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Private Notes
There are an estimated 1300 pawn-broking outlets in the UK, compared to just 800 in 2003.
In this tough economic climate, pawning is no longer just the preserve of the poor; there is now a new breed of middle class pawner too. Kirsty Garland's film provides a fascinating insight into the pawnbroking business.
Paul Aitken is the founder of online pawnbroker Borro, and people are coming to him in increasing numbers to pawn their most treasured possessions.
Paul's vaults boast Ferraris, Porsches, Banksys and even a Picasso. Bought during the boom years, these items are now a quick way for their owners to get cash. Paul claims to be transforming pawnbroking's shady image, but with interest rates many times those of the banks, is he just making money from other people's misery?
First Cut introduces viewers to Paul, his business and five pawners with very different stories.
Mary is the ex-wife of a millionaire. She's pawning a diamond bracelet to tide herself over until her divorce settlement comes through. Pawning is a way of life for unemployed Karen, who loves to shop and pawns her stash of jewellery to get by. Brian is a watch addict, but finances are tight so he has to pawn one of his 24 watches.
Cheryl is a cleaner whose husband works two jobs. She plans to pawn her ring to help pay for her grandson's headstone. And Mariola is a Polish divorcee who has lost her job and her home, and may now lose the two rings she has pawned to pay her rent.
December 2010 was the coldest in Britain since records began. This film tells the story of the extreme weather of 2010, and explores the science behind why Britain came to a frozen halt.
The BAFTA and Oscar-nominated film The King's Speech has brought to the fore the inspiring story of King George VI's struggle to overcome his crippling stammer.
Featuring interviews with former patients of therapist Lionel Logue, the film provides insight into the working relationship between Logue and his royal patient as well as looking at the methods and techniques he employed to 'cure' his patients.
There are also interviews with leading historians of the King, Edward VIII, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Additionally the programme underlines the vital role of Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, in helping her husband overcome his disability.
The programme contrasts King George VI's speeches with those of his brother, the former King Edward VIII, a natural performer. Both men in speaking publicly - one renouncing his throne, the other accepting it - had to conquer their own demons and reveal themselves in a way a King had never done before.
Through these speeches the programme explores the relationships between the brothers and in turn their relationship with their father George V: the first King to speak on radio and television to his subjects.
The film also pulls into focus a moment in British history that fused the issue of the King's stammer and the destiny of the monarchy; an emerging age of mass communications; of economic depression and global instability: a period of British history when the monarchy needed to show leadership and confidence but with a King who had to overcome a key physical limitation: his stammer.
On Friday 11 March 2011, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale triggered a tsunami that devastated parts of coastal Japan.
Japan's Tsunami: How It Happened investigates the science behind the earthquake and tsunami. The programme follows Professor of Geological Sciences Roger Bilham as he sets off to view the devastation from the air.
Into Eternity is a feature documentary film directed by Danish director Michael Madsen, released in 2010. It follows the digging and pre-implementation of the Onkalo nuclear waste repository on the island of Olkiluoto, Finland. Director Michael Madsen questions Onkalo's intended eternal existence, addressing an audience in the remote future.
Into Eternity raises the question of the authorities' responsibility of ensuring compliance with relatively new safety criteria legislation and the principles at the core of nuclear waste management.
In 1939, a visionary aircraft designer called Barnes Wallis had an idea. He would design a very special bomb that would bounce across water and destroy German dams. The raid in 1943 was a success and a 1950s feature film carried the the Dambusters story into British legend. The science behind the bouncing bomb is highly complex, and many of Barnes Wallis's vital working calculations have been lost. Cambridge engineer Dr Hugh Hunt sets out in an to attempt to solve this scientific puzzle. Starting from scratch, he rediscovers the brilliance of Wallis's achievement when he tries to hit a dam with a bouncing bomb. It is the first time this has been attempted since the war. Hugh will be assisted by dam engineers, explosives experts, mechanics and pilots who specialise in low altitude flying. A vintage Second World War aircraft is modified to carry a bomb the size of an oil drum.
A decade after the end of the Second World War, Marcel Besançon, a Swiss executive working for the European Broadcasting Union, had the idea to stage a live pan-European singing competition to promote the nascent television services of western Europe.
The first Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Although only seven countries participated - six of which, significantly, went on to sign the Treaty of Rome and lay the foundations of the European Community - it was an instant hit and has become an unbroken annual fixture in the life of the continent.
