BBC2 - Yes We Can! The Lost Art Of Oratory - "The remarkable election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States has been propelled as much by his exceptional skill as an orator as by any other factor.
From the silver-tongued to the tongue-tied, the sublime to the ridiculous, this programme takes a fond look at the art and history of the political speech.
Alan Yentob joins the crowds at the inauguration in Washington, and traces the awesome power of orators from Cicero onwards, via Cromwell, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, Martin Luther King and many others.
Among the contributors are Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Bob Geldof, Neil Kinnock, Ted Sorensen, Tony Benn, William Hague, Geoffrey Howe, Diane Abbott, Charlotte Higgins, Alastair Campbell and Germaine Greer.
What makes a good speech great? How much is content, how much is presentation? And has Obama brought eloquence back to 21st-century politics for good?"
BBC2 - Escaping North Korea: This World - "The dramatic stories of North Koreans who are risking everything to escape the repression and hunger of their homeland and reach safety in the South. The border between the two Koreas is so heavily guarded that refugees are forced to flee into China, dodging border guards and risking freezing to death crossing the river that divides the two countries. This film follows two women who have decided to embark on the next stage of the journey, a desperate attempt to reach South Korea."
BBC1 - The Kindertransport Story - "Lord Richard Attenborough makes a moving and very personal contribution to The Kindertransport Story, to mark the 70th anniversary of the unique British rescue mission to save nearly 10,000 children, mostly Jewish, from the Nazis. As the dark clouds of the Second World War descended upon Europe, Lord Attenborough's parents were among those who responded to the urgent appeal for foster families. The two young refugee girls they took in were cherished ever after as sisters by the Attenborough boys... "
ITV1 - Henry VIII: Mind of a Tyrant - New 4-part series "To mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne, Dr David Starkey travels across Europe to understand the inner life of this feared English king."
BBC4 - The Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight for Medical Freedom - "Benjamin Woolley presents the gripping story of Nicholas Culpeper, the 17th century radical pharmacist who took on the establishment in order to bring medicine to the masses.
Culpeper lived during one of the most tumultuous periods in British history. When the country was ravaged by famine and civil war, he took part in the revolution that culminated in the execution of King Charles I.
But it is Culpeper's achievements in health care that made him famous. By practicing (often illegally) as a herbalist and publishing the first English-language texts explaining how to treat common ailments, he helped to break the monopoly of a medical establishment that had abandoned the poor and needy. His book The English Physician became the most successful non-religious English book of all time, remaining in print continuously for more than 350 years."
BBC1 - Panorama Special: Britain's Homecare Scandal - "Panorama goes undercover to expose a world of chaos and alleged neglect in the care of the elderly. Carers on minimum wages - often with very little training - are frequently frustrated by poor management as they try to provide decent care. Paul Kenyon looks at how big business is in some cases driving the price of care down to as little as 10 an hour. It's a situation branded as scandalous by the Government's Voice of Older People, Dame Joan Bakewell, and one she's determined to see changed."
BBC4 - The North-South Divide - "Journalist John Harris travels around England to find out why the north-south divide is still an economic reality and if anything can be done to close it. Oasis v Blur, Manchester United v Chelsea, Old Labour v New Labour and pies v polenta - Harris wonders whether it is a light-hearted rivalry about accents, music, sport, food and politics or something deeper, as the decline of industry and manufacturing still blights the north while southerners live longer and healthier lives."
Yesterday - Northanger Abbey - "Northanger Abbey (BBC, tx. 1987) was one of a series of feature-length literary adaptations made for the BBC's Screen Two and Screen One series. The series (the brainchild of producer Kenith Trodd) was devised in 1985 as the BBC's response to Channel Four's pioneering move into film production.
Northanger Abbey is a mixture of morality tale and coming-of-age story, which warns viewers not to confuse fantasy with reality, fact with fiction. Jane Austen's 1799 novel satirises the style and content of Gothic stories, and pokes gentle fun at the overactive imaginations of those who read them. Much of this satirical tone is retained in this adaptation, despite the absence of the narrator - the main source of irony in the novel. Maggie Wadey's script successfully imitates Austen's style and voice, and she seamlessly expands and supplements the novel's original dialogue."
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Haiti: The Island that Ate Itself - "Journalist Aidan Hartley reports from the Carribean country of Haiti, which finds itself locked in a cycle of environmental disaster, poverty and reliance on international aid. After being hit by yet another hurricane in 2008, the republic's citizens have relied on food supplies from the United Nations to keep them alive. Hartley discovers that the island is now almost totally dependent on UN aid and peasant farmers have little incentive to produce food with the USA now dominating the market."
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* This applies to staff members 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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