What Makes Us Human?
Professor Alice Roberts sets out to discover the latest in scientific understanding about how to grow a human being, and what makes our species so special.
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Pill Poppers
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How Small Is The Universe?
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To Infinity And Beyond
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Shows from BBC
1066
In the year 1066, England changed forever. Most of what we know about this distant time was stitched into an infamous tapestry, which tells the story of kings and conquerors - but not the ordinary men who fought on their behalf for the homeland that all three tribes called middle-earth. Now, this epic, roller-coaster adventure of invasion, resistance and war tells the story from the ground up - from the point of view of those everyday men and their families - as they are hurled into the turmoil of war.
2 Episodes
Afghanistan: The Lion's Last Roar
When the British Army arrived in Helmand in Afghanistan, they were confident that they could keep the peace, defeat the Taliban and rebuild the impoverished province. But misplaced hope and confused aims quickly led to the very real threat of a catastrophic defeat. After 14 years of brutal, bloody and bruising conflict, the British Army finally began to withdraw from Afghanistan in late 2014.
2 Episodes
Africa And Britain - A Forgotten History
The history of black people in Britain is frequently reduced to the story of recent black settlement. But that is not where this extraordinary cross-continental relationship begins. Africa and Britain: A Forgotten History re-tells the story of black people in the UK and – to do so – travels to the United States, Jamaica, South Africa, and Sierra Leone. Forgotten art vaults are unlocked, artefacts re-examined and 20 Black History plaques unveiled to the public. Award-winning historian David Olusoga tells the story of a young enslaved African brought to Britain under the protection of Queen Victoria, and explores the terrible legacy of slavery and the impact of the world wars.
3 Episodes
African ER
Every year, a group of volunteers face the most emotionally challenging two weeks of their lives aboard a state-of-the-art hospital ship docked in Sierra Leone. The US-owned Anastasis travels the world bringing free medical help to those in need. British medics, engineers and deckhands are among those who give up their holiday to run its operating theatres. This documentary shadows them as they face the most demanding fortnight of their careers, and meets the African men, women and children who have walked for days in search of help.
1 Episode
Airport 24/7
Broadcasting live from Heathrow, this is the story of the world's busiest international airport operating at maximum capacity. It takes a workforce of nearly 77,000 - the size of a small city - to pull off this incredible daily task and Airport Live will be there to watch it happen.
4 Episodes
All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace
A series of films about how humans have been colonised by the machines we have built. Although we don't realise it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.
3 Episodes
Around The World In 80 Treasures
Join Dan Cruickshank as he takes a global tour of the most breathtaking treasures man has ever created. From the exquisite castles of Japan to the Nasca line in Peru, from Persepolis in Iran to the Palace of Versailles in France, this is your chance to share in the expressive beauty of man's creative powers.
10 Episodes
Baby Faced Mums
Meet the Baby-Face Mums, and sometimes dads, who are bucking the trend and having children young. We follow these young mums, some who haven't even left school, as they leave behind childhood and deal with the responsibility of parenthood.
7 Episodes
Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero
Bill Bailey meets wildlife in Borneo and Indonesia to tell the story of Darwin's rival, Alfred Russel Wallace.
2 Episodes
Billy Connolly's Big Send Off
Comedian and Hollywood star Billy Connolly is a big fan of life. He's effervescent, energised and inspired by it, but he's also genuinely fascinated by the way we as humans treat death. This series follows the straight-talking Scot as he explores changing attitudes, beliefs and approaches towards death, while also considering his own approach to the final curtain. Billy strolls around America's largest funeral convention, discovering the hundreds of ways that you can put someone in the ground, on the moon, in a diamond or even turn them into a mushroom!
2 Episodes
Brazil With Michael Palin
Michael Palin visits Brazil for the very first time, travelling from the lost world of Amazonia to the buzzing metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, to meet the people and visit the places that shape this nation. Over 192 million people call this land their home. Taking up over half of South America, Brazil is a mix of races, religions, sophistication, wildness, wealth, poverty and unexplored wilderness. The country is considered one of the rising global powers - less scary than China, less authoritarian than Russia and less chaotic than India with vast natural resources, a burgeoning industrial base and a strong currency that make it the envy of all.
4 Episodes
Britain's Royal Weddings
The intimate story of Britain's royal weddings, from the Queen Mother through to Princess Margaret, told from the point of view of people who were there. This entertaining programme captures all the emotion, excitement and style of the nation’s previous royal weddings. Going behind the pomp and circumstance of weddings from 1923 onwards, it offers a fun, intriguing glimpse into a world few of us will ever encounter. It also charts how changing social attitudes and national circumstances have influenced what the public has come to expect from Britain’s royal weddings.
