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Talking in a poster-covered cafe Character of Genghis Khan The West Pier, Brighton Venus Express [Image: European Space Agency]

OU programmes on the BBC

Week Beginning:

Details are regularly updated, but can be subject to change.

Saturday 14 November

00:55 BBC ONE (Northern Ireland only) Saving Britain's Past: The Market
The heritage series tells the story of the battle for Covent Garden market and how its residents and workers took on the planners and won. For the first time in over forty years, we hear from the main protagonists in the Covent Garden story, all still passionate to put their side of the story. (Signed Version)
Missed it? Catch up Saving Britain's Past on BBC iplayer
19:30 BBC TWO Berlin: Dangerous Ideas
The story of Berlin is one of a clash of ideas that would shape the modern world. The 18th century King, Frederick the Great, was a contradictory character whose legacy would define Berlin as a place of both aggressive militarism and enlightened idealism. He would be embraced as an icon by Hitler and later the Communist leaders in East Berlin. But his liberalism created a city in which new theories of sex and sexuality could flourish inspiring groundbreaking art. During the cold war the street that bore his name, Friedrichstrasse, was also brutally divided, and irreconcilable. Only after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 was King Friedrich returned to his desired resting place. The funeral was intended as a laying-to-rest of more than just a body.
Missed it? Catch up Berlin on BBC iplayer
21:30 BBC News The Bottom Line
Cutting through confusion, statistics and spin, Evan Davis presents the view from the top of business as he meets the people who run companies to learn what's on their agenda. This programme will also be shown internationally on the BBC World news channel.
Missed it? Catch up The Bottom Line on BBC iplayer

Sunday 15 November

02:30 BBC News The Bottom Line
(As shown on Saturday)
Missed it? Catch up The Bottom Line on BBC iplayer
15:30 BBC News The Bottom Line
(As shown on Saturday)
Missed it? Catch up The Bottom Line on BBC iplayer
17:50 BBC TWO (Wales only) Coast
A visit to the Isle of Man.
19:00 BBC FOUR A History of Christianity: Catholicism - The Unpredictable Rise of Rome
In his second journey into the history of Christianity, Diarmaid MacCulloch explores the history of the Church which calls itself Catholic. How did a small Jewish sect from 1st century Palestine, which preached humility and the virtue of poverty, become the established religion of Western Europe, wealthy, powerful and expecting unfailing obedience from the faithful? In this episode Diarmaid MacCulloch tells the story of what can be achieved when you have friends in high places.
Missed it? Catch up A History of Christianity on BBC iplayer
21:00 BBC ONE (Scotland only) A History of Scotland: Lets Pretend
Bitterly divided by politics and religion for centuries, this is the infamous story of how Scotland and England came together in 1707 to form Great Britain. Over time, the Union matured into one of the longest in European history. But it very nearly ended in divorce. Exploiting the Union's unpopularity, the exiled Stuarts staged several comebacks, selling themselves as a credible and liberal alternative to the Hanoverian regime. Neil Oliver reveals just how close they came to succeeding.
Missed it? Catch up A History of Scotland on BBC iplayer
21:30 BBC News The Bottom Line
(As shown on Saturday)
Missed it? Catch up The Bottom Line on BBC iplayer

