The lives of two eccentric metal detectorists, who spend their days plodding along ploughed tracks and open fields, hoping to disturb the tedium by unearthing the fortune of a lifetime.
Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.
A mock-documentary following the challenges - both personal and professional - faced by the team responsible for delivering the biggest show on Earth: the 2012 Olympics. From getting a busload of non-English speaking Brazilians from A to B, who to appoint to run the Cultural Olympiad and what to do when the much-vaunted wind turbines won't turn because there's no wind, it's all in a day's work for the men and women whose job it is to stage the greatest sporting event in the world.
A military attaché at the French embassy is drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal and intrigue in the diplomatic salons and back alleys of Warsaw. A classic tale of spying, intrigue, and romance, based on the novels of Alan Furst and adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.
Newswipe with Charlie Brooker was a British news review programme broadcast on BBC Four written and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is similar to Brooker's Screenwipe series which is also shown on BBC Four. A first series of six episodes ran between 25 March 2009 and 29 April 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010 and concluded on 23 February 2010.
Lead Balloon is a British television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic comedian whose life is plagued by petty annoyances, disappointments and embarrassments. Raquel Cassidy, Sean Power and Tony Gardner also star. The first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC Four in 2006, with the first episode achieving the highest ratings for a comedy on the channel. Repeats of the series were run on BBC Two and BBC HD, bringing it to a larger audience. A second series of eight episodes aired on BBC Two in November 2007, and a third series began airing in November 2008. A fourth and final series commenced broadcast on 31 May 2011 on BBC Two and ended on 5 July.
Comparisons were made by critics to the successful American comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, and positive comments were made about Lead Balloon's characters, particularly Magda, the Eastern European housekeeper. The first series was released on DVD in November 2007. The show's theme tune is a cover version of "One Way Road", written by Noel Gallagher and performed by Paul Weller.
When we look around our homes, sheds and garages we see an array of household objects that with one click of a button or twist of a knob will spring to life, and - most of the time - do exactly what we want them to. But how on earth do these objects work? To find out, James May (fuelled by endless cups of tea) heads into his workshop with thousands of little pieces to assemble some of our most beloved and recognisable objects from scratch to see what it actually takes to get them to work.
Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the electrifying story of our quest to master nature's most mysterious force - electricity. Until fairly recently, electricity was seen as a magical power, but it is now the lifeblood of the modern world and underpins every aspect of our technological advancements. Without electricity, we would be lost. This series tells of dazzling leaps of imagination and extraordinary experiments - a story of maverick geniuses who used electricity to light our cities, to communicate across the seas and through the air, to create modern industry and to give us the digital revolution.
Two-part documentary which deals with two of the deepest questions there are - what is everything, and what is nothing? Professor Jim Al-Khalili searches for an answer to these questions as he explores the true size and shape of the universe and delves into the amazing science behind apparent nothingness.
Historian Bettany Hughes retraces the lives of three great thinkers whose ideas shaped the modern world - Karl Marx, Frederick Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud.
The fiendishly difficult quiz show in which two teams of three contestants have to find the connection between seemingly unrelated clues, where patience and lateral thinking are as vital as knowledge.
The story of the discovery that everything is made from atoms, one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in history, and the brilliant minds behind it.
Joe leaves working-class, industrial Dufton behind him and takes a job as senior audit clerk at the town hall in affluent Warley. He takes lodgings at the poshest part of the town and starts to make his mark on local society.
Your monthly journey through the fascinating world of space and astronomy with the latest thinking on what's out there in space and what you can see in the night sky.
Two-part TV drama based on the novel by John Cleland. Set in the 18th century, the story of a young country girl who through financial neccessity falls into prostitution.
Powerful adaptation of DH Lawrence's novels The Rainbow and Women in Love, focusing on the lives of two sisters as they struggle with love, passion and commitment in the build-up to WWI.
A three-part series exploring how the British musical became a driving force behind musical theatre around the world — a tale of shows, daring, rivalries, talent and fortunes are set in just a single square mile.
