Add
Private Notes
Documentary investigating the ways in which people can be tricked and conned, from traditional street scams such as the three-cup trick to sophisticated online computer fraud that costs Britain an estimated £3.5billion a year. Footage of police units targeting criminals on London's streets and the activities of dedicated `scam-baiters', who try to deter would-be perpetrators, help shed light on the measures taken to combat a problem thought to affect half the population
A remarkable behind-the-scenes look at the secretive world of female masking, where men transform themselves into dolls by squeezing into elaborate rubber second skins.
An intimate family portrait of the film director John Boorman by one who should know him best - his daughter Katrine. Now over 80 years old, the director of Hell in the Pacific, Excalibur, Deliverance and The Emerald Forest is one of the last great mavericks. His daughter, who previously had never held a camera, spent four years filming her father who, during the process, found it impossible to resist taking control and offering her a crash course in filmmaking.
Vulnerable, cross, funny, wild and wise, Boorman chronicles his adventures in Hollywood, but also talks with great honesty about his childhood, his marriages, his passion for nature, his need for danger and why film is the only thing he ever truly loved. Though the film is also a portrait of one of the most influential British filmmakers of the last 40 years, most of all it is a story of a father and daughter finding their way back to each other through the language of film.
In 1944, at the Nazi concentration camp of Terezin, the imprisoned Czech conductor Rafael Schachter formed a choir of 150 of his fellow Jewish prisoners to brazenly perform Verdi's Requiem before the very Nazis who had condemned them to death.
Transcending the horrors around them, night after night they rehearsed in a dark, mouldy and suffocating cellar, with a broken piano. In a calm message of defiance, each time a choir member was murdered by the SS, a new singer would replace them. The final performance took place in front of the camp's Nazi brass, visiting high-ranking SS officers from Berlin and gullible Red Cross inspectors brought in to verify that the prisoners were being well treated.
This film features surviving Nazi propaganda footage of Terezin as it was perversely stage-managed during a Red Cross inspection visit to appear like an attractive Jewish commune. Shortly after the performance, both Schachter and most of his choir would be sent to Auschwitz. But through the transformation of Verdi's music into a proclamation of their unbroken spirit and warning of God's coming wrath against their captors, the prisoners had been able to sing to their captors what they dared not say.
For over ten years, distinguished American conductor Murry Sidlin, who found out about the choir in the 1990s, dreamed of bringing the Requiem back to Terezin. Now, through soaring concert footage, powerful survivor recollections, cinematic dramatizations and evocative animation, their heartbreaking story is brought to life
Many people who lose dramatic amounts of weight after surgery or dieting believe it will bring the answer to their prayers, a slimmer figure, confidence and better health. But the reality of extreme weight loss can often be anything but liberating, bringing a distressing side-effect: excess skin, and lots of it.
The 30-fold increase in weight-loss surgery in the last decade has left thousands of people with excess skin, but with the NHS restricting subsequent cosmetic surgery, people have been left in body limbo, not happy with the body they had, but hating the body they now have.
This insightful, thoughtful documentary tells the stories of Sarah, Gregg and Pauline, who - after losing 43 stone between them - have been left with shocking amounts of loose skin. They all feel as though they are carrying a shameful secret hidden underneath their clothes.
For the first time, they bare their all and open up their lives, revealing exactly what it is like to live with a 'baggy body', and how, through a combination of further extreme surgery and willpower, they are determined to say goodbye to their saggy skin.
The contrast between the majestic statues of Easter Island and the desolation of their surroundings is stark. For decades Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as the islanders call it, has been seen as a warning from history for the planet as a whole - wilfully expend natural resources and the collapse of civilisation is inevitable.
But archaeologist Dr Jago Cooper believes this is a disastrous misreading of what happened on Easter Island. He believes that its culture was a success story not a failure, and the real reasons for its ultimate demise were far more shocking. Cooper argues that there is an important lesson that the experience of Easter Island can teach the rest of the world, but it doesn't begin by blaming its inhabitants for their own downfall.
This film examines the latest scientific and archaeological evidence to reveal a compelling new narrative, one that sees the famous statues as only part of a complex culture that thrived in isolation. Cooper finds a path between competing theories about what happened to Easter Island to make us see this unique place in a fresh light
Documentary produced and directed by rock superstar Dave Grohl (who also appears in the film) in which he uncovers stories about the Los Angeles studio Sound City, where some of the greatest rock albums of all time were perfected and recorded.
Sound City was state of the art when it opened in 1969, featuring a legendary Neve recording console. Through interviews with the musicians and producers who have worked at the studio over the years, the film uncovers and defines the intangible magic within those wires and walls that was responsible for such an incredible history of contemporary music.
