Sat 5th March – Fri 11th

Visual Arts

The Story of Slapstick

Saturday 05 March

6:00pm - 7:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

Charting the evolution of physical comedy and examining the continuing popularity of the genre, from silent films to sketches and sitcoms. The programme explores the craft of Charlie Chaplin, the surrealism of Monty Python, the roller-skating scene from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and the violent anarchy of Bottom, with analysis from Vic Reeves, Mathew Horne, Reece Shearsmith, Ben Miller and Sally Phillips. Narrated by Miranda Hart.

Something Understood

Sunday 06 March

6:05am - 6:35am

BBC Radio 4

Abraham

Mark Tully explores the significance of Abraham in Judaism, Islam and Christianity, accompanied by composer Steve Reich and video artist Beryl Korot, whose collaborative piece The Cave examines what Abraham means to modern-day Israelis, Palestinians and Americans.

Rolf on Welsh Art

Wednesday 09 March

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC1 Wales

Graham Sutherland

4/4, series 1

Rolf Harris explores the life and work of painter Graham Sutherland, who in the 1930s and 40s became one of the most famous artists in the world. Rolf enjoys the beauty of stretches of West Wales coastline before imitating one of Sutherland's most challenging abstract paintings. Last in the series.

Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons

Wednesday 09 March

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC Four

Historian Dr Nina 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.

When Peter Capaldi Met John Byrne

Tuesday 08 March

10:00pm - 10:30pm

BBC2 Scotland

The actor and director meets artist and playwright John Byrne at the Glasgow School of Art, where they both studied, to discuss the paths they have followed. The pair discuss work including Byrne's dramas The Slab Boys and Tutti Frutti, and Capaldi's journey from the youth of Local Hero in 1983 to the foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It.

Civilisation

Wednesday 09 March

10:00pm - 10:50pm

BBC HD

The Hero as Artist

5/13

Art historian Kenneth Clark explores how Pope Julius II sponsored artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, visiting the gardens and courtyards of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.

The Wales Window of Alabama

Thursday 10 March

11:30am - 12:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Gary Younge examines the story of a stained-glass window that was made by sculptor John Petts to be installed in a church in Birmingham, Alabama. The building was destroyed by anti-civil rights bombers in 1963, taking the lives of four girls with it, but following a Welsh fundraising effort, the artist was commissioned to create the window, which depicts Christ as a black man.

Framing Wales: Art in the 20th Century

Thursday 10 March

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC2 Wales

3/4

Kim Howells explores Welsh art in the 1940s, discovering how the Second World War had a lasting effect through artists like Josef Herman and Heinz Koppel. He also examines the influence of Ceri Richards, the Cardiff School of Art and the Rhondda group.

Culture

Civilization: Is the West History?

Sunday 06 March

8:00pm - 9:00pm

Channel 4

A Tale of Two Rivers

1/6

New series. Historian Niall Ferguson explores the West's rise to global dominance, and asks whether its ascendancy is coming to an end. His study begins in 1420, when China's Ming dynasty seemed the most advanced society in the world, while England was preoccupied with the Wars of the Roses. However, China's inflexible system of governance could not translate technological superiority into economic growth, whereas Europe's political divisions created an atmosphere of intense competition.

The Essay

Monday 07 March

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Age of Creativity

1/5

A week of programmes exploring how ageing affects creative artists. Five writers, composers and poets look back at their creative lives and measure the benefits of wisdom against the grim reality of mortality, beginning with screenwriter Colin Shindler.

The Narrowcasters

Tuesday 08 March

9:30am - 9:45am

BBC Radio 4

Teachers TV

1/5

New series. Nigel Cassidy highlights the work of the broadcasters behind some of Europe's unusual minority TV stations, revealing the benefits of their efforts and the merits of the programmes they make. He begins by meeting programme-makers from Teachers TV.

The Call

Tuesday 01 March

9:30am - 9:45am

BBC Radio 4

5/5

Dominic Arkwright talks to Professor Peter French on the science of forensic acoustics, including speaker profiling, voice line-ups and sound enhancement. Last in the series.

The Essay

Tuesday 08 March

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Age of Creativity

2/5

Painter Tess Jaray looks back at her creative life and measures the benefits of wisdom against the grim reality of mortality.

The Essay

Wednesday 09 March

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Age of Creativity

3/5

Crime writer Frances Fyfield looks back at her creative life and measures the benefits of wisdom against the grim reality of mortality.

The Essay

Thursday 10 March

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Age of Creativity

4/5

Poet Maureen Duffy looks back at her creative life and measures the benefits of wisdom against the grim reality of mortality.

The Essay

Friday 11 March

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Age of Creativity

5/5

Composer Francis Pott looks back at his creative life and measures the benefits of wisdom against the grim reality of mortality.

Psychology / Society

How Drugs Work

Wednesday 09 March

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC3

Cocaine

3/3

Documentary using computer graphics to journey inside the body and brain of three cocaine users over the course of one night, exploring how the drug induces its highs and lows. The film meets a 17-year-old who needed a pacemaker fitting after the narcotic led to a heart attack and follows a patient requiring nose surgery as a result of too many lines of coke. Last in the series.

Science / Nature

In Doubt We Trust

Sunday 06 March

1:30pm - 2:00pm

BBC Radio 4

1/2

Part one of two. Mark Vernon considers the role of doubt and questioning. He begins by asking whether society's hunger for certainty has weakened its attitudes toward key aspects of modern life, and explores how science, philosophy and religion all feature lessons highlighting the importance of challenging oneself and the outside world.

Genius Unrecognised

Sunday 06 March

2:45pm - 3:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Michael Faraday (1791-1867)

2/5, series 1

Tony Hill visits the Royal Institution to tell the story of Michael Faraday's struggle to get the scientific community to take his ideas about electric power seriously. Despite first building an electric motor in 1821, it would take several decades before investors had the confidence to support his inventions.

Attenborough and the Giant Egg

Sunday 06 March

5:20pm - 6:20pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

David Attenborough returns to Madagascar to see how the island has changed in the 50 years since his first visit and to search for more clues about one of his most treasured possessions - the egg of an elephant bird, an ostrich-like creature that weighed half a ton. Scientists perform tests to determine the age of the egg, as the naturalist discovers whether the story of the bird's extinction can shed light on what is happening on the island today.

Wonders of the Universe

Sunday 06 March

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

Destiny

1/4

New series. Professor Brian Cox explores how the development of mankind and the history of the universe are intertwined, visiting dramatic locations around the world to illustrate the fundamental scientific principles that govern the laws of nature. He begins by investigating time, charting the evolution of the cosmos and explaining why the universe must one day come to an end.

