BBC Documentaries Collection

BBC Woof a Horizon Guide to Dogs (2012)


BBC - Woof! a Horizon Guide to Dogs (2012) PDTV x264 AC3-MVGroup
English | 00:56:31 | H264 | 832x464 | 25.00fps 1672 Kbps | AC3 128 Kbps 48.0khz | 699MB
Genre: Documentary

Dallas Campbell looks back through the Horizon archives to find out what science can tell us about our best friend the dog, and whether new thinking should change the way we treat them. From investigating the domestic dog's wild wolf origins to discovering the remarkable impact that humans have had on canine evolution, Dallas explores why our bond with dogs is so strong and how we can best use that to manage them.


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BBC Connections 3 series



This humorous and upbeat science series that history is filled with seemingly unrelated discoveries that are actually connected in the most surprising ways. Host James Burke continues to delight viewers as he explores the effects and origins of inventions and events that shape the modern world.

Journeying through what he calls “The Web” host James Burke shows how seemingly unrelated people and events have hooked up over time, spurring the social and technological changes that have shaped the modern world.

Episode 1: Feedback
Episode 2: What’s in a Name
Episode 3: Drop the Apple
Episode 4: An Invisible object
Episode 5: Life is No Picnic
Episode 6: Elementary Stuff
Episode 7: A Special Place
Episode 8: Fire from the Sky
Episode 9: Hit the Water
Episode 10: In Touch

BBC Ice Dogs (2002)



BBC - Ice Dogs (2002) PDTV x264 AAC-MVGroup
English | 3x~54min | H264 | 640x480 | 25.00fps 1533 Kbps | AAC 128 Kbps 24.0khz | 1.75 GiB
Genre: Documentary

Benedict's journey of 1000 miles with a ten resilient and strong-willed Chukotka dogs through Siberia in the worst winter in living memory. Assisted by two superb Chukchis, or “reindeer herders” Benedict made his way to the Bering Strait, and then set out alone with his dogs in an attempt to cross it. But it wasn’t that easy! Benedict had been suffering from frostbite from the first day of the trip; and now would be alone with Polar bears, wolves, and his dogs. Would his lead dog, "Top Dog" trust him enough, once they were alone together, and exposed to dangers of the Arctic?

Part 1: First Day
On his first day's training he gets frostbite and is only saved from being dragged into the icy sea by one of his guides. Soon after there is a break in the weather, and in a place where clear blue skies are far rarer than frostbite they start on their epic trek. After his disastrous first outing, this doesn't seem such a good idea. Having successfully crossed a frozen bay, Benedict and his team go over a cliff before getting lost in the deadly Arctic night. On a hunt with a local official into the trackless tundra, they become disorientated and totally lost. Night falls and their snowmobile breaks down in the heart of polar bear country and the territory of the Arctic wolf, the largest in the world.

Part 2: Third Leg
On the third leg, Benedict and his two native guides are hit by a massive storm and a wind chill of minus 60. As they head north the weather becomes more extreme and the settlements even more bizarre. Benedict's dog team remains unconvinced by his leadership and a near fatal journey down an iced-up river fails to fill them with confidence. As they continue north towards the Bering Strait one of the dogs has begun to listen to his commands, but with mountains ahead he needs his entire team's loyalty. Benedict discovers that one of his dogs has developed a potentially fatal neurosis and they are lucky to make it to the next settlement alive. Once there, the strain of starts to show and his guides begin to crack.

Part 3: Last Leg
When they reach the home town of his guides he will be on his own. Coming across a family of nomads in the middle of nowhere shows Benedict that people can thrive in this seemingly impossible terrain. On his first night alone, his dogs start howling - there is an intruder in the camp. Alone on the frozen Bering Strait trying to cross over into Alaska, Benedict is right in the path of the annual polar bear migration, packs of Arctic wolves are patrolling about and gales come out of nowhere, plunging the temperature to -40 degrees. When the ice walls form a barrier ahead he is forced to leave his dogs and try to find a route through, but he loses his team, his tent and his supplies, and is left stranded.


