BBC Documentaries Collection

BBC Come Fly with Me (2011)



Come Fly with Me (The Story of Pan Am)
Broadcast: BBC 2 Channel
Saturday 12 November 2011
20:00 - 20:59

Thanks to theeagle.


Documentary telling the story of how Pan American World Airways kickstarted the Jet Age and shrank the globe. Real-life 'Pan Am girls' recall a high-life of luxury and glamour; rubbing shoulders with celebrity passengers, international romances and having to wear the now infamous girdle. Stars of the Jet Age such as Robert Vaughn and Mary Quant remember the food, fashion and girls that made them regular Pan Am passengers.

Pan Am's success was largely due to its visionary founder Juan Trippe, who transformed a small mail carrier into a global airline, pioneered flights for the masses and helped create the Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Honor Blackman narrates the story of how Pan Am conquered the skies and left a legacy of affordable travel and a much smaller world.


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BBC A Wonderland Special (2011)



Documentary following six people who were finalists on TV talent show New Faces in 1986. It was a night that transformed their lives - but not in ways they had imagined.


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BBC Night on Film An A-Z of the Dark (2011)



Night on Film - An A-Z of the Dark
Wed 21 Dec 2011 20:00 BBC Four

An alphabetical look at the dark, featuring everything from bats to vampires. The
night comes alive in this unusual mixture of music and archive.


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BBC Concorde Special (1989)



This capture is from a VHS tape of the analogue transmission, which was at least 20 years old at the time of conversion, of a BBC1 programme recorded on 28 November 1988 and first broadcast on 26 February 1989 with a repeat on 13 April 1990.

Unfortunately the picture quality isn't as good as we have come to expect in the digital age. The tape broke when trying to capture this and I sadly lost the first couple of minutes of the show. None of this however should spoil your enjoyment of this programme focusing on a very special aircraft.

Programme Synopsis.
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Travel on the flight deck aboard Speedbird Alpha Bravo from London Heathrow to Dulles, Washington with Captain John Hutchinson, First Officer Chris Norris and Flight Engineer Bill Brown, hosted by Noel Edmonds.
Watch the pre-flight checks, takeoff, and landing. The crew also explain the various instruments on the flight deck and specific Concorde instruments.

Also included as part of the show:
Experience landing a Boeing 757 (simulator) at Athens airport with one failed engine and then no engines for the benefit of a chap frightened of flying.
Watch Captain John Hutchinson make his first parachute jump, with surprising results given the special factors.
A quick look at the Schnieder Trophy Air Race (September 1987) over the Isle of Wight.
Watch a converted passenger VC-10 refuel two Tornado's from 617 Squadron (The Dambusters).
Last but not least from "Transit" (August 1987) a look at a chap using flying boats to take punters to The Great Barrier Reef.

The closing remarks of the show provide a very poignant ending given Concorde's recent tragic history.



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BBC American Nomads (2011)



American Nomads
Mon 28 Nov 2011 22:00 BBC Four

Beneath the America we think we know lies a nation hidden from view - a nomadic nation,
living on the roads, the rails and in the wild open spaces. In its deserts, forests, mountain
ranges and on the plains, a huge population of modern nomads pursues its version of the
American dream - to live free from the world of careers, mortgages and the white picket
fence.

When British writer Richard Grant moved to the USA more than 20 years ago it wasn't just a
change of country. He soon found himself in a world of travellers and the culture of roadside
America - existing alongside, but separate from, conventional society. In this film he takes
to the road again, on a journey without destination.

In a series of encounters and unplanned meetings, Richard is guided by his own instincts and
experiences - and the serendipity of the road. Travelling with loners and groups, he
encounters the different 'tribes' of nomads as he journeys across the deserts of America's


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