| 21 |
The Lady in the Van (2015) #958
FILM
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Directed by Nicholas Hytner. With Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Clare Hammond. A man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her van that's parked in his driveway. |
| 22 |
An Evening with Sammy Davis Jr (2014) #649
DOCUMENTARY
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1 hour. BBC. A compilation of the very best of Sammy Davis Jr's famous 1960s performances for the BBC, that leaves no doubt as to why at the time he was billed as the world's greatest living entertainer. This show captures Davis as the ultimate swinger, singer and gunslinger, performing classic songs like My Funny Valentine and Once in a Lifetime, showing how he's quick on the draw with a pistol, and demonstrating his incredible impersonations of some of the best-known stars of the era. |
| 23 |
John Ogdon: Living with Genius (2014) #865
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Profile of Britain's greatest ever classical pianist and of one of the most successful musical partnerships of the last 50 years, that of John Ogdon and his wife Brenda Lucas Ogdon. For the first time, Brenda and her children Richard and Annabel tell the personal story of John Ogdon - the husband, father and genius. This is a story of their lives together, one that covers their rollercoaster ride from extraordinary and deserved success to tragic adversity and despair. Featuring unique archive and contemporary performance as well as candid interviews with those who knew him best, this incredible tale is a moving account of their professional partnership. A fascinating reflection on the power of the art form itself, gained from a lifetime of living, breathing, teaching and performing. |
| 24 |
Africa: Sahara (2013) #734
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Sahara - Africa Episode 5 of 6. Attenborough. Northern Africa is home to the greatest desert on Earth, the Sahara. On the fringes, huge zebras battle over dwindling resources and naked mole rats avoid the heat by living a bizarre underground existence. Within the desert, where the sand dunes 'sing', camels seek out water with the help of their herders and tiny swallows navigate across thousands of square miles to find a solitary oasis. This is a story of an apocalypse and how, when nature is overrun, some are forced to flee, some endure, but a few seize the opportunity to establish a new order. |
| 25 |
Horizon: What Makes us Human? (2013) #761
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Professor Alice Roberts is making a new human being - she is pregnant with her second child. But before he is born, she wants to find out what makes a human, human? What is that separates us from our closest living relatives - the chimpanzees? We share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees and yet from the moment of birth, our lives are completely different. So are we just another animal, or is there something special about being human? Before her new baby emerges into the world, Professor Roberts sets out to explore what it is about our bodies, our genes and ultimately our brains that set us apart from our furry cousins - what is it that truly makes us human? |
| 26 |
Living is Easy With Eyes Closed (2013) #878
FILM
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Directed by David Trueba. With Javier Cámara, Natalia de Molina, Francesc Colomer, Ramon Fontserè. In Spain in 1966, an English teacher picks up two hitchhikers on his quest to meet John Lennon. |
| 27 |
Twin Sisters: A World Apart (2013) #1252
DOCUMENTARY
Main
1 hour. BBC. Documentary telling the poignant true story of twin sisters from China, found as babies in a cardboard box in 2003 and adopted by two separate sets of parents - one from California, the other from a remote fishing village in Norway. In the US, Mia is raised a typical all-American girl, with a bustling life filled with violin lessons, girl scouts and soccer, while Alexandra grows up in the quietude of the breathtakingly beautiful but isolated village of Fresvik, Norway. Neither of the adoptive parents were told their daughters were twins, but a chance sighting at the orphanage enabled them to keep in touch, until a DNA test proved their hunch had been right. Both girls grew up knowing they had an identical twin living on the other side of the world. The film tells the remarkable story of their parallel journey, punctuated by only the odd visit, videos and photographs - until they meet for a longer visit in Norway when they are eight years old. Despite living completely different lives and speaking different languages, they are mirrors of each other - the magical bond between them is extraordinary. This is the story of our notions of family - the genetic ones we inherit and the ones we create. |
| 28 |
Albert Nobbs (2011) #234
FILM
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Directed by Rodrigo García. With Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Antonia Campbell-Hughes. Albert Nobbs struggles to survive in late 19th-century Ireland, where women aren't encouraged to be independent. Posing as a man so she can work as a butler in Dublin's most elegant hotel, Albert meets a handsome painter and looks to escape the lie she has been living. |
| 29 |
America in Pictures: The Story of Life Magazine (2011) #737
DOCUMENTARY
Main
Life was an iconic weekly magazine that specialised in extraordinarily vivid photojournalism. Through its most dynamic decades, - the 40s, 50s and 60s - Life caught the spirit of America as it blossomed into a world superpower. Read by over half the country, its influence on American people was unparalleled. No other magazine in the world held the photograph in such high esteem. At Life the pictures, not the words, did the talking. As a result, the Life photographer was king. In this film, leading UK fashion photographer Rankin celebrates the work of Life's legendary photographers including Alfred Eisenstaedt and Margaret Bourke-White, who went to outrageous lengths to get the best picture - moving armies, naval fleets and even the population of entire towns. He travels across the USA to meet photographers Bill Eppridge, John Shearer, John Loengard, Burk Uzzle and Harry Benson who, between them, have shot the big moments in American history - from the assassination of Robert F Kennedy, the Civil Rights struggle and Vietnam to behind the scenes at the Playboy mansion and the greatest names in Hollywood. These photographers pioneered new forms of photojournalism, living with and photographing their subjects for weeks, enabling them to capture compelling yet ordinary aspects of American life too. Rankin discovers that Life told the story of America in photographs, and also taught America how to be American. |
