Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk , or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Monday 13th June
BBC2 - Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die - "In a frank and personal documentary, author Sir Terry Pratchett considers how he might choose to end his life. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008, Terry wants to know whether he might be able to end his life before his disease takes over.
Travelling to the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, Terry witnesses first hand the procedures set out for assisted death, and confronts the point at which he would have to take the lethal drug."
BBC2 - Choosing To Die: Newsnight Debate - "Jeremy Paxman speaks to Terry Pratchett about his documentary, and a panel of studio guests debate the controversial issues surrounding assisted dying."
BBC4 - World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel - ""Marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, historian Professor David Reynolds re-assesses Stalin's role in the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two, which, he argues, was ultimately more critical for British survival than 'Our Finest Hour' in the Battle of Britain itself.
The name Stalin means 'man of steel', but Reynolds's penetrating new account reveals how the reality of Stalin's war in 1941 did not live up to that name. Travelling to Russian battlefield locations, he charts how Russia was almost annihilated within a few months as Stalin lurched from crisis to crisis, coming close to a nervous breakdown.
Reynolds shows how Stalin learnt to compromise in order to win, listening to his generals and downplaying communist ideology to appeal instead to the Russian people's nationalist fighting spirit. He also squares up to the terrible moral dilemma at the heart of World War Two. Using original telegrams and official documents, he looks afresh at Winston Churchill's controversial visit to Moscow in 1942 and re-examines how Britain and America were drawn into alliance with Stalin, a dictator almost as murderous as the Nazi enemy."
Tuesday 14th June
BBC2 - This World: The Invasion Of Lampedusa - "How a crisis on a tiny island in the middle of the Mediterranean is changing the face of immigration in Europe. This spring, in the wake of the uprisings across the Arab world, the Italian island of Lampedusa, just 70 miles from the African coast, has seen the arrival of over 40,000 migrants from Tunisia and Libya.
This programme charts how, within weeks, its small migrant reception centre is overflowing, and the island's tourist economy faces meltdown. The islanders openly revolt, blockading the small port and riot in the streets. Local mayor Bernadino de Rubeis makes desperate attempts to keep everyone calm, with limited results.
Only the arrival of beleaguered president Silvio Berlusconi seems to solve the problem, but his solutions are short-lived - weeks later, thousands more Libyans are arriving seeking asylum, prompting panic in Brussels, the closing of European borders and the possible collapse of the EU's celebrated Schengen Agreement."
Channel 4 - Sri Lanka's Killing Fields - "Jon Snow presents a forensic investigation into the final weeks of the quarter-century-long civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the secessionist rebels, the Tamil Tigers. The programme features devastating new video evidence of war crimes - some of the most horrific footage Channel 4 has ever broadcast.
Captured on mobile phones, both by Tamils under attack and government soldiers as war trophies, the disturbing footage shows: the extra-judicial executions of prisoners; the aftermath of targeted shelling of civilian camps; and dead female Tamil fighters who appear to have been raped or sexually assaulted, abused and murdered.
The film is made and broadcast as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon faces growing criticism for refusing to launch an investigation into 'credible allegations' that Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes during the closing weeks of the bloody conflict with the Tamil Tigers.
In April 2011, Ban Ki-moon published a report by a UN-appointed panel of experts, which concluded that as many as 40,000 people were killed in the final weeks of the war between the Tamil Tigers and government forces.
It called for the creation of an international mechanism to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law committed by government forces and the Tamil Tigers during that time.
This film provides powerful evidence that will lend new urgency to the panel's call for an international inquiry to be mounted, including harrowing interviews with eye-witnesses, new photographic stills, official Sri Lankan army video footage, and satellite imagery.
Also examined in the film are some of the horrific atrocities carried out by the Tamil Tigers, who used civilians as human shields.
Channel 4 News has consistently reported on the bloody denouement of Sri Lanka's civil war. Sri Lanka's Killing Fields presents a further damning account of the actions of Sri Lankan forces, in a war that the government still insists was conducted with a policy of Zero Civilian Casualties.
The film raises serious questions about the consequences if the UN fails to act, not only with respect to Sri Lanka but also to future violations of international law."
BBC2 - Wonderland: The Kids Who Play With Fire - "Documentary following three children who have a history of setting fires. Ten-year-old Liam sleeps on a charred mattress, Ryan is brazenly fascinated by flames, and 14-year-old Hulya has repeatedly set her bedroom alight. Fire service counsellors, determined to put a stop to their behaviour, try to understand the anger and frustration that provokes them."
ITV - Baby Hospital - new 3 part series - "New documentary series Baby Hospital follows the moving stories of the babies being cared for on the Neonatal Unit at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
Everyone hopes for a healthy happy baby – but this three part series looks at the one in ten cases where things don’t go to plan, and the baby ends up in intensive care, teetering between life and death.
With unique access to the hospital, the three part series will focus on babies born as much as 16 weeks early, as well as the stories of their families, providing a rare and intimate insight into the intensely demanding work of the doctors and nurses tasked with doing all they can to save their tiny patients’ lives.
The Women’s Hospital in Liverpool is the largest of its kind in the country. As a centre of excellence, its dedicated staff prides themselves on being at the cutting edge of neonatal science. They provide round the clock care for babies born prematurely, with low weight or who have a medical condition requiring specialist treatment. The neonatal unit cares for a thousand babies a year - some of the smallest and sickest - babies who weigh just half a pound, and who are on the cusp of life.
Dr Chris Dewhurst explains: “Our little babies are the most vulnerable of all patients really. The baby has not been asked to be born early or poorly. I always think this is the baby’s first day alive; he hasn’t got his mum and dad here, so we need to take care of him and treat him like our own baby.
“The dream of everyone when they think about babies is these very cute cuddly little things in white nappies being taken home to beautiful houses and that’s not always the case.
“I like to think of the neonatal unit as a happy place but we have to accept that we experience the extremes of human emotion on here. We will have the elation of parents taking home their 24 week baby, through to the despair and sadness of parents who are expecting a normal term healthy term baby and something goes wrong.”
For most parents the birth of a baby is a time of great happiness and excitement. But when there are complications, a baby is born prematurely or has medical problems, parents face an emotional roller coaster.
The series shows the devotion and determination of the nursing staff as they battle to save the lives of babies in their care, and the courage of the families as they try to cope with difficult and heart rending decisions about their children’s future.
Executive producer Paul Hamann said: “Nine out of ten babies in the UK are born healthy, so most of us take having a healthy baby for granted.
“But the senior staff at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, the largest in this country, wanted to tell the real story of what happens to the one in ten, where things don’t go to plan – and to show exactly what that can mean for families.”
Thursday 16th
BBC1 - Breaking Into Britain - "Evan Davis presents a Panorama investigation into economic migrants who illegally enter Britain, asking how difficult it is and why they risk so much to achieve their goals. Reporter Shoaib Sharifi begins in his homeland of Afghanistan, where he meets those prepared to smuggle themselves onto lorries, while Ugandan-born Kassim Kayira examines the trade in fake documents that some Nigerians are using to fly into the UK."
Channel 4 - The Sex Researchers - new 3 part series - "For over 100 years, pioneering men and women have been uncovering our deepest secrets. Their methods have been visionary, kinky and sometimes bizarre, and their findings have transformed our sex lives.This first episode looks at how sex researchers have tried to understand how the opposite sex works.
One sex researcher in Canada believes men and women are turned on in very different ways. Her experiment shows heterosexual men respond to straight sex: no surprise!
But women it seems are aroused by images of any kind of sex, from gay men to bonking monkeys; but they don't necessarily know their body is responding. Is sex in the mind or in the loins? And are men and women fundamentally different? Then there's the orgasm. For men it's clearly linked to making babies - but for women? What was its purpose? In the 1950s, gynaecologist Bill Masters teamed up with his secretary Virginia Johnson to take a more rigorous look. Together they recorded 10,000 orgasms in their laboratory, and concluded that, for women, orgasm was simply for pleasure.
Their book, perhaps unsurprisingly, was a best seller, and they became sex research superstars."
BBC3 - Kids Behind Bars - 3 part series - "Kids Behind Bars is a new, extraordinary, three–part series which tells the stories of Britain's youngest criminals. Filming in a secure unit for a year the series documents the journeys of boys and girls who are behind bars, to tell their stories and explore what it's like to be locked up while you're still a child."
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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.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Off-air recordings for week 4-10 June 2011
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk , or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Monday 6th
BBC Radio 4 - Macolm X: A Life of Reinvention - 5 part series - "Constantly rewriting his own story, Malcolm X became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and eventually an icon, assassinated at the age of 39.
The details of his life have long since calcified into a familiar narrative: his early years as a vagabond in Boston and New York, his conversion to Islam and subsequent rise to prominence as a militant advocate for black rights, his acrimonious split with the Nation of Islam, and ultimately his violent death at their hands. Yet this story, told and retold to various ends by writers, historians, and filmmakers, captures only a snapshot, a fraction of the man in full.
Manning Marable's new biography is a stunning achievement, filled with new information and shocking revelations that will reframe the way we understand his life and work. Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of the darkest days of racial unrest, from the rise of the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement, examining his engagement with the Nation of Islam, and the romantic relationships whose energy alternately drained him and pushed him to unimagined heights.
