Off-air recordings for week 4-10 August 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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Sunday 5th August

Factual: Science and Nature; Nature and Environment; Documentaries

The Dark: Nature's Nighttime World
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 2/3 - Amazon Flooded Forests

Natural history series revealing a totally new perspective on wildlife at night. Now the expedition travels south to a flooded forest in the heart of the Amazon. Large mammal expert Bryson Voirin encounters a curious sloth whilst camerawoman Sophie Darlington spends stormy nights precariously perched high in the jungle canopy attempting to film the only nocturnal monkey in the world. Further south, Gordon Buchanan heads to the largest wetland on earth in search of giant anteaters and enters a strange deserted house that's been taken over by vampire bats. And Dr George McGavin abseils deep into the perpetual darkness of a giant cave system - cut off from the light for millions of years. Deep inside he and the team discover species new to science.


Factual; Documentaries

Timeshift: Epic - A Cast of Thousands
BBC4, 10:20-11:20pm


Timeshift reveals the ten commandments of big cinema as it goes behind the scenes of the biggest film genre of them all - the epic. See the biggest sets ever known! Hear the sound of Ancient Rome! Count the spiralling costs as budgets soared!

From Ben-Hur to The Ten Commandments, from El Cid to Cleopatra, these were films that set a new standard in BIG. In the days before computers they recreated ancient worlds on a vast scale, and they did it for real. Epic cinema hired armies, defied the seasons and changed cinema. Even the screen wasn't big enough for the epic, so Hollywood made it bigger - and some cinemagoers experienced vertigo watching these vast productions.

Today, the epic lives on in the Oscar-laden Gladiator and the spectacular sweep of Avatar. As this documentary reveals, the stories behind the films are as spectacular as the films themselves.


Factual; Arts, Culture and the Media

Shakespeare from Kabul

BBC4, 11:20pm-12:05am


This is the story of a group of Afghan actors bringing a production of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors to an international festival at London's Globe theatre.

Over 30 years of war have virtually destroyed Afghan theatre. Women can be harassed for performing on stage. Yet in just a few months the actors are expected to perform in front of an audience of thousands at one of the most prestigious theatres in the world.

The film starts with challenging auditions in the Afghan capital, caught in the grip of one of the worst winters of recent years. It follows the actors to rural India for rehearsals - safe from the security threats of Kabul but away from their friends and families. It ends with their triumphant and moving performance at the Globe. Facing an uncertain welcome on their return, the film gives real insight into the struggles and bravery of the actors determined to show the world a very different side to Afghanistan.



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Monday 6th August

Factual; Science and Nature; Science and Technology

Horizon: Eat, Fast and Live Longer
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm

Michael Mosley has set himself a truly ambitious goal: he wants to live longer, stay younger and lose weight in the bargain. And he wants to make as few changes to his life as possible along the way. He discovers the powerful new science behind the ancient idea of fasting, and he thinks he's found a way of doing it that still allows him to enjoy his food. Michael tests out the science of fasting on himself - with life-changing results.


Factual; Science and Nature; Nature and Environment; Documentaries

Nature's Microworlds
BBC4, 8:30-9:00pm, 4/6 - Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay on California's coast is one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, its giant kelp forest bursting with life, from microscopic plankton to visiting ocean giants. The secret key to success in such a busy microworld is balance. Steve Backshall guides us through the unique geography of the bay and introduces some of its key characters in a quest to find the one species that keeps life in the kelp forest in check.


Factual; Science and Nature; Documentaries

After Life: The Strange Science of Decay
BBC4, 10:00-11:30pm


Ever wondered what would happen in your own home if you were taken away, and everything inside was left to rot? The answer is revealed in this fascinating programme, which explores the strange and surprising science of decay.

For two months in summer 2011, a glass box containing a typical kitchen and garden was left to rot in full public view within Edinburgh Zoo. In this resulting documentary, presenter Dr George McGavin and his team use time-lapse cameras and specialist photography to capture the extraordinary way in which moulds, microbes and insects are able to break down our everyday things and allow new life to emerge from old.

Decay is something that many of us are repulsed by. But as the programme shows, it's a process that's vital in nature. And seen in close up, it has an unexpected and sometimes mesmerising beauty.




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Tuesday 7th August

Documentaries

Lost Children
Channel 4, 10:00-11:05pm, 2/2, Josh


With intimate access to staff, pupils and families, this film tells the surprising and touching story of one of the High Close School's most challenging children: Josh. Filmed over a year, we follow the ups and downs of his education and explore his history to discover what made him the way he is.

Fourteen-year-old Josh is the school's tough man. He was taken away from his heroin-addicted mum and put into care at the age of three. He had a staggering 24 moves between foster placements before the age of six, together with his younger sister Demi. However, for the past eight years, Josh and Demi have lived with their adoptive mother, former social worker Sue, who is determined to provide them with a loving and stable home.

'You think a lot of love and lot of attention will be enough,' Sue says. But soon teenager Josh's angry outbursts and aggressive behavior mean that both Sue and the teachers at High Close are struggling to help him.

As the story of Josh's past unfolds, tensions escalate at school, and he brings his mother closer to breaking point. Can Josh avoid repeating the mistakes of his birth family and make the necessary changes to remain at High Close?



