Grayson Perry is an epitome of creativity: a Turner Prize winning ceramicist who's as famous for his alter-ego Claire as for his pottery.
But what does being creative really mean? He's on a mission to find out.
Talent shows dominate TV schedules and we are taught that everyone can take part, but genuine talent, originality and the idea of learning a traditional arts skill is persistently overlooked he argues.
With the help of some of the most talented people in the business, Grayson Perry will be exploring how the imagination works. Creativity has become the modern buzzword of bureaucrats trying to ensure wider access to the arts. And it has been subject to a lot of mythmaking. Grayson wants to nail down these myths and show how creativity isn't a mystery, but at the same time it isn't necessarily easily accessible.
Writers Terry Pratchett and Rose Tremain, fashion designer Hussein Chalayan and Ray Tallis, poet and neuroscientist all join Grayson on his quest.
BBC Radio Four. 18th July 2010. 30 minutes. Available on CD.
Monday, 30 August 2010
Our Drugs War
Documentary series examining the global story of drugs, from Afghanistan's poppy fields to the streets of New York and the estates of Edinburgh
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One in six British citizens have used class-A drugs. Focusing on Scotland - named by the UN as Europe's drug capital - the first episode shows the stark contrast between Edinburgh's rich city centre and its underprivileged estates, where up to 60-70% of the residents can be drug users.
Film-maker Angus Macqueen visits one such estate with two volunteers for drugs charity Crew. They show him how the drug trade operates on a day-to-day basis in front of - and often with the participation of - children, some as young as eight. While all social classes use drugs equally, 70% of addicts have left school by the age of 16 and 85% are unemployed.
The police fail to control supply - in Scotland seizing just one per cent of the heroin consumed - criminals make money, and demand only increases. With the advent of synthetic drugs like GBL, which itself was until recently quite legal and easily available online, banning and policing are becoming ever more random and ineffectual.
Angus meets parents whose children have died as a result of drug abuse. Suzanne Dyer's son Chris died from an addiction to GBL, a compound found in some industrial cleaners and widely used by clubbers. GBL became a popular 'dance' drug when GHB, another similar, and less potent, substance was banned.
John Arthur from Crew, which supported Suzanne Dyer and her son, sees the obsession with the banning and classification of drugs as increasingly irrelevant to what is happening on the streets. John's not alone. Angus speaks to former government drugs advisor Professor David Nutt, who was famously sacked when he began to say in public that present policy is not based on scientific evidence.
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The Queensbridge Estate in New York lies within sight of the Manhattan skyscrapers, but is seemingly a world away. The largest housing complex in Queens, it is regularly raided by police to break up massive drug operations.
Here, award-winning filmmaker Angus Macqueen looks at the social cost of America's war on drugs through the life of 28-year-old Thomas Winston: a small-time drug dealer struggling to stay out of prison and away from the lure of easy money that illegal drugs offer. As his probation officer says, here is a man who can earn $15,000 a week in the drugs world or $200 before taxes working in McDonald's.
Thomas is first seen campaigning against the 'Rockefeller' drugs laws in New York State, where sale or possession of small amounts of drugs are given a mandatory sentence equivalent to second degree murder, and have long been seen to be both discriminatory and draconian.
Human Rights Watch have published a series of reports making clear that Whites, Black and Hispanics sell and consume narcotics in equal numbers, yet over 80% of the prisoners in New York State are Black or Latino. Inside a prison, barely a white face can be seen.
The film tracks Thomas's moving story over a number of months, as he interacts with the legal system and as his probation officer and lawyer attempt to help him; but gradually he is drawn back to his old life. By the end of the film, Thomas has been stabbed to death.
Thomas's story illustrates the failure of America's zero tolerance drug laws, which don't stop supply or address addiction, but rather consign whole groups of society to a tragic cycle, undermining the very fabric of whole communities: be it here in Britain or in the US.
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The third and final part of Angus Macqueen's exploration of the failure of present drugs polices takes the viewer to the frontline. Birth of a Narco-State shows how the war on drugs is actually fuelling the long-term civil war in Afghanistan, possibly creating what he calls a 'Narco-Theocracy': a toxic mixture of drugs money and religious extremism.
Meanwhile, western demand for heroin generates huge profits that finances both sides in the civil war, corrupting the very government that British soldiers are fighting to protect.
This film gets under the skin of the drug trade in Afghanistan, from the deserts of the Afghanistan-Iran border to the smuggling centre of Herat and the courts in Kabul, engaging with those working to establish some sort of order in the face of overwhelming odds; all the time questioning whether it is our drug laws or our drug demand that is causing the problems in the first place.
Macqueen meets General Aminullah - former head of security at Kabul International Airport - who was sacked after exposing widespread corruption and then placed under investigation himself. We see shocking footage he took of a young, female Afghan burqa-clad drug smuggler demonstrating brazen disregard for the law, who then got off scot-free. Rarely has such an open example of what 'corruption' means been caught on camera.
Filming in the newly-opened - US and UK-financed - drugs courts, it becomes clear that many of the traffickers who are arrested are still 'small fish'. The big players always seem to get off; even the judges admit that they are too well-connected, often high up in the government, to the very people the British troops are fighting for and dying to protect. Afghanistan's president himself, Hamid Karzai, pardoned five convicted drug traffickers connected to his election campaign.
Allied policy to the drugs issue has been in confusion since the invasion of 2001: our troops have been told in some years to eradicate all poppies, and in others to leave them so as to win hearts and minds of the peasants. Sometimes different policies are carried out in different areas.
And all the time around 60 to 70% of the Taliban's funding comes from the heroin trade. The profits are staggering, with 10 kilos of opium - valued at around £400 in Afghanistan - making one kilo of heroin worth £40,000 by the time it reaches Europe.
Channel 4. 2-16 August 2010. 3 x 60 minutes
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One in six British citizens have used class-A drugs. Focusing on Scotland - named by the UN as Europe's drug capital - the first episode shows the stark contrast between Edinburgh's rich city centre and its underprivileged estates, where up to 60-70% of the residents can be drug users.
