Latest Documentaries

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20 Days in Mariupol

An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city as Russian forces close in, they capture what become some of the most defining images of the war: dying children, mass graves, the bombing of a maternity hospital, and more.

2023 • History

Eating You Alive

How and why what we eat is the cause of the chronic diseases that are killing us, and changing what we eat can save our lives one bite at a time.

2018 • Health

The Space Shuttle that Fell to Earth

2003 - millions watch live as Columbia breaks up in the sky over Texas, killing all on board. NASA, loved ones and investigators share how an incredible journey ended in tragedy. Chapter 1: As Nasa prepares Space Shuttle Columbia for its 28th mission, excitement and trepidation build amongst the astronauts and their families as they count down to launch. This programme hears from the seven astronauts - a mixture of veterans and rookies - and their families as they train for an awe-inspiring journey of a lifetime. Chapter 2: Nasa engineers analyse film footage of a piece of debris striking the shuttle Columbia 81 seconds after launch. What no-one yet knows is whether any serious damage has been done to the vehicle or the tiles which protect the vehicle against the intense heat of re-entry. But calls for photographs to be taken of the shuttle using satellites go unheeded. Meanwhile, in space, the crew continue their mission, unaware of any concerns inside Nasa. Chapter 3: Sixteen minutes from landing, mission control lose contact with the crew of Columbia. On the shuttle landing strip, families waiting to welcome their loved ones back home are swiftly ushered away. In the skies over Texas, locals hear a loud explosion, and debris strikes the ground in multiple locations. The fears of some Nasa engineers are coming true: Columbia is lost and there are no survivors. Following the disaster, Nasa comes under increasing pressure from the media to provide answers.

2024 • Astronomy

Juice: How Electricity Explains the World

Poverty, women's rights, climate change - indeed, many of the world's most pressing challenges - can be explained by answering one simple question: Can you turn your lights on in the morning?

2019 • Science

North America

Not many can intimidate North America's top predator, Tyrannosaurus rex, whose size and bite are a deadly combo, except for a giant winged foe.

S2E5Prehistoric Planet • 2023 • Nature

Oceans

Deep beneath the water's surface, the world's largest predator -- the Mosasaurus -- lies in wait to ambush unsuspecting prey.

S2E4Prehistoric Planet • 2023 • Nature

Swamps

In a drought-stricken basin where much has perished, an old Pachycephalosaurus bull defends his leadership against a young challenger.

S2E3Prehistoric Planet • 2023 • Nature

Badlands

Trudging through a scorching desert, two young Tarchia find relief at an oasis and encounter an adult twice their size, ready to lay claim.

S2E2Prehistoric Planet • 2023 • Nature

Islands

On a small island, a monumental display takes place as the giant Hatzegopteryx reveals his gentler side to woo a mate

S2E1Prehistoric Planet • 2023 • Nature

Total Trust: Surveillance State

Explores state surveillance and digital social control in China by following the experiences of two families and a journalist. Zijuan Chen is fighting for the release of her imprisoned husband, human rights lawyer Weiping Chang, while trying to keep his memory alive for their son. Wenzu Li and her newly freed husband, Quanzhang Wang, struggle against surveillance that is not only stopping him from being able to work but also affecting ordinary tasks like taking their son to school. Journalist Sophie Xueqin Huang, a pivotal figure in bringing the Me Too movement to China, is at constant risk of arrest. Chinese film-maker Jialing Zhang gives an exclusive and previously impossible intimate insight into the interior of China and tells a deeply disturbing story of how the state uses technology to control its citizens as well as propaganda to convince its people to trust it.

2024 • Technology

Mariupol: The People's Story

In a little under three months, residents of what was a thriving city witnessed the deaths of women and children in a maternity hospital and bodies left abandoned on the streets of Mariupol. Filmed and told by many of the citizens of Mariupol, this powerful documentary records the deaths of thousands and daring escapes, and is the story of their loss, bravery and determination.

2022 • History

Controversially 1990: That Was the Year that Was

Jan Leeming narrates a look at controversies, scandals and surprises in TV, film, music and politics from 1990, when Mark Fowler rocked Walford with a dramatic return to EastEnders and a sitcom about Adolf Hitler was pulled off air after just one episode. The Poll Tax riots caused chaos on the streets of London and it was the end of the road for Britain's longest serving prime minister when Margaret Thatcher resigned. Heavy metal band Judas Priest were accused of hiding subliminal messages in their songs, and pop duo Milli Vanilli's career came to a dramatic end when it was revealed they were nothing more than a mime act.

S1E5Controversially: That Was the Year that Was • 2023 • Economics

Recommended Documentaries

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Episode 2

Craig Reucassel investigates our transport emissions, which are the second major contributor to our total carbon emissions. He explores how we can make the move from petrol guzzlers to electric vehicles.

