Latest Documentaries

ROMANIA: The Country Everyone Gets Wrong

Most people hear "Romania" and immediately picture Dracula, the gothic myths of Bran Castle, or the grey, concrete remnants of the communist era. But the reality of this nation in Eastern Europe is far more complex, untamed, and beautiful.

2026 • Travel

The Hadron Collider: In Search of the Peace Particle

In the aftermath of Hiroshima, a group of scientists vowed never to turn knowledge into weapons again, and from that promise, CERN was born. Deep underground, researchers from nations in conflict have worked side by side for decades, driven by curiosity and shared wonder. For 70 years, CERN has stood as an act of hope, a place where collaboration transcends borders, even as the world above grows more divided. Blending poetry, music and rare archival footage of nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer with remarkable access to the Large Hadron Collider, the film explores how science, politics and culture collide.

2026 • Physics

OnlyFans: Inside the Machine

Behind the billion-pound success of OnlyFans lies a hidden ecosystem of exploitation. A BBC Current Affairs investigation uncovers allegations of exploitation, coercion and violence committed by some of the hundreds of agents who manage many of the platform's creators as well as the potential for modern slavery. Through survivor testimony, undercover access to a managers' chat forum and expert legal analysis, the film exposes an industry where young women are trapped, threatened and profited from - raising urgent questions about accountability at the heart of one of Britain's most lucrative tech companies.

2026 • Economics

Dolly: The World's Most Famous Sheep

The story of the cloned sheep that was the first mammal to be created from an adult cell, and the unassuming lab that changed scientific history, leading to press stampedes, presidential panic, protests and even a failed kidnapping plot. As Dolly blinked up at the cameras, the Roslin science team's sleepy lab became the centre of an ethical uproar.

2026 • Science

Building the Sun - The World's Largest Fusion Project

ITER is an international attempt to meet humanity's energy needs by harnessing nuclear fusion. We take you within the ITER project to see how close the technology is to becoming a reality.

2026 • Science

Protecting Primates

With more than half of all primate species threatened with extinction, this episode follows scientists and conservationists working to understand and protect our closest animal relatives through groundbreaking research and conservation efforts.

S1E3Primates • 2020 • Nature

Family Matters

A look at the extraordinary social lives of primates. From devoted fathers and protective relatives to lifelong friendships and complex hierarchies, the episode explores how family bonds help primates survive and prosper.

S1E2Primates • 2020 • Nature

Secrets of Survival

Primates have adapted to survive everywhere from mountains and forests to cities and savannahs. This episode reveals the ingenious strategies used by monkeys, apes, and lemurs to find food, avoid predators, and thrive in some of the world's most challenging environments.

S1E1Primates • 2020 • Nature

Map of Money

An engaging overview of the history of money, exploring how societies evolved from barter systems to coins, paper currency, and modern financial systems. The video highlights the key developments that shaped trade, economics, and the way people exchange value throughout history.

2026 • Economics

Find your primal posture and sit without back pain

Discover how restoring your natural "primal posture" can help reduce back pain, neck pain, and other common musculoskeletal problems

TEDx • 2013 • Health

Motorway

Hannah takes a drive to the National Highways control centre for the UK’s busiest motorway to meet the team that keep the motorways running 24/7.

S3E5The Secret Genius of Modern Life • 2025 • Technology

Doorbell

The rise of the smart doorbell is one of the great tech success stories of the 21st century. Hannah heads to Los Angeles to take a deep dive into doorbell history and talk to market leaders Ring.

S3E4The Secret Genius of Modern Life • 2025 • Technology

Recommended Documentaries

Honours

"Richared Feynman won the nobel prize for physics in 1965. He was considered by many to be the greatest scientific mind since Einstein."

The Feynman Series • 2011 • People

Curing Alzheimer's

Horizon investigates a new era of Alzheimer's research, which is bringing hope to millions of sufferers across the world. New scanning and gene technology is allowing scientists to identify the disease at its earliest stages, often 15 years before symptoms appear and the brain cells are destroyed. A series of new drugs trials in Colombia, the USA and Europe are showing startling success in reducing beta amyloid, the protein which is a hallmark of the disease. It is also becoming clear that changes in lifestyle can prevent the development of the disease. A new system inside the brain has been discovered which clears amyloid when we are in deep sleep, but allows it to accumulate if we don't sleep well. The programme reveals that for sufferers in the early stages of the disease, brain connections, or synapses, can be strengthened and even replaced by absorbing enough of the right nutrients. A UK-wide trail helps sufferers in the early stages to concentrate on improving everyday tasks, and in the process not only make their lives easier, but helps to reactivate the planning and organisational parts of the brain. In an ageing world, where the biggest risk of developing Alzheimer's is old age, the scientific breakthroughs in Alzheimer's disease are bringing hope where once there was despair.