Film-maker Angus Macqueen visits one such estate with two volunteers for drugs charity Crew. They show him how the drug trade operates on a day-to-day basis in front of - and often with the participation of - children, some as young as eight. While all social classes use drugs equally, 70% of addicts have left school by the age of 16 and 85% are unemployed.
The police fail to control supply - in Scotland seizing just one per cent of the heroin consumed - criminals make money, and demand only increases. With the advent of synthetic drugs like GBL, which itself was until recently quite legal and easily available online, banning and policing are becoming ever more random and ineffectual.
Angus meets parents whose children have died as a result of drug abuse. Suzanne Dyer's son Chris died from an addiction to GBL, a compound found in some industrial cleaners and widely used by clubbers. GBL became a popular 'dance' drug when GHB, another similar, and less potent, substance was banned.
John Arthur from Crew, which supported Suzanne Dyer and her son, sees the obsession with the banning and classification of drugs as increasingly irrelevant to what is happening on the streets. John's not alone. Angus speaks to former government drugs advisor Professor David Nutt, who was famously sacked when he began to say in public that present policy is not based on scientific evidence.
---
The Queensbridge Estate in New York lies within sight of the Manhattan skyscrapers, but is seemingly a world away. The largest housing complex in Queens, it is regularly raided by police to break up massive drug operations.
Here, award-winning filmmaker Angus Macqueen looks at the social cost of America's war on drugs through the life of 28-year-old Thomas Winston: a small-time drug dealer struggling to stay out of prison and away from the lure of easy money that illegal drugs offer. As his probation officer says, here is a man who can earn $15,000 a week in the drugs world or $200 before taxes working in McDonald's.
Thomas is first seen campaigning against the 'Rockefeller' drugs laws in New York State, where sale or possession of small amounts of drugs are given a mandatory sentence equivalent to second degree murder, and have long been seen to be both discriminatory and draconian.
Human Rights Watch have published a series of reports making clear that Whites, Black and Hispanics sell and consume narcotics in equal numbers, yet over 80% of the prisoners in New York State are Black or Latino. Inside a prison, barely a white face can be seen.
The film tracks Thomas's moving story over a number of months, as he interacts with the legal system and as his probation officer and lawyer attempt to help him; but gradually he is drawn back to his old life. By the end of the film, Thomas has been stabbed to death.
Thomas's story illustrates the failure of America's zero tolerance drug laws, which don't stop supply or address addiction, but rather consign whole groups of society to a tragic cycle, undermining the very fabric of whole communities: be it here in Britain or in the US.
---
The third and final part of Angus Macqueen's exploration of the failure of present drugs polices takes the viewer to the frontline. Birth of a Narco-State shows how the war on drugs is actually fuelling the long-term civil war in Afghanistan, possibly creating what he calls a 'Narco-Theocracy': a toxic mixture of drugs money and religious extremism.
Meanwhile, western demand for heroin generates huge profits that finances both sides in the civil war, corrupting the very government that British soldiers are fighting to protect.
This film gets under the skin of the drug trade in Afghanistan, from the deserts of the Afghanistan-Iran border to the smuggling centre of Herat and the courts in Kabul, engaging with those working to establish some sort of order in the face of overwhelming odds; all the time questioning whether it is our drug laws or our drug demand that is causing the problems in the first place.
Macqueen meets General Aminullah - former head of security at Kabul International Airport - who was sacked after exposing widespread corruption and then placed under investigation himself. We see shocking footage he took of a young, female Afghan burqa-clad drug smuggler demonstrating brazen disregard for the law, who then got off scot-free. Rarely has such an open example of what 'corruption' means been caught on camera.
Filming in the newly-opened - US and UK-financed - drugs courts, it becomes clear that many of the traffickers who are arrested are still 'small fish'. The big players always seem to get off; even the judges admit that they are too well-connected, often high up in the government, to the very people the British troops are fighting for and dying to protect. Afghanistan's president himself, Hamid Karzai, pardoned five convicted drug traffickers connected to his election campaign.
Allied policy to the drugs issue has been in confusion since the invasion of 2001: our troops have been told in some years to eradicate all poppies, and in others to leave them so as to win hearts and minds of the peasants. Sometimes different policies are carried out in different areas.
And all the time around 60 to 70% of the Taliban's funding comes from the heroin trade. The profits are staggering, with 10 kilos of opium - valued at around £400 in Afghanistan - making one kilo of heroin worth £40,000 by the time it reaches Europe.
Channel 4. 2-16 August 2010. 3 x 60 minutes
The Normans
In this major series, Professor Robert Bartlett examines the extraordinary expansion and unchecked ambition of the Normans, and shows how they transformed the history of Europe.
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In the first episode of an exciting three-part series, Professor Robert Bartlett explores how the Normans developed from a band of marauding Vikings into the formidable warriors who conquered England in 1066. He tells how the Normans established their new province of Normandy -'land of the northmen' - in northern France. They went on to build some of the finest churches in Europe and turned into an unstoppable force of Christian knights and warriors, whose legacy is all around us to this day. Under the leadership of Duke William, the Normans expanded into the neighbouring provinces of northern France. But William's greatest achievement was the conquest of England in 1066. The Battle of Hastings marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and monarchy. The culture and politics of England would now be transformed by the Normans.
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In the second of this three-part series, Professor Robert Bartlett explores the impact of the Norman conquest of Britain and Ireland. Bartlett shows how William the Conqueror imposed a new aristocracy, savagely cut down opposition and built scores of castles and cathedrals to intimidate and control. He also commissioned the Domesday Book, the greatest national survey of England that had ever been attempted.
England adapted to its new masters and both the language and culture were transformed as the Normans and the English intermarried. Bartlett shows how the political and cultural landscape of Scotland, Wales and Ireland were also forged by the Normans and argues that the Normans created the blueprint for colonialism in the modern world.
