Visual Arts
A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss
Sunday 12 June
9:00pm - 10:00pm
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 stars Barbara Shelley and David Warner about their experiences.
Naked
Tuesday 14 June
10:15pm - 11:15pm
RTE1
An Arts Lives documentary in which Olympic swimmer Melanie Nocher, writer John Waters and art critic Gemma Tipton serve as sitters for artists Sahoko Blake, Nick Miller and Una Sealy, who set out to prove that nude portraits are not just images of sensuality, but also an exposure of character and identity.
This Is Not Magritte
Thursday 16 June
11:30am - 12:00pm
BBC Radio 4
Richard Strange visits Rene Magritte's former apartment and the Magritte Museum in Brussels to explore the surrealist artist's vision and its contrast with his seemingly ordinary lifestyle. The Belgian played with scale, perspective, shadow and illusion in the creation of his images, which feature a language of brick walls, the sky, apples, rocks, bowler hats and drawn words. With contributions by Monty Python's Terry Jones, writer Suzi Gablik and Naresh Ramchandani.
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2011 - A Culture Show Special
Thursday 16 June
11:50pm - 12:50am
BBC2 Northern Ireland
Alastair Sooke presents from the 243rd open submission show at the Royal Academy of Arts, the largest and longest-running exhibition of its kind. He goes behind the scenes to follow the selection process and explore the gallery, which is curated by Michael Craig-Martin and features works by Cornelia Parker, Michael Landy and Tony Bevan. Ben Lewis also listens in as the judges of 2011's Wollaston Award decide the winner.
Culture
Blind Date with Bloomsday
Sunday 12 June
4:30pm - 5:00pm
BBC Radio 4
Peter White visits Dublin for Bloomsday, the city's celebration of James Joyce's novel Ulysses. Held each year on June 16th - the date when all the novel's events take place - the festivities feature fans re-enacting scenes from the book, and the presenter explains why he believes the text may be more suited to the spoken word than the printed page. He also discusses his experiences of reading Ulysses in braille, and explores the use of blindness and myopia in Joyce's work.
Passion in Port Talbot: It Has Begun
Sunday 12 June
10:25pm - 11:25pm
BBC1 Wales
Highlights from Michael Sheen's secular re-telling of the Passion of Christ, which was staged in various locations around the town of Port Talbot during the Easter weekend and featured more than 1,000 members of the local community - as well as a cameo by rock band Manic Street Preachers.
Sunday Feature
Sunday 12 June
9:30pm - 10:30pm
BBC Radio 3
Europe - The Art of Austerity
Michael Goldfarb looks back to the Europe of the 1930s and asks how artists, writers and film-makers responded to the poverty, mass unemployment and political instability of the Great Depression. Through the work of Carlo Levi, Bertolt Brecht, Fritz Lang, George Orwell and others, he charts the devastating impact as the economic slump impoverished the continent, engulfing highly industrialised nations such as Germany and the more agrarian economies of Greece, Spain and Ireland. As economic faultlines again threaten to divide Europe, he also asks whether a new art of austerity is now emerging in response to the latest wave of banking crises, spending cuts and popular protest.
Words and Music
Sunday 12 June
10:30pm - 11:30pm
BBC Radio 3
To Infinity and Beyond
Sakia Reeves and David Annen read poetry and prose inspired by the idea of infinity.
James Joyce: A Biography
Mon 13 June - Fri 17th
9:45am - 10:00am
BBC Radio 4
1/5
By Gordon Bowker, abridged by Penny Leicester. Biography of James Joyce, who spent eventful years in Trieste, Zurich and Paris with his wife Nora Barnacle, and produced the masterpiece Ulysses during his time in exile. The writer's early life in Dublin is also explored. Narrated by Jim Norton.
The No 219 Sodcast Project
Tuesday 14 June
1:30pm - 2:00pm
BBC Radio 4
Ian McMillan investigates an ambitious campaign by the users of bus service against passengers who insisted on playing intrusively loud music on their mobile phones. He meets former perpetrators, schoolgirls who have taken the habit to a new level, and the producer of one of the tracks most frequently played on public transport, before trying to convince a busload of sceptics that sharing music is an act of cultural charity rather than a nuisance.
The View
Tuesday 14 June
11:15pm - 12:00am
RTE1
Liam Fay, Sinead Gleeson, Cristin Leach and Hugh Linehan join John Kelly to discuss the work of arts critics. They provide an insight into the skills possessed by a good reviewer, and explore the risks of airing a negative opinion while working in a relatively small country. Last in the series.