Horizon • 2016 • Health

Elemental

The elements that constitute every living being were formed within the very first stars. Today, a green sea turtle searches the ocean for them.

S1E4Our Universe • 2022 • Nature

The Moon: Earth's Guardian Angel

Astronaut Mike Massimino reveals the mysterious secrets of the moon, a world permanently tied to Earth; using new research, he uncovers the mysterious origin of the moon and how it kick-started life on Earth.

S1E8The Planets (US) • 2017 • Astronomy

Deserts and Grasslands

Life in some of the many deserts and grasslands around the world, including in the baked Namib desert, where a pair of ostriches raise their family in the searing heat to keep them safe from predators. One troop of desert baboons are on a continual quest to find water and a young mother who is low in the pecking order must battle for her right to drink. Closer to the equator, in the grassland paradise of the Cerrado in Brazil, lives the rare, fruit-eating maned wolf, a bizarre creature about whom little is known.

S1E3Planet Earth III • 2023 • Nature

Polar

The frozen poles are home to the planet's ultimate survivalists, including polar bears, penguins and Arctic wolves; their world is changing fast -- breaking apart under their feet -- and their resilience will be tested beyond the extreme.

S1E6Hostile Planet • 2019 • Nature

Lifehack Documentaries

The Lifecycle

How stereotypical programming paints our viewings of particular age groups.

S1E2How TV Ruined Your Life • 2011 • Lifehack

Perfect Cleaning

Science explains why some cleaning methods work better than others, and that we do not need to purchase multiple cleansers when a few basic ingredients from our pantry and our local pharmacy can get the entire house spic and span.

S1E1The Science of Everyday Living • 2011 • Lifehack

When Genes Mix with the Wrong Environment

The Dunedin Study has identified a fundamental developmental mechanism that completely rewrites the nature versus nurture argument. It is a genetic switch which is thrown by life events , nature loads the gun but nurture pulls the trigger. This episode tracks the hunt for the mechanism using three specific examples - violence in men, depression, and cannabis induced schizophrenia

S1E3Predict my Future: The Science of Us • 2016 • Lifehack

Why We Love Disaster News

Why are we so captivated and fascinated by news stories about disasters? Is it ghoulish and voyeuristic? Not at all...

The School of Life • 2015 • Lifehack

The Science of Marital Misunderstanding

In Japan, one couple gets divorced every 2 minutes. Often, the wife initiates the split. Many women say their partners don't understand their feelings, while many husbands seem unaware of the daily stress this can create. The latest research suggests that common marital misunderstandings are rooted in differences between the male and female brain. The problems couples experience today are the result of millions of years of evolution. This program uses findings from neuroscience to explore the issue, and suggests ways for couples to strengthen their bonds.

2017 • Lifehack

Why Religious Beliefs Aren't Just Silly

Nowadays, many atheists declare not just that god is dead but that anyone who believes in him must be stupid. This seems a little harsh – we prefer to think about where religious beliefs come from: the pained parts of ourselves.

The School of Life • 2015 • Lifehack

Math Documentaries

Our Mathematical Universe

Renowned cosmologist Max Tegmark will take us on a journey through some of the greatest mysteries of our existence, and through the physics, astronomy and mathematics that are the foundation of his work.

S1E4Curiosity Retreats: 2016 Lectures • 2016 • Math

How to Get Lucky

Kicking off the lectures with a mind-boggling stunt to prove how counterintuitive our gut instincts can be, Hannah launches into a lecture full of daring live experiments and surprising discoveries. From predicting the chance of snow at Christmas to dodging erupting volcanoes with Prof Chris Jackson, Hannah explores whether we really can predict the future. She meets the maths gurus behind Liverpool Football Club's winning streak to spill the beans on how analysing the numbers can give a team an edge in the Premier League, and reveals the tricks to perfecting your Christmas cracker pull to win the prize every time. Hannah also gathers tips from mind-performance coach Dr Michael Gervais, the 'secret weapon' crafting Olympic athletes' lucky mindsets, and the man responsible for Felix Baumgartner's jump from space, when 'first time lucky' meant life or death. Enrolling the help of maths comedian Matt Parker for the pinnacles of the lecture, the duo find order in unruly crowds, and whittle the audience down to the luckiest person in a series of challenges, before finally putting them to the test to prove whether they truly are one in a million. Using a host of maths tricks - from probability to game theory - Hannah discovers if we can in fact make our own luck, and ultimately shares the secrets to help us all lead luckier lives.

S1E1Royal Institution Christmas Lectures: Secrets and Lies - The Hidden Power of Maths • 2019 • Math

The famously difficult green-eyed logic puzzle

One hundred green-eyed logicians have been imprisoned on an island by a mad dictator. Their only hope for freedom lies in the answer to one famously difficult logic puzzle. Can you solve it? Alex Gendler walks us through this green-eyed riddle.