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Professor Robert Bartlett explores the impact of the Normans on southern Europe and the Middle East. The Normans spread south in the 11th century, winning control of southern Italy and the island of Sicily. There they created their most prosperous kingdom, where Christianity and Islam co-existed in relative harmony and mutual tolerance. It became a great centre of medieval culture and learning.
But events in the Middle East provoked the more aggressive side of the Norman character. In 1095, the Normans enthusiastically answered the Pope's call for holy war against Islam and joined the first crusade. They lay siege to Jerusalem and eventually helped win back the holy city from the muslims. This bloody conquest left a deep rift between Christianity and Islam which is still being felt to this day.
BBC2. 4-18 August 2010. 3 x 60 minutes
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In the first episode of an exciting three-part series, Professor Robert Bartlett explores how the Normans developed from a band of marauding Vikings into the formidable warriors who conquered England in 1066. He tells how the Normans established their new province of Normandy -'land of the northmen' - in northern France. They went on to build some of the finest churches in Europe and turned into an unstoppable force of Christian knights and warriors, whose legacy is all around us to this day. Under the leadership of Duke William, the Normans expanded into the neighbouring provinces of northern France. But William's greatest achievement was the conquest of England in 1066. The Battle of Hastings marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and monarchy. The culture and politics of England would now be transformed by the Normans.
---
In the second of this three-part series, Professor Robert Bartlett explores the impact of the Norman conquest of Britain and Ireland. Bartlett shows how William the Conqueror imposed a new aristocracy, savagely cut down opposition and built scores of castles and cathedrals to intimidate and control. He also commissioned the Domesday Book, the greatest national survey of England that had ever been attempted.
England adapted to its new masters and both the language and culture were transformed as the Normans and the English intermarried. Bartlett shows how the political and cultural landscape of Scotland, Wales and Ireland were also forged by the Normans and argues that the Normans created the blueprint for colonialism in the modern world.
---
Professor Robert Bartlett explores the impact of the Normans on southern Europe and the Middle East. The Normans spread south in the 11th century, winning control of southern Italy and the island of Sicily. There they created their most prosperous kingdom, where Christianity and Islam co-existed in relative harmony and mutual tolerance. It became a great centre of medieval culture and learning.
But events in the Middle East provoked the more aggressive side of the Norman character. In 1095, the Normans enthusiastically answered the Pope's call for holy war against Islam and joined the first crusade. They lay siege to Jerusalem and eventually helped win back the holy city from the muslims. This bloody conquest left a deep rift between Christianity and Islam which is still being felt to this day.
BBC2. 4-18 August 2010. 3 x 60 minutes
Inside Incredible Athletes
Broadcasting two years to the day before the Paralympic 2012 Games begin, Inside Incredible Athletes profiles some of the elite British athletes who excel in their field, from both a personal and a scientific perspective.
Examining their demanding training regimes and the particular skills required for high performance at each sport, this 90-minute programme features stunning sporting performance sequences, filmed against a backdrop of iconic locations around London and directed by Mike Christie (Jump London).
The in-depth profiles of the individual athletes literally get under their skin using scientific tests and state-of-the-art scanning technology to create 'biomechanical portraits'. The technique allows viewers to see inside these world-class athletes, revealing for the first time the inside story of these incredible humans and how they have achieved sporting excellence.
The athletes featured include blind football player David Clarke. He has over 100 caps for England/GB and has scored over 100 goals. Scientists at Cambridge University discover how he can 'see' with his ears.
Wheelchair rugby players Mandip Sehmi and Steve Brown have reached staggering levels of fitness despite being paralysed from the chest down. How have they trained their bodies to overcome such limitations and surpass scientific expectations?
Equestrian dressage rider Lee Pearson is chasing his twelfth gold meal at the 2012 Games. Born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, Lee has reduced joint mobility and despite 15 operations he still cannot move his ankles or knees, forcing him to control his horse from his hips.
Sprinter and long-jumper Stefanie Reid reveals how she can run the 100m in 14.34 seconds with her lower-leg prosthetic, while swimmer Liz Johnson, who has cerebral palsy affecting the whole of her right side, demonstrates how since the age of four she's been moving through water better than on land.
Channel 4. 29th August 2010. 90 minutes
Examining their demanding training regimes and the particular skills required for high performance at each sport, this 90-minute programme features stunning sporting performance sequences, filmed against a backdrop of iconic locations around London and directed by Mike Christie (Jump London).
The in-depth profiles of the individual athletes literally get under their skin using scientific tests and state-of-the-art scanning technology to create 'biomechanical portraits'. The technique allows viewers to see inside these world-class athletes, revealing for the first time the inside story of these incredible humans and how they have achieved sporting excellence.
The athletes featured include blind football player David Clarke. He has over 100 caps for England/GB and has scored over 100 goals. Scientists at Cambridge University discover how he can 'see' with his ears.
Wheelchair rugby players Mandip Sehmi and Steve Brown have reached staggering levels of fitness despite being paralysed from the chest down. How have they trained their bodies to overcome such limitations and surpass scientific expectations?
Equestrian dressage rider Lee Pearson is chasing his twelfth gold meal at the 2012 Games. Born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, Lee has reduced joint mobility and despite 15 operations he still cannot move his ankles or knees, forcing him to control his horse from his hips.
Sprinter and long-jumper Stefanie Reid reveals how she can run the 100m in 14.34 seconds with her lower-leg prosthetic, while swimmer Liz Johnson, who has cerebral palsy affecting the whole of her right side, demonstrates how since the age of four she's been moving through water better than on land.
Channel 4. 29th August 2010. 90 minutes
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Series in which acclaimed filmmaker Richard Macer visits three different museums struggling to connect with a modern audience.
At the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Lancashire, a mutiny is brewing over the appointment of a new leader. The museum is the last link to Leyland Trucks, one of the nation's great manufacturing giants, but just as Leyland fell victim to industrial action in the 70s and 80s now history is in danger of repeating itself at the Commercial Vehicle Museum too.
