Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
*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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Sunday 22nd April 2012
Documentaries
Secrets of the Saxon Gold: A Time Team Special
Channel 4, 7:55-9:00pm
Two years after an Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard worth over three million pounds was discovered in Staffordshire, Time Team returns to see the results of the post-excavation process.
Documentaries
Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve
BBC2, 8:00-9:00pm, 1/6, South Africa to Zanzibar
In his greatest adventure yet Simon Reeve travels the Indian Ocean, uncovering stories from some of the world’s most remote, dangerous and beautiful locations.
He starts his journey on the rugged tip of South Africa, joining conservationists struggling to save the little-known and highly endangered African Penguin.
Further up the coast he meets the South African authorities using high speed boats to hunt down poachers targeting a sea creature called Abalone, a delicacy for which Chinese gourmets will pay big money. This illegal trade is dominated by drug-dealing gangsters, whom Simon encounters in a poverty-stricken township in Cape Town.
But it is the Indian Ocean’s greatest predator that dominates this leg of the journey. In his first ocean dive, Simon swims with huge and fearsome-looking ragged tooth sharks. Following a ride on a container ship travelling to the glorious coast of Mozambique, he accompanies local fisherman as they land a huge bull shark in their tiny boat, which is later butchered on the beach for its fins. It is part of a global tragedy that is seeing millions of sharks killed each year.
Finally, Simon makes an emotional journey to the tropical island of Zanzibar, steeped in the long history of the slave trade.
Factual; Travel; Documentaries
Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/2
In this brand new two-parter for BBC2, Ewan McGregor is on a mission to the ends of the earth to immunise some of the hardest-to-reach children in the world. Against the odds, health workers deliver vaccines to the world's most remote children. But their fragile nature means the vaccines must be kept constantly cold as they are passed along the supply chain, from freezer to freezer - wherever that may be. The routes these vaccines travel are known as cold chains, and a vast network of them exists across the globe. In this series Ewan is following two of these cold chains supported by Unicef.
In the first episode, Ewan chooses a route that takes him through India. In a country with a booming population, often on the move, the cold chain is a race against time to stop polio before it can enter the country and spread. From India, Ewan continues his journey into the isolated wilderness of Nepal. He must endure a gruelling two-day trek to reach a tiny community secluded high in the Himalayas, but not before attempting to land at one of the world's most dangerous airstrips.
These two programmes give Ewan an opportunity to go to three very different countries, three situations, and look in detail at one strand of Unicef's work - the vaccine trail or the cold chain. It's the perfect kind of match, says Ewan, 'of furthering my work with Unicef and at the same time, going on an adventure, which I really like to do'.
Documentaries
Perspectives: David Walliams - The Genius of Dahl
ITV1, 10:15-11:15pm
“As a comedian I’ve spent a lot of time trying to work out how to say things that if said in a serious way would be completely unacceptable, and I haven’t always gotten away with it. In Dahl’s world, a grandma can be poisoned by her grandson. Parents can be eaten by a rhinoceros. And yet somehow it’s acceptable. It takes a true genius to pull that off.” – David Walliams on Roald Dahl.
It is perhaps not surprising that David Walliams is a huge fan of Roald Dahl, when some of his acting creations almost seem like Dahl characters – exaggerated and extreme, subversive and absurd, capable of cruelty, and challenging rules with dark humour.
In the latest installment of the Perspectives documentary strand, comedian and children’s author David Walliams delves into the electrifying, fantastic and dark world of Roald Dahl. He explores what makes Dahl one of the great storytellers, why his stories are loved by millions of readers and whether after many decades, they still stand the test of time.
Along the way, he visits Dahl’s house in Buckinghamshire, his childhood home of Cardiff, explores his Norwegian family roots and inspects the author’s writing hut – where his famous tales germinated. Famous fans including Joanna Lumley and Tim Minchin wax lyrical on the magical world of Dahl, alongside well-known children’s author Anthony Horowitz and Dahl experts and biographers Michael Rosen and Donald Sturrock.
Ultimately, in searching for the very essence of Dahl’s storytelling, David discovers the tragedies which shaped the author’s world view and writing, finds out how infamous characters such as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda were created, and even learns that the iconic Oompa Loompas in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory were very nearly known as something else.
“When I was a child I devoured every book I could get my hands on. I loved losing myself in colourful and dramatic stories – and my absolute favourite was this, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. Everything about it electrified me, and when I reread Roald Dahl’s books as an adult it surprised me; there’s nothing prescriptive or predictable about them, with little sense of narrative rules. And they are nearly all perfect.
“Children’s books are often seen as the poor relation of literature. But children are just as demanding as adult readers, if not more so. I should know. I’m a children’s writer myself. Yet I will never be as good as Dahl. In this film I want to try and understand where Dahl’s magic touch came from.”
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Monday 23rd April 2012
Documentaries
Jungle Special: Inside Nature's Giants
Channel 4, 8:00-9:00pm, 3/3
The team take on their hardest challenge so far, to dissect an entire ecosystem - the jungle. Deep in the rainforest of Borneo they erect a high-tech dissection laboratory to investigate giant bugs and titan trees, and to reveal why the jungle is home to the most diverse collection of living things on our planet.
With a team of all-star biologists, anatomists and tree climbers, they delve into the mysteries of the rainforest: how it fits together and the extraordinary roles the strange creatures that live in it play; how waterfalls flow uphill, life springs from death and parasites hold the key to holding the jungle in balance.
Veterinary scientist Mark Evans climbs 60 metres into the canopy to catch the world's largest ants; comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg heads deep into the forest to catch venomous centipedes and giant moths; and biologist Simon Watt investigates the most sinister organism of them all - an enormous parasitic fig tree.
Inside Nature's Giants lifts the lid on this confusing environment, delving deep into the workings of some of the rainforest's most spectacular inhabitants to bring viewers natural history like it's never been seen before.
Factual; History; Documentaries
The 1970s
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 2/4, Doomwatch, 73-74
Historian Dominic Sandbrook takes viewers on an eye-opening and refreshing journey deep into the 1970s, a decade where the old Britain of the post-war years was transformed into the nation of today.
This episode looks at the impact of a fast changing world on British life and how Britain could no longer pretend to be a island nation that stood apart. Dominic explores the effects of the oil price hike of the 70s and of rampant inflation on Britain's living standards. He also looks at how many British people were choosing to live different kinds of lives embracing everything from environmentally aware lifestyles to the sexual revolution.
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Tuesday 24th April 2012
Factual; Documentaries
The Mighty Mississippi with Trevor McDonald
ITV1, 9:00-10:00pm, 3/3
In the third episode of the series Trevor visits the town which inspired the Huckleberry Finn novels, the island dedicated to making guns and the city known for being one of the best places to live in America.
The third part of Trevor’s journey sees him arrive in St Louis, Missouri on Independence Day and head to the St Louis Cardinals baseball stadium to meet the players and talk to them about being a part of the ultimate American sport.
Trevor visits an area of St Louis which is home to the largest community of Bosnians in American after they fled the civil war in the eastern European country. He meets one couple who have just got married and a businessman who takes him to ‘Little Bosnia’ and explains that the previously run-down area is now thriving with Bosnian businesses.
Trevor’s next stop is the town of Hannibal which was home to writer Sam Clements who wrote the Huckleberry Finn novels under the name of Mark Twain. Trevor takes to the water and gets behind the wheel of a paddle steamer in a nod to Mark Twain’s life as a river pilot in his younger years.
He says: “It is a gorgeous way to spend a day. Very calm and very contemplating. Very soothing. The river is still a route for cargo today and these barges are now the work horses.”