Malcolm X - A Life of Reinvention is an attempt to definitively capture one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century, a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew."
Tuesday 7th
BBC4 - Botany: A Blooming History - 3 part series - "What makes plants grow is a simple enough question. The answer turns out to be one of the most complicated and fascinating stories in science and took over 300 years to unravel.
Timothy Walker, director of Oxford University Botanic Garden, reveals how the breakthroughs of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chelsea gardener Phillip Miller and English naturalist John Ray created the science of botany. Between them these quirky, temperamental characters unlocked the mysteries of the plant kingdom and they began to glimpse a world where bigger, better and stronger plants could be created. Nurseryman Thomas Fairchild created the world's first artificial hybrid flower - an entirely new plant that didn't exist in nature.
Today, botanists continue the search for new flowers, better crops and improved medicines to treat life-threatening diseases."
BBC1 - Poor Kids - "Documentary telling the stories of some of the 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. It is one of the worst child poverty rates in the industrialised world, and successive governments continue to struggle to bring it into line. So who are these children, and where are they living? Under-represented, under-nourished and often under the radar, 3.5 million children should be given a voice. And this powerful film does just that.
Eight-year-old Courtney, 10-year-old Paige and 11-year-old Sam live in different parts of the UK. Breathtakingly honest and eloquent, they give testament to how having no money affects their lives: lack of food, being bullied and having nowhere to play. The children might be indignant about their situation now, but this may not be enough to help them. Their thoughts on their futures are sobering.
Sam's 16-year-old sister Kayleigh puts it all into context, as she tells how the effects of poverty led her to take extreme measures to try and escape it all.
Poor Kids puts the children on centre stage, and they command it with honesty and directness. It's time for everyone to listen."
Wednesday 8th
BBC3 - Our War - 3 part series - "Series marking the ten-year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, telling the story of the conflict through the words and pictures of the young soldiers themselves."
BBC4 - Hidcote: A Garded For All Seasons - "Documentary telling the story of Hidcote, the most influential English garden of the 20th century and Lawrence Johnston, the enigmatic genius behind it. Hidcote was the first garden ever taken on by the National Trust, who have spent 3.5 million pounds in a major programme of restoration. As part of this facelift, the garden team have been researching Johnston's original vision and in doing so have uncovered a compelling story that reveals how he created such an iconic garden.
Yet until recently, little has been known about its secretive creator and self-taught gardener, Johnston. He kept few, if any, records on Hidcote's construction, but the head gardener at Hidcote, Glyn Jones, has embarked on a personal mission to discover as much about the man as possible to find out how, in the early 20th century, Johnston set about creating a garden regarded as the model of inspiration for designers all over the world."
ITV1 - Mugged - "Mugged sees BAFTA award winner Brian Hill take a fresh look at the most common street crime in Britain. Last year there were more than 1000 muggings a day and in this documentary film he uncovers the human stories behind the statistics, told from the point of view of victims and of muggers.
The range of stories provide an unflinching look at the profound personal impact of mugging on people from all walks of life, with contributors’ testimony offering a vivid insight into the both the attacks and the full extent of the aftermath.
Jane tells the shocking story of muggers pushing her off her bicycle to steal her bag, which led to her hitting her head and ending up in a coma. Luckily Jane is able to tell the tale but her story leaves no doubt that her ordeal has changed her life forever.
“I know that I have brain damage as a result, but I don’t really understand the extent. And it’s only recently really that I’ve accepted the permanence,” explains Jane. “I have absent seizures a lot, where I find it really hard to communicate, and I have Jacksonian seizures sometimes, which is just - which is down one side of my body, down the righthand side.”
The film also features Paul, who bravely stepped in to help when he heard the cries of Jackie, a woman being mugged. The muggers turned on Paul and viciously attacked him – the force was so great that he later had to have a major lung operation to stop it from collapsing. Despite this, Paul doesn’t regret helping Jackie and she has very gratefully acknowledged him as her hero.
“He’s (Paul) sort of like an old friend, and yet I don’t really know him,” says Jackie. “But I’ll never forget what he did. Not ever.”
Providing a rare glimpse into the motivations of those who carry out muggings, producer Brian Hill also speaks to muggers, who talk candidly about their crimes – and the reasons for their actions.
“We used to hit up all the student areas, just like drive around, you know, see someone, go right, we’ll have him…,” explains Anthony, who served two jail terms for street robbery. “Spoilt rich kids, that’s the way we looked at it.” Anthony continues, “The method was I’d just give them a couple of slaps and, you know what I mean, they’d know not to mess around, they would just do as they’re told…Best adrenaline rush you’d ever get in the world.”
Thursday 9th
BBC2 - The Clydebank Blitz - "The Blitz on the industrial town of Clydebank, seven miles from the centre of Glasgow, was one of the most intense, deadly and remarkably unknown of the war. Well over 1200 people were killed in the Clydeside area and at least the same again were seriously injured by the bombing on the nights of the 13th and 14th March 1941. The destruction in Clydebank was so severe that only seven properties were left undamaged by the bombing and the population was reduced from almost 60,000 to little more than 2000.
The awful truth about the scale of destruction and the number of casualties never hit the headlines as wartime censorship meant that the whole event was effectively 'hushed up'. But the stories still live on in the minds of some of the children that survived the raid and in The Clydebank Blitz, they tell their own harrowing stories of what was one of Britain's worst bombing raids and Scotland's biggest civilian disaster."
Friday 10th
Channel 4 - Unreported World: Indonesia's Wildlife Warriors - "Unreported World travels to Indonesia to meet young environmental activists battling to save endangered species such as orang-utans and sea turtles. Reporter Aidan Hartley and producer Rodrigo Vazquez visit a vast market where critically endangered animals are sold as pets or for the Chinese medicine trade, and uncover allegations of corruption and harassment of the campaigners.
Borneo has one of the planet's last big forests, but every hour an area the size of three football pitches is cut down to be used for palm oil production. The Unreported World team joins one team of young, local environmentalists who are trying to rescue the orang-utan, which, because of the loss of its habitat, is heading for extinction.
They arrive at a rescue operation for orang-utans kept illegally by local people as pets. The local chief tells Hartley that the loss of forest has brought people into conflict with orang-utans. A farmer who captured one baby orang-utan says he thinks they are a nuisance.
Environmental activist Ali tells Hartley that some palm oil farmers see orang-utans as vermin and that local people collect a $10 reward when they bring in an orang-utan's head or severed hand. He says the few infants that are spared end up in cages or are sold as pets in private zoos across Asia, and that middle men can pay just US$25 to a poacher or plantation worker for a baby orang-utan, which, if smuggled to Thailand, is worth about US$25,000... "
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Monday 6th
BBC Radio 4 - Macolm X: A Life of Reinvention - 5 part series - "Constantly rewriting his own story, Malcolm X became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and eventually an icon, assassinated at the age of 39.
The details of his life have long since calcified into a familiar narrative: his early years as a vagabond in Boston and New York, his conversion to Islam and subsequent rise to prominence as a militant advocate for black rights, his acrimonious split with the Nation of Islam, and ultimately his violent death at their hands. Yet this story, told and retold to various ends by writers, historians, and filmmakers, captures only a snapshot, a fraction of the man in full.
Manning Marable's new biography is a stunning achievement, filled with new information and shocking revelations that will reframe the way we understand his life and work. Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of the darkest days of racial unrest, from the rise of the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement, examining his engagement with the Nation of Islam, and the romantic relationships whose energy alternately drained him and pushed him to unimagined heights.
Malcolm X - A Life of Reinvention is an attempt to definitively capture one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century, a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew."
Tuesday 7th
BBC4 - Botany: A Blooming History - 3 part series - "What makes plants grow is a simple enough question. The answer turns out to be one of the most complicated and fascinating stories in science and took over 300 years to unravel.
Timothy Walker, director of Oxford University Botanic Garden, reveals how the breakthroughs of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chelsea gardener Phillip Miller and English naturalist John Ray created the science of botany. Between them these quirky, temperamental characters unlocked the mysteries of the plant kingdom and they began to glimpse a world where bigger, better and stronger plants could be created. Nurseryman Thomas Fairchild created the world's first artificial hybrid flower - an entirely new plant that didn't exist in nature.
Today, botanists continue the search for new flowers, better crops and improved medicines to treat life-threatening diseases."
BBC1 - Poor Kids - "Documentary telling the stories of some of the 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. It is one of the worst child poverty rates in the industrialised world, and successive governments continue to struggle to bring it into line. So who are these children, and where are they living? Under-represented, under-nourished and often under the radar, 3.5 million children should be given a voice. And this powerful film does just that.
Eight-year-old Courtney, 10-year-old Paige and 11-year-old Sam live in different parts of the UK. Breathtakingly honest and eloquent, they give testament to how having no money affects their lives: lack of food, being bullied and having nowhere to play. The children might be indignant about their situation now, but this may not be enough to help them. Their thoughts on their futures are sobering.
Sam's 16-year-old sister Kayleigh puts it all into context, as she tells how the effects of poverty led her to take extreme measures to try and escape it all.
Poor Kids puts the children on centre stage, and they command it with honesty and directness. It's time for everyone to listen."
