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Private Notes
It's the work of alien lizards, men in black, the government or even the Queen... Whenever a major news story breaks, conspiracy theories spring up overnight with a subversive slant on the official facts. Who's behind these theories, and why are some of us so ready to believe in them?
This film investigates the variety of stories surrounding the New Testament account of the crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, by interviewing historians, theologians and historical researchers. This exploration of the latest theories about what really happened to Jesus 2000 years ago uncovers some surprising possibilities.
At the heart of the mystery is the suspicion that Jesus might not actually have died on the cross. The film concludes that it was perfectly possible to survive crucifixion in the 1st Century - there are records of people who did. But if Jesus survived, what happened to him afterwards?
One of the most remarkable stories concerns the charismatic preacher Jus Asaf (Leader of the Healed) who arrived in Kashmir in around 30 AD. Just before he died at the age of 80, Jus Asaf claimed that he was in fact Jesus Christ and the programme shows his tomb, next to which are his carved footprints which bear the scars of crucifixion.
An examination of the Enfield Poltergeist, a still unexplained phenomenon from 1977, which includes eyewitness testimony and extraordinary footage of apparently paranormal activity.
This film by the documentary-maker Martin Durkin presents the arguments of scientists and commentators who don't believe that CO2 produced by human activity is the main cause of climate change.
It's a controversial film that was roundly attacked by some scientists and enthusiastically received by others, and the arguments it contains are an important part of the wider debate on the causes of climate change.
The film was shortlisted for the Best Documentary award at the 2008 Broadcast Awards.
A dramatized, very accurate version of the bitterness of the partition of British India.
Although this story had been brought to the screen many times in Gandhi, Sardar, Jinnah, Lord Mountbatten-The Last Viceroy, but unless history is backed up by facts, testimonies and eye-witness accounts, it cannot be considered authentic.
Similar to this production was a 3-part BBC documentary titled END OF EMPIRE - India in which was shown the closing 2 years of the Raj. But here we see the story from the day Mountbatten and his delegation arrive in India.
According to Sex Addicts Anonymous over four million British adults are addicted to sex. TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson authors this revealing documentary, meeting with experts and therapists in America to learn more about the illness and to establish exactly what defines a sex addict.
As the investigation progresses, Ulrika's search for answers soon becomes a very powerful personal journey and she discovers that possible sex addiction is not just about needing sex every minute of the day, or obsessive masturbation, but far more complex and subtle.
t's estimated that British women who diet spend on average 31 years trying to lose weight. What is it that feeds the female obsession regarding body image, weight and dieting?
This incredible documentary follows two journalists as they go on a no-holds-barred journey into the world of extreme dieting. Both journalists, healthy size 12s with average BMIs, are aiming to drop five dress sizes in five weeks. With a 'Don't Try This at Home' warning, both Kate and Louise follow strict regimes of swimming in freezing cold water to raise the metabolism, colonic irrigation, extreme diets and extreme exercise regimes.
Relationships reach breaking point, functioning in their normal daily lives becomes almost impossible and emotions run away. Ultimately for one journalist the experiment is halted, as concerns are raised by the doctor, while for the other, size 00 jeans beckon - but at what cost?
Have you ever wondered what it would look like if all the clothes, washing machines and toilet paper you ever used were piled up outside your front door? Or if you were to lay out all the bread you will ever eat or cups of tea you will drink?
This beautiful, landmark film uses art and science to explore the impact each and every human has on the planet in an average lifetime, demonstrating the massive scale of everything consumed and produced in one lifetime.
Human Footprint also features several experts, who explain the science behind the installations and explore the profound effect our individual footprints will have on the planet.
From our babyhood, when we get through a massive 3,796 nappies and produce 254 litres of urine, through to our old age and death - by which time we will have had sex 4,239 times, eaten 10,866 carrots, taken 7,163 baths and done an average of 15 farts a day - this extraordinary film tells the story of an average life, the story of our human footprint.
It says a lot that whereas the US President resides in a massive mansion and the Russian premier has a medieval fortress, our own Prime Minister has to make do with running the country from a modest terraced house. In this one-off documentary, affable English Heritage chief Simon Thurley looks at buildings as manifestations of power and charts the history and symbolism of Downing Street, the Kremlin and the White House and what they tell us about their respective nations. It's full of diverting details, including one neat architectural gag: when he redesigned the state rooms at Downing Street in the 1980s, architect Quinlan Terry included above a doorway, as a cheeky reference to Mrs T, a tiny goldleaf figure of a thatcher.
