Royal Institution Christmas Lectures: Size Matters

How can a hamster survive falling from the top of a skyscraper, ants carry over 100 times their own body weight and geckos climb across the ceiling?

In the first of this year's Christmas lectures, Dr Mark Miodownik investigates why size matters in animal behaviour. He reveals how the science of materials - the stuff from which everything is made - can explain some of the most extraordinary and surprising feats in the animal kingdom.

By the end, you will understand why you will never see an elephant dance.

Dr Mark Miodownik zooms into the microscopic world beneath our fingertips. In this unfamiliar landscape, strange forces dominate the world and common sense goes out of the window. He reveals how this tiny hidden world can make objects behave like magic, and discovers the secrets of the extraordinary metals that make jet engines possible.

With a mass audience taste test, Mark reveals why chocolate is actually one of the most sophisticated and highly engineered materials on the planet, using special crystals designed to melt in the mouth. He looks forward to new era of self-healing materials where a broken mobile phone or car bumper could heal itself and how, one day, material scientists might even create artificial life.

Why is the tallest building on earth less than half a mile high? Why don't we have mountains as tall as those on Mars?

In the last of this year's Christmas Lectures, Dr Mark Miodownik investigates the world of the very big and very tall. He reveals that, at this scale, everything is governed by a battle with one of the strangest forces in the universe - gravity.

With help from acrobats, levitation devices, spiders, birthday cake candles and even some sticky goo, Mark discovers how gravity can make solid rock behave like a liquid and investigates whether one day it might be possible to build a structure from Earth into space, taking us beyond the reach of gravity without the use of rocket.

BBC4 * 28-30 December 2010 * 3 x 60 minutes

The War You Don't See

In this new documentary John Pilger, the winner of journalism's top awards for both press and broadcasting, including academy awards in the UK and US, questions the role of the media in war. In The War You Don't See, Pilger, himself a renowned correspondent, asks whether mainstream news has become an integral part of war-making. 

Focusing on the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Pilger reflects on the history of the relationship between the media and government in times of conflict stretching back to World War I and explores the impact on the information fed to the public of the modern day practice of public relations in the guise of 'embedding' journalists with the military. 

Featuring interviews with senior figures at major UK broadcasters, the BBC and ITV, and high profile journalists on both sides of the Atlantic, including Rageh Omaar and Dan Rather, the film investigates the reporting of government claims that Iraq harboured weapons of mass destruction. 

Pilger also speaks to independent film makers, and whistleblowers, including the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange and to former senior British Foreign Office official Carne Ross to investigate why what he believes were key voices and key details did not figure prominently on the mainstream media's agenda. The film also includes hard-hitting footage from independent media sources showing scenes in Afghanistan and Iraq, including footage leaked to Wikileaks. 

Dan Rather, the famous CBS news anchor, and BBC World Affairs Correspondent Rageh Omaar both reflect on their own roles during the lead up to hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq and the lessons they have learned. Rather speaks about pressure felt by journalists who face the danger of becoming what he calls mere 'stenographers'. Rageh Omaar speaks about the proliferation of 24 hour news and the effects this has on war reporting, including his own experience reporting on the liberation of Basra. 

Fran Unsworth, the BBC Head of Newsgathering and David Mannion, Editor in Chief of ITV News, both face questioning on their news departments' reporting of the Iraq war and the scrutiny of George Bush and Tony Blair's claims about weapons of mass destruction. 

The documentary also focuses on the abuse of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers and speaks to Phil Shiner, a lawyer who is representing a number of Iraqi victims. It examines the notion that our media distinguishes between 'worthy' and 'unworthy' victims of conflicts and how that influences the reporting of Iraqi civilian deaths. 

The War You Don't See also looks at the balance of the media's reporting on the hostilities between Palestinians and Israelis, with particular focus on mainstream broadcasters' coverage of the Israeli attack on the aid flotilla in Gaza earlier this year. Both the BBC and ITV are asked about the influence of Israeli government efforts to shape the reporting of such incidents on their coverage.

ITV1 * 14 December 2010 * 90 minutes

Panorama: Baby P

Panorama reveals the controversial video-taped interview with the mother of Baby P and asks whether crucial warning signs were missed.

Tracey Connelly tells clear lies in the training interview with a senior social worker. But she also gives some vital clues about what was going on in her son Peter's life.

Panorama investigates whether these clues were adequately followed up, and examines the ground-breaking research into child protection that is now a part of Baby P's legacy.

