The BEST episodes of Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries season 2006

#1 - Extraordinary Breastfeeding

Season 2006 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/1/2006

A look at the small percentage of parents in the UK who continue to breastfeed past the age of two. Extraordinary Breastfeeding is a one-off documentary that looked at parents who breast feed past the age of two; not many UK women breastfeed past this age. The programme was billed as a sensitive portrayal of breastfeeding older children and it was, it also attracted a few complaints due to it showing children aged up to around 8 being breastfed which unsurprisingly viewers found disgusting. The documentary follows various women, their partners (if they have them) and their children on their breastfeeding routine. This includes one mother who is trying to ween her child off breastfeeding, a single mother who set up a breastfeeding support group and some older children who are still breastfed. There were some moments I found quite funny: a public breastfeeding publicity photograph in a Blackburn shopping centre Which unsurprisingly got comments like "I think it's disgusting"; the filmmakers were probably hoping for this reaction and a father who says he's slightly jealous because he likes to be breastfed by his wife as well! The subject is quite interesting and is rarely covered if at all. Behind all the (unexpected) controversy and the slightly disturbing tone of the documentary it is just another documentary. It's still worth watching, especially if the subject appeals to you or if you want to see what the fuss was about.

#2 - A Harlot's Progress

Season 2006 - Episode 16 - Aired 11/2/2006

The story is based on the series of paintings entitled A Harlot's Progress by William Hogarth. Hogarth's work is inspired by his interactions with an eighteenth-century prostitute Mary Collins.

#3 - I Love You. And You. And You.

Season 2006 - Episode 30 - Aired 7/26/2006

A documentary looking at polyamorous relationships.

#4 - A World Without Water

Season 2006 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/29/2006

Every day 3900 children die as a result of insufficient or unclean water supplies. 'A World Without Water' tells of the personal tragedies behind the mounting privatization of water supplies.

#5 - The Lost Gospel Of Judas

Season 2006 - Episode 28 - Aired 12/23/2006

A manuscript that has been traded on the black market for 25 years is restored by experts to determine its authenticity.

#6 - The Doomsday Code

Season 2006 - Episode 27 - Aired 9/19/2006

Tony Robinson outlining the role of Evangelical Christian 'End-Timers' from the USA and their influence on US foreign policy and their support for the State of Israel.

#7 - Help Me To Speak (2)

Season 2006 - Episode 26 - Aired 4/10/2006

#8 - Help Me To Speak (1)

Season 2006 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/3/2006

#9 - Jihad: The Men and Ideas Behind Al Qaeda

Season 2006 - Episode 24 - Aired 11/13/2006

Providing an in-depth look at modern, radical Islamic groups, JIHAD: THE MEN AND IDEAS BEHIND AL QAEDA explores the ideas and beliefs that inspire them, along with the challenges they pose for governments in the Middle East and the West. With previously unseen footage and first-hand testimony from those who fought, planned, argued, met or lived with them, this is the inside story of Al Qaeda's three leaders: Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the recently killed leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. This film examines how the blood-soaked careers of these three men were driven by an evolving ideology of violence and hatred towards the West. From the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1940s to Islamic organizations today, the film offers insightful perspectives of Islam from Western and Middle Eastern journalists, U.S. intelligence experts on the frontlines of the fight against Al Qaeda, and friends and contemporaries of Osama bin Laden and his lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri. It is also the story of how the peaceful and noble religion of Islam was distorted by Islamist terrorists in the name of jihad. Two years in the making, JIHAD: THE MEN AND IDEAS BEHIND AL QAEDA was filmed on location in the Middle East, Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, America and Britain. Based on extensive original research, the film presents the story of the birth and evolution of Al Qaeda, not through the second-hand reporting of Western journalists, but through powerful testimony from first-hand witnesses.

#10 - The Great San Francisco Earthquake

Season 2006 - Episode 23 - Aired 1/28/2006

In April 1906, San Francisco was destroyed by earthquake and fire. Thousands were killed, and tens of thousands were left homeless. But three years later the city had been rebuilt. This film looks at the destruction and rebirth of San Francisco, and how this great natural disaster became a part of American folklore. Here is a spectacular and highly emotional account of this unforgettable event.

#11 - The Escort Agency

Season 2006 - Episode 22 - Aired 8/9/2006

#12 - Three Kings at War

Season 2006 - Episode 21 - Aired 12/14/2006

A look at the incredible story of Queen Victoria's three first cousins who found themselves at the centre of a family feud and a global war when she died

#13 - House of Agoraphobics (2)

Season 2006 - Episode 20 - Aired 12/20/2006

#14 - House of Agoraphobics (1)

Season 2006 - Episode 19 - Aired 12/19/2006

Following on from the highly successful House of Obsessive Compulsives, House of Agoraphobics follows three long-term sufferers through an intensive and emotional journey with Professor Paul Salkovskis, Clinical Director of the Maudsley Hospital Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma at London’s Institute of Psychiatry. The team of therapists once again implement the unique, intensive 14-day experimental treatment plan pioneered last year, this time on three sufferers of Agoraphobia with Panic Disorder – a fear of being in situations where escaping would be difficult, including big open spaces busy outdoor locations, streets, traffic and transport which induces panic attacks. All three will leave their homes for a fortnight, and move in together to undergo intense exposure and response therapy in the hope of curing them of their debilitating conditions once and for all.

