BBC Documentaries
Season 2003
TV-PG
Documentaries produced by or for the BBC
Where to Watch Season 2003
46 Episodes
- A Tribute To Sir Edmund Hillary: The Race For Everest
E1A Tribute To Sir Edmund Hillary: The Race For EverestDocumentary on Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's historic ascent of Everest in 1953. Including previously unseen material filmed on the expedition, and interviews with surviving members of the team and members of the rival Swiss team. - Pompeii: The Last Day
E2Pompeii: The Last DayStep back in time and visit the "vanished city" on its last day, as the mighty volcano Vesuvius explodes in a 24-hour reign of terror. On August 24th, AD79, Pompeii's citizens witness day turning into night as 4 billion tons of pumice, rock, and ash burst forth from Vesuvius. Pompeii: The Last Day uses archaeological evidence, including the writings of one survivor, to unravel the mystery of those final hours. Lavish special effects reconstruct each stage of Vesuvius's cataclysmic eruption and its impact on soldiers, slaves, families, and lovers as they struggle with the unfolding tragedy. One of the greatest natural disasters - and most fateful days - comes to vivid life in this critically acclaimed dramatization. - Colosseum: Romes Arena of Death
E3Colosseum: Romes Arena of DeathThe Colosseum in Rome is one of the world's most amazing buildings. This immense oval stadium was home to the most violent and deadly spectator sport in history, gladiatorial combat. The Roman gladiator whose story is told here is Verus, one of two victors in the only gladiatorial battle that was ever described in detail (by the Roman poet Martial in 80 A.D.). Using this factual record as its basis, Colosseum follows Verus as he is recruited from slavery, trained in gladiator's school, rises to favor among wealthy Romans, and ultimately battles his best friend, Priscus, to a crowd-pleasing draw in the inaugural games of glorious, brand-new Colosseum, the construction of which is shown in fascinating detail. Combining authoritative narration with diary-like voiceovers from Verus's perspective, this riveting 50-minute BBC production is simultaneously intimate and epic in scale, employing the latest in digital compositing techniques to achieve its unparalleled visual splendor. With well-cast actors speaking authentic Latin, this sumptuous production is both dramatically involving and exacting in every detail. - Israel's Secret Weapon
E7Israel's Secret WeaponThe United States and Britain are preparing to wage war on Iraq, for its undisclosed weapons of mass destruction. Israel's nuclear, biological and chemical capabilities have remained un-inspected. Meanwhile Mordechai Vanunu has been imprisoned for 16 years for exposing Israel's secret nuclear bomb factory to the world. Vanunu is seen as a traitor in his own country. He has been abandoned by most of his family and has spent 11 years in solitary confinement. Today only an American couple, who have legally adopted him, are among the few visitors he is permitted. This film is the story of the bomb, Vanunu and Israel's wall of silence. Part of the BBC Correspondent Series - The King of Communism
E8The King of CommunismNicolae Ceausescu created a unique personality cult in the 1970s and 1980s, transforming communist Romania into one of the strangest regimes Europe has ever seen. Newspapers had to mention his name 40 times on every page, factory workers spent months rehearsing dance routines dressed as soldiers and gymnasts for huge shows at which thousands of citizens were lined up to form the words Nicolae Ceausescu with their bodies. When the Romanian economy and living standards plummeted in the 1980s, the line between theatre and life blurred completely. Ceausescu went on working visits to the countryside where he inspected displays of meat and fruit made out of polystyrene, and closer to home began work on what would have been the largest palace in the world. At the final parade in 1989, workers walked past their leader to the sound of taped chants and applause. Using Ceausescu's own archive of 35mm propaganda films, King of Communism offers a surprising and chilling view of the absurd world of the Romanian dictator's regime. "This is a real-life communist version of Springtime for Hitler," says director Ben Lewis. "It's an all-singing, all-dancing unmasking of the illusions of communism, but it's also a serious study of the experience, effects and legacy of the twentieth century's most destructive political system." - The Victoria Cross: For Valour
