ELFMAN

TIM BURTON FILM MUSIC

SATURDAY, OCTOBER31 @ 6:00PM

Composer and performer Danny Elfman, Tim Burton’s prolific musical collaborator, descends on Lincoln Center with an 88-piece orchestra, 44-voice choir and a colorful assortment of fans and fanatics. Live from Lincoln Center will capture all the excitement of this cultural invasion, climaxing in performances of Elfman’s most beloved Burton scores from films like Batman, Beetlejuice, Alice in Wonderland, Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, which features Elfman singing his iconic songs. 

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ANIMAL MUMMIES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28 @ 10:00PM

It wasn’t just their pharaohs that the ancient Egyptians bundled up for the next world. Huge underground vaults were packed from floor to ceiling with a menagerie of mummified beasts—everything from falcons and ibises to cats and dogs, monkeys, shrews, fish, beetles, bulls, and crocodiles. Animal mummies were cranked out on an industrial scale to feed a nationwide obsession, including a staggering 8 million preserved dogs at one site alone. So why did they do it?

NOVA joins a team of leading Egyptologists who deploy the latest medical imaging to peer beneath the wrappings without damaging the animal bodies inside. The results are enlightening, often surprising insights into the weird beliefs and practices that clung to the Egyptian quest for immortality.

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WITH DAVID EAGLEMAN

WHO IS IN CONTROL?

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28 @ 8:00PM

Who Is in Control?’ explores the great deception that greets us each morning when we awake: it feels as though we are in conscious control of our lives but the truth is that we are not. Instead almost every action, every decision, every belief that we hold is driven by parts of the brain that we have no access to.

Dr. Eagleman first discusses physical movement, and reveals the electrical storm of unconscious neural activity that accompanies every movement we take. What would it be like if we needed to consciously focus on every movement? We meet a patient who has to do just that – he has lost the ability to walk without consciously controlling every movement. His effortful, consciously demanding gait takes all of his attention – if he’s distracted for even a moment he will fall.

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WAR OF THE WORLDS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27 @ 6:00PM & 12:00AM

Shortly after 8 p.m. on the Halloween Eve, 1938, the voice of a panicked radio announcer broke in with a news bulletin reporting strange explosions taking place on the planet Mars, followed minutes later by a report that Martians had landed in the tiny town of Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Although most listeners understood that the program was a radio drama, the next day’s headlines reported that thousands of others plunged into panic, convinced that America was under a deadly Martian attack. It turned out to be H.G. Wells’ classic The War of the Worlds, performed by 23-year-old Orson Welles.

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INSIDE ASSAD’S SYRIA

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27 @ 11:00PM

For weeks, the world’s eyes have been fixed on the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria for Europe. But what is life like for those left behind? Correspondent Martin Smith goes “Inside Assad’s Syria” to report from government-controlled areas as war rages, with on-the-ground reporting and firsthand accounts from Syrians caught in the crisis.

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BARCELONA

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26 @ 8:00PM

Phil travels to the capital of Catalonia in search of the best tapas, to celebrate the Sant Joan festival, and to get a lesson in the art of slicing jamon, one of Spain’s most prized culinary exports.

Phil joins Emil Samper for cutting edge tapas at Taverna el Succulent, where Phil gets a lesson on the origins of the Spanish tradition.

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HOME FIRES

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

Secrets and lies are rife in the village. Miriam knows her deception can’t be kept from David forever, but she’s terrified of the consequences of him finding out. Steph is hiding a secret that threatens the farm’s future, and Teresa’s past comes back to haunt her when she receives an unexpected visitor who could destroy the life she has built for herself in Great Paxford. Whilst Kate and Jack make plans for the future, a jealous Laura complicates her relationship with boss Richard. Meanwhile, Erica is determined to intervene as Bob and Pat’s marriage grows even more destructive, and as the WI try to plan an air raid shelter for the village, Claire becomes an unwitting victim in the latest skirmish between Frances and Joyce.

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