Season 2013 2010 - 2013

TV-PG

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams reveals the hidden corners of the cathedral.

In the 1950s, Britain looked back on its epic war effort in films such as The Dam Busters, The Cruel Sea and The Colditz Story. However, even at the time these productions were criticised for being class-bound and living in the past. Journalist and historian Simon Heffer argues that these films have real cinematic merit and a genuine cultural importance, that they tell us something significant not only about the 1950s Britain from which they emerged but also about what it means to be British today. His case is supported by interviews with stars including Virginia McKenna, Sylvia Syms and Sir Donald Sinden, with further contributions from directors Guy Hamilton (The Colditz Story) and Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters).

Like many seaside resorts, Blackpool has been through hard times but it remains Britain's number one holiday destination. This film goes behind the scenes with the people working hard to keep Blackpool ahead of the game through one of the wettest summers on record.
We follow car park entrepreneur and businessman Howard Plant as he attempts to open a new cabaret venue in time for the summer season. We meet Claire Smith who runs the family guesthouse business. Faced with the prospect of her only son leaving town, and dashing her hopes of him joining the family firm, what can she do to persuade him to stay? We also follow variety promoter Tony Jo, he as puts together the acts he hopes will pull in the crowds at Blackpool's Grand Theatre.

Historian James Holland presents a fresh analysis of the World War Two battle for the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta.

The Battle for Malta is one of the most vicious and violent episodes of the Second World War. The tiny Mediterranean island is smaller than the Isle of Wight, yet between 1940 and 1942 more bombs fell on Malta than fell on Britain during the entire Blitz. As Axis forces threw all they had at the island, those on Malta were forced to endure a sustained attack from the air and a rapidly deteriorating condition on the ground. Beyond any form of austerity that we might understand, little Malta was close to starving. The struggle of the Maltese people against oppression was recognised personally by King George VI, who awarded the George Cross to the entire island. Yet the Siege of Malta is only half of the story.

In this documentary, Holland argues that the real importance of Malta's position was its offensive role, which has been largely undervalued.

Caught in the crosshairs of a massive struggle between Britain and Germany to control the shipping waters of the Mediterranean, by 1942 Malta had become the most bombed place on Earth. Whilst the level of brutal attacks may seem out of all proportion to the islands size it actually only serves to underline its importance - for Malta held the key to the entire war in the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Britain is in the grip of a fertility crisis, with more and more people seeking treatment to help them get that elusive, dream baby. But what is it like to work on the frontline of fertility treatment?

Award-winning filmmaker Richard Macer spends three months in the Hewitt Fertility Centre in Liverpool, one of the largest fertility clinics in Britain. He meets gynaecologist Professor Charles Kingsland, who believes that not being able to have a child is a disease that blights society. Every day Kingsland and his team harvest women's eggs, whilst the men are sent to the 'masterbatorium'.

In the lab, Macer finds the scientists who perform the profound act of conception every day, bringing together eggs and sperm in tiny plastic petri dishes. The film follows the stories of four couples as they pursue their dream of getting pregnant, but from the perspective of the staff. What is it like for the staff to be involved everyday in the creation of new life? Does anyone come closer to playing God?

Documentary about people who fight their parking tickets, following the stories of both the council parking enforcement departments who issue tickets - and the motorists who have decided to fight back against the system. Aside from the stories of the ordinary motorists fighting their individual tickets, the film also follows 'parking campaigners', dedicated amateurs who insist that the councils are unjustly punishing motorists and using parking as a way to raise revenues. Some get tickets deliberately to prove their point, others take their parking tickets to the High Court, whilst one group have even formed a masked motorcycle gang to take their fight to the streets. The film also hears from the other side of the issue - the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, the legally-binding national body that has the final say on whether motorists must pay their parking tickets or not.

Professor Jeremy Black examines one of the most extraordinary periods in British history: the Industrial Revolution. He explains the unique economic, social and political conditions that by the 19th century, led to Britain becoming the richest, most powerful nation on Earth. It was a time that transformed the way people think, work and play forever.

A look back at the extraordinary life of Sir Patrick Moore, focusing on his work as an astronomer and broadcaster. His keen interest in the night sky inspired generations. With contributions from Brian May, Sir Tim Rice and Heather Couper.

Stacey Dooley travels to Magaluf, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, to get under the skin of this popular resort. The resort is famous for the drunken antics of the British tourists who go there, but Stacey wants to find out what it's like for the thousands of Spanish workers who serve, police and clear up.
What starts out as a regular shift at a bar or cleaning hotel rooms often ends up with Stacey uncovering a darker side that only the workers and residents get to see. Working in a bar Stacey is not only surprised to learn how much free alcohol is on offer to young British tourists, but she's horrified when she witnesses the sexually explicit drinking games the drunk tourists are encouraged to play. When she spends a morning cleaning hotel rooms, not only does she learn about the vandalism and mess tourists leave behind, but she meets one member of staff who's been left traumatised after he saw a young girl fall to her death at the hotel earlier this year, leaving him constantly worried about the safety of inebriated guests. Stacey discovers that the high numbers of tourists who die or are badly injured every year is linked to heavy drinking.
But it's when Stacey rides along with an ambulance crew and a police patrol car over a busy weekend that she discovers things are really getting out of control in Magaluf. She hears how the emergency services have seen their worst year ever, cases of violent fights and rape are on the rise, women posing as prostitutes are ganging up on young, and often British, tourists and robbing them. Sadly this year, they've seen more deaths in the resort than ever before, mainly due to a craze called balconing.

Mark Radcliffe presents a countdown of the ten songs which have earned the most money of all time - ten classic songs each with an extraordinary story behind them. Radcliffe lifts the lid on how music royalties work and reveals the biggest winners and losers in the history of popular music

Britain's drug culture is changing - fast. Cocaine and ecstasy are out and mephedrone, ketamine and GHB are in. Shot in Leeds over the biggest party weekend of the year - Halloween and Bonfire Night - this film gets under the skin of the new party drugs. We follow Holly, Tony and Oliver from the dancefloor to the morning after and, with unique access to the first specialist 'club drug clinic' outside London, we find out what happens to those who want to keep going even when the party's over.

Winter was not always beautiful. Until Pieter Bruegel painted Hunters in the Snow, the long bitter months had never been transformed into a thing of beauty. This documentary charts how mankind's ever-changing struggle with winter has been reflected in western art throughout the ages, resulting in images that are now amongst the greatest paintings of all time. With contributions from Grayson Perry, Will Self, Don McCullin and many others, the film takes an eclectic group of people from all walks of life out into the cold to reflect on the paintings that have come to define the art of snow and ice.

Five members of the same platoon were killed on the 10th July 2009 in what remains the worst incident for a British foot patrol in the history of the Afghan campaign. Through powerful and touching interviews with some of the young soldiers who survived the attack, this film reveals how their lives are still haunted by the horrors of Helmand.

Dishing the dirt on the battles being fought on plots across the UK. Filmed over seven months, during the planting, growing and harvesting seasons, Allotment Wars shows what happens when strangers are thrust together on the land with too much time on their hands and too many sharp tools.

Plotholders often face attacks from outsiders. In Kent, following a series of break-ins, two brave gardeners hunt a suspect in the local woods. However in Devon, there is a civil war brewing between the plotholders themselves. Prize vegetables are being snatched and sheds ransacked, and it looks like an inside job. What can the site committee do to combat the saboteurs?

