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261	Imagine: The One and Only Mike Leigh (2014) #838 DOCUMENTARY Main 105 mins. BBC. In a revealing documentary, Mike Leigh, director of Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and Abigail's Party among many others, talks to Alan Yentob about a unique body of work and a lifelong struggle to make films on his own terms. On day one of a Mike Leigh film, there is no script, no story and the actors do not know if they will even be in the final film. It is a process that has yielded some of cinema's most celebrated performances, and Leigh's new film Mr Turner is already winning critical acclaim. Actors including Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan, Sally Hawkins, Lesley Manville and James Corden give fascinating insights into the director and his distinctive method of working.
262	Walking Through History: Sherwood Forest (2014) #839 DOCUMENTARY Main 50 mins. C4. Tony Robinson
263	Congo Calling: An African Orchestra in Britain (2014) #842 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. Documentary following the inspirational Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste and choir as they make their debut visit to the UK. It captures the latest step in an extraordinary odyssey for the world's first all-black orchestra, formed 20 years ago from a group of self-taught church musicians in Kinshasa, the capital city of the turbulent DRC. From the moment the 100-strong party led by conductor Armand Diangienda touches down at Manchester Airport, we follow them night and day as they work side by side with the Halle orchestra and choir and later at the Southbank in London with members of the National Youth Orchestra, BBC orchestras, Southbank Sinfonia and more. Amongst the hectic schedule of instrument repairs, seminars, rehearsals and performances, they still find time for a visit to Manchester United's Old Trafford ground, and down south take a trip to the Proms and a flight on the London Eye that turns into a joyous spontaneous singalong. The climax is a concert at London's Royal Festival Hall, with a programme embracing the rousing ode to brotherhood of Beethoven's 9th, along with a symphony written by members of the orchestra. From the inside out, Congo Calling charts the pride and the passion - and the joie de vivre - of an orchestral community abroad. It is an eye-opening exchange of experience and ideas between European and African musicians, between seasoned professionals and ever-passionate amateurs.
264	Human Universe (2014) #844 DOCUMENTARY Main 5x1 hour episodes. BBC. Professor Brian Cox explores the most precious, most wonderful thing in the universe, us. 1/5 Apeman - Spaceman. Brian Cox charts our story from apes to the birth of civilisation and then to the stars. 2/5 Why Are We Here? Brian Cox tackles the question that unites Earth's seven billion people - why are we here? 3/5 Are We Alone? Brian considers the possibility of alien life - could it exist, and will we ever find it? 4/5 A Place in Space and Time. Brian Cox looks at how we came to understand we are not at the centre of the universe. 5/5 What Is Our Future? Professor Brian Cox concludes his exploration of our place in the universe.
265	Castles in the Sky (2014) #846 TV DRAMA Main Directed by Gillies MacKinnon. With Eddie Izzard, Laura Fraser, Arran Tulloch, Lesley Harcourt. It is the mid-1930s and the storm clouds of WWII are forming in Germany. This film charts the work of Robert Watson Watt, the pioneer of Radar, and his hand-picked team of eccentric yet brilliant meteorologists as they struggle to turn the concept of Radar into a workable reality. Hamstrung by a tiny budget, seemingly insurmountable technical problems and even a spy in the camp. 90 mins. BBC. This is the remarkable human drama behind the invention that was to prove pivotal in the Battle of Britain. It is also the thrilling story of the tenacity and courage of a most unlikely group of British heroes.
266	The Making of Merkel with Andrew Marr (2014) #847 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. On the eve of the German federal elections, Andrew Marr looks at the enigmatic Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. She is the most important politician in Europe and the most powerful woman in the world. Yet she has been criticized by some for her lack of charisma and accused by others of trying to turn Europe into a Greater Germany. Andrew Marr delves into her childhood and background to discover what has shaped her political vision and style. Growing up in East Germany, the paranoid state at the heart of the Communist Eastern Bloc, then becoming a research scientist, she only entered politics in her mid-thirties after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Her political journey has been marked by caution and compromise - but with occasional flashes of ruthlessness and an unyielding commitment to European Union. In this film, Andrew Marr lifts the veil on a very unusual politician.
