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Documentary covering the history of the military draft in America, from the origins of conscription to its turbulent peak in the Vietnam War, and exploring the unintended consequences for soldiers and citizens alike of eliminating mandatory service. Vivid, contemporary and probing, the programme features searing stories and intimate interviews with the people who fought against the draft and those who supported it. This is the story of a single, controversial issue that continues to define a nation.
Biographical documentary of one of the most charismatic and contradictory American leaders of the 19th century who met his death, along with nearly a third of his army, in June 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. General George Armstrong Custer ordered his soldiers to drive back a large army of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors, but the man with a reputation for fearless and often reckless courage was defeated by Sitting Bull, the charismatic leader of the Plains Indians. The programme charts the manner in which Custer's turbulent career encompassed triumph and disaster, and reveals how the wife he adored was almost single-handedly responsible for mythologising her husband's exploits, turning the Battle of the Little Bighorn into one of the most iconic events in American history.
NOVA: A documentary that explores the astonishing advances in robotics and the role this new technology may play in our lives. How will communicating with a nanny-bot or a robot teacher change a child's perception of reality? Will it be easier to hang out with a robot than it is to negotiate the complexity of a human relationship? The programme examines both the current state of the art and the social implications of a world filled with robots. Does it signal a brave new world or a future to fear?
A documentary that traces the hamburger's ascent into popular culture, particularly in Los Angeles which lays claim to taking its burgers more seriously than any other city in America. Richard J McDonald, who co-founded McDonald's with his brother Maurice, tells the story of the most successful fast food chain in history. America's foremost burger historians are interviewed as well in a programme that chronicles the rise of other burger chains and tours the most colourful burger joints in LA.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Four-part documentary series taking a new and detailed look at the life of Walt Disney, one of the world’s most popular and influential storytellers. In this second part, having established Mickey Mouse, Disney focuses on his next obsession: creating the first ever feature-length story-driven cartoon based on the tale of Snow White. This huge artistic and financial gamble pays off, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs grosses $8 million in its first year - the equivalent of more than $100 million today. Walt Disney builds his new dream studio in Burbank and develops plans for Bambi, Pinocchio and Fantasia. Disney runs into union and employee grievances and on 29 May 1941, has to drive through a picket line with more than 200 workers - some of whom are his most trusted animators. Part 2 of 4.
The Beatles endure as the greatest popular music band of all time as their music and lyrics - and John, Paul, George and Ringo's individual personalities - have transcended the decades to influence generations of musicians and fans across the world. Here, friends and former colleagues of the Fab Four, including PR man Tony Barrow, tour manager Allan Williams and promoter Sam Leach, cast new light on the compelling early days of the band.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Documentary. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were the most famous criminal couple in US history. During the height of the Great Depression, their gang evolved from petty thieves to nationally known bank robbers and murderers, joining the ranks of other gangsters of the era like John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. Though newsreels portrayed them as the underworld's dark prince and princess of crime, in reality the pair had little in common with their glamorous media images.
As long as there has been sex education, there have been sex education films. Since America's first class in 1893, over 100,000 have been produced. Sometimes instructive, often hilarious, and always excruciatingly awkward, they have led generations of abashed students to think of the act of love in terms of valves and plumbing. But as this documentary attests, beneath the fumbling exterior, their content brilliantly captures the changing moral and cultural attitudes that bore them.
A brilliant lawyer, at only 27 years old Benjamin Ferencz was the youngest prosecutor in charge of the sentencing of Nazi criminals in Nuremberg in 1946. Ferencz was assigned to help investigate Nazi war crimes, to collect evidence of the horrors of the concentration camps, identify those responsible and prosecute the infamous members of the ruthless Einsatzgruppen. A relentless fighter for peace, he never stopped trying to make the world a more humane place, always governed by the spirit of the law. After the war and his work at Nuremberg, Benjamin Ferencz dedicated his life to International Justice. He became the architect and the inspiration of the International Criminal Court founded in 2002.