Calibrated Conundrums

Tuesday 08 March

11:00am - 11:30am

BBC Radio 4

Lynne Truss embarks on a mission to unpick confusing scientific language, suggesting that many researchers used language to lend authority to their practice. Along the way, she reveals while cosmetics advertisements use terms such as `derma' instead of skin to legitimise their products, and takes part in an unusual test at the Science Museum in London.

It Is Rocket Science

Wednesday 09 March

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 4

1/4

New series. A light-hearted account of the history of the science of rockets and the people who devised them, beginning with an exploration of the achievements of Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, Robert H Goddard and Hermann Oberth. Performed by Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane.

Fingerprints on Trial

Thursday 10 March

9:00pm - 9:30pm

BBC Radio 4

Claudia Hammond investigates the reliability of fingerprint evidence. She hears from people whose prints have been identified in error and who faced imprisonment for a crime they did not commit, and critics who believe the forensic procedures are unverifiable and that there is complacency about the need for change. She also talks to people within the fingerprint community, who claim that in the majority of cases the method is trustworthy and safe.

Irish Interest

Emerald Noir: The Rise of Irish Crime Fiction

Tuesday 08 March

11:30am - 12:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Novelist Val McDermid explores the surge in interest in crime fiction in Ireland, investigating the ways violence and economic conditions on both sides of the border have informed the genre - particularly its villains. She explores the works of authors including Tana French, Eoin McNamee, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Staurt Neville and Declan Hughes, and Crime Always Pays blogger Declan Burke provides a tour of Dublin locales featured in their tales.

The Story of Ireland

Tuesday 08 March

10:15pm - 11:25pm

RTE1

4/5

Fergal Keane explores the country's cultural, economic and social history, documenting its role on the international stage.

Sat 26th Feb - Fri 4th March

Visual Arts

Forget the Oscars, Here Are the Kermodes

Saturday 26 February

6:30pm - 7:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

Film critic Mark Kermode presents an alternative ceremony as the 83rd Academy Awards draw near, offering accolades to the cinematic talent he believes will be overlooked at the Oscars. He also offers an insight into how the awards season works, with a masterclass on how to win a statuette and a breakdown of what it is worth.

A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss

Saturday 26 February

11:25pm - 12:25am

BBC Four

Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood

1/3

The League of Gentlemen star celebrates horror films, beginning with those produced during the golden age of Hollywood. He finds out how the succession of classic pictures that were made from the 1920s to 1940s defined the genre, and explores the threat posed by the rise of science fiction movies in the post-war atomic era. Among the films examined are Phantom of the Opera, Dracula and Frankenstein.

A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss

Sunday 27 February

12:25am - 1:25am

BBC Four

Home Counties Horror

2/3

The League of Gentlemen star turns his attention to the mainly British movies of the 1950s and 60s, which were dominated by Hammer Films made in the English Home Counties. He meets key figures from the production company to find out why its works conquered the world, the excessive emphasis on sex that contributed to its decline, and talks to actress Barbara Shelley and actor David Warner about their horror appearances.

A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss

Sunday 27 February

1:25am - 2:25am

BBC Four

The American Scream

3/3

The actor concludes his study by focusing on the American movies produced in the late 1960s and 1970s, including Night of the Living Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He explores how they were often made by pioneering independent film-makers and reflected social upheaval, and gets the inside story from well-known directors of the genre George A Romero, Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter. Last in the series.

The Chaplin Archive

Monday 28 February

11:00am - 11:30am

BBC Radio 4

2/2

Conclusion. Writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet meets Kate Guyonvarch, the director of Charlie Chaplin's family estate. The pair explore the vast archive of the actor's unpublished work that has been barely touched by scholars and researchers, to reveal a man who came to represent the spirit of his age.

The Beauty of Books

Monday 28 February

8:30pm - 9:00pm

BBC Four

Paperback Writer

4/4

A look at the emergence of paperback cover design in the 20th century and how it became a way of selling a book in the mass market. The programme looks at the changing designs on novels such as George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, drawing in new readers by reflecting each decade, as well as the advent of electronic readers and how novels face more scrutiny as they compete with technology. Last in the series.

The Miner in Art

Monday 28 February

7:00pm - 7:30pm

BBC2 Wales

Exploring the world of the miner in art, featuring some of the greatest Welsh artists who painted the faces and the families of the South Wales coalfields. Narrated by Eve Myles.

Lanyon's Last Flight

Tuesday 01 March

11:30am - 12:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Michael Bird explores Peter Lanyon's creative journey, focusing on Thermal, part of a retrospective exhibition of his works at the Tate St Ives. He reveals how the Cornish painter's famous piece was inspired by his passion for gliding, a hobby that ultimately claimed his life after he died of injuries sustained in a 1964 crash. Includes contributions by Lanyon's sons, and archive appreciations by abstract expressionist Mark Rothko and poet WS Graham.

3 Minute Wonder: The Filmmakers of Kabul

Tuesday 01 March

1:10pm - 1:15pm

More4

Sunglasses

1/4

Short film highlighting modern issues in Afghanistan. Director Mustafa Kia examines the clash between the country's traditional cultures and its growing westernisation, summarising the struggle through the story of a woman and her desire to buy a pair of sunglasses.

1:15pm - 1:20pm

More4

Afghan Film Archive

2/4

The head of the Afghan national archive directs a tribute to the film workers who risked their lives saving pieces of the collection from destruction at the hands of the Taliban.

1:20pm - 1:25pm

More4

Kabul Traffic

3/4

Wahid Nazzir reveals the challenges involved in navigating the streets of Kabul, which are gridlocked with taxis, military convoys and roadblocks.

Tuesday 01 March

1:25pm - 1:30pm

More4

1+1=1

4/4

Mirwaiss Rekab examines the inequality between the sexes in Afghanistan in an experimental but simple tale.

The View

Tuesday 01 March

11:15pm - 11:55pm

RTE1

Actress Carrie Crowley, lecturer Harry Browne and sculptor Ann Mulrooney join John Kelly to review Doug Liman's political thriller Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Also examined his Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's drama Howl, Nicole Krauss' novel Great House, and African artist Romuald Hazoume's exhibition at Dublin's IMMA.

