The Best TV Shows on BBC Four

Brian Pern is an ageing rock star and former front-man of ground breaking progressive rock group Thotch. Like many artists of his age, rather than make new music, he spends more time trying to save the planet (including his campaign to teach gorillas how to Skype). Now, the BBC have asked him to front a major new documentary where he presents his guide to The Life Of Rock from prehistoric man to the present day.

Your monthly journey through the fascinating world of space and astronomy with the latest thinking on what's out there in space and what you can see in the night sky.

The lives of two eccentric metal detectorists, who spend their days plodding along ploughed tracks and open fields, hoping to disturb the tedium by unearthing the fortune of a lifetime.

Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.

A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.

Showcasing the best in international documentaries, Storyville has developed an enviable reputation since its inception more than a decade ago. Screening over 340 films, from some 70 different countries, the strand has garnered a staggering array of awards: five Oscars, 15 Griersons, three Peabodys and two International Emmys. In true, unique, Storyville style, the new series promises to deliver the strand's usual eclectic mix of compelling stories from across the globe.

The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival. The BBC Proms is a classical music festival held every summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and in recent years has explored an innovative series of Proms around the UK with concerts in all four nations. Its aim: to bring the best in classical music to the widest possible audience, which remains true to founder-conductor Henry Wood’s original vision in 1895. Whether you are a classical connoisseur or think classical music isn’t for you, there is something for everyone in the eight-week stretch of concerts.

The murder of Sonia Baker, a young political researcher, leads journalist Cal McCaffrey to uncover complex links between government and big business.

Mark Gatiss examines the history of the horror film, from classic Hollywood monsters to Hammer's glory days and beyond.

Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.

A mock-documentary following the challenges - both personal and professional - faced by the team responsible for delivering the biggest show on Earth: the 2012 Olympics. From getting a busload of non-English speaking Brazilians from A to B, who to appoint to run the Cultural Olympiad and what to do when the much-vaunted wind turbines won't turn because there's no wind, it's all in a day's work for the men and women whose job it is to stage the greatest sporting event in the world.

Mark Kermode reveals the film-making tricks and techniques behind classic movie genres, from romcoms to horrors.

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.

Party Animals presents Westminster from the ground up – the young researchers and advisors shouldering huge responsibility in a frantic, high-stakes world. It's no wonder their personal lives are so messy. Sons of an ex-Labour MP, Scott and Danny Foster have politics in their blood.

Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.

The fiendishly difficult quiz show in which two teams of three contestants have to find the connection between seemingly unrelated clues, where patience and lateral thinking are as vital as knowledge.

Days That Shook the World is a British documentary television series that premiered on BBC Two on 17 September 2003. The programme features various milestones throughout history. It has been broadcast on the BBC, Discovery Channel UK, The History Channel and Viasat History. The series was also released on DVD by the Polish edition of Newsweek in 2007.

An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.

Celebrity hosts guide viewers through William Shakespeare's plays in performance. Each episode serves as a primer for newcomers to Shakespeare while serving up enough historical and theatrical insights to enchant lifelong fans.