
Documentary celebrating the triumph, tragedy and human comedy that was Manchester record company, Factory. Started by the late Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannett in the late 1970s, it became known as the home of Joy Divsion, New Order and Happy Mondays and for creating the Hacienda club. The label pioneered Britain's independent pop culture, creating a new Manchester and blowing a shed-load of money. Includes interviews with all the main players in the Factory story.

Deep Purple is one of the most influential and important guitar bands in history, one of the godfathers of the heavy metal genre, with over 100 million album sales worldwide to their name. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Deep Purple's groundbreaking double live album Made in Japan, this documentary explores these recordings and Deep Purple Mark 2, the line-up between 1969 and 1973.

The documentary tracks the diva's difficult progress as she emerges from the tough, testosterone-fuelled world of the big bands of the 30s and 40s, to fill nightclubs and saloons across the US in the 50s and early 60s as a force in her own right. Looking at the lives and careers of six individual singers (Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Annie Ross), the film not only talks to those who knew and worked with these queens of jazz, but also to contemporary singers who sit on the shoulders of these trailblazing talents without having to endure the pain and hardship it took for them to make their highly individual voices heard above the prejudice of mid-century America.

Gil Scott-Heron was one of the most influential musicians and poets of the last 50 years. In Don Letts's documentary, Gil tells his own story for the first time-from being one of the first black children to integrate an all white Southern state school to becoming the Godfather of Rap. There are contributions from Chuck D, Mos Def, Richi Havens and the Last Poets, among others. Filmed in October 2003, Gil performs live and recites poetry out on the streets of Harlem, which have inspired so much of his music.

Documentary following English folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention as they celebrate their 45th anniversary in 2012. Fairport's iconic 1969 album Liege and Lief featured some of folk music's biggest names - including singer Sandy Denny, guitarist Richard Thompson and fiddler Dave Swarbrick - and was voted by Radio 2 listeners as the most influential folk album of all time.

On October 5th 1962, the Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do. It was a moment that changed music history and popular culture forever. It was also an extraordinary year in social and cultural history, not just for Liverpool but for the world, with the Cuban missile crisis, John Glenn in space and beer at a shilling a pint. Stuart Maconie explores how the Beatles changed from leather and slicked back hair to suits and Beatle mops, and how their fashion set the pace for the sixties to follow. Pop artist Sir Peter Blake, Bob Harris and former Beatles drummer Pete Best join friends to reflect on how the Beatles evolved into John, Paul, George and Ringo - the most famous band in the world.

A documentary that explores the creation of the seminal, second album by Tears for Fears. Songs from the Big Chair took the gothic synth-pop foundations of the band and combined them with arena-ready anthems, leading to critical acclaim and three international hit singles, Mothers Talk, Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

A classic concert by Gordon Lightfoot from 1972, accompanied by Red Shea and Richard Haynes. They perform songs including Summer Side of Life, Saturday Clothes, That's What You Get For Loving Me, Affair on 8th Avenue, If I Could Read Your Mind, Steel Rail Blues, Ten Degrees and Getting Colder, Early Morning Rain, Me and Bobby McGee, Minstrel of the Dawn and Canadian Pacific Trilogy.

Adrian Edmondson narrates a documentary chronicling the story of Stiff Records, a tiny independent that took music out of the boardroom and gave it back to the fans. Stiff's successes included Nick Lowe, the Damned, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Madness, Tracey Ullman and the Pogues. Contributors include Captain Sensible, Jonathan Ross, Suggs, Shane MacGowan and label founders Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson.

Public Service Broadcasting – a band who bring wit, invention and multimedia spectacle to the stage – return to the Proms after their previous, staggeringly innovative, 2019 outing, The Race for Space. This time, Public Service Broadcasting join conductor Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for This New Noise, a world premiere specially commissioned for the BBC’s centenary The band’s use of archive footage, sampling and imaginative musical techniques travels back through a hundred years of broadcasting history, making this a musical event like no other.

2019 marks the 30th year since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Rich Hall examines the relationship between the West and the USSR in his inimitable fashion.

Drama about the secret life of Opportunity Knocks and Double Your Money presenter Hughie Green, based on the inside story from his family, friends and peers. It tells of the destructive power of success and celebrity from Green's earliest days as a child star, and explores what family and fatherhood meant to this iconic character, who harboured an explosive secret that would rock the entertainment world after his death in 1997.

Documentary telling, in her own words, the story of Carole King's upbringing in Brooklyn and the subsequent success that she had.

The border between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland has meandered across rural Irish farmlands since its creation in 1922. Throughout this time film crews and journalists have descended upon the border, attempting to understand its absurdities and contradictions – and the turmoil it can cause. At yet another crucial moment in its history, Border Country: When Ireland Was Divided brings almost 100 years of archival footage together with the stories of people whose lives have been affected by the border.

William Shakespeare's darkest comedy, Measure for Measure. Live from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, this television production of the play was broadcast on BBC4 on Sept 4, 2004. Directed for stage by John Dove and for television by Janet Fraser Cook. Presented by Andrew Marr and with comment from historian David Starkey, actress Juliet Stevenson and the production’s director John Dove. Starring Mark Rylance, Liam Brennan and Sophie Thompson.