S1E2Fight For Planet A: Our Climate Challenge • 2020 • Environment

How to Get Divorced

The rules for how to doom a relationship are relatively easy to follow. Here are a selection that are guaranteed to blow up love.

The School of Life • 2015 • Lifehack

Gift of Apollo

Humanity's first steps on the Moon.

8/10The Sagan Series • 1989 • Astronomy

Hubble: The Wonders of Space Revealed

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of its launch, this film tells the remarkable story of how Hubble revealed the awe and wonder of our universe and how a team of daring astronauts risked their lives to keep it working.

Horizon • 2020 • Astronomy

Immortal: A Horizon Guide to Ageing

Is there any way to slow or even prevent the ravages of time? Veteran presenter Johnny Ball looks back over the 45 years that Horizon, and he, have been on air to find out what science has learned about how and why we grow old. Charting developments from macabre early claims of rejuvenation to the latest cutting-edge breakthroughs, Johnny discovers the sense of a personal mission that drives many scientists and asks whether we are really any closer to achieving the dream of immortality.

Horizon • 2014 • Health

Summer

It is high summer in the Polar Regions, and the sun never sets. Vast hordes of summer visitors cram a lifetime of drama into one long, magical day; they must feed, fight and rear their young in this brief window of plenty. Summer is a tough time for the polar bear family, as their ice world melts away and the cubs take their first swimming lesson. Some bears save energy by dozing on icy sun beds, while others go egg-collecting in an Arctic tern colony, braving bombardment by sharp beaks. There are even bigger battles on the tundra; a herd of musk oxen gallop to the rescue as a calf is caught in a life and death struggle with a pair of Arctic wolves. But summer also brings surprises, as a huge colony of 400,000 king penguins cope with an unlikely problem - heat. The adults go surfing, while the woolly-coated chicks take a cooling mud bath. Nearby, a bull fur seal is prepared to fight to the death with a rival. Fur flies as the little pups struggle desperately to keep out of the way of the duelling giants. Further south, a minke whale is hunted amongst the ice floes by a family of killer whales. The dramatic chase lasts over 2 hours and has never been filmed before. The killers harry the minke whale, taking it in turns to wear it down. Eventually it succumbs to the relentless battering. Finally, comical adelie penguins waddle back to their half a million strong colony like clockwork toys. The fluffy chicks need constant feeding and protection as piratical skuas patrol the skies. When an unguarded chick is snatched, a dramatic "dogfight" ensues.

S1E3Frozen Planet • 2011 • Nature

Travel Documentaries

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Mysuru to Chennai

Michael Portillo's Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel leads him on railway journey through the modern south Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, from the former princely state of Mysore to the first stronghold of the East India Company in Chennai, formerly Madras. At sunset Michael joins selfie-stick wielding crowds back at the palace as they wait to capture it being illuminated by thousands of bulbs. An early morning yoga class is the perfect way to stretch out before boarding a train to Bengalaru. After a sticky encounter with a mango, he meets the entrepreneurs whose innovations are driving India's hi-tech boom with inventions from mobile heart scanners to cooking apps.

S1E3Great Indian Railway Journeys • 2018 • Travel

Part 4

After seven months of hiking, Levison Wood reaches his final country - Egypt - and with 900 miles still to go to reach the Mediterranean, the authorities give him just 45 days to finish. After walking the barren shores of Lake Nasser and exploring deserted temples, Lev reaches Aswan and spends a night at a historic hotel. Moving on, he discovers more of Egypt's wonders, from magnificent buildings in the ancient city of Luxor, to the Pyramids of Giza, where he's given a hero's reception. The journey then takes him through strongholds for the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, and as the security situation deteriorates he finds himself accompanied by police vans and armed officers.

S1E4Walking the Nile with Levison Wood • 2015 • Travel

Into Amazonia

The Python star continues his first visit to Brazil by travelling by river from the northern border with Venezuela to the capital of Brasilia. Along the way he visits indigenous tribe the Yanomami, learning about the threat to their hunter-gatherer way of life, before watching a rehearsal by the Amazon Philharmonic Orchestra and searching for the remains of Henry Ford's unsuccessful attempt to build a vast rubber plantation in the middle of the rainforest. In Belem, music producer Priscilla explains why Amazonian women are such powerful forces, then he moves southwards, meeting rock star and political activist Dinho Ouro Preto, who believes that despite its social and environmental problems, the country is on the brink of becoming a superpower.

S1E2Brazil with Michael Palin • 2012 • Travel

Azerbaijan to Georgia

Levison meets nomadic shepherds and dangerous dogs in the Gobustan desert, climbs to a castle halfway up a cliff, visits Stalin's birthplace and meets a hermit monk who lives atop a 45-metre monolith.

