The BEST episodes of BBC Documentaries season 2007
Every episode of BBC Documentaries season 2007, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of BBC Documentaries season 2007!
Documentaries produced by or for the BBC.
#1 - Bashing Booze Birds
Season 2007 - Episode 43 - Aired 1/28/2007
Nicky Taylor hits the drinking circuits of Britain to investigate what's going on with women on their nights out, asking how big is the problem, is the binge drinking to blame and what the link is between alcohol and aggression.
#2 - Vienna: City of Dreams
Season 2007 - Episode 31 - Aired 12/30/2007
Joseph Koerner explores the art, architecture and music of fin de siecle Vienna. Using one of Vienna's most famous sons, Sigmund Freud, as a key, Koerner attempts to unlock Vienna's psyche for clues as to why this unlikely city gave birth to modernism. Home to Klimt, Schoenberg and Hitler, he portrays an artistic and intellectual melting pot; a place where many of the great dreams, and nightmares, of the modern era were first imagined.
#3 - James Ravilious: A World in Photographs
Season 2007 - Episode 82 - Aired 11/15/2007
Alan Bennett narrates a documentary about James Ravilious, one of the great unknowns of British photography. Son of the renowned water-colourist and engraver Eric Ravilious, he dedicated his art to a small area of north Devon, where over a period of two decades he took more than 80,000 photographs. This collection has become one of the most comprehensive and poignant archives in the country, documenting an English world and way of life most people had thought long gone.
#4 - Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Season 2007 - Episode 46 - Aired 9/8/2007
Documentary to celebrate the great man's 50th birthday, with interviews from colleagues such as Emma Thompson and Richard Curtis.
#5 - Greatest Raid of All Time
Season 2007 - Episode 137 - Aired 3/18/2007
Documentary presented by Jeremy Clarkson on the raid of the German drydock facilities in St Nazaire, France. This was the only site capable of repairing the German battleship Tirpitz, due to it's size. The St. Nazaire Raid (also called Operation Chariot) was a successful British seaborne attack on the heavily defended docks of St. Nazaire in occupied France on the night of March 28, 1942 during World War II. The operation was undertaken by Royal Navy and Army Commando units under the auspices of Louis Mountbatten's Combined Operations. The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown commanded by Stephen Halden Beattie and accompanied by 18 shallow draft boats, rammed the St. Nazaire lock gates and was blown up, ending use of the dock. Commandos landed on the docks and destroyed other dock structures before attempting to fight their way out. All but 27 of the commandos were either killed or captured: 22 escaped back to Britain in the motor torpedo boats and 5 to the Spanish border. The loss of St. Nazaire as a dry dock would force any large German warship in need of repairs to have to return to home waters. Five Victoria crosses were awarded to men involved in the raid, which has been called The Greatest Raid of All.
#6 - Only Yesterday - The Carpenters Story
Season 2007 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/9/2007
Documentary about brother and sister duo The Carpenters, one of the biggest selling pop acts of the 1970s, but one with a destructive and complex secret that ended in tragedy with Karen Carpenter's untimely death at 32. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Richard Carpenter, family and friends.
#7 - Dangerous Knowledge
Season 2007 - Episode 40 - Aired 8/8/2007
David Malone looks at four brilliant mathematicians - Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing - whose genius has profoundly affected us, but which tragically drove them insane and eventually led to them all committing suicide. The film begins with Georg Cantor, the great mathematician whose work proved to be the foundation for much of the 20th-century mathematics. He believed he was God's messenger and was eventually driven insane trying to prove his theories of infinity.
#8 - Stephen Fry: Guilty Pleasures
Season 2007 - Episode 45 - Aired 8/18/2007
Actor, writer, director and presenter Stephen Fry reveals the things he considers his guiltiest pleasures. These include darts, romantic novels by Georgette Heyer, the work of Richard Wagner and TV game show Countdown. With the help of entertaining clips and personal recollections, the programme provides an amusing insight into the mind of one of Britain's favourite comedy performers.
#9 - Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas
Season 2007 - Episode 60 - Aired 12/23/2007
Griff Rhys Jones reveals how Dickens created the idea of a traditional family Christmas through one of his best-known books, A Christmas Carol. From the moment it was published in 1843, the story of miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge captured the imagination of Victorian Britain. Santa Claus, Christmas cards and crackers were invented around the same time, but it was Dickens's book that boosted the craze for Christmas, above all promoting the idea that Christmas is best celebrated with the family. Interviewees include former on-screen Scrooge, Patrick Stewart, and writer Lucinda Hawksley, great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens himself.
#10 - Castrato
Season 2007 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/26/2007
Castrati were the undisputed superstars of 18th-century musical culture, driving crowds wild with their intoxicatingly androgynous virtuoso voices. Nicholas Clapton, countertenor and castrato historian, analyses the anatomical mysteries of the castrato and the biological implications of castrato. He travels to Bologna, the adopted home of Farinelli, perhaps the most famous castrato. And for the first time in Britain, American male soprano Michael Maniaci, a young Baroque opera singer whose voice did not break at puberty, performs Mozart's Exultate Jubilate, a piece originally written for castrato Rauzzini.
