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 3rd
BBC2 - The Three Lives of Gandhi - 1/3 - "In the first of three programmes examining the life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, journalist and newsreader Mishal Husain journeys through Gandhi's early years in India to the end of his controversial career in South Africa. Along the way, she confronts accusations of racism and hypocrisy levelled against Gandhi in this period, and discovers how London played a vital role in the development of the Indian Messiah."
Sunday 4th
BBC1 - Emma - 1/4 - "Jane Austen's masterpiece Emma is to be adapted by award-winning writer Sandy Welch (Our Mutual Friend, Jane Eyre, North And South) into a fresh, humorous and perceptive 4 x 60-minute serial for BBC Drama Production, for transmission on BBC One in autumn 2009.
Austen's classic comic novel follows the story of the "handsome, clever and rich" Emma Woodhouse.
Dominating the small provincial world of Highbury, Emma believes she is a skilled matchmaker and repeatedly attempts to pair up her friends and acquaintances... "
ITV1 - South Bank Show - Alison Jackson on Warhol - "Award-winning artist Alison Jackson has made a film for The South Bank Show, looking in to our obsession with celebrity through the works of Andy Warhol. Alison explores how Andy Warhol understood the power of celebrity imagery better than anyone else before or since. He founded the original gossip magazine, Interview and introduced the concept of “15 minutes of fame”. But was Warhol celebrating celebrity or was there an underlying irony to his output? What would he make of today’s celebrity-driven society and the increasingly commercialised art world that has shifted from aesthetics to money? Alison considers Warhol’s major iconic pieces: Marilyn, Mao, Elvis, Mick, and talks about the importance of these beautiful works and how Warhol influences her own work. "
Monday 5th
BBC1 - Panorama: Migrants Go Home - "Reporter Paul Kenyon continues his journey out of Africa following the route taken by 40,000 migrants a year seeking a better life in Europe. He discovers the way to the UK blocked by a new hardline policy in France to round up economic migrants and send them home, and an unlikely partnership with Libya's Colonel Gaddafi, who has reached an agreement with Italy to capture Europe-bound migrants at sea and lock them up in desert prisons.
But what about those fleeing war and persecution, and relying on Europe to protect them? Can it really justify handing them over to a military dictatorship outside the rule of international law?"
BBC4 - The Life and Death of A Mobile Phone - "Through the life cycle of one mobile phone, this documentary investigates the million and one ways in which the mobile has made itself indispensable to modern life.
One in every two human beings has a mobile, and this inanimate lump of plastic and minerals is made privy to people's innermost secrets - conversations with friends, lovers and family. It holds family photos, plays favourite music and yet, as an instrument of communication, it has its paradoxes. People are dumped by text, some pretend to be deep in a telephone conversation to avoid speaking to real people and others are affronted when their bellowed conversations on public transport are overheard.
Then, at the end of a strangely intimate relationship, it becomes one of the one billion phones discarded every year - reconditioned for re-use or smelted down for the precious metals it contains."
Tuesday 6th
BBC2 - Blitz: The Bombing of Coventry - "On 14th November 1940, the Luftwaffe launched the most devastating bombing raid so far on Britain. The target was Coventry, deep in the heart of England.
In a 12 hour blitz the Luftwaffe dropped thousands of tons of bombs. Three-quarters of the city centre was devastated, including the ancient cathedral. The Nazis coined a phrase - 'to Coventrate' - to describe the intense destruction.
It was a baptism of fire for Coventry and Britain. For years the government feared that aerial bombardment could destroy civilian morale. In Coventry, those fears were tested, and in the immediate aftermath of the blitz the evidence was not encouraging. Panic and hysteria gripped the city, and half of Coventry's population fled. However, within weeks - and contrary to all expectations - the city revived. Factories were soon turning out aircraft parts which would be used to avenge the attack on Coventry.
The RAF studied the Nazi bombing techniques and perfected the art of 'Coventration'. In Dresden, Hamburg and Berlin the Nazis reaped the whirlwind they had sown in their devastating attack."
ITV1 - Black Market Britain - "A look at how the counterfeit racket has become an international, highly organised and extremely profitable operation. The programme-makers go undercover to discover that in Britain, gangs often employ everything from baseball bats to firearms to further their careers in this illegal business. "
More 4 - True Stories: The Glasshouse - " Hamid Rahmanian's film is a unique insight into Iran through the prism of a day centre for troubled women run by Marjaneh Halatin, a psychologist now based in London. Among those featured are Nazila, trying to find an escape through rap music (which is illegal for women in the country), and Sussan, who has fled her abusive drug-addicted brother.Most affecting is Samira, aged 14, who became a drug addict after being force-fed heroin by her equally addicted mother. As Rahmanian follows their stories, their shared spirit and mutual support shine through in this surprising and illuminating documentary."
Wednesday 7th
BBC4 - Iran and Britain - "Documentary in which writer and journalist Christopher de Bellaigue explores the fraught but often surprisingly intimate history of Britain's relations with Iran, and asks why Iranians think that if something goes wrong in Iran then Britain must have something to do with it.
De Bellaigue has lived in Tehran, speaks fluent Persian and knows well the phenomenon of 'Uncle Napoleonism', the notion that the cunning British are 'out to get you' that has been a common attitude in Iranian society for 100 years.
He looks at some key events in the relationship, notably Britain's role in the overthrow of several Iranian governments, its control of Iran's oil and the on-off support for Iran's democrats."
Thursday 8th
BBC2 - My Life in Verse: Robert Webb - "Robert Webb was 16 when he first heard The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock by TS Eliot. His English class were grappling with The Wasteland when a cheeky classmate described it as 'meaningless'. Robert's teacher responded by reaching for Prufrock, reading the class the entire poem and asking if that had enough meaning for them. Robert was blown away by Prufrock and that classroom encounter sparked a lifelong passion for the poem.... "
Friday 9th
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Peru: Blood and Oil - "
Unreported World travels deep into the Peruvian jungle to investigate how the government's auctioning off vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest to global corporations has led to violent clashes with thousands of indigenous tribal people.
Reporter Ramita Navai and director Alex Nott begin their journey travelling for three days up the river Corrientes into the homeland of the Achuar people, who've lived in one of the Amazon's remotest areas for thousands of years. They find the community of Jose Olaya almost deserted. Despite its remoteness, oil companies have been drilling in the area for years. The drilling has frightened away the animals and the men of the village have been forced to take work with the oil companies to feed their families. One villager claims that families have become sick after drinking water from the polluted river. A government study has shown that two thirds of all children tested had above safe levels of lead in their blood. The company involved denies the allegations, and says it's unaware of any credible data to support them.... "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Off-air recordings for week 26 September - 2 October 2009
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 26th September
BBC4 - Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - "Crime writer Ian Rankin investigates The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Starting with Robert Louis Stevenson's nightmare in September 1885, Rankin traces the roots of this story, which stretches back to Stevenson's childhood. Grave-robbers, hallucinatory drugs and prostitution all play their part in the disturbing account of Henry Jekyll's double-life, as Rankin's journey takes him into the yeasty draughts and unlit closes of the city that inspired the tale - Edinburgh.
BBC4 - Conan Doyle for the Defence - "Rare archive film of Sherlock Holmes' creator, alongside testimony from modern-day experts, illustrates the author-cum-detective's role in two of the most controversial and illuminating cases of injustice he handled in real life. "
BBC4 - Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes - "Drama inspired by the real-life relationship between Arthur Conan Doyle and his tutor, pioneering forensic pathologist Dr Joseph Bell. The two embark on a grisly and disturbing case dealing in death, drugs and disease in the highest circles and lowest depths of Edinburgh."
BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4: Self on Ballard - "
Will Self explores the imagination and work of writer JG Ballard, who he came to know in his final years. Will draws on the many telling interviews that Ballard gave throughout his working life and on Self's own tapes of his encounters with him.
From his life of suburban anonymity, Ballard charted the realms of innerspace and the madness of the modern world with a cool eye and visionary prose."
Monday 28th
ITV1 - Cops Vs Stalkers: Tonight - "Is enough being done to protect vulnerable women from stalking and harassment? Fiona Foster reveals results from a survey of over 2,000 victims of stalking, and gets exclusive access to a new police initiative set to be rolled out nationwide."
BBC4 - Designing the Decades - 1/4 1970s - "Designing the Decades, a new four part series for BBC TWO, revisits the nation's design heritage, from the 1960s to the 1990s, and takes a journey through forty years of iconic architecture, interiors, fashion and design.
From the Mini to the Dyson; the Post Office Tower to Waterloo's Eurostar terminal; Laura Ashley to IKEA and the waterbed to the Filofax, the programme charts the designs – both popular and classic – that encapsulated the spirit of each decade.
Designing the Decades remembers some of the best British and international designs which have achieved success on the British market, such as Robin Day's best-selling stacking chair, Mary Quant's mini-skirt, Barbara Hulanickii's Biba, Clive Sinclair's calculator, Richard Roger's Lloyds building, the Paul Smith suit, the Dyson vacuum cleaner and the IMAC.
The series also explores how design icons reflect the aspirations and ideals of each decade.
The series follows the career progression of and features interviews with some of Britain's most enduring designers including Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Terence Conran, Robin Day, James Dyson and Paul Smith.
