BBC Four

World News Today

The latest news and business developments.

World News Today: 20/10/2008

20/10/2008

BBC News Channel - World News Today, 20/10/2008

The latest news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

BBC News Channel

An impartial and independent news service offering breaking news, analysis and insight.

A 24-hour impartial and independent news service offering breaking news, analysis and insight. It provides fast and comprehensive coverage of local, UK and international events.

World News TodayWeather

Last Days of Steam

Timeshift

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history.

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.

Timeshift: Age of Steam

Last Days of Steam: Timeshift

Timeshift: Series 8: Last Days of Steam

16/10/2008

Series 8

BBC Four - Timeshift, Series 8, Last Days of Steam

How Britain entered a new age of steam railways after World War II and why it soon ended.

Documentary that tells the surprising story of how Britain entered a new age of steam railways after the Second World War and why it quickly came to an end.

The surprising story of how Britain entered a new age of steam railways after the Second World War and why it quickly came to an end.
 
After the war, the largely destroyed railways of Europe were rebuilt to carry more modern diesel and electric trains. Britain, however, chose to build thousands of brand new steam locomotives. Did we stay with steam because coal was seen as the most reliable power source, or were the railways run by men who couldn't bear to let go of their beloved steam trains?
 
The new British locomotives were designed to stay in service well into the 1970s, but in some cases they were taken off the railways and scrapped within just five years. When Dr Richard Beeching took over British Railways in the 1960s the writing was on the wall, and in 1968 the last steam passenger train blew its whistle. 

But while steam use declined, steam enthusiasm grew. As many steam engines lay rusting in scrapyards around Britain, enthusiasts raised funds to buy, restore and return them to their former glory. In 2008, the first brand new steam locomotive to be built in Britain in nearly 50 years rolled off the line, proving our enduring love of these machines.

Timeshift: Series 8

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.

A series of documentaries exploring British cultural history

Why hundreds of steam-powered trains were built in Britain in the 1950s, even though governments around the world were investing in electric tracks and diesel. Part of the Time Shift strand.

Only Connect

BBC Two

Quiz show in which connections must be made between apparently unconnected things.

Deliciously devious and maddeningly abstract. Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the brain-teasing quiz where knowledge only gets you so far.

Only Connect: Series 1

Only Connect: Series 1: Episode 6

Episode 6

Series 1

BBC Two - Only Connect, Series 1, Episode 6

Quiz show in which connections need to be made between apparently unconnected things.

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which patience and lateral thinking are as vital as knowledge, and connections need to be made between apparently unconnected things.

Quiz show presented by Victoria Coren in which knowledge will only take you so far, as patience and lateral thinking are also vital. It is all about making connections between things which may appear, at first glance, not to be connected at all.

Quiz show in which patience and lateral thinking are as vital as knowledge

New. Victoria Coren presents a quiz show of patience and lateral thinking, where contestants make connections between things which at first do not appear to be linked. See paneL

The Story of Maths

The Story of Maths: Episode 3: The Frontiers of Space

Episode 3

Episode 3: The Frontiers of Space

The Frontiers of Space

BBC Four - The Story of Maths, The Frontiers of Space

How Europe took over as the world's mathematical powerhouse by the 17th century.

Marcus du Sautoy investigates the ways in which Europe replaced the Middle East as the world's powerhouse of mathematical ideas by the 17th century.

Four-part series about the history of mathematics, presented by Oxford professor Marcus du Sautoy.

By the 17th century, Europe had taken over from the Middle East as the world's powerhouse of mathematical ideas. Great strides had been made in understanding the geometry of objects fixed in time and space. The race was now on to discover the mathematics to describe objects in motion.

Marcus explores the work of Rene Descartes and Pierre Fermat, whose famous Last Theorem would puzzle mathematicians for more than 350 years. He also examines Isaac Newton's development of the calculus, and goes in search of Leonard Euler, the father of topology or 'bendy geometry', and Carl Friedrich Gauss who, at the age of 24, was responsible for inventing a new way of handling equations - modular arithmetic.

New. 3/4. Marcus du Sautoy examines the 17th-century work of Descartes and Newton, including developments in geometry and calculus. Plus the puzzle of Fermat's Last Theorem. 
See panel.  www.open2.net

Storyville

Amazing, shocking, inspiring and award-winning - the best in international documentaries.

Amazing, shocking, inspiring and award-winning - the best in international documentaries, shining a light on untold stories from across the globe.

Storyville: Shot in Bombay

Shot in Bombay

BBC Four - Storyville, Shot in Bombay

Documentary on Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dutt, after conviction for firearms offences.

Documentary exposing the dark underbelly of Bollywood. It follows superstar Sanjay Dutt as he completes his final film before being sentenced for firearms offences.

A fast-paced, feature-length documentary which goes beyond the tinselly glamour of Bollywood to expose the industry's rather less alluring underbelly. The Mumbai film industry has long been rumoured to be associated with crime syndicates. The connection was publicly established when, in July 2007, one of India's superstars, Sanjay Dutt, was convicted of possessing firearms which were linked to India's 9/11 - the day in 1993 when Mumbai suffered 13 terrorist bomb blasts in the space of two hours.

As full of sudden reversals as any thriller, this documentary follows Sanjay Dutt as he makes Shootout In Lokhandwala, his last film before being sentenced. He plays a real-life Mumbai police officer, AA Khan, who became a local hero after a fatal shootout with criminals in which 1,400 rounds of ammunition were fired. The documentary subtly underlines the ironies of this situation and has as colourful a cast of its own as any Bollywood movie.

New. This Storyville documentary looks at the shady backroom deals, criminal investigations and film-making arts that contribute to the popular Indian cinema industry in Bollywood. See page 76.

O Monsoon Railway

2/2. Documentary following life on India's rail network through the monsoon season, tracing the efforts of three workers to keep trains running.

Monsoon Railway

Monsoon Railway: Episode 2: Part 2

Episode 2

Episode 2: Part 2

Part 2 BBC Four - Monsoon Railway, Part 2

Second of two films by director Gerry Troyna looking at Indian railway culture.

Second of two films by director Gerry Troyna, following three typical Indian Railways employees as they face the annual battle to keep trains running during the monsoon season.

Second of two films by director Gerry Troyna, painting an affectionate portrait of the Indian railway culture. 

Indian Railways is a vast organisation, employing 1,500,000 people and catering for every aspect of their lives from cradle to grave. The documentary follows three typical employees as they face the annual battle to keep trains running during the monsoon season.

Two films by director Gerry Troyna examining Indian railway culture

Two films by director Gerry Troyna, painting an affectionate portrait of the Indian railway culture

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O Monsoon Railway

Monsoon Railway

Episode 2: Part 2

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