Rolf on Welsh Art

Wednesday 02 March

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC1 Wales

Shani Rhys James

3/4

Rolf Harris explores the art of Australian painter Shani Rhys James, whose self-portraits are influenced by her family history and childhood experiences. He goes to Merthyr to discover more about his own family's Welsh roots, and makes a revelation about a scandal in Victorian times, and ends up trying a painting in Shani's style

  

Civilisation

Wednesday 02 March

10:00pm - 10:50pm

BBC HD

Man - the Measure of All Things

4/13

Art historian Kenneth Clark turns his attention to Renaissance man, visiting Florence, where the resurrection of a classical past gave fresh impetus to European thought, before viewing the architectural splendour of the palaces of Urbino and Mantua.

 

Time to Remember

Wednesday 02 March

8:30pm - 9:00pm

BBC Four

Stage and Screen

2/12, series 1

Archive footage of theatres, music halls and cinemas from the 1920s and 30s is combined with narrated reminiscences to shed light on the entertainment industry of the early 20th century. Includes reels of Charles Laughton applying his own stage make-up, chorus line auditions, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks' trip to Europe, and Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 release Blackmail. Narrated by Lesley Sharp.

Framing Wales: Art in the 20th Century

Thursday 03 March

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC2 Wales

2/4

Kim Howells focuses on the inter-war years, examining how the aftermath of the First World War drove artists like David Jones to produce more reflective work. He also explores the ways in which the industrial heartland of South Wales inspired a new generation of artists, including Ceri Richards.

The Culture Show

Thursday 03 March

11:20pm - 12:20am

BBC2 Northern Ireland

4/5

Andrew Graham-Dixon visits an exhibition of archaeological treasures from Afghanistan at the British Museum, Sarfraz Manzoor joins a photography project focusing on the UK's multicultural history, and Mark Kermode reports on rites-of-passage movie Submarine. Clemency Burton-Hill meets horse trainer and director Bartabas at Sadler's Wells, Ben Lewis explores the history of taxidermy and its contemporary form, and Simon Armitage looks back at the work of TS Eliot, Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes.

Hidden Treasures of African Art

Friday 04 March

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

2/3

Griff Rhys Jones continues his quest to find art by indigenous groups by travelling to West Africa. He begins his journey in Bandiagara Escarpment, Mali, where he learns the Dogon people used carvings and sculptures as spiritual tools, before visiting Accra, the capital of Ghana. Here, he discovers that the passing of time has had surprising results on invention and creativity.

Culture

Faulks on Fiction

Saturday 26 February

9:30pm - 10:30pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

The Villain

4/4

Author Sebastian Faulks examines how the characterisation of the villain has evolved in British novels over the past 300 years, from Lovelace in Samuel Richardson's Clarissa to Barbara in Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal. Last in the series.

Something Understood

Sunday 27 February

6:05am - 6:35am

BBC Radio 4

The Disguise

Writer Sarah Cuddon considers the implications of assuming an alias or pseudonym, and asks what these alternative identities hide and reveal about those who use them. Featuring music by David Bowie, Charlie Winston and Mozart, with readings by Emma Fielding and Jonathan Keeble.

Drama on 3

Sunday 27 February

8:00pm - 9:45pm

BBC Radio 3

Helen

Helen, by Euripides. Adapted by Don Taylor. The Trojan War is over and the Greek forces are making their way home. Meanwhile, in Egypt, Helen of Troy is protesting to anyone who'll listen that she is innocent, that she never went to Troy, and the whole war was fought under false pretences. When her husband Menelaus is shipwrecked on the shore where Helen has been taking sanctuary, she not only has a lot of explaining to do, but also an escape to plan. This story of a war in the Middle East fought over dubious claims now has contemporary resonance. Frances Barber (Helen), James Purefoy (Menelaus), Paul Ritter (Theoclymenus), Anna Francolini (Theonoe/Chorus), Catherine Russell (Concierge/Chorus), Laura Rees (Slave/Chorus), Gus Brown (Teucer), Richard Galazka (Sailor/Messenger), Max Digby (Heavenly Twins).

Faking the Classics

Monday 28 February

2:30pm - 3:00pm

BBC Radio 7

Shakespeare

1/2

First of a two-part programme in which Jonathan Bate learns about attempts to forge great literary works over the years. He begins by enlisting the help of the Royal Shakespeare Company to find out how the Bard's plays have been imitated - often in a very plausible fashion. Experts listen in and separate the real verse from the counterfeit.

The Call

Tuesday 01 March

9:30am - 9:45am

BBC Radio 4

5/5

Dominic Arkwright talks to Professor Peter French on the science of forensic acoustics, including speaker profiling, voice line-ups and sound enhancement. Last in the series.

The A-Z of AOR

Tuesday 01 March

11:00pm - 12:00am

BBC Radio 2

2/6

Bob Harris continues his six-part history of album-oriented rock, a trend powered by the release of the Beatles' concept album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. Tonight, he focuses on the work of Boston, Rick Springfield, Pat Benatar and Supertramp.

Liberty, Fraternity, Anarchy - Le Punk Francais

Thursday 03 March

11:30am - 12:00pm

BBC Radio 4

While it is true that much of punk's most important activity took place in the USA and England, Andrew Hussey explains why a lot of the artistic, cultural and intellectual grounding of the 70s punk movement came from the French, who influenced the likes of Malcolm McLaren, Tony Wilson and Richard Hell.

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession

Thursday 03 March

8:00pm - 9:00pm

BBC4Spirit of the Age

2/3

Professor Jerry Brotton examines the way maps have reflected contemporary politics and belief - and in some cases inspired them. He studies medieval religious cartography on maps showing pilgrims the routes to Jerusalem or heaven, Victorian illustrations of the world - with every nation awarded a score according to how `civilised' they were deemed to be - and modern mapping of social problems including infant mortality and HIV.

Psychology / Society

Mind Changers

Sunday 27 February

1:30pm - 2:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Henri Tajfel's Minimal Groups

3/3

Claudia Hammond investigates Henri Tajfel's 1971 Minimal Group Studies, which were designed to discover the minimum basis on which people could be made to identify with a group and show bias against another. The experiments would go on to be regarded as an important step toward the creation of Social Identity Theory, which argues that an individual's identification with a group varies depending on how significant that group is at the time. Last in the series.

Coda

Monday 28 February - Friday 04 March

Daily at 3:15pm - 3:30pm

BBC Radio 7

1/5

Toby Stephens reads from playwright Simon Gray's account of coming to terms with terminal cancer.

Science / Nature

The Story of Science - Power, Proof and Passion

Sunday 27 February

7:00pm - 8:00pm

BBC Four

How Did We Get Here?

3/6

Michael Mosley examines the origins of humanity, one of the most controversial topics science has ever tackled. Along the way he investigates what roles eccentric French aristocrats, mountaineers, a 12-fingered Victorian publisher and a ridiculed German meteorologist have played in the development of theories about life on Earth.