And consumers, historians, critics and fans share their personal recollections of the trends that changed the face of their homes and lives.
BBC4 - Upgrade Me - "Poet and gadget lover Simon Armitage explores people's obsession with upgrading to the latest technological gadgetry.
Upgrade culture drives millions to purchase the latest phones, flatscreen TVs, laptops and MP3 players. But is it design, functionality, fashion or friends that makes people covet the upgrade, and how far does the choice of gadgets define identity? Simon journeys across Britain and to South Korea in search of answers."
BBC4 - Watching the Dead - "Documentary which explores television's fascination with forensics, revisiting classic shows like Quincy and Marius Goring's The Expert and looking at the appeal of contemporary dramas such as Silent Witness, Waking The Dead and CSI.
The film examines how scientific advances like genetic fingerprinting have been reflected in the crime drama, finds out how pathology got so sexy, how accurate the science shown on screen actually is, and how TV cops solved crimes before DNA."
Yesterday - Their Finest Hour - "Series celebrating the unsung heroes of World War II. In an effort to meet Britain's huge demand for coal, the Bevin Boys were conscripted to work in the mines. "
Wednesday 30th
BBC1 - The Secret Life of Twins - 2 parts (concludes Thursday 1st) - "Investigating the weird and wonderful world of identical twins, the first in a special two-part series looks at what science can learn from the uncanny similarities between twins.
Two hundred and fifty pairs of twins gather at St Thomas' Hospital to celebrate their contribution to science, while identical twin doctors Chris and Xand Van Tulleken set out to discover if their shared genes mean they will forever be identical. Meet twins raised apart as they're finally reunited, twins who suffer identical illnesses at the same time, and find out how identical twins hold the key to understanding what makes us all who we are."
BBC4 - The British Way of Death - "A look at the evolution of how we deal with death, from the ostentatious mourning of Victorian times, via the rise of funeral homes, to today's individualistic and informal memorials."
BBC4 - Dan Cruickshank's Adventures In Architecture - Death - "Historian and writer Dan Cruickshank celebrates the creative force of architecture as he explores the world's greatest cities, buildings and monuments.
Dan travels the globe to explore how different cultures have created architecture inspired by our mortality. In the Czech Republic, he reveals the macabre tale of a chapel decorated with human bones. Even more shocking is the Yaxha Mayan pyramids in Guatemala, sites of brutal human sacrifice.
In Egypt, Dan explores how pharaohs ensured the passage of their spirit to the afterworld through elaborate mortuary temples. He visits Europe's greatest cemetery in Genoa, Staglieno, home to a spectacular collection of beautiful and erotic memorial statues. And finally, Dan comes face-to-face with death itself in Varanasi in India, a sacred Hindu town where people come to die."
Thursday 1st
BBC4 - The Victorian Way of Death - "Dan Cruickshank examines how Victorian society confronted death, uncovering body snatchers, overflowing inner-city graveyards, lavish cemeteries and a resistance to cremation."
Channel 4 - Captive for 18 Years: The Jaycee Lee Story - "In June 1991, Jaycee Lee Dugard was waiting at the bus stop on her way to school in South Lake Tahoe when a man and a woman pulled up in a grey Ford saloon, jumped out, bundled her into the car and drove off. The kidnap was witnessed by Jaycee Lee's stepfather, who chased in vain after the car.
Eighteen years later, on 24 August 2009, an investigation began that would lead to an astounding discovery: Jaycee Lee Dugard was alive and for the last 18 years had been held captive by a notorious sex offender.
Jaycee Lee had given birth to two daughters, fathered by the sex offender, Phillip Garrido. Jaycee Lee and her daughters had been kept in a maze of tents and sheds in the back garden of Garrido's home in Antioch, California.
Featuring interviews with some of those closest to the young Jaycee, including family members, classmates and her headmistress, Cutting Edge also meets the neighbours and business associates of her captor Philip Garrido, and the investigators involved in her case, to piece together one of the most incredible missing person stories of all time.
The programme includes an interview with Carl Probyn, Jaycee Lee's stepfather, who witnessed the kidnap. He was the prime suspect in the case for 18 years. His marriage to Jaycee Lee's mother broke up; his life, to all intents and purposes, was ruined.
He reveals his story from the day he saw his stepdaughter kidnapped: his anguished 911 call to the police, how the events of the day changed his life forever, and the joy and sadness that engulfed him when he heard she'd been found alive and well."
Friday 2nd
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Philippines: Holy Warrriors - "Unreported World uncovers a deepening sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians on the southern Filipino island of Mindanao, which has claimed 100,000 lives."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Saturday 26th September
BBC4 - Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - "Crime writer Ian Rankin investigates The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Starting with Robert Louis Stevenson's nightmare in September 1885, Rankin traces the roots of this story, which stretches back to Stevenson's childhood. Grave-robbers, hallucinatory drugs and prostitution all play their part in the disturbing account of Henry Jekyll's double-life, as Rankin's journey takes him into the yeasty draughts and unlit closes of the city that inspired the tale - Edinburgh.
BBC4 - Conan Doyle for the Defence - "Rare archive film of Sherlock Holmes' creator, alongside testimony from modern-day experts, illustrates the author-cum-detective's role in two of the most controversial and illuminating cases of injustice he handled in real life. "
BBC4 - Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes - "Drama inspired by the real-life relationship between Arthur Conan Doyle and his tutor, pioneering forensic pathologist Dr Joseph Bell. The two embark on a grisly and disturbing case dealing in death, drugs and disease in the highest circles and lowest depths of Edinburgh."
BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4: Self on Ballard - "
Will Self explores the imagination and work of writer JG Ballard, who he came to know in his final years. Will draws on the many telling interviews that Ballard gave throughout his working life and on Self's own tapes of his encounters with him.
From his life of suburban anonymity, Ballard charted the realms of innerspace and the madness of the modern world with a cool eye and visionary prose."
Monday 28th
ITV1 - Cops Vs Stalkers: Tonight - "Is enough being done to protect vulnerable women from stalking and harassment? Fiona Foster reveals results from a survey of over 2,000 victims of stalking, and gets exclusive access to a new police initiative set to be rolled out nationwide."
BBC4 - Designing the Decades - 1/4 1970s - "Designing the Decades, a new four part series for BBC TWO, revisits the nation's design heritage, from the 1960s to the 1990s, and takes a journey through forty years of iconic architecture, interiors, fashion and design.
From the Mini to the Dyson; the Post Office Tower to Waterloo's Eurostar terminal; Laura Ashley to IKEA and the waterbed to the Filofax, the programme charts the designs – both popular and classic – that encapsulated the spirit of each decade.
Designing the Decades remembers some of the best British and international designs which have achieved success on the British market, such as Robin Day's best-selling stacking chair, Mary Quant's mini-skirt, Barbara Hulanickii's Biba, Clive Sinclair's calculator, Richard Roger's Lloyds building, the Paul Smith suit, the Dyson vacuum cleaner and the IMAC.
The series also explores how design icons reflect the aspirations and ideals of each decade.
The series follows the career progression of and features interviews with some of Britain's most enduring designers including Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Terence Conran, Robin Day, James Dyson and Paul Smith.
And consumers, historians, critics and fans share their personal recollections of the trends that changed the face of their homes and lives.
BBC4 - Upgrade Me - "Poet and gadget lover Simon Armitage explores people's obsession with upgrading to the latest technological gadgetry.
Upgrade culture drives millions to purchase the latest phones, flatscreen TVs, laptops and MP3 players. But is it design, functionality, fashion or friends that makes people covet the upgrade, and how far does the choice of gadgets define identity? Simon journeys across Britain and to South Korea in search of answers."
BBC4 - Watching the Dead - "Documentary which explores television's fascination with forensics, revisiting classic shows like Quincy and Marius Goring's The Expert and looking at the appeal of contemporary dramas such as Silent Witness, Waking The Dead and CSI.
The film examines how scientific advances like genetic fingerprinting have been reflected in the crime drama, finds out how pathology got so sexy, how accurate the science shown on screen actually is, and how TV cops solved crimes before DNA."
Yesterday - Their Finest Hour - "Series celebrating the unsung heroes of World War II. In an effort to meet Britain's huge demand for coal, the Bevin Boys were conscripted to work in the mines. "
Wednesday 30th
BBC1 - The Secret Life of Twins - 2 parts (concludes Thursday 1st) - "Investigating the weird and wonderful world of identical twins, the first in a special two-part series looks at what science can learn from the uncanny similarities between twins.
Two hundred and fifty pairs of twins gather at St Thomas' Hospital to celebrate their contribution to science, while identical twin doctors Chris and Xand Van Tulleken set out to discover if their shared genes mean they will forever be identical. Meet twins raised apart as they're finally reunited, twins who suffer identical illnesses at the same time, and find out how identical twins hold the key to understanding what makes us all who we are."
BBC4 - The British Way of Death - "A look at the evolution of how we deal with death, from the ostentatious mourning of Victorian times, via the rise of funeral homes, to today's individualistic and informal memorials."
BBC4 - Dan Cruickshank's Adventures In Architecture - Death - "Historian and writer Dan Cruickshank celebrates the creative force of architecture as he explores the world's greatest cities, buildings and monuments.