But it came to mean even more than that. During the Cold War, the glitz and glamour on the Eurovision stage was seen as a symbol of western escapism and freedom, when only a very few in the Eastern bloc were able or brave enough to risk their lives by tuning in to Finnish TV signals in secret.
This documentary tells the inside story of how the Eurovision Song Contest became the most popular live musical event on the planet, and how it helped to build a new Europe.
A team of international scientists and Brian Richards, who suffers from the same disorder as 'elephant man' Jospeh Merrick, uncover details of what Merrick was actually like.
Jon Snow presents a forensic investigation into the final weeks of the quarter-century-long civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the secessionist rebels, the Tamil Tigers.
With disturbing and distressing descriptions and film of executions, atrocities and the shelling of civilians the programme features devastating new video evidence of war crimes - some of the most horrific footage Channel 4 has ever broadcast.
Captured on mobile phones, both by Tamils under attack and government soldiers as war trophies, the disturbing footage shows: the extra-judicial executions of prisoners; the aftermath of targeted shelling of civilian camps; and dead female Tamil fighters who appear to have been raped or sexually assaulted, abused and murdered.
Documentary charting the history of Nasa's space shuttle programme, as Atlantis completes its 135th and final mission. The programme explores how the craft has become a symbol of the USA's technological dominance, transformed people's understanding of the universe, aided technological advancement and enabled humans to discover the environmental impact they have on Earth.
The incredible story of how Rupert Murdoch used celebrity scandal to bankroll his expanding media empire, before scandal ultimately engulfed the News of the World itself.
Jacques Peretti talks to everyone from Hugh Grant to Murdoch insiders to find out how the world of celebrities, cops and politicians first cosied up with, and then turned against, the world's most powerful media mogul.
Amy Winehouse was one of the most talented singers of her generation, winning five Grammies.
Jacques Peretti examines the life of the late singer, in a revised and updated edition of his documentary What Really Happened.
Idris Elba reveals the defining moments in street music and culture over the last 35 years, featuring rare archive material, seminal music videos and insight from hip hop stars.
A new generation of the very best urban sports stars are teaming up with incredible young film-makers. Together they've produced stunning films that have captured the attention - and the imagination - of tens of millions of viewers.
For the very first time, Concrete Circus, directed by Mike Christie (Jump London, Inside Incredible Athletes), brings together five of the world's best street sport talents and their amazing film-makers.
Their recent films have it all: beauty, danger, jaw-dropping action, and - between them - nearly 50 million online views. They are: urban trial-rider phenomenon Danny McAskill; skateboarding virtuoso Kilian Martin; Storm Freerun's Blue with extraordinary 19-year-old parkouriste Phil Doyle (who are joined for an impressive cameo by the incredible pakour/skater Mathieu Ledoux); and, last but not least, BMX flatlander Keelan Phillips.
This feature-length documentary follows each team as they set about making a brand new film here in the UK with their film-makers (Stu Thomson, Brett Novak, Claudiu Voicu and Kendy Ty). The premire of the four new films forms the centrepiece of the documentary.
Can they better their first spectacular films?
Can they jump further, move faster, risk more?
How far do they have to go to go further than ever before?
Concrete Circus climaxes with an action-packed scene shot at The Barbican in London and directed by Christie, featuring Danny, Kilian, Blue, Phil and Keelan together on screen for the first time.
Documentary exploring how Phillip Garrido was able to kidnap 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard from outside her California home in 1991, hold her captive for 18 years and father two daughters by her. Now free to tell her story, Jaycee presents her testimony, alongside new video evidence released by the District Attorney's Office, which provides details about how a parole officer inspected Garrido's house and failed to find her. The programme includes interviews with Garrido's lawyer, the local sheriff and Jaycee's stepfather Carl Probyn.
Biographer Anne Sebba examines 15 letters by the American socialite, who was widely perceived to have lured Edward VIII away from the English throne. The documents, found among a newly discovered cache, were written around the time of the king's abdication in 1936 and indicate she was in love with another man - information that could change the historical profile of the American socialite.
