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Private Notes
Napoleon's dreams of enduring empire were finally extinguished in a muddy field in Belgium, an anonymous piece of farmland that we now call Waterloo.
This documentary analyses the significance of Waterloo in the context of Napoleon's life, his personality, his political career, and his military capacity.
It clarifies the facts and the forces that led to the great confrontation between Napoleon and Wellington on Sunday, June 18th, 1815, in the battle that engaged 200,000 combatants in an area less than two miles square, and left 50,000 dead or dying.
American comedian SCOTT CAPURRO embarks on a bizarre odyssey to track down the truth about gay animals. Why would animals be gay? How do you define gay sexual behaviour? And how do you spot it in animals? This wry documentary asks if there has been a conspiracy to keep the truth about gay animals secret. From swans engaging in threesomes to chimpanzees that swing both ways, Scott travels across the globe meeting en-route the college professor funded by the US government to research the genetic make-up of gay sheep, and a recently divorced woman whose husband was so convinced his dog was gay he allegedly beat him to death with a vacuum cleaner.
In May 1915 the rumour that the Germans had crucified an unidentified Canadian Sergeant near Ypres, Belgium swept around the world. Was it propaganda? Was it a myth of the trenches? After all, it was just weeks since the historical change in warfare – when the Germans used chlorine gas for the first time against the Allies.
In 1915, few questioned it and The Crucified Soldier swiftly became headline news. It even became a Hollywood movie, “The Prussian Cur”. After the war, the German government suggested that the story was libelous and demanded an investigation. A Canadian enquiry resulted in the verdict “not proven”. But even today, 107-year-old veteran Jack Davis remembers hearing about The Crucified Soldier.
And as time has passed, reports of German war atrocities in two other Belgian towns have surfaced. With these reports came a rekindled interest in The Crucified Soldier. A Red Cross nurse’s 1915 report, and letters written to a Canadian sergeant’s family have also come to light making it clear that The Crucified Soldier cannot be forgotten.
This one-hour documentary delves into the history of The Crucified Soldier. Research has unearthed heart-wrenching letters sent from the front, old film clips and a bronze sculpture depicting the Canadian’s rumoured crucifixion. Belgium and British WWI survivors recall their terror and interviews with experts and historians from Oxford, Cambridge and London explain how this type of atrocity story can take over. Shot in Canada, the United Kingdom and Belgium, The Crucified Soldier follows this controversy as the mystery unfolds
In recent years, astronomers have been caught up in one of the most exciting scientific quests - to find new planets around distant stars. Planets from Hell tells the story of these hostile new worlds that have been discovered and explores the tantalising possibility of one day finding a planet like Earth.
A look at how our solar system is teeming with thousands of asteroids and comets. While an impact would be catastrophic for human life, it is now thought these mini-worlds played a vital part in kick-starting life on our planet.
Following NASA's successful landing of a probe on an asteroid, these mysterious objects are now yielding their secrets.
Cosmologists answer questions about the shape and size of the cosmos, and how, by decoding radiation from the dawn of time - 15 billion years ago - they can discover the limits and the ultimate destiny of the Universe.
In June 1989 Britain's clown prince of comedy, Ken Dodd, was charged with 11 counts of tax evasion. Through five captivating weeks two opposing portraits of the Liverpudlian comedian were presented in court. The prosecution claimed Dodd was a calculating cheat whilst the defence argued he was an unreliable eccentric who led a chaotic life and was bad at maths. Ken Dodd in the Dock examines the court case drawing on archive footage and interviews from Barry Cryer, Carman's son Dominic Carman and Dodd's biographer, Michael Billington.
Documentary charting the Derek and Clive phenomenon. The two foul-mouthed toilet attendants were the creations of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and were responsible for some of the filthiest comedy to come out of Britain. Despite being banned from radio and television the duo achieved great success and a cult status, but the act broke up one of the greatest comedy partnerships of recent years.
Featuring excerpts from the actual records and video footage of Cook and Moore.
Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett were among Britain's most flamboyant, outrageous and best-loved entertainers. For nearly 15 years, the lead singer of Queen and the zany radio DJ and television comedian found their lives and destinies intertwined. Meeting in 1974 on Kenny's radio show the pair instantly hit it off. While Kenny was able to assist Freddie's career by plugging Bohemian Rhapsody to enormous success, Freddie encouraged Kenny to be at ease with his sexuality.
This documentary examines the friendship between these two unique men and how the excess of shared parties, drugs and promiscuous sex destroyed their friendship and their lives. With contributions from Tony Blackburn, Barry Cryer, Bob Harris, David Evans, Kenny's ex-wife, Lee Everett-Alkin and Freddie's last long-term partner, Jim Hutton.
Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland argues that American imperialism echoes the Romans’ strategy for world domination.
Mark Thomas investigates why parts of the UK are fenced off, and in some cases not even shown on any maps.
Thirty contestants; £100,000 up for grabs. To the young hopefuls who jacked in everything for the chance to take part in a reality show, it sounded perfect. But there was no show, no production company, and the man behind it left an army of potentially destitute people in his wake. Welcome to the moment reality TV came off the rails.
When Steptoe Met Son is a 2002 Channel 4 documentary about the personal lives of Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett, the stars of the long-running BBC situation comedy, Steptoe and Son.
Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett were among Britain's most flamboyant, outrageous and best-loved entertainers. For nearly 15 years, the lead singer of Queen and the zany radio DJ and television comedian found their lives and destinies intertwined. Meeting in 1974 on Kenny's radio show the pair instantly hit it off. While Kenny was able to assist Freddie's career by plugging Bohemian Rhapsody to enormous success, Freddie encouraged Kenny to be at ease with his sexuality.
This documentary examines the friendship between these two unique men and how the excess of shared parties, drugs and promiscuous sex destroyed their friendship and their lives. With contributions from Tony Blackburn, Barry Cryer, Bob Harris, David Evans, Kenny's ex-wife, Lee Everett-Alkin and Freddie's last long-term partner, Jim Hutton.
Sex BC is a documentary, dramatised in part, in which the sexual behaviours of prehistoric peoples is brought out of the closet, so to speak. From the Ice age to the early Greek civilisations this program shows how sex has not always been the taboo subject it is today, indeed in Ancient Egyptian times sex was a religious requirement. Fertility was all. This documentary is not at all "smutty" with the subject material being handled in an intelligent and educational fashion.
Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland argues that American imperialism echoes the Romans’ strategy for world domination.
Mark Thomas investigates why parts of the UK are fenced off, and in some cases not even shown on any maps.
Thirty contestants; £100,000 up for grabs. To the young hopefuls who jacked in everything for the chance to take part in a reality show, it sounded perfect. But there was no show, no production company, and the man behind it left an army of potentially destitute people in his wake. Welcome to the moment reality TV came off the rails.
