Editing BBC Four (section)

==Programming==
{{main|List of television programmes broadcast by the BBC}}
{{Blockquote|BBC Four's primary role is to reflect a range of UK and international arts, music and culture. It should provide an ambitious range of innovative, high quality programming that is intellectually and culturally enriching, taking an expert and in-depth approach to a wide range of subjects.|'''BBC Four Remit'''}}
[[File:BBC Four viewing share since launch.png|thumb|BBC Four share of viewing 2002-2013 BARB figures]]

The first evening's BBC Four programmes were [[simulcast]] on [[BBC Two]],<ref name="bbcpress" /> with the first programme being ''The Man Who Destroyed Everything'', a documentary about conceptual artist [[Michael Landy]] and his installation [[Break Down (Landy artwork)|Break Down]].<ref>{{cite web | title=The Man Who Destroyed Everything | website=BBC Four | date=13 April 2021 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s4pw | access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref> BBC Four was also notable for first showing [[Larry David]]'s ''[[Seinfeld]]'' follow-up, ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/watch-and-learn-bbc-fours-success-is-a-sign-that-britain-is-regaining-a-hunger-for-intelligent-broadcasting-1902807.html |work=The Independent |title=Watch and learn: BBC Four's success is a sign that Britain is regaining a hunger for intelligent broadcasting |access-date=23 February 2010 | date=15 February 2010 | location=London | first=Ian | last=Burrell}}</ref> [[Armando Iannucci]]'s cutting [[political satire]], ''[[The Thick of It]]'', ''[[The Chaser's War on Everything]]'', ''[[Flight of the Conchords (TV series)|Flight of the Conchords]]'', ''[[Mad Men]]'' and [[Denmark|Danish]] thriller ''[[Forbrydelsen|The Killing]]''.

The channel broadcasts a mixture of [[art]] and [[science]] [[documentaries]], vintage [[drama]] (including many rare [[black-and-white]] programmes), and non-English-language productions such as [[film]]s from the [[Artificial Eye]] catalogue, the French thriller ''[[Spiral (TV series)|Spiral]]'' and the Swedish detective series ''[[Wallander (Swedish TV series)|Wallander]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rwm3r|title=BBC Four – Wallander|work=BBC}}</ref> BBC Four further supports foreign-language films with its annual [[BBC Four World Cinema Awards|World Cinema Award]] which has been running since 2004.

From the channel's launch in 2002 until the middle of 2020, BBC Four broadcast a global news bulletin on weeknights. Originally this was the ''BBC Four News'' presented initially by [[George Alagiah]], which ran at 8pm. It was rebranded in January 2004 as ''The World'', and was axed in May 2007, replaced the following week by ''[[World News Today]]'', in a new 7pm timeslot. More recently BBC Four moved news programmes to 7pm with a simulcast of ''[[Beyond 100 Days]]'' Monday–Thursday and an edition of ''World News Today'' on Fridays which was produced by [[BBC World News]]. As of autumn 2020, BBC Four no longer broadcasts a news bulletin.

It screens a number of documentaries such as ''[[The Century of the Self]]'' and ''[[The Trials of Henry Kissinger]]''. The channel is also home to many political travel shows such as ''[[Holidays in the Axis of Evil]]'' which features investigative journalism.

[[BBC television drama|Drama]] has given the channel some of its most popular programmes, with ''[[Alan Clark|The Alan Clark Diaries]]'' (2003) and ''[[Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!]]'' (2006) being among the highest rated, with over 800,000 viewers. The highly acclaimed ''[[Hattie (film)|Hattie]]'', broadcast in 2011, holds the record for BBC Four's best ever consolidated ratings, of 2m / 8%.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Chris Curtis on Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/ChrisMCurtis/status/672063975597678593|website=Twitter|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=Editor, Broadcast}}</ref> Before that ''[[The Curse of Steptoe]]'' brought the channel its highest audience figures, estimated as 1.41&nbsp;million viewers, a 7% share of multichannel audiences between 21:00 and 22:05, based on overnight returns.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/mar/20/bbc4.ratings "BBC4 breaks ratings record"], ''[[The Guardian]]'' (London), 19 March 2008</ref> The official audience figures for the broadcast, including time-shifting, were later published as 1,625,000.<ref>[[BARB]] multichannel top ten, BBC Four, week ending 23 March 2008</ref>

Another notable production was a live re-make of the 1953 science-fiction serial ''[[The Quatermass Experiment (film)|The Quatermass Experiment]]'', adapted from the original scripts into a single, two-hour version (though on the night it underran considerably, lasting less than 1 hour 40 minutes), broadcast on the evening of Saturday 2 April 2005. Discounting BBC Four's previous live relays of theatrical [[William Shakespeare]] productions, this was the first live made-for-television drama to be broadcast by the BBC for twenty years.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Another notable programme broadcast on BBC Four is ''[[Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe]]'' which contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced. The show is presented by broadcaster [[Charlie Brooker]]. The show was very successful and spawned several spin-offs such as ''[[Newswipe with Charlie Brooker]]'', ''[[Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe]]'' and ''[[Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe]]''.

The channel is also curator and leader of the [[BBC Archive]] project whose aim is that the BBC's television archive is re-broadcast as much as appropriate so that the Archive can be enjoyed again and not isolated.<ref>Klein, Richard, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/2012/03/ten-years-of-bbc-four.shtml Ten Years of BBC Four] ''About the BBC Blog'', BBC, Last accessed 3 March 2012</ref>

Some output from BBC Four (documentaries rather than foreign films) was for a time repeated on BBC Two in a 'BBC Four on Two' branded area, although this was often in a late night broadcast slot after ''[[Newsnight]]'' and has since been discontinued.

