Saturday 8th December 2012
| Led Zeppelin Live in London 2007: Celebration Day |
Led Zeppelin reformed for one night only at London's O2 on 10 December 2007 to show one more time why they are one of Britain's greatest ever rock and roll bands. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and drummer Jason Bonham, stepping in for his late father, revisited the classic catalogue in all its sonic glory in honour of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.
Tracks performed in this special edit for the BBC include Whole Lotta Love, Kashmir, Dazed & Confused and Black Dog.
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Sunday 9th December 2012
| The Trouble with Aid |
45 years ago a group of young men and women set out to make the world a better place. They wanted to bring aid to those in dire need. These idealists would help create a new mass movement - humanitarianism. Its core belief is a simple one - that it is our duty to help those in desperate need, wherever they are. But trying to do good in the world's worst conflict zones is filled with danger and compromise.
The Trouble with Aid tells the story of what really happened during the major humanitarian disasters of the last 50 years: from the Biafran War, through to the Ethiopian famine and Live Aid, to the military intervention in Somalia and to present-day Afghanistan. Despite the best intentions, aid can have some unintended and terrible consequences.
Using the testimony of key players from the world's largest aid agencies, the film looks at what happens when good people try to help in a bad world.
Today, any humanitarian crisis leads to cries that we must 'do something'. The Trouble with Aid challenges this fundamental assumption by asking the question few us are prepared to face: can aid sometimes do more harm than good?
| The Trouble with Aid - the Debate |
Saving lives in dangerous and complex humanitarian crises is fraught with moral dilemmas. Further exploring the emergencies highlighted in Ricardo Pollack's film The Trouble with Aid, aid professionals and critics debate whether there are occasions when humanitarian aid might do more harm than good, and what emergency aid means in the 21st century.
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Monday 10th December 2012
| How Safe is Your Cash? |
...Channel 4 Dispatches: With fraudulent attacks on credit and debit cards growing, Morland Sanders examines banks' policies on accepting liability.
| Stephen Fry: Gadget Man (4/6) |
Stephen and Jeremy Clarkson try to overhaul traditional pub games, replacing them with gadgets. And Stephen meets a remote-controlled pet and tries out an automatic cocktail-maker.
| The Secret Drone War: Panorama |
America's CIA is fighting a secret war in the badlands of Pakistan - targeting al Qaeda and other militants with hellfire missiles in drone strikes that the UN says are illegal. No one knows the true number who have died, but it is estimated that the death toll may be around 3,000 - some of them, it is claimed, innocent women and children.
Panorama goes to Waziristan, one of the most dangerous places in the world, to report on the drone war and to find out from its victims why they are seeking justice in the British courts.
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Tuesday 11th December 2012
| Pound Shops R Us |
BBC Business Correspondent Jonty Bloom embarks on a behind the scenes exploration of a retail explosion that is bucking all trends. As British high streets wither in the drought of recession, forcing hundreds of shops to close, one retail phenomenon is bursting with health and vitality - the pound shop. And, with the discount sector in the UK now worth £7 billion and predicted to rise to £11.2 billion by 2016, pound shops are breeding like rabbits and big brands want a slice of the pie.
Are pound shops the saviours of the British high street or the death knell of quality? Where does all that eclectic stuff come from? And how come it still only costs a pound? Psychologists, academics, punters and pound shop operators help discover the origins of the pound shop and examine what their meteoric rise has to say about all of us.
We follow the trail of the weird stuff they stock on their shelves, from China to the UK and back again, in a pound shop equivalent of the old silk route. A potent mix of bargains, surprises, convenience and easy maths.
| Pension off the Old Lady |
The role of Governor of the Bank of England is one of the most important in the financial world. Mark Carney, whose appointment was announced in November by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, will have vast oversight of everything from the level of mortgage finance to the way the British financial system functions. The role is unique in its power, scope and influence.
So what should the new Governor's plan for Britain's economic future be? In this programme, Kamal Ahmed considers the prospects for jobs, growth and economic well-being under the new Governor. And he examines what will be the likely impact on the value of everyone's debts, borrowings and savings.
