Oxstalls Learning Centre Off-Air Recordings 26th March - 1st April 2011

Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Saturday 26th March

Game show
So You Think You Can Dance 7:10pm - 8:10pm BBC1. 1/12, series 2

Dancers from all over the UK bring their best moves to London, hoping to impress judges Nigel Lythgoe, Arlene Phillips, Louise Redknapp and Sisco Gomez in the first round of auditions. Featuring a talented tap performer, a mother and daughter with the carnival vibe, and a girl with impaired hearing who dances by feeling the bass vibrate through her body. Cat Deeley hosts.

Documentary
The Story of Variety with Michael Grade 8:00pm - 9:00pm BBC2 Onto the Box 2/2

Part two of two. The former BBC chairman investigates what happened to variety stars when the theatres closed down and they were forced to pursue careers in TV, examining the high and lows of appearing before the cameras. Previously seen on BBC4.

Music
Agony & Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC4 3/3, series 1

Every ballet company's year culminates with The Nutcracker and the ENB is no different, though having staged the same production for eight years the artistic director, Wayne Eagling, is charged with creating a brand-new £600,000 extravaganza to celebrate the company's 60th anniversary. The Christmas classic makes up 30 per cent of the ENB's annual box office sales, but with the choreography unfinished two days before opening night, a Clara just back from maternity leave with her baby in the wings and a stage-shy hot air balloon, can everything be finished by the time the curtain goes up?

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Monday 28th March

Documentary
Neil Morrissey: Care Home Kid 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC2 1/2. Part one of two.

The actor explores his childhood in care, hoping to understand how the experience has affected him as an adult. He tries to find out the reason for being separated from his parents and brothers, and is reunited with two of his fellow residents from Penkhull Children's Homes in Stoke-on-Trent. He also visits youngsters and workers at Lothian Villa in east Scotland to discover the realities of life in care today, and explores allegations of abuse at the home where his brother was taken. The concluding part can be seen on Thursday.

Documentary
The Brain: A Secret History 11:20pm - 12:20am BBC2 Mind Control 1/3

New series. Michael Mosley tries to further his understanding of the human mind by tracing the history of mankind's efforts to examine and manipulate the brain. He learns about the high-risk psychological experiments that would not be approved by a modern ethics committee, and explores the world of neuroscience, acting as a guinea pig to see what he can learn about himself and the freedom behind the decisions people make. Previously shown on BBC4.

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Tuesday 29th March

Documentary
See You in Court 10:35pm - 11:25pm BBC1 Gascoigne & Opik 1/6, series 1

New series. Documentary charting the emotional and financial toll of libel action, providing an insight into 12 cases as they unfold over the course of two years. The programme highlights high-profile disputes involving celebrities and media personalities, beginning with legal battles waged by former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik and Paul Gascoigne's ex-wife Sheryl.

Reality
Supersize vs Superskinny 8:00pm - 9:00pm Channel 4 1/8, series 4

New series. Louise Hayes, who usually eats meals consisting of five or six courses, trades daily diets with Josh Evans, whose own menu is severely lacking. She also receives a message from a 41-stone Texan who is so obese she has had to move into a care home, and visits America to discover the consequences of maintaining her unhealthy relationship with food. Christian Jessen, Ursula Philpot and Helena Fox also hear from people with anorexia and bulimia.

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Thursday 31st March

Documentary
Neil Morrissey: Care Home Kid 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC2 2/2

Conclusion. The actor explores what happens to young people when they leave care and investigates how it compares with his own experiences. He meets a foster carer in Bristol who has looked after some 80 children, and returns to the Isle of Dogs, where he discovers how he transferred many of the habits learned from the children's home to his student life.

