Documentaries

The Big League
The football league for big players aiming to transform their lives.
19 Dec 2023,28 mins
Guilty Architecture
Jonathan Glancey asks for how long a building carries the charge of an evil past.
26 Apr 2018,28 mins
The Deprofessionals
Matthew Hill asks what is happening to Britain's public services.
02 Apr 2013,38 mins
The Next Global Killer
Can we predict the next deadly pandemic? Alok Jha investigates.
26 Nov 2013,38 mins
A Living Leg-End
Meet Lavinia Co-op - transatlantic icon of the radical drag scene.
02 May 2023,28 mins
The Israeli Hostages
Anna Foster talks to people who survived the 7 October attacks in Israel by Hamas.
30 Jan 2024,28 mins
In Search of Originality
Ian Peacock sets out to achieve the seemingly impossible, to be original.
06 Apr 2012,30 mins
Online Shopping, Indian Style
Mukti Jain Campion discovers how Indians are embracing the online shopping revolution.
16 Dec 2015,28 mins
Following the Martian Invasion
The Martian Overthrow
Francis Spufford and guests explore why Wells's tale still resonates.
10 Mar 2017,15 mins
More episodes
Greening the Military
Angus Crawford asks whether the army can do its job whilst respecting the environment.
06 Aug 2012,28 mins
What Happened to Ricky Reel?
Can a mother reignite an investigation into her son's death, 25 years after it happened?
25 Oct 2022,28 mins
The Unswayables: Trump's Loyal Army
Michael Goldfarb is in Pennsylvania hearing the reasons Americans are voting Trump.
31 Oct 2016,28 mins
Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth
How the British-born singer Vince Taylor inspired David Bowie's mythical rock star.
19 Aug 2010,30 mins
Family Matters
Urbanisation
Environment has always influenced human behaviour
20 Dec 2001,12 mins
More episodes
John Burnside: From the Other Side
How a recent near-death experience has influenced poet John Burnside's life and work.
30 Oct 2022,28 mins
The RSC at 50
The New Theatre
James Naughtie follows the struggle to create a new theatre for the RSC in Stratford.
19 Apr 2011,30 mins
More episodes
Lenin in Letchworth
Why did the steely Russian revolutionary reputedly visit the first English garden city?
20 Mar 2013,28 mins
Hunt/Lauda
Vicki Butler-Henderson recalls James Hunt's epic on-track battle with Niki Lauda in 1976.
24 Mar 2013,30 mins
The Chinese Nureyev
Li Cunxin, Madame Mao's favourite dancer, tells Darcey Bussell about his amazing journey.
17 May 2011,30 mins
The Foghorn: A Celebration
Peter Curran celebrates the powerful role of the humble foghorn.
22 Feb 2011,30 mins
Teaching Economics After the Crash
Aditya Chakrabortty reports on the student fight to reform their economics education.
02 Dec 2014,38 mins
A Century of Hope
Greg Proops looks back at the life of Bob Hope, whose career spanned the 20th century.
11 Oct 2014,30 mins
Effective Altruism
Giles Fraser explores the movement that aims to make charitable giving most effective.
13 May 2018,28 mins
What Were They Thinking?
Mark Lawson examines how four cultural hits from 1999 have stood up to the test of time
26 Dec 2019,28 mins
Nusrat Was My Elvis
Navid Akhtar examines the legacy of the influential Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
21 Aug 2007,30 mins
Living Without My Smartphone
Reflections from a group of teenagers on giving up smartphones for a school week.
16 Jun 2024,28 mins
France and Germany: Divided They Stand
Could the 'Rhine Divide' between France and Germany threaten the EU more than Brexit?
30 Jul 2019,37 mins
Scotland’s Uncivil War
Dani Garavelli tells the story of a deep schism at the heart of Scottish politics.
18 Aug 2020,37 mins
Hersey's Hiroshima
Seventy years ago, an article about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima rocked the world.
22 Aug 2016,28 mins
Fighting The Power of Pink
Kat Arney investigates why little girls are addicted to the colour pink, and if it matters
09 May 2011,30 mins