BBC1 * 13 December 2010 * 30 minutes

Panorama: Addicted to Games?

As pester power kicks in and the computer games' industry launches its latest products on to the Christmas market, Panorama hears from youngsters who've dropped out of school and university to play games for anything up to 21 hours a day. They describe their obsessive gaming as an addiction. Reporter Raphael Rowe, meets leading experts calling for more independent research into this controversial subject, and reveals the hidden psychological devices in games that are designed to keep us coming back for more.

BBC1 * 6 December 2010 * 30 minutes

The Battle of Barking

Laura Fairrie's film records an historic moment in British politics through the microcosm of one east London constituency. Made over the course of a year, the film follows two very different political opponents as they battle towards the 2010 General Election.

Long-standing Labour MP Margaret Hodge is a stalwart of the New Labour establishment. Running against her is Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader. Griffin is a controversial figure, with a conviction for inciting racial hatred, who nonetheless commands considerable support.

As it chronicles the rise and fall of the far-right BNP, it gives a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the 'BNP family' and the working class disillusionment with the Labour party that fuelled the BNP campaign, offering an honest, moving and humorous portrait of a white working class community forced to face the changes brought by new immigrant populations.

More4 * 1 December 2010 * 90 minutes

Imagine...The Weird World of Eadweard Muybridge

Pioneer photographer, forefather of cinema, showman, murderer - Eadweard Muybridge was a Victorian enigma. He was born and died in Kingston upon Thames, but did his most famous work in California - freezing time and starting it up again, so that for the first time people could see how a racing horse's legs moved. He went on to animate the movements of naked ladies, wrestlers, athletes, elephants, cockatoos and his own naked body, projecting his images publicly with a machine he invented and astounding audiences worldwide with the first flickerings of cinema. Alan Yentob follows in Muybridge's footsteps as he makes - and often changes - his name, and sets off to kill his young wife's lover. With Andy Serkis as Muybridge.

BBC1 * 30 November 2010 * 60 minutes

Ancient Worlds 5-6

Republic of Virtue

How did an insignificant cluster of Latin hill villages on the edge of the civilised world become the greatest empire the world has known? In the fifth programme of the series, archaeologist and historian Richard Miles examines the phenomenon of the Roman Republic, from its fratricidal mythical beginnings, with the legend of Romulus and Remus, to the all too real violence of its end, dragged to destruction by war lords like Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar.

Travelling to Sicily and North Africa, Richard tells the story of Rome's century-long struggle for dominance with the other great regional power, Carthage. It was a struggle that would end with the total destruction of this formidable enemy and the transformation of landlubber Rome into a seapower, and the Republic into an Empire. But with no-one left to beat, the only enemy that Rome had left was itself.

City of Man, City of God

In the last of the series, archaeologist and historian Richard Miles examines the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.

At the height of its power, the Roman Empire extended the benefits of its civilization to a 60 million citizens and subjects in a swathe of territory that extended from Hadrian's Wall to the banks of the Euphrates. Even under the rule of mad, bad and dangerous emperors, the imperial system proved to be robust, buttressed by the support of elite families in the far-flung corners of the empire whose loyalty was ensured by a system of cultural aspiration, economic opportunity and military coercion.

But the material benefits of the 'good order' delivered by Roman rule provided its citizens and subjects with the security to ask profound questions about the meaning of life, questions that the pragmatic, polytheistic Roman belief system was ill-equipped to answer. Christianity grew to fill the spiritual vacuum at the heart of Roman civilization, eventually claiming an Emperor, Constantine, as its greatest prize. The City of Man would be eclipsed the City of God.

BBC2 * 8-15 December 2010 * 2 x 60 minutes

Alesha Dixon: Don't Hit My Mum

Alesha Dixon explores the trauma and fall-out from domestic violence, from a child's perspective. Alesha highlights the neglect of children at the centre of domestic violence and how, left unheard, those children can be emotionally scarred for life.

Alesha witnessed her mum Beverley being beaten by her live-in boyfriend when she was very young. In this film, she meets girls and boys who have witnessed domestic violence and discovers how it affected their lives.

This is a journey for Alesha as she, in parallel with her own experiences, examines what happens when relationships break down – between parents, between local authorities and between parent and child. And she looks ahead to see how those broken bonds can be healed.

BBC1 * 22 November 2010 * 60 minutes

Ancient Worlds 3-4

The Greeks

Richard Miles explores the power and the paradox of the 'Greek Thing' - a blossoming in art, philosophy and science that went hand in hand with political discord, social injustice and endless war.