E9The Victoria Cross: For ValourThe Victoria Cross: For Valour is a 2003 BBC television historical documentary presented by Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson examines the history of the Victoria Cross, and follows the story of one of the 1,354 men who were awarded it - Major Robert Henry Cain. The main part of the programme was to describe how in September 1944, Major Cain won what was described as the "finest Victoria Cross of the whole war" (Second World War) by his commanding officer Lt Col Derek Mcnally. It’s only at the end of the programme that it is revealed that Clarkson is married to the Major’s daughter who had no idea that her father was a VC winner until after his death in 1974. - Bush Family Fortunes
E10Bush Family FortunesThis hour long documentary from BBC Three follows the award-winning reporter-sleuth Greg Palast on the trail of the Bush family, from Florida election finagling, to the Saudi connection, to the Bush team's spiking the FBI investigation of the bin Laden family and the secret State Department plans for post-war Iraq. These are the hard-hitting reports that have been seen in films like Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, broadcast internationally on BBC Newsnight television, and are found in Palast's international bestselling book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. - Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster
E12Frankenstein: Birth of a MonsterThe extraordinary story of how the 19-year-old Mary Shelley created Frankenstein, one of the world's most terrifying monsters. Daughter of Mary Woolstencraft, wife of Percy Byshe Shelley and close friend to Lord Byron, Mary Shelley's life was every bit as extraordinary as her most famous work. Dramatising the adventures, love affairs and tragedies of her young life, the film shows how her monstrous creation reflected her own extraordinary experiences. - The Man Who Forged AmericaE13
The Man Who Forged AmericaWhen US police investigated a double murder in the 1980s, they had no idea they were about to uncover the most daring trail of forgery and deception America had ever seen. Mark Hofmann dared to forge on a level previously undreamt of as he manufactured historic documents at the core of the American constitution and history. And he fooled everyone - the FBI, the CIA, the Library of Congress, even the best forensic experts in the world and his own wife. Hofmann's story begins in Salt Lake City and a growing hatred of the Mormon church - a hatred which would lead him to his first criminal acts designed to dupe a society only too willing to believe tall tales. And it's a perfect training ground for his ultimate goal - to make a fortune and fool America itself. Ultimately however, his ambition turns to murder. - The Autism Puzzle
E14The Autism PuzzleForty years ago autism was a highly obscure disorder which was thought to affect only four to five children in every 10,000, but now some British teachers are claiming to see it in one in every 86 children. Is there an epidemic of autism, and what's causing it? The documentary looks at the history of the condition, and current research into cause and treatment. It includes interviews with some of the world's leading experts on autism. - The Tsar's Last Picture Show
E16The Tsar's Last Picture ShowOn the 300th anniversary of the founding of St Petersburg, historian and author Orlando Figes explores the life of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky who was commissioned by the Tsar to document his vast realm on film; and presents a striking visual portrait, both of Russia on the eve of revolution and St Petersburg today. - My Family and Autism
E20My Family and AutismMy Family and Autism is a documentary with an upbeat look at the daily life of the Jackson family. Jacqui Jackson has four sons and three daughters, and all her boys are on the autistic spectrum. 14-year-old Luke guides us through their family life. Luke tells us what he thought about the BBC filming his family, we find out about the spectacles with colored lenses that he and his brother Joe tried out during filming, there are details of the diet that the boys are on to alleviate some of their symptoms and Joe is given a camera to capture the family at home. - Britain's Lost Roman WonderE21
Britain's Lost Roman WonderThe ruined Roman fort at Richborough in Kent contains a vast and mysterious slab of concrete, 30ft deep, which resembles a mausoleum or a strong room. In a fascinating programme based on informed detective work, the chief executive of English Heritage, Simon Thurley, shows how it was the foundation of a monumental arch built between AD80 and AD90. The arch, a symbolic gateway between land and sea, was covered in 400 tonnes of marble and surmounted by an emperor cast in bronze. The bulk and splendour would have reminded everyone for miles around what it meant to belong to the Roman Empire. - George Orwell: A Life in Pictures