The first thing new leader Stephen Bullock wants to do is bring back the Leyland festival. For many years this was the town's way of celebrating its industrial might with a procession of lorries and buses, but after the factory closed the carnival was cancelled.
However, not everyone approves of these new changes at the museum. Some of the many longstanding volunteers are vehicle enthusiasts who think the museum should stay just the way it is. But will it survive if it doesn't change?
Macer spent six months filming amidst the gleaming lorries and double decker buses and observed as a bitter row erupted between the new leader and the head of the volunteers.
The Freud Museum in Hampstead, London is where the father of psychoanalysis lived his final year after escaping the Nazis in Austria. Sigmund Freud managed to smuggle out all his possessions, including the famous couch where his patients lay. This iconic piece of furniture is now a shrine to therapists and Freud fans from all over the world.
But despite its gravitas this small museum is struggling to stay relevant. In recent years Freud's thinking has fallen out of fashion and theories like Penis Envy and the Oedipus Complex have been discredited by many in the psychology world. Now the museum is appointing a new director with the mission to make Freud less elitist and more appealing to ordinary people.
One of the first things the museum does is to hold a dating evening. A number of games are created for the night, based on Freuds obsession with human sexuality. Another activity seizes on Freud's groundbreaking theory of dream interpretation, with scholar Ivan Ward getting partygoers together to discuss their dreams with one another.
But the process of making change is slow because no one can agree. Everyone has an opinion on how best to serve Freud, including the caretaker Alex who has lived at the museum since its beginning.
The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port marks the birthplace of the industrial revolution when canals were built to transport goods to emerging cities like Liverpool and Manchester. A financial crisis has left the museum with a reputation for sunken boats, and unless the situation improves dramatically some of the country's oldest barges and narrowboats might have to be sold off or even destroyed.
The museum's many volunteers are angry and believe its dire predicament is the result of mismanagement, so a new director is being brought on board with the task of saving it. In just a short while Stuart Gillis makes a big impression and the staff and volunteers begin to see him as a saviour. But will Stuart be able to live up to such high expectations?
BBC4 1-15 August 2010 3x60 minutes (on one disk)
At the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Lancashire, a mutiny is brewing over the appointment of a new leader. The museum is the last link to Leyland Trucks, one of the nation's great manufacturing giants, but just as Leyland fell victim to industrial action in the 70s and 80s now history is in danger of repeating itself at the Commercial Vehicle Museum too.
The first thing new leader Stephen Bullock wants to do is bring back the Leyland festival. For many years this was the town's way of celebrating its industrial might with a procession of lorries and buses, but after the factory closed the carnival was cancelled.
However, not everyone approves of these new changes at the museum. Some of the many longstanding volunteers are vehicle enthusiasts who think the museum should stay just the way it is. But will it survive if it doesn't change?
Macer spent six months filming amidst the gleaming lorries and double decker buses and observed as a bitter row erupted between the new leader and the head of the volunteers.
The Freud Museum in Hampstead, London is where the father of psychoanalysis lived his final year after escaping the Nazis in Austria. Sigmund Freud managed to smuggle out all his possessions, including the famous couch where his patients lay. This iconic piece of furniture is now a shrine to therapists and Freud fans from all over the world.
But despite its gravitas this small museum is struggling to stay relevant. In recent years Freud's thinking has fallen out of fashion and theories like Penis Envy and the Oedipus Complex have been discredited by many in the psychology world. Now the museum is appointing a new director with the mission to make Freud less elitist and more appealing to ordinary people.
One of the first things the museum does is to hold a dating evening. A number of games are created for the night, based on Freuds obsession with human sexuality. Another activity seizes on Freud's groundbreaking theory of dream interpretation, with scholar Ivan Ward getting partygoers together to discuss their dreams with one another.
But the process of making change is slow because no one can agree. Everyone has an opinion on how best to serve Freud, including the caretaker Alex who has lived at the museum since its beginning.
The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port marks the birthplace of the industrial revolution when canals were built to transport goods to emerging cities like Liverpool and Manchester. A financial crisis has left the museum with a reputation for sunken boats, and unless the situation improves dramatically some of the country's oldest barges and narrowboats might have to be sold off or even destroyed.
The museum's many volunteers are angry and believe its dire predicament is the result of mismanagement, so a new director is being brought on board with the task of saving it. In just a short while Stuart Gillis makes a big impression and the staff and volunteers begin to see him as a saviour. But will Stuart be able to live up to such high expectations?
BBC4 1-15 August 2010 3x60 minutes (on one disk)
The God Delusion
Professor Richard Dawkins thinks it is time for science to stop sitting on the fence.
He meets leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions to find out how their beliefs fit with modern science's extraordinary knowledge of our world and the wider universe.
Dawkins accuses the religious establishment of preying on people's desire to believe in a greater being; abusing reason and humanity in the process.
Ultimately he asks how they can defend what religion has done, and is doing to us?
More4. Wednesday 25th August 2010. 120 minutes
He meets leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions to find out how their beliefs fit with modern science's extraordinary knowledge of our world and the wider universe.
Dawkins accuses the religious establishment of preying on people's desire to believe in a greater being; abusing reason and humanity in the process.
Ultimately he asks how they can defend what religion has done, and is doing to us?
More4. Wednesday 25th August 2010. 120 minutes
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Faith School Menace
Professor Richard Dawkins calls on us to reconsider the consequences of faith education, which, he believes, indoctrinates and divides children, and bamboozles parents
The number of faith schools in Britain is rising. Around 7,000 publicly-funded schools - one in three - now has a religious affiliation.
As the coalition government paves the way for more faith-based education by promoting 'free schools', the renowned atheist and evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins says enough is enough.
In this passionately argued film, Dawkins calls on us to reconsider the consequences of faith education, which, he argues, bamboozles parents and indoctrinates and divides children.
