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Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

Season 2008 2008
TV-PG

  • 2008-01-11T20:00:00Z on Channel 4
  • 45m
  • 1d (32 episodes)
  • United Kingdom
  • Documentary
Channel 4, in common with the other main British stations, airs a highly comprehensive range of programming. It was established in 1982 with a specific intention of providing programming to groups of minority interests, not catered for by its competitors, which at the time amounted to only the BBC and ITV.

33 episodes

Season Premiere

2008-01-11T20:00:00Z

2008x01 Jamie's Fowl Dinners

Season Premiere

2008x01 Jamie's Fowl Dinners

  • 2008-01-11T20:00:00Z45m

Having taken on the state of school dinners, Jamie is turning ringmaster to tackle an issue that raises difficult questions about animal welfare and what consumers are prepared to pay for quality food.
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Fifty years ago, chicken was a special treat we were lucky to have once a week. Now, thanks to modern farming methods, chicken has become an easily affordable everyday staple, with whole birds available for £2.50 – but farmers make just 3p per bird.

With the help of poultry farmers and experts including Bill Oddie and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jamie has brought together consumers, producers and retailers to discuss how chickens and eggs are produced and consumed in this country and whether things need to change.

Live in front of his guests Jamie uses demonstrations, films and interviews to highlight key aspects of chicken and egg production, including stocking densities, growth rates and how chicks and chickens are actually killed.

And Jamie will be revealing the difference in living conditions for 'standard' broiler and battery chickens, 'enriched cages', barn, free range and organic birds.

But will his guests still be hungry by the time he's finished?

I have done another show for Channel 4's Food Season and it's airing tonight at 10pm. I'm not usually on TV as much as I am at the moment, but I just really believed in these shows. This next show is called Eat To Save Your Life and basically it's another studio-based show with 18 members of the great British public, all of whom have bad diets. With the help of a doctor and my good mate Jane Clarke, they each learn what is wrong with their diet, what's likely to happen to them if they don't take action and, most importantly, what action they can take to improve their diets. Essentially, it's a massive wake-up call to everyone and offers some practical solutions on how we can all eat better and maybe even prolong our lives.

One of the most amazing parts of the show is when the famous German doctor, Gunther von Hagens, performs an autopsy on a 25-stone man who literally ate himself to death. It's not pretty but I urge you not to turn away because the fascinating insight into what our diets are doing to our insides could inspire you to change your eating habits in a positive way.

Fast Food Junkies Go Native, as part of The Big Food Fight, a season of programming which aims to raise awareness and encourage debate about food production, animal welfare and healthy eating, follows four self-confessed fast food fans as they trade processed food and sugar-laden treats for the diet of one of the healthiest communities in the world.

2008-01-28T20:00:00Z

2008x04 My Fake Baby

2008x04 My Fake Baby

  • 2008-01-28T20:00:00Z45m

Documentary exploring the lives of women who spend hundreds of pounds on life-like baby dolls. Loved like real babies, they're taken for walks, cuddled and even have their nappies changed.

2008-07-27T19:00:00Z

2008x05 Car Bomb Part 1

2008x05 Car Bomb Part 1

  • 2008-07-27T19:00:00Z45m

Part 1 of a selected 2-part documentary on the evolution of the car-bomb as one of deadliest weapons of terrorism. From the team behind "Cult of the Suicide Bombers" and presented by ex-CIA man, Robert Baer.

2008-08-03T19:00:00Z

2008x06 Car Bomb Part 2

2008x06 Car Bomb Part 2

  • 2008-08-03T19:00:00Z45m

2008-08-17T19:00:00Z

2008x07 The Perfect Vagina

2008x07 The Perfect Vagina

  • 2008-08-17T19:00:00Z45m

In an age where boob jobs, liposuction, tummy tucks and botox are now commonplace it would seem that women have found a new part of the body to worry about... their vaginas.

Vaginal cosmetic surgery on the NHS has doubled in the UK over the past five years and in the private sector there has been a 300% increase in labiplastys, making it the fastest growing form of cosmetic surgery in the UK.