For some observers, the Bank of England failed to see the approach of the financial crisis and, when it did arrive, did not act decisively to mitigate its effects. Responsible for targeting inflation at 2%, managing monetary policy and smoothing the economic cycle, the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street - as the Bank is known in the City of London - has, they claim, consistently disappointed. And we have all paid the price.
Yet others argue that it has done no worse than other major central banks. Ministers seem to agree: the government is making the Bank responsible for more of the UK's financial system.
Talking to former Bank insiders, prominent politicians, business leaders, economists and bankers, Kamal Ahmed asks what lessons the Bank needs to draw from its role in the crisis. Given its new responsibilities, what and how does it need to change about how it is currently run and managed? Can it be made more effective - while also being properly accountable for its actions? And should it emulate how other central banks do their job or do its own thing?
| Inside Guinness World Records (1/2) |
First of a two-part journey across the globe, meeting the extraordinary people who can call themselves Guinness World Record holders. From Chandra Dangi, the world's new smallest man, to Sultan Kosen, the tallest; from Elaine Davidson, the world's most pierced woman to Alain Robert, the French Spiderman, the book of Guinness World Records is alive with the extremes of human endeavour. Made with exclusive access to Guinness World Records' adjudicators, the engrossing documentary tells the stories of the people behind the records and discovers what drives them to become world record holders.
| Timeshift: the Golden Age of Coach Travel |
Documentary which takes a glorious journey back to the 1950s, when the coach was king. From its early origins in the charabanc, the coach had always been the people's form of transport. Cheaper and more flexible than the train, it allowed those who had travelled little further than their own villages and towns a first heady taste of exploration and freedom. It was a safe capsule on wheels from which to venture out into a wider world.
The distinctive livery of the different coach companies was part of a now lost world, when whole communities crammed into coach after coach en route to pleasure spots like Blackpool, Margate and Torquay. With singsongs, toilet stops and the obligatory pub halt, it didn't matter how long it took to get there because the journey was all part of the adventure.
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Wednesday 12th December 2012
| Unreliable Evidence (1/4) |
In the first of a new series, Clive Anderson and top legal experts discuss the extent to which groups and individuals have a duty of care to protect the safety and well-being of others.
Revelations about Jimmy Savile and other abuse cases have raised questions about the responsibility of institutions when wrongdoing occurs on their premises or to people in their care. The programme asks if victims have sufficient recourse in law to take legal action against those who have behaved negligently or have failed to protect them from negligence. How exactly does a court decide who has a duty of care and establish whether or not enough effort was made to exercise it?
Guests discuss calls for the Football Association to be held legally responsible for the Hillsborough deaths, the Government's responsibility for the safety of soldiers in Afghanistan and the Catholic Church's responsibility for sexual abuse by priests.
And what is our individual duty of care for the safety of our own family, our neighbours or for anyone in our community? Should we introduce the equivalent of the French 'Good Samaritan' law which makes it illegal not to help at the scene of an accident?
Other subjects to be discussed in the series are concerns that our employment laws are nudging towards a US 'fire at will'culture, the way the law restricts the use of hateful or insulting language and how moves to speed up our legal system may be resulting in injustices.
| Weight Loss Ward (1/2) |
One of the UK's biggest and busiest obesity units opens its doors to allow an exclusive insight into the battle with the bulge. Sunderland Royal Hospital is at the heart of one of the fattest places in the country and deals with thousands of patients turning to surgery to beat their obesity. But before they go under the knife, they need to come to terms with why they're overeating. At 47 stone, 29-year-old Terry is one of the biggest patients the unit has ever treated. He has been housebound for over a year and is being admitted to help him confront his addictive behaviour. He's pathologically obese, but why?
| Best of the Culture Show |
This week on The Culture Show Mark Kermode looks back over the best of the year in film. Just some of the highlights from our coverage of 2012's cinema releases include an interview with one of the great auteurs of modern cinema, David Cronenberg, and his lead actor Robert Pattinson.
Mark talks to Academy award winner Ben Affleck, whose latest movie Argo is a political thriller based on a remarkable true story.
Investigative journalist John Sweeney has made two acclaimed documentaries about The Church of Scientology. He joins Mark to review The Master by Paul Thomas Anderson, which chronicles the life of the charismatic leader of a religious cult.