As Trevor continues on his journey up the Mississippi he visits Rock Island, Illinois, which is one of the largest weapons manufacturing facilities in the world. Workers on the 950 acre island use scrap metal to make guns and have provided weapons for every major conflict America has been involved in since the civil war.
Factual; Life Stories; Reality
The Estate
BBC1, 5/8, 11:40pm-12:10am
Fly-on-the-wall drama continues in Ballysally with romance in the air for Kelly Ann. Mum of five Louise takes delivery of free furniture from a charity. Noel struggles to keep his band members sober, and will single mum Emma pass her exams and get to University?
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Wednesday 25th April 2012
Documentaries
Beautiful Minds
BBC4, 9:00-10:00pm, 3/3, Richard Dawkins
In the mid 1960s Richard Dawkins was lecturing in zoology at the University of Oxford when he came upon an idea put forward by zoologist Bill Hamilton. The theory suggested that it is genes rather than individuals or species which are the drivers for natural selection. It could have revolutionised evolutionary theory but it was little understood outside academic circles. That is until political events lead Richard to have some time on his hands.
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Thursday 26th April 2012
News
Is Britain Running Dry?: Tonight
ITV1, 7:30-8:00pm
Two consecutive dry winters have taken their toll and Britain is now facing its worst drought for more than 30 years, with millions of people having already had hosepipe bans imposed and some experts predicting the climate will continue to get drier and warmer. Jonathan Maitland examines what is being done to protect dwindling water supplies and asks whether everyone needs to change the way they use resources.
Documentaries
Louis Theroux: Extreme Love
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 2/2, Dementia
As one of the big retirement destinations for middle class Americans, Phoenix Arizona has also become a capital of dementia care. Louis visits the city in order to spend time in state-of-the-art care home Beatitudes and with home-based carers, whose love is tested by a condition that steadily erodes the personality and character of their partners.
At Beatitudes Louis meets Gary, a 69-year-old patient who thinks he is serving in the military and that it is his job to check the state of everyone's teeth. Louis submits to a dental check-up, is introduced to two of Gary's new resident girlfriends and spends time with Gary's wife of 20 years, Carla – a woman whom Gary robustly denies ever having married.
In a suburban Phoenix bungalow Louis agrees to become carer-for-a-day to Nancy, a formerNew York model with a personality to match. He finds a woman who can no longer remember her way through a complete sentence, but also a husband who finds much to love in the glimpses of personality that still sparkle through the dementia.
Factual; Arts, Culture and the Media; Documentaries
The King and the Playwright: A Jacobean History
BBC4, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/3, Incertainties
World-renowned American scholar Professor James Shapiro begins his three-part series about Shakespeare in the reign of King James with the anxious mood of 1603, when a new dynasty comes to power. Puritans, plague, an extravagant gift to a Spanish diplomatic delegation and a new British coin called the unite all figure in Shapiro's rich and fascinating history of a troubled time which saw an extraordinary creative outpouring.
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Friday 27th April 2012
News
Undercover: Elderly Care - Panorama
BBC1, 12:25-12:55am
Panorama reveals the appalling treatment of an elderly care home resident with dementia, captured on film after a concerned relative hid a secret camera. The abuse - in a care home passed as "excellent" by the national regulator, the Care Quality Commission - has led to five care workers being sacked, with one pleading guilty to assault. It was recorded by a secret camera placed in the elderly woman's bedroom by her daughter, who speaks for the first time about what happened. Fiona Phillips, whose parents suffered from dementia and whose mother died in a care home, investigates whether the regulator and care home provider did enough to prevent such abuse and asks whether the system of elderly care itself can be trusted.
News; Documentaries
Unreported World - Afghanistan: Lights, Camera, Death Threats
Channel 4, 7:30-7:55pm, 3/8
Unreported World finds out what it takes to survive in the world's toughest movie industry.
Cinema was outlawed in Afghanistan under the Taliban and a decade later, despite their overthrow, death threats remain a fact of life for Afghan film-makers.
Reporter Jenny Kleeman and director Andrew Lang join the country's biggest film stars on set, and discover a passionate family of film-makers and actors, drawing strength and humour from each other as they risk their lives to produce movies.
Thirty years ago, Kabul was full of record shops, cinemas and theatres. But the Taliban declared that making and watching films perverted people's minds, and banned films during their rule. Since they fell in 2001, a handful of brave film directors have started working again.
The team begin their journey on set with Saba Sahar - an actress, screenwriter and Afghanistan's first female film director. In a country where few women work at all, Saba is directing her sixth production - a TV series about the Afghan police force.
The only woman on set, Saba has complete authority, even over the real policemen who are acting as her extras. As well as directing, Saba is playing the heroine, who's a female cop succeeding in a man's world.
Saba's high-profile job is provoking some of the most dangerous people in the country. The drug lords and the Taliban have threatened her life. 'Each morning when I leave the house I think I'll never see my family again. I might be killed,' she tells Kleeman.
Kleeman and Lang meet Salim Shaheen, Afghanistan's most prolific film director. He's directed and starred in over 100 low-budget, high-octane movies over three decades.
With a large fan base, Salim has a huge influence on ordinary Afghans. He takes Kleeman on to the film set where he's in the middle of directing a fight scene.
Salim fears the departure of foreign troops from Afghanistan could mean the end of his career. 'There's going to be a civil war here,' he warns. 'If the Taliban come back, films will be banned. I'll have to leave the country.' ...
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Tuesday 17 April 2012
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Off-air recordings for week 14-20 April 2012
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
*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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Saturday 14th April 2012
Documentaries; Arts, Culture and the Media
Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film
BBC2, 8:30-10:00pm
Live from Belfast’s Waterfront Hall John Humphrys hosts this commemorative event to mark the centenary of the sinking of RMS Titanic.
A unique blend of music and documentary the show features special performances from Bryan Ferry, Joss Stone, Nicola Benedetti, Alfie Boe, Charlie Siem, Maverick Sabre and the Ulster Orchestra.
The performances wrap around a documentary which tells the story of the ill-fated ship, those who built her, the people who sailed on her and the enduring legacy of the tragedy.
Imelda Staunton and Simon Callow read extant material drawn from survivors’ accounts and newspaper reports of the time, while award-winning musician Jamie Cullum explores the importance of music on board the ship.
The show will also feature the world premiere of Titanic Drums, an original composition featuring 100 traditional drummers from across Ireland, massed choirs, soloist Peter Corry and six times World Champion drummer Mark Wilson.
Merlin's Colin Morgan, Bronagh Gallagher and Ian McElhinney also star.
The project, which has been commissioned by BBC Two and BBC Northern Ireland from independent production company Whizz Kid Entertainment and Anderson Spratt Group Ltd, received funding from Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Northern Ireland Screen and is supported by Belfast City Council and Tourism Ireland.
Entertainment; Discussion and Talk
Parkinson: The Interviews
BBC4, 10:35-11:15pm, 1/6 Kenneth Williams
In this compilation of clips from five of his eight appearances on Parkinson, Kenneth Williams gives vent to his dislike of theatre critics as well as Michael Parkinson, and gives his rendition of My Crepes Suzette
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Sunday 15th April 2012
Factual; News
This World: Norway's Massacre
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm
This World tells the inside story of the 2011 massacre in Norway, offering new insights into the life and mind of the perpetrator Anders Breivik, and exposing the hidden hatreds that inspired him. Through interviews with key players, including the Norwegian prime minister, survivors, the commander of the police response and the head of the Delta Force team that arrested Breivik, and including unique footage and unseen archive, the film pieces together, minute-by-minute, the course of the attacks and the response of the security services.
Factual
Words of The Titanic
ITV1, 10:00-11:00pm
“The pleasure and comfort which all of us enjoyed upon this floating palace, with its extraordinary provisions for such purposes, seemed an ominous feature to many of us, including myself, who felt it almost too good to last without some terrible retribution inflicted by the hand of an angry omnipotence.”
