Off-air recordings for week 16-22 May 2009

Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

Saturday 16 May

Channel 4 - Lionheart: The Crusade - "A charismatic Arab leader threatens to arm and unite the Muslim world. The West sends a massive task force to the Middle East to eliminate him. The world watches.It's 1189 AD, and this is the Third Crusade. It will become the most dramatic of all the epic mediaeval military campaigns. Leading the Arab world is Saladin, a wily empire builder who has brilliantly out-manoeuvred the Christian forces already in the Middle East. Against him comes the Crusader army, led by Richard the Lionheart of England, a fearless warrior and dazzling strategist, with a brutality towards Muslims that knows no restraint. In a series of dramatic sieges and set piece battles at Acre and Arsouf, the Crusaders fight their way onwards towards the holy city of Jerusalem. As the Crusade reaches its climax, the battle between Richard and Saladin becomes ever more personal. This dramatic, feature-length documentary uses expert analysis and stunning reconstructions to tell the story."

BBC4 - Arena: Dylan Thomas - From Cradle to Grave - "Author and broadcaster Nigel Williams examines the work and the legend of one of the most famous poets of the 20th century, Dylan Thomas.
Born in 1914, Thomas was an unruly and undisciplined child who was interested only in English at school and was determined from childhood to become a poet. Little did he know that he would eventually become world-renowned.
Cited by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Van Morrison and other cultural icons as a profound influence, Thomas occupies the space more readily associated with the likes of James Dean and Jack Kerouac, both of whom he preceded.
But it was his death that truly made him a legend. Did Dylan Thomas really die after drinking 18 straight whiskies at The White Horse in New York? Was he a genius or a sponging, womanising drunk?
The film unravels the myth by tracing the poet's biography backwards, from his much written about, much lied about death to the heart of the Dylan Thomas story and his beginnings in a quiet street in suburban Swansea."

BBC4 - Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard - "Ian Hislop takes an amused and affecting look at one of the most peculiar offices in the British establishment, that of Poet Laureate. Its 341-year history produces a gloriously eccentric picture of who we are, how we are ruled, what we want to say about ourselves and just how hard it is to do that in verse.
We know that Poets Laureate write about Royal Weddings but Hislop discovers a whole lot more, such as 534, John Masefield's brilliant poem on the launch of the Queen Mary from the Clydebank shipyards and Nicholas Rowe's New Year's Ode for 1716 dedicated to the Princess of Wales's labour pains. There was Colley Cibber, the Laureate so ashamed of his poor output he adopted a pseudonym and wrote poems attacking himself, and Alfred Tennyson, who wrote the nation's favourite laureate poem, Charge of the Light Brigade.
The film also throws light on the shadowy process by which the appointment is made. Lord Gowrie, the arts minister in Mrs Thatcher's cabinet, reveals how Ted Hughes came to be her choice for Laureate, when many people were still damning him for his wife Sylvia Plath's suicide.
A visit to the National Archive unearths a hilarious list by C P Duff, a top civil servant, ranking the poets of the day for the benefit of one very confused prime minister, and Candida Lycett Green reveals to Ian just how much whisky it took before her father, John Betjeman, could summon up a poem to celebrate Princess Anne's wedding.
Ian gets to the bottom of the bizarre tradition of the payment in sherry (650 bottles of the stuff), and after trying a glass or two himself, poetic inspiration strikes and he concludes the film with his very own ode to Carol Ann Duffy, our newest Poet Laureate."

BBC2 - The Violent Highway - "The Highway, London E1, runs through the heart of the London borough of Tower Hamlets, which has twice the national average for violent crime. This programme looks at the history of violence in this single British street.
Bringing the past to life with an innovative combination of animation and observational documentary, the film recreates key incidents taken from 300 years of muggings, wife-beatings, pub brawls and serial killings. Historians, psychologists, residents of The Highway and former gang members discuss whether we are more or less violent than we used to be, and what this street can reveal about the violence in all of us.
The story of this street, which was formerly known as the Ratcliffe Highway, tells a wider story of Britain and our grim fascination with bloodshed. Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle are among many writers who visited the Ratcliffe Highway in their efforts to understand the underbelly of violence in Britain. But it was when it became the site of the first Victorian serial killings in 1811 that the Highway became really famous. PD James revisits the street to explain why the Ratcliffe murders captured the terrified imagination of the nation - and still fascinate her today.
Interwoven with these tales from The Highway's bloody past are stories of violence on the street today. One former criminal tells us of a vicious samurai sword attack. Another explains the impulses that made him attack first and ask questions later. We may be less violent than we used to be but knife crime is on the rise - and our fear of violence shows no sign of abating. As this provocative and powerful film demonstrates, perhaps violence is not just part of our history - it is part of our nature too."