Nearly 100,000 Britons are on allotment waiting lists. This high demand means that the pressure to maintain plots is equally high. If allotmenteers fail, eviction looms. A young plotholder in Manchester struggles to avoid such a fate.

In Newcastle, two men fight for the title of Champion City Gardener. Regular participants in the fiercely competitive vegetable shows, these rivals have not spoken for years and tension mounts as they face each other at the annual City Allotment and Garden Show.

The German invasion of Poland in 1939 marked the beginning of the Second World War and the escalation of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. It also was the beginning of one of the war's truly inspiring and remarkable stories.

Prisoner A26188 tells the story of a young Polish girl Henia. Born into a middle class Jewish family, she lost her father, brother and sister during the German occupation, survived four concentration camps, and went on to bear witness to the creation of Israel in 1948.

Now in her eighties, Henia's harrowing personal testimony starts with her family's removal from their home in Radom, Poland, to the ghetto, then Plaszow concentration camp, made famous by Schindler's list, onto Majdanek then Auschwitz and finally Bergen-Belsen. Henia describes with calm and dignity the terrors of the camps, the cruelty of the SS, the Death March and how, through a combination of her own resourcefulness and luck, she survived. In this extraordinary testament Henia explains, how after being reunited with her mother and brother, she makes her way to Palestine, sees in the birth of Israel, falls in love with a young South African and moves to Africa to start a new life.

Filmed by her niece, this is her story of survival, and a legacy to her family and other survivors of genocide.

Every winter, millions of us come down with colds, flu and stomach problems caused by viruses like Norovirus - the highly contagious vomiting bug which has swept the country this year. It has closed hundreds of hospital wards and infected well over a million people. Flu figures are also higher than last year and are still climbing, plus we have seen high cases of a little known but extremely nasty respiratory virus called RSV which affects babies and young children.
So why does winter makes us ill? And what can we do to protect ourselves against these normally routine illnesses that have the potential to turn lethal and cost the economy billions of pounds every year?
Professor Alice Roberts and Dr Michael Mosley report from a pop up studio close to many of London's leading hospitals and medical research institutions on the latest virus outbreaks across the country. With the help of leading virologists, they will be finding out what viruses do to our bodies, explaining what viruses are, examining how they spread and advising what we can do to stay fit and healthy for the rest of the winter.

For better or for worse: the vows may be the same, but in our increasingly diverse society, popular wedding traditions are far from what you would expect.

Married In Britain provides a portal into the lives of Britain's newest arrivals facing the everyday challenges of establishing a new life in the UK, as they prepare for one of the biggest days of their lives.

We are invited to celebrate a diverse array of customs and cultures as couples embrace their new home while seeking to hold on to familiar traditions. They offer us a fresh look at Britain, sharing their experiences of getting married in one of the most exciting nations on earth

Jonathan Meades is unleashed on the county of Essex. Contrary to its caricature as a bling-filled land of breast-enhanced footballer's wives and self-made millionaires, Meades argues that this is a county that defies definition - at once the home of picturesque villages, pre-war modernism and 19th-century social experiments.

Shaped by its closeness to London, Meades points out that this is where 19th-century do-gooders attempted to reform London's outcasts with manual labour and fresh air, from brewing magnate Frederick Charrington's Temperance Colony on Osea Island to the Christian socialist programmes run by Salvation Army founder William Booth.

Meades also discovers a land which abounds in all strains of architecture, from the modernist village created by paternalistic shoe giant Thomas Bata to Oliver Hill's masterplan to re-imagine Frinton-on-Sea and the bizarre but prescient work of Arthur Mackmurdo, whose exceptionally odd buildings were conceived in the full blown language of the 1930s some fifty years earlier.

In a visually impressive and typically idiosyncratic programme, Meades provides a historical and architectural tour of a county that typically challenges everything you thought you knew and offers so much you didn't.

Every year, over a thousand climbers try to reach the summit of Mount Everest, with the annual record for successful attempts currently standing at 633. But of that number, nearly half were Sherpas - the mountain's unsung heroes. Yet the Sherpa community has remained secretive about their nation, culture and experiences living in the shadow of the world's highest mountain. Now, for the first time, they open the door into their world.
Without the expertise of the Sherpas, only the hardiest and most skilful climbers would succeed. Every day they risk their lives for the safety of others, yet they seek neither glory nor reward, preferring to stay in the background. Following the stories of four such Sherpas - Phurba, Ngima, Ngima Tenji and Gelu - this film reveals the reality of their daily lives, not just up the mountain, but with their families after they return home.

For one night only, Professor Brian Cox goes unplugged in a specially recorded programme from the lecture theatre of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. In his own inimitable style, Brian takes an audience of famous faces, scientists and members of the public on a journey through some of the most challenging concepts in physics.
With the help of Jonathan Ross, Simon Pegg, Sarah Millican and James May, Brian shows how diamonds - the hardest material in nature - are made up of nothingness; how things can be in an infinite number of places at once; why everything we see or touch in the universe exists; and how a diamond in the heart of London is in communication with the largest diamond in the cosmos.

Growing numbers of young British women are converting to Islam. Shanna Bukhari, a 26-year-old Muslim from Manchester, sets out to find out why girls are giving up partying, drinking and wearing whatever they want for a religion some people associate with the oppression of women.

This warm documentary follows the highs and lows of five girls as they embrace their new faith. From adapting to a religion that allows a man to marry up to four wives to the acceptance of friends and family, it isn't always easy.

With unprecedented access, this film uncovers the hidden world of public protection. Through the personal stories of probation officers, it explores how offenders are monitored, controlled and rehabilitated in everyday life, and how the public are protected from them.

This is the story of our protectors; the extraordinary professionals in the probation service who work with some of society's most troubled, damaged and dangerous people. They keep tabs on murderers and paedophiles, robbers and rapists, burglars and domestic abusers. It is their responsibility to stop them from hurting us.

But these offenders aren't behind bars; they're out and about, living free among us. So how are they controlled, and how are we kept safe?

Between the mid 1960s and the late 1970s, the long-playing record and the albums that graced its grooves changed popular music for ever. For the first time, musicians could escape the confines of the three-minute pop single and express themselves as never before across the expanded artistic canvas of the album. The LP allowed popular music become an art form - from the glorious artwork adorning gatefold sleeves, to the ideas and concepts that bound the songs together, to the unforgettable music itself.

Built on stratospheric sales of albums, these were the years when the music industry exploded to become bigger than Hollywood. From pop to rock, from country to soul, from jazz to punk, all of music embraced what 'the album' could offer. But with the collapse of vinyl sales at the end of the 70s and the arrival of new technologies and formats, the golden era of the album couldn't last forever.

With contributions from Roger Taylor, Ray Manzarek, Noel Gallagher, Guy Garvey, Nile Rodgers, Grace Slick, Mike Oldfield, Slash and a host of others, this is the story of When Albums Ruled the World.

Across Britain police are dealing with a new crime wave, metal theft. The high price of metal has led organised criminal gangs to tear apart Britain's infrastructure, stripping metal from railways, power stations, churches and even war memorials. This documentary shows British Transport Police fighting back and reveals the consequences of metal theft, from the risk of electrocution to thieves, the emotional distress caused to victims and even an explosion.