In this brand new, one-off programme, British comedian, actor and gadget aficionado Stephen Fry chooses and presents his 100 all-time favourite gadgets. In a three-hour countdown, Stephen demonstrates his personal favourite devices and contraptions, all of which have revolutionised our individual and collective lives in some way. From the hi-tech to the historical, and the practical to the downright dumb, this countdown lifts the lid on some of mankind's most brilliant and wacky gadgets that we can no longer live without. Making the cut on Stephen's list are gadgets as diverse as their individual uses, from the tin opener, the trouser press and the answering machine to the apple peeler, the iron and the iPod. Fellow gadget enthusiasts interviewed include Charlie Brooker, Jo Brand, Jon Snow and Heston Blumenthal, who reveals a novel use for his favourite 80s gadget, the Soda Stream.
Of the 2752 people who died in the September 11 attacks, 343 were New York's firemen. This film tells the stories of those who died, those who survived and those who still bear the scars.
This film tells of the emergency treatment of the injured that took place in and around the World Trade Center as the jets crashed and the towers fell on the morning of 9/11. Contains scenes of the aftermath of 9/11.
Many lost their lives in the attacks, but there were also thousands of evacuating office workers and emergency responders who were burned, crushed, impaled, lacerated, blinded and traumatised. Many had life-threatening injuries.
With access to new footage and testimony from those on the ground, 9/11: Emergency Room reveals how lives were saved. As the unfolding disaster effectively cut off downtown Manhattan from the rest of New York the tiny Downtown Hospital - more used to doing breast implants than major surgery - was faced with dozens of life and death operations.
It also tells for the first time the story of the Dunkirk-style flotilla of boats that plied across the Hudson river to evacuate the seriously injured to safety.
The most complete story yet of the operation to find and kill Osama Bin Laden. A stellar cast of White House insiders speak on camera, including the first extraordinary documentary interview with President Barack Obama on the subject. From the anxiety-drenched minutes in the White House Situation Room to the deadly stairwells of Bin Laden's secret labyrinth, cinematic dramatisations take viewers deep inside one of the most important moments of our era, showing the US Navy Seals coming face to face with the most wanted man in history. Based on high-level CIA and White House briefings, and packed with exclusive stories and fresh insights, the film reveals that President Obama received a downbeat last-minute intelligence assessment, which caused many of his senior advisors to turn against the operation.
It is a mystery that has baffled scientists for centuries: how were the Ancient Egyptians able to perfectly preserve their pharaohs for millennia?
Now Channel 4 follows a team of pioneering scientists attempting to solve this 3000-year-old enigma by mummifying a body donated specifically for the purpose.
Filmed inside one of the UK's leading forensic pathology labs, the scientists want to unlock the preservation techniques used during the 'Golden Age' of Tutankhamen.
The 18th Dynasty was a time of huge cultural and political revolution, but it also marked the pinnacle of Egyptian embalming techniques. Using a secret and complex blend of ingredients and processes, priests managed to stop decomposition almost entirely.
But what were the mysterious and complex recipes they were using? Did they really understand the science behind them? And, if so, could this represent the greatest scientific achievement of Ancient Egypt?
The life story of the late co-founder of Apple, exploring his reputation for being controlling through interviews with those who knew and worked with him. Includes a never-before-broadcast interview recorded a year after he was diagnosed with cancer where the entrepreneur explains his philosophy of life, gives advice on achieving ambitions and looks back over his career
A new high-tech natural history event, Hippo: The Wild Feast presents the most comprehensive illustration to date of nature's food chain in action.
The programme, anchored live from Zambia's Luangwa Valley, shows the events of a fortnight as an entire ecological system including predators, scavengers, birds and insects consume the enormous carcass of an adult hippo.
Located by a section of the Luangwa river, a prime location for some of the biggest predators in Zambia, the hippo has been in the sights of the notoriously vicious honey badger, leopards, lions, Nile crocodiles, hyenas, wild dogs, baboons, monitor lizards and marabou storks: known as the 'undertaker birds' and which use their 10-foot wingspan to swoop down and see off other smaller vultures.
Presenter Mark Evans speaks to animal and entomology experts and local guides about the animals' behaviour and biological decomposition.
With the potential for fierce showdowns between rivals for these vital calories, Evans explains the different eating mechanisms of the animals: from crocodiles, who use each other as leverage for a 'death roll' to twist off the meat, to marabou storks, who gulp down pounds of flesh, which they store in their gullets.
The programme also features footage from the dens of predators, staked out by specialist wildlife cameramen
Broadcast just days after the trial of Dr Conrad Murray returned a guilty verdict for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson, this powerful and dramatic documentary explores the relationship between the King of Pop and his personal physician, with exclusive access to Dr Murray and his defence.