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Wednesday 8th August

Factual; Arts, Culture and the Media; Documentaries

A History of Art in Three Colours
BBC4, 9:00-10:00pm, 3/3 - White


The history of white is a fascinating and controversial tale. In his concluding documentary James Fox’s core question is how the notion that all of antiquity was clad in white came to prominence.

The blame appears to lie with a flamboyant German Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who in the 18th century promoted ideas about the virtues of white in classical art. Fox also pulls in Duchamp, Whistler, Le Courbusier and Mussolini to show how those virtues were corrupted into something darker.

Art historian James Fox concludes his examination of gold, blue and white by arguing that the latter has moved from being a symbol of virtue and purity to one revealing the darkest human instincts. He explores why the colour fascinated 18th-century potter Josiah Wedgwood and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and examines how in the 20th century it came to be linked with the Italian dictator Mussolini and fascism.



Documentaries; Crime

Secrets of the Pickpockets
Channel 4, 10:00-11:05pm

As London 2012 draws hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world to the city, the historic event is also attracting organised gangs of pickpockets in search of easy money. This documentary reveals the tricks of the trade of this particular breed of criminal and explores the work of specialist teams created by the Metropolitan and British Transport Police to catch them.


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Thursday 9th August

News

Tonight: Proud to Be British
ITV1, 7:30-8:00pm

In 1972, dictator Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of tens of thousands of Asians from Uganda, forcing them to abandon their lives and seek shelter in other countries. Forty years later, Fiona Foster considers to what extent those who fled to Britain have changed the face of the nation.


Factual; Crime; Law; Documentaries

The Briefs
ITV1, 9:00-10:00pm, 2/2


With unprecedented access to Britain’s busiest legal aid practice, The Briefs takes us into the cut-throat world of criminal law.

Tonight, we experience the lawyers’ interesting marketing techniques, the case of a performance-poet accused of benefit fraud, a particularly emotive murder and a gay couple whose fights always seem to end up in a police station.

Franklin Sinclair, the partner who runs Tuckers’ Manchester office, is trying to attract business in unusual ways - umbrellas, beer mats, key rings and lighters, as well as DJing on a sponsored local radio show.

“There are less cases and more firms, or the same amount of firms, fighting for work. And you have to try to get a bit of a commercial advantage. If it doesn’t give us business, at least it creates jealousy amongst the other firms.”

Meanwhile, the firm has a new client - Tim - who was previously married but is now accused of fighting with his boyfriend in public.

“He hit me first ‘cos he thought I was flirting with another guy. Unfortunately I bit him in several places and he bit me. We both had quite a few injuries.”

Tim eventually gets a community service order. Later he appears in court a number of times, notably for damaging a restaurant window during another argument with his boyfriend. Franklin tells him he is surprised to see him again.

“I never thought you’d get involved with the justice system again and it was like I said to the court, it was like handbags at dawn, wasn’t it, your case?”

Tim is sentenced to six weeks in prison.

Part-time performance poet Gerard is accused of earning £14,000 on top of sickness benefits, which he denies. The Benefits Agency has also calculated that Gerard received £4,000 too much. He agrees to pay it back but is prosecuted for benefit fraud.

“I’m going to plead guilty. All I want is this to be over with. What I want to do is lie down on my couch and eat soup and talk to my friends about old times. That’s all I want to do ‘cos that’s what gets you better. Being dragged through court doesn’t make you better, it makes you worse.”

The court imposes a six-month community order on Gerard. He is also fined £250 and put on a four-week tag.


Documentaries


Wonderland: Young, Bright and on the Right
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm


Joe Cooke (Oxford University) and Chris Monk (Cambridge) come across as pompous, middle-aged men with posh accents rather than 20-year-old university students. But they know that Oxbridge is a conveyor belt for future political leaders and they both have their eyes on the prize. Much of this film has a tang of Twenty Twelve absurdity about it, but once the layers of faux-sophistication and political cant are peeled back, there are poignant moments that may touch even the most ardent Tory-basher.

Joe Cooke and Chris Monk dream of carving out careers in the Conservative Party, and hope to take the first step toward achieving their political aims by making an impression at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. However, both come from state-school backgrounds and feel like outsiders among their more privileged fellow students. Joe has become president of his party's association at Oxford, but faces an uphill battle to implement the changes he feels it needs to undergo, while Chris struggles to make a name for himself in Cambridge's renowned debating society.



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Friday 10th August

History; Documentaries

The Great British Story: A People's History
BBC2, 9:00-10:00pm, 8/8 - Modern Britain


Much of Michael Wood’s series so far has involved the little-told stories of working men and women. Now, in the final programme, he reaches an age when ordinary lives have been documented much more thoroughly. Wood is a skilled communicator and his meetings with people in the once-mighty industrial centres of the north reveal how the events of the past century are still affecting them.

Michael Wood concludes his survey of the past 2,000 years of British history by charting the dramatic changes seen during the 20th and 21st centuries. He assesses the impact that two world wars had on communities across the country, explores the spread of multiculturalism over the past 50 years and charts Britain's transition into a post-industrial economy. Finally, he assesses the future of the United Kingdom, and explains what he believes British citizens can learn from their shared history.


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