FEATURED PROGRAMS on Blue Ridge PBS
Be sure to check our schedule for additional air times!
Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar
Thursday, August 19 @ 10pm
Travel to the deserts of Iraq for an archaeological dig, where the famous crime writer unravels a series of mysterious murders. Lyndsey Marshal stars as Agatha Christie and Jonah Hauer-King is Max Mallowan, the archaeologist vying for her affection.
Alan Jackson: Precious Memories
Saturday, August 14 @ 10:30pm
Recorded to honor his mother's request that he release an album of gospel classics, Alan Jackson's Precious Memories CD quickly made its way to the top of the sales charts and into the hearts of fans, selling over 1.8 million copies. The concert that followed was taped at the historic Ryman, known as "The Mother Church of Country Music" in Nashville, TN, and features signature renditions of traditional hymns and gospel favorites.
All Creatures Great and Small: Between the Pages
Sunday, August 15 @ 7:30pm & Monday, August 16 @ 9pm
Get to know the cast and creators of the hit series based on James Herriot’s beloved books. Savor the best moments from the first season, including Dame Diana Rigg in her final role as Mrs. Pumphrey, and look ahead to what might happen in Season 2.
American Experience
Tuesdays
Discover the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America’s past and present. Television’s most-watched history series, acclaimed by viewers and critics alike, has been honored with every major broadcast award.
- August 3 @ 9pm – Jesse Owens
On April 2, 1936, when the 22-year-old son of a sharecropper entered the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, he was, he later remembered, barely able to control his anger. “I was angry because of the insults that Hitler and the other German leaders had hurled at me and my Negro teammates on the Olympic squad.” The young athlete would channel his raw emotions into some of the most remarkable achievements in the history of athletics, winning four gold medals.
- August 3 @ 10pm – The Fight
Learn the interweaving stories of two extraordinary men, boxers Max Schmeling of Germany and American Joe Louis, culminating in what was arguably the most politicized sporting event in history: the 1938 heavyweight championship of the world.
- August 24 @ 8pm – The Big Burn
In the summer of 1910, an unimaginable wildfire devoured more than three million acres across the Northern Rockies, confronting the fledgling U.S. Forest Service with a catastrophe that would define the agency and the nation’s fire policy for the rest of the 20th century and beyond. THE BIG BURN provides a cautionary tale of heroism and sacrifice, arrogance and greed, hubris and, ultimately, humility in the face of nature’s frightening power.
Antiques Roadshow Recut: Treasure Fever
Back-to-Back Episodes! Monday, August 2 @ 9pm
In part one, explore artifacts and artistry with health and medicine history across generations including a Lakota Sioux doctor's bag, a “Female Physician” trade sign from around 1835, and a salesman's sample operating chair. Part two has just what the doctor ordered: a half-hour of treasures related to physical and mental health and well-being including a WWI snakebite kit, a Fern Isabel Coppedge oil painting, and an Apache medicine pouch from around 1880.
Best of the 60s: Ready, Steady, Go!
Wednesday, August 18 @ 9:30pm
Relive the Swinging Sixties with the iconic UK rock and pop music TV series. "Ready, Steady, Go!" featured the biggest acts of the decade, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Lulu, Otis Redding, The Who, Dusty Springfield, Marvin Gaye and more.
Build A Better Memory Through Science
Monday, August 16 @ 7pm
Discover workable, weekly strategies and lifestyle suggestions that make improving memory fun and rewarding. Interviews with leading experts and computer animations explain and illustrate how memory works and how to maximize it.
Carpenters: Close to You
Tuesday, August 17 @ 7pm
A music-filled documentary that traces the Carpenters' career through the eyes of Richard Carpenter and the group's friends in the music business, featuring their top recording hits, including "(They Long to Be) Close to You," "Top of the World," "For All We Know," "Superstar," "Yesterday Once More," "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "We've Only Just Begun." The program also contains rare footage of Richard and Karen, including never-before-seen promotional films, concert performances, studio recording sessions, archival television appearances and outtakes.
Daniel O’Donnell and Special Guests
Saturday, August 14 @ 6pm
Join the Irish crooner and special guests Crystal Gayle, Ashley Campbell, Rita Coolidge, the late Charley Pride and many more. Filmed at the Millennium Forum in Derry, Northern Ireland, Daniel performs his best-known songs and duets with guests
Finding Your Roots
Tuesdays @ 8pm
The acclaimed series with Professor Gates explores the mysteries, surprises and revelations hidden in the family trees of popular figures.
- August 3 – Freedom Tales
Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. delves deep into the roots of two African-American guests, actor S. Epatha Merkerson and athlete and television personality Michael Strahan. Both discover unexpected stories that challenge assumptions about black history.
