Glorious 39

"South is the film record of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated but ultimately heroic attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914-16.As Shackleton was setting out, Britain declared war on Germany. It was to be two years before Shackleton and his men were to learn of the progress of that war, and how utterly changed was the world they had left behind. That romantic world had encouraged a cult of heroism, and it was as a heroic polar explorer that Shackleton wished to be known. He had first journeyed to the Antarctic in 1902 under Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the future rival against whom he would always be compared.

Lucy Worsley explores how British history is a concoction of fibs and stories manipulated by whoever was in power at the time.

The "Great War" brought death and destruction to mankind on a worldwide scale. In all the countries involved in it, the new medium of film was used to bear witness to both. Even after 1918 filmmakers continued to return to the war, this time to tell stories of death and loss, but also, and mainly, of courage, patriotism and sacrifice. Film historians Leen Engelen and Bénédicte Rochet discuss the fascinating relationship between war and film, both in the fiction film "La Belgique martyre" and in the documentary "To the Glory of the Belgian Private".

Documentary following a team of maritime archaeologists as they uncover the remarkable city of Heracleion, lost to the sea and forgotten for over two thousand years. In the fading days of the pharaohs, the city of Heracleion was the gateway to Egypt and a port beyond compare. In the 4th century BC, this was an opulent and prosperous place adorned with statues and sphinxes.

Music and readings for Holy Week and Easter, from the magnificent chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The world-famous choir, directed by Stephen Cleobury, sings some of the best-loved choral music for the season, including Crucifixus (Lotti), Were You There? (arr Cleobury), This Joyful Eastertide (arr Ledger) and He Trusted in God and Hallelujah Chorus (Handel, from Messiah). Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston joins the choir for a glorious performance of the Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascangi). The story of Jesus’s death and resurrection is taken from the Gospel of Matthew and is reflected upon in poems by Ruth Etchells and EE Cummings.

Nothing pulls harder at the heartstrings than an opera aria – that key moment when the action stops and the character draws us right in to the heart of the drama, revealing his or her innermost feelings and thoughts. These are chances for the singers to really show off, to wow an audience with some of the most famous music in opera. In this film, charismatic conductor and music director of the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano, shares his personal selection of some of opera’s greatest arias.

For Nadiya, summertime is party time, and is the perfect excuse to put her busy life on hold and pull out all the stops. In this glorious hour-long special, Nadiya cooks up an array of mouth-watering dishes that she serves up to her loved ones at her own summer party feast.

Music and readings for Holy Week and Easter from the glorious Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The world-famous choir, directed by Daniel Hyde, sing some of the best-loved choral music for the season, including O Vos Omnes (Pablo Casals), Were You There? (arr. Richard Lloyd), And I Saw a New Heaven (Edgar Bainton) and Blessed be the God and Father (SS Wesley). Members of King’s College tell the story of Jesus’s death and resurrection from the Bible and poems written by Patrick Carey and Malcolm Guite. The congregation joins in popular Easter hymns, including Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem and Jesus Christ is Risen Today.

Revered critic David Stratton tells the glorious story of Australian cinema, focusing in on the films that capture the nation’s true nature with such candour, emotion and humour that they still knock us for a six. David is superbly qualified for this task. While he adapted to a new country and turned his passion for cinema into a profession as a film festival director and film critic, a growing band of courageous Australians turned their enthusiasm for storytelling into an extraordinary body of work. “A nation found its identity through cinema and so did I; this is my journey through the movies that made our nation,” he says.

Developed from an original concept by Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger, the team behind Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries series and The Gods of Wheat Street, Newton's Law centres around Josephine Newton, a suburban solicitor with an over-developed sense of responsibility who attempts to return to her briefly glorious stint at the Bar.