Sunday 17 May

BBC4 - The Addictions of Sin: WH Auden in His Own Words - "To commemorate the centenary of the birth of one of Britain's most influential and best-loved poets, this film combines dramatisations of telling events in the life of WH Auden with interviews from the TV and radio archives and extracts from Auden's poetry, notebooks, letters and journals."

BBC4 - Tell Me the Truth about Love - "Documentary film looking at the poetry of W H Auden, revealing how it came not just from inspiration but from a rigorous scientific analysis of love itself. When he died in 1973, he left behind some of the greatest love poems of the 20th century. Most of his unpublished material was destroyed, apart from two short journals and a series of jottings, containing diagrams and notes about the nature of love.

Monday 18 May

BBC4 - The Narnia Code - "Documentary examining claims that CS Lewis's Narnia Chronicles contain a hidden meaning.
CS Lewis wrote the Narnia Chronicles over 50 years ago, yet they are more popular today than ever. When they were first published, many critics thought them little more than childish scribblings, replete with random characters and unexplained events. Even Lewis's good friend JRR Tolkien thought them confused and misconceived.
Other scholars were sure there was something more, something hidden beneath the stories. Although many tried, none could find this secret key of Narnia - until now. Dr Michael Ward, a young academic and expert in all things Lewisian, claims he has found the answer at last: he has discovered the Narnia Code.
Using dramatisations of Lewis's early life and career, the programme travels the world, from the Mid-West of modern America to the battlefields of the First World War, meeting experts, testing evidence and uncovering surprising questions and ideas that still challenge readers today.Documentary examining claims that CS Lewis's Narnia Chronicles contain a hidden meaning.
CS Lewis wrote the Narnia Chronicles over 50 years ago, yet they are more popular today than ever. When they were first published, many critics thought them little more than childish scribblings, replete with random characters and unexplained events. Even Lewis's good friend JRR Tolkien thought them confused and misconceived.
Other scholars were sure there was something more, something hidden beneath the stories. Although many tried, none could find this secret key of Narnia - until now. Dr Michael Ward, a young academic and expert in all things Lewisian, claims he has found the answer at last: he has discovered the Narnia Code.
Using dramatisations of Lewis's early life and career, the programme travels the world, from the Mid-West of modern America to the battlefields of the First World War, meeting experts, testing evidence and uncovering surprising questions and ideas that still challenge readers today."

BBC2 - The Trouble With Working Women - 1/2 - ' Why Cant A Woman Succeed Like A Man?' - "The first of two provocative programmes presented by newsreader and mum-of-three Sophie Raworth, and reporter and father-of-three Justin Rowlatt.
In a competitive mood from the off, Justin and Sophie explore the thorny issue of what we really think of women at work. Why is it that men still dominate the top jobs? Can women have it all? Has gender equality gone too far? And what - if anything - is holding women back?
In search of answers, Sophie and Justin track down a businesswoman who refuses to employ females of child-bearing age, go head-to-head on a testosterone-fuelled trading floor, meet an entrepreneur who went back to work four days after giving birth, head for the MET's shooting range, try to get into a breast milk fridge, and quiz a professor who is overseeing the world's largest study into the effects of child care.
There are plenty of arguments along the way, but Sophie and Justin do manage to reach a conclusion... "

ITV 1 - Tears, Lies and Videotape - "Programme looking at the behaviour of some notorious criminal liars, including Shannon Matthews' mother Karen, Gordon Wardell, Tracie Andrews, Ian Huntley and Fadi Nasri. Some appeared distraught at press conferences to appeal for help, and fooled the nation. Now psychologists Professor David Canter of Liverpool University and Professor Paul Ekman from the University of California examine the footage, and investigate whether it was possible to tell that these people were lying. Were the signs there all along?"

BBC4 - Storyville: The Baby and the Buddha - "Nati Baratz's documentary chronicles a former disciple's search for his reincarnated Tibetan master.
After 26 years of isolated meditation in a mountain cave, Lama Konchog became one of the greatest Tibetan masters of our time. When he passed away in 2001 at 84, the Dalai Lama instructed his shy, devoted disciple Tenzin Zopa to search for his master's reincarnation. This 'unmistaken child' must be found within four years, before it becomes too difficult to remove him from his parents' care.
Tenzin entered the service of Lama Konchog at the age of seven, at his own request, and was with his master continuously for 21 years. The loss of his teacher leaves Tenzin bereft and he is further unsettled by the unexpected responsibility of carrying out the highly secretive search for his spiritual father, who is now expected to be embodied in a little boy and may be anywhere in the world.
His search crosses countries, passing through mountains and villages that appear to have remained unchanged for hundreds of years. Assisted by astrology, signs from dreams and the whispers of villagers, Tenzin travels by helicopter, mule and foot. When he comes upon an apparent contender, the documentary accompanies Tenzin and his young charge through the mysterious procedures that may confirm the reincarnation.
While the film brings to light a rarely seen aspect of the Buddhist faith, the true revelation is Tenzin's journey as a man. We come to know him as modest and shy, but with an impish sense of humour. He appears to be of another time and place, yet lives profoundly in the present. Alone on his quest, he is only able to share his thoughts and feelings with filmmaker Baratz. Tenzin's simple honesty and unselfconsciousness make the viewer a privileged partner in his passage."

