Off-air recordings for week 26 February - 4 March 2011

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 28th February

BBC1 - Panorama: Classroom Warrior - "Panorama goes back to school to examine government plans to send in the troops to Britain's troubled classrooms. Can they help restore discipline, leadership and respect? It is an idea born in the USA, where around 15 thousand ex-military personnel have become teachers and done their bit in some of America's toughest inner-city schools. Vivian White reports on the military manoeuvres claimed to be building David Cameron's so-called "Big Society"."

Tuesday 1st March

BBC1 - Girls Behind Bars - "Documentary series filmed over a year in Scotland's only women's prison which reveals an intimate and often shocking portrait of jail life."

Wednesday 2nd

BBC1 - The Boat That Guy Built - 6 part series - "Guy Martin – a 29-year-old motorcycle racer, truck mechanic and engineering boffin – faces a challenge. He and his companion, Mave – who is also handy with a spanner, blowtorch and hammer – are taking to the canals of Britain to restore a dilapidated narrow boat, fitting it inside and out with all the mod cons you would expect ... in the Victorian era. This is not going to be your average cruise.
In this first instalment of The Boat That Guy Built, the skilled duo set out on their maiden voyage. It does not take long to realise that where there is work, there needs to be refreshment, so they set about making everything needed to create a cup of tea.
After negotiating some of the finest ingenuity from the industrial revolution, the Anderton Boat Lift, the pair build a blast furnace and then start heating it up and filling it with iron ore and coke. Far from clicking a switch on the kettle, they will need exactly the right ratio and temperature to produce molten iron. Next, Guy heads off to choose the tea he will be drinking, learning a bit more about its heritage and acquiring the correct slurping and sucking tasting technique, before heading to the Wedgwood factory to create cups to drink it from.
Back at the furnace, Guy and Mave make a green sand cast of a pot. Just as their cast is finished, it appears that so, too, is the furnace as they crack the front. The iron is poured into their mould and, if it sets, it will make a pot. Will the duo finally enjoy a well-earned cuppa?
Drawing on the rich history of British waterways, a proud industrial heritage and sterling innovation, the presenting duo have an exciting challenge on their hands, but have they bitten off more than they can chew?"

BBC2 - Attenborough and the Giant Egg - "When David Attenborough was filming in Madagascar for Zoo Quest in 1960, he was given pieces of an egg belonging to the largest bird to have ever lived – the extinct "elephant bird". The enormous egg has become one of his most treasured possessions.

In Attenborough And The Giant Egg, David returns to Madagascar to see how the island has changed in the last 50 years and to search for more clues about the amazing elephant bird, which was something like a giant ostrich, weighing half a ton. He also investigates whether unravelling the story of its extinction can throw light on what is happening on the island today.

There have been dramatic changes since David's first visit – 80 per cent of Madagascar's native forest has been destroyed; the human population has quadrupled; and many of its unique species are teetering on the brink of extinction. On the positive side, new species have been discovered and, today, scientists and conservationists know far more about the complexities of the environment.

Modern carbon-dating techniques reveal, for the first time, the age of David's egg. Scientists are surprised to find it is only 1,300 years old. Such a recent date confirms that the elephant bird existed alongside human beings for several hundred years.

Channel 4 - Jamie's Dream School - 7 parts - "Jamie Oliver brings together some of Britain's most inspirational individuals to see if they can persuade 20 young people who've left school with little to show for the experience to give education a second chance."

Friday 4th

Channel 4 - Dispatches: Secret NHS Diaires - "The NHS is there to make our final days as dignified and pain-free as possible. But as a devastating health service ombudsman report has shown, the reality can be very different.
For the first time, Dispatches has given three people cameras to film the last weeks of their lives, at home, in a care home, and in hospital. Their experiences provide a unique insight into the gap between what we hope for compared with the painful reality of dying."


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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.