Monday 16 November

00:15 BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed
The second of three special editions of the magazine programme in which presenter Laurie Taylor examines research into white collar crime in Britain. This week he asks why white collar crime is treated more leniently than other types of offence.
Missed it? Catch up Thinking Allowed on BBC iplayer
00:20 BBC TWO (Wales only) Coast
Following a NATO exercise off Cape Wrath at the north-eastern tip of Scotland.
00:50 BBC ONE (Northern Ireland only) Life: Fish
Fish dominate the planet's waters through their astonishing variety of shape and behaviour. The beautiful weedy sea dragon looks like a creature from a fairytale. The male protects their eggs by carrying them on his tail for months. The sarcastic fringehead appears to turn its head inside out when it fights. Slow motion cameras show the flying fish gliding through the air like a flock of birds and capture the world's fastest swimmer, the sailfish, plucking sardines from a shoal at 100 mph. The tiny Hawaiian goby undertakes one of nature's most daunting journeys, climbing a massive waterfall to find safe pools for breeding. Followed by Life on Location - Fish out of Water. (Signed Version)
Missed it? Catch up Life on BBC iplayer
21:00 BBC ONE (not Northern Ireland) Life: Insects
There are 200 million insects for each of us. They are the most successful animal group ever. Their key is an armoured covering that takes on almost any shape. Darwin's Stag Beetle fights in the tree tops with huge, curved jaws. The camera flies with millions of Monarch Butterflies which migrate 2000 miles, navigating by the sun. Super slow motion shows a Bombardier beetle firing boiling liquid at enemies through a rotating nossle. A Honey bee army stings a raiding bear into submission. Grass Cutter Ants march like a Roman army, harvesting grass they can't eat. So they cultivate a fungus to break it down for them. Their giant colony is the closest thing in nature to the complexity of a human city.
Missed it? Catch up Life on BBC iplayer
22:35 BBC ONE (Northern Ireland only) Life: Insects
(As shown in the rest of the UK at 21.00)
Missed it? Catch up Life on BBC iplayer

Tuesday 17 November

20:00 BBC FOUR Life: Insects
(As shown on Monday)
Missed it? Catch up Life on BBC iplayer
23:20 BBC TWO (not Northern Ireland) Berlin: Dangerous Ideas
(As shown on Saturday)
Missed it? Catch up Berlin on BBC iplayer
23:50 BBC TWO (Northern Ireland only) Berlin: Dangerous Ideas
(As shown on Saturday)
Missed it? Catch up Berlin on BBC iplayer

Wednesday 18 November

02:15 BBC ONE (not Scotland) Saving Britain's Past: The Pit
In this week's episode of the heritage series, architectural critic Tom Dyckhoff visits Big Pit in South Wales to see how a mining community used industrial heritage to reinvent itself and ended up becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Missed it? Catch up Saving Britain's Past on BBC iplayer
16:00 BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed
The last of three special editions of the magazine programme in which presenter Laurie Taylor examines research into white collar crime in Britain. Ideas of mitigation and rehabilitation are prominent in thinking about our judicial system, but do they play any part in the concept of white collar crime?
Missed it? Catch up Thinking Allowed on BBC iplayer

Thursday 19 November

21:00 BBC FOUR A History of Christianity: Orthodoxy - From Empire to Empire
Orthodoxy - the carefully choreographed acts of worship woven into a texture of ancient music, the cosmic mystery that is the ritual of Communion, the icons and the symbol of a fierce bird - the double headed eagle. What story are they trying to tell us? Today, Eastern Orthodox Christianity flourishes in the Balkans and Russia. It has over 150 million members worldwide. But much of Diarmaid MacCullochs's third programme charts its fight for survival. After its glory-days in the Eastern Roman Empire, it has stood right in the path of Muslim expansion, suffered betrayal by crusading Catholics, was seized by the Russian Tsars to ally with tyranny and has faced near-extinction under Soviet Communism. So what is the secret of its endurance?
Missed it? Catch up A History of Christianity on BBC iplayer

Friday 20 November

01:55 BBC ONE Life: Birds
Birds owe their global success to feathers - something no other animal has. They allow birds to do extraordinary things. For the first time a slow-motion camera captures the unique flight of the Marvellous Spatuletail Hummingbird as he flashes long, iridescent tail feathers in the gloomy undergrowth. Aerial photography takes us into the sky with an Ethiopian Lammergeyer dropping bones to smash them into edible-sized bits. Thousands of pink flamingoes promenade in one of nature's greatest spectacles. The Sage Grouse rubs his feathers against his chest in a comic display to make popping noses that attract females. The Vogelkop Bowerbird makes up for his dull colour by building an intricate structure and decorating it with colourful beetles and snails. Followed by Life on Location - Hide and Seek. (Signed Version)
Missed it? Catch up Life on BBC iplayer
02:45 BBC FOUR A History of Christianity: Orthodoxy - From Empire to Empire
(As shown on Thursday - Signed Version)
Missed it? Catch up A History of Christianity on BBC iplayer
 
 

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