What's On - TV & Radio Listings

Dr Watson's weekly selection of relevant, or just interesting, programmes on TV and Radio.

Sunday 20 July

Something Understood

6:05am

BBC Radio 4 FM

Ageing Well Mark Tully considers the wisdom that comes with age, and talks to Sr Pia Buxton CJ about the spirituality of ageing. How can we grow old gracefully and positively in our youth-obsessed and careless culture?

Unknown Africa: Central African Republic

12:00pm

BBC2

Even for Saba Douglas-Hamilton, who grew up among elephants in Kenya's wilderness, there are parts of Africa where she has never set foot - this is her quest to reveal 'Unknown Africa'.

Food Programme

12:30pm

BBC Radio 4 FM

Hungry Cities How will we feed the cities of the future? Sheila Dillon is joined by architect and author Carolyn Steel, who explains how food has shaped cities over the centuries. What lessons can planners of today learn from the past?

Monday 21 July

Panorama

8:30pm

BBC1

Friends in High Places Critics argue that the government's proposals for a third runway at Heathrow will dramatically increase air travel and raze a village to the ground, completely undermining their green credentials. Panorama investigates claims that the government's defence of this plan has involved cynically twisting the science around air pollution and noise.

Tuesday 22 July

World on the Move

11:00am

BBC Radio 4 FM

Philippa Forrester and Brett Westwood present the series following the movement and migration of animals across the planet, from the European eel to the African white-eared kob antelope. A team of wildlife specialists are joined by zoologists and conservationists around the world to present regular reports.

Home Planet

3:00pm

BBC Radio 4 FM

Richard Daniel and the team discuss listeners' questions about the environment and the natural world.

Jimmy Doherty's Farming Heroes

9:00pm

BBC2

Wales: Jimmy visits Wales where farmers use daffodils to tackle Alzheimer's, garlic to combat the deadly side effects of cows and Kiwi science to create super sheep.

Wednesday 23 July

Burn Up

9:00pm

BBC2

1/2. BBC 2's new thriller in which oil executives, environmental activists and politicians collide in the battle between economic success and ecological responsibility. The head of Arrow Oil suddenly retires and Tom McConnell is asked to replace him. Meanwhile a group of oil workers in the Saudi desert are murdered and Arrow Oil is served with a writ for destroying the lives of the Arctic Inuit. The clean lines that formerly made up Tom McConnell's life turn increasingly murky.

Thursday 24 July

Unknown Africa: Central African Republic

7:00pm

BBC2

Even for Saba Douglas-Hamilton, who grew up among elephants in Kenya's wilderness, there are parts of Africa where she has never set foot - this is her quest to reveal 'Unknown Africa'.

John Barrowman: The Making of Me

9:00pm

BBC1

1/3. A new science series for the BBC in which famous people ask one big question: why are we the way we are? John Barrowman challenges scientists to explain why he's gay. With the help of friends, family, psychologists and geneticists, and conquering his claustrophobia to have a brain scan, he asks whether nature or nurture determine who we are.

Friday 25 July

Ramblings

3:00pm

BBC Radio 4 FM

Clare Balding explores holiday walking routes. She visits Guernsey to preview the island's walking festival. In the company of Frances Le Tissier, whose family have lived on the island for generations, and local walking guide Elizabeth Gardener Wheeler, she discovers the island's hidden pathways. The history of the island and its folklore is revealed as they set off inland to explore the miles of green footpaths that dissect the landscape.

Burn Up

9:00pm

BBC2

The second (and final part) of BBC's eco-thriller. At a climate change conference in Calgary, Tom realises that his friends are his enemies and that they will stop at nothing to preserve their interests. With a race to the finish, he must decide what to do with the information he has - the kind of information that kills people.