John Berger's Ways of Seeing changed the way people think about painting and art criticism. This watershed work shows, through word and image, how what we see is always influenced by a whole host of assumptions concerning the nature of beauty, truth, civilization, form, taste, class and gender. Exploring the layers of meaning within oil paintings, photographs and graphic art, Berger argues that when we see, we are not just looking - we are reading the language of images.
Set in three of the most seasonally changeable landscapes on earth - Svalbard, Okavango and New England - this series showcases the stunning transformations that occur each year, revealing the unique processes behind them and showing how wildlife has adapted to cope with the changes.
Filmed at Claridge's over six years, this series follows work to dig out a five-storey mega-basement, add four new floors and create London’s most exclusive penthouse.
Twenty-five years on from a peace agreement being reached, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland shares intimate, unheard testimonies from all sides of the conflict.
Peter Jones, star of Dragons' Den, leaves his lair to meet some of Britain's top entrepreneurs, finding out how they made their millions and investigating whether there is a blueprint for success.
Go where no human cameraman can go and witness a new perspective of the animal kingdom in Animals with Cameras, A Nature Miniseries. The new three-part series journeys into animals’ worlds using custom, state-of-the-art cameras worn by the animals themselves. Capturing never-before-seen behavior, these animal cinematographers help expand human understanding of their habitats and solve mysteries that have eluded scientists until now.
Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan and a team of pioneering animal behaviorists join forces to explore stories of animal lives “told” by the animals themselves. The cameras are built custom by camera design expert Chris Watts to fit on the animals unobtrusively and to be easily removed at a later point. From this unique vantage point, experience the secret lives of nine different animal species. Sprint across the savanna with a cheetah, plunge into the ocean with a seal and swing through the trees with a chimpanzee.
Knowitalls was a British quiz show hosted by Gyles Brandreth. It was first shown on BBC Two in 2009.
Filming took place between 15 and 21 June 2009. It was first broadcast on 27 July 2009. The show's strapline is that it's "the quiz without questions". The team that wins overall will win £15,000, the Knowitalls trophy and the title of "Britain's Biggest Knowitalls".
Culture-loving Rob Rinder joins architecture fan Rylan as they follow in the footsteps of 19th century romantic poet Lord Byron and other Grand Tourists, immersing themselves in the art, culture, bad behaviour and life-changing exploits of historic Brits abroad.
Terry Jones' Barbarians is a 4-part TV documentary series first broadcast on BBC 2 in 2006. It was written and presented by Terry Jones, and it challenges the received Roman and Roman Catholic notion of the barbarian.
Professor Barry Cunliffe of the University of Oxford acted as consultant for the series.
Venetian architect and historian Francesco da Mosto sets out from Venice to cross the Mediterranean - following in the wake of his ancestor, the explorer Alvise da Mosto - to discover the cities and islands where Western civilization was born. Sailing in a late nineteenth-century yawl, his journey starts in Venice and finishes in Istanbul. Along the way he takes in spectacular ruins, like the Acropolis in Athens and the Lycian Tombs in Turkey; sacred sites like the monasteries of Mount Athos and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul; and beautiful Dubrovnik (destroyed and rebuilt in the last decade). Ancient history and bygone legends intertwine as Francesco visits these wonderful ancient sites, bringing the past vividly to life, and taking viewers on a thrilling cultural odyssey.
The Tube is a 2012 documentary television series produced by Blast! Films for the BBC. It follows the staff and passengers of the London Underground as it underwent the biggest upgrade in its history. It premiered on BBC Two on 20 February 2012 for a six-week run.
Four-part BBC series following Francesco da Mosto as he explores the history of Venice, beginning with its creation in the 5th century and concluding in the modern era. Each episode focuses upon a certain area of Venetian history, interlaced with various anecdotes from da Mosto's own experiences and family history. A book of the same name was published to accompany the series in 2004.
The often-hilarious stories of the BBC's first 50 years. The corporation's pioneers describe its evolution – which was often by accident rather than design.