David Oistrakh Igor Oistrakh

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is arguably the most important album in the mind-blowing career of David Bowie. Released in 1972, it's the record that set the mercurial musician on course to becoming one of the best-known pop stars on the planet. In just over a year, Bowie's messianic Martian invaded the minds of the nation's youth with a killer combination of extraterrestrial rock 'n' roll and outrageous sexuality, all delivered in high-heeled boots, multi-coloured dresses and extravagant make-up. In Bowie's own words, Ziggy was 'a cross between Nijinsky and Woolworths', but this unlikely culture clash worked - Ziggy turned Bowie into stardust.

Thanks to a recent remarkable discovery in the BBC's film vaults, the best of David Attenborough's early Zoo Quest adventures can now be seen as never before, in colour, and with it the remarkable story of how this pioneering television series was made. First broadcast in December 1954, Zoo Quest was one of the most popular television series of its time and launched the career of the young David Attenborough as a wildlife presenter. It completely changed how viewers saw the world, revealing wildlife and tribal communities that had never been filmed or even seen before.

David Baddiel sets off on a 4,000 mile journey to explore the most famous trade route in history – the Silk Road. He travels from Xi’an, China to Istanbul, Turkey to uncover a series of remarkable locations, mysteries and hidden gems, many unknown to the western world. The 2,000 year old ancient highway changed the world, carrying not just trade but knowledge, religion, disease and dissent between the Far East and Europe. With exclusive access to research and investigations, using cutting edge technology, David retraces the steps of merchants, warriors and pilgrims along the largest trade route the world has ever known.

There was nothing predictable about David Bowie - everything was designed to intrigue, to challenge, to defy all expectations. But perhaps no period in David Bowie’s extraordinary career raised more fascination, more surprise, and more questions, than the last five …

David Baddiel explores the impact social media is having on our behaviour, both online and off. A self-confessed Twitter addict, David is in no doubt that there are positive sides to these platforms – revolutionising communication, highlighting important issues and propelling social change. But he also believes there’s a darker side to the way we interact online – one where outrage and angry exchanges frequently dominate, with a negativity developing that spills offline and into real life. Ultimately, David asks whether something originally designed to help us talk to each other is just leading to everyone shouting at each other.

This is the David Bowie story you don’t know. The story of how David Robert Jones became David Bowie, how David Bowie became Ziggy Stardust and how Ziggy became immortal, changing the musical landscape as he did so. The story that finally makes sense of one of the greatest icons of the 20th and 21st centuries. Part three of Francis Whately’s Bowie

Africa, the world's wildest continent. David Attenborough takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through one of the most diverse places in the world. We visit deserts, savannas, and jungles and meet up with some of Africa's amazing wildlife.

The world-renowned Magnum Photos photographer David Hurn is Wales's most important living photographer. This year he is donating his archive to the National Museum Wales, alongside a unique collection of 700 photographs by other photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt and Dorothea Lange. It is a remarkable gift to the nation. As Magnum Photos celebrates 70 years at the forefront of photojournalism, this film celebrates one of its longest serving members and profiles David's extraordinary portfolio and bequest from a career spanning 60 years.

Based on Anne Holm's acclaimed young adult novel North to Freedom, I Am David chronicles the struggles of a 12-year-old boy (Ben Tibber) who manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own – through sheer will and determination. …

As thousands of British fans prepare to travel to Russia for the World Cup, David Dimbleby returns to a country he first visited when Yeltsin came to power 25 years ago. For 18 of those years, Vladimir Putin has ruled the largest country on earth, and he has another six years ahead of him. But with talk of a new Cold War, and with British Intelligence accusing Putin's government of 'criminal thuggery', this Panorama special asks what Russians see in him and how he has held on to power for so long.