Simon Amstell returns for his third series as host, but the show waves goodbye to team captain Bill Bailey, who leaves the series.

After 11 series selflessly, heroically and hilariously captaining one side on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, other commitments have sadly led to Bill Bailey being unable to take part in the forthcoming series of the comedy pop quiz.

The new series, which starts on BBC Two in early October, will feature guest team captains from the worlds of comedy and music as well as regular team captain Phill Jupitus and award-winning chairman Simon Amstell.

Guest captains appearing on the new series include Mark Ronson (show one), Frank Skinner, Dermot O’Leary, Jack Dee, Johnny Vegas and Bob Mortimer.

Never Mind The Buzzcocks will return to BBC Two from 2 October 2008.

The BBC Electric Proms today announced the line up for this year’s festival taking place in London and Liverpool from Wednesday 22 to Sunday 26 October 2008.

Over 60 acts will perform at the event, which is bigger than ever before and now in its third year.

Tickets went on sale at 10.00am on Wednesday 17 September.

The festival – dedicated to creating new moments in music – will see legendary American songwriter and performer Burt Bacharach open proceedings at the Roundhouse in London on Wednesday 22 October when he performs with the BBC Concert Orchestra accompanied by three guest vocalists, Adele, Beth Rowley and Jamie Cullum.

Razorlight will treat audiences to the first play of their new material in Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on Saturday 25 October.

To mark the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever topping the charts in the UK, Robin Gibb will perform alongside guests including Sam Sparro and Sharleen Spiteri with the BBC Concert Orchestra in London’s Roundhouse.

The show will be musically directed by Anne Dudley, the Oscar-winning composer, arranger and producer.

John Peel Night will debut in the legendary DJ’s spiritual hometown of Liverpool, featuring punk electronica outfit 2 Hot 2 Sweat, experimental grime producer Milanese and Sheffield-based quintet Rolo Tomassi.

Steve Lamacq will also host an afternoon dedicated to exploring the rich musical heritage of the city by presenting his 6Music show from BBC Radio Merseyside with special guests.

Festival Director Lorna Clarke commented, “This is the third year of the BBC Electric Proms and it is great to be able to celebrate by bringing the event to Liverpool, making it a dual city event for the first time.

“The BBC Electric Proms is committed to new moments in music, and we are delighted to be hosting an increased line-up of unique collaborators and inimitable performances which will be very memorable to audiences, whether they are live in the venue or watching or listening via the BBC.”

Elsewhere in Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture, the BBC Electric Proms will host their first ever show dedicated to under 18s, featuring artists including Esser, Thomas Tantrum and Kitty Daisy and Lewis.

The BBC Electric Proms will also extend its commitment to new music by hosting two nights of new and cutting edge artists in London’s Barfly including Red Light Company, Amazing Baby, Micachu, Bashy, Ny and Chase & Status.

The Pool with Dave Monks will also see Howard Eliott Payne and his sister Candie Payne perform a unique set at BBC Radio Merseyside to complement performances from acts already announced, Wave Machines and The Maybes with highlights from the BBC Electric Proms in Liverpool.

Keane will introduce their new edgier, harder sound to an intimate crowd in London at KOKO where the three-piece will be joined by extra musicians and a string quartet, while Chaka Khan will take to the stage at London soul and jazz venue Dingwalls for an exclusive intimate performance.

Cecil Sharp House, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, will be the scene for a stripped down Goldfrapp show accompanied by strings and choir in a unique set built for the one-off performance.

Steeleye Span’s Maddy Prior will also play Cecil Sharp House alongside friends and collaborators June Tabor and Tim Hart.

More than 60 artists will appear at the BBC Electric Proms 2008 and each performance will aim to create a new music experience.

Today’s announcement adds to artists already confirmed including The Last Shadow Puppets, The Streets, Nitin Sawhney and Tony Christie.

Performers at the BBC Electric Proms are challenged to come up with new and original material or arrangements of their music to reflect the central theme of the festival, that of creating new moments in music.

All of this can be accessed either at the venues, watching and listening on the BBC, or by interacting with red button technology and on mobile.