Dan travels the globe to explore how different cultures have created architecture inspired by our mortality. In the Czech Republic, he reveals the macabre tale of a chapel decorated with human bones. Even more shocking is the Yaxha Mayan pyramids in Guatemala, sites of brutal human sacrifice.
In Egypt, Dan explores how pharaohs ensured the passage of their spirit to the afterworld through elaborate mortuary temples. He visits Europe's greatest cemetery in Genoa, Staglieno, home to a spectacular collection of beautiful and erotic memorial statues. And finally, Dan comes face-to-face with death itself in Varanasi in India, a sacred Hindu town where people come to die."
Thursday 1st
BBC4 - The Victorian Way of Death - "Dan Cruickshank examines how Victorian society confronted death, uncovering body snatchers, overflowing inner-city graveyards, lavish cemeteries and a resistance to cremation."
Channel 4 - Captive for 18 Years: The Jaycee Lee Story - "In June 1991, Jaycee Lee Dugard was waiting at the bus stop on her way to school in South Lake Tahoe when a man and a woman pulled up in a grey Ford saloon, jumped out, bundled her into the car and drove off. The kidnap was witnessed by Jaycee Lee's stepfather, who chased in vain after the car.
Eighteen years later, on 24 August 2009, an investigation began that would lead to an astounding discovery: Jaycee Lee Dugard was alive and for the last 18 years had been held captive by a notorious sex offender.
Jaycee Lee had given birth to two daughters, fathered by the sex offender, Phillip Garrido. Jaycee Lee and her daughters had been kept in a maze of tents and sheds in the back garden of Garrido's home in Antioch, California.
Featuring interviews with some of those closest to the young Jaycee, including family members, classmates and her headmistress, Cutting Edge also meets the neighbours and business associates of her captor Philip Garrido, and the investigators involved in her case, to piece together one of the most incredible missing person stories of all time.
The programme includes an interview with Carl Probyn, Jaycee Lee's stepfather, who witnessed the kidnap. He was the prime suspect in the case for 18 years. His marriage to Jaycee Lee's mother broke up; his life, to all intents and purposes, was ruined.
He reveals his story from the day he saw his stepdaughter kidnapped: his anguished 911 call to the police, how the events of the day changed his life forever, and the joy and sadness that engulfed him when he heard she'd been found alive and well."
Friday 2nd
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Philippines: Holy Warrriors - "Unreported World uncovers a deepening sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians on the southern Filipino island of Mindanao, which has claimed 100,000 lives."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Off-Air Recordings for week 19-25 September 2009
Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Saturday 19th
BBC1 - Montezuma - "Dan Snow travels to Mexico to investigate the history, character and legacy of Montezuma, the last great ruler of the Aztecs of central America.
He uncovers the extraordinary story of the Aztecs themselves, a cultured and civilised people whose lives were governed by eleborate ceremony and blood-curdling ritual.
Dan Snow also discovers how, in a titanic clash of cultures, their leader Montezuma faced up to a mortal threat from another world - the weaponry, gold-lust and greed of 16th century Spanish conquistadors."
BBC4 - The Great Ossian Hoax: McCall Smith Investigates - "Crime writer Alexander McCall Smith investigates one of the greatest literary frauds in history. When James Macpherson uncovered heroic Scottish poems dating back more than a thousand years, they caused a sensation. But they sparked a 20-year war with the literary giant Dr Johnson, and left Macpherson with a reputation as a calculating swindler. McCall Smith travels through the Highlands to uncover the true story of the poems of Ossian, and how they changed the course of European art forever."
More 4 - The Living Body - "The team behind the acclaimed Animals in the Womb, The Living Body combine Emmy Award-winning CGI, special effects photography and cutting-edge medical imagery to follow the development of one body, from the inside.
The programme concentrates primarily on the life of one female subject, from the moment of birth through the crisis of puberty and on to adulthood and old age.
Looking at how the body deals with accidents, infection, disease and infirmity, the film uses its unique point of view to look inside the extraordinary world of the human body, revealing a stunning new perspective on how our bodies function, grow and mature."
Monday 21st
Channel 4 - Dispatches: Cops on the Cheap? - "They're known as 'Blunkett's Bobbies' or 'Plastic Police'. There are 16,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) walking the 'beat', costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds per year.
Critics have always attacked them for providing policing on the cheap and a political gimmick, but their supporters say they have been useful in curbing antisocial behaviour and visible reassurance to the public.
Filming with PCSOs at work on the streets of Lancashire, Dispatches investigates whether PCSOs have proven to be a policing success story or an expensive mistake."
Tuesday 22nd
ITV1 - To Catch A Paedophile - 1of 2 - "First of two programmes in which child protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas follows officers in the Metropolitan Police's Paedophile Unit. Detectives go into internet chat rooms posing as teenage girls and investigate the startling number of paedophiles trawling for images and sex. The programme reveals the disturbing exchanges and tricks that the men use to entice children to show nude pictures of themselves and meet up for sex."
More4 - True Stories: Pray The Devil Back To Hell - "
In 2003, the African nation of Liberia was in turmoil; its president Charles Taylor was involved in a vicious civil war with war lords who wanted to take his place. Caught in the middle were innocent civilians who bore the brunt of the violence.
One woman, Leymah Gbowee, had had enough and she and her fellow church members, soon to be joined by their female Muslim counterparts, began their protests.
Their plan was simple; every day they would gather in the central market of the capital of Monrovia wearing T-shirts and carrying placards simply asking for peace.
As their numbers swelled, Taylor reluctantly bowed to the pressure and peace talks were set up in Ghana. From their actions came Taylor's exile and the election in 2005 of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first woman head of state."
Thursday 24th
BBC2 - Inside Story Special: Chappaquiddick - "An investigation of the accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, in July 1969, when Senator Edward Kennedy's car plunged off a bridge and Kennedy's companion, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. The film was made in 1994, for the 25th anniversary of the event."
FIVE - Vice Squad - new 6-part series - "New series following the work of the Metropolitan Police Vice Unit. Officers risk life and limb as they go undercover in the heart of Soho to close down an illegal clip joint. Elsewhere, undercover policewomen aim to catch kerb crawlers who are prowling the streets for sex."
Friday 25th
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Ingushetia: Russia's Dirty War - "Unreported World uncovers the largely hidden but bloody conflict in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia. In a country to which few Western journalists have been able get access, Unreported World reveals allegations that hundreds of innocent civilians are disappearing and being tortured and murdered by the security forces in an increasingly violent campaign that threatens to turn into another Chechnya.
Shortly after reporter Evan Williams and director Clancy Chassay arrive in Nazran, the largest town in Ingushetia, they are taken to a house and met by a crowd of grieving women. One of them tells Williams that, just a few days earlier, 400 heavily-armed Russian soldiers had surrounded the house before dragging her outside. She claims the troops killed her son Musa and blew up his body with a grenade. In the cellar of the house, the team is shown blood and flesh on the bricks and signs of a blast. Musa's father tells Williams that his son, who was training to be an architect, had just got married and had a one-month-old baby."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Saturday 19th
BBC1 - Montezuma - "Dan Snow travels to Mexico to investigate the history, character and legacy of Montezuma, the last great ruler of the Aztecs of central America.
He uncovers the extraordinary story of the Aztecs themselves, a cultured and civilised people whose lives were governed by eleborate ceremony and blood-curdling ritual.
Dan Snow also discovers how, in a titanic clash of cultures, their leader Montezuma faced up to a mortal threat from another world - the weaponry, gold-lust and greed of 16th century Spanish conquistadors."
BBC4 - The Great Ossian Hoax: McCall Smith Investigates - "Crime writer Alexander McCall Smith investigates one of the greatest literary frauds in history. When James Macpherson uncovered heroic Scottish poems dating back more than a thousand years, they caused a sensation. But they sparked a 20-year war with the literary giant Dr Johnson, and left Macpherson with a reputation as a calculating swindler. McCall Smith travels through the Highlands to uncover the true story of the poems of Ossian, and how they changed the course of European art forever."
More 4 - The Living Body - "The team behind the acclaimed Animals in the Womb, The Living Body combine Emmy Award-winning CGI, special effects photography and cutting-edge medical imagery to follow the development of one body, from the inside.
The programme concentrates primarily on the life of one female subject, from the moment of birth through the crisis of puberty and on to adulthood and old age.
Looking at how the body deals with accidents, infection, disease and infirmity, the film uses its unique point of view to look inside the extraordinary world of the human body, revealing a stunning new perspective on how our bodies function, grow and mature."
Monday 21st
Channel 4 - Dispatches: Cops on the Cheap? - "They're known as 'Blunkett's Bobbies' or 'Plastic Police'. There are 16,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) walking the 'beat', costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds per year.
Critics have always attacked them for providing policing on the cheap and a political gimmick, but their supporters say they have been useful in curbing antisocial behaviour and visible reassurance to the public.
Filming with PCSOs at work on the streets of Lancashire, Dispatches investigates whether PCSOs have proven to be a policing success story or an expensive mistake."
