BBC Two's blog

11.15pm Saturday 26 February on BBC TWO

CBBC’s issues-led single documentary strand follows six youngsters as they take part in an intensive two-week course at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, while Palin explains his reasons for supporting the centre

6.30pm Monday 21 February on BBC TWO

Anne Robinson hosts a daily new chat show which sees star guests discuss the five books they most love – and why – in the two-week run-up to World Book Night

1.30pm Sunday 20 February on BBC TWO

The Manchester Velodrome hosts the last of this season’s Track World Cups, in which Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins are expected to race for the qualification points ahead of next month’s World Championship in Holland

3.25pm Saturday 19 February on BBC TWO

A powerful film traces the production of two very different Verdi works: Aida, performed on the spectacular floating stage at Bregenz, and the Birmingham Opera Company’s production of Othello, which is shown in its entirety

11.15am Saturday 19 February on BBC TWO

CBBC’s issues-led single documentary strand returns with six more films, beginning with the story of three ballet-dancing brothers from Liverpool

8.00pm Wednesday 16 February on BBC TWO

David Attenborough continues to tell the story of one of the most intriguing wild places on Earth (please note this series started in Week 6)

9.00pm Sunday 13 February on BBC TWO

British workers travel abroad to test their skills in some of the most challenging environments on earth, beginning with Cardiff paramedic Angie Dymott, who journeys to Guatemala City

9.00pm Wednesday 9 February on BBC TWO

Neil Oliver tells the story of how today’s Britain and its people came to be in a new, landmark series for BBC Two

BBC Two Daytime antiques programme Flog It! celebrated Chinese New Year with a bang, thanks to an extraordinary artefact which made two lucky viewers an amazing £44,000 at auction.

The object – a Chinese libation cup made from carved rhino horn – was brought in to one of the programme’s valuation days by owners Tom Harvey and his sister Evelyn Martin, who had no idea of its value.

The cup, which dates back possibly as far as the 17th century, was apparently acquired by the owners’ grandfather in the early 1900s. Tom didn’t believe it was valuable because it had some damage but curiosity made him bring the little cup along to show the Flog It! team of antiques experts who were filming at Balbirnie House in Fife last summer.

Former antiques dealer, and Flog It! presenter Paul Martin recognised the little cup as being something very rare and valuable, possibly worth thousands of pounds, but insisted on getting a second opinion from a specialist.

Paul took the item straight to Bonhams saleroom in Bond Street and showed it to Asian Art expert Angela McAteer. She confirmed the cup to be genuine and predicted it would make comfortably more than the £8,000-12,000 estimate. She advised waiting to sell it in a specialist auction during Asian Art week last November to achieve the best price.

Paul Martin says: “In nine years of filming the show it’s the most exciting and important object anyone has ever brought in, but it’s absolutely been worth the wait.”

The programme is available to view on BBC iPlayer.

9.00pm Saturday 5 February on BBC TWO

Author Sebastian Faulks gets to the heart of the British novel through its characters, exploring the heroes, lovers, snobs and villains in classics including Robinson Crusoe, 1984, Brick Lane, Emma and The End Of The Affair