Off-air recordings for week 1-8 October 2010

Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk ,or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

Monday 4th

BBC2 - Horizon: The Death of the Oceans? - "Sir David Attenborough reveals the findings of one of the most ambitious scientific studies of our time - an investigation into what is happening to our oceans. He looks at whether it is too late to save their remarkable biodiversity.
Horizon travels from the cold waters of the North Atlantic to the tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef to meet the scientists who are transforming our understanding of this unique habitat. Attenborough explores some of the ways in which we are affecting marine life - from over-fishing to the acidification of sea water.
The film also uncovers the disturbing story of how shipping noise is deafening whales and dolphins, affecting their survival in the future."

ITV1 - Real Crime with Mark Austin: Britain's Biggest Heist - "The story of the biggest cash robbery in British history, an operation that would take months of meticulous planning - and one night to execute. The programme takes an in-depth look at the night a gang made off with 53 million pounds, and how Kent police worked through the night to track the money and the men responsible."

Tuesday 5th

BBC1 - Panorama Special: Kids in Care - "Since the case of Baby P, there has been a 40% increase in the number of children taken into care by the state. There are now 70,000 children being 'looked after' in the system. What happens to them? Can the system offer them a better life?
Panorama follows children in the care of Coventry Social Services for six months to find out if the state can be a real parent - even though children in care are more at risk of failing school and committing crime than any other group."

Wednesday 6th

BBC4 - When Britain Went Wild - "Documentary which explores the untold story of how Britain 'went wild' in the 1960s. It shows how the British people fell in love with animals and how, by the end of the decade, wildlife protection had become an intrinsic part of our culture. Before that time people knew very little about endangered species or the natural world - the very word 'environment' was hardly recognised. But the 1960s saw a sea change.
The film discovers how early television wildlife programmes with David Attenborough, writers such as Gerald Durrell and Gavin Maxwell and pioneers of conservation such as Peter Scott contributed to that transformation."

Friday 8th

Channel 4 - Unreported World: Afghanistan's Child Drug Addicts - "While the world's focus is on the fight against the Taliban, Unreported World reveals a hidden result of the conflict in Afghanistan: a huge rise in the number of children addicted to opium and heroin in a country now said to have the youngest drug addicted population in the world.
Reporter Ramita Navai and director Matt Haan discover a lost generation where babies, toddlers and teenagers are hooked on drugs as the only way to escape the pain, hunger and psychological effects of war.
Navai and Haan find around 100 addicts huddled in groups under a bridge in Kabul, injecting heroin. Each day more and more young addicts are turning up. Fifteen-year-old Ali sleeps in a local park. As he smokes heroin it becomes clear Ali is taking the drug to deal with the trauma of witnessing a suicide attack and the bombing of his village. He tells Navai he wishes he was dead.
The drug problem is so severe amongst the child population that some are taking desperate measures to feed their habits. Muqtar sells his body to an older man to earn money for heroin. Muqtar is only 13 years old, and became a prostitute at the age of nine. He says many of his friends are also addicts and do the same.
On the outskirts of the city, in a camp for internally displaced people from Helmand, Navai finds children injured in recent fighting between Taliban and government forces. With no access to doctors or adequate medicine, parents are forced to feed them opium to relieve them from the pain of their injuries.
Since losing her arm and being given opium as the only available pain relief, three-year-old Zarimeh has been hooked and her family don't know what to do. Government doctors rarely come to the camp and too few aid agencies are equipped to deal with the child addicts... "

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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.

Off-air recordings for week 25 September - 1 October 2010

Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk ,or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

Sunday 26th

BBC4 - Morning In The Streets - "Denis Mitchell's 1959 documentary is full of evocative images of a Liverpool still recovering from the post-war gloom."


BBC4 - All Our Working Lives Revisited - 4-parts - "The story of the British textiles industry, using rare archive and interviews with the people who worked in it. This programme features the original 1980s documentary on cotton, followed by a new film which brings the story of textiles right up to date."

