The BEST episodes of Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries season 2004

#1 - Jutland: Clash of the Dreadnoughts

Season 2004 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/7/2004

On 31st May 1916, the largest naval battle in history was fought in the North Sea of the Danish and Norwegian coasts. The documentary follows an international team of divers and historians as they set out to explore the wrecks of Dreadnought battleships sunk during the battle.

#2 - Nazi Grand Prix

Season 2004 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/12/2004

Profile of Richard Seaman, a British racing driver of the 1930s, who despite winning the 1938 Berlin Grand Prix, has been largely written out of history books for his decision to drive for Nazi Germany's Mercedes team.

#3 - Hitler's Plan to Atom Bomb New York

Season 2004 - Episode 25 - Aired 1/26/2004

In 1944, the Nazi top brass believed that a rudimentary nuclear weapon might soon be within their scientists' grasp. Hitler, desperate to turn the tide of the war, hatched a secret plan for an aircraft that would usher in the age of global terrorism – the 'Amerika Bomber'. This would deliver the hoped-for 'wonder weapon' directly on to the biggest target of them all: New York City. Hitler's Plan to Atom Bomb New York uncovers the astonishing competition that was held between Germany's top aviation designers to build a completely new aircraft capable of carrying and dropping the bomb on the towers of Manhattan. They included a giant V-rocket that would later provide the basis for the Apollo missions, and a high-altitude craft with fundamental similarities to the modern space shuttle. The winner of the competition – a huge V-winged jet plane capable of crossing the Atlantic and returning in a single flight – was rushed into production. The film tells the story of how close the 'Amerika Bomber' came into being before an Allied mission put an end to the project once and for all.

#4 - Animal Passions

Season 2004 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/21/2004

A British documentary on zoophilia presenting various personal, religious, psychological, and sociological views on the phenomenon of sexual relations between humans and other animals.

#5 - The Ultimate Pop Stars : the UK's Official 50 Best-selling Artists

Season 2004 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/22/2004

Best selling artists in UK as at 2004

#6 - Operation Bernhard: The Great Nazi Cash Swindle

Season 2004 - Episode 22 - Aired 8/14/2004

Documentary examining Operation Bernhard, the counterfeiting scheme devised by the Nazis during World War Two to undermine the British war effort. SS Intelligence employed a 104-strong workforce - consisting of Jewish prisoners in Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin - to forge more than 3 billion Pounds, with the intention of flooding the UK with fake bank notes and so trigger huge inflation and destabilise the economy. Their best forgeries fooled the Bank of England, and the notes are considered among the most perfect counterfeits ever produced, being extremely difficult although not impossible to distinguish from the real thing. But instead of being dumped on Britain, the notes were eventually used to bankroll covert German operations, including the rescue of Mussolini. It is an extraordinary story in which life imitates a thriller. Four of the prisoners tell what happened to the cash they produced under threat of death, and how they themselves survived to tell their story.

#7 - The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off

Season 2004 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/25/2004

A film about Jonny Kennedy, who had a terrible genetic condition called Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) - which meant that his skin literally fell off at the slightest touch, leaving his body covered in agonizing sores and leading to a final fight against skin cancer. In his last months Jonny decided to work with filmmaker Patrick Collerton to document his life and death, and the result was a film, first broadcast in March, that was an uplifting, confounding and provocatively humorous story of a singular man. Not shying away from the grim reality of EB, the film was also a celebration of a life lived to the full.

#8 - The Great Nazi Cash Swindle

Season 2004 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/20/2004

Documentary which examines the Nazi counterfeiting plot, 'Operation Bernhard', which aimed to flood Great Britain with counterfeit notes and destabilise the economy. 104 Jews in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, near Berlin, made up the top secret operation. Testimony is provided by survivors, and illustrations from the concentration camp by one of the forgers.

#9 - Vinland - Viking Map Or Million Dollar Hoax

Season 2004 - Episode 19 - Aired 8/12/2004

Vinland: Viking Map or Million Dollar Hoax investigates the strange story of the Vinland Map, arguably the world's most controversial document. If the document is genuine, it is worth a fortune - at least $20 million. But it may be an almost worthless fake.

#10 - London: The Greatest City

Season 2004 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/3/2004

Using state-of-the-art computer-generated images, dramatic reconstruction and stunning photography, this tells the graphic and moving story of Britain's capital from its early days as a buzzing Roman settlement, through to the dark days of the Blitz and its current rebirth as one of the world's most vivid cultural and financial centres.