Tickets will go on sale at 10.00am on Wednesday 17 September.

Go to bbc.co.uk/electricproms for details.

Electric Proms on the BBC

Further artists and performances will be announced over the coming weeks. The festival can be viewed and watched via a number of different platforms on the BBC.

• Radio: there will be live and recorded broadcasts from all areas of the festival on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, 1Xtra, BBC 6 Music, BBC Asian Network and BBC Radio Merseyside.
• TV: highlights from this year’s Electric Proms will be screened on BBC Two and BBC Four with additional performances available to digital television viewers via the red button.
• Online: Complete performances will be available to watch for a week after the festival along with photos and interviews at bbc.co.uk/electricproms.
• Full listings information will be available on the Electric Proms website at bbc.co.uk/electricproms.

BBC Electric Proms information hotline: 03703 333 432.

• BBC Electric Proms is a five-day multi-venue festival featuring music and film taking place in London and Liverpool.
• Venues in London include The Roundhouse, The Barfly, KOKO, The Electric Ballroom, Dingwalls, Freedom Studio and Cecil Sharpe House.
• Venues in Liverpool include the Philharmonic Hall, Barfly, Royal Daffodil ferry and BBC Merseyside.
• There will be a very restricted number of reduced price tickets (£5) that will be made available in the week of the festival.
• Last year over 250,000 people visited the Electric Proms website with over 850,000 requests to watch performances.

2008 marks the eighth year of BBC Radio 3’s association with the London Jazz Festival. This year, Radio 3 gives jazz fans exclusive video footage of selected concerts online at bbc.co.uk/radio3, providing a chance to see some of the most exciting and dynamic international jazz talent performing on stage.

From 14 November, London Jazz Festival performances will be featured throughout the Radio 3 schedule on Jazz On 3, Jazz Line-Up, World Routes, Late Junction, Performance On 3, Hear And Now, Discovering Music and In Tune.

There will also be special London Jazz Festival themed editions of Jazz Library and The Verb programmes, bringing the London Jazz Festival to an audience of millions.

Performance On 3 offers listeners a chance to hear the opening concert of the London Jazz Festival, Jazz Voice.

Following the success of last year’s We All Love Ella concert, this year’s opening night takes the audience on a fascinating journey through the words and music of the masters of swing (broadcast 18 November).

To mark the beginning of the Festival, Jazz On 3 will be broadcasting live from Ronnie Scott’s with previews and performances from festival artists and highlights from the week ahead (14 November).

Other highlights on Jazz On 3 include a celebration of the work of saxophonist David Sánchez as he plays highlights from his Latin and Afro Caribbean influenced new album (broadcast 24 November); a chance to hear Bobby Previte, one of the heroes of the New York downtown scene, play with his new quartet New Bump (broadcast 8 December) and Jez Nelson introducing a showcase of emerging UK jazz talent, including The Mighty Jeddo, trioVD and a rare DJ set from Finn Peters (broadcast 1 December).

Pianist Danilo Peréz talks with Alyn Shipton about his music in Jazz Library (broadcast 22 November) and there’s a special chance to hear Femi Kuti in concert with a new album celebrating the legacy of his father, Fela, in World Routes (also broadcast 22 November).

London Jazz Festival on BBC Radio 3

Jazz On 3

• Friday 14 November, 10.30pm: Live from Ronnie Scott’s, Jez Nelson gets into the festival mood as he introduces a stellar line-up of artists appearing at this year’s London Jazz Festival.
• Monday 17 November, 11.15pm: Keith Tippett, widely recognised as one of the most radical pioneers in contemporary jazz today, performs a specially devised Festival concert. Recorded 14 November.
• Monday 24 November, 11.15pm: Featuring Puerto Rican saxophonist David Sánchez playing material from his new album Cultural Survival. Recorded 16 November.
• Monday 1 December, 11.15pm: Jez Nelson hosts a showcase of emerging UK jazz talent including The Mighty Jeddo, trioVD and a DJ set from Finn Peters. Recorded 23 November.
• Monday 8 December, 11.15pm: Drummer-composer Bobby Previte plays with his new quartet, New Bump. Recorded 21 November.