On the 50th anniversary of the famous 12-hour session at Abbey Road which resulted in the Beatles' iconic album Please Please Me, leading artists such as Stereophonics, Graham Coxon, Gabrielle Aplin, Joss Stone, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Paul Carrack, Mick Hucknall and I Am Kloot attempt to record the same songs, in the same timescale, in the same studio. The results will be captured in this programme, presented by Stuart Maconie. Amongst those paying their own tribute to the album's success are Burt Bacharach and Guy Chambers, as well as people lucky enough to have been there 50 years ago telling the remarkable story of what happened that day, including engineer Richard Langham and Beatles' press officer Tony Barrow.

Documentary following the men and women who are passionate about clearing their local streets of litter and dog fouling, as they confront the litterers and roll up their sleeves to clear up other people's mess. 30 million tonnes of litter are dumped on British streets every year. It costs a billion pounds a year to clear up, and hard-pressed councils cannot always cope with the daily tide of dog mess, drinks cans, sweet wrappers and cigarette ends. Some vigilantes, like retired teacher and soldier John, prefer to confront litterers head-on; others, like Adrian in Leicester, deal with the problem by picking up the rubbish themselves - Adrian has harvested more than 50,000 drinks tins from his local streets. And Jill, in North Yorkshire, mounts one of Britain's most unusual dog fouling campaigns - highlighting every dog mess on a popular footpath with a pink flag. After marking 72 of them, she runs out of flags.

Forget fingerprints and DNA matching – in London in 1864 the best evidence the police had to work with to track down a killer was a half-crushed beaver hat.

In this forensic exhumation of the nation’s ‘first railway murder’, reconstructions flesh out archive accounts to review the conviction of German-born tailor Franz Müller for the murder of 69-year-old banker Thomas Briggs, tracked down by Detective Dick Tanner (Robert Whitelock). By today’s standards, the verdict seems as shaky as a line in dire need of engineering works.

Documentary telling the story of the world's craziest race.

In 1977 French motorcyclist Thierry Sabine was in serious trouble, lost in the Libyan desert and dying from thirst. Whilst most men would weep and think back over their lives, Thierry thought about coming back - to do a rally across the Sahara Desert. The 9,000km Paris-Dakar rally was born. The rally became a beacon for eccentric adventurers battling the terrain in customised vehicles, seduced by the romance of the desert and the extreme challenge. It soon became a victim of its own rapid success. Caught up in controversy and with a total of over 60 deaths, in 2008 this incredible event was brought to an end in Africa by terrorism.

Featuring winners Cyril Neveu, Hubert Auriol, Jean Louis Schlesser, Ari Vatanen, Stephane Peterhansel, Martine De Cortanze, former participant Sir Mark Thatcher and many more, this is the story of the biggest motorsport event the world has ever seen and one of the greatest challenges of human endeavour ever conceived, told by those that took part.

How the West took on a landscape of incredible beauty and scale. And lost.

Documentary telling the story of Britain's first hand transplant, carried out by surgeons at Leeds Infirmary on Boxing Day night 2012, from the moment Professor Simon Kay and his team decided to go ahead to the moment the patient was able to move the transplanted hand.

During that time, candidates came forward from all over the UK and beyond - including a hairdresser, an IT consultant, a former pub landlord, a DJ and a retired housewife - all of whom had lost the use of at least one of their hands.

But before they could go ahead, the doctors had to be sure they were physically and psychologically prepared. Some decided that the risks - including the potentially life-shortening drugs that would need to be taken for the rest of their life - weren't worthwhile. Others decided that the misery of living without a hand outweighed everything else.

This thought-provoking film is with them as they make their decisions - and with the surgeons as the patient who comes through the process is finally taken into the operating theatre.

With Italy going to the polls on 24th and 25th February, Bill Emmott, former editor of The Economist and a man with a special passion for Italy and Italians since his teenage years, asks where has Italy gone wrong and examines the good sides about Italy as well as the disasters.

Johnny Kingdom, the wild man of Exmoor, is back and going further than he's ever been before - the trip of a lifetime to Kodiak Island in Alaska in search of brown bears.

As a lad, amateur wildlife filmmaker Johnny would poach salmon from the rivers on Exmoor with his bare hands, but his lifelong ambition has been to see how the real experts - brown bears - do it, as they fish for sockeye salmon in the remote rivers of Kodiak Island off the southwest coast of Alaska.

It is also the biggest challenge he has faced as an amateur cameraman. In characteristic style, Johnny finds himself struggling to keep his camera still without a tripod and because his hands are shaking so much when faced with a 'hooge' bear less than 30 metres away.

The other challenge he faces, which he cannot control, is the weather. In the summer, although the snow has melted this part of Alaska is plagued by heavy mists and fog, which makes the journey by seaplane to the remote areas where the bears live even harder to achieve.

Fortunately Johnny is able to take advantage of being grounded and heads out on a boat into the rich waters around Kodiak Island to film humpback whales, tufted puffins and an enchantingly close encounter with sea otters.

But it's the bears he's come for and Johnny finally gets the shots he wanted - bears catching salmon. He can hardly believe it.

This is Johnny Kingdom at his best - infectiously enthusiastic, madly exuberant and never less than hugely enjoyable.

Danny Leigh explores the elemental drama of the boxing movie. For over 120 years, boxing and film have been entwined and the fight film has been used to address powerful themes such as redemption, race and corruption. Film writer Leigh examines how each generation's fight films have reflected their times and asks why filmmakers from Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese have returned time and again to tales of the ring.

Interviewees include former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, Rocky director John G Avildsen and Thelma Schoonmaker, editor of Raging Bull.

As it celebrates its 90th birthday, Barbara Flynn narrates the story of the nation's love affair with the steam locomotive that symbolises all that was great about British engineering, the Flying Scotsman.

Michael Grade goes on the trail of the world's oldest joke as he sets out to discover whether jokes come and go with the passing of time or whether we are still laughing at the same things our ancestors did.

Paris-based writer Andrew Hussey travels through the glorious art and surprising history of an extraordinary French institution to show that the story of the Louvre is the story of France. As well as exploring the masterpieces of painters such as Veronese, Rubens, David, Chardin, Gericault and Delacroix, he examines the changing face of the Louvre itself through its architecture and design. Medieval fortress, Renaissance palace, luxurious home to kings, emperors and more recently civil servants, today it attracts eight million visitors a year. The documentary also reflects the very latest transformation of the Louvre - the museum's recently-opened Islamic Gallery.

John Adams is the living composer who is most widely performed today. This visually rich portrait of the composer by award-winning film maker Mark Kidel explores the influences that have shaped Adams's unique music, from minimalism to jazz and from the Indian raga to the European classical tradition.

Documentary telling the bruised and battered, but triumphant, tale of one of the UK's most cherished rock 'n' roll bands, Mott the Hoople.

Originating from Herefordshire, the band were thrown together in 1969 and signed to Island Records by the increasingly erratic manager/producer Guy Stevens, in a bid to find a band that would combine The Rolling Stones rhythmic power with the melody and lyricism of 'Blonde on Blonde' era Bob Dylan.

The documentary charts their journey from cult struggling touring band to their successful transformation into 'glam rock players' thanks to the intervention of David Bowie who gave them their biggest hit, 'All The Young Dudes', and their subsequent collapse after the addition of Mick Ronson to their line-up.

Mott the Hoople's story is brought to life through a combination of rare and unseen archive footage, their magnificent music and the testimony of band members Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Verden Allen, Dale Griffin, Luther Grosvenor aka Ariel Bender and various other associates and witnesses, including boyhood fan Mick Jones of The Clash and Queen's Roger Taylor.