Tuesday 22nd
ITV1 - To Catch A Paedophile - 1of 2 - "First of two programmes in which child protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas follows officers in the Metropolitan Police's Paedophile Unit. Detectives go into internet chat rooms posing as teenage girls and investigate the startling number of paedophiles trawling for images and sex. The programme reveals the disturbing exchanges and tricks that the men use to entice children to show nude pictures of themselves and meet up for sex."
More4 - True Stories: Pray The Devil Back To Hell - "
In 2003, the African nation of Liberia was in turmoil; its president Charles Taylor was involved in a vicious civil war with war lords who wanted to take his place. Caught in the middle were innocent civilians who bore the brunt of the violence.
One woman, Leymah Gbowee, had had enough and she and her fellow church members, soon to be joined by their female Muslim counterparts, began their protests.
Their plan was simple; every day they would gather in the central market of the capital of Monrovia wearing T-shirts and carrying placards simply asking for peace.
As their numbers swelled, Taylor reluctantly bowed to the pressure and peace talks were set up in Ghana. From their actions came Taylor's exile and the election in 2005 of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first woman head of state."
Thursday 24th
BBC2 - Inside Story Special: Chappaquiddick - "An investigation of the accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, in July 1969, when Senator Edward Kennedy's car plunged off a bridge and Kennedy's companion, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. The film was made in 1994, for the 25th anniversary of the event."
FIVE - Vice Squad - new 6-part series - "New series following the work of the Metropolitan Police Vice Unit. Officers risk life and limb as they go undercover in the heart of Soho to close down an illegal clip joint. Elsewhere, undercover policewomen aim to catch kerb crawlers who are prowling the streets for sex."
Friday 25th
Channel 4 - Unreported World - Ingushetia: Russia's Dirty War - "Unreported World uncovers the largely hidden but bloody conflict in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia. In a country to which few Western journalists have been able get access, Unreported World reveals allegations that hundreds of innocent civilians are disappearing and being tortured and murdered by the security forces in an increasingly violent campaign that threatens to turn into another Chechnya.
Shortly after reporter Evan Williams and director Clancy Chassay arrive in Nazran, the largest town in Ingushetia, they are taken to a house and met by a crowd of grieving women. One of them tells Williams that, just a few days earlier, 400 heavily-armed Russian soldiers had surrounded the house before dragging her outside. She claims the troops killed her son Musa and blew up his body with a grenade. In the cellar of the house, the team is shown blood and flesh on the bricks and signs of a blast. Musa's father tells Williams that his son, who was training to be an architect, had just got married and had a one-month-old baby."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Off-air recordings 5-18 September 2009
Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Wednesday 9th
BBC4 - Jonathan Meades - Off Kilter - 1 of 3 - "Jonathan Meades takes a quixotic tour of Scotland, a country which has intrigued him since he first encountered lists of towns only known from football coupons. Architecture critic Meades celebrates Aberdeen, the granite city full of 'brand new' 300 year old buildings."
Saturday 12th
BBC2 - The Last Nazis - 1 of 3 - "In the autumn of 1941, a young Austrian doctor called Aribert Heim was assigned to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. In just six weeks, he murdered hundreds of inmates by carrying out horrific and needless experiments.
His 'procedures' included injecting poison directly into the hearts of his patients, often timing them to see how long it took them to die. He would amputate limbs without reason, and without anaesthetic, and would even keep mementos of his victims, using skin as a lamp shade, and a skull as a paperweight.
He evaded capture and has never answered for his crimes - but now 60 years on and with Heim well into his 90s, fresh evidence has emerged suggesting that he might still be alive.
This film follows Dr Efraim Zuroff in his international manhunt for one of the world's most wanted Nazi war criminals.
With Heim's horrific crimes soon to be consigned to history forever, this Nazi hunt will be the last of its kind and the clock is ticking for Zuroff to bring his target to justice. "
Monday 14th
BBC4 - Thatcher and the Scots - "Is Margaret Thatcher the mother of the Scottish Parliament? BBC World Affairs Correspondent Allan Little looks back at the tumultuous Thatcher years, and assesses the effect they had on Scotland.
The programme also examines the personal, human relationship between Margaret Thatcher and Scotland. Why did she become the subject of so much bile? And what does that say about the Scots and their attitudes?
With superb archive film and in-depth interviews with two of her Scottish Secretaries, her political opponents, leading historians and those who lived through and reported on the Thatcher years, the programme is the definitive account of the effect Thatcherism had on Scotland."
BBC4 - The Scots: Natural Born Sinners - "Denis Lawson narrates a lighthearted documentary about the effect of Calvinism on the Scottish psyche, in which a cast of well-known Scots ruminate on growing up under Calvin's shadow.
Artist Jack Vettriano relishes memories of his Methil childhood, while Kirsty Wark is thankful for her mother's no-nonsense Presbyterian influence. Footballer-turned-pundit Pat Nevin reflects with Dougie Donnelly on the inability of the Calvinist Scot to celebrate their achievements, and against the backdrop of his Highland constituency, MP Charles Kennedy reflects on how Calvin's culture of disapproval affected the Gaelic community.
Bill Drummond of the band KLF visits the Dumfries and Galloway of his childhood where his father was a Church of Scotland minister, novelist A L Kennedy talks of doom and damnation, and Andrew Marr praises the Calvinist legacy of education."
BBC4 - Dinner with Portillo: Why Should We Care about Scottish Independence? - "By his own admission, Michael Portillo finds it difficult to get worked up either way about Scottish independence. But is he, and the English, too complacent? Would England suffer a crisis of identity without Scotland and could Scotland cope on its own? Should Scottish demands for independence be taken seriously? These are some of the questions that Michael Portillo and guests chew over in this edition of Dinner With Portillo.
At the table are columnist and broadcaster Rod Liddle, Scottish historian Michael Fry, former First Minister of Scotland Henry McLeish, broadcaster and writer Hardeep Singh Kohli, Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at the University of Oxford, Tom Clougherty, Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute, and Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford."
BBC4 - Napoli: City of the Damned - Storyville - "When we think of devastated cities in WW2 Naples is often forgotten, but when it was liberated by the Allies it was on its last legs, with 200,000 homeless and no power, transport, food or running water.
The Allies quickly brought food to the starving population and medicine to the sick, but the introduction of many troops and lots of supplies led to the creation of a huge black market involving almost the entire population. One third of women became prostitutes as Naples became a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah, a city of vice, crime and chaos where everything that could be sold and stolen was sold and stolen.
Perplexingly, the Americans decided to introduce Italo-American criminals into positions of power in southern Italy, such as Vito Genovese, a gangster escaping a murder rap in New York. Genovese began setting up a crime empire in Naples - after Mussolini had effectively suppressed organised crime in Italy, the Allies brought it back.
When WW2 ended, alarmed and surprised by Soviet support for the Italian communist parties, the Allies responded with their own propaganda. Combined with the Marshall Plan, this became a massive covert effort by the Americans to swing the elections towards the parties of the right. The Catholic Church helped them, with priests telling congregations that they would go to hell if they didn't vote Christian Democrat.
After great political and ideological struggle in which the Cold War was waged by proxy for the first time, the 1948 elections were won by the Christian Democrats, a result that may not have been truly fair.
The CIA were pleased with the result and partially credited it to their own operations. They recommended that the US should continue with the covert manipulation of political outcomes in foreign countries."
Wednesday 16th
BBC4 - Talking Landscapes - The Weald - "Aubrey Manning sets out to uncover the history of Britain's ever-changing landscape. This edition focuses on the Weald, investigating why so much woodland has survived here when so much ancient forest has been felled elsewhere. A trip to the Mary Rose and Nelson's Victory reveals the full story of the Weald and its valuable timber."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Wednesday 9th
BBC4 - Jonathan Meades - Off Kilter - 1 of 3 - "Jonathan Meades takes a quixotic tour of Scotland, a country which has intrigued him since he first encountered lists of towns only known from football coupons. Architecture critic Meades celebrates Aberdeen, the granite city full of 'brand new' 300 year old buildings."
Saturday 12th
BBC2 - The Last Nazis - 1 of 3 - "In the autumn of 1941, a young Austrian doctor called Aribert Heim was assigned to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. In just six weeks, he murdered hundreds of inmates by carrying out horrific and needless experiments.
His 'procedures' included injecting poison directly into the hearts of his patients, often timing them to see how long it took them to die. He would amputate limbs without reason, and without anaesthetic, and would even keep mementos of his victims, using skin as a lamp shade, and a skull as a paperweight.
He evaded capture and has never answered for his crimes - but now 60 years on and with Heim well into his 90s, fresh evidence has emerged suggesting that he might still be alive.
This film follows Dr Efraim Zuroff in his international manhunt for one of the world's most wanted Nazi war criminals.
With Heim's horrific crimes soon to be consigned to history forever, this Nazi hunt will be the last of its kind and the clock is ticking for Zuroff to bring his target to justice. "
Monday 14th
BBC4 - Thatcher and the Scots - "Is Margaret Thatcher the mother of the Scottish Parliament? BBC World Affairs Correspondent Allan Little looks back at the tumultuous Thatcher years, and assesses the effect they had on Scotland.
The programme also examines the personal, human relationship between Margaret Thatcher and Scotland. Why did she become the subject of so much bile? And what does that say about the Scots and their attitudes?
