Programme Information

Human Planet – Cities: Surviving The Urban Jungle Ep 8/8

Thursday 3 March

8.00-9.00pm BBC ONE and BBC ONE HD

• www.bbc.co.uk/humanplanet

Humans are the only animals that have adapted to life in every habitat on Earth. From oceans to jungles, from the Poles to the deserts, Human Planet has explored man's unique ability to survive in the most extreme environments. In the final episode, the focus is on the habitat we have made for ourselves – the city.

More than half of the world's human population now lives in cities and people seem more removed from nature than ever before. But nature is resilient and claws its way into towns and cities in all sorts of ways.

In Dubai, the ancient art of falconry has been adapted by David Stead and turned into a remarkable solution to a 21st-century problem. Falcons chase pigeons away from Dubai's top hotels and buildings. In Estes Park, in Colorado, the police have a more substantial wildlife invasion to deal with. Once a year, giant elks storm into town in search of mates. Police officers on scooters chase them out of town.

Raiding monkey gangs are a problem for Indian fruit seller Shakuntla, in Jaipur. These animals are sacred to the monkey god Hanuman, so all she can do is shoo them away. For Tami in Fez, in Morocco, pigeons provide a unique way to make the city's famous leather softer. He buys their poo, which he then paddles into a huge vat to use to soften the leather.

Animal invaders in London are unwelcome guests for a young mother. Bed bugs are reaching plague proportions in cities across the world. The latest infrared technology reveals a bed bug inflating as it drinks up blood from its victim.

In Mombassa, Kenya, a young family ekes out a frugal existence scavenging food from a dump. Another extreme is world-renowned architect Norman Foster's futuristic carbon-free city, Masdar, which is being built in the desert of Abu Dhabi.

In the last Behind The Lens feature for Human Planet, some of the best moments of the series are revisited.

Human Planet is simulcast in HD on BBC One HD on Freesat channel 108, Freeview channel 50, Sky channel 143 and Virgin Media channel 108.

BR/LS2

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Famous, Rich And In The Slums With Comic Relief Ep 1/2

Thursday 3 March

9.00-10.00pm BBC ONE (Schedule addition 16 February)

• www.bbc.co.uk/rednoseday

Lenny Henry, Samantha Womack, Reggie Yates and Angela Rippon experience unimaginable poverty as they spending a week living it for real in this ground-breaking, two-part documentary for Comic Relief.

All four agree to swap their lives of privilege and luxury for life in Kibera, reportedly Africa's largest slum. In this first programme, they are stripped of all their possessions and given just £1.60 to buy the basics, before moving into cockroach-ridden individual shacks where they will live on their own for the first three days and nights.

Lenny has been on countless trips to Africa for Comic Relief and witnessed poverty first hand. But nothing could have prepared him or the other celebrities for the heartbreaking reality of actually living in and surviving in the slums. Lenny says: "Living in Kibera was unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced before. It was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I've ever had to do and has completely changed my life. It was an incredible journey, and I'll never forget it."

While Lenny, Samantha and Angela haggle to buy basics such as toothpaste, Reggie decides to spend his limited budget on trying to escape his new reality for a while by watching a football match, crammed into a tiny shack in with other fans. But the victory of the game is short-lived as Reggie needs to get to work. He bags himself one of the highest paid jobs in the slums ... emptying raw sewage from the public pit latrines through the night.

Lenny pays his way by making and selling samosas on the streets of the slum but agonises over whether to take his daily wage, which his boss could spend on vital medicine for his sick child. Samantha gets a cleaning job in a clinic where she witnesses shocking and emotional scenes, while Angela joins a queue of women from the slum offering to wash clothes in the affluent areas of Nairobi. She works so hard her hands are red raw, all for just £1.60. Soon, she discovers the shocking reality of the choice her colleagues must make if they don't get picked for a job.

CP

Lunch Monkeys Ep 5/6

Thursday 3 March

10.30-11.00pm BBC THREE and BBC HD

• www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree
• Press pack

Darrel (Chris Hannon) bonds with his estranged dad

The post room is trying to get back on track following a postal strike, as the comedy series set in a personal injury law firm continues. This results in the monkeys actually having to do some work today...

Darrel is thrown when he discovers that his estranged dad, Pat, is in the office; it's been seven years since they last saw each other. Darrel is really pleased to see him and proudly introduces Pat around the office. However, Pat soon reveals himself to be a loud-mouthed show-off and rubs everyone up the wrong way. Darrel remains oblivious to just how awful his dad is.

Asif is aghast when he discovers Céline Dion and Michael Bublé tracks on Kenny's MP3 player. He accuses Kenny of being boring, which he vehemently denies, despite the mounting evidence. It's not long before Kenny realises that he is becoming a middle-aged bore and tries to think up some more exciting things to do.

It's the day of Asif's driving test and he's nervous. He ropes in the other monkeys to help him revise. His chances of passing look bleak, however, when he's whisked off to hospital.

Darrel is played by Chris Hannon, Pat by Steve Edge, Asif by Abdullah Afzal and Kenny by Christian Foster. Lunch Monkeys also stars Nigel Havers as Mike, Sian Reeves as Gloria, Rachel Rae as Shelley and Jessica Hall as Tania.

Lunch Monkeys is simulcast on the award-winning BBC HD channel – the BBC's High Definition channel available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

MF2/NE