An intimate insight into the world of the Hutterites, a Christian community who believe living communally and separate from what they call 'the world' is the route to heaven. But living like this is not easy. With exclusive access, the film follows one young man secretly running away from his community.

Police say the death of Reeva Steenkamp was premeditated murder. The accused, her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius, says it was an innocent accident. A documentary team has been in Pretoria, South Africa, digging deeper into a death that shocked the world.

Presented by Rick Edwards, who covered Pistorius's gold-medal winning, world record-breaking achievements at the London 2012 Paralympics, the programme features interviews with friends of both the victim and the accused. Aged 26, Oscar Pistorius is the poster boy of the Paralympics movement and his prosthetic lower legs have given him the nickname Blade Runner. So fast and powerful, he became the first the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics, competing in the 400m and 4x400m relay.

But since that glorious summer, reports have emerged of a different side of Oscar Pistorius - involved in brawls and late night fracas. Observers note that when setting bail, the judge made it conditional that until he returns to court in June, Pistorius must not consume alcohol and will be randomly tested to ensure he complies.

Featuring special 3-D graphics, sworn testimony and exclusive interviews, the film attempts to give the most complete picture yet of what may have happened in Oscar Pistorius's apartment in the early hours of February 14th.

Ant colonies are one of the wonders of nature - complex, organised and mysterious. This programme reveals the secret, underground world of the ant colony in a way that's never been seen before. At its heart is a massive, full-scale ant nest, specially-designed and built to allow cameras to see its inner workings. The nest is a new home for a million-strong colony of leafcutter ants from Trinidad.

For a month, entomologist Dr George McGavin and leafcutter expert Professor Adam Hart capture every aspect of the life of the colony, using time-lapse cameras, microscopes, microphones and radio tracking technology. The ants instantly begin to forage, farm, mine and build. Within weeks, the colony has established everything from nurseries to gardens to graveyards.

The programme explores how these tiny insects can achieve such spectacular feats of collective organisation. This unique project reveals the workings of one of the most complex and mysterious societies in the natural world and shows the surprising ways in which ants are helping us solve global problems.

Filmmaker David Malone explores the science behind metamorphosis, the ultimate evolutionary magic trick - the transformation of one creature into a totally different being: one life, two bodies.

When the space shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, it was the most shocking event in the history of American spaceflight. The deaths of seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe, were watched live on television by millions of viewers. But what was more shocking was that the cause of the disaster might never be uncovered. The Challenger is the story of how Richard Feynman, one of America's most famous scientists, helped to discover the cause of a tragedy that stunned America

Alastair Sooke takes us on an exclusive personal tour of the Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective at Tate Modern.
Together with fans, critics, artists and those who knew Lichtenstein, Alastair leads an entertaining and provocative discussion about the work and legacy of one of the most celebrated and instantly recognisable artists of the 20th century.
Renowned for his works based on comic strips and advertising imagery, Lichtenstein's chisel-jawed action men and love-lorn women made him the hero of the Pop Art movement.
When the pictures first appeared in the 1960s they caused a sensation - but also outrage and controversy, with many questioning whether his re-workings of other people's images could really be called art. As the exhibition reveals, however, there was more to Lichtenstein than simply the famous comic book images and also on display are many of his less familiar works - nudes, landscapes, sculpture and his own take on the work of modern art masters such as Picasso and Matisse.
Offering an in-depth look at one of the year's most talked about exhibitions, Alastair and guests explore the enduring appeal of Lichtenstein's imagery, debate the controversies around his work and his influence on today's generation of artists and tackle the big question - was Lichtenstein a Pop Art genius and one of the defining image-makers of the 20th century, or a one-trick wonder whose big idea was so powerful he could never let it go?

Every autumn a miracle happens. A Monarch butterfly born in Canada will fly 5,000 km to the rainforests of Mexico, across land it has never seen. It is a journey filled with peril. Many never make it, and those that do will never return. It takes three more generations to make the journey back to Canada the following spring. No butterfly has ever made the journey before and none of them will ever make it again.

Based on the critically-acclaimed book by Sue Halpern and narrated by Kristin Scott Thomas, the migration of the Monarch butterfly from its birthplace in Canada to its wintering site in the rainforests of Mexico is an epic struggle for survival: an astonishing story of scientific marvel and awesome beauty.

n 1908 amateur naturalist Percy Smith stunned cinema goers with his surreal film The Acrobatic Fly. Featuring a bluebottle juggling a series of objects, the film became front page news. Now wildlife cameraman Charlie Hamilton-James attempts to recreate this fascinating film.

Along the way, Hamilton-James (helped by Sir David Attenborough who saw Smith's films as a boy) tells the story of Percy's remarkable career and reveals the genius behind this forgotten pioneer of British film.

How would you feel about eating deep fried locusts, ant egg salad or barbequed tarantulas? This documentary sees presenter and food writer Stefan Gates immerse himself in the extraordinary world of hardcore insect-eating in a bid to conquer his lingering revulsion of bugs and discover if they really could save the planet.

With 40 tonnes of insects to every human, perhaps insects could offer a real solution to the global food crisis - where billions go hungry every day whilst the meat consumption of the rich draws vast amounts of grain out of the global food chain.

Stefan's on a mission to meet the people in Thailand and Cambodia that hunt, eat and sell edible insects for a living. But nothing quite prepares him for bug farming on this terrifying scale, from stalking grasshoppers at night to catching fiercely-biting ants. And it's not just insects on the menu. Stefan also goes hunting for the hairiest, scariest spider on the planet - the tarantula. Stefan asks if the solution is for everyone - the British included - to start eating insects too.

After 53 years Television Centre, the BBC's TV headquarters, is closing its doors and Michael Grade gathers together many of its best-loved faces to stroll down memory lane.

Boris Johnson is the biggest star in British politics. Nobody connects to the public like Boris, some even see him as a future Prime Minister.

So what really makes him tick and is he a serious contender for the top job?

With unprecedented access to Johnson himself, candid interviews and previously unseen archive, Michael Cockerell unlocks the secrets of the real Boris Johnson.

Insects outnumber us by 200 million to one. They thrive in environments where humans wouldn't last minutes. We mostly perceive them as pests - yet without bugs, entire ecosystems would collapse, crops would disappear and waste would pile high.

The secret of their success? Their incredible alien anatomy.

To reveal this extraordinary hidden world, entomologists Dr James Logan and Brendan Dunphy carry out a complete insect dissection. Cutting-edge imaging technology shows us the beauty and precision of the natural engineering inside even the simplest insects. Stripping back the layers, they uncover ingenious body systems and finely-tuned senses - a bug body plan that is the hidden blueprint behind insects' 'global domination'. They also discover how science is now using the secrets of insect anatomy to inspire technology that could save human lives.

Not since 1976 has a woman raced in Formula 1; Susie Wolff is determined to change that. A documentary filmed by her brother charts highs and lows of her year racing and the life-changing moment when she is tested for the Williams F1 team. Featuring interviews with Lewis Hamilton, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher.

Best-selling author Sir Terry Pratchett, diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007, has one last adventure he wants to go on. Eighteen years ago Terry had a life-changing experience in the jungles of Borneo, where he encountered orangutans in the wild for the first time. Now he is going back to find out what the future holds for these endangered species, and discover a new threat to their habitat that could push them to the brink of extinction. His Alzheimer's will make the trip an incredible challenge both physically and mentally, as he contemplates the role of mankind in the eradication of the planet's species, and considers his own inevitable extinction.