For over four decades, it was the birthplace of some of the world's most treasured music, including Nirvana's Nevermind, Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes, Fleetwood Mac's eponymous album and Johnny Cash's Unchained, to name just a few.
Grohl discovers the stories of the iconic bands that recorded there. We learn how Mick Fleetwood met Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham at Sound City, leading to them joining Fleetwood Mac, and discover why musicians and producers such as Butch Vig, Frank Black, Trent Reznor and Lars Ulrich all chose to work in its analogue environment over newer, more state-of-the-art studios. Grohl also tracks the growth of digital music and the inevitable death of analogue recording, which changed the industry and Sound City forever.
The story of Sound City is an integral part of the personal story of Dave Grohl, whose music was forever influenced by those who once recorded in Studio A and left their mark in the form of the many platinum records hanging on the walls within. He completes the film by bringing some of the great names together at his Studio 606 to record a new album on the original Sound City Neve console, culminating in new performances from Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks, Lee Ving, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor, Krist Novoselic and Sir Paul McCartney.
Featuring contributions from Neil Young, Tom Petty, S
Urban free climbers are a new breed of daredevils, young men and women who illegally climb cranes and buildings without any safety equipment, then hang from them, hundreds of metres above the ground, one slip from certain death...
Free climbing originated in Eastern Europe, but has recently spread to Britain.
James Kingston is a 23-year-old who lives with his mother near Southampton. In his spare time James scales the local 100m cranes and 200m radio towers.
Now James embarks on a journey to the spiritual home of urban free climbing, Ukraine, where he teams up with the infamous Mustang Wanted, the craziest climber of them all.
As Mustang and James explore Kiev, the pair push themselves to new extremes, climbing derelict buildings and tightrope-walking hundreds of metres above the city, before finally heading to the iconic Moscow bridge to attempt Mustang's latest death defying stunt.
Don't Look Down is fascinating, revealing and nerve-wracking.
This innovative, unique and hard-hitting performance documentary delves into the finances and wallets of four twenty-somethings who came of age in the financial crisis, a generation blighted by debt and overwhelmed by consumerism.
Directed by Fred&Nick, narrated by George the Poet and set in Croydon, the First Cut film focuses on the contrasting lives of a diverse cast, from when they receive their payday money to when they spend it.
Filmed over one summer in one of the most diverse boroughs in London, one of the most unequal cities in the world, the documentary follows the highs and lows of these members of Generation Y as they cope in one of the toughest economic times since the 1930s.
These days, opinionated journalists are two a penny. But back in the 1950s, Ian Nairn was part of a new breed of Angry Young Men. Aged just 25 and fresh out of the RAF, he burst onto the architectural scene with Outrage, a blistering attack on the soulless destruction of Britain by shoddy post-war planners. Published in the influential Architectural Review in June 1955, it led to the formation of the Civic Trust, whose remit was to tackle the 'subtopian' eyesores Nairn had so graphically exposed.
Over the next two decades, Nairn became a tireless and passionate campaigner, both in print and on the BBC, inspiring a whole generation to take up arms against the second rate in our towns and cities. But he himself was a deeply flawed and troubled character, who slowly drank himself to death, feeling the battle to save Britain's soul had been lost. Close colleagues and admirers, including Jonathan Meades, Gillian Darley and Jonathan Glancey, pay tribute to a remarkable man who made us look afresh at the world around us
Bob Dylan described Missouri-born country boy Gene Clark as one of the three best songwriters in the world. He was the original frontman for one of the most iconic and influential bands of the 60s. After his abrupt departure from the Byrds at the peak of their popularity, he made records that are still regarded as classics. And he was one of the great pioneers of both folk rock and country rock. Yet, as far as the public is concerned, Clark is largely unknown and his reputation lags far behind that of peers such as Gram Parsons.
Since his death in 1991 at the age of 46, his songs have been covered by artists ranging from Robert Plant to Yo La Tengo and he has been hailed as a key influence by successive generations of musicians such as Tom Petty, Primal Scream and Fleet Foxes, despite some of his albums having been unavailable for long periods and only now all in print again.
This documentary explores the mystery of why this richly talented but deeply enigmatic and often self-destructive man failed to enjoy the success his work deserved. Drawing on interviews with his family, friends and fellow musicians including fellow Byrds David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, a wealth of great music from the four-decade span of his career and previously unseen archive material, it is a story that is both compelling and moving, veering between moments of magic and moments of madness.
The film was made by a father and sons team - Paul, Jack and Dan Kendall - as a labour of love which took them right across America in search of the people and places that were part of Gene Clark's life
A privileged peek into the exclusive world of British heritage car brand Rolls-Royce.
The cameras follow the team at their Goodwood factory as they manufacture their most expensive bespoke car to date, The Celestial, which comes complete with diamond studded interior.
