Saturday 29th - February4th

The Planets

Saturday 29 January
12:40am - 1:30am
BBC2 Northern Ireland

Destiny

8/8

How the solar system will evolve over the next four billion years, considering the effects of changes in the sun and what could happen if one of Neptune's moons formed a new ring system. The documentary also asks whether the future of mankind could depend on finding a solar system with a planet that resembles Earth. Last in the series.

Hey Mr Salinger
Saturday 29 January
10:30am - 11:00am
BBC Radio 4
Joanna Smith Rakoff discusses the year she spent working for writer JD Salinger answering his fan mail. Instead of sending out the standard reply her employer expected, she found herself drawn into the lives of the senders and began secretly to answer them. She rediscovers the letters she opened, meets the people who wrote them, and talks about Salinger’s reclusive nature.

Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons

Sunday 30 January
7:00pm - 8:00pm
BBC4

Historian Janina Ramirez investigates the development of Anglo-Saxon art. Examining the Sutton Hoo treasures, the Franks Casket, the Staffordshire Hoard and the Lindisfarne Gospels, she uncovers the secret codes and symbols that reveal the pagan past and Christian future of the Anglo-Saxon people, and discusses how their artistic development was brought to an end by the Norman Invasion of 1066.

Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle

Sunday 30 January
8:00pm - 9:00pm
BBC4

Travelling author Rob Penn embarks on a world-wide search for the best hand-built parts, with which he plans to build his dream bicycle. Along the way he charts the social history of the pedal-powered conveyance, and explains why it is one of humanity's greatest inventions.

Periodic Tales

Monday 31 January
9:45am - 10:00am
BBC Radio 4

1/5

Michael Maloney reads Hugh Aldersey-Williams' exploration of the elements through history, literature, science and art. He begins exploring how mankind has always sought to venerate the rare and the precious, being drawn to that which is bright and shiny - including gold and platinum. Abridged and produced by Jill Waters.

Brief Encounters - A World View of Cinema

Monday 31 January
3:00pm - 3:45pm
BBC Radio 4

Matthew Sweet is joined by Prof Ian Christie, Sandra Hebron, Stephen Woolley and Anil Sinanan to take an in-depth look at the film industry and cinemas around the world. The programme includes short features from cinemas all over the globe, from a Buddhist temple used for projections to the last big screen in Kashmir, as the debate examines the passion, problems and habits of film-goers.

 

Ego: The Strange and Wonderful World of Self-Portraits

Monday 31 January
7:30pm - 9:00pm
BBC4

Art critic Laura Cumming explores more than five centuries of self-portraits, including works by Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Warhol. Tracing the development of the genre, she finds out how the greatest names in western painting transformed themselves into their own masterpieces and uncovers the various ways in which the evolving form demonstrates what it means to be human.

 

Horizon: The Secret World of Pain

Monday 31 January
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC2 London

4/8

The latest research into one of the most mysterious and common human experiences - pain. Breakthroughs have come from studying Jonathan Metz, who cut off his own arm to survive after it became lodged in a furnace, and three generations of an Italian family who do not feel extreme temperatures. There is a report on a new treatment that involves a pioneering computer game, and the impact of moods and emotions on a person's body is explored.

Unreported World

Monday 31 January
11:35pm - 12:10am
More4

Sierra Leone: Insanity of War

4/10

Seyi Rhodes reports on the continuing psychological trauma resulting from Sierra Leone's civil war, which, despite the passing of 10 years, has led to an epidemic of mental illness. With an estimated 400,000 sufferers across the country, she finds traditional faith-based treatment has become big business.

The Call

Tuesday 01 February
9:30am - 9:45am
BBC Radio 4

1/5

New series. Dominic Arkwright meets people who have taken or made life-changing phone calls during times of great emotional strain. He begins by speaking to Alice Brooking, who was staying at a hotel in Gonesse, Paris, in 2000 when an Air France Concorde crashed into the building. She reveals how a conversation with her sister in London was cut short by the incident, but believes the call saved her life.

Periodic Tales

Tuesday 01 February
9:45am - 10:00am
BBC Radio 4

2/5

By Hugh Aldersey-Williams, abridged and produced by Jill Waters. While some elements such as chlorine, flourine, bromine and iodine play medicinal roles with varying degrees of effectiveness, others have the potential for harm - as Agatha Christie revealed when needing a fictional instrument of murder. Read by Michael Maloney.

Do We Really Need the Moon?

Tuesday 01 February
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC2 Northern Ireland

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock explores Earth's relationship with the moon, explaining why it is responsible for the ebb and flow of the tides, dictates the length of a day and provides a rhythm for the seasons. She also details how, despite once being closer to the planet, it is now perfectly placed to help sustain life - using computer-generated imagery to reveal what would happen if it were removed from the equation.

Hot Press: The Write Stuff

Tuesday 01 February
10:15pm - 11:15pm
RTE1

Documentary telling the story of the early years of Hot Press magazine, the fortnightly publication that is as comfortable exploring current affairs and pressing contemporary issues as it is reporting on the latest rising musicians.