In this honest, witty and compassionate film Lisa Rogers tries to find out why more and more women are considering vaginal surgery for either aesthetic or cultural reasons.

Through meeting a variety of people including her friends, family, girls who are considering surgery, sex therapists and plastic surgeons, Lisa tries to understand why girls as young as sixteen are requesting this surgery on their labia and in doing so will not only reveal how British men and women feel about vaginas but she will also be forced to confront her own feelings about her own vulva.

However, after seeing one woman undergo vaginal plastic surgery under a local anaesthetic Lisa is determined to encourage women not to go under the knife, but to seek alternative methods. ‘I’m trying to understand why a growing number of women seem to hate their vaginas’ she says, ‘I want girls to love their bits, not cut them off!’’

Kate Garraway investigates the pros and cons of cross-feeding, breast milk donation and wet-nursing by meeting some of the growing numbers of women who share each other's breast milk

2008-11-03T20:00:00Z

2008x09 The Unsinkable Titanic

2008x09 The Unsinkable Titanic

  • 2008-11-03T20:00:00Z45m

2008-12-25T20:00:00Z

2008x10 The Nativity Decoded

2008x10 The Nativity Decoded

  • 2008-12-25T20:00:00Z45m

Theologian Robert Beckford finds parts of the Nativity story perplexing, and so embarks on a global quest to investigate what lies at the heart of Christianity; the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus.

2008x11 The Man Who Killed Christ

  • 2008-12-23T20:00:00Z45m

In AD 26, Pilate was sent by Emperor Tiberius to police the troublesome Roman province of Judea. For 10 years he ruled with great success, but his career is remembered only for the part he played in one of the most infamous events in human history - the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

With testimony from some of Britain's most eminent theological and Roman scholars, including the Bishop of Durham, Dr Tom Wright, Biblical expert Professor John Barclay, Roman expert Professor Michael Whitby and Pilate specialist Dr Helen Bond, this film reassesses Pilate's actions and motives.

2008-12-04T20:00:00Z

2008x12 The Fun Police

2008x12 The Fun Police

  • 2008-12-04T20:00:00Z45m

"Conkers and donkey derbys banned; trees and hanging baskets identified as a threat to human safety... But who are the so-called 'fun police' that are apparently banishing all risk from our everyday lives? This film goes behind the headlines to tell the tale of the inspectors, consultants and council officials who make it their business to protect us from harm"

The story of seven pilgrims to Mecca are interwoven with seven great Mosques of the world and the foundations of the Islamic Faith.

2008-04-04T19:00:00Z

2008x14 The Harp

2008x14 The Harp

  • 2008-04-04T19:00:00Z45m

Harpist Catrin Finch takes a musical journey to discover the ancient and fascinating history of the harp in Wales and the world, with interviews and performances from internationally-renowned guests including Alan Stivell, Carlos Orosco, Alemu Aga, Isabelle Perrin and Elinor Bennett.

2008-04-23T19:00:00Z

2008x15 The Last Duel

2008x15 The Last Duel

  • 2008-04-23T19:00:00Z45m

Drama-documentary telling the story of one of the last trials by battle to be fought in Europe, a tale of sex, brutality and political machination set in 14th century medieval France.

A knight, Sir Jean de Carrouges, accuses his former best friend, Jacques Le Gris, of raping his wife Marguerite. Unable to obtain justice from his feudal overlord, Carrouges appeals to the king for the ancient right to fight a duel to the death to find out God's truth. There is much at stake. If Carrouges dies in the battle, Marguerite will also be burned to death as a liar.