Inside Rolls-Royce reveals the craftsmanship, attention to detail and dedication that goes into making and selling cars with a huge price tag, and the extraordinary lengths the team will go to in the pursuit of perfection.
Dr Christian Jessen investigates "cures" for homosexuality in the UK and the US, including trying some of them himself.
A look into the world of one of Britain's most exclusive jewellers, Boodles, as the family-run business that has been going for over 200 years, creates its most valuable collection of jewellery to date.
Boodles operates in a world of celebrity clients and super-wealthy diamond connoisseurs. Their jewellery is as likely to be seen on the red carpet as at exclusive high society balls. The ambition is for their product to be perfectly pitched and the service flawless.
But Boodles want to aim even higher, and it's up to company director Jody Wainwright to get them there.
The programme follows Jody and the business throughout the production and launch of Greenfire, a collection of jewellery made from 18 rare Columbian emeralds.
Meticulously hand-crafted, this £2.8 million suite of jewellery includes matching earrings, pendant, bracelet, rings, and, as its centrepiece, an emerald necklace set with over 1300 diamonds and worth £1 million. It is the firm's most ambitious project ever.
On an early evening in October 2013, 77-year-old great-grandfather John Wildey was being flown home by his pilot friend after a day out in north Lincolnshire.
The pilot suddenly started to feel unwell. Ten minutes later he had collapsed at the controls, 1500 feet up in the air. John had no flying experience, and it was starting to get dark.
This documentary tells the story of how, against all the odds, he managed to land the plane in pitch darkness, with help from a small team who were scrambled to provide instructions from the ground and air.
John's ordeal lasted for over an hour, and was made far harder because he couldn't find the switch for the lights inside the cockpit.
He made four attempts to land: his first was on a short, unlit runway that was so dark, he had to abort at the last second. Soon after, he went into an uncontrolled spin, from which he somehow recovered.
His next two attempts, after being diverted onto a lit runway, both ended in nail-biting climaxes, and failures, before he finally managed to land.
Channel 4 has exclusive access to the recordings of the dramatic 'talk down' tapes, from Humberside Airport Air Traffic Control and an RAF rescue helicopter, and footage from the on-board night-vision camera.
Those responsible for talking John through his ordeal describe what happened. John Cameron, who took the initial mayday call, put John's chances of survival at less than 30%.
Flt Lt Rebecca Bethell, the captain of the RAF rescue helicopter says: 'flying in the dark would be horrendous for us, and we're trained in all sorts of emergencies. We just wouldn't do that.'
Interviews and rare archive footage weave together performances from a landmark multi-artist concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, celebrating the songs and artistry of the great folk-blues troubadour Bert Jansch.
Ralph McTell, Robert Plant, Donovan, members of Pentangle, Bernard Butler, Martin Carthy, Martin Simpson, Lisa Knapp and more pay tribute to Jansch, who died in 2011. There's also a real coup with an extraordinary performance by Neil Young of Jansch's haunting Needle of Death, filmed at Jack White's Nashville studio especially for the occasion.
Robert Plant shows his vocal prowess with a powerful rendition of Go Your Way My Love, joined by Jansch collaborator Bernard Butler. Martin Simpson and Danny Thompson surprise with a version of Heartbreak Hotel, a track covered by Jansch. Ralph McTell tackles the seminal Angie and Lisa Knapp and Martin Carthy combine for Blackwaterside - Jansch's arrangement of which heavily influenced Led Zep's Black Mountain Side.
An effortlessly cool singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitarist, Bert Jansch came to prominence in the folk clubs of the mid-1960s: the concert's stage set recalls the legendary Les Cousins club in London's Soho, where he was a resident artist, and the Royal Festival Hall itself was the venue for Pentangle's first and final major gigs. Jansch galvanized a whole scene, through his solo work, as a duo with John Renbourn and with his folk-jazz supergroup Pentangle. Neil Young called him the Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar, Led Zeppelin and Paul Simon were weaned on him and younger generation musicians including Beth Orton and Johnny Marr beat a path to his door. Bert Jansch's influence reached far and wide.
Jimmy Doherty examines how the big challenges of the 21st century are affecting food prices, from the rise of Asia to the power of the financial markets, and from growing population to volatile weather.
In six years the price of an average food basket has gone up by 25%. And in the UK we import half of our food, which makes us extremely vulnerable to volatile prices.
Documentary presented by writer Tim Kendall which tells the remarkable story of the First World War soldier-poet who broke all the rules. Ivor Gurney wasn't an officer but a private who bizarrely joined up in the hope that the ordered army life would help ease a mental health condition. Initially this shock therapy worked, but he was eventually shot and gassed and spent the last 15 years of his life in an asylum.