Jazz Line-Up

• Sunday 16 November, 11.30pm: A special edition including trumpeter and BBC New Generation Artist Tom Arthurs and other major Festival guests. Recorded 15 November.
• Sunday 23 November, 11.30pm: A surprise selection of guests, including an opportunity to hear Alec Dankworth’s admired new Spanish project, and The Neil Cowley Trio. Recorded 22 November.
• Sunday 30 November, 11.30pm: Tonight’s Jazz Line-Up features the BBC Big Band with special guest Roy Hargrove from the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Recorded 19 November.

Performance On 3

• Tuesday 18 November, 7.00pm: A chance to hear the opening concert of the London Jazz Festival, Jazz Voice, celebrating a century of song. Directed by Guy Barker, the concert features Cleveland Watkiss, Christine Tobin, Liane Carroll, Madeline Bell, Carleen Anderson, Nate James and Melody Gardot singing the works of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and others. Recorded 14 November.

World Routes

• Saturday 22 November, 3.00pm: Femi Kuti in concert with a new album that celebrates the legacy of his father, the legendary Fela Kuti. Recorded 14 November.

Late Junction

• Thursday 27th November, 11.15pm: The Turkish supergroup, Taksim Trio, play material from their recent release. Recorded 22 November.

Jazz Library

• Saturday 22 November, 11.30pm: Alyn Shipton talks to pianist Danilo Peréz about his music. Recorded 16 November.

Hear And Now

• Saturday 22 November, 10.30pm: The London Sinfonietta in concert at Kings Place with Arve Henriksen, Iain Ballamy and Jan Bang. Recorded 14 November.

Discovering Music

• Sunday 4 January, 5.00pm: Julian Joseph explores the art of improvisation in this special event featuring performances from Julian’s own trio and the Guildhall Big Band. Recorded 20 November.

Inspired by BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing series, presenters from BBC Radio Berkshire, Solent, Oxford, Southern Counties and BBC TV’s South and South East regions have been teamed up with a dancer from local dance company Ginger Jive.

After one hour of intensive practise the presenters will show what they can do on Sunday 21 September and compete against each other dancing in the bandstand at the show.

Radio Berkshire’s presenter Debbie McGee will represent the station.

Other presenters participating are Steve Harris from BBC Radio Solent; Lou Hannan from BBC Radio Oxford; Ben Kerrigan from BBC Southern Counties Radio; Jo Kent from BBC South and Inside Out presenter Joe Crawley.

Debbie, who presents Sunday’s mid-morning show on Radio Berkshire, says: “I’ve always loved dancing and am thrilled to be taking part in the event to raise awareness of Children in Need this Sunday.

“I know I’ll be facing some stiff competition from other local BBC radio stations but I’m going to do my best and hope to do Radio Berkshire proud.”

The winning couple will be decided by a panel of three judges.

In The Birth of British Music for BBC Two, acclaimed conductor Charles Hazlewood tells the story of how Britishness was built in sound in the two centuries from 1650 to 1850 and how classical music became a key component of our national identity.

This four-part series has a biographical focus, marking four major anniversaries that fall in 2009: Baroque composers Henry Purcell (1659-95) and George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) and then Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47).

It will show how all four composers contributed towards an age of revolution in music, as Britain’s openness to the world through commerce and empire created its own cultural melting pot.

The series will demonstrate how these largely foreign-born composers made an enormous contribution to the widening and democratisation of our cultural life.

There will be performance of key musical works with Charles Hazlewood conducting his own period instrument ensemble, Harmonieband, with leading soloists including Sir John Tomlinson, Danielle de Niese and Sir Thomas Allen.

Charles will also meet biographers, social historians and practitioners who bring to life the rich and varied social and musical worlds in which each composer operated.

The series was commissioned by Adam Kemp, BBC In-house Commissioner for Arts, Music, Performance and Religion, and will be executive produced for BBC Vision Productions by Peter Maniura, Head of Classical Music TV.