News and current affairs
Charities in Crisis: Tonight 7:30pm - 8:00pm ITV1 London

Fiona Foster examines the potential impact of cuts in state funding for charities looking after the elderly, children, families and the homeless. Many hard-pressed organisations are under threat of closure in the next few months and Fiona investigates what effect this could have on some of the UK's poorest communities. Postponed from March 17

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Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Oxstalls Off-Air Recordings 19th - 25th March

Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
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Tuesday 22nd March

Reality
Supersize vs Superskinny Kids 8:00pm - 9:00pm Channel 4 series programme 1/4

New series. Dr Christian Jessen and dietician Ursula Philpot try to solve eating problems among the UK's children, in light of claims that one in every six of them is obese. They also try to tackle anorexia, which is reported to have doubled among youngsters over the past decade. The pair begin by meeting 17-stone teenager Ieuan Rosser who consumes 4,000 calories a day, and super-fussy 13-year-old Jess whose father is struggling to deal with her unhealthy diet. Continues tomorrow.
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Wednesday 23rd March

Reality
Supersize vs Superskinny Kids 8:00pm - 9:00pm Channel 4 2/4, series 1

Dr Christian Jessen and dietician Ursula Philpot help 12-year-old ballet dancer Caitlin Anstis and bullied 11-year-old Declan Garner improve their eating habits, and show them the detrimental effects their current diets could have on their future lives. Christian also demonstrates to a group of school kids the impact of a poor nutritional intake on people's bones. Continues tomorrow.

Documentary
Kidult - P-Star Rising 10:00pm - 11:15pm BBC4

Documentary following single father and former musician Jesse Diaz as he pins his hopes for success on his nine-year-old daughter Priscilla and tries to develop her as a rapper. The film charts the family's triumphs and failures over the course of four years as father and daughter come into conflict, and older sister Solsky is sidelined as Priscilla tries to make her dad proud.
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Thursday 24th March

Reality
Supersize vs Superskinny Kids 8:00pm - 9:00pm Channel 4 3/4

Tempers flare as Dr Christian Jessen and dietician Ursula Philpot offer nutritional advice to an 11-year-old girl who tips the scales at almost 12 stone, and a nine-year-old boy who weighs three stone 12 pounds, owing to a diet of processed foods and chocolate milkshakes. Concludes tomorrow.
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Friday 25th March

Reality
Supersize vs Superskinny Kids 8:00pm - 9:00pm Channel 4 4/4

The medics meet a boy who weighs 11st and constantly grazes on sugary snacks, and offer advice to 15-year-old Aled, who has suffered from Crohn's disease in the past and is scared of eating. Dr Christian Jessen resorts to shock tactics in an effort to make the youngsters change their ways, before a 16-year-old girl recalls her near-fatal battle with anorexia. Last in the series.

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Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Oxstalls Off-Air Recordings 12 - 18 March

Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Wednesday 16th March

Documentary
Kidult: Marathon Boy 10:00pm - 11:30pm BBC4

Documentary following the story of a four-year-old boy selected by his coach from a slum in India to become the youngest marathon runner ever. The film charts the challenges faced by the pair, and explores the country's poverty and social complexities as well as opening up an ethical and legal debate.

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Thursday 17th March

News and current affairs
Charities in Crisis: Tonight 7:30pm - 8:00pm ITV1 London

REQUESTED BY SUE TURNER FOR OXLC.

Fiona Foster examines the potential impact of cuts in state funding for charities looking after the elderly, children, families and the homeless. Many hard-pressed organisations are under threat of closure in the next few months and Fiona investigates what effect this could have on some of the UK's poorest communities.

Documentary
My New Best Friend 8:00pm - 9:00pm BBC4 Cheltenham 1/3

Exploring the transition from primary to secondary school. The first programme follows four 11-year-old girls' attempts to make friends and settle into a new environment as they leave their prep schools and join the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies' College.

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Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Oxstalls Off-Air Recording 5th - 11th March

Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Sunday 6th March

Documentary
The Story of Variety with Michael Grade
BBC4 8.00pm -9.00pm After the War 1/2.

Enter a lost world of entertainment with this celebration of the postwar heyday of variety. Michael Grade is our qualified guide - he joined the family theatrical agency in 1966 - and delivers a warm and funny show, full of good anecdotes. That's because he lets veteran entertainers and agents do much of the talking - Val Doonican, Doreen Wise (widow of Ernie), Bruce Forsyth, Ken Dodd, Roy Hudd, Barry Cryer and Janet Brown among them. Although largely filmed at the London Palladium, many of their recollections concern the third-rate halls or "number threes" - Attercliffe Palace in Sheffield and Bilston Theatre Royal keep cropping up. Unforgettable, but for all the wrong reasons, as are tales of theatrical digs. In contrast, a parade of clips features comics, ventriloquists, dancers, jugglers and animal acts - from Max Miller to Memory Man, and Kardoma the flag act to Koringa the lady snake charmer. Nostalgia, social history... however you label it, there's nothing po-faced about this supremely entertaining show.

