Sunday 22nd
BBC1 - Mountain Gorilla - 3-part series - "Patrick Stewart narrates a landmark three-part series on the world's last mountain gorillas.
The largest gorilla family in the world is starting the perilous journey down to feed on the fresh shoots of bamboo. They run the risk of being caught in illegal snares and Cantsbee, the dominant silverback, will have his work cut out keeping them all safe, especially those closest to him.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Rwandan volcanoes a young gorilla has been deserted by her mother. She turns to her silverback father for guidance and protection, but is he up to the job?
In Uganda, Marembo the teenage silverback has come of age. He has lived 15 years under the watchful eye of dominant silverback Rukina but now feels it is time to make the break on his own."
More4 - The Raoul Moat Tapes: Inside the Mind of a Killer - "Raoul Moat was Britain's most wanted man, and for a week the hunt for him dominated the news.
With access to hours of audio recordings that Moat made over two years, detailing his battles with the police and authorities, Cutting Edge provides an in-depth examination into his disturbed mental state.
Using first-hand testimony, excerpts from the tapes and expert psychological analysis, Cutting Edge asks what drove this fugitive gunman to kill. Featuring interviews with friends, relatives and neighbours who have known him for years, the film provides an insight into his character traits and motivations.
Providing a forensic examination of the events leading up to Moat's murderous rampage, Cutting Edge unpicks the speculation and myths surrounding the killer whose suicide sparked a wave of sympathy and tributes online.
The film explores Moat's childhood with an absent father; how he came to terms with his new step-father and later became estranged from his mother - despite the fact that they lived close to each other.
The film builds a picture of Moat as a steroid user and body-building obsessive but also as a father. Drawing on new information and insights, Cutting Edge looks at the events that shaped Moat the murderer and how his actions have affected those who survive him."
Monday 23rd
BBC1 - Panorama: Please Don't Take Our Child - "Each year around 20,000 children have their futures decided by the family courts. Baby William Ward was one of them. His parents Jake and Victoria were investigated by police and social services when they were unable to explain a serious injury to their three-month-old son. It took them two years to clear their names and a further three years to win the right to speak completely openly about what happened to their family.
Panorama's Darragh MacIntyre reports on the case of this ordinary couple and their extraordinary fight to open up the world of the family courts."
ITV1 - Real Crime with Mark Austin: Murder of a Father - "Murder of a Father – Garry Newlove - Real Crime with Mark Austin In August 2007 the nation was shocked by the brutal death of Garry Newlove who was punched and kicked to death in front of his three daughters outside his home in Warrington, Cheshire. The 47-year-old was attacked when he confronted a drunken gang of yobs who were vandalising his wife’s car and his death sparked a national debate about antisocial behaviour, its extent and its causes. Now, in an exclusive interview with Mark Austin for Real Crime, his widow, Helen, and the couple’s three daughters have come together to speak in detail about what happened the night Garry was killed. His daughters were the main witnesses and watched their father being beaten to death. They have never spoken before about exactly what they saw, and have said they will never speak about it again. The officers who investigated Garry’s murder tell Real Crime about the hunt for his killers. They also describe the problems caused by youths drinking in public. And Helen talks about a future without her beloved Garry and her campaign to keep anti-social behaviour at bay and her husband’s memory alive. Chief constable Peter Fahy talks about the area in Warrington where Garry and Helen lived with their three daughters, Zoe, then 18, Danielle, then 15 and Amy, then 12. He says: “The problems in Warrington weren’t terribly different from lots of other places in Cheshire…young males, drinking too much and then indulging in anti social behaviour and damage after they’d been drinking.” Helen speaks to Mark Austin about the street they lived in and reveals that she had spoken to Garry about moving house. Her daughters also say that they didn’t feel safe living in the area. Helen says: “He [Garry] was sick and tired of weekends having to go to the front door, look out if your car was fine, sick of coming out on a Saturday or Sunday when you are doing your gardens and having bags full of litter, of cans of lager. There was a guy one day who was actually urinating up the fence. It had come to a stage where we said, ‘Look, we really need to get away from here.’” As Helen and her three daughters describe Garry, they reveal intimate family photographs, including pictures of Helen and Garry’s wedding and pictures of the girls when they were younger, to illustrate the story of a family man who always put his wife and children first. Helen talks about Garry’s earlier battle with stomach cancer and says she always admired him. She adds: “He carried on working, he never…claimed or anything he still wanted to provide for his family and I truly admired him for that.” Using reconstructions and in-depth interviews with Helen, Zoe, Danielle and Amy, Real Crime tells the tragic story of the night that started off as a normal Friday at home and ended in Garry’s brutal murder... "
Wednesday 25th
BBC1 - Middle Eastenders - "Documentary exploring the real stories of Muslim immigrants to the UK, focusing on the centenary of the East London Mosque and the 4,000 people who worship there. Featuring contributions from Baroness Uddin of Bethnal Green, historians, trustees and worshippers, the programme chronicles the high and lows of the institutions's history and its efforts to become a centre for integration, promoting harmony among Christians, Jews and Muslims. "
More4 - The God Delusion - 2-part series - "Professor Richard Dawkins, Chair of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford and world-renowned evolutionary biologist, is no stranger to controversy.
His outspoken views on religion and his championing of evolutionary theory have earned him the nickname 'Darwin's Rottweiler', an epithet he wears with pride.
In this controversial two-part series, Dawkins describes God as the most unpleasant fictional character of all and launches a wholehearted attack on religion as the cause for much of the pain and suffering in the world."
Thursday 26th
Channel 4 - Hurricane Katrina: Caught on Camera - "Over three days in August 2005, a cataclysmic storm brought flooding and disaster to the Gulf Coast of America, leaving over 1,800 people dead in Louisiana and Mississippi.
In New Orleans chaos ensued as the rising water broke through the city's levees, leaving 80% of the city under water and thousands sheltering at the city's Superdome, without food or water, seemingly beyond help from the authorities.
While 90% of the population fled New Orleans, others stayed behind. Many were unable to leave, and some - including amateur cameramen, news crews, government agencies and storm-chasers - captured the unfolding chaos.
Weaving together more than 100 sources, many of them never seen before on network television, Hurricane Katrina: Caught on Camera reconstructs events as they happened, through the eyes of the people who experienced them.
The documentary, from the Emmy Award-winning team behind 102 Minutes that Changed America, captures the storm and its aftermath with raw images of fear, grief and anger, alongside moments of humour, courage and relief.
As the tempest bears down on the city, families desperately try to ride out the storm, while their houses fill with water, and inside the Superdome, the wind smashes through the roof and water pours in.
But even after the worst of Katrina passes, the water continues to rise, forcing people to take to their roofs and leaving the overwhelmed emergency services attempting to help survivors.
As the situation at the Superdome continues to deteriorate, the world's greatest super-power is reduced to Third World conditions, and people desperate for food and water turn to looting.
Timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the storm, this is a riveting portrait of a defining moment in American history."
BBC2 - E Numbers: an Edible Adventure - 3-part series - "Blighted with a notorious reputation, E numbers are often considered to be one of the demons of modern food production. In this three-part series food writer Stefan Gates sets out to separate the facts about these food additives from the fiction, beginning with colours. He discovers why these chemicals don't just affect the look of our food but its taste as well, reveals why eating monosodium glutamate could be no worse for us than eating cheese or mushrooms, and demonstrates how judicious use of E numbers can even get veg-hating kids to eat their brussels sprouts."
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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.