Simon Thurley, head of English Heritage, takes you inside the buildings whose tenants rule the world.Love, hate, treachery, barbarity, and base politics have all left their mark, as the presidents and prime ministers come and go. But the buildings remain silent witness to their deeds, and misdeeds.
Each of them is expressive of national character: the pokiness of Number 10, a reminder to prime ministers that they are our servants; the pristine set of the White House, a stage from which the planet is run; and the overpowering brutality of the Kremlin, testament to so many dark deeds, and the line of unchallenged power that links the Czars to Russia's present day leader.
The programme enjoys unique access to these places: the Russians even cleared Red Square for Simon, so impressed were they by the Queen's adviser on architecture.
And it poses a key question. In the age of international terror, as these buildings defences are shorn up, are their inhabitants increaingly divorced from the very people they're supposed to serve, by the places they work in? The decision to go to war, the decision to assassinate, is now so much more easily taken from within their walls. So are we, just as much as they, prisoners of the Powerhouses?
The Definitive Assessment Of The Blair Decade
In a landmark series, the policies and personality of the man who has ruled Britain for the last decade are examined by Andrew Rawnsley, the award-winning broadcaster, author and commentator who is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative chroniclers of New Labour's time in power.
This major two-part series both provides the definitive assessment of the Blair decade and tells the inside story of New Labour over the past ten years. The series features exclusive interviews with senior Cabinet members, civil servants, generals, and allies, opponents and intimates of Tony Blair, who speak to Rawnsley with extraordinary candour about the Prime Minister's greatest successes and his gravest misjudgements. The series includes interviews with close friends of Tony Blair who have never before spoken on the record and to camera.
The programmes deliver a comprehensive, revelatory and incisive examination of the events at home and abroad that shaped the Blair premiership. Rawnsley analyses the political relationships forged by Blair, the opportunities, threats and challenges he has faced from 1997 until his final days at Number 10, and the successes and disasters of his period in power.
Rawnsley shows that Blair was hugely daunted by power and arrived at Number 10 with deep inner anxieties about whether he was up to being Prime Minister. He soon found that his promises were not matched by detailed strategies to fulfil them. Senior members of Blair's Cabinet admit to Rawnsley that the Government suffered from a lack of worked-out policies. Blair's closest aides and allies express regret that they too often concentrated on the spin at the expense of the substance.
A docu-drama which chronicles the experiences and actions of Peter Wildeblood which eventually led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Great Britain.
As the title suggests this film explores the world of the Aryan Brotherhood within the North American prison system. The film looks back at the development of the gang and charts its rise to vicious power and the investigation that sought to bring down as many of the leaders as possible. As such the film does a good job of presenting how violent and intelligent the gang is and it never allows us just to see these guys as white racists, no, that would be far too simple.
Robert Beckford travels to Ghana to look into the reasons why a country rich in natural resources and independent for fifty years is one of the poorest countries in the world. Looks at the economic and social problems caused by the activities of multinationals, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and particularly at the rice, cocoa and gold trades. Considers issues such as child-labor, poverty caused by rice imports, and people living in highly polluted areas around gold mines.
Based on astonishing archaeological finds and extraordinary first-person accounts, this film tells the story of one of the greatest wonders the world has ever known: The Great Wall of China .
The Wall is more than 3,000 miles long and was built in just 20 years by a workforce of nearly 50,000, who used technology and construction techniques that still inspire awe today. But this triumph of engineering came at a colossal cost and would eventually hasten the end of the Ming dynasty.
On 3 September 1939, 25-year-old English aristocrat Unity Mitford walked into a Munich park and shot herself in the head. Distraught at the prospect of England declaring war on her beloved Führer, Britain's most notorious Nazi sympathiser seemed determined to make the ultimate act of fanatical devotion.
Through five young people, this documentary avoids the scare stories and talks openly about the realities of drug taking, from the initial euphoria to the difficult comedowns.