Wednesday 8th
BBC3 - Our War - 3 part series - "Series marking the ten-year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, telling the story of the conflict through the words and pictures of the young soldiers themselves."
BBC4 - Hidcote: A Garded For All Seasons - "Documentary telling the story of Hidcote, the most influential English garden of the 20th century and Lawrence Johnston, the enigmatic genius behind it. Hidcote was the first garden ever taken on by the National Trust, who have spent 3.5 million pounds in a major programme of restoration. As part of this facelift, the garden team have been researching Johnston's original vision and in doing so have uncovered a compelling story that reveals how he created such an iconic garden.
Yet until recently, little has been known about its secretive creator and self-taught gardener, Johnston. He kept few, if any, records on Hidcote's construction, but the head gardener at Hidcote, Glyn Jones, has embarked on a personal mission to discover as much about the man as possible to find out how, in the early 20th century, Johnston set about creating a garden regarded as the model of inspiration for designers all over the world."
ITV1 - Mugged - "Mugged sees BAFTA award winner Brian Hill take a fresh look at the most common street crime in Britain. Last year there were more than 1000 muggings a day and in this documentary film he uncovers the human stories behind the statistics, told from the point of view of victims and of muggers.
The range of stories provide an unflinching look at the profound personal impact of mugging on people from all walks of life, with contributors’ testimony offering a vivid insight into the both the attacks and the full extent of the aftermath.
Jane tells the shocking story of muggers pushing her off her bicycle to steal her bag, which led to her hitting her head and ending up in a coma. Luckily Jane is able to tell the tale but her story leaves no doubt that her ordeal has changed her life forever.
“I know that I have brain damage as a result, but I don’t really understand the extent. And it’s only recently really that I’ve accepted the permanence,” explains Jane. “I have absent seizures a lot, where I find it really hard to communicate, and I have Jacksonian seizures sometimes, which is just - which is down one side of my body, down the righthand side.”
The film also features Paul, who bravely stepped in to help when he heard the cries of Jackie, a woman being mugged. The muggers turned on Paul and viciously attacked him – the force was so great that he later had to have a major lung operation to stop it from collapsing. Despite this, Paul doesn’t regret helping Jackie and she has very gratefully acknowledged him as her hero.
“He’s (Paul) sort of like an old friend, and yet I don’t really know him,” says Jackie. “But I’ll never forget what he did. Not ever.”
Providing a rare glimpse into the motivations of those who carry out muggings, producer Brian Hill also speaks to muggers, who talk candidly about their crimes – and the reasons for their actions.
“We used to hit up all the student areas, just like drive around, you know, see someone, go right, we’ll have him…,” explains Anthony, who served two jail terms for street robbery. “Spoilt rich kids, that’s the way we looked at it.” Anthony continues, “The method was I’d just give them a couple of slaps and, you know what I mean, they’d know not to mess around, they would just do as they’re told…Best adrenaline rush you’d ever get in the world.”
Thursday 9th
BBC2 - The Clydebank Blitz - "The Blitz on the industrial town of Clydebank, seven miles from the centre of Glasgow, was one of the most intense, deadly and remarkably unknown of the war. Well over 1200 people were killed in the Clydeside area and at least the same again were seriously injured by the bombing on the nights of the 13th and 14th March 1941. The destruction in Clydebank was so severe that only seven properties were left undamaged by the bombing and the population was reduced from almost 60,000 to little more than 2000.
The awful truth about the scale of destruction and the number of casualties never hit the headlines as wartime censorship meant that the whole event was effectively 'hushed up'. But the stories still live on in the minds of some of the children that survived the raid and in The Clydebank Blitz, they tell their own harrowing stories of what was one of Britain's worst bombing raids and Scotland's biggest civilian disaster."
Friday 10th
Channel 4 - Unreported World: Indonesia's Wildlife Warriors - "Unreported World travels to Indonesia to meet young environmental activists battling to save endangered species such as orang-utans and sea turtles. Reporter Aidan Hartley and producer Rodrigo Vazquez visit a vast market where critically endangered animals are sold as pets or for the Chinese medicine trade, and uncover allegations of corruption and harassment of the campaigners.
Borneo has one of the planet's last big forests, but every hour an area the size of three football pitches is cut down to be used for palm oil production. The Unreported World team joins one team of young, local environmentalists who are trying to rescue the orang-utan, which, because of the loss of its habitat, is heading for extinction.
They arrive at a rescue operation for orang-utans kept illegally by local people as pets. The local chief tells Hartley that the loss of forest has brought people into conflict with orang-utans. A farmer who captured one baby orang-utan says he thinks they are a nuisance.
Environmental activist Ali tells Hartley that some palm oil farmers see orang-utans as vermin and that local people collect a $10 reward when they bring in an orang-utan's head or severed hand. He says the few infants that are spared end up in cages or are sold as pets in private zoos across Asia, and that middle men can pay just US$25 to a poacher or plantation worker for a baby orang-utan, which, if smuggled to Thailand, is worth about US$25,000... "
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Off-air recordings for week 28 May - 3 June 2011
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk , or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Monday 30th May
BBC1 - Egypt's Lost Cities - "It is possible that only one percent of the wonders of Ancient Egypt have been discovered, but now, thanks to a pioneering approach to archaeology, that is about to change. Dr Sarah Parcak uses satellites to probe beneath the sands, where she has found cities, temples and pyramids. Now, with Dallas Campbell and Liz Bonnin, she heads to Egypt to discover if these magnificent buildings are really there.
Tuesday 31st May
BBC4 - Storyville - Pol Pot's Executioner: Welcome To Hell - "On 28 February 2009 Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, appeared in the ECCC courtroom and made a two-hour speech where he asked for forgiveness for the appalling torture and execution of at least 13,000 prisoners at Tuol Sleng and probably more in the security camps of M-13 and M-99. Until this date, with the exception of a handful of judges, lawyers and a priest, he had not been seen or heard of for the last thirty years. How did a man, known to be kind and generous to fellow students, possibly transform himself into Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge's infamous executioner? This documentary revisits and searches for clues.
BBC4 - Storyville - Amnesty! When They Are All Free - "To celebrate its 50th anniversary in May 2011, this probing documentary brings together an extraordinary cast of interviewees, from Sting to former home secretary Jack Straw, to shed light on how, as a 'letter-writing organisation, Amnesty International has changed the world and how the world has changed Amnesty International. It poses the fundamental question: has the human rights movement been able to hold back mankind's capacity for atrocity?"
Wednesday 1st June
BBC2 - Wonderland: The Men Who Wouldn't Stop Marching - "More than ten years after the end of the troubles, filmmaker Alison Millar explores Belfast's Shankill Road to find out how well the scars of war have healed. For four months she joined the men of the famous marching bands and in particular, spent time with Jordan, an eleven-year old aspiring drummer from one of the most famous former paramilitary families on the estate. What she found is a mixture of entrenched prejudice, relief that the troubles are over, nostalgia for the days of paramilitary discipline, and a battened-down resistance to talking about the past. But when Jordan makes a shocking discovery at the end of his road, his father's brittle silence cracks and he decides to take his son on a journey into his own past and through the Maze Prison where he had been inside for several years."
Thursday 2nd June
BBC1 - Andrew Marr's Megacities - 3 part series - "Documentary series in which Andrew Marr finds out how some of the world's largest cities feed, protect and move their citizens. In the first episode, Andrew looks at how people live in five of the world's biggest megacities: London, one of the world's oldest megacities; Dhaka, the world's fastest-growing megacity; Tokyo, the largest megacity on Earth; Mexico City, one of the most dangerous cities in the world; and Shanghai, arguably the financial capital of the world. Andrew compares the sleek skyscrapers and rapid modernisation of Shanghai to the colourful street culture and geographic sprawl of Mexico City. He spends a night living in a one-room shack in Dhaka's toughest slum, taking his turn to fetch water, cook and clean; and he rents a friend in the efficient and high-tech, but alienating, city of Tokyo. As he gets under the skin of each unique metropolis, Andrew discovers how the structure of each megacity defines every aspect of its inhabitants' daily lives."
BBC4 - Storyville -Prosecutor - "Exploring the work of Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. The programme follows him as he defends the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Al-Bashir at the UN Security Council in New York, and opens the court's first trial of alleged Congolese war criminal Thomas Lubanga."
Friday 3rd June
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Breaking Into Israel - "In the Sinai desert, thousands of African immigrants fleeing conscription, torture and conflict in East Africa risk being shot by border guards and held ransom by people smugglers as they try to get to Israel.
Reporter Ramita Navai and director Paul Kittel arrive in the Sinai desert in north-east Egypt just over a month after the revolution that toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Smuggling from Egypt to Israel has gone on for years, but now the smugglers are focused on people rather than goods.
Navai and Kittel visit a smugglers' safe house where 100 Eritrean migrants are crammed into four small rooms terrified that they will be arrested by Egyptian border guards.
Eritrea produces more refugees than almost any other country in the world, with nearly 2000 people escaping every month. Twenty-one-year-old Joseph has been in the smugglers' hands for over a month and has paid them $2000. He tells Navai that the Eritrean regime forcibly conscripts men and women, and that deserters can be tortured or killed.
Another man, Sammy, says he has deserted the army and that torture, starvation and slave labour are commonplace. He also tells the team that conscription can be indefinite.