Tuesday 19 May

BBC2 - The Trouble with Working Women - 2/2 - 'Why Can't a Woman Earn As Much As a Man?' - "In the second of two provocative programmes, we look at pay, asking why there is still a pay gap several decades after the Equal Pay Act. Presenters Sophie Raworth and Justin Rowlatt want to find out why the average pay gap is 17 per cent. And it is not just professional curiosity; as parents of girls, the pair really want to know.
On their journey Sophie and Justin meet professionals, mums and academics, and do some of their own tests, asking whether it is just sexism at play or if there are more complex reasons. Could it be that women are actually choosing to earn less? And they find some shocking facts: in the US thin women earn more than fat women; girls who go to single-sex schools go on to earn more; and hundreds of thousands of women in the UK are illegally being paid less than their male counterparts.
The programme also features specially commissioned surveys that throw new light on the debate. There are plenty of arguments along the way, but Sophie and Justin do manage to reach a conclusion."

Wednesday 21 May

BBC2 - Why Poetry Matters - "Griff Rhys Jones launches the BBC's Poetry Season on BBC Two with a personal, passionate and illuminating celebration of the power of verse.
Why Poetry Matters, a one-off documentary, explores poetry in all its diverse forms – what it means to Griff himself, how integral it is to life and why we all need it... "

BBC4 - Poetry Please - "A behind the scenes look at the world's longest running poetry request programme, following the programme-makers, presenter Roger McGough and ordinary listeners of the Radio 4 show. Poets, actors and famous fans including Rick Stein, Kenneth Cranham, Andrew Sachs, Andrew Motion, Tim Pigott-Smith and David Blunkett also share their insights on the secret of its success."

BBC4 - Feasts - 1 of 3 'India' - "Series in which food writer and presenter Stefan Gates immerses himself in some of the most extraordinary feasts and festivals on earth. By joining ordinary people in these strange and wonderful distillations of their culture and beliefs, he hopes to gain a revelatory insight into how the world thinks and feels.
Stefan makes a journey across India to discover how feasts and celebration divide - and bring together - a turbulent nation that can be riven by religious tension and extremes of wealth.
He is shocked to see how much extravagance and social engineering there is in an expensive showpiece Rajasthani Hindu wedding, yet how little emotion is actually expressed. These events are spectacular, and the scale is terrifying for a father of two young daughters.
In Kerala, Stefan experiences the bewildering festival of Onam, a Hindu celebration that brings this massive state of millions of people together, Hindu and Christian, rich and poor alike. Over several days he joins almost all of the entire 32m population in sitting down to exactly the same meal - an 11-portion feast eaten with fingers from a banana leaf.
Stefan joins in the Pulikali, the tiger dance, and is apparently he first westerner ever to take part. It is the most physically uncomfortable, gruesome day of his life. He has his body hair shaved off with a dry razor, then spends five hours being painted with several layers of household gloss paint, holding on to two sticks to keep his arms outstretched as he dries out. He is then covered in a sweaty, sticky mask and a pair of bordello pants, and packed off into the streets to join his team in dancing like a maniac around the baking-hot streets of the city of Thrissur for four hours."

Friday 22 May

BBC1 - Panorama: Stem Cells and Miracles - "The current affairs programme follows a British family to China as they pin their hopes on a new stem cell therapy to give their daughter sight.
As evidence mounts that some treatments offered abroad are bogus, will the child's eyesight improve, or are they destined for disappointment?"

BBC4 - The Night James Brown Saved Boston - "April 5th 1968, the morning after the assassination of Martin Luther King. America's inner cities had begun to implode and in Boston there is a fragile peace. The mayor is about to cancel a long-scheduled James Brown concert to avoid confrontation - a potentially incendiary move - but he has a change of heart and asks if there is 'something James Brown can do to help'. This documentary tells the story of that night, with rarely footage of the concert and reminiscences from those in attendance."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 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.

Off-air recordings for week 9-15 May 2009

Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

Saturday 9 May

BBC2 - The Birth of British Music- part 1 of 4 -'Purcell: The Londoner' - "In this series, conductor Charles Hazlewood explores the development of British music through the lives, times and music of four great composers, each with a major anniversary in 2009.
The first programme celebrates the music of Henry Purcell, one of the most seminal but mysterious figures of British musical history. Charles investigates what life would have been like for a composer in 17th-century London through a wide range of Purcell's music, from the vast but often overlooked output of tavern songs to his glorious sacred music and pioneering stage works such as Dido and Aeneas. He discovers how Purcell's work is still central to our national life today, visiting the Grenadier Guards at Wellington Barracks and attending the Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph.
Music is performed by Charles Hazlewood's own ensemble, Army of Generals, as well as renowned musicians including Sir John Tomlinson and the Choir of Westminster Abbey."

