Sunday 2nd
Channel 4 - Human Zoo: Sciences Dirty Secret - "Only one hundred years ago, many of the world's leading scientists agreed with A. C. Haddon, when he wrote in his 1898 book Study of Man, that, "on the whole, the white race has progressed beyond the black race."
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists were so fascinated by race that thousands of 'exotic' and indigenous people from all over the world were put on display in human zoos. They were not intended as merely entertaining freak shows but also scientific demonstrations of racial difference. Across the western world millions gawped in fascination at these 'uncivilised savages' and would depart convinced of the superiority of the white race.
This documentary explores the phenomenon of human zoos and tells the poignant story of Ota Benga, a Batwa pygmy from the Belgian Congo, who was first put on display at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair and then the Bronx Zoo where he was labelled as the 'missing link'.
As the film reveals, it was only a short step from these human zoos to the horrors of Nazi Germany as pseudo science that underpinned one, helped legitimise the other."
Monday 3rd
Channel 4 - The Last Voices of World War I - 6-part series -continues throughout the week until 9 November - "The stories of a group of the last remaining World War I veterans - 1. The Call to Arms 2. The Somme 3. Saving the Wounded 4. Horror in the Mud 5. The Home Front 6. The Boys of 1918
Channel 4 - Is it Better To Be Mixed Race? - "Before 1967, it was illegal in 16 American states for a black person and white person to marry. Right wing groups on both sides of the Atlantic continue to espouse that the mixing of races is destructive and against some kind of natural order.
Aarathi Prasad, a geneticist and mother of a mixed race child, sets out to challenge the ideas of racial purity and examines provocative claims that there are in fact biological advantages to being mixed race.
It's a controversial subject that has aroused much opposition from both ends of the political spectrum, but does greater genetic diversity confer advantages in humans, as seen in the breeding of plants and animals, or are lifestyle and environment the primary influences?"
Tuesday 3rd
BBC 2 - Horizon: Who's Afraid of a Big Blackhole? - "Black Holes are one of the most destructive forces in the universe, capable of tearing a planet apart and swallowing an entire star. Yet scientists now believe they could hold the key to answering the ultimate question - what was there before the Big Bang?
The trouble is that researching them is next to impossible. Black holes are by definition invisible and there's no scientific theory able to explain them. Despite these obvious obstacles, Horizon meets the astronomers attempting to image a black hole for the very first time and the theoretical physicists getting ever closer to unlocking their mysteries. It's a story that takes us into the heart of a black hole and to the very edge of what we think we know about the universe."
BBC1 - Black Widow Granny? - "In the autumn of 2008, Al Gentry from Albemarle, North Carolina, achieved his goal of 22 years hard work - he had Betty Neumar arrested for the murder of his brother Harold who was Betty's husband back in 1986.
Only then did it emerge that Harold Gentry was just one of Betty's former husbands. She'd in fact been married five times in total - and all five husbands appear to have died in suspicious circumstances. The US media had a field day and labelled her 'The Black Widow', but could this 76-year-old grandmother really have got away with murder, not just once but five times?
Made by acclaimed director Norman Hull, this film seeks the answer, tracking down some of the surviving relatives of the dead husbands, some of Betty's own children from these marriages, and finally the alleged 'The Black Widow' herself who completely denies all the accusations and presents a very plausible defence.
Betty has been charged with solicitation to murder Harold Gentry. As her trial approaches the film pieces together a trail of destruction and broken lives through investigation and reportage in a journey which is not over yet."
Thursday 5th
BBC 4 - Culture Fix - "The celebrated French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was the creator of some of the most popular paintings in the history of modern art. An aristocrat by birth, he spent much of his career recording the life of the Parisian demi-monde - particularly the bars, dance-halls and brothels that appeared in the city's Montmartre district at the end of the 19th century.
Although Toulouse-Lautrec was hugely successful both as a painter and print-maker, his was a tragic life, scarred by family conflict, alcoholism and illness. This profile explores the life and work of this important, intriguing and influential artist."
BBC 4 - A History of Christianity - Major new 6 part series - "Presented by Diarmaid MacCulloch - one of the world's leading historians and Professor of History of the Church and Fellow at St Cross College Oxford - A History Of Christianity will reveal the true origins of Christianity and delve into what it means to be a Christian.
Intelligent, thought-provoking and magisterial in its scope the series will reveal how a small Jewish sect that preached humility became the biggest religion in the world.
Most Christian histories start with St Paul's mission to Rome, but Diarmaid MacCulloch argues that the first Christianity stayed much closer to its Middle-Eastern roots."
Friday 6th
BBC 1 - Panorama: The Child Protectors - "In the aftermath of Baby Peter, Panorama has gained exclusive access to Coventry's social workers. The film follows the city-wide emergency response team and one of the local neighbourhood teams - all tasked with identifying at-risk children, assessing parents' capabilities and, if deemed necessary, separating families.
Child protection social workers are facing huge caseloads, working with marginalised families, juggling the time-consuming problem of multi-agency coordination and tackling the mountains of paperwork. Not to mention low pay, a staffing crisis and the knowledge that they are always only one phone call away from finding themselves at the centre of a tabloid witch-hunt.
In the midst of all this, are they managing to keep children safe?"
Channel 4 - Unreported World: Sudan - "Unreported World visits Sudan, where escalating violence has claimed more lives this year than the conflict in Darfur, with a disturbing trend of women and children being directly targeted."
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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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