Colonel Archibald Gracie, first class passenger
One hundred years ago on 10th April 1912, the legendary Titanic set sail for New York. With diaries, letters, and memoirs, ‘Words of the Titanic’ tells the stories of the ship’s passengers and crew in their own words. The disaster at sea, which cost almost 1500 lives, has been well documented. But the individual experiences of the people on board offer a revealing insight into the emotions and terror they experienced when it became clear that the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic was doomed to plunge to the bottom of the ocean.
The film features a cast including Richard E. Grant, James Wilby, Claudie Blakely, Roger Allam and Anna Madeley, plus direct descendants of some of the ships passengers who read the diary extracts of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Dramatic reconstruction and images of the time evoke the spirit of Titanic’s fateful maiden voyage, which is brought poignantly to life in this powerful documentary. ‘Words of the Titanic’ is brand new & exclusive to ITV1 on Saturday 14th April at 10.35pm.
In 1912, Titanic was launched to sail the shipping route between the world’s most powerful cities, London and New York. Its vast size and unparalleled luxury stunned the 900 strong crew, who boarded the ship on 2nd April, when it left Belfast for Southampton.
Commander Charles Lightholler (read by James Wilby) recalled: “It is difficult to convey any idea of the size of a ship like the Titanic, when you could actually walk miles along decks and passages. It took me fourteen days before I could, with confidence, find my way from one part of that ship to another by the shortest route.”
On 10th April, Titanic’s 1,300 passengers boarded amidst an air of excitement. There were 700 in third-class, or steerage, 280 in second class, and 325 in first class. For three days Titanic then steamed westwards into the North Atlantic, covering more than 500 miles in a day. First class passenger, Colonel Archibald Gracie was returning home after spending the winter in the South of France...
Factual; History; Life Stories; Religion and Ethics
Witness to Auschwitz
BBC1, 11:10-11:40pm
With so few survivors of the Holocaust left to share their first-hand testimony, what is the right approach to those with accounts that can it be proved?
93-year-old Denis Avey is a British Hero of the Holocaust who helped save the life of an Auschwitz inmate. He wrote about this heroic act, verified by the man he saved, in a best-selling book. But its publication generated a heated debate. That's because Denis also claimed to have broken in to the Nazi concentration camp itself. Why would anyone do such a thing and was it even possible?
Witness to Auschwitz examines the controversy surrounding this latest Holocaust account and asks why is it so important to know the truth?
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Monday 16th April 2012
Factual; History; Documentaries
The 70s
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/4, Get It On
Historian Dominic Sandbrook presents the 1970s as a vital and exciting era in which the old Britain of the post-war years was transformed into the nation we see around us today.
Sandbrook is as interested in how ordinary people were changing Britain as he is in politicians. In this episode, he reveals a country brimming with aspiration as millions get on the property ladder, take their first foreign holidays and start to challenge the old class boundaries to their lives. It was a decade in which ordinary British people first felt the thrill of freedom and money, but Sandbrook shows us it was also a decade in which raging conflicts about the economy and Europe loomed large.
Factual; Science and Nature; Documentaries
Inside Nature's Giants
Channel 4, 8:00-9:00pm, series 4, 2/3, The Kangaroo
The Australian Outback is home to millions of kangaroos but, sadly, every year thousands are fatally injured in traffic accidents. Veterinary scientist Mark Evans and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg take the opportunity to delve inside these bizarre animals. They uncover the kangaroo's lower jaw, which splits in two, and a massive Achilles tendon that enables it to hop like a frog. But it's the reproductive anatomy they find most surprising: the male genitalia is back to front, while females have three vaginas as well as the pouch in which they grow their young from jelly-bean-sized embryos.
Meanwhile, Simon Watt heads into the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney, to follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin. Back in 1836, when the young naturalist visited Australia, he wondered why the animals there were so different to those back home. Joined by Darwin's great, great grandson Christopher, Simon goes in search of some of these other creatures. Including a bird that decorates its nest with an assortment of blue ornaments - from clothes pegs to bottle tops - and a primitive mammal that lays eggs like a reptile.
Christopher explains how these animals and the island they live on played a crucial role in developing his ancestor's then-heretical ideas on evolution.
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Tuesday 17th April 2012
Factual
The Mighty Mississippi
ITV1, 9:00-10:00pm, 2/3
In the second part of the series, Trevor visits Morgan Freeman and talks to him about his childhood in the Deep South. He meets a close friend of Dr Martin Luther King who was standing next to him when he was assassinated, and he visits one of Elvis Presley’s first and much-loved girlfriends.
The second part of his journey begins in the quiet town of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he meets actor, Morgan Freeman. Morgan tells Trevor that when he was growing up the segregation of black and white people was rigidly enforced, but it didn’t really trouble him until he reached his teenage years.
He says: “I still remember my childhood as being a lot of freedom. I’d get up in the morning, aged four, five, and go hunt my best friend and we would just run. That’s what I remember. I was going to a very good school, I had very good teachers. I was in a very safe environment. What white people did, I didn’t care about.
“I knew that we were separate, if I went into town then there were the separate facilities; the waiting room at the bus station, the water fountains. I didn’t have to go, and I didn’t go, so it didn’t bother me. By the time I graduated from high school, I did have this feeling about Mississippi’s state of apartheid and when I left, I was leaving for good.”
Morgan explains that he started going back to Mississippi when his parents moved back there in the mid 1950s and he eventually returned to live there himself. However, he reveals that he was shocked to discover that although children now go to mixed schools in his local town, they were still encouraged to socialise separately out of school...
Factual; Life Stories; Reality
The Estate
BBC1, 11:40pm-12:10am, 4/8
Emma deals with a tragedy for one of her alcoholic clients, there's a tearful hospital visit for Lauren, and schoolgirl Kelly Ann lands a holiday job.
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Wednesday 18th April 2012
Crime; Documentaries
Hijack Hell - Bus 174
BBC2, 11:20pm-1:10am
Documentary from Brazil recalling the dramatic hijacking of a bus during Rio de Janeiro's morning rush hour in June 2000, which was broadcast live on national television. Director Jose Padilha also explores the gunman's harrowing childhood and his struggles on the city's mean streets, questioning if he too was a victim of its class divide and poverty. In Portuguese and Spanish.
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Thursday 19th April 2012
Documentaries
Louis Theroux - Extreme Love: Autism
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/2
In America nearly one child in a hundred is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder - a brain disorder characterised by an inability to socialise and communicate.
Louis travels to DLC Warren in New Jersey, one of the most innovative autism schools of its kind, to find out how specialised intervention can help both the children and the families who care for them.
He meets Joey, whose mother Carol is finding it increasingly hard to cope with some of the more challenging aspects of his disorder. In between the ever more explosive tantrums, Louis discovers a cheeky and charming 13-year-old, but there are tough decisions ahead about his future in the family home.
Nicky is 19. After making good progress at DLC Warren he is about to leave, but the prospect of change leads to increasing anxiety and erratic behaviour. Surrounded by a loving family who say they wouldn't have him any other way, he shows Louis his novel Dragonula and invites him to share his first day at his new school.
Twenty-year-old Brian is severely autistic and his behaviour - setting fire to the house and attacking his mother - has led to the difficult decision of placing him in residential care. Louis meets a mother whose love for her son has been tested to its limits and finds out how the school is preparing him for an adult life.
History; Documentaries
Meet The Romans with Mary Beard
BBC2, 11:20pm-12:20am, 1/3 - All Roads Lead To Rome
In the first episode in a new series exploring Rome from the bottom up, Professor Mary Beard asks not what the Romans did for us, but what the Empire did for Rome.