The film features robust exchanges with former Secretary of State for Education Charles Clarke, Head of the Church of England Education Service Reverend Janina Ainsworth, and the Chair of the Association of Muslim Schools, Dr Mohammed Mukadam.
It also features insights from child psychologists and key players in faith education as well as insights from both parents and pupils.
Dawkins also draws on his own personal history as a father, arguing that the government must stop funding new faith schools, and urges society to respect a child's right to freedom of belief.
More4 19th August 2010 60 minutes
The number of faith schools in Britain is rising. Around 7,000 publicly-funded schools - one in three - now has a religious affiliation.
As the coalition government paves the way for more faith-based education by promoting 'free schools', the renowned atheist and evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins says enough is enough.
In this passionately argued film, Dawkins calls on us to reconsider the consequences of faith education, which, he argues, bamboozles parents and indoctrinates and divides children.
The film features robust exchanges with former Secretary of State for Education Charles Clarke, Head of the Church of England Education Service Reverend Janina Ainsworth, and the Chair of the Association of Muslim Schools, Dr Mohammed Mukadam.
It also features insights from child psychologists and key players in faith education as well as insights from both parents and pupils.
Dawkins also draws on his own personal history as a father, arguing that the government must stop funding new faith schools, and urges society to respect a child's right to freedom of belief.
More4 19th August 2010 60 minutes
Sunday, 22 August 2010
The Man Who Shot The Sixties
A look at the work of Brian Duffy, who passed away in May 2010.
Duffy was one of the greatest photographers of his generation. Along with David Bailey and Terence Donovan he defined the image of the 1960s and was as famous as the stars he photographed. In the 1970s he suddenly disappeared from view and burned all his negatives. Filmed on the eve of the first-ever exhibition of his work, Duffy agrees to talk about his life, his work and why he made it all go up in flames.
BBC4 14th January 2010 60 minutes
Duffy was one of the greatest photographers of his generation. Along with David Bailey and Terence Donovan he defined the image of the 1960s and was as famous as the stars he photographed. In the 1970s he suddenly disappeared from view and burned all his negatives. Filmed on the eve of the first-ever exhibition of his work, Duffy agrees to talk about his life, his work and why he made it all go up in flames.
BBC4 14th January 2010 60 minutes
Mark Lawson Talks To...Tracy Emin
Mark Lawson talks to the enfant terrible of the British art world, Tracey Emin, famed for her unmade bed and the tent embroidered with the names of everyone she had ever slept with. The 1990s wild child talks in detail about her unconventional childhood and the traumatic adolescent experiences which inspired much of her controversial work.
BBC4. 14th March 2010. 60 minutes
BBC4. 14th March 2010. 60 minutes
Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Silent Cinema
Paul Merton goes in search of the origins of screen comedy in the forgotten world of silent cinema - not in Hollywood, but closer to home in pre-1914 Britain and France.
Revealing the unknown stars and lost masterpieces, he brings to life the pioneering techniques and optical inventiveness of the virtuosos who mastered a new art form. With a playful eye and comic sense of timing, Merton combines the role of presenter and director to recreate the weird and wonderful world that is early European cinema in a series of cinematic experiments of his own.
BBC4. 29th April 2010. 60 minutes
Revealing the unknown stars and lost masterpieces, he brings to life the pioneering techniques and optical inventiveness of the virtuosos who mastered a new art form. With a playful eye and comic sense of timing, Merton combines the role of presenter and director to recreate the weird and wonderful world that is early European cinema in a series of cinematic experiments of his own.
BBC4. 29th April 2010. 60 minutes
Henry Moore: A Culture Show Special
A one-hour special on one of the most important and popular British sculptors of the twentieth century, Henry Moore. Presented by Alan Yentob, the programme takes a unique approach to Moore by examining his life on film.
Long before Andy Warhol, Henry Moore embraced the medium of TV and film as a way of showing off his works. His rise to fame in the post-war period is intimately linked to his appearances on programmes like Monitor, Face to Face, The Ascent of Man and even Nationwide. His gentle, salt of the earth persona helped people to accept his radical and progressive art.
The film also looks at the man behind the media image, as Alan Yentob meets the people who knew Moore: his daughter Mary Moore, former studio assistants Sir Anthony Caro and Richard Wentworth, and fan Antony Gormley.
BBC2. 18th March 2010. 60 minutes
Long before Andy Warhol, Henry Moore embraced the medium of TV and film as a way of showing off his works. His rise to fame in the post-war period is intimately linked to his appearances on programmes like Monitor, Face to Face, The Ascent of Man and even Nationwide. His gentle, salt of the earth persona helped people to accept his radical and progressive art.
The film also looks at the man behind the media image, as Alan Yentob meets the people who knew Moore: his daughter Mary Moore, former studio assistants Sir Anthony Caro and Richard Wentworth, and fan Antony Gormley.
BBC2. 18th March 2010. 60 minutes
Aristotle's Island
In the 4th century BC the Greek philosopher Aristotle travelled to Lesvos, an island in the Aegean teeming, then as now, with wildlife. His fascination with what he found there, and his painstaking study of it, led to the birth of a new science - biology. Professor Armand Leroi follows in Aristotle's footsteps to discover the creatures, places and ideas that inspired the philosopher in his pioneering work.
BBC4. 16th January 2010. 60 minutes.
BBC4. 16th January 2010. 60 minutes.
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Domesday
In this programme on the Domesday Book, Dr Stephen Baxter, medieval historian at King's College, London, reveals the human and political drama that lies within the parchment of England's earliest surviving public record. He also finds out the real reason it was commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
The Domesday Book is the first great national survey of England, a record of who owned every piece of land and property in the kingdom. It also records the traumatic impact of the Norman conquest on Anglo-Saxon England, the greatest social and political upheaval in the country's history.
Most historians believe that Domesday is some kind of tax book for raising revenue, but Baxter has his own theory. He proves that the Domesday Book could not have been used to collect taxes and he argues that it is about something far more important than money. Its real purpose was to confer revolutionary new powers on the monarchy in Norman England.