Yet the poetry he wrote there is uniquely powerful - capturing the experience of the ordinary soldier - and the film argues that it is the equal of the work of any of the more well-known soldier-poets of WWI. Gurney was also an accomplished composer and all the music used in the film is his, some of it hauntingly written on the Western Front
Filmed over six months, controversial filmmaker Martin Durkin meets controversial UKIP leader and political whirlwind Nigel Farage, in the run-up to the European elections, at which some commentators predict Farage will lead UKIP to victory. They also believe he may stop the Conservatives from winning the general election.
A few years ago, no one had heard of Nigel Farage; now he's a major force in British politics. But who is Nigel Farage? Durkin finds out on a journey full of incident: drink in hand, Nigel guides viewers through his favourite watering holes in the City, and he sneaks the film crew into the Euro Parliament, only to be swiftly ejected.
From battling with protestors to keeping UKIP MEPs in line, Durkin gets to know the man who is turning British politics upside down.
Frozen for more than 5000 years on a remote mountain pass, Ötzi the Iceman now lies in a refrigerated tomb. He's a survivor from the Stone Age, bearing secrets of how humans lived nearly 1000 years before the pyramids.
His mummified corpse pulled from a glacier in the Alps two decades ago has been probed by scientists for the last 20 years. Yet he's still a mystery waiting to be solved.
Who was Ötzi? How did he die? Was it in battle? Or was he murdered?
After two years of preparation, a risky autopsy against the clock overturns past theories. The Iceman's DNA and last meal surprise the experts.
At last they come closer to understanding our ancient past and to solving this case of death in the Neolithic Age.
Three teenagers with troubled backgrounds each want to make it as jockeys.
They're not from the ranks of Champagne-drinking, hat-wearing spectators normally associated with race days. They aren't world-renowned sportsmen on horseback, dedicated to what they do and in peak physical condition.
They're fighters, travellers and troublesome teens, who have not had the best start in life. But they're passionate about horses, and this could be their way to a better future.
The Northern Racing College near Doncaster offers an intensive 10-week course, the possibility of a second chance and training for these teenagers to become jockeys.
Chaos meets order as the teenagers enter a world of 7am starts, discipline and hard work, and face the no-nonsense approach of the tutors.
Can the rigid structure and routine of Britain's toughest jockey school and a love of horses give these teenagers a fighting chance of a better life?
Self-confessed curio hunter Richard E. Grant takes a trip to the continent to experience the world of the people who spend their time rifling through the barns, cowsheds and French farm attics, looking for pre-war treasures to bring back home.
The show explores the world of professional antique hunters and dealers who seek out hidden treasures at flea markets and antique shops all over France; hoping to find curios like absinthe glasses, horse linen and vintage traffic lights that will sell like wildfire in the UK.
Richard and two dealers storm the continent to plunder its treasures and discover the stories behind their amazing vintage finds, as well as the history and culture of the areas they visit.
But can they recover their outlay in a weekend?
And as Richard revels in the land of dusty cafes, beautiful B&Bs and the perfect citron pressé, can these dealers actually make a living from treasure hunting?
For billions of years our planet was devoid of life, but something transformed it into a vibrant, living planet. That something was soil.
It's a much-misunderstood substance, often dismissed as 'dirt', something to be avoided. Yet the crops we eat, the animals we rely on, the very oxygen we breathe, all depend on the existence of the plant life that bursts from the soil every year.
In this film, gardening expert Chris Beardshaw explores where soil comes from, what it's made of and what makes it so essential to life. Using specialist microphotography, he reveals it as we've never seen it before - an intricate microscopic landscape, teeming with strange and wonderful life-forms.
It's a world where the chaos of life meets the permanence of rock, the two interacting with each other to make a living system of staggering complexity that sustains all life on Earth.
Chris explores how man is challenging this most precious resource on our planet and how new science is seeking to preserve it.
Professor Richard Fortey delves into the fascinating and normally-hidden kingdom of fungi. From their spectacular birth, through their secretive underground life to their final explosive death, Richard reveals a remarkable world that few of us understand or even realise exists - yet all life on Earth depends on it.
In a specially-built mushroom lab, with the help of mycologist Dr Patrick Hickey and some state-of-the-art technology, Richard brings to life the secret world of mushrooms as never seen before and reveals the spectacular abilities of fungi to break down waste and sustain new plant life, keeping our planet alive.
Beyond the lab, Richard travels across Britain and beyond to show us the biggest, fastest and most deadly organisms on the planet - all of them fungi. He reveals their almost magical powers that have world-changing potential - opening up new frontiers in science, medicine and technology.
