The BEST episodes of Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries season 2009
Every episode of Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries season 2009, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries season 2009!
Channel 4, in common with the other main British stations, airs a highly comprehensive range of programming. It was established in 1982 with a specific intention of providing programming to groups of minority interests, not catered for by its competitors, which at the time amounted to only the BBC and ITV.
#1 - The Hitler Family
Season 2009 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/30/2009
Hitler was obsessively secretive about his family. This documentary has tracked down some of Hitler's relatives who speak for the first time about living in the shadow of the Nazi dictator.
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#2 - The Great Sperm Race
Season 2009 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/23/2009
It's the most extreme race on earth - a contest with 250 million competitors, only one winner and relentless obstacles thrown in for good measure. Scaled up to human size with the sperm played by real people, The Great Sperm Race tells the story of human conception as it's never been told before using helicopter-mounted cameras, world-renowned scientists, CGI and dramatic reconstruction to illustrate the extraordinary journey of sperm. With the microscopic world of sperm and egg accurately scaled up by 34,000 times, we see the human-sized heroes negotiate some of the world's most striking landscapes when the epic proportions of the vagina become the Canadian Rockies and the buildings on London's South Bank symbolise the intricacies of the cervix. With the female body designed to repel and destroy invaders, from acidic vaginal walls to impassable cervical crypts, the sperm face unremitting obstacles. 'The battle that sperm have in order to find and fertilise an egg is just immense,' explains Dr Allan Pacey. 'Everything is working against sperm and they're not really given a helping hand by the female reproductive tract.' Huge swathes perish and only one will reach the ultimate goal - fertilisation of the egg and the beginnings of new life. Made in conjunction with the Wellcome Trust and consulting the world's leading reproductive scientists, The Great Sperm Race demonstrates the extraordinary intricacies of our bodies and the giant lottery of luck that is our reproductive process.
#3 - Backstairs Billly - The Queen Mum's Butler
Season 2009 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/2/2009
William Tallon joined the royal household at 15 and, from lowly beginnings, rose quickly to become the top man: the Queen Mother's devoted servant, friend and confidante. He knew the Queen Mother longer than her own husband did, and enjoyed the royals' trust for 50 years. Tallon handled his power with perfection, seemingly untouchable. The programme explores Tallon's royal odyssey, with access to his private photographs (including off-duty pictures of the Queen Mother), notes from the Queen Mother and Princess Diana, and interviews with those who knew the real man. But despite his popularity and devotion to the royals, how did he end up alone and hounded by the press in a small Kennington flat? Did the palace officials resent his power? Were they out to get him? Billy's story is told from its humble start to his sudden death.
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - Stanley Kubrick's Boxes
Season 2009 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/6/2009
Two years after Stanley Kubrick's death, Jon Ronson was invited to the director's estate to explore the hundreds of boxes the legendary film director had collected. His estate in Childwick Bury, near St Albans, was filled with boxes containing a carefully filed archive gathered up during Kubrick's life: including scripts, research, correspondence, costumes, props, models, production schedules, photography, books and film equipment. This film follows Ronson's journey through Kubrick's boxes, as he seeks to understand the enigmatic director through the many things he acquired in his life, and then left behind.
#5 - Disinfo-Nation Apocalyptic Art
Season 2009 - Episode 11 - Aired 7/31/2009
We examine two apocalyptic religious artists. Norbert Cox & Frank Bruno. Their intense & provocative art while unquestionably shocking for some (including various church groups) is born from their own deeply held religious beliefs. The programme showcases both their art and their philosophies. There is also a nice piece on the Surveillance Camera Players. A group of subversive artists/activists who work to expose and raise awareness of just how ubiquitous and unnoticed the routine surveillance of anyone & everyone has now become. Brother Theodore also makes an unforgettable (though sadly brief) appearance. If ever there was a man born to weild a Doomsday Machine in an underground Volcanic Island Lair then it is Brother Theodore. The phrase "there are some things man was not meant to meddle with" you imagine was written specifically with Brother Thoedore in mind.
#6 - The Royal Ballet in Cuba
Season 2009 - Episode 22 - Aired 12/25/2009
Award-winning filmmakers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt - aka The Ballet Boyz - join The Royal Ballet as they embark on a historic tour to Cuba. It's the first time a major international ballet company has visited Cuba since the revolution and coincides with its 50th anniversary. The Ballet Boyz are granted exclusive access to this extraordinary cultural exchange between the world's most prestigious ballet company and a country synonymous with economic hardship and political isolation, but that is passionate about dance.
#7 - The Living Body
Season 2009 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/19/2009
The team behind the acclaimed Animals in the Womb, The Living Body combine Emmy Award-winning CGI, special effects photography and cutting-edge medical imagery to follow the development of one body, from the inside. The programme concentrates primarily on the life of one female subject, from the moment of birth through the crisis of puberty and on to adulthood and old age. Looking at how the body deals with accidents, infection, disease and infirmity, the film uses its unique point of view to look inside the extraordinary world of the human body, revealing a stunning new perspective on how our bodies function, grow and mature.
