BBC Documentaries Collection

BBC Terry Pratchett Living With Alzheimers



Bestselling author, Terry Pratchett, is 60 years old and has recently been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers disease but hes not going to take it lying down. He wants Alzheimers to be sorry that it ever caught him.

The first film begins in early 2008 soon after Terrys diagnosis. As he battles with tying his tie and struggles to cope at a public reading of his new book, he explicitly discusses his anger at being diagnosed with an illness for which there remains no cure. The film follows Terry as he tackles the disease head on, tries out some alternative treatments, and confronts leading scientists about how close they are to the secret cure, bubbling in a cauldron.

Surprised by how subtle the effects and symptoms of the disease actually are, Terry meets other people who share the same rare diagnosis as him, each at various stages along this dark and unknowing path. He visits his specialist for tests, using mini mental state examinations to determine the severity of his condition and which parts of his brain are being affected the most. His PA, Rob is probed to reveal more about Terry than Terry might know himself – after all this is the disease that hides itself even from the person who has it.

Part 2 of 2

Wednesday, 11th February 2009
9pm to 10pm
BBC2



Bestselling author, Terry Pratchett, is 60 years old and has recently been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers disease but hes not going to take it lying down. He wants Alzheimers to be sorry that it ever caught him.

In the second film, Terry contemplates his future and the difficulty of facing the inevitable end game. Terry travels across the pond to learn, first hand, how Americans are dealing with the tsunami of Alzheimers that is threatening their health care to find out if they are closer to beating the disease.

In LA, Terry meets the unlikely doctor who has recently come across a controversial new Alzheimer’s treatment which he claims produces remarkable results in minutes, and in New York State he meets one of the leading experts in PCA (Posterior Cortical Atrophy), Terrys variant form of the illness.

He confronts his probable future by visiting a care home devoted to residents with dementia, whilst evaluating the difficult dilemma thousands of carers are faced with when dealing with a loved one who cant look after themselves. Passionately determined to name the demon and rid patients of the shame and stigma attached to this illness, Terrys desire is to find a treatment, if not a cure, which will allow him to carry on writing for as long as possible he doesnt have any time to waste.


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BBC Stephen Fry in America (Complete)



Britains best-loved comic genius Stephen Fry turns his celebrated wit and insight to unearthing the real America as he travels across the continent in his black taxicab. Stephens account of his adventures is filled with his unique humour, insight and warmth in this beautifully shot BBC1 series.

Stephen meets a collection of remarkable individuals – American icons and unsung local heroes alike. He drops in for tea with Steven Spielberg in Ohio, talks to George Bush on his ranch in Texas; visits Maines most famous resident, Stephen King; meets Bill Gates in Washington; samples Memphis music courtesy of Aretha Franklin; and who better to talk about California than its governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? A celebration of the magnificent and the eccentric, the beautiful and the strange, In America is Stephen Frys homage to this extraordinary country.

Britains best-loved comic genius turns his celebrated wit and insight to unearthing the real America.



Sample Screens

BBC The End Day



End Day is a 2005 docu-drama produced by the BBC and aired on the National Geographic Channel, on the TV series, National Geographic Channel Presents, that depicts various doomsday scenarios. The documentary follows the fictional scientist Dr. Howell, played by Glenn Conroy, as he travels from his London hotel room to his laboratory in New York City, and shows how each scenario affects his journey as well as those around him, with various experts providing commentary on that specific disaster as it unfolds.
Imagine waking up to the last day on Earth?
Inspired by the predictions of scientists, End Day creates apocalyptic scenarios that go beyond reality. In a single hour, explore five different fictional disasters, from a giant tsunami hitting New York to a deadly meteorite strike on Berlin.


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BBC Stephen Fry HIV and Me



Two-part documentary in which Stephen Fry investigates the world of HIV and AIDS today. On a night out in Doncaster – once crowned HIV Capital of the North he chats to young people about current attitudes to HIV and risky sex. He also visits his first love from Cambridge who, having separated from Stephen, later found out he and his new partner were positive. And he meets an HIV-positive grandmother, and a 16-year-old girl who has lived with the virus all her life.