With superb archive film and in-depth interviews with two of her Scottish Secretaries, her political opponents, leading historians and those who lived through and reported on the Thatcher years, the programme is the definitive account of the effect Thatcherism had on Scotland."
BBC4 - The Scots: Natural Born Sinners - "Denis Lawson narrates a lighthearted documentary about the effect of Calvinism on the Scottish psyche, in which a cast of well-known Scots ruminate on growing up under Calvin's shadow.
Artist Jack Vettriano relishes memories of his Methil childhood, while Kirsty Wark is thankful for her mother's no-nonsense Presbyterian influence. Footballer-turned-pundit Pat Nevin reflects with Dougie Donnelly on the inability of the Calvinist Scot to celebrate their achievements, and against the backdrop of his Highland constituency, MP Charles Kennedy reflects on how Calvin's culture of disapproval affected the Gaelic community.
Bill Drummond of the band KLF visits the Dumfries and Galloway of his childhood where his father was a Church of Scotland minister, novelist A L Kennedy talks of doom and damnation, and Andrew Marr praises the Calvinist legacy of education."
BBC4 - Dinner with Portillo: Why Should We Care about Scottish Independence? - "By his own admission, Michael Portillo finds it difficult to get worked up either way about Scottish independence. But is he, and the English, too complacent? Would England suffer a crisis of identity without Scotland and could Scotland cope on its own? Should Scottish demands for independence be taken seriously? These are some of the questions that Michael Portillo and guests chew over in this edition of Dinner With Portillo.
At the table are columnist and broadcaster Rod Liddle, Scottish historian Michael Fry, former First Minister of Scotland Henry McLeish, broadcaster and writer Hardeep Singh Kohli, Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at the University of Oxford, Tom Clougherty, Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute, and Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford."
BBC4 - Napoli: City of the Damned - Storyville - "When we think of devastated cities in WW2 Naples is often forgotten, but when it was liberated by the Allies it was on its last legs, with 200,000 homeless and no power, transport, food or running water.
The Allies quickly brought food to the starving population and medicine to the sick, but the introduction of many troops and lots of supplies led to the creation of a huge black market involving almost the entire population. One third of women became prostitutes as Naples became a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah, a city of vice, crime and chaos where everything that could be sold and stolen was sold and stolen.
Perplexingly, the Americans decided to introduce Italo-American criminals into positions of power in southern Italy, such as Vito Genovese, a gangster escaping a murder rap in New York. Genovese began setting up a crime empire in Naples - after Mussolini had effectively suppressed organised crime in Italy, the Allies brought it back.
When WW2 ended, alarmed and surprised by Soviet support for the Italian communist parties, the Allies responded with their own propaganda. Combined with the Marshall Plan, this became a massive covert effort by the Americans to swing the elections towards the parties of the right. The Catholic Church helped them, with priests telling congregations that they would go to hell if they didn't vote Christian Democrat.
After great political and ideological struggle in which the Cold War was waged by proxy for the first time, the 1948 elections were won by the Christian Democrats, a result that may not have been truly fair.
The CIA were pleased with the result and partially credited it to their own operations. They recommended that the US should continue with the covert manipulation of political outcomes in foreign countries."
Wednesday 16th
BBC4 - Talking Landscapes - The Weald - "Aubrey Manning sets out to uncover the history of Britain's ever-changing landscape. This edition focuses on the Weald, investigating why so much woodland has survived here when so much ancient forest has been felled elsewhere. A trip to the Mary Rose and Nelson's Victory reveals the full story of the Weald and its valuable timber."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Off-air recordings for week 29 August - 4 September 2009
Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Sunday 30th August
ITV1 - Wuthering Heights - 1/2 (concludes Monday 30th) - "Leading screen and television writer Peter Bowker has adapted the world famous love story of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights for ITV1.
The haunting and gothic novel is a shocking and passionate portrayal of ungoverned love and cruelty across desolate landscapes with two of the most memorable lovers in literature. Tom Hardy plays dark and brooding Heathcliff alongside newcomer Charlotte Riley as Cathy. Acclaimed television actress Sarah Lancashire takes on the role of housekeeper Nelly, while Andrew Lincoln is Edgar, Cathy’s forlorn husband. Burn Gorman stars as Cathy’s brother Hindley, and Kevin R. McNally plays Mr Earnshaw... "
Monday 31st August
Yesterday - The Glencoe Massacre - "Examining one of the most emotive yet misunderstood events in Scottish history. Despite popular belief, the massacre of Glencoe was not a typical clash between two highland clans."
Tuesday 1st September
More4 - True Stories: The Shock Doctrine - "The Shock Doctrine is the latest documentary from acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom, co-directed by Mat Whitecross. Based on Naomi Klein's bestselling book, The Shock Doctrine argues that America's 'free market' policies have come to dominate the world through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.
Both the film and the book argue that governments all over the world exploit natural disasters, economic crises and wars to push through radical free market policies. Klein calls this 'disaster capitalism' and in her view, disaster capitalism is as effective as psychiatric shock therapy at wiping our collective memory.
The film concludes that the result is often catastrophic for ordinary people and hugely beneficial to big corporations. The documentary also adds to Klein's thesis - which was written before the recent market turmoil - and includes an analysis of how the financial world got into its current troubled state."
Wednesday 2nd
BBC2 - This World: Gypsy Child Thieves - "Across Europe children are being forced onto the streets to beg and steal. They come from one of the poorest communities in Europe - the Romanian Gypsies.
For centuries Gypsies have lived on the margins of society and faced brutal discrimination. Many have resorted to stealing and begging to survive.
But in the last 20 years, organised crime has taken over. And since 2007, when Romania joined the EU, Gypsy children have been trafficked and exploited on a much larger scale.
In an attempt to understand what is happening to these children Romanian film-maker Liviu Tipurita embarks on a journey through Europe which takes him inside the closed world of the Gypsy community, and talks to the authorities and institutions meant to be dealing with this disturbing phenomenon.
In Spain eight-year-olds robbing grown men at cash machines have become a common sight.
In Madrid, Tipurita films distraction thieves as they try to steal big sums of money from customers who then fight back.
The Spanish police say they make up a third of all the under 17-year-olds they have to deal with in the city.
In Italy, where Gypsies face a shocking tide of racism, a major police investigation found enslaved children locked in a shack like animals.
Two years on, Tipurita's investigation finds out that the elaborate police operation has not saved them from a life of crime.
In an attempt to trace the roots of the problem and the origins of this exploitation within the Gypsy community, Tipurita travels to his native Romania, home to the largest Gypsy population in the world.
He meets up with one of the most powerful leaders of the Gypsy underworld, for whom stealing is a profession that has been passed from generation to generation, and who provides a special insight into the history of Gypsy crime.
This World asks whether these children are the victims of a culture of crime and a wider society that seems to have abandoned them. And raises a question - will anyone save them from the hands of their exploiters?"
BBC1 - The Muslim Tommies - "
Much has been made of the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists to the security of Britain. But what is often forgotten is that Muslims have fought on behalf of Britain for hundreds of years; thousands have lost their lives in the process.
Using simple reconstructions, this film gives voice to some of the Muslim soldiers who fought in the trenches of France during the First World War as part of the Indian Corps. Censors office reports from the time included many translated letters which document what life was like on the front line.
The letters contain fascinating but often heart-breaking details about the religious practices, sense of identity, hopes, fears, injuries and brave actions of the soldiers from 1914 - 1918."
Five - World War One in Colour - "Documentary series narrated by Kenneth Branagh, in which the latest computer technology is used to tell the story of World War I with colour images. The Great War was supposed to be over by Christmas, but dragged on for four years of stalemate, leaving cities and landscapes devastated, ten million soldiers dead and another 20 million mentally and physically scarred."
Thursday 3rd
ITV1 - Outbreak - "Outbreak is the story of events hour by hour on September 3rd, 1939, the day that would change the world forever. It was the day that saw the bombing of Warsaw, the birth of Britain’s first war baby, the shock of the first air raid sirens and the torpedoing of innocent civilians aboard a passenger ship. Famous Brits with vivid recollections of the day include Dame Vera Lynn, Richard, Lord Attenborough, Tony Benn, George Cole, Betty Driver and Sir Peter Blake. They all recall how they heard the news the country was going to war, and how they were affected by the dramatic change in the country’s circumstances... "
Friday 4th
BBC1 - Hardcore Profits - 2 part series - "Tim Samuels explores how in the 21st century, pornography has never been more profitable or more pervasive. Tim sees how pornography is now piped into people's lives via new technologies and how this is creating powerful new revenue streams for supposedly 'family friendly' mobile phone and credit card companies.
Tim discovers how the Internet has spawned 'Porn 2.0'. He travels to the US headquarters of a porn website with millions of users, and has the opportunity to get 'hands on' with their latest porn technology.
Tim finds out that the spread of porn is having far-reaching consequences. On porn sets in LA, Tim sees that condoms are rarely used, and in Africa, he finds that these American condom-free movies can undermine safe sex education, increasing the risk of HIV infections."
Channel 4 - First Cut: The Boy Who Was Born a Girl - "Jon is a typical teenage boy in all respects except one: he was born a girl.
