BBC Four

Once a Soldier

Documentary following the lives of the pensioners at the Royal Chelsea Hospital

Once a Soldier: Series 1

Once a Soldier: Series 1: Episode 2: New Boys

Episode 2

Episode 2: New Boys

Series 1

New Boys

BBC Four - Once a Soldier, Series 1, New Boys

Documentary series about the Chelsea Pensioners.

Documentary series about the Chelsea Pensioners. Ninety-year old ex-Japanese PoW Wally Hilling and 76-year-old Bill Brierley leave family and friends to join the group.

Documentary series about the Chelsea Pensioners, former British soldiers who live within the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. Every year about fifty old soldiers die at the hospital, making room for new men to join the ranks. Ninety-year-old former Japanese PoW Wally Hilling and 76-year-old Bill Brierley leave family, friends and homes to live in a small, square windowless berth and become uniform-wearing Chelsea Pensioners. How will they handle the transition from civvy to new recruit?

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Documentary following the lives of pensioners at the Royal Free Hospital in Chelsea

Chelsea Pensioners:Once a Soldier

2/8. A look at the lives of new residents at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, including a 90-year-old former Japanese prisoner of war, as they don uniform for the first time in 50 years.

BBC Proms

BBC Radio 3

The world's greatest classical music festival - stunning performances and collaborations.

The world's greatest classical music festival. Stunning performances, unique collaborations and the sheer joy of live music. Relive 2023's highlights before the new season begins.

Proms: 2007

BBC Proms: 2007: Beethoven and Brett Dean - Prom 13

22/07/2007

Beethoven and Brett Dean - Prom 13

2007

BBC Radio 3 - BBC Proms, 2007, Beethoven and Brett Dean - Prom 13

A performance of Brett Dean's Vexations and Devotions.

The BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Gondwana Voices perform Brett Dean's Vexations and Devotions.

The massed ranks of the BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Australia's national children's choir, the Gondwana Voices, perform the European premiere of Brett Dean's Vexations and Devotions, a work which reflects human estrangement in an increasingly technologically-driven society. The second half of the concert features Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A major.

BBC Proms: 2007

Selected coverage from the 90 classical concerts of the Proms' 113th season.

Coverage from the Proms' 113th season, where 90 classical concerts span eight centuries of music in two months.

Proms on Four

New. Live performances at the Royal Albert Hall of the European premiere of Brett Dean 's Vexations and Devotions and Beethoven's Symphony 
No 7. Live coverage begins on Radio 3 at 7.30pm. See panel. 
Digital viewers press red to view synchronised guides to the music, offering an insight into the piece being played and its general context

Topsy-Turvy

25/12/2002

BBC Two - Topsy-Turvy

Dramatisation of the relationship between William Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan.

Comedy dramatisation of the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan, focusing on the turning point on their road to fame and riches - the production of The Mikado.

Comedy dramatisation of the relationship between lyricist William Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. With a wealth of authentic Victorian detail, this account of the lives of the musical duo concentrates on the good-natured antagonism between the creative geniuses, focusing on the turning point on their road to fame and riches - the production of The Mikado.

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Sumptuous comedy drama starring 
Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner as WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. After the relative failure of their latest work, Princess Ida, Gilbert and Sullivan clash over their next project and seem set to end their partnership - until 
Gilbert's wife persuades him to visit an exhibition. Review page 48. 
Director Mike Leigh (1999, 12)

How the Edwardians Spoke

06/05/2007

BBC Four - How the Edwardians Spoke

Documentary revealing the accents and dialects of ordinary Edwardians.

Documentary which uses the discovery of hundreds of recently-discovered sound recordings of British WW1 PoWs in Germany to reveal the accents and dialects of ordinary Edwardians.

Our understanding of Edwardian Britain is dominated by images from flickering footage and formal family portraits. But a remarkable discovery has been made which for the first time gives voice to the Edwardians. Hundreds of recordings have come to light which reveal the accents and dialects of British Prisoners of War held in German camps and recorded during World War One. This archive presents a unique glimpse into the way ordinary men spoke at the time.

Joan Washington, a voice coach and expert in British accents, sets out to tell the story of these recordings and piece together how the Edwardians spoke. She returns to the hometowns of some of the prisoners to meet their families and play them the recordings. Listening with an expert ear to the differences between the voices of the prisoners and their families, Joan explores how far all our accents have changed over the century.

Joan Washington uncovers fascinating German recordings of First World War prisoners.

Edwardian Winners and Losers

16/05/2007

BBC Four - Edwardian Winners and Losers

Dan Snow examines the life and times of his great-great grandfather, David Lloyd George.

Dan Snow finds out if the Edwardian period was one of comfortable calm or one of change and self-questioning that heralded many of the developments of the later 20th century.

Dan Snow sets out on a journey to discover the truth about the Britain of his great-great grandfather, the reforming Liberal politician David Lloyd George. He tries to find out if the Edwardian period was one of comfortable calm after the energetic Victorian years and before the cataclysm of the Great War or if it was a period of change and self-questioning that heralded many of the developments of the later twentieth century.

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2007

Beethoven and Brett Dean - Prom 13

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