The WORST episodes of BBC Documentaries
Every episode of BBC Documentaries ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of BBC Documentaries!
Documentaries produced by or for the BBC.
#1 - Inside Britain's Moped Crime Gangs
Season 2018 - Episode 39 - Aired 2/21/2018
Reporter Livvy Haydock meets three of the UK’s newest criminals - thieves who commit their crimes using mopeds. These thieves, who talk publicly for the first time, use mopeds to sneak up on members of the public or to getaway from crime scenes. All from London, they have contributed to an alarming rise in violent crime in the City. In 2017 there were over 23,000 crimes committed on motorbikes, an average of 64 per day. This is a 163% rise on the previous year. Livvy rides pillion on the back of a moped with a thief who points out which members of the public make good targets and which ones are protecting themselves. She accompanies an armed robber as he scouts jewelers in Notting Hill to point out security flaws, and she also helps one thief, who boasts about being a good race car driver, to quit crime by giving him a chance to impress in a Formula Renault test session. She also learns about the impressive phone security hacking involved in making the thefts profitable. One thief is filmed selling five of the latest smartphones, all robbed within one afternoon, for £150-£250 each when the normal price on the black market is £30-40 per phone. This higher price is because the thief’s buyer is able to recycle the phones abroad without any loss of functionality.
#2 - Granadaland - Flat Caps and Ferrets
Season 1992 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/28/1992
A celebration of the cultural heritage of the mythical land filled with pigeons, whippets and endless cups of tea. It draws on such Granada classics as Coronation Street, A Family at War and Nearest and Dearest to expose some of the myths about the north of England.
#3 - Murder in Belgravia - The Lucan Affair
Season 1994 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/2/1994
Since the discovery of the body of children's nanny Sandra Rivett on 7 November 1974, Lord Lucan has been the prime suspect for her murder. This documentary sheds new light on the accepted theory of what happened that fateful November night in Belgravia.
#4 - Being Blacker
Season 2018 - Episode 49 - Aired 3/12/2018
The film tells the story of well-known reggae record shop owner and music producer, Blacker Dread, his extended family, friends and the wider Brixton community. Made with Dineen’s characteristic intimacy, the film focuses on a tumultuous time in Blacker’s life - the death of his mother and the prospect of his first prison sentence. While the documentary focuses on Blacker’s journey, it also features a wider cast; best friend, former bank robber Naptali is struggling to go straight; sister June is trying to maintain family ties after their mother’s death, and partner Maureen is ensuring their youngest son maintains his exceptional school grades in Jamaica, having been excluded from school in the UK. With the unprecedented access granted by her old friend Blacker, Dineen shines a spotlight on the struggles the characters face on a daily basis and in doing so offers a particular understanding of both the challenges and triumphs of family and community togetherness in Blacker’s world. Being Blacker offers a unique insight into what it is to be black in Britain today.
#5 - Hogarth's Progress
Season 1997 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/20/1997
The 300th anniversary of the birth of artist and satirist William Hogarth is marked by this film, which ties in with a major exhibition at London's Tate Gallery. The engraver of The Rake's Progress might well have recognised 1997 general election issues such as Euroscepticism and sleaze allegations. Andrew Graham-Dixon, chief art critic of The Independent, explores the fascinating world of Hogarth and visits London sites associated with him, including the Painted Hall of Greenwich's Royal Naval College, Smithfield meat market, Soho and Bloomsbury.
#6 - Plastic Surgery Capital of the World
Season 2018 - Episode 45 - Aired 1/18/2018
As a baby, Annie Price was badly burnt in a caravan fire. She had life-saving operations on her face, but growing up her mum encouraged her to get on with her life rather than focusing on further plastic surgery. Now, aged 31 and about to get married, Annie is travelling to South Korea, where cosmetic surgery is so common people have double eyelid surgery and are back at work the next day. She wants to find out what some of the best plastic surgeons would recommend for her. In South Korea 60 per cent of women in their twenties have had plastic surgery, and each year hundreds of thousands of people travel there specifically to get procedures done. Annie meets Myung, who is having her eyes widened in the belief it will help her get a better job, and Viv, who is having her whole face reshaped to make herself look prettier. Having resisted pressure from doctors to operate on her face for most of her life, Annie wants to understand why these young women feel compelled to modify very normal parts of their faces. In Korean society, first impressions are very important, so Annie meets a face reader who says he can predict a person's wealth and happiness just from their features. Finally, she meets one of South Korea's top plastic surgeons to find out what they would suggest for her and tries to decide if she wants to have surgery to change her face.
