BBC Documentaries

[Heathrow]

Probably best known worldwiide for David Attenborough wildlife documentaries, the BBC also produces many excellent documentaries on science, history and just about everything else.

BBC General Documentaries List - 460 Wiki Pages

BBC Science Documentaries List - 17 Wiki Pages

BBC History Documentaries List - 120 Wiki Pages

For example, shown tonight:

BBC TV - Opertion Iceberg

A ground-breaking expedition to the arctic investigates the unknown world of icebergs, exploring the creation, life and death of these frozen behemoths for the first time

BBC TV - Storyville: From the Sea to the Land Beyond: Britain's Coast on Film

Made from over 100 years of BFI archive footage, From the Sea to the Land Beyond offers a poetic meditation on Britain's unique coastline and the role it plays in our lives. With a soundtrack specially created by Brighton-based band British Sea Power, award-winning director Penny Woolcock's film offers moving testimony to our relationship to the coast - during wartime, on our holidays and as a hive of activity during the industrial age.

I shall post any new BBC documentaries as and when they appear.

 

[Veritable]

I've been on a BBC Documentary binge myself. Started out with:

Planet Earth

Then:

Most Dangerous Roads

Also working on:

Wild China

And:

South Pacific

The rest of the world thanks you chaps for funding the BBC in order to create such amazing documentaries. Such things are impossible from shallow North American TV....

 

[Buktu]

The Attenborough wild life docs are amazing, I've got the Plaet Earth series on Blu-Ray. Absolutely fantastic to watch.

 

[Heathrow]

I've been on a BBC Documentary binge myself.

The rest of the world thanks you chaps for funding the BBC in order to create such amazing documentaries. Such things are impossible from shallow North American TV....

You're welcome!

BBC Worldwiide sells them to you and gets revenues, which lowers our licence fees essentially. So thanks for buying them and the DVDs.

The Attenborough wild life docs are amazing, I've got the Planet Earth series on Blu-Ray. Absolutely fantastic to watch.

The Attenborough at his best!

Which made me think, actually the BBC also uses other "real" people to front their other documentaries, some of whom you know and some you don't maybe. (These are not TV people, but real people who actually have proper jobs in their field, who happen to be good TV presenters as well.)

In no particular order as I remmembered them:

Waldemar Januszczak Art critic for the Guardian newspaper.
Prof. Jim Al-Kalili Maths & physics dude.
Prof. Alice Roberts A polymath, archeologist, anatomist, medical doctor, anthropologist and now a new Professor of media. (And a bit of a babe too!)
Prof. Brian Cox Works at CERN and has also appeared on QI with Stephen Fry and the gang.
Neil Oliver Scottish bloke who does history and archeology.
Julia Bradbury Outdoorsie type, hiking and trailing in mountains and wild places.
Dr. Jonathan Foyle Architectural historian.
Dr. Michael Wood Historian of big subjects. e.g. England, India, Shakespere, etc.
Dr. Lucy Worsley Posh bird who's a bit nuts, historian and is curator of Palaces for the Queen, I think.
Prof. Michio Kaku American phyiscs dude.
Fred Dibnah Steeplejack and hands-on 19th century, industrial historian.
Ruth Goodman British social modern historian
David Starkey Historian
Ray Mears Outdoors, survival expert and historical tale teller.

If you click the link to the Wiki pages, they show what documentaries have been made by each person.

* * *

The two "landmark" British TV documentaries listed below, were not made recently and the second was made for ITV.

Civilisation was written and presented by Lord Prof. Kenneth Clark, which I never seen because they have not repeated it recently. But it is always quoted as the best.

World at War This was narrated by Laurence Olivier and is awsome, I have on DVD.

 

[rickhamilton620]

Re: BBC Documentaries

BBC also does documentary podcasts. sadly they're only about 20 min in length but they're good.

 

[Heathrow]

BBC also does documentary podcasts. sadly they're only about 20 min in length but they're good.

Ah that's interesting, only 20 minutes. The documentaries normally run 50 minutes (export) and 58 minutes (UK only). When they show the export ones here, we also get an extra 8 minute "making of ..." mini-documentary.

Are they the normal documentaries but with half cut out?


Also, new for next week:

BBC Four - The Dark Ages: An Age of Light

Waldemar Januszczak looks at the Dark Ages in a new light.

From above, Waldemar Januszczak Art critic for the Guardian newspaper. So the new documentary is on the art of the "Dark Ages" (c.400 - 650 AD.)

 

[rickhamilton620]

Re: BBC Documentaries

Ah that's interesting, only 20 minutes. The documentaries normally run 50 minutes (export) and 58 minutes (UK only). When they show the export ones here, we also get an extra 8 minute "making of ..." mini-documentary.

Are they the normal documentaries but with half cut out?


Also, new for next week:

BBC Four - The Dark Ages: An Age of Light



From above, Waldemar Januszczak Art critic for the Guardian newspaper. So the new documentary is on the art of the "Dark Ages" (c.400 - 650 AD.)

I'm honestly unsure why they're shortened...its audio only and i wouldnt have minded them being longer.

I'll take a look at their documentary archives...i'll find something to watch likely enough, if they're available for streaming.

 

[Buktu]

There's also Louis Theroux, I've found his stuff quite good.

 

[Heathrow]

I'm honestly unsure why they're shortened...its audio only and i wouldnt have minded them being longer.

I'll take a look at their documentary archives...i'll find something to watch likely enough, if they're available for streaming.

Ah! Of course, audio only. I reckon they would be specially made spin-off programs used as companion pieces to other TV documentaries.

The BBC has a huge radio network as well, so podcasts could also be played as a radio programs.

Makes sense now.

There's also Louis Theroux, I've found his stuff quite good.

He has made a lot of strange / quirkey documentaries over the years.

* * *

And just to illustrate how diverse the BBC documentaries can be:

BBC TV - The Joy of Stats

Documentary which takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power thay have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend.

Rosling is a man who revels in the glorious nerdiness of statistics, and here he entertainingly explores their history, how they work mathematically and how they can be used in today's computer age to see the world as it really is, not just as we imagine it to be.

more on link

Statistics? Who would have thought that anyone would or could make a documentary about Stats that is interesting? The BBC did!

Hans Rosling is Swedish and has interesting presentation style, I've seen it before last year, I think.