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BBC Roundhead or Cavalier



BBC - Roundhead or Cavalier: Which One Are You (2012) PDTV x264 AAC-MVGroup
English | 00:58:21 | H264 | 832x468 | 25.00fps 1793 Kbps | AAC 128 Kbps 24.0khz | 748MB
Genre: Documentary

In the middle of the 17th century, Britain was devastated by a civil war that divided the nation into two tribes - the Roundheads and the Cavaliers. In this programme, celebrities and historians reveal that modern Britain is still defined by the battle between the two tribes. The Cavaliers represent a Britain of panache, pleasure and individuality. They are confronted by the Roundheads, who stand for modesty, discipline, equality and state intervention. The ideas which emerged 350 years ago shaped our democracy, civil liberties and constitution. They also create a cultural divide that influences how we live, what we wear and even what we eat and drink. Individuals usually identify with one tribe or the other, but sometimes they need some elements of the enemy's identity. Featuring contributions from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, AS Byatt, Julian Fellowes, Philippa Gregory, Anne Widdecombe and Clarissa Dickson Wright.


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BBC Chinese Food made Easy Season One



BBC ? Chinese Food made Easy / Season One / 6 Episodes
English | 661:31 | 916 x 636 | PAL (39fps) | DivX | MP3 ? 339kbps | 961 MB
Genre: Documentary
Glamorous young food entrepreneur Ching-He Huang is the face of “Chinese Food Made Easy”. Born in Taiwan to Chinese parents, Ching was raised on freshly cooked home meals for which ingredients were always bought on a daily basis. Her major food influences stem from the traditional cooking styles of her farming community grandparents, who lived out in the countryside of southern Taiwan. Ching-He Huang is a very talented cook and her series “Chinese food made easy” is excellent. Why go to the local Chinese restaurant when you can cook for yourself. It is so easy, healthy and fun

BBC Christina A Medieval Life



Historian Michael Wood delves through medieval court records to follow the fortunes of a village in Hertfordshire and, more particularly, the family of peasant Christina Cok. The 14th century was a perilous time in British history, shot through with famine, plague and war. It was a time of climate change, virulent cattle diseases and, above all, the Black Death. But it was also the time when modern mentalities were shaped, not just by the rulers but increasingly by the common people. It was the beginning of the end of serfdom, the growth of individual freedom and the start of a capitalist market economy. Michael chooses an everyday story of a medieval country family through which to illustrate the bigger picture of how the character and destiny of ordinary British people was being shaped. It is history told not from the top of society but from the bottom - and especially through the eyes of the forgotten Michael brings to life the story of a 14th-century extended family: peasant Christina Cok, her father Hugh, estranged husband William, and her children John and Alice. Michael shows us that though their lives might at first seem quite alien, you only have to scratch below the surface to find uncanny connections with modern-day Britons. In them, you can see our beginnings as a nation of shopkeepers and the roots of the British love affair with beer and football. Perhaps more importantly is the triumph of that sturdy and cussed streak of individualism that has been a characteristic of 'Britishness' down the centuries.


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Subtitles: eng

BBC Satoyama Japans Secret Watergarden



The BBC has decided to acquire NHK's Satoyama series of documentaries. It will acquire Satoyama: Japan's Secret Garden (1999) and Satoyama: Japan's Secret Watergarden (2004) and combine them into one program for broadcast, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

The Satoyama series, which has just won the Grand Prix at the 28th International Wildlife Film Festival 2005, is produced by NHK and distributed by MICO. It poetically portrays the close relationship between people and nature in traditional rural environments in Japan. The first program, which focuses on the agricultural cycle of rice paddies on hillsides in Japan, has been distributed to over 80 countries worldwide. The second program takes a look at a traditional water-supply system called a "kabata", which not only provides water to village households but also nurtures a vast diversity of fish, insects, birds, and other creatures. Both programs offer insights into environmentally sustainable living.


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BBC Im Pregnant with Their Baby (2012)


I'm Pregnant with Their Baby
On: BBC One
Date: Tuesday 23rd August 2011
Time: 22:35 to 23:30 (55 minutes long)
Documentary telling the story of three young women who have each decided to give a childless couple the ultimate gift - a baby of their own.

Twenty-two-year-old Louise has her hands full with her own son, but she is determined to become pregnant for a couple who have wanted a baby for 13 years. Twenty-three-year-old Lyndsay has been so moved by a stranger's struggle with cancer that she has decided to carry a baby for her. And aged just twenty, Shannon is too young to be a surrogate in the UK; but in two weeks she will be 21, and she is already on the hunt for her ideal couple.

