Monday 26th
Channel 4 - Dispatches: Britain's Witch Children - "Dispatches goes undercover in some African churches in the UK, where evangelical pastors perpetuate a strong belief in witchcraft. They preach that some people are possessed by evil spirits, and that these spirits bring bad luck into the lives of others.
The only way to rid the possessed from the witchcraft spell and lift their curse is to 'deliver' them: a kind of exorcism that can be very traumatic. Some pastors charge significant sums of money to perform these deliverances.
Often it is children who are denounced as witches by these pastors, and this labelling can lead to the physical and emotional abuse of those children at the hands of their families. In extreme cases it has led to the deaths of some children.
In parts of Africa, branding a child a witch is now outlawed, but in Britain this practise is perfectly legal, despite the fact it can have horrific consequences.
Dispatches reveals just what goes on behind closed doors in these African churches, exposing the pastors who exploit the religious beliefs of the most vulnerable."
Channel 4 - The Hospital - new 5-part series - "The first episode of the second series focuses on Britain's sexual health. In just ten years the number of diagnosed new cases of sexually transmitted infections has doubled and sexual health services account for over £1billion of the NHS budget.
Lead consultant Rachael Jones and her team at the West London Centre for Sexual Health are tackling this sexual time bomb.
Chlamydia is the clinic's number one diagnosis. But Michael, 25, is dismissive: 'I thought everyone gets it. If you haven't had it, you're boring. It's almost like being brought into manhood,' he says.
And many in this generation don't use condoms, routinely taking risks. As 19-year-old Stacey says, 'if I have to put one on I'll put on one. If she's ok with it, I won't.'
Undetected and untreated, STIs can lead to infertility, cancer and even death. Yet staff at the clinic are not only coping with high numbers of patients, but also spend much of their time trying to make their young patients realise the dangers of STIs and the importance of practicing safe sex.
The clinic runs a confidential after-school walk-in service for under-19s, but staff must work quickly as patients often get bored and do not want to wait.
Despite a recent miscarriage, 15-year-old Shannon is not taking her pill and misses appointments to have her contraceptive implant - a key weapon in the government's multi-million pound campaign to halve teen pregnancy - fitted, forcing a sexual health support worker to take her to the op.
And, in three years, Dr Rachael Jones has seen the sudden spread of HIV amongst teenagers. Perry, 17, who has had five HIV screenings in one year, chillingly says: 'If I do have HIV it would be a bit upsetting but I'd have to live with. You can't cry forever.'"
Tuesday 27th
BBC1 - Louis Theroux: America's Medicated Kids - "Faced with the challenging behaviour of their kids, more and more parents in America are turning to psychoactive medication to help them cope, even though the drugs, and sometimes the diagnoses, remain controversial. Louis travels to one of America's leading children's psychiatric treatment centres, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to get to know the diagnosed children and hoping to understand what drives parents to put their kids on drugs.
Louis meets Hugh, a 10-year-old who has been diagnosed with ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, Asperger's syndrome and bipolar disorder. Moving in with Hugh and his family, Louis learns more about his controversial diagnosis and gets to know a family where even the dog is on meds.
He also meets Jack, aged six, a child who has been excluded from school for his explosive behaviour and who now takes antidepressant medication for his anxiety. And when 15-year-old Kaylee (diagnosed with ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder) takes a day off her medication, Louis gets a glimpse of what life is like without the drugs.
From 'med checks' to 'personal pharmacies', Louis explores the world of psychiatric medication for kids, attempting to find the line between ordinary bad behaviour and pathology, and answer the question of whether the latest pharmaceuticals are taking the place of old-fashioned parenting."
BBC4 - Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle - "Author Rob Penn travels around the world collecting handbuilt parts for his dream bicycle and charts the social history of one of mankind's greatest inventions."
Wednesday 28th
More 4 -The End of the Line - "This is not a film about what might happen, this is a film about what has happened.
The collapse of the cod population saw the end of 40,000 jobs; the bluefin tuna is being hunted to extinction; it takes five kilos of anchovies to produce one fish farmed salmon.
And while there are some positive signs, with Walmart and McDonalds both selling fish from sustainable sources, some outlets still sell endangered species.
But the final chilling conclusion is that unless more radical steps are taken globally, including the reduction of overfishing, it will take just 50 years for the world's ocean's to be all fished out."
Thursday 29th
BBC1 - Stealing Shakespeare - "The remarkable story of how a 53-year-old rare book dealer from the North East of England became the centre of a mystery surrounding the disappearance of a long lost Shakespeare First Folio. The film follows bachelor Raymond Scott as he finds himself the focus of a worldwide investigation, involving the FBI, a Cuban fiancee and Durham CID."
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* This applies to staff members and students at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
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