BBC Four

Your monthly journey through the fascinating world of space and astronomy with the latest thinking on what's out there in space and what you can see in the night sky.

BBC Young Musician (Young Musician of the Year) first appeared on our TV screens in 1978. The brainchild of BBC producers Humphrey Burton, Walter Todds and Roy Tipping, the biennial competition has developed an enviable reputation for finding superstar musicians including Nicola Benedetti, Mark Simpson and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner. Michael Faraday initiated the first Christmas Lecture series in 1825. This came at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. Faraday presented a total of nineteen series in all.

Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.

The Late Edition was a British television programme broadcast on BBC Four. It took the form of a topical chat show in the vein of The Daily Show, presented by comedian Marcus Brigstocke. Each episode typically features comical news commentary from Brigstocke, satirical interviews with fictional political figures played by Steve Furst, 'Andre Vincent investigates' and two "real" interviews. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, Brigstocke performed a special version of the show at the Edinburgh Fringe called The Early Edition with Andre Vincent.

Newswipe with Charlie Brooker was a British news review programme broadcast on BBC Four written and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is similar to Brooker's Screenwipe series which is also shown on BBC Four. A first series of six episodes ran between 25 March 2009 and 29 April 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010 and concluded on 23 February 2010.

Charlie Brooker's acerbic take on recent TV contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.

Days That Shook the World is a British documentary television series that premiered on BBC Two on 17 September 2003. The programme features various milestones throughout history. It has been broadcast on the BBC, Discovery Channel UK, The History Channel and Viasat History. The series was also released on DVD by the Polish edition of Newsweek in 2007.

Michael Parkinson reflects on the most memorable subjects of his interviews from the 1970s and 1980s.

Comedy drama that shines a light on the day-to-day life of a family looking after their severely learning disabled girl, Rosie.

I've Never Seen Star Wars is a comedy chat show broadcast on BBC Four and BBC Two, first broadcast on 12 March 2009. Created and produced by Bill Dare and hosted by Marcus Brigstocke for the 2009 episodes & Jo Brand for the 2011 special episode, each episode features a celebrity guest trying out new experiences. Based on the original radio version broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the title comes from the fact that Dare has never seen the Star Wars films. An eight part series was recorded in March 2009, with guests including John Humphrys, Esther Rantzen, Rory McGrath and Hugh Dennis. A new host, Jo Brand, presented a December 2011 episode.

The lives of two eccentric metal detectorists, who spend their days plodding along ploughed tracks and open fields, hoping to disturb the tedium by unearthing the fortune of a lifetime.

Brian Pern is an ageing rock star and former front-man of ground breaking progressive rock group Thotch. Like many artists of his age, rather than make new music, he spends more time trying to save the planet (including his campaign to teach gorillas how to Skype). Now, the BBC have asked him to front a major new documentary where he presents his guide to The Life Of Rock from prehistoric man to the present day.

In a series of authored films, some of our most engaging experts reveal their favourite hidden objects, forgotten places and artistic passions.

We Need Answers is a British television panel game presented by comedians Mark Watson, Tim Key and Alex Horne. The show features a pair of celebrities answering questions which have previously been texted in by the public, or the audience, to 63336, a text message service.

The fiendishly difficult quiz show in which two teams of three contestants have to find the connection between seemingly unrelated clues, where patience and lateral thinking are as vital as knowledge.

Clara Amfo takes us behind the scenes of Radio 1's Live Lounge - the biggest live studio showcase in the world.

The Mark Steel Lectures are a series of radio and television programmes. Written and delivered by Mark Steel, each scripted lecture presents arguments for the importance of a historical figure. The lectures were originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over three series between 1999 and 2002. Many of the arguments were illustrated by miniature sketches. These sketches featured Mark Steel, Martin Hyder, Mel Hudson, Carla Mendonça, Femi Elufowoju Junior and Debbie Isitt. The first series was subtitled "A series of lectures about Englishmen who changed the course of history", with the remaining two changing this to "A series of lectures about people with a passion". The first series was produced by Phil Clark; the others by Lucy Armitage. The lecture on Ludwig van Beethoven was nominated for a Sony Radio Comedy Award. The programme transferred to television in 2003, with an Open University series on BBC Four, which was later repeated on BBC Two. This variously featured: ⁕Gerard Logan as Lord Byron ⁕Martin Hyder as Isaac Newton, Sigmund Freud, Aristotle, Che Guevara, Oliver Cromwell, Ludwig van Beethoven and Charles Darwin ⁕Ainsley Harriott as Robert Boyle ⁕Linda Smith as Martha Freud

Series looking at how the BBC has revealed and interpreted monumental moments in our history. Using the BBC archive, the programmes examine changes in research covered in documentary television.

Classic Doctor Who duos are reunited as they board a very special TARDIS on a nostalgic voyage through space and time.