The documentary has filmed with Murray and followed him throughout the trial itself, away from the glare of the public spotlight.
The film explores Jackson's private world where the controversial use of powerful medication was a way of life, where a man adored by millions lived as a virtual recluse and where an unknown cardiologist from Las Vegas found himself the unexpected companion, confidante and intimate to one of the most famous men in the world.
When Michael Jackson died on 25 June 2009 only two people were in the room: Jackson and Dr Conrad Murray. This observational and independent documentary uncovers the fatal friendship behind the headlines and reveals the chain of events that led to one man dead and the other fighting a losing battle for his reputation and freedom.
The documentary is preceded by a 15-minute interview in which Dr Murray's version of events is explored and challenged by respected journalist Steve Hewlett.
With exclusive access to Mark Kennedy, Britain's most controversial undercover police officer, this gripping and revelatory documentary tells the definitive, inside story of Mark Stone/Kennedy.
Directed by BAFTA Award-winner Brian Hill and narrated by Kennedy, the Cutting Edge film also features interviews with the police to reconstruct the story of how Mark Kennedy went from being a regular south London police officer, with a wife and two children, to becoming Mark Stone.
This was Mark the environmental campaigner, militant activist and undercover cop who broke into power stations, learned how to make bombs, infiltrated groups hell-bent on attacking major corporations and stood arm-in-arm with anti-capitalist anarchists.
He also had a relationship with a female activist for four years and was even beaten up by fellow police officers who were unaware he was undercover. All the time he was feeding intelligence back to his handlers.
Now, with his cover blown, he lives in fear for his life. He is separated from his wife and family. The woman he fell deeply in love with as Mark Stone never wants to see him again.
For the first time, Kennedy is returning to face up to himself, his actions and to the people who claim he betrayed them.
The story of the Queen Mother's nieces Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, who were born with learning difficulties more than 80 years ago and spent most of their lives in an institution. In 1963 Burke's Peerage wrongly stated that the two had died, but Nerissa survived until 1986 and Katherine is still alive, although there is no known record of them ever having been visited by any member of the Bowes-Lyon or royal families - despite the Queen Mother being a patron of Mencap.
Alan Turing is the genius British mathematician who was instrumental in breaking the German naval Enigma Code during World War II, arguably saving millions of lives. He was also the visionary scientist who gave birth to the computer age, pioneered artificial intelligence and was the first to investigate the mathematical underpinnings of the living world.
Turing is one of the great original thinkers of the 20th century, who foresaw the digital world in which we now live. In the eyes of many scientists today Turing sits alongside Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin at the table of scientific greats.
Turing's achievements went unrecognised during his lifetime. Instead he ended up being treated as a common criminal, for being homosexual at a time when homosexual acts were a crime.
In 1952, he was convicted of 'gross indecency' with another man and was forced to undergo so-called 'organo-therapy' - chemical castration.
Two years later, he killed himself with cyanide, aged just 41. Alan Turing was driven to a terrible despair and early death by the nation he'd done so much to save.
In the last 18 months of his short life, Turing visited a psychiatrist, Dr Franz Greenbaum, who tried to help him. This film brings Turing's ideas to life by dramatising this relationship and these sessions, based on historical records, Turing's writings, and accounts of those who knew him.
The film includes the testimony of people who knew and remember Turing.
Plus, contemporary experts from the world of technology and high science, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, bring Turing's exciting impact up to the present day, explaining why, in many ways, modern technology has only just begun to explore the potential of Turing's ideas.
Linda Carty was born on the Commonwealth island of St Kitts. She's awaiting execution in Texas: if she's killed, she'll be the first British woman to be executed since Ruth Ellis, over 50 years ago.
In this moving documentary, film maker Steve Humphries goes in search of the real Linda Carty: who she is, where she came from, and how she ended up in arguably the worst place in the world, Death Row.
Linda was convicted of capital murder in 2002 after it was alleged she was the mastermind behind a horrific crime. In May 2001, a criminal gang broke into the home of Linda's neighbours and abducted a young mother and her three-day-old baby boy.
The next day the baby was found alive in one of Linda's cars, but his mother was found dead in another - she had been suffocated.
Fascinating documentary that ollows a team of engineers, archaeologists and serving RAF officers who have assembled on the site of Stalag Luft III - the supposedly escape-proof World War II Prisoner of War camp.
This was the Great Escape, immortalised by Hollywood and Steve McQueen in 1963, and now internationally known as a story of extraordinary courage and ingenuity.