Each year, over 5000 children are excluded from mainstream education in the UK, and just under 60 of them study at Muntham House School: a specialist boarding school for boys with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Many of Muntham House's pupils have been excluded because of violent and disruptive behaviour. But the dedicated teachers, led by charismatic headmaster Richard Boyle, are committed to finding out what it is in each boy that will inspire them to want to turn their lives around.
The school is one of the best of its kind and one of its goals is 'to provide a happy experience for the boys'. Muntham House has a high student-teacher ratio, and a combined team of teachers, therapists and care workers.
This documentary follows three of the school's most challenging pupils.
A journey through the dramatic and destructive years of the French Revolution, telling its history in a way not seen before - through the extraordinary story of its art. Our guide through this turbulent decade is the constantly surprising Dr Richard Clay, an art historian who has spent his life decoding the symbols of power and authority.
Dr Clay has always been fascinated by vandalism and iconoclasm, and believes much of the untold story of the French Revolution can be discovered through the stories of great moments of destruction. Who were the stone masons in the crowd outside Notre Dame that pulled down the statues of kings? Why do the churches of Paris still carry all the coded signs of anti-Christian state legislation? What does it mean, and who was carrying this out?
Telling the story of the French Revolution - from the Storming of the Bastille to the rise of Napoleon - as the significant modern outbreak of iconoclasm, Clay argues that it reveals the destructive and constructive roles of iconoclasts and how this led directly to the birth of the modern Europe.
A frank, intimate and revealing portrait of three of Britain's mature escorts: older women who choose to sell sex from hotel rooms and their homes, all completely legally.
As well as topping up their pensions, all of these women seem to be enjoying themselves in their chosen and often new profession, but the film also questions how such a lifestyle can co-exist with their family lives and their roles as mothers and grandparents.
Their clients are men of all ages, sometimes as young as 20, but what is the motivation behind some men's desire to have sex with older women?
Documentary telling, in her own words, the story of Carole King's upbringing in Brooklyn and the subsequent success that she had as half of husband and wife songwriting team Goffin and King for Aldon Music on Broadway.
It was during this era in the early 1960s that they created a string of pop hits such as Take Good Care of My Baby for Bobby Vee, The Locomotion for Little Eva and Will You Love Me Tomorrow for the Shirelles, which became the first number 1 hit by a black American girl group. Not to mention the era-defining Up on the Roof for the Drifters and the magnificent Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin.
By 1970 Carole was divorced from songwriting partner Gerry Goffin and had moved to Los Angeles. It was here that she created her classic solo album Tapestry, packed with delightful tunes but also, for the first time, her own lyrics, very much sung from the heart. The album included It's Too Late, I Feel the Earth Move and You've Got a Friend and held the record for the most weeks at number 1 for nearly 20 years. It became a trusted part of everyone's record collection and has sold over 25 million copies to date.
The film features some wonderful unseen material and home movies, and narrates her life as an acclaimed singer-songwriter. To date, more than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles.
More recently, in 2013, Carole was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress for her songwriting, whilst in 2014 a Broadway production Beautiful, which tells her life story during the Goffin and King era, has received rave reviews.
Nowadays Carole King would see herself as much as an eco-activist as a songwriter, and is to be found constantly lobbying congress in defence of the wildlife and eco-systems of her beloved Idaho
Channel 4 marks same-sex marriages becoming legal in England and Wales by offering viewers front-row seats at one of the first gay weddings to take place.
And this is no ordinary ceremony. Grooms Benjamin Till and Nathan Taylor have written and are staging their entire wedding as a musical, with sung vows, sung readings and show-stopping ensembles featuring the whole congregation of family, friends and special guests, including a heartfelt duet from the grooms' mums.
There are witty musical takes on the standard conventions of wedding ceremonies, as well as stark reminders of the historical journey to this point, tributes to the other gay and lesbian couples getting married at the first opportunity and a reminder of the struggles faced by those in countries where homosexuality is still a crime.
Stephen Fry introduces and commentates on the service, which, as well as the marriage itself, also features special performances, messages and appearances from Olivia Newton John, The Feeling, Boy George, Will Young, West End leading lady Hannah Waddingham, Paul O'Grady and Jon Snow.
An examination of the events of 23 May 2014, when British-born Elliot Rodger killed six students in Santa Barbara before turning the gun on himself
Every year, more than 2000 people go missing and never return. This powerful, moving First Cut documentary follows the extraordinary stories of three families struggling to cope with the disappearance of a loved one who has vanished without a trace.
A brother, a husband and a mother have gone missing: three dramatic, mysterious and out-of-character disappearances that have left police detectives scratching their heads.
The families left behind have been plunged into limbo, unable to move forward with their lives in the absence of evidence, answers or closure.
The programme explores how hope is driving them to extraordinary lengths as they try to bring their missing loved ones home.