#11 - The Pink Floyd Story - Which One's Pink
Season 2007 - Episode 35 - Aired 12/12/2007
Forty years after Britain's foremost 'underground' band released their debut album, 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn', Pink Floyd remain one of the biggest brand names and best-loved bands in the world. This film features extended archive footage alongside original interviews with David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason, and traces the journey of a band that has only ever had five members, three of whom have lead the band at different stages of its evolution.
#12 - Windscale: Britain's Biggest Nuclear Disaster
Season 2007 - Episode 37 - Aired 10/8/2007
Fifty years ago, Britain suffered its worst nuclear accident. On the night of 10 October 1957, a fire began to spread throughout the core of the Windscale nuclear reactor, sending radioactive dust across Britain. Using the taped recordings of the inquiry into the fire - which have been kept secret ever since the disaster and are heard for the first time - and featuring interviews with the men who risked their lives to prevent a tragedy, this film reveals how political ambition fuelled the fire and then dictated that the heroes of Windscale be made the scapegoats. The Windscale nuclear reactor was a project on an unprecedented scale. Designed to produce materials first for Britain's A-bomb, and then for the H-bomb, it was a triumphant statement of British scientific and technological prowess. But, beneath its image, Windscale had been built in a hurry - with dire consequences. Radioactive leaks were found and the core of the reactor began dangerously overheating. Some scientists warned that radioactive materials inside could catch fire. But the leaks were hushed up and the warnings ignored. Instead, Windscale was ordered to achieve even greater increases in output to meet a political deadline to explode Britain's first H-bomb. The result was potential disaster - the core of the reactor caught fire and radioactive dust began spreading over the country. Windscale workers faced a terrible dilemma - if they tried to put the fire out with water they risked turning the reactor into a gigantic nuclear bomb, and if they let the fire burn, it could contaminate people across a huge area. Risking death from explosion and radioactive poisoning, the Windscale men averted a major tragedy. The inquiry revealed that the warnings about the risks had been hushed up or ignored. But the government kept its findings secret, and instead blamed the fire on an "error of judgement" by the very workers who had first warned of the potential problems and then battled so heroic
#13 - Hotel California - LA from the Byrds to the Eagles
Season 2007 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/27/2007
Documentary looking at the music and mythology of a golden era in Californian culture, and telling the story of how Los Angeles changed from a kooky backwater in the early 1960s to become the artistic and industrial hub of the American music industry by the end of the 1970s. Alongside extensive and never before seen archive footage, the programme features comprehensive first-hand accounts of the key figures including musicians (David Crosby, Graham Nash, J. D. Souther, Bernie Leadon and Bonnie Raitt, music industry bosses (David Geffen, Jac Holzman, Ron Stone and Peter Asher) and legendary LA scenesters including Henry Diltz, Pamela Des Barres and Ned Doheny. The film explores how the socially-conscious folk rock of young hippies with acoustic guitars was transformed into the coked-out stadium excess of the late 1970s and the biggest selling album of all time.
#14 - The Comet's Tale
Season 2007 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/2007
Although believed to be gods by many ancient civilisations, who saw them as bringers of life or harbingers of doom, to Isaac Newton they were the key to unlocking the secrets of gravity. Hundreds of years later, a new breed of space mission can show what comets are really made of, where they come from, and their surprising influence on events on Earth.
#15 - Gambling in Las Vegas
Season 2007 - Episode 28 - Aired 6/16/2007
Louis Theroux heads to Las Vegas, the fastest growing city in America, to take a look at the pastime that made it famous and meet the gamblers, the high rollers and the casino men who keep this town in the middle of the desert green with money. The Las Vegas Hilton is Louis's home over the course of one very memorable long weekend. Once the biggest hotel in the world, it is old school Vegas with a face-lift; this is the casino where Elvis played over eight hundred sold-out shows. We meet Richard Wilk, the Hilton's smooth-talking 'super host' who prides himself on his ability to say yes to his clients. Louis hangs out with Richard's high-rolling 'whales'. Whales like Allan, who flies in from Canada to party in a 25,000 dollar suite, ready to blow 200,000 dollars or more over the weekend. Louis makes his way past the dancing girls and flashing lights to find Martha, a glamorous septuagenarian who spends at least 1,000 dollars a day on the slots. She hasn't missed a day in ten years and has lost 4 million dollars. And there's John and Tim, Vegas regulars who take Louis under their wing as he nervously gambles his own money on one long night on the black jack table. They walk away at 5am - but are they winners?
#16 - James May: My Sister's Top Toys
Season 2007 - Episode 72 - Aired 12/23/2007
Poor James May. As he was stuck between his older and younger sisters, Jane and Sarah, the only toys he played with were their hand-me-downs. Sifting through the family toy box prompts James to share his tale of woe. Jane and Sarah do get their say, but not before James blows up the tree house family, races in a converted 'silver cross' pram, makes over a 'Girl's World' head, projects a Spirograph on the side of the Royal Festival Hall and makes his own Fuzzy Felt animated film.