267	Horizon: Inside the Dark Web (2014) #849 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. . Twenty-five years after the world wide web was created, it is now caught in the greatest controversy of its existence - surveillance. With many concerned that governments and corporations can monitor our every move, Horizon meets the hackers and scientists whose technology is fighting back. It is a controversial technology, and some law enforcement officers believe it is leading to risk-free crime on the dark web - a place where almost anything can be bought, from guns and drugs to credit card details. Featuring interviews with the inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and the co-founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Horizon delves inside the dark web.
268	Ireland's Lost Babies (2014) #850 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. In 2013 the movie Philomena was shown in cinemas across the world and earned four Oscar nominations. The film was based on the true story of Philomena Lee, who was forced by the Catholic Church to give up her illegitimate son for adoption, and detailed her journey with journalist Martin Sixsmith to find her child 50 years later. In the weeks and months after the film went out, Martin was contacted by other mothers who had their own stories to tell. Now, Martin Sixsmith goes on a journey to investigate the Irish Catholic Church's role in an adoption trade which saw thousands of illegitimate children taken from their mothers and sent abroad, often with donations to the Church flowing in the other direction. In Ireland and in America, Martin hears the moving stories of the parents and children whose lives were changed forever and discovers evidence that prospective parents were not properly vetted - sometimes with tragic consequences.
269	British Art at War: Paul Nash: The Ghosts of War (2014) #853 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. In the years preceding 1914, David Bomberg, Walter Sickert and Paul Nash set out to paint a new world, but, as the century unfolded, found themselves working in the rubble. On 25th May 1917, war artist Paul Nash climbed out of his trench to sketch the battlefields of Flanders near Ypres. So focused was he on his work he tripped and fell back into the trench, breaking his ribs. Stretchered back to England, Nash missed his regiment going over the top at the Battle of Passchendaele. His regiment was wiped out. Nash was scarred by the war and the ghosts of those experiences haunted his work throughout his life. A lover of nature, Nash became one of Britain's most original landscape artists, embracing modern Surrealism and ancient British history, though always tainted by his experiences during two world wars. A private yet charismatic man, he brought British landscape painting into the 20th century with his mixture of the personal and visionary, the beautiful and the shocking. An artist who saw the landscape as not just a world to paint, but a way into his heart and mind.
270	British Art at War: Walter Sickert and the Theatre of War (2014) #854 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. In the years preceding 1914, David Bomberg, Walter Sickert and Paul Nash set out to paint a new world, but, as the century unfolded, found themselves working in the rubble. Walter Sickert's early career as an actor is long forgotten and he's now remembered for his art. But he never left the stage behind. Always shape-shifting between roles, Sickert's appearance never stayed still. And his art, too, was in perpetual transformation. Dazzlingly original, deeply unsettling, poised on the brink of violence. For most, proof that Sickert is the godfather of modern British art, but for a few at the fringes, evidence he's Jack the Ripper. But Sickert was no perpetrator, just an unflinching witness, notably, to the cataclysm of World War One. Too old to fight in Flanders, Sickert painted edgy, compelling, subtle pictures of those who'd been left behind. He painted people trying to get on with lives that were being shattered by the conflict. Almost alone of his generation, Sickert truly understood that the theatre of war was not confined to the trenches.
271	100 Seconds to Beat the World: The David Rudisha Story (2014) #856 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. Documentary telling the story of Kenyan athlete David Rudisha, the greatest 800m runner the world has ever seen, and his highly unusual coach, the Irish Catholic missionary Brother Colm O'Connell. Shot over ten years, the film begins in 2005 when we first meet David as a shy 16-year-old arriving at a training camp with nothing but a dream of emulating his father's 1968 Olympic silver medal. The camp is run by the unlikeliest of coaches, missionary and amateur athletics trainer Brother Colm, who quickly spots his talent. Together they embark on a journey through injury, disappointment and terror when violence sweeps through the country in the aftermath of the 2008 election, all the way to the 2012 Olympics and the greatest 800m race the world has ever seen. With unprecedented access and featuring interviews with Seb Coe and Steve Cram, this is an epic, magical and uplifting tale that reaches far beyond sport.