Brought up as Natasha for 15 years, Jon can remember feeling male since he was only five years old. Having grown up always feeling different to the girls in school, it was impossible to identify as female.
Jon eventually confided in his mother Luisa, who supported him in seeking help from his GP and subsequently a gender specialist. He has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition that affects over 100 British children every year, and is embarking on an extraordinary journey of transition.
Director Julia Moon follows mother and son through the first three months of Jon's life-changing treatment as the testosterone pushes his female body into male puberty.
For Jon the changes that follow are things he's always wanted. But for Luisa, this means coming to terms with the enormous loss of her daughter."
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Sunday 30th August
ITV1 - Wuthering Heights - 1/2 (concludes Monday 30th) - "Leading screen and television writer Peter Bowker has adapted the world famous love story of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights for ITV1.
The haunting and gothic novel is a shocking and passionate portrayal of ungoverned love and cruelty across desolate landscapes with two of the most memorable lovers in literature. Tom Hardy plays dark and brooding Heathcliff alongside newcomer Charlotte Riley as Cathy. Acclaimed television actress Sarah Lancashire takes on the role of housekeeper Nelly, while Andrew Lincoln is Edgar, Cathy’s forlorn husband. Burn Gorman stars as Cathy’s brother Hindley, and Kevin R. McNally plays Mr Earnshaw... "
Monday 31st August
Yesterday - The Glencoe Massacre - "Examining one of the most emotive yet misunderstood events in Scottish history. Despite popular belief, the massacre of Glencoe was not a typical clash between two highland clans."
Tuesday 1st September
More4 - True Stories: The Shock Doctrine - "The Shock Doctrine is the latest documentary from acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom, co-directed by Mat Whitecross. Based on Naomi Klein's bestselling book, The Shock Doctrine argues that America's 'free market' policies have come to dominate the world through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.
Both the film and the book argue that governments all over the world exploit natural disasters, economic crises and wars to push through radical free market policies. Klein calls this 'disaster capitalism' and in her view, disaster capitalism is as effective as psychiatric shock therapy at wiping our collective memory.
The film concludes that the result is often catastrophic for ordinary people and hugely beneficial to big corporations. The documentary also adds to Klein's thesis - which was written before the recent market turmoil - and includes an analysis of how the financial world got into its current troubled state."
Wednesday 2nd
BBC2 - This World: Gypsy Child Thieves - "Across Europe children are being forced onto the streets to beg and steal. They come from one of the poorest communities in Europe - the Romanian Gypsies.
For centuries Gypsies have lived on the margins of society and faced brutal discrimination. Many have resorted to stealing and begging to survive.
But in the last 20 years, organised crime has taken over. And since 2007, when Romania joined the EU, Gypsy children have been trafficked and exploited on a much larger scale.
In an attempt to understand what is happening to these children Romanian film-maker Liviu Tipurita embarks on a journey through Europe which takes him inside the closed world of the Gypsy community, and talks to the authorities and institutions meant to be dealing with this disturbing phenomenon.
In Spain eight-year-olds robbing grown men at cash machines have become a common sight.
In Madrid, Tipurita films distraction thieves as they try to steal big sums of money from customers who then fight back.
The Spanish police say they make up a third of all the under 17-year-olds they have to deal with in the city.
In Italy, where Gypsies face a shocking tide of racism, a major police investigation found enslaved children locked in a shack like animals.
Two years on, Tipurita's investigation finds out that the elaborate police operation has not saved them from a life of crime.
In an attempt to trace the roots of the problem and the origins of this exploitation within the Gypsy community, Tipurita travels to his native Romania, home to the largest Gypsy population in the world.
He meets up with one of the most powerful leaders of the Gypsy underworld, for whom stealing is a profession that has been passed from generation to generation, and who provides a special insight into the history of Gypsy crime.
This World asks whether these children are the victims of a culture of crime and a wider society that seems to have abandoned them. And raises a question - will anyone save them from the hands of their exploiters?"
BBC1 - The Muslim Tommies - "
Much has been made of the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists to the security of Britain. But what is often forgotten is that Muslims have fought on behalf of Britain for hundreds of years; thousands have lost their lives in the process.
Using simple reconstructions, this film gives voice to some of the Muslim soldiers who fought in the trenches of France during the First World War as part of the Indian Corps. Censors office reports from the time included many translated letters which document what life was like on the front line.
The letters contain fascinating but often heart-breaking details about the religious practices, sense of identity, hopes, fears, injuries and brave actions of the soldiers from 1914 - 1918."
Five - World War One in Colour - "Documentary series narrated by Kenneth Branagh, in which the latest computer technology is used to tell the story of World War I with colour images. The Great War was supposed to be over by Christmas, but dragged on for four years of stalemate, leaving cities and landscapes devastated, ten million soldiers dead and another 20 million mentally and physically scarred."
Thursday 3rd
ITV1 - Outbreak - "Outbreak is the story of events hour by hour on September 3rd, 1939, the day that would change the world forever. It was the day that saw the bombing of Warsaw, the birth of Britain’s first war baby, the shock of the first air raid sirens and the torpedoing of innocent civilians aboard a passenger ship. Famous Brits with vivid recollections of the day include Dame Vera Lynn, Richard, Lord Attenborough, Tony Benn, George Cole, Betty Driver and Sir Peter Blake. They all recall how they heard the news the country was going to war, and how they were affected by the dramatic change in the country’s circumstances... "
Friday 4th
BBC1 - Hardcore Profits - 2 part series - "Tim Samuels explores how in the 21st century, pornography has never been more profitable or more pervasive. Tim sees how pornography is now piped into people's lives via new technologies and how this is creating powerful new revenue streams for supposedly 'family friendly' mobile phone and credit card companies.
Tim discovers how the Internet has spawned 'Porn 2.0'. He travels to the US headquarters of a porn website with millions of users, and has the opportunity to get 'hands on' with their latest porn technology.
Tim finds out that the spread of porn is having far-reaching consequences. On porn sets in LA, Tim sees that condoms are rarely used, and in Africa, he finds that these American condom-free movies can undermine safe sex education, increasing the risk of HIV infections."
Channel 4 - First Cut: The Boy Who Was Born a Girl - "Jon is a typical teenage boy in all respects except one: he was born a girl.
Brought up as Natasha for 15 years, Jon can remember feeling male since he was only five years old. Having grown up always feeling different to the girls in school, it was impossible to identify as female.
Jon eventually confided in his mother Luisa, who supported him in seeking help from his GP and subsequently a gender specialist. He has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition that affects over 100 British children every year, and is embarking on an extraordinary journey of transition.
Director Julia Moon follows mother and son through the first three months of Jon's life-changing treatment as the testosterone pushes his female body into male puberty.
For Jon the changes that follow are things he's always wanted. But for Luisa, this means coming to terms with the enormous loss of her daughter."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Off-air recordings for week 8-14 August 2009
Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Saturday 8th
BBC4 - All Our Working Lives: Cutting Coal - "Coal had powered Britain's industrial rise, with her mills and furnaces, railways and steamships depending on it. In the peak years a million men laboured in the mines, many in poor and dangerous working conditions like those contributor Dick Martin found when he began as pit boy aged 14.
Miners and managers tell of the poor conditions, insecurity and technical backwardness that helped the case for nationalisation in 1947. But the new NCB over-estimated the future need for coal. After massive post-war modernistaion programme, too much coal was being brought up by too many miners, and with the cutbacks came more conflict."
BBC4 - The Miners' Strike - "Documentary which captures the extraordinary passions unleashed by the 1984 miners' strike and examines how it changed Britain forever. Mining villages were consumed by violence and hatred as pickets fought running battles with police and striking and working miners were locked in confrontation.
With powerful interviews, evocative archive and dramatic reconstructions, the film follows the lives of five young miners from one village through a torrid but exciting year."
BBC4 - Dounreay: The Atomic Dream - "The story of the rise and fall of a daring experiment into atomic energy. At a time when nuclear is firmly back on the agenda, this documentary meets the original Dounreay pioneers and charts the high and lows in the history of one of Britain's most ambitious scientific projects."
Monday 10th
Five - Manson - "Feature-length drama-documentary tracing the story of Charles Manson and his 'Family'. Manson and his followers committed several high-profile murders in Los Angeles in 1969. This film pieces together events with the help of first-hand accounts and reconstructions. It also features an in-depth interview with Linda Kasabian, a Manson follower who witnessed the murders and testified against the Family during the trial."
Tuesday 11th
BBC3 - The Autistic Me - "Most young adults take their freedoms for granted - they can choose their friends, stay out late, learn to drive and decide what they want to do as a career. But for people growing up on the autistic spectrum, life is very different. Stuck in a strange limbo between childhood and adulthood, they are unable to make these choices.
This documentary follows three people with autism at pivotal moments on the rocky road to being accepted as an adult. They are all fighting for independence and responsibility, but being frustrated by the shackles imposed on them by their disability, their families and the preconceived ideas of mainstream society.
23-year-old Oli has high-functioning autism (HFA) and is looking to find work. He is finding it tough as his condition means that he can't communicate or deal with pressure in the same way others can.