Terry is accompanied by his friend and assistant Rob Wilkins, as they investigate an Indonesian street market where endangered species are reportedly on sale, meet the world expert on orangutans, Dr Birute Galdikas, and journey into the rainforest in search of the former king of the orangutans, Kusasi.

In a one off landmark drama documentary for BBC One, Dr Margaret Mountford presents Pompeii: The Mystery Of The People Frozen In Time.

The city of Pompeii uniquely captures the public's imagination; in 79AD a legendary volcanic disaster left its citizens preserved in ashes to this very day. Yet no-one has been able to unravel the full story that is at the heart of our fascination: how did those bodies become frozen in time?

For the first time the BBC has been granted unique access to these strange, ghost-like body casts that populate the ruins and, using the latest forensic technology, the chance to peer beneath the surface of the plaster in order to rebuild the faces of two of the people who were killed in this terrible tragedy.

Margaret turns detective to tell a new story at the heart of one of history's most iconic moments; she looks at the unique set of circumstances that led to the remarkable preservation of the people of Pompeii. By applying modern day forensic analysis to this age-old mystery, Margaret dispels the myths surrounding the events in 79AD. She also explores the lives of the individuals who once lived in this vibrant and enigmatic city, as well as recreating the last moments of the people caught up in this tragedy.

Documentary which tells the story of the first major charity rock concert, the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh organised by former Beatle George Harrison at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Filmed over six months in Britain’s biggest Young Offenders Institution, Prison Dads follows fathers on the inside and their partners on the outside, struggling to keep together their fledgling families. Glen Parva in Leicester houses up to 808 prisoners aged 18-21 years-old. These young men are 5 times more likely to be dads than others their age.

From hearing their baby being born on the other end of the phone to meeting their son for the first time in the visit hall, the film explores the experiences of prisoners grappling with the demands of being dad behind bars. We also meet the mums who are left home alone to fend for themselves with a newborn baby or demanding toddler. Some choose to bring their child into prison to visit where they must face searches and sniffer dogs, while others decide to shield them from this experience by telling them Daddy is on a ‘naughty holiday’. For all of them, the impact of prison life on parenthood is profound.

With privileged access, and intimate stories as these young men open up about their experiences, Prison Dads is a moving film charting the successes and failures of young parents, coming to terms with bringing up their babies in extremely challenging circumstances.

Using rare archive and first hand testimony from those who knew him intimately, this film explores the life of Donald Campbell, one of Britain's most compelling but doomed heroes.

Despite his triumphs, setting several world speed records on land and water, he remained a haunted man. His father Sir Malcolm Campbell had been a prolific record-breaker but an indifferent parent and all his life Donald felt driven to emulate his father. But instead of endless success his career was dogged by bad luck, bad weather and the growing apathy of the British public. In 1967 he took his Bluebird boat to Coniston in the Lake District for an attempt on the water speed record. With the eyes of the world upon him, he crashed and was killed instantly, his body and boat lost for thirty years.Told from the point of view of the children themselves, this one-hour documentary offers a unique perspective on the nation's flagging economy and the impact of unemployment, foreclosure and financial distress as seen through the eyes of the children affected.

Written and presented by John Eliot Gardiner, one of the world’s leading interpreters of Bach’s music, Bach: A Passionate Life takes us on a physical, musical and intellectual journey in search of Bach the man and the musician.

The most famous portrait of Bach shows him aged 62, a rather miserable looking old man in wig and formal coat, yet his greatest works were composed in his late 30s and early 40s in an almost unrivalled decade-long blaze of creativity. This conservative image of Bach also conflicts with evidence of clashes with authority from an early age. There are accounts of public brawls, periods in jail, and the smuggling of girls into his organ loft. Gardiner draws upon his lifelong fascination and passion for the composer to shed light on Bach’s personality and music.

In the documentary, made by Leopard Films, John Eliot Gardiner conducts his award-winning Monteverdi choir and orchestra in specially shot performances from Bach’s masterworks: the St Matthew Passion, the St John Passion and the B Minor Mass, as well as extracts from some of his secular and sacred cantatas.

The programme reveals a complex and passionate artist, a warm and convivial family man who shows a rebellious spirit while struggling with the hierarchies of state and church. Despite the cramped conditions of his life in Leipzig, and despite rarely venturing outside a 60-mile radius of the city, he wrote timeless music that today enjoys world-wide fame.

A celebration of the late, great Richard Briers. From The Good Life to King Lear, Briers' unique talents gave him a versatility and breadth enjoyed by only a few. Friends and colleagues gather to pay tribute to this much loved and multi-talented actor.

When Patton's went bust last November the impact reached far beyond their Ballymena offices. The fallout from their crash left many workers, sub-contractors and small businesses in dire financial straits. This is the story of some of the collateral damage caused by the demise of Northern Ireland's oldest and largest construction firm.

Film about the architect John Portman, capturing his approach in an intimate portrait that, by turn, assesses and appreciates his work, using dramatic time-lapse footage to show off his buildings at their best. Once a maverick who was nearly run out of the American Institute of Architects, Portman is now recognized as one of the most innovative and imitated architects ever. Over 45 years, his iconic urban statements and eye-popping interiors have risen in 60 cities on four continents to redefine cityscapes in America and skylines in China and the rest of Asia.

To mark Good Friday, Melvyn Bragg sets out to unravel the many questions surrounding one of the Bible’s most vivid and, to some, controversial figures: Mary Magdalene.

In the gospel accounts, Mary Magdalene plays a key role in the Easter story. She is there at the cross when Jesus is crucified and she’s a key witness to the resurrection. So why, despite any reference to it in the Bible, is Mary Magdalene remembered primarily as the sinner or even prostitute whom Christ redeems?

Melvyn uncovers the real story behind Mary’s legendary status: from her vital role in the first centuries of Christianity to her portrayal in Jesus Christ Superstar and the Da Vinci Code.

Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill presents a documentary following the scientific investigation that aims to lift the lid on what life was like in the small Roman town of Herculaneum, moments before it was destroyed by a volcanic erruption.

Just 10 miles from Pompeii, 12 arched vaults are telling a whole new story about what life was like before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They contain the skeletons of no less than 340 people, just 10% of the local population, killed by the volcano. Amongst them are the first new skeletons to be found in the area for 30 years which are now the subject of a ground-breaking scientific investigation. The finds included a toddler clutching his pet dog, a two-year-old girl with silver earrings and a boy staring into the eyes of his mother as they embraced in their last moment.

Those found inside the vaults were nearly all women and children. Those found outside on the shoreline were nearly all men. Why?

The Other Pompeii: Life and Death In Herculaneum unravels a surprising story of resilience, courage and humanity, with the local population going to their deaths not in the apocalyptic orgy of sex and self-destruction often portrayed in Pompeii's popular myth, but, much more like the passengers of the Titanic, it seems that like their British counterparts, the ancient inhabitants of Herculaneum put women and children first.

Presenting the film is Britain's greatest Pompeianist, Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill of the University of Cambridge, and Director of the Herculaneum Conservation Project. He takes us to meet the scientists leading the forensic project - Luca Bondioli and Luciano Fattore - and then on a tour of the incredible town where the skeletons once lived. On this journey he uncovers their houses, their wooden furniture (including their beds and the only surviving baby's cradle from the Roman world), their food and even their waste (that's human waste), perfectly preserved by a layer of ash up to five times deepe

From the Staffordshire hills to the Humber estuary, spirited explorer Tom Fort embarks on a 170-mile journey down Britain's third longest river, the Trent. Beginning on foot, he soon transfers to his own custom-built punt, the Trent Otter, and rows many miles downstream. Along the way he encounters the power stations that generate much of the nation's electricity, veterans of the catastrophic floods of 1947, the 19th-century brewers of Burton and a Bronze Age boatman who once made a life along the river.