For the refugees, Israel's fast-growing economy promises safety and prosperity. The team talks to the mastermind of a people-smuggling ring transporting migrants into the country.
He tells Navai that it is a sophisticated operation run by Bedouins in three different countries and that one smuggler can transport up to 4000 migrants to Israel every two years.
Later that night the team is driven deeper into the desert, less than a mile away from the Israeli border. The refugees are about to embark on one of the riskiest parts of their journey.
Most of the 260km border is open, but Egyptian guards have been accused of using a shoot-to-kill policy against anyone found trying to cross into Israel illegally and 86 people have reportedly been killed crossing the border. The Egyptian authorities deny using a shoot-to-kill policy but say lethal force is justified to stop illegal activity.
The team crosses over into Israel as the migrants face the next stage of their journey; they must get further than 50km from the border or face being handed back to the Egyptian authorities if they're captured. The team receives a call from another refugee, Tadsse. He has been captured but has been detained rather than handed over to the Egyptians.
Navai and Kittel head north to Tel Aviv, which is Israel's business capital and the goal for the refugees. They meet 25-year-old Eritrean Kidane Isaac who was smuggled over four years ago and now lives there legally and helps recently arrived immigrants.
He tells Navai that many of the 20,000 Eritreans who have made it to Israel are now safe but destitute. He rents a tiny shared room in a flat with 16 other refugees.
He also claims that in recent months there has been a disturbing new development: smuggling gangs have started to hold refugees for ransom, extorting cash from relatives who already live abroad. He says men have been killed and women raped. The team travels to a medical centre that treats up to 700 Eritreans every month, who say they've been abused at the hands of their kidnappers.
With evidence suggesting nearly 200 Eritreans are being held hostage in the Sinai desert for ransom, Kidane talks to one smuggler insisting on $13,000 for each person being held. The smugglers are threatening to kill them if they don't get paid.
Israel has appealed to the Egyptian authorities to investigate these kidnappings but so far no cases have been pursued.
Israel is now building an electronic fence to keep African migrants out, but with the ongoing violence in their country, it seems clear that Eritreans will continue to seek refuge here and in Europe and take any risk on the way."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Monday 30th May
BBC1 - Egypt's Lost Cities - "It is possible that only one percent of the wonders of Ancient Egypt have been discovered, but now, thanks to a pioneering approach to archaeology, that is about to change. Dr Sarah Parcak uses satellites to probe beneath the sands, where she has found cities, temples and pyramids. Now, with Dallas Campbell and Liz Bonnin, she heads to Egypt to discover if these magnificent buildings are really there.
Tuesday 31st May
BBC4 - Storyville - Pol Pot's Executioner: Welcome To Hell - "On 28 February 2009 Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, appeared in the ECCC courtroom and made a two-hour speech where he asked for forgiveness for the appalling torture and execution of at least 13,000 prisoners at Tuol Sleng and probably more in the security camps of M-13 and M-99. Until this date, with the exception of a handful of judges, lawyers and a priest, he had not been seen or heard of for the last thirty years. How did a man, known to be kind and generous to fellow students, possibly transform himself into Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge's infamous executioner? This documentary revisits and searches for clues.
BBC4 - Storyville - Amnesty! When They Are All Free - "To celebrate its 50th anniversary in May 2011, this probing documentary brings together an extraordinary cast of interviewees, from Sting to former home secretary Jack Straw, to shed light on how, as a 'letter-writing organisation, Amnesty International has changed the world and how the world has changed Amnesty International. It poses the fundamental question: has the human rights movement been able to hold back mankind's capacity for atrocity?"
Wednesday 1st June
BBC2 - Wonderland: The Men Who Wouldn't Stop Marching - "More than ten years after the end of the troubles, filmmaker Alison Millar explores Belfast's Shankill Road to find out how well the scars of war have healed. For four months she joined the men of the famous marching bands and in particular, spent time with Jordan, an eleven-year old aspiring drummer from one of the most famous former paramilitary families on the estate. What she found is a mixture of entrenched prejudice, relief that the troubles are over, nostalgia for the days of paramilitary discipline, and a battened-down resistance to talking about the past. But when Jordan makes a shocking discovery at the end of his road, his father's brittle silence cracks and he decides to take his son on a journey into his own past and through the Maze Prison where he had been inside for several years."
Thursday 2nd June
BBC1 - Andrew Marr's Megacities - 3 part series - "Documentary series in which Andrew Marr finds out how some of the world's largest cities feed, protect and move their citizens. In the first episode, Andrew looks at how people live in five of the world's biggest megacities: London, one of the world's oldest megacities; Dhaka, the world's fastest-growing megacity; Tokyo, the largest megacity on Earth; Mexico City, one of the most dangerous cities in the world; and Shanghai, arguably the financial capital of the world. Andrew compares the sleek skyscrapers and rapid modernisation of Shanghai to the colourful street culture and geographic sprawl of Mexico City. He spends a night living in a one-room shack in Dhaka's toughest slum, taking his turn to fetch water, cook and clean; and he rents a friend in the efficient and high-tech, but alienating, city of Tokyo. As he gets under the skin of each unique metropolis, Andrew discovers how the structure of each megacity defines every aspect of its inhabitants' daily lives."
BBC4 - Storyville -Prosecutor - "Exploring the work of Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. The programme follows him as he defends the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Al-Bashir at the UN Security Council in New York, and opens the court's first trial of alleged Congolese war criminal Thomas Lubanga."
Friday 3rd June
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Breaking Into Israel - "In the Sinai desert, thousands of African immigrants fleeing conscription, torture and conflict in East Africa risk being shot by border guards and held ransom by people smugglers as they try to get to Israel.
Reporter Ramita Navai and director Paul Kittel arrive in the Sinai desert in north-east Egypt just over a month after the revolution that toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Smuggling from Egypt to Israel has gone on for years, but now the smugglers are focused on people rather than goods.
Navai and Kittel visit a smugglers' safe house where 100 Eritrean migrants are crammed into four small rooms terrified that they will be arrested by Egyptian border guards.
Eritrea produces more refugees than almost any other country in the world, with nearly 2000 people escaping every month. Twenty-one-year-old Joseph has been in the smugglers' hands for over a month and has paid them $2000. He tells Navai that the Eritrean regime forcibly conscripts men and women, and that deserters can be tortured or killed.
Another man, Sammy, says he has deserted the army and that torture, starvation and slave labour are commonplace. He also tells the team that conscription can be indefinite.
For the refugees, Israel's fast-growing economy promises safety and prosperity. The team talks to the mastermind of a people-smuggling ring transporting migrants into the country.
He tells Navai that it is a sophisticated operation run by Bedouins in three different countries and that one smuggler can transport up to 4000 migrants to Israel every two years.
Later that night the team is driven deeper into the desert, less than a mile away from the Israeli border. The refugees are about to embark on one of the riskiest parts of their journey.
Most of the 260km border is open, but Egyptian guards have been accused of using a shoot-to-kill policy against anyone found trying to cross into Israel illegally and 86 people have reportedly been killed crossing the border. The Egyptian authorities deny using a shoot-to-kill policy but say lethal force is justified to stop illegal activity.
The team crosses over into Israel as the migrants face the next stage of their journey; they must get further than 50km from the border or face being handed back to the Egyptian authorities if they're captured. The team receives a call from another refugee, Tadsse. He has been captured but has been detained rather than handed over to the Egyptians.
Navai and Kittel head north to Tel Aviv, which is Israel's business capital and the goal for the refugees. They meet 25-year-old Eritrean Kidane Isaac who was smuggled over four years ago and now lives there legally and helps recently arrived immigrants.
He tells Navai that many of the 20,000 Eritreans who have made it to Israel are now safe but destitute. He rents a tiny shared room in a flat with 16 other refugees.
He also claims that in recent months there has been a disturbing new development: smuggling gangs have started to hold refugees for ransom, extorting cash from relatives who already live abroad. He says men have been killed and women raped. The team travels to a medical centre that treats up to 700 Eritreans every month, who say they've been abused at the hands of their kidnappers.
With evidence suggesting nearly 200 Eritreans are being held hostage in the Sinai desert for ransom, Kidane talks to one smuggler insisting on $13,000 for each person being held. The smugglers are threatening to kill them if they don't get paid.
Israel has appealed to the Egyptian authorities to investigate these kidnappings but so far no cases have been pursued.
Israel is now building an electronic fence to keep African migrants out, but with the ongoing violence in their country, it seems clear that Eritreans will continue to seek refuge here and in Europe and take any risk on the way."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Off-air recordings for week 21-27 May 2011
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk , or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Sunday 22nd May
BBC2 - Louis Theroux: Miami Mega Jail - 2 parts - "In the first episode of this two-part series, Louis spends time in one of the most notorious sections of Miami County Jail: the fifth and sixth floor of 'Main Jail', where many of the most volatile inmates are incarcerated. Held in large cage-like dwellings for up to 24 men, the inmates have developed a strange and violent jail culture. The men - who remain in the cells almost all the time and may only leave for yard time twice a week - live under the sway of a gladiatorial code. They fight each other for food, for status, and often just to pass the endless hours of confinement. Trips to the infirmary are a frequent occurrence as inmates are viciously attacked and beaten, but the guards say they are powerless to end the abuse."