BBC4 - Boys From The Black Stuff - 5-parts - "Alan Bleasdale's acclaimed drama series is an astute social commentary about life in recession-hit Britain in the Thatcher era."

BBC4 - Of Time And The City - "Acclaimed British director Terence Davies's love song to his native city of Liverpool, looking at the city's transformation over the years through archival footage, personal memory and a powerful soundtrack.

Monday 27th

BBC2 - The Classroom Experiment - 2-parts - "Education theory and practice go head to head when Professor Dylan Wiliam takes over one Year 8 class to test simple ideas that he believes could improve the quality of education."

BBC1 - Panorama: Britain In The Dock - "In two separate inquiries, the British Army stands accused of committing war crimes in Iraq, and ex-Defence Minsters are now being called to account.
With the MOD and the military justice system tainted by allegations that soldiers have got away with torture and murder, Paul Kenyon asks if the British army can really be trusted to police itself."

ITV1 - Real Crime With Mark Austin : Bringing Down The Gooch - "Bringing Down the Gooch tells the fascinating story of the specialist police team who took down the leaders of feared criminals, the Gooch Gang, who brought murder and mayhem to the streets of Manchester. Presented by Mark Austin and using previously unseen before footage of the gang, the documentary tells the story of a city which was so plagued by gun crime that it became known as Gunchester by the press. Featuring CCTV footage from crime scenes, interviews with forensic and ballistic experts and tapes documenting police interviews with the gang members, the programme provides a detailed insight into an investigation which led to the most severe jail terms in Manchester gangland history... "

Tuesday 28th

BBC1 - The Secrets of Scientology - "Reporter John Sweeney's last investigation into the Church of Scientology resulted in an explosive confrontation with church officials. This time, in a Panorama Special, one of those officials has turned whistleblower to help him reveal the dark secrets of the church, which boasts Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its devotees."

Wednesday 29th

BBC2 - Start Your Own School - "Toby Young, the journalist and author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, is leading a group of middle class parents attempting to set up one of Britain's first so-called 'free schools', in west London. His determination to be the first means an ambitious deadline and an enormous amount of work to do, against fierce opposition.
The film follows the group's trials and tribulations over a turbulent nine months and gives a glimpse into a world where no-one can escape that very English subject of class. Will Toby succeed this time in winning friends and influencing people?"

Friday 1st

Channel 4 - Dispatches: What's The Point Of The Unions? - "As Britain braces itself for the severest cuts in public spending in more than 60 years, Dispatches examines the response of the trade unions and what their threats of potential mass industrial action mean for the country.
Representing the interests of millions of British workers, trade unions are perceived to wield a great deal of political might - in this programme Dispatches reporter Deborah Davies investigates just how much power the unions really have to protect pay and jobs, and what the impact of industrial action might be for the public at large.
By looking at the inner workings of three of Britain's most important unions, Dispatches asks do they, and their leaders, really represent their members and what tactics do they have at their disposal to fight the impending cuts?
Trade Union Congress leader Brendan Barber has warned Britain will become a 'darker, brutish and more frightening place' as the government's austerity measures take effect.
With the potential to cripple transport systems, close schools and government buildings and hit vital public services, Dispatches asks if the unions could combine to bring about the kind of mass protests staged in Greece and Portugal this summer or if their rhetoric is all bluster?"

Channel 4 - Unreported World - Malaria Town - "Unreported World visits the 'malaria capital of the world' in northern Uganda to investigate why this preventable and treatable disease is still such a problem.
Reporter Oliver Steeds and director William West reveal that corruption is behind the theft of malaria treatment, and how organic products sold on Britain's high streets also play a role in the continuing the pandemic.
When singer Cheryl Cole collapsed from malaria and was rushed to intensive care in July after a trip to Africa, it highlighted how dangerous the disease still is. Cole was lucky to survive: she received proper, timely treatment. Unlike her, almost a million Africans die every year from malaria."

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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.

