Under The Stars

Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan take viewers on a Christmas adventure to explore some of nature's greatest celestial wonders and winter wildlife. Journeying through some of the most incredible winter landscapes on Earth, Chris and Michaela uncover secrets of the night sky and animal phenomena that are unique to this time of year. Their quest takes them to the stunning Arabian Desert in Jordan in search of the 'star of Bethlehem' - a rare conjunction of two planets that appear very bright and close together in the night sky - a phenomenon that some astronomers believe could have been the basis for the religious story.

Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned is an album by Czech underground band The Plastic People of the Universe. It was recorded in 1974/75, mainly at Houska Castle, enabled by the castle's then warden Svatopluk Karásek, with some songs being recorded in Prague. The album could not be officially released and distributed under the former Communist regime in Czechoslovakia; instead fans duplicated tapes with one another, often resulting in poor technical quality. It was released in 1978 in France by SCOPA Invisible Production. In the Czech Republic a remastered version was published on CD in 2001 by Globus Music. The album title is a parody of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Most of the songs on the record are settings of poems by Egon Bondy.

A young man with a strong sense of justice is torn between two girls: the flighty Taneko and the serious Suzuko. With wisdom, courage and honor in a Japanese spirit of manliness he wins the day.

We are Crocodile. We are a band from Austin TX. Our music is not easily categorized. Imagine mixing Gentle Giant with Steely Dan. Rush with ELO. Yes with The Smiths? Weird huh? But, it's working for us. We are currently recording our second album, Howling Mad Black Music Under Hot Stars, coming out October 1st. It is a continuance of the adventurous music found on our first album, His Name Is Stan And He's A Bad motherf**ker, but with a more accessible (less angular more emotional) style.

Some are looking for the stars in the sky, James Blunt found them along his path so far: over 23 million albums sold, a world hit ("You're Beautiful"), several prestigious awards such as the BRIT, Ivor Novello, MTV VMA and ECHO (all twice), five nominations at the Grammys – the career of James Blunt is unparalleled. Now the Briton looks back on his 17-year journey so far and will release the greatest hits album "The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021)" on November 19. A huge arena tour through the UK will follow in February. Further dates around the world are in preparation.

In this week’s edition of the news series, reporter Danny Vincent reports from Hong Kong in the aftermath of its huge pro-democracy street protests between 2019 and 2020.