The BEST episodes directed by Chris Boulding
#1 - Vets in the Disaster Zone
BBC Documentaries - Season 2014 - Episode 100
Michael Mosley travels to the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan to explore the disaster from a completely fresh perspective - looking at the animals caught up in the crisis and the specialist team of vets who have come to save their lives and those of the people who depend on them. Amid the devastation, Michael learns about the little-known work these expert vets do, both in the short term by providing immediate veterinary care to thousands of animals and in the long term, by using their skills to develop pioneering technology that could help save millions of animals the next time a disaster strikes. He discovers what motivates this team to travel to some of the most dangerous places on earth to help animals and encounters many of the challenges they face as they work against the clock to leave a lasting legacy behind.
#2 - Mental: A History of the Madhouse
BBC Documentaries - Season 2010 - Episode 23
This fascinating documentary – part of a BBC season on the subject – looks at Britain’s history of mental health care. From frontal lobotomies to care in the community, Mental: A History of the Madhouse tells the story of the closure of Britain’s mental asylums. They’re a grizzly reminder of a time when ‘out of sight, out of mind’ was the mantra for tackling the nation’s mental health issues. But as part of its season on mental health, the BBC has revisited Britain’s asylums to look at how we used to treat the issues that face up to one in four people. In the post-war period, 150,000 people were hidden away in these vast Victorian institutions. Institutions like High Royds Hospital, near Leeds, which forms the basis of this programme. High Royds with its Gothic clock tower and endless corridors, looks like the stuff of nightmares, built to keep out of sight those deemed to be out of their minds. But mental health care in the UK has changed, and today the asylums have all but disappeared as attitudes towards these issues have softened. Built around testimonies from patients, doctors and psychiatric nurses, the film explores the seismic shift in mental health care over the last sixty years. Mental: A History of the Madhouse tackles some heavyweight subject matter and is anything but light evening viewing. However, it does an admirable service to the issues at hand and offers an insightful exploration of a subject that is all too often ignored.
#3 - Labour's Gambling Addiction
Dispatches - Season 2007 - Episode 4
Dispatches explores relations between ministers and gambling industry bosses in which secret meetings and backroom dealings are uncovered in a bid to understand just why New Labour are keen to massively expand gambling operations in the UK.