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BBC Bombay Railway



As a sequel to BBC Four’s acclaimed Monsoon Railway, this two-part observational
documentary looks at the incredible organisation that is the Bombay Railway, with
stories of the people who keep the trains running 24 hours a day, those who survive
because of it – and those who die on it.

First in a two-part portrait of the Bombay urban railway system as it copes with
six and a half million commuters a day. Told through the stories of the people who
work and travel on the system, including train driver, OP Chaturvedi who is on the
brink of retirement having worked on the railways for 30 years and hawker Lavinga
Sancheria, who sells saris illegally on the Ladies Special train and is often
arrested, but is determined to make a better life for her family.

Bombay Railway 2/2 Dreams
BBC 4 Thu 19 Jul, 21:00-22:00 60mins

This programme looks at the hopes and dreams of some of the staff working on
Bombay’s railway and looks at what the future holds for the railway itself.

Senior operations clerk Hans Dev Sharma working in the timetabling department
schedules over 2000 trains a day, he was talent spotted by the Bombay Railways
as an exceptional actor and dancer and is now living the Bollywood dream.
Meanwhile Jagdish Paul Raj runs a successful catering business on the train to
Goa. Mumtaz Kazi is Indian Railways first, fully qualified female train driver
has the responsibility for her brother, now the rest of her family have moved
to Canada.


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BBC Secrets of the Star Disc



This is the extraordinary story of how a small metal disc is rewriting the epic saga of how civilisation first came to Europe, 3600 years ago.

When grave robbers ransacked a Bronze Age tomb in Germany, they had no idea that they had unearthed the find of a lifetime. But they knew that it was worth selling. It was a small bronze disc of exquisite design. So they contacted the archaeologist Harald Meller, offering to sell it to him for ?300,000.

Meller went deep into the criminal underworld and, after a police sting, he got his disc. It depicted the sun, the moon and the stars. This suggested an understanding of the heavens greater than that of the first great civilisations, like Egypt. Could it possibly be real?

After exhaustive tests, the disc was declared genuine. Then a team of crack scientists pieced together what it meant. What emerged is a true marvel.

This disc, it seems, is a Bronze Age Bible, combining an advanced understanding of the stars with some of the most sophisticated religious imagery of the age. In intellectual achievement and also age, it surpasses anything yet found in Egypt or Greece. It seems that civilisation had already dawned in Europe.

NB: The quality is fairly good, although there may be an occasional picture or sound breakup, these should not detract from viewing.


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BBC What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity



Particle physicist and ex D:Ream keyboard player Dr Brian Cox wants to know why the Universe is built the way it is. He believes the answers lie in the force of gravity. But Newton thought gravity was powered by God, and even Einstein failed to completely solve it. Heading out with his film crew on a road trip across the USA, Brian fires lasers at the moon in Texas, goes mad in the desert in Arizona, encounters the bending of space and time at a maximum security military base, tries to detect ripples in our reality in the swamps of Louisiana and searches for hidden dimensions just outside Chicago.


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BBC Black Watch A Soldiers Tale



The newly formed National Theatre of Scotland first presented Black Watch at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006. Its a docu-drama, based on interviews conducted by playwright Gregory Burke with serving and former members of the eponymous regiment who served at Camp Dogwood in the Sunni Triangle, south of Baghdad in late 2004. It also incorporates the pronouncements of politicians and contemporary news reports. Viewed through the eyes of those on the ground, Black Watch reveals what it means to be at the sharp end of the war on terror and what it means to make the journey home again. It’s not a conventional play but a rich mix of earthy, naturalistic dialogue, stylised movement and new versions of old regimental songs. Its literally too big for theatres and so far has only been performed in sports halls and drill halls. Its been an extraordinary success, both with critics and with the public. A sell-out tour of Scotland is to be followed by performances in New York and Los Angeles and, next year, in Australia and New Zealand.