S1E3From Russia to Iran: Crossing the Wild Frontier with Levison Wood • 2017 • Travel

Banat

Charlie meets an architect trying to save the decaying spa at the Baile Herculane resort in Banat, then visits Timi?oara, Romania's "Little Vienna."

S2E6Flavours of Romania • 2023 • Travel

Manhattan Island

Martin arrives in New York to explore Manhattan Island on the final leg of his journey, including its world-famous Empire State Building and nearby Ellis Island.

S1E4Martin Clunes: Islands of America • 2019 • Travel

Physics Documentaries

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How did the Universe Begin?

The human race has succeeded in explaining nearly everything in this universe using mathematical formulae. Yet there is one place that remains shrouded in mystery -– black holes. Physicists believe that if they could discover a formula that explains the center of black holes, the last remaining mystery of the universe could finally be unraveled -– how the universe came into being. Their attempts have been mired by unforeseen pitfalls but with the development of superstring theory, physicists have arrived at a formula that could finally end their century-long search. What the formula described was a world beyond our wildest imaginations. This is the incredible story of physicists like Einstein, Hawking and the superstring theorists who have endeavored to solve the mystery of the origin of the universe.

S1E2The Ultimate Formula • 2016 • Physics

How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries

Adam Savage walks through two spectacular examples of profound scientific discoveries that came from simple, creative methods anyone could have followed -- Eratosthenes' calculation of the Earth's circumference around 200 BC and Hippolyte Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in 1849.

2012 • Physics

How to Become a Superhero

Imagine turning yourself into a crime fighting super hero just like Batman or Iron man. Dr Michio Kaku designs a suit that would give the wearer the super powers of a comic book super hero. Take that bad guys!

S1E10Physics of the Impossible • 2009 • Physics

What are you?

So. Are you your body? And if so, how exactly does this work? Lets explore lots of confusing questions.

In a Nutshell • 2016 • Physics

Lifetime

The most powerful effect of time on our lives is the way it limits us. Our knowledge of death is so embedded in our lives and spirituality that, were immortality possible, would we lose the sense that makes us human?

S1E2BBC: Time • 2006 • Physics

How To Explore The Universe

Exploring the universe on a ship that can boldly go where no man has gone before isn't just a sci fi dream. Dr Michio Kaku reveals how we really could one day build a warp drive and set out on our own star trek.

S1E1Physics of the Impossible • 2009 • Physics

Randoms! Documentaries

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Part 2

The Soviet submarine K-129 disappears in 1968 and the U.S. Navy finds it sunk at the bottom of the Pacific. The CIA is launching an operation called Project Azorian to lift a sunken submarine out of the sea but hide the events from the world. In 1975, when information about the operation was leaked and reported, the Soviet Union was furious.

Part 2The Real Hunt for Red October • 2020 • History

The Atlantic Age / Commerce and the Clash of Civilizations

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the impact of the Atlantic trading world, giving rise to powerful new kingdoms, but also transatlantic slave trade. Learn of the revolutionary movements of the 18th & early 19th centuries, including the advent of the Sokoto Caliphate. In the final part Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the dynamism of 19th century Africa, the “Scramble” by European powers for its riches, and the defiant and successful stand of uncolonized Ethiopia.

Part 5 and 6Africa's Great Civilizations • 2017 • History

Edge of the Solar System

The only reason life on Earth is possible is because of our stable orbit around the Sun. Elsewhere in the Universe, orbits are chaotic, violent and destructive. On the largest scale, orbits are a creative force and construct the fabric of the Universe.

S4E4How the Universe Works • 2015 • Astronomy

Chasing Coral

Chasing Coral taps into the collective will and wisdom of an ad man, a self-proclaimed coral nerd, top-notch camera designers, and renowned marine biologists as they invent the first time-lapse camera to record bleaching events as they happen. Unfortunately, the effort is anything but simple, and the team doggedly battles technical malfunctions and the force of nature in pursuit of their golden fleece: documenting the indisputable and tragic transformation below the waves. With its breathtaking photography, nail-biting suspense, and startling emotion, Chasing Coral is a dramatic revelation that won’t have audiences sitting idle for long.

2020 • Environment

The Autism Enigma

A fresh perspective on autism research with the developing "Bacterial Theory" of autism. The fastest-growing developmental disorder in the industrialized world, autism has increased an astounding 600 per cent over the last 20 years. Science cannot say why. Some say it's triggered by environmental factors and point to another intriguing statistic: 70 per cent of kids with autism also have severe gastrointestinal symptoms. Could autism actually begin in the gut? The Autism Enigma looks at the progress of an international group of scientists who are studying the gut's amazingly diverse and powerful microbial ecosystem for clues to the baffling disorder.

S51E08The Nature of Things • 2011 • Health

Plastics

Plastics have transformed how we live, but progress comes at a high price: 7.8 billion tons of waste. Are plastics a miracle or a catastrophe?

S1E4History 101 • 2000 • Environment