The BEST episodes of BBC Documentaries season 2017
Every episode of BBC Documentaries season 2017, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of BBC Documentaries season 2017!
Documentaries produced by or for the BBC.
#1 - Warren Gatland: Lion King?
Season 2017 - Episode 154 - Aired 6/19/2017
Warren Gatland has won nearly everything there is to win in his sport. But one thing has eluded him - he has never masterminded a victory over New Zealand, the country where he was born. Now in charge of theBritish and Irish Lions for the second time, he is set to take on one of his biggest challenges. A decade after he became the head coach of Wales, we find out what makes Gatland tick and how he has achieved such stunning success in his career.
#2 - Who Should We Let In? Ian Hislop on the First Great Immigration Row
Season 2017 - Episode 159 - Aired 6/22/2017
Ian Hislop looks at the decades from the Victorian era to the First World War, when modern Britain introduced its first peacetime restrictions on immigration.
#3 - Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman
Season 2017 - Episode 81 - Aired 4/6/2017
Waldemar Januszczak explores the impact of Mary Magdalene's myth on art and artists. All saints in art are inventions, but no saint in art has been invented quite as furiously as Mary Magdalene. For a thousand years, artists have been throwing themselves at the task of describing her and telling her story, from Caravaggio to Cezanne, Rubens to Rembrandt, Titian to van Gogh. Her identity has evolved from being the close follower of Jesus who was the first witness to his resurrection, to one of a prostitute and sinner who escaped from persecution in the Holy Land by fleeing across the Mediterranean to wind up living in a cave as a hermit in the south of France, enjoying ecstatic experiences with Christ.
#4 - Madame Tussaud: A Legend in Wax
Season 2017 - Episode 44 - Aired 2/23/2017
The remarkable true story of the woman behind the worldwide waxworks empire - Madame Tussaud. In an extraordinary life that spanned both the French and Industrial revolutions, this single mother and entrepreneur travelled across the Channel to England, where she overcame the odds to establish her remarkable and enduring brand. Determined to leave an account of who she was and the times she lived through, her memoirs, letters, and papers offer a unique insight into the creation of the extraordinary empire which bears her name.
#5 - Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum and Dad
Season 2017 - Episode 74 - Aired 3/28/2017
In May 2015 Rio Ferdinand lost his 34-year-old wife Rebecca to cancer. A year on, he is still trying to come to terms with this loss and its effects on him and his three children. This film follows Rio as he meets other families coping with bereavement and looks at what help is available for parents and children who have experienced loss.
#6 - Frank Skinner on Muhammad Ali
Season 2017 - Episode 116 - Aired 6/1/2017
Frank Skinner goes on a journey to explore the life of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, meeting Ali's family and friends and visiting key locations in his life. To discover more about his idol, Frank travels around the UK and US, visiting key locations and people in Ali's life. In Ali's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, he meets the neighbour who witnessed the teenage boxer's single-minded dedication to his craft. He meets Ali's younger brother Rahaman, a key figure in the boxer's entourage and his closest confidante, and Ali's wife Khalilah, who was alongside Ali during the turbulent years when he was banned from boxing for refusing to fight in Vietnam and which saw him become an icon of the civil rights movement. Frank pays a visit to Ali's training compound in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, somewhere he has always longed to see. This is where Ali and his team prepared for one of his most famous fights of all time - the Rumble in the Jungle. From Ali's business manager, Gene Kilroy, Frank learns how Ali's unshakeable self-confidence and ability to manipulate the crowd were powerful weapons against his opponent George Foreman. He finds out what it was like behind the scenes in the Ali camp by talking to Ali's old sparring partner and friend Larry Holmes, who later faced him in the ring. Frank also delves into some of the lesser-known aspects of Ali's life, meeting the bare-knuckle boxer from an Oxfordshire council estate who became one of Ali's dearest friends and the actor who played alongside Ali in a little-known musical on Broadway.
#7 - Sharon Osbourne Presents Rock 'n' Roll's Dodgiest Deals
Season 2017 - Episode 133 - Aired 5/26/2017
Sharon Osbourne presents the story of pop deals through the decades. From Little Richard's half a cent a record to Robbie Williams's £80m deal via notorious bad deals for The Beatles, The Small Faces, The Animals and NWA and great deals for Led Zep, The Police and Moby, Sharon gets the inside story from those still chasing royalties and those who took on the music biz and won. With The Small Faces, Eric Burdon, The Police, Moby, NWA, Charles Connor (Little Richard's drummer), Art Rupe (aged 99, who signed Little Richard), Pamela Des Barres, Tim Clark (Robbie Williams's manager).
#8 - Alfie: How Do You Beat the All Blacks?
Season 2017 - Episode 161 - Aired 6/23/2017
The All Blacks are the greatest rugby team in the world. But how has this small country dominated rugby for so long? Former British and Irish Lions captain Gareth Thomas goes to New Zealand to find out the secret of their success.