All roads lead to Rome, but this isn’t the tale of trading might and imperial power - it’s a portrait of the world’s first global metropolis as seen through the eyes of the ordinary Roman on the street. This is a city where everyone and everything came from somewhere else. The Empire affected everything Romans wore, ate, touched and worshipped.
Mary rides the Via Appia, climbs up to the top seats of the Colosseum, takes a boat to Rome’s famous port Ostia and takes us into the bowels of Monte Testaccio (‘broken pot mountain’). She also meets Eurysaces, ex-slave and eccentric baker, who made a fortune out of the grain trade, building his tomb in the shape of a giant bread-oven; Baricha, Zabda and Achiba, three prisoners of war who went on to become Roman citizens and Pupius Amicus, the purple-dye seller making imperial dye from murex shellfish imported from Tunisia.
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Friday 20th April 2012
News
Unreported World - Baghdad Bomb Squad
Channel 4, 7:30-7:55pm
Unreported World gains unprecedented and exclusive access to the Baghdad Bomb Squad. Nine years after the invasion and with the British and the Americans gone, Iraq still faces almost daily attacks from those trying to foment political chaos and sectarian hatred. Reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy and director Alex Nott spend time with a small band of brave Iraqi officers trying to prevent further murderous attacks.
With modest resources and great courage in the face of terrible danger, four 12-man squads work around the clock defusing bombs or investigating crime scenes where a device has detonated. The Unreported World team joins one team as they begin a morning shift, when the bombers are at their busiest. Twenty-nine year old officer Rawad Yassin, who has already spent six years in the bomb squad, tells Guru-Murthy that his family have urged him to leave the unit but he feels a responsibility to his fellow officers.
Travelling in convoy they are called out to the suburb of Karrada. They believe they are heading to an unexploded device but on arrival find the aftermath of detonated device. The target was a senior military commander in charge of the Ministry of Communications Protection Force. Several of his staff have been killed, and more than a dozen injured.
As the team head off, reports come in of other bombings around Baghdad. Another unit finds an unexploded device right outside Iraq's Oil Ministry. Unreported World reveals extraordinary footage showing how a 'sticky bomb', which is fixed under the car of a Brigadier General, is made safe.
In the last two years more than 30 bomb disposal experts have been killed across Iraq. Guru-Murthy speaks to someone close to one of those killed trying to defuse a vehicle bomb. Ali Hameed shows Guru-Murthy video footage of the incident which left his partner Ali Latif with terrible injuries. Hameed says since the incident he's been living with severe psychological stress...
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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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Saturday 14th April 2012
Documentaries; Arts, Culture and the Media
Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film
BBC2, 8:30-10:00pm
Live from Belfast’s Waterfront Hall John Humphrys hosts this commemorative event to mark the centenary of the sinking of RMS Titanic.
A unique blend of music and documentary the show features special performances from Bryan Ferry, Joss Stone, Nicola Benedetti, Alfie Boe, Charlie Siem, Maverick Sabre and the Ulster Orchestra.
The performances wrap around a documentary which tells the story of the ill-fated ship, those who built her, the people who sailed on her and the enduring legacy of the tragedy.
Imelda Staunton and Simon Callow read extant material drawn from survivors’ accounts and newspaper reports of the time, while award-winning musician Jamie Cullum explores the importance of music on board the ship.
The show will also feature the world premiere of Titanic Drums, an original composition featuring 100 traditional drummers from across Ireland, massed choirs, soloist Peter Corry and six times World Champion drummer Mark Wilson.
Merlin's Colin Morgan, Bronagh Gallagher and Ian McElhinney also star.
The project, which has been commissioned by BBC Two and BBC Northern Ireland from independent production company Whizz Kid Entertainment and Anderson Spratt Group Ltd, received funding from Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Northern Ireland Screen and is supported by Belfast City Council and Tourism Ireland.
Entertainment; Discussion and Talk
Parkinson: The Interviews
BBC4, 10:35-11:15pm, 1/6 Kenneth Williams
In this compilation of clips from five of his eight appearances on Parkinson, Kenneth Williams gives vent to his dislike of theatre critics as well as Michael Parkinson, and gives his rendition of My Crepes Suzette
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Sunday 15th April 2012
Factual; News
This World: Norway's Massacre
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm
This World tells the inside story of the 2011 massacre in Norway, offering new insights into the life and mind of the perpetrator Anders Breivik, and exposing the hidden hatreds that inspired him. Through interviews with key players, including the Norwegian prime minister, survivors, the commander of the police response and the head of the Delta Force team that arrested Breivik, and including unique footage and unseen archive, the film pieces together, minute-by-minute, the course of the attacks and the response of the security services.
Factual
Words of The Titanic
ITV1, 10:00-11:00pm
“The pleasure and comfort which all of us enjoyed upon this floating palace, with its extraordinary provisions for such purposes, seemed an ominous feature to many of us, including myself, who felt it almost too good to last without some terrible retribution inflicted by the hand of an angry omnipotence.”
Colonel Archibald Gracie, first class passenger
One hundred years ago on 10th April 1912, the legendary Titanic set sail for New York. With diaries, letters, and memoirs, ‘Words of the Titanic’ tells the stories of the ship’s passengers and crew in their own words. The disaster at sea, which cost almost 1500 lives, has been well documented. But the individual experiences of the people on board offer a revealing insight into the emotions and terror they experienced when it became clear that the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic was doomed to plunge to the bottom of the ocean.
The film features a cast including Richard E. Grant, James Wilby, Claudie Blakely, Roger Allam and Anna Madeley, plus direct descendants of some of the ships passengers who read the diary extracts of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Dramatic reconstruction and images of the time evoke the spirit of Titanic’s fateful maiden voyage, which is brought poignantly to life in this powerful documentary. ‘Words of the Titanic’ is brand new & exclusive to ITV1 on Saturday 14th April at 10.35pm.
In 1912, Titanic was launched to sail the shipping route between the world’s most powerful cities, London and New York. Its vast size and unparalleled luxury stunned the 900 strong crew, who boarded the ship on 2nd April, when it left Belfast for Southampton.
Commander Charles Lightholler (read by James Wilby) recalled: “It is difficult to convey any idea of the size of a ship like the Titanic, when you could actually walk miles along decks and passages. It took me fourteen days before I could, with confidence, find my way from one part of that ship to another by the shortest route.”
On 10th April, Titanic’s 1,300 passengers boarded amidst an air of excitement. There were 700 in third-class, or steerage, 280 in second class, and 325 in first class. For three days Titanic then steamed westwards into the North Atlantic, covering more than 500 miles in a day. First class passenger, Colonel Archibald Gracie was returning home after spending the winter in the South of France...
Factual; History; Life Stories; Religion and Ethics
Witness to Auschwitz
BBC1, 11:10-11:40pm
With so few survivors of the Holocaust left to share their first-hand testimony, what is the right approach to those with accounts that can it be proved?
93-year-old Denis Avey is a British Hero of the Holocaust who helped save the life of an Auschwitz inmate. He wrote about this heroic act, verified by the man he saved, in a best-selling book. But its publication generated a heated debate. That's because Denis also claimed to have broken in to the Nazi concentration camp itself. Why would anyone do such a thing and was it even possible?
Witness to Auschwitz examines the controversy surrounding this latest Holocaust account and asks why is it so important to know the truth?
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Monday 16th April 2012
Factual; History; Documentaries
The 70s
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/4, Get It On
Historian Dominic Sandbrook presents the 1970s as a vital and exciting era in which the old Britain of the post-war years was transformed into the nation we see around us today.
