BBC Worldwide Ltd
41) The Nile
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English
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Adventurer Simon Reeve travels from source to sea along the world's longest river, the Nile. His journey will take him from the holy source of the Blue Nile in the Ethiopian highlands, through the desert of Sudan and onwards through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. The life-giving river has forged some of our earliest civilisations and influenced some of our greatest religions. But with populations along its banks rising fast, Nile countries are demanding...
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Is Ancient Greek art just a collection of elegant works of marble, framed by a love of democracy and enlightened reasoning? Far from it. Art critic and journalist Alastair Sooke demonstrates it is in fact far more diverse and surprising - a multi-cultural mix of styles, techniques and materials that left no subject matter unexplored. Considered, thoughtful and enthralling, this series offers a fresh understanding and new perspective on an incredible...
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Jane returns from her aunt's deathbed to find Rochester paying court to the beautiful Blanche Ingram, however she soon discovers that it is Jane herself that he really loves. But as they are about to wed, a mysterious overseas visitor brings trouble to Thornfield. Jane's fears are confirmed when Rochester's secret past is revealed, destroying her chance of happiness and forcing her to flee Thornfield. Penniless and hungry, she finds shelter and friendship...
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Earthquakes have the power to reduce towns to rubble, are unpredictable and unstoppable, and can also result in landslides and avalanches. The worst earthquake in 500 years occurred on 28 July 1976 when the Chinese city of Tangshan was destroyed, killing an estimated 250,000 people. This program looks at some of the world's deadliest seismic events, ranging from Peru to Nicaragua and from Guatemala to India. Footage shows not only the effect of the...
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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 Doomsday 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...
46) Curious Feeders
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English
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The blue whale and the flamingo both have strange bodies determined by their diet. Blue whales grow enormous by feeding on tiny shrimplike creatures, while flamingos spend their lives eating with their heads upside down. Both are oddities in their own groups and yet both are curiously similar.
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They cross six thousand miles of desert and sea to reach Europe, children traveling alone, on the world's most dangerous migration route. Some of them are as young as seven. BBC travels to the place they're fleeing, the border area between Sudan and Eritrea, where four thousand migrants cross each month, trying to escape Africa's most secretive rogue state. With exclusive access to desert refugee camps, and to the Sudanese border patrols, the program...
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When vast amounts of rock, earth and mud pour downhill, landslides destroy whole towns and villages. In 1968, 20,000 people lost their lives in Peru as the side of a mountain broke free; and in 1985, a massive mudslide triggered by a volcano in Columbia claimed at least 23,000 victims. More than 30,000 people were killed when a strip of Venezuelan coastline was devastated by a 50-foot-high tide of mud and rock. Landslides are less frequent in Europe,...
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In this second episode, Professor Richard Fortey travels to the rainforests of Madagascar-an ancient island that has spawned some of the most extraordinary groups of plants and animals anywhere in the world. From beautiful Indri lemurs, toxic frogs, and the cat-like giant mongoose called the fossa, to evolutionary oddities like the giraffe-necked weevil and the otherworldly aye-aye, Prof. Fortey uncovers the secrets of the evolutionary niche-examining...
50) Napoleon: Part 2
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English
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The year 2015 marks 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo. Using recently uncovered historical evidence and based upon almost a decade of research, this major, three-part series, sheds new light on Napoleon as an extraordinarily gifted military commander and a charismatic leader whose private life-contrary to popular belief 200 years later-was littered with disappointments and betrayals: not least in relation to Josephine. Part 2 examines the French...
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In this documentary series, Sue Perkins uncovers a region undergoing unprecedented change. As well as tackling hard-hitting social and environmental issues, Sue explores the lighter side of life on South East Asia's largest river, flowing 3,000 miles from the high peaks of the Himalayas through the Tibetan plateau, the canyons of Chinese Yunnan, and Vietnam's vast Mekong Delta. In Part 4, on the final leg of her journey, she investigates how China's...
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Constance is a young Nigerian refugee who is found washed up in a small boat, on the south coast of England, by Mark. Mark takes pity on Constance and takes her home to his wife Nicky. As Nicky and Constance strike up a friendship, it becomes clear that Constance is a devout Christian who is deeply troubled by her past but cannot remember what happened to her. At church, a young man, Terry, falls for her, but the feelings are not mutual. Constance...
53) Indira Ghandi
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English
Description
Grace Kelly, Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Indira Ghandi, and Madame Chiang Kai-shek were worshipped, loved and sometimes even feared by millions the world over. These pioneers showed that a woman could be the equal of any man but behind the public success, there was often private heartache and personal tragedy. This series, featuring archive, interviews and dramatic re-enactment, reveals the price these women paid for their achievements and adversities...
54) The Yangtze
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English
Description
Simon travels along the Yangtze, discovering a revival of religious faith in China. Starting his journey at the first bend in the Yangtze, Simon follows the river to Dazu where he sees 50,000 ancient and exquisite rock carvings, some of the only religious artefacts not to have been destroyed under communist rule. Taking a river cruise, he arrives at the Three Gorges Dam, the biggest power station on the planet. Simon's journey ends in Shanghai, a...
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Starting just after World War II, using rockets intended to deliver nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union took an early lead in the space race. Led by Chief Designer Sergei Korolev and braving the risks of unproven technology, Soviet cosmonauts beat their American rivals to achieve a series of firsts: Sputnik, the first man in space, the first woman in space, and the first spacewalk.
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The Atlantic Ocean stretches 10,000 miles, including a 90 kilometer stretch of a warm current called the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream propels the migration of many different animal species, creating unique feeding frenzies for the predatory whales of the Atlantic Ocean. Jellyfish, sea turtles, fish, plankton, and people are also affected by the Gulf Stream that warms Northern Europe and keeps the Arctic Ocean from freezing. Learn about the symbiotic...
57) Oedipus The King
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English
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In this video, Michael Pennington and Claire Bloom star in a new translation of the ancient Greek tragedy written by Sophocles. Oedipus, the king of Thebes, discovers that he married his mother and killed his father.
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English
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After reconstruction, white Americans began to take political and civil rights from black citizens. The first episode sets the historical scene, examining the politics, poverty and aspirations that motivated millions to escape from near slavery and segregation in Mississippi for Chicago, which promised freedom and dignity. Chicago in 1942 was home to a large, respectable black middle class as well as the "New Negroes" emerging from the war. Now it...
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English
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Little Dorrit is a miniseries produced by the BBC and WGBH Boston and based on Charles Dickens' serial novel. In Episode 1, Amy Dorrit lives in the Marshalsea Prison for Debt with her father, William Dorrit, who has been an inmate for countless years. Although born and bred in the prison, she has grown up to be an enterprising young woman. As the story begins, she gains employment as a seamstress at the House of Clennam under the stern and formidable...
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English
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In 2010 Britain experienced the coldest December on record. In 2011 America experienced killer tornadoes, drought and wildfires. 2010 in Pakistan saw floods that killed over 1500 people. Across the world weather seems to be becoming more extreme. But why? Could it all be down to a phenomenon called the jet stream? Meteorologist and BBC weatherman John Hammond and oceanographer Dry Helen Czerski meet the scientists around the world who are trying to...