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Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness (2025) #1597
FILM
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BBC Two celebrates the life and legacy of comic legend Ken Dodd with a star-studded documentary. “Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness” takes a rare look into the private life of the man who brought joy to millions. The program features home movies, providing intimate moments and unseen footage of Dodd. |
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Joy (2024) #1576
FILM
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1h 55m 3 trailblazers: a young nurse, a visionary scientist, and an innovative surgeon face opposition from the church, state, media, and medical establishment in their pursuit of the world's first 'test tube baby,' Louise Joy Brown. |
| 3 |
Barbie (2023) #1534
FILM
Main
1h 54m Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. |
| 4 |
The Gondoliers (2022) #1409
MUSIC
Main
150 mins. BBC. One of the finest of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas in a sumptuous production by Scottish Opera. Sunny, funny and with more 'tra-la-las' per square inch than any other opera in the canon, The Gondoliers is a joy from start to finish. This witty satire is jam-packed with unforgettable star roles, musical highlights and dancing, including numbers such as Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes, Regular Royal Queen and the Cachucha. The Gondoliers is a charming poke at the appeals and pitfalls of rulership, privilege and cronyism. Two happy-go-lucky Venetian gondoliers, Marco and Giuseppe, discover that one of them is, in fact, heir to the throne of a distant kingdom. True to their (adopted) republican roots, they set off together to rule in idealistic if somewhat chaotic style. Marco and Giuseppe have just chosen their brides, Gianetta and Tessa, when their lives are thrown into turmoil by the arrival of the grand inquisitor, Don Alhambra, who informs them that one of them has acquired the throne of the distant Kingdom of Barataria. The Duke of Plaza-Toro brings his daughter to meet Don Alhambra because she has been betrothed to the new monarch - whichever he is. No-one can identify which of the gondoliers is to be the king, so they both agree to go and rule jointly and according to their strict republican instincts. It’s a fine but exhausting ideal, as they find that ‘equality’ means they end up doing all the work themselves. The Duke of Plaza-Toro, bringing his daughter, arrives in the chaotic kingdom, and after vain attempts to teach the monarchs decorum and judgement, the confusion and incompetence is resolved, and the rightful monarch is in place. In a co-production by D’Oyly Carte Opera and State Opera South Australia, Stuart Maunder directs the production with fun, verve and taste, with Scottish Opera’s music director, Derek Clark, conducting one of Arthur Sullivan’s most attractive and affecting scores. The designs are by Dick Bird, drawing on views of Venice by Canaletto and creating colourful costumes full of style and wit. Isabel Baquero has devised an energetic and boisterous choreography that matches the joy of the production. |
| 5 |
The Gondoliers (2022) #1410
MUSIC
Special
150 mins. BBC. One of the finest of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas in a sumptuous production by Scottish Opera. Sunny, funny and with more 'tra-la-las' per square inch than any other opera in the canon, The Gondoliers is a joy from start to finish. This witty satire is jam-packed with unforgettable star roles, musical highlights and dancing, including numbers such as Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes, Regular Royal Queen and the Cachucha. The Gondoliers is a charming poke at the appeals and pitfalls of rulership, privilege and cronyism. Two happy-go-lucky Venetian gondoliers, Marco and Giuseppe, discover that one of them is, in fact, heir to the throne of a distant kingdom. True to their (adopted) republican roots, they set off together to rule in idealistic if somewhat chaotic style. Marco and Giuseppe have just chosen their brides, Gianetta and Tessa, when their lives are thrown into turmoil by the arrival of the grand inquisitor, Don Alhambra, who informs them that one of them has acquired the throne of the distant Kingdom of Barataria. The Duke of Plaza-Toro brings his daughter to meet Don Alhambra because she has been betrothed to the new monarch - whichever he is. No-one can identify which of the gondoliers is to be the king, so they both agree to go and rule jointly and according to their strict republican instincts. It’s a fine but exhausting ideal, as they find that ‘equality’ means they end up doing all the work themselves. The Duke of Plaza-Toro, bringing his daughter, arrives in the chaotic kingdom, and after vain attempts to teach the monarchs decorum and judgement, the confusion and incompetence is resolved, and the rightful monarch is in place. In a co-production by D’Oyly Carte Opera and State Opera South Australia, Stuart Maunder directs the production with fun, verve and taste, with Scottish Opera’s music director, Derek Clark, conducting one of Arthur Sullivan’s most attractive and affecting scores. The designs are by Dick Bird, drawing on views of Venice by Canaletto and creating colourful costumes full of style and wit. Isabel Baquero has devised an energetic and boisterous choreography that matches the joy of the production. 2 DVDs - Act I & Act II |
| 6 |
