What’s on TV & radio (4 – 10 July 2015)

Thursday, 02 July 2015 09:22

What’s on TV & radio (4 – 10 July 2015)

This week's guide to science on the telly and radio...

Sat 4 July

Tomorrow's World, Today
BBC Radio 4, 8:00-9:00pm

Readers of a certain age will remember Tomorrow’s World – the BBC science and technology series that attracted some 10 million viewers a week during the 1970s. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, James Burke finds out how many of the show’s predictions actually came true.

Sun 5 July

Nature's Greatest Dancers
BBC One, 5:35-6:35pm

Nature is all about survival, but some animals survive with flair. Steve Backshall explores the ways in which animals ‘dance’ to get through life. Ballet dancing lemurs, shrews doing the conga, humpback whales indulging in a spot of synchronised swimming… what more could you want on a Sunday eve?

Image credit: BBC

Mon 6 July

The Infinite Monkey Cage
BBC Radio 4, 4:30-5:00pm

Robin Ince and Brian Cox return for a 12th series of musings on all things science. This time, they’re peddling their cerebral humour stateside. They’re joined in New York by Bill Nye the Science Guy, cosmologist Janna Levin, actor Tim Daly and comedian Lisa Lampanelli to discuss whether science is a force for good or evil.

Image credit: BBC/Richard Ansett

Tues 7 July

The Life Scientific
BBC Radio 4, 9:00-9:30am

Jim Al-Khalili chats to Prof Dorothy Bishop, an expert in childhood language disorders at the University of Oxford. She talks about her research into ‘specific language impairment’ – a little-known disorder that may affect around two children per primary school class.

Natural Histories
BBC Radio 4, 11:00-11:30am

Wildlife expert Brett Westwood continues his weekly series exploring the iconic plants and animals that call our planet home. In this episode, he dives into the world of the burbot – a once-common freshwater fish that’s now thought to be extinct in the UK. Should we introduce it to our waterways and make it part of our culture once again?

The Human Zoo
BBC Radio 4, 3:30-4:00pm

Michael Blastland continues to explore the habits, quirks and peculiarities of that most fascinating of species – us. This week, he looks at how we cope with pressure, from highly competitive sports to everyday stress.

Weds 8 July

Science Stories
BBC Radio 4, 9:00-9:30pm

Ever heard of The Leviathan? Simon Schaffer tells the story of this 50-foot-long telescope, built by Anglo-Irish nobleman William Parsons in the 1840s. Astronomers using this telescope thought they could see stars and planets forming, an idea that went against the view that the night sky was constant and completed. Their ideas about celestial evolution would even pave the way for a certain Charles Darwin...

Thurs 9 July

BBC Inside Science
BBC Radio 4, 4:30-5:00pm

Adam Rutherford and guests discuss the mysteries and controversies behind the science that's changing our world.

Image credit: BBC

Britain Beneath Your Feet
BBC One, 7:30-8:30pm

Most of us give little thought to what's beneath our feet. But, as Dallas Campbell reveals, there's a hidden subterranean world just waiting to be discovered. This week, he uncovers a secret wartime pipe that’s now delivering fuel to Heathrow Airport, and performs the unenviable task of dislodging a ‘fatberg’ from one of London’s sewers.