#8 - The Mona Lisa Curse
Season 2009 - Episode 24 - Aired 12/5/2009
The Mona Lisa Curse is a Grierson award-winning polemic documentary by art critic Robert Hughes that examines how the world's most famous painting came to influence the art world. With his trademark style, Hughes explores how museums, the production of art and the way we experience it have radically changed in the last 50 years, telling the story of the rise of contemporary art and looking back over a life spent talking and writing about the art he loves, and loathes. Director: Mandy Chang; Executive Producer: Nick Kent; Prod Co: Oxford Film and TV
#9 - Backstairs Billy: The Queen Mum's Butler
Season 2009 - Episode 25 - Aired 2/2/2009
Providing unique insight into the private world of Clarence House, this documentary follows the rise and fall of William Tallon - a devoted servant, friend and butler to the Queen Mother.
#10 - The Greatest TV Shows of the Noughties
Season 2009 - Episode 23 - Aired 12/31/2009
You may remember the numerous 50 and 100 Greatest shows that Channel 4 showed, well this is nearly same thing, seeing a milestone celebrated in a shorter countdown. Stephen Mangan narrates this countdown of the twenty greatest programmes that we saw in the last ten years, 2000-2009, whether it be animation, comedy, drama, reality or soap. With contributions from Craig Charles, Jeremy Clarkson, Coronation Street's Vicky Entwistle, Ashes to Ashes' Philip Glenister, Richard Hammond, The Apprentice's Katie Hopkins, Mathew Horne, Larry Lamb, James May, Kevin McCloud, Dragons' Den's Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis, Dawn Porter, David Quantick, Life On Mars's John Simm, Catherine Tate, David Tennant, Strictly Come Dancing's Bruno Tonioli, Louis Walsh, Dominic West, Claudia Winkleman and Will Young. The twenty programmes are Dragons' Den, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Strictly Come Dancing, Spooks, Coronation Street (I like it, but it should have been EastEnders), Gavin and Stacey, Grand Designs, Shameless, Harry Hill's TV Burp, Friends (from repeats), Life On Mars, Planet Earth, The Office, The Simpsons (from repeats), The X Factor, Q.I., Britain's Got Talent, Doctor Who, The Apprentice, and deserved number one, Top Gear.
Watch Now:Amazon#11 - Could You Eat an Elephant?
Season 2009 - Episode 26 - Aired 1/14/2009
Two top chefs, Fergus Henderson and Jeremy Lee, embark on an epic culinary journey around the world to test their own limitations by eating taboo meats, from maggots to monkey.
#12 - The World's Cleverest Child and Me
Season 2009 - Episode 27 - Aired 1/29/2009
Immersing himself in the lives of child geniuses, Mark meets children with mind-boggling mental capacities. But are these young masterminds a force of nature or the product of intensive nurture? In Seattle Mark meets a junior literary genius. Adora Svitak has written over 400 short stories, already published a novel, and is in big demand as a guest speaker at corporate events, earning up to $10,000 at a time. In Malaysia Mark discovers a nine-year-old maths mastermind, Adi Putra, who also seems to have a canny business sense as CEO of his own company selling brain food. As Mark attempts to get to the bottom of whether these baby brainboxes are the product of nature or nurture, he realises that sometimes it's not so much the parent pushing the child as the child pushing the parent.
#13 - John Mortimer: A Life in Words
Season 2009 - Episode 28 - Aired 1/18/2009
Documentary examining the thoughts and observations of writer, raconteur and national treasure, Sir John Mortimer. He enjoyed a successful career as a QC before becoming a full-time writer, a staunch defender of civil liberties who was involved in the Oz magazine obscenity trial in the 1960s and the man who won the Sex Pistols the right to put the word 'bollocks' in the title of their infamous album. Opinionated and unconventional, Mortimer persists in speaking out against the ludicrous ways in which politicians try to curtail our liberties and, very often, our fun. This characteristic outspokenness is delivered with such gentlemanly charm and wit that he continues to be admired and adored by all.
#14 - The Human Zoo - Science's Dirty Secret
Season 2009 - Episode 29 - Aired 11/1/2009
This documentary from the Race: Science's Last Taboo season explores the disturbing phenomena of early 20th century human zoos.
#15 - The Greatest Songs of the Noughties
Season 2009 - Episode 30 - Aired 12/28/2009
Countdown of the decade's best hits as voted for by viewers, critics and industry figures.
#16 - The Scandalous Adventures Of Lord Byron (Part 1)
Season 2009 - Episode 31 - Aired 7/27/2009
Rupert Everett travels in the footsteps of Lord Byron - sex explorer, celebrity, and the original 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' hero of the Romantic movement.
#17 - When Boris Met Dave
Season 2009 - Episode 32 - Aired 10/7/2009
When Boris Met Dave is a docudrama which investigates the shared past of David Cameron and Boris Johnson who, at the time of broadcast, were two of Britain's most influential Conservative Party politicians – Cameron as Conservative leader and Johnson as Mayor of London. The film features interviews with people who knew Cameron and Johnson both at Eton College and Oxford, where they were both members of the Bullingdon Club.