This New Noise (2022) #1458
MUSIC
Main
1 hour. BBC Proms. Prom 58: Public Service Broadcasting – This New Noise BBC Proms2022 Live at the BBC Proms: Retro-futurist rockers Public Service Broadcasting celebrate 100 glorious years of BBC Radio with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jules Buckley. Presented by Elizabeth Alker, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London. Public Service Broadcasting: This New Noise (BBC commission: world premiere) Public Service Broadcasting BBC Symphony Orchestra Jules Buckley (conductor) Archive footage, soundscapes, dancing astronauts and a flashing, blinking Sputnik right here in the Royal Albert Hall – when cult ‘retro-futurists’ Public Service Broadcasting brought The Race to Space to the Proms in 2019, it’s safe to say that the results were out of this world. So in the year that the BBC celebrates a century of – well, public-service broadcasting – it makes perfect sense to invite them back with This New Noise: a joyously eclectic, album-length celebration of 100 years of BBC Radio, backed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and delivered with all the wit and showmanship of a band on an ongoing mission to ‘teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future’. 1. Ripples in the Ether (Towards the Infinite) 2. This New Noise 3. An Unusual Man 4. A Cello Sings in Daventry [ft. Seth Lakeman] 5. Broadcasting House 6. The Microphone (The Fleet is Lit Up) 7. A Candle Which Will Not Be Put Out 8. What of the Future? (In Touch with the Infinite) |
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This New Noise (2022) #1472
MUSIC
Main
50mins. BBC. Tue 30 Aug 2022 Royal Albert Hall Retro-futurist rockers Public Service Broadcasting perform This New Noise: a joyously eclectic, album-length celebration of 100 years of BBC Radio, told with visuals, soundscapes and a little bit of help from the BBC Symphony Orchestra. |
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Janet Baker - In Her Own Words (2019) #1187
DOCUMENTARY-MUSIC
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90 mins. BBC. In her first documentary for more than 35 years, the great British classical singer Dame Janet Baker talks more openly and emotionally than ever before about her career and her life today. With excerpts of her greatest stage roles (as Dido, Mary Stuart, Julius Caesar and Orpheus), as well as of her appearances in the concert hall and recording studio (works by Handel, Berlioz, Schubert, Elgar, Britten and Mahler), she looks back at the excitements and pitfalls of public performance. She tells the film-maker John Bridcut about the traumatic loss of her elder brother when she was only ten years old, and how that experience coloured her voice and her artistry. She explains why she felt the need to retire early some thirty years ago and discusses the challenges she and her husband have to face in old age. She also gives tantalizing clues to the question her many fans often ask: does she still sing today at the age of 85? Among the other contributors to the film are conductors Raymond Leppard, Jane Glover and André Previn (in one of his last interviews before his death in March), the singers Joyce DiDonato and Dame Felicity Lott, the opera producer John Copley, the pianist Imogen Cooper, and the actress Dame Patricia Routledge. This feature-length film is a Crux production for the BBC, following the award-winning ‘Colin Davis - in His Own Words’ in 2013. John Bridcut has also made film profiles of Herbert von Karajan, Mstislav Rostropovich, Rudolf Nureyev and Jonas Kaufmann, as well as ‘Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70’ for BBC One in November 2018. |
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The Fall of the Berlin Wall with John Simpson (2019) #1268
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. It’s said that journalists write the first draft of history. To mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, John Simpson, the BBC’s world affairs editor and longest-serving correspondent, goes back to his reports on what he believes is the most important story he ever covered – the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Back in 1989, John thought this event would change the world for the better, forever. But history has not turned out quite the way he expected. Russia is yet again an enemy of the West, and the Cold War battle that built the Berlin Wall has been replaced with other destabilising global power struggles - even more dangerous and much harder to understand. Three decades on, John wonders if he was wrong to have been so optimistic. Using the anniversary as an opportunity to re-examine how he told the story, John watches the BBC’s extensive archive and talks with historians and other experts to try and understand just how accurate his reporting was. At the heart of the documentary is an intense and personal interview with John. He begins by describing how he grew up in the shadow of the Cold War battle between the capitalist West and the communist East, and how he - like everyone else - believed that this global stand-off would continue for many more decades, ending sooner or later in nuclear war. On 9 November 1989, John, like the rest of the world, in shock at reports that the Berlin Wall’s checkpoints had been opened up, rushed to Berlin to cover the incredible story. With great emotion, John recalls his happiness as he reported from in front of the Wall as Berlin’s people tore it down, until his broadcast was cut off