Sandbrook is as interested in how ordinary people were changing Britain as he is in politicians. In this episode, he reveals a country brimming with aspiration as millions get on the property ladder, take their first foreign holidays and start to challenge the old class boundaries to their lives. It was a decade in which ordinary British people first felt the thrill of freedom and money, but Sandbrook shows us it was also a decade in which raging conflicts about the economy and Europe loomed large.
Factual; Science and Nature; Documentaries
Inside Nature's Giants
Channel 4, 8:00-9:00pm, series 4, 2/3, The Kangaroo
The Australian Outback is home to millions of kangaroos but, sadly, every year thousands are fatally injured in traffic accidents. Veterinary scientist Mark Evans and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg take the opportunity to delve inside these bizarre animals. They uncover the kangaroo's lower jaw, which splits in two, and a massive Achilles tendon that enables it to hop like a frog. But it's the reproductive anatomy they find most surprising: the male genitalia is back to front, while females have three vaginas as well as the pouch in which they grow their young from jelly-bean-sized embryos.
Meanwhile, Simon Watt heads into the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney, to follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin. Back in 1836, when the young naturalist visited Australia, he wondered why the animals there were so different to those back home. Joined by Darwin's great, great grandson Christopher, Simon goes in search of some of these other creatures. Including a bird that decorates its nest with an assortment of blue ornaments - from clothes pegs to bottle tops - and a primitive mammal that lays eggs like a reptile.
Christopher explains how these animals and the island they live on played a crucial role in developing his ancestor's then-heretical ideas on evolution.
___________________________________________________
Tuesday 17th April 2012
Factual
The Mighty Mississippi
ITV1, 9:00-10:00pm, 2/3
In the second part of the series, Trevor visits Morgan Freeman and talks to him about his childhood in the Deep South. He meets a close friend of Dr Martin Luther King who was standing next to him when he was assassinated, and he visits one of Elvis Presley’s first and much-loved girlfriends.
The second part of his journey begins in the quiet town of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he meets actor, Morgan Freeman. Morgan tells Trevor that when he was growing up the segregation of black and white people was rigidly enforced, but it didn’t really trouble him until he reached his teenage years.
He says: “I still remember my childhood as being a lot of freedom. I’d get up in the morning, aged four, five, and go hunt my best friend and we would just run. That’s what I remember. I was going to a very good school, I had very good teachers. I was in a very safe environment. What white people did, I didn’t care about.
“I knew that we were separate, if I went into town then there were the separate facilities; the waiting room at the bus station, the water fountains. I didn’t have to go, and I didn’t go, so it didn’t bother me. By the time I graduated from high school, I did have this feeling about Mississippi’s state of apartheid and when I left, I was leaving for good.”
Morgan explains that he started going back to Mississippi when his parents moved back there in the mid 1950s and he eventually returned to live there himself. However, he reveals that he was shocked to discover that although children now go to mixed schools in his local town, they were still encouraged to socialise separately out of school...
Factual; Life Stories; Reality
The Estate
BBC1, 11:40pm-12:10am, 4/8
Emma deals with a tragedy for one of her alcoholic clients, there's a tearful hospital visit for Lauren, and schoolgirl Kelly Ann lands a holiday job.
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Wednesday 18th April 2012
Crime; Documentaries
Hijack Hell - Bus 174
BBC2, 11:20pm-1:10am
Documentary from Brazil recalling the dramatic hijacking of a bus during Rio de Janeiro's morning rush hour in June 2000, which was broadcast live on national television. Director Jose Padilha also explores the gunman's harrowing childhood and his struggles on the city's mean streets, questioning if he too was a victim of its class divide and poverty. In Portuguese and Spanish.
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Thursday 19th April 2012
Documentaries
Louis Theroux - Extreme Love: Autism
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/2
In America nearly one child in a hundred is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder - a brain disorder characterised by an inability to socialise and communicate.
Louis travels to DLC Warren in New Jersey, one of the most innovative autism schools of its kind, to find out how specialised intervention can help both the children and the families who care for them.
He meets Joey, whose mother Carol is finding it increasingly hard to cope with some of the more challenging aspects of his disorder. In between the ever more explosive tantrums, Louis discovers a cheeky and charming 13-year-old, but there are tough decisions ahead about his future in the family home.
Nicky is 19. After making good progress at DLC Warren he is about to leave, but the prospect of change leads to increasing anxiety and erratic behaviour. Surrounded by a loving family who say they wouldn't have him any other way, he shows Louis his novel Dragonula and invites him to share his first day at his new school.
Twenty-year-old Brian is severely autistic and his behaviour - setting fire to the house and attacking his mother - has led to the difficult decision of placing him in residential care. Louis meets a mother whose love for her son has been tested to its limits and finds out how the school is preparing him for an adult life.
History; Documentaries
Meet The Romans with Mary Beard
BBC2, 11:20pm-12:20am, 1/3 - All Roads Lead To Rome
In the first episode in a new series exploring Rome from the bottom up, Professor Mary Beard asks not what the Romans did for us, but what the Empire did for Rome.
All roads lead to Rome, but this isn’t the tale of trading might and imperial power - it’s a portrait of the world’s first global metropolis as seen through the eyes of the ordinary Roman on the street. This is a city where everyone and everything came from somewhere else. The Empire affected everything Romans wore, ate, touched and worshipped.
Mary rides the Via Appia, climbs up to the top seats of the Colosseum, takes a boat to Rome’s famous port Ostia and takes us into the bowels of Monte Testaccio (‘broken pot mountain’). She also meets Eurysaces, ex-slave and eccentric baker, who made a fortune out of the grain trade, building his tomb in the shape of a giant bread-oven; Baricha, Zabda and Achiba, three prisoners of war who went on to become Roman citizens and Pupius Amicus, the purple-dye seller making imperial dye from murex shellfish imported from Tunisia.
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Friday 20th April 2012
News
Unreported World - Baghdad Bomb Squad
Channel 4, 7:30-7:55pm
Unreported World gains unprecedented and exclusive access to the Baghdad Bomb Squad. Nine years after the invasion and with the British and the Americans gone, Iraq still faces almost daily attacks from those trying to foment political chaos and sectarian hatred. Reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy and director Alex Nott spend time with a small band of brave Iraqi officers trying to prevent further murderous attacks.
With modest resources and great courage in the face of terrible danger, four 12-man squads work around the clock defusing bombs or investigating crime scenes where a device has detonated. The Unreported World team joins one team as they begin a morning shift, when the bombers are at their busiest. Twenty-nine year old officer Rawad Yassin, who has already spent six years in the bomb squad, tells Guru-Murthy that his family have urged him to leave the unit but he feels a responsibility to his fellow officers.
Travelling in convoy they are called out to the suburb of Karrada. They believe they are heading to an unexploded device but on arrival find the aftermath of detonated device. The target was a senior military commander in charge of the Ministry of Communications Protection Force. Several of his staff have been killed, and more than a dozen injured.
As the team head off, reports come in of other bombings around Baghdad. Another unit finds an unexploded device right outside Iraq's Oil Ministry. Unreported World reveals extraordinary footage showing how a 'sticky bomb', which is fixed under the car of a Brigadier General, is made safe.
In the last two years more than 30 bomb disposal experts have been killed across Iraq. Guru-Murthy speaks to someone close to one of those killed trying to defuse a vehicle bomb. Ali Hameed shows Guru-Murthy video footage of the incident which left his partner Ali Latif with terrible injuries. Hameed says since the incident he's been living with severe psychological stress...
___________________________________________________
Tuesday 3 April 2012
Off-air recordings for week 7-13 April 2012
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
*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.
