Programme Information

South Riding Ep 1/3

Sunday 20 February

9.00-10.00pm BBC ONE and BBC ONE HD

• www.bbc.co.uk/drama
• Press pack

Anna Maxwell Martin (front) and David Morrissey (right) lead the cast in Andrew Davies's adaptation of South Riding

Anna Maxwell Martin and David Morrissey lead the cast in Andrew Davies's new three-part adaptation of South Riding by Winifred Holtby. This 20th-century classic is a rich and panoramic portrait of a Yorkshire community in the Thirties that carries surprising and refreshing echoes of our own time.

In the long aftermath of the First World War, 30-year-old Sarah Burton comes home from London to Yorkshire to take up the headmistress-ship of a struggling Yorkshire high school for girls. She is the very image of a modern woman, much more recognisable to her sisters in 2010 than she would have been to her contemporaries in 1935 – full of ambition, passion and fire to take her life into her own hands and live it to the very limit of her strength.

But the homecoming is more complicated than she thinks and before long her ambitions are in conflict with her feelings for the man least likely to have won her heart – Robert Carne, the handsome, haunted gentleman farmer she clashes with.

South Riding is a rich, compassionate and humane story of politics in small places and, in the end, the indestructibility of the human spirit.

Sarah Burton is played by Anna Maxwell Martin and Robert Carne by David Morrissey. The cast also includes Douglas Henshall as Joe Astell, Penelope Wilton as Alderman Mrs Beddows, John Henshaw as Councillor Huggins, Shaun Dooley as Mr Holly and Peter Firth as Councillor Snaith. Rising stars Charlie May-Clark and Katherine McGolpin play Lydia Holly and Midge Carne, Robert's daughter.

South Riding is simulcast in HD on BBC One HD on Freesat channel 108, Freeview channel 50, Sky channel 143 and Virgin Media channel 108.

AF

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Mrs Brown's Boys Ep 1/6

Monday 21 February

10.35-11.05pm BBC ONE and BBC ONE HD

Foul-mouthed matriarch Agnes (Brendan O'Carroll) with her family

Comedian Brendan O'Carroll stars as Agnes Brown in a new comedy series for BBC One. Ireland's funniest and proudest mother, Agnes Brown, is a hilarious, foul-mouthed Dublin matriarch who interferes in the lives of her children and friends.

The theatre show Mrs Brown's Boys has been a sell-out success for a number of years in Eire and the UK, and this new six-part series, specially written by Brendan for the BBC, is jam-packed with all the laughs, surprises and drama of Mrs Brown on stage. Viewers can prepare for a riot of bad behaviour as Agnes offers help and advice to her family and friends.

In this episode Mrs Brown has family troubles to contend with: Grandad Brown is feeling poorly and son Dermot has fallen out with Maria, his girlfriend. Mrs Brown arranges for Dr Flynn to see Grandad and she decides to talk to Maria – but matters only seem to get worse.

Mrs Brown's daughter, Cathy, is a psychology student and offers Dermot and Maria a counselling session. A concerned Mrs Brown comes along and the session quickly descends into a blazing row between her and Cathy.

A bemused Dermot and Maria suddenly realise how stubborn they've been and immediately make up. Then, to everyone's surprise, they get engaged.

Meanwhile, Grandad ends up in hospital for a cavity search when a temperature reading goes dramatically wrong.

The cast also includes Dermot O'Neill as Grandad Brown, Paddy Houlihan as Dermot, Fiona O'Carroll as Maria and Jennifer Gibney as Cathy.

Mrs Brown's Boys is simulcast in HD on BBC One HD on Freesat channel 108, Freeview channel 50, Sky channel 143 and Virgin Media channel 108.

KB4

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Silk Ep 1/6

Tuesday 22 February

9.00-10.00pm BBC ONE and BBC ONE HD

• www.bbc.co.uk/drama

Rupert Penry-Jones and Maxine Peake are on the front line of criminal law in Peter Moffat's thrilling new drama

Maxine Peake, Rupert Penry-Jones, Neil Stuke, Natalie Dormer and Tom Hughes star in this thrilling new drama series about the lives, loves and hard cases facing barristers on the front line of criminal law, written by Bafta award-winning writer Peter Moffat.