Salvador Dali is one of the most popular of all Surrealist painters, yet behind his image of dream and fantasy was a deeply troubled man of ambiguous sexuality and Freudian confusion. In this intimate film art critic Brian Sewell - who knew Dali at the point when his genius and reputation were both exhausted - gives his sympathetic private view of a man whose life and work were surrendered to sexual obsessions.
Comedian Johnny Vegas revisits the faith that he abandoned, aged 11, when he left the seminary school where he was enrolled to become a priest.
Keith Allen visits Westboro Baptist Church to confront them about their extreme religious beliefs.
Profiling cult leader Michael Travesser, who claims to be the Messiah
and believed October 31, 2007, would be Doomsday, with an event of
apocalyptic proportions occurring at midnight. The documentary looks at
the hold the 66-year-old, who has come to the attention of the FBI, has
over his followers in the Strong City community as film-maker Ben
Anthony hears claims of teenage girls wanting a sexual consummation
with him and questions whether his beliefs could lead to tragedy.
Virgin School follows the emotional and physical journey of 26-year-old virgin James as he embarks on a unique four-month course for sexually inexperienced men in Amsterdam
A documentary covering the career of notorious rogue doctor John Ronald Brown, who claims to have performed over 600 gender reassignment surgeries over the course of his career despite not qualifying as a surgeon.
Throughout his 30 years he left behind him a string of disabled and disfigured patients, broken lives and bodies.
This documentary covers his career, the people that were victimized by his crude procedures and his conviction. Includes interviews with some of his patients, their loved ones and the notorious doctor himself.
Television viewers all over the world are familiar with the iconic images of destruction and devastation that followed the collapse of the Twin Towers. What people don’t realise is that underneath the gargantuan mountain of rubble that greeted rescuers was an extraordinary world, hundreds of feet deep, which held even more incredible stories.
9/11: Ground Zero Underworld presents the untold stories of those who searched tirelessly for their loved ones, sifting through tonnes of debris in an attempt to bring them home to rest. In the hours and days following the disaster, relatives and friends of those inside the buildings descended on Ground Zero, vowing to find their loved ones, dead or alive. And so began one of the greatest search operations in history - a story of extraordinary courage, perseverance and humanity. Some worked in the emergency services, some were volunteers, but all were driven to Herculean lengths to keep the promise they’d made to themselves and their families.
This film follows some of the people engaged in the search effort, documenting the emotional turmoil with heartrending testimony and harrowing, previously unseen footage of the rescue and recovery effort, including the eerie images of police cars lying perfectly preserved beneath 100 feet of debris.
Documentary which looks at the Irish folk revival of the last 20 or 30 years. 60 years ago virtually unheard abroad and largely unloved at home, Irish music has given the world a sense of Ireland and Ireland a sense of itself, as the country has risen from an impoverished post-colonial upstart to a modern European power. Contributors include Christy Moore, Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners, Liam Clancy of The Clancy Brothers and Shane MacGowan of The Pogues.
Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul became known as the Tipton Taliban after they were picked up by US forces in Afghanistan and spent two years in Guantanamo Bay. They were accused, along with a friend, of having had weapons training with the Taliban, meeting senior Al-Qaeda figures and taking part in the Islamist terror war against the United States.
They protested their innocence and, after they were released without charge in 2004, claimed that they had been tortured during their incarceration. But the pair are plagued by suspicious looks and whisperings of 'no smoke without fire'. They have volunteered to have Professor Sean Spence test them to prove their innocence.
What were they doing in Afghanistan? Why did they visit a Taliban stronghold? And why were they with Taliban fighters when they were captured? When they answer these questions in the scanner, the technology doesn't quite give them the response they had hoped for.
The Tipton Taliban were the subject of 'The Road to Guantanamo'; a Michael Winterbottom docudrama which was broadcast by Channel 4 in 2006.
A woman convicted of poisoning a child undergoes the latest lie tests in an attempt to clear her name. Susan Hamilton was sentenced to four years in prison for poisoning the little girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. She has always protested her innocence and hopes to appeal against her conviction.
The child had been diagnosed with a terminal metabolic condition. To help her grow and develop she had been fitted with a feeding tube and Susan managed her feeding regime. However, the child was admitted to hospital with massive blood sodium levels, and suspicion fell upon Susan. Had she added salt to the little girl's feeding tube?