BBC2 - Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra - "Bill Bailey joins forces with Anne Dudley and the BBC Concert Orchestra for an evening of his music and comedy.
Using both contemporary and classical references, Bill Bailey explains, in his unique and hilarious way, the nuances of how the orchestra works and the lesser-known influences of various classical composers.
Also included are some of his own original works, rearranged and performed by himself and the orchestra under the guidance of musical maestro Anne Dudley."

BBC4 - Ford's Dagenham Dream - "Documentary which tells the story of the British love affair with the American dream cars made at Ford in Dagenham in the 1960s and 70s. Ford helped put the nation on wheels with its fast, sexy cars such as the Zephyr, the Cortina and the Capri, which were pure rock'n'roll and hugely appealing to the younger generation."

Sunday 10 May

BBC2 - South Pacific - part 1 of 6 - 'Ocean of Islands' - "The South Pacific islands are the most remote in the world. Their extraordinary isolation has created some of the most curious, surprising and precarious examples of life found anywhere on Earth; from giant crabs that tear open coconuts, to flesh-eating caterpillars that impale their prey on dagger-like claws.
Human culture is different too. The men of Pentecost Island celebrate their annual harvest by leaping from 20 metre high scaffolds, with only forest vines to break their fall. And on the tiny island of Anuta, possibly the most remote community of people on the planet, the locals survive entirely on what they can grow and catch.
The South Pacific's innumerable islands look like pieces of paradise, but the reality of life here is sometimes very different, with waves the size of buildings, brutal tropical storms, and, in the far south, even blizzards. This is the real South Pacific."

BBC2 - The Incredible Human Journey - Part 1 of 5 - 'Out of Africa' - Dr Alice Roberts travels the globe to discover the incredible story of how humans left Africa to colonise the world - overcoming hostile terrain, extreme weather and other species of human. She pieces together precious fragments of bone, stone and new DNA evidence and discovers how this journey changed these African ancestors into the people of today.
Alice travels to Africa in search of the birthplace of the first people. They were so few in number and so vulnerable that today they would probably be considered an endangered species. So what allowed them to survive at all? The Bushmen of the Kalahari have some answers - the unique design of the human body made them efficient hunters and the ancient click language of the Bushmen points to an early ability to organise and plan.
Humans survived there, but Africa was to all intents and purposes a sealed continent. So how and by what route did humans make it out of Africa? Astonishing genetic evidence reveals that everyone alive today who is not African descends from just one successful, tiny group which left the continent in a single crossing, an event that may have happened around 70 thousand years ago. But how did they do it? Alice goes searching for clues in the remote Arabian Desert."

Monday 11 May

C4 - Dispatches: Lost in Care - "Reporter Rageh Omaar explores the problems faced by children in care in the UK, including those who are adopted, fostered or in residential care homes. One 19-year-old reveals that she was moved 45 times after entering care at the age of four. Several teenagers describe the impact of such upheaval and reveal some harrowing individual experiences."

BBC4 - A Poet's Guide to Britain - part 2 of 6 "Sylvia Plath: Wuthering Heights" - "Sylvia Plath is one of the most popular and influential poets of recent history but her poetry is often overshadowed by her life - the story of her marriage to Ted Hughes, her mental health problems and her tragic suicide at the age of 30.
A rich and important area of her work that is often overlooked is the wealth of landscape poetry which she wrote throughout her life, some of the best of which was written about the Yorkshire moors.
Sheers explores this rich seam, which culminated in a poem called Wuthering Heights. It takes its title from Emily Bronte but the content and style is entirely Plath's own remarkable vision of the forbidding Pennine landscape."

Tuesday 12 May

BBC2 - Horizon: How Violent Are You? - "What makes ordinary people commit extreme acts of violence?
In a thought-provoking and disturbing journey, Michael Portillo investigates one of the darker sides of human nature. He discovers what it is like to inflict pain and is driven to the edge of violence himself in an extreme sleep deprivation study.
He meets men for whom violence has become an addiction and ultimately discovers that each of us could be inherently more violent than we think, and watches a replication of one of the most controversial studies in history, the Milgram study. Will study participants be willing to administer a seemingly lethal electric shock to someone they think is an innocent bystander?"