BBC2. 10th August 2010. 60 minutes
The Domesday Book is the first great national survey of England, a record of who owned every piece of land and property in the kingdom. It also records the traumatic impact of the Norman conquest on Anglo-Saxon England, the greatest social and political upheaval in the country's history.
Most historians believe that Domesday is some kind of tax book for raising revenue, but Baxter has his own theory. He proves that the Domesday Book could not have been used to collect taxes and he argues that it is about something far more important than money. Its real purpose was to confer revolutionary new powers on the monarchy in Norman England.
BBC2. 10th August 2010. 60 minutes
Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons
Art historian Dr Nina Ramirez reveals the codes and messages hidden in Anglo-Saxon art. From the beautiful jewellery that adorned the first violent pagan invaders through to the stunning Christian manuscripts they would become famous for, she explores the beliefs and ideas that shaped Anglo-Saxon art.
Examining many of the greatest Anglo-Saxon treasures - such as the Sutton Hoo Treasures, the Staffordshire Hoard, the Franks Casket and the Lindisfarne Gospels - Dr Ramirez charts 600 years of artistic development which was stopped dead in its tracks by the Norman Broadcast on:
BBC4. 12th August 2010. 60 minutes
Examining many of the greatest Anglo-Saxon treasures - such as the Sutton Hoo Treasures, the Staffordshire Hoard, the Franks Casket and the Lindisfarne Gospels - Dr Ramirez charts 600 years of artistic development which was stopped dead in its tracks by the Norman Broadcast on:
BBC4. 12th August 2010. 60 minutes
When Romeo Met Juliet
One city, eight weeks and two contrasting schools come together to put on a professional production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Under the watchful gaze of Artistic Director Paul Roseby, students from Cardinal Newman and Sidney Stringer schools in Coventry are tutored in the intricacies of Shakespeare by husband and wife acting team Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti with the ultimate aim of staging a one night production of the play at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre.
BBC2. 4-12 June. 3 x 60 minutes
The school's production of the play is also available on DVD from the LRC.
Under the watchful gaze of Artistic Director Paul Roseby, students from Cardinal Newman and Sidney Stringer schools in Coventry are tutored in the intricacies of Shakespeare by husband and wife acting team Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti with the ultimate aim of staging a one night production of the play at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre.
BBC2. 4-12 June. 3 x 60 minutes
The school's production of the play is also available on DVD from the LRC.
South Bank Show Revisited: David Hockney
The South Bank Show Revisited looks at the return of David Hockney to his native Yorkshire as he embarks on an ambitious new project which will see him take over the Royal Academy in 2012.
This film sees Melvyn Bragg explore why David Hockney has turned his back on America and retreated to the seaside town of Bridlington for his new projects. He talks about the giant landscapes (some up to 40ft long) he is painting for his 2012 exhibition and the techniques and difficulties of preparing such large pieces.
David Hockney also shares his passion for technology demonstrating a new video montage project he is preparing on his computer: a nine camera rig strapped to his car that records the same landscape in different focuses, colours and exposures and which is then stitched back together to form one giant screen. It builds on and extends the original nine screen montage he first made for The South Bank Show in 1984.
The South Bank Show Revisited features David Hockney at his outspoken best, whether he is demonstrating his terrific appetite for art and new projects and technologies or railing against the smoking ban and the nanny state he feels the country has turned into.
ITV1. 2 May. 60 minutes
This film sees Melvyn Bragg explore why David Hockney has turned his back on America and retreated to the seaside town of Bridlington for his new projects. He talks about the giant landscapes (some up to 40ft long) he is painting for his 2012 exhibition and the techniques and difficulties of preparing such large pieces.
David Hockney also shares his passion for technology demonstrating a new video montage project he is preparing on his computer: a nine camera rig strapped to his car that records the same landscape in different focuses, colours and exposures and which is then stitched back together to form one giant screen. It builds on and extends the original nine screen montage he first made for The South Bank Show in 1984.
The South Bank Show Revisited features David Hockney at his outspoken best, whether he is demonstrating his terrific appetite for art and new projects and technologies or railing against the smoking ban and the nanny state he feels the country has turned into.
ITV1. 2 May. 60 minutes
Victorian Pharmacy
Historical observational documentary series which recreates a Victorian pharmacy
1.A look at the world of the pharmacy at the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign in 1837.
2.The team find out how the discovery of germs made disinfectants a bestseller.
3.The pharmacy enters a period of new inventions and new laws, beginning in 1868.
4.The team continue with the pharmacy through to the end of the Victorian era.
BBC2. 19 July-12 August. 4 x 60 minutes (2 disks)
1.A look at the world of the pharmacy at the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign in 1837.
2.The team find out how the discovery of germs made disinfectants a bestseller.
3.The pharmacy enters a period of new inventions and new laws, beginning in 1868.
4.The team continue with the pharmacy through to the end of the Victorian era.
BBC2. 19 July-12 August. 4 x 60 minutes (2 disks)
Amish: World's Squarest Teenagers
Five Amish teenagers leave their closed communities in the American mid-West for the very first time, to travel to Britain on an extraordinary cultural exchange
With rare access to the notoriously private Amish community, this series follows five Amish teenagers traveling to Britain on an extraordinary cultural exchange.
The Amish live strictly sheltered lives based on their belief that living simply brings them closer to God. They have their own language and rules and are rarely educated past primary level. They often don't use electricity or cars, they don't wear zips or sleeveless clothes, nor do they drink or smoke.
Despite this strict lifestyle, Amish parents often allow their teenage children to experience the outside world, through a rite of passage called 'Rumspringa'.
During their stay in Britain, the Amish youngsters hope to share their values with their British counterparts as well as learning and understanding what British teenage life is all about.
The series highlights the ways and whims of British teenage tribes through the eyes of the Amish.
Channel 4. 25 July-15 August. 4 x 60 minutes (2 disks)
With rare access to the notoriously private Amish community, this series follows five Amish teenagers traveling to Britain on an extraordinary cultural exchange.