He paints a fascinating picture of the internal and external pressures that fuelled this unique political and social experiment, one that would pioneer many of the political systems that we still live with today, from oligarchy to tyranny, from totalitarianism to democracy.

Return of the King

In Richard Miles's epic story of civilization, there have been plenty of examples of the great men of history, but none came close to the legend of Alexander of Macedon, known to us as 'the Great'. Uniting the fractious Greek city-states, he led them on a crusade against the old enemy, Persia, and in little more than a decade created an empire that stretched from Egypt in the west to Afghanistan in the east.

But it was Alexander's successors, the Hellenistic Kings, who had to make sense of the legacy of this charismatic adventurer. By knuckling down to the hard graft of politics, taxation and public works, they created something far more enduring than a mere legend - they built a civilization.

Richard traces Alexander's battle-scarred route through Turkey, Syria and Lebanon to Egypt and ultimately to the western Punjab, Pakistan, where he discovers fascinating traces of a city where Greek west and Buddhist east were united in an intriguing new way.

BBC4/BBC2 * 29 November/1 December 2010 * 2 x 60 minutes

Ancient Worlds 1-2

Come Together

Archaeologist and historian Richard Miles explores the roots of one of the most profound innovations in the human story - civilisation - in the first episode of an epic series that runs from the creation of the first cities in Mesopotamia some 6,000 years ago, to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

Starting in Uruk, the 'mother of all cities', in southern Iraq, Richard travels to Syria, Egypt, Anatolia and Greece, tracing the birth and development of technology and culture.

Age of Iron
Archaeologist and historian Richard Miles looks at the winners, losers and survivors of the great Bronze Age collapse, a regional catastrophe that wiped out the hard-won achievements of civilisation in the eastern Mediterranean about 3,000 years ago. In the new age of iron, civilisation would re-emerge, tempered in the flames of conflict, tougher and more resilient than ever before.

BBC4/BBC2 * 15-17 November 2010 * 2 x 60 minutes

Turn Back Time: The High Street 5-6

The 60s

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families are trading their way through one hundred years of history. They've set up shop in a 21st century town in a bid to make its residents fall in love with its high street once more. They are overseen by a Chamber of Commerce, led by Masterchef judge and greengrocer Gregg Wallace.

In this episode the shopkeepers move into the swinging sixties, and big changes hit the high street. Every shop has transformed completely - 1960s mass production of meat, bread and clothing means the bakers find themselves running a milk bar, the butcher sells hardware and the dressmaker is now running a hair salon. The grocers has become self-service, bringing a more modern shopping experience to customers. The bakers have to produce milkshakes and burgers, while the dressmaker turns her hand to bouffants and beehives. The butcher finds himself in direct competition with the grocer.

As the shopkeepers struggle with the changes in their trades, the town sees first-hand why Britain turned its back on traditional shops and embraced the supermarket. At the end of the week, history dictates that, for some, it is time to leave, and customers realise just what they're losing.

The 70s

In this episode, it's the end of the journey for the shopkeepers and their customers as they move into the 1970s. There are two new arrivals, the Sandher family take over the general store and David Lashmar has the challenge of selling vinyl to 21st century shoppers from his 1970s record shop. A '70s boutique keeps customers abreast of fashion fads and townsfolk are soon decked out in glam rock, lounge wear and punk. Amidst the explosion of popular culture the supermarket reminds everyone of the part the 1970s played in our quest for cheap food and convenient shopping. At the cornershop the Sandher kids find out just how hard their dad worked when his family left India to set up shop in Britain and they are shocked to hear his memories of the 1970s. The record shop treats the town to a Eurovision winning band performance and all the traders prepare for a Silver Jubilee street party. The town has experienced one hundred years of high street history, but will power cuts, the 1970s shopping experience and the Great British weather dampen the community spirit that has built up over the years?

BBC1 - 30th November/7th December 2010 - 2 x 60 minutes

Turn Back Time: The High Street 3-4

The 1930s

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families are on the journey of a lifetime - they're taking over empty shops in a neglected market square in Shepton Mallet to see if they can turn back time for the British High Street. They'll live and trade through six key eras of history and in this episode they move into to the 1930s.

Life should be sweeter this week, as government regulations reduce working hours and cheap sugar means lots of sweets, confectionary and cake. Nostalgia boosts sales for the grocers, who have masses of 1930s recognisable brands, the dressmaker has to sell thirties glamour to the town, and the butcher has good old British beef.