BBC1 - Ten Things You Need To Know About Sleep - "Do you get enough sleep? Many of us don't. 10 Things You Need to Know About Sleep reveals the science behind why so many find it difficult to nod off, and offers practical tips on the best ways to get a good night's sleep.
In a series of experiments, presenter Kate Silverton sets out to help those insomniacs desperate to get some shut eye, help travellers beat jet lag, and see if there is anything that can be done to stop loud and persistent snorers.
Chef Aldo Zilli discovers how the food we eat affects our sleep, while volunteers in a sleep laboratory test the effects of alcohol and coffee on the rhythm of sleep.
Record-breaking round-the-world yachtswoman Dee Caffari learns the best time to take a nap and catch up on lost sleep, while journalist Dominik Diamond finds out that less sleep can help an insomniac break bad habits.
Joe Swift from Gardeners World tries out some herbal sleep remedies, and comedian Russell Kane checks out techniques that can reduce the stress that keeps him awake at night.
Kate takes a hot bath before bed and discovers the surprising secret to a good night's sleep, as well as how a trick of the light can both wake you up and keep you asleep."

Thursday 14 May

C4 - Cutting Edge: The Homecoming - "At the age of four, journalist Rachel Roberts was placed in a children's home in Doncaster. Now, more than 30 years later, with only an old photo and fading recollections of her time there, she's searching for the other children she shared the home with to find out what became of them.Although focusing on Rachel's individual search, The Homecoming casts a wider look at the care system in general - and the long-lasting effects it can have on those caught up in it."

Friday 15 May

C4 - Unreportable World - Brazil: The Killables - "Evan Williams investigates police death squads operating in Recife, Brazil, and is immediately confronted by the murder of a boy on the street. The shooting is typical of nearly 3,000 deaths per year in the city of 'undesirables' and street kids who turn to prostitution and petty crime to survive."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 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.

Off-air recordings 2-8 May 2009

Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

Sunday 3 May

ITV1 - Martin Clunes: Islands of Britain - new 3-part series - "Martin Clunes embarks on an epic journey to search for island paradise in a new ITV1 series, Martin Clunes: Islands of Britain Martin travels from the most northern tip of Britain to the southerly seas to visit some of the 1000 or so islands off our shores. In the three-part series the actor explores hidden Britain – the stunning, wild, curious and culturally diverse islands around our coast, and listens to the fascinating stories of what life is like away from the mainland from the people who live there."

Monday 4 May

BBC4 - A Poet's Guide To Britain - new 6-part series Part 1 - William Wordsworth - "Poet and author Owen Sheers presents a series in which he explores six great works of poetry set in the British landscape. Each poem explores a sense of place and identity across Britain and opens the doors to captivating stories about the places and the lives of the poets themselves. This episode features Composed upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth.
In 1802, Wordsworth, the great Romantic poet of nature and the man famous for writing about the Lake District, daffodils and clouds, penned a short but electrifying poem about the stinking, filthy, heaving city of London. In fact, the poem was a captivating, sublime portrait of the city at dawn which still has the power to catch one's breath.
Sheers investigates what Wordsworth was doing when he wrote the poem on a summer morning in 1802, and uncovers a story that involves three different women. Wordsworth lived in Grasmere in the Lake District, sharing a small cottage in an unusual domestic arrangement with his sister Dorothy. In the spring of that year he decided to marry an old schoolfriend, Mary Hutchinson. However, in order to do so he first needed to clear the air with his French ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter Caroline, a nine-year-old girl he had yet to meet.
In July 1802, William and Dorothy set out from Grasmere to Calais via London on the intriguing journey that would lead them across the bridge. Sheers follows their journey, discovers how the poem came into existence and examines exactly what Wordsworth wrote. He talks to Wordsworth fans including that epitome of Northern cool, poet Simon Armitage, the writer-in-residence at the Wordsworth Trust, Adam O'Riordan, and some of the commuters who cross Westminster Bridge every morning on their way to work."

Tuesday 5 May

Yesterday - The Age Of Terror - 4 part series - "Epic series which explores the impact and legacy of four major acts of terror from the last 30 years."

Wednesday 6 May

BBC4 - All Our Working Lives: Working The Land - "Documentary which looks at farming in England in the 20th Century, featuring an interview with a Suffolk farmworker who talks about the harsh times in the 1930s."

Friday 8 May

Channel 4 - Unreported World - Papua New Guinea: Bush Knives and Black Magic - "The global issues documentary series investigates the growth of witch murders in Papua New Guinea. More than fifty women accused of being witches were murdered last year in two provinces alone, and the programme reveals that the problem is now spreading from remote highland areas into the towns."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 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.

Off-air recordings 18 April -01 May 2009

Please email Rich Deakin <> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

BBC 4 - Who Killed the Honey Bee? - "Bees are dying in their millions. It's an ecological crisis that threatens to bring global agriculture to a standstill. Introduced by Martha Kearney, this documentary explores the reasons behind the decline of bee colonies across the globe, investigating what might be at the root of this devastation."