- August 10 – Hard Times
Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family stories of filmmaker Michael Moore and actors Laura Linney and Chloë Sevigny—three people whose distant ancestors overcame great hardships in ways that resonate with their lives today.
Generation 9/11
Tuesday, August 31 @ 9pm
Follow seven young people whose fathers died on 9/11. When they were born, the nation was drawn together. Twenty years later, in a divided America, they enter adulthood with a sense of responsibility that stems from their own personal tragedy.
Grantchester, Season 3, on Masterpiece
Thursday, August 5, 12, & 26 @ 10pm
Join James Norton and Robson Green as the improbable crime-fighting team—Reverend Sidney Chambers and Inspector Geordie Keating, respectively—bringing justice and spiritual nourishment to early 1950s England.
Icon: Music Through the Lens
Fridays @ 9pm
Revel in the eye-opening, thrilling world of live music photography through the experiences of the men and women who have documented popular music in images, from the earliest darkrooms to the fast-evolving digital landscapes of the present day.
- August 6 – On the Cover
Discover the uncensored and never-heard-before stories behind the amazing photographs that graced the front pages of music magazines and played a pivotal role in elevating music photography to iconic status.
- August 13 – On the Wall
Trace the journey of music photography from a niche pastime to a highly collectable art form with stories from gallerists, art experts and photographers whose work hang in some of the world’s most revered institutions.
In Their Own Words
Tuesdays @ 8pm
Explore the lives and impact of the most transformative figures in modern history. Through an innovative combination of interview, archive and animated content, take a journey into the lives and minds of some of the world’s most compelling people.
- August 8 @ 8pm & August 22 @ 10pm - Princess Diana
See how Diana defied expectations and evolved into one of the most impactful icons of our time. Look back on her life through a contemporary lens that credits her choices, suffering and triumphs as the ultimate disrupter for a generation of women.
- August 22 @ 9pm – Queen Elizabeth II
Follow Queen Elizabeth II’s remarkable life, from her youth to her uncle’s abdication, her father’s coronation as King George VI, her experience during World War II, her sudden ascension to the throne and her eventful reign of more than 60 years.
John Denver: Country Roads – Live in England
Saturday, August 14 @ 9pm
Join one of the best-loved recording artists of the 20th century at a concert filmed in 1986 in the UK. The concert showcases Denver’s fine voice and easygoing manner on fan favorites including “Sunshine On My Shoulders” and “Rocky Mountain High.”
Lucy Worsley’s Royal Myths
Sundays, August 29-September 11 @ 8pm
Join Lucy Worsley on a journey across Europe to visit the locations where royal history was made. From the roots of the English Reformation, to King George III’s decision to relinquish the throne to his son, to the Russian revolution that swept the czar from power, learn how royal history is a mixture of facts, exaggeration, manipulation and mythology.
Monty Python: Best Bits Celebrated
Monday, August 16 @ 10:30pm
Monty Python’s influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles’ influence on music, a pivotal moment in the evolution of television humor. Celebrating the troupe's cultural legacy and impact, this new special pairs their original material with new and entertaining commentary from celebrities who consider Monty Python hugely significant, both personally and to the history of screen satire.
Native America
Tuesday @ 8pm
Explore the splendor and ingenuity of the world created by America’s First Peoples, 15,000 years ago. Combining modern science with Native knowledge, the series shines a spotlight on these ancient cultures and the communities that still thrive today.
- August 24 – From Caves to Cosmos
Combine ancient wisdom and modern science to answer a 15,000-year-old question: who were America’s First Peoples? The answer hides in Amazonian cave paintings, Mexican burial chambers, New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon and waves off California’s coast.
- August 31 – Nature to Nations
Explore the rise of great American nations, from monarchies to democracies. Investigate lost cities in Mexico, a temple in Peru, a potlatch ceremony in the Pacific Northwest and a tapestry of shell beads in upstate New York whose story inspired our own democracy.
Nature
Wednesdays @ 8pm
Experience the splendors and compelling stories of the natural world from all over the globe. The series delivers the best in original natural history films to audiences nationwide.