Off-air recordings for week 18-24 September 2010

Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk ,or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

Saturday 18th

Channel 4 - Stephen Hawking's Universe - 3-parts - "Professor Hawking considers one of the most important mysteries facing humankind: the possibility of intelligent alien life.
He examines the chances of other beings in a universe of countless billions of stars and wonders how they might look and what amazing knowledge - and terrifying technology - they could possess. And he ponders what might happen if aliens ever visited Earth: would they come in peace or would the outcome be much as when Columbus landed in America?"

Sunday 19th

BBC4 - Waiting For Work - "Waiting for Work was a documentary written and directed by Jack Ashley. Politically passionate and one of the first working class reporters at the BBC, he wanted to show the suffering caused by high unemployment. The documentary caused a storm."

BBC4 - Play For Today: The Blackstuff - "Classic early 1980s drama about a Merseyside tarmac gang away on a contract on Teesside. Without the boss there's a chance for some local diversion with the natives while keeping up the spirit of free enterprise, preferably on the firm's time."

Monday 20th

BBC2 - Unequal Opportunities with John Humphrys - "John Humphrys examines the reasons behind the stark educational attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils, which has stubbornly refused to narrow, despite the pledge made by successive governments to put education at the top of the political agenda.
This attainment gap is a problem that starts very early on, with experts saying that even before turning two, poor children have already fallen significantly behind in development. And when they reach school age, they are on average a year behind; by 14 two years behind; and by 16 half as likely to get five good GCSEs.
John travels the country visiting schools and meeting parents, teachers, pupils, tutors and researchers. He hears from teachers committed to finding ways to improve things and head teachers who have managed to turn failing schools around.
But he also uncovers the battles that exist for the best available education and how an increasing number of parents are using private tutoring companies to top up their children's education. Lee Elliott-Major of The Sutton Trust tells how research still suggests that the overwhelming factor in who does well in school depends on who the parents are, and John hears how parental choice for schools and the option for private education often exaggerate the social divide between the rich and the poor.
In Unequal Opportunities, John reflects on his own background and explores the dilemmas faced by parents wanting the best education for their children.
The film is part of BBC Two's School Season on air throughout September encompassing a range of programmes from documentary to drama to debate and at bbc.co.uk/schoolseason."

BBC4 - Storyville: The Photographer - "In 1987, colour slides were found in a second hand book store in Vienna which turned out to be a collections of photographs taken in the Lodz ghetto by the Nazis' chief accountant. Walter Genewein boosted productivity in the ghetto while keeping costs down, a policy which led to the Lodz ghetto surviving much longer than any other in Poland. He recorded what he considered to be the subhuman aspect of the Jewish workers and he was concerned only with the technical quality of his photos.
Director Dariusz Jablonski's prize-winning film uses the photographs in a different way. He recreates for us the suffering of inmates, giving a compassionate picture of that it was like to be trapped in the ghetto."

Tuesday 21st

BBC4 - Spitfire Women - "As part of a special season marking the 70th anniversary of The Battle Of Britain, Spitfire Women tells the story of the remarkable women who, against all odds, flew planes for the Air Transport Auxiliary from 1939 to the end of the Second World War.
Using archive footage and testimonies from the surviving members and their relatives, Spitfire Women captures the drama, danger and significance of the story of these unsung heroines, who came from across the world to fight for Britain but whose tales of courage and determination remain largely unrecognised. "

BBC1 - Lost Land of the Tiger - 3-parts - "Documentary series following a dramatic expedition searching for tigers hidden in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.
With tigers heading for extinction, an international team of big cat experts and wildlife filmmakers are given unique access to the jungles and mountains of Bhutan for what could be the last chance to save this magnificent animal.
Explorer Steve Backshall is joined by sniffer dog Bruiser; together, they hunt for tigers through the dense forest undergrowth. High in the mountains, wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan drives himself to exhaustion tracking tigers that seem as elusive as the yeti. And in a jungle base camp, scientist George McGavin organises a firefly disco, while camerawoman Justine Evans is stuck at the top of a tree during a tropical lightning storm.
For the final team member, big cat biologist Alan Rabinowitz, time to save the tiger is running out, as he has been diagnosed with incurable leukaemia. Alan bugs the forest with remote cameras to capture whatever secretive creatures are lurking there, but ultimately he needs to find tigers if his ambitious plan to protect them across the Himalayas is to succeed.
We follow the expedition every emotional step of the way as they strive to find evidence that could help to bring wild tigers back from the brink of extinction and safeguard their future."