#7 - Hugh Masekela: Welcome to South Africa
Season 2010 - Episode 244 - Aired 4/30/2010
South African musician Hugh Masekela celebrates his 70th birthday and reflects on his career in performance and interview, from first picking up a trumpet in the 50s through the apartheid years, exile and stardom in America, his return to South Africa on Nelson Mandela's release, and concluding with his vision of the future for his country. The programme also features performances from his 70th birthday concert at the Barbican in London in December 2009, where he was joined by the London Symphony Orchestra, their Community Choir and guest South African singers.
#8 - Damming The Nile
Season 2018 - Episode 43 - Aired 2/23/2018
The world's longest river flows from Lake Tana in Ethiopia, through Sudan and into Egypt and is vital to all three countries. But who controls the water? Alastair Leithead reports.
#9 - Girls on the Edge
Season 2018 - Episode 41 - Aired 2/22/2018
One in ten teenagers have a mental health problem. According to the NHS, there has been a 68% rise in hospital admissions relating to self-harm among young teenage girls in the past decade. This hour-long observational documentary follows three families whose daughters have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act to protect them from harming themselves. The teenagers are all being treated at Fitzroy House. Their detainment is indefinite and the film explores the impact on them, their parents and siblings who don't know when they will be allowed home. All have had different journeys into Fitzroy House. Jade, 17, has been sectioned for 18 months and is hoping to be discharged from hospital before her 18th birthday. Her twin sister Megan struggles with Jade's illness and finds it difficult to visit her. Jess, 17, was first sectioned when she was 13 and has been to nine different hospitals around the country. She is one of a growing number of children sent away from her area for treatment and her parents Vikki and John currently make a 300-mile round trip to visit her every weekend. Erin, 16, is nearly ready to be discharged from Fitzroy House. Her mum Emma is desperate to have her home but the responsibility of keeping her safe terrifies her. Told in their own words with directness and raw honesty, the film aims to remove shame and stigma surrounding mental illness as well as explore some of the pressures on young people growing up.
#10 - The Family That Walks On All Fours
Season 2006 - Episode 67 - Aired 3/17/2006
A documentary that explored the science and the story of five individuals in the Ulas family that walk with a previously unreported quadruped gait.
#11 - Murdered for Love? Samia Shahid
Season 2018 - Episode 40 - Aired 2/21/2018
On 14 July 2016, Bradford girl Samia Shahid flew to Pakistan to visit her family. Six days later she was found dead. She was 28 years old. Eight days later, her first husband and father were arrested in connection with her murder. The case was taken up by Bradford MP Naz Shah, who wrote to the prime minister of Pakistan describing the case as an honour killing. With unique access to some of Samia's closest friends, this film tells the story of Samia's life - how her arranged marriage to her cousin broke down and how her decision to divorce and re-marry for love caused a huge rift with her family. The film contains the first interview with Samia's second husband, who tells the dramatic and tragic story of Samia's return to Pakistan. Samia's father was released owing to lack of evidence. He has since died. Her first husband remains in custody and the case in Pakistan continues. He denies the allegations against him.
#12 - The Rugby Codebreakers
Season 2018 - Episode 51 - Aired 3/11/2018
Broadcaster and journalist Carolyn Hitt investigates why so many men gave up their dreams of playing rugby union for Wales, seeking fame and fortune among the mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire by committing an act that was considered tantamount to treason - switching codes to play rugby league. Her journey explores the impact of class, race and economic change on the game at the heart of Welsh identity. During rugby union's amateur era (1895-1995), more than 150 full Welsh union internationals and hundreds of uncapped union players did the unthinkable and ran the risk of being both ostracised and vilified by their fellow countrymen. They may have headed north with a heavy heart, but once they had switched codes, many went on to become huge success stories across the north of England - stories that have remained largely untold in Wales. Carolyn hears open and honest reflections from former players on both sides of the border, interviewing Welsh rugby legends Gareth Edwards and Jonathan Davies in Wales, and heading north to meet the players who didn't come home. They reveal their life-changing experiences as rugby codebreakers and Carolyn uncovers the hidden history of the players who were forced to turn their back on Wales because of the colour of their skin. The Rugby Codebreakers is the story of men who were deemed pariahs and outcasts in their own country but became heroes and legends to the working men and women of the north of England - and whose achievements should now be recognised at home.
#13 - Jock and Roll
Season 1982 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/2/1982
In this film B. A. Robertson examines the Scottish contribution to rock and pop. The programme contains some rare and atmospheric film of Scottish stars in performance and in the recording studio. B.A. meets them and discusses their involvement with the pop scene.
#14 - Photography: Harry Benson
Season 1985 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/18/1985
'Don't tell Richard Avedon, Scavullo, Cartier-Bresson or the dear departed spirit of Cecil Beaton, Harry, but you are my favourite photographer.' (TRUMAN CAPOTE). From his first job on the Hamilton Advertiser via the Daily Sketch and the Express, Benson has now reached the pinnacle of photojournalism, the prestigious magazine, Life. In this film he is interviewed at his Manhattan apartment by the Scottish novelist, William Mcllvanney , and seen on assignment in New York.