- August 4 – Super Cats: Cats in Every Corner
Discover how cats have conquered the world, thriving in almost every landscape on Earth, from fishing cats in the wetlands of Asia, to a pregnant jaguar in Costa Rica, to margays in Central American treetops, to a swamp tiger on the Indian shore. - August 11- Super Cats: Science and Secrets
Uncover the secret lives of big cats who thrive in all four corners of the globe, from the solitary snow leopard to the nimble black-footed cat, seen through the latest camera technology and science. - August 18 – Pandas: Born to Be Wild
Unlock the mysteries of wild pandas whose counterparts in captivity are known for their gentle image. Journey through the steep Qinling Mountains with filmmakers, scientists and rangers to witness pandas' startling courtship and aggression behaviors. - August 25 – Natural Born Rebels, A NATURE MINISERIES: Hunger Wars
Meet nature’s greatest rebels. From a promiscuous prairie dog to a kleptomaniac crab and an alpha chimpanzee who reigns with an iron fist, this three-part series introduces the most rebellious animals in the natural world. But are these creatures really misbehaving? In the first episode, meet the animals who will steal, cheat and fight to get food, including kleptomaniac crabs, thieving macaques, con artist spiders, tricky tigers, and cannibalistic lizards.
Prince Albert: A Victorian Hero Revealed
Sunday, August 22 @ 8pm
Discover the little-known yet profound role Prince Albert played in shaping Victorian Britain. Professor Saul David examines Albert's influence and innovative ideas, which transformed the nation's fortunes and created a legacy that lives on today.
Professor T
Sundays @ 10pm
Professor Jasper Tempest is obsessed with cleanliness, structure and order. But his genius for solving crimes means he constantly has to get his hands dirty, helping the police to crack their most difficult cases.
- August 1 – Mother Love
Professor T is called upon to help investigate the disappearance of a six-year-old girl. Tensions rise between DI Paul Rabbit and Prof T until they finally come to blows. - August 8 – Sophie Knows
Professor T befriends a vulnerable girl and is convinced she is the key witness to a murder. Dan and Lisa agree to go on a date but when her boss confronts her about their inappropriate relationship, Lisa makes a bold decision. - August 15 – The Dutiful Child
When an attempt is made on a billionaire businessman’s life, Professor T suspects the culprit may be much closer to home than the police suspect. It’s Professor T’s birthday and with it comes a haunting childhood memory.
Red, White and Rock
Tuesday, August 17 @ 10:30pm
Tuesday, August 17 @ 10:30pm
Join Frankie Valli, The Righteous Brothers, Connie Francis and more for a 2002 patriotic celebration of America and pop oldies music. Featuring a dream lineup of artists from the rock, pop and doo-wop days of the late 50s and early to mid-60s.
Rick Steves Europe Awaits
Tuesday, August 17 @ 8:30pm
Travel lovers have spent the last year or so dreaming of where they'll travel post-COVID. In this special, Rick Steves shares vivid and unforgettable visits to European favorites--off-beat, romantic, or just good for the soul-- that he'd love to visit when we can travel again.
Salute to Budapest & Vienna
Friday August 20 @ 9pm
Enjoy an exuberant celebration of song and dance with works from beloved European composers, including Johann Strauss, Jr. and Franz Lehár. Taped in Budapest in 2020, this glorious new production features songs from The Merry Widow and more.
Unforgotten, Season 4, on Masterpiece
Sundays @ 9pm
In the series' most dramatic season, Cassie and Sunny investigate a cold case with alarming links to the police force. Can the force ever really be trusted, and will Cassie and Sunny find themselves on the wrong side of the law?
- August 1 – Episode 4
Cassie and Sunny discover Walsh was chased by all four suspects on the night in question. The pathologist identifies a cause of death implying Walsh was murdered. - August 8 – Episode 5
Cassie and Sunny interview two of the suspects again and get closer to the truth. Balcombe believes she knows the cause of Walsh’s death. Things take an unexpected and devastating turn for Cassie. - August 15 – Episode 6
Despite a tragic turn of events, Sunny and the team narrow down the suspects. Will they succeed in bringing Walsh’s killer to justice?
Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2021 on Great Performances
Friday, August 27 @ 9pm
Enjoy the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual summer night concert under the direction of a guest conductor at Austria’s Schönbrunn Palace.
When Whales Walked: Journeys in Deep Time
Wednesday, August 25 @ 9pm
Meet the ancient ancestors of four iconic creatures: crocodiles, birds, whales and elephants. Join top scientists on a global adventure as they follow clues from the fossil record and use 21st century technology to make exciting new discoveries.
Wicked in Concert
Sunday, August 29 @ 9pm
Celebrate the iconic hit Broadway musical with this all-star concert version featuring songs from the beloved score, including “The Wizard and I,” “Defying Gravity,” “Popular,” “Wonderful,” “No Good Deed,” “For Good” and “As Long As You’re Mine."
Wynonna Judd: Concert from My Place
Saturday, August 14 @ 7:30pm
Join the country superstar and her band at her place just outside Nashville as they perform classics, old hits and new selections. Wynonna is joined by husband and multi-instrumentalist Cactus Moser and special guests Brandi Carlile and Waylon Payne.