The BEST episodes of Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries season 2010

#1 - Kevin McCloud: Slumming It (2)

Season 2010 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/15/2010

Kevin's immersive journey through Dharavi continues as he explores the extraordinary recycling industry. Here, 80 per cent of the city's plastic waste is recycled.

#2 - Concorde's Last Flight

Season 2010 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/12/2010

From the moment it first flew in 1969, Concorde was an immediate icon, generating intense national pride. Travelling at twice the speed of sound, faster than a bullet, passengers could sip champagne in shirtsleeves on the very edge of space, jetting from London to New York in just three and a half hours. But ten years ago, on 25 July 2000, a devastating crash outside Paris helped to seal Concorde's fate and brought the supersonic age to a close. A decade on, arguments still rage about the exact causes of the loss of Air France flight AF4590, and a French court case is due to decide whether anyone was to blame. Using archive footage, reconstructions and CGI, Concorde's Last Flight tells the turbulent story of the airliner's dramatic rise and fall in the words of her designers and engineers, the pilots and VIP passengers who flew in it, as well as witnesses to the French crash and crash investigators.

#3 - Hurricane Katrina: Caught On Camera

Season 2010 - Episode 20 - Aired 8/26/2010

#4 - Warsaw Ghetto: The Unfinished Film

Season 2010 - Episode 23 - Aired 10/30/2010

The Warsaw Ghetto housed 440,000 Polish Jews and Roma during World War II. Typhus, starvation and random murders killed over 100,000 of the ghetto's residents even before the Nazis began the massive deportations to the Treblinka extermination camp. Yet the Nazis created a mysterious propaganda film that juxtaposed meticulously staged scenes of Jews enjoying a life of luxury in the ghetto with other, chilling images that required no staging at all. After the war, filmmakers and museums - unaware of the deception - used images from the film as objective illustrations of life in the ghetto, which subsequently became engraved as historical truth. With contributions from ghetto survivors and one of the German cameramen, Warsaw Ghetto: The Unfinished Film reveals how the Nazis used the ghetto as a film set, the inhabitants as actors and the decaying bodies as exhibits, and examines how far we can trust historic images. The narration is mostly in English but it also includes Polish and Deutsch as well.

#5 - Kevin McCloud: Slumming It (1)

Season 2010 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/2010

Kevin McCloud visits Dharavi, one of the planet's most extreme urban spaces, to live, sleep, eat and wash there, and to test claims that the city has the answers to many of our urban ills.

#6 - The Untold Battle of Britain

Season 2010 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/29/2010

This dramatized documentary recounts how, during the most decisive phase of the Battle of the Britain, a single squadron of 34 Polish fighter pilots wreaked havoc on the Luftwaffe, in the process helping to change the course of history and overturning RAF prejudices. From 303 Squadron's bitter struggle for acceptance when they first arrived in the UK, to the crucial part they played in averting the German invasion, and their ultimate betrayal by the Allies, this unknown story is one of the most extraordinary episodes of World War II. Based on a diary kept by the pilots of the squadron, it is a story of increasing frustration on the part of the Poles who had already fought the Luftwaffe and now found themselves having to learn English and the RAF way of doing things. Meanwhile, as the Battle of Britain got underway, inexperienced British pilots were paying a heavy cost. Belatedly, the Poles were cleared for active service and had an immediate impact. In their first week they shot down 40 enemy aircraft, making them the highest scoring RAF squadron. By the time the Battle of Britain was won, they had claimed 126 enemy planes. But as the war ended, their joy turned to despair as they saw their own country handed to Stalin.

#7 - The Mystery of the Nevada Triangle

Season 2010 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/2/2010

In September 2007 Sir Richard Branson's friend, the record-breaking aviator Steve Fossett, disappeared on a pleasure flight. There were rumours that Fossett, who had made the first solo balloon flight around the world, was in Argentina or that he had faked his death. His loss sparked the biggest peacetime search and rescue operation in the history of the United States. Over the ensuing weeks, reports surfaced of hundreds - even thousands - of missing aircraft in a triangular area of the Sierra Nevada mountains that ranges from some of the highest peaks, to the lowest point - Death Valley - in the USA. Dating back to the early days of flight and World War II, the aircraft were lost in an area that also includes the top-secret 'Area 51' military air base, famous for unexplained UFO sightings. As reports of missing aircraft mounted, rumours grew of a new 'Bermuda Triangle': the so-called 'Nevada Triangle'. While the investigators faced challenges from wind, weather and terrain, many theories appeared to explain why so many planes had gone missing in the Nevada Triangle, from government conspiracy and alien intervention to unusual local atmospheric effects. This film reveals what really happened to Steve Fossett. But can it shed some light on the truth of the Nevada Triangle?