BBC4 - The End of God? A Horizon Guide to Science and Religion - "As the Pope ends his visit to Britain, historian Dr Thomas Dixon delves into the BBC's archive to explore the age-old conflict between religion and science. From the creationists of America to the physicists of the Large Hadron Collider, he traces the expansion of scientific knowledge and asks whether there is still room for God in the modern world."

BBC4 - The Lost Gospels - "Documentary presented by Anglican priest Pete Owen Jones which explores the huge number of ancient Christian texts that didn't make it into the New Testament. Shocking and challenging, these were works in which Jesus didn't die, took revenge on his enemies and kissed Mary Magdalene on the mouth - a Jesus unrecognisable from that found in the traditional books of the New Testament.
Pete travels through Egypt and the former Roman Empire looking at the emerging evidence of a Christian world that's very different to the one we know, and discovers that aside from the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, there were over seventy gospels, acts, letters and apocalypses, all circulating in the early Church.
Through these lost Gospels, Pete reconstructs the intense intellectual and political struggles for orthodoxy that was fought in the early centuries of Christianity, a battle involving different Christian sects, each convinced that their gospels were true and sacred.
The worldwide success of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code sparked new interest, as well as wild and misguided speculation about the origins of the Christian faith. Owen Jones sets out the context in which heretical texts like the Gospel of Mary emerged. He also strikes a cautionary note - if these lost gospels had been allowed to flourish, Christianity may well have faced an uncertain future, or perhaps not survived at all."

Wednesday 22nd

BBC4 - Michael Wood's Story of England - 6-part series - "Groundbreaking series in which Michael Wood tells the story of one place throughout the whole of English history. The village is Kibworth in Leicestershire in the heart of England - a place that lived through the Black Death, the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution and was even bombed in World War Two.
With the help of the local people and using archaeology, landscape, language and DNA, Michael uncovers the lost history of the first thousand years of the village, featuring a Roman villa, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and graphic evidence of life on the eve of the Norman Conquest."

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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.

Off-air recordings for weeks 4-17 September 2010

Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk ,or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

Monday 6th

BBC1 - The Case for God - "With religion coming under increasing attack from atheists and sceptics, The Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, goes into the lion's den, putting his faith publicly on the line by debating with some of the sharpest critics of his faith. Howard Jacobson believes ritual demeans religion, Alain de Botton doubts that any one faith has the truth, Professor Colin Blakemore thinks science makes religion redundant, and Professor Lisa Jardine questions why God allows evil and suffering in this world."

Tuesday 7th

Yesterday - The First Day of the Blitz - "On that early September day, Britain was basking in the middle of an Indian summer with temperatures reaching a sweltering 90 degrees in London. Although the war had started the year before, Londoners hadn’t yet encountered disaster. But at 4.14pm on that gorgeous late summer’s day, 348 bombers and 617 Messerschmitt fighters crossed the English Channel into English airspace forming a block 20 miles wide, filling 800 square miles of sky. They only had one thing on their mind – to destroy the capital and break the British spirit. It was the day the war finally hit home. Using intimate first-person testimony along with authentic archive, photographs and bomb maps, The First Day Of The Blitz details the horror and the heroics of a concentrated nine-month attack that started on a warm day in September and continued for nine, long months. The film, the latest in Yesterday’s year-long Spirit Of 1940 strand, is a tribute to the survivors of the attacks and to the spirit shown by ordinary Londoners as their city burned around them. It’s also a film of remembrance, honouring those who lost their lives on one of the most traumatic days in the nation’s history."