#15 - Robert Campbell, Mountain Man
Season 2018 - Episode 38 - Aired 2/18/2018
This is the epic rags-to-riches adventure story of a penniless Tyrone teenager who left Ulster in 1822 and ultimately became one of the wealthiest men in America. Robert Campbell was one of the first Ulster-Scots pioneers to open up the American west. He spent his first 10 years in the Rocky Mountain fur trade, a 'bold and dashing life' he called it, fighting native Americans, enduring the harshest of climates, suffering near starvation with he and his men forced to eat their horses and dogs. Leaving the mountains he became one of the leading citizens of St Louis with a business empire covering every aspect of commerce, property and river trade. In fact he gave Mark Twain his first job as a Missouri riverboat pilot. The film follows Campbell's great-great-great-great nephew - former tank commander and Northern Ireland politician Alan McFarland - as he travels across the American west to uncover his ancestor's life. He finds a character widely respected by both native Americans and settlers, and reveals a love story and a succession.
#16 - Darcey Bussell's New Dance
Season 2018 - Episode 36 - Aired 1/27/2018
Darcey Bussell steps out of the world of ballet to pick two modern dance works that take familiar genres into uncharted territory. Inspired by her own love for crossing boundaries between all forms of dance, Darcey introduces us to the people and pieces that are breaking new ground with original and exciting performances. First are Olivier Award-winners Boy Blue Entertainment (aka Kenrick 'H20' Sandy and Michael Asante), who have an established reputation for transforming street dance into jaw-dropping theatrical experiences. Emancipation of Expressionism, directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle, has taken them even further - onto the GCSE dance curriculum as a key work. Darcey's next choice is the group taking ice dancing as far away from sequins as it is possible to skate. In Vertical, Canadian-based collective Le Patin Libre (literally 'the free skate') use the ice in daring and dazzling new ways to present a thrilling new perspective.
#17 - The Man Who Told the Truth
Season 2018 - Episode 34 - Aired 2/11/2018
Documentary uncovering the real story behind Charles Thomson, one of the Founding Fathers of the USA, and how he came to leave his mark on the New World.
#18 - Suffragette Allies
Season 2018 - Episode 33 - Aired 2/11/2018
Programme looking at the men who backed votes for women. Suffrage campaigns were led by women, but some men played key supporting roles. These included male activists like Fred Pethick-Lawrence, who was convicted and forcibly fed in gaol, and MPs like John Stuart Mill and Keir Hardie who spoke out in the Commons. Without allies in the all-male parliaments of the day, women would not secure a change in the law.
#19 - South Korea: Earth's Hidden Wilderness
Season 2018 - Episode 32 - Aired 2/11/2018
Once a mountain kingdom of ancient palaces and emperors, Korea in the 21st century is largely known for its modern cities and decades of conflict. Tensions between North and South may be what defines it to outsiders but beyond the battle scars there is another side to Korea. In the south are large pockets of untouched wilderness where extraordinary animals flourish and Koreans continue to practice age-old traditions in tandem with the seasons and with nature. It is in these connections, rather than in division, that we see the true Korea. At the southernmost tip of the peninsular we follow a pod of bottlenose dolphins through the volcanic islands of Jeju. They click at each other as they encounter a human in their midst, but the dolphins know this diver well - they have shared the ocean with the Haenyeo, or sea women, for thousands of years. We travel onwards to the isolated island of Marado, where three generations of sea women are preparing for a dive. Today is the start of the conch season, and they work hard whatever the weather to maximise their catch. In the grounds of an ancient palace on the mainland, a raccoon dog family takes advantage of a rare event. Just once every five years, hundreds of cicadas emerge from below ground providing an easy feast for the raccoon dogs who voraciously fill their bellies. Those that escape their jaws make for the safety of the trees, where they metamorphosise into their flying form. On the mud flats of Suncheon Bay we find a habitat that is neither land nor sea. Only recently has the ecological value of mudflats been recognised. A staggering 50 per cent of the earth's oxygen is produced by phytoplankton - microscopic algae that are found here in great abundance. That is why the mudflats are known locally as the lungs of the earth. Plankton is far from the only life here - the mud of the bay is rich in nutrients and supports one of the most diverse ecosystems on the peninsula. We follow the story of a young mudskippe
#20 - Fergusson - Burns' Forgotten Hero
Season 2015 - Episode 348 - Aired 1/25/2015
In this documentary marking Burns Day, writer Andrew O'Hagan goes in search of the poet who inspired Robert Burns - Robert Fergusson. Fergusson died young, but his legacy was a love song to his native city, Edinburgh. Andrew tracks down his story in the streets and wynds of the Old Town. Fergusson's vivid use of Scots led Burns to declare him his 'forgotten hero' and to pay a lasting tribute to this neglected Scottish poet.