Monday 23rd May
BBC2 - All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace - 3 part series - "A series of films about how we have been colonised by the machines we have built. Although we don't realise it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.
This is the story of the dream that rose up in the 1990s that computers could create a new kind of stable world. They would bring about a new kind global capitalism free of all risk and without the boom and bust of the past. They would also abolish political power and create a new kind of democracy through the internet where millions of individuals would be connected as nodes in cybernetic systems - without hierarchy.
The film tells the story of two perfect worlds. One is the small group of disciples around the novelist Ayn Rand in the 1950s. They saw themselves as a prototype for a future society where everyone could follow their own selfish desires. The other is the global utopia that digital entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley set out to create in the 1990s. Many of them were also disciples of Ayn Rand. They believed that the new computer networks would allow the creation of a society where everyone could follow their own desires, yet there would not be anarchy. They were joined by Alan Greenspan who had also been a disciple of Ayn Rand. He became convinced that the computers were creating a new kind of stable capitalism - "Like a New Planet", he said.
But the dream of stability in both worlds would be torn apart by the two dynamic human forces - love and power."
Wednesday 25th May
More 4 - True Stories: Crack House - "In 2001, Darrell 'Duck' Davis recruited a group of young men from the South Side of Chicago to help him take over the drug trade in Rockford, Illinois. For four years they sold a kilo of hard drugs each week, terrorised neighbourhoods and intimidated witnesses.
The Rockford Police Department made a string of arrests but were unable to curtail the violence. And, in 2005, when gang member Bradford Dodson attempted to execute a rival drug dealer in a busy McDonald's, the Police Department called in the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) who set the gang up in a 'surveillance house' and gathered over 1000 hours of footage as evidence.
This film uses the footage to provide a fascinating insight into what happens in a drug house, revealing the wide range of people who came to the house to buy drugs, and the truth behind the gang members' extravagant boasts of violence and wealth."
Thursday 26th
BBC4 - Heath Vs Wilson: The 10 Year Duel - "Harold Wilson and Edward Heath are two different men equally overlooked by history, but they were the political titans of the era in which Britain changed for ever. For ten years they faced each other in the House of Commons and fought four general elections, three of which were amongst the most exciting of the century. They scorned one another, yet were cast from the same mould. Both promised a revolution of meritocracy and dynamism in the economy and society. Both failed, but together they presided over a decade that redefined the nation: Britain ceased to be a world power and entered Europe; the postwar consensus in which they both believed was destroyed; Thatcherism and New Labour were born."
This documentary tells the story of their personal and political duel in the words of those who watched it - colleagues in the cabinet and government, and the journalists at the ringside. Set against a backdrop of the music and style of the 1960s and 70s it brings the era vividly to life."
Channel 4 - Breaking A Female Paedophile Ring - "Colin Blanchard, Vanessa George, Angela Allen, Tracy Lyons and Tracey Dawber provoked widespread revulsion and made international headlines after their sexual offences against children came to light in 2009.
With unique access to the police investigation, Cutting Edge is the first film to take an in-depth forensic look at this criminal web, detailing how it operated, and what motivated the five people within it.
This carefully crafted, sensitive and revealing documentary uses police interviews with the offenders, and first-hand testimonies from family members of the offenders and the parents of a possible victim.
Chilling unseen police evidence from a multi-force inquiry is pieced together in an attempt to understand how Colin Blanchard persuaded four women - all mothers - to abuse children.
The film also reveals the painstaking police investigations in Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Plymouth and Portsmouth that led to five arrests and subsequent successful convictions.
To understand the emotional and psychological fallout for those most intimately affected by the ring, the film-makers hear from the parents of a child who attended the Little Ted's Nursery in Plymouth, where Vanessa George worked.
Unaware of the secret lives of their loved ones, the perpetrators' relatives also talk candidly about how the legacy of abuse continues to affect them. The husband of one of the offenders gives detailed insight into the trauma of betrayal.
And in another powerful interview, a close relative of one of the female abusers - a young woman who has been forced into hiding - describes how she was driven from her home after the news was made public."
Friday 27th
Channel 4 - Unreported World - The Battle For Ivory Coast - "Reporter Seyi Rhodes and Director Alex Nott visit Abidjan in Ivory Coast, West Africa, to investigate the country's escalating political crisis, only to find themselves one of the few television crews to witness the terrifying violence between rival factions. They reveal how Laurent Gbagbo has clung to power despite losing the UN-backed elections, and gain access to some of his most feared supporters, including Charles Ble Goude, who agrees to let them accompany him to a series of mass rallies against their president's rival Alassane Ouattara."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Sunday 22nd May
BBC2 - Louis Theroux: Miami Mega Jail - 2 parts - "In the first episode of this two-part series, Louis spends time in one of the most notorious sections of Miami County Jail: the fifth and sixth floor of 'Main Jail', where many of the most volatile inmates are incarcerated. Held in large cage-like dwellings for up to 24 men, the inmates have developed a strange and violent jail culture. The men - who remain in the cells almost all the time and may only leave for yard time twice a week - live under the sway of a gladiatorial code. They fight each other for food, for status, and often just to pass the endless hours of confinement. Trips to the infirmary are a frequent occurrence as inmates are viciously attacked and beaten, but the guards say they are powerless to end the abuse."
Monday 23rd May
BBC2 - All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace - 3 part series - "A series of films about how we have been colonised by the machines we have built. Although we don't realise it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.
This is the story of the dream that rose up in the 1990s that computers could create a new kind of stable world. They would bring about a new kind global capitalism free of all risk and without the boom and bust of the past. They would also abolish political power and create a new kind of democracy through the internet where millions of individuals would be connected as nodes in cybernetic systems - without hierarchy.
The film tells the story of two perfect worlds. One is the small group of disciples around the novelist Ayn Rand in the 1950s. They saw themselves as a prototype for a future society where everyone could follow their own selfish desires. The other is the global utopia that digital entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley set out to create in the 1990s. Many of them were also disciples of Ayn Rand. They believed that the new computer networks would allow the creation of a society where everyone could follow their own desires, yet there would not be anarchy. They were joined by Alan Greenspan who had also been a disciple of Ayn Rand. He became convinced that the computers were creating a new kind of stable capitalism - "Like a New Planet", he said.
But the dream of stability in both worlds would be torn apart by the two dynamic human forces - love and power."
Wednesday 25th May
More 4 - True Stories: Crack House - "In 2001, Darrell 'Duck' Davis recruited a group of young men from the South Side of Chicago to help him take over the drug trade in Rockford, Illinois. For four years they sold a kilo of hard drugs each week, terrorised neighbourhoods and intimidated witnesses.
The Rockford Police Department made a string of arrests but were unable to curtail the violence. And, in 2005, when gang member Bradford Dodson attempted to execute a rival drug dealer in a busy McDonald's, the Police Department called in the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) who set the gang up in a 'surveillance house' and gathered over 1000 hours of footage as evidence.
This film uses the footage to provide a fascinating insight into what happens in a drug house, revealing the wide range of people who came to the house to buy drugs, and the truth behind the gang members' extravagant boasts of violence and wealth."
Thursday 26th
BBC4 - Heath Vs Wilson: The 10 Year Duel - "Harold Wilson and Edward Heath are two different men equally overlooked by history, but they were the political titans of the era in which Britain changed for ever. For ten years they faced each other in the House of Commons and fought four general elections, three of which were amongst the most exciting of the century. They scorned one another, yet were cast from the same mould. Both promised a revolution of meritocracy and dynamism in the economy and society. Both failed, but together they presided over a decade that redefined the nation: Britain ceased to be a world power and entered Europe; the postwar consensus in which they both believed was destroyed; Thatcherism and New Labour were born."
This documentary tells the story of their personal and political duel in the words of those who watched it - colleagues in the cabinet and government, and the journalists at the ringside. Set against a backdrop of the music and style of the 1960s and 70s it brings the era vividly to life."
Channel 4 - Breaking A Female Paedophile Ring - "Colin Blanchard, Vanessa George, Angela Allen, Tracy Lyons and Tracey Dawber provoked widespread revulsion and made international headlines after their sexual offences against children came to light in 2009.
With unique access to the police investigation, Cutting Edge is the first film to take an in-depth forensic look at this criminal web, detailing how it operated, and what motivated the five people within it.
This carefully crafted, sensitive and revealing documentary uses police interviews with the offenders, and first-hand testimonies from family members of the offenders and the parents of a possible victim.
Chilling unseen police evidence from a multi-force inquiry is pieced together in an attempt to understand how Colin Blanchard persuaded four women - all mothers - to abuse children.
The film also reveals the painstaking police investigations in Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Plymouth and Portsmouth that led to five arrests and subsequent successful convictions.
To understand the emotional and psychological fallout for those most intimately affected by the ring, the film-makers hear from the parents of a child who attended the Little Ted's Nursery in Plymouth, where Vanessa George worked.
Unaware of the secret lives of their loved ones, the perpetrators' relatives also talk candidly about how the legacy of abuse continues to affect them. The husband of one of the offenders gives detailed insight into the trauma of betrayal.
And in another powerful interview, a close relative of one of the female abusers - a young woman who has been forced into hiding - describes how she was driven from her home after the news was made public."
