Ten years ago, in an award-winning series, Stephen Fry first spoke about living with manic depression and began a national conversation about mental health. A decade later, we return to the subject to understand where he and thousands of others diagnosed with bipolar (as it is now called) are now.
The story of Wicca, from Dorset nudist colonies to witches casting spells to ward off Hitler, tabloid hysteria and appearances on Panorama.
In June 2019, arts journalist John Wilson received an extraordinary tip-off – one billion dollars’ worth of stolen art may be about to be recovered. Included are a unique Rembrandt - his only seascape - and a Vermeer considered the most valuable stolen painting in the world. The art was taken from the walls of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in the early hours of 18 March 1990. It remains the world’s biggest unsolved art heist. For John, to follow the recovery of the paintings, as it happens, would be the biggest art story of the century.
Documentary in which Darcey Bussell profiles Hollywood dancer Fred Astaire, marking 30 years since his death.
The cameras return to Kashmir to follow the fortunes of Davie Robertson, former Aberdeen, Rangers and Leeds United stalwart, who has carved out a remarkable career as a manager, bringing success against the odds to a football team in a war-torn corner of the planet.
Writer and historian Dr Helen Castor explores the life - and death - of Joan of Arc. Joan was an extraordinary figure - a female warrior in an age that believed women couldn't fight, let alone lead an army. But Joan was driven by faith and today, more than ever, we are acutely aware of the power of faith to drive actions for good or ill. Since her death, Joan has become an icon for almost everyone: the left and the right, Catholics and Protestants, traditionalists and feminists. But where, in all of this, is the real Joan - the experiences of a teenage peasant girl who achieved the seemingly impossible? Through an astonishing manuscript, we can hear Joan's own words at her trial and, as Helen unpicks Joan's story and places her back in the world that she inhabited, the real human Joan emerges.
Since her retirement from professional ballet, Dame Darcey Bussell has become a formidable advocate for promoting dance at all stages of life, and to help not just the body, but just as importantly the mind. She has piloted dance classes for schoolchildren across the country and spoken in Parliament calling for dance to be a key part of the curriculum to help children's fitness. She is aware that tackling our mental health crisis is an important challenge that affects many in the UK today and strongly believes that the value of dancing is undervalued in improving our mental health. So in this programme, Darcey's mission is to meet a wide range of people using dance as therapy and as a result experiencing the joy of 'dancing to happiness'.
Alexis Conran explores gambling addiction, an affliction that ruined his estranged father, and seeks to understand how and why this compulsion destroys people's lives. A documentary where Alexis Conran of The Real Hustle explores the effects of gambling addiction on his life, and the lives of others. Gambling addiction ruined his father's life, so the documentary seeks to find why gambling addiction is powerful enough to destroy someone's life.
A unique look at Titian's greatest masterpieces, which are currently under quarantine in the National Gallery.
An intimate documentary that reveals the frightening roller-coaster journey of two moms for whom childbirth triggers postpartum psychosis, one of the most severe forms of mental illness. It is a condition most expectant mothers and their families have never heard of, but around one in every five hundred births can lead to the sudden onset of a psychotic episode.
Davie Robertson - former Aberdeen, Rangers and Leeds United stalwart - is a long way from home. In fact, he's a long way from anywhere. He's the new manager of Real Kashmir FC, and he's left behind his wife and a luxury lifestyle he earned from football, to live in a shared house in a city that regularly suffers violent protests and terrorist attacks. For the people of Kashmir and the owners of the club, Sandeep and Shamim football is not just sport. It's a hope for a better future.