#9 - Upstate Purgatory
Season 2017 - Episode 182 - Aired 7/11/2017
In Albany jail, New York, inmates may be held for a year before a judge’s sentence seals their fate. For many, it’s a time to confront the devastating consequences of their past. A searing portrait of four prisoners trying to escape the devastation of their past.
#10 - Britain's Nuclear Bomb: The Inside Story
Season 2017 - Episode 110 - Aired 5/3/2017
In 1957, Britain exploded its first megaton hydrogen bomb - codenamed Operation Grapple X. It was the culmination of an extraordinary scientific project, which against almost insuperable odds turned Britain into a nuclear superpower. This is the inside story of how Britain got 'the bomb'. The BBC has been granted unprecedented access to the top-secret nuclear research facility at Aldermaston. The programme features interviews with veterans and scientists who took part in the atomic bomb programme, some speaking for the first time, and newly released footage of the British atomic bomb tests.
#11 - The Crucible: 40 Golden Snooker Years
Season 2017 - Episode 102 - Aired 4/23/2017
Steve Davis goes back to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield to celebrate 40 years of the snooker world championships. If the walls of this famous regional theatre could talk, they would tell tales of tears, triumphs, occasional debauchery, laughter and top-class sport. With contributions from snooker legends Dennis Taylor, Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White and super-fans Stephen Fry and Richard Osman.
#12 - Terry Pratchett - Back in Black
Season 2017 - Episode 24 - Aired 2/11/2017
Poignant and humorous film telling the story of the hugely popular author Terry Pratchett, creator of Discworld, whose books have sold over 85 million copies worldwide. When the writer Sir Terry Pratchett died in 2015, he was working on one last story - his own. But Terry's Alzheimer's meant he never got to finish it. Back in Black reveals Terry's road to success was not always easy, from his troubled schooldays to being dismissed by literary critics, to his battle with Alzheimer's. But knighted by the Queen, adored by millions of fans and with a legacy of 41 much-loved novels - Terry Pratchett is still having the last laugh.
#13 - Tornado - The 100mph Steam Engine
Season 2017 - Episode 120 - Aired 5/15/2017
The new A1 class steam engine Tornado tries to achieve 100mph on the main line. The secret speed attempt will be made in the dead of night. If it tops the ton it will be the first time in 50 years steam has gone this fast. Tornado was built over two decades and financed by enthusiasts who want to show steam has a viable future on Britain's railways.
#14 - Stunning Soloists at the BBC
Season 2017 - Episode 72 - Aired 3/26/2017
Solo show-stoppers from the world's greatest musicians in a journey through fifty years of BBC Music. From guitarist John Williams and cellist Jacqueline du Pre to trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and violinist NigelKennedy, this is a treasure trove of musical treats and dazzling virtuosity. Whether it's James Galway's Flight of the Bumblebee performed at superhuman speed, Ravi Shankar's mesmerising Raag Bihag or Dudley Moore's brilliant Colonel Bogey March, every performance has its own star quality and unique appeal. Parkinson, Later with Jools Holland, The Les Dawson Show, Music at Night and Wogan are among the programmes featuring instruments ranging from marimba and kora to harp and flamenco guitar.
#15 - The Search For A New Earth
Season 2017 - Episode 232 - Aired 9/11/2017
Professor Stephen Hawking thinks the human species will have to populate a new planet within 100 years if it is to survive. With climate change, pollution, deforestation, pandemics and population growth, our own planet is becoming increasingly precarious. Planet Earth has been home to humankind for over 200,000 years, but with a population of 7.5 billion and counting and limited resources, this planet might not support us forever. In this landmark film Professor Hawking, alongside engineer and radio astronomy expert Professor Danielle George and a former student, Christophe Galfard, join forces to find out if, and how, humans can reach for the stars and relocate to different planets. Travelling the globe, they meet top scientists, technologists and engineers who are working to answer our biggest questions: is there another planet out there that we could call home? How will we travel across the vast distances of space to get there? How will we survive the journey? And how will we set up a new human civilization on an alien world? Taking in the latest advances in astronomy, biology and rocket technology from the Atacama Desert to the wilds of the Arctic, viewers will discover a whole world of cutting edge research. This programme shows that Professor Hawking’s ambition isn’t as fantastical as it sounds - and that science fiction is closer to science fact than we ever thought.
#16 - Leo: Becoming a Trans Man
Season 2017 - Episode 156 - Aired 6/19/2017
Born biologically a girl, 15-year-old Leo is one of the first children in Britain to be prescribed a new treatment – hormone blockers – to help him achieve what he feels is his natural gender identity of becoming a man. As he turns 16, we follow Leo as he faces big changes and life-changing decisions.
#17 - Ryan Gander: The Idea of Japan
Season 2017 - Episode 148 - Aired 6/13/2017
Ryan Gander OBE is a leading conceptual artist. He creates artworks full of symbolic meaning - images, sculpture, installations and films that may appear to be about one thing, but contain further messages for the thoughtful. And this, he believes, is why he is "big in Japan." Ryan believes he is appreciated there because the country has a highly sophisticated visual culture, expressed through images and symbols that broadcast cultural messages to the world, as well as to the Japanese themselves. The geisha and the samurai are obvious examples; bullet train, tattoo art, and Tokyo street style are less so.