Genius Unrecognised

Sunday 27 February

2:45pm - 3:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)

1/5

New series. Tony Hill tells the stories of inventions that were initially dismissed, but went on to change the world. He begins with the tale of 17th-century Dutch draper Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, an amateur scientist who was responsible for one of the most important developments in microscope technology - but whose findings were regarded as nonsense at the time.

A Tall Story

Monday 28 February

8:00pm - 8:30pm

BBC Radio 4

Ian Peacock explores the story of two giants separated by 200 years, but united by a common genetic mutation. Brendan Holland from Northern Ireland is 6'9' and recently discovered he is related to Charles Byrne, whose 7'6' skeleton is on display at the Hunterian Museum in London. Scientist Marta Korbonits explains how DNA extracted from his bones can facilitate early detection and prevention of excessive growth in other descendants of the 18th-century freak-show star.

Horizon: Are We Still Evolving?

Tuesday 01 March

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

Alice Roberts investigates whether, thanks to advances in technology and medicine,

mankind has managed to break free from the process of evolution. Following a trail of clues from ancient human remains, she examines the physiology of people living in some of the most inhospitable parts of the planet, and challenges the frontiers of genetic research by speculating on what the future has in store for homo sapiens.

In Our Time

Thursday 03 March

9:00am - 9:45am

BBC Radio 4

The Age of the Universe

Melvyn Bragg and guests including the Astronomer Royal Martin Rees discuss the age of the universe. Cosmologists have debated its likely age for centuries, but the discovery that the universe is expanding allowed the first informed estimates of its age to be made by Edwin Hubble in the early 20th century, and now it is generally agreed to be 14 billion years old.

Beautiful Minds

Thursday 03 March

11:00pm - 12:00am

BBC4

James Lovelock

2/3

James Lovelock explains the thought processes he used to develop atmospheric detection systems on Earth and Mars, and the concept of Gaia, a way of considering Earth as a holistic and self-regulating entity. He also discusses how he overcame the opposition of some of his peers to put his theories forward, and why he thinks the scientific establishment hampers intellectual creativity.

Tourism And Hospitality

The Story of Ireland

Tuesday 22 February

11:10pm - 12:20am

RTE1

The Age of Revolution

3/5

Fergal Keane explores the years between the Ulster Plantation and the Act of Union, an era that saw the country take centre stage in a much wider European conflict. He also draws attention to how 18th-century Dublin experienced an intellectual, architectural and cultural boom, and material filmed in Europe tells the story of why the French Revolution resonated so well with Wolfe Tone and his fellow reformers.

Those Were the Days

Monday 28 February

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC1 Northern Ireland

2/4

A look at how holidays at home have been transformed in recent years. Narrated by Richard Dormer.

The Spice Trail

Thursday 03 March

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

Vanilla and Saffron

3/3

Kate Humble visits Morocco and Spain to uncover the story of saffron, the world's most expensive spice. She joins a farmer and his family in the Atlas Mountains as they harvest their crop, and meets a man who tests the DNA to make sure the substance is genuine. Kate also heads to Paplanta in Mexico to learn about the history of vanilla, which was discovered by famous conquistador Hernan Cortes. Last in the series.

Sat 19th - Fri 25th

Visual Arts

3 Minute Wonder: Found Family Footage

Saturday 19 February

3:30pm - 3:35pm

More4

The Sea

2/4

Artist Kutlug Ataman's series exploring themes of childhood and aviation continues with an exploration of the contrast between the turbulent ocean and the safe haven of the shallow seashore.

3 Minute Wonder: Found Family Footage

Saturday 19 February

3:35pm - 3:40pm

More4

Airbound

3/4

Documentary offering a compelling look at two individuals' first experiments with defying gravity.

 

3 Minute Wonder: Found Family Footage

Saturday 19 February

3:40pm - 3:45pm

More4

The Contest

4/4

The final film from artist Kutlug Ataman gives an insight into 1950s pageantry. Featuring music by Michael Nyman.

Sheila Hancock Brushes Up: The Art of Watercolours

Sunday 20 February

6:00pm - 7:00pm

BBC1 Northern Ireland

The actress presents a history of watercolour painting, discovering a catalogue of little-known works and exploring how the medium's immediacy and freedom has given it an enduring appeal for both amateur and professional artists. She visits locations including the Alps, India and Venice to tell the stories behind paintings that were created there, as well as examining the importance of watercolours to artists in the days before photography.

How the West Was Lost

Sunday 20 February

9:00pm - 10:30pm

BBC Four

Comedian Rich Hall presents an insight into America's fascination with the Wild West, featuring footage of films including the 1894 silent movie Buffalo Bill and Clint Eastwood's 1992 Oscar-winner Unforgiven. Shot on location in Arizona, Montana and Wyoming, Rich explores the history of the Western and how it has influenced other films, placing the genre in a social and historical context.

 BBC HD Film Shorts

Sunday 20 February

12:00am - 12:45am

BBC HD

2/2

Six short films from up-and-coming directors, including Ian Barnes's Oscar-nominated drama Wish 143, starring Rory Kinnear and Jodie Whittaker. Plus, Tom Harper's Cherries, Ben Soper's Night School, Martin Malone's Stranded, Tom Daley's The Rules of the Game and Cassiano Prado's Tiga - What You Need.

The Chaplin Archive

Monday 21 February

11:00am - 11:30am

BBC Radio 4

1/2

Writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet travels to Vevey in Switzerland to explore the former home and personal archives of Charlie Chaplin. The actor's son, Michael, reveals letters, photographs, scripts, recordings and scrap-books that offer an insight

into his father's life.

The Beauty of Books

Monday 21 February

8:30pm - 9:00pm

BBC Four

Illustrated Wonderlands

3/4

How illustrated books became an established genre owing to the Victorians' new printing technology, an emerging middle-class readership and a sentimentalised regard for childhood and fairy tales. The programme reveals how the writer and illustrator partnership has continued to enrich books, from Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland to Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo.

Rolf on Welsh Art

Wednesday 23 February

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC1 Wales

Josef Herman

2/4

Rolf Harris profiles Polish-born Josef Herman - the painter who fled Nazi-occupied Warsaw and settled in the small mining community of Ystradgynlais in the Swansea valley. The presenter discovers why the artist was inspired to paint miners as working-class heroes, before trying a painting in his style.

Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture

Wednesday 23 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC4

Children of the Revolution

3/3

Alastair Sooke tells the story of sculpture over the last 100 years, a century of innovation, scandal and creativity. He examines the artistic revolution spearheaded by Eric Gill and Jacob Epstein, which paved the way for the work of Gilbert & George and Damien Hirst. He also explores the art form's rise in popularity, from First World War memorials to the landmark work of Anthony Gormley and Rachel Whiteread. Last in the series. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

Imagine

Wednesday 23 February

10:00pm - 11:00pm

BBC Four

The Plinth, the Model, the Artist and His Sculpture

The documentary series charts the creation of Marc Quinn's sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant - a work which took five years to finish, portraying the disabled artist naked as she awaited the birth of her son. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

Civilisation

Wednesday 23 February

10:00pm - 10:50pm

BBC HD

Romance and Reality

3/13

Art historian Kenneth Clark travels from the Loire through Tuscany and Umbria to the cathedral at Pisa. He looks at the aspirations of later medieval culture in France and Italy, examining the societies that produced St Francis and Dante.

Framing Wales: Art in the 20th Century

Thursday 24 February

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC2 Wales

1/4, series 1

New series. Kim Howells explores the story of Welsh art in the last century, including the work of Augustus and Gwen John, the sense of nationalist revival in the paintings of Christopher Williams and the moving sketches of David Jones.

The Culture Show

Thursday 24 February

11:20pm - 12:20am

BBC2 Northern Ireland

3/5

Andrew Graham-Dixon examines the National Gallery's exhibition of paintings by 16th-century Flemish artist Jan Gossaert, and Alastair Sooke travels to Paris to interview reclusive street artist JR. Guy Walters investigates the extreme side of online behaviour, Maxine Peake and Anne-Marie Duff discuss their roles in the latest stage versions of two Terence Rattigan plays, and Miranda Sawyer meets the members of alternative rock band Elbow to talk about their latest album.

Hidden Treasures of Australian Art

Friday 25 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

1/3

Griff Rhys Jones embarks on adventures to find out what kinds of art are still being created by indigenous people around the world. In the first edition, he travels to the remote Torres Strait Islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea, where he explores what remains of a creative and warlike culture, which was once inhabited by head-hunters who believed in magic and sorcery.

Culture

Faulks on Fiction

Saturday 19 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

The Snob

3/4

Author Sebastian Faulks examines how writers including Jane Austen and Monica Ali have deployed snobs as secret weapons in their novels. Featuring contributions from Tim Lott, Alain de Botton and John Carey.

The Man Machine: The Story of Kraftwerk

Sunday 20 February

12:00pm - 1:00pm

BBC 6 Music

Jarvis Cocker presents a profile of the German electronic music pioneers and assesses the part of other bands such as Tangerine Dream and Neu! in the Krautrock movement. Including an interview with Ralph Hutter, the sole survivor of the original line-up.

When God Spoke English - The Making of the King James Bible

Monday 21 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC Four

Adam Nicolson examines the creation of the influential text, which has shaped language, culture and society around the world. Scholars from Cambridge, Oxford and London worked on the version for a king who hoped to unite a country torn by religious factions. The programme delves into recently discovered manuscripts that reveal the translation process and asks why the result has had such a lasting legacy.

  

The Essay

Monday 21 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Life Cycle of a Fictional Character: An Alternative History of the Novel - The World

1/5

Critic James Wood explores aspects of novelistic technique through a different fictional character each day. Beginning by focusing on Flaubert, McEwan's Saturday and Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, he explores the connection between modern fiction and cinematic and photographic technique.

Who Do You Think You Are?

Tuesday 22 February

11:05pm - 11:50pm

BBC1 Northern Ireland

6/6

Actor and director Spike Lee is determined to discover more about his family's slave origins as he investigates the ancestry of his maternal grandmother Zimmie Jackson. Visiting archives in Atlanta, Georgia, he uncovers the names of three great-grandparents, a discovery that takes him on a journey back through emancipation, the American Civil War and ultimately the identity of the master who owned his family.

The Foghorn: A Celebration

Tuesday 22 February

1:30pm - 2:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Peter Curran highlights works of music, literature and film over the past 70 years that have found their inspiration on the low notes of the foghorn. He hears from composer Alvin Curran, and former `fogmeister' Jason Gorski, who used to conduct illegal foghorn concerts in San Francisco Bay. He also takes a tour of Portland Bill lighthouse in Dorset, home to a powerful Victorian horn.

The Essay

Tuesday 22 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Life Cycle of a Fictional Character: An Alternative History of the Novel - Thought

2/5

Critic James Wood emanines aspects of novelistic technique through a fictional character. He continues by exploring how the novel's ability to depict the stream of consciousness has `improved' over the past 200 years, and discusses the elements of this progress. In addition to considering the work of such obvious authors as James Joyce and Saul Bellow, he also acknowledges the contribution of Jane Austen, the great pioneer of early stream of consciousness.

The A-Z of AOR

Tuesday 22 February

11:00pm - 12:00am

BBC Radio 2

1/6

Bob Harris presents a six-part history of album-oriented rock, a trend powered by the release of the Beatles' concept album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967, and taken up by the experimental rock musicians of America's West Coast scene. A reaction to the culture of the three-minute single, it stimulated new levels of creativity and musicianship, and drove album sales to record figures.

Bring On the Clowns

Thursday 24 February

11:30am - 12:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Traditionally associated with the circus ring, clowns are now often relegated to children's parties and as mascots in advertising promotions. Tony Lidington explores whether one of the oldest forms of entertainment still has the power to transform people with laughter and fun, especially during times of financial woe.

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession

Thursday 24 February

8:00pm - 9:00pm

BBC Four

Windows on the World

1/3

Professor Jerry Brotton explains the creation and importance of maps, discovering the latest technology that is improving the cartographer's art and revolutionising man's knowledge of the world. On a visit to the oldest known map, etched into a hillside 3,000 years ago, he considers how different cultures have approached map-making over millennia, often as a tool for expansionism and political control.

The Essay

Thursday 24 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Life Cycle of a Fictional Character: An Alternative History of the Novel - The Self

4/5

James Wood explores how modernist and postmodernist fiction has explored the concept of the self as he continues to examine novelistic techniques.

McQueen and I

Friday 25 February

9:00pm - 10:45pm

More4

To commemorate the first anniversary of Alexander McQueen's death, this documentary tells the story of the fashion designer by examining the most important relationships in his life. The programme features unseen footage of McQueen, and interviews with stylist Isabella Blow, the woman who was credited with discovering him in the first place.