A major new three part series for BBC Four will tell the story of Baroque!

Written and presented by Waldemar Januszczak and filmed in high definition in locations across Europe, the series will explore the importance and impact of this art movement as it travelled from Catholic Rome to Protestant London.

The first programme looks at the creative energy of the movement as it burst onto the scene in Italy.

It was here that the main characteristics of Baroque found their earliest form, from the thrilling illusionist painting of Caravaggio and Padre Pozzo to the invention of opera by Monteverdi; and from the perfection of the violin by Stradivarius to the architectural inventions of Borromini.

The second programme explores how Baroque spread out of Italy in two directions – dark, fiery and intense as it headed south to Spain. In the other direction – light, airy, showy – as it spread north to Germany.

The final programme looks at the achievements of the English Baroque: the architecture of Wren, Hawksmoor, William Kent, the music of Purcell and the paintings of William Dobson.

St Paul’s, in its grandeur and scale, is a masterpiece of Baroque building. Greenwich, as an architectural arrangement, is stupendous.

Accompanying the series, BBC Four will be showing a selection of related archive material.

The series was commissioned by Jacquie Hughes, BBC Independent Commissioning Editor for Arts, Music and Religion, from ZCZ Films.

Adam Kemp says: “Just as the forthcoming British Style Genius series demonstrates the love of British contemporary creativity, these landmark programmes show a similar passion for delving deeply into the glories of our past musical and artistic heritage.

“Waldemar Januszczak and Charles Hazlewood are both compelling and evocative guides and these visually sumptuous programmes will be complemented by a strong selection of archive and performance pieces.”

Other BBC television activities to complement these series are:

A double bill from the Royal Opera House created by its resident choreographer Wayne Macgregor, with broadcasts of performances of Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas on BBC Two to complement the series.

A Songs Of Praise special on BBC One will celebrate one of Handel’s most famous and best-loved works, Messiah.

Details of ambitious plans to celebrated the anniversaries of Purcell and Handel on BBC Radio 3 will be announced soon.

The BBC has decided to appoint a small advisory panel to advise the BBC on what measures The Kennel Club should be expected to take now and commit to in the future.

The panel will be asked to consider the issues that have been raised about the health and welfare of dogs taking part in the breed competitions at Crufts. The views of The Kennel Club and any other bodies or experts the panel wish to consult will be taken in to account.

The panel will be asked to give the BBC their advice quickly to enable the BBC to discuss the issues with The Kennel Club before planning begins for coverage of Crufts 2009.

• Pedigree Dogs Exposed was an in-depth investigation into the health of pedigree dogs. It uncovered the extent of the health problems caused by decades of inbreeding and by breeding dogs primarily for beauty rather than health.
• The Kennel Club organises Crufts and is the owner of The Kennel Club Breed Standard, which sets out particular characteristics and physical traits each breed should display.
• Crufts has transmitted on BBC Two since 1966 and is due to next take place in March 2009.

The campaign will include a postcard that allows viewers to access unique footage of the character Merlin performing a magic trick from within a spell book.

The spell book “magically” appears on your computer screen when a special symbol on the postcard is held up to a webcam.

Merlin, produced by Shine for BBC Wales, updates the story of the infamous sorcerer of Arthurian legend for a new audience and stars newcomers Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Angel Coullby and Katie McGrath alongside Anthony Head and Richard Wilson.

Along with TV, radio and cinema trails, bus sides and digital media, the “magical” activity will take place over three consecutive Saturdays leading up to the first episode of Merlin.

The Magic Eye content will also be hosted on the Merlin website – bbc.co.uk/merlin.

Naomi Gibney, Head of Marketing and Pictures, BBC Vision says: “The Merlin campaign uses this new augmented reality technology in a way that will have enormous appeal for the show’s audience.

“By targeting them in non BBC outlets we are also able to reach a much wider potential audience who might not otherwise have heard about Merlin.

“There is a lot more material on the website but this is a really compelling calling card.”

Postcards will be distributed in other cinemas and at events across the country, including the Thames Festival, so that audiences can try the “Magic Symbol” out in their own homes.