Documentary
The World's Strongest Child and Me
Sunday 06 March 10:00pm - 11:10pm More4

Mark Dolan concludes his search for the world's most incredible individuals by seeking out the next generation of super-strong children. He attends a controversial weightlifting contest in America and meets Aaron Ellis, who at seven years old could lift almost twice his own weight. He also travels to a boarding school for budding Olympic weightlifters in Russia and visits Hollywood, hoping to find Richard Sandrak, who shocked the world in 2000 at the age of eight, when footage of his incredible bodybuilder physique was first seen by the wider public.

Film
Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait 12:30am - 2:00am BBC2

Following the lead of Hellmuth Costard's 1971 study of George Best, Football like Never Before, this audacious documentary tracks Zinédine Zidane for the duration of a La Liga game between Real Madrid and Villareal in April 2005. Technically, the film draws attention to itself far too often, with its tricksy shifts between camera angles (courtesy of Se7en cinematographer Darius Khondji) and distances. But, as a study in sporting concentration and an avant-garde experiment in spatial disorientation, it's as compelling as it is impressive. Particularly striking is the unswerving intensity that seems to isolate Zidane from his team-mates, as he rarely calls for the ball or issues instructions throughout the match. Indeed, he remains emotionless - apart from a grin at Roberto Carlos just before joining the goalmouth mêlée that results in him being sent off. Revealing the flaws as well as the genius, this is clearly a portrait of an artist at work.

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Monday 7th March

Documentary
Parents Under Pressure 7:00pm - 8:00pm BBC2

REQUESTED BY FRANCIS BARTON FOR OXLC

Children in this country, according to research, are unhappier, unhealthier and more unruly than they've ever been, partly, say various experts, because many parents work such long hours they simply don't have the time (or energy) for their kids. Sophie Raworth, a mother herself, looks at all the reasons parents have to feel guilty about the way they're bringing up their children, as well as reporting on schemes to help them. Most of her findings will come as no surprise - and many of them are pretty inconclusive. But it does make you wonder how any of us ever manage to bring up a reasonably well-adjusted child.

Documentary
The Story of Variety with Michael Grade 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC4 Onto the Box 2/2

This second exploration of showbiz is a tale of those who could play to the camera, instead of the audience. Ken Dodd shows how he's torn between the two. Others did not face the same dilemma - witness Morecambe and Wise's mastery of the medium. For the other modern great, Tommy Cooper, we learn performances were meticulously planned. But in 1984, with alternative comedy booming, both Tommy and Eric died. But variety didn't die with them. We have Britain's Got Talent. And now ITV has bought the rights to the Royal Variety Performance. That wouldn't have happened had Grade been back at the BBC.

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Tuesday 8th March

Music
Agony & Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC4
1/3, series 1

New series. Documentary taking a behind-the-scenes look at the company on its 60th anniversary. The series follows the English National Ballet over 12 months as it faces doubts about funding and prepares extravagant productions, as well as showing the injuries and accolades received by the dancers. In the first episode, choreographer Derek Deane casts an inexperienced ballerina alongside a world-class guest.

Music
Birmingham Royal Ballet's Cinderella 10:00pm - 12:00am BBC4

Elisha Willis and Iain McKay star in a new production of the fairy tale by director and choreographer David Bintley, who collaborates for the first time with renowned artist John Macfarlane and lighting designer David Finn. In its 20th anniversary year, the company retells the classic story of good triumphing over evil as the downtrodden Cinderella overcomes the exploits of her wicked stepmother and ugly step-sisters to win the heart of Prince Charming, with the help of her fairy godmother. Set to Prokofiev's melodious score, the ballet is filmed by Ross MacGibbon - a former dancer with the Royal Ballet.