Friday 27th
Channel 4 - Unreported World - The Battle For Ivory Coast - "Reporter Seyi Rhodes and Director Alex Nott visit Abidjan in Ivory Coast, West Africa, to investigate the country's escalating political crisis, only to find themselves one of the few television crews to witness the terrifying violence between rival factions. They reveal how Laurent Gbagbo has clung to power despite losing the UN-backed elections, and gain access to some of his most feared supporters, including Charles Ble Goude, who agrees to let them accompany him to a series of mass rallies against their president's rival Alassane Ouattara."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Off-air recordings for week 14-20 May 2011
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk , or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Monday 16th May
BBC1 - The Street That Cut Everything - "Nick Robinson presents a unique social experiment, as he persuades one street in Preston to give up all council services for six weeks."
BBC2 - The Story Of Ireland - 5-part series - "A new five-part landmark series, written and presented by BBC Special Correspondent Fergal Keane, The Story of Ireland is a clear-eyed and expansive view of the history of the island and its people from its earliest times to the present day. Far from being a remote European outpost, episode one charts the formation of Ireland's DNA by successive ways of invaders and settlers. Along the way, Keane exposes the myth of Ireland's Celtic identity; he travels to Norway and presents the Vikings as resourceful settlers and traders in Ireland rather than as the barbarous marauders of popular belief. He also follows the trail of the early Iris monks as they bring their literature and learning through Europe to re-energise the Christian world, in the early middle ages."
Wednesday 18th
BBC2 - Wonderland: A Hasidic Guide To Love, Marriage, And Finding A Bride - "With their trademark ringletted hairstyles, tall fur hats (even in summer) and long dark coats, the Hasidic Jewish community of Stamford Hill live in a unique world divided between 21st-century urban life and 18th-century traditions.
For the most part this community is reserved and publicity shy, but film-maker Paddy Wivell has spent three months with members of the community who have decided it is time to let the rest of world inside their personal and religious lives. Father of five Avi Bresler invites Paddy to his oldest son's wedding – a scene of religious solemnity, family gathering and exuberant drinking – and on his quest to find a wife for his second son. The programme follows a trip to spend Jewish New Year in the Ukraine at one of the world's largest Hasidic festivals; a visit to Avi's family in Jerusalem; regular audiences with a Hasidic scholar to find out about his notions of love and marriage; and a meeting with a professional shadchan (Jewish matchmaker) at which the family-loving Avi reveals something from his past that takes everyone by surprise."
Thursday 19th
BBC4 - The Golden Age Of Canals - "Most people thought that when the working traffic on canals faded away after the war, it would be the end of their story. But they were wrong. A few diehard enthusiasts and boat owners campaigned, lobbied and dug, sometimes with their bare hands, to keep the network of narrow canals open.
Some of these enthusiasts filmed their campaigns and their home movies tell the story of how, in the teeth of much political opposition, they saved the inland waterways for the nation and, more than 200 years after they were first built, created a second golden age of the canals.
Stan Offley, an IWA activist from Ellesmere Port, filmed his boating trips around the wide canals in the 40s, 50s and 60s in 16mm colour. But equally charming is the film made by Ed Frangleton, help from Harry Arnold, of a hostel boat holiday on the Llangollen Canal in 1961. There are the films shot by ex-working boatmen Ike Argent from his home in Nottinghamshire and looked after by his son Barry.
There is astonishing film of the last days of working boats, some shot by John Pyper when he spent time with the Beechey's in the 60s, film taken by Keith Christie of the last days of the cut around the BCN, and the films made by Keith and his mate Tony Gregory of their attempts to keep working the canals through their carrying company, Midland Canal Transport.
There is film of key restorations, the Stourbridge 16 being talked about with great wit and affection by one of the leading activists in that watershed of restorations in the mid-60s, David Tomlinson, and John Maynard's beautiful films of the restoration of the Huddersfield, 'the impossible restoration', shot over two decades.
All these and more are in the programme alongside the people who made the films and some of the stars of them. Together they tell the story of how, in the years after 1945, a few people fought the government like David fought Goliath to keep canals open and restore ones that had become defunct, and won against all the odds.
Channel 4 - Hunting Britain's Most Wanted - "The expansion of the EU and open borders in the UK have led to a surge in foreign criminals heading for Britain. The number of requests for wanted fugitives has risen ten-fold over the past five years and now totals more than 4300 a year.
Over the course of three months Cutting Edge has unique access to New Scotland Yard's Extradition Unit as they track down murderers, suspected rapists and armed robbers from abroad.
A record 1500 foreign fugitives are now arrested each year and with more and more coming to these shores it's a job that is stretching the unit and its officers to the limit.
Some of these criminals go to extraordinary lengths to evade capture, changing their name and ID so it's a painstaking and often frustrating experience tracking them down.
The film makers are there as officers follow up on leads, tracing potentially dangerous criminals, and capture high-tension arrests as the unit's hard work finally pays off.
The cameras are also with the unit when it deals with some of its biggest ever high profile cases, including the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, wanted in Sweden for alleged sex crimes, and the arrest of Shrien Dewani, wanted in South Africa in connection with the death of his wife, Anni, on their honeymoon.
Other cases include the hunt for Hungary's most wanted fugitive, a Turkish man who conducted an honour killing, a suspected Croatian war criminal and an alleged serial rapist who's escaped the French authorities and who they must close in on before it's too late."
Friday 20th
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Mexico: Living With Hitmen - "Mexico's drug wars have been well reported, but there is a frightening, new phenomenon that is going largely unnoticed. A growing number of journalists are being killed or 'disappeared' as they try to report on drug violence and the growing links between the cartels and the corrupt police and politicians.
Reporter Evan Williams and Director Alex Nott travel to Ciudad Juarez, on the US border, to experience the daily life of a journalist who has been called one of the most courageous women in Mexico.
Luz Sosa is chief crime reporter on El Diario, the main newspaper in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 3000 were murdered last year as powerful drug cartels fight for control of routes to smuggle cocaine and heroin into the US.
Luz spends her days travelling from one crime scene to another trying to ascertain the truth of what's happened and provide a record of the conflict, which is spiraling out of control and in which hundreds of women, grandmothers and even babies have been murdered in revenge attacks or warnings.
Someone - possibly the drugs cartels, or the security services, or both - is targeting her, and several colleagues have already paid the ultimate price.
Just two years ago, Luz's predecessor, crime reporter Armando Rodriguez, was shot dead in front of his home as he was about to take his children to school. No one knows for sure who killed him but Luz says he had written about the links between the cartels and corrupt politicians.
Nearby in the office there is another small flower by the photograph of Luis Carlos Santiago, a 21-year-old photographer. In September 2010, Luz got a call that there was another murder. They arrived at the scene to find their young colleague dead.
It was after she wrote up this story that she too received a direct threat. Her front-page article was found next to a severed human head on the outskirts of the city.
A single mother of two, she says she's never sure whether each day will be the one when she doesn't come home to her kids. Her mother says she prays every day for her daughter's safety and that she will see her again at the end of the day.
The team also meets TV journalist Arturo Perez. He tells Williams that crime gangs, corrupt officials or police could be responsible for the killing and disappearances of journalists but there is never any credible investigation into these killings.
Just across the border in the United States, Williams and Nott meet one of Juarez's leading journalists, who has been given asylum. He claims that after he published an investigation into corrupt officials linked to the cartels he received a threat from an official in the state governor's office that he would be the next journalist to die.
He also claims that some police are involved in extortion with the drug gangs, and that they take their orders from corrupt politicians involved with the drug business. 'They can do anything, they use their weapons and uniforms for this as they know they will never be prosecuted,' he says."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Monday 16th May
BBC1 - The Street That Cut Everything - "Nick Robinson presents a unique social experiment, as he persuades one street in Preston to give up all council services for six weeks."
BBC2 - The Story Of Ireland - 5-part series - "A new five-part landmark series, written and presented by BBC Special Correspondent Fergal Keane, The Story of Ireland is a clear-eyed and expansive view of the history of the island and its people from its earliest times to the present day. Far from being a remote European outpost, episode one charts the formation of Ireland's DNA by successive ways of invaders and settlers. Along the way, Keane exposes the myth of Ireland's Celtic identity; he travels to Norway and presents the Vikings as resourceful settlers and traders in Ireland rather than as the barbarous marauders of popular belief. He also follows the trail of the early Iris monks as they bring their literature and learning through Europe to re-energise the Christian world, in the early middle ages."
Wednesday 18th
BBC2 - Wonderland: A Hasidic Guide To Love, Marriage, And Finding A Bride - "With their trademark ringletted hairstyles, tall fur hats (even in summer) and long dark coats, the Hasidic Jewish community of Stamford Hill live in a unique world divided between 21st-century urban life and 18th-century traditions.
For the most part this community is reserved and publicity shy, but film-maker Paddy Wivell has spent three months with members of the community who have decided it is time to let the rest of world inside their personal and religious lives. Father of five Avi Bresler invites Paddy to his oldest son's wedding – a scene of religious solemnity, family gathering and exuberant drinking – and on his quest to find a wife for his second son. The programme follows a trip to spend Jewish New Year in the Ukraine at one of the world's largest Hasidic festivals; a visit to Avi's family in Jerusalem; regular audiences with a Hasidic scholar to find out about his notions of love and marriage; and a meeting with a professional shadchan (Jewish matchmaker) at which the family-loving Avi reveals something from his past that takes everyone by surprise."
