coverage of day 5 of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. [S] [HD]
11/11. Tensions mount as jealousy, lust and shame combine to test the five flatmates. Contains some strong language and some scenes of a sexual nature. [S]
The life of the most glamorous plane ever built, as told by the people whose lives she touched. Narrated by Sophie Okonedo. [S] [HD]
10 programmes
Horizon follows an international team of volcanologists in Iceland as they draw fascinating parallels between the volcanoes on Earth and those elsewhere in the solar system. [S] [HD]
The life of the most glamorous plane ever built, as told by the people whose lives she touched. Narrated by Sophie Okonedo. [S,SL] [HD]
The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.
Coverage of day 6 of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. [S] [HD]
A puritan police sergeant arrives on a remote Scottish isle to find a missing girl, but the pagan locals claim she never existed. The film stars Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento and Br…