Explosions: How We Shook the World

Tuesday 01 February
11:00pm - 12:00am
BBC4

Bang Goes the Theory presenter and engineer Jem Stansfield investigates the history of explosives. He re-creates an ancient Chinese alchemy accident, splits an atom in a home-built device, reveals the uses of gunpowder in mining, and visits a modern high-explosives factory.

Periodic Tales

Wednesday 02 February
9:45am - 10:00am
BBC Radio 4

3/5

By Hugh Aldersey-Williams, abridged and produced by Jill Waters. How elements have brought colour and drama to people's lives - from the bold pigments of art to the dramatic explosions of fireworks. Read by Michael Maloney.

 

The Secret History of Social Networking

Wednesday 02 February
11:00am - 11:30am
BBC Radio 4

2/3

Rory Cellan-Jones examines how social networks became big in the early 2000s and spread to the general public. With more and more people using the internet for socialising, entrepreneurs saw an opportunity for business and soon sites like Bebo and MySpace gained millions of users, before being overtaken by Facebook, the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg.

Behind the Beat

Wednesday 02 February
2:30pm - 3:00pm
BBC Radio 7

Documentary examining the emotional responses repetitive beats can evoke in people, discovering how they can cause comfort or terror in different circumstances. Featuring contributions from people whose lives are defined by rhythm, including a watchmaker, a heart surgeon and a drummer.

Four Thought: Once Upon a Future

Wednesday 02 February
8:45pm - 9:00pm
BBC Radio 4

1/6

New series. In the first of six unscripted talks by eminent thinkers recorded live at the RSA in London, Susan Greenfield discusses her life's work and fulfilling her ambitions.

 

The Secret Life of Waves

Wednesday 02 February
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC4

Documentary-maker David Malone delves into the secrets of ocean waves. In an elegant and original film he finds that waves are not made of water, that some waves travel sideways and that the sound of the ocean comes not from water but from bubbles. Waves are not only beautiful but also profoundly important, and there is a surprising connection between the life cycle of waves and the life of human beings.

Dive, Dive, Dive!

Wednesday 02 February
10:00pm - 11:00pm
BBC4

Robert Llewellyn investigates the appeal of submarine films, travelling along the River Medway to find a beached Cold War Russian nuclear vessel, and visiting abandoned World War Two German U-boat pens on the French coast. He recalls the events that inspired movies including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Hunt for Red October, and reveals the role played by Walt Disney in promoting atomic submarines.

Periodic Tales

Thursday 03 February
9:45am - 10:00am
BBC Radio 4

4/5

By Hugh Aldersey-Williams, abridged and produced by Jill Waters. The author explores further adventures among the building blocks of the universe, examining the brilliant whiteness of calcium, from bones to buildings. Read by Michael Maloney.

A Coat, a Hat and a Gun

Thursday 03 February
11:30am - 12:00pm
BBC Radio 4

Harriett Gilbert examines the life and legacy of Raymond Chandler, the British author whose character Philip Marlowe became the archetypal American detective. This re-examination of the crime writer analyses his writing and his love-hate relationship with Hollywood. With contributions by Sarah Dunant, Professor John Sutherland, David Thomson and David Fine.

The Value of a Degree: Tonight

Thursday 03 February
7:30pm - 8:00pm
ITV1 London

University fees are set to treble and the graduate unemployment rate is the highest for 17 years. Fiona Foster investigates courses for which students could be getting into debt and asks whether a degree helps with getting a better job or a higher salary.

Cannabis: What's the Harm?

Thursday 03 February
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC3

2/2

Part two of two. Former EastEnders star James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler) explores the hidden world of organised crime linked to the supply of marijuana in Britain. He joins a drug squad and the UK Border Agency as they try to catch smugglers, and meets casualties of the trade, including a 14-year-old addict with convictions for burglary and a Vietnamese teenager smuggled into the country to work on cannabis farms.

Mark Lawson Talks to Gilbert & George

Thursday 03 February
10:00pm - 11:00pm
BBC4

Controversial artists Proesch and George Passmore talk about their lives and careers. They share with Mark Lawson details of how they met at St Martin's School of Art in 1967 and the formation of their partnership, which has produced works ranging from photo-pieces and the Dirty Word Pictures to their latest Postcard exhibition. The duo also discuss how their output is intended to challenge the art world through the themes of identity, sex, class and nationality.

Periodic Tales

Friday 04 February
9:45am - 10:00am
BBC Radio 4

5/5

By Hugh Aldersey-Williams, abridged and produced by Jill Waters. The author concludes his examination of what lies beyond the periodic table with a look at elemental discoveries and element tourism. Read by Michael Maloney.

In Pursuit of Happiness

Friday 04 February
11:00am - 11:30am
BBC Radio 4

Claudia Hammond examines the Government's proposed plans to measure the nation's happiness, asking whether positivity and a sense of wellbeing are qualities that can be taught. She learns how the scheme is intended to act as an alternative indicator of the country's progress, an idea that has caused some controversy, and discovers whether a happy person can really become more successful.