As the UK's leading international television broadcaster, BBC Studios operates a diverse portfolio of channels around the world, bringing the best British factual, entertainment, children's and lifestyle programming this August.
· Channels are as follows: BBC Brit 119, BBC Lifestyle 174, BBC Earth 184, BBC First 119
W/c 3rd August
Warrior Woman With Lupita Nyong'o
Monday 3rd August at 19:00 on BBC Earth (1 episode)
Lupita Nyong’o is about to discover the Warrior Women’s incredible secrets.
In this immersive and epic TV documentary, with extraordinary and unique access, Oscar®-winning actress, author, and producer Lupita Nyong’o journeys across Benin, West Africa to uncover the remarkable truth behind the women who helped to inspire the Dora Milaje of Marvel’s film Black Panther.
She discovers that an army of African female fighters actually existed in West Africa and are still remembered there as the ‘Agoji’—or as Europeans labelled them, the ‘Amazons’. As she exclusively reveals in a powerful, emotional, and epic road trip, these real-life warrior women, in armies 4,000 strong, fought African and European powers alike from the 17th to the 19th centuries in the Kingdom of Dahomey, centred in the modern-day country of Benin.
Beautifully shot, this is a searing story of both the past and the present.
We Hunt Together – not confirmed yet
From Wednesday 5th August at 20.00 on BBC First (6 episodes)
We Hunt Together is an audacious new drama about what happens when two profoundly damaged people collide and finally speak the unspoken, giving each other permission and reason to act out their most violent compulsions. A brave new take on a classic cat and mouse story, We Hunt Together explores the intoxication of sexual attraction, the dangerous power of emotional manipulation and how finding a volatile form of solace in another can have dire consequences for those who dare to get in the way.
Freddy (Hermione Corfield) is magnetic, highly intelligent, disarmingly charming…and she might just be a psychopath. Baba (Dipo Ola), on the other hand, is vulnerable, compassionate yet damaged former child soldier, whose chance encounter with Freddy turns his world upside down. He’s desperate to suppress his predisposition for extreme violence, but the pair’s lust for each other takes over and creates a truly deadly duo. Meanwhile, DS Lola Franks (Eve Myles) and DI Jackson Mendy (Babou Ceesay) face their own unconventional relationship, as the pair get thrown together to work on a high-profile murder case and try to catch the killers. Jackson and Lola’s differing opinions cause conflict during their investigation, as does Lola’s inability to deal with her own demons which have the potential to push them both to breaking point.
A psychological thriller and a romance, it explores the dangerous power of desire, what happens when two profoundly damaged people meet and reawaken their latent capacity for violence, and finally, what happens when the honeymoon period is over.
The Persians: A History of Iran
From Friday 7th August at 19.00 on BBC Earth (3 episodes)
Discover the complex and fascinating history of Persia, the world’s first empire.
This series reveals historical and cultural sites across Iran that few westerners have ever seen. Learn about the Shahnameh, one of the most important books in Iran’s history, used by kings as propaganda, but also modern-day Iranians as a way of connecting with their Persian heritage. And see the ancient Zoroastrian fire temple, home to a fire said to have been burning for over 1,500 years. Welcome to a world of kings and invaders, epic poets, and exceptional artists.
Agatha Raisin (Season 3)
From Friday 7th August at 20.00 on BBC First (8 episodes)
Starring Emmy®-nominated actress Ashley Jensen (Catastrophe, Extras, Ugly Betty) and based on MC Beaton’s best-selling novels, season three once again follows a London PR whizz turned amateur sleuth, who becomes entangled in mischief, mayhem, and murder when she opts for early retirement in a small village in the Cotswolds. Drawn into various mysteries, Agatha attempts to solve the crimes… often in rather unorthodox and amusing ways.
Flirty Dancing (Season 2)
From Sunday 9th August at 20.00 on BBC Lifestyle (6 episodes)
Ashley Banjo returns to front the innovative and feel-good hit that puts old school romance back into modern dating as he attempts to plays cupid with a raft of hopeless romantics looking to find love on the dancefloor. Each episode will see him match two couples and choreograph bespoke dance dates that allow them to get to know each other in a totally unique way. They won’t talk, they just dance, and when the music stops they’ll walk away without saying a word. Based purely on the chemistry they feel in the dance, they must then decide if there’s enough of a spark to want to see each other again.
W/c 10th August
Simon Reeve’s Sacred Rivers
From Monday 10th August at 20.00 on BBC Earth (3 episodes)
History, adventure and travelogue combine as Simon Reeve explores three of the world’s major rivers: the Nile, Yangtze and Ganges.