E22George Orwell: A Life in PicturesWith 1984 having recently been revealed to be the book that people are most likely to have lied about having read it is worth remembering the man who wrote it, George Orwell. He remains perhaps the single most important literary voice of the 20th century. Unlike his contemporary left-wing writers Orwell actually became one of the dispossessed for whom he strove throughout his life and, consequently, was able to challenge ivory-tower intellectual leftism from a position of strength and knowledge. When the people of Spain rose up against fascism he did not write pamphlets in their support but picked up a rifle and went to fight. He combined a desire for revolution (which he believed to be the only way to improve the lot of the poor) with a fiery patriotism which celebrated the best things about the country and derided the worst. He was an idealist who was prepared to accept pragmatic realities. All this comes across with great force in George Orwell: A Life in Pictures. Made by or for BBC4 in 2003 A Life in Pictures is a fascinating film which straddles the boundary between cinema and documentary. Orwell died in 1950 after the completion of his magnum opus 1984. Despite having lived in a time in which motion picture cameras and audio recording equipment were generally available there is no film of him and not one single recording of his voice survives anywhere. The film is an attempt to create a visual record of George Orwell's life. Orwell himself is played by Chris Langham who does a masterful job of bringing the author to life and not only that but looks so like him that in many photographs it is sometimes impossible to tell whether you are looking at the actor or the original. The point is made early on that while the pictures are invented the words are not and everything that Langham (as Orwell) says during the film is something that Orwell wrote. It is a testament to Orwell's writing that it can be spoken by an actor and sound convincingly like the answer - Dolly Parton: Platinum Blonde
E28Dolly Parton: Platinum BlondeDolly Parton is one of the world's great superstars, feted for her figure as much as for her music. Platinum Blonde goes inside her world to discover the woman under the wigs as she returned to the concert stage in the UK in 2002 after an absence of 20 years. Born into grinding poverty in rural Tennessee, Dolly has risen to the top of her tree in music, films and as a businesswoman who owns her own theme park. Friends, family and colleagues - including Lily Tomlin, Kenny Rogers, Billy Connolly, Dabney Coleman and Alison Krauss - help tell her story, along with the full and frank views of Dolly herself. With cameo appearances from Sinead O'Connor, Norah Jones, Jonathan Ross and Terry Wogan. - Chile: The Other 9/11
E29Chile: The Other 9/11On the morning of Tuesday, September 11th 1973, two jets launched a deadly attack on the Presidential Palace of La Moneda in the heart of Santiago, Chile. The result was fire, the suicide of President Salvador Allende and ultimately the death or disappearance of over three thousand people. "Chile: The Other 9/11" pieces together the dramatic hour-by-hour events of the coup that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power and marked a turning point in the Cold War. - American Revolutionary: Noam ChomskyE31
American Revolutionary: Noam ChomskyIn this 2003 BBC4 programme Francine Stock does a quick recap of Noam Chomsky's career as a pre-eminent figure in the field of linguistics and outspoken controversial political activist. But the main interview explores his critiques of western imperialist amp; corporate power and how he views it as being maintained through the media as well as advocating the use of popular world opinion as a potent counterforce in opposing the powerful elites and their servants. - To Mars By A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project Orion
E34To Mars By A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project OrionThe extraordinary yet true account of a secret US government-backed attempt to build a spaceship the size of an ocean liner and send it to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, propelled by thousands of miniature nuclear bombs. Beginning in 1958 Project Orion ran until 1965, employing some of the best scientists in the world, including the brilliant British mathematician and physicist Freeman Dyson. "Freeman Dyson is one of the few authentic geniuses I've ever met", says Arthur C. Clarke. "Orion isn't crazy. It would work. The question isn't whether we could do it, but whether we should do it". - Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be TelevisedE36
Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be TelevisedGil Scott-Heron was one of the most influential musicians and poets of the last 50 years. In Don Letts's documentary, Gil tells his own story for the first time - from being one of the first black children to integrate an all-white Southern state school to becoming the Godfather of Rap. There are contributions from Chuck D, Mos Def, Richie Havens and the Last Poets, among others. Filmed in October 2003, Gil performs live and recites poetry out on the streets of Harlem, which have inspired so much of his music. - The Day Britain StoppedE38