BBC2 - English Heritage (new 6-part series) - programme 1 - "When English Heritage bought Apethorpe Hall - a huge, crumbling Jacobean mansion hidden away in the Northants countryside - it was supposed to symbolise everything that was good about the energy that their new chief executive, Simon Thurley, was bringing to English Heritage. They would buy the place, do it up, and then recoup the enormous investment of public money by selling it off. Theory and practice have proven rather different, and could yet leave the taxpayer with a bill running to millions."

Channel 4 - Unreported World - India: Children of the Inferno - "A dispatch from north-east India, where the coal mines that are fuelling India's growth have resulted in vast, subterranean coal fires burning out of control beneath towns and villages."

BBC4 - Jimmy and the Wild Honey Hunters - "Jimmy Doherty, pig farmer and star of Jimmy's Farming Heroes, travels to Nepal to meet an ancient group of people who risk their lives to farm their local honey.
A keen bee keeper with a passion for honey, Jimmy has always been blown away by the sheer variety of flavours, appreciating a good honey like others enjoy a fine wine. So when he heard about an ancient group of people in Nepal who are willing to risk their lives to taste their local honey, he knew he wanted to share the experience.
As a 'honey hunter' Jimmy must scale a massive cliff to reach the home of more than two million bees and dangle 200 feet up to get their honey. If successful, the reward is not only to learn more about these amazing bees, but also to taste one of nature's finest bounties, beautiful wild honey."

BBC4 - Horizon - The Company of Ants and Bees - "Documentary in which Professor James Gould argues that ants and bees have important things to tell us about human society and its future chances."

BBC2 - Cruickshank on Kew: The Garden That Changed the World - "As the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, prepare to celebrate their 250th anniversary, Dan Cruickshank unearths some of the surprising stories that shaped the famous gardens. His travels take him from the royal gardens to the corridors of power and the outposts of Empire as he pieces together Kew's story, uncovering tales of bravery, high adventure, passion and drama."

BBC2 - The Weather (3 part series) Programme 1 - Rain -"Documentary series about the weather looks at rain. It's an essential part of being British, giving us the English lawn, the sliding tackle and endless grounds for complaint, but what do we really know about rain?
The programme uncovers the true shape of a raindrop, shows how and why rain falls and tells remarkable stories of how we have adapted or succumbed to this elemental force of nature, such as James Glaisher's seven-mile hot air balloon ascent in 1862 and how Charles Macintosh invented the waterproof coat.
The Victorians believed that they could master the rain and push it aside, but today climate change threatens us with rain that is wilder and more unpredictable than ever."

BBC4 - Farm to Pharma - the Rise and Rise of Food Science - (no programme details avaialable online yet) - "Time Shift documentary looking at the history of British food science, examining how produce came to be enhanced in laboratories, and looking at the innovations that have changed the nation's diet."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 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.

Off-air recordings, 11-17 April 2009

Please email Rich Deakin < rdeakin@glos.ac.uk > if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

BBC2 - Planet Earth - Mountains - "Humans like to think that once they've climbed a peak, they've somehow conquered it. But they can only ever be visitors to this hostile world. Planet Earth introduces the 'real' mountaineers and discovers the secrets of their survival on the mightiest peaks of our planet. Welcome to an extreme landscape of rock, ice and snow; a vertical world as alien to humans as the surface of another planet. Planet Earth takes you on a tour of its mightiest mountain ranges, starting with the birth of a mountain at one of the lowest places on Earth and ending at the summit of Everest. Mountains are home to some of the shyest and most secretive animals on the planet, and this programme will show how they rise to the challenge of mountain life."

BBC2 - Private Life of an Easter Masterpiece - "When Caravaggio completed his painting of the betrayal and arrest of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, it became one of the most celebrated masterpieces of its time. But two centuries later, the painting vanished without a trace. The programme tells the enthralling story of the painting and its rediscovery in 1990."

BBC4 - West End Jungle - "Banned when made in 1961, this documentary offers a comprehensive insight into the history and seedy reality of the sex industry in London's Soho.
Examining the consequences of the introduction of the Street Offences Act in 1959, which until then had seen as many as 10,000 prostitutes line the streets and alleys of Soho with nothing more than a deterrent of a small fine, the film explains what happened after those streets were cleaned up and looks at the many different guises as one of Britain's oldest professions continued to operate and thrive."

Channel 4 - Henry VIII's Lost Palaces: A Time Team Special - "Tony Robinson and his experts set out to uncover relics of Henry VIII. Press notes promise the team will reveal surprises about "Henry the architect, designer, sportsman, devout Churchman and European statesman - far from his bad-tempered, murderous and overweight image." (Notice how that suggests rumours of Henry's murderousness and size are no more than tittle-tattle.) If it sounds less nuanced than the Starkey portrait that follows, it will have the advantage of Robinson's engaging style and some interesting digs, including one at Beaulieu in Essex, the first palace Henry built for himself."