According to [[BARB]] the comedy panel game ''[[QI]]'' has the highest ratings of any show on BBC Four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qi.com/tv/audience.php|title=Analysis of BARB audience figures|work=[[QI]]|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=28 March 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317004809/http://www.qi.com/tv/audience.php|archivedate=17 March 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the [[Edinburgh International Television Festival]], BBC Four won the Non-Terrestrial Channel of the Year award in 2004, 2006 and 2012.

In 2012 ''[[Dirk Gently (TV series)|Dirk Gently]]'' became the first continuing drama series produced for the channel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/03_march/31/dirk.shtml|title=Dirk Gently to return to BBC Four|publisher=BBC|date=31 March 2011|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref>

During the period when BBC Three was not broadcasting as a linear TV channel, BBC Four was occasionally used to show live sports coverage. The channel aired games from the [[UEFA Euro 2016]] and [[2018 FIFA World Cup]] football tournaments when the final round of matches in the group stages took place (when matches in each group kick-off simultaneously). It has also been used to broadcast England women's football matches, as well as some matches from the [[2019 FIFA Women's World Cup]]. It also temporarily extended its broadcast hours to show live action from the [[2016 Summer Olympics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.a516digital.com/2016/05/bbc-four-to-be-converted-to-sports.html|title=BBC Four to be converted to a sports channel in August|publisher=a516digital|date=26 May 2016|accessdate=24 June 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629215538/http://www.a516digital.com/2016/05/bbc-four-to-be-converted-to-sports.html|archivedate=29 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As of 2023, BBC Four schedules still feature music programming (such as ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' and [[Neil Brand]]'s documentaries) on a Friday night,<ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/guide/bbcfour/20210205 {{Dead link|date=April 2021}}</ref> with drama imports on a Saturday (but not always foreign-language productions like Italian crime drama ''[[Inspector Montalbano (TV series)|Inspector Montalbano]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0b60y1x/inspector-montalbano-love|title=Inspector Montalbano - Love|via=www.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref><ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/guide/bbcfour/20210206 {{Dead link|date=April 2021}}</ref> and usually an hour of 'archive' programmes (such as those by [[Bob Ross]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jy2g/the-joy-of-painting-series-2-5-secluded-forest|title=The Joy of Painting - Series 2: 5. Secluded Forest|via=www.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref> and [[Fred Dibnah]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain, A Lifetime's Achievement (Part 2)|website=BBC|date=17 June 2013|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s4q0|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fred Dibnah's World of Steam, Steel and Stone, The Industrial Landscape|website=BBC|date=11 July 2006|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007927h|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/guide/bbcfour/20210208 |title=BBC iPlayer - BBC Four Guide - Mon Feb 08 2021|access-date=8 February 2021|archive-date=8 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208193226/https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/guide/bbcfour/20210208|url-status=dead}}</ref> starting off the weekday schedule at 7pm. As well as programmes from the 1980s and 1990s, this early evening slot gives a chance for regional programmes to get a national airing with [[Cy Chadwick|Cy Chadwick's]] ''[[Walking with... (2019 TV series)|Walking with...]]'' productions and ''Gareth Edwards's Great Welsh Adventure'' (from BBC Wales) getting a repeat here and then again late night.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009hyr|title=BBC One - Gareth Edwards's Great Welsh Adventure|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009xs7|title=BBC One - Gareth Edwards's Great Welsh Adventure, Series 1, Episode 3}}</ref> In addition to these programmes, many hour long regional documentaries such as BBC Scotland's ''Rigs of Nigg'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000yybp/rigs-of-nigg|title=Rigs of Nigg|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.energyvoice.com/tag/rigs-of-nigg/|title=Rigs of Nigg Archives|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rigzone.com/news/rigs_of_nigg_bbc_show_to_air_next_week-11-aug-2021-166150-article/|title=Rigs of Nigg BBC Show to Air Next Week}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000yybp|title=BBC Scotland - Rigs of Nigg}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/news/rigs-of-nigg-heady-days-of-tough-work-and-hard-living-that-247833/|last=Chrystall|first=Margaret|title=Rigs of Nigg: Heady days of tough work and hard living that set up some for life|date=14 August 2021|accessdate=2 July 2022}}</ref> about the 1970s North Sea oil drilling platform construction industry based around the [[Cromarty Firth]], also received their national debut on the channel.

On 9 April 2021, BBC Four was suspended due to the [[Death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|death]] of [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], in order to preserve [[Bandwidth allocation|bandwidth]] for the broadcast of news coverage and tribute programming on BBC One and Two.<ref name="broadcastresponse">{{cite web |last1=Kanter |first1=Jake |date=9 April 2021 |title=Prince Philip's Death: How The BBC & Other British Broadcasters Responded |url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/prince-philip-death-how-the-bbc-responded-1234730967/ |access-date=9 April 2021 |website=Deadline}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Broadcasters change TV schedules to air tributes to Prince Philip following his death |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/current-affairs/tv-schedule-changes-prince-philip/ |access-date=9 April 2021 |website=Radio Times}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Newsdesk1 |first=RXTV |date=8 September 2022 |title=UK channels suspend broadcasts following Queen's death > RXTV info |url=https://rxtvinfo.com/2022/uk-channels-suspend-broadcasts-following-queens-death/ |access-date=31 March 2023 |website=RXTV info |language=en-GB}}</ref> This was done for the same reasons after the [[death of Elizabeth II]] on 8 September 2022.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Newsdesk1 |first=RXTV |date=9 September 2022 |title=Recordings may fail as schedules continue to change > RXTV info |url=https://rxtvinfo.com/2022/recordings-may-fail-as-schedules-continue-to-change/ |access-date=31 March 2023 |website=RXTV info |language=en-GB}}</ref>