BBC Four TV Guide — Sunday, 18 October 2026

Browse the full BBC Four TV guide for Sunday, 18 October 2026. 9 programmes listed , including 5 tonight. UK listings updated daily — scroll down to tonight's highlights or use the day tabs above to browse the weekly schedule.

Early Morning

1. 00:15 30m

   City Lights

   S1 · E1 · Talent

   First episode of the comedy, starring Gerard Kelly

   Glasgow bank clerk Willie Melvin reckons he could be a best-selling author. He's got the ambition, the determination and the typewriter - all he needs is the talent. First episode of the comedy, originally broadcast in 1984, starring Gerard Kelly, with Andy Gray, Jan Wilson, Dave Anderson and Jonathan Watson

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2. 00:45 1h

   The Unnatural History of London: Natural World

   S30 · E14 · The Unnatural History of London

   London's secret wildlife

   Exploring the London's surprising and secret wildlife, including seals, parakeets, badgers, foxes and even pelicans who have made London their home. The programme also focuses on the admirers of these animals, from Billingsgate fish porters and Indian chefs to Crayfish Bob, who scours the canals for foreign species

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3. 01:45 50m

   Full Circle with Michael Palin

   S1 · E2 · Japan and Korea

   The globetrotting presenter visits Japan and North and South Korea

   The globetrotting presenter arrives in Japan, where he meets a dedicated Monty Python fan, receives a beating in a Zen monastery, before visiting Nagasaki - where the second atom bomb was dropped in 1945. He then heads to the South Korean capital Seoul, where he attends a wedding ceremony, before briefly crossing the border into North Korea at the Joint Security Area in Panmunjeom

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4. 02:35 45m

   Talking Pictures: World Cinema Classics

   World Cinema Classics

   Exploring the work of five directing greats

   Celia Imrie narrates a selection of interviews and key moments from the BBC archives featuring directors Akira Kurosawa, Agnès Varda, François Truffaut, Luis Buñuel and Ingmar Bergman. The programme shows how they and their groundbreaking films changed the language of world cinema, and showed those who came after them exactly what the movie camera was capable of achieving

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Tonight's Highlights

1. 19:00 30m

   A Stitch in Time

   S1 · E4 · Dido

   Exploring the life of Dido Belle

   Amber Butchart explores the life of Dido Belle, the 18th-century daughter of an enslaved African woman brought up at Kenwood House in London

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2. 19:30 1h 30m

   BBC Young Musician 2026

   Quarter-Final

   Petroc Trelawny presents highlights of the quarter-final

   The search for the next classical music superstar continues with Petroc Trelawny presenting highlights of the quarter-final as eight musicians compete for places in the semi-final at Swansea University's Great Hall. Joanna MacGregor and Ben Gernon are joined by guest judge Julian Bliss, one of the world's leading clarinettists, as they assess performances of music by Bach, Prokofiev, Debussy and more to decide which five competitors go through to the next stage

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3. 21:00 1h

   Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius

   S1 · E1

   Docudrama telling the story of the playwright

   Docudrama telling the story of how a glover's son from rural Stratford became arguably the greatest writer that ever lived, using a series of cinematic vignettes combined with contributions from stars and experts including Judi Dench, Brian Cox, Adrian Lester and Helen Mirren. The story begins in 1587, when William Shakespeare leaves his small rural home town to pursue his dream of becoming a playwright in London. He begins as a stagehand and occasional actor. But then he writes a gory revenge play, Titus Andronicus, which does well, followed by a teenage romance that becomes a breakout success - Romeo and Juliet

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4. 22:00 10m

   Helen Mirren Remembers - As You Like It

   The actress shares her memories of the 1978 Shakespeare comedy

   The actress looks back on one of her earliest TV roles, playing Rosalind in the BBC's 1978 production of the Shakespeare comedy

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5. 22:10 2h 35m

   As You Like It

   Shakespeare comedy, starring Helen Mirren

   After the overthrowing of Duke Senior by his tyrannical brother, his daughter Rosalind disguises herself as a man and sets out to find her banished father while also counselling her clumsy suitor Orlando in the art of wooing. Basil Coleman's 1978 adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy, starring Helen Mirren, Brian Stirner, Richard Pasco and James Bolam

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