_____________________________________________
Saturday 7th April 2012
factual; Science and Nature; Documentaries
Natural World: The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic
BBC2, 6:50-7:40pm
Documentary which explores one crucial piece of the Titanic jigsaw that always escapes attention - the iceberg that caused the catastrophe. Conceived 15,000 years before the Titanic, its life story is every bit as fascinating. With the help of ice scientists, its origins of are revealed - its creation in the heart of the Greenland Ice Sheet, its dramatic birth from the mother glacier and an epic 4,000 mile journey through Arctic seas, towards a terrible date with destiny.
Factual; History; Documentaries
Timewatch: Myths of The Titanic
BBC2, 7:40-8:30pm
There have been many shipwrecks, but none has captured the public's imagination like the Titanic. From the moment Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on 14 April 1912, the public has been captivated by the story. Of over 2,200 passengers and crew, only 705 survived.
In 1912, the newspapers were full of stories of heroism and villainy, and the story of the Titanic has been told and retold ever since in an endless stream of books and films. Some of the stories are true, many are myths which were first told in 1912, but have been passed on from generation to generation ever since.
With the help of rare archive footage and location filming in America, Britain and Northern Ireland, Timewatch attempts to answer the mystery - why does the story of the Titanic have such a hold on people?
Factual; Crime and Justice; Discussion and Talk
Unreliable Evidence
BBC Radio 4, 1/4, Joint Enterprise
In the first of a new series, Clive Anderson and guests discuss the controversial law of joint enterprise under which people can be convicted of murder even if they didn't physically participate in an assault or strike the fatal blow.
Francis Fitzgibbon QC, who has defended people in joint enterprise cases, argues that this complex and unwieldy law is being applied indiscriminately to combat gang violence, and is leading to miscarriages of justice.
Solicitor Simon Natas calls for the law to be changed to make it necessary to prove that a defendant intended that someone should be killed or seriously injured.
But Mark Heywood QC who has prosecuted in the trials of people accused of murder following the death of a young man during a knife attack by a gang in Victoria Station, defends the way joint enterprise law is currently being applied.
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Sunday 8th April 2012
Art, Culture and the Media; Documentaries
Crucifixion
Channel 4, 10:00-11:20pm
For centuries, artists of all kinds - from Michelangelo to Martin Scorsese, Salvador Dali to Damien Hirst and Andrew Lloyd Webber to Monty Python - have attempted to convey the meaning of the crucifixion through their work.
For many it has been a deeply personal expression of belief. Now anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens, who made his name showing the world the wonders of the human body through his Body Worlds exhibitions, has decided to create a crucifix.
The new piece, which he's been planning for over six years, is revealed in this documentary, which features interviews with leading art historians and theologians, amongst others, and examines the enduring iconic image of the crucifix.
The documentary follows von Hagens, who in 2011 revealed that he is suffering from Parkinson's disease, as he undertakes an intensely personal journey to create his crucifix.
Von Hagens is famous for using donated human bodies in his 'plastinated' works, and the new piece was made by injecting liquid plastic into bones and blood vessels, from a number of donors' bodies, which then hardens to create perfect casts.
The resulting figure, which does not contain any human tissue, was then mounted on a wooden cross cut from a tree felled near von Hagens' family home in Germany.
The documentary traces the representation and interpretation of the crucifix from illustrations on fourth-century tombs, through centuries of church-sanctioned depictions to contemporary portrayals.
Drama; Spiritual; Performances and Events
Passion In Port Talbot, It Has Begun
BBC4, 10:30-11:30pm
At Easter 2011, actor Michael Sheen (Twilight, Frost/Nixon) returned to his hometown of Port Talbot to direct and star in a modern, secular retelling of the Passion of Christ. This film captures the highlights of three days of drama played out in the streets, beach and shopping centre of the South Wales industrial town.
The play includes suicide bombers, mass public protest and ghostly visions, and features a guest appearance from Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers. It climaxes with a terrifying scene of public execution in front of an audience of 12,000 people on a roundabout at the seafront. Described in the leading national newspaper as 'one of the oustanding theatrical events of the decade', the play featured over 1,000 members of the community.
_____________________________________________
Monday 9th April 2012
Documentaries
Inside Nature's Giants: Hippo
Channel 4, 8:00-9:00pm, 1/3
So many hippos congregate to feed in Zambia's Luangwa Valley that they threaten the survival of other species in the park, so the authorities cull around 200 of them every year.
The cull offers veterinary scientist Mark Evans and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg the opportunity to dissect one of these magnificent animals.
Hippos are often mistakenly seen as Africa's laziest giant, lolling around all day in the mud. But as the team discover, at night they're surprisingly active.
The first obstacle in the dissection is the hippo's inch-thick skin. This acts as a protective shield against the foot-long canines of rival hippos. Mark and Joy are amazed to discover that the skin produces its own sun cream.
As they delve deeper into the guts and weigh the contents of the stomach, the vast quantities of half-digested vegetation confirm the hippo's reputation as a gluttonous feeding machine.
Meanwhile, Simon Watt searches for hippo dung to find out why these grazers incessantly flick their muck using their short tails.
Richard Dawkins reveals the surprising fact that the hippos' closest living relatives are whales. As the dissection draws to a close, Joy finally succeeds in extracting the hippo's voice-box and finds a remarkable similarity with their ocean-dwelling cousins.
_____________________________________________
Tuesday 10th April 2012
Factual; Science and Nature; Science and Technology; Documentaries
Horizon: Defeating Cancer
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm
Over the past year, Horizon has been behind the scenes at one of Britain's leading cancer hospitals, the Royal Marsden in London. The film follows Rosemary, Phil and Ray as they undergo remarkable new treatments - from a billion pound genetically targeted drug designed to fight a type of skin cancer, to advanced robotic surgery. We witness the breakthroughs in surgery and in scientific research that are offering new hope and helping to defeat a disease that more than one in three of us will develop at some stage of our lives.
Documentaries
The Mighty Mississsippi with Trevor McDonald
ITV1, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/3
The first part of the series sees Trevor take to the air to look down upon the mouth of the Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico, before heading to New Orleans, where he attends a colourful jazz funeral, meets a debutante and witnesses the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina still evident years after the tragedy.
His journey takes him to a plantation, one of a few still working, and he is shocked to see inside a slave cabin. Trevor also takes a ride on an airboat through a primeval swamp and comes face to face with one of his worse nightmares.
As he starts his exploration of the Mississippi, Trevor is mesmerised by the breath-taking view as his seaplane swoops over the vast wetland created by the river as it meets the sea.
His first stop is the vibrant city of New Orleans where he heads for the Garden District to see its impressive collection of mansions, some of which have been in the same family for generations. He meets the Favrow family who have lived in the area for 200 years. He talks to their daughter about the debutante ball season, a traditional period which sees daughters of wealthy New Orleans' families attend a year long calendar of parties and balls in lavish gowns.
In contrast to the Garden District, Trevor also visits the Third Ward of the city where most of the inhabitants are descendants of slaves. He attends a jazz funeral, a music and dance parade to see off one of the much-loved members of the community.
Next Trevor takes to the river itself and ventures aboard a tug boat to learn about the challenges and dangers of navigating the Mississippi.
And he heads to downtown New Orleans where jazz began and visits the Howling Wolf Club to listen to the music and join in the dancing. One band member reveals to Trevor how joining a jazz band has saved his life. He explains that so many of his contemporaries have suffered from depression because of the high crime rates in the area and some have even turned to drugs...
Factual; Life Stories; Reality
The Estate
BBC1, 11:4-pm-12:10am
Reality series set in recession-hit Ballysally, in Coleraine. Jimmy gets a job interview but Emma's job is in jeopardy, Martin continues his battle with the bottle and handyman Noel helps build a new drop-in centre for young people
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Wednesday 11th April 2012
Documentaries
Divine Women
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/3, When God Was A Girl
Historian Bettany Hughes reveals the hidden history of women in religion, from dominatrix goddesses to feisty political operators and warrior empresses.