While the Victorians confronted the challenges of ruling an empire, perhaps the most dangerous environment they faced was in their own homes. Householders lapped up the latest products, gadgets and conveniences, but in an era with no health and safety standards they were unwittingly turning their homes into hazardous death traps.

In a genuine horror story, Dr Suzannah Lipscomb reveals the killers that lurked in every room of the Victorian home and shows how they were unmasked. What new innovation killed thousands of babies? And what turned the domestic haven into a ticking time bomb?

Physicist Dr Helen Czerski takes us on an amazing journey into the science of bubbles. Bubbles may seem to be just fun toys, but they are also powerful tools that push back the boundaries of science.

The soap bubble with its delicate, fragile skin tells us about how nature works on scales as large as solar system and as small as a single wavelength of light. Then there are underwater bubbles, which matter because they are part of the how the planet works. Out at sea, breaking waves generate huge plumes of bubbles which help the oceans breathe.

From the way animals behave to the way drinks taste, Dr Czerski shows how bubbles affect our world in all sorts of unexpected ways. Whether it's the future of ship design or innovative new forms of medical treatment, bubbles play a vital role.

Margaret Thatcher was Britain's first and only woman Prime Minister. In her eleven years in office she defeated Argentina in the Falklands War and at home she battled the unions into submission. Under her guidance, the Conservative government brought in privatisation and deregulated the City. In this special programme to mark her passing, family, friends and former colleagues - as well as political opponents - recall her life, her extraordinary personality and her tumultuous years in power.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner returns for the first time to Riyadh, the city in Saudi Arabia where he was shot by Al Qaeda in 2004 and left dependent upon a wheelchair. Travelling in this important and mysterious country, he explores how it has so far avoided an Arab Spring revolution.

Robin Day interviews Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street. From 9 April 1984

As the election campaign draws to a close, Sir Robin Day talks to the prime minister, The Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher, about her bid for a third term at No 10 and about the pledges made in the Conservative manifesto. What is her vision of Thatcher's Britain?

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher addresses a motion of no confidence in her final speech at the despatch box. From 22 November 1990.

Baroness Thatcher makes her maiden speech to the House of Lords. From 2 July 1992.

This biography reveals Newton as both a hermit and a tyrant, a heretic and an alchemist. Magical images mix with actors and experts to bring alive Britain's greatest scientific genius in his own words.

BBC presenter Martha Kearney, who became a political correspondent when Margaret Thatcher was at the height of her political power, charts the unlikely rise of the grocer's daughter who became Britain's most famous prime minister. She also reflects on Thatcher's bitter downfall at the hands of her colleagues in government, a betrayal she never recovered from.

Paleontologist Professor Richard Fortey embarks on a quest to discover the extraordinary lives of rock pool creatures. To help explore this unusual environment he is joined by some of the UK's leading marine biologists in a dedicated laboratory at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth. Here and on the beach in various locations around the UK, startling behaviour is revealed and new insights are given into how these animals cope with intertidal life. Many popular rock pool species have survived hundreds of millions of years of Earth's history, but humans may be their biggest challenge yet.

David Dimbleby introduces live coverage of the funeral service of Baroness Thatcher. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, together with the Thatcher family and representatives from British and world politics, attend the service at St Paul's Cathedral. Sophie Raworth and Mishal Husain report from the route.

John Ware journeys to Israel for a fresh look at how it has responded to the changes sweeping the region in the wake of the Arab Spring. He meets Israelis from all walks of life to go beyond the news clichés and analyse what is next for the world’s only Jewish state as both the religious and the secular battle over its future.

Peter Higgs is the man behind one of the most remarkable scientific ideas of the past fifty years. He proposed the existence of a new particle, which would become known as the Higgs Boson. It took almost fifty years, and the construction of the world's largest machine, to prove his theory correct. Peter Higgs: Particle Man tells his story.

Starting off a kilometre high, travelling at the speed of a jet aircraft, and heading for us. It doesn't make for a good outcome. Hollywood-style graphics and real-life archive brings home an imagined near-future scenario, all based on cutting-edge science.

Historian and author AN Wilson explores the life of Josiah Wedgwood, a self-made, self-educated creative giant famous for his pottery.

A film that looks at the genius of JMW Turner in a new light. There is more to Turner than his sublime landscapes - he also painted machines, science, technology and industry. Turner's life spans the Industrial Revolution, he witnessed it as it unfolded and he painted it. In the process he created a whole new kind of art. The programme examines nine key Turner paintings and shows how we should re-think them in the light of the scientific and Industrial Revolution. Includes interviews with historian Simon Schama and artist Tracey Emin.

Andrew Graham-Dixon goes behind the scenes at the Rijksmuseum as the staff prepare to open the doors following a ten-year renovation, the most significant ever undertaken by a museum. Featuring over 8,000 works of art, Holland's national museum tells the story of 800 years of Dutch history and houses a world-famous collection including masterpieces by artists from Vermeer to Rembrandt. So, as the final paintings are rehung and objects settle into their new home, has the long wait been worth it?

Documentary following actor and writer Maureen Lipman on a personal journey as she explores through her own recollections how memory works. With the help of family, friends and experts, Maureen traces the development of memory, from cradle to grave.

Documentary based on Charles Moore's official biography looking at Britain's first female Prime Minister, looking at the childhood influences that shaped her and drove her to the unique place she holds in this country and in the history books. Including unprecedented and exclusive access to unseen correspondence and intimate interviews with close family members, including former admirers and a highly personal interview with her son Mark. Overall they give a unique insight into her childhood, loves and early political life.

After her own accident left her unable to walk, Sophie Morgan wants to know why traffic collisions are the single biggest killer of young people - and how that can be stopped. With exclusive access and insight into a number of high profile cases from the moment of the crash through to resolution in the courts, she meets people who, like her, have seen their lives changed forever in a single instant - whether they were injured or they were driving the car.

As she follows the progress of families like the Singhs, devastated by an accident caused by a footballer from one of the country's biggest clubs, she hears emotional stories of regret and recovery, finds out what it means to be responsible for a death on the roads and discovers one way that the rate of accidents involving young drivers could be brought down.

Sophie also encounters drivers who race illegally on public roads with no thought for anyone's safety and, after a reunion with the passengers she could have killed, is forced to think again about her actions - and her driving - back on the night that she crashed.

Rick Edwards presents a live controversial experiment which is set to challenge peoples prejudices as a chef cooks a banquet made with the core ingredient of horse-meat.

Told by family and friends, with rare unseen archive, this documentary reflects on the career of Dave Allen, relative of poet Katharine Tynan, and a natural performer who cut his teeth at Butlins. He became a TV star in Australia in his twenties, before returning home to dominate the schedules here in Britain with his unique blend of sketches and stories in a career that took in films, plays, documentaries and chat shows, alongside award winning comedy series.

Respected, admired and with unshakeable integrity, Dave Allen fought for what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. He was driven by simple honesty. It was this solitary and determined path that made his talents special and unusual and inspired a generation of comics that were to follow. For the first time ever this rich and compelling career is celebrated on screen, giving a chance to reflect on his many achievements and on the private life that went alongside it. With contributions from Stephen Berkoff, Stephen Frears, and Dame Maggie Smith, among others.