Psychology / Society

Mind Changers

Sunday 20 February

1:30pm - 2:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Walter Mischel's Marshmallow Study

2/3, series 5

Claudia Hammond interviews psychologist Walter Mischel, whose Marshmallow Test has become one of the most influential studies in the psychology of personality. During a six-year period in the 1960s and 1970s, he asked more than 300 four-year-old children whether they would rather be given one marshmallow immediately, or wait and receive two instead. He then analysed the cognitive processes behind his subjects' decisions, and continued to study them in later life to see whether there were patterns emerging among the two groups.

The Call

Tuesday 22 February

9:30am - 9:45am

BBC Radio 4

4/5

Dominic Arkwright meets Duncan Irvine, who made a life-changing people phone call to the Samaritans in the 1970s following a failed suicide attempt. He discusses how simply speaking to someone about his sexuality, as well as his fears about his mother's mental health, helped him to come to terms with his situation.

With Great Pleasure

Tuesday 22 February

11:30am - 12:00pm

BBC Radio 4

5/5

Psychiatrist and writer Oliver James presents a selection of his favourite pieces of prose and poetry. The readers are William Chubb and Susan Jameson. Last in the series.

True Stories: My Kidnapper

Tuesday 22 February

10:00pm - 11:55pm

More4

Documentary exploring how kidnap victim Mark Henderson, who was captured while trekking in the Colombian jungle in 2003, came to terms with the 101 days he spent in captivity. He reveals how, 11 months after the ordeal ended, he received an e-mail from one of his kidnappers, setting in motion five years of communication that eventually saw him return to the Sierra Nevada mountains. There, with three of his fellow hostages, he discovered the truth about the origins of the incident, and attended an emotional reunion with his jailers.

Methadonia

Thursday 24 February

12:05am - 1:05am

RTE1

The stories of seven men and women trying to kick their heroin habit, as they struggle with the mental and physical toll of treatment.

Teen Horse Whisperers

Friday 25 February

7:30pm - 8:00pm

Channel 4

Lucy Kaye's documentary follows five students from an alternative school in Bootle, Merseyside, as they try to tame wild horses at the Shy Lowen Horse and Pony Sanctuary. Over the course of two months, the film reveals how the teenagers address their own behavioural issues and try to build up relationships with the animals. Part of the First Cut strand.

Science / Nature

The Story of Science - Power, Proof and Passion

Sunday 20 February

7:00pm - 8:00pm

BBC Four

What Is the World Made Of?

2/6

Michael Mosley's journey continues, highlighting how the quest to identify the building blocks of the material world has pushed human civilisation to greater achievements. He explains how everything from alchemy to the invention of the transistor has been underpinned by the same query, and reveals how all these advances have led to the development of quantum physics.

Can Chemistry Save the World?

Wednesday 23 February

8:30pm - 9:00pm

BBC World Service

Ireland

What We Leave in Our Wake

Monday 21 February
10:40pm - 12:00am
RTE1

Filmic essay that unfolds as a series of conversations on Ireland, exploring themes including emigration, mythology, consumerism, socialism and the sense of a civic society.

The Story of Ireland

Tuesday 22 February

11:05pm - 12:15am

RTE1

The Age of Revolution

3/5

Fergal Keane explores the years between the Ulster Plantation and the Act of Union, an era that saw the country take centre stage in a much wider European conflict. He also draws attention to how 18th-century Dublin experienced an intellectual, architectural and cultural boom, and material filmed in Europe tells the story of why the French Revolution resonated so well with Wolfe Tone and his fellow reformers.

Tourism and Hospitality

The Spice Trail

Thursday 24 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

Nutmeg and Cloves

2/3

Kate Humble travels around the Spice Islands in Eastern Indonesia in search of nutmeg and cloves, two aromatic substances that caused bloody wars and shaped empires. European explorers visited the volcanic islands in search of great wealth, but their voyages led to massacres of local people and the decimation of their culture. Kate meets those who have rebuilt their communities around the cultivation and trade of the spices.

Sat 12th Feb - Fri 18th

VISUAL ARTS

Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture

Sunday 13 February

8:00pm - 9:00pm

BBC FOUR

Masons of God

1/3

Alastair Sooke examines the three `golden ages' of British sculpture and the technical breakthroughs that made them possible. He begins with a look at the Norman ecclesiastical building programme and the masterworks created by anonymous medieval masons and artisans to the glory of God - until Henry VIII's Reformation brought wholesale destruction. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

BBC HD Film Shorts

Sunday 13 February

12:00am - 12:50am

BBC HD

Special programme premiering 13 shorts films, including Oscar-nominated Wish 143 and Bafta-nominated Turning, and features starring Russell Tovey, Alfie Allen and Sean Pertwee.

The Beauty of Books

Monday 14 February

8:30pm - 9:00pm

BBC FOUR

Medieval Masterpieces

2/4

A look at the reading material of medieval times, focusing on the shift from manuscripts in the 14th and 15th centuries to the literature that followed. The programme focuses on The Luttrell Psalter, a book of psalms that featured humorous and vivid pictures of rural life and a grotesque demonic world, and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which was adopted by William Caxton as the first publication to be created by his printing press in London.

The View

Tuesday 15 February

11:25pm - 12:10am

RTE1

Comedian Kevin Gildea, writer Hilary Fannin and journalist Eamonn McCann join John Kelly to review Charles Ferguson's documentary film Inside Job, which tells the story of the culture of money on Wall Street. Also examined are Darach Mac Con's TV crime drama Corp + Anam, folk singer James Yorkston's book It's Lovely to Be Here, and theatre production Connected, written and performed by Will Irvine and Karl Quinn.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Tuesday 15 February

12:05am - 1:40am

BBC1 Northern Ireland

 British director Peter Webber makes an astonishing feature debut with this ravishing period drama. Based on a bestselling novel by Tracy Chevalier, it's a fictionalised reconstruction of the story behind 17th-century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer's celebrated painting Girl with a Pearl Earring.

One Foot in the Past

Wednesday 16 February

8:30pm - 9:00pm

BBC FOUR

Sculpture

Kirsty Wark goes in search of the perfect fountain to commemorate Princess Diana, but discovers that even Britain's finest examples are neglected and in bad shape. Sculptor Alexander Stoddart discusses the hidden depths in the work of Canova, creator of the Three Graces, and Roger Bowdler explores the world of grotesques, goblins and gremlins. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture

Wednesday 16 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC FOUR

Mavericks of Empire

2/3

Alastair Sooke tells the stories of sculptors John Flaxman, Francis Chantrey and Alfred Gilbert, who bucked trends in the 18th and 19th centuries. He examines the technical breakthroughs behind their key works - such as carving in marble with a pointer machine and the lost-wax technique - which were produced at a time of increased interest in sculptural projects to celebrate the size of the British Empire. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

Rolf on Welsh Art

New series

Wednesday 16 February

7:30pm - 8:00pm

BBC1 Wales

1/4

New series. Australian entertainer and musician Rolf Harris goes on a personal journey to explore four artists who found inspiration in Wales and its people, beginning with Anglesey-born painter Kyffin Williams, renowned for his dramatic landscapes and portraits. Rolf visits Ynys Môn and Snowdonia and makes revealing discoveries, before trying to do a painting in Kyffin's style.