In the summer William Friedkin, director of The French Connection and The Exorcist (described by Mark as the greatest film ever made), released Killer Joe, an uncompromising and provocative jet-black comedy. Mark met the filmmaker for a frank and fiery discussion about sexual politics.
And in a year of big franchise movie releases including Spiderman, Bourne and Bond, we hear from British director Christopher Nolan, one of the most exciting and innovative filmmakers working today, about The Dark Knight Rises, the final instalment of his Batman trilogy.
| The Golden Age of Steam Railways (1/2) |
Two-part documentary telling the remarkable story of a band of visionaries who rescued some of the little narrow gauge railways that once served Britain's industries. These small railways and the steam engines that ran on them were once the driving force of Britain's mines, quarries, factories and docks. Then, as they disappeared after 1945, volunteers set to work to bring the lines and the steam engines back to life and started a movement which spread throughout the world. Their home movies tell the story of how they helped millions reconnect with a past they thought had gone forever.
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Thursday 13th December 2012
| Putting Young Drivers to the Test: Tonight |
Last year 5,419 people were killed or seriously injured in road accidents involving young drivers. With drivers under the age of 25 responsible for a third of all fatalities, young men are statistically the most lethal behind the wheel. Tonight investigates whether calls for changes in the way young people learn to drive, the introduction of a ban on late night driving - and carrying passengers - could save lives. Jonathan Maitland puts three young motorists to the test. They all rate themselves as good drivers - but are they as good as they think they are?
| Britain's Hidden Housing Crisis |
Britain is in the grip of a housing crisis of a sort not seen before - where even the most unexpected people are finding themselves homeless. Every two and a half minutes someone in Britain is threatened with losing their home. This Panorama Special follows four stories over five months and reveals the devastating impact of being evicted from your own home and losing everything - from an investment banker now sleeping rough in a park in Croydon; to a businessman who lost his company in the recession; and a grandmother who gets cancer, has to stop working and then has her house repossessed.
| Pensioners Behind Bars |
Retirement is usually a time to take things easy, but in the last twenty years the number of over-60s doing time for a criminal offence has trebled. With sentences becoming harsher and longer, this group is now the fastest-growing in British prisons. Some senior citizens turn to crime in retirement, but what happens to career criminals when they hit pensionable age? Growing old disgracefully, these are the tales of elderly drug dealers, brothel keepers and con artists. Anthony McErlean is 67 and is serving five years for faking his own death, Adele Lubin was sentenced to 15 months at the age of 66 for conspiracy to control prostitutes, 77-year-old John Douglas has received three jail terms for heroin dealing, and Freddie Foreman is 80, a former gangster and bank robber who has spent 23 years of his life inside.
| Timeshift: Wrestling's Golden Age: Grappies, Grunts and Grannies |
Timeshift turns back the clock to a time when villains wore silver capes, grannies swooned at the sight of bulky men in latex and the most masculine man in the country was called Shirley. In its heyday, British professional wrestling attracted huge TV audiences and made household names of generations of wrestlers from Mick McManus and Jackie 'Mr TV' Pallo to Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy. With contributions from inside the world of wrestling and surprising fans such as artist Peter Blake, this is an affectionate and lively portrait of a lost era of simpler pleasures, both in and out of the ring.
| The Boss is Back |
In 2001, impresario Gerry Cottle let the Trouble at the Top documentary series follow his attempts to launch the Chinese State Circus in Britain. Now, as he swaps the big top for the caves of Wookey Hole, Cottle looks back on his time in front of the cameras, to see if the lessons he learned back then can help make a success of his latest venture.
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Friday 14th December 2012
| Omnibus: John Barry - a Licence to Thrill |
John Barry is the most successful film score composer of the 20th century. From his work on the Bond movies, Born Free, Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves and many more he has produced cinema's most memorable music, winning five Oscars in the process.
But behind all the Hollywood glitz and glamour, Yorkshire born Barry is a private and self-effacing man who talks emotionally about his early childhood, his relationship with his father and the impact of World War II.
This is the first film ever to profile Barry and joining him are Michael Caine, Kevin Costner, and Adam Faith.