In the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, Rupert Murdoch has been accused of corrupting British media and contaminating politics. Yet the caricature image of him as the 'Dirty Digger', the sinister head of a global media empire, in fact obscures deeper, more significant truths - not least about Britain itself.

Rupert Murdoch can be seen as an agent of change, a revolutionary almost, who has been a vital part of the transformation of Britain over the last 45 years. He rode the wave of social change that swept a gloomy postwar country into the modern world and his ability to understand what people wanted and give it to them made him rich and powerful. Yet his part in this cultural, political and industrial revolution also brought Rupert Murdoch into conflict with the establishment and vested interests in all their guises. It may even have ultimately cost him his life's ambition - to see the business he has built carried on inside the family by one of his children. Steve Hewlett tells the story of Rupert Murdoch's 40-year battle with Britain.

Human bones found on an idyllic beach in Antigua trigger an investigation by naval historian Sam Willis into one of the darkest chapters of Britain's imperial past. As archaeologists excavate a mass grave of British sailors, Willis explores Antigua's ruins and discovers how the sugar islands of the Caribbean were a kind of hell in the age of Nelson.

Sun, sea, war, tropical diseases and poisoned rum.

Author and mafia historian John Dickie uncovers the truth about Italy's most powerful mafia, the 'Ndrangheta', believed to be Europe's biggest cocaine traffickers.

Polish physicist and chemist Marie Curie became a celebrity during her lifetime, attracting media attention for being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. This docu-drama looks at the woman behind the science, revealing a tenacious mother who had to survive the pain of the loss of husband and collaborator Pierre and the public humiliation of a doomed love affair, but who also discovered two elements and coined the term radioactivity.

Superstar opera tenor Rolando Villazón reveals an insider's view on performing music by one of the greatest opera composers, Giuseppe Verdi, who celebrates his bicentenary in 2013. By looking at some of Verdi's most well-known works including the operas Macbeth, Rigoletto, La Traviata, as well as his Requiem, Villazón shares his unique and passionate insight on Verdi's consummate skill - how he constructed dramatic episodes of searing reality, as well as the historical context in which the operas are set. Along with interviews with some of the world's leading Verdi singers, conductors and theatre directors, Villazón tells us why he thinks Verdi is a genius.

The epic, feel-good story of a modern rebellion. The campaign against the tolls on the Skye bridge pitted plucky Scottish islanders against the might of the government and the Bank of America, over the building of a privately funded toll bridge which became the only way on or off the island. This film tells an untold, bittersweet story of passion, legal challenge and financial wrangling through the testimony of some of those who took part.

Amanda Vickery and Alastair Sooke oversee proceedings as a group of experts stage a Regency ball at Chawton House, Hampshire, to mark the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Jane Austen's classic novel. The team uses music from the Austen family archives and dances and dishes mentioned in the author's novels and letters to recreate the experience, and Amanda is joined by literary historian John Mullan to reflect on the importance of the ball and its role in 19th-century society.

Queens of Jazz is a celebration of some of the greatest female jazz singers of the 20th century. It takes an unflinching and revealing look at what it actually took to be a jazz diva during a turbulent time in America's social history - a time when battle lines were being constantly drawn around issues of race, gender and popular culture.

This is a documentary about how these women triumphed - always at some personal cost - to become some of the greatest artists of the 20th century; women who chose singing above life itself because singing was their life.

A profile of American physicist Richard Feynman, featuring interviews with the man himself as well as his friends, colleagues and family. Feynman was part of the team that designed the atomic bomb, helped to solve the mystery of the Challenger space shuttle catastrophe and won a Nobel Prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics, and is seen as one of the most influential and inspiring scientists of the 20th century.

Nile Rodgers has sold over 100 million records. As the co-founder, songwriter, producer and guitarist of Chic he helped define the sound of the '70s, as disco took the world by storm. Nile and musical partner Bernard Edwards captured the essence of New York's iconic Studio 54 creating hits like Dance Dance Dance, Le Freak and Good Times for Chic and We Are Family and Lost In Music for struggling vocal group Sister Sledge. But the music that had made Chic would also break them, thanks to the 'Disco Sucks' backlash. What could have been the end for Nile Rodgers would actually be a new beginning as a producer, helping create some of the biggest hits of the 80s for the likes of Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran. The ever-charismatic Rodgers contributes an engaging and often frank interview to tell the tale of how, born to Beatnik, heroin-addict parents in New York, he picked up a guitar as a teenager and embarked on a journey to learn his craft as a musician, before becoming one of disco's most successful artists

Many of Britain's biggest comedy stars cut their teeth on sketch shows and many of our most loved comedy series began as sketches.

Sir David Frost traces the development of the sketch show over the last fifty years - from the variety theatre to peak-time television, from Arthur Haynes to Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies, from Monty Python to Not the Nine o'Clock News and Catherine Tate.

He is joined by TV comedy greats including Ronnie Corbett, Stephen Fry and Michael Palin as they look back on the highs and lows of their own sketch show experiences. And together with comedy veterans Michael Grade and Richard Curtis they ask if, in an age dominated by stand-up and sitcoms, the sketch show can continue to flourish and survive.

Minna Kane and her team of young hackers explore the world of computer programming. They meet the visual effects artists who work on Doctor Who, test out Formula One racing simulators, play football with robots, and meet a man who has sent his miniature computer into space. Back in the classroom, Minna tries out a range of exciting programming activities linked to these real world coding adventures.

To celebrate the bicentenary of Wagner's birth, Sir Antonio Pappano, the charismatic music director of the Royal Opera House, guides us through the epic composition which changed opera and the theatre for ever - the Ring of the Nibelungen.

Pappano shares his insights into Wagner's music and the mythical world the composer created, visiting the extraordinary theatre at Bayreuth which was created for its performance. He also explores the life of Richard Wagner the man - the political, cultural and social forces that influenced him - and shows how the composer's personal convictions and experiences can be seen within the Ring Cycle.

Filmed in Germany and London, it features expert comment from artists who took part in the recent production of the Ring at the Royal Opera House directed by Keith Warner, including Bryn Terfel, Sir John Tomlinson, Susan Bullock and Sarah Connolly.

Over fourteen days in March 1988, a sequence of traumatic events shook Northern Ireland to its core and shocked the world. But it was also 14 days that compelled one man, Redemptorist priest Fr Alec Reid, to find a way out of the deadly cycle of violence.

A documentary exploring the cultural impact of Star Trek and chronicling the history of one of the world's most successful television series. There have been four incarnations of the TV series, and seven films; the merchandise franchise is worth an estimated four billion dollars. Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Nichelle Nichols and other stars reflect on the programme's significance and contemplate its future on

Children accused of witchcraft. This is not just medieval history, it's happening now... and here in Britain. Kevani Kanda explores the dark and secretive world of faith-based child abuse which, in the last few years, has seen an upsurge in children being abused and even murdered by relatives - all in the name of witchcraft.

Journeying from her home in London to her birthplace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kevani tries to discover how ancient traditions have been hijacked in the name of Jesus, why families are singling out vulnerable children and hurting them and why toddlers are having to endure excruciating rituals in order to 'rid them of demons'. While in Africa she uncovers the shocking truth that even her own cousin has been accused of witchcraft - setting Kevani on a path to find her and confront her accusers.