Thomas has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is approaching 16, the legal age of adulthood. As he does so, he is demanding more independence and wants to escape his family. But the freedom he is after is not forthcoming from his parents.
Alex, 24, is looking for love, but when you have the type of autism known as Asperger syndrome, communicating and socialising can seem an impossible task."
Wednesday 12th
BBC4 - Cell - new 3-part series - "Cell delves deep into the history of science to tell the story of how we unlocked the mystery of all life on Earth.
Science journalist Adam Rutherford takes BBC Four on a compelling journey through 350 years of scientific research to reveal the secrets of the cell, from its discovery to its role in shaping our future.
Cell explores how the discovery of the cell challenged centuries of religious and scientific dogma and then examines how scientists have come to manipulate and exploit the cell for the benefit of modern medicine and science.
Finally, Adam meets with US scientists keen to turn science fiction into science reality and create living cells from scratch."
Thursday 13th
BBC2 - Louis Theroux - The City Addicted to Crystal Meth - "Central Valley, California, is home to some of the most impoverished rural towns in America where crystal meth addiction is amongst the most prolific in the country. In Fresno, Louis finds a community ravaged by this cheap and highly addictive drug.
As he infiltrates the town, he experiences the reality of meth abuse as addicts who are high (or 'tweaking' as it is known) invite him into their homes to see them take hit after hit of their favourite drug. Louis becomes surrounded by the madness of daily addiction and the meth-addled confusion which is breaking this community apart.
He sees its impact through the eyes of the local police and meets Diane and Karl, a couple who have sustained their marriage despite a 25-year meth addiction and losing custody of their five children. He witnesses arrests of sons doing meth with their mothers and family after family broken apart from generations of meth abuse.
At residential centre 'Westcare', Louis sees the work being done to combat the destruction caused by the drug. Run by ex-addicts, it offers a six-month rehab programme. He witnesses the extraordinary challenges they face dealing with often meth-addicted families - babies born already hooked with mothers trying to care for them whilst attempting to kick their own habit too.
Addiction is laid bare as Louis seeks out the stories and the people behind the drug."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Saturday 8th
BBC4 - All Our Working Lives: Cutting Coal - "Coal had powered Britain's industrial rise, with her mills and furnaces, railways and steamships depending on it. In the peak years a million men laboured in the mines, many in poor and dangerous working conditions like those contributor Dick Martin found when he began as pit boy aged 14.
Miners and managers tell of the poor conditions, insecurity and technical backwardness that helped the case for nationalisation in 1947. But the new NCB over-estimated the future need for coal. After massive post-war modernistaion programme, too much coal was being brought up by too many miners, and with the cutbacks came more conflict."
BBC4 - The Miners' Strike - "Documentary which captures the extraordinary passions unleashed by the 1984 miners' strike and examines how it changed Britain forever. Mining villages were consumed by violence and hatred as pickets fought running battles with police and striking and working miners were locked in confrontation.
With powerful interviews, evocative archive and dramatic reconstructions, the film follows the lives of five young miners from one village through a torrid but exciting year."
BBC4 - Dounreay: The Atomic Dream - "The story of the rise and fall of a daring experiment into atomic energy. At a time when nuclear is firmly back on the agenda, this documentary meets the original Dounreay pioneers and charts the high and lows in the history of one of Britain's most ambitious scientific projects."
Monday 10th
Five - Manson - "Feature-length drama-documentary tracing the story of Charles Manson and his 'Family'. Manson and his followers committed several high-profile murders in Los Angeles in 1969. This film pieces together events with the help of first-hand accounts and reconstructions. It also features an in-depth interview with Linda Kasabian, a Manson follower who witnessed the murders and testified against the Family during the trial."
Tuesday 11th
BBC3 - The Autistic Me - "Most young adults take their freedoms for granted - they can choose their friends, stay out late, learn to drive and decide what they want to do as a career. But for people growing up on the autistic spectrum, life is very different. Stuck in a strange limbo between childhood and adulthood, they are unable to make these choices.
This documentary follows three people with autism at pivotal moments on the rocky road to being accepted as an adult. They are all fighting for independence and responsibility, but being frustrated by the shackles imposed on them by their disability, their families and the preconceived ideas of mainstream society.
23-year-old Oli has high-functioning autism (HFA) and is looking to find work. He is finding it tough as his condition means that he can't communicate or deal with pressure in the same way others can.
Thomas has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is approaching 16, the legal age of adulthood. As he does so, he is demanding more independence and wants to escape his family. But the freedom he is after is not forthcoming from his parents.
Alex, 24, is looking for love, but when you have the type of autism known as Asperger syndrome, communicating and socialising can seem an impossible task."
Wednesday 12th
BBC4 - Cell - new 3-part series - "Cell delves deep into the history of science to tell the story of how we unlocked the mystery of all life on Earth.
Science journalist Adam Rutherford takes BBC Four on a compelling journey through 350 years of scientific research to reveal the secrets of the cell, from its discovery to its role in shaping our future.
Cell explores how the discovery of the cell challenged centuries of religious and scientific dogma and then examines how scientists have come to manipulate and exploit the cell for the benefit of modern medicine and science.
Finally, Adam meets with US scientists keen to turn science fiction into science reality and create living cells from scratch."
Thursday 13th
BBC2 - Louis Theroux - The City Addicted to Crystal Meth - "Central Valley, California, is home to some of the most impoverished rural towns in America where crystal meth addiction is amongst the most prolific in the country. In Fresno, Louis finds a community ravaged by this cheap and highly addictive drug.
As he infiltrates the town, he experiences the reality of meth abuse as addicts who are high (or 'tweaking' as it is known) invite him into their homes to see them take hit after hit of their favourite drug. Louis becomes surrounded by the madness of daily addiction and the meth-addled confusion which is breaking this community apart.
He sees its impact through the eyes of the local police and meets Diane and Karl, a couple who have sustained their marriage despite a 25-year meth addiction and losing custody of their five children. He witnesses arrests of sons doing meth with their mothers and family after family broken apart from generations of meth abuse.
At residential centre 'Westcare', Louis sees the work being done to combat the destruction caused by the drug. Run by ex-addicts, it offers a six-month rehab programme. He witnesses the extraordinary challenges they face dealing with often meth-addicted families - babies born already hooked with mothers trying to care for them whilst attempting to kick their own habit too.
Addiction is laid bare as Louis seeks out the stories and the people behind the drug."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Off-air recordings for week 1-7 August 2009
Please email Rich Deakin <rdeakin@glos.ac.uk> if you would like any of the following programmes / series recording.*
Saturday 1st
BBC4 - Happy Birthday OU- 40 Years of the Open University - "In 1969 change was in the air. Man stepped on the moon and Britain launched a revolutionary new kind of university - one where the lectures were televised and the students could study at home. It was greeted with scepticism, both by politicians and academics, but went on to become a much loved, and often spoofed, British institution.
The Open University (or OU) is now forty years old, and Lenny Henry tells its story and reveals how The OU changed his own life. Featuring contributions from Sir David Attenborough, Myleene Klass and Anna Ford."
Sunday 2nd
BBC2 - Man On Wire - "Documentary based on Philippe Petit's autobiographical book To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers.
In August 1974, French wire-walker Philippe Petit spent nearly an hour walking, dancing, kneeling and lying on a wire which he and his friends had strung in secret between the rooftops of New York's Twin Towers. Six years of intense planning, dreaming and physical training fell into place that morning.
Already an accomplished wire-walker, Petit had caught sight of an article about the planned construction of the Twin Towers while in a dentist's waiting room in 1968, and at that moment an obsession was born. He spent every waking moment since that day plotting the details of his walk (which he called 'le coup') and gathered a team of people around him to assist in the planning.
Petit's preparation was expert, thorough and top secret: he took precise measurements and even aerial photographs to help him construct models of the rigging; learned about the physical effects of the wind on the swaying of the buildings; even created fake ID cards and spied on office workers to plan how best to gain access to the towers without arousing suspicion. On that August morning, his dream was realised.
Using contemporary interviews, archival footage and dramatic reconstructions, the film tells the story of this extraordinary feat, and also of Petit's previous walks between the towers of Notre Dame in Paris, and of the Sydney Harbour Bridge."
Monday 3rd
BBC2 - The Trouble with Girls - Jailbirds 1/2 - "Britain's young women are committing nearly 40 per cent more crimes than six years ago, and they're beginning to catch up with boys in the violence and theft rates. Filmed over six months, this observational documentary tells the stories of two of the young women behind these statistics, whose lives are stuck in the criminal justice system.
20-year-old Shona from Doncaster and 17-year-old Abbie from York have both been arrested dozens of times and imprisoned three times each. We meet them as Shona is coming to the end of her probation period, and when Abbie is released from a Young Offenders' Institute and moves into a hostel. Both girls want to go straight and sort their lives out, but it's not as easy as either hope. Abbie's drinking and partying lifestyle means that within days of her release she's breaching her electronic tag order and missing appointments with her Youth Offending Team. Shona, briefly free of the criminal justice system, is soon shoplifting again with her best friend Jodie.
Over the months, it becomes clear that binge-drinking and drug-taking, trips to court, and packing for prison have become a normal way of life for Shona and Abbie. Both are given second chances to turn their lives around and seem happier for it, but good intentions quickly unravel and the prospect of prison looms large again for these girls.