2 Episodes
China - Triumph And Turmoil
Niall Ferguson travels through this vast country to find out how a fifth of humanity can live under a Communist system of government with a capitalist economy when, according to all the laws of history, it should fall apart. Held together for more than 2000 years, firstly by imperial rule and now by an imperious Communist Party, what does China stand for? Ferguson talks to the people who know, including its new billionaires, survivors of Chairman Mao's regime, ardent young nationalists and those defending China's rural poor.
3 Episodes
Cosmonauts - How Russia Won The Space Race
When, in July 1969, Neil Armstrong made one giant leap for mankind, America went down in popular history as the winner of the space race. But the real space pioneers of the 20th century were the Soviets. Between 1961 and 1966, they realised a number of spectacular historical achievements including the first man and woman in space, the first spacewalk and the first unmanned lunar landing. Up to that point, the Russians seemed unstoppable.
2 Episodes
Could We Survive A Mega Tsunami?
In the West we think of devastating tsunamis as events that happen elsewhere in the world - across the far seas and in news bulletins on our televisions, affecting nations vulnerable to the Earth's seismic instability. But what would happen across the world if a tsunami was triggered by a major landslide in the Atlantic Ocean? Where would it hit, and would we survive? How would we cope in the aftermath?
2 Episodes
David Beckham - Into The Unknown
After 22 years playing for the world's greatest football teams, David Beckham has retired. For the first time in his adult life he has freedom to do whatever he wants and to mark the occasion he's going on an adventure. He's chosen Brazil, and he's taking three of his closest friends to join him on this once in a lifetime experience. Starting with beach footvolley in Rio, the friends travel deep into the Amazon, ending up with the remote Yanonami tribe, with David desperately trying to explain the beautiful game.
1 Episode
Ewan McGregor - Cold Chain Mission
Ewan McGregor is on a mission to the ends of the earth to immunise some of the hardest-to-reach children in the world.
2 Episodes
Horizon
Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
60 Episodes
Life And Death Row - Love Triangle
Over eight mini-episodes, Life and Death Row: Love Triangle tells the story of Heather, a beautiful young wife and mother, who has disappeared without trace. Her adulterous husband Joshua and his pregnant lover Emilia are brought in for questioning. What has happened to Heather and who is telling the truth? Published alongside this eight part series is evidence linked to the case including witness statements, secret police recordings and photos of the crime scene. Will one man's love triangle become a death sentence for both women?
7 Episodes
My Big Decision
Documentary series following a number of British teenagers as they each embark upon a road trip that could lead them to a life-changing decision.
5 Episodes
Natural World
The BBC's classic wildlife series tells in-depth stories of incredible animals, featuring award-winning photography in some of the most extraordinary places in the world.
2 Episodes
Panorama
The BBC's Panorama is the world's longest running investigative TV show, featuring interviews and reports on a wide variety of subjects.
12 Episodes
Russia On Four Wheels
Justin Rowlatt and Anita Rani set off across Russia on two massive road-trips across the world's biggest, and one it's most enigmatic, countries.
2 Episodes
Shifting Sands
Assessing opinion in the Middle East two years on from the start of the Arab Spring.
2 Episodes
The Chinese Are Coming
Justin Rowlatt investigates the spread of Chinese influence around the planet and asks what the world will be like if China overtakes America as the world's economic superpower.
2 Episodes
The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs
In this innovative series, Bill Oddie takes great joy in comparing dinosaurs with their closest living relatives - crocodiles and birds.
2 Episodes
Tomorrow's Food
Tomorrow's Food shows viewers the fascinating future of food: from field, through to the aisles of the supermarket, to our dining tables. Led by Dara O Briain, this series will reveal the cutting-edge technologies and produce appearing in farms, supermarkets, kitchens and restaurants around the world, transforming how we grow, buy and eat our food. The world's population may be growing, but we're coming up with ingenious solutions to ensure the future of our breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
3 Episodes
Trust Me I'm A Doctor: Series 6
The team return, getting behind the hype and headlines to tackle the health issues that matter. Does burning calories through exercise leave you hungrier than not eating those calories in the first place? Michael Mosley investigates. Gabriel Weston looks at how 3D printing is transforming surgery, and meets a patient who's had a replacement sternum made with this amazing technology. Chris van Tulleken asks whether we should get our omega-3 from fresh fish or supplements. Saleyha Ahsan studies probiotics and their effects on your gut. And Zoe Williams explores activities designed to boost your metabolic rate - can they help you lose weight?
