BBC Four HD

The Unseen Alistair Cooke

A look at Alistair Cooke, the iconic broadcaster whose Letter from America filled Radio 4’s schedule for 58 years.

Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments

Fred Dibnah, the steeplejack, heads out to Britain’s engineering wonders, dropping by Warwick, Edinburgh and Conwy to see how each fortress came to be.

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast

Julia Bradbury is out in Swaledale, Yorkshire, tackling the 22‑mile stretch Wainwright charted – a blend of valley floor and breezy moorland. [S,AD] [HD]

Khartoum - Storyville

Storyville’s documentary paints a picture of Sudan’s turmoil, tracking five people living in Khartoum as they try to carve out a bit of freedom while the country’s revolution and war rage on. [S] [HD]

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments

Fred Dibnah heads to Hampton Court Palace and takes a look at a 15th‑century manor house.

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast

Episode five of the documentary follows Julia Bradbury as she departs Richmond and makes her way across the vale that connects the Dales to her final destination, the North York Moors.

My Garden of a Thousand Bees

Martin Dohrn, a wildlife filmmaker, can’t get enough of bees. He’s

100 Great Paintings: Stubbs - The Grosvenor Hunt

A quick intro to John Stubbs’s 18th‑century masterpiece The Grosvenor Hunt, written and voiced by John Jacob.

Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies

Part two finds Jim Al‑Khalili showing you the grandest scales of the cosmos, starting with our own solar system and stretching out

This Life

Series 3, episode 11 of This Life sees Egg handling a medical negligence case and getting drawn into the life of a client who’s fighting cancer. Expect some strong language, so mind the swearing. [S]

This Life

Episode 4 of 11 – Delilah lingers past her welcome and Anna resorts to some sneaky tactics to get her way. Strong language and a bit of sexual content.

Vasa: The Ghost Ship

Vasa: The Ghost Ship follows archaeologists, divers and historians as they uncover fresh insights about the 17th‑century Swedish galleon that was raised from the Baltic in 1961. The film lets you exp…

The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins

A look at a 1960s project that tried to get a dolphin to speak English – it’s a fascinating bit of science history, though a few of the scenes might be a bit upsetting. [S,AD] [HD]

Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments

Fred Dibnah heads to Hampton Court Palace and takes a look at a 15th‑century manor house.

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast

Episode five of the documentary follows Julia Bradbury as she departs Richmond and makes her way across the vale that connects the Dales to her final destination, the North York Moors.

Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies

Jim Al‑Khalili takes you on a tour of the universe’s extremes, from the tiniest atoms and insects up to sprawling networks of galaxies. The series is split into “Going Small” and “Going Big”, showing…

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments

Fred Dibnah, the steeplejack, roams the UK taking in engineering highlights – from Preston and County Durham to St Paul’s Cathedral and York Minster. [S]

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast

Julia Bradbury finishes the Coast‑to‑Coast trek at Robin Hood’s Bay after crossing the North York Moors and moving through Eskdale. This is the last episode of the six‑part series that follows Wainwr…

Stonehenge: A Timewatch Guide

1/4. Alice Roberts uses old footage to reveal how Britain’s top historians and archaeologists have argued

Julian Barnes: Beyond the Page

Julian Barnes joins Katie Razzall for a chat about his writing journey, his constant fascination with death, why he chose to call this his last novel

The Sense of an Ending

Tony Webster, a half‑retired photographer running a picture shop, is handed a puzzling inheritance. The film includes strong language and a few adult scenes. [2017] [S] [HD]

Mark Lawson Talks to Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes, the award‑winning author, joins Mark Lawson to talk about his book Levels of Life – a memoir that deals with loss. He gets honest about love, death, memory and grief. From 2014. [S] [H…

My Garden of a Thousand Bees

Martin Dohrn, a wildlife filmmaker, can’t get enough of bees. He’s

Fred Dibnah's Magnificent...

Fred heads to Preston, County Durham, before checking out St Paul’s Cathedral and York Minster in the third instalment of Monuments: Places of Worship.

Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast

Julia Bradbury finishes the Coast‑to‑Coast trek at Robin Hood’s Bay after crossing the North York Moors and moving through Eskdale. This is the last episode of the six‑part series that follows Wainwr…

Stonehenge: A Timewatch Guide

Alice Roberts dives into archive footage to reveal the many ways Britain’s top historians and archaeologists have read and argued about Stonehenge. [S,AD,SL] [HD]

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

TOTP: 1999

Gail Porter fronts the pop chart show that went out on 25 June 1999, playing tracks from S

TOTP: 1999

Gail Porter hosts this pop‑chart special, first aired on 2 July 1999. The show presents the year’s biggest hits, with performances by the Vengaboys, Whitney Houston, The Three Amigos, Suede, A1, Jenn…

TOTP: 1978

Peter Powell hosts a line‑up that includes Suzi Quatro, Dan Hill, Elvis Costello, The Vibrators, Kate Bush, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gerry Rafferty, Manhattan Transfer and Legs & Co. [S]

TOTP: 1988

Peter Powell teams up with Simon Bates to front the 24 March 1988 pop chart show, featuring tracks from Sinitta, a‑ha, Wet Wet Wet, Iron Maiden, Tiffany and Aswad.

Elkie Brooks at the BBC

To celebrate her 80th, Elkie Brooks looks back at a handful of her top BBC performances, featuring classics like Pearl's a Singer, No More the Fool and Lilac Wine. [S] [HD]

Elkie Brooks: Sight and Sound in Concert

Elkie Brooks performed live at the Hippodrome in Golders Green back in 1977, the show being aired at the same time as Radio 1. It kicks off with a special intro from Annie Nightingale.

Elkie Brooks: In Concert 1987

Recorded for the BBC at Birmingham’s NEC, Elkie Brooks delivers a mix of rock tracks and mellow ballads.

Elkie Brooks in Concert 1987

The second half of the gig has Elkie tackling fresh tracks and beloved numbers, including Lilac Wine, Don’t Cry Out Loud and Gasoline Alley.

TOTP: 1999

Gail Porter fronts the pop chart show that went out on 25 June 1999, playing tracks from S

TOTP: 1999

Gail Porter hosts this pop‑chart special, first aired on 2 July 1999. The show presents the year’s biggest hits, with performances by the Vengaboys, Whitney Houston, The Three Amigos, Suede, A1, Jenn…

TOTP: 1978

Peter Powell hosts a line‑up that includes Suzi Quatro, Dan Hill, Elvis Costello, The Vibrators, Kate Bush, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gerry Rafferty, Manhattan Transfer and Legs & Co. [S]

TOTP: 1988

Peter Powell teams up with Simon Bates to front the 24 March 1988 pop chart show, featuring tracks from Sinitta, a‑ha, Wet Wet Wet, Iron Maiden, Tiffany and Aswad.

Elkie Brooks: Sight and Sound in Concert

Elkie Brooks performed live at the Hippodrome in Golders Green back in 1977, the show being aired at the same time as Radio 1. It kicks off with a special intro from Annie Nightingale.

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

..programmes start at 7.00pm

This is BBC Four

The schedule kicks off at 7 pm, broadcast in HD.

The Good Old Days

The Good Old Days is a nostalgic music‑hall revue that recreates the Victorian‑Edwardian variety stage. It has period costumes and a crowd‑sing‑along. Leonard Sachs hosts, introducing acts such as Ro…

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates

In this instalment Hetty joins a local quilt‑making circle to find out who’s terrorising the housing estate. Patricia Routledge plays the retiree, with Derek Benfield as her husband Robert and a youn…

Angela Rippon: Portrait

Angela Rippon sits for artist Paul Wyeth, who jokes he’s put his head “very much on the chopping block” by agreeing to paint the broadcasting legend. The 24‑minute 1979 film shows the portrait sessio…

Hidden Assets

A tragic raid in Dublin uncovers a link to murders in Spain, sending the Criminal Assets Bureau—led by Claire Wallace (Simone Kirby)—after a ruthless criminal. The team is thrust into a gritty chase,…

Hidden Assets

In episode 4 of Hidden Assets the hunt for the missing €27 million goes sideways when Bruno is grabbed at the Sanihaz medical‑waste site and starts pointing the finger at a family member as the real …

Parkinson

Michael Parkinson’s long‑running chat show puts him face‑to‑face with Gillian Anderson, Paul O’Grady and Paul Whitehouse. Madness

Keeping Up Appearances

Series 6, episode 6. Hyacinth is keen on a christening, but she loses her sparkle when it's Daisy’s family turning up, while Richard puts up with his wife’s high‑falutin ways as usual.