#18 - The Rapper Who Chopped His Penis Off
Season 2017 - Episode 105 - Aired 4/27/2017
Christ Bearer, aka Andre Johnson, was headline news in just about every publication during April 2014. He went from being an underground Wu-Tang Clan affiliated rapper to a humorous, worldwide tabloid sensation overnight: the wacky story of the rapper who cut his penis off and jumped off a two-story balcony. Harassed by the media while recovering in hospital, his suffering was overlooked until months later, when it emerged that Andre had been under the influence of PCP among other drugs, and had been suffering from severe depression. The act was, in fact, a reaction to the downward spiral of dark and destructive thoughts he was experiencing as a result of a far from perfect family life.
#19 - Anthony Joshua: The Road to Klitschko
Season 2017 - Episode 103 - Aired 4/25/2017
Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko will be the biggest live event in the history of British boxing. For the past two years Anthony has allowed a television production team unique access behind the scenes as he worked towards this moment. The result of that access is an intimate portrayal of a young fighter and his rise to the very pinnacle of boxing's most dangerous division. Exclusive scenes shot in his dressing room before and after fights reveal an Anthony Joshua not normally seen by the public. We also see him in his hotel, waiting for fight time; in his gym, working on his strategy; even on holiday as he winds down between bouts. As the date of the Klitschko fight draws near cameras follow him to New York and Germany as he meets up with his opponent to help promote the fight. For Joshua, this represents a defining fight on his journey towards heavyweight unification. And there's real jeopardy: this is the first fight that Anthony Joshua could lose.
#20 - I Shot My Parents
Season 2017 - Episode 89 - Aired 4/11/2017
The story of American teenager Nathon Brooks who at the age of 14 shot his mother and father while they slept. Incredibly they both survived and are trying to come to terms with what their son did. With unique access to Nathon, his family and the police.
#21 - 'Greek' Thomson - Glasgow's Master Builder
Season 2017 - Episode 76 - Aired 4/2/2017
David Hayman goes in search of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, the visionary architect who, a generation before Charles Rennie Mackintosh, transformed industrial Glasgow with some of the most exotic and exciting buildings in the world.
#22 - Deadliest Place To Deal
Season 2017 - Episode 70 - Aired 3/22/2017
President Rodrigo Duterte swept to power last June, promising to clean up the country by ‘slaughtering’ anyone involved in illegal drugs. In the last eight months a staggering 7,000 people have been killed. In this hard-hitting documentary for BBC Three Livvy Haydock travels to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, to investigate the world’s bloodiest war on drugs.
#23 - Britain at War: Imperial War Museum at 100
Season 2017 - Episode 63 - Aired 3/17/2017
2017 marks the centenary year of the establishment of Imperial War Museums. It was founded while the First World War was still raging - and over the past century, IWM has expanded hugely, with five sites including the Churchill War Rooms and HMS Belfast. It shares stories of those who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth. This programme, presented by Falklands veteran and charity campaigner Simon Weston CBE, looks at ten key objects from the IWM's collection. Each of the objects has a special advocate to explore what it reveals about the story of conflict - Bear Grylls ventures onto HMS Belfast, Al Murray looks at a Spitfire at Duxford, and the artists Cornelia Parker and Steve McQueen discuss how they have responded to war and loss in their work. Kate Adie tells the remarkable tale of the typewriter in the Churchill War Rooms, Dame Kelly Holmes meets the extraordinary Johnson Beharry VC to hear about his experiences in the Iraq War, and Anita Rani explores the incredible heroism of one soldier in the British-Indian Army.
#24 - On Camera: Photographers at the BBC
Season 2017 - Episode 60 - Aired 3/17/2017
Drawing on the BBC's rich archive, this programme reveals the working practices, lives and opinions of some of the greatest photographers of the last 60 years. From Norman Parkinson to David Bailey, Eve Arnold to Jane Bown, Henri Cartier-Bresson to Martin Parr, for decades the BBC has drawn our attention to the creators of what has become the most ubiquitous contemporary art form. Pioneering BBC programmes like Arena, Monitor and Omnibus have given unique insights into the careers of photography's leading practitioners. Through a selection of fascinating clips, this programme brings into focus the key genres - fashion, portraiture, documentary and landscape - and the characters behind the camera who have helped defined them. Music Played: Cliff Richard & The Shadows - Foot Tapper The Zombies - She's Not There Mohammed Rafi - Jaan Pehechan Ho Frank Sinatra and Count Basie and His Orchestra - My Kind of Girl
#25 - Dust Storms
Season 2017 - Episode 57 - Aired 3/11/2017
Up to five billion tons of dust blows around the earth each year. Dust Storms looks at the growing menace created by these phenomena. Focusing on the Middle East, one of the world's worst affected areas, with the help of the world’s top scientists we look at why dust storms happen, how they affect our health and what we can do about them.