BBC Four prepare for cultural programming

BBC Four, the corporation's new investment in cultural programming, is to launch on March 2 with a rich mix of intelligent, enriching and diverse programming.
Tracey Emin in 'The Definitive History Of Britart', Eddie Izzard on stage in the West End hit, 'A Day in the Death of Joe Egg', the television premiere of Ian Curteis’s controversial 'The Falklands Play', and the world’s biggest ever concert of African music, hosted in Senegal next month by Youssou N’Dour, are just some of the highlights of the channel’s launch season.
It has also been revealed that the whole of BBC Four’s launch night schedule on Saturday March 2 2002 will be simulcast on BBC Two.
Outlining the channel’s plans, Roly Keating, Controller of BBC Four, said: “BBC Four is outward-looking and global-minded. It’s for people who want more from television - more depth, more range, more stimulus for the mind. We want it to surprise, delight and challenge, but above all to offer something satisfyingly different from the mainstream.”
BBC Four’s programme mix ranges from specially commissioned drama and adaptations of plays and music performance, through thought-provoking documentaries to global news and cinema. The channel will have regular space for cultural debate around the complex issues of the day - covering the worlds of science, business, the arts, current affairs, history and politics.
A key part of the BBC’s portfolio of subscription-free, licence fee-funded channels, BBC Four will transmit daily from 19.00 until at least 01.00.
BBC Four, www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/
(GB)