The Amish live strictly sheltered lives based on their belief that living simply brings them closer to God. They have their own language and rules and are rarely educated past primary level. They often don't use electricity or cars, they don't wear zips or sleeveless clothes, nor do they drink or smoke.
Despite this strict lifestyle, Amish parents often allow their teenage children to experience the outside world, through a rite of passage called 'Rumspringa'.
During their stay in Britain, the Amish youngsters hope to share their values with their British counterparts as well as learning and understanding what British teenage life is all about.
The series highlights the ways and whims of British teenage tribes through the eyes of the Amish.
Channel 4. 25 July-15 August. 4 x 60 minutes (2 disks)
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Young, Angry and White
First Cut meets a teenager considering joining the BNP, and attempts to understand what makes a young person think of joining a party with such a controversial manifesto and image
In July 2009, almost a million voters chose the BNP in the EU elections. But it's not just traditional BNP voters swelling the ranks, with a recent survey finding one in 20 young people would vote BNP.
Against this backdrop, Peter Beard follows 19-year-old Kieren, who is considering joining the party.
Kieren is looking for a home in the BNP but is unsure that it represents his views. Having been a fervent nationalist from the age of 15, he is concerned that the BNP is losing its radical edge and selling out its racial policies.
His choice is made more difficult by the fact he comes from a moderate family who find many of his far-right views shocking. There is concern that the opinions and choices he is making at a young age could have serious consequences for his future.
This fascinating First Cut documentary offers an insight into a young person's attraction to a party whose policies and image continue to cause extreme controversy throughout the country.
Channel Four 12th February 2010 30 Minutes
In July 2009, almost a million voters chose the BNP in the EU elections. But it's not just traditional BNP voters swelling the ranks, with a recent survey finding one in 20 young people would vote BNP.
Against this backdrop, Peter Beard follows 19-year-old Kieren, who is considering joining the party.
Kieren is looking for a home in the BNP but is unsure that it represents his views. Having been a fervent nationalist from the age of 15, he is concerned that the BNP is losing its radical edge and selling out its racial policies.
His choice is made more difficult by the fact he comes from a moderate family who find many of his far-right views shocking. There is concern that the opinions and choices he is making at a young age could have serious consequences for his future.
This fascinating First Cut documentary offers an insight into a young person's attraction to a party whose policies and image continue to cause extreme controversy throughout the country.
Channel Four 12th February 2010 30 Minutes
Girls on the Frontline
Documentary about four British girls in their twenties who are pushed to their limits during a gruelling six-month tour with the army in Afghanistan.
With unique access, cameras capture their firefights with the Taliban and how their families are coping back at home.
BBC3 25th March 2010 60 minutes
With unique access, cameras capture their firefights with the Taliban and how their families are coping back at home.
BBC3 25th March 2010 60 minutes
Lindsay Lohan's Indian Journey
Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan travels to India to investigate the issue of child trafficking.
As the capital Delhi prepares to host the Commonwealth Games, she talks to young boys just rescued from factories in the slums. When she learns that many have been sent away with traffickers by their own parents, Lindsay sets off to find out why.
In West Bengal, parents, child victims, and a former trafficker share their stories and reveal the desperate poverty which fuels this cruel trade in children.
As India's economy is booming, Lindsay asks what can be done to stop this abuse.
BBC3 2nd April 2010 60 minutes
As the capital Delhi prepares to host the Commonwealth Games, she talks to young boys just rescued from factories in the slums. When she learns that many have been sent away with traffickers by their own parents, Lindsay sets off to find out why.
In West Bengal, parents, child victims, and a former trafficker share their stories and reveal the desperate poverty which fuels this cruel trade in children.
As India's economy is booming, Lindsay asks what can be done to stop this abuse.
BBC3 2nd April 2010 60 minutes
The Volcano That Stopped Britain
Following the unprecedented disruption caused by the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, The Volcano That Stopped Britain explores the geological and scientific background behind the headlines of this extraordinary story.
The documentary identifies the dangers posed by the ash and the effects that it has on aircraft and aviation, as well as exploring the impacts of further possible eruptions to the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.
Channel Four 3rd May 2010 60 minutes
The documentary identifies the dangers posed by the ash and the effects that it has on aircraft and aviation, as well as exploring the impacts of further possible eruptions to the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.
Channel Four 3rd May 2010 60 minutes
Madness in the Fast Lane
In 2008, BBC cameras filmed two Swedish sisters throwing themselves into traffic on the M6. When it was shown on BBC One, nearly 7 million viewers were glued to their screens, and millions more watched it later on YouTube.
The footage was shocking. One previewer wrote “On no account miss this documentary. It opens with what is perhaps the most extraordinary footage I’ve seen on TV”.
But this amazing footage was only part of an even more incredible story, one which could not be told at the time for legal reasons.
Now, two years later, this documentary reveals the full story of the hours just before the cameras captured that motorway footage, and the even more chilling story of what happened over next 72 hours, which left one of the sisters fleeing the scene of a crime, after she had stabbed a man through the chest.
Those who were at the centre of this fascinating legal case, including the police and Crown prosecution service, reveal the complex issues involved in both bringing charges and taking this disturbing case to trial.
BBC1 10th August 2010 50 minutes
The footage was shocking. One previewer wrote “On no account miss this documentary. It opens with what is perhaps the most extraordinary footage I’ve seen on TV”.
But this amazing footage was only part of an even more incredible story, one which could not be told at the time for legal reasons.
Now, two years later, this documentary reveals the full story of the hours just before the cameras captured that motorway footage, and the even more chilling story of what happened over next 72 hours, which left one of the sisters fleeing the scene of a crime, after she had stabbed a man through the chest.
Those who were at the centre of this fascinating legal case, including the police and Crown prosecution service, reveal the complex issues involved in both bringing charges and taking this disturbing case to trial.