Thursday 19th
BBC4 - The Golden Age Of Canals - "Most people thought that when the working traffic on canals faded away after the war, it would be the end of their story. But they were wrong. A few diehard enthusiasts and boat owners campaigned, lobbied and dug, sometimes with their bare hands, to keep the network of narrow canals open.
Some of these enthusiasts filmed their campaigns and their home movies tell the story of how, in the teeth of much political opposition, they saved the inland waterways for the nation and, more than 200 years after they were first built, created a second golden age of the canals.
Stan Offley, an IWA activist from Ellesmere Port, filmed his boating trips around the wide canals in the 40s, 50s and 60s in 16mm colour. But equally charming is the film made by Ed Frangleton, help from Harry Arnold, of a hostel boat holiday on the Llangollen Canal in 1961. There are the films shot by ex-working boatmen Ike Argent from his home in Nottinghamshire and looked after by his son Barry.
There is astonishing film of the last days of working boats, some shot by John Pyper when he spent time with the Beechey's in the 60s, film taken by Keith Christie of the last days of the cut around the BCN, and the films made by Keith and his mate Tony Gregory of their attempts to keep working the canals through their carrying company, Midland Canal Transport.
There is film of key restorations, the Stourbridge 16 being talked about with great wit and affection by one of the leading activists in that watershed of restorations in the mid-60s, David Tomlinson, and John Maynard's beautiful films of the restoration of the Huddersfield, 'the impossible restoration', shot over two decades.
All these and more are in the programme alongside the people who made the films and some of the stars of them. Together they tell the story of how, in the years after 1945, a few people fought the government like David fought Goliath to keep canals open and restore ones that had become defunct, and won against all the odds.
Channel 4 - Hunting Britain's Most Wanted - "The expansion of the EU and open borders in the UK have led to a surge in foreign criminals heading for Britain. The number of requests for wanted fugitives has risen ten-fold over the past five years and now totals more than 4300 a year.
Over the course of three months Cutting Edge has unique access to New Scotland Yard's Extradition Unit as they track down murderers, suspected rapists and armed robbers from abroad.
A record 1500 foreign fugitives are now arrested each year and with more and more coming to these shores it's a job that is stretching the unit and its officers to the limit.
Some of these criminals go to extraordinary lengths to evade capture, changing their name and ID so it's a painstaking and often frustrating experience tracking them down.
The film makers are there as officers follow up on leads, tracing potentially dangerous criminals, and capture high-tension arrests as the unit's hard work finally pays off.
The cameras are also with the unit when it deals with some of its biggest ever high profile cases, including the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, wanted in Sweden for alleged sex crimes, and the arrest of Shrien Dewani, wanted in South Africa in connection with the death of his wife, Anni, on their honeymoon.
Other cases include the hunt for Hungary's most wanted fugitive, a Turkish man who conducted an honour killing, a suspected Croatian war criminal and an alleged serial rapist who's escaped the French authorities and who they must close in on before it's too late."
Friday 20th
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Mexico: Living With Hitmen - "Mexico's drug wars have been well reported, but there is a frightening, new phenomenon that is going largely unnoticed. A growing number of journalists are being killed or 'disappeared' as they try to report on drug violence and the growing links between the cartels and the corrupt police and politicians.
Reporter Evan Williams and Director Alex Nott travel to Ciudad Juarez, on the US border, to experience the daily life of a journalist who has been called one of the most courageous women in Mexico.
Luz Sosa is chief crime reporter on El Diario, the main newspaper in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 3000 were murdered last year as powerful drug cartels fight for control of routes to smuggle cocaine and heroin into the US.
Luz spends her days travelling from one crime scene to another trying to ascertain the truth of what's happened and provide a record of the conflict, which is spiraling out of control and in which hundreds of women, grandmothers and even babies have been murdered in revenge attacks or warnings.
Someone - possibly the drugs cartels, or the security services, or both - is targeting her, and several colleagues have already paid the ultimate price.
Just two years ago, Luz's predecessor, crime reporter Armando Rodriguez, was shot dead in front of his home as he was about to take his children to school. No one knows for sure who killed him but Luz says he had written about the links between the cartels and corrupt politicians.
Nearby in the office there is another small flower by the photograph of Luis Carlos Santiago, a 21-year-old photographer. In September 2010, Luz got a call that there was another murder. They arrived at the scene to find their young colleague dead.
It was after she wrote up this story that she too received a direct threat. Her front-page article was found next to a severed human head on the outskirts of the city.
A single mother of two, she says she's never sure whether each day will be the one when she doesn't come home to her kids. Her mother says she prays every day for her daughter's safety and that she will see her again at the end of the day.
The team also meets TV journalist Arturo Perez. He tells Williams that crime gangs, corrupt officials or police could be responsible for the killing and disappearances of journalists but there is never any credible investigation into these killings.
Just across the border in the United States, Williams and Nott meet one of Juarez's leading journalists, who has been given asylum. He claims that after he published an investigation into corrupt officials linked to the cartels he received a threat from an official in the state governor's office that he would be the next journalist to die.
He also claims that some police are involved in extortion with the drug gangs, and that they take their orders from corrupt politicians involved with the drug business. 'They can do anything, they use their weapons and uniforms for this as they know they will never be prosecuted,' he says."
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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.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Off-air recordings for week 23-29 April 2011
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk ,or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Sunday 23rd April
BBC1 - The Story Of Jesus - parts 1&2 "In a major two part series, nine of the world's leading Biblical experts re-examine the Gospel accounts of Jesus's life. Using the very latest archaeological, historical and theological research, the programmes analyse the key influences on Jesus's teaching, explore the land in which he lived and preached, and encounter the people who surrounded him.
Illustrated with specially-shot drama footage of the key moments in Jesus's life, aerial and time-lapse footage, these experts investigate the true meaning of the 2000-year-old story of Jesus, and what it meant to his original first century followers.
This episode investigates the story of Jesus from his birth to the beginning of his ministry, when he performed some of his famous healings and miracles. Expert analysis is provided by Dr Simon Gathercole of Cambridge University, who visits Bethlehem to investigate the stories of Jesus's birth; Professor James Strange of Florida University, who uses the archaeology of Galilee to explore Jesus's childhood, the lost years of his life; Dr Joan Taylor of London University, who examines the key character of John the Baptist and his influence on Jesus; and Professor Greg Carey of Lancaster Seminary, who investigates some of Jesus's key miracles, their meaning and significance."
Tuesday 26th
BBC1 - The Prison Restaurant - "The Clink is a restaurant with a difference. The menu may sound mouthwatering, but the paying customers at this classy establishment tuck into their crab, lobster and coq au vin knowing that most of the staff are convicted criminals.
This unique and controversial rehabilitation scheme, set within the walls of HMP Highdown Prison, aims to transform prisoners into fully trained chefs and waiters.
The film follows fiery head chef Al as he employs three new inmates who are struggling to change their lives and turn their backs on crime."
BBC1 - The Lock Up - "It's a game of comic and tragic survival for the police custody teams and the prisoners of the Lock Up. For a year a BBC team had exclusive access to the custody suite of Humberside Police that specialises in hosting Hull's 2,000 young people who are arrested annually.
Two thirds of young offenders usually grow out of a life of crime, but in the first of this eight-part series, Sgt Jane Biglin has a guest list of regular clients - the dangerous ASBO breaker who gives an Oscar-winning performance to get out of jail; the prostitute who finds refuge in the cells; and the young thief, a heroin addict since he was 15, who goes cold turkey."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Sunday 23rd April
BBC1 - The Story Of Jesus - parts 1&2 "In a major two part series, nine of the world's leading Biblical experts re-examine the Gospel accounts of Jesus's life. Using the very latest archaeological, historical and theological research, the programmes analyse the key influences on Jesus's teaching, explore the land in which he lived and preached, and encounter the people who surrounded him.
Illustrated with specially-shot drama footage of the key moments in Jesus's life, aerial and time-lapse footage, these experts investigate the true meaning of the 2000-year-old story of Jesus, and what it meant to his original first century followers.
This episode investigates the story of Jesus from his birth to the beginning of his ministry, when he performed some of his famous healings and miracles. Expert analysis is provided by Dr Simon Gathercole of Cambridge University, who visits Bethlehem to investigate the stories of Jesus's birth; Professor James Strange of Florida University, who uses the archaeology of Galilee to explore Jesus's childhood, the lost years of his life; Dr Joan Taylor of London University, who examines the key character of John the Baptist and his influence on Jesus; and Professor Greg Carey of Lancaster Seminary, who investigates some of Jesus's key miracles, their meaning and significance."
Tuesday 26th
BBC1 - The Prison Restaurant - "The Clink is a restaurant with a difference. The menu may sound mouthwatering, but the paying customers at this classy establishment tuck into their crab, lobster and coq au vin knowing that most of the staff are convicted criminals.
This unique and controversial rehabilitation scheme, set within the walls of HMP Highdown Prison, aims to transform prisoners into fully trained chefs and waiters.