#21 - Trouble at the Zoo
Season 2018 - Episode 30 - Aired 2/8/2018
South Lakes Safari Zoo hit the headlines when it was revealed that almost five hundred animals had died there in under four years. The zoo's founder David Gill was denied a new license to run the park, and in early 2017 remaining staff formed a new company to try and rescue the animal park. This observational documentary charts the events in the summer that followed, as the staff at the embattled zoo try to rescue their reputation by improving their practices, whilst struggling to meet financial targets to survive the rest of the year. The zoo has also had to take on a new director of animals, Andreas Kaufmann, to help them modernise standards. Andreas is particularly concerned with what the animals eat, which species he believes the zoo should keep, and how they play a role in global conservation efforts. Across five months of filming at South Lakes Safari Zoo, food supply problems have serious implications for one of the zoo's favourite animals and Andreas battles with the staff to vastly reduce the number of animals kept on-site. He believes they should only keep what they have capacity to care for, but others on the zoo's board worry these changes might affect visitor numbers, and the zoo's chances of survival.
#22 - Love Unlimited: Polyamory in Scotland
Season 2018 - Episode 28 - Aired 2/7/2018
A growing number of people are finding that traditional relationships don't work for them. So instead of just one, they have multiple romantic relationships. It's known as polyamory. Polyamory requires the full consent of everyone involved, but even then things can get complicated. Existing partners can easily feel left out, jealous or hurt. So open and honest communication is essential for polyamory to work - plus some careful timetabling. Love Unlimited features polyamorous relationships of many kinds. Noni is a young woman with two boyfriends, Kima and Toms are a bisexual couple in an open relationship, and Ross, Iain and Pav are a trio of gay men in a three-way polyamorous partnership. Jayne and Dom are very much in love but feel it's important to keep their relationship open to the possibility of additional partners. What they all have in common is that they have rejected monogamy in favour of a more open and fluid approach to relationships. There is much negativity and confusion surrounding polyamory. It can be especially hard to understand for family and friends. There's also the emotional strain of dividing time and affection between partners and the stress and anxiety of opening up an existing relationship to new potential partners. Poly people insist that it's about multiple meaningful relationships and not an excuse to sleep with lots of different people - although that can happen too. Despite the challenges new research shows that overall satisfaction can actually be higher in polyamorous relationships. So how do you go about loving more than one person? And what can polyamory teach us all about happy healthy relationships?
#23 - TV 73: The Defining Shows
Season 2007 - Episode 129 - Aired 8/4/2007
1973 was the year when television realised its potential. Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii became the first show with a global audience of one billion and the arrival of large-screen colour TV sets confirmed that as a domestic fixture, the television had come of age. In this film, Mark Lawson looks back at five of the most popular programmes of the year - That's Life!, The Burke Specials, The Generation Game, The Onedin Line and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? - to consider what their success tells us about life in Britain at this time. With contributions from the former controller of BBC One Bill Cotton, Likely Lads writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, drama producer Verity Lambert and television critic Chris Dunkley.
#24 - Gettys: The World's Richest Art Dynasty
Season 2018 - Episode 74 - Aired 4/14/2018
The story behind the world's richest art dynasty.
#25 - Living with the Brainy Bunch
Season 2018 - Episode 73 - Aired 4/12/2018
Bringing up kids and getting them through exams is far from easy. There are countless reasons why some students do well academically and others don't, but experts agree that parental influence is one of the main factors that can affect a student's performance in school. In a groundbreaking experiment, this programme will put that to the test. Chessington Community College in Greater London, like all schools, has some students who excel and others who are failing to make the grade. In an attempt to change the paths of two of their students the school have decided to embark on a radical experiment. Like many teenagers, Year 11 students Jack and Hollie struggle with results and behaviour but with their crucial GCSEs on the horizon it is time to try and change things. In order to do this they will move into the homes of two of the highest achieving pupils in their year, for half a term. Can this complete change in home environment improve things for them? Hollie moves in with Holly H, a wannabe lawyer with a clutch of A*s in her sights and a dizzying rota of extra-curricular activities. Jack goes to live with Tharush, who arrived in the UK only a year ago from Italy but is already shining at school. Tharush's work efforts are exceptional - he does at least two hours homework every night, and that is on top of extra tuition. How will Hollie and Jack cope as they have to fit into every aspect of their new families' lives, living by their strict rules and routines? As they wrestle with the early bedtimes, tough homework schedules and curfews, can this revolutionary change in family life bring about a lasting change in their results and futures?