Big Bill Broonzy would inspire a generation of musicians, yet he was not the man they believed him to be. This first, very intimate, biography of the pioneering bluesman uncovers the mystery of who Broonzy really was and follows his remarkable and colorful journey from the racist Deep South to the clubs of Chicago and all across the world. With contributions from Pete Seeger, Ray Davies, Keith Richards, Martin Carthy, John Renbourn, and members of the Broonzy family. Broonzy's own words are read by Clarke Peters.

"Laughing with Hitler" is a journey into a supposedly humorless time. In the Third Reich, however, the Führer and his Nazi bigwigs were laughed at. The political jokes of the Hitler years were a barometer of true public opinion. But those who dared to make jokes critical of the regime lived dangerously. In the early Nazi era, Hitler jokes were punished as "insidious", during the war even as "undermining of military strength" and the penalty was the death penalty! The conflict with the Nazi authorities ended more mildly for other pranksters: the cheeky cabaret artist Werner Finck was deported to a concentration camp, but was released again.

Built around the earliest, until now unseen, footage of the Clash in concert, filmed by Julien Temple as they opened the infamous Roxy club in a dilapidated Covent Garden on January 1st 1977, this show takes us on a time-travelling trip back to that strange planet that was Great Britain in the late 1970s and the moment when punk emerged into the mainstream consciousness. Featuring the voices of Joe Strummer and the Clash from the time, and intercutting the raw and visceral footage of this iconic show, with telling moments from the BBC's New Year's Eve, Hogmanay and New Year's Day schedules of nearly 40 years ago, it celebrates that great enduring British custom of getting together, en masse and often substantially the worse for wear, to usher in the New Year.

Profile of veteran country singer Emmylou Harris, witnessing the heady success of her career while also discussing her late flowering of intensely personal and groundbreaking music, dealing with loss and the passing years.

Kacey Musgraves performing her Country & Western Rhinestone Revue Tour at the Royal Albert Hall.

Showcasing the best in international documentaries, Storyville has developed an enviable reputation since its inception more than a decade ago. Screening over 340 films, from some 70 different countries, the strand has garnered a staggering array of awards: five Oscars, 15 Griersons, three Peabodys and two International Emmys. In true, unique, Storyville style, the new series promises to deliver the strand's usual eclectic mix of compelling stories from across the globe.

Dr Adam Rutherford explores the consequences of one of the biggest scientific projects of all time - the decoding of the entire human genome.

In a series of authored films, some of our most engaging experts reveal their favourite hidden objects, forgotten places and artistic passions.

Simon Sebag Montefiore embarks on a fascinating journey to unlock 2,000 years of Spain's history.

Author and historian Simon Sebag Montefiore presents a three-part series uncovering the central role played by religion in creating and maintaining the power of the city of Rome.

A series in which arts presenter Mark Lawson has a 60-minute in-depth conversation with a notable figure.

The Scottish town of Broughty Ferry doesn’t know what’s hit it. The sudden death of the sitting MP has resulted in a by-election that could change the political map of the UK. Bob Servant has been waiting his whole life for this level of attention and he’s willing to do anything to keep it.

In this provocative television essay, writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades turns his forensic gaze on that modern phenomenon that drives us all up the wall - jargon. In a wide-ranging programme he dissects politics, the law, football commentary, business, the arts, tabloid-speak and management consultancy to show how jargon is used to cover up, confuse and generally keep us in the dark. He contrasts this with the world of slang, which unlike jargon actually gets to the heart of whatever it's talking about even if it does offend along the way. With plenty of what is called 'strong language', Meades pulls no punches in slaying the dragon of jargon.

Two-part documentary which deals with two of the deepest questions there are - what is everything, and what is nothing? Professor Jim Al-Khalili searches for an answer to these questions as he explores the true size and shape of the universe and delves into the amazing science behind apparent nothingness.

The BBC's orchestras are joined by world-renowned singers and musicians at some of the UK's most beautiful concert halls, performing the best in contemporary and classical music.

Marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 1770, a documentary series that focuses on the real, complex and often difficult man behind the great composer.
Documentary series about famous anthropologists.

Jonathan Meades travels from the flatlands of Flanders to Germany's spectacular Baltic coast in an attempt to decipher exactly what northernness entails.

Documentary series about Albert Kahn's photographic Archive of the Planet. For a quarter of a century, Kahn supplied a team of photographers with the world's first colour camera system and dispatched them across the globe. Their films and 72,000 photographs offer a unique insight into the formative years of the 20th Century.

Meades asks if Britain really has suffered a "Gastronomic Revolution", and offers an A-Z of British food.

Series featuring rock, pop and R&B performances from the BBC archives.
Rageh Omaar visits Spain, Sicily and France to discover the history of Islam in Europe

Jonathan Meades provides a tour of Essex, a county he sees as the home of picturesque villages, pre-war modernism and 19th-century social experiments.

From the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Robert Llewellyn explore the science behind the world's busiest railway. With John Sergeant reporting from across India.

Observational documentary series featuring scientific experiments which look at the ways a new generation experience life across Britain and the world today.