TV & Radio

TV and radio listings will be updated every Friday

Hans Litten Vs Adolf Hitler: To Stop A Tyrant
Hans Litten Vs Adolf Hitler: To Stop A Tyrant
BBC Two
Saturday 27th August, 8.00pm

A companion piece to the BBC’s recent drama about the 1931 courtroom encounter between Litten and Hitler, To Stop A Tyrant traces the idealistic lawyer’s life. It also provides context to his story, showing how the Nazis in the guise of the SA used intimidation and violence as they struggled to take control of “Red Berlin”.

Archive On Four: When The Eyes Of The World Were On The Clyde
Archive On Four: When The Eyes Of The World Were On The Clyde
Radio 4
Saturday 27th August, 8.00pm

In 1971, workers at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders took on Edward Heath’s government. As journalist John Lloyd remembers, they did it not by striking but through a ‘work-in’. Expect similar themes of class strife to run through The Reunion (Radio 4, Sunday 28 August, 11.15am), which looks back at 1982 TV drama Boys From The Blackstuff.

David Jason’s Greatest Escapes
David Jason’s Greatest Escapes
ITV1
Sunday 28th August, 8.00pm

Longtime prisoner of war movie fan David Jason salutes the brave souls who refused to accept captivity after being captured in the Second World War. The actor meets some of those who escaped and finds out what it would have been like to heave yourself through a tunnel as part of The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III.

Head To Head
Head To Head
Radio 4
Monday 29th August, 9.30am

The series revisiting historical debates concludes with a 1960 encounter between Denis Healey and French politician Maurice Schumann, who discussed Britain’s place in Europe. Listen out today too for The Peace Corps Writers (Radio 4, 11.00am), which hears from those who have been the USA’s “missionaries of democracy”.

Elegance & Decadence: The Age Of The Regency
Pick of the Week
Elegance & Decadence: The Age Of The Regency
BBC Four
Monday 29th August, 9.00pm

Dr Lucy Worsley hosts a three-part series exploring how British society changed between 1811 and 1820. Her focus in the first documentary is on the luxury-loving and rather ridiculous Prince of Wales, a man who fought “a personal war against Napoleon through interior decoration”.

Liverpool's famous Liver building © Dreamstime
Hidden Paintings Of The North West
BBC Four
Tuesday 30th August, 7.30pm

First shown on BBC One North West, Paul McGann visits Liverpool and Manchester to see art dating from the Second World War. He’s especially drawn to the work of Albert Richards, a paratrooper who later became an official war artist and died aged just 25 when he drove into a minefield.

What’s Eating The Museum?
What’s Eating The Museum?
Radio 4
Wednesday 31st August, 11.00am

Insects are eating museums. Or more precisely, destructive insects, finding our warming climate and cosily heated institutions increasingly congenial, pose a huge risk to collections held in Britain’s museums. Chris Ledgard hears from worried conservators, and learns what can be done to control the beetles and moths whose larvae can chomp through valuable collections.

National Treasures Live
National Treasures Live
BBC One
Wednesday 31st August, 7.30pm

The history magazine show continues with Dan Snow and Sian Williams exploring the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire. Also today, Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC One, 9.00pm) features actor Larry Lamb, who wants to know more about the family of his mother, who was adopted in the 1920s.

9/11: The Firemen’s Story
9/11: The Firemen’s Story
Channel 4
Wednesday 31st August, 9.00pm

With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, the schedules are filling up with programmes remembering the attacks. Among this week’s offerings, here’s a documentary that pays tribute to the 343 firefighters who died in New York. Featuring interviews with survivors and the families of those who lost loved ones.

The Story Of British Pathé
The Story Of British Pathé
BBC Four
Thursday 1st September, 9.00pm

The series drawing on the archives of the newsreel company looks at its “cinemamagazines”. These were aimed at women. As well as featuring reports on fashion and movie stars, this side of the company’s output also offered practical advice on running the home.

Wogan On Wodehouse 
Wogan On Wodehouse 
BBC Two
Friday 2nd September, 9.00pm

Terry Wogan offers a portrait of comic author Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, creator of Jeeves and Wooster. Those paying tribute include Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley and novelist Hanif Kureishi. A documentary that doesn’t shy clear of the central controversy in Wodehouse’s life: his Nazi-commissioned wartime broadcasts.