Welsh Greats
Wednesday 15 June
10:45pm - 11:15pm
BBC1 Wales
Laura Ashley
A profile of the life and career of Laura Ashley, revealing how the Dowlais-born designer went from printing scarves on her kitchen table to running a popular international fashion chain. Narrated by Philip Madoc.
Psychology / Society
Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die
Highlight
Monday 13 June
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC2 Northern Ireland
The author, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008, travels to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to investigate whether ending his own life before the disease takes complete hold is possible. In addition to witnessing the organisation's assisted-death procedures, he confronts the point at which he would have to take the lethal drug.
Choosing to Die: Newsnight Debate
Monday 13 June
10:00pm - 10:30pm
BBC2 Northern Ireland
Jeremy Paxman talks to Terry Pratchett about his documentary, and a panel of studio guests debate the issues surrounding assisted death.
All in the Mind
Tuesday 14 June
9:00pm - 9:30pm
BBC Radio 4
9/13
Claudia Hammond is joined by author Dan Gardner and psychologist Dylan Evans to discuss why many people are drawn to predictions made by so-called experts, including economists and government intelligence agencies, even when they have been previously proven wrong. Together, they speculate on whether the key to success is to make a confident forecast rather than a vague one, and examine the apparent human aversion to uncertainty.
The Scheme
Tuesday 14 June
11:05pm - 11:55pm
BBC1 Northern Ireland
1/4
New series. Documentary following the fortunes of six families living on a large housing scheme in north-west Kilmarnock over the course of 18 months. The first programme introduces the Cunninghams, whose eldest son is about to be sent to prison, and a single mother-of-two who provides shelter to homeless people.
A Scattering
Wednesday 15 June
2:15pm - 3:00pm
BBC Radio 4
By Christopher Reid, read by Robert Bathurst. A collection of poems written in response to the death by cancer of the author's wife, the actress Lucinda Gane. They describe the journey from the first diagnosis of illness to the poet's provisional acceptance of his position as one 'the left-over living'.
Wonderland - The Kids Who Play with Fire
Wednesday 15 June
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC2 Northern Ireland
Documentary following three children who have a history of setting fires. Ten-year-old Liam sleeps on a charred mattress, Ryan is brazenly fascinated by flames, and 14-year-old Hulya has repeatedly set her bedroom alight. Fire service counsellors, determined to put a stop to their behaviour, try to understand the anger and frustration that provokes them.
The Downside of High
Thursday 16 June
12:20am - 1:15am
RTE1
Documentary investigating the claim made by new research that smoking cannabis before the age of 16 makes people four times more likely to develop schizophrenia.
The Sex Researchers
Thursday 16 June
10:00pm - 11:05pm
Channel 4
1/3
New series. Documentary about the scientists whose findings over the past 100 years have transformed the way people think about sex. The first episode concentrates on theories relating to the differences between men and women, including the work of 1950s gynaecologist Bill Masters and his secretary Virginia Johnson, who wrote a best-selling book after recording 10,000 orgasms in their laboratory.
Science / Nature
Jane Goodall: Beauty and the Beasts
Sunday 12 June
8:00pm - 9:00pm
BBC Four
Documentary telling the story of Jane Goodall, the secretary from Bournemouth who famously befriended a group of wild chimpanzees in the forests of Gombe, Tanzania, in 1960. The programme details how she became a conservationist, and explains the personal cost of her achievements. Narrated by Neil Stuke.
Botany: A Blooming History
Tuesday 14 June
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC Four
The Power of Plants
2/3
Timothy Walker explains why the process of photosynthesis in plants is vital to the survival of life on Earth, and traces how the research of 17th-century botanists provided the foundations for scientists to discover the link between sunlight and plant growth. He also examines modern-day attempts to artificially replicate the process, and meets those hoping that photosynthesis could provide a solution to the world's fuel supply problems. Part of the Botany Season.
Apples: British to the Core
Wednesday 15 June
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC Four
Garden designer Chris Beardshaw finds out how Britain has helped shape the apple. He visits the original Bramley apple tree, discovers what drove Victorian horticulturists to create so many varieties and learns about the work of scientists who have unlocked the fruit's deepest secrets and helped make it a mass-market success.
Unnatural Histories
Thursday 16 June
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC Four
2/3
Documentary revealing mankind's impact on some the world's most famous wildernesses and areas of natural beauty.
History
The Country House Revealed
Tuesday 14 June
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC2 Northern Ireland
Marshcourt
6/6
Dan Cruickshank reaches the end of his tour with a visit to Marshcourt in Hampshire, an Edwardian country house designed by Edwin Lutyens, and situated above the River Test. The historian discovers how the property was paid for by Herbert Johnson, a broker who narrowly evaded bankruptcy three times and managed to keep his opulent home standing. Last in the series.
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