A printable version will also be available on the Merlin website.

The website has a host of other interesting features including hidden content that can be released by using your mouse to trace secret combinations, magic tricks, character profiles and you can view the cinema trail.

Merlin starts this Saturday on BBC One and will run for 13 weeks.

The “magical” activity will take place at the following cinemas on 13, 20 and 27 September

• Cineworld Aberdeen
• Cineworld Boldon Tyne & Wear
• Cineworld Cardiff
• Cineworld Edinburgh
• Cineworld Ipswich
• Cineworld Nottingham
• Odeon Aylesbury
• Odeon Liverpool London Road
• Empire Birmingham Great Park
• Empire Poole

Meeting minutes include reference to a discussion of the case for and against using telephone intercepts as evidence in court proceedings.

The minutes reveal “an unsuccessful two year Police/Security Service job where use of intercept material may have resulted in a prosecution but where the suspects later went on to carry out a major terrorist act. This might conceivably have been avoided if the intercept material could have been used”.

Whether the “terrorist act” relates to the Omagh bombing is not known. Other possible candidates include the IRA’s Canary Wharf in 1996.

Panorama has established that GCHQ was recording mobile phone conversations between some of the bombers as they drove from the Irish Republic to the market town of Omagh.

Twenty-nine people, and two unborn babies, were killed and more than 200 injured by the explosion.

The revelation that the intelligence services were listening to bombers – both on the day of the bombing and in the weeks leading up to it – raises new questions about whether the single worst atrocity of the troubles could have been prevented.

This could help explain why no one is in prison for the bombing despite a decade-long cross-border inquiry costing tens of millions of pounds.

Panorama reports several well-placed sources saying that GCHQ were monitoring the bombers mobile phones at the request of the police’s own Special Branch.

Ray White, a former Assistant Chief Constable in charge of Crime and Special Branch for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), confirms this.

There is confusion about exactly who knew what and when. In the days after the bombing the head of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, pledged that “no stone would be left unturned”.

However, he told BBC reporter John Ware that he was unaware GCHQ had been monitoring mobiles.

One source tells Panorama GCHQ sent details of the conversations to Northern Ireland within six hours of the bombing.

But White tells Panorama that his former colleagues in Special Branch categorically deny this. He says they received nothing from GCHQ until the Tuesday after the bombing.

White also says that Special Branch was expecting GCHQ to be monitoring the bombers “in real time” – so that if it was apparent a bombing was under way they could launch a pre-arranged plan to arrest them.

When the Branch asked GCHQ why they passed nothing over for three days, White reports that GCHQ told them: “We missed it”. Again, precisely what “we missed it” means is not clear.

Panorama put a number of detailed questions about its investigation to both the Government and the PSNI. Both declined to comment.

Although by law the GCHQ intercepts could not have been used as evidence in court against the bombers, Panorama reports that the intelligence could have directed detectives through the right doors in the hours after the bombing – a time which White describes as “the golden hours”, when forensic and other evidential opportunities are at their optimum.

The programme reports that the detectives were given nothing until three-and-a-half weeks after the bombing, and even then all they were given was a list of names. They were never told that GCHQ were onto the bombers, and the full extent of GCHQ’s intercept intelligence was withheld from them.

Even the fact that the bombers had used mobile phones to coordinate the bombing was kept secret.

Omagh: What The Police Were Never Told, will be broadcast on BBC One on Monday 15 September 2008 from 8.30 to 9.00pm.

Paul Merton continues his love affair with silent cinema by looking at Alfred Hitchcock’s British films - 10 of which were silent.

Paul, who presents and directs the film, regards the master of suspense as a man immersed in the visual language of cinema and who understood how to use camera movement and lighting for dramatic effect.

For Hitchcock, heavily influenced by German Expressionist cinema, the pictures would always be more important than the dialogue.

Combining innovative visual vignettes, stunning clips and archive, Paul weaves together a fascinating narrative of the early career and macabre world of Alfred Hitchcock, revealing a man with a great sense of humour.