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Wednesday 9th March

Documentary
23 Week Babies: The Price of Life 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC2

Science writer and director Adam Wishart's documentary follows the stories of premature babies born at Birmingham Women's Hospital. Nine out of 10 infants born four months early die before they leave the neonatal ward, and, of those who survive, three quarters end up with a disability. He speaks to medical staff in the unit about the emotional and material cost of keeping these newborns alive, and listens to families who decided to fight for their children, as well as those who gave up hope.

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Thursday 10th March

News and current affairs
Make Your Own School: Tonight 7:30pm - 8:00pm ITV1 London

Report following the efforts of a group of parents attempting to establish a `free school', in light of a new education policy. The Government claims allowing parents, teachers, charities and businesses to set up their own institutions will help raise standards, but critics warn it could have a negative impact on the state system. The first such schools are set to open in September.

Arts and culture
Paul Merton's Palladium Story 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC4
Act One: The Variety Years 1/2

Part one of two. The comedian tells the story of the famous London theatre, featuring onscreen contributions from those who have worked there, as well as archive clips of performers including The Crazy Gang, Judy Garland, Laurel and Hardy and Larry Grayson.

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Friday 11th March

Documentary
The Only Gay on the Estate? 7:30pm - 8:00pm Channel 4

Director Michael Ogden makes a journey back to his roots in Wythenshawe, Manchester, where he explores the years he spent as a closeted gay teenager, hiding the truth from his friends and having a relationship with a local girl. He tries to find out what happened to the children in his old neighbourhood in an effort to confront his past, and hopes to clear the air with his parents, who still do not accept his homosexuality. Part of the First Cut strand.

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Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Oxstalls Off-Air Recording 5th - 11th February

Oxstalls Off-Air Recordings 29th Jan - 4th Feb

Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
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Saturday 29th January

Documentary Justice - A Citizen's Guide to the 21st Century
8:00pm - 9:00pm BBC4
Harvard professor Michael Sandel compares modern concepts of social justice and citizenship with the ideas of three leading thinkers from the Enlightenment and the Ancient World. He visits Boston, Berlin, London and Athens to explore the philosophies of Immanuel Kant, who did not believe in the legitimacy of killing one person to save a hundred others, Jeremy Bentham, who felt it could be acceptable to compromise on individual rights for the sake of the masses, and Aristotle, who thought people should get what they deserve. Part of the Justice: A Citizen's Guide season.

Reality Freddie Flintoff Versus the World ITV4 1/8, series 1
The former cricketer travels across the American continent taking part in extreme sports in competition with other sportsmen and women. He is joined by Darren Gough on a trip to Mexico for a spot of lucha libre wrestling, paintball paragliding and a dive off the cliffs of Acapulco.
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Sunday 30th January

Documentary The Paedophile Hunters 10:00pm - 11:00pm BBC2
Documentary following agents from the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), one of America's most secret law-enforcement agencies, as they track down, arrest and extradite American paedophile sex tourists. In Cambodia, ex-cop Chris Materelli and former Khmer Rouge boy soldier Vansak Suos investigate US citizens who have abused children as young as four - sometimes sold to them by their own parents. So far, 85 offenders have been brought back to face justice in American courts.
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Monday 31st January

Documentary Horizon: The Secret World of Pain 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC2
4/8
Despite being one of the most common human experiences, pain has been something of a mystery to science over the years. But recent breakthroughs have come from studying a remarkable London woman who has felt no pain her whole life, an American man who was forced to cut off his own arm, and three generations of an Italian family who don't experience extremes of temperature. There's also news of a pioneering treatment involving a computer game that can banish painful symptoms.

Documentary Outside the Court 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC4
Marc Isaacs spends three months outside Highbury Magistrates Court to gain an insight into the lives and circumstances of people passing through the legal system. He speaks to armed robbers, long-term thieves, addicts and their relatives as they wait for a judgment to be made, and the film demonstrates how reaching a decision on a case can become more difficult when more information about the person is available. Part of the Justice: A Citizen's Guide season.