FIVE - Was Dr Crippen Innocent? : Revealed - "Was Dr Crippen Innocent?. Historical documentary examining one of the 20th century's most notorious killers. In 1910, Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen was hanged for poisoning and dismembering his wife. He originally fled the country on a steam ship, but was recognised by the captain, who arranged his capture by sending telegrams to Scotland Yard. However, doubts surrounding the case have prompted modern-day forensic scientists to question Dr Crippen's guilt."

BBC4 - All Our Working Lives: Working The Land - "Documentary which looks at farming in England in the 20th Century, featuring an interview with a Suffolk farmworker who talks about the harsh times in the 1930s."

BBC4 - Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture - "Documentary series looking at the history of 20th century farming in Britain opens by focusing on milk.
In the early years of the century, 150,000 dairy farmers milked by hand and sold milk door to door. By the end of the century the 15,000 that were left were breeding cows that increased yields by 400 per cent and milk was sold through supermarkets.
This episode features the home movies and stories of two dairy farmers who survived tell the story of how and why the revolution happened."

Yesterday - Timeshift: Fantasy Sixties - "The launch of the first Soviet Sputnik satellite in the 1950s captured the public's imagination and prompted TV writers in the Sixties to experiment with fantastical storylines. The radical thinking and cultural change of the Sixties spawned a new type of adventure television. Storylines moved further from reality and led to a golden age of fantasy television.
A new and groundbreaking science fiction series hit British TV screens in 1961: A for Andromeda. Destined to become a classic, only a few clips of the series survive. Similarly adventurous programmes followed, including Adam Adamant Lives! Doctor Who, The Avengers and The Prisoner - the latter taking fantasy television to a place which surprised, and at times enraged, the audience.
The Avengers ended with Steed and Tara King blasting off into space in a rocket. Not far behind them was the real Apollo 11 mission. On 20 July 1969 both BBC and ITV were broadcasting the same drama; the world watched men walking on the moon and sat through a real life cliff-hanger about getting the crew back to earth alive. Setting a story somewhere in space was never going to be pure fantasy ever again.

Yesterday - I Hate The Sixties - The Decade That Was Too Good To Be True - "For some people, the Sixties were when it all went wrong for British society. In their view, it was the decade's moral permissiveness, collapse of respect for institutions and failed experiments in 'progressive' education that led directly to the state we are in today. Ranging across culture, politics, fashion and morality, this provocative but entertaining film will be shamelessly revisionist, challenging head-on what Norman Tebbit once memorably described as "the insufferable, smug, sanctimonious, naïve, guilt-ridden, wet, pink orthodoxy... of that third-rate decade, the Sixties".

Channel 4 - Missing: Race Against Time - "Every year in Britain the police receive nearly a quarter of a million calls about missing people. A handful of missings persons cases hit the headlines - including Madeleine McCann, Shannon Matthews and "Canoe Man" John Darwin - but most people who go missing never make the newspapers.
Some choose to disappear, some are found too late and others just seem to walk out of their lives, leaving their families desperate for answers and the police in a race against time to find them.
As part of Cutting Edge, this new documentary follows three families' desperate searches to find loved ones and features exclusive access to Greater Manchester Police's investigations. When someone goes missing the first 72 hours are vital to the police. If they aren't found within that time it becomes less likely they ever will be, as the trail goes cold.
Three days after 81-year-old Josephine O'Hara disappeared, her daughter Pauline contacts the police. Elderly and vulnerable, she may also have taken her life savings of £10,000 with her, and the police don't even have her photograph.
Meanwhile it's been 36 hours since 25-year-old Adam Warren left home for an appointment at the Job Centre. He was expected back within the hour by his girlfriend Katie and their 11-week-old-baby daughter Ellie, but he's vanished.
Five years ago another young father, Vinny Derrick, disappeared after a night out with friends. His wife Vicki (both pictured) still has no idea what happened to her husband, and seven-year-old Lewis has grown up not knowing his dad."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 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.

Off-air recordings 4-10 April 2009

Please email Rich Deakin < rdeakin@glos.ac.uk > if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

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."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 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.

Off-air recordings 28 March - 3 April 2009

Please email Rich Deakin < rdeakin@glos.ac.uk > if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*

BBC2 Timewatch - Pyramid : The Last Secret -"For centuries archaeologists have been trying to work out how the ancient Egyptians raised huge stone blocks to the top of the Great Pyramid. This documentary presents a radical new theory by French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin. He believes that an internal ramp was used, which is still inside the Pyramid waiting to be discovered. If he is right, it is the greatest discovery since Tutankhamun."

BBC4 How Britain Got The Gardening Bug - "Documentary looking at the extraordinary changes and crazes that have happened to British gardening since the Second World War, from garden gnomes and crazy paving to Leylandii and decking.
As recently as the 1960s garden centres didn't exist and gardening was strictly for old boys in sheds, yet today it has become the height of cool."