The police testified that a syringe full of salt was found in Susan's kitchen. Susan denies any knowledge of it.
Will the lie detector help Susan to clear her name, or finally prove her guilt?
In the last film of the Lie Lab series, Kathy O'Beirne alleges that she was physically abused by her father; raped at the age of 6 by an older boy; raped again at age 8, this time by a Catholic priest; and raped for a third time when she was 13, by a volunteer worker.
Kathy's memoir tells the tale of a horrifically abused child and has become a best-selling book. Her brothers and sisters refute her claims completely, going as far as to suggest that Kathy's book be sold as fiction, instead of autobiography. Who is telling the truth?
Professor Sean Spence, who has pioneered the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging to detect when someone is lying, scans Kathy and her brother while they respond to each other's allegations.
Can Kathy back up the claims she made in her autobiography? Will her brother's testimony reveal that she is lying?
In 1967, four unknown actors in a kids TV show become the biggest pop band in the world. In America they outsold Elvis and The Beatles combined. They were...The Monkees. But The Monkees were not a real band, they were a man-made money-making machine, driven by ego and ambition, a machine that would ultimately crash and burn. This is the inside story of pop music's first manufactured band. Labelled the pre-fab four, The Monkees were the first manufactured pop group. And with the radical TV show and contagious pop songs, they attracted a cult following that survives to this day.
But behind the sugary smiles and bubblegum pop of The Monkees lay a cut-throat business enterprise, one fuelled by money, ego and the ambition of some of the biggest names in Hollywood. And one that, ultimately, was to end in tears. With access to Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz as well as The Monkees archive, Making The Monkees is the inside story of the rise and fall of this unlikely group. It is the story of four young men who were hand picked to become overnight superstars melting the hearts of teeny-boppers worldwide and lining the pockets of their creators.
But it's also the story of how The Monkees - and the men who pulled their strings - created the blueprint for the boy-band phenomenon that is so prevalent today - from the prototype casting and marketing, to the inevitable tantrums over artistic control and the ensuing commercial failure.
A look at the tasteless jokes comedians tell and the controversy they cause.
This film from acclaimed documentary maker Jane Treays chronicles the moving story of five remarkable American children who are primordial dwarfs, the smallest type of dwarf in the world
Keith Allen teams up with a group of teenage tourette sufferers and takes them on a trip to France to find out more about the condition.
Jacques Peretti's documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture.
On a mission to extract reality from rumour, investigative journalist Jacques Peretti picks apart the most sensational high-profile scandals of recent years
Filmmaker James Quinn investigates the controversial American pop band Prussian Blue, who are fronted by teenage twin girls. They have made headlines around the world with their white nationalist lyrics and have been associated with neo-Nazism.
Documentary following three people over the age of 25 who are determined to lose their virginity.
Documentary celebrating 25 years of Channel 4.
Documentary revealing the truth behind the bloody 51-day siege in Waco, Texas in 1993, with dramatic reconstruction, first-person testimony, FBI recordings and home video footage.
The Hindu god, Krishna, was conceived by a virgin and his birth was attended by angels, wise men and shepherds. Buddha was also the result of a miraculous birth, and was visited by wise men bearing gifts. He too began his ministry at about 30 years old and performed such miracles as walking on water and feeding 500.
Some people in India believe that Jesus did not die on the cross but escaped from Roman Palestine and ended up in Kashmir. There, they say, he continued to preach, had a wife and child, and later died and was buried.
Jesus was, of course, born a Jew, and Christians believe he is the Messiah prophesied in the Torah – the Old Testament, which is the holy scripture of the Jews. Meanwhile Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet but do not believe he died on the cross; instead, according to Islam, God saved him and took him up to heaven, and he will return and be buried next to Muhammed.
In this Channel 4 Christmas Day programme, Robert Beckford attempts to unravel the mystery of why there are so many versions of the Christ story across the world and asks which is the real one, and where this leaves the Christian story and his own belief in Jesus.
he 2007 documentary by Channel 4 about the ideology behind Iranian Shiism. The role of Imam Hussein and Islam among the Iranian people, the struggle between good and evil in contemporary politics and society viewed through the historical glasses of the tragic Karbala incident. Iranian pilgrims visit the tomb of Imam Hussein that tells their own hidden stories. Channel 4 attempts to reveal the mysterious martyrdom culture of Iranians to the British public.