This documentary gains fascinating and extremely rare insight into a controlled world through the eyes of a young British Mormon dedicated to serving his church.
The controversial right to bear arms is at the heart of American culture.
In the USA there is a huge divide among parents. Some are against the sale of toy guns while others are buying the children the real thing.
This documentary sheds light on the world of child shooters, illuminating the fascinating beliefs, ambitions and paranoia that underpin it.
Teaching kids to shoot is seen as a fun family experience and yet over 3000 children are injured or killed every year in accidental shootings.
This unique and moving film follows the stories of three American families tackling the difficult issues behind the American relationship with firearms and the compelling stories behind the horrifying statistics.
Would Richard III's spinal deformity have prevented him from leading the charge at the Battle of Bosworth?
Kittens, puppies and professional pets: the advertising industry wants them all. Inspired by the immense popularity of internet cat videos and stars like Grumpy Cat, pets are now big business. This Cutting Edge documentary tells the story of the professional animal agents and pet owners whose job it is to supply a new wave of animal stars to appear in some of the world's favourite adverts.
Exploring the shocking daily reality of life for some of Britain's most prolific criminals, the first episode focuses on two criminals who couldn't be more different, but both are prolific offenders with lengthy records.
Jason 'Stokesy' Stokes is a brazen serial offender who is open about his criminal endeavours and proud to be a 'one-man crime wave'. On the other hand, drug addict Becky is ashamed of what she does.
Nationwide there are a hundred thousand Jasons and Beckys committing over 500,000 crimes a year. They're causing ordinary law-abiding families misery, clogging up the criminal justice system, filling up the jails, and costing the country millions.
Pakistan is one of the world's most important Muslim nations. It's a nuclear power, it's allied to the West in the war against terror, and it's a democracy. But Pakistan is also a country in denial, turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of many thousands of poor and vulnerable children. It's estimated that over four million children across Pakistan are forced to work from an early age due to poverty, and, of these, up to one and a half million live on the streets. This documentary focuses on the north-western city of Peshawar, where it is estimated that nine out of ten street children have been sexually abused. The programme will open the eyes of the world to the dark underbelly that permeates this city and many others, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. Written and produced by double-Emmy Award winner Jamie Doran, and directed by Special Emmy Winner Mohammed Al Naqvi. Narrated by Juliet Stevenson.
Taxidermy is undergoing a global revival. With high-street shops popping up, night classes selling out and demand outstripping supply, why are deceased beasts so popular?
Bafta Award-nominated director Matt Rudge encounters some of the world's most jaw-dropping modern examples of the craft. In Holland, Dutch artist Bart did something unexpected when his cat Orville was killed by a passing car. With the help of local engineer Arjen, he created the Orvillecopter: the world's first radio-controlled flying cat.
In the US, Arkansas businessman Daniel Ross runs a specialist taxidermy service where patrons can have their dead pets freeze-dried.
Blackburn taxidermist Nicola uses roadkill to make her creations. While her handiwork may sell out online, what will the locals make of her new high-street boutique?
In Essex, shot-girl Jayne is putting down the tequila bottle and turning her hand to the preservation of dead animals.
With the topic of death never far away, Matt discovers how this resurgence might be a coping mechanism for some, but a way of avoiding grief for others.
Competition for social housing is soaring and many people are being forced to turn to the private market, where increasing numbers are falling behind on payments or finding rent a constant struggle. In some areas, specialist letting agencies have sprung up as the middle man between tenants and landlords. This programme follows the work of two firms - one that deals with the housing-benefit end of the market, and the other helping landlords with difficult customers
On 3 October 2013 a boat carrying more than 500 migrants from North Africa capsized off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Three hundred and sixty people perished, many of them women and children. It was one of Europe's worst maritime disasters since the Second World War.
Award-winning photographer Zed Nelson tells the inside story of the tragedy, through the testimony of survivors, and locals who were the first on the scene. Nelson follows the clandestine onward journey of the survivors as they navigate the illegal immigration route out of Italy into Northern Europe.
At the centre of the programme is the story of one remarkable young woman: one of only five women who survived. Fanus, a teenager from Eritrea, tells of the desire to escape a life of military servitude that motivated her flight from the country.
She recounts the extraordinary hardship she suffered crossing Africa and how, although she couldn't swim, she somehow survived for hours in the water after the boat went down.
Fanus is caught up as a witness in an extraordinary court case involving a man accused of her kidnap. She then escapes and goes to incredible lengths to circumvent the European asylum system in order to reach the country she dreams of living in.
A remarkable portrait of human determination, the programme raises questions about the strength of Europe's immigration barriers and the lengths desperate refugees will go to in order to breach them.
