BBC Four TV Guide — Monday, 18 May 2026

Browse the full BBC Four TV guide for Monday, 18 May 2026. 9 programmes listed , including 6 tonight. UK listings updated daily — scroll down to tonight's highlights or use the day tabs above to browse the weekly schedule.

Early Morning

00:15 1h

Rudolf Nureyev: Living Famously

S1 · E22 · Rudolf Nureyev: Living Famously

A profile of the ballet dancer

A profile of the ballet dancer. whose electrifying performances and enigmatic personality made him ballet's first superstar. First broadcast in 2003

01:15 1h

The Classical Collection

S1 · E3 · Neglected Masterpieces

Works by largely forgotten or neglected composers

A celebration of the newly recognised glories of classical music, featuring a wealth of works written by largely forgotten or neglected composers, including Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence B Price, Grace Williams and Erich Korngold

02:15 1h

The North York Moors: A Wild Year

S1 · E3 · The North York Moors

An exploration of the upland area of North Yorkshire

An exploration of the upland area of North Yorkshire, where heather-clad uplands and sheltered dales have been shaped both by the elements and by its people. Hardy Swaledale sheep roam the high moors all year round only coming down to the lowlands for lambing and shearing. Red grouse feed and breed amongst the heather alongside curlews and other ground nesting birds and billions of purple heather blooms provide nectar for the bees, brought to the moors by beekeepers in the summer. Toby Jones narrates, as time-lapse camera techniques bring fresh insight into the restless rhythms of the region

Tonight's Highlights

19:00 30m

University Challenge

S29 · E9

Oriel College, Oxford takes on Christ's College, Cambridge

Jeremy Paxman asks the questions as the first-round matches continue with an Oxbridge clash as Oriel College, Oxford go up against Christ's College, Cambridge for a place in the next round of the student quiz

19:30 30m

Only Connect

S1 · E9

The County Councillors take on the Science Writers

Victoria Coren Mitchell presents as the County Councillors take on the Science Writers in the first of the quarter-finals

20:00 1h

India: Nature's Wonderland

S1 · E1

Part one of two. The hidden wonders of India's natural world

Part one of two. Wildlife expert Liz Bonnin, Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto and mountaineer Jon Gupta explore the hidden wonders of the natural world in India, a land where tigers dance and lions roam. This edition starts with Liz visiting the Gir Forest, home to the world's last Asiatic lions, where she witness two females hunting, before watching elephants walking through a tea plantation. Freida meets a man who has dedicated his life to the hoolock gibbon, India's only ape, which starts the morning by singing. Jon climbs into the Himalayas and stops off at Debprayag to bathe in the sacred waters at a holy place where the River Ganges begins

21:00 1h

Art of Scandinavia

S1 · E2 · Once Upon a Time in Denmark

The emergence of Denmark as an arbiter of taste

Andrew Graham-Dixon examines how Denmark emerged from modest beginnings to become one of the greatest powers and arbiters of taste in northern Europe. He tells a story of incredible transformation befitting the homeland of Hans Christian Andersen, creator of The Ugly Duckling and The Emperor's New Clothes among many other fairy tales

22:00 1h

Gluck: Who Did She Think He Was?

Profile of the 1930s high-society painter

Profile of the 1930s high-society painter, whose prestigious shows were popular with royalty and celebrities, and who also dressed as a man and had a number of female lovers

23:00 1h

Baku: An Art Lovers' Guide

S2 · E3 · Baku

Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke explore the capital of Azerbaijan

Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke explore the capital of Azerbaijan, which offers a mix of the ancient and modern in a country where cultural life is tightly controlled

Early Morning

Tonight's Highlights

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