#8 - The Curse of the Hope Diamond

Season 2010 - Episode 31 - Aired 5/24/2010

Our obsession with wealth transcends all boundaries. This vast gem (45.5 carats), indestructible and priceless, has been at the heart of 350 years of varied history, from Louis XIV to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, via George IV and all sorts of other upper-class oddballs. Wherever it’s been, it seems to have caused death, ruin and bad luck.

#9 - Best Undressed

Season 2010 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/22/2010

Martin Taylor's revealing behind-the-scenes look at Australia's longest running and probably most politically incorrect beauty contest, Miss Nude Australia. Best Undressed is an offbeat portrait of suburban Australia that's somewhere between Strictly Come Dancing and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; always entertaining, occasionally hilarious and sometimes a little tragic. It is an intimate insight into a group of young women and their families who share the same hopes and dreams as anyone and who are striving to be the very best at what they do but without any of the pretensions of more mainstream beauty pageants. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/best-undressed

#10 - Pearl Harbour: Mystery of the Killer Subs

Season 2010 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/10/2010

For decades it has been thought that a bomb dropped by a Japanese aircraft sank the USS Arizona during World War II. However, the recent discovery of a group of small Japanese submarines in and around Pearl Harbour has raised questions about the battleship's final hours. This film follows a team of expert investigators, who journey to the seafloor to explore the wreckage of a newly discovered sub, and questions whether this mini-sub, and its two-person crew, made it into Pearl Harbour to fire torpedoes at the Arizona. With unprecedented access to the remains of the Arizona and other unique evidence, including aerial photos taken by Japanese aircraft and testimonials from US and Japanese veterans, Pearl Harbour: Mystery of the Killer Subs investigates the possibility that these tiny but lethal mini-subs may have played a crucial and previously unsuspected part in the tragic events of that 'Day of Infamy'.

#11 - WW1: Finding the Lost Battalions

Season 2010 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/19/2010

In 2009, in an astonishing discovery, the bodies of 250 British and Australian World War I soldiers were found in unmarked graves near Fromelles in northern France. It's the largest war grave to be found in Western Europe in modern times. This film tells the story of how, over the course of a year, the bodies have been carefully exhumed and many of them identified via DNA matches with living relatives. WWI: Finding the Lost Battalions features three British families who hope to discover whether their relatives are amongst the dead, and lay to rest family mysteries that have lasted almost a century. Their relatives are men who went missing in action, but no confirmation of death could ever be given by the War Office. Two are from the sleepy Buckinghamshire village of The Lee, which gave most of its young men to the 2nd Bucks Battalion, whose story this film follows in particular detail. Drawing on personal possessions found with the bodies, including a bible with handwritten annotations, a heart-shaped leather pouch and a return train ticket, as well as astonishing personal diaries and letters from the men who went missing, the film brings the horrifying truth of the Battle of Fromelles, and its impact on the subsequent generations, vividly to life. The fighting took place at the same time as the Battle of the Somme, at the height of WWI. More than 1,500 British and 5,533 Australian soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner during 12 hours of carnage between 19 and 20 July 1916. The Allies failed to gain an inch of ground. Channel 4 was granted exclusive access by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to document the exhumation of the soldiers' remains and their subsequent burial in the new Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery - the first to be built in 50 years.

#12 - 100 Greatest Toys with Jonathan Ross

Season 2010 - Episode 24 - Aired 12/19/2010

Presented by gadget, gizmo and toy collector extraordinaire Jonathan Ross, 100 Greatest Toys with Jonathan Ross is a three-hour countdown of the nation's favourite toys and games.

#13 - John Le Carre: A Life Unmasked

Season 2010 - Episode 25 - Aired 12/10/2010

One of the most respected and prolific writers of his generation, John le Carre is the undisputed master of the spy novel, with over 22 bestsellers. At 79 years old, the normally guarded le Carre gives his most candid television interview to at his remote clifftop home in Cornwall.

#14 - Paul Weller: Find the Torch

Season 2010 - Episode 26 - Aired 4/29/2010

Paul Weller talks about his love of England, his influences and his 30-year music career from forming The Jam in the 70s to making his more recent albums.