Fresh from a successful defence in a murder trial, barrister Martha Costello is immediately thrown two last-minute cases by the chambers' senior clerk, Billy. The cases are being heard the following morning and Martha stays up all night preparing.

Next morning she is joined by Nick, her new pupil (trainee) barrister, to whom she's showing the ropes. They hurry off to meet the defendants: Rush (an aggravated burglary) and Mercedes (a drug mule). Rush is a quietly menacing man who questions whether Martha is up to the job, while Mercedes is pregnant and evidently the victim of a cruel drug-running ring. Martha hasn't had a chance to prepare thoroughly and the judge passes a heavy sentence on Mercedes.

With no time to lament her shortcomings, Martha moves on to the Rush case. Nick is convinced he is guilty, while Martha argues that only the jury should decide his fate. The victim is Dodd, a sprightly elderly war hero. Martha's cross-questioning wins only sympathy for him, especially when he reveals a precious medal for heroism was one of the items stolen. Later, at a party in her chambers for legal clients, the solicitor for Rush, the defendant, berates her for her apparent incompetence.

However, the next day in court Martha proves that the police had led their witness to identify Rush as the burglar and had also tampered with the crime scene by removing evidence; she wins the case. Rush is a free man and Martha has furthered her cause in the race for Silk – to become a QC. But as she's leaving chambers a package is left for her, rocking her sense that justice wins out in the end.

Martha Costello is played by Maxine Peake, Billy Lamb by Neil Stuke, Nick Slade by Tom Hughes, Gary Rush by Paul Hilton, Mercedes Cordoba by Christianne Oliveira, Michael Dodd by Peter Vaughan, Clive Reader by Rupert Penry-Jones and Niamh Cranitch by Natalie Dormer.

Silk is simulcast in HD on BBC One HD on Freesat channel 108, Freeview channel 50, Sky channel 143 and Virgin Media channel 108.

GJ

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Let's Dance For Comic Relief Ep 1/4

Saturday 19 February

7.00-8.15pm BBC ONE and BBC ONE HD
(Copy updated 7 February)

• www.bbc.co.uk/comicrelief

Let's Dance returns to BBC One with a whole host of stars taking to the floor to show off their moves and raise money for Comic Relief.

Hosted by Alex Jones and Steve Jones, the popular series kicks off this week and runs across the next four weeks.

Famous faces from the world of comedy and entertainment step up and attempt to wow both the panel and the viewers with their moves.

This week, Katie Price, Colin and Justin, Ed Byrne, Rebecca Front and Russell Kane are among the first acts taking to the dance floor.

A weekly rotating panel reviews each of the performances. The panel of three, together with the viewers, vote for their favourite two acts to go through to the final and be in with a chance to be crowned champion of the dance floor.

The final sees six celebrity acts going head-to-head in a spectacular dance-off. Proceeds from the voting will go to Comic Relief.

Each week viewers are also treated to special guest performances featuring acts from the world of pop, beginning this week with JLS.

Let's Dance For Comic Relief is simulcast in HD on BBC One HD on Freesat channel 108, Freeview channel 50, Sky channel 143 and Virgin Media channel 108.

NE/MF2

Books On The BBC – My Life In Books Eps 1-5/10

Monday 21 to Friday 25 February

6.30-7.00pm BBC TWO (copy updated 10 February)

• Press pack

In the two-week run-up to World Book Night, Anne Robinson hosts a daily new chat show for BBC Two Daytime – My Life In Books – which invites well-known personalities to share their life in books.

From authors and actors to television presenters and academics, each day, two celebrity guests join Anne to discuss the books they most love – and why. Through their choices the guests reveal their childhood, tough times and inspiring moments – both personal and professional.

This literary treat takes a journey through the world of books as the guests reveal the five that mean the most to them, taking in fairy tales that fired their imagination, heroes and heroines they dreamed of becoming, and new worlds that were opened to them through children's books, classic or contemporary novels, diaries, biographies, travelogues and perhaps even poetry or annuals.