#18 - Race and Intelligence - Science's Last Taboo
Season 2009 - Episode 14 - Aired 10/26/2009
In 2007, Nobel Prize-winner James Watson caused controversy when he was quoted referring to research that suggests black people are less intelligent than other races. Rageh Omaar finds out whether there is any truth to those claims, meeting scientists who believe the research supports the view that races can be differentiated as well as those who oppose the idea. Part of the Race: Science's Last Taboo season.
Watch Now:Amazon#19 - Not Forgotten - Soldiers of Empire
Season 2009 - Episode 19 - Aired 11/9/2009
Journalist and broadcaster Ian Hislop uses archives, diaries and contemporary newspapers to explore the stories of soldiers from across the British Empire who fought in World War One. He visits battlefields of the Western Front and meets descendants of troops from India, Jamaica, Ireland and Canada to learn about individuals' reasons for joining up, how they were treated by their comrades, and how their service helped to shape emerging national identities.
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#20 - Slumdog Dreams: Danny Boyle and the Making of 'Slumdog Millionaire'
Season 2009 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/21/2009
Looking behind the scenes of Danny Boyle's multi-award winning movie, and revealing the real story behind this hugely successful new take on the 'rags to riches' fable.
#21 - Japan in Colour: The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn
Season 2009 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/21/2009
In 1908, the French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn launched one of the most ambitious projects in the history of photography. A pacifist, internationalist and utopian idealist, Kahn decided to use his private fortune to improve understanding between the nations of the world. To this end, he created what he called his Archive of the Planet. For the next two decades, he dispatched professional photographers to document the everyday lives of people in more than 50 countries all around the world. Kahn's wealth enabled him to supply his photographers with the most advanced camera technology available. They used the autochrome - the first user-friendly camera system capable of producing true-colour photographs. Some of the most important of all the 72,000 colour images in Kahn's Archive were shot during three separate visits (in 1908, 1912 and 1926) to Japan. As an international financier, Kahn had established a network of contacts that included some of the most prominent members of Japan's business, banking and political elites. Consequently, Kahn's photographers were granted privileged access to places that would have otherwise been off limits - including some of the royal palaces, where they shot colour portraits of the princes and princesses from Japan's Imperial family. But some of their most fascinating images capture moments from the lives of ordinary Japanese people at work and play. This film showcases Kahn's treasury of films and autochromes of silk-farmers, Shinto monks, schoolchildren, porcelain merchants, Kabuki stars and geishas - pictures that were recorded at a time when this fascinating country was going through momentous changes.
Watch Now:Amazon#22 - Geisha Girl
Season 2009 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/28/2009
Documentary following 15-year-old Yukina as she leaves home and moves to Kyoto to embark on the arduous training needed to become a geisha. The profession has always been shrouded in controversy, with some believing geisha are little more than high-class prostitutes. At such a young age, does Yukina really understand what this ancient profession has in store for her?
Watch Now:Amazon#23 - The Great Escape: The Reckoning
Season 2009 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/2/2009
The Great Escape is one of the most celebrated stories of World War II, and the subject of an iconic film. Of the 76 Allied airmen who famously escaped in March 1944 from POW camp Stalag Luft III, deep in Nazi Germany, all but three were recaptured. Fifty of them were then shot dead by the Gestapo, in a flagrant breach of the Geneva Convention. As well as recounting the escape, led by charismatic Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, this documentary tells the largely unknown, yet incredible account of what happened next. This is the story beyond the Hollywood legend: the remorseless hunt throughout Europe for the men who murdered the Great Escapers, in a dark mission of detection and revenge that lasted into the 1960s. The film features interviews with WWII experts, with escape survivors reliving their extraordinary experiences, and an interview with the daughter of a Gestapo officer executed for killing Roger Bushell. A relative of murdered Australian flying ace James Catanach is also interviewed; Catanach, along with Bushell, was a very popular POW, and an important player in the Great Escape.
#24 - 9/11: Phone Calls from the Towers
Season 2009 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/6/2009
This was never going to be easy watching, or listening, as people who were pretty certain that the hour of their death had come in two of the world’s most iconic buildings, made phone calls to their loved ones. All these years after 9/11, I still find it very hard to imagine what that must’ve been like. For those on the planes who, like Ted Olsen’s wife, Barbara, knew that the hijacked planes – one of which she was on – were being flown into buildings in the most audacious and destructive act of terrorism that we’ve ever seen, she knew she was going to die, and horrifically.
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#25 - Is it Better to Be Mixed Race
Season 2009 - Episode 16 - Aired 11/2/2009
Before 1967, it was illegal in 16 American states for a black person and white person to marry. Right wing groups on both sides of the Atlantic continue to espouse that the mixing of races is destructive and against some kind of natural order. Aarathi Prasad, a geneticist and mother of a mixed race child, sets out to challenge the ideas of racial purity and examines provocative claims that there are in fact biological advantages to being mixed race. It's a controversial subject that has aroused much opposition from both ends of the political spectrum, but does greater genetic diversity confer advantages in humans, as seen in the breeding of plants and animals, or are lifestyle and environment the primary influences?
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