#17 - The Sun
Season 2007 - Episode 81 - Aired 11/18/2007
Andrew Lincoln narrates a revealing documentary about the sun and our relationship with it over the years, from the worship of the Stone Age to the latest scientific research into ways to harness its power.
#18 - The Moon
Season 2007 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/16/2007
The Moon - Ruler of the Night This exclusive BBC documentary tries to explain the ancient fascination of humans for the earthly satellite. Almost every night it stands on the sky, sometimes a small sickle, sometimes full and round. The full moon is a symbol of fertility and insanity, lust for murder and werewolves. But what influence does the moon really hold on our life? This movie shows the millenia old fascination for the earthly satellite - from the stone-circles of ancient moon-cults to the time of the cold war to new missions to the moon in the near future. Science has discovered the moon anew. After the race to space had been won by the Americans it quickly lost its magic/attraction. Already new and farther away targets were luring. The long awaited landing on the moon insofar turned out to be a disappointment as it only showed that the earth-satellite was exactly what had been observed in the sky: a cold, lifeless rock which only catches the attention of the eye because it reflects the light of the sun. This realization left no room for the century old myths and legends which surrounded the moon. Yet, while the public turned its attention to new discoveries, geologists just started with their examinations. The gathered moonstone told the story of the creation of the earth and its satellite from a new point of view. The moon itself emerged from the collision of the young earth and another planet some 4.5 billion years ago. Its rock hasn't changed much since and thus gives important clues to the history of the earth. Other celestial bodies like the Jupiter satellites Io and Europa and the Saturn-moon Titan turned out to be exciting worlds with gigantic volcanic eruptions, thick atmospheres and ice-covered oceans. Should our own moon too hold more than had been discovered until now? Indeed scientists found something of interest on the poles: a thin layer of ice which could provide humans with life-giving water. This discovery ignited the race to spa
#19 - Teens Hooked on Porn
Season 2007 - Episode 65 - Aired 2/8/2007
Documentary looking at how British teenagers are increasingly being tempted by the limitless porn available on the internet, with some becoming addicts. Three of them tell their stories of differing use of porn and their battles to overcome its lure, providing a unique insight into a part of growing up today.
#20 - Xtreme Teen Drivers
Season 2007 - Episode 48 - Aired 12/15/2007
With cameras in the car of a boy racer, the programme sets him the ultimate challenge - can he change from reckless speed freak into a model motorist before he kills himself?
#21 - China's Terracotta Army
Season 2007 - Episode 33 - Aired 9/15/2007
Dan Snow follows the making of the British Museum's biggest exhibition in a generation and tells the story of its subject, the First Emperor of China. Qin Shihuangdi is one of the most important but least well-known men in history. He founded the world's oldest political entity and created the spectacular Terracotta Army to guard his vast tomb. With exclusive access to the BM team for over a year, Dan follows the curator Jane Portal, and the design team, as they create a blockbuster exhibition in the historic Round Reading Room and he travels to China to see the original Great Wall, the sacred mountain Tai Shan, and the great necropolis at Xian with its thousands of warriors.
#22 - Falklands Night - BBC Coverage
Season 2007 - Episode 107 - Aired 6/17/2007
Using archive editions of Newsnight, the Nine O'Clock News and Question Time, Brian Hanrahan traces the chronology of the Falklands war from invasion through to final victory, including: news coverage of the Task Force setting off from the UK; the re-capture of South Georgia; the sinking of the Belgrano; the attack on HMS Sheffield; and the battle of Goose Green. Presenters who feature in the original BBC coverage include Robin Day, Peter Snow, John Simpson and Donald McCormick.
#23 - Russell Brand On The Road
Season 2007 - Episode 80 - Aired 12/12/2007
Russell Brand sets out across America's vast heartland in homage to one of his literary heroes, Jack Kerouac and his classic novel, On The Road, which has inspired countless hipsters and restless souls to hit the road. Russell read the book when he was 19 and was excited by the sense of magic and possibility it conjured up. Travelling with his friend Matt Morgan, he sets off on a coast-to-coast adventure that becomes a journey of self-discovery.
#24 - 1997: A Year on TV
Season 2007 - Episode 106 - Aired 3/11/2007
Highlights of TV coverage from the year that saw New Labour rise to power, the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the birth of Dolly, the first cloned sheep.
#25 - Queens of Disco
Season 2007 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/2007
Graham Norton profiles the leading ladies of the disco era, including Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, Madonna and 'honorary disco queen' Sylvester. Includes contributions from the queens themselves, plus Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas, choreographer Arlene Phillips, songwriters Ashford and Simpson, disco artists Verdine White from Earth, Wind and Fire, Bonnie Pointer of the Pointer Sisters and Nile Rodgers of Chic.