272	Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions (2014) #858 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. When Worlds Collide episode 1 of 2 This documentary reveals the awe-inspiring world of animal swarms, discovering what happens when superswarms invade people's lives and, using the latest camera techniques, going to the heart of the swarm to reveal how the creatures therein view our world. Real-life footage from camcorders and mobile phones captures the amazing impact they can have. Killer bees mount an attack on an international football match in Costa Rica. In the US, the Illinois River boils with leaping silver carp, an alien species that has hijacked the river, smashing into boats and injuring people. In South Australia a sea of mice raids farms, consuming and destroying in their millions on a scale that defies belief. The largest swarm on Earth erupts from Lake Victoria: trillions of flies blanket villages, but the locals have learnt to turn the swarm into a highly nutritious fly burger. In Rome, cameras fly alongside ten million starlings, the largest swarm in Europe. Their mesmeric waves stop many residents in their tracks, but as they roost they smother the city in tons of excrement. One man has learnt to control the ultimate swarm. He has become their 'queen bee' with startling results, learning to control what most people fear and to understand one of the most incredible forces of nature.
273	Art of China (2014) #859 DOCUMENTARY Main 3x1 hour episodes. BBC. Andrew Graham-Dixon undertakes an epic journey to uncover the art of China. 1/3 Andrew Graham-Dixon pieces together the recent discoveries of ancient Chinese art. 2/3 A look at the period from the 10th to the 15th century - the golden age of art in China. 3/3 Andrew Graham-Dixon charts the glorious rise and calamitous fall of China's last dynasty.
274	Hacking: Power, Corruption and Lies (2014) #864 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. In a Panorama Special, Robert Peston investigates the questions behind the phone hacking trial which saw David Cameron's former spokesman, Andy Coulson, convicted and three other News of the World News editors plead guilty. Did politicians of all parties and police help to cover-up the hacking scandal for years because of their own close relationships with Rupert Murdoch's News International?
275	John Ogdon: Living with Genius (2014) #865 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. Profile of Britain's greatest ever classical pianist and of one of the most successful musical partnerships of the last 50 years, that of John Ogdon and his wife Brenda Lucas Ogdon. For the first time, Brenda and her children Richard and Annabel tell the personal story of John Ogdon - the husband, father and genius. This is a story of their lives together, one that covers their rollercoaster ride from extraordinary and deserved success to tragic adversity and despair. Featuring unique archive and contemporary performance as well as candid interviews with those who knew him best, this incredible tale is a moving account of their professional partnership. A fascinating reflection on the power of the art form itself, gained from a lifetime of living, breathing, teaching and performing.
276	Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown (2014) #866 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown recounts his flying experiences, encounters with the Nazis and other adventures leading up to and during the Second World War. Illustrated with archive footage and Captain Brown's own photos.
277	D-Day: The Last Heroes (2014) #866 DOCUMENTARY Main 2x1 hour episodes. BBC. Dan Snow examines how the Allied Forces planned and executed the D-Day landings, as surviving veterans tell the story of one of the most dramatic military operations in history. 1/2 How two years of planning, espionage and analysis helped the Allied forces win D-Day. 2/2 The stories of those who risked their lives on the beaches of Normandy.
278	Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century (2014) #868 DOCUMENTARY Main 3x1 hour episodes. Series in which broadcaster and writer Suzy Klein tells the story of the composers and musicians that helped shape the musical map of Britain in the 18th century. 1/3 Suzy Klein studies music as a weapon in the fight for British identity. 2/3 As money poured in from Britain's trade empire, music became a tool for social mobility. 3/3 Music acquired a higher moral purpose. Romanticism blossomed in the search for the sublime.
279	Messiah at the Foundling Hospital (2014) #869 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. Handel's Messiah is one of the most popular choral pieces in western music. It has been recorded hundreds of times and contains a tune that is as instantly recognisable as any in music. Yet few people know the extraordinary story of how this much-loved piece came to public attention - or how it helped save the lives of tens of thousands of children. Historian Amanda Vickery and BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom Service present this one-hour drama documentary which recreates the first performance of Messiah at London's Foundling Hospital in 1750 and tells the heartrending story of how this special fundraising concert helped maintain the hospital and heralded a golden age of philanthropy. Exploring historical documents and artefacts, Amanda examines the plight of women in Georgian London, particularly how the attitudes of the time led mothers to abandon their babies at the hospital. Tom looks at the momentous trials and tribulations faced by Handel in London and discovers how the composer became involved with the Foundling Hospital alongside another philanthropist of the day, the artist William Hogarth.
280	I Was There: The Great War Interviews (2014) #871 DOCUMENTARY Main 1 hour. BBC. In the early 1960s, the BBC interviewed 280 eyewitnesses of the First World War for the series, The Great War. Using never-before-seen footage from these interviews, this film illuminates the poignant human experience of the war, through the eyes of those who survived it.

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