In this provocative upcoming series, Bettany tells the stories of the extraordinary women whose legends and lives cast new light on some of the hottest arguments about the role of women in religion today.
Drawing on cutting edge scholarship and archaeological evidence, she reveals what her favourite women in religion tell us about the lives of the real flesh and blood women of their day.
The series tells the story of the relationship between women and religion from 9000 BC onwards. The female of the species has always formed 50% of the population but has never occupied 50% of human history.
Yet the connection between women and the divine has been so strong in all societies that when we follow the stories of 'divine women' we uncover new evidence for the character of humanity and a fuller, truer history of the world.
Programme One looks at the evolution of the goddess in Turkey, Greece, Rome and India.
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Thursday 12th April 2012
News
Are Your Kids Contagious? Tonight
ITV1, 7:30-8:00pm
The number of cases of serious childhood illnesses such as measles and whooping cough is rising in the UK. Fiona Foster investigates why some parents are deciding not to immunise their children against these highly contagious diseases and looks at what is being done to protect the health of future generations.
News
Ivory Wars: Out of Africa
BBC1, 9:00-10:00pm
With wildlife crime now thought to be second only to drugs in terms of profit, Rageh Omaar goes on the trail of the ivory poachers, smugglers and organised crime syndicates to investigate the plight of Africa's elephants. As demand for ivory rises in the Far East, this Panorama special - made jointly with the BBC's Natural History Unit - goes undercover in central Africa and China to ask whether the African elephant can survive in some parts of the continent.
Last year saw the highest number of large seizures of illegal ivory for over two decades - despite a 23 year global ban on its international sale. One area of northern Kenya has lost a quarter of its elephants in the last three years - largely due to poaching. Panorama visits an elephant orphanage to see the impact of the killing on the young and, with access to Interpol's largest ever ivory operation, confronts the dealers in Africa and in China - now the world's biggest buyer of illegal ivory.
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Friday 13th April 2012
News;
Unreported World: Terror In Sudan
Channel 4, 7:30-7.55pm, new series 1/8
As George Clooney campaigns against the atrocities being committed in Sudan, Unreported World has filmed extensive documentary footage from the war zone.
Aidan Hartley and Daniel Bogado gained rare access to the Nuba Mountains to film the heroic doctors who are saving children in a largely hidden war being perpetrated on civilians by one of the world's most brutal dictatorships.
The Nuba Mountains region, in the South Kordofan oil fields upriver from Khartoum, is a troubled part of Sudan where a civil war has continued since the 1980s.
Nuba always fought alongside its southern black African Christian neighbours against the Arab Islamic regime in Khartoum, but the region was left behind in the peace accord that led to the independence of South Sudan in mid-2011.
In June 2011, President Omar al-Bashir's forces launched fresh attacks against opposition supporters in Nuba, many of them Christians and black Africans.
The Unreported World team highlights how government forces are carrying out almost constant aerial bombardment of civilian settlements, driving them from their fields so they cannot grow crops, while banning relief deliveries by international agencies.
As soon as they arrive in Nuba, Hartley and Bogado are caught in an air raid by Sukhoi ground attack jets firing rockets as terrified families dive into foxholes while explosions rumble in the surrounding villages. In another incident soon after, the team films traumatised children running into caves to hide from Antonov bombers.
The impact of Khartoum's refusal to allow medicines into Nuba is clear as doctors are forced to carry out operations on shrapnel-wounded children without anaesthetics and almost no medicines apart from traditional herbs.
Hartley and Bogado visit the Catholic Mother of Mercy hospital, the only functioning hospital for a million civilians trapped by the war. Made for 80 beds, it has 500 patients. The situation is so dire that even the medical staff are not eating as they tend the wounded and sick.
_____________________________________________
*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.
_____________________________________________
Saturday 7th April 2012
factual; Science and Nature; Documentaries
Natural World: The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic
BBC2, 6:50-7:40pm
Documentary which explores one crucial piece of the Titanic jigsaw that always escapes attention - the iceberg that caused the catastrophe. Conceived 15,000 years before the Titanic, its life story is every bit as fascinating. With the help of ice scientists, its origins of are revealed - its creation in the heart of the Greenland Ice Sheet, its dramatic birth from the mother glacier and an epic 4,000 mile journey through Arctic seas, towards a terrible date with destiny.
Factual; History; Documentaries
Timewatch: Myths of The Titanic
BBC2, 7:40-8:30pm
There have been many shipwrecks, but none has captured the public's imagination like the Titanic. From the moment Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on 14 April 1912, the public has been captivated by the story. Of over 2,200 passengers and crew, only 705 survived.
In 1912, the newspapers were full of stories of heroism and villainy, and the story of the Titanic has been told and retold ever since in an endless stream of books and films. Some of the stories are true, many are myths which were first told in 1912, but have been passed on from generation to generation ever since.
With the help of rare archive footage and location filming in America, Britain and Northern Ireland, Timewatch attempts to answer the mystery - why does the story of the Titanic have such a hold on people?
Factual; Crime and Justice; Discussion and Talk
Unreliable Evidence
BBC Radio 4, 1/4, Joint Enterprise
In the first of a new series, Clive Anderson and guests discuss the controversial law of joint enterprise under which people can be convicted of murder even if they didn't physically participate in an assault or strike the fatal blow.
Francis Fitzgibbon QC, who has defended people in joint enterprise cases, argues that this complex and unwieldy law is being applied indiscriminately to combat gang violence, and is leading to miscarriages of justice.
Solicitor Simon Natas calls for the law to be changed to make it necessary to prove that a defendant intended that someone should be killed or seriously injured.
But Mark Heywood QC who has prosecuted in the trials of people accused of murder following the death of a young man during a knife attack by a gang in Victoria Station, defends the way joint enterprise law is currently being applied.
_____________________________________________
Sunday 8th April 2012
Art, Culture and the Media; Documentaries
Crucifixion
Channel 4, 10:00-11:20pm
For centuries, artists of all kinds - from Michelangelo to Martin Scorsese, Salvador Dali to Damien Hirst and Andrew Lloyd Webber to Monty Python - have attempted to convey the meaning of the crucifixion through their work.
For many it has been a deeply personal expression of belief. Now anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens, who made his name showing the world the wonders of the human body through his Body Worlds exhibitions, has decided to create a crucifix.
The new piece, which he's been planning for over six years, is revealed in this documentary, which features interviews with leading art historians and theologians, amongst others, and examines the enduring iconic image of the crucifix.
The documentary follows von Hagens, who in 2011 revealed that he is suffering from Parkinson's disease, as he undertakes an intensely personal journey to create his crucifix.
Von Hagens is famous for using donated human bodies in his 'plastinated' works, and the new piece was made by injecting liquid plastic into bones and blood vessels, from a number of donors' bodies, which then hardens to create perfect casts.
The resulting figure, which does not contain any human tissue, was then mounted on a wooden cross cut from a tree felled near von Hagens' family home in Germany.
The documentary traces the representation and interpretation of the crucifix from illustrations on fourth-century tombs, through centuries of church-sanctioned depictions to contemporary portrayals.
Drama; Spiritual; Performances and Events
Passion In Port Talbot, It Has Begun
BBC4, 10:30-11:30pm
At Easter 2011, actor Michael Sheen (Twilight, Frost/Nixon) returned to his hometown of Port Talbot to direct and star in a modern, secular retelling of the Passion of Christ. This film captures the highlights of three days of drama played out in the streets, beach and shopping centre of the South Wales industrial town.
The play includes suicide bombers, mass public protest and ghostly visions, and features a guest appearance from Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers. It climaxes with a terrifying scene of public execution in front of an audience of 12,000 people on a roundabout at the seafront. Described in the leading national newspaper as 'one of the oustanding theatrical events of the decade', the play featured over 1,000 members of the community.