While Shona and Abbie may seem tough on the surface, between them they struggle to cope with difficult relationships with their parents, self-esteem, homelessness and the reality of job-hunting with a criminal past. Sometimes they wonder whether life in prison is a preferable option to life on the outside."
More 4 - Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan - "An urban renewal initiative set on improving the town of Castleford, West Yorkshire, is the subject of a major new series beginning in August: Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan.
The last five years have seen a series of different projects across the town, including the design of a new town square, the creation of several new facilities for local children and the design and build of a major new footbridge.
What's unusual about the project is that it was founded by Channel 4 Television, local community and civic groups and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. Thousands of local people were involved in setting the project's agenda, and the design and the delivery of individual schemes. Important new work was commissioned from national and international designers and artists. And the initiative has been credited with leveraging over £200m of additional new investment in to the town.
Because of the innovative way in which it was designed, its extensive involvement of local people and its success in creating a clear, unified platform for the economic development of the town, Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan has won extensive praise for its best practice in urban regeneration. The project has also attracted international interest and praise. Progress so far has been discussed and highlighted at events in China the United States, Russia and Europe."
Wednesday 5th
More 4 - Dispatches: The War Against Street Weapons - "Last year, as chair of Channel 4's Street Weapons Commission, Cherie Booth QC said that the use of guns and knives among young people had become so widespread that she feared for the safety of her own children. Since then, the police and government have taken steps to deal with the problem. But are they doing enough?
To answer that question, Cherie joins police patrols on Britain's toughest streets, talks to young offenders behind bars, and visits a pioneering scheme combating Glasgow's violent gang culture.
The Street Weapons Commission Report - published in 1998 - set out a series of practical recommendations about what could be done to tackle the problem of street weapons in the UK. But one year on, the problem hasn't gone away and Cherie feels passionately that more must be done."
Thursday 6th
ITV 1- Real Crime: The Tesco Bomber - "For six months the largest supermarket in the country and its customers were the targets of a letter bomb campaign, which prompted the biggest, most secretive investigation Dorset police had ever mounted as officers tried to catch the bomber trying to extort millions of pounds from Tesco. In this programme, the police officers who worked on the case explain the difficulties they faced in tracking down the bomber and the tactics used to prevent him in carrying out his threats. In September 2000, John Purnell, then Director of Security at Tesco, received a phone call from a Bournemouth newsagent who had discovered a photocopy of a threatening letter addressed to Tesco on the shop photocopier. Signed Sally, the letter demanded the company pay the author using Tesco loyalty cards he wanted the supermarket to give away in every copy of local paper the Daily Echo, which had a circulation of roughly 50,000, to avoid a letter bomb campaign.... "
Friday 7th
BBC 1 - Panorama: Smugglers' Tales - "With compelling first-hand accounts, Panorama reveals the endless game of cat and mouse between prisoners determined to get their fix and officers equally determined to keep drugs out of their jails.
For the first time, visitors are caught on camera passing drugs to their nearest and dearest with hands as fast as any magician.
With exclusive access to a Category A jail, reporter Raphael Rowe hears from inmates and officers as well as from smugglers, mules and even a corrupt prison officer, fresh out of jail himself after being caught taking in drugs in return for money."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
Saturday 1st
BBC4 - Happy Birthday OU- 40 Years of the Open University - "In 1969 change was in the air. Man stepped on the moon and Britain launched a revolutionary new kind of university - one where the lectures were televised and the students could study at home. It was greeted with scepticism, both by politicians and academics, but went on to become a much loved, and often spoofed, British institution.
The Open University (or OU) is now forty years old, and Lenny Henry tells its story and reveals how The OU changed his own life. Featuring contributions from Sir David Attenborough, Myleene Klass and Anna Ford."
Sunday 2nd
BBC2 - Man On Wire - "Documentary based on Philippe Petit's autobiographical book To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers.
In August 1974, French wire-walker Philippe Petit spent nearly an hour walking, dancing, kneeling and lying on a wire which he and his friends had strung in secret between the rooftops of New York's Twin Towers. Six years of intense planning, dreaming and physical training fell into place that morning.
Already an accomplished wire-walker, Petit had caught sight of an article about the planned construction of the Twin Towers while in a dentist's waiting room in 1968, and at that moment an obsession was born. He spent every waking moment since that day plotting the details of his walk (which he called 'le coup') and gathered a team of people around him to assist in the planning.
Petit's preparation was expert, thorough and top secret: he took precise measurements and even aerial photographs to help him construct models of the rigging; learned about the physical effects of the wind on the swaying of the buildings; even created fake ID cards and spied on office workers to plan how best to gain access to the towers without arousing suspicion. On that August morning, his dream was realised.
Using contemporary interviews, archival footage and dramatic reconstructions, the film tells the story of this extraordinary feat, and also of Petit's previous walks between the towers of Notre Dame in Paris, and of the Sydney Harbour Bridge."
Monday 3rd
BBC2 - The Trouble with Girls - Jailbirds 1/2 - "Britain's young women are committing nearly 40 per cent more crimes than six years ago, and they're beginning to catch up with boys in the violence and theft rates. Filmed over six months, this observational documentary tells the stories of two of the young women behind these statistics, whose lives are stuck in the criminal justice system.
20-year-old Shona from Doncaster and 17-year-old Abbie from York have both been arrested dozens of times and imprisoned three times each. We meet them as Shona is coming to the end of her probation period, and when Abbie is released from a Young Offenders' Institute and moves into a hostel. Both girls want to go straight and sort their lives out, but it's not as easy as either hope. Abbie's drinking and partying lifestyle means that within days of her release she's breaching her electronic tag order and missing appointments with her Youth Offending Team. Shona, briefly free of the criminal justice system, is soon shoplifting again with her best friend Jodie.
Over the months, it becomes clear that binge-drinking and drug-taking, trips to court, and packing for prison have become a normal way of life for Shona and Abbie. Both are given second chances to turn their lives around and seem happier for it, but good intentions quickly unravel and the prospect of prison looms large again for these girls.
While Shona and Abbie may seem tough on the surface, between them they struggle to cope with difficult relationships with their parents, self-esteem, homelessness and the reality of job-hunting with a criminal past. Sometimes they wonder whether life in prison is a preferable option to life on the outside."
More 4 - Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan - "An urban renewal initiative set on improving the town of Castleford, West Yorkshire, is the subject of a major new series beginning in August: Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan.
The last five years have seen a series of different projects across the town, including the design of a new town square, the creation of several new facilities for local children and the design and build of a major new footbridge.
What's unusual about the project is that it was founded by Channel 4 Television, local community and civic groups and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. Thousands of local people were involved in setting the project's agenda, and the design and the delivery of individual schemes. Important new work was commissioned from national and international designers and artists. And the initiative has been credited with leveraging over £200m of additional new investment in to the town.
Because of the innovative way in which it was designed, its extensive involvement of local people and its success in creating a clear, unified platform for the economic development of the town, Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan has won extensive praise for its best practice in urban regeneration. The project has also attracted international interest and praise. Progress so far has been discussed and highlighted at events in China the United States, Russia and Europe."
Wednesday 5th
More 4 - Dispatches: The War Against Street Weapons - "Last year, as chair of Channel 4's Street Weapons Commission, Cherie Booth QC said that the use of guns and knives among young people had become so widespread that she feared for the safety of her own children. Since then, the police and government have taken steps to deal with the problem. But are they doing enough?
To answer that question, Cherie joins police patrols on Britain's toughest streets, talks to young offenders behind bars, and visits a pioneering scheme combating Glasgow's violent gang culture.
The Street Weapons Commission Report - published in 1998 - set out a series of practical recommendations about what could be done to tackle the problem of street weapons in the UK. But one year on, the problem hasn't gone away and Cherie feels passionately that more must be done."
Thursday 6th
ITV 1- Real Crime: The Tesco Bomber - "For six months the largest supermarket in the country and its customers were the targets of a letter bomb campaign, which prompted the biggest, most secretive investigation Dorset police had ever mounted as officers tried to catch the bomber trying to extort millions of pounds from Tesco. In this programme, the police officers who worked on the case explain the difficulties they faced in tracking down the bomber and the tactics used to prevent him in carrying out his threats. In September 2000, John Purnell, then Director of Security at Tesco, received a phone call from a Bournemouth newsagent who had discovered a photocopy of a threatening letter addressed to Tesco on the shop photocopier. Signed Sally, the letter demanded the company pay the author using Tesco loyalty cards he wanted the supermarket to give away in every copy of local paper the Daily Echo, which had a circulation of roughly 50,000, to avoid a letter bomb campaign.... "
Friday 7th
BBC 1 - Panorama: Smugglers' Tales - "With compelling first-hand accounts, Panorama reveals the endless game of cat and mouse between prisoners determined to get their fix and officers equally determined to keep drugs out of their jails.
For the first time, visitors are caught on camera passing drugs to their nearest and dearest with hands as fast as any magician.
With exclusive access to a Category A jail, reporter Raphael Rowe hears from inmates and officers as well as from smugglers, mules and even a corrupt prison officer, fresh out of jail himself after being caught taking in drugs in return for money."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
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