Documentary Storyville: Meet the Climate Sceptics 10:00pm - 11:00pm BBC4
Rupert Murray examines arguments against man-made global warming, looking at the foundations of claims made by people who disagree over alleged increases in Earth's temperature. The film features Christopher Monckton as he tours the world broadcasting his sceptic message to members of the public and politicians, trying to convince them and Murray that people should not worry about climate change.

Tuesday 1st February

Reality Freddie Flintoff Versus the World 9:00pm - 10:00pm ITV4 2/8, series 1
The former cricketer continues his American trip competing in extreme sports along the way. In Arizona, he and Olympic athlete Iwan Thomas take part in a demolition derby, go kayaking, and also climb across the US state's terrifying red rocks.
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Wednesday 2nd February

Factual Who Gets the Best Jobs? 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC2
Richard Bilton investigates social equality in Britain and how access to the professions works, discovering that the most desirable jobs are being increasingly taken by a small pool of privileged and well-connected families. He also learns that getting a good degree is more important than ever, but also that impressive contacts and social skills are playing a crucial part in securing a successful career.

Documentary Cannabis: What's the Harm? 10:30pm - 11:30pm BBC3 1/2
Part one of two. Former EastEnders star James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler) investigates the lengths people will go to in the search of marijuana and discovers exactly where it comes from. He meets a 17-year-old who smokes cannabis with his parents, and a mother-of-three who uses the drug to control her emotions. He also follows the police squad clamping down on large-scale growers and travels to California, the first American state to license it for medicinal use.
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Thursday 3rd February

News and current affairs The Value of a Degree: Tonight 7:30pm - 8:00pm ITV1 London
University fees are set to treble and the graduate unemployment rate is the highest for 17 years. Fiona Foster investigates courses for which students could be getting into debt and asks whether a degree helps with getting a better job or a higher salary.

Documentary Cannabis: What's the Harm? 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC3
2/2, series 1
Part two of two. Former EastEnders star James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler) explores the hidden world of organised crime linked to the supply of marijuana in Britain. He joins a drug squad and the UK Border Agency as they try to catch smugglers, and meets casualties of the trade, including a 14-year-old addict with convictions for burglary and a Vietnamese teenager smuggled into the country to work on cannabis farms.

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Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

Oxstalls Off-Air Recordings 18th - 31st December

Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.

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Saturday 18th December

Documentary

Making War Horse 7:55pm - 9:00pm More4

How do you transfer Michael Morpurgo's powerful children's novel about the horrors of the First World War, where the main character is a horse called Joey, into a major piece of theatre? Simple: employ stunning life-size puppets, courtesy of the South African Handspring Puppet Company, and the skills of the National Theatre team, who explain, with Morpurgo, how they worked together to produce a powerfully moving, award-winning play. It's eye-opening stuff, and the care taken to make the puppet horses seem lifelike will take your breath away. If you're not usually convinced by the magic of theatre, this might just change your mind.

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Wednesday 22nd December

Documentary
Close Up With Sir Peter Hall and Julie Taymor 7:25pm - 7:55pm More4 3/5

The doyen of British theatre, Peter Hall, and The Lion King director Julie Taymor mentor two young theatre directors for one year. Peter takes South African director Lara Foot Newton under his wing, while Julie helps Selina Cartmell with her musical theatre ambitions. Part of the More4 Arts season

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Thursday 23rd December

Film
Jesus Christ Superstar 11:50pm - 1:45am ITV1 London

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's ground-breaking rock opera chronicling the last seven days of Jesus Christ works better on stage than screen, judging from director Norman Jewison's worthy adaptation. The score is brilliant, and Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson and Yvonne Elliman give great performances. However, they're undermined by Jewison's attempts to give the Passion Play a mod credibility: a busload of students arriving in the desert to put on a show, for example, or Judas ducking jet fighters halfway through a song. The result is a disappointment that would look less infantile and shallow without such a wrong-headed, anachronistic approach.

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Friday 24th December

Film
Scrooge 4:00pm - 5:45pm Channel 5

Released in the US under Dickens's original title, A Christmas Carol, this is easily the best screen version of the much loved yuletide tale. The ever-versatile Alastair Sim is impeccable as the miser who comes to see the error of his ways through the promptings of the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Michael Hordern makes a splendid Jacob Marley and Mervyn Johns a humble Bob Cratchit, while George Cole does well as the younger, carefree Scrooge. Beautifully designed by Ralph Brinton and directed with unexpected finesse by Brian Desmond Hurst, this is not to be missed.