#11 - Diary of a Teenage Nudist

Season 2004 - Episode 17 - Aired 12/29/2004

Bianca is an 18 year old who, like many of her age, is about to go to university. Unlike most, however, she grew up in a nudist club. She was a naturist herself until the age of 12, when her self-consciousness, a negative image of her own body, and a lack of other teenagers interested in nudism, led her to cover up. She's been what other naturists call a 'textile' ever since. But recently, she discovered, via the internet, that there is a new generation of teenage nudists. As well as looking into the motivation of nudists, Bianca investigates whether the whole movement is as universally innocent and non-sexual as practitioners claim. From meeting closet nudists who only take their clothes off alone, and witnessing a naked bike ride through central London, to an extraordinary and liberating nudist camp in America, this is Bianca's open, honest, affectionate and sometimes critical look at what it is to be a naturist.

#12 - Impressionism- Revenge of the Nice

Season 2004 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/5/2004

Matthew Collings will reappraise the Impressionists. The four stars are Courbet, Manet, Monet and Cezanne. In two hours their stories and their art will intertwine. Matt will unpack the principles of Impressionism - the strength of colour, the flatness, the patterning and the way in which ordinary life is pictured with startling truth - and argue that this is the best thing that has ever happened in modern art. He will also show that although the contemporary art world seemingly despises Impressionism it is only because of Impressionism that the avant-garde came to be. Written by Anonymous

#13 - Britain's Real Monarch

Season 2004 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/3/2004

In investigating the life of Richard III, Tony Robinson was shown evidence to suggest that the royal line was tainted by the illegitimacy of Edward IV. As such, every monarch since has actually had no legitimate claim to the throne. So who did? And, perhaps more to the point, who does? Who, by the right of succession, should we have sitting on the throne today? To find out, Tony Robinson goes in search of Britain's Real Monarch. He uncovers a turbulent story of civil war, aristocratic feuds, religious conflict, disgrace, bankruptcy, executions and a £5.5 million bet. And in the end, he discovers Britain's real monarch, someone as far removed from the splendour of Buckingham Palace as Robinson could ever have thought possible. Having found the rightful heir to the British throne, it's then time to break the news to him...

#14 - Little Lady Fauntleroy

Season 2004 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/28/2004

Keith Allen spends some quality time with former child prodigy James Harries and his family. At first sight, they may seem to be a houseful of geniuses, but although every single member has a PhD in Metaphysics, we soon discover that some were purchased from a fake university in the USA, while the others were awarded to them by themselves. As the documentary proceeds, it eerily becomes apparent that this is a family that believes its own mythology. They regard themselves as morally, intellectually, and financially superior to the rest of society, even though the clan (housed in a mock mock-Tudor cottage in the middle of a Cardiff council estate) includes a convicted arsonist, an astral projectionist, a former Bunny Girl, a part-time private detective and a sex-change daughter (James is now Lauren), all of whom seem to live their lives in a parallel universe.

#15 - Body Talk: Sex

Season 2004 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/24/2004

#16 - Body Talk: Power

Season 2004 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/17/2004

#17 - 101 Embarrassing Sexual Accidents

Season 2004 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/25/2004

Ancient Rome, it has oft been said, pioneered bizarre sexual proclivities, but even Caligula never thought to slake his notorious carnal desires with a cantaloupe. Besides, he lacked a microwave. After all, it was the application of this 20th-century gadget that proved our fellow countryman’s undoing and ensured his inclusion on 101 Embarrassing Sexual Accidents. The Scot appeared with his face obscured, in case his identity should reveal that of the melon. His tale began when, fearful his "partner" might be cold and indifferent, he decided to warm it up - not with a massage or foreplay, but by putting the fruit in the microwave. "She" emerged red hot - 180C - a little too hot for our Casanova and the tender "moves" resulted in second degree burns to his, as he put it in eloquent Scots’ slang, "bobby". Still, as Grub Smith, the presenter of this horrendous catalogue of freak TV, pointed out, it could have been worse. Our competitor in this sexual Olympics was topped by a New Jersey man who felt his intimate relationship with his vacuum cleaner had grown stale and had decided to liven it up - by forgoing the nozzle in favour of the main machine, unaware that the suction was provided by a metal motor similar to a miniature propeller. The machine, no doubt disturbed by such fresh behaviour, reacted by cutting off more than just their relationship. The result? The man narrowly escaped bleeding to death. A psychologist was dragged from the set of Big Brother to explain what drove these men to such lengths. His conclusion was simple: the sensation or the illusion of being with someone else. In the interest of health and safety, I direct the male species to the wisdom of another Scot who has never, to my knowledge, attempted to make love to a melon. As Billy Connolly said: "Just sit on your hand until it goes numb."