_____________________________________________
Monday 9th April 2012
Documentaries
Inside Nature's Giants: Hippo
Channel 4, 8:00-9:00pm, 1/3
So many hippos congregate to feed in Zambia's Luangwa Valley that they threaten the survival of other species in the park, so the authorities cull around 200 of them every year.
The cull offers veterinary scientist Mark Evans and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg the opportunity to dissect one of these magnificent animals.
Hippos are often mistakenly seen as Africa's laziest giant, lolling around all day in the mud. But as the team discover, at night they're surprisingly active.
The first obstacle in the dissection is the hippo's inch-thick skin. This acts as a protective shield against the foot-long canines of rival hippos. Mark and Joy are amazed to discover that the skin produces its own sun cream.
As they delve deeper into the guts and weigh the contents of the stomach, the vast quantities of half-digested vegetation confirm the hippo's reputation as a gluttonous feeding machine.
Meanwhile, Simon Watt searches for hippo dung to find out why these grazers incessantly flick their muck using their short tails.
Richard Dawkins reveals the surprising fact that the hippos' closest living relatives are whales. As the dissection draws to a close, Joy finally succeeds in extracting the hippo's voice-box and finds a remarkable similarity with their ocean-dwelling cousins.
_____________________________________________
Tuesday 10th April 2012
Factual; Science and Nature; Science and Technology; Documentaries
Horizon: Defeating Cancer
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm
Over the past year, Horizon has been behind the scenes at one of Britain's leading cancer hospitals, the Royal Marsden in London. The film follows Rosemary, Phil and Ray as they undergo remarkable new treatments - from a billion pound genetically targeted drug designed to fight a type of skin cancer, to advanced robotic surgery. We witness the breakthroughs in surgery and in scientific research that are offering new hope and helping to defeat a disease that more than one in three of us will develop at some stage of our lives.
Documentaries
The Mighty Mississsippi with Trevor McDonald
ITV1, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/3
The first part of the series sees Trevor take to the air to look down upon the mouth of the Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico, before heading to New Orleans, where he attends a colourful jazz funeral, meets a debutante and witnesses the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina still evident years after the tragedy.
His journey takes him to a plantation, one of a few still working, and he is shocked to see inside a slave cabin. Trevor also takes a ride on an airboat through a primeval swamp and comes face to face with one of his worse nightmares.
As he starts his exploration of the Mississippi, Trevor is mesmerised by the breath-taking view as his seaplane swoops over the vast wetland created by the river as it meets the sea.
His first stop is the vibrant city of New Orleans where he heads for the Garden District to see its impressive collection of mansions, some of which have been in the same family for generations. He meets the Favrow family who have lived in the area for 200 years. He talks to their daughter about the debutante ball season, a traditional period which sees daughters of wealthy New Orleans' families attend a year long calendar of parties and balls in lavish gowns.
In contrast to the Garden District, Trevor also visits the Third Ward of the city where most of the inhabitants are descendants of slaves. He attends a jazz funeral, a music and dance parade to see off one of the much-loved members of the community.
Next Trevor takes to the river itself and ventures aboard a tug boat to learn about the challenges and dangers of navigating the Mississippi.
And he heads to downtown New Orleans where jazz began and visits the Howling Wolf Club to listen to the music and join in the dancing. One band member reveals to Trevor how joining a jazz band has saved his life. He explains that so many of his contemporaries have suffered from depression because of the high crime rates in the area and some have even turned to drugs...
Factual; Life Stories; Reality
The Estate
BBC1, 11:4-pm-12:10am
Reality series set in recession-hit Ballysally, in Coleraine. Jimmy gets a job interview but Emma's job is in jeopardy, Martin continues his battle with the bottle and handyman Noel helps build a new drop-in centre for young people
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Wednesday 11th April 2012
Documentaries
Divine Women
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 1/3, When God Was A Girl
Historian Bettany Hughes reveals the hidden history of women in religion, from dominatrix goddesses to feisty political operators and warrior empresses.
In this provocative upcoming series, Bettany tells the stories of the extraordinary women whose legends and lives cast new light on some of the hottest arguments about the role of women in religion today.
Drawing on cutting edge scholarship and archaeological evidence, she reveals what her favourite women in religion tell us about the lives of the real flesh and blood women of their day.
The series tells the story of the relationship between women and religion from 9000 BC onwards. The female of the species has always formed 50% of the population but has never occupied 50% of human history.
Yet the connection between women and the divine has been so strong in all societies that when we follow the stories of 'divine women' we uncover new evidence for the character of humanity and a fuller, truer history of the world.
Programme One looks at the evolution of the goddess in Turkey, Greece, Rome and India.
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Thursday 12th April 2012
News
Are Your Kids Contagious? Tonight
ITV1, 7:30-8:00pm
The number of cases of serious childhood illnesses such as measles and whooping cough is rising in the UK. Fiona Foster investigates why some parents are deciding not to immunise their children against these highly contagious diseases and looks at what is being done to protect the health of future generations.
News
Ivory Wars: Out of Africa
BBC1, 9:00-10:00pm
With wildlife crime now thought to be second only to drugs in terms of profit, Rageh Omaar goes on the trail of the ivory poachers, smugglers and organised crime syndicates to investigate the plight of Africa's elephants. As demand for ivory rises in the Far East, this Panorama special - made jointly with the BBC's Natural History Unit - goes undercover in central Africa and China to ask whether the African elephant can survive in some parts of the continent.
Last year saw the highest number of large seizures of illegal ivory for over two decades - despite a 23 year global ban on its international sale. One area of northern Kenya has lost a quarter of its elephants in the last three years - largely due to poaching. Panorama visits an elephant orphanage to see the impact of the killing on the young and, with access to Interpol's largest ever ivory operation, confronts the dealers in Africa and in China - now the world's biggest buyer of illegal ivory.
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Friday 13th April 2012
News;
Unreported World: Terror In Sudan
Channel 4, 7:30-7.55pm, new series 1/8
As George Clooney campaigns against the atrocities being committed in Sudan, Unreported World has filmed extensive documentary footage from the war zone.
Aidan Hartley and Daniel Bogado gained rare access to the Nuba Mountains to film the heroic doctors who are saving children in a largely hidden war being perpetrated on civilians by one of the world's most brutal dictatorships.
The Nuba Mountains region, in the South Kordofan oil fields upriver from Khartoum, is a troubled part of Sudan where a civil war has continued since the 1980s.
Nuba always fought alongside its southern black African Christian neighbours against the Arab Islamic regime in Khartoum, but the region was left behind in the peace accord that led to the independence of South Sudan in mid-2011.
In June 2011, President Omar al-Bashir's forces launched fresh attacks against opposition supporters in Nuba, many of them Christians and black Africans.
The Unreported World team highlights how government forces are carrying out almost constant aerial bombardment of civilian settlements, driving them from their fields so they cannot grow crops, while banning relief deliveries by international agencies.
As soon as they arrive in Nuba, Hartley and Bogado are caught in an air raid by Sukhoi ground attack jets firing rockets as terrified families dive into foxholes while explosions rumble in the surrounding villages. In another incident soon after, the team films traumatised children running into caves to hide from Antonov bombers.
The impact of Khartoum's refusal to allow medicines into Nuba is clear as doctors are forced to carry out operations on shrapnel-wounded children without anaesthetics and almost no medicines apart from traditional herbs.
Hartley and Bogado visit the Catholic Mother of Mercy hospital, the only functioning hospital for a million civilians trapped by the war. Made for 80 beds, it has 500 patients. The situation is so dire that even the medical staff are not eating as they tend the wounded and sick.
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