This tense story, told from records of the day, is set against the backdrop of the 100 years war between England and France, 14th century attitudes towards women, crime and punishment and the political intrigues of the feudal system.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074sh3

2008-02-05T20:00:00Z

2008x16 America Unchained

2008x16 America Unchained

  • 2008-02-05T20:00:00Z45m

Between October and December 2006, Dave Gorman undertook a coast to coast road trip across the United States of America. A book about the trip, entitled America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip In Search of Non-Corporate USA, was released on 3 April 2008. The rationale for the trip was to discover whether it is possible to travel across the USA without ever patronising any corporate or chain-style businesses. Thus Dave ate, slept and filled his car in restaurants, hotels and gas stations which were independently owned.

2008x17 1983 Brink of Apocalypse

  • 2008-01-05T20:00:00Z45m

On this near-fateful day, a series of accidents nearly unleashed the Third World War. Senior figures in the Soviet Union had convinced themselves that they were about to come under nuclear attack from the West, and the vast Soviet nuclear arsenal of missiles, bombers and submarines were put on maximum alert, ready to launch a full nuclear retaliatory attack on Western Europe and the US. Armageddon beckoned.

Prince John was born in 1904 as the youngest child of George V and died in 1919 after a severe epileptic seizure. This is the story of the young prince's tragically short life.

A group of fossil hunters uncover not only the bones of a 77 million year old dinosaur, but its mummified and fossilized 'body'. After excavating the duckbill nicknamed 'Leonardo', scientists begin a battery of tests including a radiographic autopsy. Journey along with a team of paleontology experts as they make several astonishing discoveries including the creature's last meal and never-before-seen internal organs.

This documentary uncovers the tensions and conflict between the Queen Mother and Prince Philip in the build-up to Princess Elizabeth's coronation in 1953.

2008x21 The Man Inside Dame Edna

  • 2008-01-09T20:00:00Z45m

A character portrait of the enigmatic comedian Barry Humphries on his most recent Australian tour and an examination of the connections to his two most famous alter egos, Dame Edna and Sir Les Patterson. Interviews include Bruce Beresford and Geoffrey Rush.

2008-03-21T20:00:00Z

2008x22 Sex Change Soldier

2008x22 Sex Change Soldier

  • 2008-03-21T20:00:00Z45m

Captain Ian Hamilton is one of the most highly decorated officers in the British Army - and the first officer and paratrooper to undergo a sex-change operation.

2008x23 The Victorian Sex Explorer

  • 2008-06-09T19:00:00Z45m

Rupert Everett takes a revealing and witty journey, retracing the steps of one of his great heroes: the infamous author, explorer and sexual adventurer, Sir Richard Burton.

In The Secrets of the Twelve Disciples, broadcast in Easter 2008, Beckford explored Paul the Apostle's role in founding the Church and his relationship with Jesus' family; the Roman Catholic Church's claim to Saint Peter; Thomas the Apostle's travels to India; James, son of Zebedee as a patron saint of Spain; the demonisation of Judas Iscariot; and female Apostles.

2008-02-10T20:00:00Z

2008x25 Inside Hamas

2008x25 Inside Hamas

  • 2008-02-10T20:00:00Z45m

2008-07-14T19:00:00Z

2008x26 The Qur'an

2008x26 The Qur'an

  • 2008-07-14T19:00:00Z45m

2008-03-14T20:00:00Z

2008x27 Quest for the Lost Ark

2008x27 Quest for the Lost Ark

  • 2008-03-14T20:00:00Z45m

2008x28 Booze: A Young Person's Guide

  • 2008-02-04T20:00:00Z45m

A candid view of the highs and lows of drinking, this programme explores the risks that young people expose themselves to when drinking.

2008-02-10T20:00:00Z

2008x29 Inside Hamas

2008x29 Inside Hamas

  • 2008-02-10T20:00:00Z45m

2008-07-14T19:00:00Z

2008x30 The Qur'an

2008x30 The Qur'an

  • 2008-07-14T19:00:00Z45m

2008-03-14T20:00:00Z

2008x31 Quest for the Lost Ark

2008x31 Quest for the Lost Ark

  • 2008-03-14T20:00:00Z45m

A candid view of the highs and lows of drinking, this programme explores the risks that young people expose themselves to when drinking.

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