#15 - The Curse of Superman

Season 2006 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/10/2006

A documentary exploring the supposed curse that affects the lives of people involved with portraying the Superman character.

#16 - 30 Greatest Political Comedies

Season 2006 - Episode 17 - Aired 12/11/2006

Based on a special poll, MPs count down their favourite political comedies.

#17 - Who Killed the British Sitcom?

Season 2006 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/2/2006

Those of a cynical disposition may have been tempted to guffaw at the idea of a programme pondering why there aren’t many sitcoms around these days being presented by somebody who used to run ITV, a channel that has produced fewer enduringly funny shows than any other.

#18 - The Trouble with Atheism

Season 2006 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/7/2006

The documentary focuses on criticising atheism for its perceived similarities to religion, as well as arrogance and intolerance. The programme includes interviews with a number of prominent scientists, including atheists Richard Dawkins and Peter Atkins and Anglican priest John Polkinghorne.

#19 - Gay Muslims

Season 2006 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/23/2006

An exploration of how many gay and lesbian Muslims attempt to integrate their religion with their sexuality, with a focus on five cases in particular. In some instances this involves suppressing their homosexual desires, leading an undercover double life, or being open about their sexuality and losing the respect and support of their families and communities.

#20 - The Root of All Evil? (The God Delusion)

Season 2006 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/1/2006

Atheist and scientist Richard Dawkins visits England, America and Isreal interveiwing prominant people of faith; Islamic, Hasidic Jews, and the new Christian sects popping up throughout the world, and expressing his view of the extent to which ths fanaticism has degraded our civilisation, and will continue to degrade it. The first part of the documentary is mainly attacking the idea and the obsession behind that idea of 'faith'. He talks about the story of Adam and Eve, which even the Catholic church admits this is metaphorical. So this guys Jesus has himself horribly tortured and murdered in order to save the souls of people who never existed from a sin that was symbolic! Dawkins describes faith as a virus. The second part delves into the lifestyles these extremists bring their children up in, sectorial schools, complete segregation. Children are very sensitive to what they're exposed to and what their elders tell them. In this way, Dawkins theorises, the narrow-mindedness of faith is spread like a virus from generation to generation. Very few of these children are coming out of school with a mind that is open to the world and everything in it. They're coming out with a whole other fantasy world inside their head, one most of us don't understand, and that world, in their mind, rules the real one that they share with us. Dawkins is successful in his subtle way of showing that although creationists think evolutionaries are the narrow minded ones, preaching your own 'faith' is a far more damagingly selfish act, probably the result of grandiose delusions.

#21 - 100% English

Season 2006 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/13/2006

Take eight people - all of whom are convinced they are 100% English. Then submit a sample of their DNA to a series of state-of-the-art tests... Lord Tebbit, Garry Bushell and Carol Thatcher are among the participants who have agreed to place their genetic make-up under the microscope...

#22 - The Da Vinci Detective

Season 2006 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/20/2006

Forensic scientist Dr Maurizio Seracini, who is known for ingeniously adapting the latest medical and military technology to reveal the secrets of great artistic masterpieces, investigates some of the mysteries surrounding works by Leonardo Da Vinc

#23 - Celebrity Sex Tapes Unwound

Season 2006 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/24/2006

This countdown was based on viewings on the Internet, DVD purchases, the star's status and popularity as a whole. Pamela Anderson and (then) husband Tommy Lee were number one, becoming a star because of it, (One Night in Paris star) Paris Hilton. The West Wing's Rob Lowe and Saving Private Ryanís Tom Sizemore were on their somewhere as well. With contributions by Germaine Greer, Dirty Sanchezís Mike Locke (Pancho) and Matthew Pritchard, and Paul Morley, and narrated by Arabella Weir.

#24 - 9/11: The Falling Man

Season 2006 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/16/2006

The Falling Man is a documentary that examines one of the many images that were circulated by the press immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. It shows a man plummeting headfirst to the ground, having leapt from the burning towers. After touching on the events of the day and how the nation reacted, the program focuses specifically on this image, the photographer who took it, its subsequent circulation, the public's reaction to it and why it was later deemed UN-newsworthy.

#25 - Toulouse Lautrec: The Full Story (1)

Season 2006 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/16/2006

Sometimes comic, often tragic, this is a tale of aristocracy, obsession, alcoholic and sexual excess. Yet during the course of his turbulent life, Lautrec succeeded in producing a huge body of work that was truly revolutionary in tone and impact, shattering the distinction between high and low art. He transformed the darkest depths of the human condition into artistic gold. Waldemar argues that the story of Lautrec is also the story of the birth of celebrity and mass media. Yet a century after his death, the artist has received none of the usual acclaim in line with his achievements. Toulouse Lautrec's crime was that he remained the consummate outsider - an outsider to his family when he was alive; to critics when he died; and by art historians ever since. All are guilty of taking him less seriously than he deserved. Waldemar tells Toulouse Lautrec's story in all its fascinating detail, celebrating the vibrant life and career of one of the world's most misunderstood geniuses.