THE Beeb's brand-new digital arts, culture and politics channel BBC4 will be launched this Saturday with the slogan "everybody needs a place to think".

If its opening night schedule is anything to go by, there should be plenty to think about.

The line-up includes Surrealissimo, a new comedy-drama starring Ewan Bremner and Stephen Fry about the "trial" of Salvador Dali by his fellow surrealists; a new documentary on the Spanish painter Goya; the first edition of The Gist, BBC4's new "arts and culture magazine with a satirical slant" - and a performance by Senegalese musician Baaba Maal.

Anything more different to the regular Saturday-night diet of Pop Idol and Blind Date it would be hard to imagine.

The schedule, admits Roly Keating, the new channel's controller, is "pretty highbrow". But that doesn't mean it is elitist.

"Imagine you lived close to a new world-class cultural centre - so close that you could go there whenever you liked," the blurb on the new channel's website - www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour - says. "This is the vision for BBC4, a new television channel which will surprise, delight and challenge, but above all offer something satisfyingly different from the mainstream."

The new channel, Keating insists, is not just arts and documentaries. It will feature newly-commissioned plays, performance art from around the world, films and documentaries. There will also be a regular daily news programme at 8pm presented by George Alagiah and Kirsty Lang.

The whole of Saturday night's opening schedule will be broadcast simultaneously on BBC2 to give those without access to digital TV the chance to find out what they're missing.

But if you are hooked by the new channel and desperate to catch it more often, what can you do?

BBC4 is just one of a number of "free-to-view" digital channels you will be able to watch without charge if you have access to digital TV.

"Going digital" might sound like another of those techno-nerds' nightmares - but actually, it's neither as difficult not as expensive as you might think. And the good news is that with the first of a series of new terrestrial digital boxes expected to be launched at the end of March, it is about to become a good deal easier.

According to the BBC's helpful web-page on going digital - available at www.bbc.co.uk/digital - you basically have two options. You can either buy or rent a digital TV set, or you can add a set-top box to your existing TV.

Prices for a new digital TV start at about £400-£600. The sets offer up to 40 channels - about 15 free-to-view. You don't have to subscribe to Pay TV to get any of the BBC's digital channels, including BBC4, BBC Choice and BBC News 24, and you'll also have free access to ITV1, ITV2, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

The sets can only be used in about three-quarters of the country, however, so check with you retailer to make sure you will be able to pick up the signals. You may also need to get your aerial upgraded, which could cost up to £150. Again, check with your retailer.

A cheaper option will be to get a set-top box. Here, you have three choices.

The first of the new terrestrial digital boxes produced by a company called Pace should be on sale in TV and electrical shops by the end of March, for £99.99. You won't have to pay for installation and you won't have to subscribe to Pay TV. It will give you access to about 15 channels, including the five main terrestrial channels, the various BBC digital channels, ITV2 and the ITN News Channel. Again, however, reception is only available for about three-quarters of the country and you might need an aerial upgrade. Check with your retailer.

Alternatively, you could opt for a Sky mini-dish and digibox. If you go down this route you won't have to subscribe to Sky Digital and you will still have access to nearly 40 free-to-view channels, including all those mentioned above plus CNN, Sky News, interactive TV and more than 40 radio services.

The cost of a set-top box and mini-dish should be £215, with installation a further £100. Sky may try to persuade you it would be cheaper to subscribe to a Pay-TV package, in which case they would scrap the £215 cost of the mini-dish and box and reduce installation cost. Subscriptions start at about £10 a month and give access to up to 200 channels. The third option is a cable TV box from NTL or Telewest. To go down this route, you will need to subscribe to a cable package (they start at about £10 a month) but the rental cost of the set-top box is included in your subscription. You will, however, need to pay for installation. To find out if you have access to cable call the Independent television Commission Information Line on 020 7255 3000.

Updated: 10:03 Thursday, February 28, 2002