Beneath the Somme battlefield lies one of the great secrets of the First World War, a recently-discovered network of deep tunnels thought to extend over several kilometres. This lost underground battlefield, centred on the small French village of La Boisselle in Picardy, was constructed largely by British troops between 1914 and 1916. Over 120 men died here in ongoing attempts to undermine the nearby German lines and these galleries still serve as a tomb for many of those men. This documentary follows historian Peter Barton and a team of archaeologists as they become the first people in nearly a hundred years to enter this hidden, and still dangerous, labyrinth.

Military mines were the original weapons of shock and awe - with nowhere to hide from a mine explosion, these huge explosive charges could destroy a heavily-fortified trench in an instant. In order to get under the German lines to plant their mines, British tunnellers had to play a terrifying game of subterranean cat and mouse - constantly listening out for enemy digging and trying to intercept the German tunnels without being detected. To lose this game probably meant death.

As well uncovering the grim reality of this strange underground war, Peter discovers the story of the men who served here, including the tunnelling companies' special military units made up of ordinary civillian sewer workers and miners. He reveals their top secret mission that launched the Battle of the Somme's first day and discovers why British high command failed to capitalise on a crucial tactical advantage they had been given by the tunnellers.

On Friday 19 May, 1536, one of the most infamous periods in Tudor history came to a gruesome conclusion: Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, became the first British queen to be executed.

Anne is one of the most controversial figures in the history of the British court, but the circumstances of her death remain shrouded in mystery and contradiction. Who was the real Anne Boleyn, and why did Henry have her killed?

The Last Days Of Anne Boleyn brings together leading authors and historians (including Hilary Mantel, Philippa Gregory and David Starkey) to unpick the extraordinary evidence surrounding Anne Boleyn’s journey to the executioner.

Thomas Cromwell has gone down in history as one of the most corrupt and manipulative ruffians ever to hold power in England. A chief minister who used his position to smash the Roman Catholic church in England and loot the monasteries for his own gain. A man who used torture to bring about the execution of the woman who had once been his friend and supporter - Anne Boleyn.

Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, reveals a very different image of Cromwell. The award-winning novels of Hilary Mantel began the revival of Cromwell's reputation, and now Professor MacCulloch presents Henry VIII's chief minister as a principled and pioneering statesman who was driven by radical evangelism.

Dan Snow presents from RAF Scampton, a tribute to the daring Dambusters raid. On the night of 16th May 1943, nineteen Lancaster Bombers took off on a mission of courage and ingenuity, their plan was to drop the newly invented bouncing bombs on to German dams in order to flood the industrial heart of the Nazi war machine.

Seventy years on, veterans and their families gather to remember the raid and the bravery of the 133 men who undertook it. Tributes include Tornado jets from the current 617 Squadron, Spitfires and a Lancaster Bomber from the Battle of Britain flying in to RAF Scampton, the home of the Dambusters, plus the Queen's Colour Squadron and the College Band of the RAF end the commemoration with a Sunset Ceremony

An intimate portrait of five key years in David Bowie's career. Featuring a wealth of previously unseen archive this film looks at how Bowie continually evolved, from Ziggy Stardust, to the Soul Star of Young Americans, to the 'Thin White Duke'. It explores his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed album Heroes, his triumph with Scary Monsters and his global success with Let's Dance. With interviews with all his closest collaborators, this film investigates how Bowie has become an 'icon of our times'.

A heartwarming and heartbreaking tale about how Belfast people experience the biggest things in life - birth, marriage and death. Located largely within the majestic surrounds of the register office of Belfast City Hall.

Documentary telling the gripping and shocking story of photographer Erwin Blumenfeld, who survived two world wars to become one of the world's most highly-paid fashion photographers and a key influence on the development of photography as an art form. Yet after a mysterious death in Rome in 1969 his name is little-known today, the reasons for which lie in his unconventional lifestyle. The first ever film about his life and work uses exclusive access to Blumenfeld's extensive archive of stunning photographs, fashion films, home-movies and self-portraits to tell of a man obsessed by the pursuit of beautiful women, but also by the endless possibilities of photography itself. With contributions from leading photographers Rankin, Nick Knight and Solve Sundsbo and 82-year-old supermodel Carmen Dell'Orefice, it uncovers the richly complex story of one of the 20th century's most original photographic artists.

Author Thomas Penn takes an extraordinary journey into the dark and chilling world of the first Tudor, Henry VII. His investigations reveal the ruthless tactics this monarch used.

Documentary looking at the life cycle of the crimson-winged flamingoes that arrive in great numbers on Lake Natron in Tanzania every year. They come to seek the unique sulphurous algae which turn their feathers pink and aid them in finding a mate for breeding. In these seemingly idyllic surroundings, the beautiful birds are threatened by predators from the moment they hatch.

Rick Edwards investigates how three girls could disappear from the same area and be held prisoners in the basement of a house with no-one knowing anything about it for a decade.

Documentary presented by Professor Simon Schaffer which charts the amazing and untold story of automata - extraordinary clockwork machines designed hundreds of years ago to mimic and recreate life.

To mark the sixtieth anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, David Dimbleby tells the story of a ceremony which for centuries had been the preserve of the privileged. But in 1953, after initial resistance, the coronation would, for the first time, be televised and witnessed by millions. Dimbleby, then a teenager, was at the heart of the London festivities; he recalls how a Britain still in the grip of post-war rationing celebrated that momentous day.

First-ever TV documentary about the legendary soul singer Otis Redding, following him from childhood and marriage to the Memphis studios and segregated Southern clubs where he honed his unique stage act and voice. Through unseen home movies, the film reveals how Otis's 1967 tour of Britain dramatically changed his life and music. After bringing soul to Europe he returned to conquer America, first with the 'love-crowd' at the Monterey Festival and then with Dock of the Bay, which topped the charts only after his death at just 26. Includes rare and unseen performances, intimate interviews with Otis's wife and daughter, and with original band members Steve Cropper and Booker T Jones. Also featured are British fans whose lives were changed by seeing him, among them Rod Stewart, Tom Jones and Bryan Ferry.

Melvyn Bragg explores the dramatic story of William Tyndale and his mission to translate the Bible into English. Melvyn reveals the story of a man whose life and legacy have been hidden from history but whose impact on Christianity in Britain and on the English language endures today. His radical translation of the Bible into English made him a profound threat to the authority of the church and state, and set him on a fateful collision course with Henry VIII's heretic hunters and those of the pope.

This film explores rape in a way that has never been seen on British television before: from forensic medical to police investigation, court and beyond.

Juliet was attacked by a stranger on New Year's Eve, while Kellie had known and trusted her attacker for over a decade. In 2012 St Mary's, the UK's leading sexual assault referral centre, allowed exclusive access, opening its doors to cameras as they supported Juliet and Kellie as well as over 1,000 other victims of rape seeking justice or attempting to move forward with their lives.

Through the experiences of the victims, the specialists at St Mary's, Greater Manchester Police's Serious Sexual Offences Unit and the Crown Prosecution Service, this film offers a unique and revealing perspective on rape in Britain today.

Broadcaster Peter Sissons reveals how a secret command bunker in the heart of Liverpool played a key role in winning The Battle of the Atlantic. He also hears untold stories of heroism and tragedy from veterans of the Battle, as Liverpool commemorates the 70th anniversary.

Her Majesty was given a pony for her fourth birthday and today, aged 87, still rides; and she’s also one of the country’s leading breeders. With her team, who speak here about their work, she’s bred the winners of more than 1,600 races.

This film follows a spring season, from the birth of foals (which she names herself) at Sandringham to race day at Newbury.