Paul talks to those who knew and worked with him, including director Roy Ward Baker (A Night To Remember); Hitchcock’s official biographer, John Russell Taylor; and cinematographer Gil Taylor (Dr Strangelove, Star Wars) about working on two Hitchcock films at either end of his career – Number Seventeen in 1932 and Frenzy in 1972.

Picture Book

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin…

This autumn, Picture Book tells the story of children’s fiction through the pictures, comic strips and illustrations that have been the secret of the genre’s success.

In the company of the fictional characters many of us as adults still love, the series takes in the earliest picture books such as Noddy and Thomas The Tank Engine, moving through to the more grown-up writing of JRR Tolkien and Philip Pullman.

With contributors from the literary world, including Raymond Briggs, Philip Pullman, Jacqueline Wilson, Lauren Child and Quentin Blake, each of the three episodes explores a different stage of childhood.

Starting with babies and pre-school children, continuing through to infants who begin to read alone and on to early adolescence and the growing pains of teens, Picture Book examines the gateway through which young readers tap into the awesome power of imaginary worlds.

Just Read

Michael Rosen, the Children’s Laureate, believes that all children have the right to love reading - and it doesn’t take money but vision.

In this inspirational documentary Michael takes up the challenge of turning reluctant readers into young people who are truly passionate about books.

For eight weeks he works with teachers, governors, caretakers, dinner ladies and parents to start a reading revolution.

It’s an experience of discovery and delight for 200 lucky children aged five to 11 – and for the adults around them.

Just Read reminds us all why reading and books matter; it’s about transforming children’s lives through the power of the written word – no more, no less.

Why Reading Matters

Advances in brain scanning enable this science documentary to demonstrate the profound way that reading rearranges the very organisation of the brain.

With expert testimony and contributions from writers and readers, the programme enters the silent world of reading.

It includes practical demonstrations and recreations of key experiments to explain why reading matters.

How Reading Made Us Modern

Clues to how Britain became a modern country lie in an understanding of when Britain began to read en masse, how people read and what kind of material they were reading.

Professor John Mullan discovers how reading went from being a pursuit that was feared and controlled, to being the cornerstone of self-improvement.

By the end of the 18th century, being “modern” meant, above all, being a reader.

The Lost Libraries Of Timbuktu

Timbuktu was never the capital of any empire, but its fame and wealth were legendary in the West, where it became a byword for the unreachable goal.

Five times the size of London, from the 13th to the 16th centuries it was a seat of learning and its black African scholars were revered throughout the Islamic world for their erudition.

In Timbuktu, their legacy survives in the hundreds of thousands of manuscripts that have come to light in recent years.

Nineteenth-century colonialism dismissed Africa’s history and replaced it with Western preconceptions, but black Africa’s literary tradition alongside song and dance is revealed in this absorbing documentary.

The Golden Age Of Steam Season

Ian Hislop Goes Off The Rails to launch The Golden Age Of Steam season.

Ian appraises the impact of the notorious Beeching Report of 1963, which led to the closure of many of Britain’s rural railway lines and stations.

Was Dr Richard Beeching a kind of Genghis Khan with a slide rule, ruthlessly axing any bits of our rail network he deemed unprofitable, or was he simply the fall guy for something that had to happen?

Time Shift observes two very different aspects of the railways.

The Last Days Of Steam asks why, when the rest of the world was committing to diesel trains, Britain was building hundreds of steam-powered locomotives.

In Between The Lines: Railways In Fiction And Film, novelist Andrew Martin finds out how the train came to shape the works of writers.

With lovers parting at the station, runaway carriages and secret assignations in confined compartments, railways have long been a staple of romance, mystery and period drama.

British Transport Films – A Nation On Film Special reviews the work of Edgar Anstey and his team of film-makers in the state-owned British Transport Films Unit after the Second World War.

The archive features beautiful documentaries and travelogues, but did they strike the right balance between truth and propaganda?

Finally, Julia Bradbury sets out along old tracks, through overgrown cuttings and across ancient viaducts, in Railway Walks.

In doing so she discovers Britain’s lost Rail Empire, a symbol of Britain’s industrial might, Victorian ambition and the rise and fall of entire communities.