The Day Britain StoppedDramatised documentary which analyses the catastrophe and national tragedy that could happen to Britain if its already over-burdened transport systems reached breaking point. Set in the future on 19 December 2003 and presented as if it were a retrospective documentary made subsequently, complete with mock archive footage and hindsight interviews. - Eurofighter - Weapon of Mass ConstructionE39
Eurofighter - Weapon of Mass ConstructionThere have been many twists and turns in the journey of the controversial Eurofighter Typhoon. Conceived at the height of the Cold War by the UK, Germany, Italy and France to combat the superiority of the Soviet Union's air force, the aircraft's in-service delivery date of 30 June is ten years late and -- at a cost of more than £50 billion -- it's become the most expensive European defence project ever. The work of an unprecedented number of nations, the aircraft's troubled genesis has seen out the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bosnia, 9/11 and two Gulf wars. France dropped out in 1985 in favour of building a rival plane, the Rafale, and each change of strategy and political environment has left a legacy of compromise, escalating costs, manufacturing blunders, loose management and delays. The documentary exposes several crises where the project nearly came to a halt because of national self-interest and stubbornness and covers the calamitous events of 2002, the year when the first aircraft was due to be handed over to the Air Forces for training purposes. First the delivery date was postponed yet again and then the Spanish prototype, the DA-6, crash-landed near Madrid at a cost of £30 million prompting the governments of the four nations to delay the delivery date to June 2003. This 50 minutes documentary, produced by The Open University for BBC FOUR, talks to many key players involved in the drama of building a cutting-edge combat aircraft. Test pilots think the Eurofighter is "a deadly machine" and military experts point out that its ability to switch role by voice command, enabling it to fight air-to-air as well as air-to-surface battles, in all weathers, makes it the most sophisticated fighter-bomber of its age. But some, like defence analyst Susan Willett, think the plane is outdated and an embarrassment for the RAF. There are interviews with the test pilots, with Malcolm Rifkind (UK Defence Secretary 1992-95) and with Andr - The Story of Doctor WhoE40
The Story of Doctor WhoThis documentary was made by the BBC to celebrate the 40th anniversary of "Doctor Who". It features extensive interviews with the four remaining Doctors, interviews with various other members of the cast and crew, and many clips from the series showing the best of the dangerous and exotic monsters that did battle with 'The Doctor' over the previous four decades. It was introduced by Jon Culshaw, who impersonated the Fourth Doctor. - The Men From the AgencyE42
The Men From the AgencyDocumentary recalling the revolution in British advertising during the 60s and three men who were instrumental in bringing it about. David Puttnam, Alan Parker and Charles Saatchi, who all worked for the same agency, were among the first to recognise the social changes, with the emphasis on individualism, which were taking place, and the style of advertising needed to appeal to the new breed of customer. - Trust Me I'm a PoliticianE43
Trust Me I'm a PoliticianLast December's "Cheriegate" affair did little to abate the rampant public cynicism reserved for politicians - a mistrust evidenced in the turnout at the 2001 general election, which was the lowest for more than 80 years. In this documentary, Michael Cockerell talks to figures including Edwina Currie , Max Clifford , Geoffrey Robinson and Neil Hamilton in an effort to see if spin, sleaze and ministerial failure is to blame, or whether the media's sneering political coverage is most at fault - Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse
E45Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved MatisseMichael Palin uncovers the tale of two wealthy American sisters, Etta and Claribel Cone, who, as patrons of Picasso and personal friends of Henri Matisse, amassed one of the world's finest collections of modern French art. The story takes him to Florence, Paris, Nice and the sisters' Baltimore apartment gallery. - Thomas Hardy: Homeground
E46Thomas Hardy: HomegroundMost of Thomas Hardy 's personal papers were destroyed at his request when he died, but one seminal notebook survived the flames. Its pages offer unique insight into Hardy's methods of research, showing how the writer took snippets from local newspapers and, using the immense power of his imagination, transformed them into some of the greatest literature ever written in the English language.