Peter Kay gives viewers a unique look behind the scenes of his mammoth 18 months on the road. Playing 140 shows to 1.2 million people, Peter Kay: Live and Back On Nights! also includes brand new material from what is the biggest and most successful stand-up comedy tour of all time.
Peter Kay gives viewers a unique look behind the scenes of his mammoth 18 months on the road. Playing 140 shows to 1.2 million people, Peter Kay: Live and Back On Nights! also includes brand new material from what is the biggest and most successful stand-up comedy tour of all time.
This revealing documentary explores the world of polygamous marriages among British Muslims. While polygamy is illegal under British law, it is permitted under Sharia law, and while it's unusual, some estimate that there are as many as 20,000 polygamous marriages among Muslims in the UK today. The programme examines the daily challenges of polygamous life and the motivation of those who are looking for another wife. It considers whether they are compelled by desire or tradition and meets those who are trying to make polygamy acceptable to mainstream UK society. The film poses difficult questions, not only around reconciling Muslim values with modern British society but also on questions of duty, love and betrayal.
A gripping examination of how the brutal murder of two human beings became the first nationally televised real-life drama; a flashpoint for debate, disagreement and disillusionment; and an allegory for tensions that continue in American society today.
The People vs OJ Simpson was about wealth, power, sex and race.
It was the first of its kind: trial as entertainment for the masses. But it was also a watershed in Americans' perception of their legal system, and a transformative event in the racial and social history of the country.
When it was over no one was punished, and deep fault lines of bigotry and bias had been exposed in white and black America. For some it was a judicial catastrophe. For others it was merely confirmation that you get the kind of justice you can afford.
Using only contemporaneous archive, much of it unseen before, and no interviews or narration, the story unfolds as a tight, compelling, true life drama.
Without hindsight or analysis, OJ Simpson: Caught on Camera introduces a new generation of viewers to the stranger-than-fiction story that captivated the collective national conscience.
This documentary follows online vigilante Stinson Hunter and his associates, who pose as children on social networking sites to draw out men who they assert have paedophilic predilections.
In May 1940, while covering the retreat from Dunkirk, a Mark 1 Spitfire flown by RAF ace Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson was shot down and crash-landed on a beach in northern France, where it slowly sank into the sand.
The wreckage was finally recovered in the 1980s and stored anonymously in France for more than 20 years.
Guy Martin - speed junkie, motorcycle racer, lorry mechanic and Spitfire fanatic - joins a restoration team as it embarks on a two-year rebuild of this Spitfire.
This extraordinary project provides a look at the amazing engineering and skills involved in building the aircraft, and is also a fitting homage to the bravery of everyone involved in its service: the male and female factory workers, the ground crews and the pilots.
The story of Squadron Leader Stephenson, who would become the Queen's pilot, is like something from a Boy's Own paper, and his private diaries - which he wrote while he was imprisoned in Colditz - have been uncovered for the first time for the programme.
Guy invites the pilot's two daughters for an emotional day at Duxford to witness their father's plane flying again.
Brat Camps are an extreme youth disciplinary concept that's firmly embedded in American culture. Every year thousands of American children are transported to one of over 1000 private facilities dotted across the United States. In the USA today it's estimated the child intervention industry is worth over $2 billion, as parents send their kids away to residential programmes - often against their will - in an attempt to change their behaviour. This True Stories documentary aims to shed light on the world of behavioural modification camps and other child intervention programmes, illuminating the beliefs and ambitions that underpin this controversial industry, many of which contrast starkly with British norms. While these programmes appear well-run and organised with some form of regulation, there are concerns about the standards of other camps and the possibility of abuse, particularly when there is no federal body to regulate and monitor the quality of care in the child intervention industry.
In an age polarised between the rich and poor, this one-off special hosted by Richard Bacon illustrates where each of us stands on the great money map of Britain.
Documentary about the infamous Great Train Robbery. Over 50 years ago a group of men pulled off one of the most famous heists in history. This film features interviews with Gordon Goody, one of the original robbers, who goes on record for the very first time. Goody reveals many unknown facts about the robbery as well as the identity of one of the masterminds behind the daring crime. Strong language.
Outrun the Sun is the extraordinary story of arguably the ultimate trail challenge. On Saturday June 21st 2014 - the longest day of the year - two teams of trail runners attempted to circumnavigate Mont Blanc between sunrise and sunset. This film documents this amazing relay event, as the runners faced the prospect of covering 152 kilometres of mountainous terrain in a little over 15 hours. During the course of the event they'd climb 8500 metres through France, Italy and Switzerland, in temperatures ranging from 27 degrees centigrade, down to the chill you'd expect with snow at high altitude.
Can cloning bring mammoths back from extinction? This documentary follows a team of mammoth specialists and cloning scientists as they dissect the best-preserved mammoth ever found.