The Edwardian bazaar is now a toy shop, reflecting the shopkeepers' target customers - children. But it is far from plain sailing; the Bakers find themselves running a cake shop, but cakes aren't their forte. Rivalry builds between the grocers and the butchers, underminding the community spirit of the high street.

The shopkeepers spend a week selling the 1930s to the town, but they have to pull out all the stops for Empire day - can they persuade a whole new generation of the joys of the traditional high street?

WW2

In this episode the shopkeepers and their customers are plunged into World War Two.

For the first time profit isn't everything, as the shopkeepers find themselves dealing with rationing, promoting make do and mend, and trying to persuade an entire town to pull together as it would have done sixty years ago.

The grocer family struggle with wartime rules and regulations, and customers have to decide whether to stick to rations or to buy from the black market. The bakers feed the town from their British restaurant, while the butcher promotes mutton to modern shoppers. The dressmaker and the blacksmith convince the town of the benefits of 1940s style recycling.

But shortages, an air raid and hungry customers all take their toll; will they keep the town onside in the run up to the VE day celebrations at the end of the week?

BBC1 - 16/23 November 2010 - 2x60 minutes

Turn Back Time: The High Street 1-2

Victorian

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families are on the journey of a lifetime - they're taking over empty shops in a neglected market square in Shepton Mallet to see if they can turn back time for the British High Street. They'll live and trade through six key eras of history and in this episode they begin their journey in the 1870s, when the high street was born.

The shopkeepers make up the key trades; there's the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and the grocer. Overseeing it all is an expert Chamber of Commerce, headed up by greengrocer and MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace.

The shopkeepers soon learn that Victorian trading means truly going back to basics. The bakers struggle with back-breaking work and baking through the night. The butcher must sell every bit of a giant pig, and the Ironmonger realises that there isn't much call for mangles and mole traps in 2010. Over at the grocer's, 21st-century customers must wait for coffee to be roasted, tea to be mixed and butter to be patted. While the town finds Victorian produce hard to stomach, all the shopkeepers struggle to keep their customers onside in the run-up to market day.

Edwardian

The butcher, the baker, the grocer and the ironmonger are joined by a dressmaker, and together they must provide a modern town with the exceptional service and luxuriant shop displays worthy of the Edwardians.

The baker's family find themselves running an Edwardian tea shop, while the butchers must sell game in all its gory glory to modern customers. The grocer has trained staff, but the challenge of creating an early 20th century wedding breakfast piles on the pressure.

All the shopkeepers struggle with maintaining standards, and it becomes clear that underneath its glossy veneer the Edwardian high street was a tough place for women and children. The arrival of call-up papers reminds the traders and the town of the terrible impact that World War One had on Britain's communities.

BBC1 - 2-9 November 2010 - 2 x 60 minutes

Coppers 5

The final programme in the series takes viewers to the heart of a riot.

With exclusive access to Greater Manchester Police's Tactical Aid Unit, cameras accompany officers as they police violent clashes between thousands of opposing demonstrators.

English Defence League supporters are marching on Bolton town centre, with counter-demonstrators from Unite Against Fascism waiting for them. Tactical Aid Unit officers, who are trained to tackle heavy duty jobs, from knocking down doors to controlling football crowds, are expected to hold the line between the two opposing groups. It's their job to keep the peace, whatever it takes.

But as protester numbers swell and the crowds become harder to control, violence and scores of arrests ensue. As events unfold, five camera crews are at the very heart of the action with the TAU officers, giving a candid picture of both sides of the divide, protesters and police.

This episode features in-vision signing for the deaf

Channel 4 - 3 December 2010 - 60 minutes

Coppers 3-4

Emergency

Emergency calls to the police have risen by 50 per cent over the last 15 years, although recorded crime has dropped by a third over the same period.

The series follows the police responding to emergency calls and reveals the incredible things people choose to call 999 about: from mobile phones running out of credit to arguments about whose turn it is to have a go on the Nintendo Wii.

Kent constabulary receive a quarter of a million 999 calls every year, with 80% classed as non-emergencies and many seen as 'nuisance calls'.

'We're seeing a generation divide,' says Chief Inspector Nicola Faulconbridge of Kent's Force Communications Centre. 'Whereas the older generation won¿t call us for almost anything, even in an emergency, the younger generation are much more willing and ready to call us about almost any issue.'

Police officers are spending much of their time acting as counselors, settling petty squabbles and relationship problems. 