Andrew Graham-Dixon embarks on his most ambitious journey yet, an exploration of the rich, exciting and diverse art history of the United States of America
Examine how justice is served in rural areas of China so remote and isolated that the villagers have almost no contact with, and are deeply mistrustful of, the central government.
British classic Lost Sitcoms, recreated by the BBC, from shows: Hancock’s Half Hour, Steptoe And Son and Till Death Us Do Part - each with a brand new stellar cast
A collection of ten 90-minute specials presented by Rich Hall on BBC Four, looking at US cultural history told through the lens of film, television and music.
Revolutions: The Ideas that Changed the World (2019)
In this major new landmark series for BBC Four co-produced by PBS, Jim Al-Khalili explores the extraordinary story of six remarkable inventions: The Aeroplane, The Car, The Rocket, The Smartphone, The Telescope, The Robot. They are familiar, yet hidden within them are thousands of years of thought, struggle, sacrifice, determination and insight. The series is littered with visionaries. We peer into their original notebooks and sketches, use state of the art experiments, ground breaking drama and CGI to shed new light on the discoveries of well-known icons, like Galilei Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci; lesser known individuals like female pioneers, Ada Lovelace and Bertha Benz; many, like the medieval scholar, Ibn al-Haytham, most viewers will have never heard of. Each episode explores little-known stories and is packed with incredible ideas: Like the beginnings of robotics 2,000 years ago or the Hollywood starlet and inventor who, while trying to defeat the Nazis, made today’s mobile network possible. We see time and again where a completely chance discovery leads to an application that no-one was expecting. The result is a mind-blowing science-led journey through human history, full of unintended consequences and incredible connections. It reveals how science, invention and technology build on one another to change everything. Mostly, it celebrates the achievements of the some of the greatest minds in human history.
Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? (2024)
No easy answers? Decision-makers from Kissinger to Rice revisit how the US responded to conflicts from Rwanda to Iraq. Faced with human suffering - who has responsibility to act?
In this three-part documentary series Waldemar Januszczak discovers paintings, sculptures and architecture of the Baroque period. Starting from the square of Saint Peter's Basilica in Italy to St Paul's Cathedral in England.
Documentary series about Albert Kahn's photographic Archive of the Planet.
For a quarter of a century, Kahn supplied a team of photographers with the world's first colour camera system and dispatched them across the globe. Their films and 72,000 photographs offer a unique insight into the formative years of the 20th Century.
Documentary series lifting the lid on the National Trust, filmed over two of the most stressful years in its more than 100-year-old life. The properties presented include Studland Beach & Nature Reserve, John Lennon's boyhood home, Tyntesfield, Waddesdon Manor, and Stonehenge.
Professor Mike Wooldridge explores the nature of artificial intelligence. By using experiments and demonstrations, he investigates how AI learns and what it can do.Professor Mike Wooldridge explores the nature of artificial intelligence. By using experiments and demonstrations, he investigates how AI learns and what it can do.
Country Music is a documentary miniseries chronicling the history and prominence of country music in American culture. The 8-part series was released on PBS (US) in September, 2019. It was re-edited into nine shorter 50min episodes for release on BBC Four in November 2019.
Series looking at aspects of British metalworking over the centuries, including the art of the silversmith, the history of armour and the work of the blacksmith.
Companion programme to Gregory Porter's Popular Voices (2017) in which Gregory Porter introduces a selection of live performances culled from the BBC archives.
Quiz show hosted by Marcus Du Sautoy who poses the trickiest puzzles to bend the minds of the team members Kathy Sykes, Irving Finkel, Jim Al-Khalili and Richard Vranch.
Going Going Gone: Nick Broomfield's Disappearing Britain (2016)
Film-maker Nick Broomfield profiles the Wellington Rooms in Liverpool, and the Coal Exchange in Cardiff, both of which have attained near-iconic status in their respective local areas, but are now being threatened with demolition
age 14+