Storyville

With a track record of more than 10 years of film-making excellence, BBC Four’s international documentary strand Storyville continues to enthral and entertain with a season of definitive stories from around the world.

Three of Storyville’s films are cinema-related, telling very different and remarkable tales.

Thirty years after Roman Polanski’s public conviction for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired offers an insightful re-opening of the infamous case.

In an amusing clash of cultures, When Borat Came To Town charts the progress of high-flying American lawyers encouraging the small Romanian village of Glod, famous for being the spoof home of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Kazakh character Borat, to sue the movie-makers for $38m.

Shot In Bombay is a tale of glamour and chaos behind the scenes of a Bollywood gangster picture.

The film’s police hero is played by mega-star Sanjay Dutt, whose on-going trial for firearm offences puts the production in jeopardy.

In Blast! a team of astrophysicists venture onto the ice caps in a risky bid to discover the meaning of the universe.

Other films in the season include: Prodigal Sons, the story of Paul, an American high school football star who becomes Kimberly, and Operation Iraqi Filmmaker, recounting the misadventures in the west of Muthana, a budding Iraqi film student, given a big break by Hollywood film director Liev Schreiber.

Armistice

David Reynolds, Professor of International History at Cambridge University, takes a fresh look at the events and personalities that brought about the Armistice of 1918.

Unravelling the First World War’s bitter end game, Reynolds tells the story of wounded egos behind the lines, political scheming and revolution and, at the front, sustained brutality, with half a million men killed or wounded, even as peace was negotiated.

He argues that these momentous last months of the “war to end all wars” tragically sowed the seeds of even more appalling conflict to come.

Armistice is part of Remembrance 90, the BBC’s commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Leading up to Armistice Day on 11 November 2008, the BBC will feature documentaries, dramas and live events on television, plus coverage on national and regional radio, online and on the BBC big screens as well as a learning campaign.

Front Desk

The Joy Of Motoring

BBC Four gets behind the wheel for a season of films dedicated to the British love of driving.

In The Joy Of Motoring Tristram Hunt explores our love affair with the car, from the post-war golden age to the contemporary disillusionment of today, while actor Richard Wilson rediscovers a motoring history as he drives a range of classic Fifties cars on some of the most beautiful routes in the country in Britain’s Best Drives.

The season also pays homage to Caravans.

For more than 100 years they have been British icons: built in Britain and at the heart of the nation’s recreational life. Love or hate them there’s no denying their popularity.

In The Fast Lady Penelope Keith retraces a journey from London to Liverpool in 1905 by Dorothy Levitt, pioneering Edwardian motoring “It” girl and author of a popular guide for female motorists.

Twenty-first-century British life is inconceivable without cars. In Michael Smith’s Drivetime the writer and broadcaster asks the fundamental question, how has driving changed us?

Other programmes in the season explore how Ford Of Dagenham sold Britain the American dream; and tell the extraordinary story of Rolls-Royce in India in The Maharajah’s Cars.

The Department Store

Years ago, every town had its own charming version of Grace Brothers, the shop made famous in the sitcom Are You Being Served?

But now many are being driven to the brink of extinction by large out-of-town retail parks and big-name chains.

Film-maker Richard Macer wants to know if the great independent British department store is still relevant in the modern dog-eat-dog world of the high street.

His quest takes him to the oldest and most famous department store in Wales; and a family-run establishment in the Yorkshire Dales where the patriarch’s impending retirement is causing turmoil on all floors.

What he discovers is a world of eccentric and passionate shopkeepers serving older and very loyal customers, who are often on first name terms with the staff and where woolly knickers are still one of the most successful lines.

Prog Rock Britannia is a comprehensive, feature-length documentary about progressive music and the generation of bands that made it - from the international success stories of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson and Jethro Tull, to the trials and tribulations of the lesser-known bands such as Caravan and Egg.

The film is structured in three parts, charting the birth, rise and decline of a movement famed for complex musical structures, weird time signatures, technical virtuosity and strange – quintessentially English – literary influences.

