BBC Four Today Saturday 28 January 2023

The explorer travels to Alaska, the northernmost American state, to discover how three communities have learned to survive amid its wild terrain. He begins by sampling life with a family of salmon fishers, before heading to Nome, a city famed for a gold rush at the start of the 20th century – and discovers its modern-day prospectors often find their best hauls at the bottom of the sea. Finally, he joins the Inupiat people, who have lived in Alaska for thousands of years, and discovers why their annual whale hunt is under threat

Michael Scott concludes his history of Sicily, telling the story of how the Christian Byzantine Empire was swept aside by a Muslim Arab invasion from North Africa. The island was transformed by new trade networks and agricultural techniques, and in the 19th century was unified with Italy – but the greatest threat to their prosperity then came from within and the rise of the Mafia

A widowed chef travels with his young son to a remote village in Finland to meet up with an old friend he once met in Shanghai. Upon arrival, it seems no one knows his acquaintance, but a local cafe owner offers him accommodation in return for helping in the kitchen, and it isn’t long before he is surprising the locals with the delights of Chinese cuisine. Romantic drama, starring Pak Hon Chu and Anna-Maija Tuokku. In Finnish and Mandarin

Ken discovers that someone has been paying for drinks with forged banknotes, but luckily Phil and Nige are on hand to solve the mystery. John Henshaw, James Quinn and Craig Cash star

Phil and Nige go to the pub to celebrate a successful drugs raid but find the others are not quite so cheerful – Ken is suffering from flu and a lovelorn Duffy is drowning his sorrows. Comedy, starring Craig Cash

Richard tries to clinch a lucrative cosmetics deal with a glamorous French businesswoman, but when she propositions him, he lies that he has a wife. Now all he has to do is persuade Audrey to pose as Mrs DeVere for the weekend. Comedy, starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, with an appearance by Rula Lenska. First shown in 1981

The explorer travels to the wilder reaches of south-eastern Europe, visiting Transdniester and meeting journalist Tatiana Tibuleac in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. Crossing into the north of Romania, Michael marvels at the glories of the Byzantine painted churches of Moldovita and joins lumberjacks in the Vaser Valley

Documentary following solar scientist Dr Lucie Green as she reveals how some of the UK’s worst and most dramatic weather disasters occurred many years ago, despite the popular belief that the brunt of climate change has been felt in the 21st century. Considering how many people today are pre-warned about potential catastrophes due to innovations in weather prediction, the presenter learns how an 18th-century storm surge once led to a the deaths of a thousand workers in Somerset fields, a hurricane drowned a fifth of Britain’s naval officers, and several brutal winters threatened to completely shut down most services in the country

Michael Scott concludes his history of Sicily, telling the story of how the Christian Byzantine Empire was swept aside by a Muslim Arab invasion from North Africa. The island was transformed by new trade networks and agricultural techniques, and in the 19th century was unified with Italy – but the greatest threat to their prosperity then came from within and the rise of the Mafia