| 30 |
Imagine: Ai Weiwei - Without Fear or Favour (2011) #810
DOCUMENTARY
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1 hour. BBC. Arts documentary, first broadcast before Ai Weiwei's arrest by the Chinese authorities in April 2011, and his subsequent release after being detained for 11 weeks. Architect, photographer, curator and blogger, Ai Weiwei is China's most famous and politically outspoken contemporary artist. Alan Yentob explores the story of Ai Weiwei's life and art, and reveals how this most courageous and determined of artists continues to fight for artistic freedom of expression while living under the restrictive shadows of authoritarian rule. |
| 31 |
First Night (2010) #413
FILM
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Directed by Christopher Menaul. With Richard E. Grant, Sarah Brightman, Mía Maestro, Julian Ovenden. Adam is a rich industrialist, who aspires to a more cultured world. Spurred on by playful jibes that he is little more than a city suit living the capitalist's dream, this frustrated amateur opera singer decides to throw an opera in his lavish country retreat. Once his friends see him belting out the notes, he feels sure it will spell the end to their shallow taunts. In fact, it might even help ... |
| 32 |
The Young Ones (2010) #686
DOCUMENTARY
Main
3x1 hour. BBC. Six celebrities take part in an experiment that explores the prevention of ageing. Find out what happens beyond the experiment, and how it has changed the celebrities' lives. PLUS 45 mins. The Science of The Young Ones The Young OnesEpisode 4 of 3 For one week, six famous faces went back to 1975 to see if living as their more youthful selves could make them physically and mentally younger. In this special, Michael Mosley explores the science behind the series, and tests the idea that we have control over how we age. The programme puts Britain under the microscope to see how our environment, our preconceptions about old people and how we behave ourselves can have enormous impact on how we feel about the elderly and how we ourselves age. A state of the nation programme which shows the remarkable science and extraordinary truths behind the series. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tq4d3 |
| 33 |
Oranges and Sunshine (2010) #1038
FILM
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Directed by Jim Loach. With Emily Watson, Aisling Loftus, Stuart Wolfenden, Lorraine Ashbourne. Set in 1980s Nottingham, social worker Margaret Humphreys holds the British government accountable for child migration schemes and reunites the children involved -- now adults living mostly in Australia -- with their parents in Britain. |
| 34 |
The Joneses (2009) #27
FILM
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Directed by Derrick Borte. With Demi Moore, David Duchovny, Amber Heard, Benjamin Hollingsworth. A seemingly perfect family moves into a suburban neighborhood, but when it comes to the truth as to why they're living there, they don't exactly come clean with their neighbors. |
| 35 |
The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) #227
FILM
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Directed by Robert Schwentke. With Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston, Michelle Nolden. A Chicago librarian has a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, creating complications in his marriage. |
| 36 |
Up in the Air (2009) #299
FILM
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Directed by Jason Reitman. With George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman. With a job traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham enjoys his life living out of a suitcase, but finds that lifestyle threatened by the presence of a new hire and a potential love interest. |
| 37 |
Up in the Air (2009) #301
FILM
Main
Directed by Jason Reitman. With George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman. With a job traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham enjoys his life living out of a suitcase, but finds that lifestyle threatened by the presence of a new hire and a potential love interest. On a single disk |
| 38 |
Booky's Crush (2009) #324
FILM
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Directed by Peter Moss. With Rachel Marcus, Megan Follows, Stuart Hughes, Dylan Everett. The Thomsons - parents Thomas and Francie, and children Willa, Arthur, Beatrice (nicknamed Booky) and Jakey - are a loving working class family living in the Depression era in Toronto. It's September and the new school year has just started. Willa has thoughts of attending medical school after she graduates, despite the family not having the money to send her. Arthur is showing aptitude in ... |
| 39 |
Revolutionary Road (2008) #129
FILM
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Directed by Sam Mendes. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Christopher Fitzgerald, Jonathan Roumie. A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. |
| 40 |
Splinter (2008) #169
FILM
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Directed by Toby Wilkins. With Shea Whigham, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Charles Baker. Trapped in an isolated gas station by a voracious Splinter parasite that transforms its still living victims into deadly hosts, a young couple and an escaped convict must find a way to work together to survive this primal terror. |