Louise, Lyndsay and Shannon are among a small number of very young women who are signing up to be surrogate mums for couples they have only just met. But, as they discover, the reality of giving someone a baby is not exactly as they imagined it might be.


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BBC The Planets Complete



While watching The Planets, be prepared to fight your way past all kinds of computer animation which makes Walking with Dinosaurs seem like the last word in realism. It seems that no solar or planetary event which ever happened (or which may or may not have happened) is worthy of mention here without recourse to lovingly detailed shots of implausible-looking collisions and explosions. These come complete with sound effects, despite the fact that there is no sound in the vacuum of space, and are enhanced by a range of colours, some of which are visible only to bees. Somehow Patrick Moore’s The Sky at Night manages to convey just as much excitement with little more than a couple of diagrams and the presenter’s hyperactive enthusiasm. Fortunately, this two-DVD set is redeemed by both its subject matter and its sheer scope, offering all eight 50-minute episodes of the 1999 documentary series covering the history of the solar system and humanity’s age-old desire to learn its secrets. Detailed indexing and scene access makes this a convenient reference source too, so amateur astronomers everywhere can finally bin those off-air VHS copies.

Contains all eight episodes from the series:- ‘Different Worlds’, ‘Moon’, ‘Terra Firma’, ‘Giants’, ‘Star’, ‘Atmosphere’, ‘Destiny’ and ‘Life’.


Episode 1 – Different Worlds

Travel back in time and space to witness the awesome forces that gave birth to the Sun and the far-flung family of planets that orbit it. From the rocky, superheated surface of Mercury, to the storm-wracked atmosphere of gigantic Jupiter and the distant mysteries of Pluto, this is a richly detailed introduction to the creation, composition and alien landscapes of The Planets

Episode 2 – Terra Firma

Relive the thrill of first glimpses of otherworldly terrain as you join the early quest to discover the true nature of our planetary neighbours. Pierce the toxic clouds of Venus to map ancient lava flows the size of continents. Visit a Martian volcano taller than Mount Everest and head even further out into the planetary system in search of clues to the “living” geological forces at work in the most unlikely cosmic corners.

Episode 3 – Giants

They are the heavyweights of the planetary line up. There are unimaginable vast orbs of seething gas and brilliant could bands that contain virtually no landscapes. Now, take a closer look at these planetary behemoths.

Episode 4 – Moon

While a number of planets are accompanied by moons of all sizes and compositions, only the Earth boasts such a comparatively huge “companion world.” What forces could have resulted in this planetary odd couple? Join the search for the answer to one of the solar system’s most baffling mysteries, from Cold Warrior scientists racing to be first on the moon, to current theories and remarkable computer-generated visions of the moon’s explosive creation.

Episode 5 – Star

To primitive peoples, the Sun was synonymous with God – the ultimate source of life-giving warmth and light. Now, step aboard with the Skylab space station to probe the turbulent heart of our local power source. Plunge into the centre of the Sun to witness the reactions driving its primordial atomic pulse. And observe the spectacle of massive solar flares capable of engulfing entire planets – including our own.

Episode 6 – Atmosphere

Atmospheres make weather. This can result in alien weather reports that seem as if they’re right our of a science program: torrential sulphuric rain and metallic snow on Venus, global dust storms raging across Mars and centuries-long, Earth-sized cyclones circling Jupiter. It’s an eye-opening exploration of other worldly weather that reveals the surprising variety and force of atmospheric activity throughout the solar system.

Episode 7 – Life

From the startling Copernican revelation that the Earth was not the centre of the Universe, humanity has wondered if life is unique to our world. But how likely is it that the Earth is the only reservoir of life in the vastness of space? Come along for the ride as early planetary researches learn that conditions on our neighbouring planets may be too hostile to support life and discover how recent findings hint there may be alien life “hiding out” in places we’ve overlooked.

Episode 8 – Destiny

What is the long-term fate of the planets in our solar system? Voyage to a future billions of years in the distance. Explore the Sun’s expansion as it engulfs its planetary progeny in the final, fiery act of its billion-year long dilemma.