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Saturday 25th December

Music
Birmingham Royal Ballet's Cinderella 3:00pm - 5:00pm BBC2

Elisha Willis and Iain McKay star in a new production of the fairy tale by director and choreographer David Bintley, who collaborates for the first time with renowned artist John Macfarlane and lighting designer David Finn. In its 20th anniversary year, the company retells the classic story of good triumphing over evil as the downtrodden Cinderella overcomes the exploits of her wicked stepmother and ugly step-sisters to win the heart of Prince Charming, with the help of her fairy godmother. Set to Prokofiev's melodious score, the ballet is filmed by Ross MacGibbon - a former dancer with the Royal Ballet.

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Sunday 26th December

Drama
Upstairs Downstairs 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC1 The Fledgling1/3, series 1

New series. Thirty-five years after the original series ended on ITV, the BBC returns to one of the most famous addresses on TV. It is January 1936, and diplomat Sir Hallam and Lady Agnes Holland (Ed Stoppard and Keeley Hawes) move into Eaton Place - closely followed by his widowed mother and her wayward sister. But they also need a full serving staff, for which Lady Agnes turns to an agency run by none other than Rose Buck (Jean Marsh), who used to work at the house. Eileen Atkins, Art Malik, Anne Reid and Adrian Scarborough co-star. Continues tomorrow.

Film
Great Expectations 12:45pm - 3:00pm More4

David Lean will always be best remembered for his Technicolor epics, but this black-and-white adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel is one of his early masterpieces. It's a carefully pruned version of the book that excises entire characters but retains the magical Dickens spirit as it tells the tale of orphaned Pip (played as a boy by Anthony Wager and as an adult by John Mills), who comes into an unexpected fortune. From the opening sequence on the Kentish marshes, when the young Pip encounters Finlay Currie's terrifying escaped convict, through to his love for Estella (played by Jean Simmons as a child and Valerie Hobson as an adult), this is superlative film-making from one of Britain's greatest directors. It looks magnificent and earned Oscars for cinematographer Guy Green and designers John Bryan and Wilfrid Shingleton.

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Monday 27th December

Drama
Upstairs Downstairs 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC1 The Ladybird 2/3, series 1

It is five months since the Hollands moved into Eaton Place, and Rose is officially installed as housekeeper, while Lady Agnes has manoeuvred the house to the centre of London society - and her joy is compounded by the news she is pregnant. But storm clouds are gathering in Europe, and Lady Persie falls under the spell of Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists, forming an alliance that will drag her into moral and physical peril. Keeley Hawes, Jean Marsh and Claire Foy star. Concludes tomorrow.

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Tuesday 28th December

Drama
Upstairs Downstairs 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC1 The Cuckoo 3/3, series 1

Lady Persie's life has become increasingly complex, as she continues her illicit affair and pursues her right-wing political interests with little regard of the potential danger to those she loves. Meanwhile, Lady Agnes prepares for motherhood by having her picture taken by celebrated photographer Cecil Beaton - a visit that causes excitement for one particular member of the downstairs staff - and Sir Hallam finds himself dragged into the abdication crisis facing the monarchy. Keeley Hawes, Ed Stoppard, Anne Reid and Claire Foy star in the period drama. Last in the series.

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Wednesday 29th December

Arts and culture
Les Mis at 25: Matt Lucas Dreams the Dream 8:00pm - 9:00pm BBC2

Matt Lucas's preparations to appear in the 25th anniversary gala performance of Les Miserables at the O2 arena in October. The documentary follows the comedian through rehearsals to the performance of a lifetime in the role of innkeeper Thenardier, alongside a cast of more than 300 stalwarts from previous productions, including Alfie Boe, Nick Jonas and Lea Salonga. Featuring contributions from producer Cameron Mackintosh, original director Trevor Nunn, and members of the original London cast Michael Ball and Frances Ruffelle.

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Please email oxstallsmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following series or programmes recording. * *This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.