This ArtWorks Scotland analyses the process of the shows creation and juxtaposes the fictionalised scenes (specially-shot before an audience with a full multi-camera OB) with testimony from real life witnesses. Theres insight from the shows creators and from former members of the regiment. The productions tour of Scotland plays out against the background of contemporary events in Iraq and at home, including the resignation of Tony Blair. The emotional climax is a trip to see the play by Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in Iraq in 2004, and David Ironside who served in Iraq twice before being discharged on medical grounds. Their reactions testify to the accuracy and emotional impact of a piece that’s losing none of its power and relevance.


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BBC This World Britains Most Wanted



International investigative documentary series. Who poisoned Alexander Litvinenko? Reporter Mark Franchetti gains exclusive access to Scotland Yard’s prime suspect, Andrei Lugovoi. As Lugovoi prepares to stand in this week’s Russian parliamentary elections, the programme places the Litvinenko murder mystery in the context of a newly resurgent Russia


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BBC Darwins Nightmare



A documentary on the effect of fishing the Nile perch in Tanzania's Lake Victoria. The predatory fish, which has wiped out the native species, is sold in European supermarkets, while starving Tanzanian families have to make do with the leftovers. The larger scope of the story explores the gun trade to Africa that takes place under the covers -- Russian pilots fly guns into Africa, then fly fish back out to Europe. The hazards and consequences of this trade are explored, including the pan-African violence propagated by constant flow of weapons into the continent. If it is a "survival of the fittest" world, as Darwin concluded, then the capitalist interests that fund the gun runners are climbing the evolutionary ladder on the backs of the Africans in this stark Darwinian example. Much like the foreseeable extinction of the Lake Victoria perch, and death of Lake Victoria itself, the Africans are in grave jeopardy, even as they survive in the only ways they know how.


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BBC Timeshift Digging the Past



An exploration of the way archaelogy has been presented on television over the past 50 years, from panel show Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?, which made celebrities out of its host Professor Glyn Daniel and resident character Sir Mortimer Wheeler, to Channel 4’s contemporary Time Team. With contributions from archaeologists and broadcasters including Professor Barry Cunliffe, Tony Robinson and David Attenborough.


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BBC This World Indias Missing Girls



When a farmer in southern India discovered a two-day-old baby girl buried alive,
it appeared that she was one of the thousands of unwanted girls in a country
where daughters are seen as an expensive burden, needing a large wedding dowry.
Among all classes, girls are often aborted as soon as their gender is determined and,
despite the economic boom, the country is now missing so many young women
that men are struggling to find brides in some states.


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BBC Joe Orton A Genius Like Us



Portrait of playwright Joe Orton, murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell at the peak of his career in 1967.


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BBC Sickert vs Sargent



In addition to pioneering literature at the turn of the century, art went through ground-breaking changes as well.

In Sickert vs Sargent, celebrated art critic Waldemar Januzczack looks at the work of Walter Sickert and John Sargent both masters of their time.

Sickert famously announced any fool can paint, drawing is the thing?. Januzczack steps into the fray, comparing the works of the two artists.

Focusing on some of the most beautiful and alarming paintings ever made in this country pictures of aristocrats and prostitutes, coronations and killings, opera houses and music halls? the programme evokes the long-lost atmosphere of Edwardian London.


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BBC Sickert vs Sargent



In addition to pioneering literature at the turn of the century, art went through ground-breaking changes as well.

In Sickert vs Sargent, celebrated art critic Waldemar Januzczack looks at the work of Walter Sickert and John Sargent both masters of their time.

Sickert famously announced any fool can paint, drawing is the thing?. Januzczack steps into the fray, comparing the works of the two artists.

Focusing on some of the most beautiful and alarming paintings ever made in this country pictures of aristocrats and prostitutes, coronations and killings, opera houses and music halls? the programme evokes the long-lost atmosphere of Edwardian London.


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