Wednesday 8th

ITV1 - Words of the Blitz - "In the late summer of 1940 London came under fire as German bombers brought death and devastation to the City, night after night, week after week and month after month. Many cities were bombed but London suffered the most. This new documentary, Words of the Blitz, tells the powerful stories of those affected by the bombings, in their own words. A cast of actors including Dominic West, Romola Garai, Sheila Hancock, Russell Tovey, Alex Jennings, Joseph Beattie and Steven Berkoff read the diaries and letters of men and women from teenagers to fire-fighters, nurses and senior government officials, offering a rich insight into how the impact of the Blitz was felt on a deeply personal level, but also evoking how it affected all levels of society. They are joined by readers with a contemporary connection to the subject including a Bomb Disposal Officer just back from Afghanistan, and by Blitz survivors reading their own accounts. Along with archive footage as well as film of affected areas of London as they are today, their personal testimonies combine to create a compelling, surprising, and often deeply moving commemoration of the Blitz, brought vividly and poignantly to life in this powerful documentary. The Luftwaffe launched the biggest air raid in history in September as 350 bombers accompanied by 600 fighters headed towards London... "

Thursday 9th

BBC2 - Gareth Malone's Extraoridnary School for Boys - "Gareth Malone has never been one to shy away from a challenge. He made his name on TV as the choirmaster in BBC Two's The Choir, a series which saw him bring together people from all walks of life and turn them into accomplished singers, and, earlier this year, he took on the challenge of helping to put together a group of young people to perform at Glyndebourne, one of the world's most celebrated opera houses.
Back in April, though, Gareth took on one of his most ambitious challenges to date that saw him becoming an educator for a term when he agreed to take on a group of 39 boys from an Essex school to help them try to re-engage with their schoolwork. Many of the boys weren't fulfilling their potential at school and, like others across Britain, lagged behind their female peers in literacy. The result is Gareth Malone's Extraordinary School For Boys – a three-part series for BBC Two that forms part of the channel's School Season (a range of programming encompassing documentary, drama and debate, focusing on schools, the tough choices parents have to make and exploring innovations in teaching).
The school in question is Pear Tree Mead in Harlow, Essex, which was chosen from the many that were keen to take part in the project. "It's typical statistically," says Gareth. "It represents the national picture when talking about literacy and the discrepancy between boys and girls, so it felt like the right place to go."
With the head teacher's full consent and involvement, Gareth was challenged to "show there has been an improvement with the majority of boys, increasing their reading age by six months in just eight weeks". The reading ages of the boys were assessed both before and after he spent time at the school so there was a clear way to assess whether his efforts had been successful... "

Saturday 11th

Channel 4 - 9/11: State of Emegency - "This feature-length drama-documentary tells the story of 9/11 in the words of key political and military leaders as well as ordinary people who suddenly found themselves on the frontlines of a new kind of war.
In the chaos of the day, many people faced split-second decisions that they had never expected or planned for - and their actions could make the difference between life and death. Through a minute-by-minute investigation, this film tells the story of those whose choices would help shape the outcome of that fateful day.
A range of people - some very famous, some very private - whose decisions would turn out to be key, discuss what they did and why as they reflect on how they responded to the extraordinary test that was 9/11.
Top government officials speak candidly for the first time on camera of their frustration and confusion; from political leaders to generals and cabinet members struggling to keep up with what was unfolding.
The film also reveals the emotional stories of ordinary men and women - air force pilots, fire chiefs and relatives of hijacked passengers - who also faced unprecedented challenges such as finding the right phone number for the FBI to report that a plane had been hijacked.
9/11 is treated as a whole; a single event. Interweaving exclusive stories from key players and archive and original footage, this intense and insightful film explores America's greatest test of the modern age.
The film features interviews with Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Andrew Card (Chief of Staff to President Bush), air traffic controllers, F-16 pilots, family members of the Flight 93 passengers, and survivors and rescuers from the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks."

Monday 13th

BBC4 - Storyville: The Trouble with Pirates - "There are currently seventeen ships being held by pirates, and the piracy season is starting again. This is the story of the piracy explosion, with unique access to the coastal towns of war-torn Somalia, the boardrooms of the City of London, the operation hubs on board warships in the Gulf of Aden and the heartbreak of a hostage situation gone wrong."

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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.