BBC1 10th August 2010 50 minutes
Who Knows Best: Getting a Job
The country's top recruitment expert, Emma Harrison, and self-proclaimed political maverick Ray Lewis go head to head to prove that they know the best way to tackle a problem that's plagued governments for decades: unemployment.
For Ray Lewis, Gang Tsar and Director of Eastside Young Leaders Academy, which helps disaffected youngsters get back on the straight and narrow, there's only one way to get long-term unemployed back to work: 'To keep them on track they need a strong and firm hand.'
Emma's approach is to work with people: 'I walk by their side, hold their hand and we go on a journey resulting in them getting a job that transforms their lives.'
Emma and Ray both select a member of the public for each other, someone who has been unemployed for over 18 months. They then work on their new client, agreeing that the best method will be the one that finds their client the highest paid job.
Channel Four 10th August 2010 60 minutes
For Ray Lewis, Gang Tsar and Director of Eastside Young Leaders Academy, which helps disaffected youngsters get back on the straight and narrow, there's only one way to get long-term unemployed back to work: 'To keep them on track they need a strong and firm hand.'
Emma's approach is to work with people: 'I walk by their side, hold their hand and we go on a journey resulting in them getting a job that transforms their lives.'
Emma and Ray both select a member of the public for each other, someone who has been unemployed for over 18 months. They then work on their new client, agreeing that the best method will be the one that finds their client the highest paid job.
Channel Four 10th August 2010 60 minutes
Tulisa: Mum and Me
Tulisa Contostavlos is best known for being the girl in the pop band N-Dubz, but she is also a carer for her mum who has suffered from a mental illness since before Tulisa was born. In this personal, authored documentary, Tulisa finds out what life is like for some of the 80,000 other young people in Britain caring for a parent with mental health problems.
Drawing on her own experiences, which included seeing her mum forcibly sectioned in psychiatric care when she was five years old, Tulisa explores the day-to-day realities of caring for a mentally ill parent and finds that the effects can be overwhelming and often endured with little outside support.
She discovers that there is help available, notably young carers groups where people can meet others in the same boat. Tulisa also looks into the difficult topic of heredity, asking whether her own hectic rock-star lifestyle is putting her at risk of developing an illness like her mum's.
BBC3 10th August 2010 60 minutes
Drawing on her own experiences, which included seeing her mum forcibly sectioned in psychiatric care when she was five years old, Tulisa explores the day-to-day realities of caring for a mentally ill parent and finds that the effects can be overwhelming and often endured with little outside support.
She discovers that there is help available, notably young carers groups where people can meet others in the same boat. Tulisa also looks into the difficult topic of heredity, asking whether her own hectic rock-star lifestyle is putting her at risk of developing an illness like her mum's.
BBC3 10th August 2010 60 minutes
Monday, 9 August 2010
Small Teen, Big World
Being a teenager is tough, but for 16-year-old Jasmine Burkitt from Colwyn Bay it is even harder because she is just 3ft 8in tall and only fits clothes designed for a seven- to eight-year-old.
The 12 months captured in this documentary are the most important of Jasmine's life so far. She goes to New York to meet others with similar genetic conditions; camps out at her first pop festival; celebrates her sixteenth birthday and tries to contact her estranged father, who is average size. Unexpected events in this engaging teenager's life make this a compelling film.
BBC3. 27th July 2010. 60 minutes
The 12 months captured in this documentary are the most important of Jasmine's life so far. She goes to New York to meet others with similar genetic conditions; camps out at her first pop festival; celebrates her sixteenth birthday and tries to contact her estranged father, who is average size. Unexpected events in this engaging teenager's life make this a compelling film.
BBC3. 27th July 2010. 60 minutes
Undercover Boss: Harry Ramsden
The new head of Harry Ramsden's goes undercover to find out how the fish and chip chain's fortunes might be turned around.
Britain's best loved fish and chips restaurant chain is under threat. Harry Ramsden's new CEO Marija Simovic has taken on a struggling brand. The recession and increased fast food competition means the 80-year-old business is no longer an integral part of any seaside trip.
In order to find out just what she's got herself into, Marija takes the remarkable decision to go undercover within her own company. Stationing herself behind the deep fat fryers, she's determined to work out where Harry's is going wrong, and whether its desperate fortunes can be turned around.
Marija visits three different outlets, and must temper her natural managerial impulses as she shadows a young assistant manager, two waitresses at the company's busiest outlet, and puts in time at an empty restaurant reliant on pensioners. During her time under cover, she comes up against broken machinery, outdated décor and general disrepair.
At the end of her time undercover, how will she feel about her new role, the company and the staff? And how will the people she's met feel when they discover the `new trainee' is actually their boss?
Channel Four. 29th July 2010. 60 minutes
Britain's best loved fish and chips restaurant chain is under threat. Harry Ramsden's new CEO Marija Simovic has taken on a struggling brand. The recession and increased fast food competition means the 80-year-old business is no longer an integral part of any seaside trip.
In order to find out just what she's got herself into, Marija takes the remarkable decision to go undercover within her own company. Stationing herself behind the deep fat fryers, she's determined to work out where Harry's is going wrong, and whether its desperate fortunes can be turned around.
Marija visits three different outlets, and must temper her natural managerial impulses as she shadows a young assistant manager, two waitresses at the company's busiest outlet, and puts in time at an empty restaurant reliant on pensioners. During her time under cover, she comes up against broken machinery, outdated décor and general disrepair.
At the end of her time undercover, how will she feel about her new role, the company and the staff? And how will the people she's met feel when they discover the `new trainee' is actually their boss?
Channel Four. 29th July 2010. 60 minutes
Peers vs The People - The 1910 Election
Carolyn Quinn looks back at the two general elections of 1910 that followed the voting down of Liberal Chancellor David Lloyd George's People's Budget by the Conservative-dominated House of Lords - a bitter battle dubbed the Peers versus the People.
BBC Parliament. 4th August 2010. 30 minutes.
BBC Parliament. 4th August 2010. 30 minutes.
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