midway by technical failure – giving him by far the most humiliating moment of his long career. After the technical meltdown, John describes how he walked into the crowd feeling utterly depressed. But, surrounded by the thousands of people who had streamed through the checkpoints from East Berlin, untouched by the once trigger-happy border guards and greeted with delight by West Berliners, he could barely believe his own eyes and found himself overwhelmed with joy. So, why has the legacy of the Wall not turned out the way John hoped and expected? He examines why he did not predict that the pace of change across Europe would lead to the terrible war in Yugoslavia, nor that Russia, with Vladimir Putin – a former KGB agent – as its president, would find a new guise in which to become a bitter enemy of the West. John also reflects on the terrifying uncertainty of global politics today, which has left him with a certain nostalgia for the decades of the Cold War – a period that was certainly frightening, but arguably less so than the uncertainty and complexity of global politics that we live with today. |
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Great British Railway Journeys: York to Frizinghall (2018) #1102
DOCUMENTARY
Main
30 mins. BBC. Series 9. Armed with his Edwardian Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo conducts important research in an historic tea room, built by an Edwardian immigrant to the city of York. Research of a more sombre kind leads Michael to the roots of our modern welfare state in the work of an early 20th-century Quaker investigator, whose family manufactured chocolate. Next stop is Leeds, where Michael discovers the city's textile heritage, which relied in Edwardian times on a group of skilled Jewish immigrants to take it forward. Michael learns how some of the big names built their empires in Leeds and measures up to a footballing legend. At Bradford Grammar School, Michael hears the story of a talented Edwardian student who became a famous composer and enjoys one of his works, sung by a music pupil of today. |
| 11 |
The Joy of Winning (2018) #1161
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. How to have a happier life and a better world all thanks to maths, in this witty, mind-expanding guide to the science of success with Hannah Fry. Following in the footsteps of BBC Four's award-winning maths films The Joy of Stats and The Joy of Data, this latest gleefully nerdy adventure sees mathematician Dr Hannah Fry unlock the essential strategies you'll need to get what you want - to win - more of the time. From how to bag a bargain dinner to how best to stop the kids arguing on a long car journey, maths can give you a winning strategy. And the same rules apply to the world's biggest problems - whether it's avoiding nuclear annihilation or tackling climate change. Deploying 'The Joys Of...' films' trademark mix of playful animation alongside both oddball demos and contributions from the world's biggest brains, Fry shows how this field of maths - known as game theory - is the essential key to help you get your way. She reveals ways to analyse any situation, and methods of calculating the consequences of getting what you want. Expect tips on taking advantage of what your opponents do, but also pleasing proof that cooperation might get you further than conflict. Fry also hails the 20th-century scientists like John von Neumann and John Nash who worked out the science of success. They may not be household names, but they transformed economics, politics, psychology and evolutionary biology in the process - and their work, Hannah demonstrates, could even be shown to prove the existence and advantage of goodness. Along the way the film reveals, amongst other things, what links the rapper Ludacris, a Kentucky sheriff, a Nobel Prize winner and doping in professional cycling. And there's an irresistible chance to revisit the most excruciatingly painful and the most genius scenes ever seen on a TV game show, as Hannah unpacks the maths behind the legendary show Golden Balls and hails Nick Corrigan, the contestant whose cunning gameplay managed to break the supposedly intractable 'Prisoner's Dilemma'. Other contributors to The Joy of Winning include European number one professional female poker player Liv Boeree, Scottish ex-pro cyclist and anti-doping campaigner (banned for 2 years in 2004 for doping) David Millar, Israeli game theory expert Dr Haim Shapira - who shows why it is sometimes rational to be irrational - and top evolutionary game theorist Professor Karl Sigmund from the University of Vienna. |
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Stunning Soloists at the BBC (2017) #1050
MUSIC
Main
1 hour. BBC. Solo show-stoppers from the world's greatest musicians in a journey through fifty years of BBC Music. From guitarist John Williams and cellist Jacqueline du Pre to trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and violinist Nigel Kennedy, this is a treasure trove of musical treats and dazzling virtuosity. Whether it's James Galway's Flight of the Bumblebee performed at superhuman speed, Ravi Shankar's mesmerising Raag Bihag or Dudley Moore's brilliant Colonel Bogey March, every performance has its own star quality and unique appeal. Parkinson, Later with Jools Holland, The Les Dawson Show, Music at Night and Wogan are among the programmes featuring instruments ranging from marimba and kora to harp and flamenco guitar. Sit back and enjoy. |
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Christmas Day Eucharist (2017) #1062