But how did the POWs do it? How did they dig a 100-metre tunnel, seven metres below ground, with only cutlery for tools? How did they forge more than 100 documents? What did they do with the 90 double bunk beds, 635 mattresses, 3424 towels (and more besides) that they stole from the camp? And who were these remarkable people?
Interweaving the historical narrative with first-hand testimonies and the unfolding story of the excavations and experiments, this film offers a new insight into the Great Escape, and is a celebration of a remarkable group of men.
Eyewitness accounts of the tsunami that devastated Japan in March 2011, captured by the people who kept filming as the cataclysmic events unfolded around them.
With a record-breaking cold winter, the tsunami in Japan, the extraordinary killer American tornado season, the floods in Australia and a hurricane in New York, 2011 has seen an onslaught of epic-scale climate and geological events across the world, all caught on camera in the most spectacular fashion.
Using eye-witness footage, interviews with survivors and rescuers and analysis from geological and weather specialists, this documentary charts the incredible natural events of a year where almost every month was affected by a natural disaster.
This one-off special looks at the untold life of British national treasure, comedian and magician Tommy Cooper.
Drawing on details from the meticulous diaries of his life-long manager, Miff Ferrie, The Untold Tommy Cooper features previously unheard audio and unseen archive footage from Cooper's personal and professional life, including material never performed before.
Fans as diverse as Johnny Vegas, Damien Hirst, Ozzy Osbourne, Sir Roger Moore, Alfred Molina and Reece Shearsmith talk about their love of Cooper, and voices never heard before - including the man who tried to save Cooper's life - reveal their stories and passion for this comedy giant.
Includes footage of his sudden collapse and death on stage.
Set in Clapham Junction, London, London's Burning is a dramatic interpretation of a single night of rioting and looting that took place in August 2011. Starring David Morrissey (The Other Boleyn Girl, Red Riding, Nowhere Boy) and Samantha Bond (Goldeneye, Downton Abbey, Outnumbered) as senior police officers, London's Burning tells how residents, shopkeepers and businesses dealt with the violence.
In the German hamlet of Herxheim, archaeologists excavating a 7000-year-old mass grave of up to 1000 Stone Age people have concluded that the site was not a Neolithic graveyard, as previously assumed, but a killing field where hundreds of men, women and children met a grisly fate.
Scholars now believe that Stone Age Europe was much more violent than previously thought, and some scientists believe the bodies in Herxheim were murdered, cooked and cannibalised in sacrificial rites that drew participants from hundreds of miles away.
It's a possibility that calls into question much of what we thought we knew about civilisation, and forces us to face the fact that cannibalism and human sacrifice may be undeniable parts of our human history.
This programme follows the investigations.
Graffiti - the work of mindless vandals or creative geniuses? To some it is art, to others it is a sign we've lost control of our cities. Since Roman times graffiti has been a form of anti-establishment rebellion. But today it is transcending social nuisance to gain cultural and artistic credibility, unprecedented prices at auction and even Presidential and Prime Ministerial approval.
However, at street level a bitter war is being waged between graffiti writers, street artists and the authorities. While graffiti writers face trial and prison sentences for their art, some street artists' work is lauded and protected behind Perspex. This issue is at the heart of a graffiti war being fought on the streets of London between one of the founding fathers of the British graffiti scene and the most famous street artist in the world.
In London over the past 18 months the tension between the camps has played out in a battle of spray cans between supporters of freehand graffiti writer King Robbo and those of his nemesis, the stencil-using street artist Banksy.
The "graffiti war" between the two men began in the early 90's but was re-ignited by what was widely seen in some graffiti circles as an unforgiveable transgression of graffiti "rules" by Banksy. It was an act that pulled 80s legend King Robbo out of retirement to retaliate in the place where it all began, the streets. Directed and produced by Jane Preston, the film goes behind enemy lines as the war escalates - until tragic and unforeseen circumstances bring about an unexpected ceasefire.
This gripping, feature-length documentary charts the first year in the life of Britain's new Supreme Court - the highest court in the land. With unprecedented access the film meets the judges, lawyers and ordinary people whose cases will have a far-reaching effect on the everyday lives of others across the UK.
For those bringing these high-profile cases to court there is a lot at stake, and the programme reveals their hopes and fears as they and their legal teams come face-to-face with the most powerful judges in the UK.