BBC Britain in a Day (2012)


Britain in a Day

Monday 11 June
9.00pm to 10.30pm
BBC 2

Following on from the feature film Life in a Day, this film directed by BAFTA-winner Morgan Matthews offers an extraordinarily candid look at 21st century life across the UK, crafted from over 750 hours of footage, including 11,526 clips submitted to YouTube. On Saturday 12th November 2011, an eclectic range of British people turned the camera on themselves, capturing the entertaining and mundane, the exciting and unusual, the poignant and the everyday. The result tells the fascinating story of the British public in their own words. The documentary offers remarkable insight into the lives, loves, fears and hopes of people living in Britain today. This captivating self-portrait of Britain forms part of the BBC's Cultural Olympiad.


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BBC Images of the Cosmos Jets and Black Holes



The strange & astounding phenomenon of relativistic Jets associated with black holes is under scrutiny.

This programme examines the Jets found to be associated with black holes on a stellar and a Galactic scale. These Jets can extend to 10 Million light years and reach speeds of 99.9% the speed of light. To study them Astronomers need to utilise the best Radio Telescopes in the world and we see these telscopes in vast arrays (such as the VLA and Britains Merlin network) even linking Telescopes on a Global scale using Very Long Baseline Interferometry facilitated by Atomic clocks using Hydrogen Masers. The Bi-polarJets although seen emitting from stellar scale Black holes and possibly neutron stars are more commonly associated with the centres of Galaxies (usually active Radio Galaxies) and even Quasars where colossal Black Holes lurk to power them in a complex way. (Some newer theories link the Jets with the equally mysterious & awe inspiring Gamma Ray Burst phenomenom as well)


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BBC Images of the Cosmos Good Seeing



An in-depth look at the latest advances in Telescopes and what they can see with the aid of new technology.

The application of new technology to some of the best ground-based Telescopes in the world is examined here.
We find out about the conditions needed for idea viewing or “seeing” and explore how the Astronomers enemy our turbulent atmosphere can be overcome with some ingenious techniques. These include active optics, adaptive optics and coherent interferometry all of which are explained with demonstrations of their power. Space Telescopes are mentioned but this is mainly about the ground based advances in the field.


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BBC Fig Leaf The Biggest Cover Up in History 2011



BBC - Fig Leaf: The Biggest Cover-Up in History (2011) PDTV x264 AAC-MVGroup
English | 00:59:00 | H264 | 832x464 | 25.00fps 1783 Kbps | AAC 128 Kbps 48.0khz | 752MB
Genre: Documentary

Stephen Smith uncovers the secret history of the humble fig leaf, opening a window onto 2,000 years of Western art and ethics.He tells how the work of Michelangelo, known to his contemporaries as 'the maker of pork things', fuelled the infamous 'fig leaf campaign', the greatest cover-up in art history; how Bernini turned censorship into a new form of erotica by replacing the fig leaf with the slipping gauze; and how the ingenious machinations of Rodin brought nudity back to the public eye.In telling this story, Smith turns many of our deepest prejudices upside down, showing how the Victorians had a far more sophisticated and mature attitude to sexuality than we do today. He ends with an impassioned plea for the widespread return of the fig leaf to redeem modern art from cheap sensation and innuendo.


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BBC The war game (1965)



The War Game is a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city. Although it won an Oscar for Best Documentary, it is fiction. It was intended as an hour-long program to air on BBC 1, but it was deemed too intense and violent to broadcast. It went to theatrical distribution as a feature film instead. Low-budget and shot on location, it strives for and achieves convincing and unflinching realism.

Part interviews and quotations, part acting, this film simulates the aftermath of a large-scale nuclear attack near a rural area of England. It argues that citizens and Civil Defense authorities are poorly prepared for this eventuality, and describes possible physical, psychological and social damage in graphic detail.


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BBC Reggie yates teen gangs



TV and radio presenter Reggie Yates explores the dangerous world of teenage gangs, and considers whether young people can be adversely affected by their environment and as a consequence turn to crime. He meets two 22-year-olds who found peer pressure and the temptation of easy money hard to resist, but are now trying to turn their lives around. He also visits a rehabilitation scheme in St Helens, Merseyside, where he talks to a former member of Manchester's ruthless Gooch Gang. Part of the Criminal Britain season.


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