Saturday 28th August
BBC4 - Storyville: When The Levees Broke - A Requiem in Four Acts - Acts One & Two (Acts3&4 on Wednesday 1st September) - "Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke is, we should be clear, one of the most important cultural events of the strange historical moment we inhabit. Imagine that the president of the most powerful country in the world takes a notion that it is his obligation to spread democracy across the world. One result is a catastrophic war in a far-off country. Another, less comprehensible, collateral effect is the bizarre oversight displayed by George Bush in relation to the destruction of New Orleans. This is at the heart of Lee's marvellous film – that one watches the progress of destruction and hears the remarkable array of African American voices, while realising that something larger is at stake. What is explored is the real, not the feigned, attitude of the rich and powerful towards the poor of the world. As one might expect, Lee understands the depth of the neglect visited on the poor of America.
But his narrative has a much larger reach. It does suggest that when it comes to disaster, nobody cares terribly. They may appear to care, like the ineffable Barbara Bush, who astounds us, commenting on the poor of New Orleans who have come to Texas, with the sublime remark that they probably aren't used to the Texan standard of living. But as Spike Lee shows, such concern is skin deep, or non-existent. Everyone should watch When the Levees Broke, for the way in which it announces the real state of the world in relation to calamity - the film is an elegy for the lost culture of New Orleans, and it is a damning portrait of Bush's America. In the end, however, it is most impressive as a warning from the edge of our new century: we had better care."
Monday 30th August
BBC1 - Panorama: Britain's Disappearing Wildlife - "How would you feel about a world where the seas were almost empty, the skies silent of wildlife, and there weren't even enough bugs to pollinate our crops? That's a vision of Britain predicted by some if our rich mixture of wildlife continues to shrink - from butterflies and bumblebees to skylarks and red squirrels.
So far in 2010 the UK has missed two international targets aimed at halting the decline in some of our best-loved native species. As Panorama finds, there's more at stake than simply protecting the beauty of nature - the future of our food supply could be under threat."
BBC4 - Upgrade Me - "Poet and gadget lover Simon Armitage explores people's obsession with upgrading to the latest technological gadgetry.
Upgrade culture drives millions to purchase the latest phones, flatscreen TVs, laptops and MP3 players. But is it design, functionality, fashion or friends that makes people covet the upgrade, and how far does the choice of gadgets define identity? Simon journeys across Britain and to South Korea in search of answers."
Tuesday 31st August
Channel 4 - The Hunt for Britain's Sex Traffickers - 3-part series (parts 2&3 on Wednesday and Thursday) - "In 2007 the government tasked Britain's 55 police forces to tackle the trafficking of women into the country for sex.
This first programme documents the initial stage of the operation, in which the police raid brothels across the UK and use victims' testimonies to garner intelligence about the criminal networks that run them.
The film follows Detective Constable Andy Leigh as he gathers evidence through covert filming, information from local estate agents and liaison with other forces to build a picture of what's happening across the nation.
All brothels under surveillance are raided at the same time to maximise the amount of evidence from victims, customers and the brothel managers. What emerges is a tale of innocent women, brought and sold into sexual slavery.
The evidence enables the police to take their first steps up the ladder from the brothel managers to the criminal masterminds responsible for the illicit trade."
More4 - True Stories: Cocaine Cowboys - "Billy Corben's astonishing story, showing in the True Stories strand, tells of the sudden rush of cocaine into the then sleepy Miami in the 1970s and 1980s.
Colombian drug lords and Cuban and American gangsters realised that America had developed a taste for the drug but the authorities were slow on reacting to the threat. There was profit for all with, initially, very little risk attached.
The story is told through three key characters; Jon Roberts, who claims to have imported over $2-billion worth of cocaine, pilot Mickey Munday, who personally flew in some 10 tons and the chillingly attractive Jorge `Rivi' Ayala, enforcer and assassin for Colombian `grandmother' Griselda Blanco.
With a score by Jan Hammer, this is the true story behind the films Scarface and Blow, when money and mobs ruled Miami."
Wednesday 1st September
BBC2 - The Tony Blair Interview with Andrew Marr - "The BBC has secured the first major political interview with Tony Blair since the year he stood down as Prime Minister.
Andrew Marr will conduct the exclusive one-hour interview with the former PM which will run on BBC Two on Wednesday 1 September at 7pm.
Andrew says: "Having the chance to speak to the former PM for an hour is a remarkable opportunity to learn more about what he was trying to achieve in office and how with hindsight he now regards his record."
This will be the BBC's first major retrospective interview about Blair's time in Number 10 since 2007 and will coincide with the launch of his memoirs."
BBC4 - Churches: How to Read Them - 6-part series - "Presenter Richard Taylor explains how churches were originally simple buildings intended to protect the altar and the most important Christian rite of all, the Eucharist. He visits Britain's finest early medieval churches to untangle the mystery of why the Anglo-Saxons and Normans seem to have been unwilling to shake off their pre-Christian past and to have continued to fill their sacred buildings with mysterious pagan images. An ancient book in an Oxford library helps Richard find an answer."
Thursday 2nd September
ITV1 - Real Crime with Mark Austin: Yvonne Fletcher - Justice Betrayed - "On April 17th 1984, Yvonne Fletcher, a young female constable, was murdered as she policed a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy. A gunman opened fire from the building and PC Fletcher was shot in the back and fatally wounded. Her murder triggered a political and diplomatic storm but no-one has ever been brought to account for her death. Over quarter of a century later, the family and friends of PC Yvonne Fletcher are still asking who killed her and questioning why they can’t be brought to justice. For the first time, Real Crime pieces together the crucial events leading up to and following the murder of Yvonne Fletcher. Formerly unseen evidence featured in the programme suggests that there may have been sufficient evidence to mount a prosecution for conspiracy to murder against two Libyans - Mohammed Matouk and Abdulgader Baghdadi. Following eye witness evidence, police diagrams and photographs, the programme outlines their alleged movements on the day of the shooting. The former British ambassador to Libya, Oliver Miles, describes how he was summoned to a late night meeting in Tripoli with Libyan government officials just over twelve hours before Yvonne Fletcher was shot. He tells the programme: “They told me that there was a demonstration planned for the following morning outside the Libyan office in London and that I was to get it stopped. I said, ‘You must be joking. You have demonstrations outside my embassy from time to time. The same thing will happen in London.’ They said, ‘You don’t understand, this is different. This is very important. We are giving you a really serious message. You must have it stopped.’” The documentary also includes incredible eye witness accounts of the shooting. Yvonne Fletcher’s friend and colleague, John Murray, was standing just a few feet away when she was shot. He describes how he cradled her head in the street and then took her in an ambulance to hospital. "
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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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