BBC Four is a mixed-genre television channel for all adults offering an ambitious range of innovative, high-quality output that is intellectually and culturally enriching.

BBC Four will continue to commission and broadcast a broad range of culturally enriching and innovative programming across a challenging range of subjects - from philosophy and ideas, to science and nature, to history, art and performance. We reflect the diversity of cultural activity in the UK as well as looking outwards: our news and current affairs in particular gives global context and perspective, and we offer the best international and foreign language feature films, programming and documentaries. BBC Four will aim to continue its reach growth through a range of new series and seasons.

Key priorities for the coming year include:

Priority	Rationale
Continue to broaden the appeal of BBC Four and strengthen the channel's distinctive character through programmes such as Landlords and Tibet in factual.	BBC Four wants to grow reach and share, bringing in new viewers while maintaining its distinctively challenging and enriching remit.
Commission longer seasons of programmes that have high impact and drive the reputation of the channel, for example The Birth of Now, a season about the Edwardian era.	Seasons are a highly effective way for BBC Four to deliver maximum impact with a limited volume of originations.

Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
BBC Four aims to stimulate, support and reflect the diversity of cultural activity in the UK. We cover a diverse agenda and widen the choice of film and documentary available on television.

In music this year we will maintain our commitment to the Proms and will also offer a season of classical music, Classical Britannia. Bird Singing will see an artistic collaboration between music and bird song.

Photography will be a key theme for us this year. We will focus on the art of photography with a major series, The Genius of Photography, and will broadcast a history series on the earliest days of colour photography. Britain in Photographs will complete our offer with its contemporary vision of digital photography today.

Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
BBC Four will continue to offer a secure home for the best international and foreign-language feature films, programming and documentaries. Storyville will celebrate its 10th anniversary and will continue to be our premiere platform for international documentary.

This year we will deliver a season of programmes examining the music and culture of Brazil. We will also continue to mark major international anniversaries: for example, Indian School and Office Tigers will be our contribution to the BBC's wider season to mark the anniversary of Partition and the independence of India and Pakistan.

Our news and current affairs programming will continue to take a distinctively international perspective.

BBC Four should:

• Broadcast at least 30 new documentaries from around the world.
• Premiere at least 20 new international film titles each year (defined as the first showing in UK on a digital TV channel).

Promoting education and learning
BBC Four aims to build viewers' knowledge by offering a greater context and depth than any other BBC channel. We feature an ambitious range of subject matter and often create space in peak time to do things that mainstream channels find difficult, such as exploring a single theme in great detail.

Specifically this year we will examine Edwardian society in The Birth of Now, a season of programmes giving new insight into an era that directly fashioned today's society. In science, a range of programming under the umbrella title of The Science You Can't See will examine the importance of maths and physics. And we will examine religious history with Protestantism. Across our ambitious range of output we will use experts to explain and analyse the main issues at the heart of the matter.

Representing the UK's nations, regions and communities
BBC Four will continue to record and broadcast performance from across the nations and regions of the UK.

We will maintain our commitment to Celtic Connections, bringing the best in contemporary and traditional music to a wider audience. Following our previous successful journeys into communities of jazz and folk, BBC Four will extend the Britannia brand into classical music, fantasy literature and pop.

Complementing BBC One's Jekyll and Hyde, Ian Rankin's Edinburgh will examine the literary life of Edinburgh crime and search into the real, historical antecedents to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Sustaining citizenship and civil society
BBC Four provides in-depth global news and current affairs across a range of output.

Storyville will participate in a global democracy initiative that will use documentary to examine the democratic process around the globe.

Beryl's Last Year and Chelsea Pensioners will address issues surrounding care of the elderly.

A group of observational documentaries, including Women's Institute and an updated Doctors To Be, will offer further reflection on British society today.

Emerging communications
BBC Four uses its website to encourage virtual communities to exchange views and ideas examined and explored in our programmes. Building on recent success in engaging BBC Four viewers in the online science fiction timeline, in particular this year we will encourage audience contributions and input for the Edwardian season, as we seek to uncover personal stories and objects of historical significance from the period.

Reach: BBC Four should contribute towards the maintenance of combined BBC weekly reach for all BBC services at over 90% by aiming to increase its own weekly reach.

Quality: Audience approval of BBC Four and perceptions of it as high quality and innovative. Also, the proportion of originated programmes across all hours (including repeats).

Impact: Licence fee payer awareness of BBC Four and audience perceptions of BBC Four as engaging and challenging.

Value for money: BBC Four's cost per viewer hour.

The following target is agreed with Ofcom each calendar year:

• Approximately 70% of hours and 50% of hours in peak to be originations (original productions include all BBC-commissioned programming, excluding repeats of programming first shown on another BBC public service channel).

The following commitment has been made to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport:

• At least 70% of the BBC Four schedule will be programmes made in the EU/EEA.

And in conjunction with other BBC network television services:

• To spend at least 30% of relevant programme production budgets, representing 25% hours of productions by volume, outside the M25.

To maintain the current broad range of programmes produced outside the M25, and broad range of different production centres used across the UK.