#15 - Britain's Trillion Pound Horror Story

Season 2010 - Episode 27 - Aired 11/11/2010

Martin Durkin explains the full extent of the financial mess the UK is in and presents his argument of what needs to be done to make the economy boom again

#16 - Dom Joly and the Black Island

Season 2010 - Episode 28 - Aired 10/2/2010

As a boy, TV personality, travel writer and journalist Dom Joly dreamt of becoming Tintin. In this First Cut film, he fulfils his fantasy to become the world-famous Belgian reporter, and attempts to retrace the steps of Tintin's British adventure: The Black Island. He sets out to track down the real-life places that inspired the story and find the Black Island Castle. The ever-enthusiastic Dom Joly dons the costume of his hero, complete with shorts, plus fours, a white shirt and blue jersey, and even dyes his hair ginger. He goes to Brussels and visits the studio where Herge drew the character. Ever faithful to his quest, Dom goes in search of a Snowy the Dog and visits a seaman's bar in an attempt to find a Captain Haddock look-alike.

#17 - Brothers in Arms

Season 2010 - Episode 29 - Aired 8/13/2010

They say that blood is thicker than water, and this documentary puts that to the test by examining the brothers who have formed and fronted rock bands. From the Everlys to the Gallaghers via the Kinks and Spandau Ballet, it tells the stories of the bands of brothers who went from their bedrooms to become household names - often with a price to pay. With contributions from Martin Kemp, Matt Goss, Dave Davies, Phil Everly, David Knopfler and the Campbell brothers of UB40

#18 - Alan Bennett and the Habit of Art

Season 2010 - Episode 30 - Aired 11/27/2010

Alan Bennett and director Nicholas Hytner discuss and dissect the process they went through to produce the final version of The Habit of Art, the critically acclaimed play in which a group of actors rehearse a play about W.H. Auden and Benjamin Britten.

#19 - What The Green Movement Got Wrong

Season 2010 - Episode 22 - Aired 11/4/2010

A group of environmentalists across the world believe that, in order to save the planet, humanity must embrace the very science and technology they once so stridently opposed. In this film, these life-long die-hard greens advocate radical solutions to climate change, which include GM crops and nuclear energy. They argue that by clinging to an ideology formed more than 40 years ago, the traditional green lobby has failed in its aims and is ultimately harming its own environmental cause. As author and environmentalist Mark Lynas says, 'Being an environmentalist was part of my identity and most of my friends were environmentalists. We were involved in the whole movement together. It took me years to actually begin to question those core, cherished beliefs. It was so challenging it was almost like going over to the dark side. It was a like a horrible dark secret you couldn't share with anyone.

#20 - The Volcano that Stopped Britain

Season 2010 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/2/2010

Following the unprecedented disruption caused by the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, The Volcano That Stopped Britain explores the geological and scientific background behind the headlines of this extraordinary story. The documentary identifies the dangers posed by the ash and the effects that it has on aircraft and aviation, as well as exploring the impacts of further possible eruptions to the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

#21 - Inside Incredible Athletes

Season 2010 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/29/2010

Broadcasting two years to the day before the Paralympic 2012 Games begin, Inside Incredible Athletes profiles some of the elite British athletes who excel in their field, from both a personal and a scientific perspective.

#22 - Fighting the Red Baron

Season 2010 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/4/2010

In 1914, when World War I began, the aeroplane was so new the British had never used it in battle before. Eager recruits, some as young as 17, rushed to join the British army's new aircraft service - the Royal Flying Corps - and quickly came up against the Red Baron and the German hunting squadrons. By the end of the war in 1918, a new and terrifying form of warfare had been devised, the skies had been turned into battlefields and the cost to aviation pioneers had been enormous. Fighting the Red Baron follows two modern-day pilots as they face the same challenges the aviators of WWI faced, in order to find out how aerial warfare changed so quickly in just four years.

#23 - Building Britain's Ultimate Warship

Season 2010 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/31/2010

Documentary with unprecedented access to the construction of the Royal Navy's newest destroyer, the £1billion HMS Daring, Britain's first new warship for 25 years. The programme follows the process of building the vessel in three different locations with the latest techniques and testing its vast array of weapons. Maritime experts discuss the significance of the ship to the UK's defences, and cameras go behind the scenes on the official launch that brings royalty to Glasgow.

#24 - Saxon Gold: Finding the Hoard

Season 2010 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/12/2010

The story of Britain's largest ever Anglo Saxon treasure hoard: the 1,600 items discovered in a Staffordshire field in 2009 by a metal detecting enthusiast.

#25 - 102 Minutes That Changed America

Season 2010 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/9/2010

A hundred and two minutes passed between the first plane's impact into North Tower of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, the second plane's attack on South Tower, and the collapse of both buildings. In that time, people around New York reached for their cameras. This documentary joins together hundreds of pieces of footage and audiotape into a single, seamless historical record, much of it never seen before. It is an intensely personal and new perspective of the tragedy, telling that morning's events in real time, as they were experienced by people around New York.