This brave and thought-provoking documentary sets out to discover why legislation to protect children from sexual abuse has failed, and explores radical and controversial alternatives
For eight years, Britain's biggest overseas base since the Second World War has been the powerhouse of UK and US military operations in Afghanistan, and now Camp Bastion has closed down for good. A town the size of Reading with a massive infrastructure, including an airport, hospital and fast-food restaurants, has been dismantled bolt by bolt - a huge project that faced a constant threat from the Taliban as defences and manpower depleted daily. This documentary follows the men and women assigned to the task
This observational documentary tells the incredible story of the Gray family, who live in a remote Texan compound, heavily armed and at odds with the police
This documentary follows the medical teams risking their lives to save others in Syria, where most doctors have fled, many hospitals have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people are injured.
A view of British men looking for a wife overseas, from 'romance tours' in Bangkok to speed-dating in the Ukraine, while a Wakefield man prepares to welcome his new Thai bride to the UK.
This one-off documentary follows struggling stammerers, including Mushy from Educating Yorkshire, as they enrol on an intensive four-day course called The McGuire Programme
Guy Martin has passion: passion for engines, mechanics and, most of all, speed. He's one of the Isle of Man TT's most popular competitors but, away from the media glare, this programme offers a snapshot of some of his favourite things: motorbike racing, engines, MOTs, Radio 4 and his day job as a truck mechanic. Nothing else gives Guy quite as much satisfaction as an immaculately presented toolbox; in fact he seems happiest when surrounded by spanners and grease. The programme meets him hard at work as a lorry mechanic, a job he's cycled to every day since he was 12 years old. He admits he'd choose a day at work over an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas.
The amazing human stories and incredible science behind the wild weather events that hit Britain in 2014, from floods to tornadoes and hurricanes. Is there worse to come?
From sexy-selfie addicts to compulsive uploaders and drunken tweeters, this show meets some colourful social network junkies and measures the real-world impact of their online lives
Jimmy Doherty and Kate Quilton explore the dietary habits of people all over the world, ranking the world's best and worst diets and asking what we should be eating
Kevin McCloud challenges three designers to turn one plane - an Airbus A320 - into hundreds of amazing new products in a giant up-cycling experiment.
Beginning in 2009, Alex Gibney followed Armstrong for four years chronicling his return to cycling after retirement, as he tried to win his eighth title. Unexpectedly, Gibney was also there in 2012 when Armstrong admitted to doping, following a federal criminal investigation, public accusations of doping by his ex-teammates, and an investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency, that led USADA's CEO, Travis Tygart, to conclude that Armstrong's team had run 'the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.’
Katie Piper explores different approaches to modern birthing - from the conventional to the surprising to the far out.
Documentary recalling one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, the tsunami that devastated parts of South and South East Asia on 26 December 2004, examining its enduring legacy
Documentary bringing together four British citizens and four recent migrants in Leicester
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/make-leicester-british
Jamie Oliver raises Christmas cooking to the next level with amazing recipes including cheeky cocktails, roast goose and a panettone treat
A look behind the scenes of a bold new scheme designed to help children find adoptive parents. Connor and Daniel are brothers. For over 12 months, they've been in care, waiting to be adopted. But, as sibling boys, aged six and four, they are 'hard to place'.
A look behind the scenes of a bold new scheme designed to help children find adoptive parents. Connor and Daniel are brothers. For over 12 months, they've been in care, waiting to be adopted. But, as sibling boys, aged six and four, they are 'hard to place'.
The Brighton Bombing goes back to 1984, when the IRA detonated a massive bomb at Brighton's Grand Hotel in an attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and her government. With the devastated hotel near collapse, fire-fighters ignored the danger to help limit the death total to a mere five fatalities. Lord Tebbit, whose wife Margaret was seriously injured in the blast recounts his traumatic experience.
The story of Gary Ridgway, believed to be America's most prolific serial killer, as told by his niece, who reveals the stigma of being related to a man who killed at least 49 women in the 1980s.
A look behind the scenes of a bold new scheme designed to help children find adoptive parents. Connor and Daniel are brothers. For over 12 months, they've been in care, waiting to be adopted. But, as sibling boys, aged six and four, they are 'hard to place'.
The Brighton Bombing goes back to 1984, when the IRA detonated a massive bomb at Brighton's Grand Hotel in an attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and her government. With the devastated hotel near collapse, fire-fighters ignored the danger to help limit the death total to a mere five fatalities. Lord Tebbit, whose wife Margaret was seriously injured in the blast recounts his traumatic experience.
My Transgender Kid followed two seven-year-olds George and Paddy, who don’t identify as the gender they were born with.