BBC4 In The Shadow of Fujisan - 'Long Live The Turtle' - "This edition investigates Japan's exploitation of marine resources, exemplified by the plight of the sea turtle, and gives an insight into a culture very different from that of the west."

BBC1 Panorama - The Gunmen Who Never Went Away - "With soldiers and police once again being killed in Northern Ireland, Panorama offers the most detailed analysis yet of the resurgent terrorist threat in Northern Ireland based on ten years' work investigating the breakaway Republican movement, its aims, its roots and its tactics."

BBC1 Gone - Newsround Special - "Newsround special exploring the issue of bereavement and the effect it has on children's lives, telling the story of four children, all of whom have lost someone they love."

Channel 4 The Sex Education Show v Pornography - 6-part series - "Supersize vs Superskinny’s ANNA RICHARDSON hosts this ambitious new six-part, cross-platform series examining the nation’s sexual mores. THE SEX EDUCATION SHOW will examine a wide range of different personal experiences of sexual issues and problems, as well as offering frank advice and solutions.
The UK is in a state of sexual meltdown. STIs are on the rise, school-age abortion rates are at an all-time high, pornography is ubiquitous and it seems that all ages are finding it easier to have sex rather than talk about it.
In each episode Anna Richardson embarks on a very personal investigative journey and explores a number of sex-related themes. Sometimes self deprecating, but always candid Anna examines her own fertility, the dangers of STIs and what it is really like to give birth."

BBC2 Horizon: Alan and Marcus Go Forth And Multiply - "Ever since he was at school, actor and comedian Alan Davies has hated maths. And like many people, he is not much good at it either. But Alan has always had a sneaking suspicion that he was missing out.
So, with the help of top mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy, Alan is going to embark on a maths odyssey. Together they visit the fourth dimension, cross the universe and explore the concept of infinity. Along the way, Alan does battle with some of the toughest maths questions of our age.
But did his abilities peak 25 years ago when he got his grade C O-Level? Or will Alan be able to master the most complex maths concept there is?"

BBC4 A Woman In Love: Vera Brittain - "Dramatisation of the life of Vera Brittain, a young woman who lived through the First World War, presented by Jo Brand.
In 1914 Vera Brittain was young, in love and preparing to study at Oxford. She was at the heart of an intense friendship that bound five youngsters (four young men and Vera) together, full of ambition and excitement. Four years later, her life and the life of her whole generation had changed unimaginably. The war saw her companions killed. As a volunteer nurse in London and on the Front she witnessed horrors that turned her idealistic passion for a 'just war' to dust. This is the story of the First World War as seen through a woman's eyes."

Channel 4 Cutting Edge - Would You Save A Stranger? - "A 12-year-old girl is beaten and stamped on by a crowd of teenagers on a crowded bus. A man is punched to the ground and kicked repeatedly in the head in an almost deserted London street. Gun-wielding robbers threaten a cashier in a petrol station.Witnesses in five separate incidents are forced to decide - intervene and risk their own safety or disengage and turn away. Whether they choose the path of a have-a-go-hero or passive bystander, their decisions will stay with them for the rest of their lives.The first-hand testimonies of those involved are intercut with CCTV footage and dramatic reconstruction, as the stories unfold to reveal the split-second choices that were made.Whilst some witnesses are seemingly paralysed by fear, others step in. Some escape unscathed while others pay a heavy price for their courage... "

Channel 4 Unreported World: Sierra Leone - "Unreported World comes from Sierra Leone where, ten years after one of the most brutal conflicts in recent history, thousands have been left severely traumatised. Reporter Seyi Rhodes and director George Waldrum find a population that has witnessed rape, torture and public executions.
The country's only psychiatrist tells Rhodes that 80 per cent of people needing help believe that mental illness is caused by evil spirits, so they turn to the church and traditional healers. With an estimated 400,000 mentally ill people in the country, offering a cure has become good business. Most visit one of the country's 4,000 traditional healers.
The team visits one of them on the outskirts of town, where an extremely disoriented patient is chained to the ground. Rhodes watches as the healer administers his daily treatment: perfume poured in his eyes and nose. It may seem like harsh treatment but Pa Barrie is incredibly popular and gets through 15 patients a day. Even though a decade has passed, it's clear the nation hasn't yet begun to cope with the psychological consequences of its civil war."

BBC4 Arena: Cool - "Documentary exploring the meaning and history of cool through the American music of the 1940s and 50s that became known as cool jazz. Those who wrote and played it cultivated an attitude, a style and a language that came to epitomise the meaning of a word that is now so liberally used. The film tells the story of a movement that started in the bars and clubs of New York and Los Angeles and swept across the world, introducing the key players and setting them in the context of the post-war world."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 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.