A steady drumbeat of leaks suggests that the US and/or Israel may attack Iran sometime over the coming months. Once Upon a Time in Iran is a road movie featuring pilgrims and presidents: a journey to the spiritual heartlands of the Iranian people and a tale of martyrdom that defines their view of aggressors and the outside world.
Hitler's Favourite Royal is the extraordinary but little known royal story of the British prince who became a convicted Nazi. Prince Charles Edward was Queen Victoria's youngest grandchild. Brought up at Claremont House and educated at Eton until he was 14, Charles Edward was forced by Queen Victoria to take up the Dukedom of Coburg in Germany after a series of unexpected deaths of uncles and cousins. Transformed overnight from a British Prince to a German Duke, the course of his life was altered in ways he could never have imagined as he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Narrated by Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton Hitler's Favourite Royal features interviews with one of the Duke's grand-daughters who had never spoken publicly about him before.
The country's crudest comic opens the door to his shocking world. This one-hour observational documentary follows Roy as he tours the country.
Royston Vasey, a.k.a. Roy 'Chubby' Brown, is Britain's rudest comedian, infamous for his outrageously racist, sexist and homophobic gags. It's an accolade that's meant he's never been allowed to perform on TV. But this has turned out to be more of a blessing than a curse as he's done very well for himself off the back of his army of fans buying his videos, DVDs, audio cassettes and show tickets. But how different is Roy Vasey from his stage persona 'Chubby' Brown? Film maker Will Yapp follows him around for a few months in 2005 and attempts to find out, following Roy as he goes on tour, re-visits his home town of Middlesborough, shares his family life and prepares for his first appearance on TV in 18 years on The Frank Skinner Show. Are the bigoted, offensive jokes he tells on stage just his act or personal views with a nastier edge to them?
aka A Washed Up Celebrity Celebrity’s Guide to Attaining Spiritual, and more importantly, Celebrity Redemption… With Preston From Celebrity Big Brother
Catching up with the lives some of the members of Religious cult, the Unification Church who participated in a mass wedding in which 4,000 people married total strangers.
Filmmaker Jamie Campbell is hired to make a promotional for the British Silver Ring Thing organization. During this time he learns about why Christians are taking the vow abstinence (both in the UK and America) and the potential problems it can cause.
Documenting the lives of eight gifted children growing up in the UK. But what makes such an exceptional child? Are they born this way or can parental upbringing have a significant impact on a child's development?
Following last year's enchanting film using special effects to re-create the gestation of mammals such as elephants and dolphins, we're now shown what goes on in a woman's uterus when she's conceived twins, triplets or even quads. The footage is accompanied by specially commissioned poetry by Roger McGough and Brian Patten, which, while delightful, sounds a bit too cosy for a quasi-scientific documentary. But the real-life endoscopic footage and the "4-D" ultrasound scans are fabulous and there are intriguing biological snippets, including the suggestion that one in eight of us may have started life in the womb with a sibling.
aka A Washed Up Celebrity Celebrity’s Guide to Attaining Spiritual, and more importantly, Celebrity Redemption… With Preston From Celebrity Big Brother
Catching up with the lives some of the members of Religious cult, the Unification Church who participated in a mass wedding in which 4,000 people married total strangers.
Filmmaker Jamie Campbell is hired to make a promotional for the British Silver Ring Thing organization. During this time he learns about why Christians are taking the vow abstinence (both in the UK and America) and the potential problems it can cause.
Documenting the lives of eight gifted children growing up in the UK. But what makes such an exceptional child? Are they born this way or can parental upbringing have a significant impact on a child's development?
Following last year's enchanting film using special effects to re-create the gestation of mammals such as elephants and dolphins, we're now shown what goes on in a woman's uterus when she's conceived twins, triplets or even quads. The footage is accompanied by specially commissioned poetry by Roger McGough and Brian Patten, which, while delightful, sounds a bit too cosy for a quasi-scientific documentary. But the real-life endoscopic footage and the "4-D" ultrasound scans are fabulous and there are intriguing biological snippets, including the suggestion that one in eight of us may have started life in the womb with a sibling.