The judges have allowed proceedings to be filmed and, uniquely, justice is seen unfolding as judges and lawyers - the finest legal minds in the country - debate key contemporary issues. See David and Goliath battles of individuals challenging the state, the outcomes of which help to define the nature of society today.
Frozen for more than 5000 years on a remote mountain pass, Ötzi the Iceman now lies in a refrigerated tomb. He's a survivor from the Stone Age, bearing secrets of how humans lived nearly 1000 years before the pyramids.
His mummified corpse pulled from a glacier in the Alps two decades ago has been probed by scientists for the last 20 years. Yet he's still a mystery waiting to be solved.
Who was Ötzi? How did he die? Was it in battle? Or was he murdered?
After two years of preparation, a risky autopsy against the clock overturns past theories. The Iceman's DNA and last meal surprise the experts.
At last they come closer to understanding our ancient past and to solving this case of death in the Neolithic Age.
Britain’s Most Fragile Treasure sees historian Dr Janina Ramirez unlock the secrets of a centuries-old masterpiece in glass. At 78 feet in height, the Great East Window at York Minster, often referred to as England’s Sistine Chapel, is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the country, and it was the creative vision of a single craftsman, John Thornton, the foremost stained-glass artist of his time.
The scale of John Thornton’s achievement is revealed as Dr Ramirez follows the work of the conservation team at York Glaziers Trust, who are restoring the Great East Window to its original glory. The programme promises a unique opportunity to examine John Thornton’s greatest work at close quarters, and to reveal exactly how medieval artists made images of such complexity using the simplest of tools.
The Great East Window of York Minster is more than a work of artistic genius, it tells a story of the medieval world, preserved in the most fragile medium of all: glass.
The Johnson family appeared to have it all after two decades of happy marriage: professional success, a beautiful house in Kent, flaxen-haired children...
Locals jokingly referred to them as a 'Sunday Supplement Family'. But one day Nick told his wife he had a surprise for her, led her blind-folded into the garden, and committed an act of violence far worse than anything they could have imagined.
Henry, who was just 16 at the time, became a witness to the crime.
We Need to Talk About Dad meets the Johnsons as they reunite for Christmas, fulfilling the dreams of the youngest son Felix who - until now - has been sheltered from the events of that day.
Henry's need to confront what happened sees each of them come face to face with the mystery of the attack, and the impact it has had on their lives.
A journey through some of the finest moments of acoustic guitar performances from the BBC archives, from Jimmy Page's television debut in 1958 to Oasis and Biffy Clyro. Other highlights include Neil Young's Heart of Gold, David Bowie's Starman, Donovan's Mellow Yellow, Joan Armatrading's Woncha Come on Home, Bert Jansch, Johnny Marr and Bernard Butler, and Joni Mitchell's Chelsea Morning.
Three British families try out the tax, pensions and work practices that caused Greece's economic crisis and brought on the austerity measures aimed at cutting the deficit and qualifying for EU bailouts. A 54-year-old British hairdresser discovers the generosity of the Greek pensions system, which still allows hairdressers, pastry chefs, radio continuity announcers and people in almost 600 other jobs to retire aged 53 at 90% of the final pension because their jobs are defined as hazardous. A bus driver reaps the rewards of the Greek approach to state-run services, where bus drivers could be paid up to almost double the national average salary and receive extra bonuses for arriving at work early and for checking bus tickets. And a British surgeon is delighted to discover how paying income tax the Greek way will transform his disposable income. The personal experiences of the three main characters are supported by expert interviews that establish the patterns of tax evasion, corruption and mismanagement that have helped to sink the Greek economy.
The story of the people of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, where nuclear weapons tests during the Soviet era are thought to have caused genetic defects in a new generation. Local medical records now indicate one in 20 of the area's children is born with genetic defects, and the programme highlights the work of a maternity doctor piloting a genetic passport scheme aiming to reduce the chances of women with damaged genes getting pregnant
Jon Snow turns his eye and mind back to an extraordinary 12 months of news in Britain and abroad, and reflects on how his own life has changed in the past year.
This is not a classic compendium of major events but a very personal recollection of the stories which mattered to Jon Snow. Some he witnessed first hand; like the fall of Mubarak or the aftermath of the Japanese Tsunami. Others he covered from the studios of Channel 4 News - but all left their mark on him and millions of others.