How to Get a Head in Sculpture

Wednesday 16 February

10:00pm - 11:00pm

BBC FOUR

Documentary examining the role played by the head - one of the most enduring subjects in world sculpture - from Roman times to contemporary British art. Actor David Thewlis has his head modelled by three sculptors, while the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, artist Maggi Hamblin and art critic Rachel Johnston discuss art's eternal preoccupation with the self. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

Civilisation

Wednesday 16 February

10:00pm - 10:50pm

BBC HD

The Great Thaw

Kenneth Clark explores the reawakening of European civilisation in the 12th century, which led to the building of Chartres Cathedral.

Force of Nature: The Sculpture of David Nash

Thursday 17 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC4

The life and work of the sculptor, tracing his artistic journey from the Chelsea School of Art in London to his studio in the mining landscape of Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales, via exhibitions around the world. The programme features footage by Pete Telfer, who has been recording the artist carving wood and shaping living trees into works of art since 1996. The film concludes with a look at Nash's latest pieces at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

Imagine

Friday 18 February

12:00am - 12:50am

BBC4

The Year of Anish Kapoor

1/7

Alan Yentob follows the progress of celebrated sculptor Anish Kapoor's solo exhibition at the Royal Academy, an event that marks the first time a living British artist has been granted the whole gallery space. The presenter reveals the inspiration behind Kapoor's mysterious works, and discovers how the artist has captivated the public imagination through his inventive use of reflective surfaces and dark voids. Part of the Focus on Sculpture season.

CULTURE

Faulks on Fiction

Saturday 12 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

The Lover

2/4, series 1

Author Sebastian Faulks examines how literary characters have revealed the truth about love, from Mr Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to Nick Guest in Alan Hollinghursts's The Line of Beauty. Featuring contributions from Helen Fielding, John Carey, Adam Phillips, Alain de Botton, Simon Schama, Rowan Pelling and Alan Hollinghurst.

Words and Music

Sunday 13 February

10:15pm - 11:30pm

BBC Radio 3

The Opium of the People

John Sessions and Claire Harry read texts on the subject of faith and atheism by Nietzsche, Philip Larkin, Lucretius, Karl Marx and Charles Darwin, with music by Beethoven, Richard Strauss, Janácek, Byrd and Mahler.

The Art of Breaking Apart

Monday 14 February

11:00pm - 11:30pm

BBC Radio 4

Stuart Maconie explores the art of the `break-up' album with the help of fellow writers and musicians. He studies various records that are the result of pop and rock artists channelling their emotions about the end of long-term relationships into songs, and considers which are the best.

The Essay

Monday 14 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Team Photo

1/5

Five writers look back on team photos from their past and consider the moment when they were captured not as an individual, but as part of a group. The first to contribute is former MI5 chief Stella Rimington, who published her autobiography Open Secret in 2002. Her first novel, At Risk, appeared in 2004.

Bleep Bleep Bloop: Music and Video Games

Tuesday 15 February

1:30pm - 2:00pm

BBC Radio 4

Paul Bennun, a leading director with Somethin' Else digital production company, explores the growing popularity and ambition of music composed for video games. He explains how these soundtracks have evolved from simple melodies into sweeping scores that often rival the scope of Hollywood productions, prompting Bafta and the Ivor Novellos to recognise the genre with its own awards category.

Birth of the British Novel

Tuesday 15 February

11:00pm - 12:00am

BBC FOUR

Author and critic Henry Hitchings explores the evolution of the novel in 18th-century Britain, and offers his view that it was a time of cultural revolution. He examines the social and political history of the period, uses paintings by great artists to illustrate scenes from key novels, and explains how major genres from light entertainment for female readers to political thrillers were perfected. Along the way, he also meets authors including Martin Amis, Will Self, Tom McCarthy and Jenny Uglow.

The Essay

Tuesday 15 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Team Photo

2/5

Five writers look back on team photos from their past and consider the moment when they were captured not as an individual but as part of a group. The series continues with Hisham Matar, who was born in New York in 1970, spent his childhood in Libya and Egypt and has lived in London since 1986. His first novel In the Country of Men, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2006, and his latest, Anatomy of a Disappearance, is due in March.

The Essay

Wednesday 16 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Team Photo

3/5

Former dancer and choreographer Eva Salzman, whose books of poetry include Double Crossing: New and Selected Poems, The English Earthquake and Bargain with the Watchman, looks back on an old group photo from her past.

The Culture Show

Thursday 17 February

11:20pm - 12:20am

BBC2 Northern Ireland

2/5

Andrew Graham-Dixon examines Tate Britain's new exhibition, Watercolour, Michael Smith investigates the regeneration of London's East End, and Alain de Botton trawls the BBC archive for philosophical gems. Clemency Burton-Hill looks behind the scenes of the Royal Opera House's new production about model Anna Nicole Smith, Nancy Durrant chats to artist Mary Kelly and Tom Dyckhoff travels to Miami to meet architect Frank Gehry, who discusses his next project for the New World Symphony.

The Priest, the Badger and the Little Green Men from Mars

Thursday 17 February

11:30am - 12:00pm

BBC Radio 4

The story of the Rev Lionel Fanthorpe, who wrote more than 150 pulp fiction novels under various names for Badger Books during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The prolific science fiction author wrote 89 of his books in a three-year period while holding down a teaching job, and one of his methods was to write while hiding under a rug. Featuring readings by Fanthorpe himself and dramatic re-creations of his most interesting and memorable work.

The Essay

Thursday 17 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Team Photo

4/5

Writer and City-based IT director Farahad Zama reflects on a photograph of himself as a member of a bank's IT team, engaged on a project that was to have far-reaching consequences for his own career. Zama is the author of two novels, The Marriage Bureau for Rich People and The Many Conditions of Love.

The Essay

Friday 18 February

11:00pm - 11:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The Team Photo

5/5

In the last of five essays, writer Horatio Clare, whose books include Running for the Hills, Truant: Notes from the Slippery Slope and A Single Swallow, considers a photograph taken when he was a teenager, depicting him with his fellow members of a lifeboat crew.