The series begins today with author PD James and BBC Radio 5 Live's Richard Bacon sharing their beloved books. On Tuesday, TV stars Giles Coren and Sue Perkins are Anne's guests, with sports presenter Clare Balding and comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli joining her on Wednesday. Sir Trevor McDonald and actor Rebecca Front are Thursday's guests, while the week ends with the book choices of father and son historians Peter and Dan Snow.

My Life In Books is part of Free Your Imagination – Books On The BBC, a pan-BBC initiative that incorporates programming from radio, television and the BBC's rich archive.

The pan-BBC Year Of Books is a year-long celebration of literature which invites audiences to free their imagination through the exploration, enjoyment and discussion of books. The BBC is the biggest producer of books-related programming and throughout 2011 will highlight its continued commitment to literature and all quality arts programming. From regular literary stands to documentaries, series, dramas and readings, the year offers a range of new and archive programmes.

EB

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This powerful 60-minute film traces the production of two very different Verdi works, and two of the grandest of Grand Operas: Aida, performed on the spectacular floating stage at Bregenz, and the Birmingham Opera Company production of Othello.

Both works have been plucked out of the traditional opera house setting and thrust into contemporary environments by one of the foremost opera directors of our times, Graham Vick.

Othello is a radical production featuring an outstanding cast, led by Ronald Samm – opera's first ever black Othello – joined by a company of more than 250 actors, singers and dancers who live and work in Birmingham. With huge choruses, imposing sets, mass scenes and dramatic duets, Aida lends itself perfectly to the grandiose and opulent setting of Bregenz's floating stage.

Featuring behind-the-scenes production footage, full access to Vick and his cast through their rehearsal period, and selected scenes from the final productions themselves, this film tells the inside story of one truly extraordinary opera director; his life and career; and two of his most ground-breaking productions.

Both Othello and Aida bristle with passion and encompass the eternal themes of cultural identity, hatred and imperialism.

RK2

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Shakespeare's great tragedy inspired music of extraordinary ferocity, violence and beauty from one of opera's most popular composers, Giuseppe Verdi.

Birmingham Opera Company artistic director Graham Vick masterminds this radical opera event, with tenor Ronald Samm and a company of more than 250 actors, singers and dancers drawn from the community.

Verdi's Othello explores the corrupting, immobilising power of fear in both the individual and the collective consciousness. Iago's manipulation of fear in Othello fuels his underlying mistrust and paranoia. This need for identity is a primal one.

Seeds of doubt, fed by half lies, eat at the foundations on which a whole persona, a whole society, is built. Fear takes hold and the veneer begins to peel and, when eroded, personalities disintegrate.

RK2

Junior Doctors – Your Life In Their Hands Ep 1/6

Tuesday 22 February

9.00-10.00pm BBC THREE

• Press pack

The newly qualified doctors start work

What if your first day on the job was a matter of life and death? Across the next six weeks, BBC Three follows the lives of seven newly qualified junior doctors as they leave behind five years of medical study, move in together and put their first-day nerves aside to take up their jobs as junior doctors at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle and the Newcastle General Hospital.

Among the new recruits are Adam, Katherine and Lucy, who are in their first foundation year of being qualified; and Jon, Suzi, Keir and Andy, who are in their second foundation year.

Suzi is about to start her first shift under the watchful eye of Head of A&E Mr Bas Sen and finds herself thrown in at the deep end with a cardiac arrest. Things are no better on the night shift as she juggles Friday night binge drinkers and suicide attempts.

Katherine's first-day nerves aren't helped when she learns that she is the only junior doctor on the plastics ward. Thankfully, Keir comes to her rescue when the workload starts to pile up. On the respiratory ward, the frustration of losing his pen provides Adam with the only chance to practice his surgical skills and Andy joins his rotation in paediatrics.

Over in gastroenterology, many of Lucy's patients can be agitated and aggressive, making her first day on the job even harder. Every moment of Jon's time is accounted for – if he isn't running to an emergency as part of the hospital's crash team, he's playing rugby or practising with his band for their next gig.

From first diagnosis to treatment and recovery, the junior doctors all face the same struggles and rely heavily on the nursing staff, medical peers and each other to get them from shift to shift.

NE/MF2