It looks at the psychedelic pop scene that gave birth to progressive rock in the late Sixties, the golden age of progressive music in the early Seventies – complete with drum solos and gatefold record sleeves – and the over-ambition, commercialisation and eventual fall from grace of this rarefied musical experiment at the hands of punk in 1977.

The documentary is a provocative, humorous but affectionate re-appraisal of a music that was the value system of an all-too-brief period in British popular music.

Contributors include Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Pete Sinfield, Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer and Ian Anderson.

The Story Of The American Folk Revival

A three-part series that tells one of the key stories of 20th century America.

The opening film features the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt and other blues and hillbilly singers who were discovered by record companies and folklorists in the Twenties and Thirties.

The second film enters the “dream life of the American left” with “hobo” Woody Guthrie and “jailbird” Leadbelly.

In the final film, the earlier singers are rediscovered and celebrated by a new generation of Americans, who tell their own stories about how they used the idea of a purer, simpler past to create something quite new – the exciting sounds of Sixties folk.

Featuring a stunning soundtrack, the series also includes rare archive and contributions from Joan Baez, Judy Collins, The Band, The Byrds, Odetta, Harry Belafonte, The Kingston Trio and The Weavers, as well as survivors and their families from the first wave of recorded folk.

To accompany the films there will be a screening of a concert from London’s Barbican celebrating music from the series.

The Swing Thing

The Swing Thing is a 90-minute film tracing the story of swing music, from the jazz clubs of the Twenties, through the heady days of the Rat Pack and Sinatra to modern stars such as Harry Connick Jr and Michael Buble.

Swing sparked a youthful cultural revolution in Thirties America and went on to produce some of the most iconic stars of the 20th century: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Today, it is still topping the charts and remains one of the longest-lived and most successful forms of popular music.

Narrated by Kenneth Cranham, The Swing Thing features archive footage of some of the finest swing performers and performances of all time, and examines the impact swing music has had on American society: as a youth movement, a force for sexual liberation and a challenge to the country’s racial divide.

Gergiev Conducts Mahler

Valery Gergiev’s cycle of Mahler symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra has been packing concert halls in London in recent months.

Two of these much talked about performances will be broadcast this autumn.

Mahler’s Second Symphony, about death and resurrection, calls for a gigantic orchestra requiring “the largest possible string contingent”, 20 horns and trumpets, seven percussionists and organ, as well as soloists and chorus.

It opens with a monumental funeral march, and culminates in a blazing affirmation of poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock’s words: “Rise again!”

When Mahler wrote his Sixth Symphony, things were going well for him. Yet the work’s implacable undercurrent of tragedy climaxes devastatingly in the famous hammer blows of the finale, soon to be echoed by real events in his life.

“Not one of his works came so directly from his inmost heart,” his wife later recalled.

The performances are introduced by Sarah Mohr-Pietsch.

Classical Legends

Christopher Nupen’s intimate and pioneering portraits of such legendary musicians as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jacqueline du Pré, Evgeny Kissin, Nathan Milstein, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman are among the most celebrated classical music films ever made.

Eight of these films are to be shown this autumn.

Each of the films presents a different young musician, full of youth and exuberant talent, before the weight of worldwide fame descended on their shoulders.

Starting with the brilliant and tragic British cellist Jacqueline du Pré, the series culminates in the debut screening of Nupen’s most recent film, Karim’s Journey, which follows the extraordinary story of an Amman-born pianist and conductor, Karim Said (a protégé of Daniel Barenboim’s), from the age of 11, for seven years, to the brink of his public career.

Neil Young – Don’t Be Denied

A resolutely private artist who rarely looks back, Neil Young has never discussed his career on camera before.

Gaining unprecedented access to one of the world’s great artists, this BBC film is Neil Young’s musical journey in his own words.

For five decades, Young’s unbending dedication to the muse has created an awe-inspiring body of work – and bloodied a few noses along the way.

The film forms the centrepiece of a weekend of Neil Young programming, including the recent CSNY – Déjà Vu and a classic BBC In Concert from 1971.