Start the Week (9.00 am R4). Jeremy Paxman with Robert Skidelsky and philosopher AC Grayling (biographers of Keynes and Hazlitt, respectively).
Work in Progress (10.00 am R3 and rest of week). Carol Ann Duffy on writing poetry for children.
Random Edition (11.00 am R4). Peter Snow peruses the Observer of 3 Sept 1797, and learns about royal lover Mrs Jordan and naval hero Horatio Nelson from Claire Tomalin and Colin White.
The ABC of Vitamins (3.45 R4 and rest of week). Claudia Hammond covers A to E (repeats).
The Turner Prize (7.55 C4 and rest of week). Four art-world notables pick four short films for a year in the past and choose potential prize-winners. Tim Marlow, Nicholas Serota, Louisa Buck and Adrian Searle choose the years 1731, 1750, 1825 and 1858. For more Serota see Wednesday; the actual Turner Prize ceremony is live on C4 next week (28 Nov). ? ? (more informative)
Return to the Valley of the Kings (8.00 C4). Egyptological repeat.
Saving the Patient (8.00 R4). Part two of a series on NHS reforms: tackling heart disease.
University Challenge (8.00 BBC2). Warwick vs. Peterhouse, Cambridge.
Twenty Minutes: Heaven Taught Fergusson (8.20 R3, also Tues 8.15, Wed 8.20, Thurs 8.10 and Fri 8.15). First of five programmes on the Scottish poet Robert Fergusson (1750–74), presented by Robert Crawford. In this first one, he and Kathleen Jamie consider Fergusson’s relationship with Robert Burns; subsequent programmes feature the opinions of, and newly commissioned poems by, Douglas Dunn, Edwin Morgan, Don Paterson, Les Murray and others. ?
What the Romans Did for Us (8.30 BBC2). De cloacis et aliis Romani imperii fructibus eloquitur Adam Hart-Davis. … In other words, this week’s programme is in praise of the towns the Romans built and the technology they used. ( Ut ait: de Romanis mortuis nil nisi bonum ) ?
Andes to Amazon (9.00 BBC2). The Great Plains of Brazil. Feature in this programme. ?
Private Lives of the Pharaohs (9.00 C4). Part two: how many people did it take to build the Pyramids, and were they all slaves? Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass don’t believe what they read in Herodotus.
Meetings with Remarkable Trees (9.50 BBC2). Tree ferns at Rossdohan (also Friday 9.50).
Omnibus (10.35 BBC1) is about Alicia Markova, "the people’s ballerina".
The Late Book: Telling the Workers About Science (12.30 am R4 and rest of week). Five classics of science popularisation, beginning with this one by J.B.S. Haldane. Followed by contributions from Primo Levi (Tues), Eve Curie (Wed), about Alexander Fleming (Thurs) and Einstein (Fri).