'Sometimes you just want to bang people's heads together and go 'Come on, look at you - you're 40 and you're acting like you're 12!'' says PC Neil Cronin.

Another issue prompting an increasing number of calls to 999 calls is Facebook. When virtual threats get out of hand, the police have no choice but to treat it as a real emergency, sending cars racing to the scene.

Saturday Night

The series joins police officers on the Saturday night beat, where drunks, abuse and violence - as well as marriage proposals and requests to urinate in your helmet - are all part of the job.

Typical of towns and cities up and down the country, every weekend the streets of Wakefield and Leeds in West Yorkshire are filled with people getting as drunk as they can as fast as they can. Trying to keep them in order, and stop them hurting themselves or others, are a handful of officers, alongside city council night marshals.

'We get nothing but grief and abuse and we can't say anything back, can we?' says PC Phillippa Child in Wakefield.

'If we locked up everybody who swore or spat or urinated or got involved in a pushing and shoving match, within about an hour of being out on town, just about everybody on that city centre would be waiting in the cells to be booked in,' says PC Chris Merrick.

When they're not arresting people, the female PCs are fending off protestations of love: ''Can I have your number? You're lovely. You're really nice. Why are you a copper? You're too beautiful to be a copper.' And I'm thinking get lost!' says PC Child.

(This episode features in-vision signing for the deaf)

Channel 4 15-26 November 2010 2 x 60 minutes

Coppers 1-2

Custody

The Medway custody suite in Gillingham, Kent is one of the busiest in the country. The first programme in the series joins its staff, who process 40 suspected criminals every day.

From burglary to shop-lifting and assault to drugs possession, Custody Officer Sergeant Sean O'Conner and his team have seen generations progress through their criminal careers and witness a never-ending cycle of deprivation, drugs, crime, violence, and - for some of the women they meet - prostitution.

With frustration, resignation and sometimes anger - as well as flashes of frequently dark humour - ordinary police officers offer a raw insight into the harsh realities of policing modern Britain.

Traffic

The series takes to the fast lane with Cambridgeshire's traffic cops: the petrolheads who are happiest racing to the rescue, or nicking drink drivers, and like nothing better than 'giving out love' (issuing speed tickets) with their 'love scope' (speed gun).

'I love nicking people,' says PC Leigh Fenton. 'I'd lock everybody up all day if I could.' The film reveals the close bonds that develop between the officers, and the banter they use as a shield against the part of the job they all dread: informing the next of kin when someone dies as a result of a traffic accident.

PCs Terry Sharpe and Stuart Appleton have spent three years sharing driving duties in their Volvo V70: 'People have said we're like an old married couple. We bicker and we argue. We have a laugh,' says PC Sharp.

But, despite the training and camaraderie, informing the next of kin after accidents never gets any easier: 'Saying the words that 'I've just been to an accident and it's my duty to tell you that your wife has died.' And there's no beating around the bush. You've got to tell them in no uncertain terms, that 'your wife has died.' And the reaction you get after that... that's the thing you think about,' says PC Appleton.

Channel 4 1-8 November 2010 2x60 minutes

The Genius of British Art, episodes 5 & 6

Modern Times

Modern Art has made us who we are and it has certainly made Janet Street Porter who she is.

Beginning in the stifling 1950s, Janet revisits her teenage years to show how modern art has been at the forefront of social and cultural changes, which define Britain today, from Patrick Heron through Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Peter Blake, Joe Tilson, Richard Hamilton, Gilbert and George, and the Sex Pistols, to Damien Hirst and the 'Sensation' generation of British artists.

Janet speaks to Hirst, Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry about how art has seeped into the very heart of British culture.

The Art of War

Former war reporter Jon Snow presents a timely reminder of how British artists have expressed and defined our response to the horror of war and, in the process, have triggered a debate about the role of art in British life. As the grandson of a First World War general, it's a story with a personal resonance for Jon.

A hundred years ago, artists were the first to challenge the view that war was all about victory and glory. Jon, a keen amateur artist himself, traces this legacy from the artists of the First World War - Richard Nevinson, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer - right up to the work of contemporary artists such as John Keane, Jeremy Deller and Steve McQueen.

Britain's war artists have pushed the boundaries in their drive to bring home to us the true cost of war. We once celebrated war's valour and glory, but they have encouraged us to feel its pain and tragedy. They have given us an artistic legacy that will continue to provoke and to move generations to come.

Channel 4. 31 Oct-7 Nov 2010. 2 x 60 minutes