2 Episodes
Trust Me I'm A Doctor: Series 7
Going behind the headlines to give the definitive answers to health questions. The team look for the latest research and run major experiments involving hundreds of volunteers. What’s the best way to beat stress? Is coconut oil really the wonder-food it’s claimed to be? Is it better to eat carbs in the morning or evening? Should we all get up an hour later?
4 Episodes
Witness: Katrina
Over a 72-hour period from 29 to 31 August 2005, New Orleans was devastated by a cataclysmic storm followed by a catastrophic flood, which in turn became an apocalyptic human tragedy. Compiled entirely from more than 600 hours of original audio and footage recorded at the time, much of it not seen on TV before, this is an immersive reconstruction of the tragedy by the people who lived through it. The format is the same as Siskel/Jacobs' triple Emmy-winning documentary on 9/11, 102 Minutes That Changed America, no narration, no context, no post-disaster interviews... Just compelling footage of the sights, sounds and raw emotions as the chaos unfolded, chronologically from multiple viewpoints. The soundtrack comes from the comments of the victims, recording themselves as they sought shelter from the forces of nature and watched helplessly as lives, property and everything they valued were swept away by the flood waters, all the while wondering whether they would be next.
2 Episodes
Wonderland
This BBC documentary strand is an annual eight-part series of hour-long films about different aspects of contemporary British life.
1 Episode
Wonders Of Life
What is Life? Where did it come from? Why does it end? 3.7 billion years ago in an obscure part of an unexceptional corner of the universe something incredible happened. Through an incalculably unlikely set of circumstances, the fundamental laws that had previously built stars, supernovae and planets contrived to create a life. This beautiful and definitive series explains how a few fundamental laws gave birth to the most complex, diverse and unique force in the universe.
5 Episodes
BBC Episodes
Upgrade Me
Simon Armitage explores the obsession with upgrading to the latest technological gadgetry.
Trust Me I'm A Doctor: Series 6 - Episode 2
With a look at boosting metabolism, the effects of air pollution, and eating disorders.
Trust Me I'm A Doctor: Series 6 - Episode 1
Michael Mosley investigates the best way to keep calories in check.
Trust Me I'm A Doctor: Series 7 - Episode 3
Michael Mosley finds out if eating carbs in the evening is bad for you.
Trust Me I'm A Doctor: Series 7 - Episode 2
Why fizzy drinks make you eat more, and does caffeine boost your physical performance?
Trust Me I'm A Doctor: Series 7 - Ep 1
Michael Mosley tests the best way to beat stress - mindfulness, yoga or gardening.
Africa And Britain - A Forgotten History - Episode 3
David Olusoga explores the Victorian moral crusade against slavery.
Africa And Britain - A Forgotten History - Episode 2
David Olusoga looks at slavery and remembers black sailors who fought for Britain.
Africa And Britain - A Forgotten History - Episode 1
David Olusoga explores the relationship between Britain and people of African origins.
Afghanistan: The Lion's Last Roar - Episode 2
Part two examines Britain's attempts to extricate itself from the conflict in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan: The Lion's Last Roar - Episode 1
Part one examines the buildup to the conflict and reveals a story of confused aims.
The Truth About Dementia
Angela Rippon presents a personal exploration of the devastating condition of Alzheimer's.
The Story Of Fertility
Documentary in which BBC presenter Alex Jones explores the issue of fertility.
Wonders Of Life - Home
Wonders of Life considers what it is about our world that makes it a home for life.
Wonders Of Life - Size Matters
Wonders of Life shows how gravity and electromagnetism impact different types of life.
Wonders Of Life - Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Wonders of Life reveals Carbon's unique role in life on Earth and possibly elsewhere.
Wonders Of Life - Expanding Universe
Wonders of Life explains life's evolution from single-celled organisms to sentient beings.
Wonders Of Life - What Is Life?
Wonders of Life embarks upon an exploration of how life first began and how it endures.
This World: The Conspiracy Files - Who Shot Down MH17?
The search for the truth about who shot Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.
One Deadly Weekend In America - Part 2
Documentary exploring gun crime in America, focusing on the murder of Tavin Price.
One Deadly Weekend In America
Documentary exploring gun crime in America, focusing on the murder of Tavin Price.
David Attenborough Meets President Obama
David Attenborough talks to President Obama about issues facing the natural world today.