#18 - Monte Cassino: The Soldiers' Story

Season 2004 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/15/2004

An account of the infamous Second World War battle, at the peak of which Allied troops laid siege to a medieval castle in Italy for five days in 1944. The conflict in Italy was controversial from the start, with the Allies divided over the importance and purpose of the campaign, while Hitler felt that victory here would dissuade his enemies from their grander schemes. Tactical errors led to a devastating loss of life before a truce was agreed. The accounts of veterans from both sides are used to create a balanced picture of the conflict, with members of the German First Parachute Regiment and the British 1/4 Essex sharing their memories.

#19 - Carthage: The Roman Holocaust

Season 2004 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/8/2004

This is the story of Rome and Carthage - two great ancient empires, deadly foes equally matched in strength, locked in a struggle for control of the ancient world. But Rome finally won the conflict and went on to annihilate the city and civilisation of Carthage, systematically, brutally and totally. This film tells the story behind Rome's Holocaust against Carthage, and rediscovers the strange, exotic civilisation that the Romans were desperate to obliterate. Cambridge University historian and archaeologist Dr Richard Miles visits the key sites of the period, from Rome to the ruins of Carthage, and uncovers the real importance of this largely forgotten civilisation.

#20 - X-Rated: The Films That Shocked Britain

Season 2004 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/9/2004

#21 - X-Rated: The Pop Videos They Tried to Ban

Season 2004 - Episode 11 - Aired 7/24/2004

X-Rated: The Pop Videos They Tried to Ban was a 2004 British one-off television documentary examining controversial music videos. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday 24 July 2004 as part of the Channel 4 Banned season. Duran Duran - "Girls on Film" Marilyn Manson - "Coma White" Madonna - "Like a Prayer" Mötley Crüe - "Girls, Girls, Girls" Sir Mix-a-Lot - "Baby Got Back" Nine Inch Nails - "Happiness in Slavery" Rockbitch - "Breathe" Christina Aguilera - "Dirrty" Aphex Twin - "Come to Daddy" The Prodigy - "Smack My Bitch Up" Placebo - "Protège-Moi" Ultravox - "Visions in Blue" The Bloodhound Gang - "The Ballad of Chasey Lain"

#22 - Who Wrote The Bible?

Season 2004 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/25/2004

Theologian Robert Beckford goes on a historical journey to uncover the true origins of the Torah and the New Testament. He finds that Moses may not have authored the books attributed to him, and that the New Testaments accounts of Jesus were written long after he was dead by people who never knew him.

#23 - Les Dawson's Lost Diaries

Season 2004 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/3/2004

Les Dawson was one of Britain's most successful and respected comedians. From the 1960s to the early 1990s, TV viewers grew to love the unique sour-faced joker with his ingenious comic riffs. Drawing on the personal diaries of the late, great comedian, this programme offers a fascinating insight into the private world of fears and disappointments of the funny man.

#24 - Sex Bomb

Season 2004 - Episode 8 - Aired 6/24/2004

How do you fight a war without weapons? You use cunning, deceit and imagination. In fact, you fight dirty - just as the British were compelled to do in the summer of 1940 when faced with an imminent German invasion. During World War II, black propaganda, subversive rumours and outright pornography were all used by a secret Whitehall department to undermine the morale of the seemingly invincible Nazis. As the war progressed so did this extraordinary unit's operations. Its techniques became more sophisticated, its reach longer, and it went on the offensive. And the same mix of disinformation, ridicule and smut would eventually be employed against the Japanese.

#25 - The Nazi Expedition

Season 2004 - Episode 10 - Aired 7/1/2004

In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler's Germany presented a glittering surface sheen of technological modernity. At the annual Nuremberg rallies, fleets of sleek bombers roared over the upturned faces of the Nazi Party faithful. A system of autobahns carried traffic at speed the length and breadth of the Reich. In Berlin in 1936, a magnificent stadium housed the Olympic Games. But beneath the tread of marching feet and the rumble of tanks on Nuremberg's Zeppelin Field, there pulsed the rhythms of a different and much older set of beliefs, a philosophy that animated the Nazi Party's early ideologues and, crucially, the man who stood behind Hitler himself – Heinrich Himmler, chief of the SS. These beliefs were anything but technological. They were a curious mixture of ancient Teutonic myth, Eastern mysticism and late 19th-century anthropology. Whether Adolf Hitler took them wholly seriously is open to debate. But Heinrich Himmler certainly did. They lay at the heart of the SS empire he created and which became the most dreaded arm of the Nazi state. They were also the mainspring behind a Nazi expedition to secure the secrets of a lost super-race in the mountains of Tibet.