BBC Four Today Thursday 16 March 2023

Michael Portillo reaches Bodmin en route to Totnes, as he explores the West Country from St Ives to Salisbury Plain. Out on the rugged moor, Michael hears how the celebrated author Daphne du Maurier captivated readers between the wars with her tales of smuggling at the Jamaica Inn. In Devon, Michael takes the plunge at Plymouth’s beautiful art deco Tinside Lido, while at Ivybridge, he boards a vehicle like no other to cross the causeway to Burgh Island, where a 1930s playboy built a splendid art deco party palace

Adventurer Paul Rose’s trip concludes in Wharfedale, where he talks to some of the women whose story inspired the film Calendar Girls, finds out why bats are under threat in the area and meets families from inner-city Bradford who are having their first Dales experience

An intelligence agent investigating the kidnap and brainwashing of Britain’s most renowned scientists unpicks a complex chain of connections and high-level intrigue, while detecting evidence of double-dealing and counter-espionage. Spy thriller based on Len Deighton’s novel, starring Michael Caine, Sue Lloyd, Gordon Jackson and Nigel Green

Former crook and disreputable spy Harry Palmer has to carefully engineer the defection of a Russian officer responsible for safeguarding vital military secrets – but the mission proves less than straightforward. Cold War thriller and the second film to feature Len Deighton’s character, starring Michael Caine, Eva Renzi, Oscar Homolka, Paul Hubschmid and Guy Doleman

Michael Portillo reaches Bodmin en route to Totnes, as he explores the West Country from St Ives to Salisbury Plain. Out on the rugged moor, Michael hears how the celebrated author Daphne du Maurier captivated readers between the wars with her tales of smuggling at the Jamaica Inn. In Devon, Michael takes the plunge at Plymouth’s beautiful art deco Tinside Lido, while at Ivybridge, he boards a vehicle like no other to cross the causeway to Burgh Island, where a 1930s playboy built a splendid art deco party palace

Adventurer Paul Rose’s trip concludes in Wharfedale, where he talks to some of the women whose story inspired the film Calendar Girls, finds out why bats are under threat in the area and meets families from inner-city Bradford who are having their first Dales experience

The presenter introduces a look at animals with impressive communication skills, discovering how white-throated sparrows use song to attract mates and the complex vocabulary of prairie dogs. The programme reveals how dolphins are able to address each other by name and chimpanzees use sign language, and also reveals species that communicate using ultrasound, vibrations and parts of the light spectrum beyond the ability of human sense to process