For Jon personally 2011 was the year of the social network and the year of the bicycle. Both have become vital to his work and both seemed to take off in a big way. It's also a year when his own profession came under intense public scrutiny. And oh yes... It's the year he appeared on Desert Island Discs and received an honorary degree from Liverpool University 45 years after the same University threw him out for student activism.
In this programme Jon bypasses the usual suspects - the politicians, commentators and diplomats - focussing instead on those directly affected or involved and talking in his own inimitable style to the people whose voices are not always heard when history is written.
Building on his reputation for warm, frank and honest commentary, Jon Snow's 2011 does what it says on the tin and gives Channel 4 viewers a uniquely personal take on an extraordinary 12 months of British and world news.
Elephants can live for seventy years. But what happens when one of these magnificent beasts dies in the wild?
This stunning film turns normal wildlife documentaries on their head to find out what happens after death, as a five ton adult elephant is transformed into six million calories worth of fat, meat and guts, feeding a whole new cycle of life.
The documentary gives scientists the chance to watch close up, day and night, as animals from leopards, hyenas and vultures, to flies and beetles, take just days to reduce the largest land animal on earth to bare bones.
Biologist Simon watt leads a team of experts watching the events unfold in Tsavo West National Park in Kenya. They will be following the action as never before, using remote cameras and night vision equipment under the supervision of animal behaviour expert, Warren Samuels.
The elephant, a young adult male, had to be put down by a vet after being mortally wounded by ivory poachers. But his remains will provide a feast for the local ecosystem and a new source of research.
Raptor expert, Simon Thomsett, is keen to study the behaviour of local vultures, whose increasing timidity could mark a shift in the food chain.
Meanwhile big cat expert Alayne Cotterill is treated to the incredibly rare sight of leopards feeding on the elephant and insect expert Dino Martins marvels as flies and maggots swarm across the body and attract other predators in their turn.
The eye-opening documentary is a unique insight into a natural spectacle that reveals how life has adapted to reap the bounty of death.
Wallis Simpson was at the center of a national scandal when she was seen to ensnare Edward VIII and lure him from the throne. Recently discovered letters reveal her secret love and her fear as she found herself becoming trapped into marrying Edward VIII.
Bafta award-winning director Dan Reed (Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai) untangles the hysteria, fury and politics surrounding the ‘Mosque at Ground Zero'. His film explores how this proposed mosque and Islamic community centre, two blocks away from the site of the 9/11 attacks in lower Manhattan, has thrown into sharp focus the tensions at the core of American democracy regarding the country's Muslim population.
With unique access to the major players in the project and the unfolding events, Ground Zero Mosque recounts the press frenzy surrounding the plans, the vitriolic attacks on its high-profile spiritual leader, Imam Feisal, the heartrending stories of some of the 9/11 families who oppose the building and reveals the driving force behind the mosque.
Wallis Simpson was at the center of a national scandal when she was seen to ensnare Edward VIII and lure him from the throne. Recently discovered letters reveal her secret love and her fear as she found herself becoming trapped into marrying Edward VIII.
Who is the world's greatest TV prankster? Could it be Jeremy Beadle? Sacha Baron Cohen? Or maybe it's the Fonejacker? Comedian and presenter Mark Dolan holds the world's first comedy summit to answer this very question with the help of some of Britain's funniest and freshest young comedians. Each of Mark's comedy delegates will state the case for who they believe should make the list, showcasing the very best clips from some of the world's greatest and weirdest prank shows. From classic footage to popular internet shows like Fonejacker, Jackass and Punk'd, to some of the weirdest most extreme pranking you have ever seen from shows in Japan, Venezuela and Mexico, this show has it all.
An hour-long special made by Banksy charting the history of behaving badly in public, from anarchists and activists to attention seeking eccentrics.
Documentary capturing the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan earlier this year, using amateur footage filmed by those caught up in the disaster.
Bafta award-winning director Dan Reed (Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai) untangles the hysteria, fury and politics surrounding the ‘Mosque at Ground Zero'. His film explores how this proposed mosque and Islamic community centre, two blocks away from the site of the 9/11 attacks in lower Manhattan, has thrown into sharp focus the tensions at the core of American democracy regarding the country's Muslim population.
With unique access to the major players in the project and the unfolding events, Ground Zero Mosque recounts the press frenzy surrounding the plans, the vitriolic attacks on its high-profile spiritual leader, Imam Feisal, the heartrending stories of some of the 9/11 families who oppose the building and reveals the driving force behind the mosque.