The film follows fiery head chef Al as he employs three new inmates who are struggling to change their lives and turn their backs on crime."
BBC1 - The Lock Up - "It's a game of comic and tragic survival for the police custody teams and the prisoners of the Lock Up. For a year a BBC team had exclusive access to the custody suite of Humberside Police that specialises in hosting Hull's 2,000 young people who are arrested annually.
Two thirds of young offenders usually grow out of a life of crime, but in the first of this eight-part series, Sgt Jane Biglin has a guest list of regular clients - the dangerous ASBO breaker who gives an Oscar-winning performance to get out of jail; the prostitute who finds refuge in the cells; and the young thief, a heroin addict since he was 15, who goes cold turkey."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Off-air recordings for week 16-22 April 2011
Please email Rich Deakin rdeakin@glos.ac.uk ,or fchmediaservices@glos.ac.uk if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Saturday 16th
More 4 - When The Moors Ruled Europe - "Bettany Hughes traces the story of the mysterious and misunderstood Moors, the Islamic society that ruled in Spain for 700 years, but whose legacy was virtually erased from Western history.
In 711 AD, a tribe of newly converted Muslims from North Africa crossed the straits of Gibraltar and invaded Spain. Known as The Moors, they went on to build a rich and powerful society.
Its capital, Cordoba, was the largest and most civilised city in Europe, with hospitals, libraries and a public infrastructure light years ahead of anything in England at the time.
Amongst the many things that were introduced to Europe by Muslims at this time were: a huge body of classical Greek texts that had been lost to the rest of Europe for centuries (kick-starting the Renaissance); mathematics and the numbers we use today; advanced astronomy and medical practices; fine dining; the concept of romantic love; paper; deodorant; and even erection creams.
This wasn't the rigid, fundamentalist Islam of some people's imaginations, but a progressive, sensuous and intellectually curious culture. But when the society collapsed, Spain was fanatically re-Christianised; almost every trace of seven centuries of Islamic rule was ruthlessly removed.
It is only now, six centuries later, that The Moors' influences on European life and culture are finally beginning to be fully understood.
Sunday 17th
BBC1 - Does Christianity Have A Future? - "According to some, Christianity in the UK has no future. Closure of churches and falling attendances in the last few decades appear to show that the Christian faith is in terminal decline.
Ann Widdecombe examines the evidence, and discovers at least three areas of Christian growth which are bucking the trend - immigration into the Catholic Church, the Alpha course and the Black Pentecostalist Churches.
But even if these do arrest the decline, what about the very long term? Can Christianity survive in a world in which the young seem even less interested in Christianity than their parents? And in such a world, how is it possible to justify an established Church of England and all its privileges?
Monday 18th
BBC4 - The Gene Code - 2 part series - "SynopsisDr Adam Rutherford takes the viewer on a rollercoaster ride as he explores the consequences of one of the biggest scientific projects of all time - the decoding of the entire human genome in 2000. Adam discovers that every human carries the entire story of life on earth hidden in his or her DNA and sees how we are all linked directly to the origins of life and to the first creatures with backbones. He also investigates the implications of the fact that for much of its existence, the human race was an endangered species."
Tuesday 19th
BBC1 - The Baby Born In A Concentration Camp - "Anka Bergman gave birth to her baby daughter Eva in a Nazi concentration camp.
During her pregnancy, Anka witnessed the horrors of Auschwitz and endured six months of forced labour. If the Nazis found a woman was pregnant, she could be sent straight to the gas chambers. Amazingly, Anka's pregnancy went unnoticed for months.
Anka eventually gave birth - on the day she arrived at an extermination camp. Anka weighed just five stone and was on the brink of starvation; baby Eva weighed just three pounds.
Remarkably, both mother and daughter survived, and are living in Cambridge. Now they tell their story.
Thursday 21st
BBC1 - Jon Venables: What Went Wrong? - "The man who brought Jon Venables and Robert Thompson to justice for the murder of two-year-old Jamie Bulger goes on a journey to find out what happened to Jon, the system that was designed to rehabilitate him, and what led to him being returned to jail. Featuring experts, practitioners, and people who knew Venables, this thought-provoking documentary lifts the lid on the system of secure children's homes, and asks if more should be done for the next generation of serious child criminals."
Friday 22nd
BBC4 - Secrets Of The Arabian Nights - "The Arabian Nights arrived in the West 300 years ago and its stories have entranced generations of children and seduced adults with a vision of an exotic, magical Middle East. Richard E Grant wants to know why the book he loved as a child still has such a hold on our imagination. He travels to Paris to discover how the stories of Sinbad, Ali Baba and Aladdin were first brought to the West by the pioneering Arabist Antoine Galland in the early 18th century. The Nights became an overnight literary sensation and were translated into all the major European languages. In Cairo, Richard explores the medieval Islamic world which first created them and finds that some of the stories are still controversial because of their sexually-explicit content. Richard meets the Egyptian writer Gamal al Ghitani, who received death threats when he published a new edition of the book, and finds that the ribald and riotous stories in the Nights represent a very different view of Islam than fundamentalism."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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.
Saturday 16th
More 4 - When The Moors Ruled Europe - "Bettany Hughes traces the story of the mysterious and misunderstood Moors, the Islamic society that ruled in Spain for 700 years, but whose legacy was virtually erased from Western history.
In 711 AD, a tribe of newly converted Muslims from North Africa crossed the straits of Gibraltar and invaded Spain. Known as The Moors, they went on to build a rich and powerful society.
Its capital, Cordoba, was the largest and most civilised city in Europe, with hospitals, libraries and a public infrastructure light years ahead of anything in England at the time.
Amongst the many things that were introduced to Europe by Muslims at this time were: a huge body of classical Greek texts that had been lost to the rest of Europe for centuries (kick-starting the Renaissance); mathematics and the numbers we use today; advanced astronomy and medical practices; fine dining; the concept of romantic love; paper; deodorant; and even erection creams.
This wasn't the rigid, fundamentalist Islam of some people's imaginations, but a progressive, sensuous and intellectually curious culture. But when the society collapsed, Spain was fanatically re-Christianised; almost every trace of seven centuries of Islamic rule was ruthlessly removed.
It is only now, six centuries later, that The Moors' influences on European life and culture are finally beginning to be fully understood.
Sunday 17th
BBC1 - Does Christianity Have A Future? - "According to some, Christianity in the UK has no future. Closure of churches and falling attendances in the last few decades appear to show that the Christian faith is in terminal decline.
Ann Widdecombe examines the evidence, and discovers at least three areas of Christian growth which are bucking the trend - immigration into the Catholic Church, the Alpha course and the Black Pentecostalist Churches.
But even if these do arrest the decline, what about the very long term? Can Christianity survive in a world in which the young seem even less interested in Christianity than their parents? And in such a world, how is it possible to justify an established Church of England and all its privileges?
Monday 18th
BBC4 - The Gene Code - 2 part series - "SynopsisDr Adam Rutherford takes the viewer on a rollercoaster ride as he explores the consequences of one of the biggest scientific projects of all time - the decoding of the entire human genome in 2000. Adam discovers that every human carries the entire story of life on earth hidden in his or her DNA and sees how we are all linked directly to the origins of life and to the first creatures with backbones. He also investigates the implications of the fact that for much of its existence, the human race was an endangered species."
Tuesday 19th
BBC1 - The Baby Born In A Concentration Camp - "Anka Bergman gave birth to her baby daughter Eva in a Nazi concentration camp.
During her pregnancy, Anka witnessed the horrors of Auschwitz and endured six months of forced labour. If the Nazis found a woman was pregnant, she could be sent straight to the gas chambers. Amazingly, Anka's pregnancy went unnoticed for months.
Anka eventually gave birth - on the day she arrived at an extermination camp. Anka weighed just five stone and was on the brink of starvation; baby Eva weighed just three pounds.
Remarkably, both mother and daughter survived, and are living in Cambridge. Now they tell their story.
Thursday 21st
BBC1 - Jon Venables: What Went Wrong? - "The man who brought Jon Venables and Robert Thompson to justice for the murder of two-year-old Jamie Bulger goes on a journey to find out what happened to Jon, the system that was designed to rehabilitate him, and what led to him being returned to jail. Featuring experts, practitioners, and people who knew Venables, this thought-provoking documentary lifts the lid on the system of secure children's homes, and asks if more should be done for the next generation of serious child criminals."
Friday 22nd
BBC4 - Secrets Of The Arabian Nights - "The Arabian Nights arrived in the West 300 years ago and its stories have entranced generations of children and seduced adults with a vision of an exotic, magical Middle East. Richard E Grant wants to know why the book he loved as a child still has such a hold on our imagination. He travels to Paris to discover how the stories of Sinbad, Ali Baba and Aladdin were first brought to the West by the pioneering Arabist Antoine Galland in the early 18th century. The Nights became an overnight literary sensation and were translated into all the major European languages. In Cairo, Richard explores the medieval Islamic world which first created them and finds that some of the stories are still controversial because of their sexually-explicit content. Richard meets the Egyptian writer Gamal al Ghitani, who received death threats when he published a new edition of the book, and finds that the ribald and riotous stories in the Nights represent a very different view of Islam than fundamentalism."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*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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