SCIENCE / NATURE

The Story of Science - Power, Proof and Passion

Sunday 13 February

7:00pm - 8:00pm

BBC FOUR

What Is Out There?

1/6

Michael Mosley embarks on an ambitious journey to illustrate how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately related to the development of civilisation. He begins by telling the story of one of the most monumental discoveries in human history - the realisation that Earth was not at the centre of the universe.

Horizon: How to Mend a Broken Heart

Monday 14 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC2 Northern Ireland

6/8

Dr Kevin Fong finds out how close scientists are to being able to repair hearts that stop working. He meets people who have undergone pioneering operations - including a man with a heart powered by a mechanical pump - and scientists who are pushing the limits on cardiac treatment.

Who Killed the Honey Bee?

Tuesday 15 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC FOUR

Martha Kearney examines the decline in the bee population due to a mystery affliction dubbed `colony collapse disorder', which is believed to have wiped out more than a third of the UK's colonies. The programme explores the effect the extinction of the insect and the loss of pollination would have on nature and the world's food supply.

The Elephant: Life after Death

Wednesday 16 February

9:00pm - 10:35pm

Channel 4

Biologist Simon Watt leads a team of experts as they use remote cameras and night-vision equipment to examine what happens to the carcass of a recently deceased elephant in Tsavo West National Park in Kenya. The event leads to several days of feeding in which vultures, big cats and insects feast on the six million calories worth of fat, meat and guts left behind, providing an insight into the never-ending cycle of life and death.

Scientists of the Subprime

Thursday 17 February

9:00pm - 9:30pm

BBC Radio 4

Ehsan Masood considers whether an understanding of biology could have prevented the financial crisis, and asks how insights from science could change the world of banking. It now seems an understanding of ecosystems or the spread of infectious disease could even help reform the financial world.

PSYCHOLOGY / SOCIETY

Sunday Feature

Sunday 13 February

9:30pm - 10:15pm

BBC Radio 3

The World Is Out of Order! - The Life, Work and Legacy of Georg Buchner

Complementing Radio 3's productions of Danton's Death and Woyzeck, Peter Thompson investigates the life of dramatist Georg Büchner and analyses his importance today. Büchner was only 23 when he died of typhus in Zurich in 1837, but had already written the play Danton's Death, and a novella, Lenz, the first to delineate a schizophrenic breakdown, which marked the beginning of modern German prose literature. He also left behind the unfinished Woyzeck, the first play to feature a working-class central character. Helping to dissect Buchner's work are Professor Susanne Kord of University College, London, Professor Karen Leeder of Oxford University, and Howard Brenton, whose version of Danton's Death was recently produced by the National Theatre.

Mind Changers

Sunday 13 February

1:30pm - 2:00pm

BBC Radio 4

1/3, series 5

New series. Claudia Hammond meets psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, whose research into how testimony by eye witnesses drawn from memory can be influenced by subsequent events has led to changes in the way police and courts deal with people who have seen crimes take place.

Leaving Mr Wrong

Monday 14 February

11:00am - 11:30am

BBC Radio 4

Roisin McAuley explores the growing number of females petitioning for divorce in their 50s and 60s. She asks whether it is a case of `empty nesters' looking for a new challenge, or if significant legal and social changes, as well as the women's liberation movement, have contributed to wives opting to strike out alone in search of an independent life.

For Crying Out Loud

Monday 14 February

9:00pm - 10:00pm

BBC FOUR

Jo Brand investigates the act of crying to find out why people do it and whether it has always been common. She discusses the matter with Phill Jupitus, Shappi Khorsandi and Richard E Grant, and learns more by interviewing historians, psychologists and biochemists. There is also a visit to an eye hospital to ensure the comedienne's tear ducts are in working order, before joining crying drama students and spending time with Princess Diana's psychotherapist Susie Orback.

True Stories: War Child

Tuesday 15 February

10:00pm - 11:40pm

More4

Bafta-winning film-maker Jezza Neumann's follow-up to Dispatches: Children of Gaza, providing a second portrait of children living with the aftermath of the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2008. Cameras follow the youngsters over the course of a year, witnessing how they grapple with the harsh realities of their new lives, and revealing how the violence suffered by some of the youths predisposes them toward extremist views in the hope of avenging the deaths of their loved ones.

The Richard Dimbleby Lecture 2011

Tuesday 15 February

11:05pm - 11:50pm

BBC1 Northern Ireland

Novelist, playwright and Save the Children ambassador Michael Morpurgo explores the issue of children's rights and the wrongs young people are forced to endure. He draws on his work as a campaigner and a visit to the Middle East, where he witnessed first-hand the difficulties youngsters face during times of conflict.

Ireland

What we leave in Our Wake

Monday 14 February

10:35pm - 11:55pm

RTE1

Filmic essay that unfolds as a series of conversations on Ireland, exploring themes including emigration, mythology, consumerism, socialism and the sense of a civic society.

The Story of Ireland

Tuesday 15 February

10:15pm - 11:25pm

RTE1

2/5

Fergal Keane explores the country's cultural, economic and social history, documenting its role on the international stage, in an adaptation of Neil Hegarty's book of the same name.

General

The Call

Tuesday 15 February

9:30am - 9:45am

BBC Radio 4

3/5

Dominic Arkwright meets Mark Craig, who decided not to recycle his answer-phone tapes, and ended up inadvertently creating an audio diary using the back catalogue he saved over the course of 20 years. Carefully selecting messages from the collection, he created a short film that documents the progress of his life, charting his development from a reckless youth to his more stable older years.

The Listeners

Thursday 17 February

2:30pm - 3:00pm

BBC Radio 7

Broadcaster Peter White meets three people who use their acute sense of hearing to help others. Featuring a mussel fisherman who listens for signs of life at earthquake disaster zones, a man who can detect tiny variations in the heartbeats of newborn children, and another who listens for distant life in the universe.

Tourism and Hospitality

The Spice Trail

Thursday 17 February
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC2 Northern Ireland

Pepper & Cinnamon

1/3

Kate Humble uncovers India and Sri Lanka's early trading history with a fragrant journey that begins on India's "Spice Coast". Her first lesson is the story of pepper - once known as black gold and now the most consumed spice in the world - before heading south to Sri Lanka, the land of cinnamon. There she attends the spectacular Buddhist festival of Perahera and learns how to harvest the spice and transform it into a cinnamon quill. She also gets a lesson in negotiation as farmers attempt to sell their crops for profit.