MUSIC
Main
1 hour. BBC One. 10am 25th December 2017 Christmas Morning from All Saints Fulham A traditional Christmas morning family service of Holy Communion, live from All Saints Church in Fulham, west London. Families from all generations sing well-loved carols including Joy to the World, See Amid the Winter's Snow and O Come All Ye Faithful. The service is introduced by the Rev Canon Joe Hawes, who also preaches. The celebrant is the Rev Penny Seabrook, and All Saints Choir, led by director of music Jonathan Wikeley, sing Mozart's Credo Mass in C. Featuring Elizabeth Morrell. |
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Maria by Callas (2017) #1353
FILM
Main
Directed by Tom Volf. With Fanny Ardant, Joyce DiDonato, Maria Callas, David Frost. An intimate look at the life and work of Greek-American opera singer Maria Callas, as told in her own words. |
| 15 |
The Joy of Rachmaninoff (2016) #653
DOCUMENTARY
Main
Directed by Ben Whalley. With Vladimir Ashkenazy, Stephen Hough, Steven Isserlis, Vladimir Jurowski. Tom Service takes a cinematic journey through Russia on the trail of the wondrous yet melancholic melodies of Russian giant Sergei Rachmaninoff. 60 mins. Tom Service takes a cinematic journey through Russia on the trail of the wondrous yet melancholic melodies of Russian giant Sergei Rachmaninoff. A celebration of a composer's musical triumph over critical adversity and Soviet terror, with performances and contributions from Vladimir Ashkenazy, Denis Matsuev, Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough, Vladimir Jurowski, Lucy Parham and James Rhodes. |
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The Joy of Data (2016) #1181
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. A witty and mind-expanding exploration of data, with mathematician Dr Hannah Fry. This high-tech romp reveals what data is and how it is captured, stored, shared and made sense of. Fry tells the story of the engineers of the data age, people most of us have never heard of despite the fact they brought about a technological and philosophical revolution. For Hannah, the joy of data is all about spotting patterns. Hannah sees data as the essential bridge between two universes - the tangible, messy world that we see and the clean, ordered world of maths, where everything can be captured beautifully with equations. The film reveals the connection between Scrabble scores and online movie streaming, explains why a herd of dairy cows are wearing pedometers, and uncovers the network map of Wikipedia. What's the mystery link between marmalade and One Direction? The film hails the contribution of Claude Shannon, the mathematician and electrical engineer who, in an attempt to solve the problem of noisy telephone lines, devised a way to digitise all information. Shannon singlehandedly launched the 'information age'. Meanwhile, Britain's National Physical Laboratory hosts a race between its young apprentices in order to demonstrate how and why data moves quickly around modern data networks. It's all thanks to the brilliant technique first invented there in the 1960s by Welshman Donald Davies - packet switching. But what of the future? Should we be worried by the pace of change and what our own data could be used for? Ultimately, Fry concludes, data has empowered all of us. We must have machines at our side if we're to find patterns in the modern-day data deluge. But, Fry believes, regardless of AI and machine learning, it will always take us to find the meaning in them. |
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Inside Out (2015) #428
FILM
Main
Directed by Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen. With Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling. After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness - conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school. Pixar/Disney |
| 18 |
The Pennine Way (2015) #925
DOCUMENTARY
Main
4x30 min episodes. Explorer Paul Rose presents a documentary on the Pennine Way, Britain's first national trail, as it celebrates its 50th birthday 1/4 Paul Rose discovers how the route has changed over the last half century. 2/4 Paul Rose visits the village of Malham in the Dales, where the Pennine Way was inaugurated 3/4 Paul Rose heads to the North Pennines and enjoys white-water rafting down the River Tees. 4/4 Paul Rose heads into Northumberland on the final stage of his Pennine Way journey. |
| 19 |
Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain: A New Dawn (2014) #673
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Episode 1. In the first of a six-part series, Andrew Marr revisits Britain at the dawn of the 20th century. He finds the country mourning the death of Queen Victoria, fighting an intractable war against the Boers in South Africa, enjoying the bawdy pleasures of music hall and worrying about the physical and moral strength of the working class. There are stories of political intrigue between David Lloyd George and his arch-enemy Joseph Chamberlain, as well as the beginning of the struggle for women's suffrage. Plus an account of the day Mr Rolls met Mr Royce and kicked off a revolution in motoring. With powerful archive and vivid anecdotes, Andrew Marr gets to the heart of Edwardian Britain. He brings to life Britain's struggle to maintain its imperial power in the world in the years before the First World War. |
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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. |