Through the stories of the people who live alongside these great waterways, he uncovers their vast influence, and reveals how they unite, and divide, some of the most extraordinary parts of the world. Travel from the twin temples of Abu Simbel to the Nile delta; down the Yangtze from the giant Buddha of Leshen to the Three Gorges Dam and on to Shanghai; and along the great mother Ganges in a world caught between ancient traditions and astonishing modernity. Full of wonder and breathtaking, magisterial landscapes, Simon Reeve’s Sacred Rivers is a potent mix of revelation and hands-on adventure - a riot of colour, extraordinary spectacle and unexpected encounters.
The Great Pottery Throw Down (Season 3)
From Monday 10th August at 20.00 on BBC Lifestyle (8 episodes)
Melanie Sykes is at the potter’s wheel as the new host, as 12 passionate home potters compete to be crowned the nation’s best.
Master potter Keith Brymer Jones returns as judge, alongside award-winning ceramicist Sue Pryke. Each week the potters face two potting challenges to impress the resident judging duo, as well as guest experts from the world of pottery. The potters tackle everything from homeware to toilets before the judges ultimately decide who becomes Potter of the Week, and who must be sent home. Inspired by and inspiring a new craze for creativity, The Great Pottery Throw Down delights in showing ordinary people creating extraordinary things.
Reggie Yates Meets World
From Thursday 13th August at 20:00 on BBC Brit (4 episodes)
Young people, facing uncertain futures, are being tempted with new ways to better their lives. In this series Reggie Yates enters these worlds to see if they deliver on their promises, or if they have a darker side.
Episode 1: Reggie meets SPAC Nation
With knife crime at all-time high, a new London church is offering young people in gangs a way out of crime. And they don’t hide from controversy, as Reggie Yates finds out during his week with SPAC Nation.
Episode 2: Reggie Meets Pro-Gamers
Playing computer games has moved out of teenage bedrooms and into vast arenas where gamers battle it out for fame and fortune. But with young players devoting their lives to gaming and so many hoping to go professional, Reggie heads to Dallas find out the reality of living and chasing the ESPORTS dream.
Episode 3: Reggie Meets Nollywood
Reggie Yates travels to Lagos, Nigeria to see for himself how the burgeoning film industry, Nollywood, is seen as a way out of poverty in a country with the biggest wealth divide in the world.
Episode 4: Reggie Meets The Influencers
Social media influencers are the new Celebrity and with this fame comes the pressure to keep up. Reggie Yates spends a week in LA to find out how willing influencers are to go under the knife in search of the beauty perfection.
Around the World by Train (season 2)
From Thursday 13 August at 19.00 on BBC Earth (6 episodes)
Tony Robinson is back for whole new epic railway adventure.
He is re-joining the rails and heading around the world again but this time in the opposite direction and through new counties for an eye opening experience. He’ll be heading off the beaten track to see cities and places around globe in his own style. Forget your typical tourist trail, Tony will be doing this his way and stopping to experience things that grab his attention.
He’ll be immersing himself in wonderful local cultures and getting to know the fascinating people he encounters, from French cowboys and Mexican wrestlers to Argentine tango dancers and American Hip Hop clowns. He’ll be doing all this while riding the most luxurious, unusual and spectacular rail routes on earth and stopping off at breath taking places like Machu Picchu. Whether it’s Europe like you’ve never seen it before or a fascinating journey through South America, he’ll be travelling the globe to bring Mexico, USA to Canada and Russia right to your living room.
Primates
From Sunday 16th August at 16.00 on BBC Earth (3 episodes)
From the makers of Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II…
Monkeys, lemurs, lorises, bush babies and, of course, the great apes. Countless faces, one remarkable animal family.
Captured with BBC Studios Natural History Unit’s signature style, with immersive cinematography, emotional storytelling and new insight into the animals we thought we knew, Primates combines celebration with revelation. We meet familiar primates with new stories and new species rarely seen on screen.
Chris Packham narrates the definitive series about our closest relatives.
At the heart of this ground-breaking series is incredible animal behaviour. New technology has captured primates on their level and in their world, whether that’s in the treetops of a flooded forest, or the tangled undergrowth of the Sri Lankan night.
Semi-Detached
From Friday 21st August at 20.40 on BBC Brit (6 episodes)
Real-time sitcom following the hapless Stuart (Lee Mack) as he struggles through the worst half hour of his life.
When his new girlfriend April (Ellie White) goes into labour, Stuart quickly finds himself having to rely on his ex-wife Kate (Sam Spiro) to get her to hospital. As Stuart thinks he’s getting a handle on the situation, he is forced to deal with a sexually promiscuous father (Clive Russell), a daughter with a newly-shaved head (Sarah Hoare) and the surprise return of his errant brother (Neil Fitzmaurice), who is on the run from some very unsavoury types. And that’s before Stuart has to enlist the help of one tipsy neighbour (Geoff McGivern) to help with another neighbour (Patrick Baladi), who he finds naked and the victim of a DIY circular saw accident.