TED-EdMath

The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms

Without us noticing, modern life has been taken over. Algorithms run everything from search engines on the internet to satnavs and credit card data security - they even help us travel the world, find love and save lives. Professor Marcus du Sautoy demystifies the hidden world of algorithms. By showing us some of the algorithms most essential to our lives, he reveals where these 2,000-year-old problem solvers came from, how they work, what they have achieved and how they are now so advanced they can even programme themselves.

2015 • Math

The Illusion of Certainty: Risk, Probability, and Chance

Stuff happens. The weather forecast says it’s sunny, but you just got drenched. You got a flu shot—but you’re sick in bed with the flu. Your best friend from Boston met your other best friend from San Francisco. Coincidentally. What are the odds? Risk, probability, chance, coincidence—they play a significant role in the way we make decisions about health, education, relationships, and money. But where does this data come from and what does it really mean?

World Science Festival • 2015 • Math

PBS Nova - Zero to Infinity

Zero and infinity. These seemingly opposite, obvious, and indispensable concepts are relatively recent human inventions. Discover the surprising story of how these key concepts that revolutionized mathematics came to be – not just once, but over and over again as different cultures invented and re-invented them across thousands of years.

2022 • Math

Random! Documentaries

Part 1

This aerial journey directs its focus on the role the natural world plays in this paradise for curious explorers. The Mediterranean is home to mountain ranges that tower over plains and estuaries, as well as deserts and the sea. Warning: you may want to book your next holiday after viewing this two-part series.

S1E1Mediterranean: A Sea for All • 2020 • Travel

Winter

Andrew Scott narrates a special programme which celebrates winter and explores how animals and plants rise to the challenges it brings. With their world encased in snow and ice, animals must find the most inventive ways to survive and even benefit from the cold. Caribou become ice road travellers as it gets slippery underfoot, stoats make their own fur bedding, and snow monkeys find a warm bath. Emperor penguins are built for the cold weather, but even they must find their own tricks to endure the world's most savage winter.

S1E3Earth's Seasonal Secrets • 2016 • Nature

The Loneliest Country In The World

Where is the population in the world the smallest? What countries have the least people? It’s not the size that matters, and with countries, that is often the case. Some of the least populated countries in the world are also the wealthiest in terms of personal wealth and gross national product. And some of the larger nations have problems equally as huge to address. Some of these smaller countries are thinly populated because they are super-difficult to get to or sit in some of the world’s harshest regions. Some simply get by on one or two key industries and foreign aid. Some were used as strategic bases during war time. Some are playgrounds for the rich and famous. And one is reserved for holy activities. Today we take a closer look at the smallest of these nations, in this episode of the Infographics Show, The Ten Least Populated Countries in the World.

The Infographics Show • 2018 • Travel

The Great Math Mystery

Join NOVA on a mathematical mystery tour—a provocative exploration of math's astonishing power across the centuries. We discover math's signature in the swirl of a nautilus shell, the whirlpool of a galaxy, and the spiral in the center of a sunflower. Math was essential to everything from the first wireless radio transmissions to the prediction and discovery of the Higgs boson and the successful landing of rovers on Mars. Astrophysicist and writer Mario Livio, along with a colorful cast of mathematicians, physicists, and engineers, follow math from Pythagoras to Einstein and beyond. It all leads to the ultimate riddle: Is math a human invention or the discovery of the language of the universe?

NOVA PBS • 2015 • Lifehack

Kingdom of the Desert

In the spectacular deserts of coastal Peru, archaeologist Dr Jago Cooper explores the dramatic rise and fall of Chimor, the first empire of South America. His journey begins among the ruins of a vast lost city once home to an all-powerful monarchy, whose subjects transformed the desert landscape, created gold and silver treasures and believed so strongly in the power of their gods that they made the most shocking of sacrifices. Chimor thrived despite facing some of the most extreme climate conditions in the world, but not even this powerful empire could withstand the forces that eventually destroyed it.

S1E4Lost Kingdoms of South America • 2013 • History

The Psychedelic Drug Trial

The Psychedelic Drug Trial has exclusive access to a ground-breaking new trial at Imperial College London. The trial sees, for the first time ever under controlled conditions, a psychedelic drug tested head-to-head against a standard antidepressant as a treatment for depression. The film follows a pioneering team of scientists and psychotherapists, led by Professor David Nutt, Dr Robin Carhart-Harris and Dr Rosalind Watts, as they compare the effects of psilocybin (the active ingredient of magic mushrooms) with an antidepressant (an SSRI called escitalopram) on a small group of participants with clinical depression. This is scientific research at its most cutting edge. With over seven million people being prescribed antidepressants each year in England alone, this drug trial is an important milestone in understanding a completely different treatment for depression.

2021 • Brain